The Valley Church of Christ

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM (1)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

I received a text from a teen living somewhere else in the U.S. who is frustrated: she’s not feeling nourished by the high school Bible class where she is, she wants to get more out of her study, but she doesn’t know how. I told her this is an important opportunity because this won’t be the last time something like this happens — where you are in a situation where for whatever reason, you are needing more than what public teaching and preaching can provide. Think back to the last time you were feeling a lack of purpose and meaning in your life, or the last time you were feeling hopeless, or your love and desire for God was waning, or you were surrounded by lots of deceit or propaganda and it was hard to see what was true — and yet, the public teaching wasn’t able to address what you were needing? Certainly, in those moments, brothers and sisters, seek out our very capable shepherds. But if we — before those moments (now!) — develop basic skills in how to read, interpret, and apply the Scriptures, we can also learn how to feed ourselves a little so that we are never starved, and maybe our cup even overflows. Today, let me expand on what I shared with this teen so we can learn how to meditate in a healthy, grounded, applicable way on the Scriptures.

Three Steps

But, a couple caveat. Scriptures can be quite difficult.

So, first, my goal in this is not to tell you how to study the Scriptures so that you never need a teacher, preacher, or another resource again. When Philip asked the Ethiopian Eunuch if he understood what he was reading, the Eunuch did not reply like a child of the Enlightenment, “Of course I do! Anyone with a good and honest heart can interpret the Scriptures for themselves!” No, he replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” King Jesus has made the body so that we are all interdependent on one another for his glory. It would be fruitless for the hand to try to live without the elbow, or for the elbow to try to live without the hand. When they are doing their jobs well here, teachers, preachers, and shepherds are important.

And second, learning how to read the scriptures in a healthy way is a life long pursuit that is similar to how a tree sends its roots out into the soil — if the tree is doing what it should, it continues to send its roots deeper and further. If we are doing what we should, we’ll come back to the same portion of Scripture many times over our lives. And in some of those encounters, maybe because of our life situation — often difficulty — our roots will grow much deeper and stronger and we’ll see things we have never seen before. Just enjoy it. It’s part of the journey. No seed sprouts full grown.

But while the Scriptures can be quite difficult, there are three basic steps that correspond to three basic questions we should ask when coming to a text. I’ll explain why in a moment, but it is very important that our engagement with the text always follows this order and flow.

1. Comprehension (What does it say?)
2. Interpretation (What does it mean?)
3. Application (How should we respond?)

In the comprehension phase, we are attending to the actual words in the text. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God,” so we want to attend to it with a level of respect for that. What does it say — not what do I think it says or want it to say or remember from last time that it said, or even how does this change my life — no, just pay attention to what it says. If we move too quickly from this step, we will likely assign a meaning and application to the text that is foreign to what the Holy Spirit intends. In this step you could:

• Read out loud.
• Read in a couple-few different translations.
• Mark up the text (underlines, highlights, arrows noting key/repeated words, phrases, ideas).
• Summarize what the text says in your own words (again, not the meaning or application).
• Be familiar with the context before and after the text you are examining (every verse has a context in a paragraph, every paragraph in a chapter, every chapter in a book, every book in the Bible).
• Note quotations, allusions to, and echoes of other Scriptures (read the quotation in its own context).
• Draw pictures to help you visualize what the text means.

In the interpretation phase we are now attending to what the text actually means. When the law was read in Nehemiah’s day, it says “They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading,” (Neh. 8:8). Sometimes this is easy. Paul might say, “Let the thief no longer steal.”  So easy! But often we are working with poetry that uses a lot of images and makes a lot of cultural references that take time to work through. Sometimes it’s a wild vision. Or a complex story where a character makes a decision that is wrong, but it works out well for him at first, and then it causes problems, but then God uses it in some neat ways, but the problems don’t go away. Or, maybe Paul will make a deep theological statement that sounds simple, but contains a wealth of meaning. What do we do when it gets complex?

• Slow down and meditate.
• Evaluate this in light of what came earlier, and what comes later.
• In narratives, evaluate what the characters say and do (this often reveals motives and meaning).
• Ask about the significance of a quotation, allusion, or echo to another Scripture in this text.
• Cling to key statements where the writer offers their/God’s summary, interpretation, parenthetical statements, etc. These statements are rare, but they can be a lamp that lights up the whole room.
• Ask: What is the author trying to do with this text? Correct? Encourage? Warn? Explain? Persuade?
• How is this text revealing the character of God?
• How is this text exposing what fallen humans love, think, say, and do? What they should be?

When it comes to meaning, its also very important that we take care to be humble and to stay within the bounds of the true faith. Paul says there is one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all (Eph. 4:4-6). The Scriptures can be made to mean a host of different things that may sound good and true. Satan used the Scriptures to try to deceive Jesus. If in our study we start coming to conclusions that no one has ever come to, or that only people historically considered heretics have come to, that’s a cause to slow down. Humility recognizes we are not the first people to try to honestly interpret the Scriptures. So, with both humility and discernment we may also ask, how have other people in other times or places interpreted this text. Scripture is the our infallible authority, and there are more bad sources of “help” than there are good. But humility will ask.

In the application phase we are now asking, in light of what the text says and means, how should we respond?  James warns us to “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” The Scriptures have some pretty expansive applications that may strike different people differently at different points in time. While staying very connected to what the text actually says and means, here are some good questions you could ask at this point:

• How should I respond to the portrait of God in this text?
• How should I respond to the portrait of fallen humanity in this text?
• How is this text reading, exposing, and evaluating me?
• How should this change, adjust, reinforce how I think about myself, others, God the world?
• What is this text teaching me to love, desire, value? Outside of Christ, what am I tempted to love, desire, value, that is different from this?
• How should this reform individuals, families, churches, communities, societies, governments, the world?
• How should this affect how I view the past? future? sin? righteousness?

Note: response is not merely doing. Understanding affects our heads, and then our hearts, and then our hands.

I said earlier that it is important that our study flows in this way. What could happen if we don’t?

• Shallow study is when we only attend to what the text says. We get the facts, fill in blanks, and move on.
• Error is when we make wrong interpretations and applications without comprehending the text first.
• Academic study is when we only attend to what the text says and means, but we don’t consider how this impacts us.
• Fluffy study, weak or strange application is when we give little or no time to what the text says and means and start immediately talking about applications, our feelings, our lives that have little to no basis in the text.

I like to think about this all as like a house. Comprehension is like the foundation. Interpretation is like the framing, drywall, wiring, flooring and roof of the house. Application is the colors, pictures, furniture, appliances and more. You can build big beautiful homes with tall ceilings and all sorts of neat furniture and art as long as you build a solid foundation with well connected framing and a good roof. We can have wonderful wide ranging conversations about our lives and go and do wonderful things for the glory of God, but it needs to find its root in an understand of what Scripture says and means. Every once in a while, we may find out that our conversations that are “about Scripture” aren’t as connected to Scripture as we thought. Or our lives that should be molded by Scripture, or our churches which should be reformed by Scripture — they may not be as connected as we imagined. In that case, we go back to the the text: comprehend, interpret, apply.

Now, I left out one important step in the interpretation section. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:14-16, “For to this day, when they [the Israelites] read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.” As we evaluate what the Scriptures mean, we need to evaluate them unashamedly as Christians. This means that to respect what Genesis or Job or Isaiah means does not mean we only ask, “What did it mean to its first readers?” If we only do this, a veil will lie over our hearts so that we do not see the glory of God. We need to also read this as those who believe that all history and all the Scriptures really lead to Jesus. We read about every human in light of Jesus who is the true human. We read about God knowing how he has revealed his very self in Jesus’ coming. Brent pointed wonderfully to this last week in John 5.

And the result? Do you feel frustrated at your lack of purity, patience, love, righteousness? Or a lack of hope or meaning? “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:18 ESV)

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM (2)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Series: Daniel (Faith among Babylonians)

Service: Sun AM (1)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

“For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.” (1 Thessalonians 5:2-4 ESV)

Paul is speaking about the Day of the Lord. People won’t be sober in their thinking. And suddenly that day will come upon them. It will be a surprise as if a thief were breaking in their home. The blood will drain from their face. There will be wide-spread shock. But for those who were waiting for the Lord, it will not be a thief or a shock, but the day we were eagerly anticipating moment by moment. But for everyone else? A thief in the night.

In Daniel 5 we have turned a page from Nebuchadnezzar to Belshazzar. Many decades have passed. Daniel is no longer a young man. He’s likely in his 80s. Nearly 70 years have passed since Daniel first arrived in Babylon. For Babylon, their moment in the sun came with blazing glory and lasted for decades. But for us looking back? It amounts to nothing — we turn a page and we have now come to Babylon’s last night. Read Daniel 5 with me.

This should have been no surprise to Babylon. This was the day the Medes and Persians broken into the city and took it a single night, but you don’t move armies in a split second. The Medes and the Persians were outside the city walls and there is no way Belshazzar and the whole city did not know it. From what we know, it appears that the entire empire had been taken except Babylon. Nabonidus — Belshazzar’s father — was likely either on the run or dead. All the cities had fallen — and yet, this is Babylon! Many have predicted it’s fall, but Babylon doesn’t fall! Babylon always wins.

Belshazzar knows armies are outside his gates, and yet for him it is time to feast and to remember that this is Babylon and that Babylon always wins. This is just another army that has yet to meet their demise at the hands of Babylon, her walls, her armies, and her superior gods.

Belshazzar also knows he has the stuff of Yahweh  from Jerusalem available to him. That “Most High God” who supposedly rules all things? Yeah, we have his stuff because again, Babylon always wins — thank Bel, thank Nebo, thank Marduk our gods. With their help, these Persians will be just like Jerusalem and Babylon will remain on top. The Most High talks of his kingdom, the kingdoms of men rise and fall, but Babylon remains forever. Our defenses may seem to fall, the stock market may seem to struggle, but thank our great land, government, military, gold, technology, king, and gods — we always roar back.

So, on the eve of great disaster the king of Babylon feasts. Don’t talk about impending doom or rumors of wars. Don’t come to me with your handwringing about this or that problem. It’s time to feast with the lords, the wives, and the concubines.

They grab the stuff from Yahweh’s temple, and while they feast with it they praise their gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. It doesn’t matter whose god’s stuff you have, everyone knows that is a bold, irreverent move. And suddenly, the hand appears from God and writes a message on the wall. Suddenly, it’s like his legs were made of jello. His legs knock together, his color changes, and he calls for help. Why? For all he knows, why isn’t this is a message from Bel, Nebo, or Marduk saying, “Thanks for the praise, we’ll have your back on the battlefield!” Why? Because deep down he knows that his gods don’t do stuff like this, but there is a god whose stuff he’s abusing who is rumored to be the Almighty one and to do things like this. He knows — Daniel says so at the end of the chapter — that this God had warned Nebuchadnezzar. But he ignored that little voice in the back of his head that had been warning him about his prideful and reckless ways. And so he turns sheet white and panics for the same reason we our stomach seizes up when we see the cop on the side of the road pointing the radar gun at us — it’s because we have been driving like we own the road when we know deep down we don’t.

And so, this party hard Hakunah Mattatah Bob Marly “Don’t worry about a thing” king panics. He calls loudly for the enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers to read the message. In this moment we see just how weak and frail Belshazzar is. The Holy God has written a four-word message on his wall, and the entire palace is astir over it. He is second in command (his father is first) and he’s ready to give third place in the kingdom, gold, silver, and a royal robe to whoever can read these four words because he knows deep down his fate rests on it, and yet they cannot read a single word. It is an enigma.

He can offer all his silver, gold, and power — yet not a single educated Babylonian can give him an ounce of meaning from those four words. Do we see this? The most powerful and most self-assured man who has the world at his fingertips who always has deep enough pockets and always has enough savvy to match the situation — and yet four words from a hand appear on the wall and though his fate hangs on them he cannot do anything about it — so in a moment he’s terrified and completely ignorant.

Here in our hands — we have 66 books from the Lord. Do some of those words remain an enigma to us? Maybe it is because they are the words that shine on our very darkness, but we cannot perceive anything in them lest the darkness in us be exposed and we give back to the Lord his stuff, the honor and devotion due to him.

But the queen mother tells Belshazzar not to worry — there’s a man in the kingdom named Daniel. He has dealt with stuff like this before. Call him in. Belshazzar calls him in. Why hadn’t Daniel been called in until that point? Daniel has handled this on at least two occasions before in very impressive fashion. Surely at least those in the royal house could trouble themselves to remember this one who is so wise! No, the wisest man in the empire has not been called in yet and we find out why when Belshazzar speaks to him — he calls him not by his Babylonian name (Belteshazzar) but by his Hebrew name, Daniel. And he reminds Daniel of his place — you’re Daniel, that exile from Judah who my father the king brought here, aren’t you? He has been here nearly 70 years and yet nobody in the kingdom ever forgets who Daniel is, that Daniel is not one of us. They don’t like what Daniel does, where he is from, nor the truth he represents.

And here we are reminded yet again of just how weak and impoverished Belshazzar is. “Daniel, you go ahead and tell us what these words mean and I’ll give you silver, gold, the purple robe, and third place in the kingdom.” And Daniel replies, “Keep your gifts, keep your power, give it to somebody else.” The power and wealth of Babylon at Daniel’s feet, and yet he does not bat an eye, he does not want it. I don’t think Belshazzar can imagine a world in which that sort of money and power did not always do the talking. Everywhere he went, he had something everybody else wanted to pry from his hands — dead or alive. And now he offers it freely and Daniel turns it down as if it is an annoying nuisance.

So Daniel begins by reminding Belshazzar of the history lesson he already knew. “You knew what happened to Nebuchadnezzar, your predecessor. You knew how God lifted him up and how, when he became proud about that, God humiliated him until the time when he acknowledged that heaven rules.” That sort of thing — the king becoming a beast overnight — without it making headlines. Belshazzar knew about it, and yet he did not humble himself.

Oh the things that we ourselves know that are written in the Holy Book of the Lord! What of those things do we stuff down, put away, ignore, act like we do not know?

And so, Daniel tells the king: This God that humbled Nebuchadnezzar has sent you a message:

• Mene, mene: the days of your kingdom have been numbered
• Tekel: you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting
• Perez: your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.

God is saying I have examined you thoroughly and it does not add up like I expect it to.

Belshazzar responds by giving Daniel the robe, treasures, and power he did not care to have. But that very night, Belshazzar is killed. For them, it was a shocking, horrible night that changed all history, that uprooted everyone’s inflated expectations. For us, we turn the page and we are in Daniel 6 and still, because Daniel’s hope is in the Lord and in his kingdom, he’s stable and fine. Another day at the office with yet another boss.

When a kingdom is great like Babylon, many wonder how long it will last. Many will try to predict it’s end. Hard times come, but it always roars back… but the final day always comes at some point… but the 100 times the end was predicted before it was always wrong. What must it be like to be the people who give up their fears and drink the Koolaid that Babylon will last forever, and then to actually witness the horror of all the wealth and power vanishing overnight?

For Babylonians in heart: it is knees knocking, face white. For Daniel, he had listened to visions from God that told him this was coming.

For us, what else ought we to know?

When people get drunk there is a powerful numbing affect on the body. Proverbs says you could even drive a thorn into the hand of a drunk man and he would not know what had come upon him. Alcohol has this affect, and so does idolatry of power, wealth, and sexual sin. Though all the clear signs may be there in plain sight to all that our demise is coming, drunkenness from idolatry deadens our senses. We don’t kneel before the Lord and beg for mercy. Our senses are deadened, and we look at a coming demise that is clear to those on the outside and we yawn and say, “Peace and security.”

This is why the Scriptures warn us not to merely be sober, but to be sober-minded. Keep your head. Brothers and sisters, it is always Babylon out there, and she’s always pouring out a blinding, intoxicating offering from her cup, her bed, her wallet, and her power. And she makes those who drink from her cup think that all is peace and security. But it is madness — because we will be numbered and weighed, we will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to receive our due for what we have done in the body, whether good or evil.

This is why we are here. To be reminded to be sober-minded like Daniel. Like Daniel who was of the day.

Brothers and sisters, cast off the work of darkness. May we thank God for what we have — whether much or little. If we feel like we’re at the bottom, remember it’s not important to be at the top. And if we are on top, may remember God’s blessings still abound on the bottom.  May we not put any love into what we have. Whether it is our city or country that falls, or whether it is the trumpet sounding that heaven’s day has come — that day will come. But if we have been living every day like it’s tonight, we’ll be all good, we’ll rejoice. But for others, it will be shock and surprise, all worst fears suddenly realized. Brothers and sisters, stay sober-minded.

Series: Hebrews (Cling to Jesus in the Wilderness)

Service: Sun AM (2)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

It did not take long for Israel to discover that journeying through the wilderness and conquering the land of Canaan would require more faith than it required to cry for freedom from slavery in the first place. And after all God had done for them, they caved to the pressures of despair, and announced their intentions to return to slavery in Egypt.

The writer of Hebrews can see that the Christians he’s writing to are in danger of making the same mistake. After years of suffering and being excluded from society, they were growing weary, not listening carefully, and in danger of trading away the promised rest. Slavery is miserable, but the slavery we know can seem more comfortable than following Christ through the unknown wilderness.

So the writer of Hebrews shows us throughout his letter that if we will cling to Jesus, he will give us all the help, strength, grace, and mercy we need for our journey. Chapter 1 explored how the Son of God has now become superior to angels (so we must listen to him carefully), but chapter 2 explores why he became man and lower than the angels in the first place.

The answer we began to explore last time is that God intends to crown humanity with glory and honor and put everything under our feet, but sin and death has prevented this. So the Son of God became man, and because he suffered faithfully he is now the glory-crowned human that God always wanted. Now, all things are being put under his feet and he is leading many sons to share in his glory and exaltation.

The problem is that humanity has become captives of Satan, sin, and death. So how is it that Jesus’ humanity enables him to lead us out of captivity and to glory? Isaiah 49:24-26 reflects on this question.

Can the prey be taken from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrant be rescued? For thus says the Lord, “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken, and the prey of the tyrant be rescued, for I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children. I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine.”

How can the captives of a tyrant be rescued? The Lord says: by dealing with the tyrant. Today, Hebrews will show us that to deal with the tyrant and his power, the Son of God had to become human. Notice Hebrews 2:14-18.

Ever since our fall in the garden, people have surely wondered about the puzzling statement made to the snake in Genesis 3:15, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers, he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Why isn’t God crushing the head of the snake on his own? Why is the offspring of woman crushing the snake’s head? And why is the snake is allowed to strike at the heel of the woman’s offspring?

In Jesus we learn why. Hebrews says here that Satan has this terrible weapon — death — that he has wielded over all mankind. And even though God enabled Elijah, Elisha, and Jesus to raise some from the dead on the outside, it seems everyone they raised was always claimed by death again. This implies that Satan, sin, and death must be defeated from the inside, not from the outside. The offspring of the woman can only crush the head of the snake if the snake is first lured in to attack the heel of the woman’s offspring and kill him so he could enter death, take the keys, conquer the power, the realm, and the devil himself.

So, Hebrews says, Jesus shared in our flesh and blood and became killable so that by his death he could destroy the one with the power of death. And when he became man, Satan took the bait. He put it into the heart of Judas to betray Jesus so he could once and for all put the Son of God to death. But by using this weapon against Jesus that he thought was indestructible, he sealed his fate. By death, Jesus put death to death.Consider two illustrations. Death, Sheol, Hades is a realm described as like a dark pit or prison from which no prisoner can ever permanently escape. So Jesus allowed himself to be taken captive, to be taken prisoner into the depths of Sheol — but in doing that Satan locked up someone who had (or who was able to take) the keys to death and hades… and now, the doors have been knocked off their hinges from the inside.

Consider it from another perspective. Satan is described as a snake, a dragon. But dragons’ scales are virtually impenetrable from the outside. In one ancient myth from ancient Greece, there was a great sea dragon sent by Poseidon to afflict people and none could conquer it. But then Hercules allowed himself to be eaten by the dragon… and from the inside of the dragon he cut his way out and conquered the dragon. So too the dragon killed the Son of God, but he devoured the one who had the power to cut his way out.

Or, in the words of Genesis 3, the snake attacked the heel of one who could in turn crush his head. Only Jesus’ humanity and death could enable him to destroy the one with the power over death. By death, Jesus put death to death. What does this mean? As the ancient song goes: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.”

Verse 15: he did this to “deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” Think through this for a moment: we were subject to lifelong slavery through our fear of death.

Why is it fear of death that’s behind everything? Death ruins everything. It’s an acid that eats through all that is good. Unless the Lord comes back first, death will claim us and everyone we love. But the end of our lives is only the last thing in a long sequence that the power of death does to us. The power of death is at work in the whole creation and in us from the moment we are born. Death causes everything is to go from a state of order to disorder. And doesn’t fear of this chaos monster lead us to seek temporary, fleeting comfort, security, and knowledge in the wrong places? We are afraid and anxious, so we turn to the gods of money, sex, power, fame, knowledge, gluttony, and wrath to give us a moment of comfort or security amidst the chaos and uncertainty. We turn with Israel back to Egypt.

But these gods never can fully quiet the fear, anxiety, or insecurity, they only demand more compromise which introduces more chaos and death. So, by our fear of death, Satan captures us to do his will. And even though this text tells us that Jesus has conquered it… we can sometimes be like a soldier who returns home safe after battle, struggling with some serious PTSD, still afraid of the enemy. And frankly, that’s a problem, because the Hebrew writer has just told us that fear of death leads us to slavery. Similarly, John tells us that our love cannot be perfected until we cast out fear. How can we deal with this?

First, if Jesus has conquered the one with the power of death, everything we fear has been defeated. There’s a line in a song by Andrew Peterson that I love, “He took one breath and put death to death.” (His Heart Beats). He died, and then three days later he took a breath. So when we feel that fear, take a deep breath with Jesus: he’ll restore that same breath to us on the final day. What are we so afraid of? Is it our loved one getting sick or suffering or dying? He will raise us up together with them up and bring us to be with the Lord. Is it fear that we will not have enough? Seek first the kingdom of God, and everything we need will be added to us. Is it fear that the powers of our world will not do justice? Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for in the day of the Lord, you will be filled. Is it fear that we will be left alone, or without love? We are anticipating a marriage far greater than any earthly marriage. Do we fear that people will discover what sins we have committed and humiliate us? He already knows our sin, has died for it, intercedes for us now, and is leading us all from our humiliation to honor, glory, fame. Truly, the only thing to be concerned about is whether we and those around us are in Christ. In him, everything we fear has been defeated.

Second, if Jesus was made like you and suffered like you, he is able as high priest to help you. Jesus has never caved to fear and done something sinful, but he became a human like us in every respect so that he could endure fearful situations, and help us endure them too. He was so distressed before his death that he said, “My soul is troubled to the point of death,” he sweat profusely, and he asked that the cup be passed from him. And what that means is that when we in our distress, anxiety, and fear consider turning to or do actually turn to false comforts, false security, or wrong ways of trying to “get control” of the situation, we can know that Jesus became human, and Colossians says that fullness of deity still dwells in him bodily, so he can say both to you and to the Father: I know what this suffering and what these temptations feel like. And make no mistake, for the Father, the definition of a faithful high priest is one who is merciful towards us in all our fears and temptations. One who makes propitiation for our sins — cleansing us from our sins and turning away God’s wrath.

This is so important for me right now. Because in my fears, suffering, and temptation, my feelings say “God is pushing me away, and I cannot speak to him while I have this anxiety in my heart.” And we might think that Jesus wants nothing to do with us, that maybe he thinks, “You are so weak, so easily troubled, will you just get over all this?” But remember, Jesus took on frail humanity and has been glorified as a man to help weak humanity. If he wanted to help angels, he would have become an angel. But verse 16 says that’s not what he’s doing. He became human to help humans — so after he has done the hard part of suffering and dying in order to be perfected and ordained for high priesthood, now that God has exalted him to the position of high priest, which is the very reason why he became a human, will he really abandon us now? No. Because he has suffered when he was tempted, he is able and longs to mercifully help those who are being tempted now — just as he washed the dirty feet of his disciples on earth.

King Jesus has conquered everything we are afraid of. And will we remember that in our fears, suffering, and temptation, he wants to help us? He knows what it is like to suffer as a human: draw near to him for help.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM (1)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Do you ever wonder if you are the real deal? Whether God considers you his child, whether you have eternal life? John says in 1 John 5:13, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”  The Christians John was writing to were in a difficult situation — it seems that some had left their churches, formed their own new group, and refused to associate with them anymore. They taught and said and did some different things. And it left these churches wondering — who are God's children, really?

Because of this, throughout the letter, John explores what someone looks like when they have eternal life working in them so they can know if they have eternal life. I love chapter one. Here John very simply breaks people down in to two simple camps: Light and truth, or darkness and lies. Notice 1:5-10 with me.

Of Light and Liars (1 John 1:5-10)

God is light and he has no darkness in him.

Some know this God of light and are his children, others are not. We wonder if we are his children. And while our job is not to major in judging others, sometimes people will tell us they are his children, but we are concerned they are trying to deceive or manipulate us, our family, or the church. This question about ourselves and others can create a lot of anxiety, we want and often need to know.

The challenge is that our feelings can be really deceptive. Here, in chapter 1 we have a group of people who feels and says they have fellowship with God, but John says, “No, you don’t.” And yet, notice 1 John 3:19-20. Others feel they are condemned and they have no confidence, and yet John wants to reassure many who feel this way, “God is greater than your heart and knows everything.” So instead of listening to the words of others or our feelings, John gives us two pretty objective tests to help us distinguish between those who are legit, and those who aren’t.

Test #1: Do we walk in light or darkness? John doesn't offer specific definition of walking in the light here, but notice 3:7-8. So here we have two pictures that are talking about the same thing: some walk in light or practice righteousness, others walk in darkness and make a practice of sinning. So if we are asking this question about ourselves or someone else who we are concerned is deceiving us: those with fellowship with God walk in the light, they practice righteous behavior. While they are not perfect, the rule of their life is righteousness. Light, righteousness, and justice characterizes their walk. But people who do not have fellowship with God do not work hard at this, they do not wrestle with Satan or the flesh, they — in one or more areas — give up that fight, and make a practice of sinning.

Test #2: Do we say “I have no sin" or do we confess our sin? People who walk in the light understand that they sin and they confess it. They don't see their sin and shrug, “Well, we are all imperfect.” They know they are imperfect, they hate their sin, they confess it, and they actively turn away from it, and seek to make no provision for it.

But how can we know if we or someone else is a liar who walks in the darkness? Liars don’t admit sin. We don't bring our sin to God's throne, we ignore it. When confronted with sin, liars get angry, deny having done anything wrong. Liars will become upset at people who correct them, maybe avoid them. Why? Verse 8: liars have deceived themselves.

Doesn’t this remind you of Saul and David? Both disobeyed God. Both were confronted by prophets. Saul said, “I have obeyed the Lord” and became angry at the prophet. David said, “I have sinned” and wept. David suffered greatly for his sin, but he was forgiven, and now his Son reigns on the throne. Saul was rejected and lost everything.

Simple question: do we specifically, humbly confess our sin when we realize it or when someone makes our sin known to us? Or do we ignore it, rationalize it, become upset, and say we did nothing wrong?

For Those Who Are In the Light

If you are someone who walks in the light, John wants to assure you of something.

Notice in verse 7 that those who walk in the light have access to the blood of Jesus to cleanse us from all sin. If we walk in the light we don't make a practice of sinning, but we aren't perfect. We do need the blood of Jesus to keep on cleansing us. Notice this in verse 9 as well. What is strange is how he says that Jesus is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse us. I think — how is that just? To forgive sins? It’s faithful and just in God’s economy because he has made a covenant with us. What John is actually suggesting here is that it would be unfaithful and unjust if God did not continue to forgive and cleanse those who walk in the light — because he has promised that those who are in Christ will reap the benefits of what Jesus has done!

This brings us back to last week’s interaction between Jesus and Peter in John 13:6-11. At first, Peter protests when Jesus comes to wash his feet. But Jesus says, if I do not wash you, you have no share with me. Then Peter pleads: not just my feet, but my hands and head too! But Jesus says something here that is very revealing: “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean.” Think about that, if you take a bath, but then you go for a walk on a dusty path, your feet will get dirty, but that doesn’t mean you need to take a bath, your feet just need a good wash. The same is true for those in the light. If we walk in the light, we are clean, but that doesn’t mean that we win every single battle against sin. And because of that our feet are dirty, and we would lose our fellowship with God — if it weren’t for Jesus.

Jesus knew that his disciples would falter, doubt, become anxious, and fall prey to some temptations. And so when he knew that he was about to ascend to heaven and when he knew he would no longer be able to physically, visually demonstrate his heart towards us in our struggles, he removed his robe, tied a towel around his waist, retrieved a bowl of water, and washed the dirty feet of the disciples. And then he says, “You’ll understand his later.” And now he says to those of us who walk in the light: do you understand that even when you have been bathed and baptized, your feet will get dirty, and I will still do this for you now? This is why I died, this is why God raised me up, this is why I ascended to heaven: so I can advocate for you and offer my blood in the heavenly tabernacle on your behalf.

We can deceive ourselves — while we walk in darkness and refuse to confess our sins, we can think we have a relationship with God. If this is the case, we are lying and the truth is not in us.

But sometimes those who walk in the light and do have Jesus’ blood cleansing them can become discouraged — and think they ought to give up. John writes these things so that we may not sin. But he also writes these things so we know that if we do sin, we have an advocate with the Father — Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the sacrifice that takes away our sins and the wrath of God. He daily washes our feet — how amazing is Jesus!

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM (2)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Reading ancient mythology can be surprising as a Christian — the gods of Greece, Rome, and various cultures are often quite selfish and evil. They sleep around, scheme, break rules, and get revenge. It’s a reminder of what Paul says: those gods, those idols, they are no gods, they are demons. And the sad reality is that we become what we worship — worship the gods of this age, and we become dark, demonic, selfish, impure — the result is chaos of every kind. Have we ever heard the dark voice of the gods — demons — of this age in our hearts? Coming from our lips?

How can we be set free from the demonic spirit of this age that makes us so selfish, so powerless, pitiful, impure? As others have put it, the Son of God became man that we might become sons of God. When we see the Son, we see the Father. When we worship the Son we become like him and the Father. Jesus is lifting us up to overcome demons and to share in the divine nature. And the humble self-sacrifice of the cross is one shocking difference between the divine nature and the satanic one — and it is how Jesus conquered Satan. It’s the thing that makes our God different from any other so called god in history — love, humility. Jeff has read Philippians 2 which takes this look at the selflessness of the cross. But I want us to look at John 13, because here Jesus makes selfishness look foolish through the simple, humble act of foot-washing.

Setting Up Jesus’ Service (John 13:1-4a)

John sets up the scene in verses 1-4a.

Verse 1. Despite the fact that Jesus will soon depart from the world, despite the fact that he has already loved his own, John says Jesus “loved them to the end.” Jesus’ love for them was already enough that he set aside his heavenly glory, assumed human form, was tempted and tired, and he taught and healed, but his love did not stop short. Jesus’ rises from supper when he has already loved to the point of frustration and exhaustion.

Verse 2. Jesus rises from supper when the devil had already put it in Judas’ heart to betray Jesus. Note how John clearly calls out the dark spiritual behind Judas’ greed and betrayal. But Jesus washes feet when the betrayer is at the table. Have you been betrayed before? This is someone who takes your love, trust, and vulnerability toward them and selfishly uses it for their own benefit. He rose to serve even the soon to be Satanic enemy who sat at his table.

Verse 3. Note that Jesus rose from supper when he knew the Father had already given all things into his hands and when he knew was going back to God to sit with the Father on his throne. Thomas Goodwin, a Puritan author, points out that this means Jesus knew in this moment that soon he would go to the Father and that he would not be physically with you and me any longer able to make his heart towards us as plain as we can when we are physically with someone and can smile or touch them or offer a specific word — and so Jesus got up from the table to physically demonstrate to us for all time who he continues to be towards us now that he is in heaven with the Father. We won’t return to this idea today, but keep it in your back pocket for later. Now, Notice verses 4-12.

Taking the Form of a Servant

After walking on the dusty roads, people commonly washed their own feet when they entered a home. But when Jesus stoops down to wash Peter’s feet, he refuses Jesus outright. We must understand what a humble service this was for Jesus to perform. Except on rare occasions, not even peers washed one another’s feet. In fact, I read about a Jewish document that said not even Jewish slaves should wash another Jews’ feet. This was a task reserved for the lowest of servants.

Notice again what Jesus does when he rises from the table in verse 4. He takes off his garment so that he is now only wearing a tunic. Then he wraps a towel around his waste and fills up a water basin. Do you see what Jesus looks like? He has just shed his glory — if you will — and taken on the form of a servant. Jesus doesn’t have to change to wash their feet and John doesn’t have to tell us about this, but John appears to be at pains to show us something. Notice how John concludes the account in verse 12. Do we see what Jesus has just done? Jesus told Peter that later they would understand, and I think this one might have until after Jesus’ ascension to get.

Go back to verses 1 and 3 and note the three-fold picture of Jesus here:

• He came from the Father into the world;
• He loved those in the world to the end;
• The Father put all things into his hands and he returned to the Father.

Knowing these things:

• Jesus rose, laid aside his garment, tied a towel around his waist;
• Poured water in a basin and washed his disciples’ feet;
• Put on his garment and resumed his place.

This three-fold picture can be seen elsewhere in Scripture. Consider Philippians 2:

• He was in the form of God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant;
• He humbled himself, obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross;
• God has highly exalted him with the highest name that all might bow before him.

In fact, we can even see this in John 17:4-5. ESV: “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”

• He had glory with the Father before the world existed;
• He glorified the Father on earth, did the Father’s work;
• The Father would restore the glory he had before.

Jesus laid aside his garments and took the form of a servant just he as also left the Father’s throne, emptied himself, and became man. He washed their feet as a servant just as he also served throughout his life and especially in his death. Then he put his garments back on and resumed his place just as the Father would soon exalt him to his throne, now as the divine human. Now consider his explanation in verses 13-17. The Lord washed their feet to give us all an example to follow, that we would do just as he has done. This is what Philippians teaches us — have the mind of Christ. Jesus is sparking a revolution of humble service. He’s leading many sons to his glory by the shocking path of humble servitude.

Washing Feet As Jesus Did

Demons can only teach us to take for ourselves, and the result is chaos. But Jesus is trailblazing the path to perfect power and goodness. Let’s consider what Jesus calls us to in light of what he did.

He didn’t hold on for his own advantage. Jesus had a nice robe and a nice supper in front of him. He could have asked someone else to wash feet. He could have kept his robe on while washing feet. But Jesus adopted both the clothing and work of a servant. He was in the form of God, but he did not count his equality with God as a thing to be held onto for his own advantage, but he emptied himself and took the form of a servant (Philippians 2).

We all have something. God gives us abilities, gifts, positions, power, privileges, possessions, money. What has God given you? Even if we think we have little, we have time, strength, mouths, hands, and feet. If we will wash feet as Jesus did, it requires we consider not holding onto our gifts, power, position, time, routines — our hands and feet — for our own advantage, but rather empty ourselves for the good of others.

So, if I am king, I shouldn’t wield that power for myself. If I am in control of the budget, I shouldn’t use that power selfishly. If I have spare time, it is not given so I can “treat myself” — we loosen our grip — don’t hold on for personal advantage, and we serve.

He became a servant. Jesus went from reclining at the table and being honorably clothed to kneeling before stinky feet as a lowly servant. He was surrounded by the praises of heaven, but he became lower than the angels. The Almighty, tireless God took on risk: he was enfleshed, he became weak, tired, sick, and killable. He didn’t send a text, picture, or video. He didn’t come as a virtual reality hologram. And he died the death of a criminal. In his love and humility, he served until it killed him.

When God’s death on the cross is our example, our humility can know no limits. Humility doesn’t mean we denigrate ourselves, but it means we have a modest view of ourselves and that we are willing to lower ourselves. If the Son of God became a servant, if the Son of God was killed as a criminal for us, nothing is beneath any of us. Not for elders or evangelists to sit with the sick or to become sick; not for deacons or any of us to weep with those who weep. Not for any of us to reorient our schedules to be there for one another. Not for fathers and mothers to wipe poopy diapers and clean dishes — or to attend to the concerns of a child. None of us is too important to do something that appears menial. It is a glory for those who are first to become as the last.

God has highly exalted him. When Jesus was done serving, he put on his garment and resumed his place at the table. After Jesus became human, served and died, God raised him from the dead. Later, he ascended to the right hand of God. He is still the Son of man, but mysteriously now with the same glory he had with the Father before the world was created.

What keeps us from humbly “washing feet?” Maybe there was something else we wanted to do with that time, energy, money. Maybe we fear that in selflessness we will end up alone and poor. And yet, James 4:10 ESV, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” God did not leave humble Jesus in the tomb, but raised him up and exalted him. So to those who endure and serve humbly with Christ — we will be exalted to reign with him.

Self-servers are Satanic fools. Remember who is sitting at the table when Jesus does this? Satan’s betrayer. Notice John 13:17-19. The temptation to make selfish decisions — preserving and helping ourselves — can feel so strong in a moment. Yet, as we look back, how great does it look in Judas? He wanted more, and he lost it all. Jesus emptied himself and gained everything. He even gave Judas a seat at his table, fed him bread, and washed his feet. What a fool Judas looks like now. No one wants to be like that. When Jesus is lifted up on the cross, the ruler of this world really is cast out. The Lord moved heaven and earth to serve us, wash our feet — may God forbid that we, like Judas, walk away no different for it — still self-important. If we do, we’ll miss out on honor, glory, and exaltation with Jesus. We’ll miss out on the opportunity share in the glory of the path of the cross.

Conclusion

“Whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12 ESV) The past 2,000 years are full of people who have sacrificed much for others — most we will never know, but one day the books will be opened and all will be revealed and the great reversal will happen: those who made themselves first will be placed last, and those who were last will be moved to the first place.

Series: Hebrews (Cling to Jesus in the Wilderness)

Service: Sun AM (2)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

In the midst of the wilderness, the Israelites — who had seen God’s mighty hand in the ten plagues, in the Red Sea, in daily manna, in the water from the rock, and on Mount Sinai and who were on their way to rest in the promised land — they began to grow weary, to complain, to question whether God was really with them, to demand that their circumstances improve, and to turn back with a longing eye toward slavery in Egypt.

And the writer of Hebrews can see those he is writing to growing sluggish like the Israelites — and tempted to look to false comforts — to look for acceptance from the world around them, to money for security, outside the marriage bed for comfort, and to ultimately forget that the Son of God is ready to give whatever assistance they need to complete the journey.

So the writer of Hebrews puts Jesus on display throughout his letter so we will worship him and go to him for help.

In chapter 1, he cast a grand vision of how highly exalted the Son of God is far above angels — the exact imprint of God’s nature, the radiance of his glory, creating all things, sustaining and inheriting all things, and sitting down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

And yet in chapter 2, he turns to describe how the Son for a little while was made lower than the angels. Notice this in verses 9, 14a, 17a, and 18a. The Son of God became a man, and make no mistake, though as a man he was lower than the angels for a little while, when Jesus talks about the day he comes back, he still comes back as the Son of Man — in becoming a man he underwent a permanent change. Why?

So we’re going to ponder this question — why the Son of God became the Son of Man — with two lessons in Hebrews 2. And that might seem like a quick answer, but actually, throughout the history of the church Christians have always referred to this aspect of God’s work as a mystery to be pondered. So I really just want to ask all of us, even if we know a lot, to assume we don’t know near as much as there is, and to assume that this question is like deep ocean waters that are full of tons of mysterious marine life — you would never expect to see everything in one, two, three, or three hundred dives, and its the same with this question.

An answer in verses 5-13 is this: the Son shared in our humanity to bring many sons to glory. Read with me.

From the beginning, whom did God create to subdue the earth and have dominion over everything living thing that moves on the earth? Psalm 8, quoted here says it’s not angels, but mankind. Isn’t that a shocking thing? When I hear that I ask along with Psalm 8 — what is mankind that you are mindful of him?

But is everything under mankind’s control right now? Think back to what happened in the garden in Genesis 3 — one of the living things — the devil — came as a snake, tricked Eve, and since then we have all been not rulers, but slaves. As many living things that are under our control, there’s a beast, a snake, a dragon, the Leviathan, the devil and his power of death that is clearly not under our feet.

This is what we will see in Daniel 7 in a couple months — in Daniel’s vision, the sad reality is that humans have actually become like beasts, and it’s the beasts, the monsters that have dominion over the earth right now.

This is what Hebrews says in verse 8 (b): at present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to mankind. Brothers and sisters, God has blessed us with great wealth and I am very grateful for it. But I hate how wealth can give us this illusion of control so that we are shocked when evil days come which are totally outside our power. In my reading it doesn’t appear to me that poorer cultures in other places have this illusion — suffering is an expected part of life.

We can go to the zoo and all the animals are behind bars. We can go home and say “roll over” and spot rolls over. But every time we see videos of war torn lands in other places, or sickness, cancer, economic struggles, car crashes, or our own streets which in many places are just out of control with all sorts of abuses — we’re reminded that the beast is not yet under our feet. And even though if we are in Christ we are winning the battle, sometimes we open our mouths and find out that ancient serpent still has sway over our words, our thoughts, our impulses, and desires. From the beginning with Adam and Eve, we listened to what that beast told us to do, and he deceived us out of our crowns and scepters.

But our desire for glory, honor, exaltation, and for all this to be under our control is right. It’s the status and position we were made for — not the angels. And while we do not yet see everything in subjection to mankind, verse 9 says: we do see Jesus who for a little while was made lower than the angels — just like us — … and is now crowned with glory and honor. God made humans to be crowned with glory and honor, ruling over the earth with him, but we gave a beast our crowns. So for a little while, God the Son was made a little lower than the angels, and he has become the faithful human we weren’t able to be. He took on our suffering, took on our death, maintained his integrity, and so God crowned this human with glory and honor and he is putting all things under his human feet, just like he promised from the beginning.

What does that have to do with us? Think back to what Joseph’s exaltation meant for his brothers. Joseph’s brothers were starving in a famine, and one day they found out that their brother was practically the king of Egypt. In their poverty and starvation, you know what they were thinking — “He probably hates us and is going to pay us back for all the evil we did to him. That’s my brother, but no, it’s not possible that he still considers us his brother.” Yet what did Joseph do? He forgave them and gave them the best of the land in Egypt. He was not ashamed to call them his brothers.

Now notice verses 10-11. Brothers and sisters, God became man not only that this one man might be crowned with glory and honor and all things be put under his feet, but that he might bring many sons to glory — you, me, and many others. And verse 11 — Jesus has the same Father as us. Our brother walked through suffering for us, our brother conquered death for us, our brother has been crowned with glory and honor, and he’s not ashamed to call us his brothers, so he’s leading us to share in his glory.

Two conclusions. First, notice 2:1, 5 again. We must pay much closer attention and not neglect such a great salvation, because…

1.  God has not subjected the future world to angels, but to the Son of Man and his brothers.

When I was younger I was taught that when Jesus comes we’re all going go to heaven and when I wanted to know what that would be like, the closest reference I had was Disney World — roller coasters all day, which is clearly inaccurate. The Saturday morning cartoons I watched growing up have us floating like casper the ghost, playing harps on clouds. You know what that sounds like? Worse than this life. But brothers and sisters, God thought we’d need a robust vision of what is coming because frankly, life is exhausting. How does he describe it here? We must pay much closer attention, because what’s at stake is verse 5: “The world to come” which will be under the control not of angels but of us. He says what is coming is Psalm 8 fulfilled.

Read Psalm 8:5-8 with me. What Hebrews has just said is that we don’t yet see this fully happening yet, but that in the world to come all this will be under Jesus’ and our control. We must wake up and pay much closer attention because it’s not mere clouds and harps that are at stake, it’s the world to come, the new heavens new earth, everything we have always hoped for both in heaven and in this world, but more: glory, honor, exaltation, everything under our feet. We have to be all in on this because Hebrews is saying we’re practically the future kings and queens of the new creation.

2. We will suffer, just as Jesus pioneered our salvation and was made perfect through suffering.

And yet this journey to reign with God over the world to come is long and difficult. And everything is not under our control, it often feels out of control. We suffer. Our loved ones die. We die. As an elder in Houston put it, “We are all terminal.” And in the midst of the turmoil, suffering, and death, I tell you it feels as though the suffering means that we have no hope, we have no future. Dust to dust. Just humans. Just made to die.

But did you notice that, because Psalm 8 is true, that means that Jesus’ humanity did not disqualify him to reign with God, actually, it pre-qualified him to reign with God. Because that was the promise — everything under the feet of the son of man.

But that pre-qualification wasn’t enough. Notice verse 9(b) — Jesus was crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death. Notice verse 10(b): the founder of our salvation was made perfect through suffering. That word for “made perfect” is the same word used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament to speak of the ordination of priests. Suffering feels like an absolute waste of time — we’re supposed to be reigning around here! Jesus’ suffering was not a distraction, not a detour, did not disqualify him from the throne — it was what perfected and ordained him to serve as our priest, our leader, the pioneer of our salvation.

Our suffering is also not a distraction, detour, or disqualification, it’s actually the precise trail that Jesus our brother founded, pioneered, blazed before us on his path and our path to glory.

Whatever tiredness, discouragement, distraction, fear, doubts, or confusion we are facing — to paraphrase one author — there is nothing on the path to salvation we can experience that he has not endured before us. (Healy, 62) Verse 12 quotes Psalm 22 — Jesus telling us his brothers how great God is. Do you know what David says — what Jesus says — at the beginning of that Psalm? My God, my God why have you forsaken me? He said that so you who feel forsaken might know that he was forsaken too. But did not abandon him to Sheol, and now he’s the first Son of Man to be crowned permanently with glory and honor. The Son of God became the Son of Man that we might become sons of God, that we might see our exalted human destiny fulfilled in him.

See Jesus. Let us not despair over our lowliness in this world or hope for greatness in this life. The future world is coming. And whether we are rich or poor, educated or not, male or female, if we don’t neglect this great salvation, we’re all wearing crowns in that day.

Series: Daniel (Faith among Babylonians)

Service: Sun AM (1)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

When all the work is done, and all the accolades for our work have been received, and when we are alone at the end of the day, what are our thoughts? How do we think about and process our successes? Notice 1 Corinthians 4:7. Paul, who is frustrated with the pride of the Corinthians says this, “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” (ESV) Paul’s reaction to the Corinthians is very similar to God’s reaction to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4. Nebuchadnezzar appeared to have the whole world in his hands — from his own perspective and the perspective of those under him — but Daniel demonstrates throughout that God is the one behind it all. In Daniel 4, he drives the point home by giving Nebuchadnezzar the mind of a beast. Let’s read Daniel 4.

Why do you boast as if you did not receive it? Nebuchadnezzar is in an impressive position, no doubt. Even the dream God gives him images him as like this great tree of life whose top is in the heavens, visible to the ends of the earth, beasts of the field, birds of the heavens, and all flesh find shade and food under his branches.

And yet, how did Nebuchadnezzar get in such a position? For one, he was born son of Nabopolassor who truly did the heavy lifting — revolting against the Assyrian Empire and conquering many. All Nebuchadnezzar had to do was put some finishing touches on it all. But at the end of the day, the reason Nebuchadnezzar was in this position — this chapter tells us it is because God rules the kingdoms of men and sets over them whomever he wills, the lowliest of men (v. 17, 25).

And yet, how does Nebuchadnezzar see it? Despite being warned in a dream that his head was getting too big, despite being told that he needed to break off his sins, practice righteousness, and show mercy to the oppressed, his thought patterns 12 months later had not changed and as he’s strutting on top of his palace he declares, verse 30, “Is not this great Babylon which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”

And in that moment, God snapped his fingers and gave him the mind of a beast, along with the long hair, the finger nails like talons, and the eating of grass — until when? Until Nebuchadnezzar learns that the Most High rules the kingdoms of men and gives it to whomever he wills, until Nebuchadnezzar realizes that he is the lowliest of men, until he realizes that there is nothing he has that he has not received from somewhere else — not even his mind.

Brothers and sisters, we may have done things and may end up doing things, but everything we have to do anything with has been given to us. Who fed, wiped, and comforted us when we were helpless babies? We did not even choose to be born! The sun shines, the rain falls, we wake up and there is breath in our lungs, our heart beats now, and again now. Most of us have no clue how to even grow food — someone planted a seed, another watered, and God gave the increase — so we bought it from the store and ate breakfast today and if he wills we’ll have lunch. The fact that we are alive is a miracle itself. Whatever we have, whether great or small — friends, this church, our grades, our abilities, jobs, influence — even the very strength to get out of bed or the mind to do anything productive: it is all a gift, the grace of God. I myself am a pitiful man of dust, the least of all the saints, and do not even know whether my words will come out today as I hope and even whether they will mean what I intend them to mean.

Nebuchadnezzar? He thought he was in control, but so far we have seen that he couldn’t fatten up his wise men in the way he wanted, he couldn’t sleep if God didn’t allow it, his magicians couldn’t interpret a dream if he had one, and he couldn’t even harm a single hair on the head of Daniel’s friends and neither he nor any of us can stop ours ourselves from hungrily chewing grass if God wills it. Only if the Lord wills will we live or die or do anything we plan to do. This is all because whatever power, influence, strength, money, wisdom, blessings, health, or “kingdom” we have is not ultimate or permanent. The only kingdom, wisdom, strength, and power that will last is that of Jesus. Nebuchadnezzar is pictured here as a tree that the birds rest in — but what Son of Man, what kingdom does Jesus say will have that place forever? Only the Kingdom of God. Jesus is the true Son of Man who has been crowned with glory and honor, and we’ll only share in that if he wills, by his grace, his mercy.

So, what are our thoughts at the end of the day? What should we do when we find we have something? Whether 400 square feet or 4,000? $30,000 a year or $300,000? Small influence, or great? A low position, or a high one? No mater what, we ought to…

1. Have the mind of Jesus. Though Jesus had a position far higher than Nebuchadnezzar — the very form of God — he humbled himself to the point of death to show mercy to both the oppressed and the oppressor. This is why we are granted anything — money, power, influence, skills — to serve. To do this, we must take our eyes off our selves and put them on God.

2. Boast in the Lord. What are our thoughts throughout the day, at the end of the day? Proverbs warns us to guard our hearts above all else, for from it flow the springs of life. We must watch what we say, but are we watching what we think? Putting away prideful thoughts that Satan tempts us with? I love a song we used to sing at camp growing up: “Father God, just for today, help me to walk the narrow way… May my steps be worship, may my thoughts be praise, may my words bring honor to your name.” May this be true of us — that our very thoughts are praise, that we regularly thank God for our breath and our beating hearts. But if we refuse to learn those thought processes, we ought not be surprised if God forces us to learn humility the hard way. And if he does — so be it! May we not rage against him for this — stubborn like a mule — but learn at that time as Nebuchadnezzar did.

Series: Hebrews (Cling to Jesus in the Wilderness)

Service: Sun AM (2)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM (1)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Simon the Pharisee invited Jesus to his home for a meal. Pharisees were a sect that grew out of a genuine frustration that God’s promises for Israel were not coming through. They responded to this by trying to zealously keep God’s law and to reform Israel to do the same. But in the end, they failed miserably. Their problem wasn’t an attempt to zealously keep the law, their problem was they ended up being more zealous for their oral traditions and for the hedge they put up around the law than the law itself. They focused more on the appearance of law-keeping. Their supposed zeal for the law often did not lead to a love for God and others. And above all, they failed to see was their own sin. They rightly saw that Israel was a mess that needed to return to God, but they failed to see that even in the nation’s return to God they would never achieve a righteousness so worthy as to cause God to come, bring his presence, bring his kingdom, and feast with them on his holy mountain. So, in Luke’s account, Jesus honors a man who doesn’t even know he is being honored by coming to feast with him though he doesn’t deserve it or even care, and he uses a sinful woman to demonstrate the power of God’s grace and forgiveness.

They were reclining at table. That’s how they banqueted in those days. Tables were low to the ground. You reclined on your left with your feet tucked behind you while your right hand was free to grab food. It was not uncommon for the door to be left open in dinners like these so people could come and listen to the conversations. While they were dining, a woman of the city came in. Luke goes out of his way to make sure we know that this woman was a great sinner. He says in verse 37 that she is a sinner. Simon says in verse 39 that she is a sinner. Jesus says in verse 47 that her sins were many. This wasn’t a person from your neighborhood that everyone said, “Oh, they aren’t perfect, but their really great.” Everyone knew who she was a mess. Because of this, many believe it is likely that she was sexually promiscuous.

While these people were eating and enjoying a nice dinner, this sinful woman walks in and stands behind Jesus. She is weeping. She is not crying a little — dabbing a tear here or there. She’s a mess. She is crying so hard that she is wetting his feet with her tears. If you can imagine, Jesus’ feet are probably quite dirty. She sees the tears mixed with the dirt on Jesus’ feet and she kneels down and starts wiping his feet with her hair. Still she is weeping. She is so overcome in the moment that she begins kissing his dirty feet. Then she takes an alabaster flask of ointment and begins anointing his feet with oil.

Imagine you are in that room. There is no possible way to ignore what his happening right now. She’s sobbing. She’s kissing his feet. And now the fragrance of this ointment fills the air.

Simon notices, is annoyed, and says to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” Ironically, Jesus allows this because she is a sinner. He has put what a prophet is supposed to be in a small box. And upon this thought, Jesus “answered” him. “Simon, I have something to say to you.”

Jesus proceeds to tell a parable about a moneylender who had two debtors. One owed 500 denarii — 21 months, nearly two years of wages — while the other owed 50 denarii — about two months wages. Neither could pay their debt, but he cancelled the debt of them both. “Now, Simon, which one of the debtors will love him more?” Can you think of the last time you asked an obvious question to make a point? People don’t like it a lot, but it can be pretty effective if you aren’t just trying to be a know-it-all jerk. I think you could probably hear the annoyance in Simon’s tone in his casual response. “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.”

Jesus replied, “You have judged rightly,” and in that moment Jesus turned to the woman and began speaking to Simon and shined a very uncomfortable light on the whole situation. “Do you see this woman?” Do we see her? Do we see what she has done?

“You gave me no water for my feet,  but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet.

You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.

Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven — for she loved much.

But he who is forgiven little loves little.”

Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” We all want to know the end of Jonah’s story and we also would love to know how Simon responded to all this, but Luke doesn’t tell us because he wants to turn the eyes of Jesus from Simon onto his readers.

The Point

Do we see the point of the parable Jesus has just told? The one who is forgiven of much responds by loving much. I don’t know for sure, but in the past I have always said that both the woman and Simon are really 500 denarii sinners, but only the woman sees it. Maybe that’s the case. Or maybe Jesus really does see the woman as a 500 denarii sinner and Simon as a 50 denarii sinner. Maybe she had legitimately strayed way farther from the law than Simon ever had. But in the end, the point isn’t that Simon needed to mess up more in order to love more, what Simon needed to do was to stop the comparison game in the first place. Jesus drew a comparison because that’s the game Simon was playing, but do you notice what Jesus says about the two debtors in verse 42? “When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both.” When we get into the comparison game, we get all out of wack and we forget that none of us — whether 50 or 500 — can pay our debt. All of us are at the complete mercy of the moneylender.

The crux of this account and Jesus’ story is that we need to see ourselves as we really are without any comparisons if we are ever going to be saved and if we are ever going to love as we ought. Jesus is showing us that our perception of ourselves and of what we have been forgiven will determine our actions afterwards. Forget what everyone else is, I need to see that I am a 500 denarii sinner who cannot pay my debt back. Let’s do that for a moment. Let’s pause and consider who we really are. Are our sins really less than others?

It is vital that from time to time as we look at our past life or even our current life, that we grasp the gravity of our sins and how destructive they are. It is vital that we see ourselves as we really are, as God sees us. The full picture, no rose-tinted glasses. Have you had those moments when you realized that…

• The person you talked bad about was someone made in God’s image who trusted you.
• The person you just yelled at was your own child, your own husband, your own wife, your mom or dad, or someone who was just doing their job — and it really hurt them.
• The job you slacked on could have been done by someone whose family needed it.
• The job you didn’t do well, but could have, was paid for at full price by people who didn’t know any better.
• Those days, weeks, months you have lazed around should have been given to God for the fruitful work and service of others.
• The woman or man you looked at lustfully is a friend who trusts you and has no power to stop you.
• The taxes you fudged on contribute to a widespread cheating of taxes that contributes to the harm of the weakest among us.
• The house and wage you complain about is something God gave you and is easily 10x more than hard workers in the rest of the world.
• You just treated that differently because of the color of skin God gave them, because of the native language God put in their mouth, because of the place they were born, or because they didn’t have the same money, wisdom, experience, or clothing style you have.
• You can’t pay back your debt any more than the person you just judged.

1. We need to see ourselves as we are so we can truly repent.
2. We need to see ourselves as we are so we can love much — God and others.

This is where we actually will get into the comparison game — not because we need to actually compare ourselves with others, but so we can see the difference. The difference between someone whose life really changes, the difference between someone who cares and loves so much and works so hard and wonf’t stop pushing — the difference between them and someone who just doesn’t get it, just doesn’t get up and serve, love, work, read, pray, cry, worship with all their heart and soul is one single thing: one person sees what a wretch they are and have been forgiven, while the other person says, “Yeah, like everyone else, I’ve done some stuff.”

Notice verses 49-50. If we will see ourselves, then there is hope because then we can come to Jesus with faith — not in ourselves, but in him. And that is the means by which we access grace. That is how we are saved.

Ephesians 2:8–10 ESV, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”