This Man They Call Jesus

"He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrender Jesus to their will." Luke 23:25

I've never seen this before...I love seeing nuggets in God's Word that are new "to me." The concept behind this statement is completely relevant to me and you today!

"He released the man", the man who Pilate released was Barabbas and he was completely guilty according to the Roman law. But...the custom was to release one prisoner and the crowd chose Barabbas over Jesus. Pilate had nothing he could do but appease the people and have Jesus crucified.

Jesus was perfection, a healer, a messenger of hope...but the people of his day wouldn't hear it. Instead, it was their preference to follow their own plans for life...if they were to follow their own plans they would first have to do something with Jesus.

So...they "surrender Jesus to their will"...their will to go on with life without him.

Jesus gets in the way of many of OUR plans, hopes, and dreams. His message of perfection, healing, and hope requires us to surrender our plans for his. We have two options with this man they call Jesus...

 

We can surrender to His will...as He asks us to

We can surrender Him to our will...as they did in His day

 

What will you do with this man they call Jesus?

 

His Final Moments

While studying for messages for the month of April I'm catching onto a theme.  Here goes my attempt to explain what I'm seeing.

In Jesus' final moments of life on the cross He makes a few statements that are more than well known...

"Father, forgive them, they know not what they do."  Luke 23:34

"I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."  Luke 23:43 

Either one of those ring a bell?  Well they are to say the least, among the greatest final words of any person (maybe not final words...but definitely among the group of what He spoke last).
There is a common theme that goes with these two statements that I had never seen. 

Jesus sees corruption through my unbelief not my actions

(large print for emphasis!)

Corruption of action is a given., we must all realize that we are sinners (Romans 3:10, 23).    Across the board, the whole world is hopeless unless God has steps in. Realizing the need for forgiveness, we approach Jesus with relevance to our life.  Now we can move on...

Jesus sought forgiveness for those who put Him on the cross because they had no comprehension of who He was or what was going on.  If they could believe they would have hope!  Then you see the two criminals on either side of Jesus and realize that though both were admittedly guilty of crimes, it is the unbelief of the mocker that sentenced him to eternal death...it was the belief of the pleading criminal that gave him a ticket to paradise!

One more example from Scripture...

"To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure.  In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted."  Titus 1:15

Unbelief = Corruption in the eyes of Jesus.  Unbelief will distort what is in our minds and consciences.  Belief that Jesus is who He says and did what He claims...purifies all.

In His final moments, Jesus reinforced what those in His day and throughout all history have struggles to grasp...Salvation "is by grace...through faith...not from yourselves."

When was the last time you used a phone like this?

Fact:  your brand new IPad

is out of date

Fact:  your soon to be brand new IPad 2 will be out of date by the time you learn how to use it

In the world we live in it is IMPOSSIBLE to keep up with all the constant changes.  If I attempt to, I will be financially and emotionally broken.  In a life of following Christ we have the same struggles.  Whether in a "ministry" position or a pew (we still have these at our church), there is a constant desire to do what is relevant.  This is not completely negative!  The world's culture evolves daily and therefore the church should in some ways  evolve with it.

Fact:  people today don't go where people went 20 years ago 

(skating rinks and phone booths are proof)

Fact:  churches are closing doors that will never open again

(good or bad the world is changing!)

In days gone by we would communicate through bulky rotary phones and today we whip out our sleek cell phones...though the line of communication looks much different we are still saying the same thing.  The style of phone doesn't change my purpose for calling, how cool I look doesn't alter what I need to say.  Jesus gave all of us a calling and He was very clear about it...

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."  Matthew 28:18-20

Jesus didn't dictate the method of communication...but He was clear on our calling. 
1.  Make disciples of Jesus Christ
2.  Baptise them in the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit
3.  Teach these believers a life of obedience to Jesus

What keeps us from answering Jesus' call on our life? 
1.  Caller I.D.  Have we blocked our call?
2.  Too busy keeping up with Apple's latest and greatest IPhone (being relevant and cool) to answer the call?
3.  Rotary phone (what we've always done) is broken and we're unwilling to admit it?

Realize the call of Jesus...realize what is priority in life...be willing to cut the land line and invest in an IPhone
(What I mean is don't spend more time repairing than communicating, this makes no sense with phones so why would it with making disciples)
...be willing to turn the rotary if it still completes the call.

It's been a while

The past two weeks have really weighed on me, and a conversation I had yesterday with a friend has even added to the burden.  If there is one thing I take comfort in during times of burdens it is that

"My burden is according to God's Word."

I can't always say that, but right now I can.  So on one level there is comfort and assurance that God is building myself for His glory (which will prevail) and on another level, if not careful, the human part of me can grow weary during these times.

My message that I'm currently working on is the basis for much of what's going through my mind and heart.  Jesus was being grilled by a bunch of big headed small feet religious dudes (therefore the bobble head image to your left, only an image of the real thing and completely useless) that only wanted to get their point across...with no concern for the things of God.  The barbeque concludes with a final shot by these guys, "which is the greatest commandment?"

They thought their big heads full of wisdom and knowledge had finally trapped Jesus in the corner.  Jesus blows their minds with a simple, non-religous answer.  "Love...God"

The gospel of Jesus is very simple.  It's our human theology that makes it difficult, our false doctrine and our big headed pride.  Jesus says, you need help and I'm here to offer it.  Throw away your list of do's and don'ts long enough to respond to love.  Love me...then allow that love to overflow to your neighbor so that he too might love me.

Lifestyles of the "not so" rich and famous

I have way too much stuff!  Vehicles, TVs, and fancy home decorations (that's all Shelli) are just the beginning.  By most of the world's standards I'm filthy rich.  Let me put it this way...I've got two heat and air systems in my home (one upstairs and one down) but this is not sufficient.  I'm so rich that I've got to have a personal heater to set at my side as I search the Internet on one of my two computers just so my fancy toes don't get too cold!  If I was honest about it, that would make me look like royalty in most nations.
I can't possibly know what Jesus was talking about in Luke 21:1-4,

“As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury.  He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

It seems that no matter how much I give to the church, organizations, or families who could use it...I'll always be giving out of my wealth.  But there's a part of me that would like to be able to tell Jesus, "I gave all I had...out of my poverty."  Please don't get me wrong, I absolutely don't want to give up what God has so graciously blessed my family with.  I believe it would be selfish to even think that way.  The best I can do is give more through my wealth, God blessed me so I can bless others all the more.  But is there somewhere in my life that I can experience what it means to give out of my poverty?  Is there a place that I can show Jesus that I don't have much but what I do have is His?

I've attended all different sized churches in my life.  One's that range from 100 - 3,000 people.  For the most part these churches have been growing, active, and wealthy churches.  There's a part of being in these churches that you expect the church to give unselfishly...it would look a little odd if we enjoyed the new basketball gym at church without at least giving to the local food pantry too.  But now Shelli and I find ourselves serving in a ministry that is at this point much smaller.  As I find myself serving in a church with less people I am finding an opportunity for us to experience giving out of our poverty.

The key to Vimy Ridge Immanuel Baptist's mission is connecting with a surrounding community, a community that this church was built to be the center of.  We are to be "Christ centered and community focused."  Although we are considered wealthy by financial or status standards we have the opportunity to show Christ that we are willing to give all we have to live on, we are willing to give out of our poverty.

Don't allow a lack of funds or skills to lessen what you bring as an offering to the One who gave it all for you.

Can't a brotha' get a Motel 6?

"He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him."  Isaiah 53:2

Is it odd that Jesus' birth was announced with angels appearing out of nowhere, a bright glowing star in the sky, and shepherds and wise guys running in from all over the place...all leading to the "Son of God" being found in a dirty ole cave?  Is this odd?  Wouldn't you think that such a HUGE announcement would at least be able to make a reservation at the Motel 6?  Although the message of His birth was brilliant and majestic, Jesus was not.  There was nothing beautiful about Him.

This says more about "us" than it does "Him."

We see beauty as something to be desired...we want it in our mates, in ourselves, and in everything we do.  Nobody sets out to marry the ugliest girl they can find, we want beauty!  There are two major issues with this mindset....

1.  Our image of beauty changes...what was beautiful 15 years ago is out of date and hideous now.  When was the last time you saw a lady rocking the beehive hairdo and you turned to check out how hot it was?

2.  Beauty creates infatuation...the human mind is so easily confused.  We can rarely distinguish between a healthy relation and infatuation.  We confuse lust for love and too many times our zeal for another fades with their beauty.

God's plan for salvation takes the human nature concerning beauty out of the equation.  Had Jesus come as beautiful and majestic as He really is...we would have become infatuated with His beauty.  When life got ugly we would be guilty of seeking beauty in something new (don't believe it?  look at marriage stats).

Jesus came not to impress us with His beauty but to impress upon us our need for a Savior.

Waiting Stinks

Waiting...there are very few things in this world that match the difficulty of waiting.  We can't wait for someone to call us back so we have call waiting.  The biggest event of my week was going into the revenue office and NOT having to "get a number!"  Personally, I feel like I'm good a doing.  When I think of an idea...I've probably already begun the process.  But waiting???  Waiting stinks.

"Yet those who wait for the LORD
         Will gain new strength;
         They will mount up with wings like eagles,
         They will run and not get tired,
         They will walk and not become weary."  Isaiah 40:31 (NASB)

As Shelli and I have entered a ministry that is new to us we now find ourselves waiting.  No doubt I'm working and running and striving...but yet waiting.  I find myself seeing the BIG picture of what ministry will look like, then I find myself running towards it.  Then, I find myself tired and weary.  Waiting...

One thing I know is that waiting gives way to greater faith.  I've waited for the Lord before and I'll do it again because those who wait will not grow weary.  Today don't grow weary in waiting, strength is in the Lord.