7 And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— 9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. 10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. 13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.
The Death of John the Baptist
14 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15 But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” 17 For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.
21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 For when Herodias’s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” 23 And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” 24 And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” 25 And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27 And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison 28 and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
Mk 6:7-29
Intro
How much do you want to get closer to God today? How much do you want to know him better, understand more about Him? Are you really seeking to know Him? Is that why you are here?
(matrix clip- Neo meets Morpheus, Morpheus offers him the “pill” to wake him up to the truth)
What is this clip about?
It’s about what we all know- that there is something not right here, we feel “out of touch” with something. Even unbelievers who make these movies know this. Something is not right with the world. What if you were faced with the choice to either find out the truth about the world, about yourself, about God? What if you were offered that pill tonight- would you take it?
You face the same situation tonight. Do you want to know the truth? And how do we come to see Him, to find this missing emptiness filled, how do we remove the veil over our eyes? Not with a pill, but with truth. Do you like truth? Do you want to know the truth?
Sometimes, we don’t.
This is a song by “Stephen the Levite”, it might not be what you are used to, but listen to the words. It has gotten him in some trouble, see if you can see why. It’s called “the Choir.”
The Choir
(1 John, Matt 6:15-22, Gal 1:8-9, Prov 11:9)
Steve: How do I spark this I, don't know how to start this I/ want to get to a few little issues on my heart 'cause I/ heard a few rumors and I seen things on the tube and it's/ really been movin' me to deal with these abuses this/ popular Jesus that, walks with a thievish cat/ rocks to the beat of that, new popular Jesus rap/ how many people eat this crap, that's not Jesus black/ where the believers at, who preach and agree with that/ can I get "amen" if your followin' Him/ and not just hollerin' about Him, talkin', but your not walkin' in/ can I get a witness if your not just a big hypocrite/ you spit with the quickness your faith is legitimate/ this is intimate, family business kid/ you can't get wit' this, until you repent dig it/ what you ain't feelin' it, tough God ain't feelin' sin/ but through crucifixion He saved us when we was killin' Him/ plus Jesus rose again, death can't hold 'em man/ believers receive new life killin' the older man/ already told you fam we die like soldiers man/ gotta be born again, it's more than a culture fam/ freaks on the weekdays, Sundays speakin' in clichés/ he may think he deceived me, but they who can really see say/ "he's fake", believe me, he's playin' with his life these days/ when the games over no replays, he lays in the bed he made// (his grave)
Hook: Please don't be deceived, these mislead the sheep/ teach and believe what's tweaked, they’ll reap of the seed they speak/ All this haughty talk results in body rot/ call me salty Ak’ but dog, they’re not the flock// Keepin' a Jesus piece when he and Jesus beef/ she’s perceived as freak but thinks that he is pleased/ Paul has properly taught that God will not be mocked/ so y’all should not be shocked when all of the folly stops//
Steve: Yeah I said it, so, y'all can spread it too/ but you better let them know that the Bible says it's true/ cats who disagree got half of the recipe/ that's what gets to me the facts should set them free// but know one's preachin' it, they ain't hearin' 'em/ no one's speakin' it, there's too much fear in 'em/ they should be afraid, it's easier bein' saved/ they're gonna see the grave but we're gonna see his face// plus we've known His ways, overflowin' grace/ they're in a hopeless age and believe what Oprah say/ they've been blinded cuz, facially minded bruh/ racially biased they find ways to define him but// that's irrelevant, do you know who He is/ can't rebel against ways that He told you to live/ He is Deity, not just deified/ Gotta believe Him, chief, and he won't just be defied// Read that Bible dog, media lies to you/ speak and write what's false they seekin' to hide the truth/ peeps are deceivin' the youth and God's not pleased with it/ teens are believin' it too, and the called got beef with it/ Little kanYe's in the church who ignore God's holiness/ the Beyonce's in the skirts who conform, not wholly dressed/ I'm not tryin' to cause beef but the Lord's name is mocked/ I'm not lyin' you wanna keep sinnin' don't claim His flock//
It is a hard hitting song. He doesn’t pull any punches, does he? He simply comes out and says some tough things, some true things.
Now, I know, sometimes people are not gentle enough with truth, and we are told to speak truth with love, but let’s just stop and think for a moment. Are there times, even when the truth is spoken in love, that we don’t like it? Is it that we want it spoken in love, or that we want it in teeny tiny parts, not enough to be uncomfortable? Why is truth such a problem for us? The text we just read has three different people responding to truth in three ways, none of them good. These serve as examples for us as to how not to respond to truth. We need to look at them and see if we are doing what they do.
But first, let’s stop and make sure we all understand what truth is.
What is truth?
Let me ask you something. Can two people say two contradictory things and both be right? In other words, can I say “This stand is black, not white” and someone else say “this stand is white, not black”, and both of us be right? Why or why not?
It can not be. There is one truth in this. Either the stand actually is white or black. It is no use saying “what if one is color blind” or something of that nature. The truth is this stand is absorbing and reflecting certain portions of the light spectrum. Period.
What I am trying to explain to you is a very important law of logic, one that you use everyday. You really do believe that there is a reality- something that really is, that exists. And it doesn’t change from moment to moment. It is as it is, always. So, there are facts about this reality. There are nine planets in our solar system. We have one sun. It isn’t that some people think there are two suns, and some one, and well they are both right. No, there is a reality, in the realm of existence there is just one. So to say there is zero, or more than one, this is wrong. It does not correspond to reality.
That is what truth is- a statement that corresponds to reality. It agrees with what is real. It is a fact about reality. As I said, all of you live this everyday. We might pretend this is not the case sometimes- if someone says it is wrong to steal, or lie, for example, we may try and make it “ok” somehow, because we want it to be ok. But we know that it is not both ok and not ok. We know that what the Bible says can not mean one thing to one person, and another completely different and contradictory thing to another, and both of them be right. One is wrong. We know this, that there is one reality, one truth. You do not wake up and think that perhaps you will have a different name today, your home will be in China, and your school now teaches you how to be a plumber. These things don’t just change, there is one reality, and we are in it. And there are facts about it, and these facts are truths.
Truths are facts about reality.
This is vital to understand. What this means is that if we want to be in touch with reality, we need to know truth. And to not know truth is to not be in touch with reality. So, as we talked about earlier, we would be in danger if we did not know the truth. We would be insane. That is what insanity is- we lose touch with what is real. So to deny the truth about the universe is insanity. Our goal, friends, is to be more and more sane. More and more in touch with what is real. How much insanity is there in your life? Not the good, funny, “crazy wacky fun” kind of insanity- but the scary, confusing, hopeless kind of insanity.
Truth is what helps us break free from insanity. If we can get it. If we can believe it. But too often we want nothing to do with truth. We are a people who have a hard time with truth.
Let’s look at the text and see what we often do with truth.
Three examples
Example one
10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent.
Jesus sends the disciples out in pairs, to go and preach. And he expects that as they bring this message “repent”, they might meet resistance. There might be those who do not like the truth of the universe- that repentance is needed to find peace with God. And Jesus warns them and tells them that some will not even receive you, they wont listen. What you say will never even enter their ears.
Here is our first response to truth. Not even listening to it.
The truth is we are so broken and so twisted that we often hate truth. All unbelievers are this way. They hate truth. Now, what do I mean? Obviously unbelievers tell truth, and are often people who fight for it- lawyers and judges and such. Well, what I mean is that there is a huge part of the truth of the universe, a huge part of reality, that they hate. The part that has to do with God.
We all are truth suppressors.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. Ro 1:18
We suppress the truth about God’s goodness, our sinfulness, God requirements on our lives, our behavior toward others, etc. The list goes on. We suppress what we do not like, and we do not like it that God is God, and we are not.
So far from this truth, so much hatred we have for it, that we are a people who can not tolerate it. Jesus said –
43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Jn 8:43-45 (emphasis added.)
Because he tells them the truth- the very fact that it is truth means they can not believe it. They have a hatred for this truth, they will just not even listen to it.
Sometimes we think that we have to change the truth of who God is, and our sin, before we can talk to unbelievers. They could never go to church and hear messages like that! And in a sense we are right- they cant.
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Co 2:14
They hate truth. But remember, so did you. God must do this work, but we do not change the message! We want to pray that we would be open to hearing the truth, not change the truth to make it something we want to hear!
Is this like you? Do you hear truth? Are you open to it? This is so important, because what happens if we do not listen is scary- after a time of hearing it, if we do not respond, if we do not welcome it, do you know what happens? What did Jesus tell the disciples to do?
These people are to be rejected. He tells them to shake off the dust of their feet against them. What does that mean? Well, for the Jew, this was a powerful statement. The Jews thought that all the ground that was not part of Israel was not as pure and holy as Israel. And if they traveled outside of their borders, they would on the way back stop and shake off the dust of the “unholy” ground, so as to not taint their holy land. Jesus is saying to the disciples “show that you have nothing to do with them, show them that they are rejected.”
There are warnings like this all over the bible-
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thess 2
Do you refuse to love the truth and be saved? Do you love the truth or hate it? Are you open to it, do you long for more of it, do you want to hear what this word says and understand it and find out more about reality, and regain some sanity?
Be careful, a time can come when God will no longer be patient.
6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ ”Lk 13:6-9
That parable, what does it mean? Do you think it has anything to do with what Jesus said before it? Look at the verses before it-
There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”Lk 13:1-5
Repent, turn to the truth, don’t run from it.
Ultimately when we run from the truth, we are running from God. Are you running from God and what He has to say to you? Or do you want to close your ears and not hear His Words?
Example two
Sometimes it is not enough for us to not just want to hear the truth, sometimes we want it dead. Sometimes we hear just enough of it to realize that the truth about the universe is that there is just One True God. And that frightens us- because we have other gods, gods that we love, gods that we want to protect. And in order to protect our gods we will kill truth.
This is Herod’s wife.
17 For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.
You see what is going on here? Herodias had been married to Herod’s brother. But for some reason she left him and married Herod. My guess is that either she loved him, which is doubtful as you read the rest of the story, or she knew that there was some great benefit for her to be married to him. Either money, or power, or something similar I’m sure. This is what drives her into the arms of Herod. Now, this thing that she is getting from Herod is tied to her marriage to him, so that when John comes around saying that it is not right for Herod to be married to her, she noticed that Herod had some respect for John, and she wondered, “is there enough respect that he would end up listening to John and leave me?”
So John and his testimony that Herod was doing wrong in this marriage scared her, it made her think that perhaps he would leave her, and she would lose what she wanted most. She would lose her idol.
You see, John’s truth about the marriage threatened Herodias’ idol.
Truth tends to do that. It threatens our idols. And sometimes we hear enough of the truth to get scared of it, to get scared of what would have to happen in order for us to live in accordance with it. And so we face this choice- admit that this is the truth, and change, or kill the truth, and keep the idol. Herodias wanted john dead, you see. She wanted to kill the truth. Do you want to do that? Do you get so mad at those who bring truth to you that you hate them? Did you ever hear the expression “don’t kill the messenger?” Sometimes a messenger would bring bad news of a war or some other misfortune to a king, and the king, so angry, would kill the messenger. Now, that’s silly, since the messenger is just relaying the information. But we cant change the information, we cant kill the truth. So we kill the messenger. The anger is at the message- Herodias hates John’s message. And so she hates him, and wants to kill him.
Do you ever find that you want to kill the truth? You wish you could just make it all go away. Only if there were no God, no rules. Only if you were god, and could just do what you wanted. You long to kill the truth. Are there idols that you are trying to protect from the truth? What does God ask you to give up, ask you to leave, that you love so much you would never leave? What are the idols? And do you protect them by killing the truth?
How would we do that? What does it mean to kill truth for us? It means to call it a lie. We kill truth when we say things like “oh, its not that bad, others do it too.” Or “that is probably not what the bible means when it says that.” When we steal the truth from the truth, make it a lie, then it is dead. It has no more impact on us. Do you do this?
Example Three
The third thing we do with truth is represented by Herod. I think this is probably what most of us here do.
19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.
21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 For when Herodias’s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” 23 And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” 24 And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” 25 And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27 And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison 28 and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.
What doe Herod do with the truth, and how is that like us?
Herod hears the truth, and he likes it. In a sense. Let’s observe a few things. First, Herod knew that John was righteous and holy. He knew it was truth that he spoke. While it perplexed him, that is, made him unsettled, he liked to hear it. He approved of it. He knew, in the back of his head, that this was right, and he was afraid.
This is like many of you. You hear the truth, and you agree that it is true. Now, you know that your life does not match up to it, that perhaps you are not living it- but it is true. And you fear this truth, and you even to some degree approve of it. You allow it into your life. But then you do what Herod did- you lock it up. You don’t let it effect your life, you keep it all locked up in a safe little place that cant touch the rest of your life.
Friends, do you keep the truth from touching all of your life? What do I mean? What does it look like to lock up the truth?
Well maybe you agree- Jesus is King of Kings- maybe you let Him rule in your life- in parts. As long as he and his truth do not leave their cage. You might be an expert on the gospel, read all the right books, hear all the right sermons, but the truth that you have is locked up in your mind, and has never been allowed to get at the rest of your life. You will not let it touch you at school, or at home, or your pride or anger or rebellion or selfishness, or whatever it is. This truth is a safe truth for you because you keep it caged. You can not let it out- it would be too much trouble, it would change too much of your life.
Sometimes we feel good if this is us- at least we believe the right things, right? But understand that Herod was lost, and that when pushed he killed the truth too. Our locking the truth up shows that we have idols.
I call upon you to let it go. Set the truth free in your life. Unleash the truth, let it reign in all your life. Do you know what changes it would bring!?
You read the bible, and it is boring. That would change- it is boring because it goes into the cage when you read it, you do not read it in light of all your life, but only in light of your ‘Christianity’, which is locked away from who you really are. When you hear a message, it is old and stale and boring- why? Because it is what is locked in the caged. The cage already is packed with Christianity, and Christian music, and Christian behavior and friends and activities, but the rest of your life is not touched by this. Unleash the truth, and let it spill into all the areas of your life!
Becoming lovers of Truth
It is hard to hear truth. It cuts- the word is a sword.
We find that truth is sometimes so hard for us to embrace. We run from it, we kill it, we lock it up. How can we change that? How can we love truth?
Let me tell you how to start to love truth.
First, realize who it is that hates it. Do you know who hates truth the most? The enemy. As we read earlier in John, he is the father of lies. Why do you think it is that he hates truth?
he fears it because he knows it will bring about your salvation. For the truth is that there are idols, yes, and that we have failed God, yes, but it is also true that God is mercy and love, and has made a way for us to have joy forever.
satan hates the truth that God is eternally reigning supreme. You don’t have to hate that truth. You can love it. You don’t have to hate what satan hates and fear what satan fears. You can love this truth, it is good, it is for you.
That’s the second thing we can do to learn to love the truth- learn what the truth is. Because the truth is good news! Why would we hate this good news? Yes, the truth is that God asks you to give up your idols- and that sounds bad. But the truth about your idols is that they will only kill you, and that what he offers is better. He is better! The truth is, the one who made our idols is better than the things he made!
The truth cuts, I know, but we must embrace it- it cuts away what is dead. It cuts away what is insane.
Long for the truth. He came to be a light, to show us truth, to reveal the Father to us, the glories of the Father. He came to show us how good the Father is. And then he sends us out to go take the truth to others. And I know we think that would be tough, so many don’t like the truth, but what will we do? Is it really loving to let others live in insanity, not know what is real? Is it loving to do that? Would it be loving to drug the whole world to make them feel happy, and never tell them the gospel? Would it be loving to not speak to truth to keep people comfortable, and let them go to hell?
Jesus spoke some tough things, some hard things. And they were loving. He IS Love, and He IS Truth, both. And this grace and truth showed us what it looks like to share truth- it is saying hard things, even if it costs us, because we love others and are willing to suffer for them. So hear truth, and understand what the truth is, and then spread the truth.
Unleash it, don’t lock it up in one part of your life.
Don’t misunderstand and hate it, wanting it dead.
And don’t run from it. Run to it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment