Difficult sayings of Jesus (2)

There has been a large push within the last 5-10 years for unity among faith’s. Now, there are different types of unity. Can we and should we be able to live alongside one another without a significant conflict? Yes. Can our faith’s be woven together? No. In that regard there cannot be unity. It is a triangle peg for a square hole. They will not fit because of the distinct declarations of the faith itself. Christendom has many separations among their own, and some point to this as a justification for not trusting Christianity. I do not believe this holds water as it shows an ignorance for the splits. Do we see people leave the church because the carpet color has been changed? Yes. Petty people can find petty reasons to leave. But churches split resulting in a denominational development because of theology. They read Scripture and wrestle with the deep teachings of it and when their theology develops they see that it is at odds with another. They wrestle with it and find that there is no middle ground which they agree upon without compromising Scripture. Throughout Christendom there are still debates regarding Baptism, the Sovereignty of God, and qualifications for Elders or clergy. This is not a “I am going to take my ball and go home” kind of thing. For the same reason, you are here is because you feel this is a place which will help you to grow in the LORD and be discipled. If that latter part is true, we are looking to start two more discipleship groups one for men and one for women. We need leaders, so talk to me if you have even the slightest interest. But, these branches developed over theology and accumulating people who agree with their interpretation. But for the vast majority of Christendom the divisional aspects are not salvific disagreements. The major theology is still in tact and we dispute the other stuff. This is why I can and have served alongside far more than I cannot. But then there are those who claim to be of the same tree, but they have not been grafted in. In broad strokes we have the name it and claim it prosperity gospel. We have the gospel my motivation. You know, half a Bible verse and a 40 minute motivational speech. There are the hyper charismatics, who we saw spring up from the so called Toronto blessing back in the late 90’s, who say it is always God’s will to heal you. These branches profess to be a part of the same tree but they have altered the root, so it cannot be. They have changed Jesus, and to change Jesus is to change everything downstream, which is significant because Jesus is where the spring of water begins. Why are we covering this, because there has been a major push for the church, who worship the God of the Bible to have unity with those who have changed Him. Again, you can go to your building and I will go to my building, we can eat fried chicken, and talk football. We can certainly have that unity. But for me to have unity in faith with them, it would mean I would have to change Jesus and I can’t. Often times we see Jesus as a meek and gentle person who threw out wise sayings like a fortune cookie. But when we read today’s passage, you see very quick that Jesus did not seem to have the same approach to unity that we see being pushed on the church today.

Luke 12:51-53 “51 “Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; 52 for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. 53 “They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

When we read this we are faced with an onslaught of questions. Some in the form of panic because this is not the Jesus we envision. This guy seems mean. “I thought Jesus was about unity and now I am reading this and it seems like it is more about division than He is unity.” I mean, one chapter He is sweet and nice to children the next he talking about dividing households! That’s messed up! Thanksgiving is already a minefield, and now Jesus wants to make it impossible! But is that was Jesus is doing? Is Jesus having a bad day or something? You should read this and have questions, my hope is to answer those today, if I do not, come and speak to me about it because I may need to do more study to address some of your concerns.

One of the very clear and consistent teaching which Jesus does throughout His ministry is self-centered. Now, don’t hear what I am not saying, I am not saying Jesus is self-centered. I am saying His teaching is. All the great teachers before Jesus, the prophets of God, when they spoke they would teach, “Don’t look at me, look to God!” George Whitfield used to say, “Let the name of Whitfield perish!” Amen!? But why would they say this? Because they knew that their lives, their name, and who they are, were not the means by which anyone would be saved. But when we read the Gospels Jesus says the opposite. He says, “Look to me! Follow me.” He was saying that by His life, through His name, and because of who He is our eternities are decided. While others would say, “Look away from me,” Jesus kept saying, “Look toward me.”

So we see here first in Luke 12 that Jesus says He has not come to bring peace. Jesus then goes on to describe what He will bring, division. There are two texts we will look at to bring clarity here. The first is found in the Old Testament with the prophet Micah. The verse we will need to focus on in verse 6 but I want to begin ins verse one for the context. Micah 7:1-6 “1 Woe is me! For I am Like the fruit pickers, like the grape gatherers. There is not a cluster of grapes to eat, Or a first-ripe fig which I crave. 2 The godly person has perished from the land, And there is no upright person among men. (What is the prophet saying? Where are God’s people? Where are those seeking after Him? They are gone.) All of them lie in wait for bloodshed; Each of them hunts the other with a net. 3 Concerning evil, both hands do it well. The prince asks, also the judge, for a bribe, And a great man speaks the desire of his soul; So they weave it together. 4 The best of them is like a briar, The most upright like a thorn hedge. The day when you post your watchmen, Your punishment will come. Then their confusion will occur. 5 Do not trust in a neighbor; Do not have confidence in a friend. From her who lies in your bosom Guard your lips. 6 For son treats father contemptuously, Daughter rises up against her mother, Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; A man’s enemies are the men of his own household.” I think its clear Jesus is alluding back to Micah in His provocative statement in Luke 12. Micah begins by saying he feels like a fruit picker who has nothing good to pick from. He cannot find no upright person. When we read this what comes to mind for me is the fruit of the spirit. The fruit which God the Holy Spirit will produce in us is the fruit of God’s own nature. It also brings to mind other passages in Matthew 3 & 7 where Jesus says to bear fruit in keeping with repentance and that God will prune the person that they would produce more fruit. This is not the case for Micah, he is saying, “I cannot find one.” There are two reasons why this might happen, that the upright are nowhere to be found, and we see these still to this day. There are more but we will only look at two for today. First, we see it through cowardice. So-called leaders backing down for fear of the mob or for fear of not being liked. Paul speaks of such a person and their people, 2 Timothy 4:3-4 “3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” I love you, but I am not here to tickle your ears. I love you enough to tell you the truth, even if it hurts. Where I want to grow is to say the truth with the proper tone, and I may fail in this at times, and in those times I will need you to give me Grace. But a preacher who will tickle the ears of the congregation does not love them, rather, they hate them. I could tickle your ears, and you can leave feeling so good about yourself, and you will leave this church every Sunday feeling so good about yourself. Then a day will come, when you will die, feeling good about yourself, because your name has been the only name that mattered. Because every Bible verse I preached from, there you were, conquering giants, telling mountains to be caste into the sea. Your name was the only name that mattered. Then you will die, and you will stand before the only name that matters, and Jesus will say, “I never knew you.” A person who let that happen is not man of God, they are hireling who hates the flock, and they do not love them. I am not standing here professing to be a godly man. I am a sinner, covered by the grace of God because I am a wretched man. But, I am a wretched man who was called here to serve you, and like it or not, I love you. This has been only the second church I have ever prayed for God not to lead me elsewhere. I truly love you. But with that love it means some tough conversations. According to Scripture we see the upright dwindle because of cowardice. We also see the upright disappear due to persecution.

Let’s look at the other text. Turn to Matthew 10. Micah has brought some clarity but Matthew takes this same statement by Jesus and brings with it some more context. One of the benefits in having 4 Gospels is their recording of the same events from either a different perspective or as we will find here they might go into more detail. Luke recorded this statement by Jesus, Matthew does the same with slight variation and with greater detail.

Matthew 10:34-39 “34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 “For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. Jesus clearly is not speaking literally, as we do not see anywhere in Scripture that Jesus carried any weapon. We know Peter did, the guy Mike Tyson’d a soldier’s ear off and Jesus put it back on healing the man. For a moment I want us to grasp what Jesus is saying, because though it is difficult for us to hear today it was highly offensive when Jesus made this statement. First, I came to set a man against his father. The father was patriarchal head of the household. Within this culture it was through the father which all rights, inheritance, and stability was given. This is why when Jesus was on the cross, He entrusted His mother to the Apostle John, because Joseph her husband had already passed away. So what Jesus is saying would have provoked a reaction from the people as this relationship between father and son was paramount. Second, daughter against her mother. Under the umbrella of the father we have the relationship between the mother and daughter. Though both fell under the headship of the father, the mother had authority over the daughter in a special and unique way. Jesus has already caused problems with the father, but now, the secondary level of authority is taken. Lastly, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. We see this some what today, but not nearly as much as in Jesus’ day. The daughter-in-law was expected to truly become a part of the family. Often times families of groom would add on to their home for their son and his new bride to live. She was expected to be a true member of the family. This is what Jesus is speaking to when he says, enemies will be the members of his household.

How can this be? Earlier we looked at the prophet Micah and he spoke the upright being nowhere to be found. We addressed one of the reasons why, the second is persecution. Throughout Paul’s letters to the church and to his son in Christ Timothy, he warns and spurs God’s people, “Hold fast! Do not allow this persecution to drive you away. Don’t flee from the faith because of hardship!” Why? Because one aspect of persecution is it is fire which refines one’s truth faith. This is lacking in America. There are no entertainment churches in China, Afghanistan, North Korea. There is no Steven Furtick, Michael Todd, or Joel Osteen with their watered down, Gospel distorted theatrics, where there is persecution. Persecution weeds out the goats from the sheep. You cannot be a goat, where there is persecution. Places that, when you choose to follow Jesus you know that if you get caught, you will be subjected to torture. In North Korea, for example, you know that if you are found out, your government will use you as a guinea pig for experiments. This entertainment, shallow, luke-warm kind of American churches we see springing up everywhere in America, do not spring up where there is persecution, why? Because the godly are being killed. Goats take no part of in that. I encourage you to read or listen to Nabeel Quershi’s testimony. He was a practicing Muslim in a family which was setting him up to be some form of clergy within Islam, and he converted to Christianity. He will tell you what that meant. He knew that he was going to be excommunicated by his family. He knew that when he married a Christian girl, that his family would not be represented at the ceremony. This is what Jesus is saying, to follow Jesus, would result for some, to lose their families. This is why Jesus immediately says,

This is why Jesus immediately says, 37 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.” This is what Jesus is trying to tell us still to this day, to follow Him means a complete shift in our lives. He who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. This statement defines all that Jesus is saying here today. To take up the cross of Jesus Christ might mean that your family disowns you. To take up the cross of Jesus Christ will mean persecution. We cannot have any greater loyalty or commitment above Christ. Both as a church and individuals. Our greatest loyalty is to Christ. When mans laws oppose Christ, we are faithful to Christ. To take up a cross is to take up an instrument of death and that cross is ours. “…He who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”

Though at first we might have read what Jesus was saying and thought, “This is kind of messed up, what Jesus is saying!” I hope you see now, Jesus provoked His audience to think. He said something which would bring tension resulting in self-examination. When I try this I just come across as a jerk. Though that may also be true, Jesus does it perfectly. I want to close with this, Jesus commands us to take up our cross and follow Him. What does that entail? I see no one here today with a large wooden cross in their pew. I see cars in the parking lot, not crosses. For us it is a matter of the heart, the intellect, and the soul. Its is not a physical cross which we are to carry but a symbolic one resulting in the emotional, intellectual, and spiritual commitment of ourselves to Christ. This was not so for Jesus. We began by reading from Luke 12 and I want us to read what Jesus says leading up to the text we have covered today. Luke 12:49-50 “49 “I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 “But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!” For Jesus, this cross was no metaphor. It meant that He would bear a real instrument of death. Where Jesus does speak in metaphor, He is pointing to what will happen on that cross. After He carries that cross, fire, God’s judgement will reign down on Christ as though He were you and me. He would bear a cross which belonged to us, be judged as though He were a sinner, and as Paul points out in Romans 6, He would be baptized, He would die, and be placed in a tomb. This Jesus, who calls us to bear a cross, bore it first. This is why He says, “Follow after me.” Jesus said, He who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. This is spoken in the negative, In the positive it would read, “He who takes up his cross and follows after me is worthy of me.” I don’t know about you, but I have not once felt worthy or deserving of God’s great love and mercy, yet I have recieved it. He has poured it out time and time again, more than I can even count just this week. Maybe you know exactly what I am speaking of. But because you have felt unworthy, you avoid God, you avert your eyes from Him, you sit out or punish yourself. “No, it cannot be that simple, I repent and Jesus forgives? I mess up and say sorry, and He says, ‘Its ok?’ That is too easy.” No it’s not. It was not easy to reconcile you to God. It was not easy to bear a cross which did not belong to Him, endure wrath He did not deserve, and conquer our greatest enemy, death itself. No, it was not that easy. Though you and I did not do the heavy lifting, our access to the Father and Mercy which He lavishes us with, was not easily obtained. Our freedom was bought by the blood of God Himself and we receive reconciliation because of what Christ has done, and that was not easy. Yes, we can approach the throne of Christ knowing that He is faithful and just to forgive, but when we allow our unworthiness, to take from Him that which He obtained by saying, “Its too easy” then what we are saying is, I still do not understand the cross. The cross which gave us access to God our Father, was not easy. When we repent we need only to look back and see what that sin cost’s, and then we will see that repentance is not that easy. During our time of invitation, certainly the altar is open for anyone who needs prayer, for anyone who wants to be saved in Christ, or anyone who wants to be renewed. But even from your seats, during this time of invitation, can we meditate on what it took for us, to not have to bear an actual cross, to not have to bear the punishment of our sin, and to be able as sinners to approach God freely, without fear, that would be sanctified in Christ.