Matthew 28:5-6
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.
(REWIND)
Betrayed and arrested!
Denied and abandoned!
Wrongfully accused by the lost!
Spit on and struck by their fists!
Slapped and mocked!
Hated more than a murderer!
Stripped and teased!
Crown of thorns pressed into his head!
Lash after lash, punch after punch!
Led away to be crucified……stakes nailed through his hands and feet, displayed for all to see. Exposed before all, followers, doubters, those that hated him, those that just weren’t sure, those that spit on him, those that struck him, those that drove the stakes through his flesh and bones, those that pressed the thorns into his head, those that screamed nasty remarks at him, those that took his clothes, those that laughed at the sight of him hanging there to die! And he was hanging there for each and every one of us including all that witnessed it firsthand. Picture that for a moment…….every act of defiance whether it be hitting him or spitting on him or even hammering a nail through him……now picture it in slow motion……with every lash, picture him looking the one with the whip in the eyes as if to say, “I came for you!” Picture several more……”I came for you,” to the spitter….the mocker….the one with the hammer….the ones holding the clothes they just took from him….the one pressing the thorns into his head…..the entire crowd chanting in unison, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”…..”I came for you!”
In fact, Luke 23:34 shares Jesus’ prayer for them. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And this was prayed from the cross! Picture the look he would have given them….picture it….through beaten but not defeated eyes….ripped open and bleeding….sprawled out and alone…..now let’s picture this stare as if it is being directed at us….”I came for you!” And we know this, but picture it. Let’s picture ourselves in the crowd around the cross. What are we saying? What are we doing? Now quit picturing ourselves as little Mr. or Mrs. perfect, even the disciples deserted him. He is hanging there for our sins too. I don’t know about you, but there certainly was a time where I would have been in there mocking, doubting even taking a swing or two, if I thought it was a threat to “MY WAY!”
Most of us are very familiar with the fact that no matter how close to God we are now, our stains are being collected in this moment as well. Over 2000 years ago everything we would eventually do, and ever will, in rebellion to God’s design Jesus said, “Bring it to me!” And not just the acts themselves, but the hurt they brought, the guilt, the shame, the scars, the fear, the bitterness, the hatred, the doubt, the loneliness; whatever the baggage may be……he said and continues to say, “bring it to me!”
“I CAME FOR YOU!”
Why did he come for us? Why would he die for us? Why would he suffer so that we would be forgiven? Why do we matter to him?
In the beginning all things worked together to glorify God. They still do, we just lose track of the truth in this too often. But, in the beginning, or in the Bible leading up to the fall it is obvious even to us. It says God was pleased with everything He created in Genesis. In fact by the time He had spoke it all into existence, He was so satisfied with it that He rested.
The fall did not change why we were created, it did however provide us with a choice to ignore why He formed us. To run from God’s plan for us, to mock it even. But that does not change the “truth,” of why we are here. And that is why Jesus came for us. That is why he would die for us, why he would suffer for us, why we matter to him. Jesus being sent down to us, to die, conquer death by rising again so that we would have a way to intimately know God is the answer. And most of us know this too.
The problem that is all too popular though is, too many of us are missing the point of why this way to God has been provided. It isn’t for us to dance around in the streets singing songs of being forgiven because we are so special. But in a way that is what a lot of us do. We pray a prayer for God to forgive us and then we put on the “forgiven,” hat and strut around with our noses in the air and chest puffed out! We put on the “loving,” hat from time to time; but usually just for show. This may sound a little harsh, but it’s true. We apply limitations to how much of our lives we give to God and we even try to justify it. We try to cheapen grace as if it is on our terms. Or to put it simply we act as if Jesus came to make much of us, when in fact, he came so that we may be in on the making much of him. Sure we’ll shout out an, “Amen,” every now and then, and even shout it again if people didn’t hear us the first time as if to make sure they can see our, “forgiven,” hats.
Just before Jesus was arrested while he was praying he paints a clear picture of why we have been made new. John 17 shares this prayer; let’s take a look at some of these verses.
(v.10)
“All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.”
It does not say, “And I have come to glorify them.” It says that they have glorified him! Should it be any different for us? He came so that we may glorify His name!
(v.13)
“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.”
He says, “A full measure of ‘MY’ joy within them.” He doesn’t say so that we may live our lives in search of all things that we think will make us happy. He came so that we could experience so much more than what we’re capable of without him. But even this is so that we may glorify Him.
(v.15)
“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”
He doesn’t pray for us to be made better than anyone else. He does go on to state that we are not of the world, but nowhere does he say that because of this we should treat anyone as beneath us. He then goes on to say that just as God had sent him so he sends us into the world. And all this continues to line up with glorifying God and finding the true joy found there. It is not, “Protect them from the evil one so that they will seem like they are THE MAN!” What it means is to protect us from the evil one so that we may stand out as the difference. So that God may be glorified through us, as we are in the world. Why then is it so common for us to miss this, and to miss it in two very different ways. We either catch that, “holier than thou,” fever and look down on every person struggling with things similar to what we were battling ourselves or we blend in with the world and its ways as if there is no difference in us at all. This is another reason why Jesus came. So that we could be sanctified by the truth as it says in (v.17 & 19) and live by these truths! The truth is that we are protected from the evil one and set apart so that we may stand out in the world by glorifying God.
(v.23)
“I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.”
So no matter what gifts and abilities God has given us, our being brought into this complete unity, is not to make much of the gifts and abilities, but to glorify God by making much of the Gospel. Which is God sending Jesus whom he loves, to die and rise again removing the sting of death for us because He loves us too much to leave us cut off from His glory. Which happens to be exactly where, and only where, this full measure of His joy is found.
(v.26)
“I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
Jesus came to make the Father known to us and for His love to dwell in us by offering himself up for us. So His love can be in us and so that Jesus by the power of the Spirit may be in us.
Let us not cheapen the truth to why Jesus came, to simply, “because He loves us.” This is true, but leaving it this short and simple leaves us missing out on a full measure of why He came. It leaves too much room for us to make too much of ourselves and our abilities and/or accomplishments. Accomplishment driven lives will be repetitively unsatisfied. In fact I’d like to share a poem I read in Max Lucado’s Fearless book. I think it’s called The Villagers of Stiltsville.
Perhaps you don’t know,
then, maybe you do,
about Stiltsville, the village,
(so strange but so true)
where people like we,
some tiny, some tall,
with jobs and kids
and clocks on the wall
keep an eye on the time,
for each evening at six,
they meet in the square
for the purpose of sticks,
tall stilts upon which
Stiltsvillians can strut
and be lifted above
those down in a rut:
the less and the least,
the Tribe of Too Smalls,
the not cools and have-nots
who want to be tall
but can’t because
in the giving of sticks
their name was not called.
They did not get picked.
Yet still they come
when villagers gather;
they press to the front
to see if they matter
to the clique of the cool,
to the court of high clout,
that decides who is special
and declares with a shout,
“You’re classy!” “You’re pretty!”
“You’re clever” or “Funny!”
And bequeath a prize,
not of medals or money,
not a freshly baked pie
or a house someone built,
but the oddest of gifts-
a gift of some stilts.
Moving up in their mission,
going higher their aim.
“Elevate your position”
is the name of their game.
The higher-ups of Stiltsville
(you know if you’ve been there)
make the biggest to-do
of the sweetest of thin air.
They relish the chance
on their high apparatus
to strut on their stilts,
the ultimate status.
For isn’t life best
when viewed from the top?
Unless you stumble
and suddenly are not
so sure of your footing.
You tilt and then sway.
“Look out bel-o-o-o-w!”
and fall straightaway
into the Too Smalls,
hoi polloi of the earth.
You land on your pride-
oh boy, how it hurts
when the chic police,
in the jilt of all jilts,
don’t offer to help
but instead take your stilts.
“Who made you king?”
you start to complain
but then notice the hour
and forget your refrain.
It’s almost six!
No time to chatter.
It’s back to the crowd
to see if you matter.
A few pages later it finishes off in a short second verse so to speak.
Stiltsvillians still cluster,
and crowds still clamor,
but more stay away.
They seem less enamored
since the Carpenter came
and refused to be stilted.
He chose low over high,
left the system tip-tilted.
“You matter already,”
he explained to the town.
“Trust me on this one.
Keep your feet on the ground.”
Christ came to expel all of our “checklist” and “ladder” systems. It’s funny He came and simplified Salvation with grace over law, but over 2000 years later we still try to complicate it. We still try to earn it on our own or simply throw in the towel thinking it would take too much work! This is our call. This is what we are wiped clean to witness to. To be the rescued hands, feet, and voices that are vessels of His love by his presence in us to reach everywhere we go with the truth that Jesus already paid the price out of a love for each one of us. And he did so that we may know Him and stand on the true joy found in making much of Him! Any other version is quite simply missing it!
I’ve been in Hawaii all week where Misty and I were married Tuesday morning and we have been enjoying our honeymoon since. What an incredible place! I’ve had several moments this week where I’ve just looked on in amazement. Not to lose track that the creator is so much more beautiful and amazing than any creation, but I’ve seen the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in my life here. I’ve seen breathtaking mountainous landscapes overlooking miles of the bluest oceans crashing all around it. I’ve seen waterfalls hidden in the wilderness that were so worth the hiking and miles and miles of narrow winding mountain cliff roads to get to them. I’ve seen beaches that knock the stress right off your shoulders at first glimpse. But as I was lying on the beach today with my iPod in ear I couldn’t help but get caught up in all of God’s work around me singing His praises. I don’t mean to seem corny, I know we hear it all the time; in fact I just heard it recently a couple times listening to Louie Giglio use NASA photographs to display God’s majesty. But I’m going to go down that road too, but with the amazing sights here.
As I was lying there today I just looked up from my beach chair and saw the waves crashing in right at my feet, just the way God spoke them into glorifying His craftsmanship. They stretched out as far as I could see, but not one stood out by trying to go against his design and head back out to the open sea before it reached its destination. One of the islands’ mountainous volcanoes is off in the distance a little ways and it just sits there towering over its surroundings; just the way God designed it to. Never does it lie down as if to say I’m tired of glorifying God right now I’m going to take a break. Clouds blow by hiding the peaks of the mountain from time to time, occasionally blocking the sun, temporarily, from shining on us. Never do they fall to the ground or just take off like a balloon that slipped out of a little kids hand as if to say I’m tired of glorifying God.
In fact, I have a dangerously creative mind and it wasn’t too long before this vision turned into a “Disney-like,” scene in my head with the waves crashing in to the rhythm of David Crowder Band in my ear, worshiping God with me. The clouds are moving by with us, heck the fish in the sea might as well be jumping out of the water to the beat, because I see it! The point is, who am I, to refuse to be what God created me to be? Just a little look back into my past when I was living in rebellion to God’s will for me, is enough to see what kind of messes “my way,” makes.
Out on my own I’m an adulterer. In fact, my selfishness dealt my kids a life they shouldn’t have had to manage, and it disgustingly ignored the sanctity of another man’s unity with a woman I worked with. Another man’s wife & two other boy’s mother! My way caused destruction in not just my life but the lives of others, including my ex-wife and kids. And still Jesus came for me, and took the ugly stains of these sins to the cross so that I may be made new and embrace a relationship with God through him, glorifying God and spreading truth now instead of destruction. The same can be said of me being a liar, I’ve let other things and even people be idols, I’ve mis-used His name, I’ve dishonored my parents, I’ve stole, I’ve coveted, I’ve given false testimony, heck I’ve broke them all except murder. Or have I? The truth is for a long time I might as well have been in that mob crucifying Christ. His blood is on my hands too! But thank the Lord it was by design. In fact all of us might as well have been there, because our sins were. He chose to come, die, and conquer death so that any one of us may repent from our “ways,” and die to ourselves; so that upon faith in His saving grace we may be made new. Wiped clean and placed back in the same world we were stained by, to glorify Him who provided a new loving difference in us, that WILL NOT settle for anything less than what He created us for.
As we celebrate this Easter season, let us not forget why He was risen; so that a way may be made for us to know Him; so that broken vessels may display the loving power of God and be blessed with a full measure of His joy found only in glorifying His name. So that we may take part in the making much of Him!
Matthew 28:18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, “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. And surely I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
“Go and make disciples,” he says, “And surely I am with you,” he goes on. There is no room for us to saturate this command with “us” and “our ways.” How would our ways be effective for the Kingdom? They aren’t! It’s ALL about Him. What he did for us, and what that same love which he has for all those around us can mean for their lives. In fact in Acts, he charges Paul with carrying His name to the Gentiles and to the ends of the earth. “His name!” And the saving power of this name of Jesus. (Acts 4:12) Why would we have any other mission? Nowhere does it say, “Okay that’s enough with spreading the truth, my name is getting old. Just chill and live comfortably. Have a good time and think of me every now and then when you get a chance.” That’s crazy.
The Bible says, today is the day of Salvation. It also says that the one who has broken the least of His commands is as guilty as the one who has broken them all; that whatever we’ve done, or whoever we’ve been doesn’t matter anymore once we accept Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. Paul persecuted Christians and then “poof!” His feet were planted on the path God had in store for him and his eyes and heart were opened up to the truth. And by the power of the Spirit he glorified God everywhere he went.
Search your heart. Are you tired of running from what God created you to be? Do you need to pray David’s prayer for God to restore onto you the joy of your Salvation? Has your life just trailed off and you’re missing out on a full measure of His joy in your life? Then lay it down at the Cross. He suffered and died for so much more than one day a year and he rose for so much more than an Easter Holiday. He rose so that every one of us could know Him and make much of His name.
Heavenly Father, let us not let our busy lives and hectic schedules distract us from all you have for us any longer. May we be blessed with a full measure of your love in us. Every power and every gift needed to fully glorify your name in all that is before us. Let us not miss an opportunity to share your truth, to stand out as the difference only found in your provision. Keep our hearts and our minds open to all you have for us, let us rest in the only true joy found in making much of you, and let us refuse to settle for anything less, even for a moment! This weekend your death and resurrection is widely celebrated, it is my prayer that a minute not ever pass on any day of the year, and all the years to come, that we not stand in the truth of why you sent your Son to save us. Take everything we are and everything you have given us and make us everything you created us to be, so that we may take our place in the making much of you! In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Thank you Jesus!
Happy Easter.
