What If Tom Cruise Is Right? (John 10)

*How do you know which “voice” is God’s? I mean how do you know that we shouldn’t be praying to Tom Cruise to use his witchcraft to put out invisible fires?
 
As thinkers such as Tim Keller, Ravi Zacharias and others have pointed out, there are religions that seek to escape the world and there are religions that seek to engage it.
 
Of the three that truly seek to engage the world, (i.e., Judaism, Islam and Christianity), they all have very different views of Jesus.  Even within Christianity there are contrasting views of Christ.  So, how do you know which Jesus is the real one?
 
What does Jesus have to say about it? See John 10:1-42.

10:1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

19 There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, [1] is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? 35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— 36 do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 38 but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” 39 Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

40 He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. 41 And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” 42 And many believed in him there.

These passages raise questions about issues such as eternal salvation or being “once saved always saved” but that’s not an issue we are all going to agree about, so, while we can discuss it, we shouldn’t divide over it.  The more interesting question is what this passage says about Jesus’ own understanding of his person, his mission and what it means to all of us.
 
Jesus says that he and the Father are one.  They are not at odds with one another but share the same vision and the vision is for those of us to follow Jesus to have life and have it “abundantly” (v.10).
 
How? By laying down his life (v.14-18).  This is not health & wealth Jesus but the God Man who reconciles we rebellious creatures to our creator, so that we are free to worship Him and be in a true relationship with Him.
 
It all boils down to this, God loves us so much that He gives us freedom, even the freedom to do evil.  Love is never coerced. Ravi Zacharias writes, “Having the freedom to love when you may choose not to love is to give love legitimate meaning.”
 
Moreover, He loves us so much that He provides a free remedy to heal the wounds caused by this evil.  In fact, He provides His very own life to heal the world He loves so much as to give it the freedom to rebel against him.  
 
He then calls those who are being healed through sacrificial love and forgiveness to be healers who also sacrificially love and forgive.  No other voice sounds like this one. 
 
Ironically, by experiencing this love & forgiveness and then giving everything up to distribute this love and forgiveness to others we find “life abundant” (v.10). 
 
Have you ever heard the story of Dr. J. Robertson McQuilken and his wife? For 20 years he cared for her while she suffered from alzheimer’s disease.  She would wonder away.  She would ask the same questions over and over again.  She would fail to recognize the only one who truly loved her.  This went on for year, after year, after year. Yet, when it looked like she would slip away he wrote,
 
Please Lord, could you let me keep her a little longer? If Jesus took her home, how I would miss her gentle presence.  Oh yes, there are times when I get irritated, but not often.  It doesn’t make sense.  And beside, I love to care for her.  She’s my precious.
 
This is as close as we get to seeing how God loves us.
 
Jesus says, “no one will snatch them out of my hand” (v.29). Nothing you have done or can do will can cause God not love you. This is the only voice worth following.

This Sunday Night at Revolution…

I’ll be preaching on the 10th Chapter of John. The sermon is entitled, “What if Tom Cruise is Right???” 

Afterwards, Ryan Rolfe & the World’s Most Dangerous Praise Band will lead us in worship. 

Revolution meets every Sunday night at 315 Chillicothe Street in Portsmouth, OH. 

Coffee & Community begins at 6:30.  Come and listen to good music, hang out, etc.

Justin Clark will bring things to order around 7:00pm and we will finish around 8:15 p.m.

Everyone is welcome.  Come as you are.

Revolution: It’s Not A Church, It’s A Movement.

Did Jesus have a Samuel L. Jackson Moment? (John 9:1-41).

Did Jesus Have A Samuel L. Jackson Moment? (John 9:1-41)

Attorneys often have to defend the indefensible…Christians are often called to do the same.

Why did Jesus say what he said? (John 9:3) and, unfortunately, it’s not an isolated incident. See Exodus 4:11.  If I could blot something out of the Bible it would be verses like these.

The problem is that God will never conform to our images of Him. 

Have you ever heard the one about the mystic, the evangelical pastor and the fundamentalist preacher who go to heaven? They all three stand in line to have a sit down with Jesus. The Mystic walks into Jesus’ royal tent and walks out fifteen minutes later with a smile on his face saying, “Wow! I thought I had it all wrong.”  The evangelical pastor walks in with his NIV Study Bible and copy of The Purpose Driven Life and walks out in about an hour muttering, “How could I have gotten so much of it wrong.”  Then the fundamentalist preacher walks in with his well-worn copy of the King James Bible.  Fifteen minutes go by.  An hour goes by.  Three hours go by.  A day goes by…then two and then three…finally, Jesus walks out of the tent and says, “Wow! How could I have gotten it so wrong!”

Ever meet Christians who have it all figured out?

Idolatry is the word the Bible uses to talk about the worship of a false God.  Sometimes the false god is the false conception of the real God.

Consider the Exodus story…what is the golden calf? Some have argued that it is nothing but a tame, easily comprehensible version of God Himself.  See Exodus 32:5.

We like the idea of a sweet, tame god.

Today, the golden calf takes many forms like “the Sky Fairy God”, who will make all of our dreams come true.

In his new book, Donald Miller writes “I like Jesus, and I still follow him, but the idea that Jesus will make everything better is a lie.  It’s basically biblical theology translated into the language of infomercials.”  

Some go the other extreme and become “religious.”  People often use religion to hide from God or to try to “magically” manipulate “god.”.  For, unlike the divine, religion, especially in rule form, can be mastered!

The problem with that is, as Peter Rollins puts it, “ethical systems allow us to follow rules whether we love or not.”

The Christian faith is not about rules, it’s about a relationship between us and God…and relationships are dangerous because there is always an element of mystery and risk!

Mystery, and even doubt, are inseparable from faith, for if you know everything with absolute certainty then that’s not faith, that’s agreement.  Even worse, a person who looks to the horror of the cross without doubt that they will receive an eternal reward is not approaching God with love but with nothing but the greedy anticipation of a transaction.

God is God and we will never be able to encapsulate the divine with witty arguments and neat systems.

So, how are we to witness to our faith? Peter Rollins, again, puts it this way, “Our approach must be a powerless one which employs words as a way of saying that we have been left utterly breathless by a beauty that surpasses all words.” 

*Pastor Matt’s PSA: I am not saying that we can’t know true things about God, only that we cannot wholly fathom God or capture Him in a neat, tidy system.  Even in divine revelation, God conceals as much as He reveals and this demands a good bit of awe and humility.

This Sunday Night at Revolution…

we return to the Gospel of John with chapter 9 and a sermon entitled, “Did Jesus Have a Samuel L. Jackson Moment?”

After the sermon, Ryan Rolfe & The World’s Most Dangerous Praise Band will lead us in worship. 

 

Everyone is welcome.  Come as you are.

Revolution meets every Sunday night at 315 Chillicothe Street.

Coffee & Community at 6:30 and main gathering at 7:00 p.m.

Revolution: It’s not  a church, it’s a movement.

http://therevolutiononline.org

This Weekend at Revolution…

Ryan Rolfe will be bringing the thunder! Ryan will preach a stand alone sermon on “Why Do Christians Sing?” Afterwards, Ryan and The World’s Most Dangerous Praise Band will lead everyone in…well…singing!

Revolution meets every Sunday night at 315 Chillicothe Street in Portsmouth, Ohio. Join us for Coffee & Community at 6:30 (hang out, listen to some cool music, eat…you get the idea) and then worship with us at 7:00pm.

Everyone is welcome. Come as you are.

Revolution: It’s Not A Church, It’s A Movement.

This Sunday Night at Revolution…

We continue working through the Gospel of John with a sermon entitled, “Would Jesus Watch Family Guy?”

Afterwards, Ryan Rolfe & The World’s Most Dangerous Praise Band will lead us in worship.

Revolution meets every Sunday night at 315 Chillicothe Street in Portsmouth, OH.

Coffee & Community at 6:30 and Gathering at 7pm.

Everyone is welcome. Come as you are.

Hope to see you there.

Revolution–It’s Not a Church, It’s a Movement.

Bogarting the Light Sermon Notes

John 8:12-30

¹² When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

    ¹³ The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”

    ¹⁴ Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. ¹⁵ You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. ¹⁶ But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. ¹⁷ In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. ¹⁸ I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”

    ¹⁹ Then they asked him, “Where is your father?”

    “You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” ²⁰ He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.

 ²¹ Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”

    ²² This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”

    ²³ But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. ²⁴ I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”

    ²⁵ “Who are you?” they asked.

    “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. ²⁶ “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”

    ²⁷ They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. ²⁸ So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up  the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. ²⁹ The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” ³⁰ Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him.

Jesus uses the term “I am the light of the world.” 1st century Jews understood this term much differently then many of us do today.
 
In the Hebrew Bible, light had many meanings but none less important than that which would guide all the world to know the one true God and His ways. (Isa. 42:6; 49:6; 51:4; 60:3; etc.)
 
Remember that God’s plan for redeeming the world does not begin with the Gospels but in Genesis 12:1-3.
 
God’s plan was that Abraham’s descendants (i.e., Israel) would bring all the world to know God. How?
 
God formed a nation out of a band of slaves and gave them “the law” or Torah, which, among other things commanded the Israelites: (1) to have no poor among them (Deut.15:4); (2) they were to leave a portion of their fields unharvested, so that the poor could come and take food without having to beg (Lev. 19:9-10); (3) to care for the “alien” or immigrant (Deut. 10:18-19) as well as the widow and orphan (Exod. 22:21-24); and (4) to celebrate Jubilee, in which, all debts were forgiven and the land was granted sabbath rest. This was to be like anything the world had ever seen!
 
But how would the world see it?

God chose the perfect location for Israel as it connected all the major empires and trade routes of the day, so that all western cultures would encounter this nation, it’s God and His ways.
 
Yet, Israel fails. They do not clear this important trade route of other “might makes right”, materialistic cultures but, instead, adopt those cultures and treat God and religion as a means to fulfill their own desires.
 
Jesus takes this upon himself this term because he lives out the story of Israel, forms a new people of God and sends them out the four corners of the earth.
 
Biblical authors even go so far as to describe the church as “the body of Christ” (e.g., Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:20; Eph. 1:23ff). Why? Because we are to be Jesus in our own individual contexts.
 
Our Mission? Matt. 25:31-46 records Jesus saying that members of his church/body feed the hungry, welcome the stranger/immigrant, care for the poor/homeless and visit the sick & imprisoned.
 
How are we doing?
 
An estimated 35.5 million Americans are “food insecure” (i.e., they skip meals because they don’t have the resources for 3 meals a day).  An estimated 12.6 million are children.
 
Worldwide, an estimated 6.7 billion people live on less than $2 a day.
 
Every minute, 20 children from around the world die from poverty related issues.
 
Jesus describes his kingdom as a feast for the poor (Luke 14:12-24), which echoes Isa. 55.
  
Yet, according to one study, more than 89% of church budgets are spent on buildings & staff.
 
However, to be fair, less than 6% of Christians tithe and they give an est. 2.58% of their income despite the fact that the estimated total income of American churchgoers alone is $5.2 trillion.
 
Now you may think it’s the “rich Christians” who need to get moving, but, did you know, that if you earn $25,000 a year, you are in the wealthiest 10% of the world!!! If you earn $50,000 you are in the top 1%.  Who do you think God considers rich?
 
IF Christians tithed 10% (roughly $500 billion) and gave it away they could:
 
(1) Fund universal primary education for children in every 3rd world country (cost $6 billion);
 
(2) Bring clean water to nearly all of the world’s poor (cost $9 billion); and
 
(3) Provide basic health care and nutrition for every poor person in the world (cost $13 billion).
And we would still have roughly $470 billion in spare change! What would the world see then? The light of the world?
 
Please understand that Revolution does not exist to criticize the church but exists to call the church back to it’s mission by feeding the homeless and food insecure every Friday evening and to go out into the streets of Portsmouth beginning next month to bring food & water to the meth prostitutes, drug addicts and emotionally ill who wander the streets.

We hope and pray that all of the churches will join us.  We pray that all churches everywhere stop placing mirrors around the light and, instead, shine it into the darkest areas of world.

May it be so.
 

This Sunday Night at Revolution…

We continue our study of the Gospel of John by hitting Chapter 8, verses 12-30.   My talk is entitled “Bogarting the Light.” 

After I’m done yapping, Ryan Rolfe & The World’s Most Dangerous Praise Band will lead us in worship. 

Oh, but there’s more…

After worship, everyone is invited to hang out, eat and watch the River Days fireworks from the municipal parking lot behind Rev.

Revolution meets every week at 315 Chillicothe Street. 

Coffee & Community at 6:30 and Gathering at 7:00.

Everyone is welcome.  Come as you are.

Revolution: It’s Not A Church, It’s A Movement

http://therevolutiononline.org

Love is an Orientation

Love is an Orientation (John 8:1-11)

8:1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

Jean Vanier, in his book Drawn Into The Mystery of Jesus, writes that this scene presents Jesus with a test, in which, he can either contradict the law, which demanded the death of an adulterous woman, or contradict his own message of forgiveness.  Instead he simply writes something in the sand but we are never told what he writes.
 
In the ANE, only women were tried for adultery.  They were largely treated as “non-entities” by the religious leaders but not by Jesus.  Who falls into that category today? It seems to be that it is the Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) community.
 
The Marin Foundation (http://www.themarinfoundation.org/) has conducted the largest scientific survey on the spiritual attitudes of members of the GLBT community.  Among their findings:
 
86% of the GLBT community grew up in a church.
 
73% no longer attend a church although many engage in “alternative spiritual pursuits.”
 
Why did they leave? The top 5 reasons are:
       

17.2% because of the church’s stance on homosexuality

16.2% because they believe religion is “destructive, deceitful & hypocritical.”

15.2% Not interesting.

12.1% Disagree with other doctrines or beliefs.

10%    because they no longer believed in God or a higher power.

 
Yet, 1/3 of those who left are willing to give church another shot but what will it take?  Again, according to Marin,
 
1) Patience & time.
2) A non-judgmental community
3) Support of family & friends
4) A place where they can feel God’s love
5) Teaching that is easily understood
 
But how do you handle the initial hostility of the GLBT community?
 
Marin lists the big 5 questions and recommendations on how to deal with them:
 
Do you think gays and lesbians are born that way? I don’t care.
 
Do you think homosexuality is a sin? I think we all sinners guilty of all sins (James 2:10).
 
Can a GLBT person change their sexual orientation? Jesus changes everyone who follows him.  I don’t know how he’ll change you.
 
Do you think someone can be gay and Christian? Can a person be a sinner and a Christian? 
 
Are GLBT people going to hell? Heaven or hell is largely determined not by what we do but by what Jesus has done (2 Cor. 5:21). 

Please understand that this approach is not about affirming homosexuality.  I (Matt) take a conservative stance on what the Bible teaches about homosexuality but it is about following Jesus in elevating the conversation and trusting the spirit to do it’s work. 
 
What did Jesus write in the sand? No one knows but I think the message of whatever he wrote was “we are all broken” and that we need to treat each other as such.
 
Recommended Reading: Love is an Orientation by Andrew Marin

Pick it up!

This Sunday Night at Revolution…

we continue our study of the Gospel of John with chapter 8:1-11. My sermon is entitled, “Love is an Orientation.”

Afterwards, Ryan Rolfe & The World’s Most Dangerous Praise Band will lead us in worship.

Revolution meets every Sunday night at 315 Chillicothe Street in Portsmouth, Ohio.

6:30 p.m. for Coffee & Community. I’ll be spinning the new Skillet release “Awake” during that half hour. Justin Clark will bring the main gathering to order around 7:00 p.m. We usually finish around 8:15.

 As always, I hope to see you there. Come as you are.

Revolution: It’s not a church, it’s a movement.