Pastor Edgar Mayer; Living Grace Community Lutheran Church; Message on Mark 14:53-65; Date: 2 March 08

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Opposing The Moves Of God

Late at night they came for Jesus – a crowd armed with weapons of war – which made Jesus ask them in astonishment – Mark 14:48-49: “Am I leading a rebellion that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts … “ Yes – every day he was with them teaching at the temple in Jerusalem – in the public eye. Therefore – what was going on? Jesus wasn’t hiding from anyone. He wasn’t a rebel on the run. On the contrary he engaged everyone in conversation – for hours. Why then would you have to hunt him down with swords and clubs late at night?

Something strange was going on here. Jesus had become a regular feature at the temple but now – all of a sudden – the people who were in charge of the temple – the chief priests, elders and teachers of the law – the pastors and board members – they were in a rush to put him away. All of a sudden these people seemed to have snapped and – maybe surprising for religious leaders – seemed to have lost any sense of appropriate and just measures. They employed violence to capture a harmless teacher and then late at night rushed out of bed themselves to assemble for some hasty court proceedings against Jesus – a kangaroo court if there ever was one – Mark 14:53-56 – I read from the Bible: “ … all the chief priests, elders and teachers of the law came together … The chief priest and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree.”

This court was not interested in fact-finding but simply looked for an excuse – some kind of evidence – any kind of evidence – to put Jesus to death. Everyone was agreed beforehand that he had to die – and we may wonder why. What had Jesus done that they wanted him dead? These people did not even know him. Maybe they should have known him because he was at the temple every day [which begs the question: Were they not there themselves and did they not realize what was happening in their own church?] but – as it happened – none of them would have recognized Jesus’ face on the street which is why they needed someone to betray him in order to arrest him and now – at this court proceeding – they knew so little about his teaching and preaching that not two people could agree on any facts. According to the Bible: “The chief priest and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus … but they did not find any. Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree.” Nevertheless they wanted him dead. Why?

Jesus threatened them. At first Jesus stayed away from them and was only active on the fringe – in the remote regions of Galilee. And thus – for quite a while – the chief priests, elders and teachers of the law – the pastors and board members – assumed that it was safe to ignore him. However, then Jesus became popular. He threatened to become like the other fringe person – John the Baptist – who had preached repentance in the desert regions and had eventually – Mark 1:5 – I quote from the Bible: “ … the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem come out to him … “ Like him – this peasant Jesus from Galilee became the talk of the nation – Mark 1:27-28: “The people were all so amazed … ‘What is this? A new teaching – and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him.’ News about him spread quickly over the whole region … “ Jesus preached with so much authority and healed with so much power that according to the Bible – Mark 14:8: “ … many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon.”

Thus – as a result – this movement could not be ignored indefinitely and the crunch came when Jesus moved in from the fringe to Jerusalem – the capital – and the crunch came when – in the capital – Jesus was not shy in challenging the religious hierarchy and their traditions. I read from the Bible – Mark 11:15-18: “On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers … and said: ‘Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of robbers’. [Then] the chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching … “

Do we recognize the pattern? We might like to think that we are on the side of Jesus but many of us are seasoned church people and the way Jesus challenged the seasoned church people of his time (the chief priests and others) is the way Jesus keeps challenging us. Over the years we have established our own ways of being Christians. Over the years we have cultivated our own ideas about religion – church attendance: that often; financial giving: that much; sexual purity: to that degree; … We don’t need anyone or anything to upset what has become right in our own eyes.

But then something seems to happen on the fringe of our little church world and then it gains in popularity and before we know it the movement comes into our own backyard. Then we feel threatened by what we can no longer ignore and determine to look for evidence so that we can put this movement away. However, what if the particular movement was from Jesus and what if we have become like the people who put him away? Do we run the risk that the Bible means us one day when it says – Mark 14:53-56: “ … The chief priest and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree.”

This makes me think. In our circles we do have a history of opposing the moves of God. Almost 50 years ago the American evangelist Billy Graham came to Australia and this is what happened. I quote from a personal account: “Next day was Sunday, and the crowd that gathered for the closing meeting at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was unbelievable. It was the largest in the history of Australia, but in a few weeks it would be surpassed by the numbers in Sydney. Every seat was taken, including the standing room and the royal boxes. By the time I arrived, they had opened up the sacred turf of the playing field. Official attendance was given out as 143,000.

The preparations for the closing meeting were fantastic. Queen Elizabeth II had sent her personal representative. The governor of Victoria read the Bible. President Eisenhower sent greetings. Someone in authority ordered noisy trains alongside the Cricket Ground to be slowed to a crawl. As in San Francisco the previous year, people around the world had been praying for Melbourne. Our team had been praying too, and God had heard and answered.”

Hooray! Praise God! Preaching drew record crowds and according to one statistic more than 130,000 people (almost 2% of the Australian population at the time) had made a commitment to Christ during the Billy Graham crusades. Hooray – the impact of these conversions is still felt today – hooray – but here it comes: our denomination – the Lutheran Church of Australia – back then – was one of the few churches that opposed Billy Graham. We’ve missed it and even ten years later adopted the following statement at the 1968 General Synod: “ … We cannot, however, recommend participation or cooperation of our pastors and congregations in Dr Graham’s campaign. Dr Graham does not proclaim the Gospel in its truth and purity … Participation in the preliminary prayer meetings and cooperation in the campaign can hardly avoid compromise of the truth and entanglement in unionism … “

This is our history. This is our culture. The synod statement criticized Billy Graham by saying: “ … he stresses man’s act of decision in such a way that the work of the Holy Spirit in conversion is not given its proper scope.” But was the severity of this judgement warranted when Billy Graham himself explains – I quote from one of his books: “It is the Holy Spirit that brings about . conviction. Actually, repentance cannot take place unless there is a movement of the Holy Spirit in the heart and mind … “ (Billy Graham: Peace With God, Kingswood 1954, p104). “Being born again is altogether a work of the Holy Spirit. There is nothing that you can do to obtain this new birth” (Billy Graham: Peace With God, Kingswood 1954, p123).

Is this so different from what we believe? No! How could we not have worked together with this man and at least joined the prayer meetings before the crusades? I think that it is fair to say that in this instance we’ve been on the wrong side of God’s history with his people in Australia and there are other instances.

What haven’t we opposed? In 1992 God stirred one Anglican congregation in London to produce a resource for outreach – the Alpha course – which in before long was and is bringing in a harvest of lost souls around the globe. I give you a few statistics: In the US – as in other countries – Alpha Courses are running in every state and in churches of every denomination. The Alpha Course is also running in such diverse settings as prisons, universities, public high schools, housing developments, coffee shops, military bases, and on deployed US Navy vessels.

Internationally, the growth of the course has been considerable: 18,000 alpha courses are running in 123 different countries. Almost three million people all over the world have completed the Alpha course. Resources are available in 34 languages including Braille. 100,000 church leaders have attended Alpha conferences nationally and internationally in the United States, Australia, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Holland, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Kenya, Namibia, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and Zimbabwe.

Does that make our hearts sing for joy? Do we rejoice over saved souls? Hallelujah? No – (in our circles) not really. Lutherans in Australia by en large have not embraced this move of God and our conversations about this course have often been rather negative. Why? Who knows (I do not understand the objections) – but maybe we feel threatened as the chief priests and others felt threatened by Jesus. Something happened on the fringe – in London (from our perspective another Galilee) … among Anglicans – then gained momentum – became popular – and upset us when at last we could no longer ignore it. What new things were we meant to be learning?

What else have we been opposing? Well – there are the 40 Days of Purpose, the Emmaus Walk retreat ministry, Hillsong – Hillsong … people across the nations now worship God with these songs but our denomination frequently nurtures a critical attitude even though we know next to nothing about song writers like Darlene Zschech … – … and so the list goes on.

Let’s look at one more concrete example which may be a little more confronting than the others. What do you and I think about the Toronto Blessing? As far as maligned movements go, what God poured out on the Toronto Airport church in 1994 ranks among the most maligned movments in modern church history. You and I – check yourself. When you hear the word “Toronto Blessing” is your reaction a good one or a bad one – and if it is a bad one (which it was for me for a long time) what do you actually know about this church and their leaders?

In our circles no one seemed to have a good word to say about the phenomenon and therefore – for many years – I stayed away from the whole controversy but was that right? Was I – in a sense – opposing Jesus who had come from another fringe location – Toronto – and without taking the trouble of getting to know him, was I opposing his ministry? I knew that coming out of that church there were teachings about the Holy Spirit with whom I was rather unfamiliar at the time. Was I threatened? Are you threatened and are we therefore in danger of assembling another kangaroo court – like the chief priests and other leaders – looking for evidence to confirm our prejudice (what we have already judged to be wrong beforehand). I remind us of what the Bible recorded – Mark 14:53-56: “ … The chief priest and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree.”

There is no time to review adequately the Toronto Blessing phenomenon but I was confronted with my own preconceived ideas when I happened to listen to another mp3 sermon on the internet which happened to be by the pastor of that particular church. I expected a preacher from that kind of church to be loud and noisy and energetic and entertaining (drawing people in) but he was rather the opposite – a bit slow and unemotional – preaching basic Bible truths. I scratched my head and then a few months later I bought a second-hand book which turned out to be written by the same pastor: “The Father’s Blessing”.

That book gave me the strong impression – showed me – that this pastor was – despite the slander – despite the defamation – a true man of God. Let me give you a few quotes: “In October 1992, Carol and I started giving our entire mornings to the Lord, spending time worshiping, reading, praying and being with him. For a year and a half we did this, and we fell in love with Jesus all over again. Intimacy with Jesus is what we signed up for … “ (John Arnott: The Father’s Blessing, Orlando: Creation House, p58). That quote alone should make other pastors – other Christians – you and I – pause before prejudging this man because are we doing what he did (and we know that this is what it is all about) – spending entire mornings on being with Jesus – worshipping – falling in love with him?

Another quote: “ … Tens of thousands now have a story to tell, often with a similar theme: ‘I don’t understand why I shook, fell, laughed, cried, rolled, jerked or whatever. But one thing I know, I used to be fearful; I used to be crippled inside; I used to be ineffective as a Christian; I used to have to use all my energy to keep my emotional strength up just to live another day; I used to be bound by hurts and fears. But now I am free, because the Spirit of God came to me and released me.’ … ” (John Arnott: The Father’s Blessing, Orlando: Creation House, p68). “This new move of God … produces good fruit – Jesus is glorifed … “ (John Arnott: The Father’s Blessing, Orlando: Creation House, p76).

Could that not make us just a little happy? For a while even the Canadian government recognized that this Toronto church was the country’s tourist attraction number one. More people came to Canada for worship – in this church – than any other reason and many of these visitors – thousands upon thousands upon thousands – went home renewed in their faith – with fresh love for Jesus. Was that the work of the devil?

One of Toowoomba’s local Anglican priests – whom I trust – he has been to that Toronto church for a number of times and he has always come home renewed. Then the Alpha course can also be linked to the inspiration and empowerment which has flowed from Toronto to London – from Pentecostals to Anglicans. Rolland and Heidi Baker – missionaries in Mozambique – they came with Heidi being sick with pneumonia and total burn-out but then received healing in that Toronto church – lying on the carpet – and a prophetic commissioning by Jesus himself (who appeared to Heidi in a vision) – which has seen them subsequently plant more than 6000 churches in only five years – among Muslims – and the work continues even to this day.

Could that not make us just a little happy? There was and there is good fruit coming from this Toronto church and while not everything may be perfect: Why can’t we rejoice? Can we?

The chief priests and other religious leaders – they didn’t rejoice either and they had Jesus himself standing in front of them which made Jesus respond in a devastating way. I read from the Bible – Mark 14:60-61: “Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus: ‘Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?’ But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer … “ (cf. Mark 15:3-5).

Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Jesus neither explained or argued his case. He remained silent. Can there be anything more devastating than that? There we are – many a time – angry and proud with our preconceived ideas – self-righteous – shaking our fists at something new because this is not church as we know it and surely what we know and what we have always done must be right – ruling out anything else. And Jesus looks at us – the proud posturing – and he doesn’t like what he sees – and therefore remains silent.

Has Jesus been silent in our life because of pride? Has he been silent in our church denomination because we have set up one too many kangaroo courts prejudging his waves of mercy? What about this new move of God from Galilee? What about where God seems to be leading this congregation – Living Grace? Are we ready for Jesus to preach with so much authority and heal with so much power that people come from everywhere? Toowoomba is another fringe location which could be used by God. But are we ready?

At last, the high priest went right to the core of his concerns and challenged Jesus directly – Mark 14:61-65: “ … ‘Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?’ ‘I am,’ said Jesus, ‘And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ The high priest tore his clothes. ‘Why do we need any more witnesses?’ he asked. ‘You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?’ They all condemned him as worthy of death. Then some began to spit at him … struck him with their fists … beat him.”

Jesus broke his silence when it came to the issue which determines every other issue: Who is Lord? Who is God? Who is the Christ – the chosen Saviour? The high priest could not tolerate that it was Jesus and that therefore he was supposed to submit to him – instead of the other way round – as reality appeared to confirm: with him as the judge in control and Jesus as the beaten prisoner. Jesus dared to speak up when tensions were high and in a rather blunt fashion – not softening the claim in any way – he declared: “I am the Christ. I am the one that will sit at the right hand of God and come with power.” That was too much for the high priest and with a most dramatic gesture – and dramatic gestures are sometimes a substitute for substance – he tore his priestly robe declaring: “This is blasphemy.” Only it wasn’t. There were others that had made claims to be the Christ and they were not charged. However, the other pastors and leaders agreed with the high priest, condemned Jesus to death and then could finally vent their true feelings – spitting at him and striking him with their bare fists.

This is another sobering lesson for us. Do similar scenarios play out in our lives? First, Jesus remains silent when we oppose him with proud preconceived ideas and then – when he speaks – he simply states the truth in a rather blunt fashion – which makes us angrier still – and then – even more confusing – he allows us control over him – he allows us to persecute him – making us feel like being in charge. Yet, he is the Christ and he is the one that will sit at the right hand of God and will be coming on the clouds of heaven at the end of time.

I close with a call for humility. There comes a time when Jesus is like that. He will not speak to you unless you humble yourself before him. Jesus will not have you judge his movements of mercy and grace – his own work and sacrifice on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins – Jesus will not have you sit in judgement over the wisdom of heaven – and the love of heaven – with wrongful human pride. God opposes the proud.

You and I: humble yourself, repent, reconsider your position, hold your judgements, release Jesus, humble yourself. Amen.