The End is Near [part 2]; the irony of persecution ...

To earn hate, you must love.  Ever tried putting a square peg in a round hole?  There is an old children’s toy with multiple shaped holes, that fit matching pegs.  The goal is simple; match the physical piece in the hole on the board designed to fit only that piece.  Toddlers begin playing with this toy and as their brains grasp the concept, they begin trying different pieces in a hole, until they find a match.  Really smart toddlers can visualize which piece might fit in which hole.  And aggressive toddlers look for a hammer designed to solve every quandary by pounding it in.  The world at its core is not too much different than the simple board.  When you are a part of the world, in harmony with the world, the world understands you, and you understand it.  Everyone is just looking out for number one all the time.  But when you encounter Jesus.  Not the stories about Him, or even the scriptures about Him, but Jesus Himself, up close and personal in “your” life – “you” begin to change.  Over time, your shape (who you are, how you think, and how you love) is radically different than anything the world has to offer.  And so the world hates you for it.  While you were one of them, you were just fine with them, and they with you.  But become something else, something they do not understand, and you will earn their hate.

And as it happens the world is full of aggressive toddlers all dragging around sledge hammers they fully intend to use on you to pound you back into the world-shaped-holes that is the point of the game.  But there is another class of player you may not see coming.  As it happens, many churches, and many more church members claim to be Jesus shaped.  They know that, cause they did it themselves.  Honed off a rough edge here and there and now see themselves as the authentic Jesus shaped pieces.  But even a simple view of what the church looks like, and what the world looks like, is often so close you just cannot tell them apart.  And predictably the world has no problem with churches that are shaped just like they are.  And no old-timers (like me), I am not talking about electric instruments in worship music, and using drama on the pulpit.  This is not about style.  This is about substance.  Our hearts look alike.  A worldly husband loves his wife (for a while at least).  So does the church goer.  But they both call it quits at just about the same rate.  The worldly person takes a drink on rare social occasions (to fit in).  So do most church goers.  The “sins” of both are pretty much equal, and equally frequent.  The church-goer claims the promise of forgiveness (the only difference) – but it does not keep them from repeating the same mistakes over and over again.  Aggressive toddlers pass right by this church crowd, because they have no idea they are a church crowd.  They both live the same.

An encounter with Jesus changes all that.  The mind begins to change.  How you think begins to change.  And it is Jesus that re-creates you, not “you” doing anything to accomplish the change.  All you do is submit to Jesus.  The church crowd does not it do it that way, and so they look a lot like the world.  The church crowd does it for themselves.  And so they fail over and over again.  Giving up to Jesus does not makes sense to them.  Anyone who would do that must be evil in some way.  And that aggressive toddler who drags around the sledge hammer, turns out to be the member of your church sitting right beside you in the pew.  When you love, more than you judge, you start not fitting in at church either.  The transformation Jesus effects in you, saving you, from you – is just too much to take for most church goers entirely.  And for those of you who think I am exaggerating, or just church bashing, hang on to your hats, this is going to be a bumpy ride.  When the end is near, all of this was foretold, by Jesus.

Matthew continues his overview of the signs the disciples had asked for in chapter 24 of his gospel to his Hebrew contemporaries.  Picking up in verse 9 it continues saying … “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.”  This imagery is quite a bit more savage than an aggressive toddler dragging around a sledge hammer.  It is more like living in one of Saddam’s torture prisons, or finding your way into a horrific train to Auschwitz under Hitler.  We are to be hated.  But not just generic hate.  Hated because of Jesus’ name sake.  Tortured and killed over it.  If you don’t live under a threat of torture or death, you may think that is due to God’s blessing.  Perhaps it is.  But if no one seems to hate you, you have to ask yourself, are you really any different than anyone around you.  And if you are all the same, it might be why no one has the time to even think about you, let alone hate you.  After all, how much difference are you really making, the way you live today?  This is not about being different for different’s sake either.  It is about being different because the core of who you are has been remolded and remade by Jesus.  To the point where you live differently, and you think differently, and you love differently.  To earn hate, you have to love like Jesus does.  That is what would make you different enough not to be understood, or accepted, just like He faced.

Jesus continues in verse 10 saying … “And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.”  And so it begins.  The transition from the world to the church, and yet the same hate finds it way of expression even within church walls, and church hearts.  The world does not need to betray or hate its own, it is already living in a way to please self, at the expense of others if needs be.  But the church is supposed to be loving.  When supposed to be, is not reality, offended begins the road to betrayal ending in full blown hatred.  This is us folks.  Don’t look at your neighbor to find the culprit here, look in the mirror.  We judge, often extensively, before we even begin to speak or socialize.  The least little defect or sin discovered in our neighbor is cause to hold ourselves in higher esteem, and shun them for the sinners they are.  This thinking understands judgment, and the hypocrisy of righteous living, but not the transformative love that would make supposed-to-be line up with reality.  Love is stronger than judgment.  For it is love alone that can conquer evil in the first place, and the last place, in us.

Jesus gets even more direct with the church in verse 11 saying … “And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.”  The world is not endangered by false prophets per se, they are only looking to make a buck off of them.  But the church depends on prophets to light the way forward.  When a false prophet arises, the message behind them is inherently selfish, and therefore pleasing to many – thus adopted by many.  A message of loving others unconditionally and passionately looks “hard” to the untransformed heart.  In fact, it looks impossible.  And it is.  At least for a human to do it.  But for Jesus, that is just a no-brainer He does every second of every day for each and all of us.  The “ease” false prophets preach is appealing to hearts lined up with the world.  We all look for ease and comfort.  It is natural.  But for the transformed heart, there is no time for, or interest in ease, there is interest in seeing you next to me in kingdom of heaven.  If that causes me a little discomfort it is worth it.  In fact, if that takes everything I have, it is still worth it.  And so, only post transformation, does the new way of loving begin to impact a new way of thinking, that finds the message of the false prophet dangerous to souls.

Then Jesus boils down to the heart of the matter continuing in verse 12 saying … “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”  Ouch!!!  When sin abounds, love waxes cold.  When I try to fix myself, by deciding to be a good person, and then doing my best at it.  Iniquity continues to abound in me, and my love, my real love for others, waxes cold.  This result of failed self-salvation leaves me looking just like my worldly counterparts.  For all my religious “trying” I am no better than them.  This is because we love the same, think the same, and want the same things (most of it bad for us and others).  It is only my submission to Jesus that sparks a fire in me.  And the converse rule is also true.  When passionate love for others burns hotly through you from Jesus, sin is chased away.  Not just from your feet and hands, but from your hearts and desires and motives.  Change the core of who you are through submission to Jesus, and find love abounding and sin on the retreat because of it.  But that is not most of us.  At least not most of us today.  Too many (perhaps me included too often) are content to keep control of our own salvations, and thus watch our love wax cold in real time in our mirrors.  Just as foretold by the Savior we so desperately need.

But not all hope is lost as Jesus continues in verse 13 saying … “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”  Jesus did not fail, no matter how often you do.  And Jesus will not fail you, no matter how many times you might keep messing His victory up with your stupid.  Jesus truly is and forever will be the author and finisher of your salvation, your faith, and your re-creation.  For those who can humble themselves, relinquish the illusion of control, and turn over their own salvation to Jesus who does not fail, He will not fail.  The Kingdom of Heaven can begin immediately in the here and now for you, and grow every day until the end of all things.  That is way nearer than you might of thought.  This is not about the afterlife, this is about the now.  To be saved, is more than to be saved from fire, or death.  It is about being saved from the type of person you are now – barely distinguishable from the world.  It is about taking that personage of you dipped in sin, and re-creating it, infusing the passionate love of Jesus in your heart for others.  So much so, that you think differently, love differently, and start to have different priorities.  That is the gospel message.  Not the stories and parables – the real-life witness of Jesus in your heart every day.  Changing you from who you were, to who you will become.  “That” is the gospel.  To find living differently here and now and forever.

The stores in scripture were all written to introduce you to Jesus, who could then make them real, make them come alive in you.  Without the coming alive part in you, the rest is just words.  There is no gospel without your life as a witness of it.  Without “your” testimony of what Jesus has done in you, for you, perhaps in spite of you – the Bible is only a book other people may understand.  The power of the gospel is the power to actually change lives, yours, mine, anyone who hears it.  But better than to hear it, for anyone to see it come alive in you because of how much you truly love others (like only Jesus could).  That is the power of a gospel that must be preached.  Jesus concludes this section in verse 14 saying … “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”

The world does not need your “church” or your denomination or even your doctrines.  It needs your love burning so brightly it forces them to turn their eyes to the same Jesus who turned your life around.  The world is in need of example, not speeches about possibilities of what could happen with Jesus, but realities lived every day because of Jesus.  That hate must face our love.  The hate will see that no physical pain, not even death, can cause a transformed heart to relent – because one taste of Jesus is worth everything else you ever had or will have.  There is a reason we will all cast our crowns at His feet and proclaim Him alone worthy.  It is because we are not worthy, nor will we ever be worthy.  But He loves us anyway.  And He will save us anyway.  Each of us from the person we messed up, to the person that only He can envision for us to become.  Once embarked on that journey; all persecution because of it is only ironic.  Because no amount of persecution would ever change in us what only Jesus could create in the first place.

It is this gospel that must be preached in all the world.  Not the concept of Jesus, but the reality of Jesus.  Not the judgment of the followers of Jesus always judging others and the world, but instead the passionate love of the followers of Jesus so steeped in love they begin to look like Him.  What that kind of love can do in the world is something we have yet to see - it could actually save it.  If those who dare to call themselves by His name would submit, and embrace that love, the world will turn over again.  The square peg round hole thing could hardly begin to describe what a difference that will be and perhaps is already becoming.

And Jesus was not done yet on looking forward …

 

Smack Down [part 2]: The Price of Hypocrisy ...

In the wrestling ring it is understood that no-one is actually supposed to get hurt.  It looks like they would.  But it is supposed to be only how it looks, not how it really is.  When delivering a spiritual smack down, the intent was not to seriously hurt the people targeted.  Only their prides would actually be wounded.  The intent was to “get in their faces” enough to cause them to re-think what they were saying, and in opposition, what they were doing.  A professional wrestler is truly professional about how they make what is otherwise a pretend fight - look so real.  If you let yourself, you can easily get lost in the spectacle and allow your imagination to make it real.  When you do this, you blur the line between intent and reality until that line gets harder and harder to see.  It is no different in the spiritual realm.  Those who “talk a good game” sometimes believe what they say to be the truth.  And for as much as their minds believe it, their feet and hands still tell a different story.  The words sound right.  But the body does not follow, or at least it does not follow the words, it still follows the desires of the heart.

This is the basic problem with any religion that embraces “legalism”.  Legalism declares that you can earn your way into paradise based on what you do.  Feed the poor, visit those in prison, shelter the homeless and you are in fact “doing” what Christ asked you to do.  So do it, and you should be saved right?  The problem for the legalist becomes … exactly how much of this do we have to do, to get into heaven?  Can I feed the poor 3-4 times and tick that checkmark off of Jesus’ list?  Or do I have to do it 3-4 times a year in order to stay current with the Lord.  When I was a child, I once visited my uncle in prison for bank robbery in Massachusetts.  Does that count?  He was family, and it was my mom who actually took me, so does that go under her list or can I count it as one of my own.  Outside of that, I don’t believe I have ever been inside of any prison myself for any reason.  Not so much a scared straight situation as just one of those places you don’t pick over Disneyland.  The legalist must ponder the question how much is enough.  I figured out a loophole for myself; I just support prison ministries financially, and call it a day. 😊

But this is the basic flaw in any kind of religion that asks you to “do” things to “earn” favor.  And every false religion on planet earth has this tenant at its core.  To do, without the motive to do, may still provide benefit to the audience, but not so much a change inside of who you remain.  Jesus is the only deity offering to change what you want, how you love, and therefore why you do what you do.  Which essentially means, Jesus offers the only form of religion that has a shot at working.  The others offer a life of self-sacrifice, but not much of a life of real change.  When Jesus changes how you think, and how you love.  Your passion for others drives you to do what you do.  And the question “how much is enough” just does not come up.  Because the answer is, there is no limit to it, no upper end, no amount of tick marks on any contrived list that would ever be enough.  After that kind of transformation, you begin to love like He loves, and find that you cannot rest while need exists within your reach.  That kind of walking the walk is not a natural state for most of us.  It is only one that happens AFTER He transforms who you are, NOT before it.  It is the painful difference between the words, and the deeds.

My Pharisee forefathers did not understand this.  They believed in balance.  They believed there must be a balance between what is good for “me”, and what is good for “others”.  They believed love should not be lopsided, with all of ours poured out on someone else, and never any of it reserved for ourselves.  And nearly ALL of modern Christianity would seem to agree with them.  This is why when Jesus appears, and lives a life that reveals an entirely different way to love.  It is a silent rebuke to what they believe.  And for Jesus, it is not just about words, but about constant unyielding demonstrations of God’s love, that has no limit for you or me.  Loving like God loves, is not a trivial thing, or a natural one.  It defies human limits of exhaustion, and keeps going anyway, even for only the littlest opportunity.  My Pharisee forefathers thought this impossible to do.  As again, nearly all of modern Christianity would agree.  And they are both right.  If you look for the strength to love this way within yourself.  That kind of love can ONLY happen through His transformation of “who” you are – effectively saving you from you.

Hypocrisy then, is an expression of lost hope.  It is the human recognition that we just have no more within us, to pretend to love the way God loves.  And if His tick mark list is truly infinite, there is no way we will ever fill it.  Backwards thinking about how a change in motives works.  And if shock-and-awe was needed to wake us up to the reality of how salvation should work, then so be it.  Jesus would call out the hypocrisy we have all become numb to.  Jesus would offer a series of “woes” to those who claim to represent “His” church, but still depend on human strength to get anything done.  You will note these stinging rebukes did not go out to “sinners”.  They went out to “saints”.  Leaders in the faith had adopted this false thinking, and the practice, and the teachings needed to stop.  If it took a spiritual smack-down to see it done, the get ready for one that happens to accomplish that feat.

Matthew picks the story back up in chapter twenty-three of his gospel to the Hebrews, beginning in verse 13 Jesus says … “But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.”  Ouch!  Here Jesus offers a frank assessment of the effect of this self-reliance within His church.  It prevents both the teacher, and the parishioner from entering the Kingdom of Heaven.  Let that sink in for a minute.  It is your self-reliance that keeps you OUT of the Kingdom of Heaven.  It is these doctrines you spread to others that is keeping them out as well.  Christians worry about being a stumbling block to others.  They cite this premise when considering what to eat, or what entertainment venue they frequent.  But in truth, the stumbling block is far more meaty and more relevant.  Self-reliance is what keeps us away from transformation.  When you teach others that “they” have the power over sin, you block up the doors, and cause them to stumble into a life that leads only to hypocrisy and lost hope.

Jesus continues in verse 14 saying … “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.”  Here is where evidence of the hypocrisy presents itself.  How someone professing the religion of Jesus would have no problem making financial gains on top of the backs of others, even when those others are already disadvantaged.  The strong prey on the weak.  No different within the church than outside of it.  Industries spring up designed to take money from people who can scarcely afford to lose it.  Yet countless “Christian” employees fill their ranks and perform whatever duties are asked without question.  Even when it is the people in need who must suffer to see these industries succeed.  My Pharisee forefathers were willing to “devour” the widow’s house.  That is not just a casual lack of empathy.  It is a purposeful state of intent, emulating the lion in his hunt.  Have we come round to this behavior again?  Do I fund prison ministries and then vote to make sentences 3 times longer without the possibility of mercy by a judge, instead forcing them to impose a sentence that is stern, and lacking mercy of any kind.  Myself, all the gleeful, feeling vindicated when the amendments are approved in the state legislatures.

Or has the modern version of hypocrisy descended into creating a cottage industry out of Christianity itself.  Asking for donations to earn favor from God, to fund the leaders of a church to levels of excess that would make Donald Trump blush.  Despite the need of the membership, donations are solicited without regard for the church family; giving back to those in need within its ranks.  Our religious systems seem very adept at funneling money up; but only reach down in times of natural disasters of an epic scale.  Sometimes the disaster is very personal, and it is epic to the fathers, mothers, and children who bare its weight in silence – all while being solicited for donations under the guise of earning favor of God, the implication being that to withhold would be to incite His wrath.  Christian leaders in our modern age should know by now, giving is not done to curry favor.  Giving is done as a blessing to the giver, an opportunity, a privilege to extend love.  If we present it any other way, or imply demand, we dishonor Christ and ingrain hypocrisy in yet another generation of believers.

Jesus continues in verse 15 saying … “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.”  Aarrg!  We pride ourselves on our church missionary endeavors.  We cross sea and land, bringing translated copies of our Bibles.  But then only to teach doctrines of “choice” as it relates to the cessation of sin, and self-reliance as it relates to salvation.  We teach a stern doctrine that judges others who like the new convert need our love, and the witness of our lives, to have the motivation to even seek a change.  We make the new convert as hard as we are to sin, and more specifically to the sinners who are still enslaved to it.  We neither free them from the evil of their sin, nor see them reform others in any way.  We give them the doctrine of “forgiveness” and call that enough.  Two times the child of hell than we are, and turn them loose on their communities, spreading a message of judgement, not of redemptive love that has the power to really bring change.

Jesus continues in verse 16 saying … “Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! [verse 17] Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? [verse 18] And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. [verse 19] Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? [verse 20] Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. [verse 21] And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. [verse 22] And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.”  Technicalities.  The weapon of the legalist is to find obscure technicalities upon which the values of the law can be circumvented. 

It is better for men not to swear by anything.  To make solemn vows, is to presume we are capable of keeping those vows.  It implies we have the strength within us to do what we say.  When in truth, none of us know the future, or have the least influence on controlling it.  What we say in health, we may fully regret when sitting in cancer.  What we value in greed, may cause us absolute pain when we see what it truly costs.  Swearing, or vowing, or making promises and commitments we think are absolute – imply a self-reliance that is no different from the self-reliance that keeps us out of the Kingdom of Heaven.  Jesus came to show us what absolute dependence upon God looks like.  He prayed every day bending His own will to the will of His Father, every single day, every single moment.  When the mother of His disciples asked for position for her sons, Jesus did not commit to it.  Instead He deferred to the will of His Father.  He made no vow.  His only promises to us are based in the same promises His Father has made to us.  He needed no technicalities to keep up His end.

Does the scribe technically obey the law, if they observe all the technicalities and adhere strictly to the letter of the law?  Do you?  The Commandments state not to commit adultery.  But what about Pre-Marital sex?  What about Marital Rape?  Incest?  Cultural forced abstinence and/or genital mutilation upon children.  Masturbation.  One can avoid having sex with a married partner and technically keep the letter of the law, but what about the values of the law?  When you truly love another, you do not think to hurt them, in any way, ever.  When you value others, you do not think to violate them even if only in your mind in order to bring you self-gratification.  For when you truly love others, your own gratification comes from how you love them, not in what you do, to stimulate the baser instincts of your own selfish passions.  When you treasure another, you would not humiliate or devalue them, by not offering them the protective commitment of marriage before attempting an intimacy with them that is best when done as God originally outlined.  Finding technicalities, or omissions, within the law, dishonors the law, and dishonors the Author of the law.  But worse, it reveals how far from harmony you are from the law, and how little you understand about truly loving others more than yourself.  Hypocrisy branded in yet another way.

A “woe” is no small thing.  It is a term decrying great sadness.  It is a term that when employed allows the person saying it to understand how bad their condition has become.  And Jesus is making a series of “woes” to us, His saints, because of our hypocrisy, our lost hope, our failed self-reliance that keeps us out of the Kingdom of Heaven.  But the list of woes in this smack down was not to be ended just yet …

 

Killer Instinct ...

American idealism despite its best intentions, still allows for winners and losers.  Generally, for someone to win, someone else, perhaps lots of others, have to lose.  We don’t like thinking about it.  We don’t like recognizing it.  But capitalism is rife with it, and our society seems to be built on it.  In order for democracy to emerge, the former king had to lose.  In order for slavery to stop, half of our country had to be defeated.  In order for you to get that promotion, someone else had to be passed over, perhaps many others.  We like to recognize that good can come from winning.  But we are equally uncomfortable accepting that when others win and we do not, we have “lost”.  We find dozens of other words for our loss, and we work overtime exhausting the dictionary to find an articulation that in no way associates us with losing.  But in games with only a single winner, or very few winners, the rest of the participants are in fact losing, even if they refute the term losers.

So what does it take to succeed?  If you measure success in wealth, all of your role models would tell you the same thing.  It takes a killer instinct.  One does not become a billionaire by being generous.  Time enough for generosity “after” you have made your fortune, not during its acquisition.  Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have time to be magnanimous now.  But while they built their fortune, they did whatever they had to do, to kill the competition and insure they were on the winning side of any equation.  When you listen to then candidate Donald Trump describe the kinds of people he wanted negotiating our deals with foreign countries, the one characteristic he seemed to admire or respect the most was “being a real killer”.  Obviously these people he admires were not actual murderers, but the parallel of “killing” the competition does not leave room for much thought about equity, parity, or win-win scenarios.  These men in their roles as negotiators were charged with winning every penny they could, and leaving the other guy with nothing, or as close to it as they could get.  Real killers, with killer instinct.

Perhaps an unfair comparison emerges with ravening wolves.  A ravening wolf conjures up imagery of a fierce creature with amazing strength, cunning, and hunger that cannot be satiated.  The goal of this creature is to win, and to feast on your carcass, leaving you dead, and eaten, consumed, with only scraps left.  You would think these kinds of folks would be products of our American Idealism.  You would assume that in the commercial world, this kind of vicious personality must thrive, and be rewarded for its tenacity.  But away from commerce, away from the rice bowl of how we survive and how much wealth we accumulate; the very need to be a ravening wolf would dissipate and become neutral.  But then, that would depend on how much control you seek.  The winner in commerce always believes they win because they control the outcome, they control the circumstances, limit the options, steer the direction of the deal, then pounce and close it to their desired goals.  The control is the addiction, that underlies these personality types.  They thrive on it, like a junkie looking for their next fix.  And so the desire to control, spills over into other aspects of our lives.

The “control obsessed” are not looking for partners in marriage, they are looking for servants.  They will take, and think only to give when it suits them, or contributes to the outcome of the bigger, wider deal.  The control obsessed are not just content to have political opinions, they must insure everyone in their inner circle will be swayed to vote as they vote, and believe as they believe.  The unfair comparison to the wolf as a creature who ravens becomes not just an image in commerce, but an image across the life span of those who obsess about being right, and dictating the outcomes of anything they touch.  And then they go to church.  Religion, or to be more precise, the interpretation of doctrine, becomes only the next vehicle upon which control must be established and ruled over with an iron fist.  Once a nugget of truth is uncovered, those with a mind for control, use it as a divining rod, as a wall to segregate believers into one of two camps … theirs and the wrong side.  There are no other options, no compromises allowed, no gray areas.  They are right, backed by God; the other side is wrong, and powered by Satan.  All those who share their beliefs will ultimately be saved; all others condemned to the fires of hell.  A ravening wolf, in a flock of sheep.

Jesus knew these people, and personality types.  He was dealing with them in His day.  They pretty much populated the Sanhedrin entirely.  There were a few exceptions, but a far few minority.  Those charged with the instruction of the people wanted control more than they wanted a one-on-one personal relationship with the author of the religion they taught.  They were willing to kill the author of their religion rather than cede control to Him.  And we look at them and think the problems died with the order of the Pharisees and Sadducees and no one like that could populate our churches today.  Yet if one were to examine the history of any particular church in any particular denomination over a 50 year period; one would likely find a number of times over the years when the membership “split” over a particular issue that came up.  Lurking behind the issue was a person with a strong personality type, a desire for control, and a willingness to split the body of Christ rather than cede control over it.

Jesus knew these people would not just appear as errant members with loud persona’s.  They would appear in important positions within the church, having inserted themselves there over time.  Ever looking to expand their influence and control, over a body that needs not either.  Matthew continues recording the words of Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount in chapter seven of his gospel, picking up in verse 15 saying … “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”  Jesus here uncovers the masterworks of Satan’s deceptions.  The ravening wolf is not so bold as to show his or her true nature in a flock of those striving for sheep-hood.  The wolf must blend in, in order to be effective.  The wolf must appear like any other sheep, but only as one who has “strong” convictions.  In addition, Jesus warns us that key roles within a church are not immune to this phenomenon.  False prophets.  Prophecy is not just some random role, it carries an important one within the body.  Later Jesus will add dimension to this role saying that some healed, cast out demons, and did great works in the name of Jesus.  Yet Jesus does not know them.  The works of miracles remain, performed by the wolves who cover up like sheep.  They are false prophets, not because what they prophesy is necessarily wrong, or that they are unable to truly heal, or cast out demons.  The criterion for false is something else.

Jesus continues in verse 16 saying … “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? [verse 17] Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. [verse 18] A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. [verse 19] Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. [verse 20] Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”  Jesus puts a criterion for our determining who are wolves and who are sheep by their fruits.  Not by their results, but by their fruits.  A ravening wolf can still prophecy in the name of Jesus, heal, and cast out demons in the name of Jesus; those are all results.  Fruit is different.  The splitting of the body, the idea that control must be maintained, standards upheld, and people excluded is the fruit, is the legacy, of a cunning wolf.  Wolves are not truly interested in loving others, more than they love themselves.  Wolves love only themselves, others they put up with.

The ministry of the wolf is about expanding the church, in that it is about expanding the control and influence they have over the church.  Disguised just like every other sheep, their priorities do not center on bringing genuine acts of kindness, care, and love into the lives of those who so desperately need it.  Wolves make their love and affection come with price tag.  You must believe as they do.  You must submit to their authority.  Then and only then will acts of kindness be bestowed.  Conditional love.  Conditional admittance to the body of Christ.  Conditional standards for continued admittance.  All of which based in an authoritative model where the influence of the wolf truly drives the decisions being made.  The wolf will happily split the church rather than submit, or compromise, or surrender.  Surrender itself is a curse word in the mind of wolf.  They do not like that word used in any context.  It is foreign to them.  And so surrender to Christ is also completely foreign to them.  Control, personal accountability, are the terms they understand and they prefer in the context of religion.

The fruit we produce, the legacy we leave behind tells a story about our lives, even in the church.  When we love our brother so little we would rather exclude his company, than tolerate views different than our own; we have lost sight of the author of our religion, who alone can change the heart of anyone in error, whether that be our brother, or frankly, whether it be we ourselves who are in need of the change.  Tools and thoughts of exclusion are tools and thoughts of the wolf, not the Shepherd.  The Shepherd gathers sheep no matter what each sheep may be thinking that is still incorrect.  The Shepherd works to teach the sheep what is right, sheep do not do that for each other.  Sheep are not qualified to know who is right or wrong, only the Shepherd knows, and only the wolf would make it an issue to separate part of the flock from each other.  The wolf wins in division, and loses control when unity abounds.  So the wolf is constantly seeking division, looking for any occasion to initiate it.  A prophet, who heals, who casts out demons is capable of doing this, all to be recognized for the credit they deserve, and the control they would implement.

Jesus continues in verse 21 saying … “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”  Knowing who Jesus is, is not the same as experiencing what Jesus can do for you.  Jesus while on earth, only ever did the will of His Father.  Though divine, He did not trust to His own wisdom.  Instead He surrendered His will to the will of the Father every single day, every single minute.  His example remains for us today.  Doing the will of the Father in heaven, participating in the mission, is about bringing reconciliation through simple humble love that cares more for others; and is absent of self, and self-interests.  We reconcile people to God by demonstrating the love of God to them here and now.  Not just the pretty people.  Not just the clean people who already think like we do.  But the dirty ones, the filthy ones, the ones steeped in the poo we would hope to never smell again.  The ones who hate us now, and don’t want to understand us, have no intentions of ever submitting to us, or thinking like we do.  It is not our job to change their hearts or minds, only to love them in spite any way they treat us.

Reflecting the love of the Father has no room for thoughts of winning and losing.  The Father always wins.  Love is not measured in units of wins and losses, love is a continuum whose upper limit can never be reached.  No matter how much you love today, you will find that connected to the Father, to the source of love, you will be able to love even more tomorrow.  That is the fruit you should seek.  That is the trail of seeds and fruit skins that should mark the trail of your life and its fruits.  A trail of acts of love, of unity, of forgiveness, of tolerance, of patience.  Those fruit come from a tree who not only knows of Jesus, but has experienced the transformation of Jesus personally.  A transformation where Jesus takes whatever tree you are now, and turns you into a good one, that leaves a trail of love in its wake.  Surrender marks the beginning, surrender marks the end of it.  Control, exclusion, segregation, arbitrary standards, have no room or place in a tree that Jesus makes.

Jesus concludes this section with a hard truth.  He states plainly that our actions in His name are not enough.  Our motives matter.  Our surrender matters.  Our trail of love matters, perhaps that love being the only thing that counts.  Picking up in verse 22 Jesus says … “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? [verse 23] And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”  Reconciliation over segregation.  Love over prophecy.  Humility over casting out devils.  A heart that breaks from the weight of God’s love, over a fine series of wonderful works done for the credit, or the sense of duty that comes from the acceptance of doctrine, but not the author of doctrine.  The wolf has the arrogance to call for Jesus as Lord and believes he deserves a place in the Kingdom of God.  But he is mistaken.  The sheep knows full well they deserve no such honor.  To be given it, is to be given yet another gift of God that demonstrates just how great the love of God truly is.  Eternity given to us, is His mercy on display.  We can never earn it.  We can never even possibly hope to control it. 

So perhaps the call of Christ is to those wolves, and emerging wolves, that still attempt to sit in the congregation of sheep.  Perhaps the warning of Christ is to you and me, that it is not too late as yet.  There is still time to let go, to surrender, and to experience the peace only surrender can bring.  To abandon the work of iniquity even if done under the banner of Christianity.  To find the author of doctrine, rather than the form and fashion of doctrine.  The call of reconciliation echoes on even today, even for the “control obsessed”, even for the wolves.  It is still not too late.

And the Sermon was nearing an End …