I praise you Lord!

When?

During every tick of the second hand, every chime of the hour, every day of the week, every week of the month, and every month of the year.

Where?

On every square foot the sun touches from sunrise to sunset.  From north to south.  From east to west.

Why?

Because you are so high.  You are so exalted.  Your throne is so elevated.  You have to stoop to see the heavens and the earth.

But, you are also so low.  You draw near to the most humble human.  The man with nothing but dust to his name.  The woman with only tears for family.  You replace their pain with pleasure.

That’s why I praise you Lord!  I worship you at all times in all places because you are so high and so low.

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When I see how wonderfully your world works, Lord, I shout “Wow!”

You designed it so that when we walk in your ways, great blessings are bestowed.

When we generously fill others’ needs, you generously fill ours.

When we treat others right, you treat us right.

May I be a part of the way you work so wonderfully in your world today.

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Lord, the weak were worn down.

The powerful abused their position.

So you sent forth a king.

Through him you brought justice.

You lifted the lowly.

You collapsed those in control.

Now, Lord, send forth us.

Use us to bring justice to all.

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I see this every day, Lord.

The widow, the immigrant, and the orphan.

How they fall victim to vile people!

The evildoers seek to exterminate them.

The arrogant assume you do not see and do not care.

But they are as senseless as they are selfish.

Does the Lord who crafted the human eye not also see all human activity?

I know you see what I see.

May your vision Lord lead you to right all that is wrong.

May no injustice go unnoticed by you today.

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God, every time the powerful meet together, you take a seat at their table.

Though unseen, you see.

Though unaddressed, you address.

And you say to them, ”Strengthen the weak.  Stand up for the orphans.  Rescue the needy.  Pursue the wicked.”

But the powerful ignore your words.  They fail to consider your call.

Therefore, God, take charge.  Take over.

Do what they will not.

Strengthen the weak.  Stand up for the orphans.  Rescue the needy.  Pursue the wicked.

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Fifty two million people in the United States watched the royal wedding of Prince William and Katherine Middleton.  People were captured by this modern fairy tale.  It began in 2001 when upper class William and middle class Middleton met at St Andrews University in Scotland.  In 2004, they were photographed skiing together in Switzerland, one of the first times they were publicly linked romantically.  In June 2005, the pair finished college at St Andrews and each pursued a career.  In early 2007 it appeared the fairy tale was over.  The couple split.  But later that year were seen back together again.  And then, in October 2010, nine years after they first met, the couple got engaged during a vacation in Kenya. Prince William gave her the same diamond and sapphire engagement ring that Prince Charles gave to William’s mother, Princess Diana. They married on April 29, 2011.  Fifty two million of us watched that wedding.

Why?  Because we enjoy a good love story.  We take pleasure in fairy tales.  We love to see a couple with a bright and happy future.

In Is. 5 we hear another love story.  The couple in this tale seems to have a bright and happy future ahead of them: 1Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.  2He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes… (Is. 5:1-2 ESV).  As we learn elsewhere, the vineyard in this love song represents the people of God and the vineyard owner represents God.  It might strike us as odd that in a love song one person is called a vineyard and the other is called a vineyard owner.  But this love song comes in the same tradition of songs today in which a person might say that his love is deeper than the ocean or that the girl he loves has hair as red as roses.  Here, God, the vineyard owner, was so smitten with his people, the vineyard, that he dug the soil, cleared it of stones, planted it, built a watchtower to protect it, and hewed a wine vat in it so that its fruit bring joy to all.[1] God adores his people.  And the future seems so bright for this wonderful couple.  God has tenderly cared for this vineyard.  Now he’s imagining the future they will enjoy together—abundant and refreshing fruit every season.

But then something terrible happens.  Isaiah’s love song turns into a blues song: 5And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard.  I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.  6I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. (Is. 5:5-6 ESV).  God lovingly dug the soil, cleared it of stones, planted it, built a watchtower, and hewed a wine vat in it.  These are all the deeds of devotion.  But now he’s going to just the opposite: break down its walls, make it a waste, not prune or hoe it, and command the clouds to send no rain.  These are the actions of someone whose heart is broken.  These are the words of a wounded lover.  Something’s happened between these two that has caused God unspeakable grief.  His heart is so broken that he now treats his former lover with anger and wrath.

Six times in chapter 5 God speaks a word of “woe” to his people.  And at the end of chapter 5 God promises to punish his people though a foreign enemy who will attack them and devastate them.

Why?  Why does God move from devotion to destruction?  Why does God move from passion to punishment?  What have his people done that has broken his heart?

The primary clue is found in vs. 7: 7…and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry! (Is. 5:7 ESV).  This is the major clue to what’s happening in this chapter.  It’s a small clue.  It doesn’t give us as much detail as we’d like.  We have to make some educated guesses in order to fill in the blanks.  But we get enough here to see the basic picture.  God expected something of his lover.  He expected his people to live lives of justice and righteousness.  Here “justice” refers to the right treatment of others, especially the right treatment of those who are often forgotten and neglected.  It would include the poor.  God expected his people to pursue the right treatment of the poor.  But instead, he saw his people causing  bloodshed.  And he heard the outcry of those whom God’s people were mistreating.  The words “bloodshed” and “justice” sound very similar in the original Hebrew language.  Isaiah’s song uses a play on words.  It’s like saying, “God looked for compassion on the poor but all he saw was consumerism.”  “God looked for graciousness toward the poor but all he found was greed.”  What broke God’s heart was the way his people were treating the poor.

As we’ll see in a moment, the bloodshed mentioned in this verse doesn’t refer to physically hurting the poor or murdering the poor.  God does not see his people striking the poor or beating the poor.  We read nothing about that in the rest of the chapter.  Instead, God sees his people involved in something much more hidden and much less explicit.  It seems that they have adopted a lifestyle and an approach toward money that is somehow bleeding the poor to death.[2] The poor are not dying the death of one massive blow but the death of a million small blows.  And their outcry has reached God’s ears.  The rest of the chapter explains.

8Woe to those who join house to house, who add field to field…9The LORD of hosts has sworn in my hearing: “Surely many houses shall be desolate, large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.” Isaiah is describing wealthy people who accumulate vast tracts of land. They live peacefully in their mansions and have the ideal life of luxury.  Isaiah does not accuse them of illegally stealing this property.[3] These aren’t people who’ve gone out and hunted down the poor and stolen their land.  They’ve merely taken advantage of good housing prices and good land deals.  But in their zeal to expand their estate and keep up with the Jones, they’ve forgotten about those who have little.[4]

11Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may run after strong drink, who tarry late into the evening as wine inflames them!  12 They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts, 22Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink 23who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right. The real concern here is not alcohol per se but the self-indulgence and self-absorption of those who are drinking.[5] This section refers to wealthy people who can afford leisure time and have the resources to pursue pleasurable activities. The drinking here is probably that which was associated with lavish parties where people would be entertained by wonderful music.[6] But notice what all this self-indulgence and self-absorption lead to: they acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right! In other words, they stop pursuing justice.  They enjoy the wonderful life they’ve worked for and they stop giving any thought to those who are deprived and who do not have what they have.

The picture we get is a picture that’s scarily familiar.  Isaiah doesn’t see men and women who actively and aggressively hurt the poor.  Instead, he sees people who are living the good life, people who have achieved the American dream, people who have worked hard for all they have and who like to celebrate and have a good time together.  The problem is not their possessions nor their parties.  The problem is that in their pursuit of the good life, they’ve basically forgotten those who have a bad life.  These are people who see and care only for themselves.[7] They’ve gotten so caught up in getting a raise, and expanding their business, and enlarging their house, and celebrating with their friends that they literally think nothing about the poor.

And this has broken God’s heart.  He loves his people but he can’t stand what they are doing.  It grieves him to see the way they are forgetting those who have nothing.  It devastates him to see how they focus only on themselves and forget their needy neighbor next door.

In other words, what most angers God is self-centeredness and self-indulgence that leads to the neglect of the poor. Last Sunday we looked at how Isaiah’s audience lived in their own little world and forgot about the nations.  This morning we’re getting a glimpse at how they lived in their own little world and forget about the needy.  They didn’t actively mistreat the poor.  Thus just didn’t do anything positively for the poor.  And God says that’s a kind of bloodshed.  Their neglect of the poor was killing the poor.  What most angers God is self-centeredness and self-indulgence that leads to the neglect of the poor.

In 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first people to ascend Mount Everest.[8] Today, thousands of people have reached the summit of the world’s tallest mountain, many paying over $60,000 for the climb.  And in the rush to the top, amateurs who have paid this fortune will do anything it takes to get to there.  David Sharp became a casualty of this mentality. This 34-year-old engineer from Cleveland managed to reach Mount Everest’s summit.  But, he ran out of oxygen on the way back down.  As he lay dying, 40 climbers passed him by.  They were on their way up.  They were too eager to get to the top to stop use up their oxygen on David.  As a result, David Sharp died.  According to Ed Viestrus, who has scaled all 14 of the world’s 8,000 meter peaks, Sharp’s death is not unique. “Passing people who are dying is not uncommon. Unfortunately, there are those who say: ‘It’s not my problem. I’ve spent all this money, and I’m going to the summit.’” These climbers didn’t steal David’s oxygen.  They didn’t beat David up.  They simply did nothing.  They just walked on by.  They were too caught up in their own lofty goals and thus neglected David.  That’s the kind of self-absorption and self-indulgence Isaiah points out in chapter 5.  But in this case it’s not egotistical climbers passing a fellow climber.  It’s decent people buying a new home, expanding their business, and throwing some social events for friends and coworkers.  It’s hardworking people moving up in the world.  But as they move up they neglect those who are in distress on their way down.  They don’t beat them up.  They don’t steal what little they have.  They just ignore them.  They just walk on by.  And it breaks God’s heart.

But Isaiah’s points out that while God’s people were neglecting the poor, God was not.  God remembered those forgotten because of his people’s self-centeredness and self-absorption. 7…and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry! (Is. 5:7 ESV).  God saw how the careless consumption of his people was bleeding the poor to death.  God heard the cry of those who had little.  This series is called “Tangled” because Isaiah paints a portrait of a God who is tangled up in the world, tangled up with people we often neglect.  Here, Isaiah shows that God is tangled up in the lives of the poor—the very people neglected are the very ones God hears.  The rest of chapter 5 is filled with all the actions God is taking on behalf of the poor.  His people are doing nothing.  But God is about to do everything.  If his people are on their way up walking right by the poor God is on his way down stopping to help every person in distress.

Ron Wade is with us today.  Ron believes strongly in a God who remembers the poor.  Ron believes in a God who does not walk on by, but who stoops and stops to help those whom others have forgotten.  And as a result, Ron does this as well.  Ron leads HopeWorks, an organization which provides hope and help for the unemployed.  He leads a dedicated group of people who pursue justice for the poor.  Ron is here today to share with us how God is remembering the forgotten through HopeWorks.

Sunday, May 22, is our opportunity join Ron and God in remembering the poor.  We are raising $122,000 that morning for our World and Urban missions.  Part of that contribution goes directly to HopeWorks.  All of that contribution goes toward efforts that will remember the forgotten in Memphis, the MidSouth, Papua New Guinea, Ukraine, and the Philippines.  I hope you’ll give generously and sacrificially on that day.  We’ll all need to give about four times more than what we give on a normal Sunday.  Your gift on that day is one way for you to no longer just walk on by.  It’s your way of making a big difference in the lives of people whom God loves dearly.

[2] Brueggemann, 48.

[3] Larry Walker Isaiah 1-39 The New American Commentary, Volume 15A, (Holman Reference, 2007), Kindle: 5177.

[4] Brueggemann, 51.

[5] Brueggemann, 52.

[6] Walker, Kindle: 5195.

[7] Brueggemann, 52.

[8] “The Crowd on Mount Everest,” The Week (6/30/06), 13.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34624532@N06/3500248171/

Hallelujah! 

I shout ”Praise the LORD!” because when it comes to us, you didn’t just “set it and forget it.”  You didn’t just make us.  You also sustain us.

You are the lawyer advocating for the oppressed.

You are the soup kitchen worker serving food to the hungry.

You are the warrior setting free those still imprisoned.

You are the surgeon bringing sight where there has been darkness.

You are the counselor providing hope to those in despair.

For all the ways you forget us not, I say, “Hallelujah!”

My family has been celebrating with Highland’s Burris family because their daughter Chelsie is engaged to be married this April to a great young man named Bryan.  Chelsie used to watch our children during the summers while Kendra and I went to work.  We feel like Chelsie is part of our family.  It’s hard to believe that she’s now recently graduated from college, getting married, and moving out to start a new life.

A few years ago, some researchers followed young adults like Chelsie as they left home and started a new life.[1] After some months passed, the researchers polled them.  “What most surprised you about living on your own?” they asked these young adults.  The researchers wanted to know “What most surprised you about living on your own?”  What do you think they said?  Take a moment and share with the person next to you what you think most surprised young adults when they started a new life on their own…

Here are the top answers:

• The high cost of living
• Difficulty in saving money
• The number of financial decisions that must be made
• Difficulty paying all the bills
• The challenges finding a job

Their top answers all had to do with money.  What most surprised young adults about their new life were the challenges associated with money.  Money and the challenges attached to it were a greater part of life than they anticipated.

We’ve been talking on Sunday mornings about renovation.  We’re looking at what it means to reorient ourselves around God’s vision for life.  We’ve explored some issues about renovating our character. We’ve talked about renovating our relationship with God.  And last Sunday we explored what it would mean to renovate the 100 interactions we have with people every day.  Today, we tackle what may be the most difficult renovation project: our approach towards money.  It is difficult because we often are unaware of how central money and its use are when it comes to our new life in Christ.  Money and the challenges attached to it are a greater part of the Christian life than we may anticipate. Money is a much bigger deal to God than we may imagine.  As a result, renovating that area of our life may call for greater sacrifice than any other renovation project.

There are few texts which make this point better than our text this morning: 1In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. (Lk. 3:1-2 ESV).  Ever the historian, our author Luke floods us with details.  He mentions five secular leaders and two religious leaders reigning during the time he writes about.  Luke’s five secular leaders are Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Philip, and Lysanias.

• Tiberius was emperor of the Roman Empire.
• The next four served under Tiberius.  A man named Herod the Great once ruled over much of the area where Jesus lived.  Upon his  death, his kingdom was divided among his three sons—Archelaus, Herod Antipas, and Philip.^[2] Archalaus ruled so badly that he was fired.  Pontius Pilate was placed in his stead.^[3]
• The next two in Luke’s list—Herod (Antipas) and Philip—were the other two sons of Herod the Great.^[4]
• Finally, Lysanias ruled over the remaining part of that kingdom.

This list covers the political world that would have existed in Jesus’ day.  These were the political leaders whose word was law.  Whatever Tiberius, Pontius, Herod, Philip, and Lysanius said went.

The remaining two in Luke’s list—Annas and Caiaphas—were to the religious world what the first five were to the political world.  Annas had been the high priest—perhaps the most revered position in Judaism.  Caiaphas, his son-in-law, was now the high priest.  These were the religious people whose word was law.  What Annas and Caiaphas said went.

But there was one political word greater than the word of Tiberius, Pontius, Herod, Philip, and Lysanius.  There was one religious word greater than the word of Annas and Caiaphas.  Luke mentions in vs. 2 that “the word of God came…”  There’s the political word of the emperor and his 4 governors.  There’s the religious word of the high priest and his predecessor.  Then there’s the word of God.  What interests Luke is the word of God.

Perhaps it so interests Luke because this is a word that has been missing.  There’s been no word from God granted to any prophet since Malachi in about 460 B. C. ^[5] Not a word has leaked out of the gates of heaven for more than 460 years.  But now Luke says, “the word of God came.”  The people have had 460 years of words from political junkies.  They’ve had 460 years of words from religious fanatics.  But finally, they get a word from God.

And what does God say after 460 years of silence?  Imagine if you were God.  And you decided to give one speech every 460 years.  What would your speech say?  Here is God’s:  3And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.  5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”  7He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Lk. 3:3-9 ESV).

The first words from God’s mouth, through John the Baptist, are not pleasant.  Repentance.  Sin.  Wrath.  Fire.  These are the things God wants to talk about after 460 years.  Why?  One clue is found in John’s warning in vs. 8: And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ Abraham was their religious hero.  He was the first Jew.  And there seems to be an overreliance among John’s audience on their religious heritage and history as it relates to Abraham.  There are times when our spiritual life is comprised solely of religious heritage and history rather than a true heart for God. [PP There are times when our spiritual life is comprised solely of religious heritage and history rather than a true heart for God.] That seems to be the case here.  Life with God has been minimized to heritage and history.  “My grandparents were Jews, my parents were Jews, and I’ve been a Jew all my life.  That’s what matters to God.”  But John tells them, “You may be sons of Abraham—you may have roots in the Jewish faith—but you’re acting like a brood of vipers—you’re behaving like sons of a snake.”  What snake is John talking about?  He’s probably got in mind the serpent in the Garden of Eden, that symbol of evil and of the devil.^[6] After watching these people for 460 years, God could care less about their heritage and history.  He could care less if they and their parents and grandparents are followers of Abraham.  What matters to God is the state of their heart.  And from God’s perspective, what’s in their heart looks nothing like Abraham and everything like the devil.

For this reason, John demands they undergo renovation.  He uses words from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah to explain: 4As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.  5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” John’s trying to get these people ready for a new life with the Lord—“prepare the way for the Lord.”  And this new life with Jesus calls for major renovation.  If they are going to be prepared for the Lord, then there are valleys that must be filled, mountains and hills that must be made low, crooked places that must be straightened out, and rough places that must be made level.  John’s talking about heart renovation. [7] There are deep valleys of sin which need to be filled in when it comes to this new life with Jesus John is preparing them for.  There are tall mountains of sin which need to be made low when it comes to this new life with Jesus.  There are crooked places of sin which need to be straightened out.  And there are some extraordinarily rough places of sin that need to be leveled.  For John, the new life in Jesus was not about religious heritage or history but about a radically renovated heart.

But what specifically do God and John have in mind?  Is there a specific sin which has so fractured these people’s hearts that it’s left a valley?  Is there one failure so gigantic that it’s the Mount Everest of their hearts?  Is there one shortcoming so crooked that it’s made it impossible for them to live straight?  Is there one moral challenge so destructive that it’s turned what ought to be a smooth heart into one covered with gravel?  What problem with the human heart is so great that it’s brought God out of silence after 460 years?

Ask yourself: What is the most significant human shortcoming today?  What is the most challenging moral or spiritual problem facing us today?  Take a moment and share your answer with the person next to you: What is the most challenging moral or spiritual problem of our day?

Here is what God and John identified as the most challenging moral or spiritual problem of their day: 10And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” 11And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.” (Lk. 3:10-14 ESV).

Three groups come to John asking, “What shall we do?”  “John, can you identify the specific valley, the specific mountain, the specific crookedness, or the specific roughness you see in our hearts so that we can get ready for Jesus?”  And John gives all three groups the same answer.  It has to do with their misuse of possessions.

First, listen to John’s conversation with the crowds: 10And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” 11And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” These crowds are not the rich and famous.  But they are people who have enough that they could share if they cared to.  These crowds are people with plenty.  For example, they have two tunics.  The tunic is a body-length garment that goes on first followed by a cloak.  In Jesus’ day, a typical person might wear a tunic and then a cloak over the tunic. ^[8] John says, “Look, some of you have plenty of clothes while others go without clothes.  Share.”  John says the same thing regarding food.  “Look, some of you have plenty of food while many go without food.  Share.”  The single most important thing the crowds can do to get ready for life in Jesus is stop hoarding their possessions and start sharing possessions.

One of the greatest challenges some face to the new life in Christ is the misuse of plenty which leads to hoarding possessions. This is the most rarely recognized misuse of possessions.  These are not people who shoplift or break into banks.  These are honest and kind.  But they’ve become blind to the real financial and material needs of people around them.  They have plenty while others live in poverty.  We who have plenty are quick to hoard that plenty for our own use.  And John says that if you’re going to go for this new life in Christ, that’s the first thing you’re going to have to address: your misuse of plenty that leads to hoarding possessions.

Next, John addresses the tax collectors: 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” The Romans taxed people by farming out the taxing rights to the highest bidder. The successful bidder would pay Rome the amount he bid, but he would collect more taxes than that to pay expenses and to give himself a profit.  Often they taxed more than was necessary in order to increase profit.  This caused people to hate tax collectors.  And a vicious cycle developed: the more they overtaxed the people, the more they were hated by the people, and the more they were hated by the people, the more they overtaxed the people.^[9] And John tells them that if they wish to experience the new life in Christ for which he’s come to prepare them, that cycle must stop.  They are misusing their position to acquire possessions.

Some of us are in positions which provide the opportunity to acquire resources or wealth.  And that position tempts us to acquire more than we need.  One of the greatest challenges some face to the new life in Christ is the misuse of position that leads to acquiring possessions. And John says, “That’s got to stop.”  “That’s the darkest valley in your heart.  That’s the most mountainous sin in your life.  That’s the most crooked part of your character.  That’s the roughest place in your soul.”

Finally, John addresses the soldiers: 14Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.” We don’t know for sure if these are Roman soldiers working for the enemy or Jewish soldiers trained to fight the enemy.  Given John’s rant about religious heritage and history, I suspect these are Jewish soldiers.  And of all the temptations which soldiers face, the one that draws the most attention is this: their misuse of power that leads them to seize possessions.  These aren’t tax collectors to whom you are already obligated to give something and they slyly take just a little more than they ought.  These are soldiers who by force, threat, and extortion seize possessions from others.

One of the greatest challenges some face to the new life in Christ is the misuse of power that leads to seizing possessions. This, of course, is the vilest form of greed.  It’s the politician who takes bribes from corporations.  It’s the accounting firm which cooks the books to gain a lucrative contract.  It’s the deadbeat dad who buys the latest car and TV but never pays his child support.  And John says, “If you’re going to live this new life in Christ for which I’ve come to prepare you, that’s got to stop.  That’s number one on the list.”

John says the same thing to all three groups.  This one thing is what got God talking after 460 years.  And God was so passionate about it that he said it three times.   In nutshell, here’s God’s message: Stop striving for more possessions and start sharing more possessions. Our unwillingness to do this is the single most critical issue keeping us from being fully prepared for a new life in Christ.  And our willingness to do this is the single most important proof that we are truly ready for new life in Christ.

I believe some of the teenagers at Highland are the ones most leading the way in this regard.  Over the holidays some of our teenagers, all on their own, prepared resources for the poor and took them downtown and personally gave them to homeless people.  Just last Wednesday night, on the spur of the moment, without any preparation, the teens at The Rising gave almost $800 for the Village of Hope in Africa.  I’ve watched some of our teenagers as the weekly contribution plates are passed.  Some of them are far more regular in that giving than many of us.  They are showing us the way.  They’re tackling the most important issue about new life in Christ.

On New Year’s Day in 2010 author Daniel Pink released a video which asked “What’s Your Sentence?”  He urged viewers to summarize in one sentence what they want their life to be about.  On New Year’s Day in 2011 Daniel Pink released a follow-up video in which people from around the world shared their one sentence.  Let’s watch.

http://vimeo.com/8480171

http://www.danpink.com/archives/2011/01/whats-your-sentence-the-video?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Writing one sentence that summarizes what your life is all about can help you identify how much of and what kind of renovation needs to take place in your life in 2011.  But here’s the challenge: from John’s perspective, your sentence must have something in it about money.  God waited 460 years to come up with a speech designed to prepare people for the new life Jesus would bring, and that speech had one topic: money.  God addressed the misuse of power that leads to seizing possessions, the misuse of position that leads to acquiring possessions, and the misuse of plenty that leads to hoarding possessions.  During his 460 year study of the human condition, God was able to identify the heart-valley most in need of filling, the heart-mountain most in need of toppling, the heart-crookedness most in need of straightening, and the heart-roughness most in need of leveling.  It has to do with money.  Somehow that message must find its way into your sentence.

So here’s what I want you to do.  Take home the fake money we’ve given you.  It’s got one question written on it: What’s your sentence?  And there’s a blank line on it where you can write your sentence.  Take that home, pray about it, and then write your sentence with John’s words in mind.

^[2] Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (1850). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

^[3] Morris, L. (1988). Vol. 3: Luke: An introduction and commentary. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (111). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

^[4] Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (1952). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

^[5] Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (1952). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

^[6] Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (1953). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[7] Robert C. Tannehill, The Narrative Unity of Luke-Acts: Volume One: The Gospel According to Luke (Fortress, 1986), 48.

^[8] Morris, L. (1988). Vol. 3: Luke: An introduction and commentary. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (113). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

^[9] Morris, L. (1988). Vol. 3: Luke: An introduction and commentary. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (113–114). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

I recently learned of a book entitled The Other Wes Moore. [1] The book tells the true stories of two men.  Both men are named Wes Moore.   Both grew up in Maryland. Both were raised by single mothers. Both had run-ins with police as youngsters.  But that’s where the similarities end.  One Wes Moore became a graduate of John Hopkins and a Rhodes Scholar.  He eventually served as a White House Fellow under former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.   The other Wes Moore was sent to prison.  He is serving a life sentence for his involvement in the killing of a police officer.  The book The Other Wes Moore tries to understand why these two men with the same name and similar backgrounds had such different lives.  The author concludes that the difference was caused by one thing: one Wes Moore had people on his side, and the other did not.  Though the successful Wes Moore’s father died when Wes was only three, he had other family members and teachers who intervened in his life and supported him.  The imprisoned Wes Moore saw his father only three times. It was during the third and final visit that this Wes Moore’s father looked up from a drunken stupor and asked, “Who are you?”  One Wes Moore grew up with people who were on his side.  The other did not.  That made all the difference.

The impact of having people on your side is probably what led James to write this: Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (Jas. 1:27 ESV).  This is a famous line in the Bible.  James is summarizing what biblical faith is all about.  If someone asked you to summarize biblical faith in one sentence, what would you say?  Here’s what James says:  to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.  The care of widows and orphans is central to biblical faith.  Why?

James is not the only writer to focus on widows and orphans.  Throughout Scripture widows and orphans are singled out as the most worthy of attention.

• In the Bible’s second book God tells the Israelites, “You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child.” (Ex. 22:22 ESV).
• The Psalms celebrate God as “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows” (Ps. 68:5 ESV).
• When God defines true religion in Isaiah 1 he says those following it will “bring justice to the fatherless, [and] plead the widow’s cause” (Is. 1:17 ESV).

Why this emphasis on orphans and widows?  Kenneth Bailey, who spent years in Middle Eastern culture, writes that the primary problem for widows in ancient times was that they had no one to protect them.[2] They were single women living in a man’s world.  And with no husband by their side, they had no voice and no power.  They had no one on their side.

The same was true for orphans.  Widows faced a challenge because they were women living in a man’s world.  Orphans faced a challenge because they were children living in an adult’s world.  And with no adult mother or father by their side, they had no voice and no power.

Widows and orphans experienced the worst form of poverty—having no one by their side.  They were singled in Scripture because they had no one in their corner.  In both Old and New Testaments, these two groups experienced poverty at its worst.  There was no one as poor as a widow or an orphan.  Why?  Because not only did they lack possessions, they also lacked people to help them acquire possessions.  Widows and orphans experienced the worst form of poverty—having no one by their side.

With this in mind, we come to the first beatitude of Jesus, the last beatitude in our series: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:3 ESV).  It’s important to remember that these first four beatitudes are descriptions and not prescriptions.  Jesus is not prescribing certain behaviors for us to adopt.  He’s not urging us to become “poor in spirit.”  Instead, Jesus is describing people who are listening to him.  Jesus looks out among the crowds and sees the “poor in spirit.”  Who are they?

Jesus is not simply talking about people who are humble or lowly.  That’s often how we translate “poor in spirit.”  But ultimately, to be “poor in spirit” means to be so poor that the poverty is not only felt on the outside, it is also felt on the inside.  People who are “poor in spirit” are people who could not be any poorer.  They are experiencing the worst poverty.  They are not just poor “in wallet” but also poor all the way down to their “spirit.”  Jesus is talking about people who feel poverty deeply.[3] These are the poorest of the poor.[4]

And as we’ve just heard, the Bible describes the worst form of poverty as that which results from having no one in your corner.  Widows and orphans are the poorest of the poor because they have no one on their side.  The same is true for those whom Jesus describes as “poor in spirit.”  Jesus is talking about the poorest of the poor.  They not only do not have possessions.  They also do not have people to help them acquire possessions.  They live alone on the fringe of society.

As we’ve seen in this series, Jesus is addressing people who do not have the Jewish religious leaders on their side or the Roman political leaders on their side.  Everywhere these people look they are left out.  At the temple, they are overlooked.  At the judge’s bench, they are ignored.  They are only getting the crumbs while everyone else is getting the pie.  But not only are they the “have-nots” in society.  They do not even know a “have” who can help them get what’s missing.  No Jewish religious leader or Roman political leader is going to come to their aid.  No official at the temple or judge at the bench is going to get their back.  Jesus is talking to people so poor they not only lack possessions, they also lack people to help them acquire possessions.

In other words, in referring to the “poor in spirit,” Jesus is talking about people who have no one on their side.  They have no one to count on.   They have no one to lean on.

Roger Ridley is a street musician in southern California.  Producers of an organization called “Playing for Change” heard Ridley playing for spare change on California streets.  The song they heard Ridley singing was “Stand by Me.”  The producers recorded Ridley singing his song.  But then they found other street musicians around the country and the world, including Louisiana, the Netherlands, New Mexico, France, Brazil, Russia, Italy and Africa.  “Playing for Change” recorded all these musicians playing “Stand by Me.”  They then combined the music tracks.  Roger Ridley, the California street musician, introduces the piece with this statement: “This song says no matter who you are, no matter where you go in your life, at some point you’re gonna need somebody to stand by you.”

VIDEO

These musicians are the “have-nots.”  They are not playing on a stage in a performing arts center or recording in studios of a famous music company.  They sing and live on the street.  In fact, at the end of the video you see a man drop some spare cash into the guitar case of Roger Ridely.  These people play for spare change.  They have no powerful people in their corner and no significant celebrities on their side.  And the one thing they can sing and play with passion is that the deepest need we have is the need for someone to stand by us.  These musicians sing that the greatest wealth is to have someone on your side and the greatest poverty is to have no one on your side.  No matter how much money you got, you gonna need someone to stand by you.  To have that is to have it all.  To lack that is to lack it all.

Mother Teresa, who spent her adult life caring for the poorest of the poor said this:[5] “The biggest disease today is not leprosy or cancer. It’s the feeling of being uncared for, unwanted-of being deserted and alone.” The greatest poverty is to have no one on your side.  We all need somebody to stand by us.

And to those with no one in their corner, Jesus says this: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matt. 5:3 ESV).  We’ve talked a lot during this series about what it means to be “blessed.”  Frederick Dale Bruner writes that the word “blessed,” especially in this beatitude, can be translated in this way: “I am with you,” or “I am on your side.”[6] Jesus is saying that God is on the side of those who have no one on their side. The kingdom of the Pharisees may be rejecting these people.  The kingdom of the Romans may have forgotten them.  But the kingdom of heaven has not.  On the streets they are fringe.  But in God’s domain, they are favored.  God is on the side of those who have no one else on their side.

When these people pull out their tired and out-of-tune guitars, open up their case for some spare change, and start lamenting, “Please stand by me, stand by me” not a single person answers.  Not a single person stops.  With one exception—God.  Through Jesus God says, “I will stand by you.  I’m on your side.”

And we get to help turn this promise into a reality.  God pledges to stand by those who are poor in spirit—and he uses us to do it.  God stands on their side as we stand on their side. That’s really what the last four beatitudes are about.  As we become merciful, as we become pure in heart, as we pursue peace, and as we become willing to sacrifice to do what is right, God stands by others through us.  We become the flesh and blood behind these words.  God’s promise gets incarnated through us.  As we come alongside the poor in spirit, God himself comes alongside through us.

David Jordan is with us this morning.  David is the Executive Director of Agape Child and Family Services.  Through Agape, David leads a team of staff and volunteers to serve children and families through the Mid-South.  Many of these children are orphans.  And through Families in Transition, David leads a team of staff and volunteers to provide housing and ministry to homeless pregnant women and their children.  In other words, David serves the poor in spirit.  Our Special Contribution today helps fund Agape and Families in Transition.  I’ve asked David to share how God is standing on the poor in spirit through Agape and FIT.

David Jordan

Our Special Contribution for World and Urban Missions today helps make Agape and FIT possible.  Today we are asking you to give $150,000.  That’s five and a half times what we normally give on a Sunday morning.  That money will be used to fund Memphis Urban Ministry, HopeWorks, Agape, FIT, Lifeline, Member Services, Soma, Melanesian Bible College and Clinic, Shiloh Christian School (Philippines), Ukrainian Education Center, Bila Tserkva Church of Christ, and the Ministry of Theological Education.  Through these ministries God is coming alongside the poor and the lost.  Your gift today helps make that possible.  Your gift today is how you can demonstrate that you are on the side of the poor in spirit.

[2] Kenneth E. Bailey Poet & Pesant and Through Peasant Eyes Combined Edition (Eerdmans, 1976), 133.

[3] Warren Carter, Matthew and the Margins (Orbis, 2005), 131.

[4] Frederick Dale Bruner Matthew Volume 1 The Christbook Matthew 1-12 (Word, 1987), 135

[5] Leadership,( Vol. 1, no. 4).

[6] Bruner, 136.

If success means filled seats, last Sunday was a failure.  Our total worship attendance was less than normal.

If sucess means full contribution plates, last Sunday was a failure.  Our giving trended downward.

If success means a full schedule of events at the church building, last Sunday was a failure.  The crowds only filled the building for 45 minutes and quickly left.

But if success means engaging the community in the Spirit of Christ, last Sunday was a raging success.  Instead of our usual two worship services, we held only one combined service.  Instead of our normal schedule of an hour of Sunday School and more than an hour of worship, we met for only 45 minutes of communion and singing.  Instead of lingering and fellowshipping, we rapidly left the building in deployments of more than twenty groups to do specific acts of service in our community.  Homeless men were fed, children and families from Saint Jude and LeBonheur were blessed with gifts and grace, shut-ins received welcome guests, missionaries were sent cards of encouragement, and countless other acts of kindness were demonstrated.

In terms of filled seats, full contribution trays, and an overflowing schedule in the building, it was a bust.  But in terms of being Jesus to one of the poorest cities in the country, it couldn’t have been better.  I’m grateful for the chance to serve with a church full of people willing to re-imagine what it means to be a church.

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