o Now this passage
of scripture
o Has nothing to do with
o Clark Kent, or Superman
o Or jumping off tall buildings
o Or anything else like that
o But it does have something to do
o With anger
o Not the anger of a mean drunk
o Or even the anger that takes place
o Between people
o Today's lesson is about Jesus' anger
o We do not often think of
o Jesus getting angry
o Usually we picture Him
o As the sacrificial Lamb
o Humbly yielding up His life
o As He went to the cross & died
o Usually we picture Him
o As we did last week -
o Gently holding a little child in His arms
o But Jesus was fully human
o As well as fully divine
o & He experienced everything
o That we experience
o Even the emotion of anger
o But we have a lot to learn from Jesus
o As we look to see
o What made Jesus angry
o What things brought tears
o To His eyes
o Jesus is still
holding a small child
o As John tells Him that He & the others
o Have seen a man casting out demons
o In Jesus' name
o & Because this person was not
o One of their group
o They told him to quit
o We can almost see
o The tears in Jesus' eyes
o As He hears what John is saying
o But then we cower as the voice of God
o Shouts angrily,
o "Don't stop him!
o "He is on our side!"
o Like so many
things we have looked at
o From God's holy word
o I wish I could tell you that this lesson
o Has been learned by the church
o & That Christ's righteous anger
o Has been set aside forever
o Unfortunately I cannot say that
o For example, many in the church
o Have said that homosexuality is a sin
o & I suppose I agree with them
o But the issue has nothing
o To do with that
o The issue has to do with
o How you respond
o When a person looks up at you
o With tears in their eyes
o & Says, "I think I am gay."
o Do you judge them for their sin?
o Or do you break down
o & Weep with them?
o Do you drive them out of your church?
o Or do you hold them in your arms
o & Remind them that you will always
o Be there for them?
o We have done the same thing
o With abortion
o The issue is not
o Whether abortion is a sin or not
o The issue is how you respond
o When a young woman tells you
o About all the nightmares she has
o Because of a child she has aborted
o The issue is about whether you prefer
o A coat hanger in a dark alley
o Or a sanitary clinic
o & Skilled medical professionals
o But these issues do not need to involve
o Such politically sensitive subjects
o We can have the same responses
o Over some of the most
o Mundane & routine things
o One person introduces a new ministry
o For children
o & Someone says,
o "We never did that before!"
o "Did the Council approve it?"
o & Quickly that ministry disappears
o Someone proposes
o A contemporary worship service
o Complete with drums, guitars, & keyboard
o & Others rise up in opposition
o "Never!"
o "We will not have that in our church!"
o & The opportunity to reach
o A whole new generation of people
o Evaporates
o John said, "We stopped that fellow
o "From healing people.
o "He was not one of us!"
o & Jesus got really, really angry
o You can see His eyes narrowing
o As He glares at John & the others
o "If anyone," He shouts
o "Causes someone to lose their faith
o "It would be better for that person
o "To be thrown into the sea
o "With a large millstone
o "Tied around their neck."
o Clearly John & the others have sinned
o Not only is the exorcist
o Likely to lose his faith
o But all those
o Whom he could have healed
o Will continue in their diseases
o Jesus' voice is booming now
o "If your hand or your foot or your eye
o "Is causing you to sin
o "It would be better for you to cut it off
o "& Enter heaven with only
o "One eye, hand, or foot
o "Than to enter hell
o "With both of them."
o Can you get a sense of just how angry
o Jesus was that day
o When John & the others
o Tried to prevent a person
o From ministering in Jesus' name?
o Jesus' greatest anger
o His darkest emotions
o His bitterest tears
o Were reserved for those
o Who took advantage or abused
o "The little ones"
o The poor, weak, & young
o The old, sick, & outcast
o Jesus did not curb His tongue
o When castigating those
o Who abuse "the little ones"
o & The fierceness of His feelings
o Would quickly turn to tears
o As He would week over
o "The little ones" who struggle
o Here in this world
o Tears of justice
& compassion
o Have become rare here in our world
o That does not mean that tears are rare
o In our modern world we have learned
o That even "real men"
o Can shed big, fat tears
o Without any fear of embarrassment
o But the question is,
o Are we just crying over spilt milk?
o Or over some sappy sentimentality?
o Or do we cry
o For the same reasons Jesus did?
o Is our crying nothing more than
o Wanting what the world wants?
o Prestige? Preeminence? Power?
o The perks of being a church
o In a Christendom world?
o Or do we cry over
o The attitudes & actions that brought
o The sting of tongue to Jesus' mouth?
o & The sting of tears to Jesus' eyes?
o John's gospel says, "Jesus wept."
o Not just figuratively, but literally
o Jesus cried
o When He looked out over Jerusalem
o A city that did not know
o The source of peace
o Jesus cried
o When His own people
o Could not recognize
o The Way, the Truth, & the Life
o When it stared them in the face
o Jesus cried
o When He saw the havoc brought on
o His best friend's family
o When death had taken
o His best friend from them
o So - what really makes us cry, church?
o What makes you sad?
o What makes you glad?
o What makes you mad?
o Raymond Wheeler
of CBS-TV
o Once interviewed a sharecropper's child
o In Selma, Alabama
o "Do you eat breakfast before school?"
o "Sometimes, sir.
o "Sometimes I have peas."
o "And when you get to school,
o "Do you eat?"
o "No, sir."
o "Isn't there any food there?"
o "Yes, sir."
o "Why don't you have it?"
o "I don't have the 35¢."
o "What do you do
o "While the other children eat lunch?"
o "I just sits there on the side."
o "How do you feel when you see
o "The other children eating?"
o "I feel ashamed."
o By this point in the interview
o The child is crying
o What makes you cry, church?
o A seasonal billboard
o Perched above the doors
o Of a Toronto strip club
o Reads, "50 Luscious Babes
o "To tease and please you.
o "Open Good Friday."
o What makes you cry, church?
o The cover line
o On a Mademoiselle magazine says,
o "Sin Is In and It's Okay"
o What makes you cry, church?
o Sam & his
neighbor were chatting
o Over the fence one day
o They were talking about children
o In particular how
o What we hope for our children
o & What our children actually do
o Often clash
o They agreed that we set ourselves up
o For some big-time pain
o When we idealize the future
o Of our children too much
o But then Sam said something else
o He told his neighbor that he had
o A 34-year-old son
o He had never mentioned before
o He went on to say
o That his son lives in Denver
o On the streets
o His son is homeless
o He described a long & dramatic story
o Of pain with this young man
o How they had tried to get him help
o How they had been many times
o Stretched emotionally
o Like a guitar string
o To the point of breaking
o How his last visit was so destructive
o That they had decided the situation
o Was out of their hands
o That there was nothing
o They could do as parents
o Sam said they had gotten to the point
o That all they could do was
o To break all ties with him
o "But," he said,
o "Some nights, some nights,
o "All I can do is lie in bed
o "And wonder where he is."
o Friends, this is parental pain
o & Do you know where
o That kind of suffering comes from?
o It comes from the same place
o Love comes from
o Both suffering & love come from
o The same place in our souls
o If we did not love
o There would be no suffering
o We suffer & hurt & weep for our kids
o Because we love them
o We get homesick
o Because we love home so much
o We shed tears over someone's death
o Because we loved their living so much
o Jesus wept because Jesus loved
o What makes you cry, church?
o What makes you cry?
AMEN
| Home
| | About Simpsonville UMC | | Ministries | | Sermons
|
| News Events | Contact
Us |