It's Not Always What it Seems

We know that you are pointing your messages toward us because you don’t agree with our opinion of the way your leading the Church and quite frankly we are hurt by it.

I tried to explain that I was not doing this a wild many.

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Intensity is often misinterpreted as hostility.

(NLT)

Intensity is often misinterpreted as hostility.

This is an incredibly intense passage of scripture. In fact if you read this with no understanding of who Jesus is it would be easy to assume that Jesus was inciting Hostility.

However Jesus was not trying to be hostile or confrontational at all in this passage at all.

He was simply stating a truth that would eventually lead people to freedom.

Even today it seems tha

Intensity is often misinterpreted as hostility.

The powers and prophets have always had a difficult history. The Old Testament is filled with stories of prophets being chased away for fear of their lives. You may recall the story of Elijah, in particular, where he is hunted by Ahab and Jezebel. Or where the people tell Jeremiah that his prophecies are lies.

While we at times have mistaken prophets to be future tellers, what they really are, are truth tellers, revealing the heart of reality that those in power often don’t want to admit.

Nathan the prophet revealed the heart of David when he pointed out his adultery and murder, urging David to repentance. Luckily for Nathan, this story ended well.

However, for numerous other prophets, the revealing of the heart has been painful and has often caused the death of the prophet rather than repentance from those in power.

It doesn’t take much digging to find that the harsh resistance many in power have toward prophetic words extends beyond the pages of the Old Testament.

We can recall resistance We can see the anger of leaders who were questioned by Dietrich Bonhoeffer during the Nazi regime.

There are even times when in the local Church Pastors and Teachers are opposed because they dare to state unpopular ideas in direct opposition to the popular thought of a local community. (gambling etc…)

Many, times when people have chosen to speak up for the ways of righteousness, love, and truth and have, instead of being listened to they were in turn, forced to fear for their livelihood or their lives.

This is the greatest fear that many pastors I know have…that even though they are called to speak truth their livelihood depends almost solely on whether or not people like them. Intensity is often misinterpreted as hostility.

It doesn’t take us long to realize that the powers of this world like to stay in power, and they often react violently when they are pushed to examine their motives.

These are just a few examples of many, times where people have chosen to speak up for the ways of righteousness, love, and truth and have, in turn, been forced to fear for their livelihood or their lives.

The automatic reaction to an intense honest proclamation is that speaker is angry, self serving or just out of touch…Thus making it easier to dismiss the message and real motivation of the leaders.

This is the greatest fears that many pastors I know have…that even though they are called to speak truth their livelihood depends almost solely on whether or not people like them. Intensity is often misinterpreted as hostility.

Jesus is no exception to this type of reaction. As he travels, he is healing people, casting out demons, preaching freedom for the oppressed and a new kingdom.

Jesus is no exception to this type of reaction. As he travels, he is healing people, casting out demons, preaching freedom for the oppressed and a new kingdom. Those in control do not like these words. They react violently to these examinations of their hearts. They react critically to words that call for justice, peace, and compassion. They react with anger to words about releasing power and material wealth. Jesus is warned to leave or face death by the hand of Herod.

Those in control do not like these words. They react violently to these examinations of their hearts. They react critically to words that call for justice, peace, and compassion. They react with anger to words about releasing power and material wealth. Jesus is warned to leave or face death by the hand of Herod.

However, Jesus doesn’t flee; he keeps moving forward, toward the very seat of power, Jerusalem.

Not only does he move closer to the city, but he also continues to do the things that have angered Herod in the first place: healing others, freeing the oppressed, and preaching a new kingdom.

He doesn’t move away from the threat; rather, he seeks to embrace it, saying he longs to gather the children of Jerusalem under his wings like a hen with her chicks.

Though they reject his words and acts of liberation, Jesus continues to speak truth to power, knowing it will ultimately lead to his death. He continues forward, knowing it is not death that will have the final word but resurrection.

BODY

1. Jesus is ushering in the kingdom of God, and to the powers of that world, this kingdom is a threat.

a. Jesus is preaching of the kingdom of God where the last shall be first, where the poor will be fulfilled, where there is rest, where there is restoration, peace, and equality.

b. Herod, however, was a person of control, wealth, and power—all things that Jesus spoke against.

This Herod, Herod Antipas, was the Herod who divorced his wife to marry the wife of his half brother. When John the Baptist spoke against Herod’s marriage to Herodias, it ultimately led to John’s death. Herod is known for building a new capital city, Tiberius, on top of a Jewish graveyard.

Herod is known for building a new capital city, Tiberius, on top of a Jewish graveyard.

2. These prophetic words are not spoken out of superiority but out of humble compassion.

a. Jesus longs to gather the children of Jerusalem under his wings, even though they refuse to listen.

This is a posture of compassion. He longs to see them repent and return to the bosom of God.

This takes humility. Jesus knows he is approaching his death, yet he still willfully walks toward the cross, out of compassion for even those who seek to do him ill.

b. Jesus makes it clear that the rejection of the kingdom is not because it has not been offered to them.

i. It is the will of Christ that they be restored, but they are the ones who refuse to listen.

3. Jesus continues to speak truth, even unto death.

Jesus walks toward Jerusalem with the knowledge of his death waiting, yet he continues to walk. He continues to heal. He continues to preach. He continues to help the people imagine a new kingdom where the last will be first and the poor fulfilled. He references his death when he talks about three days. He also references his death when talking about how Jerusalem has killed the prophets before.

There is a certain kind of bravery that can walk toward death in confident hope, while preaching the very words that will get you killed, simply because they are the words God would have you speak.

We have seen this type of bravery at various moments in history. The prophets of the old Testament who preached, taught, and illustrated prophetic words despite knowing what the consequences could be.

The Rev. Dr. King knew that preaching words of justice, equality, and nonviolent resistance could very well lead to his death, yet he continued to do so.

4. The hope of the kingdom wasn’t in the dying but in the resurrection.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer spoke against the Nazi regime up until his death as a political prisoner.

4. The hope of the kingdom wasn’t in the dying but in the resurrection.

While Jesus continues to allude to his death, he’s always pointing toward his resurrection.

i. The third day is the resurrection day. When we look throughout history at modern-day saints and prophets, we see a theme that they do not fear death because they have an abiding hope in the resurrection.

b. The hope of the prophetic modern-day saints has been in the hope of resurrection.

5. Are we being called to speak prophetic words with bravery?

i. When we look throughout history at modern-day saints and prophets, we see a theme that they do not fear death because they have an abiding hope in the resurrection.

5. Are we being called to speak prophetic words with bravery?

In a time when people want messages that revolve around how to have a happy life, how to manage your finances better, how to have a more productive work life from modern day prophets/pastors/preacher it is easy to misinterpret motives and mood when we call people to something deeper and richer.

Intensity is often misinterpreted as hostility.

The church is called to preach the kingdom of God in the ways that Jesus was, and the world often doesn’t like it. Yet we are still called to preach this word.

The Herods and Jerusalems of our world might stand against us, but we are to preach the words anyway, even as we walk in the same direction of Jesus, toward the cross.

The real power of the Church is compassion…

CONCLUSION

We are not so far removed from the prophets of old. The powers of today still seek control, power, and wealth. The kingdom of God still calls for the last to be first, for justice, and for love. As citizens of this kingdom of God, we are called at times to speak prophetic words to the Herods and Jerusalems of our world.

Lent is a time set aside to reevaluate our hearts, to see the places where we have become the Herods, where we have sought power and control versus the kingdom of God in our world.

It is also a time for us to listen to the voice of God. As citizens of the kingdom of God, we are called to live like Christ, to care for the brokenhearted, to speak for the oppressed, to protect the widow and the orphan, to declare freedom to the captive. This way of living is counter to the ways of this world and will lead us on the same path that Jesus walked—a path toward the cross.

Can we stand in the same humble courage to stand even in the face of death? Can we stand in hopeful expectation of the resurrection?

This exactly what we do when we come to the Table of the Lord.

Benediction From the Prayer of St Patrick

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.