God Sent Us

The Sunday night message given in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on June 18, 2023.  The Bible verses used are Luke 19:41-44.

            God is big.  God is really big.  God is bigger than anything you or I can ever imagine.  I mean, think of the biggest thing you can possibly think of, take that times two, and then take it times ten, then take the square of that, and you’re still nowhere near how big God is.

            Because God is so big, there are a lot of different ways in which we can view God.  It’s like the old story about blind men trying to describe an elephant.  One feels his trunk and describes him as being like a snake, one feels his ear and describes him as being like a fan, one feels his side and describes him as being like a wall, and so forth.  Each one describes the elephant differently, depending on what part of the elephant he feels.

             That’s how it can be with us and God.  There are so many different aspects of God that we can never understand them all.  God is holy.  God is righteous.  God is perfect.  God is all-seeing.  God is all-knowing.  God is powerful.  God is mighty.  God is just.  God is fair.  God is gracious.  God is merciful.  God is love.  On and on and on.  These are just a few of the words we could use to describe God.  And the way we’ve experienced God influences which of those words we choose to describe God.

            Some people believe in a vengeful, wrathful God.  Some people believe in a God who is eager to punish us for our sins.  They see God, in effect, as sitting in heaven with a big red pen, ready to pounce on us and send us to hell if we step out of line.

            I hope you don’t see God that way, because I don’t think that’s how God is.  I don’t think it’s how Jesus portrayed God, either.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  I do believe that heaven and hell are both real.  I do believe that people go to both places.  But I don’t think God is eager to send us to hell.  And one of the things that shows that is our reading from Luke today.

            Jesus is looking at the city of Jerusalem.  This is a few days before he’s going to be arrested and crucified.  Jesus knows what’s going to happen.  He knows what’s going to happen to him.  He also knows what’s going to happen to Jerusalem--that it’s eventually going to be overthrown and its temple destroyed.  He knows that disaster is about to overtake the entire nation of Israel.

            But Jesus takes no delight in that.  In fact, he’s sad about it.  He’s so sad that he cries over the city of Jerusalem.  He says of Jerusalem “if you had only known on this day what would bring you peace.”  He knows all this disaster could have been prevented, if only the people had believed.  God wanted to help them.  God wanted to take care of them.  God wanted to bring them salvation.  And they refused it.  Jesus says, “You did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

            If God was a vengeful God, if God was a wrathful God, if God was a God who is eager to punish us, God would never have sent Jesus to earth in the first place.  The whole point of Jesus’ coming is to give us a way to avoid punishment.  The whole point of Jesus’ coming is to give us a way to escape the consequences of our sin.  God is not sitting in heaven waiting to pounce on us and punish us if we step out of line.  God is eagerly waiting, hoping that we’ll accept Jesus and avoid punishment.  As John Three-Seventeen says, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”  And God is sad when we don’t accept that salvation.  God cries when we don’t accept that salvation.

            But God has given us free will.  And that means that God gives us the ability to make choices.  And that includes making the choice to reject the salvation offered through faith in Jesus.  That’s not the choice God wants anyone to make.  And so, while it makes God sad when we make that choice, it also makes God determined.  It makes God do everything God can do, short of forcing us, to convince us not to make that choice.  God has done a lot of things to convince us not to make that choice.  Including, again, sending the divine Son, Jesus Christ, to from heaven to earth.

            But God did not stop there.  Because God still does not want anyone to reject the salvation that God offered us through faith in Jesus Christ.  So God continues to send people to earth to encourage people to accept that salvation.  God sent you.  And God sent me.

            I hope that everyone here has made the choice to accept the salvation offered through faith in Jesus Christ.  But we should not stop there.  Because we know that there are people, right here in our community, who have not made that choice.  That should make us sad, just like it makes God sad.  But it should also make us determined, just like it makes God determined.  It should make us do everything we can do to convince people not to make that choice.

            Now, as I’ve said before, God does not want us to be obnoxious about this.  We should not badger people or point fingers in their faces or anything like that.  And there are a few people in the world who do that, and sometimes they get on television and stuff.  But that’s not who most of us are.

            In fact, I think most of us go the other way.  I think, too many times, we’re scared of talking about our faith.  We’re scared of talking about God.  We’re afraid someone might be offended if we bring up the name of Jesus.  Or we’re afraid that we’ll be rejected.  Quite honestly, I’m not sure what we’re afraid of, but we sure seem to be afraid of it.  And I feel that, too.  Even when people know I’m a pastor, I sometimes hesitate to bring up my faith in public.  I can do it here, from the pulpit, when everyone expects it.  I can do it if someone comes to my office and wants some advice or help.  But in regular conversation with people?  Not so much.

            Now, if that does not apply to you, that’s great.  If you’re out there talking to people about your faith, and doing it in a loving, caring way, that’s wonderful.  I hope you’ll keep doing it.  But too many of us don’t.  We seem to have bought into this idea--and it’s an idea that seems to be taking hold more and more in our society--that religion should be a private matter.  Yes, we can have faith, but we should keep it to ourselves.  We should not bring it up in public.  You can have your beliefs, but don’t talk about them with anyone else.

            That’s not what Jesus said.  In fact, it’s the exact opposite of what Jesus said.  Jesus said for us to go and make disciples.  Can you think of a way to make disciples of Jesus Christ without talking about our faith in him?  I cannot.

            And no, it’s not enough for us to just show our faith by our actions.  Don’t get me wrong, our actions certainly should show our faith.  Our faith in Jesus Christ should make us live differently.  It should make us act differently.  It should make us speak differently.  Our faith in Jesus Christ should influence every aspect of our lives.

            But that’s not enough.  We need to tell people why our lives are different.  We still need to tell people why our actions are different.  We need to tell people why our words are different.  We should not be silent about our faith in Jesus Christ as our savior and just expect people to figure it out by looking at us.  We need to tell them.

            Look at it this way.  If there was ever a person on earth whose actions were Godly, it would be Jesus Christ, right?  If there was ever a person whose faith made him live differently, whose faith made him act differently, whose faith made him speak differently, it would be Jesus.  So, did Jesus stay silent about his faith and expect people to just figure it out by watching him?  No!  Of course not!  He talked about God.  He talked about God all the time.  So if Jesus, who lived a perfect, sinless life, did not just rely on the way he lived, if even Jesus needed to talk to people about faith, why would we think that we, as imperfect and sinful as we are, could just rely on the way we live and not need to talk to people about faith?  That’s not how it works.

            Now, is this easy?  No.  I’m not standing here telling you it’s easy.  It can be hard.  If you’re kind of a shy person anyway, it can be even harder.  But you know what?  There’s only one way it’s going to start getting easier, and that’s if we start doing it.  It’s if we start trying.  The only way to get over our fears, to get over our silence, the only way to start talking about our faith to people is to actually do it.  Look for openings in conversations.  Be aware of the chances that come up in everyday life to talk about faith.  We don’t have to force it—God will provide those chances to us, if we look for them and take advantage of them when they come up.

            Now, it’s okay if we want to practice for a while.  It’s okay if we want to start by talking with somebody safe, somebody we know won’t get mad at us.  It’s okay if we do role playing exercises.  Whatever it takes is fine.  But the point is that we need to do it.  We need to do whatever we can to bring people to faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior.

            And don’t forget to pray about this.  There are times in the gospels when Jesus tells the disciples, don’t worry about what you’ll say when situations come up, because the Holy Spirit will tell you what to say.  You and I can rely on the Holy Spirit, too.  If we open ourselves up to God and let God lead us, God’s Holy Spirit will teach us how to talk about our faith.  And the more we do it, the easier it will get.

            God is sad when people don’t accept Jesus as their Savior.  But while God won’t force us, God is determined to do everything God can to encourage us to accept Jesus.  That’s why God sent you and God sent me.  It should make us sad, too, when people around us don’t accept Jesus as their Savior.  But it should also make us determined.  Let’s be determined to do everything we can to encourage everyone in our community to accept Jesus as their Savior.  It truly is a matter of eternal life and death.