Is this thing on???

Public speaking can sometimes turn into a nightmare. See also all of the news coverage of public officials saying things when they didn't realize their microphone was still on. One of my favorite examples of that was when President Barack Obama was asked a question off camera about Kanye West. For context, Kanye had just pulled off his infamous stunt of interrupting Taylor Swift from accepting her VMA award. The President's response was something along the lines of "He's a jack donkey". Okay, I altered the comment to keep this a G-rated blog but you get the picture. To be honest, I laughed out loud when I heard it the first time but I would imagine the President was pretty embarassed. To be fair, and PC, President George W. Bush was also infamous for not knowing when his microphone was turned off as well. He was known to let a few expletives fly about outspoken opponents when he thought he was perfectly safe to do so. Our words can also be turned against us in a public setting if we aren't careful. However, I can think of times that I have received nasty emails from parents of students about things that I didn't even say. I mean come on people! I say plenty of things that you could nail me on that are perfectly legitimate for you to be angry at so why not pick one of those??!

Okay, before I keep ranting about those moments, and believe me I could, let's talk about Jesus. Jesus did a lot of speaking to crowds. As a result, people were constantly trying to disprove His claims and were frequently attempting to discredit Him. Case in point, Mark 12:18-27 details a moment when Jesus was doing a little public speaking in a temple at Jerusalem. He was in the middle of telling some parables, stories that revealed a deeper spiritual truth about God. The Sadducees, thinking they would like a chance to tell a parable of their own, told a crazy story about a woman who was married to a man that died. According to Jewish tradition, it is customary for the surviving brother to marry his wife. Well this happens seven times. Pretty unlikely right? For a little background, the Sadducees were experts in Jewish law who denied the possibility of the resurrection. They may have started as a political group that was in full support of Herodean rule. If this is the case they had a stake in disproving Christ's kingship, as the Son of God, and this conversation was a part of their agenda.

So their question came after Pharisees attempted to trick Jesus by asking Him a question about taxes (see Mark 12:13-17). The Sadducees had been forming their arguments as Jesus fended off the previous insinuations. Since they were experts in Mosaic law they thought they would make this blue collar, carpenter's son look foolish by exposing His ignorance. Take a close look at this paragraph. Notice how Jesus allows the question, quickly answers it and then turns the tables on them exposing their ignorance. His answer? "Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God?"

Wow! Go Jesus! Straight for the jugular! They were so sure that their knowledge of Scripture would give them the advantage but in comparison to Jesus' knowledge it was actually their weakness. He doesn't leave it there either. "For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. But regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him saying '/I AM th God fo Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken." Again, Jesus taking the very thing that they are putting their pride in, their hope in (Mosaic Law) and forces them to take a closer look at it. His point? God is the God of the living not the dead. In the Bible, God repeatedly calls Himself "The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. In this section of Scripture, God says "I AM" or in simple terms, "I am in the past, currently and in the future Abraham, Isaac and Jacob's God." In other words, they are still alive.

If the Sadducees don't believe in a resurrection, how is it possible that these men are still alive? Jesus has caught them in an inconsistency when the Sadducees had hoped to catch Him in a silly, hypothetical argument. While it is easy for us to point the finger at the Sadducees, we do it all of the time. It could be that we point to suffering, the presence of evil or ignorance of others who claim to follow Him. We could look at that and say, "Jesus how can you be who You say You are and these things occur?" We could be seasoned Christians and have a relationship go south, struggle with our health or lose our job. We could even be mad at situations that we have caused (bad financial decisions, ignoring relationships, losing a job because of laziness) and actually blame God for it.

Again, Jesus is way ahead of those objections. It is really hard to argue with a guy who was completely innocent, never sinned and loves us so much that He is willing to suffer a penalty for something that we did. It is also hard to argue with a man who rose from the dead and lives in heaven waiting for those who will follow Him, empowering us to do His work here on earth. It is easy for us to sit back and critique the world that God created for us, forgetting that it lies in ruins because of the entrance of sin into the world (our fault by the way) and that even in our sin, God provided a way out through Jesus Christ.

Take some time to thank God this week for His provision for you through Jesus. Take some time to thank Him that He is a God that brings life from death. Thank Him for His love for you and that He is a Savior of second and third chances. Realize that He is a sympathetic High Priest that understands the troubles of this world and waits for you to trust Him with all of the different aspects of your life, and stop with silly objections for why you can't. I don't think that means that you never question God. It is good to have a faith that is well thought out and cognitive. But it does mean that at some point, you have to stop with the questions and trust Jesus for who He says that He is. Stop trying to catch Jesus in a lie, because He is incapable of doing so, and hand over your life to Him and walk in faith.

The Great Deep

One year, our youth ministry team went to a camp ground to "check it out" to make sure that it was okay for the students to go to that summer. One of the many benefits of being a youth pastor (that and the expensive cars and outrageous salary). One evening we went out close to a river that ran through the camp grounds. We found some pretty big rocks near the water and laid on our backs to gaze into the stars. When you are not in the city and there are no lights to obscure it, the stars are beautiful in an environment like that. It seems that you can stare into the limitless void of space for ever and never get tired of it. It is awe inspiring.

God is like that. If we truly see God for who He is, we can stare for hours into His limitless love and mercy and never grow tired of it. He is like the sky or deep water. For the rest of your life you could gaze at Him and never get to the bottom of how deep He truly is. The problem is that we take our eyes off of Him due to our own sin. The enemy is pretty good at distracting us from that activity.

You see, transgression is subtle. Sin can be a ninja that sneaks up on you. It speaks within your heart, no one knows about it. If you allow it to continue to speak into your heart it will corupt and destroy you. It seems to be harmless enough but in the end it is like playing with a King Cobra, it is all fun and games until it sinks its teeth into you and its poison slowly works its way into your heart.

How do we stand against the poison of sin and the ninja that is transgression? The way to battle the transient pleasures of sin is to ponder and gaze into the deep of God's greatness. To get lost in His lovingkindness. Once you focus on that, the surface level effect that sin has in giving you relief from your pain seems silly.

If we take God at His word (which we have in Scripture) we will focus our gaze on Christ(Hebrews 12:2). By making Jesus our focal point, we fix ourselves on a place that is Limitless, Immovable and Unsearchable. Those are not surface level things but deep and unconquerable traits that God possesses. Take a look at Psalm 36:5-6 for a point of reference. We are promised that God is:

Limitless - in His love for us. There is nothing that can separate us from it (Romans 8:37-39). He will never stop loving us despite how much we fail or how little we reciprocate His love. Sure you have to be careful with that concept and not abuse it but it gives us security in knowing that God loves us with a relentless love.

Immovable - in His righteousness. He will always act out of what is good and holy. He will never be a perpetrator of evil or hate. He will always act out of love, sometimes tough love, and goodness.

Unsearchable - in his judgments. You never have to worry about God's judgment being tainted by favoritism or greed. He always judges correctly and with impunity. God's wisdom is beyond our understanding at times and full of mercy and grace. It may not always seem like it but it is only because we are finite beings dealing with an infinite God.

Once we see God in this way, and truly see it, the ninja of transgression will not stand a chance. Because his deeds will be fully exposed in the light of Christ and the goodness and depth of God's mercy. No, we will never be fully free from sin because of our nature but we will gain some victory over it. Take some time this week to look at God in this way. Consider that He is Limitless, Immovable and Unsearchable. Thank Him in prayer this week for these things and plead with Him that the eyes of your heart will be open to seeing Him that way.

"Your lovingkindness, O LORD, extends to the heavens,Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgments are like a great deep" (Psalm 36:5-6)