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Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost
Light of Christ Anglican Church
The Rev. Mike Moffitt, September 5, 2021


How Will They Know We Are Christ Followers?


Text: Deuteronomy 4:1–9

When I was just a kid I started my love affair with cars. I loved it when new cars came out every September and I could walk over to Woodson Pontiac and look at Detroit’s new offerings. I fell in love with the Pontiac GTO and then the Firebird which was GM’s answer to the Ford Mustang. When a car went past me I could tell you what it was; make, model, and year. I really loved fast cars. I loved the sound when the driver floored the accelerator, and I could hear the 4-barrel carburetor open up. The sound was so distinctive, and I loved it. I didn’t appreciate it when the carburetor was replaced by the fuel injection system, it just didn’t have the same sound.

One of our neighbors, Billy Henderson, lived across the street from us and had a 1958 Chevrolet Impala. That was the first year for that model and it was beautiful. It was light yellow and every morning I could hear him start that big block V8 and then go screaming down Frontier Road shifting gears like a pro. Every once in a while if I just happened to be leaving for school as he was leaving for work, he would give me a ride. He knew that I loved his car so he would show me what it would do when you floored it, which was really totally inappropriate for driving in a neighborhood. I didn’t care about that, I just loved the feel of being thrust back against the seat as the power of the car was unleashed. My adrenaline was also unleashed, and I could hardly wait until I could get my driver’s license. My father in his wisdom and knowledge of my love of fast cars bought me a 1965 Volkswagen Beetle which probably saved my life and those driving around me.

I do, however, love our Chevy Impala and I still enjoy the feeling that I get when I mash down on the accelerator. Teresa usually chastises me for it, but I have to keep reminding her that as I have grown older, I seem to have developed a twitch in my foot. I can’t help it.

I remember when our kids were in their early teens and one Saturday morning I was going to a car show at the Roanoke Civic Center. They wanted to come along, so we got in our Monte Carlo and headed downtown. I don’t remember how many cars were on display but there were likely 100 or more. I loved it and wanted to get a close look at most of them. We were there for about 15 minutes when I heard the usual teenage whine, “This is boring. How long are we going to be here? I’m hungry.” I realized that they didn’t get it and clearly did not have my passion for cars. They still don’t and I believe that part of the reason is that cars were somehow different then and more individually distinctive than today.

Things have changed over the years and to be honest, most of the cars on the road seem to only have a few different body styles and if I want to know what kind of car it is, I need to look for the emblem that at least tells me the brand.

As I considered our scripture readings for this morning I thought back to those times when cars were distinctive, and I could easily tell one from another. These were also times when words had meaning and when people spoke to each other the words they chose to use were important and intentional. Nowadays, this is also different. Depending on who you are speaking with “bad” could mean “good,” “gay" can mean sexual preference instead of feeling jovial, “sick” can also mean “really impressive” instead of feeling ill.

I’m a Christian… well unfortunately that too can mean different things depending on who you’re talking with and what they believe it means to be a Christian. I can remember a time that when a person told me they were a Christian, there were certain assumptions I could make about what they believed. Even as an unbeliever I was familiar enough with the claims of Christianity that I assumed those who claimed to be Christians believed that the Bible is the word of God and that Jesus Christ was his/her Savior and Lord. Sadly, I can no longer make those assumptions but need to ask the person what they are saying when they tell me they are a Christian. What are they telling about themselves?

Years ago when I needed a haircut I went to a hairstylist who was from Beirut, Lebanon. His salon was “Michelle’s Unisex Coiffure.” I once asked him if he was a Christian, and he said, “Yes, of course.” As I probed a little deeper I discovered that he considered himself a Christian because he wasn’t a Muslim. As it ended up it had to do with your family heritage and where you lived. It had nothing to do with understanding the gospel message or knowing Jesus as Savior and Lord.

Dr. Michael Youssef founder and president of “Leading the Way” and author of more than 40 books, released a new book last year entitled, Saving Christianity? He writes,

From the first century to the twenty-first century, the greatest threat to Christianity has never come from the outside—from persecution, atheism, the godless culture, or opposing religions. In fact, external attacks have historically strengthened and purified the church.

The greatest threats to the church have always been internal. The greatest threats have come from those who claim to be Christians, who are leaders in the church, but whose teachings and doctrines are at odds with God’s Word. Satan is working overtime to destroy the church from within. It’s always an inside job. Many once evangelical churches are now filled with the unsaved, the uncommitted, and the unconverted. As the church goes, so goes society.

This is a major concern for Christianity and the church in our world today. There are many authors, speakers, and even pastors who have the idea that Christianity and the Bible must be reconsidered and re-thought because claims of absolute truth are nothing more than arrogance. They claim we should be humble enough to be vague in what we believe as we rethink the claims of the authority of God’s Word and the claims of Jesus Christ. What they claim is a new way of thinking is as old as sin itself. It has always been the by-product of Satan who is a liar. Jesus when confronting the religious leaders in Jerusalem said,

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44)

G.K. Chesterton had this same concern when he wrote his book, Orthodoxy, back in 1908. He wrote,

What we suffer today is humility in the wrong place…a man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part that he ought not to assert—himself. The part that he doubts is exactly the part that he ought not to doubt—the Divine Reason.

This problem is huge in many “religious” thinkers today. They feel free to doubt the authority of God’s word and its relevance for today’s more progressive thinkers. They doubt whether or not we can really know if Jesus was God’s Son, and surely the resurrection is an allegory for something, and how do we really know that Jesus said all the things that the men who wrote about Jesus claimed. They question the Bible’s authority concerning morality and many find it antiquated. Perhaps the truth claims of Scripture worked in a less informed culture but surely we don’t want to be shackled to such outdated and draconian laws today.

Michael Youssef points out,

They question the Bible while making certainties and sacraments out of gender politics, victim politics, environmental politics, and on and on. Subordinating the gospel to the political agendas of this fallen world is not an act of humility. It is breathtaking arrogance.

We must not be those who panic or live in fear of what we see going on all around us, but instead we must hold fast to the promises of God found in His word. In our Sunday School class we are discussing Jesus’ Farewell Discourse from John 13–17. We spent 2 ½ classes discussing one of the greatest examples of humility in Jesus washing the feet of His disciples. God in the flesh humbled himself and took on the role of the lowliest servant by washing the feet of His disciples, even Judas whom he knew would betray him. The cross is the greatest single example of humility as God incarnate allowed himself to be arrested, beaten, tortured, humiliated, and crucified as a criminal. Paul says it best in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake he made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”

This is where we start to understand the truth of the cross of Jesus Christ. Martin Lloyd Jones put it this way,

Do you know what the gospel does? What the cross does? It shows you yourself. And nothing else in the whole world does that but the cross. There is nothing that will ever humble a man or a nation but the cross of Christ…. the cross tells us the simple plain truth about ourselves…. when I look at the cross and see Him dying there, what he tells me is this: you have nothing whereof to boast. The cross tells me that I am a complete failure, and that I am such a failure that he had to come down from heaven, not merely to teach and preach in this world, but to die on that cross. Nothing else could save us.

In the cross of Jesus Christ we not only see the greatest example of humility and love but our only source of hope and the foundation of the truth that we build our lives upon. Jesus said in Mark 3:25, “And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.”

Satan is more crafty than we might imagine and knows where our defenses are weakest. Judas was the perfect example of the cunning of our enemy when Satan tempted him in what was likely the area of his greatest weakness: love of money and power. He wasn’t hoping that Jesus would be crucified but sought to put Jesus in the position where he would be forced to finally declare himself and defeat the enemy, Rome. Jesus was about to declare Himself, but Rome was not the enemy in His sights. Jesus came to undo the dominion of Satan by defeating sin and death. Judas misunderstood everything that Jesus had been preaching and Satan destroyed him hoping to ruin the plans of Jesus. He didn’t seem to realize that this was the plan of the Father and the Son. Essentially, it was also Satan who didn’t understand.

In Luke 22:31–32, Jesus tells Peter,

Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, 32but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.

Peter had to be surprised and in essence told Jesus, “What do you mean turn again, I’m ready to fight and die for you.” Satan knew that Peter’s weakness was in his pride, arrogance and impetuousness and that he would be able to make him go into survival mode when asked if he knew Jesus. Satan knew he could make him run away. This was also in the plan of the Father and the Son—that Peter would be humbled by his pride, arrogance and cowardice. Now he would be ready to be the humble servant that Jesus needed him to be.

The Apostle Paul knew the weakness of the human condition and wrote in Ephesians 6:10–12,

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

One of the areas of real concern today is the subject of what is evil. Many are suggesting that abortion is a woman’s right and is therefore good, whereas someone who seeks to stop abortion is considered evil. Sexual perversions of a magnitude that are clearly demonic in origin are being legalized and called enlightened. Those who believe that the sexual union is to be between a man and a woman who are married are considered prudish and judgmental, therefore evil. There are policies that are being sought within the Progressive movement of our Congress that are designed to cripple the family and bring godless teaching in the school systems, where students are taught that these sinful practices are normal and the best way forward to a unified country. Again we see the lie of the enemy. The prophet Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 5:20,

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

What about the unseen world that Paul refers to that contains spiritual beings both angels and demons not seen by the naked eye? I would suggest that we can affirm their presence by the acceptance of godlessness in the areas I just mentioned and others throughout our land.

In these verses, Paul is teaching the Ephesian church to be aware of the spiritual forces all around them. Remember that the temple of the goddess Diana was located there and that guaranteed dark spiritual forces all around. Paul wanted the Christians to know that they were not helpless in the midst of such activity, but they needed to remember to whom they belonged. They must not forget that in their own strength they would not be able to stand. They must rely on the strength and power of the Holy Spirit and by taking advantage of the means of grace like Scripture, prayer, and corporate worship they could withstand spiritual warfare and demonic temptation.

In the Greek this word for strength is kratos, and it can mean power, force, or mighty strength. It’s the same word that Paul used in Ephesians 1:19 for God’s “immeasurable power” which was the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. It’s also the same power that is at work within the believers now in Ephesians 1:19–23. To assume that you are strong enough in your own strength to withstand the onslaught of the devil is arrogance and Satan loves it when we develop that attitude. On the other hand, to not be confident in the power of God to lead you and protect you as you follow his call on your life is disobedient.

This past week I had an old friend that I haven’t seen in 25 years or more contact me because his life has become a train wreck. In all the years that I knew him he was a very strong Christian but now he has lost everything including his family. He’s almost 75 years old and lives by himself in Section 8 housing, with no friends. It began by him thinking he was strong enough to withstand the kingdom of darkness and I know that Satan has delighted in taking him down. However, that is not going to be the end of the story. Pray for Tim if you will.

The Christian pursuit of unity and purity is complicated by the fact that we live under hostile conditions, and it may grow worse. Christ and the resurrection were the devil's undoing and at the Second Coming his defeat will be total and visible. But the peace of the cross will be experienced in the interim period only in the midst of spiritual struggle. Though the spiritual forces of darkness have been defeated, they are not harmless yet.

Even in the Old Testament the people of God had the choice to follow their Lord obeying His commands thereby receiving His blessing, or they could once again turn and follow the pagan gods. Moses reminds them in Deuteronomy 4:2–4,

You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. 3Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-Peor, for the Lord your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. 4But you who held fast to the Lord your God are all alive today.

They were not to add or take away from the words that God had given them on Sinai. That didn’t mean there would be no more words from the Lord, but they should treat the words already given as sacred and holy. We can find a similar warning in the Book of Revelation 22:18–19. Moses reminds Israel of the lesson learned from the past when many turned away from their covenant with God and worshipped Baal (Numbers 25). God judged those who sinned against him and killed 24,000. Those who remained faithful survived, but they are given a warning as they prepared to enter the Promised Land that they were being tested. They must remember that God’s covenant with Israel given to Moses on Sinai had the promise of great blessings for obedience but curses for failure to remain faithful.

Israel’s faithfulness could be a testimony to the other nations who would be watching. They could be a reminder that God stayed close to His people and gave them great wisdom and blessings. The laws given to them were not arbitrary regulations or merely to reveal sin. One of the most important reminders to Israel is seen in Deuteronomy 4:8–9,

And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?

9Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children

In our gospel passage from Mark 7:1–23, Jesus is giving a similar warning to the religious leaders. He starts by warning them because they were more careful about keeping their own traditions, which were in addition to the Law of God, than they were the Law itself. He is pointing out that because of this they revealed their hearts were far from God. Their traditions had more to do with ritual cleansing of dishes, couches, and washing their hands before they eat. I think their mothers taught them well. The problem was that their hearts were far from the laws of God. Jesus was very clear that when the hearts of men are not given to the glory of God, they are in essence given over to the enemy. Jesus tells those who are listening something that I suspect every one of them was well aware of. Listen again to Mark 7:21–23,

“For from within, out of the heart of man, comes evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

The irony of this is that the very ones who claimed to be keepers of the law were the most serious violators of it. The Old Testament, New Testament, and Gospel readings all point us to our need to follow the word of God, even the law. Many feel that the law is no longer important because we are saved by grace through faith not the law, and that’s true. But one of the three functions of the law is that it teaches us of the perfect righteousness of God and our own shortcomings. This drives us to Jesus Christ for salvation. Paul taught in Romans 3:20,

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

In conclusion, Moses reminded Israel of what happened at Baal-Peor when Israel sinned against God. Today, all around we see a reminder of what can happen when a people or even a country turn away from the Holy Word of God. Think of the list that Jesus spoke of in Mark 7:21–23 (evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness). It looks very familiar, doesn’t it?

I want to close with a prayer from the Valley of Vision entitled “The Broken Heart.”

O Lord, No day of my life has passed that has not proved me guilty in thy sight.
Prayers have been uttered from a prayerless heart.
Praise has been often praiseless sound.
Blessed Jesus, let me find a covert in thy appeasing wounds.

Though my sins rise to heaven thy merits soar above them.
Though unrighteousness weighs me down to Hell, thy righteousness exalts me to thy throne.
All things in me call for my rejection,
All things in thee plead my acceptance.
I appeal from the throne of perfect justice to thy throne of boundless grace.
Grant me to hear thy voice assuring me: that by thy stripes I am healed, thou was bruised for my iniquities, thou has been made sin for me that I might be righteous in thee, that my grievous sins, my manifold sins, are all forgiven, buried in the ocean of thy concealing blood.
I am guilty, but pardoned, lost, but saved, wandering, but found, sinning but cleansed.
Give me perpetual broken-heartedness, keep me always clinging to the cross, flood me every moment with descending grace,
Open to me the springs of divine knowledge, sparkling like crystal, flowing clear and unsullied through my wilderness life. In the matchless name of Jesus.

Amen.

©2021 Rev. Mike Moffitt

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