Face your fears
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When I talk to my mother during the week, as some point she will ask me, “What are you going to preach about this Sunday?” My answer is usually “Jesus.”
Well, this morning, I am going to preach about Jesus and the Gospel message in a way that you may not have explored before, or, if you have in a deeper way.
I enjoy reading how non-Christian “thinkers” view scripture. I feel like it gives me a better understanding of how to relate to non-believers. How to understand people that don’t know Christ.
I know Christians that are afraid to hear anything that may shake their faith. “I believe in God, and anything that anyone says against the belief in God must be evil, so I don’t want to hear any of it.”
Then how are you ever going be the light of the world?
How are you ever going to be salt?
We have all heard on some nature show, about wild animals, they are more afraid of you then you are of them.
And for most non-believers, the last thing they want to do is talk about God, because either, they have convinced themselves that there is no God, they have fashioned for themselves a god where they end up being the “good guy”, or the have vastly underestimated the power of the wrath of God.
And for those people, any serious challenge to their beliefs will cause them great anxiety. The greatest pain is the knowledge that what you believe is a lie.
But some non-believers are actually seeking the truth. People that pursue truth, but haven’t found it yet. And for me, it is a fascinating process. Because, we know where the truth leads. It leads to God, through Christ.
I use to like mazes. You go until you come to an intersection and you have to choose a path, and you follow that path until you come to a dead end or another intersection. We to me, reading or listening to someone that is a non-believer seek the truth is like watching someone navigate a maze, while looking as the answer key. You can see the red line that leads to the finish. That leads to Christ.
But the process that non-Christian thinking people, gives us some perspective that we may not have though of.
4 Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey.
5 The people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.”
God’s response
6 The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.
venomous snakes.
7 So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and you; intercede with the Lord, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people.
remove the serpents from us.
8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.”
9 And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.
Hold that thought!
Nicodemus - Pharisee and ruler of the Jews came to Jesus at night.
Born again. Born of the spirit.
14 “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;
15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.
Back to Moses and the serpent.
Why did God tell Moses to lift up a serpent?
Why did God tell Moses to lift up a serpent?
God sent serpents. It is the embodiment of sin. So the people that got bit would die. But what about the people that had not been bit? What do you think their mindset would be? They were probably already afraid of snakes, but now their anxiety would be way worse. They would be terrified. How long before they were going to be bit and die? It wouldn’t take long before they were paralyzed with fear. Afraid to leave their tent. Every rope or stick would become a snake in their mind. More and more they would withdrawal into the safety of their own tent, into their own mind.
One of the doctrines of modern psychology in treating patients is exposure therapy.
In a nutshell, you take what someone is afraid of, and expose them, to that which they are afraid, in a safe environment. It actually rewires the brain.
Remember, what they asked for was for God to remove the serpents. But what God did was show them that if they put their faith in him, there was nothing to fear.
God didn’t remove the serpents, but we didn’t hear anymore about them. God didn’t change the circumstances, He changed the people. He rewired them not to fear the serpents. Once there was nothing to fear, they would have become bold and drove the serpents out themselves.
Being brave is better than being safe!
Being brave is better than being safe!
And faith in God makes you brave.
Back to John
The Crucifixion story, according to the Swiss Psychiatrist Carl Jung, is the most tragic story every told.
The Romans chose crucifixion as a execution method because of its cruelty. The victims would slowly die of asphyxiation, exposure and exhaustion but only after terrible pain, torture and humiliation.
But with Christ, it was even more tragic. He was innocent. His mother had to watch his execution. His friend had betrayed him. The leader of the land didn’t care about truth, but willingly went along with the mob. The mob called for his death even through they knew his innocence. They freed a man they knew was guilty to execute one they knew was not. The religious leaders orchestrated the events, not because they believed they were right, but to protect their power. His followers abandoned Him in fear. His captors mocked and one of the people beside him mocked Him. And then, He died.
It doesn’t matter who you put yourselves in the story of Crucifixion, it’s terrible.
Mary - watching your son suffer and die
Pilot - no conviction.
Judas - betrayer of your friends.
Mob - deceived and manipulated.
Barabas - not getting what you know you deserve while and innocent man takes your place.
The disciples - cowards.
The Pharisees - Complete frauds with blood on their hands.
Jesus - betrayal, torture, humiliation, pain, death.
But when we look at Jesus, lifted up on the cross, like the serpent, long enough we see through it to the resurrection.
Jesus defeated the grave! He defeated death.
Like Moses and the serpent, God didn’t remove that which we fear. He did something better. He removed our reason to fear it.
55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
God changed the people in the desert.
If you would put your faith and trust in Christ, he will change you.
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.