I am trying a first. At the bottom is a link to an audio file of the sermon, you are welcome to read, or skip to the end and listen, or both.
When I come
into River City Church and I look around, I see a beautiful sight! I see men
and women, brothers and sisters, black and white, side by side. I see the power
of God at work. I see racial reconciliation, I see forgiveness, I see
understanding, and oneness. I see unity and a celebration of racial and ethnic diversity.
Not a lie of colorblindness, but an appreciation and respect for our
differences and the beautiful array of giftedness that God blesses us with.
I feel
gratefulness for the freedom to speak about a legacy that is not my own, but
inspires me daily. In the last week of Black History Month I got to share
something that has been on my heart since January 15th, Martin
Luther King Jr.’s birthday.
On MLK day, I
read an intriguing article about Dr. King (you can find the link at the end of
this post). A young man, only three
generations from slavery on a Virginian tobacco plantation, was raised by a
father who worked his way from a share cropper to a good paying blue color job.
This father grew up in the days of the Jim Crow laws, the days when there was
no high school for blacks, and though he was only able to earn a 7th
grade education, he was able to provide his son with a quality college
education.
His son
thrived on this educational experience and his eyes were opened to a new world
of Black Nationalism. He discovered and devoured the autobiography of Malcom X.
When he came home and visited his father he mentioned that he believed that Dr.
King just didn’t go far enough and that Malcom X was willing to go where he
couldn’t. His father told him that Malcom X didn’t accomplish anything like
what Dr. King did.
Here’s the
kicker, his son asked “So what did Dr. King accomplish besides giving a great
speech?” Wow! His father was stunned and told him “You have no idea what Martin
Luther King actually accomplished!”
You know
what? Most of us have no idea what Jesus Christ actually accomplished! What do
we talk about Jesus doing? He saved our souls! That’s amazing! But that’s not
all. That was not His whole mission, and if we miss what Jesus actually
accomplished, we miss out on everything!
So often we
limit what Jesus did. We make it a very external and intangible thing. We end
up with portraits of Jesus that don’t resemble Him at all. Read Jesus message,
how often does He specifically talk about saving our souls? He doesn’t! Yes,
Paul tells us that through Christ we receive this (1 Peter 1:9), but why does
Jesus say He came? Let’ face it, most of us don’t know what Jesus actually came
to do!
Martin
Luther King didn’t just march, he didn’t just make great speeches; that was not
what he accomplished. The father of the young man whose story we began with
gave his son the answer. He told him, you don’t know the horrors I grew up with.
The lynching, the senseless killing, the beatings, the sheer hatred we faced
and the fear it created. We were in such fear of the racist white man and what
he would do if we stood up for our rights that we were trapped. But he showed
us how to take a beating and not fight back. He taught us how not to lower
ourselves to their level. He showed us that we could take the worst the world
had to throw at us and we could get back up and keep going. He showed us the
power we always had and never know was there. What did Martin Luther King Jr.
actually accomplish? He ended racial terrorism in the south.
So, what about Jesus? What did he actually accomplish? We tend to
create an image of a very small Jesus. He is able to forgive our sins, to save
our souls on the Day of Judgment, and give us entrance to heaven, but is very
ineffective in changing our lives in the here and now. He is a God of the past
because He can take away the sins we committed, and he is a God of the future
because he is preparing a place for us, but not a God of the present.
We make him
a God who saves the soul but leaves heart, body, and mind to fend for itself.
We make Him a Jesus who doesn’t care about our problems, only our soul. A Jesus
who would have turned to that woman with the bloody issue who touched his robe
and said “I know you didn’t just get blood on my robe!” We create a Jesus who
would tell the sick and demon possessed to come back when they were ready to
get their lives right, who would never have sat down with that floosy at the
well because he wanted to save souls, not deal with their personal problems. We
end up with a polished, censored, shaved, and rationalized Jesus … a picture
painted by Satan himself.
Nothing
could be farther from who Jesus is! Jesus came to end spiritual terrorism. Jesus
came to give abundant life, not at the end of time, not at his return, not at
the end of your life, not 20 years from now, not tomorrow, but today!!
Satan likes
nothing more than to trap us with fear. The truth is we can receive the
forgiveness of our sins and allow Satan to keep us trapped in the system of
sin. Satan would love to keep us blinded to what Jesus actually came for.
Jesus came
to call sinners to repentance (Mark 2:17). What does that really mean? It means
calling us to a new life. A new life which is actually an old one, because it’s
the life God always intended for us.
Christ came
not just to forgive sin, not just to die for the sins of our past, but to free
us from the system of sin.
Christ has set us free. He wants us to enjoy freedom. So stand firm.
Don’t let the chains of slavery hold you again (Gal. 5:1).
Close your eyes. Picture yourself shackled by the hands of Satan. From
those shackles hang the links that are my sins. Picture your sins, all you have
ever done against the Lord, hanging from your wrists, entangling your whole
body. You lift them up and try to carry them forward, but the weight is too
much. But there is Christ! He says, you don’t have to carry these any more,
you’re free! And he gives us the key to the shackles. But we never take the
chains off. Instead we continue to let Satan have control, we make more and
more links because we stay in that same old system of sin.
I can keep wearing the chains even
though I’ve been set free. “I wear the chain I forged in life, I made it link
by link, yard by yard, I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free
will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you? Or do you not know the weight
and length of your own.” Or, I can channel the power God has given me and break
these chains and never put them on again!
Jesus was
called the Son of Man for a reason! He showed us the power God has put inside
of us that Satan has convinced us never existed. Jesus stepped into a boat. He
went over to the other side of the lake and came to his own town. 2 Some men
brought to him a man who could not walk. He was lying on a mat. Jesus saw that
they had faith. So he said to the man, “Don’t lose hope, son. Your sins are
forgiven.”
3 Then some
teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is saying a very evil
thing!”
4 Jesus knew
what they were thinking. So he said, “Why do you have evil thoughts in your
hearts? 5 Is it easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’? Or to say, ‘Get up and
walk’? 6 I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to
forgive sins.”
Then he
spoke to the man who could not walk. “Get up,” he said. “Take your mat and go
home.” 7 The man got up and went home.
8 When the
crowd saw this, they were filled with wonder. They praised God for giving
that kind of authority to men.
We have the power
from God to forgive sin?! Yes, we can tell Satan that rather than embracing
anger, guilt, grudges, and strife we choose to forgive. We can get up and walk
in the power of the Lord now that sin has no hold on us, and we can stand
against everything Satan throws our way.
10 Finally,
let the Lord make you strong. Depend on his mighty power. 11 Put on all of
God’s armor. Then you can stand firm against the devil’s evil plans. 12 Our
fight is not against human beings. It is against the rulers, the authorities
and the powers of this dark world. It is against the spiritual forces of evil in
the heavenly world.
13 So put on
all of God’s armor. Evil days will come. But you will be able to stand up to
anything. And after you have done everything you can, you will still be
standing. (Eph. 6:10-13).
The Lord
came to show us how to take a beating. He taught us how not to lower ourselves
to Satan’s level. He showed us that we could take the worst the Satan has to
throw at us and we can get back up and keep going. He showed us the power we
always had and never knew was there. What did Jesus actually accomplish? He
ended Spiritual terrorism and delivered us not only from judgment, but from the
system of sin. What are you waiting for? Break free!!
(hold control and click on link above)
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