March 11, 2007

The Confidence of Jesus

Luke 4:17-30

            Sgt. Juanita Wilson was on patrol outside Baghdad when a roadside bomb exploded beneath her vehicle.  She was trying to help her driver after the explosion when she felt something unusual.  When she looked down, her hand was gone.  Less than two years after her injury, she is demonstrating her commitment to her country once again.  CBS News featured her on their American Hero series.  Wilson has learned to function with her prosthetic left hand and is back at work at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington — the same hospital where she did her own recovery and rehabilitation.  She has a Purple Heart for her bravery, and you might think she would want to stay home with her husband and their 7-year-old daughter.  But Wilson has reenlisted in the Army Reserves and is expecting to return to Iraq.  She told the interviewer: “Many may say that I’ve sacrificed quite a bit.  I don’t really look at it that way.  I don’t think I’ve sacrificed enough.  I don’t think that you can sacrifice enough for the freedoms of America.”  She said, “I’m a soldier.  I love what I do.  I love serving my country.” 

            I wish I had that kind of courage.  You have to wonder what the mindset is of someone like Juanita Wilson.  From where does her confidence come?  I suspect that faith may play a part in it.  It takes courage to march with confidence into the face of danger.  And as I read the New Testament, I see Jesus doing this over and over. 

            One example was the story we read together in the Scripture today.  As Jesus tried to minister to the people of his hometown, they became offended at him.  The general feeling was, “Who does he think he is?”  And their irritation escalated to anger.  They began to think he should not be allowed to live any longer.  They dragged him to the edge of a cliff and intended to throw him over.  But Jesus was completely unintimidated.  He simply and confidently walked through the mob that was intent on killing him.  He saw danger and walked right through it. 

            At another time, Jesus was teaching and the crowds again became angry.  The Bible says, “At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds” (John 8:59).  When he told the truth it often threw people into a frenzy.  Thomas Sowell said it right when he wrote, “It’s amazing how much panic one honest man can spread among a multitude of hypocrites.”

            What gave Jesus this amazing sense of fearless confidence as he walked through life?  This morning we want to consider some of the sources of his confidence, that we might have greater confidence in life ourselves.  First of all: His mind was set on who he was.  Jesus knew his identity and his destiny.  With all the hostility Jesus faced, it would have been easy to begin to think that you really were the horrible person everyone was saying you were.  The people of his hometown thought he was the illegitimate son of Mary.  His birth had caused a stir in his hometown, and caused the local folk to look down on his family.  And now he was talking like he was a biblical scholar who had been trained in Jerusalem, but they knew that was impossible.  They could not figure out the source of his learned and gracious words.  They thought that perhaps he had lost his mind.  How else would you explain his confidence which came across to them as arrogance?  Worse yet, it sounded like he was being subversive to the nation.  Regardless, they thought he was so bad he deserved to die.  And these were folks who knew him —  people he had grown up around.  These were not the politically motivated and powerful who wanted him out of their way.  These were friends of the family. 

            But Jesus knew who he was.  He was not Joseph’s son, he was God’s son.  He knew he was legitimate.  He knew who he was and who his Father was.  And even though they thought he was a criminal who was worthy of death, he held his head high and lived with the confidence of who he was. 

            One of the great stories which illustrates the confidence of Jesus, based on who he was, was when Jesus was in a boat during a storm.  The Bible tells the story like this: “A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.  Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.  The disciples woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’  He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet!  Be still!’  Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.  He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid?  Do you still have no faith?’” (Mark 4:37-40).  The storm was raging, and Jesus was peacefully sleeping.  Others were in full panic mode, he was unshaken.  The storm did not define the moment, he did.  He was secure in who he was. 

            Later, another storm arose, and the disciples were alone in the boat.  Jesus came walking toward them on the water, and they were frozen with fear.  Their screams went out across the water.  But he said to them, “Take courage!  It is I.  Don’t be afraid.”  And it says, “Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down.  They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened” (Mark 6:50-52).  Jesus knew who he was.  He said, “Take courage!  It is I.” 

            This is what we are called to as well.  Certainly, we are not the Son of God, but we are children of God, created by him, loved by him and redeemed by him.  We have eternal value and sacred worth.  We were made in the image of God.  The Bible says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27).  Don’t forget who you are.  You are not a pawn being played by people or fate.  If you only believe what other people say about you, it will be impossible to live with confidence.  If you don’t know who you are, and that you are valuable to God, you will live in uncertainty and fear.  You will not only have a distorted view of who you are, but your view of the world and your place in it will be distorted as well.  Confidence and peace will flee from you.  Set your mind on who you are in God. 

            The second source of the confidence of Jesus was: His mind was set on his goal.  Jesus not only knew who he was, he knew the purpose for which he was here.  He understood his destiny and he was determined to fulfill it.  He said, “I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed!” (Luke 12:50).  His goal was not easy, but it was important, and he set his face like a flint until he reached it. 

            Jesus understood his mission and why he was here.  When public opinion was turning against him and he was about to be crucified, there were those who tried to persuade him to stay away from Jerusalem to protect himself.  But the Bible says, “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51).  He did not let the thinking or the plans of others make him forget who he was and what he had come to do. 

            As Jesus was praying in the garden, the soldiers came to arrest him.  Peter drew his sword and struck one of the servants of the high priest.  But Jesus said to him, “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?  But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?” (Matthew 26:47-54).  He could have called more than twelve legions of angels, but he did not.  He did not avoid his goal, he drove toward it. 

            Jesus understood his purpose from Scripture.  His confidence was driven by the goal that was before him.  Even when Judas came up to him and gave him a kiss of greeting, Jesus’ response was, “Friend, do what you came for.”  The swords and clubs of the soldiers do not bother him.  In fact, he speaks to the soldiers as though he is in charge.  He says to them, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me?  Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me.  But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled” (Matthew 26:55-56).  Jesus knew who he was, and he knew what he had come to do. 

            Another example was the time Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath.  His enemies had planted a man with a deformed hand in the congregation to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath.  Their plan was to accuse him of wrong, turn people against him and eventually have cause to condemn him to death.  But, knowing this, Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”  And the Bible says, “Then Jesus asked them, ‘Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?’  But they remained silent.  He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’  He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.  Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus” (Mark 3:1-6).  Their moral, ethical and spiritual values were so twisted that they were infuriated that Jesus would heal on the Sabbath, but they thought nothing of their actions — to plan the murder of Jesus on the Sabbath.  But it made no difference.  Jesus was determined to fulfill his goal of doing good, and he did it.  Because of the confidence his goal gave him, he never wavered.  He was confident God’s will would be done, even though his will might not be, and that was what he desired. 

            The third source of the confidence of Jesus was: His mind was set on God.  Jesus did not pay much attention to the political powers of the day, because his mind was set on God.  In fact, one day people came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else.  Herod wants to kill you.”  But Jesus replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’  In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day — for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!” (Luke 13:31-33).  Does that sound like fear to you?  No, it is rock-solid confidence.  His mind was not on Herod, his mind was set on God.  He was not thinking about political powers or political correctness, he was thinking of what God wanted him to do.  Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34).  He said, “I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38). 

            Nowhere do we see the quiet and humble confidence of Jesus more than in the last week of his life.  The Bible says, “The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus.  Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.  After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him” (John 13:2-5).  His confidence, even in the presence of an enemy, even in the presence of impending danger, enabled him to have a servant spirit.  His confidence did not result in pride, but in humble service.  His confidence led him to the cross, in the greatest self-sacrificial act the world has ever known. 

            This is the same kind of quiet, humble confidence that Jesus’ followers are to have.  For Jesus said, “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:50).  In fact, the beatitudes are all about having confidence in life.  Jesus said, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.  Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.  Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.  Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.  Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven” (Luke 6:20-23).  Have confidence.  Don’t worry, be happy, because even if you are poor, you are going to be rich.  Even if you are weeping, you are going to laugh out loud.  Even if you are excluded, you are going to be included in God’s family.  Even if you are hated, you will be washed over with God’s love. 

            Julian of Norwich was fond of saying, “All is well and all manner of things will be well.”  When our minds are set on God, there is a realization that all things are well, and all manner of things will be well.  Jesus lived with the sense of the presence of God, and he calls us to do the same.  The Bible says, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe” (Hebrews 12:28). 

            The Heidelberg Catechism has the follower of Christ say: “In life and in death, I belong to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.”  Our mind is set on God because he is faithful and trustworthy.  The Bible says, “The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). 

            Chuck Colson tells this amazing story: “NBC has been running a gripping series on the emergency military triage facilities in Iraq.  Last Thursday, NBC showed wounded Iraqi insurgents [terrorists] being brought to Camp Speicher near Tikrit.  Two of them had been caught placing an explosive device on a nearby road, intending to kill Americans, when a U.S. helicopter opened fire on them.  The U.S. medical team moved heaven and earth to save their lives.  One insurgent, however, was not going to survive unless he got thirty pints of blood.  But the base was low on blood.  The call went out for volunteer donors; minutes later, dozens of G.I.s had lined up.  At the head of the line was a battle-hardened soldier named Brian Suam.  Asked if it mattered that his blood was going to an insurgent, he smiled and said, no — “A human life is a human life.”  . . .We have a story that makes us realize just how deeply embedded within American life is our Judeo-Christian heritage.  This heritage teaches that human life is sacred — even the life of an enemy who falls into our hands.” 

            The confidence of Jesus gives us the confidence to do good – even to our enemies.  The whole idea is as Jesus said, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11).  Joy comes when your mind is set on who you are in God; it comes when your mind is set on God’s goal and his will for your life; it comes when your mind is set on God.  This confidence will give you the power to serve, to be filled with joy and to inherit eternal life. 

Rodney J. Buchanan

March 11, 2007

Mount Vernon, OH
www.MulberryUMC.org
Rod.Buchanan@MulberryUMC.org