Stumbling Block - Week 3

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- If you were here (or watched online) last week, then let me first begin by simply saying: Thanks for coming back!

- After last week’s cliffhanger, after intentionally asking some questions that were maybe particularly challenging for some of us (and not offering any answers), I appreciate that you are still willing to engage with this important topic.

- So we’re in week 3 of our 6 week series called “Stumbling Block” where we are looking at the things that Christians and churches do that separate people from Jesus, rather than draw them closer to Him.

- And, for these last couple of weeks, we’ve been addressing how much of our trouble comes from the fact that a lot of Christians don’t understand one very foundational idea:

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- Namely, that Jesus came to introduce something new.

- And so last week we spent our time talking about Jesus’ “new” covenant.

- “The” new covenant that was designed to replace the old covenant between God and Israel (once that old covenant was fulfilled).

- And here’s where we left off last week:

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- That taking the “new” of Jesus, and mixing it with the “old” that He came to complete, fulfill, and replace, it results in confusion.

- We talked about, how we treat Jesus and the new that He brings almost like we treat the junk in our storage rooms and attics, or how we treat our old couches when we buy a new one.

- Because sometimes when you get a new couch, that old couch doesn’t get “replaced” so much as it just gets moved around.

- But the new covenant isn’t like a couch.

- It’s more like… a cell phone.

- Because when you get a new cell phone, when you renew your contract and claim that whopping $20 discount off the new iphone, (Android users, I just want you to know that I think differently about you when I see your green text messages).

- But regardless of what kind of phone you have, I know this about you.

- When you got that new cell phone, you didn’t keep carrying the old one around in your pocket.

- Maybe you traded it in for some extra credit.

- Maybe you stuffed it in a drawer somewhere so that you have a backup in case something goes wrong with your new one.

- But if we all emptied our pockets, our purses, our man-bags, our diaper bags, our whatever we use to carry things around,

- If we all laid out everything we have on us, I don’t think any of us are carrying around our old cell phone that’s been disconnected and doesn’t even have cell service anymore.

- Because we understand that the new one has replaced the old one.

- Yet, here we have our Bibles.

- And, as good as they are, as powerful as they are, as crucial as they are, as important as they are,

- The problem comes, our stumbling blocks arise, when we don’t always know how to distinguish between the old, completed, and replaced, with the new and everlasting.

- Because the old covenant makes up more than half of our Bibles today.

- And when we received our first Bibles (maybe as a kid, a teenager, or an adult), we were probably told something along these lines:

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- “This is God’s Word. It’s all true. Read it!”

- We’ve talked about this before (about a year ago actually).

- So here’s the problem: We were handed a Bible, told that it was all God’s Word, it’s all true, and that we should read all of it.

- And there was little to no distinction made between the Old Testament and the New Testament (between the Jewish Scriptures and the Christian Scriptures, between the old covenant and the new covenant).

- We were probably taught – or at least unintentionally led to believe – that it is all equally authoritative, equally applicable, equally important for us today.

- We were told that the old cell phone should stay in our pocket, right next to our new cell phone, and that they should be treated exactly the same (even though it no longer has service or reception).

- Let’s think about this.

- It’s this mixing and matching approach that explains why Christian leaders feel that it is their responsibility (maybe some even see it as a privilege) to rail against the evils of society (kind of like they see themselves as an Old Testament prophet).

- It’s why Christian song lyrics are filled with invitations for God to fill our buildings with His presence (because we see our church buildings as being our Temples).

- It’s why self-righteousness and legalism usually stem from an outdated view of “holiness” that is found in the Old Testament (not “holiness” as defined by Jesus).

- It’s why the prosperity gospel is rooted in Old Testament promises to Israel, rather than in the teachings of Jesus.

- And this is why, when you ask someone who has left the church, left the faith, and left Jesus, why… chances are it had nothing to do with Jesus.

- Because our churches and our faith have become so mixed with old leftovers, that it’s possible to walk away from Christianity without even wanting to walk away from Jesus.

- Because the mixing and matching approach makes it possible for Christians to prioritize a position over people.

- To prioritize a belief over a relationship.

- To prioritize a viewpoint over a loved one.

- Mixing and matching is why some Christians believe that it is ok for them to use their opinions to wound and hurt other people (“because all I’m doing is telling them what the Bible says”).

- But this is something that Jesus didn’t do, and He commanded His followers to not do it either.

- The arguments that Christians have used for hundreds of years to justify their mistreatment of people, all of them find their roots in Old Testament practices and values.

- As we considered last week, when the Crusades were started, no one was quoting Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in order to justify their violent actions.

- But, if you go looking in the Old Testament for a text to support your position, then you’ll find plenty of texts to choose from.

- But now let’s be clear here.

- Let’s slow it down and just make something abundantly clear.

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- None of this is because the Old Testament is “flawed” or “wrong”.

- I am not saying that we should only print New Testaments and just do away with the old.

- Not at all.

- But, we do need to understand the old in its proper place.

- If we’re going to remove stumbling blocks, and allow people to draw closer to Jesus without having to accept all of the other baggage and leftovers, then we need to understand that the old is “old” for a reason.

- It’s not an insulting reason, it’s just a factual, Biblical, historical, literal reason.

- The fact that we don’t carry around our “old” cell phones in our pockets, the fact that we even call our iphone 14 our “old phone” because we got the iphone 15 the day it came out.

- We aren’t using the word “old” in an insulting way.

- It’s just a reality.

- Our old phone was necessary, it was needed, it did its job (during its time).

- But that time has come to an end, that job is finished.

- The very moment we got our new phone, our old phone (which we had never referred to as our “old” phone, even when we were driving up to SaskTel to replace it), but it was at that very moment that it became our “old” phone.

- Because something new has come along and replaced it.

- So the old covenant is not “flawed” or “wrong” or “bad”.

- But, if you think about it this way, that if all someone had was the Gospel of John, they could know everything they need to know about Jesus in order to be saved.

- John himself writes that at the end of his Gospel (his document detailing the life of Jesus, and he was an eyewitness for much of it).

- He didn’t know we would combine his work with 3 other Gospels, the letters of Paul, Peter, James, and others.

- And He definitely didn’t know we would combine his document with the Jewish Scriptures.

- He wrote it, and it circulated, because it was believed that if all you had was that one Gospel, it would be enough.

- The same is not true for Genesis.

- There’s a lot of good stuff in there, a lot of interesting stuff.

- There’s even prophecies and hints and foreshadowings of Jesus.

- But, if all you had was Genesis, you would not have enough knowledge about Jesus to be saved.

- Because that’s not the purpose of Genesis.

- So the challenges we face, the stumbling blocks that we create by mixing and matching the old and new, are not because of anything being “wrong” with the old.

- No, it’s not the Old Testament’s fault for these stumbling blocks. It’s our fault.

- Stumbling blocks are created because we refuse to accept two foundational truths.

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- First, God’s covenant with ancient Israel was….

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- with ancient Israel.

- Not with us.

- Not with Canada.

- Not with North America.

- Not with Saskatchewan.

- Not with conservatives or liberals or NDP or whoever.

- God’s covenant with ancient Israel was with ancient Israel.

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- And secondly, stumbling blocks are created when we refuse to accept the foundational truth that God’s covenant with ancient Israel was…temporary.

- It was important, strategic, divine and supernaturally orchestrated.

- But it was temporary.

- This second point was something that not even all of the first followers of Jesus agreed on for a while.

- One of the biggest issues facing the brand new Jesus movement after He died, rose again, and ascended to heaven, was “if someone wants to follow Jesus, do they have to follow the laws of Moses?”

- “First of all, can non-Jewish people even follow the Jewish Saviour?”

- “And, if they can, then do they have to become Jews themselves – not by nationality but by practice and submission to the Law – in order to follow Jesus?”

- It was a huge issue, and not everyone agreed.

- But, after the first church leaders met and discussed and prayed and saw how God was moving through the power of His Holy Spirit, they came to a decision – they came to a final conclusion.

- And James, the brother of Jesus and leader of the church in Jerusalem, speaks up to give the decision.

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- Acts 15:19

o And so my judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.

- James goes on to give a few things that followers of Jesus should abstain from, for the sake of church unity and love for one another (and not even all of those things were held as absolute commands – even by people like the Apostle Paul).

- But the verdict was clear.

- “If someone wants to follow Jesus, do they have to follow the laws of Moses?”

- The early (first) church leaders dramatically and conclusively decided: “No!”

- And because of this, because of James, Paul, Peter (and others), they remind us of something that our modern church culture often forgets.

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- Jesus didn’t come to extend the old covenant, He came to fulfill it.

- Jesus is foreshadowed in the old covenant, but Jesus came to usher in something brand new.

- Now, it’s also important to understand that in the first century there was no “Old Testament” or “New Testament” and there was no “the Bible”.

- These terms wouldn’t be adopted until much later.

- But the word “Testament” comes from the Latin for the word “Covenant”.

- And a “covenant” is an agreement, a contract, a promise.

- So, instead of calling our Bibles the “Old Testament” and the “New Testament”, we could call them the “Old Covenant” and the “New Covenant.”

- And, if we’re going to understand these covenants, we need to understand that covenants back then – like contracts today – had terms and conditions.

- And the terms and conditions of the Old Covenant were literally written in stone.

- So let’s look a little deeper at the old covenant, and what exactly it is.

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- In fancy language, the old covenant between God and Israel (as passed down to the people through Moses), was a suzerain-vassal treaty.

- This is a two-way covenant between parties who were not considered equal.

- The “suzerain” is the “overlord” and the “vassal” is the subordinate person under their authority, power, and position.

- And so God’s covenant between Himself and Israel is a suzerain-vassal treaty.

- God and Israel are not equals in this arrangement.

- God is the suzerain. Israel is the vassal.

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- It was also a conditional covenant.

- As long as Israel kept their part (stayed faithful to God), God would bless them and keep them safe from enemies and hold up His end of the bargain.

- But, if the people of Israel abandoned Yahweh God for other false gods, then God was under no obligation to hold up His end either.

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- It’s also extremely important to know that this was a national covenant. It wasn’t between God and individuals, it was between God and the nation of Israel.

- Think about this, when God punished Israel, Israel (as a whole) suffered (guilty and righteous alike).

- And, when God blessed Israel, Israel (as a whole) prospered (guilty and righteous alike).

- God judged the health of the nation, not on every single individual, but on the leaders (religious and national leaders).

- When the leaders were leading the people in the ways God approved of, they were blessed (even if all the people weren’t doing the right things all the time).

- And when the leaders were leading the people in the ways God had forbidden, they were punished (even those who were trying to follow God, they were still a part of the national punishment).

- This means that the old covenant was not a promise for an individual living in ancient Israel, and it definitely isn’t a promise for us as individuals living today.

- And here are where our stumbling blocks arise.

- When we forget these foundational truths in our understanding of the old covenant.

- Because many peoples’ understanding of “the Bible” makes it an all or nothing approach.

- Either you love it all, accept it all, claim it all as true and meaningful for you today… or you don’t.

- It’s either all good, or it’s all bad.

- Hopefully we know better, but not everybody does.

- And people who have stumbled and walked away from Jesus definitely didn’t know this.

- People have abandoned their faith, abandoned their relationship with Jesus, because they lost confidence in the Bible.

- Which part of the Bible? Probably the part that wasn’t written for us, and Jesus fulfilled thousands of years ago.

- But people have abandoned Jesus because they felt that they couldn’t defend the historical accuracy, or the literal archeological issues, of the ancient Jewish Scriptures.

- But here’s the great news: this is a stumbling block that we can remove!

- Because a lot of bad theology comes from our mixing and matching the old and the new, and we can do better.

- We can follow James’ advice, and not make it difficult for those who want to turn to Jesus.

- Let’s consider a fairly common example.

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- Jeremiah 29:11

o For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

- This is an important one for me, because this is a verse that I tattooed on my arm, a verse that was given to me by my pastor before he baptized me.

- So I don’t want to minimize the significance of this verse.

- But just go with me for a minute here.

- In a few months, graduation season will once again come around.

- And, during that time, if you log onto christianbook.com, or go into a Christian bookstore (if you can find one), or just do a Google search for “Christian graduation presents”, I’ll bet you come across something with this verse on it.

- A mug. A bumper sticker. A journal. A cell phone case. Something will have these words on it with a little diploma or graduation cap and the “2024” numbers beside it.

- But, before you start entering your credit card info to buy it, could we all at least be encouraged to ask one big question first?

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- Who’s the “you” in this verse?

- God says He knows the plans He has for “you”… Plans that will give “you” a future and a hope.

- Maybe it would help if we read a little bit more of the words surrounding this verse in order to figure out the answer.

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- Jeremiah 29:10-14

o This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster,

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o to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes.

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o I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”

- Ok, so let’s get this straight.

- If this passage (from the ancient Jewish prophet Jeremiah) is about the graduating class of 2024, then that means that they will have good fortune… in 2094.

- Because they first need to wait 70 years – in exile and captivity!

- Sorry to burst your bubble there Caleb, but apparently this verse isn’t about how you’re going to land your dream job and buy your dream car and have your dream life before you turn 20.

- Here me on this, please hear me on this: There is something we can learn from this, there are truths about God that this reveals, absolutely!

- But this was not written as a promise to us.

- Let’s do another one (and this one is going to make somebody mad, I apologize in advance).

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- 2 Chronicles 7:14

o Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.

- Now again, let me clearly and absolutely say that God was speaking here (in response to Solomon, after the construction of the Temple was completed).

- These are God’s words.

- There are truths here.

- There are things for us to learn and understand and appreciate here.

- But what is not here – it’s just absolutely not here – is that if only we Canadians could get prayer back into schools, then that would finally fix what’s wrong with our country.

- That’s not what this is about.

- It’s not.

- Because this isn’t a promise for us.

- This was God speaking to Solomon – and the united nation of Israel – at the time when they had just built God a new “house” (and we’ve already covered earlier in this series more detail about God not even needing a Temple in the first place).

- We could keep going, but the point remains the same.

- These promises aren’t for us.

- These are old promises under an old covenant.

- We are covered under a better covenant with better promises.

- The new covenant with new promises.

- Here’s something important about the Bible that we need to understand:

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- The Bible is all God’s Word to somebody.

- The Bible is not all God’s Word to everybody.

- It might be helpful to word it this way:

- The Old Testament and the New Testament are both equally inspired. But they are not equally applicable.

- And if you had bacon for breakfast this week, or if you’ve ever been ok with working (or even doing manual labour) on a Saturday, then you do actually believe this.

- But, in addition to all of this, the new covenant that Jesus came to introduce wasn’t just “new” because it was replacing the old one that had been fulfilled.

- It was also “new” in the sense that it was a completely different kind of covenant than the one that God had made with Israel.

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- If the old covenant between God and Israel was a suzerain-vassal treaty, the new covenant that Jesus introduced is a royal grant (others call it a promissory covenant).

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- A royal grant is not an agreement between two parties (whether equal or unequal), but rather it is an unconditional promise given from one party to the other.

- And that one party takes full responsibility for fulfilling that promise.

- These two types of covenants (suzerain vassal, and royal grant promissory) are vastly different.

- The Hebrew word that we get “covenant” from actually is from a root that means “to cut” (nowadays we might say that we cut a deal).

- But the reason for this is because in ancient covenants, covenants were made by cutting animals into two pieces, and then a representative from each party would walk between the carcasses.

- And it was this dramatic, powerful picture, saying that “If I break the terms of this agreement, then may my fate be just as bad as this animal’s fate was.”

- God actually did this with Abraham, it’s recorded in Genesis 15, where God had Abraham cut up different animals and lay them out in covenant-cutting style.

- But then, God let Abraham take a nap, and He walked between them alone.

- This was God declaring that He was taking full responsibility for His covenant with Abraham.

- Now, with that delightful picture in mind, let’s go back to the words of Jesus we looked at last week, as Jesus forever changed Passover for His disciples (and all of His followers who would come afterwards).

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- Luke 22:20

o After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.

- Abraham cut animals in half, and God walked between them.

- But Jesus wouldn’t walk between cut up animals.

- Instead, He would be cut.

- He would be whipped.

- He would be beaten.

- He would be spit on.

- He would bleed.

- And it is that sacrifice, that cutting, that would establish the new covenant, the one between God and all of His children.

- Not a suzerain-vassal treaty, but a royal grant, a promissory covenant.

- Jesus’ blood confirms the covenant, by being poured out as a sacrifice for us.

- Jesus declares that He was (and is) taking full responsibility for this covenant (and this covenant is actually with us).

- This is unilateral and unconditional.

- So why would we ever want to mix and match the old with the new that Jesus came to bring?

- Why would we ever add these stumbling blocks that keep people farther away from Jesus, rather than inviting them to draw closer to Him?

- As long as we are mixing the old with the new, we will lose the true beauty that Jesus gave His life to bring to us.

- And so, before we continue on in our time together, let us pause and take communion together.

- To remember the broken body and shed blood of Jesus, the agreement (the covenant) that is confirmed by His blood.

- To remember the completion of the old, and the beginning of the new.

- This is open for all followers of Jesus, whether you are new, whether you are watching online, or whether you are just this moment deciding that you want to be a follower of Jesus and experience His “new” in your life (even if it means you have to let go of the “old”).

- ***Take communion

- And so Jesus lived as the bridge between the old and new covenants.

- Jesus lived under the old covenant, He fulfilled it, and then ushered in the new with His death, resurrection, and filling of His Holy Spirit.

- Jesus showed respect and reverence for the old, while making it clear that something new was on the way.

- Jesus affirmed the good and divine and supernatural nature of the old, while not shying away from the fact that it was temporary (and He had come to bring about its completion).

- Think about these famous words from Jesus:

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- Matthew 5:21

o You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’

- “Yes Jesus, we’ve heard about this. Exodus 20:13, Deuteronomy 5:17. No murder. We got it!”

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- Matthew 5:22

o But I say…

- “But? Jesus, we don’t ‘but’ the law of Moses.”

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- Matthew 5:22

o But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.

- You might be familiar with these words, they are from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

- And Jesus just keeps doing it, over and over again.

- “You’ve heard it said you must not commit adultery… BUT I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery.”

- “You’ve heard it said an eye for an eye… BUT I say turn the other cheek.”

- Over and over again, in some of Jesus’ most famous words, in His most famous sermon, Jesus “but’s” the law of Moses.

- Jesus’ original audience would have heard His words, and understood these words to be challenging, difficult, and unscriptural (unbiblical), very un-old-testamental.

- Jesus was quoting their Jewish law, and turning it on its head.

- He either points people in a different direction from the old covenant law, or else He raises the bar and expects more than the old covenant law.

- As people listened to Jesus, they must have been thinking: “Who does this guy think He is?”

- “What gives Him the right to amend, expand, and – in some cases – reverse Jewish law that had served Israel for thousands of years?”

- But Jesus was making a point.

- And the point was, that He is greater than Moses.

- Greater than the Temple.

- Greater than the Sabbath.

- Greater than the Law.

- Greater than the Passover.

- Actually, before Jesus got into this section, before He started “but’ing” the Law of Moses, He seems to know all of the objections that would come His way, and the can of worms He was about to open. And so first He says this:

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- Matthew 5:17

o Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.

- Don’t miss this.

- Before all of the “You’ve heard this… BUT I say…”

- Before Jesus dives into all of that, He says these words.

- But what does Jesus mean by this? Because our understanding of what Jesus means here has massive implications for how we understand our relationship with the old covenant today.

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- The word Jesus used here that we translate as “accomplish” can also be understood as:

- “Finish.”

- “Fulfill.”

- “Complete.”

- “Carry out.”

- “Has come at last.”

- “Come to an end.”

- Jesus did not come to abolish (to destroy the validity of, or undermine the credibility of) the Jewish Scripture.

- Jesus came to bring it to an end – to its divinely orchestrated end (to the end that had always been coming ever since God instituted it, He knew that it wasn’t going to last forever).

- Because, as we said last week, it was all a means to an end.

- This last fall we allowed Asher to start kindergarten, and this last fall the Mercer’s allowed Caleb to begin grade 12.

- And we did it all, because we understand that in this journey there is a beginning, a middle, and an end.

- No one begins school, expecting it to last forever.

- No one enters grade 12, surprised that after graduation they won’t just keep on going to classes at the Comp anymore.

- We understand that these things end.

- It’s not a negative thing. It’s a natural thing.

- The end doesn’t mean that it failed, the end means that it has accomplished its purpose.

- And God has always understood that His suzerain-vassal treaty with Israel would come to an end.

- And Jesus, near the beginning of His ministry, says “I have come to accomplish it’s purpose.”

- “Fulfill it.”

- “Complete it.”

- “End it.”

- While Jesus is the bridge between the old and new, it is clear that Jesus never intended for His followers to mix the old and new.

- But, our failure to fully let go of the old keeps us from fully grabbing onto the new that Jesus has for us.

- And, when we can’t fully grab onto Jesus’ new, our faith may continue to move along just fine.

- But those around us, those close to us, those coming behind trying to get over our stumbling blocks, they are the ones who pay the price.

- But we can do better.

- And we will.

- And next week, we’ll see a bit more of the “new” that Jesus brings, and the practical implications that it has for our lives.

- We’ll see you next week!

- Close in prayer

- (*) Now What

- Benediction: “We’ve had a church service. Now go, and be the Church.”

Scripture:

- Acts 15:1-35

- Genesis 15:1-21 (Compare with Luke 22:19-20)

- Matthew 5:17-48

Prayer:

- Give thanks to God for His universal, unconditional, new covenant that He has established with/for you. Thank God for the better promises of a better covenant. Thank God for the ability to approach Him because Jesus died to pay the price for our sins, rose to conquer death, and fills us with His Holy Spirit to live for Him.

- Pray that God would expose any ways that you are mixing and matching old and new covenant concepts together. Pray that God would give you wisdom and discernment to fully grasp the “new” of Jesus, even if it means you need to let go of something that is old and comfortable.

Discussion/Reflection:

- When you have a text like Jeremiah 29:11 or 2 Chronicles 7:14 (or countless others), how do you interpret and apply them to your life? If these are promises for ancient Israel and not for us, how can we understand them in their proper place?

- “The Bible is all God’s Word to somebody. The Bible is not all God’s Word to everybody.” What is your reaction to that? Agree? Disagree? Why?

- When you were given your first Bible, did someone take the time to explain the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament? What did they say? What do you wish they would have said differently? If you were giving a child/teenager their first Bible, how would you explain that difference to them?

- Jesus says “I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose” (Matthew 5:17). What are some of the different explanations/interpretations you’ve heard for what Jesus means here? How do you understand what Jesus means (especially given what follows in the Sermon on the Mount, in the way that Jesus “but’s” the Law of Moses right after saying this)?

Now What Next Step:

- Get together with someone who has walked away from Christianity/church/faith/Jesus/etc. (if you did this a couple of weeks ago, try to find someone new)

- Get together preferably in person, or over a call or message if needed.

- Ask them why they walked away. Ask them what their issues with Christianity were/are.

- Don’t argue, don’t rush to defend Christianity, just listen.

- Specifically, listen for anything they walked away from (or objected to) that resembles more of the old covenant, rather than Jesus’ new covenant.

- You may not have any answers, you may not know what to say, but just think about how the “new” of Jesus might make a difference in their story (especially if they never really walked away from Jesus’ new covenant, but just a mixed-and-matched version with a bunch of old covenant leftovers).