Lecture 6 The Way of Redemption

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THE WAY OF REDEMPTION Last week we asked the question: How should we relate to a culture that is becoming harder and harder for us to understand and more and more hostile to who we are and what we believe? Here’s a clip from the opening scene of No Country for Old Men that describes where I think we are. Clip: No Country for Old Men: Oldtimers In this scene Sheriff Ed Tom Bell confesses that he doesn’t understand the world around him anymore. It’s changing and it’s confusing and it’s disheartening. And he’s afraid, not of dying, but of getting involved in a world where he has to step into a kind of darkness that’s different than he has ever seen before. He’s afraid not of dying, but of what being a part of the world might do to his soul. We’ve been talking about the darkness of our culture – how we live in a time that can be confusing and discouraging for people of faith. And last week, we began to ask: How should we respond to what’s going on around us? We said that in times like these there are some typical responses for believers. And we looked at examples from the time of Jesus.

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One response is: 1. We should retreat from the culture. This was the way of the Essenes who withdrew to the desert community of Qumran. Don’t engage the culture. Huddle up and hide out in our like-minded ghettos – safe from the world and its temptations. Second response: 2. We should rebuke the culture. Stay in the culture, assume a posture of moral superiority, and condemn those who live and believe differently than we do. This is what the Pharisees did. Third response: 3. We may resemble the culture. Go along to get along. Adopt the values and the beliefs of the world around you. Fit in, get what others get and live like others live. That’s how the Herods lived and others whom we referred to last week as the cultural elites of Jesus’ time. Jewish in name but Greek in thinking and values. We said that each of these responses is tempting, but they all have a problem. They are not the way of Jesus. (The problem with these three responses: they are not the way of Jesus.)

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Jesus did not retreat from a hostile world. He purposefully stepped into it, knowing what it would cost him. He did not condemn sinners. He loved and accepted people before they changed. And he did not resemble the world; he did not come into the world to be remade into our image; he came into the world so that we might be remade into his. So, what’s another option. What is the way of Jesus? 4. We should redeem the culture. Finding the right word here is difficult. Jesus is the redeemer. Not us. It’s his death that brings redemption, not our efforts. Mark 10.45: For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

So, Jesus is the Redeemer, not us. But what I want to convey is that as his followers, we are to continue his ministry of bringing redemption into the life of a world that’s lost. Here’s a definition of redemption. Redemption: Deliverance from some evil by payment of a price. In biblical times, slaves could be redeemed. A price could be paid so they could be bought out of bondage and set free.

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Is the world enslaved? Jesus said it was. John 8.34: Everyone who sins is a slave to sin.

Before people come to Christ, we are enslaved to sin. Before we put faith in Christ, sin has a power over us. And we need someone to set us free. There was another group that could be redeemed in biblical times – prisoners of war. If a soldier was captured by a foreign army, he could be redeemed by the payment of a ransom, in which case the prisoner would be set free. This is exactly how Jesus described his mission in the first sermon he ever preached. Luke 4:18: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

The mission of Jesus was a mission of redemption. He saw people as having been imprisoned by the lies of the world and the work of the deceiver. He came not to condemn sinners. John 3.17: God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

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Jesus did not come to condemn sinners but to pay a price that would save them, and to wage a war that would deliver the prisoners of a sinful culture that had corrupted their hearts, pulled them away from God, and condemned them to death. But here’s the deal. Redemption is more than deliverance. You can deliver a prisoner without paying a price. But redemption requires more. What Jesus did as the world’s redeemer and what he calls us to do if we are to continue his work, requires that a price be paid. Back to the way of Jesus. Mark 10.45: For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Jesus looked at a world that was lost and captive, overcome by ignorance and evil, and he paid a price so it could be delivered and redeemed. That’s great, but what does it have to do with us? Look at John 20.21 where after his resurrection Jesus tells his disciples: John 20.21: As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you. With these words Jesus does two things. He gives his early followers their commission. He says I’m sending you forth out into the world to continue the work of redemption that I began.

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And then he gives them their methodology: Do the Father’s work the same way I did it. Many in the world are still lost and captive, and to set them free and bring them to God, someone is going to have to pay a price. Someone will have to love in a way that is costly, give himself in a way that is sacrificial, and pay a price that is redemptive Boys, that is the way of Jesus. And that is the way he gave us to live and to change the world and the culture in his name. It’s the way of love. It’s the way of servanthood. It’s the way of sacrifice. That’s how human lives are redeemed, and ultimately that’s how our culture will be redeemed – Christian men and women loving the lost and the last and least in a costly way. To learn more about that let’s look at a description of Jesus’ ministry. Matthew 9.35-38: Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” What can we learn from this passage about doing the work Jesus did the way he did it?

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THE WAY OF JESUS 1. OUR MISSION MUST BE CENTRAL TO OUR EXISTENCE Matthew9.35: Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.

In this passage Matthew is giving us the big picture concerning the ministry of Jesus. He’s saying: this is what Jesus was about. This is what he did. If you want to know what a typical week looked like for Jesus, here it is. He went from town to town, teaching, preaching and healing. In other words, the life of Jesus was centered on his mission. He knew there was a calling on his life. He knew there was a purpose for his being here. And his thoughts, his plans, his schedule, his life all focused on accomplishing the mission God had for him to fulfill. Now, remember what he told us: As the Father sent me, so I am sending you. So if we are going to be in the world the way Jesus was in the world, it means we must see ourselves as men with a mission and fulfilling that mission must be at the heart of who we are. Why? Other than that’s how Jesus did it, why must we make the work of redemption a primary commitment in our lives?

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Two reasons. A. No oppressor gives up his captives without a fight. Slave masters don’t release their slaves and prisons don’t liberate their captives just because you think they should or ask politely that they let their prisoners go free. The work of redemption is spiritual warfare. Ephesians 6.12: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Paul is telling the Ephesians, we are in a spiritual battle. And look how he describes the enemy that we’re fighting. Rulers. Authorities. The powers of this dark world. Spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Paul tells us in this passage that we are in a battle against spiritual realities that are dark, malevolent and powerful. And they will not give up their captives without a fight. The work of redemption is not child’s play. It’s not something that can be accomplished by men who are half-hearted or uncommitted. John 12.31: The prince of this world will be driven out. The Greek verb for “driven out” in this verse means “to remove one by force or power.” (ekballw) It’s the word that is used for compelling robbers to leave a home they have invaded or expelling demons from a soul they have possessed.

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The prince of this world will not give up his domain or release those he has captured without a fight. Redemption means that someone will have to wage a war and pay a price. Redemption is always costly.

I often criticize the United Methodist Church. But our beginnings were remarkable and inspiring. Our founder John Wesley lived his life with a sense of urgency and purpose. And God used him in amazing ways. He would exhort his preachers with these words: “It is your business to save as many as you can, to bring as many as you possibly can to repentance, and with all your power to build them up into that holiness without which they cannot see God.” We Methodists were not always a declining denomination. We transformed England during the time of John Wesley. And in the 17 and 1800’s we were for many decades the largest, fast-growing and most impactful movement of God in the Americas. Wesley would charge his pastors: Therefore, spend and be spent in your work. And they did. After the Methodist revival came to the American colonies, of the first 700 (737) Methodist preachers to die in the New World, riding through the wilderness on their horses, braving the elements, pestilence, and attacks from bandits and Native Americans, of the first 700 – nearly half died before they were 30 years old. Two-thirds died before they had served 12 years taking the Gospel to others.

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Wherever you see a country or a culture being redeemed, you see men and women who are willing to pay a price. Spiritual battles are never won on the cheap. If not physically, then emotionally and spiritually, for evil to be defeated, someone always goes to a cross. The work of redemption is difficult and demanding. And it will not be accomplished by those who have little more than a casual interest in the work that God is doing in the world. There’s another reason that this work must be central to who we are. B. A cynical culture is looking for something to believe in. Douglas Hyde was raised in England, and became a communist as a young man in 1928. He wanted to make the world better for the masses and he believed that Communism was the way to do so. He agitated and organized for the Communist party around the world, spending two years in a Southeast Asia prison because of his work. In 1938 he became he editor of the Daily Worker in London. Later, Hyde saw the errors of his ways, converted to Christianity and wrote a wonderful book titled: Dedication and Leadership. In it he details how he and others trained new converts to Communism to become dedicated leaders. He also wrote about what attracted young people to Communism in the first place. For some it was the beliefs and the doctrines of Communism.

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But for most, it was simply seeing others who were committed to a cause. Young people wanting to find a cause to believe in and give themselves to that would connect them to a big story and a purpose worth giving their lives to. And what attracted them most was the dedication of Communist men and women who were willing to bear the scorn of society, live on 10% of their income, and go without the things that others valued because they had found a cause they believed worthy of their lives. I have told you before that our culture will leave people empty. Hedonism and materialism always do. The spiritual longings within every human heart cannot be satisfied by material possessions or physical pleasures. Like a powerful drug, possessions and pleasure may dull the senses and sedate our desire for meaning and purpose, but eventually they prove insufficient to fulfill the spiritual nature of beings made in the image of God. And when people see a man who is different, a man who is principled, a man who is committed, a man who is willing to give up what others hold dear and who stands firm in the face of opposition and ridicule, that kind of man gives the lost hope that there is something that can bring meaning to their lives and fulfill the void within. The most powerful, inspiring force on the planet is a man who believes in something so passionately, that he will not bend, break or be bribed.

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That’s the kind of men our God deserves. That’s the kind of men we were created to be. And that’s the kind of men that can cause the lost to believe there is more to life than they have previously known. Jesus was driven by two purposes: (1) To glorify the Father (John 12.27-28) (2) To release the captives and keep them safe (Luke 4.16-21) The work of redemption was central to the existence of Jesus. It was his purpose and his mission. And he said that he was sending us into the world as the Father sent him. I know how it works. You have a million responsibilities, pulling on you, demanding your time and your attention. And you come to church and the staff is all excited about what we’re doing and what we think God is doing here. But you go home or you go to work, and what’s going on here and how you’d like to help become just one of many things you have on your plate. I get that. I really do. I’m not asking you to make the church your mission. But I am telling you that glorifying God and bringing truth and grace into the lives of others – that does need to be central to who you are.

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Your calling, the spiritual purpose for which you were created – that does need to be at the center of who you are and you cannot let that ever become just one of the many things you try to get to. The world can never be redeemed that way. 2. OUR MISSION MUST SPRING FROM COMPASSION Matthew 9.36: When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. When it comes to being in mission in the same way Jesus was, it means we must be motivated by compassion. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them.” I apologize if you were in traditional services two weeks ago because you heard something similar to this. But the Greek word that is used here for “compassion” – as a noun it refers to a person’s “inner parts,” in particular the heart and the lungs and the liver and the kidneys. As a verb it means to feel something deeply, for your inner parts to tighten because you are gripped by the needs of others, to be moved to the core of your being. And you find that word used quite often to refer to Jesus. In Mark 8 we’re told that when Jesus saw a hungry crowd, moved by compassion, he fed them. In Matthew 14 we read when he saw the masses broken, blind and diseased, moved by compassion, he healed them.

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In Luke 7 when he saw a widow on her way to bury her only son, we’re told that moved by compassion, he stopped the funeral procession, raised the boy from the dead, and gave him back to his mother. And in Mark 1 when he saw a man suffering from leprosy – a man who would have disgusted everyone else; a man whom others would have believed deserved his disease as punishment for his sins; moved by compassion, Jesus reached out, touched the man, and healed him. One of the most endearing and remarkable qualities that we see in Jesus is that he never became callous to human suffering. He never became unfeeling when he saw people in need. His heart was always moved, his insides always tightened, he always felt it in his gut, when he saw people in trouble and out of that compassion he ministered to meet their needs. Love. Compassion. An act of kindness that costs someone something. Something that doesn’t have to done but that tells someone you matter to me – it was powerful in the time of Jesus and it is powerful today. And when men, supposedly tough, busy, bottom line, unfeeling men are the ones who listen and love and care, it’s dramatic enough to be life-changing for the one who receives it and to get the attention of a world that wonders if anyone really cares. How will we change the world and redeem the culture?

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Not by shouting louder, but by serving more. Not through criticism and condemnation but through caring and compassion. Dr. Tom Catena is the only doctor permanently based in the Nuba Mountains of South Sudan with a population of more than half a million people. Just about every day, the Sudanese government drops bombs on civilians in the Nuba Mountains. “Dr. Tom,” is left to pry out shrapnel from women’s flesh, amputate limbs of children, even as he delivers babies and removes appendixes. He does all this without an X-ray machine; in fact, he does it without electricity or running water. Dr. Tom has worked in the Nuba Mountains for eight years, living in the hospital and remaining on call 24/7 – the only exception is when he’s unconscious with malaria, once a year or so. Dr. Tom acknowledges he misses having a family. Dr. Tom earns $350 a month — with no retirement plan. Here is a brief clip of him telling a bit of his story. Clip: Youtube Nicholas Kristof, an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times, who has been in many of the world’s most difficult places, writes: Nicholas Kristof: There also are many, many secular aid workers doing heroic work. But the people I’ve encountered over the years in the most impossible places — like Nuba, where anyone reasonable has fled — are disproportionately unreasonable because of their faith.

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That’s what we should be known for. We love too much. Our compassion is unreasonable. How much we give of ourselves is kind of crazy. That’s what people should be saying about us: Christians are ones who follow a man who gave his life for others. And that’s what they do. Does unreasonable love make an impression? Kristof writes that people there are praying that Dr. Tom never dies. A Muslim chief named Hussein Nalukuri Cuppi told Kristof about the doctor: “He’s Jesus Christ. The chief explained Jesus healed the sick, made the blind see, and helped the lame walk — and that is what Dr. Tom does every day. Here’s how Kristof ends his article: You needn’t be a conservative Catholic or evangelical Christian to celebrate that kind of selflessness. Just human. Sudan. Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Downtown, Houston. Your office. Compassion commands attention. It’s unexpected. It’s unusual. It looks like Jesus. And it will make the world look twice at who we are and what the Christian faith can do in a person’s life. Men are often portrayed in movies as hard and unfeeling. As unwilling to feel deeply or make themselves vulnerable.

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But I know this. There is love in your heart. There is compassion deep within you. It’s there because you’re made in the image of God and God is love. It’s there because you have experienced the love of Jesus your Savior, and it has never left you. And there is no desire that is more manly and there is no reality that is more powerful, than love because it was love that brought Jesus into the world; it was love caused him to minister and to suffer; and it was love that kept him on the cross when ten thousand angels would have come to his rescue if only he had breathed a single word. And it is love that will redeem the world. 3. OUR MISSION MUST CARE ABOUT THE WHOLE PERSON. Matthew 9.35: Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.

What we see in this passage and in his entire ministry is that Jesus was concerned about the whole person. Short, over-simplified history lesson. Late 1800’s a movement arose within the church that became known as Protestant liberalism. Still impressed with the moral teachings of Jesus and calling themselves Christians, for many reasons we don’t have time to go into this morning, they no longer believed the Bible was divinely inspired or that Jesus was truly divine. No longer concerned in any real way with saving souls for eternity, its emphasis became transforming society and helping the poor through

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attacking the greed of capitalism, using politics to alleviate the ills of poverty, and fighting injustice. This movement became known as the “social gospel” and focused almost entirely on making the lives of people better in the here and now. In reaction to the liberal agenda of the social gospel, many conservative churches, what we refer to as fundamentalism, focused almost exclusively on saving souls. And we came to a tragic divide where conservative churches said – get ‘em saved and ready for heaven, and the liberals said – get ‘em fed and clothed in the world that is. Conservatives said: social work will only dilute our efforts. Liberals said: how dare you give people words when what they need is food. And so conservatives ministered to the spirit. And the liberals ministered to the body. And both failed to get it right because both failed to minister like Jesus – who did what? Matthew 9:35 – he preached the Good News that would save people and at the same time he healed their diseases. Jesus didn’t love souls. He loved people. Jesus didn’t focus on bodies. He focused on people. He didn’t divide people into parts and say, I only do souls or I only do bodies.

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His ministry was comprehensive. He cared about the whole person. So that’s how he ministered – to the whole person, however he was needed. Compassion caused Jesus to minister to the whole person. Physical needs. Emotional needs. Relational needs. Spiritual needs. They all matter to the person who has them. They all matter to the God who loves the person who has them. And so they should matter to us. We won’t all care about the needs of people or engage the culture in the same way. Some of us want to challenge the culture intellectually. Some of us are gifted to present the heart of God through the arts. Others can build homes and churches. Some of us have medical skills. Others are entrepreneurs and come up with great ideas like Driving Family Futures that bless single parents and their children. Some of us are compelled to bring people to faith in Jesus. Others are feel called to drill water wells in the developing world in the name of Christ. It’s ok, as long together we care for the needs of the whole person. I’m pretty limited in what I can do. Some of you are pretty remarkable, but your abilities are limited, too. So it’s good that we’re in this together. As Mother Teresa is quoted as saying Mother Teresa: I cannot do what you can do. You cannot do what I can do. But together we can do something beautiful for God.

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I’ll be short here. 4. OUR MISSION MUST BE BUILT ON FAITH Matthew 9.37: Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Jesus said, “The harvest time is right now. People are ready, people are prepared, people will respond right now if only workers will go into the fields and do the work of the Kingdom.” Jesus not only had a compelling urgency to his ministry – he also had a confidence, a faith that the Gospel would be effective. Shared the right way, even if the night was dark, even if many rejected it, even if you couldn’t see how things would ever change, if we are faithful God can be trusted to be at work, reach the lost, and use the Gospel to change the culture like yeast causes the dough to rise. To make a difference in our world, we have to be men who believe that the future is not set, the die is not cast, the cause is not lost.

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Tomorrow – and tomorrow may be a long way off – a year, a decade, a generation or two – but tomorrow can be a better day for the cause of Christ if we will be faithful today. Last clip; LOTR, The Two Towers, youtube .15-2.23 God is doing something good in the world. And it’s worth fighting for.