Rules? Or Mercy?

 We’ve had this ugly, ugly thing happen in our church. A young man, early twenties has left the congregation. I’m sure he felt as though he had no choice. He’ll have felt as though he was run out of the congregation.

For what you ask?

Well, it wasn’t because of some grievous sin. It wasn’t because of gross hypocrisy. No, this young man who loves Jesus, who longs to serve Jesus was run out of the congregation because - wait for it - he was wearing sandals and bare feet. When he plays the guitar (worship team) he rocks and I mean he REALLY rocks. I love it. Some people, people in power positions complained. The kid got word of their small mindedness and he left. Which, in itself is small minded.

Oh Christians, what a nauseating group we are. While I can cut the young man some slack for his small mindedness, the atavistic behaviours of his elders makes me squeeze my eyes shut and sigh with spiritual weariness.

So what would Jesus do? How about what DID Jesus do?

Read Matthew 12:1-5. David, a man after God’s own heart broke the rules. He didn’t just break a dress-code he really screwed up. He went right into the Holy place and took something he had no business taking. And when Jesus was commenting on this grievous offence He said in both the Old and the New Testament - “I desire mercy.”

Yes rules have their place but mercy is better.

Our sanctuary needs to be exactly that - a place of safety, not attack.

Our sanctuary needs to be a place of mercy, not a place of destruction.

I attend a really, really fine congregation. One of the best I’ve been in. Sadly, even in the best of us, evil and pettiness lurks. 

Let’s Make A Deal

Muslims, atheists and come cults that call themselves Christian, like the Jehovah’s Witness and Mormons would like to make a deal with God. It goes something like this. You let me say that Jesus wasn’t God and I’ll say that He was a really good man, a moral teacher, a good example.

Some (read atheists) think that’s too extravagant and will only go so far as to say, You let me say that Jesus wasn’t God and I’ll agree that Jesus might have existed - He probably didn’t exist but He might have. These people think that because they’ve been so gracious in their estimation of Jesus, should the existence of God turn out to be true, He’ll overlook their vile and evil character.

Actually, those are not options. I mean, if Jesus wasn’t who He said He was, a liar is the least of names that we could call Him. If Jesus is not exactly who He said He is, there should be a crime against His words and actions for they are vile in the extreme. If He was just a man, then Jesus was an imposter, a fraud, a monster. Think about it! If Jesus wasn’t who He said He was, then:

Jesus conned people into dying for Him.

Jesus told people to worship Him.

Jesus told others to be honest, while He lived a lie.

Jesus told others to trust Him to save their souls.

If Jesus was not who He said He was then He was a blasphemer of the highest order.

If Jesus was not who He said He was then He was a megalomaniac and a psychopath.

In the account of Jesus saying, “Which is easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or “Get up and walk,” Jesus was NOT saying to the Pharisees, “You’re wrong to say only God can forgive sin.” They were bang on for that point. Their error was saying He was not God.

There are no deals to be cut here. Jesus left doubters with absolutely no middle ground. He’s either a fraud and blasphemer or God incarnate. Jesus was saying to them and to us, “I can do things that only God can do.”

Unlike present day fraudulent healers, Jesus healed instantly, completely, permanently. In the account just mentioned, where Jesus said, “Which is easier, to forgive this man’s sins or heal him?” the man’s atrophied muscles, brittle bones, bent and twisted arms and legs were made whole; strength and dexterity were restored in a moment of time. It WAS something that only God could do. Even with the proof walking out the door right in front of them, the Pharisee’s, as with today’s atheists, looked only for a way to deny who Jesus was.

Like holocaust deniers who live on the fringes of reality, for those who don’t want to believe that Jesus is who He says He is, no amount of evidence is enough.

And no deal with be made.

You do the crime.

You will do the time.

Clever? You bet!

In Luke 9:46 “An argument started among the disciples about which of them would be the greatest.”

Gee, I wonder who would tempt someone in that direction?

satan uses the same characteristics that brought about his own downfall to wreak havoc in our lives as well. Pride and striving, two things that set satan against his Creator sets us against our Creator and against each other.

President Reagan had a sign on his desk that said, “There is no limit to how high and how far a person might go, as long as he doesn’t care who gets the credit.”

satan, and those who follow his lead strive for credit and applause. Sadly, those in the Church are not immune from this tendency. What led to satan's downfall will destroy us as well, unless we cease our striving and allow God to be in control.

That is after all what it means to be humble. “God opposes the proud but gives His grace to the humble.”

“We Broke the Ocean”

I remember someone saying that many years ago when there was a huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

“We broke the ocean.”

That's a bad thing, but we can fix the ocean if we have the will to do so. I think that our greed and corruption will prevent such action from taking place but we could fix our planet if we wanted to.

Our relationship with our Creator is another story. We broke that relationship and we are incapable of doing anything to fix it. So Jesus did what was necessary to restore that relationship. And He did that before we even knew that we needed His help.

Amazing grace!

Sadly, that's not good enough for atheists. They demand that this offer of forgiveness be imposed on everyone – even on those who don't want this forgiveness – or more importantly – upon those who believe they don't need forgiveness.

In this regard, atheists seem impossible to please. Atheists rage at a God they don't believe in for allowing good things to happen to bad people (some of them the worst humans who ever lived) by bringing them into a heaven that the atheist doesn't believe in.

AND atheists rage at a God they don't believe in for giving atheists what they want most, a life and an eternity without God. He does this by allowing the atheist to choose an eternity in hell (the complete and utter absence of God) which they also don't believe in.

“Without God, We're All Good!”

That's a line from a recent atheist bill-board.

“Without God, we're all good.”

Could there be a more puerile line of thinking?

Wishful thinking?

Psychological blindness?

Without God, we're all good.

Without the police, we're even better.

Without any external measurement of morality, without any conscience at all, we're sociopaths – I mean, atheists.

Atheism – a say anything world-view geared to appeal to those who exist on the fringes of reality. 

Tolerate You – OR – Exclude You

Sadly, that's a tough decision for many people – Christians included.

Sadly, many people see the solution only within this dichotomy.

The fact is, excluding those who wilfully live a sinful life lacks Jesus' kind of love. On the other hand, tolerating a sinful life lacks the kind of courage that Jesus displayed.

Jesus rejected both tolerating and excluding.

Jesus came to those who rejected Him in order to bring them safely home. He said in effect, “I'm going away to prepare a place for you and in the meantime, I'm going to purify you from your sin so that you will become the kind of people who are prepared live in that place.”

To prove that He was serious about this, Jesus came from His throne in heaven, to live among us, with us. He became one of us, identifying with us in our lost and lonely state. And He walked with us all the way to the cross, taking upon Himself a punishment that we could not bear so that we might one day spend eternity in His presence.

Can't we do that same for those who today reject His offer of love and forgiveness? Can't we go to them? Can't we show love to them? Mercy? Kindness? Compassion?

We can't do this while excluding them from our presence. Nor can we do this by excusing or merely tolerating their sin.

All that God has asked us to do is to love others. Love them. Be gentle and understanding and merciful and to point them toward the greatest love and forgiveness this universe will ever know.

If You Have Seen Me . . .

That's what Jesus said. “If you have seen Me, if you have observed what I'm like, if you have listened to My words and understood the grace and mercy and love that I shower on those who come to Me, then you know what Creator God is like.”

We who know Jesus want others to know God as we know Him. That's part of what it means to be created in His image. We are to be image bearers so that others will want to know Him also. We are to point others to the greatness of Creator God.