Do Not Murder

The scripture reading comes from Deuteronomy chapter 5.

Deuteronomy 5 · chapter mention

Please follow along in your bulletin.

Verse 1,

And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them,

Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today,

and you shall learn them and be careful to do them.

Then in verse 6,

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt,

out of the house of slavery.

You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself a carved image

or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above

or that is on the earth beneath

or that is in the water under the earth.

You shall not bow down to them or serve them,

for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,

visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children

to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,

but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me

and keep my commandments.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain,

for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy,

as the Lord your God commanded you.

Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.

On it you shall not do any work,

you or your son or your daughter or your male servant

or your female servant or your ox or your donkey

or any of your livestock or the sojourner who is within your gates,

that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.

You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt,

and the Lord your God brought you out from there

with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.

Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

Honor your father and your mother as the Lord your God commanded you,

that your days may be long

and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

You shall not murder, and you shall not commit adultery,

and you shall not steal,

and you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor,

and you shall not covet your neighbor's wife,

and you shall not desire your neighbor's house,

his field, or his male servant, or his female servant,

his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.

This is the word of God.

Thank you, Karen.

Let's just pray briefly.

Father, as we come before your word,

these ten words for abundant life,

God, we want to hear from you.

Father, we are so aware that so many of these things

touch on real points of pain in our life.

I just think of last week as we spoke about relating to our parents,

as we think this week about what does it mean to honor life,

and the weeks to come, God, as we deal with these real areas of life

that so many of us have experienced pain and hardship.

God, we pray for your grace to wash over us.

God, we pray that you will speak to us.

We pray that we will see the good news of Jesus in these words,

these ten commandments.

God, I pray for this morning.

God, I want you to soften our hearts, Lord.

We want to meet with you and encounter you and your word.

And so, God, won't you open our hearts,

won't you impress upon us your greatness and your glory,

your majesty, but also your mercy and your grace.

God, I pray.

Come help us, we pray, in your wonderful and powerful name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Okay, so once again, welcome.

If you are in the overflow room, welcome to you.

If you're at the community center or at home or somewhere else in the world,

welcome to those of us at Ebenezer.

A very warm welcome to you as well.

We are, as a church, working through this very famous body of teaching

called the Ten Commandments.

And these ten words that God gives to his people

for their abundance and their flourishing,

for their well-being.

And these ten commandments are broken up into two groups.

The first four have to do with our relationship with God.

And in them, God says, unequivocally,

I want you to honor me and worship me alone.

I want to be first in your heart.

Make sure that I'm supreme and preeminent in your heart.

Have no other gods beside me.

He says that we are to honor him and glorify his name.

And he actually commands us to set aside a set period of time each week

where we rest but also reorientate our hearts to him,

where we worship him.

And then the next six commandments all have to do with the way we relate to other people.

And so last week we looked at how we relate to our parents,

and that was a challenging one.

And today we look at this sixth commandment,

and in the Hebrew language it's just two words.

It says, not murder.

Do not murder.

And so I think that's probably all I want to say today.

Please, let's not murder anybody this week,

and let's take communion, okay?

No, the sixth commandment is a little bit more complicated than that.

And so let's dive in and see what God has to say in this passage.

The ten commandments have fallen on hard times recently.

Not too many people think that the ten commandments are that applicable to our life.

But this one, the sixth commandment,

is one that most people still think we should try and obey.

I heard recently there was a poll,

and 78% of people said that the sixth commandment is still a good law.

It should still be obeyed and honored in society.

I'm a little nervous about the other 22% that weren't so sure about that.

Let's hope they don't live in Hong Kong, right?

But this seems like a pretty straightforward one.

Do not murder.

Let's dive in and see what is God's heart behind it.

And so this morning there are four things I want us to see.

I want us to see God's heart behind the commandment,

God's scope.

In other words, what is the extent or the limit of the command?

What is God actually saying?

Thirdly, our hearts.

And fourthly, our hope.

Okay, so God's heart, God's scope, our hearts, and our hope.

Okay, let's dive in.

So firstly, God's heart.

Now, as we said, for most people, this command is pretty straightforward.

It's not a good idea to go around killing people, murdering people.

That's not a good society to live in.

It's not the kind of society we want to raise our children in.

But in the Bible, the reason why God gives this command is actually far more profound than just utilitarian ethics.

It's far more than just pragmatism.

Actually, the reason for this command is deeply theological.

It has something to do with God's heart.

And the reason why God is against murder is because human beings are not just a matter of flesh and blood.

Human beings are not just carbon atoms or DNA strands that come together.

Each human being has been knitted together by God, created by God, by his will, and brought into existence by his will and for his pleasure.

Each human being is God's handiwork, his artistry, his craftsmanship that displays something of his nature and his character.

So think about this.

Imagine you go to a world-class art museum.

You go to the Tate Modern in London or the Louvre in Paris.

And you see a piece of art and you think, that art doesn't speak to me at all.

I mean, what is this rubbish, right?

And you decide to pull out your cutting knife and you shred this piece of artwork.

What's going to happen to you?

Sirens, alarm, the police are going to jump on you.

You're going to soon find out what it looks like to destroy somebody else's famous, beautiful artwork.

Friends, God says that each human life, each human being, irrespective of how we feel or think about them, is his artwork, his craftsmanship, his artistry that he has brought into existence by his own will.

But even more importantly than this, the Bible says that each human being, each human life is one of supreme value and worth because every human being is made in the image of God and carries something of the image of God on them.

And what that means is that every human being, admittedly in our fallen, broken, sinful way, every human being carries something of the nature and there's an image of who God is and carries his unique fingerprint, his signature.

Every human being houses God's glory to some degree.

No matter what your ethnicity, no matter what your background or the color of your skin, no matter your socioeconomic status, whether you're a billionaire or you sweep the streets for a living,

no matter what your personality is, whether you're very kind and gracious or you're obnoxious and rude,

every human being has indescribable value and worth and dignity because every human being is created as an image bearer, a representative of who God is, of the unrivaled supreme God almighty,

the majestic God who is seated on the throne.

Every one of us carries something of a representation of him in our being.

I'm sure you've seen this on the news.

We haven't seen this in Hong Kong recently and I think that's a good thing.

But in some countries, when there are big protests, especially political protests, you'll see that some countries, the people will build an effigy.

An effigy is like a paper statue of, let's say, either their leader or maybe an opposing leader, the leader of a country that they don't like.

They'll build this paper statue, an image, a figure of a world leader, and then they'll march it through the streets singing and chanting,

and what will they do at the end?

They'll burn it, right?

That's right.

They'll burn it.

Now, why do people do that?

Because it's the ultimate insult.

It's the ultimate insult to take an image of somebody and to destroy it.

I don't know if you remember when Saddam Hussein was toppled.

One of the things, the street scenes afterwards, there was a big statue of him in the center of Iraq.

And people climbed up on the statue and grabbed their sandal off their feet and would beat the face of the statue.

To destroy or to insult the image of somebody is the ultimate offense.

Friends, God says that every human being, from those that are still in their mother's womb to those who are on their deathbeds,

all people, all persons carry something of the image of God in them and are therefore supremely valuable, have dignity and worth and respect.

All human life is precious.

And when we directly oppose somebody or slander somebody, when we deride them or we call them names like somebody's useless or they're a piece of rubbish,

we're not just deriding a person that we disagree with.

We're taking something of the nature and the image of God, that which that person represents,

and are slandering or shredding the character and the assassinating the character of God.

All people carry the image of God in them.

All people are persons for whom ultimately Jesus died on the cross.

Okay, so that's the heart of God behind this command.

What is the scope of this command, secondly?

So this command, as we said, is two words.

Lo ratzach, not murder.

But what does that actually mean?

What does that involve?

In the Old Testament, in the Hebrew Bible, there are seven or eight words for killing or ending someone's life or murder.

And the word in this command is a very specific word.

It's the word ratzach.

And it doesn't just refer to ending life in general, per se.

It refers to taking the unjustly taking an innocent life.

Okay?

The unjust taking of an innocent life.

So in the Old Testament, in the Bible, God actually makes provision.

There are times when it is not contrary to his will to take another life.

At times in the Bible, when you're defending yourself, you're not responsible if another person loses their life.

And the obvious example of this is self-defense.

So in Exodus 22, it says if somebody breaks into your house in the middle of the night and wants to steal something and you get into a confrontation and that person ends up dying,

you are not culpable for that person's life under the sixth commandment.

It's self-defense.

Now interestingly, it actually says in Exodus 22, if this happens in broad daylight and you kill the person, well then things change.

And the motivation for that is in broad daylight, you might be able to call for help.

There are other witnesses that can come and help you.

But in the middle of the night, you're caught off God, you're defending yourself and someone dies.

God's word says actually you're not culpable under the sixth commandment.

Because we are required to defend our family and those that we are responsible for.

Now that's true on an individual level, but it's also true on a national level.

And so actually in the Old Testament, the word ratzach, our Hebrew word here, is never used when dealing with legal matters.

And what that means is that in the Old Testament, capital punishment doesn't fall under the sixth commandment.

Now I'm not making a case for capital punishment.

There are other problems with capital punishment.

And the most obvious of those is that ethnic minorities, those that are without power, are often subject to most injustice.

And so there's other reasons why we might want to be careful about capital punishment.

But in God's word, capital punishment was considered a defense of the image of God.

To murder somebody was so serious that it required the most severe deterrent and punishment for it.

And of course this also didn't apply to military campaigns.

So somebody comes and attacks your nation, you shouldn't just roll over and say, no problem.

We have the right to defend what is ours, and that may mean attacking other enemy soldiers.

So does that make sense?

Okay, maybe I should go over that again.

So Phil Riken, a theologian, says this.

This is what the sixth commandment is about.

On the one hand, it is forbidding all deliberate premeditated murder.

Okay, that's pretty obvious.

It's also forbidding manslaughter committed in fits of rage.

So you lose your temper with someone, and you hit them, you beat them, you are culpable and responsible for that.

But it also holds responsible those who cause someone's death through reckless or careless living.

So drunk driving, somebody gets killed, you are culpable and responsible for that person's life.

A mother or a father leaves and abandons their children, and their children pass away, you are culpable, you are responsible for that person's life.

Now this all may seem pretty straightforward.

I'm not sure how many of us have recently weighed up the pros or cons of committing manslaughter.

Maybe you don't get on with a colleague or a boss.

I hope nobody is contemplating taking a gun to work this week.

This all seems pretty straightforward.

But as thinking Christians in the 21st century, I want to urge us to really think about the sixth commandment very carefully.

And to weigh up what God's word says around the unjust taking of innocent life.

And the reason why this is so important for us to weigh up and consider is because we live in an age, increasingly,

in which is becoming not only tolerant, but fostering deliberate taking of innocent lives.

And where this is seen is socially acceptable.

Some writers have described our age as the age of death.

Friends, we live in a time in the world when taking with the sanctity of human life,

the sacredness of human life is being made subservient to personal preference or personal convenience.

Friends, let us be clear here that we're living in an age where legalized and state-sanctioned killing is often seen,

is now framed within the narrative as a basic human rift.

Where things like aborting of pregnancy, where things like euthanasia or doctor-assisted suicide,

where even personal suicide are no longer seen as moral issues,

no longer seen as something that God speaks to,

but are seen as a matter of personal preference, as personal convenience, as a human right.

Friends, all human life, from the zygote that is formed at the moment of conception

to the person that is maybe suffering dementia or end of life at 110 years old,

all human life, irrespective of the color of your skin,

irrespective of your nationality or where you come from,

irrespective of your mental capacity or your social status or what part of the world you come from,

all human life is deeply, deeply sacred

because all human life carries within it the image of God.

God's handiwork that God created, God brings about,

it grieves God's heart and it robs Him of His glory when we insult Him,

when we decide who is worthy of life and who is not.

See, this is challenging, right?

It's easy to think, okay, let's not murder.

But in our day and age, we need to think about these things really carefully.

I know we've used this analogy, but imagine somebody comes to you and says,

look, I'm going away, I've got a hundred million dollar painting,

I want to entrust into your care, will you take care of it for me?

You say, sure, take care of it, you put it on your wall.

But after a little while, you think, this is not very convenient for me.

I mean, it doesn't really fit.

And you take it down, you store it away,

and then eventually it's getting in the way and you decide,

listen, I'm just going to trash it, right?

It doesn't really fit with my heart.

It doesn't fit with my style.

It's not very convenient for me.

What's that person going to say?

Friends, God comes to us and He entrusts into our hands human life.

Sometimes the very young, sometimes the very old.

And we live in an age in which we feel like

the stewardship of those human lives

are a matter of personal preference,

of personal freedom.

Friends, God gives us this incredible responsibility

to care for His people, His creation,

His image bearers.

And the point here is that

if we allow our moral compass

to be determined by the culture of our day,

we need to be very careful

because the cultural times are shifting

so quickly, so rapidly,

that as Malcolm Muggeridge said,

what one generation considers a war crime,

the next generation considers an act of compassion.

And so if we take our moral and ethical cues

from the cultural tides in which we live in,

friends, we're going to be deeply confused.

But over and against this,

against the shifting sands of our culture,

God speaks a word.

And it's a word of clarity,

it's a word of truth,

and God's truth is always a word of freedom.

God says that He is God and that we are not.

He is the one who gives life and takes it away.

And that each and every human life,

from the one that is fertilized one day old

to the person that is a few days or weeks

from their deathbed,

all human life is sacred and is in His hands.

And human lives are not,

the value of a human life is not determined

by their utility to society,

but the fact that we are image bearers

of the one true majestic God.

Earlier this week,

I was reading Revelation 4,

this amazing passage that,

where God is on the throne,

glorious, majestic,

angels are falling down and worshiping Him.

And all human beings,

who are in heaven,

fall down on their knees.

And this is what they say,

worthy are you,

our God and King,

to receive glory and honor

and praise and adoration.

This majestic God,

friends,

has chosen that we should bear His image,

should house something of His glory.

Friends,

human beings' value and worth

is not found in our utility to society,

but the fact that we are made

in the image of that God,

that majestic,

glorious God.

Okay,

so that's the scope.

God's heart,

God's scope.

Thirdly,

our hearts.

Our hearts.

Sorry,

this got a little more heavy

than I intended.

Okay,

well,

let's keep going.

Scripture actually has more to say

about the subject than that.

It starts off talking about murder,

and when we apply it to our own lives,

we realize we need to think about these things.

But actually,

there's another level,

and that is that all of us

need to grapple with our own hearts.

In Matthew chapter 15,

Matthew 15 · chapter mention

Jesus is having a debate

with some religious leaders,

and the reason he's having a debate,

and the reason he's having a debate,

is because he's eating food,

and he hasn't washed his hands.

And for the religious leaders in his day,

this is a serious offense,

because he's eating food

that is defiled,

or ceremonially unclean.

And so they say to him,

you are defiling yourself.

You are going to be ceremonially unclean,

because you haven't washed your hands.

And so the issue here isn't hygiene.

The issue is religious

and ceremonial acceptance before God.

And so Jesus says,

don't you realize,

it's not what goes into your mouth

that makes you defiled or unclean,

it's what comes out of your mouth.

And the disciples are a little bit confused.

They say,

what are you talking about?

And so a little later,

Jesus explains to him,

and he says this,

what you put into your mouth,

the food that you eat,

just goes into your stomach

and is expelled.

But what comes out of your mouth,

the words that you say,

the anger that you say,

the slander and the backbiting,

the anger and the vitriol that you say,

those words don't just come from your stomach,

they don't just come from your mind,

actually they come from your heart.

And that's the problem,

says Jesus.

Jesus says this,

out of the overflow of the heart,

the mouth speaks.

For out of your heart comes evil thoughts,

murder, adultery, sexual immorality,

et cetera, et cetera.

These are the things that defile the person.

Okay, so you see what Jesus is saying there.

He's saying,

actually maybe you've never gone and killed somebody,

but when we slander somebody,

when we talk about someone behind their back

and we shred their character,

actually the same root is in our heart.

John says this in 1 John chapter 3.

1 John 3 · chapter mention

He says,

anybody who hates his brother is a murderer.

And that sounds pretty intense, right?

You think,

hey,

I've never killed anybody.

But actually when we foster bitterness and anger

and hatred in our heart,

actually the same root is common to both of those.

So John is saying this.

He says,

it would be insane if somebody came here to church on Sunday

and we sang this amazing song we sang earlier,

good and gracious God.

Holy,

holy,

holy,

Lord God almighty,

you're good and gracious God.

God,

I love you.

You are first and preeminent in my heart.

And then Monday to Friday,

they are a serial murderer,

right?

That wouldn't make sense.

Those two things are incompatible.

Well,

John's saying actually the same thing.

When we come to church and worship,

God,

you are first in my heart.

I love you supremely.

Jesus,

have your way in my life.

But then we actually are fostering or harboring

or growing hatred and anger and bitterness in our hearts.

There's something incompatible about that.

A couple of years ago,

people used to read the newspaper

and they'd read about some,

let's say,

violent crime that took place

and say,

you know,

the education levels these days,

what are they teaching children at school?

Or maybe,

people would read something in the newspaper,

violent crime that takes place

and they'd say,

you know,

black people

or Asians

or Hispanics

or those Guaylos,

right?

You just can't trust them these days,

right?

In South Africa,

the country I come from,

in the 1970s and 80s,

if you were Caucasian like me,

you were taught

that people with dark skin

were lesser humans than you.

It was part of the system

that you were taught.

And so people thought

that violence and murder

and rage and these things

were a matter of either your ethnicity

or your education

or your intellect levels

or your upbringing.

But friends,

don't we know

that there are some very smart people

that have got very advanced educations

that have become murderers

and killers of others?

Friends,

what Jesus is saying here

is that the roots of these things

isn't our education

or the color of our skin

or what nationality

or ethnicity we come from,

the root of these things

is our heart.

It's our heart.

And so Matthew chapter 5,

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Jesus is famously

on the Sermon on the Mount.

He says this.

He says,

We've all heard it said,

Do not murder

and whoever murders

will be held liable.

Well, that makes sense, right?

But then he says,

But don't you realize

anyone who is angry

with hatred towards his brother

is also liable,

is going to be held liable.

Anyone who insults his brother

is liable to the council.

Anyone who says

to his brother or sister,

You fool,

you imbecile,

is going to be liable

to the fire of hell.

Friends,

Jesus comes here

and he says that actually

the root of those things

is true.

And so maybe we've never

gone and killed somebody,

but actually in our hearts

there's bitter

and there's resentment

that is growing

and we're fostering.

Jesus says,

We've got a problem.

Friends,

can I ask us,

anybody here

not been angry

with somebody

in the last six months

or twelve months?

Friends,

anybody here

never read the newspapers

and just said

some outrageous things

about political leaders?

Friends,

anyone here

says we've never

looked at anybody

and thought,

You imbecile.

Can't believe

you are like that.

Friends,

I know I have.

And what Jesus

is saying here

is that the ten commands,

Jesus doesn't say,

Oh, the ten commands

are a bit old,

let's give it a modern upgrade.

What he's doing,

he's going right

to the heart

of the ten commands.

He's opening it up

and he's showing

what is God's heart

behind it.

And what's God's heart

behind is that

though we may be innocent

before a court of law,

we may be very

socially acceptable,

for many of us

our hearts are bitter

and twisted,

angry,

even hateful,

murderous.

And Jesus is showing

us here

that murder

doesn't come out

of nowhere,

that it starts off

with this root cause

and that maybe

it never grows

into full-blamed murder

but actually there's

a root that if

left unchecked,

the toxicity

and the anger

in our hearts

is going to destroy us.

Friends,

maybe I can ask us here,

do you find yourself

easily getting angry

when things don't

go your way,

when you feel

disrespected

or dishonored?

Maybe you're towards

your wife

or your husband?

Friends,

what about when

our children

don't do things

the way we want

them to?

Can I just

publicly confess here,

last weekend

was not a good weekend

in the Murphy household.

On Friday,

Clenna

had a disagreement

and it took

most of the day

to thaw out

that disagreement

and I thought

things Saturday

were pretty good.

On Sunday night,

I don't know

what was wrong

with me

but our kids,

they weren't even

that bad

but they weren't

listening,

had to speak

a couple of times

and I just

got so frustrated

so we spoke

about it,

we dealt with it,

half an hour later

they're still not

doing what I want,

they're still not

listening and I

absolutely,

I just got

really,

really cross.

Friends,

I tell you that

because I've got

a problem.

My heart is

broken and wicked.

Friends,

and I guess

I'm probably

not the only one

here.

Friends,

do we have

a string

of broken

relationships?

Every time

something goes

wrong,

someone disappoints

you,

you explode

at them.

Friends,

do you find

yourself reading

the news

and calling

political leaders

offensive names,

derogatory terms?

Do we find

ourselves calling

people cockroaches,

dogs,

taking somebody

made in the image

of God,

the beautiful

person that Jesus

died on the cross

for and reducing

them to derogatory

names?

Friends,

do people

at the office

know that

when the

pressure's on,

they better

not interrupt

us because

they never

know what's

going to

explode,

what's going

to come

out of our

mouths when

we explode?

Do we speak

of people as

valued representatives,

sons and

daughters of the

great king?

Friends,

lastly,

maybe bitterness

and resentment

has fostered in

our hearts and

it's been there

so long we

don't even

realize.

It's just

become normal.

We are numb

to the bitterness

and the resentments

in our hearts.

Friends,

do we find

ourselves being

passively aggressive?

We are jabbing

and hurting

people but doing

it in a socially

acceptable way.

Friends,

in a world

which is

absolutely

charged with

hatred and

bankrupt of

any sort of

grace and

mercy,

where are we

going to find

hope?

Where are

sinners like

me going to

find hope?

Where is our

world going to

find hope?

And so lastly,

our hope.

Fourth thing is

this.

In the gospel

of Jesus,

Jesus gives us

the resources

to deal with

our hearts.

And the gospel

not only gives

us the grace

we need for

forgiveness,

the gospel also

gives us the

grace we need

to change.

And so let's

look at those

two things.

Firstly,

the grace for

forgiveness.

Friends,

I know that

all of us

here have to

live with the

choices that

we've made.

For some

of us,

there's been

so many years

of broken

relationships and

hurt and

harm that

some

relationships

are destroyed.

Maybe it's

destroyed your

marriage.

Maybe it's

destroyed your

relationship with

your parents or

your relationship

with your children

or the family

member.

And friends,

the reality is we

might need to

live with those

things.

You can't just

click your

fingers,

say abracadabra,

and Jesus puts

everything automatically

right.

We have to live

with the decisions

we've made.

Friends,

maybe for some

of us,

we've even

terminated an

unplanned

pregnancy.

Maybe for some

of us,

men here,

we've pressurized

our wives or

our girlfriends

or mistresses

into having

an abortion.

Friends,

those are the

decisions we

have to live

with.

But Jesus

tells us that

it doesn't help

us to gloss

over it or to

excuse it.

Jesus tells us

that the way to

be free from our

past is to

acknowledge it,

to own up to

it,

and to repent.

And Jesus

starts off his

ministry,

when he comes

and he's

ministering,

he starts off

his ministry

with these

incredible words

of freedom.

He says,

repent,

for the kingdom

of heaven is

here,

follow me.

When we hear

those words

repent,

we often don't

think of those

as good news

words.

We think of

those as

words of

condemnation,

words of

guilt and

shame.

But Jesus

actually brings

these words,

he says,

repent,

turn from

that,

turn to me,

because these

are words of

life.

These are words

of freedom.

These are words

of hope.

The only way

to be free

from our past

and from the

shame and the

guilt is to

come to

Jesus.

And so

Jesus issues

this invitation

to be free

from our past

and he says,

come to me.

Jesus starts

off his ministry

with these

incredible words

of freedom

and hope.

He says,

repent and

follow me.

But then

Jesus ends

off his

ministry,

how?

On a

rugged cross.

And in

between those

times,

the gospel

tells us

that Jesus

set his

face for

Jerusalem.

Jesus wasn't

avoiding

Jerusalem.

At one point

his disciples

and his

family members

say,

hey,

let's not

go to

Jerusalem.

They want

to kill

you.

And Jesus

sets his

face for

Jerusalem.

Why?

Because he

sets his

face for

the cross.

Friends,

Jesus ends

up his

ministry

on a

cross on

Calvary.

And the

reason he

goes there

is to

take my

sin and

my shame

and your

sin and

your shame

and the

sin and

the shame

of all

the world,

those who

would hope

and trust

in him

and he

would bear

the wrath

and the

judgment

and the

punishment

of God

in our

place so

that we

don't have

to.

Friends,

Jesus Christ

had the wrath

and the

judgment of

God poured

out on him

so that those

who hope

and trust

in him

won't

experience it

themselves.

And so

now,

friends,

because Jesus

dies on the

cross,

not as an

example of

humility,

not just as a

picture of

non-violent

politics,

but as an

actual atoning

sacrifice for

us,

now we get

to hear the

words of

love and

acceptance rather

than the

words of

condemnation.

Friends,

do you know

that if you

are in

Jesus,

despite your

sin and my

sin,

despite your

shame and

my shame,

that God

the Father

loves you

with the

same love

that he has

for Christ

the Son

because you

are in

Christ the

Son.

Friends,

in the

gospel,

the same

grace that

forgives us

is also the

grace that

changes us.

There's this

incredible line

in the book

of Proverbs,

Proverbs

Proverbs 15 · chapter mention

chapter 15,

I think it

is,

it says

this,

a gentle

answer

turns away

wrath.

A gentle

answer turns

away wrath.

Have you ever

experienced that?

There's somebody

whose heart

is so hard

and bitter

towards you,

so angry,

that no matter

what you say,

they're just

going to

respond with

anger.

You try

and have

a conversation

and they

just want

to kill

you,

right?

Maybe not

literally,

but you try

and talk

things through

with them

and they're

just bitter

and hard

and there's

nothing you

can say

to soften

their heart

until they

experience a

moment of

love.

Have you ever

experienced

that?

I experienced

that in our

house,

I remember

about a year

ago,

one of my

daughters,

I can't

remember which

one,

there's only

two,

right?

One of my

daughters was

absolutely losing

it,

absolutely losing

it,

something was

going wrong

and I was

just saying

that's unacceptable,

it's not how

we behave,

you go to

the bathroom.

So she goes

to the bathroom

and she is

furious,

she has smokes

coming out of

her ears,

absolutely steaming

and if I try

and say that's

not how we

behave,

you stop that

right now,

that's not going

to help anything.

So I go to

the bathroom

and I sit

down there

and I say,

Sierra,

Shiloh,

whoever it

is,

I say,

I think it

is Shiloh,

I said,

Shiloh,

I've got two

things to say

to you.

The first

thing is this,

I love you

and I'll

never stop

loving you

and there's

nothing that

you can do

in all the

world that

will stop

me loving

you.

I love

you when

you're angry

and I love

you when

you're not

angry.

I will

never ever

stop loving

you.

And then

we had a

conversation

about our

anger.

And two

minutes later,

we walk

out of the

bathroom

holding hands

and we're

best friends.

The Bible

says that a

gentle word

turns away

wrath.

Friends,

in the

gospel,

Jesus doesn't

come with a

word of

condemnation.

He doesn't

come and say,

you dirty,

rotten scoundrel,

you murderous

heart,

I cannot believe

you're like

that.

Didn't I

tell you to

love people?

What does

Jesus do?

He comes

and he says,

my son,

my daughter,

those of us

that maybe

have ended

a life,

those of us

maybe who

literally are

murderers,

those of us

who've got

such bitter

and resentment

and anger

in our heart,

he comes

and he says,

my son,

my daughter,

I love

you.

Jesus comes

with a

better word.

He comes

with a

gracious word,

a gentle

word.

God the

Father comes

to us and

says,

if you are

in Christ,

it is

paid in

full.

It is

totally

forgiven.

And that

word of

love,

friends,

will melt

our hard

and angry

hearts and

will change

us to become

the kind of

people that

he's called

us to be.

Lastly,

finally,

this.

Jesus gives

us a grace

to forgive

us, but he

gives a grace

to change

us.

In

Titus

Titus 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3,

it says

this.

The

apostle Paul's

writing,

and he

says,

previously,

we were

foolish,

disobedient,

deceived,

enslaved by

our passions.

We lived

in anger

and envy.

We were

hated by

others and

we hated

them back.

Sounds like

our world,

right?

But when

the kindness

and the

love of

God our

Savior

appeared,

he saved

us.

Not because

of righteous

things that

we had

done,

but because

of his

mercy.

That's

exactly what

we've been

saying,

right?

His

incredible

mercy.

And then

he goes

on to

say,

God

saved

us

through

the

washing

of

rebirth,

through

being

born

again,

by renewal

of the

Holy Spirit

that he

pours out

on us

generously

through

Jesus

Christ

the Savior.

Friends,

this is

what Paul

is saying.

He's

saying,

God's

grace

saves

us,

but it

doesn't

just wipe

away the

past and

say,

okay,

best of

luck,

you go

and live

your life

now.

God's

grace

saves

us,

but it

also

changes

us.

He

causes

us to

be born

again.

He

gives

us

a new

heart,

a new

operating

system,

a new

motherboard,

a new

DNA

inside of

our heart

that is

aligned

with his

heart.

And then

in addition

to that,

he gives

us the

Holy Spirit.

He

starts to

form us

and change

us,

and we

start to

become

the people

that he

wants us

to become.

No longer

angry,

foolish,

disobedient,

self-justifying,

self-righteous,

gracious.

He now

makes us

tender,

forgiving,

loving those

that revile us.

Friends,

in the

gospel,

God the

Father,

Jesus Christ

the Son,

pours his

love into

our hearts.

He says,

my son,

my daughter,

I love you.

And so

look what Paul

says here.

He says,

once we

lived like

this,

angry,

bitter,

hating,

and being

hated,

but when

the kindness

and the

love of

God came

to us

through

our

Savior,

he saved

us,

not because

of our

righteousness,

but because

of his

mercy and

his grace.

In 1

1 Corinthians 6 · chapter mention

Corinthians

chapter 6,

the apostle

Paul writes,

he says,

don't you

realize the

unrighteous will

not inherit the

kingdom of

God?

Murderers,

adulterers,

greedy,

swindlers,

and then he

says,

but such

were some

of you,

such was

I,

but we've

been washed,

we've been

cleansed,

we've been

justified,

we've been

set free.

Jesus comes

and changes

us.

Friends,

Jesus died

to not only

destroy the

penalty of

sin,

but to

also destroy

the power

of sin,

to change

us,

to make

us new.

In these

words are

words of

life.

God commands

us not to

murder,

not to

unjust,

take innocent

life.

That may

seem obvious,

but God

calls us to

think carefully

about that,

how that

works in

our 21st

century world.

But more

than that,

Jesus calls

us to

examine our

own hearts,

to bring

our hearts

before him,

to be

gracious and

loving,

gentle,

and compassionate.

Let's pray

together.

Heavenly

Father,

we come

before you

this morning

because we

so need

you.

God,

your word

convicts

us.

Father,

chances are

that though

all of us

are different

by way of

personality,

background,

culture,

ethnicity,

God,

there's something

that unifies

us,

and that is

that apart

from me,

our hearts

are broken

and deeply

sinful,

but in

you,

God,

you're doing

an amazing

miracle of

grace.

You're changing

us.

Jesus,

I pray for

my brothers

and sisters

this morning.

I pray that

you do

come and

change us.

God,

may our

hearts

reflect your

hearts.

God,

may we

honor and

love every

person we

encounter,

even those

that we have

radically

different ideas

and opinions

to,

those that

are on the

opposite side

of the

political

spectrum,

may we

love them

and serve

them,

knowing,

God,

that they

are your

image

bearers,

created

by you,

fashioned

by you.

God,

we pray,

come and

work in

our hearts.

Make us

gracious and

gentle,

we pray.

In your

wonderful and

your powerful

name,

Amen.