Matthew

"CHRISTMAS DREAMS"
Matthew 1:18-24

DO YOU BELIEVE IN DREAMS? Truth is, it's hard to believe in the bible and NOT believe in dreams. The scriptures are full of dreams; Jacob had a dream about a ladder, Peter had a dream about a large blanket of food; Joseph had prophetic dreams about his future, and Angels regularly appeared in these dreams. Remember an angel appearing to Solomon and offering him anything his heart desired? I was in a bible study one time when a church member asked the question, "Why did God always speak to people in dreams?" And someone, I don't remember who, came up with the very profound statement, "Perhaps because it's the only time God has our undivided attention!"

We have a fascination with dreams, because Dreams are a mystery. Dreams can be unsettling or prophetic, and sometimes it hard to decide if a dream is a mysterious prophetic message, or if it's our body's way of telling us we shouldn't have eaten that pizza at 11:00 last night There was this certain wife who decided to give her husband a hint as to what she might want for Christmas. She said, "I had a dream last night that you gave me a pearl necklace. What do you suppose it means?" The husband responded saying, "Tonight you'll find out.!" And she did! That evening he gave her a book, "How to Interpret Dreams!"

I BELIEVE IN DREAMS. I know that God often speaks in dreams, because, I believe, God spoke to me in a dream. I have a friend name of Brad, Brad and I were teenagers together, but we grew up and went our separate ways, lived our separate lives. I didn't hear from Brad for 10 years, then one night I had a dream that I was talking to Brad on the phone. Next day, on a whim, I decided to call Brad's mother and try to find our where Brad was living. It was about 8:00 PM, Washington time when I reached Brad, who was hopelessly addicted to crack cocaine, and who was, at the time I called, sitting in his kitchen with a gun in his mouth ready to commit suicide. I believe, to this day, that God spoke to me in a dream, so that I would call Brad and talk him OUT of pulling the trigger. My dream didn't require a lot of faith. All I had to do was make one phone call, but imagine the faith required to believe in the dream of Joseph.

Body:

IF JOSEPH HAD NOT BELIEVED IN A DREAM WHERE WOULD CHRISTMAS BE? In truth, we could almost call this text, The Christmas That Almost Wasn't. Sounds like a holiday, made for TV movie, doesn't it? Santa gets kidnapped, there's a big storm, And a nasally challenged reindeer or, Ernest, or somebody has to save Christmas. But I'm not talking about Santa Claus, I'm talking about the first Christmas. The real Christmas story, the story that we read in Matthew that almost didn't happen.

We're so used to the story that we don't notice all the things that could have gone wrong. Read verse 1. Now we hear this verse and we say, "Aha the virgin birth, nut Joseph didn't see it that way. Read verse 19. We hear that as one statement but it's really two; Joseph was righteous, Joseph planned to put her away quietly. As a Righteous man Joseph would have obeyed the law. The righteous know the law and the law says an adulterer must be stoned. Not just as punishment but as protection for the whole community. The Christmas story could have ended there before it began! But Joseph decided to put her away quietly, I don't know that there is a bible verse against aiding and abetting an adulterer. Even if there isn't Joseph was exposing himself to the wrath and the humiliation of his peers. What if they discovered he was preventing this criminal from coming to justice? But Joseph decided to take a chance and send her away quietly. Maybe to place where others didn't know them. Where they could keep it all a secret.

Wouldn't that have messed up Christmas? "And a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world was to be taxed and Joseph went to Bethlehem alone because he had sent Mary off to another region." But this didn't happen because God took matters into God's own hands.

GOD GAVE JOSEPH A CHRISTMAS DREAM. God sent an angel to Joseph in a dream to explain about Christmas. This angel told Joseph that the baby was from God. That he was to name the child Jesus, which means "God saves". That the child was the Messiah, Emmanuel, God with us. and because of Joseph's faith, and his belief in his Christmas Dream . Joseph took Mary as his wife they went to Bethlehem, and she bore a son. And angels and shepherds and wise me came to behold him. But none of it would have happened if God had not intervened. If Joseph had not believed in a dreams!

Conclusion:

Like Joseph We Need To Take A Chance. We need to have the faith to take the promises of God to heart. God never offers us iron clad proof that God's promises are true, if God did there would be no room for faith. But that's what faith is, trusting in something that cannot be proven. Ultimately, God wants to teach us faith and trust, if we want God to lead us out of the darkness, we have to trust God to do the leading.

It was God's intent that Jesus be born in Bethlehem, But people had to cooperate. Mary had to agree to give birth to the son of God. Joseph had to agree to Father a child that was not his. It was God's son, not his, yet he had to agree to feed it, to care for it and provide for it, to love it. And you might say, "That's all well and fine and makes for a good Christmas story, but what does it really have to do with now, with my life? You see friends

JESUS SEEKS TO BE REBORN IN EACH OF US. But for this to happen we have to believe in dreams, we have to believe Supremely in the Dream of God. A dream so huge, that it sent God's son into the world, so that humanity could be redeemed. We have to believe in the reality of that dream, Jesus The Christ! That through his birth, life, death and resurrection that we can become new creations, and we have to have the faith of Joseph. Joseph who was standing on the brink of Christmas, just like we are today. Joseph who had the faith to let go of himself, his desires, his fears, his dreams, Because he saw God's kingdom coming. Because He realized God had a desire to be active in his life. And as we sit on the brink of Christmas once again, may each of us realize how God has chosen us to be bearers of the good news, Christ is born! May we see that God wants to come again into this world. That he wants to borne into the world through our faithfulness and our love. That he wants to be born again this Christmas into our hearts and our lives. May each of us have our own Christmas Dream, and may we have the faith to stand with Joseph, and believe!

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JOY TO THE WORLD!
Matthew 2:1-12

Introduction:

The Secular and the Sacred are wed. Once upon a time, long long ago there was a beautiful woman named Mary who found favor with God and was chosen to bear God's Son into the world. Mary was pledged to be married to a handsome young man named Joseph, who also loved God. Not long after the marriage, when Mary was great with child they traveled to Bethlehem. When they arrived at the Inn they discovered there was no room for them there. A kindly Innkeeper took pity on the couple and allowed them to stay in the stable. And It was there, Mary gave birth to Jesus. The heavens sang with a chorus of angels. Shepherds and Wise men from far away came to offer there gifts to this little King. And they all lived happily ever after That night legend has it that, even the animals talked because of their witness of this Holy Event. And because of this special night Santa Claus decided that there would be no better night then Christmas Eve to jump in His sleigh and make his trip around the world distributing toys and clothes to all those children who have been good throughout the year. And Parents are reminded, with the help of major credit card lenders, that it is better to give then to receive. Many years later, a magical Christmas Snow would bring a humble snowman to life, who loved to play with girls and boys and bring joy to the hearts of all. And so here it is, Jingle Bells, We wish you a Merry Christmas, Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, Grandma got run over by a Reindeer, and Frosty the Snowman. Behold, The Holy, Sacred Day of Christmas is wed with the Secular world. The Holy Day is turned into a Holly Day.

This Fairy tale version of the Christmas story holds true for many people. The World would love to place, "And they lived happily ever after" somewhere in this story. Mary and Joseph live to a ripe old age the carpentry business booming. Jesus becoming a wise old King and never seeing the cross. It might be possible for us to entertain this happily ever after scenario within this Christmas story. If not for Herod. If not for this Jewish King who manipulates, lies, cheats, steals and murders infants all in an attempt to control.

Body:

The Man Who Would Seize Control. Do You Know Anything About Herod? Herod, named King of Judea by the Roman Senate in 40 B.C. He had little or no support from his own people because, he was only partially a Jew, being a descendent of Esau. He had a habit of executing anyone who stood in his way. (even family members). During his 37 year reign he executed; his first wife, his mother-in-law, her Father, and her brother, three of his sons, Alexander, Aristobulos, and Antipater, and his own sister, Salome. He was an Arch-enemy of Cleopatra, but was sly enough to out smart every attempt of the Egyptian Queen to take his power or his life. In the year 20 B.C. he married the daughter of the High priest so that he would have an iron grip on both political and religious power in Judea. It was this Herod who Wise men encountered on their way to Bethlehem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews?"

Let's look for a moment at this encounter, verse 3 says (read verse 3a). That is such an understatement, it's almost funny. Herod has spent his entire life in an insane attempt to keep his power. Now to hear that another may be born who has royal blood, of the lineage of King David. Herod calls his own Wise men together and discovers that scripture claims the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem. Then he meets again with the wise men who come seeking Christ, but this time he meets with them in secret. The scripture doesn't tell us why he meets with them in secret, but I think it's easy to ascertain. Listen to what he says to them (read verse 8b). If anyone else who knew Herod heard him say that, they would have laughed out loud. All his life Herod has attempted to control everything around him, even God. He has perverted his religion and His image of God in his efforts to maintain his political control. And we all recognize what's going on here because.

THE SPIRIT OF HEROD IS ALIVE IN THE WORLD TODAY. The world is full of Herod's who twist and use the sacred and the Holy for their own gains. How many T.V. evangelists have we seen get rich and fat off of people's thirsting and hungering after God? How many times have we seen the media scoff and ridicule a sacred doctrine or belief of the church? How many of us, in our own way, have been guilty of using the sacred and the Holy for ourselves? Many times I've heard someone say, "I joined that church because of the business contacts" It seems that the mythologizing of the Christmas story is just another example of the Spirit of Herod wrecking havoc with the Sacred and the Holy. It might be easy to get angry or depressed at this point in the message, it’s easy to get angered at the thought that all that we hold Sacred and Holy is being profaned. But take heart, Herod doesn't win. Herod learns a great and eternal truth.

HEROD LEARNS THAT GOD IS IN CONTROL. Herod never stood a chance. The Wise Men found Jesus, worshipped him, and gave him gifts befitting a King. (Read verse 12). Herod didn't give up. Before all is said and done hundreds of baby boys will be murdered in an attempt to find and kill this newborn King. And approximately 1 year after those babies are murdered. Herod dies a miserable, diseased ridden old man. Yes, God was in control. God was in control then and God is in control today. One thing that has always amazed me, is how God can work even through those who profane the Sacred and the Holy. God's uncanny ability to work through them and in spite of them. Have you even seen the movie, "Leap of Faith"? It stars Steve Martin as a traveling tent Revivalist, a powerful evangelist. Who is 100% fake, and into it for the money. He would pay people to fake ailments so that he could perform a miraculous healing and bilk people out of their life savings. All was going well until something happened, until God stepped in an performed a real miracle, healed a young crippled boy because this boy had such an amazing faith. God worked through Steve Martin's character and in spite of him, to perform a miracle, to accomplish God's great a holy will.

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RISKY BUSINESS
Matthew 3:1-12

DO YOU WANT PAPER OR PLASTIC? Don't you hate when they ask that? You've spent over an hour making complex decisions. What kind of cereal do you buy for the kids? Do you buy the off brand, and take a chance that it might taste like Styrofoam? Or do you buy the real "Fruit Loops?" Then they ask you "Paper or Plastic?" From an environmental approach, you can't win with either. You say "Plastic"; you're a dirty rotten polluter, because plastics don't biodegrade. You say, "Paper," you're a tree killer. Not to mention that paper sacks are supposed to have roach eggs or something like that. I once saw a lady say, "Both!" She had them place the paper sack inside a plastic sack.

Maybe that's the answer, "We just say both!" This seems to be the message of the world today. With all the political correctness and compromise, there seem to be no more absolutes. No one wants to offend anyone else, so truth has taken a back seat to shaking the system, to being politically incorrect, to disturbing the status quo.

WHAT WOULD THE WORLD OF TODAY HAVE DONE WITH SOMEBODY LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST!?! A bonified prophet of God, but who would hire him? The man doesn't know how to dress! Wearing nothing, but a hairy camel loincloth and a leather belt, crazy wild hair from living out in the desert, and not taking many baths. Ate nothing but grasshoppers and wild honey can you imagine the kind of breath that would give somebody. He had terrible manners, the only time anybody important comes to visit what does John do? He calls them names! Yes, John would be a risk! It would be a risky business to hire John. That's not the kind of preacher we would like at this church, never any good news! Everything that comes out of his mouth is gloom and doom! Preaches the same sermon every Sunday, "Repent, Repent, Repent!" But then again, maybe that's what the Church Of Today needs. More John the Baptists, more "on fire" people of God who are willing to take risks for the Kingdom. People who will declare to the world that compromise is not always a good thing, that there ARE absolutes. Because this is part of what it means to, "Be the Church." To risk being different for God and Kingdom.

Body:

YOU SEE, AS THE CHURCH WE HAVE TO RISK BEING DIFFERENT. It's a risky business to resist conformity, because people are afraid of people who have the courage to be different. Friends the thing is, we are different! We're not like everybody else! We have hope, where reason says there should be NO hope! We have love and compassion, where reason says we should get even! And it shouldn't really surprise us when the world doesn't understand this thinking, read 1 Corinthians 1:18. The Bible tells us that we don't conform to the ways of the world. The world says, "Every man or himself," but God says, "No greater love has a man than he lay down his life for his brother." The world says, "If somebody hurts you, hurt them back," but God says, "If someone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the left also." The world says, "If somebody steals from you throw them in jail and sue their parents for raising bad kids," but God says, "If somebody steals your shirt, offer him your coat as well." To BE the church means we take the risk of being radically different. It means that we don't conform to the world, because we're not of the world, we belong to God! And that means that we take chances, we love those who don't deserve to BE loved. We give of ourselves when it seems there's nothing left TO give. It means we stand up and tell the truth.

IF WE ARE TO BE THE CHURCH, WE HAVE TO STAND UP AND TELL THE TRUTH. It's risky business to proclaim truth. People don't always want to hear the truth, people don't want absolutes, and they want compromise. Because we're not always sure that we can deal with the truth, compromise is easier. Compromise offers us choices; compromise offers us a way out. But until we can stand up and tell the Truth with courage and conviction, we will never change the world. We will be impotent at our efforts to build God's kingdom. Just a little over a year ago the big movie buzz was over the movie "Gladiator." Starring Russell Crowe as the fallen Roman general turned Gladiator, but did you ever hear the story of the last Gladiator contest? There was a simple Monk who had never heard of the Roman gladiator contests, where men fought to the death against each other and sometimes-even animals. Well, this Monk traveled to Rome and ended in the coliseum sitting with 80,000 people waiting for what? He didn't know, he listened as the Gladiators proclaimed, "Hail Caesar!" "We die for the glory of Caesar!" This monk was shocked and couldn't believe what he was hearing, here we are four centuries after the death of Christ, in a civilized nation that considers itself Christian, and people are killing each other for the entertainment of the crowd. This isn't Christian! This little monk who stood about four feet tall, got up out of his seat, ran down the steps climbed over the wall, and placed himself right between the two Gladiators, put his hands up meekly and said, "In the name of Christ Stop This!" The crowd jeered and laughed, one of the gladiators slapped the little monk with the flat of the sword and sent him sprawling in the dust. But the little monk just stood up, between the gladiators and said, "In the name of Christ stop this!" This time the crowd chanted, "Run Him through!" One of the gladiators took his sword and ran it through the little Monk's stomach. He fell to the ground, and as the life drained out of him he said one last time, "In the name Christ, stop this," and he died on the floor of that coliseum. The crowd grew silent and within minutes, they emptied out of the coliseum. History reports that this was the last Gladiator contest in the history of the Roman Empire, thanks to the boldness of a little monk, Saint Telemachus. If we are to be the Church, we must proclaim the truth no matter what the costs. We must proclaim it with a passion. We must proclaim it boldly. We must be willing to say to say a world that reeks of compromise; "Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation!" "Jesus IS coming again and those who do not know Christ will not be saved, because there will be a judgment." We need to proclaim the very unpopular message, that there are consequences to a life of selfish greed. There are consequences to a life devoid of love; there are consequences to a life of sin. Repent for the Kingdom of God Is Near!

IF WE ARE TO BE THE CHURCH WE HAVE TO RISK GIVING ALL OF OURSELVES. It's risky business giving everything to God, because when we do we say to God, "Do what my life what YOU will!" And when that happens we're changed, change is frightening. It's that "lack of control thing." Giving all of ourselves to God means God has the wheel, no short cuts, no easy way out, no compromise. But you see, the thing is, as the Church we do belong to God. Every fiber and being of our existence. My son-in-law just joined the Air force, and he's planning on shipping out in April. He and my daughter are making all these concrete plans for the time in-between, what he doesn't understand is that he doesn't belong to himself anymore. When you join the military, you become property of the United States Government. It starts as soon as you sign on the line, at any moment the Air Force can decide that today is better than April. When we're baptized into the faith, when we make our confession of faith to God and the congregation of the Saints, we're giving ALL of ourselves to God. It's Just like when we join the church. We say that we will give of ourselves to the work of the church, our time, our talents, our gifts, and our service. Friends, its NOT multiple choice, pick one!

WHEN JESUS CHRIST RETURNS TO THIS WORLD, HE ISN'T GOING TO SAY, "PAPER OR PLASTIC." There will be no compromise. We are either children of God and belong to God, or we are lost to the world. You can't have it both ways. Being the Church, which is what God calls us to be, requires absolute discipleship. Ivan the Terrible was one of the great Czars of 16^th century Russia. He was known for his brutality and lust for war. He wanted to marry the daughter of the King of Greece, a young woman by the name of Sophia. The King agreed to the marriage under one condition, that Ivan had to be baptized and join the church. Ivan agreed and set out to Greece to be married accompanied by 500 of his best soldiers. When the soldiers found out that Ivan was to be baptized, they also wanted to be baptized. The requirements of the baptism were that they make a confession of faith in Christ, and affirm the orthodox articles of the faith, which the soldiers agreed to do, except for one. The article they couldn't affirm was the article that forbids them to be professional soldiers. They asked the priests if they could have some time to think it over? Finally, they devised a plan and announced they were ready to be baptized. They marched into the water, all 500 of them, with 500 Priests. As the Priests put the soldiers under water, each soldier grasped his sword, and raised their arm high into the air. The soldiers were completely baptized, except for their swords, and their fighting arms. These they couldn't give to God!

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REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE
Matthew 3:13-17

A TEENAGER IS LEAVING THE HOUSE ON A FRIDAY NIGHT TO GO ON A DATE, Mom and Dad stand at the door bidding farewell to their departing child, and one of them utters those weighty words, "Don’t forget who you are!" Do you remember that? And you knew what she meant, while you’re out there, in the midst of some party, in the presence of strangers, don’t lose sight of the values to which you have been raised. Don’t forget who you are! The great paternal benediction to all teenagers as they leave home. And we say that because we wise paternal adults recognize how difficult it is for a teenager to remember who they are. The search for self and the quest for identity consumes much of our teenage years. Teenagers don’t really become difficult until they start asking the question, "Who am I?" Because it’s WHEN they ask that the world provides them with all the wrong answers. Think about it. What does the media tell our teenagers about who they are? You are mostly a sexual being, you are lusting and being lusted after, you’re body is the most important possession you have; nurture it, love it, display it, caress it, show it off. Through the venue of movies, soap operas, and music, the world says to our kids who have begun the search for themselves. You are a heterosexual, homosexual, satisfaction seeking, sexual object, and pursuer. So, be who you are and get ready for a lifetime of affairs, trysts, rendezvous, and romance.

REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE. Every one of us needs to hear that now and again, because it’s easy for any of us to forget who we are. The simple truth is that we don’t stop asking the identity question when we turn 21. Every school of thought in the world attempt's to answer the question. Intellectuals tell us that we are thinking, rational, reasoning beings, that knowledge is power. It’s not who you are but what you know. The advertisers and consumerists tell us that we are mostly makers and spenders of money, consuming, craving, producing and obtaining. Preparing for that first mortgage, seeking the two cars, the 2.3 kids, and the forty-year payments. The answers go on and on and we all know them and some of us have bought into them. William Willimon, well known author and theologian and professor of worship at Duke University says, "To the one pressing the question, "Who Am I?" the church has always responded by saying, YOU ARE BAPTIZED!"

Body:

IN THE TEXT FOR TODAY JESUS IS BEING BAPTIZED! There have been few stories in the scriptures that have caused the church as much of a problem as the Baptism of Jesus. And the reason is obvious here we see John baptizing persons in the Jordan River, for the forgiveness of sins into the picture walks the sinless Son of God ready to be baptized! Now realize that for the Jews baptism was a ritual washing, the Greek word for Baptize "Baptizo" literally means, "to wash." The Jews were constantly baptizing people and things, if someone of something was unclean they, would baptize it. If someone died on a bed the bed became unclean by contact with the body and had to be baptized. So they would ritually wash it, or baptize it. When the Pharisees criticize Jesus for not washing his hands, they are literally asking Jesus why he doesn’t "Baptize" his hands. That’s what John is doing at the Jordan River. He was ritually washing people. And there must be something seriously important that Matthew wants us to see in the Baptism of Jesus, because this is the first time that Matthew has Jesus speaking. If you have one those Bibles that prints the words of Jesus in red you won’t see any red until you get to Matthew 3:15, "let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Now there it is isn’t it? I mean how could all those centuries of theologians and biblical scholars miss this? John says to Jesus, "I need to be baptized by you and you come to me." And Jesus responds, "Let it be so, for it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Righteousness is an interesting word, it’s found 232 times in the Bible, and in more than half of those occurrences it refers to the righteousness of God, to God’s love and God’s justice, to God’s saving activities and God’s purposes. In other words, contrary to popular understanding the word righteousness does not primarily refer to someone living a good life. Rather it is a state in which the way of redemption is actively offered or illustrated by God. To make it really, really simple, righteousness is not something we do; it is something God does for us and to us. And if we understand that then we will have a sound understanding of what Baptism itself is all about, because in my experience I have found that most of your church members don’t have a sound understanding of Baptism. And it’s primarily because we’ve forgotten who we are, as an enlightened educated people we have tried to make religion and our faith, rational, reasonable, and understandable. We stress human understanding and experience over Divine activity, we look to what it means to us and for us, instead of what God intends, and what God means. Case in point, we look at the Baptism of Jesus and we ask, "What did it mean for Christ, and we ignore what it meant for God" We do this because we’ve bought into easy and shallow definitions as to what really happens at a Baptism. When the Question has been asked, "What happens at Baptism?" We say, Baptism is an outward and visible sign, it’s something we do to make a statement, and it really means nothing unless we inwardly feel like a Christian. Our own feelings determine if Baptism works or not, if we don’t feel it, it’s not there. The person who says, "I want to be baptized again because I really didn't understand what I was doing the first time I was baptized," is speaking from an understanding of Baptism as something we think or feel. Baptism is about me, my feelings, my attitudes, and my beliefs, and my actions are what matter most, God has little or nothing to do with it. The bible, both Old and New Testament has always and in every way stated that salvation is always God’s work and not ours. Israel was a nobody and a non-people, but God chose to make Israel a great name, a holy people, a blessing to all the nations. And the Bible never attempts to tell us why God did this, except to suggest that it is some unfathomable mystery of God’s love. Israel did nothing to deserve that kind of love, in fact, as a nation and a people, she did almost everything to betray and mock that love, but still God chose Israel throughout all the old and new testament to be a light to the rest of the world. The point being that God chose! The gospel of John states it quite simply by saying, "you did not choose me but I chose you." At any Baptism what happens supremely is that God is saying to the person being Baptized, "You are mine, you have always been mine and I am claiming you as mine." I mean isn’t that what God said to Jesus when he was baptized. "This is MY Son with whom I love, with HIM I am well pleased!" God the ultimate parental figure stands at the door that marks the beginning of Jesus ministry to bring salvation to the world and says to the Son, before this Son enters a world that will desperately try to get that Son to forget who he is, you are MY Son, remember who you are!

AND AT THAT MOMENT, THE MEANING OF BAPTISM WAS CHANGED. John himself prophesied that it would change. He told the people before he had ever even met Jesus, "I baptize with water, but one will come who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire." John foretold the time when Baptism would not be simply a means of ritual cleansing, but a means of God’s holy presence in our lives. Years ago there was a religious bumper sticker that was popular it simply said, "I found it," and was meant to be making the statement that the person who owned the bumper had found God. The thing is that bumper sticker was dead wrong. According to the bible nobody finds God, indeed the gospel story is that God, in God’s infinite love and grace found us. A better way to say it might be "I got found!" Baptism is God’s way of finding us and leading us home, reminding us that we not only belong to God after our baptism, but that we always belonged to God. What happens at baptism is that we are reminded of who we are, and this is why we can baptize infants. Every time we baptize a baby, we are saying that God’s Grace is sufficient. We are saying that God’s grace is free enough, undeserved enough, unmerited enough, and great enough to include even children. Now the usual objection to the baptizing of infants is to say one must have faith to be baptized. And this is right because we’re told in Mark 16:16 "he who believes and is baptized will be saved!" An infant cannot believe so how can an infant be baptized? In the New Testament, faith is not something we do; it is a gift of God. Faith is not something we do, it’s not something we have to have or possess to receive God’s grace. Faith is not our human contribution to the cost of salvation, nor is it something we do, some kind of holy works. The New Testament says again and again that the opposite of faith is works. Faith itself is God’s gift and faith happens not when we grope around for God, but faith happens when God grasps us. In other words, faith comes to you as life comes to you, as a gift. When we see faith as a gift of God, then even infants can be recipients of that gift. We often refer to the Baptism of infants as a dedication, and it is a dedication, but not in the way that we usually apply the word dedication to baptism. At baptism, parents do not so much dedicate their children to God, as much as they recognize that God has already done something for their children. When Children are baptized, the parents and the church are dedicated; we are dedicating ourselves to be instruments of love and grace so that these children might grow in their faith. We are pledging ourselves to being gifts of God to these children so they may grow in their grace. So that as they grow in age and wisdom that they never forget, that they remember who they are.

THE CHRISTIAN MESSAGE IS NOT THAT WE SHOULD TRY TO ACT LIKE SOMEBODY. But that we ARE somebody, we are holy children of God called by God to a special purpose. When Jesus was baptized God confirmed for him, his special calling as God’s Son. The text tells us that the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus and God affirmed God’s claim upon Christ as "MY SON," Jesus was named. God answered the question before it was even asked. Who is he? He is my son, and at this moment, in this thing we call baptism, I will anoint him with my Holy Spirit and he will begin to be and do what I have called him for. And the thing is Jesus could have rejected his calling. The most compelling truth of the gospel story is that Christ went willingly to the cross. He not only knew who he was and what God called him to do, but he embraced it, he chose it. Even the chosen must choose! At several points in our life as God’s spirit seeks to move us to recognizing who we are, and accepting the call of discipleship, we have the freedom to say no. But you know I’m not so sure that saying NO is as easy as it sounds.

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JUST SAY YES!
Matthew 4:1-11

THERE ARE TIMES WHEN IT JUST DOESN'T SEEM FAIR. As Christians we try to live up to the model of Christ, but so often, that model seems out of reach. We can't do it. We can't be as holy and as righteous as Jesus. We can't forgive our neighbors like Jesus. We can't love the unlovable like Jesus. And our inability to live up to the model of Jesus is most apparent when we suffer temptation. Because try as we might, we can't seem to fight temptation like Jesus. Jesus, who was hungry and thirsty, takes on the devil face to face. Resists the devil's best temptations, and does so simply by saying, "NO." In effect, that's what's happening. Jesus is tempted by the devil to abandon his messiah ship, and Jesus Just says, "No!" And we know that what we're supposed to do as good Christians, is to be like Jesus. We've been told that since we were little, "be loving like Jesus, be fair like Jesus, give like Jesus, and resist temptation like Jesus." And it's just not fair, because Jesus had certain advantages over us; He Was the Son of God, He knew what his life purpose was, and He had angels waiting to attend him. We shouldn't be expected to deal with temptation as well as Jesus. Sounds like a fairly good argument doesn't it? I mean it just might work, who knows, perhaps we may have found a loophole in all this temptation and sin stuff. We've already tried, "The devil made me do it!" That didn't work because we know that the devil has no authority over the Christian. But this might have potential! But before we put too much stock in this argument, before we take this case to the judgment, and present this as evidence that we should not be held accountable for our sins. Let's take this one step at a time.

WE'RE ONLY HUMAN! Jesus, on the other hand, is the Son of God he's divine. Except that, this scripture begins by documenting Jesus "humanness" before his confrontation with the devil ever begins. Read 4:1-2. The fact that Jesus was hungry illustrates his humanity. In fact, we see examples of Jesus humanity all throughout the scriptures. Jesus often did some very human things. He got frustrated, read Mark 3:4-5a. He got angry, read Mark 11:15-17. He knew sorrow, read John 11:33-35. He knew fear, remember his prayer just prior to the cross, "Father if it' your will take this cup from me!" He knew doubt, the gospels record what Jesus said as he died on the cross. At least two gospel accounts have Jesus saying, "My God why have you forsaken me?" And besides that fact that Jesus was human, there's those nagging little scriptures that remind us that we are more than human. Romans 8:14, "Those who live by the Spirit of God are Sons of God." Philippians 4:13 "I [we] can do everything through Christ Jesus whom gives us strength." But perhaps Peter said it best, read 1 Peter 2:9. But none of this changes the fact that.

JESUS KNEW WHAT HIS LIFE PURPOSE WAS. Jesus was born to be the Messiah. The scriptures tell us that Jesus was born to take away the sins of the world. He was born to be our Savior. He was born to be an example of perfection. He was born to be tempted, and He knew this. Jesus knew who he was. That's what the devil was trying to do, get Jesus to forget who he was. The Devil wanted Jesus to make bread out of stones for himself. But his messiah ship refused, Jesus just said, "No." Because his purpose was not to feed himself, but to feed others, and when the time came, he would make bread not out of stones but from a little boy's lunch. Jesus would make enough bread to feed 5000 people. As human beings, we are often born searching. We search for who we are. We search for the meaning of life. We search for our purpose. Jesus came to show us the meaning of life. Jesus came to help us to understand who we really are. Jesus came to give us purpose. Jesus holds us close and says to us, "You're more than what you seem to be. You're more than what you think you are."

BUT IT STILL DOESN'T SEEM FAIR DOES IT. Because Jesus had Angels. There were angels to announce his coming. There were angels who sang at his birth. Angels warned his parents when Jesus was in danger. And in this text as soon as the devil is through with him angels come and attend him. Our culture has a fascination with Angels. One of the most popular television series for the last few years is "Touched by an Angel." In this ongoing drama, people are regularly attended to by angels. Guardian Angels right? Except that the term, "Guardian Angel" is not biblical. Now the scriptures tell us that angels are among us. Read Hebrews 13:2. And in at least one scripture passage, Jesus implies that we have angels. Read Matthew 18:10. But it's not like we have angels waiting to attend us. When the devil's temptations wear us out. And that may be the best argument yet. In the way of temptation, Jesus had an edge over us. He had angels waiting to attend him. He had a resource we don't seem to have, possibly because of his nature as the Son of God. But then again, we have something Jesus didn't have. We have the Christ. We have someone who knows what's it like to hurt, because he's been hurt. Someone who knows loneliness and rejection, because he was there. Someone who knows temptation like nothing any of us have ever had to face. But best of all in Christ, In Jesus, we have someone who stands with us in our temptations. We can face down the devil and know that we will never travel into the wilderness alone. That when we are tempted, that God is with us. For that's who Jesus is, "Immanuel," God with us, and we also have Grace. We have the assurance that when we don't resist temptations, that when we fail to be as strong as Jesus is, that when we fail to be as righteous as Jesus, that we have a mediator whose righteousness we can claim. Whose sinless life served as a one-time sacrifice for our sin. For all the times when we have given in to temptations

JESUS JUST SAID NO! And yes, it's true that we cannot be as perfect as Jesus Christ the Son of God, because we are fallible, sinful humans. And even though we have been created in the image of God, we have within us the potential for evil. All of us do. But we can learn to just say "No" to the principalities of this world, by saying, "Yes" to the ultimate power and authority which is God. Jesus said "No" to the devil because he had already said, "Yes" to the Father. Jesus said, "No" to the seductive words of the tempter because he had said, "Yes to the authority of scripture.

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WANTED: A FEW GOOD HELL BUSTERS!
Matthew 10:40-42

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO HELL? Truth Is, Unless You've Lived An Exceptionally Sheltered Life You've Been To Hell. Life can often bring with it, a taste of hell sometimes more than just a taste. Been to hell and back, it's an old expression. And many of us have been to hell and back in our personal lives.

But I'm Asking If You've Ever Been To Another Kind of Hell. Have you ever seen or experienced the misery of people as they exist in a particular hell; a social hell, an economic hell, a demographic or neighborhood hell. And if you've never been to hell there are always people in our lives who invite us there. Sadly enough sometimes it's the preachers. There's an old story about a church that asked the Bishop to move their preacher. When the Bishop asked why, they said it was because he was always telling them they were going to hell. The Bishop must have felt that this was the message the church needed to hear, because the next preacher he sent them told them the same thing. After the first year, however, the Bishop was amazed when they asked for the same preacher to be re-appointed for another year. He asked them what made the difference. The lay leader said, "Oh, this preacher tells us we're going to hell too, but he doesn't seem to be so happy about it!

I'm Not Going To Tell You That You're Going To Hell. Because that's not up to me. Also because I believe I'm called not so much to tell people how to avoid hell, but how to find heaven. No I'm not going to tell you you're going to hell today. But I will say this; if you haven't been to hell you need to go!

WE ARE CALLED TO GO TO HELL! We're Not Called To Live In Hell, We're Called to Live In Heaven. But you can't go to heaven without going through hell first. William Booth discovered hell one night when he couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned, then he got up out of bed and decided to go for a walk. At 2:00 AM he found himself walking in a part of London he had never been to before a very poor section. He spent the rest of that night seeing sights and smelling odors he had never before experienced. When he arrived home early in the morning his wife Katherine was frantic, "Where in the world have you been?" she cried out. He replied, "I've been to hell tonight. I've seen hell!" And after he told her what he had seen, together they founded the salvation army. Have you ever been to hell? If not...why?

Jesus Continually Sought Hell Out. He went into the heart of the leper colonies, where human beings lived whose very flesh was rotting off their bodies. To people who had no hope of life. To people whose touch could mean death, and he touched those people. Those people who lived in hell. He walked into the heart of the social hells of his day; where women and children were marginalized, where the poor were ignored, where the sinners were condemned and cast out. He ate with these people and talked to them about hope. These people who lived in hell!

You See Jesus Had To Go To Hell To Find Us. Jesus finds us as hell raisers and he takes us like he finds us, but he doesn't leave us like he found us. Because he turns us into hell busters. Jesus saves us from the hell of our sin. He saves us from our hell raising nature. So that we can become the church. God's hell busting agent in this world. In Christ we are transformed into people who live a call to bust hell wide open, people who will not let the world get away with abuse, people who refuse to stand aside while God's children live with hate, people who live out a call to douse the flames of hell with the cooling water of the love of Christ. Have you ever been to hell? Are You one of God's Hell busters?

AND A GOOD QUESTION HERE MIGHT BE, "HOW, IN FACT, DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOU'RE HELL BUSTING FOR GOD? Jesus Tells His Disciples, Anyone Who Receives You Receives Me! Before someone can be a hell buster they have to decide which side of the fence they're going to stand on. I can tell you from 12 years of experience pastoring churches and from a lifetime of being raised in the church as a preachers son. The primary reason a church fails in it's attempts to be a hell busting church, is because too many of the churches members have never stopped being hell raisers. They've just shifted their focus. They now raise hell in their church. Their time is not spent trying to douse the fires of hell with a cool drink of love, but they are heating up with trying to start fires in the church. People Have Forgotten That Without Love Every Effort Is Pointless. Instead of hell-busting through forgiveness; they raise hell with grudges. Instead of hell busting with understanding; they raise hell with judgments and accusations. Instead of hell busting with the purity of truth; they raise hell through rumors and secrets. Instead of hell busting by the power of love and grace; they raise hell because of a misplaced sense of holier-than-thou righteousness. There are churches all over the nation, all over the conference, in this district; and they are dying. Because of all the hell raisers who say things like; we’ve never done it that way before, it won’t work, it cost too much, they’re not our kind of people, he said this, she said that. Praise God This is not one of those churches! Now we’re not perfect. We have our occasional disagreements. Sometimes we may hurt each other’s feelings, but we try to disagree in love. And when we come to realize we’ve hurt one another we try to rectify the situation. And I’ll tell you something friends, if you are looking for the perfect church; you’re not going to find what you’re looking for . And if you do, they won’t let you in, because you’re not perfect. Are you a hell raiser or a hell buster?

Hell Busters Exude The Spirit. They give off a sprit of love and compassion, a Christ like spirit. When you're in their presence you can almost smell holiness, but it's a smoky holy smell. It's a smell that tells you they've been slightly singed with the fires of hell. Where are you getting singed? Where are you suffering for righteousness sake? If you live as a Christian you will suffer. When you live with integrity know this you will suffer! When you live with honesty know this you will suffer! When you live for justice know this you will suffer! And so I ask you right now, this morning, what pain pierces your life right now because you bear the name "Christian?" Because you dare to be a hell-buster? I never thought I'd say this in a sermon, but friends, you need to go to hell!

WE ARE THE CHURCH AND WE ARE CALLED TO OFFER THE WORLD A CUP OF COLD WATER. We Are called To Douse The Flames or Hell with the waters of eternity. Are you a hell raiser or a hell buster? Is our church a hell raising church or a hell busting church? Now before you answer that question consider these two Churches. When Dr. Michael Cordel Arrived At His New Appointment In Downtown Atlanta. He discovered he had inherited a struggling inner-city congregation with an attendance rate that hovered somewhere under a 100. A few Sunday's after arriving, the Cordel family stepped outside the church after services and was stunned to see a steady stream of exuberant marchers parading down the street. This was Atlanta's "Gay Pride" parade, and as they watched the people streaming by it struck Cordel that these were some of the people of St. Mark's neighborhood. This was part of his parish! He thought to himself, I’ve go to do something about this. Now one year later when the parade participants reached the front of St. Marks church, they were met with an unexpected surprise. On that hot and steamy June afternoon, the church had set up a small Oasis, offering cups of cold water to all the marchers who felt hot and thirsty and tired.

Now Two blocks Away Another Church Had A Different Surprise. They had set up roadblocks. They had erected barricades and had policeman riding the perimeters with, "No trespassing" signs all across the property. One was a hell Busting Church, the other was raising Hell. Do You Know Which Is Which? Those cups of cold water St. Marks offered that day transformed that neighborhood and the church Membership has climbed to over 600 in the last four years, and over 200 former gay and lesbian people now run a ministry which transforms lives. All Because a Church offered cups of cold water in the name of Christ in an effort to douse the flames of hell. Are You a hell buster? Or a hell raiser?

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What Do We Do With The Weeds?
Matthew 13:24-30

Introduction:

A CERTAIN LIBERAL SEMINARY STUDENT AND A CONSERVATIVE FUNDAMENTALIST CHRISTIAN WERE ONCE DISCUSSING THE STORY OF JONAH AND THE WHALE. The seminary student was trying to get the old man to believe what he had been taught, that is, that the story of Jonah and the whale was fiction. It didn’t really happen, was kind of like an Old Testament parable. Written to make a theological point about the nature of God, but the old man would have none of it. He had been raised in a very conservative Biblical background, and believed the Bible, every word of it, to be the unalterable, literal word of God. In his frustration the seminary student threw his arms up in the air and said, "There is no such person as Jonah and there never was!" The old man just smiled smugly and said, "Oh yes there is." "And how can you be so sure?" said the seminary student. "Because I know that when I get to heaven I’ll see him there." "And how about when you get to heaven and he’s not there?" "What will that mean?" The old man thought about this a moment and then said, "Well," I suppose that will mean that he’s down in hell with you!"

WHETHER WE HAVE KNOWN IT OR NOT, MOST ALL OF US HAVE BEEN THERE. We’ve been placed in hell by somebody. We’ve been judged and told that we weren’t good enough. We didn’t believe the right way. We weren’t baptized the right way. Didn’t read our bible enough. We didn’t pray the right way. Didn’t live the way that the bible told us that we should live. We slept in on Sundays, after partying too hard on Saturday night. Instead of listening to the Christian radio station, we listened to secular rock and roll, or cry in our beer country music. Instead of watching the PTL club, we watched Baywatch, Survivor, or perhaps even Jerry Springer. Most every one of us, whether we realize it or not have been identified, at one time or another as a weed. As being of the world and not of God, a child of the devil. A son, not of God, but a son of Satan. And you know what I’m talking about, don’t you!? In fact, there are some of who are here today, and you’ve been wounded in life by those persons who have looked at you and said, "You’re a weed!" "And you’re going to burn!" In fact, the actions of these select persons may have even caused you to look at entire churches, and entire church denominations with anger and resentment. Because someone from that church either a pastor or a lay person, looked at you and made the judgment, "You are a weed!"

AND IF THIS IS YOU, THAN PERHAPS THE SCRIPTURE OF TODAY MIGHT OFFER JUST A BIT OF GUIDANCE ON THE SUBJECT. Because we see some people who are doing the very same thing. A Man plants wheat in his field, but while everyone is sleeping an enemy of the man comes and plants some weeds among the wheat. When the wheat starts to grow the servants realizes that there are weeds among the wheat, and they say to the owner of the field "How about we go and pull the weeds and clean out your field?" The owner replies saying, "How about not, because while you’re pulling the Weeds you might just accidentally pull some of the wheat." And something that makes this parable unique, we have a pretty detailed explanation of what it means. In verses 36 - 43 of this same chapter Jesus tells His disciples, "The One Who Sowed The Field Is The Son of Man (Jesus himself), the field is the world, the wheat are the Sons of the kingdom, the weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy is the devil. And so it really shouldn’t surprise you that you’ve been unjustly called a weed, because it’s happened before. In fact, it’s a part of human nature to judge, to spend more time pointing out the faults of others, than noticing our own faults. Perhaps that’s why Jesus told his disciples "before you start noticing the splinter in your neighbor’s eye, you had better recognize the log in your own eye."

The Truth Is, I Believe The Reason That There Has Been So Much Finger Pointing In The Christian Church, Is because we’ve become confused as to where and who we are in this text. We often act like the harvest depends upon our manipulation of people and situations. We often think of the field as ours. We adopt an "us against them" mentality. Speaking of "my church," or "my faith" rather than all things belonging to God, and coming from God. Friends let me remind you of a few things, bad guys don’t always wear black hats, and good guys don’t always wear white hats. Bad guys don’t always stay bad, and good guys don’t always stay good. And how about this, we who are the wheat have not always been wheat. But there was a time when we were weeds, and except by the grace of God could have been uprooted ourselves. In fact, the scriptures are full of powerful stories of Transformation, where weeds, sons of the evil one became sons of the Father. Wasn’t Paul a weed before Christ spoke to him on the road to Damascus? Or how about the Roman soldier who stood at the cross while the religious leaders where cursing the crucified Christ, and proclaimed in a loud voice, "Surely this man was the Son of God." Was he a weed, before that confession? Truth is, we’re all born weeds. We are born with a propensity for evil, only by God’s grace and the gift of faith do any of us become wheat, or children of the Father. And again, I believe that’s another problem where we miss the point of this text. When we’re not trying to take the role of the man who owns the field, we’re trying to place others and ourselves into the field. We are either weeds or we are wheat. You are a weed or wheat. He’s a weed. She’s wheat. Did you notice that suspiciously there is one group of characters in the parable that Jesus does not identify? That he does not interpret for us. Jesus interpretation of the parable never suggests who the servants are, but you don’t have to think very hard to realize who they must be. They Are Us! We, the Christian Church, God’s Holy Children called to build the kingdom of God on this earth. We are the Servants of the master, and we’re given great wisdom and insight into ourselves. Through the telling of this parable, the field is the world, not the church. The church is the servants, you, and I. And there is not a one of us in any situation, who have the wisdom to distinguish between the weeds and the wheat. I know this because I’ve tried, as have most ministers.

WHEN I FIRST ENTERED SEMINARY I THOUGH I KNEW WHO WERE WEEDS AND WHO WERE WHEAT. And the truth is that sometimes I believed some of my professors to be weeds. Filling me full of liberal theology. Challenging what I believed to be true, and it all came to a head about half way through my first year. When we received, an assignment in worship Class. We were to attend a Jewish synagogue and participate in their worship. I was floored! Here I am a Christian minister, and I’m being told that I have to attend worship at a place where they don’t even believe in Jesus Christ. The last thing I wanted to do was to go and participate with a bunch of Jesus hating Jews, but I had to have the grade to pass the class. So, I decided that I would go, but that I would make a statement. I purchased the biggest cross that I could find, so that I could wear it in that worship, and I was just waiting for one of those Jesus-hating Jews to say something about my cross. I was going to hit them right where it hurts, with scripture. Pointing out to them, like Stephen pointed out to the Sanhedrin before he was stoned to death. How they had killed and denied the very Messiah whom they had been waiting for since the early days of the Jewish faith. And like the conservative fundamentalist old man who argued with the seminary student, I couldn’t wait to tell them where they were going, and that it was not where I was going. And do you know what I found when I walked into that synagogue? Those people were not Jesus hating Jews. In spite of my hatred and judgment, in spite of the large cross that I was wearing, these people greeted me with love and a mutual respect. I saw in their worship the same service and love and dedication to God, that I had seen in the Christian church, and I was brought to tears. I had gone into that place with the smug belief that every one of those persons was going to hell because they had denied Jesus Christ as Savior of the world. I left that place praying that God would somehow and someway find mercy.

Conclusion

FRIENDS, DEEP DOWN IN MY SOUL I BELIEVE THAT JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY WAY TO SALVATION, and that if you die without Christ that you will be counted among the weeds. But as I’ve grown in my faith and my love, I’ve stopped being happy about it. And the thought of anyone who reaches out to God; Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, the thought that any could reach out to God and still not be "saved" tears me deep in my soul. The only comfort I save is the realization of the truth. It’s not up to me. It’s not up to me to distinguish. It’s not up to me or any of us to say who are weeds, and who are wheat. The line separating good and evil passes not through states, or classes, or political parties, not even between differing religions, but through every human heart, and through all human hearts.

WHAT DO WE WITH THE WEEDS? We leave them be. We recognize their potential to be wheat. We realize that like the field in the parable, that we can all grow together. That we are all "in process," and we strive to build God’s kingdom here on this Earth. A place where judgment is finally reserved. A place where people are not seen, so much as what they are, but as what they can become, in Christ.

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REAL CHRISTIANS HAVE SPLINTERS
Matthew 16:21-28

Introduction:

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EXTREME CHRISTIANS
Matthew 16:21-28

HOW FAR WILL YOU GO TO STAND UP FOR SOMETHING YOU BELIEVE IN? Are you willing to go to extremes to make the world a better place? Take Julia Butterfly Hill for instance. Do you remember that name? Julia Butterfly Hill is the lady who spent over a year living in a tree. In a protest for the logging practices of the Pacific lumber company. When asked when she would come down she said, "I will come down when there is no more clear cutting, no more herbicides sprayed on our trees, and the remaining 3 % of our ancient forests are protected forever." Now while we might admire Julia Hill for her commitment to her beliefs, you have to admit that perching as a lightening rod 180 feet in a giant redwood is a little extreme.

There’s a lot of extremism today; extreme sports, skateboarding, snow boarding, motor cross, extreme fighting, extreme TV, fear factor, survivor, and top dog, And as popular as extremism seems to be, as much as we like to watch extreme TV, there has been a whole lot of evil that has been perpetrated, as a result of extremism. Think about the destruction caused in this world by extremism; extreme racism brought about the Ku Klux Klan, extreme antiabortion activists have bombed abortion clinics, extreme anti-gay groups have praised their members who have been convicted of beating homosexual's to death, extreme hatred drove a group of human beings to fly jet airliners into the World Trade Center, and into the Pentagon, in the name of their God. And regardless of how we stand on any of these issues, most rational people would not agree with this kind of extremist terrorism. Everything in moderation, that's almost a universal standard of acceptable behavior. All things are acceptable in moderation, but excess and extremism is taboo.

The truth be known, most of us want our religion to be exercised in moderation. Let's not get too extreme. We'll scare people away after all, we don't want to infringe our beliefs on others, right? Let's get together and worship and get a good warm fuzzy feeling, maybe give a little to the church, maybe get just a little happy, maybe allow ourselves to indulge in just a little guilt from time to time, but let's not over do it! We don't want people to label us as "Extreme Christians". Read verses 24-25.

NOW IT WOULD SEEM TO ME THAT WHAT JESUS IS SAYING IS JUST A LITTLE EXTREME. Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me. Now imagine if you were there as one of the disciples listening to those words. What would be your response? "Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me." "Now wait a minute this is not what I signed up for." Jesus, you told us that we were going to help you build God's kingdom" you said, "I come offering eternal life." You didn't say anything about giving up who I am, and you certainly didn't say anything about crosses. Jesus I don't like the direction you're taking this church. So I think I'm going to start going to another church. One that meets my needs and agrees with my way of thinking.

For many Christians this is the kind of discipleship that they live. I’m going to worship at that church, until the preacher says something that I don’t believe in. But you know I believe that a great deal of the blame for this kind of thinking lies with the churches. Because far too often we don't tell the whole truth about the Christian life. We paint a wonderful, and trouble-free picture of what living as a Christian is like. "Come to Jesus and your life will be wonderful!" It's going to be great, fantastic, all your problems are just going to go away. And many people have left out the back door of the church, when they found out the truth. Friends, life in Christ is not a trip to Disney world. If someone has promised you that when you became a Christian that all your problems would vanish. They’ve lied to you! In fact, once you give your life over to God things can begin to get just a little extreme. God has not promised us safety but rather participation in an adventure called, "The Kingdom of God." And this adventurous journey challenges us to do enormously useful work.. While living in situations that would terrify most people. This journey oftentimes involves suffering and self-denial. This extreme adventure will be threatening, challenging, thrilling, and satisfying, but never, ever, boring. Because if we do it right, we have to be extreme!

IN FACT, THERE IS MORE EXTREMISM IN THIS TEXT, AND IN JESUS WORDS THAN YOU MAY REALIZE. It's obvious that the author of this text wants us (the reader) to think about Jesus death on the cross. Even though Jesus hasn't died at least not at this point in Matthew. As Jesus speaks with the disciples he’s just beginning to explain to them that he will suffer and die, but they don’t really get it. The author wants us (the reader) to think about the cross, because we know that Jesus denied himself. Jesus took up his cross, and he died for all of humanity. We Know this because we know how the story ends. And when the author of Matthew wrote this text he also knew how the story ended and he knew that his readers would know because Matthew wasn't written to people who didn't know about Jesus but to Christians, to help them grow in their faith. But now listen to me closely, because I’m about to give you an "Aha!" At the time Jesus said these words to the Disciples, they didn't know. They had no idea that Jesus would end up dying on a Roman Cross of Execution. The very thought would have been beyond their wildest imagination, because Jesus was the Son of God. This man performed miracles; he walked on water. No way would he ever end up on a cross! And so placing ourselves where they were. The disciples in this story at this time, before the crucifixion, what would they have made of Jesus words? You must deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.

Well to answer this question I'm going to have to get a little Greek on you. Realize that originally the Gospel of Matthew as well as the whole of the New Testament was written in Greek. The Greek word for cross is "Stauros", the literal translation meaning a stake or a pole. Now the Stauros has a unique history with the Jewish people which has nothing do with a cross. When Moses was leading the Hebrew people through the wilderness they lived as nomads. They had no houses but they lived in tents traveling from place to place, they did this for 40 years, the scriptures tell us. Now when you're constantly on the move you need something that helps to establish your home. Something that is unique to your family something that says, "this is home." The Stauros served this purpose because every family had a Stauros, an enormous stake or pole that was the main support pole for the tent. All the main ropes were anchored to this one stake. The animals would be tethered to this one stake. In fact God gave the command that they were to inscribe upon this stake something called the "Shema" which was the core of the law. You’ve heard the Shema before "The Lord your God is one God you, will love the Lord your God with all your heart all your mind, all your soul and all your strength." The Shema was central to the Jewish faith. It was the core of their faith, and when it came time to move to another place the command would go forth, "Take up your Stauros, take up the family stake and move your tents." We're searching for the promised land. Do you see where I’m going with this? I believe that when Jesus said, "Take up your Stauros and follow me." It had a double meaning. For those who knew the story of Jesus and his cross it meant, be willing to sacrifice yourselves as I have sacrificed myself. But for the disciples it would have meant something more. Take up everything and follow me! Your homes! Your families! Everything that makes you who you are! This is truly denying ourselves, not that we become something we're not, but that what we are we give to God, and allow God to transform us into something more.

THIS IS EXTREME FAITH. And this brand of extreme faith takes extreme Christians. Who are extremely compassionate, who are willing to visit the infected and the sick in hospitals, who are extremely humble, Christians who are able to see that every good gift comes from God alone, and that personal talents and resources should inspire gratitude, not pride. Who are extremely patient, who are committed to working with challenging children, teenagers with attitude, and young adults who are struggling with their faith. Who are extremely forgiving, who are willing to forgive not just once, or twice, but again and again, because they know that God has forgiven them again and again. Who are extremely loving, who volunteer to serve the needs of others, people they don't even know, people who don't deserve to be loved by the world's standards. Who are extremely faithful, who are living out a committed and trusting relationship with God, with their spouse, with members of their family, friends, knowing that faithful living in an uncertain world is at the heart of a life that is real and worthwhile.

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GOD HUNTING
Matthew 17:1-9

I WAS A BOY SCOUT, FOR A TIME. Actually, I was a Cub Scout for about one camp-out. This was out in West Texas in the Davis Mountains. I was 8 years old and up until the last night of the camp-out, I was having a blast. We had a great campfire we started ourselves. Roasted hot dogs with sticks we had whittled with our knives, and after we had eaten hot dogs, and marshmallows, and told stories. We decided to go swimming in the pond wi