Our nation is rapidly approaching the day on which we celebrate Thanksgiving. It is supposed to be a day set aside for giving thanks for the blessings and provisions of the last year.  But on Thanksgiving Day we tend to eat so much food the one would think we believe all provisions for the coming year were unlikely. 

We know that the original American Thanksgiving began in Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts.  The Pilgrims of Plymouth Thanksgiving was primarily a celebration of a good harvest with enough food to get through the winter.  Harvest time, of course, is a gathering of what has matured from seeds planted earlier.  Harvest is the time in which the fruit of one’s efforts are realized and brought together, hopefully in abundance.

          Our Scripture reading today from the Gospel of John speaks about a harvest in another context.  The scene comes from the fourth chapter of the Gospel of John centers around a water well and focuses primarily as an interaction between Jesus and a Samaritan woman.

          Now at one time, there were no Samaritan people. The people of the region of Samaria were, at one time, all Hebrew who had settled in the lands promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  The Hebrew people flourished in wealth and population.  The Samaritans, as they would become known, were primarily descendants of two of the twelve tribes of Israel, namely Ephraim and Manasseh.  The Hebrews or the Jews of Israel were exiled by the Assyrians after the fall of the northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 BCE.  That was true expect for the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.  For the most part, those people remained and over time, intermarried with foreigners. These people became known as Samaritans. They held to the first five books of the Bible and worshipped at their own temple on Mount Gerizim.  The people of the other ten tribes of Hebrew people believed Samaritans were essentially pagans because they lacked the purity of God. A feud began between the Hebrews, the Jews, and the Samaritans after the Jews returned from captivity.

Therefore, the Scripture scene of Jesus in Samaria was unusual, unexpected for the original readers.  And this scene in Chapter 4 between Jesus and the Samaritan woman came immediately after a nighttime encounter between Jesus and a Jewish religious leader, a man named Nicodemus, a Pharisee, in Chapter 3. The encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus revealed a resistance and unwillingness of the Jews to believe that Jesus was God’s anointed messenger of salvation.

Now, in Samaria, a land considered pagan by the Jews, Jesus met at noontime with an unnamed Samaritan woman. The contrast between Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 of John could not be greater.  The Gospel writers often used comparative stories between men and women, Jews and pagans, to highlight the principles of faith.

Today, we will start about halfway into the exchange between Jesus and the Samaritan woman.  Jesus and the Samaritan woman were alone.  Jesus had told the woman all about her background, including her five husbands and that she was living with a man to whom she was not married.  The woman understood and professed that Jesus was a prophet of some sort.  We come now to verse 25, where the Samaritan woman explained that she was aware that God would send his Messiah to set things right.  “25 The woman said, ‘I know that Messiah” (called Christ) is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us’” (John 4:25). The Samaritan woman believed in God’s promise to the people of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, meaning to both the Jews and Samaritans, that God would send a prophet greater than Moses to set things straight and bring all the people back to Himself.

In response to the woman’s faith, Jesus declared to here, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he” (John 4:26).  Jesus had revealed to the Samaritan woman that he was God’s chosen One, the Messiah who would reveal Truth to all people.  In that moment, we wait expectantly for the woman to respond to Jesus’ world changing words that he is the Messiah. But immediately following Jesus’ announcement, the scene was interrupted by the return to the well of Jesus’ disciples from the nearby Samaritan village.  They had gone there in search of food. 

We read, “27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” (John 4:27).  While words were not spoken, my guess is that the disciples’ body language and facial expressions said all that needed to be said.  This woman should not be here!  Upon the return of Jesus’ disciples, John wrote, “28 Leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town” (John 4:28a).  We do not have any benefit of further conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman because of the interruption of Jesus’ disapproving disciples.  From this point to the end of the story, John then jumped back and forth between Jesus and his disciples at the well and activities in the Samaritan village.

We would read, “28 Then the woman left her water-jar and went back to the city.”  The woman returned to the city of her home and presumably the city that the disciples had just visited for food.  Continuing with the Scripture, “She [that is the woman from the well] said to the people, 29 ‘Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?’  30 They [that is the people she spoke with] left the city and were on their way to him [Jesus]” (John 4:28-30].  The woman had returned to the Samaritans of the town and giving testimony about her encounter with Jesus.  Her words were stirring the hearts of the people, and the people of the Samaritan village began making their way to the well in the hope of seeing Jesus, this Messiah. There is a sense of anticipation among the Samaritan people.  Could it be that at long last God’s Messiah, the one who would come in righteousness to settle all the important questions and usher in a new era with God was finally here?  The villagers could not wait for an answer, and they hurried to the well.

          At the same time as the story of the woman and the villagers was unfolding, the separate story with Jesus and his disciples was unfolding rapidly.  We would read, “31 Meanwhile his [Jesus’] disciples urged him [Jesus], ‘Rabbi, eat something.’  32 But he [Jesus] said to them [his disciples], ‘I have food to eat that you know nothing about.’  33 Then his [Jesus’] disciples said to each other, ‘Could someone have brought him food?’  34 ‘My food,’ said Jesus, ‘is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work’” (John 4:31-34).  The faces of disapproval that had been on Jesus’ disciples when they returned to the well to find Jesus with the Samaritan woman now showed confusion and being puzzled.  What was Jesus talking about?  Did Jesus have a secret stash of food or had someone else delivered food to him? What is this food that we don’t know about?

          Jesus sensing their confusion offered a parable of sorts.  Jesus said, “35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor” (John 4:35-38).

          Jesus drew on words familiar to his disciples that there are four months between planting the seeds and harvesting the fruit or grains of the earth.  But Jesus said, “Look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvest now!”  I believe when Jesus told his disciples to look around Jesus was pointing back in the direction of the town to see people heading their way, to the well, to see and meet the man their believed was the Messiah.  The same village the disciples had just left without exciting or interesting anyone in meeting Jesus was now emptying out and coming toward Jesus.  Seeing this, Jesus said, “38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor” (John 4:38).  Jesus was making clear the food, the sustenance of life, is not found in the market, it is found in the work done because of God.  And that work is to bring the harvest of souls into the kingdom of God.

So how can we apply this passage to our lives?  I think there are three things for us today.

First, and most importantly, we have Jesus’ testimony that he is the Messiah.  Why should we accept what Jesus said about himself?  Let’s consider this.  Jesus would later be brought to trial before the Jewish religious leaders.  At that trial, Jesus would again give testimony that he is the Messiah.  The trial erupted into an angry uproar at Jesus’ claim and the religious leaders condemned Jesus to death because he claimed to be God’s Messiah.  The religious leaders, the best and brightest in all Israel, believed that in sentencing Jesus to death that they were acting as the guardians of faith, standing for purity, and that God would be happy with their behavior. After Jesus’ execution upon the cross and burial in a tomb, God raised Jesus from the dead.  The resurrection of Jesus was the most dramatic way that God could have taken to affirm Jesus’ testimony that he is the Messiah and declare to the Jewish religious leaders that they were completely wrong about Jesus. So our first point is that Jesus is in fact God’s Messiah.  Of that, we can be sure.

Second, we learn that every person has a longing, a yearning to have an inner peace and wholeness.  This is true for you, for me, and for the woman at the well.  We see through the woman at the well that to make herself feel whole she engaged in marriage after marriage and then with an intimate relationship with a man that she had not married.  But her inner longing was not and could never be satisfied by another person.  The woman’s testimony was that when the Messiah came then things would be made right.  And she was right.  After understanding Jesus was the Messiah, the woman at the well was joyous and understood that Messiah she met at the well knew everything about her.  She was now satisfied, and her inner longing had been met.  You and I have that same inner longing for peace within ourselves.  Some of us have pursued getting that longing satisfied through intimate relationships, through one activity or event after another, through social media, through work, or through the continual and unending accumulation of stuff.  None of it satisfies our inner longing.  Only the acceptance of Jesus as not just the Messiah but as Lord and Savior of our life can bring about the inner peace and satisfaction we desire, we need.  Has your longing been satisfied by Christ?

Finally, we learn from this story that the fields are ready for harvest.  Today, perhaps more than ever, there are multitudes of people, friends, family, neighbors, who may know the name of Jesus Christ but have no real idea of what it means that he is the Messiah.  In that little Samaritan village, those closest to Jesus, his disciples, could only manage to buy food from the people who needed to know the Messiah.  It took a woman, who felt her life changed by Christ, to invite her friends, family, and neighbors to come to know Christ.  People need to know the Lord and they need to know that you love them enough that you want them to share His Good News with them. Invite those who do not know God to join you in your joy for God.  Invite those who have become separated from the church to return.  With Advent approaching, we are entering a time of year in which the hearts of the people are stirred toward God.  Those seeds have been sown and it is up to you to reap the harvest.  Invite those you know to join you at church.  If your food is to do the work of Christ, think how blessed and thankful you will be if God works through you to bring another soul to salvation or to bring a wounded Christian back to church. 

We should rejoice and be thankful that we know Jesus, that our longings have been satisfied, and that we have shared with those people closest to us that Jesus is truly the Savior of the world.  Amen and Amen.

For better or worse, the 2024 Presidential Election Day is just hours away.  We are told that this election is the most consequential election in the history of the nation.  We are told that this election season has polarized the citizens of the United States more than any other election in the history of our nation.  We have been told that this election, regardless of the consequences, the losing candidate and supporters will not likely accept the results and that violence, even civil war, may ensue.  Do you believe what we are being told?  Pontius Pilate once asked Jesus, “What is truth?” (John 18:38). Unfortunately, Pilate never waited for Jesus to answer that question.

          What is truth in this election season is that social media influencers, political pundits, pollsters, and the news media have sought to slice and dice the American voters into every imaginable category possible.  Projected voters have been divided by gender, race, ethnicity, age, income, red states, blue states, purple states, education, marital status, religious affiliations, and there are probably some additional categories that have escaped my notice.  What is important here is not how many ways Americans have been divided.  What is important here is that there is a massive effort to divide us.  The effort to divide us has been so pervasive and so unrelenting that people who support Candidate A speak of those who support Candidate B as “they” or “them,” and vice versa.  In the process, there becomes a tendency to passionately and sometimes breathlessly ascribe malicious motive to “them,” those who may oppose a candidate.  I have even heard some pastors speak not only glowing in favor about the candidate of their choice but also critically about the candidate they did not favor.  Why is all this division and divisiveness been accepted by so many Americans, including so many Christians?  I believe the answer is found in the response question of Pontius Pilate, “What is truth?” that Pilate never waited to hear.

          Let’s consider the answer to Pilate’s question about truth applied to today’s circumstances and work our way back to what Jesus’ answer to Pilate likely would have been.  The truth today is that neither Candidate A nor Candidate B in the 2024 Presidential Election represents the truth.  The truth is that neither Candidate A nor Candidate B in the 2024 Presidential Election can put or keep you or me on the proper path of life.  The truth is that neither Candidate A nor Candidate B in the 2024 Presidential Election will ever cause you or me to become and continue to be a person of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  And that, my fellow citizens, is the truth applied to today’s circumstances.  These thoughts are not my thoughts.  These thoughts come from the man to whom Pontius Pilate asked, “What is truth?”  That man, Jesus, had spoken the truth and likely would have said something like this to Pilate.  “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). “I and the Father are one“ (John 10:30). “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9b).  “15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth” (John 14:15-17a).  God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is undivided.  Neither Candidate A nor Candidate B is Jesus Christ and therefore, neither one of them represents the truth.  Neither Candidate A nor Candidate B is Jesus Christ, and they are not the way to the Father and are not the pathway to life.  Neither Candidate A nor Candidate B is Jesus Christ who sent the Holy Spirit to guide those who would follow Him by transforming their lives to produce the fruit of the spirit which includes love, peace, and joy.

          “What is truth?”  The truth is our salvation, our indivisible identity, is found in the undivided God who is comprised of three persons Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  That is the truth.  And the blessing the indivisible identity of God is given to every person who believes in the Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  It does not matter by gender, race, ethnicity, age, income, red states, blue states, purple states, education, marital status, and any other categories of division others seek to try and impose upon Christians.  If we hold firmly to the truth, then differing choices we may make between Candidate A or Candidate B, does not reflect a division in our identity as Christians.  Differing choices between Candidate A or Candidate B should not cause us to speak of another Christian as a “they” or a “them.”

          We know this is the truth because Jesus asked and answered an important question that speaks to our identity.  Jesus asked aloud, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he [Jesus] said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:48b-50).  Our identity is that we are brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who seeks to do the will of the Father.  That is the truth.  If this is the image we hold, that Christians are united by Christ to do God’s will, then we will not allow space between us for others to divide us into groups of “them” and “they.”

          The goodness found when God’s people claim their identity was also expressed in our Scripture reading today, Psalm 133.  We read, “1 How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1).  Some translations use “brothers” in place of God’s people.  Either of the translations points to the coming together of people who hold fast to their belief in God their highest held belief. And that any other beliefs that they may not share are unimportant.  The historical setting of this psalm also points to it as being a song that worshippers sang as they ascended the steps together into the Temple in Jerusalem. It is a piece of Scripture intended to have motion, drawing people from different corners of the Temple complex into a single group to worship the same God.  The psalm is believed to have been written when there were two kingdoms of the Jewish people, and the psalm reminded both camps how pleasant it is when they were all together before God.  The psalm is not an invitation, like many invitations we receive from the world, to believe that it is good and pleasant to come together with everyone who shares a particular political belief or admiration for Candidate A or Candidate B. The psalm is an invitation for believers to come together and participate in a setting that is completely different from what they are experiencing in the world.  And once the worshippers come together, once they come out of the world of division, they discover that being united with brothers and sisters of faith is the reality of life with God.  It is the truth of what God desires for each of us to discover. The psalm reminds us that pleasantness and goodness begin with worship of God.  We are here today, in part, to keep the pleasantness and goodness in our lives because we are beginning the week with the collective worship of God.

          The psalmist, acting as a poet, described the sensation, the feeling, of goodness and pleasantness with terms that were very meaningful to the ancient Jewish worshippers.  The psalmist wrote, “2 It [that is the good and pleasant sensation] is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe.  3 It [the good and pleasant sensation] is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion” (Psalm 133:2-3).  These references do not immediately translate to our lives.  But to the original listeners, to those who sang these words together on the steps of the Temple as they walked into worship, there was great meaning.  A precious oil being poured out was an anointing, was a symbol of being blessed by God.  Here that precious oil is so abundant that it is flowing from the top of the head down the face and into the neck of the outer garment.  But the image of the person being anointed is Aaron, the first priest of the Hebrew people, the brother of Moses.  There would be joy for the singers because they would remember that God brought the Hebrew people out of the slavery of Egypt to be His people learning and worshipping under the guidance of Moses, Aaron, and their sister, Miriam. The dews landing upon Mount Zion of the southern kingdom coming from the snow-capped Mount Hermon in the northern kingdom would remind the worshippers that God had blessed the Jewish people as one and that he was calling them to be united by their worship.  The people would have felt good and pleasant singing these words as they entered worship.

          I have little doubt that there are people here today that support Presidential Candidate A and some who support Presidential Candidate B.  And yet the psalm reminds us that it is good and pleasant here today because we worship the same God.  We sing songs of praise to God together.  We prayed for each other.  We would willingly support the spiritual, physical, and emotional needs of one another. Why do we do that?  How could we do that?  The simple answer is we cannot or would not do so one our own expect for Christ.  It is Christ who takes away the tension that might exist over candidate selections and makes us a single body.  The Apostle Paul put it this way, “12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:12-13).  27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it (1 Corinthians 12:27).  When we ascended the steps and entered this sanctuary we are reminded of the precious blessing of oil God has poured out onto us and the refreshment we receive from being in the presence of those who love us because we are all part of the same body, the body of Christ.  I always feel refreshed after worship.  I always feel I have been reminded of the blessings of God after worshipping with you. This comes about because of the sensation of how good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters, God’s people, worship together.

          Finally, the psalmist wrote, “For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore” (Psalm 133:3b).  It is in worship, not in Washington, that we come to realize that God has blessed us with eternal life.  Knowing that we have eternal life removes from us the anxiousness about the next 4 years, 8 years, or longer.  Knowing that we are united in the present and are forever united with God makes our living in a world that is often conflicted and anxious not only possible but makes it good and pleasant.

          What then should we take away from God’s Word today?  I think there are two things we should keep in mind.

          First, the world does not understand the God’s people.  The truth is for God’s people the ultimate authority for our lives is not found in a political party or at the White House or in any political candidate.  The truth is found in Jesus Christ, his commands, and the acceptance of his death and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins. That is reality.  Everything else that we may be hit with is just snapshots and sound bites designed to make us like the people of this world anxious about their future.  Hold fast to Christ.  Vote or do not vote as you feel led but do not allow your action or the action of another believer in their choice to separate you into “them” and “they.” Join with each other in worship of the one true God and be reminded of the truth.  That Christ has made your life good and pleasant and that nothing can change that unless you waiver in your stand with Christ.

          Second, the world will try everything possible to divide us, to discourage us, and to make us not want to worship together.  Why is that? Jesus explained it this way, “19 This is the verdict [This is the truth]: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God” (John 3:19-21).  Jesus then said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12).  The world dearly wants to put out the light.  The world believes that if the light can be extinguished, then truth can be redefined.  We must hold fast to the truth.  The Apostle Paul put it this way, “14 Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 16 Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. 17 Their teaching will spread like gangrene” (2 Timothy 2:14-18).  Let’s stay with the truth found in God’s Word.

          Adapting some words from a wedding ceremony, I want to close with these thoughts.  If you wish your life to be touched with lasting goodness and pleasantness, cherish those gracious visions which made spring within your hearts during the days of your first acceptance of Christ.  You must never forget nor deny the vision you once saw in Jesus; you must resolve that it be not blotted out nor blurred by the commonplace experiences of life or the efforts of others to divide your thinking. Be unmoved in your devotion and your worship.  Still remain confident and hopeful. Amid the reality of present imperfections, believe in the ideal of goodness and pleasantness in Christ with your brothers and sisters.  You saw it once. It still exists. It is the final truth.  Amen and Amen.

Last week, we began looking at Twisted Scripture, which are sayings that are accepted by many as from the Bible but are not.  The example of Twisted Scripture that I used last week was a misquotation of the words found in Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth in which people believe that the Bible says, “God will not give you more than you can handle.”  But we now know the actual words of God are, “13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).  Twisted Scripture.

But Twisted Scripture can also come about by correctly citing the words of Scripture and then applying an twisted interpretation of those words.  The result of a misinterpretation of Scripture is the same as misquoting Scripture. In both cases, an altered meaning is given to the Word of God and spiritual harm follows.

Today, I would like us to explore the Twisted Scripture from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount which reads, “1 Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Matthew 7:1).  In many cases, people use a shorthand expression of this verse, “Judge not.” This verse, “Do not judge or you too will be judged,” has become one of the more often quoted verses of the Bible on social media, especially, by nonbelievers.  In case you were wondering, the most often quoted, or most popular verse of the Bible by believers worldwide, remains John 3:16, “16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

The popularity of quoting Matthew 7:1, “Judge not,” is a recent trend.  Historically, Matthew 7:1 was not well known inside the church and outside the church and was not quoted very often in literature.  But now that verse has become very often quoted.  It is not by accident that the “judge not” verse has been often quoted, it is intentional and reflects a change in social morality. 

A few weeks ago, we spoke about whether human society believed in objective morality?  We might recall that objective morality is the idea that right and wrong exist; that right and wrong are not a matter of opinion.  Atheists do not believe objective morality exists.  Atheists believe that we cannot say that any behavior is right or wrong.  Instead, atheists believe that ever decision is simply a matter of personal preference, including to say that such events as the Holocaust, the killing of millions of people by the Nazis in World War 2, cannot be said to be either wrong, bad, good, or right.  Therefore, the atheists make the claim since right and wrong are a matter of personal preference, then no one can sit in judgement over another.  With a rise in atheism comes the rise in awareness and popularity of the Bible verse “1 Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Matthew 7:1).  Therefore, atheists believe that Christians are being unchristian if anything they say sounds like a judgment and they thus demand Christian remain silent.  And many Christians believe the atheists interpretation of Scripture and are silenced.  And when atheists, those who do not believe in the existence of God, are allowed to interpret the Bible for us, we can be assured that they will create a case of Twisted Scripture.

          But should atheists be allowed to tell us what the Bible says means?  Shouldn’t the Church be able to reject Biblical interpretations by atheists? Seems logical to me that any interpretation of the Bible by an atheist should be rejected.  Unfortunately, that is not the case.  There are people within the church itself who seek to align themselves with atheists rather than holding firm to the Word of God.  For today, we will consider such individuals Progressive Christians who generally believe three things.

1. Christianity is a lifestyle, not a set of beliefs.
2. Social justice is inseparable from Christianity.
3. There is “no one true faith.”

In short, there is probably greater alignment between atheists and Progressive Christians than between Progressive Christians and evangelical Christians.  As a result, we have people outside the church, atheists, as well as people seemingly inside the church, Progressive Christians, applying meanings to God’s Word that were never intended and thus creating many cases of Twisted Scripture and thus spiritual harm.

          The case of Twisted Scripture I want to explore today is the first verse of Matthew 7:1, “1 Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Matthew 7:1).  These are Jesus’ words and therefore we must be very careful to follow them.  But what do these words say?  The atheists and Progressive Christians would say that Jesus was clear that we must never make any judgement, any decision about the conduct of others, that might highlight any behavior on the part of someone else that may be inappropriate, self-harming, or biblically wrong. 

          Following along these lines about judgment, I read an article recently, in which the author said there are five signs that Christians are killing the Church and all of them relate to judgment.  The author said, Christians are killing the church because:

1. They don’t love; they judge.  Said another way, “The presence of judgment almost always guarantees an absence of love.”

2. They don’t help; they judge.  The thought is that people who judge almost never help and people who help almost never judge? 

3. They lack humility.  Judgment is grounded in arrogance.

4. They don’t pray for others; they judge.  You can either judge you or pray for you, but I cannot do both.

5. They don’t evangelize; they judge. If you want to end your witness to nonbelievers, then be judgmental about their behaviors.

There are some parts of what the author said which are true.  But from his observations, the author concluded, “Judgment is fundamentally incompatible with authentic Christian faith.”  Instead, he argued that Christians should come along side all people regardless of the beliefs and behaviors of the other and seek to befriend and ally themselves with others.  “1 Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Matthew 7:1), has been interpreted to mean, “The work of reconciliation should be valued over making judgments.”  Again, there is some truth to this statement, but this interpretation brings a twist into Scripture that was never intended and is spiritually harmful to Christians.

          Now, there is truth in the interpretation that we must value the work of reconciliation because we are called to be reconciled.  For example, in the Sermon on the Mount, the same sermon that Jesus gave us “1 Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Matthew 7:1), Jesus also said if we have something against a brother or sister and we come into worship, we should “24 Leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:24).  “The work of reconciliation should be valued,” and, in fact, reconciliation, is an indispensable part of the fabric of Christianity.  But does the call to reconcile also mean we cannot judge?

          Let’s go back to the word of God from Jesus’ lips through the Sermon on the Mount.  The sermon is presented in three chapters of the Gospel of Matthew, Chapters 5, 6, and 7.  Chapter 5 began the conversation, which is primarily about righteousness, that is living to the principles that underpin the Law, the Word of God.  Chapter 6 then moved into Jesus’ warning people not to display their righteousness as a badge for others to see and applaud their efforts. Jesus said this is what hypocrites do. Jesus said,

• 1 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.” (Matthew 6:1a)
• 2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others.” (Matthew 6:2a)
• 5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others.” (Matthew 6:3a)
• 16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting” (Matthew 6:16a).

Jesus was emphasizing that His disciples must not act like the as religious hypocrites of that day, namely the Pharisees, by putting their righteousness on display for others to see and for others to admire. For religious hypocrites look down on others and elevate themselves.  The key concept to being a disciple of Jesus is not thinking or acting as though you are better than anyone else but that you are better off than anyone else; not better but better off.  Why are Christians better off?  Because Jesus, God in the flesh, who stands as Judge of all, came to us instead as Savior offering all who would belief salvation.  When we accept Christ as Savior we are freed from the judgment of sin and therefore, we are not better a nonbeliever, but we are certainly better off.

          Then in that same sermon, Jesus said, “1 Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Matthew 7:1-2).  Said another way, “Do not take your righteousness, the topic of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, and do as the hypocrites do and judge others as being less righteous than you are, thus turning your righteousness into self-righteousness.  If you do, you will be disappointed because you, yourself, will be judged accordingly.”

          Jesus explained his concern using a humorous parable. After Jesus said, “1 Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Matthew 7:1), he then offered this parable. “3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:3-5).  That speck of dust represents a need to reconcile with God over a way of thinking, speaking or acting that is not in keeping with God’s Word, that is sin.  Jesus’ point was that there was nothing wrong with correctly concluding, judging if you will, that your brother was having a spiritual problem, here described as a speck of sawdust.  But you cannot be so arrogant as to believe you can help your brother reconcile with God when you are separated from God for the same reason, sin, only worse so!  That is what hypocrites do.  Jesus said first, reconcile yourself with God, get rid of the sin, then help your neighbor.  Discerning spiritual problems, making judgements, is not the problem.  The problem is arrogantly pretending to be righteous, when you are not, and judging others for the same behavior for which you are also guilty.

          So the idea that we must not judge, as used by atheists and Progressive Christians, is not what Jesus meant and makes the case for Twisted Scripture.  We must judge what is good and pleasing to the will of God for ourselves.  We must be willing to see others trapped by sin and not walk by to avoid being considered judgmental.  We must offer help without arrogantly condemning people.

          Now you might be saying, “Pastor, I appreciate that you shared your opinion but why should I believe that it is okay to judge without condemning?”  That is a good question, and it is a question you should ask.  I believe the answer is found in the words of Jesus.  Here are a few examples of Jesus calling us to judge.

• 15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” (Matthew 7:15). In the same sermon, Jesus cautioned his disciples to judge the words and deeds of preachers to see if they were false in their beliefs.  And today, there are plenty of wolves in the pulpits.
• 15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over” (Matthew 18:15).  We must be able to identify sin and help each other correct our behaviors.  It is a wonderful experience when we are part of the reconciliation of a brother or sister to the Lord but it required judgment to help.
•  24 Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly” (John 7:24).  We must be able to make judgments as to what thoughts, words, and behaviors are spiritually and biblically sound and which ones are not.

          Twisted Scripture by misinterpretation can lead us astray from what we are called to do.  We must know God’s Word and we must know what the words mean.  “Judge not,” is a rapidly rising and popular expression because people believe it insulates them from making all choices on personal preference.

          God has not taken away anyone’s free will to make choices of personal preference including the choice to sin.  But we have the truth of God’s Word and we so enjoy it with the most popular Bible verse, “16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  This makes Christians better off.  But the fuller quotation of the thoughts of John 3:16 also include these words, “17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:17-18).  God sent Jesus as our Savior because God knows without Jesus we will stand before Him as Judge.  I am sure each of us can judge who among our family and friends have accepted Christ and who still stands in condemnation.  We can and are called to make that judgment.  And once we make that judgment, we have been given the ministry of reconciliation to share with them the good news of Christ, without the arrogance of being better than them, but with love of knowing they too could be better off now and for all eternity.  Let us then do as Christ commands and judge correctly.  Amen and Amen.  

          I wanted to share with you some information about what Americans know about the Bible.  A recent survey showed that Americans generally could not recite the Ten Commandments.  The best was that a slight majority of people were able to name five of the Ten Commandments.  Shall we take the test on the Ten Commandments?

I – You shall have no other gods but me.

II - You shall not make unto you any graven images.

III - You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

IV - You shall remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.

V - Honor your mother and father.

VI - You shall not murder.

VII - You shall not commit adultery.

VIII - You shall not steal.

IX - You shall not bear false witness.

X - You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor.

          The survey also reported that 12% of the people believed that Joan of Arc was Noah’ wife.  Joan of Arc is a national heroine of France, a peasant girl who, believing that she was acting under divine guidance, led the French army into battle in the 1400’s.

          The survey also found that 50% of Americans believed that Sodom and Gomorrah were married. Sodom and Gomorrah were, of course, cities destroyed by God for their wickedness.

          Now the other interesting fact is that the Bible was still the best-selling book in American in 2023 with 88% of all Americans owning one or more copies of the Bible.  The problem seems to be that we don’t open the book often enough and read it.  In not understanding what the Bible says, we become susceptible to others telling us what it says and that often leads to what is called Twisted Scripture.

          One of the most common expressions of Twisted Scripture that I have encountered reads this way, “God will never give you more than you can handle.”  This saying has been said so many times that those words are found in all sorts of merchandise such as greeting cards, coffee cups, t shirts, and wall hangings.  These words are often expressed to people who are grieving the loss of a loved one as a means of encouraging them through grief.  I can tell you almost every grieving person I have counseled has come to hate those words.  And they should hate those words because those words are wrong and are not found in the Bible.  Not only is this saying wrongly attributed to the Bible, but the saying is spiritually destructive to Christians.

          “God will never give you more than you can handle,” comes from a misquotation from the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth.  In that letter, Paul was covering a whole host of topics with one topic being the sin of idolatry committed by Hebrew ancestors. What is idolatry?  Idolatry goes back to our list of Ten Commandments in which the first and second commandments say, 

I – You shall have no other gods but me.

II - You shall not make unto you any graven images.

          Idolatry worshipping and loving anything or anyone more than God alone.

          Paul also addressed the sin of sexual immorality that had been committed by the ancestors of those in the Corinth church.  Paul reminded his listeners that those who engaged in the sinful behavior of idolatry and sexual immorality were punished severely.

          Now from this posture of addressing sins committed long ago.  Paul wrote, “13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). It is from these words of the Bible that we have today the Twisted Scripture, “God will not give you more than you can bear.”  There are here some remarkable differences in what the Bible says and what the Twisted Scripture says.

          Let’s take a close look at what the Scripture, the Word of God, says.  Once again, Paul wrote, “13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). Immediately, we notice the subject matter of the Word of God is temptation.  And we immediately notice that the Twisted Scripture phrase, “God will never give you more than you can handle,” does not mention temptation at all.

What is temptation?  There are many definitions of temptation but the one I want us to use today is that “Temptation is the act of being enticed to disobey God’s will, which is to sin.”  We need to use some care here to make sure we remember that temptation and sin are related subjects, but they are not the same thing.  Temptation is not sin, and sin is not temptation. 

As to temptation, the enticement toward sin can come from the world around us, from another person, from within our own self, or from Satan.  Paul said to the church, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind.” Said most simply, “Any temptation you and I face has already been faced by your ancestors.”  That was true when Paul wrote those words, and it is true today as well.  It may be easier with the Internet for us to receive some temptations than in the past, but they are not new temptations.  There is nothing unique about the temptations Paul’s listeners would have faced or the temptations we face today.

          Moreover, no one is above being tempted to disobey God.  Even sinless people were tempted.  Eve and Adam, in the Garden of Eden, were sinless people.  One day, while Eve was minding her own business, the serpent, Satan, tempted, enticed, Eve to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Jesus, another sinless person, after his baptism, was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness.  There Jesus fasted for 40 days.  At the end of his fast, Satan tempted Jesus first to turn stones into bread for Jesus to feed himself.  Satan then tempted Jesus to jump off the Temple in Jerusalem to prove God’s angels would catch Jesus before he struck the ground.  Then for a third time Satan tempted Jesus by enticing Jesus to bow before Satan and receive in return all the kingdoms of the earth.  Adam and Eve succumbed to the temptation, sinned, and lost their state of sinlessness.  Jesus did not succumb to Satan’s temptations and remained sinless.  Everyone is subject to temptation but being tempted does not make you a sinner.

          Let’s go back to Paul’s words again, “13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.”  For the moment, I want us to focus on that first phrase of the second sentence of verse 13, “And God is faithful.”  In the Greek language of Paul’s letter, he wrote, “Theos pistos.” “God is faithful.”  Paul’s words here are unqualified, meaning that God is not faithful in listening to prayers, or in caring about his creation, or in helping in times of trouble, or granting mercy, or anything else we might think about.  Paul is saying some beautiful and life sustaining words here, “God is faithful,” without exception or reservation.  Paul’s words are not new here.  These words are found elsewhere in Scripture.  Such as:

• The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23)
• For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. (Psalm 33:4)
• Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast.  (Psalm 119:90)

I just want you to think about those words for a moment, “God is faithful,” “Theos pistos.”  Who is God faithful to?  God is faithful to you and to me.  Let those words wrap around you for a moment and feel the security that those words bring to us.  “Theos pistos.”  “God is faithful.”

          Again, we note that in the Twisted Scripture phrase, “God will never give you more than you can handle,” the idea that God is faithful is never mentioned.  That is just so sad.

In recognizing the comfort of the words that “God is faithful,” we return to the words from Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth, “13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.”  There should be great joy in these words because what they say is that whenever we are tempted, that is whenever we are enticed to disobey God, then in that precise moment God is there with us.  Why is God with us in temptation?  Because in that moment of temptation, God, who is faithful, is not going to let us be tempted in such a way that we feel we have no alternative but to sin.

          In In 1969, Comedian Flip Wilson introduced to the world, Geraldine, the fictional wife of a preacher. The character, Geraldine, had a catchphrase, “The Devil made me do it!”  The idea that the devil made me do it is unscriptural.  The devil, Satan, certainly tempts us but the devil is powerless to make us disobey God.  Again, why is that?  Back to Paul’s words again, “13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he [God] will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

          All the power, 100% of the power over the temptations that come to us is held by God who stands right next to us whenever we are tempted.  But.  There is always a but.  But God does not use any of that power to make the temptation just disappear.  If a bottle of alcohol represents a temptation to you, God is not going to smash that bottle in front of you to end the temptation.  He could but that is not what Scripture says God will do.  Scripture does not say that God will make temptation go away. Instead, God uses His power to provide us a way out in the very face of the temptation itself.

          The Twisted Scripture phrase, “God will never give you more than you can handle,” mentions nothing about the power of God that is available to us if we would just reach out to God.  Even worse, that phrase says God is the one who has given us the burden to be handled in the first place.  I cannot tell you the number of grieving people I have counseled in the last ten years who have struggled with this expression.  Because they rightly ask, “Why would God burden me by taking away my loved one?”  “Why would God think I can stand losing my loved one because I can’t imagine one more day of this misery.”  “And if God gave me this burden, this death, why would I want to turn to him for healing?” Twisted Scripture is spiritually damaging.  True Scripture, the true word of God, however, tells us God does not give the problem, here, temptation.  Instead, God faithfully gives the solution, a way out of temptation.  And remember we can take comfort that in speaking of temptation, Paul says without qualification, without exception, “God is faithful,” “Theos pistos,” reassuring us that God will be present in all the trials of our life, not to inflict them upon us, not to make them disappear, but to guide us through those trials.

          In the Book of James, we would see this point reinforced.  James wrote, “13 When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death” (James 1:13-15).  Temptation does not come from God.  Burdens do not come from God.  Jesus made this point in when he said, “28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29).  Jesus does not give burden.  Jesus gives rest.

          “God is faithful.” When we are tempted God will give us a way out of that temptation so that we do not sin.  So, in every temptation God is present.  In every temptation, God provides a way out.  In every temptation from the world, from within ourselves, or from Satan there comes with it a spiritual test from God created by the presence of temptation.  That test is, “Will we trust God by reaching out and take his way out of the temptation?”  Will we grab onto that 100% of the power over temptation by reaching out to God?

          Therefore, for every temptation that comes to us, there also comes with it a test of faith to reach out to God.  James, brother of the Lord, Jesus, wrote, “12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12).  Every temptation we face will come to an end. That temptation will end either with sin, because we disobeyed God and followed the temptation, or it will result in coming closer to God because we passed the test and took the path and drew in the power of that our faithful God created for us to escape the temptation.

          Twisted Scripture is spiritually damaging.  To believe that ““God will never give you more than you can handle,” is to believe God is the source of all manner of evil and bad in the world. This is simply wrong because God is faithful to you and to me.  God is faithful.  “Theos pistos.”  God is faithful.  Amen and Amen. 

          What does God require of you?  He has told you.  Act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.  We spoke two weeks ago about what it means to act justly and concluded that to act justly one must approach life with an uncorrupted heart seeking to do what is right without regard to favoritism toward anyone.  Last week we spoke about what it means to love mercy and concluded that we must seek, look, for those opportunities in which we can release others from situations they cannot free themselves.  And so we must forgive offenses against us.  We must enter the lives of those who are alone and those who are hopeless.  We must share the good news of Jesus Christ with those who stand at the very gate of hell. All these things we can do if we first love the mercy God has granted us through the salvation we have received through the completed work of Jesus Christ upon the cross.  Today, we will talk about what it means to walk humbly with God.

          These commands of God, to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God come from the voice of a man named Micah, the prophet.  Micah was called upon by God to read a charge against the people of God, the nation of Israel.  God saw that “11 Israel’s leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money” (Micah 3:11).  Israel had become corrupt.  The leaders were taking advantage of their positions of power, judges ruled by who brought the bigger bribe, priests taught but only if they were paid the right price, and prophets of God had become fortune tellers. Israel no longer believed in transcendent morality, that is morality from God.  Instead, Israel had become a nation in which everyone determined for themselves what was right, what was wrong, what was fair, and what was moral.

          Micah’s message to the people was that they must repent and return to the ways of God by returning to justice, mercy, and walking humbly with God.  What then does it mean to walk humbly?  The Hebrew words here are yālaḵ (ya-lack) ṣānaʿ(sa-nawh), walk humbly.  Firstly, the word yālaḵ (ya-lack), from which we get walk, means literally or figuratively to walk on your feet, or to move, to go, or to come.  We can understand this sense of motion because we walk in some manner every day.  Secondly, the word ṣānaʿ(sa-nawh), from which we get humbly, means to be modest and meek.  The word ṣānaʿ(sa-nawh), is used only one other time in the Hebrew Scriptures, our Old Testament, in Proverbs, “2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility (ṣānaʿ(sa-nawh)), comes wisdom” (Proverbs 11:2).  Pride then is presented as the opposite of humble. The combined effect of these Hebrew words, yālaḵ (ya-lack) ṣānaʿ(sa-nawh), is to suggest movement in a gentle and lowly manner not as the leader of the band, loud and proud, but in a reflective manner, waiting for guidance from another as to the next step.  The movement is done with a humility, a profound sense of being in the presence of someone significant.  Who is the someone significant?  It is God, 'ĕlōhîm, el-o-heem'.

          I want to try to give some sense to this expression of walking humbly with God through two related illustrations, both involving being rescued from drowning.  The first illustration will deal with the sense of walking or moving at the direction of another.  The second illustration will deal with the sense of humility.

          The first illustration comes from basic training in the United States Navy.  Part of the basic training involves water survival skills. The recruits, wearing their uniforms, are instructed to jump into a large swimming pool and to make their way from one end of the pool to the other.  This task is challenging because they are wearing their duty uniform.  The recruits are told that should they find themselves exhausted and in fear of drowning, then they should signal the lifeguards along the edge of the pool.  The lifeguards will then extend a long metal pole to the recruit.  The recruit is to grab onto the pole and allow the lifeguard to pull the recruit to the edge of the pool and thus safety.  But if at any time in that rescue process, the recruit pulls on the pole being held by the lifeguard, the lifeguards are instructed to let go of the pole.  The effect is the recruit will again flounder in the water only now holding onto a large metal pole. 

This rescue process teaches the recruit that in moving to safety they must allow the one who is safe to guide the one who is struggling to safety.  This illustration helps us to understand that the command in Micah 6:8 to walk, yālaḵ (ya-lack), must be seen as allowing ourselves to follow or be led by one who is in the position of safety.  We know this sense movement toward safety from the 23rd Psalm, “1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.  2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul.  He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake” (Psalm 23:1-3).  There is a sense that the psalmist is following and being led to safety carefully and thoughtfully by the one who is safe.

The second illustration helps us understand the significance of being humble and, as I said, this illustration also involves a water rescue. Suppose now you are on a boat in the ocean, you fall overboard, and for whatever reason you are not able to swim. Another person comes along, and you grab his hand, and you realize that person, holding on to you is keeping you from drowning.  In that instant of realization, you would then both love and fear the person holding you. You love him because you are being held up by him.  And in the same instant, you fear him for if he lets go, you will perish. 

This illustration helps us to understand what it means to be humbled. To be humble is to have that mixture of love and fear coursing through your body as you are in the presence of one who holds your life in the balance.

And so, to walk humbly with God, is to hold on and allow God to move you carefully to safety as you experience a love for Him as Savior and a fear of Him for his ultimate power over you.  It is this sense that Micah is trying to get across to when he said it is good that you should walk humbly with your God.  Said another way, we need to trust God.

Why then do so many people, including many Christians, walk on their own or want to walk with God and try to do so without humility?  The simplest explanation I can offer is that humanity, including you and me, understand what Eve desired in the Garden of Eden.  Scripture tells us that in the Garden, Eve saw the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  This is the fruit that she and Adam were not to eat.  Eve saw the fruit as pleasing to the eye and good for food.  There is nothing wrong with that.  But Eve also saw the fruit as desirable for gaining wisdom, that is to be just like God.  And so, she ate the fruit as did Adam.  Eating the fruit is like pulling the pole out of the hand of your rescuer. Eating the fruit and believing you are like God is to lose your sense of love and fear of God.  All humility is gone and is replaced by pride.  Pride, the desire to be like God, is at the root of all evil and sin.  Prideful people do not have a desire to walk with God and do not have a love and fear of God because in pride they want equality with God.

And despite humanity’s the lack of humility and the desire to set its own path, God remains good, and God remains faithful.  God had shown what was good, that is to walk humbly with God. He did this through teachings of his judges, kings, and prophets and then he did it through his own son.  The Apostle Paul described Jesus and his relationship to the Father.  Paul wrote, “[Jesus] 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he [Jesus] made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  8 And being found in appearance as a man, he [Jesus] humbled himself by becoming obedient [to God] to death—even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:6-8).  Jesus, who was with God in the beginning and through whom all things had been created, came to earth and lived a life obediently walking humbly with God. 

Jesus went where God wanted him to go and Jesus did what Jesus saw God doing.  Jesus spoke the words that God spoke to Him through the Holy Spirit.  And what was the response from God to the way Jesus walked with God?  God said to those who had ears to here, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).  Jesus was walking humbly with God, following God’s desires and ways.  Jesus displayed perfect humility before God and therefore, Jesus could say, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).

Without humility, “there can be no true abiding in God’s presence or experiencing of His favor and the power of His Spirit; without humility there is no abiding in faith or love or joy or strength.  Humility is the only soil in which virtue takes root; a lack of humility is the explanation for every defect and failure.  Humility is not so much a virtue along with the others, but is the root of all, because it alone takes the right attitude before God and allows Him, as God, to do all.”  (Andrew Murray, Humility, pg.17).

To walk humbly before God is not an easy thing to do, in part because of our nature, and in part because our culture is awash in pride. The marketing strategy for many products encourage us to buy it because we will be proud to use it.  Higher education uses pride infused words as more knowledge is acquired – master’s degree, doctoral degree.  Society envies those individuals in powerful positions of government because power brings out pride.  Even whole segments of our society claim an entire month to celebrate pride in who they are, with Pride Month.  Every step we take to express pride is one step further away from God.

What then are we to do?  We must come to see ourselves as helpless and powerless, because in the end that is what we are.  I was thinking the other day how we can be so proud of accomplishments and our possessions. Someone might say to you, “Come look at my beautiful car or see my magnificent home.”  And the car and the home can be beautiful and magnificent but does that person really own them?  You see, immediately upon death, that person no longer owns anything. Upon their death we say, “That was their car or was their home.”  All the pride in those possessions evaporates with their last breath.  They are now a spiritual being only and are helpless to control what eventually happens to those prized possessions here on earth. The time we can control or believe we can control things on earth is limited and we are helpless to stop the inevitable end of our control.

We have heard it said, and likely have said it ourselves that, “Life is short.”  And life is short.  In that expression, there is a realization about the brevity of life and there is an acknowledgement of helplessness in that expression.  But perhaps the next time someone says to us, “Life is short,” we ought to say in response, “Yes, I know.  That is why I chose to make my life eternal.”  God has given us the opportunity and done everything necessary for us to live eternally not briefly.  All we need to do is to reach out and hold onto Him.  We must recognize God’s gift and not try to be God, as if we are going to pull the rescue pole out of God’s hands.  We must recognize that the difference between living briefly and living eternally is God and God alone.  We should live life on earth with that odd mixture of love and fear recognizing that it is God’s hand, strong and eternal, that keeps us above the water. It is by God’s hand that we can say, “Life is short.  That is why I chose to make my life eternal.”

This brings us to a deeper understanding that to walk humbly with God is not just a command of what is good to do, it is also a embodies a gift of eternal perspectives and eternal life.  To walk humbly with God is to imitate Jesus by moving through the full range of human experiences with the assurance of God’s presence and then to move seamlessly into eternity when our journey on earth is done.  To walk humbly with God is good.  It is very good.  Amen and Amen.

          What does God require of you?  He has told you.  Act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.  These commands, act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God come from the Old Testament, specifically, the prophet Micah.  A prophet is one appointed by God to bring God’s Word to the people in the present so that they can repent and have a future.  Last week, we talked about what it means to act justly.  Justice starts with an uncorrupted life.  It is a justice that is uncorrupted by the status of others or the desire to obtain favor for the way we behave.  It is a justice that reflects the outward working of the Holy Spirit that is within.  It is not loud.  It is not proud.  It is a justice, a just way of behaving that does, however, let God shine in all things.  I believe that is the simple message of Micah’s first point of acting justly.  We are to imitate God, imitate Christ, Follow the Holy Spirit, not just in addressing the needs of others that are obvious but by being uncorrupted and continuously acting justly toward everyone in the house in everything we do.

          Today, I would like us to explore the second element of the Biblical statement, namely, “to love mercy.”  What is Micah speaking about when he said God requires three things, act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.  What is involved in the love of mercy?

          I think first we need to understand mercy.  The English word, mercy, comes from the Hebrew word, hesed.  What does hesed mean?  Hesed is an action taken by someone in a uniquely stronger position toward someone who is in a situationally weaker position.  And that behavior, that action, by the stronger toward the weaker is essential to the weaker because the weaker cannot remedy on their own or through other means an existential need, something that threatens their life or wellbeing. 

There are some fancy words in those definitions and often people confuse kindness and mercy.  So let’s consider two quick examples that might help our understanding.  Let’s say you are in the drive through line at Dunkin Donuts.  You place your order and drive up to the window to pay for coffee. You do so and then you also pay for the order for the people behind you.  In doing so, you have been kind to the person behind you but you have not extended mercy.  The person behind you is not in some in a situation they cannot remedy for themselves, a situation that leads or could lead to death or risk of their wellbeing.  The person behind you ordered coffee and perhaps something to eat and had the money to pay for it.  But you paid for it instead.  That is kind of you but not merciful.

Let’s look at a second example.  Let’s say you are alone with a friend.  Suddenly, you realize your friend is choking on some food.  Your friend collapses unconscious and is not breathing.  In that moment, your friend is in a situationally weaker position than you because they are not breathing, and you are breathing. You are in a uniquely stronger position than they are because there is no one else available to help them.  Your friend needs action because without it, he or she will die, or at the very least their well-being is threatened.  So, you act, and you remove the obstruction from the throat of your friend and he or she begins to breathe again and soon after regains consciousness.  This is an illustration of mercy.  You have been merciful to your friend.  By your actions, you removed your friend from a situation they could not escape from on their own and in doing so you gave them a new chance in life.  Hopefully these two illustrations help us understand the difference between kindness and mercy.  Said most broadly, mercy is acting to relieve a person from a threatening situation from which they cannot free themselves.

And so with that bit of understanding about the definition of mercy, we return to the Scripture from Micah, Chapter 6, verse 8 in which we are told one of the three things God requires is to “love mercy.”  We know what mercy is now but what does it mean to “love” mercy?  In this verse, in the Hebrew, the word for love is Ahava. This word, Ahava, is rooted, draws its meaning from the root word, the verb, Hav, which means “to give.”  This reveals to us that according to the original Hebrew usage, giving is at the root of love. To love then is to seek to fulfill, to give, to meet the needs of others.  So, to love mercy then is to seek to give to another to relieve that person from a situation from which they cannot free themselves.  The sense here is that we always should have a desire to give mercy.  Now that is a lot to take in.  In some ways, we might think, “How in the world can I exercise such love, such mercy to another person, that I relieve them of a situation from which they cannot free themselves?  How can I do what God requires when he says I must love mercy?”

          To answer those questions, let’s look at God’s Word as taught to us by Jesus, God, himself.  Let’s turn our attention to the Gospel of Matthew, which has significant interplay with the Old Testament.  In Chapter 18 of the Gospel of Matthew we find Jesus teaching his disciples using parables.  While together, “21 Peter asked Jesus, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?’ 22 Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times’” (Matthew 18:21-22).  Some translations have the number of times someone should be forgiven as seven times seventy.  In other words, Jesus is saying forgive often and so frequently as to make it impractical to remember the number of times you have forgiven.

          Now immediately following the exchange between Jesus and Peter about forgiveness, Jesus told this parable.  Jesus said, “23 Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he [the king] began the settlement, a man [a servant] who owed him [the king] ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him [the king]. 25 Since he [the servant] was not able to pay, the master ordered that he [the servant] and his wife and his children and all that he [the servant] had be sold to repay the debt.  26 At this the servant fell on his knees before him [the king]. ‘Be patient with me,’ he [the servant] begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master [the king] took pity on him [the servant], canceled the debt and let him go” (Matthew 18:23-27). 

Let’s pause there for a moment.  The servant owed the king 10,000 bags of gold.  Clearly the servant could never repay such a debt.  That was Jesus’ point in picking such a large sum of money. The debt could not be repaid, ever. Therefore, the servant found himself in a position in which the servant’s wellbeing was threatened and the servant could not free himself.  The king was in a uniquely superior position to the servant.  The debt was to the king and only the king could receive payment of the debt, or the king could cancel the debt.  In this parable, the king chose to pardon the servant, to relieve that servant, from a situation from which the servant could not free himself.  As the giver, the king loved mercy and gave mercy to the servant by canceling the servant’s debt. 

But by the end of the parable, we are going to find out that the forgiven servant did not love mercy. The servant did not have any sense of what it meant to love mercy.  We will also learn at the end of the parable that Jesus expects his disciples to understand that king in the story represents God and the servant represents the disciples of Christ, who now include us.  And so, through this story, Jesus was teaching his disciples that each of us owes a debt to God, a debt brought about by our own sin.  The cumulative effect of that debt is as if his disciples, we, owed the king 10,000 bags of gold, a sum we could not hope to pay.  But Jesus wanted his disciples to know, and for us to know, that God loves them, loves us, and that God is merciful.  If we ask God, “Please forgive me,” God is willing and merciful to cancel our debt.  God canceled our debt through the completed work of Jesus upon the cross.  When we repent, that is to turn toward God’s way, and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, accept what Jesus has done for us, then God grants forgiveness of our sins, not some of our sins but all our sins.  We have at that point then received mercy through the love of Christ.

The lyrics in our opening song today, “My Life is Proof,” poetically put the act of mercy this way: There were things I couldn't quit.  Damage I just couldn't fix.  I couldn't do it on my own.  But Jesus did.  All of my sins are washed away.  Whoever I was ain't here today.  My life is proof.  Of all the stories I could tell.  This is the one that haunts me still.  How your mercy pulled me from the gates of hell.  No matter how long it has been.  Don't ever let my soul forget.  How you loved me back to life.  When I was dead.”  This is a song about the love of the mercy that singer has received through Christ.

 And so, we are left with an important question.  If I have accepted Christ, do we love the mercy I have received?  Do I love having been forgiven, brought back from the gates of hell?  Do I love mercy?

          We are going to learn that the forgiven servant did not love the mercy he had received and thus did not love mercy when given the opportunity to grant mercy.  Jesus said, “28 But when that [forgiven] servant went out [from the presence of the king], he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. The [forgiven] servant grabbed this fellow servant and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ the [forgiven] servant demanded. 29 His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him [the forgiven servant], ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’  30 But he [forgiven servant] refused. Instead, he [the forgiven servant] went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master [the king] everything that had happened.  32 “Then the master called the [forgiven] servant in [into the king’s presence]. ‘You wicked servant,’ he [the king] said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master [the king] handed him [the wicked servant] over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed, [which the wicked servant could not do] (Matthew 18:28-34).

          How quickly the situation for this servant changed. This servant was indebted to the king owing an amount he could never pay.  The servant was, if you will at the gates of hell.  The king gave mercy to the servant, forgiving the servant everything, if you will, giving life to the servant when he was dead.  The forgiven servant, when presented with the opportunity to love mercy by forgiving a fellow servant, did not.  Instead, the forgiven servant withheld forgiveness and became known as wicked.  The king then reinstated the debt the wicked servant owed and sent him to eternal punishment, to hell itself.  I suspect the disciples were quiet as Jesus reached this point in the story.

          In the tension of that quiet, Jesus then said, “35 This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart” (Matthew 18:35). And so we hear the words of Micah ringing loudly in our ears, “8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?” (Micah 6:8a) but “to love mercy.” Jesus was making it clear that the most obvious way for us to love mercy is to grant forgiveness to one another. When we forgive someone for their debt against us, for a sin against us, we are showing mercy because we have released someone from a situation from which they cannot release themselves.  If I sin against someone, it does matter how many times I say to myself “George, I forgive you, George,” it does not change my situation, my debt remains, because I need forgiveness from the person whom I offended.  And so, forgiveness is at the heart of the way that each of us can act to love mercy. Forgiveness is such an important part of the love mercy command that Jesus included it in what we now call the Lord’s prayer, “And forgive us our debts, pull us back from the gates of hell, as we forgive, show mercy, our debtors.”  The Lord grants us mercy so that we can too can love the mercy we have received and extend that love of mercy to those around us.

          Micah said, ““8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good” (Micah 6:8a).  God has shown you what is good because God loves mercy and, if you have accepted Jesus, then you have received God’s mercy.  Again, that leaves us with the question, “Do you, do I, love the mercy God has shown us?  Do you, do I, see that mercy as good in all regards?”  These are not questions that we should answer with our voices.  These are questions that we should answer by our actions.  If we love the mercy of God that we have received, then that should be evident in all our actions towards others because we have shown mercy to them.

          Do we forgive others for their offenses against us? If we do, then we love mercy.  Do we use our time to enter someone’s life to break the loneliness of another?  If we do, then we love mercy.  Do we come along side those who are hopeless and offer our tears of encouragement?  If we do, then we love mercy.  Do we share the good news of Christ and his mercy with those who if their lives do not change because at this moment they are at the gates of hell and stand before Christ the Judge not the Savior?  If we do, if we share Christ, then we love mercy. 

There are so many ways we can be merciful, but we will only do so if we first love the mercy we have already received from God.  If we treat the embodied in our own salvation with indifference, as though it is no big deal, then we will treat the hardships of others with indifference and not mercy.

          “8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.” (Micah 6:8a).  Love mercy. Amen and Amen.

          It is the first Sunday of September 2024 and as is our custom we celebrate the Lord’s Supper.  We set this Sunday aside as special.   We sing hymns of praise, we share prayers for one another, and we hear the Word of God proclaimed as we do each Sunday.  But before we leave here today, we share the bread and drink of the cup, as a remembrance of Christ Jesus.  What is it that Christ calls us to remember?

          I read some thoughts on this question and some said that the Lord’s Supper is a memorial of Christ's life and death. It is a symbol of Christ's work. It represents the union of all God's people; at the table of the Lord all human souls are on the same level. It represents the soul's constant dependence upon Christ for strength. Christ is the daily bread of life to the soul. It represents the mystic union of Christ and his people; he lives in them and they in him.  The Lord's Supper is a special communion with Christ when, in a particular manner, he reveals himself to the believing heart (Dr. Smith Baker).

The Lord’s Supper certainly is all those things and we certainly would do well to remember Christ in those terms.  I am just not sure, however, that those words and those thoughts quite do it for me.  I am not quite sure that was what Jesus was saying to his small band of intimate friends.

         Jesus and His friends were celebrating the Passover meal and it was an opportunity to remember God’s redemption of the people of Israel from the hands of the Egyptians.  And so the Lord’s Supper has come to be seen as a new Passover meal for those who follow Christ.  It is certainly that as well and we would be on solid theological ground to remember Christ in that way.  It certainly was something that Jesus asked his friends to remember. 

Yet I still wonder if we are stopping too early in our thinking about that night.  It was a night in which his friends had argued about who was the greatest.  It was a night in which they gathered and all but Jesus was too proud to wash the feet of the others.  It was a night in which one brother from this band would betray Jesus for a few silver coins. It was a night in which the most outspoken of them, the one with the biggest measure of self-confidence was told he would deny Jesus; not just once but three times.  Sometimes I think we need to pause and contemplate the scene a little longer before we conclude we understand it.  We need to enter the scene and see who is there, what is really said, and what those words meant to the people.  Sometimes we need to be willing to pay the price for doing so because whenever we spend time with Jesus there is a definite risk that he will change us.  Sometimes I think we don’t really want that to occur, and we approach Scripture in a manner that Tim Hansel wrote about in his book "When I Relax, I Feel Guilty."  He writes that sometimes we approach with a mindset that we would like to purchase $3.00 worth of God.  He says, "I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please. Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don't want enough of Him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal, just put it in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please."   If we would be totally honest, the idea of transformation really scares us. That is because we know that such a radical change would be quite uncomfortable. We realize that with transformation comes a major overhaul of our lives and priorities.  Was there something then about the Lord’s Supper that was more radical and transformational that Jesus wanted his friends to remember?

I would like to explore that question a little beginning with some information from our Old Testament reading.  We find there in Exodus that God, working through Moses, was establishing a covenant with the people of Israel.  He was calling out Israel from the population of the world to be his people, set aside for a blessing of a relationship with God. It was a covenant given to Israel, not a contract.  The Israelites did not offer a deal to God, it was a commitment God gave to them. God made the choice.  The Israelites were to be His people, and He was to be there God.  The understanding of the covenant was spoken and put down in the words of the Law. They were words of life that were then bound by sacrifice and blood between God and His people.  Exodus 24 verses 4 through 8: 4 Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said.

He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashed against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.  8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words” (Exodus 24:4-8).

The blood on the altar and the people linked them together and symbolized the union of God and Israel in the covenant.  The sacrificing and sprinkling of blood would continue throughout the centuries by the Israelites as a reminder of that union. This scene from Exodus gives us some sense of history and context to God’ covenantal relationships.  They are an unmerited gift from God.

          Moving forward to the New Testament period we come to the evening in which Jesus and his disciples gathered for the Passover meal.  Unlike the scene from Exodus where the backdrop was a mountain, an altar, twelve pillars, burnt offerings, basins of blood, and the gathering of the nation of Israel, this evening was a very private moment.  All were assembled in a simple room.  Everything was in place as Jesus had wanted.  Luke tells us, 14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God” (Luke 22:14-16).   The King James Version of the Bible says that, “with desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you.”  It was an intense feeling.  The Greek word used here was ἐπιθυμία, epithymia, e-pē-thü-mē'-ä, meaning a craving or longing.  You see Luke said, “And when the hour came.” These words are so significant to the story.  They do not speak of a time of day or hour in which the preparations for the meal had been completed but really stood for just the right moment in Jesus’ journey. 

At times throughout his ministry people sought to seize Jesus and do harm to him but could not because Scripture repeatedly tells us, “his hour had not yet come.”  This time was different.  The Gospel of John tells us, “It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father” (John 13:1a).  John was not referring to a time of day; he was referring to a precise moment in history.  Luke’s words and John’s words tell us this was not just a meal, this was a moment of history like no other.  And when that hour came, that moment in history, Jesus reclined at table, and the apostles with him. [15] And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you.”  Jesus knew he only had a few hours before he would face the cross and what he craved most at this precise moment in history was to spend some of those precious moments in a meal with his disciples.  There was no other place Jesus wanted to be than at this intimate gathering.

          I have tried to imagine being there and hearing his words, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”  I can imagine my feeling of pleasure rise rapidly as I hear Jesus’ craving to eat with me, and then just as suddenly drop as he says he is to suffer.  We want to hear the first part of eating together, but we do not want anything to do with the second part of Jesus suffering.  We want to say, “I only wanted $3.00 of God.  Given me only what I want to hear, I do not want to hear of your suffering.”  It must have been that way at that table that evening because no one asks of what suffering he was to endure. 

          The group began to eat the meal.  From our New Testament reading, Matthew writes, “[26] Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” Imagining again, the room must have gotten very still and exceptionally quiet as they received the bread.  Jesus who craved this moment with his disciples was giving them bread and saying this is my body.  This was such an intimate moment, within this moment of history. Jesus who knew all of their follies and shortcomings better than they knew themselves still accepted them.  He was saying to them, I hold nothing back from you for I crave with the deepest longings of my heart for your closeness. “Take, eat; this is my body.”  Put yourself in that place.  When I did, I found myself, silently eating the bread wondering the meaning of the suffering Jesus was to endure and now the significance of eating bread, that represented his body.  Why are you doing this Jesus?  I find it hard to lift my eyes from the table and look at you Jesus for fear I will cry.

         Before composure can come over the room again, Matthew tell us, “[27] And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, [28] for this is my blood.” Jesus is moving them to a new level of intimacy.  He is offering this cup as a symbol of an inseparable union, and merging of their lives as one through the substance that gives us life itself.  They sip from the cup slowly as they drink in the rest of Jesus words.  “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”  As they drink, a new covenant was born.  It is not to be one of altars, pillars, and recurring sacrifice.  It is one formed by uniting believers with God and with one another through the suffering of Christ, through the giving of his body, and through the pouring out of his blood.  And for that we are forgiven of our sins. 

Why did Jesus do this? Why did he choose suffering?  Why did he choose to give his body?  Why did he choose to pour out his blood?  Why did he choose to forgive our sins?  He did so because of love.  He had come, to this moment in history for this hour to share love – unimaginable love expressed through the giving of the bread, giving of the cup, and giving himself in our place to suffer.  “Almost everything ever written on the subject of love indicates that at the heart of love is the spirit of giving.” (Chapman 82)  “Love is a choice.  Love is always feely given.” (96)  And Jesus came to earth to give.  “Love is something you do for someone else, not something you do for yourself.” (140)  Jesus came to love us and to give us life.

The disciples in particularly, at this moment in history, needed to know that they were loved. They who argued over greatness, who would abandon and deny Christ, who would witness his death, were heading to crisis after crisis like no other point in history.  Jesus needed them ready for what was to come ahead.  “In a time of crisis, more than anything, we need to feel loved.  We cannot always change events, but we can survive if we feel loved.” (113)  This was radical, transforming love beyond what they could have asked for.  With it they would choose to love one another and choose to overcome the hatred of their enemies with love. 

Many communion tables have these words etched into them, “This do in remembrance of me.”  We may forget at times the theology of the bread and the cup or even disagree with one another over the substance of the bread and the wine.  We may forget at times the details linking that evening with the history of Israel. But let us always share the bread and the cup remembering that Jesus made a choice.  He made the choice to love you and me, with all of our follies and shortcomings.  He made a choice to let us know that the even though the events of your life may not be changed, you know that you are loved.  How will you choose to respond to that love? 

As I thought about the scene at the Lord’s Table, I was reminded of the closing words from Exodus Old Testament reading today, which said, “and they beheld God, and ate and drank” (Exodus 24:11b). This day, come to the table, come to the Lord’s Table, feel his love, behold him, and eat and drink.  Amen.