JESUS WEEPING

Father, incline our hearts, incline our minds, incline our wills, incline our bodies to your word.

And through your word, Father, incline us to you.

Incline our hearts and minds and wills and bodies.

Incline our hearts and minds and wills and bodies.

Incline us, Father, to you through your word.

Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us to lead us and guide us into all truth,

to lead us and guide us to Jesus, to lead us and guide us to you.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Please be seated.

Hopefully I'll remember because I just realized I didn't write it down.

But later on in the service, we're going to stand.

Those who can stand, we'll invite you all to stand.

We're going to have a minute of silence for the 21 Christians who were slaughtered last Sunday by ISIS in Libya.

There's been some internet chat inviting as many churches as possible to do that today,

to take a minute of silence to remember them.

And we're going to do that.

And it sort of just seems like, you know, there's been a series of readings that talk a little bit about destruction and judgment.

I don't know if the video is available to watch on the internet.

I couldn't watch it even if it was available.

You don't even have to tell me if it's available.

I don't think I could watch it.

Just seeing a few still photographs is enough.

And you just wonder what were the men doing such a horrible thing thinking about

as they dressed the victims, as they bound the victims, as they led the victims.

What were they thinking as they walked away?

What was going on in their heart?

What did their faces look like?

What emotions were they showing?

Some of you will just, if you were paying attention as I read the gospel,

you'll see that Jesus here today once again has a talk about judgment.

And we see how Jesus responds to impending judgment.

Radically, radically, radically different.

And I'm going to suggest when we get to it that it's radically different

than the three basic cultural models that our culture has before us when it considers judgment.

So it would be a great help to me if you would get your Bibles and open them up to Luke chapter 19.

Luke 19 · chapter mention

And we're going to begin reading at verse 28.

And we have to sort of get to that time of Jesus and his talk about judgment

and how he responds to it and just sort of what's going on in the whole thing.

And so it's Luke chapter 19, verse 28.

Luke 19:28

If you just turn your Bibles there, we'll start reading.

And just a bit of a correction.

Last week I said that verse 27, if you go back and listen to the sermon,

and we immediately have Jesus in Jerusalem,

I should have said that immediately he comes to the suburbs of Jerusalem.

And it's all part of this.

Luke gives sort of a long introduction to build tension to the reader

in terms of before Jesus actually sets foot in the city of Jerusalem.

And that's what we're going to catch up with right now.

Verse 28.

And when Jesus had said these things, he went on ahead.

And going up to Jerusalem, sorry, he went on ahead.

Going up to Jerusalem.

Jerusalem sort of up high.

If you've ever been there, you have to go up to go to Jerusalem.

And when he drew near to Bethpage and Bethany,

about a mile and a half or so outside of Jerusalem,

at the mount, which is called Olivet,

he sent two of the disciples saying,

go into the village in front of you,

where on entering you will find a colt tied,

on which no one has ever yet sat.

Untie it and bring it here.

If anyone asks you, why are you untying it?

You shall say, the Lord has need of it.

And just sort of pause here for a second.

One of the things which is happening in this story is that,

because remember, it's going to culminate.

The gospel is going to culminate or reach its, in a sense,

its climax with the death of Jesus upon the cross

and then the surprise of the resurrection three days later.

And so what's happening here is that Luke is, who's a historian,

remember Luke is a pagan who became a Christian.

And if you go back and look at the beginning of the book of Luke,

you'll see that he's writing it for another pagan.

Whether that pagan is a skeptic or a seeker, we don't know,

but Luke is a pagan doctor who's become an historian,

who's sought out eyewitnesses,

and is telling the story of Jesus.

Now, for us to hear as well, with other pagans and skeptics and seekers.

And so what Luke is doing is he's recording here something very, very remarkable,

that he's not only recording the foreknowledge of Jesus,

but he's showing that at this point in time,

Jesus is the master of his fate, so to speak.

I mean, he's doing everything, as we'll see in the weeks to come.

He's doing everything out of love for us and obedience to the Father.

But it's not that events are overwhelming Jesus,

but Jesus is in control of events,

and in fact even moves things in certain ways,

so that he is always in control of events.

And that's what's happening here.

And even, we're going to talk about it more probably in a couple of weeks,

when we get to Luke chapter 21.

Luke 21 · chapter mention

But Jesus here is doing something that fulfills a prophecy in the book of Zechariah,

and a whole host of Old Testament allusions.

But Jesus is in control.

That's what we have to see.

So back to verse 32.

Back to verse 32.

And so those who were sent away,

and found, so those who were sent went away,

and found it just as he had told them.

And as they were untying the colt,

its owners said to them,

why are you untying the colt?

And the disciples said,

the Lord has need of it.

I don't know if they were nervous when they said that or what, eh?

They might have been pretty nervous, eh?

Yeah, just go into a city and take this colt.

And if somebody complains,

just tell them, I sent you.

Bit of faith there, right?

Verse 35.

And they brought it to Jesus,

and throwing their cloaks on the colt,

they sat Jesus on it.

And as he rode along,

they spread their cloaks on the road.

Just sort of pause.

Now, I'm going to be careful,

because maybe some of you are horse people,

and you know things about horses that I don't.

I'm a city boy,

and so I don't know about horses.

But I happen to know that one of the commentaries that I wrote,

I happen to know the person who wrote it,

and I know that he grew up on a horse farm,

and he's still a farmer.

And he commented that this in and of itself is a miracle

that Jesus could ride a colt that had never been sat on.

And maybe it's just because only a horse person would notice

that this is sort of a miracle.

And it shows, in a sense,

it's all a part of what's going to culminate

with Jesus saying that even the stones would cry out.

Because you see,

here's the thing that we have to always remember,

is that Christians don't worship nature,

but we as Christians should always remember

that nature worships its creator.

In fact, one of the things that might happen to us in heaven,

in the new heaven and the new earth,

is that right now the seas are clapping their hands,

and the trees are singing,

and the mountains are calling out God's praise,

and we are almost completely and utterly deaf to it.

And maybe one of the things that will be the wonder

and the joy of the new heaven and the new earth

is it will hear how it is the trees and streams and mountains

and the stars themselves, praise God.

And so this is in a very subtle way

showing Jesus as the creator and the Lord of the earth

as he enters into Jerusalem.

So verse 35,

and they brought it to Jesus,

and throwing their cloaks on the colt,

they set Jesus on it.

And as he rode along,

they spread their cloaks on the road.

As he was drawing near,

already on the way down the Mount of Olives,

the whole multitude of his disciples

began to rejoice and to praise God

with a loud voice for all the mighty works

that they had seen.

Just sort of pause here for a second.

This is one of the few events in Jesus' life

that all four of the historical records

that we have of the life and death of Jesus,

we know them as, we call them gospels,

but they were, of course, originally historical records.

It might be that if you did some reading on the internet,

you'd be able to see some,

not obviously the original manuscripts,

but old manuscripts.

It helps you to appreciate

that these are old historical records.

And this is one of the few events in Jesus' life

that all four of the gospel writers talk about it.

And so it might be,

when you look at all four of them together,

and I'm going to talk about some simple ways

that you sort of harmonize them,

but the main thing is,

if you read John's gospel, his account,

you realize that one of the reasons

there's such a large crowd of people

is because while Jesus was in Bethany,

he raised Lazarus from the dead

after he'd been in the grave for four days.

And this news spreads like wildfire,

helps to create a crowd of people.

And who knows, maybe it still is,

that blind Bartimaeus

and the other blind man who was healed,

that they were calling everybody

all about the fact that Jesus

had just the day before healed them of sight.

And maybe even the news

that such a notorious sinner as Zacchaeus

had become a follower of Jesus,

and he's proving it by giving away his fortune.

And so there is a crowd.

There is a crowd.

We're going to talk more about this in a second,

about why there is a crowd.

But in verse 38, what are they calling out?

They quote Psalm 118, verse 25.

Psalms 118:25

But they modify it

because they modify it

because they see what's happening in front of them

as, in a sense,

what Psalm 118, verse 25 is all about.

Psalms 118:25

And they cry out,

blessed is the king who comes

in the name of the Lord.

Peace in heaven

and glory in the highest.

And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him,

teacher, rebuke your disciples.

And Jesus answered.

And in the original language,

the way that the verb tenses and everything

and the way that the words are arranged,

it's clear.

In the original language,

the Pharisees rebuked Jesus.

Jesus doesn't back down.

He rebukes the Pharisees.

And his rebuke of the Pharisees to say,

I tell you,

if these were silent,

the very stones would cry out.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful line.

Now, here's the thing about this

is that if you go back and you read,

if you go back,

maybe as part of your preparation

for Easter coming up

and to read the Gospel of Luke up until now,

you'll notice that this is actually

profoundly out of character for Jesus.

That generally in the Gospels,

whenever there's large crowds

that want to call Jesus the King,

he goes away to pray.

He dismisses the crowds.

He tries to not have crowds.

I mean, when crowds come to him,

like in the wilderness,

and he teaches them,

he doesn't rebuke them.

He has a compassionate heart,

a tender heart.

He feeds the 5,000.

He feeds the 4,000.

He deals with crowds,

but he's regularly trying to silence

all king language.

But now we see that Jesus actually

creates an event

that draws a huge crowd

where they call him king.

Jesus creates this event on purpose.

That's what he do.

It's very, very, very out of character.

With Jesus and the rest of the Gospels.

Well, why is that?

Andrew, if you could put up the first point,

I think it's for this reason.

Jesus lived and died in human history,

and he takes steps to make a crowd

so that tens of thousands

will be witnessed to his public death

upon the cross and his empty tomb.

Jesus lived and died in human history,

and he takes steps to make a crowd

so that tens of thousands

will be witnessed to his public death

upon the cross and his empty tomb.

He's not killed off in a corner,

and nobody, you know,

there's a time in John's Gospel

where it's clear that Jesus

entered the city secretly.

In fact, if you read John's Gospel,

Jesus' brothers and sisters

who don't believe in Jesus,

they say, come on, Jesus,

if you really want to make a,

you know, you're really the Messiah,

you want to build a movement?

Like, you don't go away,

you don't go around

not trying to attract people.

Like, people who want to build

a movement, Messiah.

You know, you can just imagine

those of you who have brothers,

how they can mock you.

I'm sure none of you here

ever mocked other siblings.

We're talking about other people

being bad and mean to you, okay?

Some of you might have something

to repent of during the confession

later on, but you can just,

and so Jesus enters Jerusalem

at least one time

completely and utterly anonymously

for several days

when he's in there

before something happens.

So Jesus actually goes out of his way

the raising of Lazarus,

the healing of Bartimaeus,

the calling of Zacchaeus,

the going to get the donkey,

the call of him to be the king,

and rather than trying to quiet it,

I don't know,

maybe he was going around

doing like this, I don't know.

You know, the way defenses do it

in the NFL when they want

the crowd noise to get up loud

for the offense

so they can't hear the calls.

Maybe Jesus was doing that,

we don't know.

But he creates the event.

And he creates the event

so that by the time,

in just a couple of days,

when he dies upon the cross,

and then after,

not everybody will witness

the resurrection,

but everybody will be witness

to the empty tomb.

And so they will be caught

with the compelling testimony

of up to 500 plus people

that Jesus has risen,

and they'll see no other

possible explanation,

and many hearts will be pierced,

and thousands will come to faith

in Jesus within days

of the coming of Pentecost,

in Pentecost,

and then shortly after,

and Jesus creates a crowd

where tens of thousands

will know that he's in Jerusalem,

that he's died,

that the grave is empty.

That's what he does.

Now, sometimes I think to myself,

what would I do

if I was the pastor

of a megachurch?

Here's one of these times

when I really,

really wish

I was the pastor

of a megachurch

and had a megachurch

art department and budget,

because if so,

what I would do now

to make a transition

to the next point

is I would say,

Andrew,

just roll the screen,

and there'd be

a big picture here

of Iron Man

in the first Iron Man movie.

And some of you guys

and gals

who watched that movie,

you know there's that scene

early on

when he goes to this village

and he touches his arm

and a missile turns up,

goes wild,

and as soon as he fires it,

he turns and starts walking away,

and then there's the huge explosions

in the background,

and it gets this,

I mean,

I think just about

every American action film now,

it's not an action film,

if it doesn't have the hero

walking away from an explosion

in the background.

And that's what I would

show you right now,

and because we were a megachurch,

I'd be there beside Iron Man,

and it would be Iron Man

and me walking away

as there's this horrendous fire

and destruction

that nobody will survive,

and where everything

is raised to the ground

behind us,

and Iron Man and I

would walk away,

and that would be the transition

to the next point,

because Jesus,

as he enters,

just before he enters Jerusalem,

he does something

which is very

un-Iron Man-like.

Iron Man has quips,

he makes jokes,

but what does Jesus do

when he realizes

that in a sense

the missiles from God

are going to come

upon the human race?

But that's what we see

in these very next verses

in verse 41 to 44.

And when Jesus drew near

and saw the city,

he wept over it.

He wept over it.

This is very, very, very,

very, very important moment

in the gospel.

If you want to know

what's going on

with the crucifixion,

what's going on,

Jesus says he comes

to seek and save the lost.

If you want to have

a sense of the heart of Jesus,

the worldview of Jesus,

the mind of Jesus,

the purpose of Jesus,

this is a very important verse.

And when Jesus drew near

and saw the city,

he wept over it.

Now, he's not weeping

because of the fact

that there's all these bad guys

who don't like him.

He's not weeping

over the fact in a sense

that there's nothing

he can do about it.

Here's what he says.

Would that you,

even you,

had known on this day

the things that make for peace?

That's not political peace.

It's the fact that as rebels,

we are at enmity with God.

In a sense,

every human being

has in some part of their heart

a rage against God.

And Jesus comes to make,

not to make peace with God to us,

because God doesn't have

to make peace with us

because he's good.

But I have to make peace with him.

You have to make peace with God.

But now they are hidden

from your eyes,

for the days will come upon you

when your enemies

will set up a barricade around you

and surround you

and hem you in on every side

and tear you down to the ground,

you and your children within you.

He's saying this weeping.

Tears are coming down his face

as he says this.

In fact,

in the original language,

it's a sobbing.

He's saying these words,

sobbing.

You can just imagine

how the disciples

would just be standing there.

People shouting his praises

and the disciples

are right beside him.

And Jesus is sobbing

as he looks at the city of Jerusalem.

And he ends it by saying,

and they will not leave

one stone upon another in you

because you did not know

the time of your visitation.

And he's talking about himself.

So here's the thing.

And I have to confess,

I've used some old-fashioned language

because those of us

who are familiar

with the prayer book tradition

knows that the very, very heart

of morning and evening prayer

as part of the explanation

as to what you should be doing

as you go into the service,

that there is, in fact,

a key sentence

that God takes no delight

in the death of a sinner,

but rather that he may turn

from his wickedness and live.

And it's a quote

from two passages

in the book of Ezekiel.

And here's the thing

that we have to understand.

If you could put it up, Andrew.

Jesus takes no delight

in the death of a sinner.

He longs for us

to turn from our wickedness

and live.

And I can't help

but use the word wickedness

because I don't say

morning and evening prayer

all the time,

but it's just part

of my verbal

and mental makeup

that I just, you know,

God taketh no delight

in the death of a sinner,

but rather that he may turn,

will turn from his wickedness

and live.

It's just part of it.

So I put it up there.

But it's a quote

from Ezekiel

in two different locations.

And so the Bible

helps us to understand

what's going on here.

The Bible interprets

what's going on.

We're going to talk about

that more in a moment.

But Jesus takes no delight

in the death of a sinner.

He longs for us

to turn from our wickedness

and live.

You see,

what this text shows

is that people matter to God.

People matter to God.

And if you think about it,

I said that there's

sort of three primary

sort of cultural images

or icons or frameworks

by which we understand

impending judgment.

Because if you think about it,

in a sense,

movies like Iron Man,

they, in a sense,

through the story,

manipulate you

so that when Iron Man

presses the thing,

I think he presses something

on his wrist

and fires these missiles.

You know,

he never seems to have

to reload or anything like that

or go to the bathroom.

He just presses these things

and then turns away.

everybody behind him

has died.

And we as the audience

aren't seeing,

good grief,

he just killed

all those people.

We're going,

yes,

he killed all those people.

Gosh,

I wish I could be

like Iron Man.

That's what's going on in us.

That's one cultural model.

George W. Bush,

I don't make any

political comment here,

but it was widely quoted

and widely understood

when he went after the 9-11

and he said,

we're going after these guys.

He said,

God,

have mercy on their souls

because we won't.

It's Iron Man.

And there's left

and right wing versions

of that,

by the way,

folks.

It's not a political comment.

It's a cultural type of moment

that there's a way

of understanding bad guys

that it's all right

to raise them to the ground

and we do it

either with jokes,

with steely-eyed determination,

with a look on our face

that says,

we have nothing

to forgive or forget.

We are masters

of our destiny.

Don't mess with me.

We kick butt

if you mess with us.

I kick butt

if you mess with me.

Jesus weeps.

Many of us,

in reaction to that,

are deeply drawn

to the image of the Buddha

and this whole image

of the Buddha.

you know,

if you see the statues

of the Buddha,

of him just sitting there,

sort of eyes inward,

a look of type of peace

on his face,

completely and utterly,

in a sense,

detached.

detached.

And in a sense,

we have this image

that what we desire

is to be still like water.

That's what I want

to be inside of me,

still like water.

The problem is

people do horrendous things.

Do we really want

to be still like water

in the face of evil?

Do we want to be still

like water

in the face of injustice?

Do we want to be still

like water

in the face

of atrocities?

Isn't there a place

for right and wrong

and for judgment?

Should we look

at ISIS

killing

21

innocent Christians

in cold blood

with arrogant

language

and be still

like water?

Is that

what it means

to be fully human?

The other

type of cultural

ideal

which fascinates us

is in fact

a certain version

of the Muslim ideal,

the image

of Muhammad

as a warrior.

Muhammad

historically

did not weep

over the people

that he killed.

He did not weep

over the people

that he had

assassinated.

He did not weep

while he gathered

armies

to attack

people

who opposed him.

He was strong.

And that

is another version

of the cultural

models

by which we

understand

how judgment

can come

and how we

should respond.

And Jesus

weeps.

Jesus weeps.

That's the beginning

of the understanding

of how

Jesus is different

that Jesus

takes no delight

in the death

of a sinner.

He longs for us

to turn

from our wickedness

and live.

But there's another

aspect to it as well.

As I mentioned

last week

who in the story

dies?

Jesus.

Andrew if you could

put up the third

point.

God's final

judgment

raises

and those

who are listening

to this online

R-A-Z-E-S

not

raises

like R-A-I-S

but raises

a type of judgment

where everything

is just completely

destroyed.

God's final

judgment

raises

or destroys

in compassion

Jesus

took

my

place.

Iron Man

does not

take the place

of those

that are bad

that he kills.

Muhammad

does not

take the place

of those

who are bad

that he kills.

And

Buddha

does not

take the place

of those

who are

evil

and deserve

judgment.

Jesus

the

innocent

one

in the

face

of the

raising

which we

deserve

comes to

every one

of us

and every

person on

the planet

including

the people

who killed

the 21

Christians

and says

you deserve

to be raised

out of

compassion

for you

I took

your place.

I took

your place.

Jesus

looks over

Jerusalem

he sees

the religious

people

he sees

the spiritual

people

he sees

the pagans

he sees

the people

who are

completely

and utterly

irreligious

he sees

the powerful

he sees

the weak

in a sense

he sees

into the future

and sees

Peter and

Paul there

he sees

Judas

who betrayed

him

and he

weeps.

here's

the takeaway

for us

and once

again

these points

are always

on the

web page

probably within

about 24

hours

if you

want to

write them

down

later on

I need

to personally

receive

the good

news

of Jesus

Messiah

crucified

and live

gripped

by him

and by

what he

has said

and done

that's the

purpose of

this story

that's why

Luke

Luke

was a

pagan

for decades

who becomes

a follower

of Jesus

by talking

to the

witnesses

and by

their

testimony

and Luke

heart

is

Theophilus

a pagan

whether a

skeptic

or a

seeker

that he

will come

that you

will come

to personally

receive the

good news

of Jesus

Messiah

crucified

and live

gripped

by him

and what

he has

said

and what

he has

done

and the

gospels

constantly

present to

us a

choice

the gospels

are going

to say

are you

going to

be like

Judas

or like

Peter

both of

whom

failed

their

Lord

will you

be like

Judas

or like

Peter

the heart

of Jesus

who weeps

says

be like

Peter

earlier

on

just a

little bit

before this

the rich

young man

and Zacchaeus

and the

question is

will you be

like the

rich young

man

or Zacchaeus

and the

heart of

Jesus

says

I've

died

in the

hope

that you

will be

like

Zacchaeus

not the

rich young

man

earlier

on the

gospel

the centurion

and the

Pharisee

in the

early

the centurion

who has

his servant

healed

and is

the very

first one

in the

gospels

to have

their faith

in Jesus

and Jesus

says

I've never

seen such

faith like

this before

and the

face of

Pharisees

who betray

and are

angry

and belittle

and attack

Jesus

and the

heart of

Jesus

says

I died

for the

centurion

I died

for the

Pharisee

my heart

is

that you

will be

like the

centurion

the pagan

soldiers

that

that is

that is

my

heart

hear

this

good

news

receive

it

be

gripped

by

me

allow

me

to

grip

you

and

be

gripped

by

me

and

my

words

and

what

I've

done

for

you

now

some

of you

might

say

George

that's

a

very

very

beautiful

story

and

you've

gone

in a

sense

beyond

the

immediate

words

and

tried

to

encompass

the

other

things

that

take

place

and

happen

in the

gospel

but

weeping

George

isn't

weeping

a sign

of

weakness

George

often

when I

weep

it's

because

it might

be

because

I

have

compassion

but

it's

always

compassion

combined

with

powerlessness

I

weep

because

I

wonder

why

did

my

child

leave

me

I

weep

because

I

wonder

why

my

husband

or

why

my

wife

left

me

I

weep

in

the

face

of

illness

that

I

can't

deal

with

myself

I

weep

because

it

seems

and

I

can't

do

anything

about

it

and

that's

weeping

George

weeping

is a

sign

of

weakness

surely

we

want

to

be

more

like

Buddha

surely

we

want

to

be

okay

granted

he

should

cut

out

the

jokes

and

show

some

compassion

but

surely

we

want

to

be

more

like

Iron

man

like

weeping

is a

sign

of

weakness

it's

part

of

the

brilliance

of

how

Luke

records

the

events

of

Jesus

that

will

of

Jesus

let's

look

at

it

in

verse

45

and

Jesus

entered

the

temple

and

began

to

drive

out

those

who

sold

notice

that

again

Jesus

entered

the

temple

and

began

to

drive

out

drive

out

if

you

read

the

other

gospel

accounts

he's

kicking

over

tables

he's

getting

people

out

of

there

he

has

the

whole

area

the

court

of

the

Gentiles

in

a

complete

and

utter

uproar

money

is

being

kicked

over

the

animals

are

being

released

he's

in

a

zealous

he's

filled

with

zeal

and

people

back

down

they're

driven

away

he

drives

they're

driven

and

he

says

to

them

it

is

written

my

house

shall

be

a

house

of

prayer

he

quotes

from

Isaiah

but

you

have

made

it

a

den

a

place

where

robbers

live

quotes

from

the

book

of

Jeremiah

we

see

here

in

this

story

steel

and

strength

and

passion

and

zeal

and

he's

not

mad

because

people

are

making

money

and

he's

not

mad

because

people

are

trying

to

be

helpful

what's

going

on

is

that

the

temple

is

to

be

a

place

where

robbers

and

thieves

come

before

God

seeking

mercy

the

temple

is

not

to

be

a

place

where

thieves

and

robbers

rule

the

temple

to

make

money

wrapping

themselves

in

holiness

that's

what

it's

become

the

place

the

only

place

in

the

temple

where

pagans

can

come

and

call

out

to

God

because

all

of

the

Old

Testament

keeps

telling

them

that

the

Jewish

people

that

they

are

to

bear

witness

to

the

entire

world

of

the

living

God

and

the

place

where

the

pagans

can

come

is

the

place

that's

given

over

to

the

selling

of

animals

and

the

changing

of

money

at

exorbitant

rates

with

a

din

and

a

baying

and

a

bellowing

and

a

clinking

and

a

joking

and

a

cursing

and

an

anger

that

would

mean

that

the

entire

temple

is

not

dominated

by

any

sense

of

peace

and

quiet

but

by

the

sounds

of

people

charging

way

more

to

rip

you

off

you

put up

the

second

the

next

point

Andrew

here's

a

takeaway

from

this

God

abhors

it's

a big

word

it

means

just

he

detests

he

hates

people

who

use

him

to

take

advantage

of

others

while

taking

to

themselves

money

and

power

God

abhors

people

who

use

him

to

take

advantage

of

others

while

taking

to

themselves

money

and

power

does

a

politician

call

people

to

pray

that

might

be

a

very

good

thing

if

he

does

it

to

look

holy

and

cover

up

personal

evil

God

abhors

it

if

you're

a

Christian

business

person

and

you

use

the

fact

that

you're

a

Christian

to

overcharge

other

Christians

God

abhors

it

if

you

go

to

a

Christian

and

say

because

you're

a

Christian

you

should

charge

me

less

money

God

abhors

it

there

is

a

business

person

who

advertises

on

Christian

radio

and

I

know

for

a

fact

that

they

overcharge

by

somewhere

between

20

to

60

percent

I

can

hardly

in fact

I

often

turn

the

radio

off

because

it

so

bothers

me

that

they

would

use

the

fact

that

they're

Christians

to

advertise

on

Christian

radio

and

fool

people

into

thinking

they're

getting

a

bargain

when

they

overcharge

by

20

to

60

percent

for

the

same

service

done

complete

secular

person

God

abhors

this

if

we're

caught

up

with

this

we

need

to

repent

that's

what

Jesus

is

showing

in

this

not

only

is

he

showing

his

strength

he's

showing

something

of

his

heart

remember

those

of

you

were

here

last

week

when

Zacchaeus

becomes

a

Christian

what

when

he

becomes

a

follower

of

Jesus

when

he's

gripped

by

the

gospel

what

is

it

that

how

is

it

that

three

characteristics

he

moves

to

become

honest

he

moves

to

become

just

and

he

moves

to

become

generous

it

would

be

very

good

if

we

sought

out

a

Christian

whatever

it

is

lawyer

singer

real

estate

agent

because

we

think

as

a

follower

of

Jesus

they're

going

to be

honest

and

they're

going

to be

just

so

I

can

trust

them

but

the gospel

grips

us

not

so

we

can

rip

off

other

Christians

and

wrap

ourselves

in

holiness

but

the

gospel

moves

us

to

generosity

to

honesty

and

to

being

just

and

there's

one other

thing