The Good News is Offensive
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Pray
Introduction
If you were at the Children’s day service, you’ll know just how bad I am at art. I’m hopeless. Kate is much better than me, and Bethany seems to have taken from her.
From a very early age, Bethany was drawing - in fact from 18 months she was able to draw Mickey Mouse.
Naomi partly takes after me - bless her - but because of her developmental delay due to her condition, she isn’t able to translate the picture in front of her (or the image in her head) onto paper.
Now, she tries, but she her drawings aren’t the greatest in the world. She won’t win any prizes for her art.
In fact, there was an art competition at school and she was convinced that she was going to win, and Kate and I had to sit her down and talk to her about the fact that she may NOT win that competition.
And she didn’t win the competition, and she was devastated.
And we sat her down again and told her, AGAIN, that our love for her didn’t depend on how good she was at art. We love her regardless of how good she is at art or how good she is at anything - same thing happens every year at sports day.
And we affirm her for who she is. Regardless of how good she is at art or how BAD she is at art, we love her just the same. Our love for her isn’t defined by how bad she is at art.
Pause
But at the same time, whenever she draws a picture and brings it to me. I don’t say to her, ‘that’s awful, Naomi. That’s a load of rubbish. You’ve got the colours all wrong and the eyes are in the wrong place. How dare you bring that kind of trash to me? Now go to your room!
Of course I don’t say that - I don’t even THINK that. Sure, her drawing may not be perfect, but she drew it and I tell her, ‘that’s lovely, Naomi,’ because it IS lovely in its own right.
She doesn’t NEED to be told that she’s bad at art. And I don’t want to tell her that. So she kinda lives in her own wee bubble that she’s not that bad at art…until the competition time comes around and she’s devastated AGAIN because she thinks she’s good enough to win.
Now, I think every parent does the same thing. We encourage our children - we want to make them think they can achieve anything. We don’t tell them that they actually aren’t that great.... ‘You can’t draw as well as Picasso, so don’t even bother trying to draw... You aren’t as fast as Ussain Bolt, so don’t even bother trying to run… You aren’t as good as Namar or George Best, so don’t even bother trying to play football.’
We just don’t do that…and children don’t want to hear that either.
Telling them would cause great offence.
Pause
Now we’ll come back to that in a second. Keep that thought in the back of your head while we focus on today’s passage.
We’re continuing in our study on Acts, and while the books isn’t named this way, this is the end of Act 1 scene 1.
Jesus has left his disciples. He told them...
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
And off he goes - and this first scene is the witness of the power of the Holy Spirit.
It started at Pentecost when the Spirit came and empowered the apostles to perform signs and wonders, to heal people, to drive out demons, to preach with boldness that the Messiah - the one that Israel was waiting for is in fact Jesus, and that the Jews put him to death, but God raised him up again and they are witness of this act and if people repent of their sin and trust in Jesus that they will receive salvation and eternal life.
And we’ve looked at the healing that Peter did that caused him and John to be arrested.
We saw how the church has snowballed and expanded and, like Jesus promised, no kingdom of this world or the underworld is able to stop it from spreading - the gates of Hell is not prevailing against it.
And then last week, after Ananias and Sapphira die, more and more believe in Jesus and are added to their number. And after that, people are bringing the sick so that even Peter’s shadow can fall on the sick and be healed. And demons are being driven out and the church is continuing to grow and expand.
And today we see that, as a result of this expansion and the signs and wonders, the apostles are once again arrested and brought before the Jewish leaders to give account for what is happening.
And the reason why they are arrested is because the Jews are jealous...
17 Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.
They are jealous because more and more people are believing in Jesus and following ‘the WAY’. They are turning AWAY from Judaism and following this Jesus movement - these people who will soon be called ‘Christians’ - Messiah people.
And with more and more people coming to faith in Jesus, the Jews are feeling threatened - they are losing their numbers, and they want to stop this…they are jealous.
Pause
Now, since we are in Christendom here in Northern Ireland, it’s hard to see it from another perspective.
But put yourself in the shoes of the High Priest and the members of the Sanhedrin - who are Sadducees.
Let’s say you’re a Sadducee. You are the majority in the senate. You’re an associate of the High Priest. And you have the voting power.
You are also a collaborator with Rome. Some people, like the Pharisees, don’t like Rome and wouldn’t want anything to do with them. You’re not a fan of them either, but might as well work WITH them, than against them.
And, importantly, you don’t believe in the afterlife. This whole ‘resurrection from the dead’ mumbo jumbo that the Pharisees believe is a load of nonsense. There’s no such thing as heaven and hell - when you die you die.
And you’re still waiting the coming of the Messiah to come and eventually overthrow Rome and bring Israel to its former glory.
So that’s you, and you’re part of this senate - this ruling body within the church.
And you hear these people, these Messiah-people - going around claiming that the Messiah HAS come in the form of Jesus, who they call ‘Jesus the Messiah’ because that’s what Jesus Christ means. Christ is the Greek word for Messiah.
And these Messiah-people - these Christ-people…these Christians are preaching that Jesus is the Messiah and he HAS come, but we killed him because we didn’t realise that he is the Messiah…but God raised him from the dead - which is ludicrous because there is no such thing as life after death.
And you’re being told that what you believe is WRONG - that you’re a sinner and that obeying the law isn’t going to save you from your sins.
You’re being told that going to the temple isn’t going to save you from your sins.
You’re being told that there IS life after death and there’s death after death in the form of hell.
You’re essentially being told that your religion is WRONG and that you’re going to hell as a result after you die, because you’re not believing in the right thing - because you’re trusting in your religion to save you and not trusting inJesus Christ.
But you’re being told that if you admit that you’re a sinner and confess your sins and repent of them and believe in Jesus Christ, he will grant you forgiveness of your sins and a new way of life - an eternal life.
And this goes against everything that you believe.
But here’s the problem - these people aren’t just saying these things - they are doing the impossible. They are able to heal the sick and drive out demons.
I mean, who DOES that unless they have some sort of power behind them? Now, these guys are claiming it’s the power of God himself in the form of the Holy Spirit, but that can’t be right because there is only ONE God.
But your big concern is that your followers are being led away from what you believe and are starting to follow these Messiah-people - these Christ people - these Christians.
And more and more people are leaving YOUR ‘temple’ to join this Church of believers of Jesus Christ, because for SOME people, this is a breath of fresh air. ‘you mean I DON’T have to struggle with all this law keeping to get right with God? you mean I just have to accept Jesus and trust in HIM?’
But this also means less money in the temple, this means less power for you…this has GOT to stop.
Pause
Now, as a Sadducee, you can how this could make you jealous. ‘We don’t want people leaving OUR religion and following this Jesus-movement. But we can’t compete with the miracles that are happening - so let’s arrest these guys and threaten them.’
What makes matters worse is that they miraculously escape from prison and go right back to the temple to preach this good news that Jesus saves sinners who repent and trust in him. They preach what the angel of the Lord tells them to preach...
20 “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”
They preach about this NEW LIFE that can be found in Jesus. A life that is not about the rules and following the law… a life that’s not about religion, but is based on grace and love and mercy and forgiveness.
It’s a life that is for the broken, for the poor in spirit, it is for those who mourn over their sin, for those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, and it’s for those who are persecuted for Jesus’ name.
Pause
And now that the apostles have miraculously escaped prison, the senate need to be really careful about how they handle this situation. So they arrest them, but not with force, because the crowd would stone them if they did.
But they bring them to answer for their ‘crimes’ against their religion.
Pause
Now, the Pharisees, who are a separate faction in the Senate - they are the minority group, but they believe in the afterlife.
They aren’t a fan of these Messiah-people either, but Gamaliel - a respected, not just respected but honoured leader of the Pharisees - respected by everyone - stands up and says, let them be. If this is of God it will last. If not it’ll fade out.
Now, there’s a power-play going on here that we don’t have time to go into...
...but the apostles are told not to speak the name of Jesus. They are beaten - flogged, which means they were given 40 lashes minus 1 - 39 lashes. 40 lashes were deemed too much and would probably result in death. So they got 39 lashes and were sent on their way…rejoicing.
They suffered and experienced something of what Jesus suffered before he died on the cross.
But perhaps Jesus’ words came to mind as they were being whipped to within an inch of their life...
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
How else could they go on their way rejoicing?
These guys weren’t skipping out. They weren’t giving hi-fives as they left, cheering and yoohooing.
These guys were whipped or flogged to within an inch of their lives because of Jesus. They were persecuted because of righteousness.
So they were rejoicing, as they limped away from the senate, because their reward is great in heaven because they were considered worthy to suffer dishonour for the name of Jesus.
You see, when you’re focused on Jesus and on your eternal life, it puts your present life and it’s suffering into perspective.
Pause
And what was the result???
42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
They went back to the temple - back to the place they were told not to go. Back to the place where the Senate ruled and they NEVER stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
Pause
If you remember from last week, Satan had tried to derail this movement by having Peter and John arrested in Acts 3, he tried to derail this movement by tempting Ananias and Sapphira…and he’s tried again to detail this movement by having the apostles not only arrested, but beaten to within an inch of their lives.
But this doesn’t deter them...
Jesus is building his church and no kingdom of this world or the underworld is going to prevailing against it.
Pause
These followers of Jesus were simply trying to tell people that what they were believing was wrong. That their religion wasn’t getting them anywhere.
The Jewish leaders were teaching that being right with God was found in the law and that by keeping the law you would make your peace with God and be saved.
The apostles were teaching that salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
The Jews were teaching that you're good if you keep the law.
The apostles were teaching that you’re not good… that you’re a sinner and you need to confess that sin to Jesus and trust in his forgiveness.
Pause
But that’s not much different to church today.
In Northern Ireland, we are bogged down with religion and tradition. And we have a form or religion that says that coming to church will mean that you’re ok with God.
People believe in a religion that says that you’re good. You’re a good person. Like I tell Naomi that her artwork is great, people are convinced that they are great and their lives are great. That it’s what you do with your life that counts - that being successful or a decent person is what counts.
And this religion is making people think that they are good people - great people, even - good enough to get into heaven....Like Naomi thinks she’s a great artist.
And so we have a load of Sadducees going to church every week, believing that you need to do a certain thing and you’ll be ok with God - follow a certain religious formula, follow the rules as best you can, be a good person and you’ll be ok.
And then what happens is a new minister comes to that church and says, ‘you know what - you’re NOT great. In fact, you have a really big issue that you need to deal with and it’s your sin...
...And you need to confess your sin before Jesus and accept his salvation and grace and this life that he brings. That religious formula that you think you’re following isn’t getting you anywhere.’
But what can happen is that people react the same way the Sadducees reacted in our passage - they get affronted.
33 When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death.
How dare you tell me that my religion is wrong? How dare you tell me that I have sin that needs confessed? How DARE you tell me that I am NOT a good person? Who do you think you are?
And then some people want to drive out that kind of minister, by spreading lies and doing whatever they can to get rid of them so that they can find another ‘Sadducee’ to tell them what they want to hear - that they are good. Or they go to another church of Sadducees and hear what they want to hear.
You know what…it’s sad, you see, because people are missing out on the grace and love and forgiveness of Jesus, simply because they don’t want to admit that they aren’t good people - that they sin and fall short of the glory of God.
People don’t want to hear the good news because for the gospel to be good news, people need to hear the bad news first - and the bad news is offensive.
Pause
I love Naomi so much, and I know she’s not great at art, but I don’t expect her to be. And her value to me is not based on how good she is at art - all I want is for her to know that I love her as she is and for her to accept my love.
But when art competitions come around, Naomi thinks she’s going to win. What she needs is for someone to tell her that she’s not going to win because she isn’t good at art…but that’s not what we do, because it would break her heart.
But there are people in churches convinced that they are going to heaven because they THINK they are good enough to get into heaven. And what they need is for someone to tell them that if they are banking on their religion and their good works to get them into heaven then they’re going to be disappointed.
But with Jesus, He wants us to know that we’re NOT great people…we’re not even good people. Now that might soud like bad news, but the GOOD NEWS is that while I love Naomi despite her artwork, Jesus loves us despite our sin…and he will forgive us and give us this awesome new life if we would only humble ourselves and admit that we aren’t good and instead place our trust in him.
But to accept the good news, it means we need to hear the bad news first, and realise that we’re NOT as good as we think we are - that OUR way of getting into heaven isn’t the right way. And that’s offensive to many people - that can be devastating to some people.
It was offensive to the Sadducees and it’s offensive to those who think they are good people, even though they may be religious, even though they may come to church every week.
But it’s what people need to hear and accept for their lives to change. For some it’s great news because they can stop working at their salvation and accept Jesus’ grace. For others it’s offensive, because they don’t want to deal with the fact that they sin and aren’t as good as they think they are.
Religion says ‘you’re great just as you are. Just keep doing the stuff you need to do - keep following the religious ‘formula’ and you’ll be grand.’
The gospel says, ‘you’re NOT great. In fact, no one is good.’
…but it doesn’t stop there. It continues to say, ‘but come to Jesus as you are, acknowledging that HE is great, and let him make you great.’
Pause
Is anyone here tired of religion?
Jesus welcomes the tired and weary, the broken and messy. He’s all you need.
Don’t be offended - come to Jesus and rejoice that you are considered worthy to suffer dishonour for Jesus.
Let’s pray.