Order, Words, & Voices
02.05.23 Astounded, Matthew 7
Order
Pre Worship Music
Opening Song Cornerstone Christian
Call to Worship Response/Lord’s Prayer Linda
Reading Matthew 7 Rick
Songs Build My Life Ashlyne
Message Astounded Rick
Music How Deep the Fathers Love for Us Christian
Way Maker Ashlyne
Community/Closing Peace Rick
Benediction Rick
Post Worship Music
Music (slides)
Cornerstone
Verse 1
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name
Chorus
Christ alone cornerstone
Weak made strong in the Saviour’s love
Through the storm He is Lord
Lord of all
Verse 2
When darkness seems to hide His face
I rest on His unchanging grace
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil
My anchor holds within the veil
Chorus
Christ alone cornerstone
Weak made strong in the Saviour’s love
Through the storm He is Lord
Lord of all
Interlude
He is Lord Lord of all
Chorus
Christ alone cornerstone
Weak made strong in the Saviour’s love
Through the storm He is Lord
Lord of all
Verse 3
When He shall come with trumpet sound
Oh may I then in Him be found
Dressed in His righteousness alone
Faultless stand before the throne
Chorus
Christ alone cornerstone
Weak made strong in the Saviour’s love
Through the storm He is Lord
Lord of all
Call to Worship/Lord’s Prayer (Slides)
Leader: Our Father who art in heaven
Response: Remind us, O God, that you are God and we are not
Leader: Our Father who art in heaven hallowed is thy name
Response: We are reminded, O God, that only you are holy
Leader: Our Father who art in heaven hallowed is thy name, thy Kingdom come, they will be done, on earth as it is in heaven
Response: We are reminded, O God, that you call us to be the salt and light
Leader: Give us this day our daily bread
Response: O God, we are ultimately dependent solely on you
Leader: And forgive us our trespasses
Response: O God, may we continually remember our imperfection
Leader: As we forgive those that trespass against us
Response: O God, may we continually remember our mutual need for your forgiveness
Leader: Please, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil
Response: We are reminded, O God, of our own vulnerability
Leader: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever
Response: It is not our will we trust, O God, it is your will we seek
Lord’s Prayer (Slides) ‘Join me in the prayer of Jesus’
Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, On Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses, while we forgive those who trespass against us. And, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Reading (Slides)
“Do not judge, so that you will not be judged – for you will be judged by the same standard of measurement you use to judge others.”
“How can you say to another, ‘I’m going to take the speck out of your eye’ yet you have huge logs in your own eye?’”
Start by taking the logs out of your own eye, and after you have removed all the things blocking your own view allowing you to have God’s perspective, you will then be ready to assist the other in taking the splinter out of their eye!”
“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, they will just trample them under their feet, and then turn on you, tearing you to pieces.”
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
“Would you give your child a stone when they ask for bread, or a snake when they ask for a fish? So, think about it, if you, being imperfect, know how to give the right gifts to your children, how much more will your God, your perfect Father, give good things to you when you ask!”
“Therefore, in everything and to everyone, treat others the same way you want them to treat you…after all, this is the Law and the truths from the Prophets.”
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the wide gate, which is the gate most choose, is wide and broad and leads to destruction. However, the narrow gate, the gate that leads to life, is constricted and few find it.
“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know the false prophets by their fruits – take a genuine investigation into the life lived by others before you follow them. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”
“Therefore, everyone who hears my words, and lives according to them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been grounded on the rock.”
When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were astounded at His teaching.
Matthew 7
Music (Slides)
Build My Life
Verse 1
Worthy of ev’ry song we could ever sing
Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring
Worthy of ev’ry breath we could ever breathe
We live for You
Verse 2
Jesus the name above ev’ry other name
Jesus the only one who could ever save
Worthy of ev’ry breath we could ever breathe
We live for You
We live for You
Chorus
Holy there is no one like You
There is none beside You
Open up my eyes in wonder and show me who You are
And fill me with Your heart
And lead me in Your love to those around me
Bridge
I will build my life upon Your love
It is a firm foundation
I will put my trust in You alone
And I will not be shaken
Chorus
Holy there is no one like You
There is none beside You
Open up my eyes in wonder and show me who You are
And fill me with Your heart
And lead me in Your love to those around me
Message – Astounded (Slides)
[Screen share – slide 1 – screen share through slide 4] Coach Herman Boone, stood facing an exhausted and defeated team sitting in the locker room of the 1971 state championship high school football game. As depicted in the movie ‘Remember the Titan’ the high school, and their community of Alexandria, VA had been forced to reckon with the very real deep seeded consequences of racism as they faced mandated desegregation in their school system. Hidden ugliness had erupted especially as even their beloved football teams were forced to integrate. That half time moment, standing before his team, Coach Boone knew that the very fact that they were there at all, and that this entire team sat side by side disregarding race – something that would have been unheard of six months ago, not to mention that their community was sitting in the bleachers side by side without regard for color, was all a miracle. But at this moment, this team was suffering, physically, emotionally, and mentally, they had been beaten up in the first half – a fact that the coach could not ignore. And now, he had to give a pep talk to these boys who were not ready in any sense to hear the words of the coach. Still he tried,
“It’s all right. We’re in a fight. You boys are doing all that you can do. Anybody can see that. Win or lose… We’re gonna walk out of this stadium tonight with our heads held high. Do your best. That’s all anybody can ask for.”
The coach struggled to find any words to adequately describe his pride in these boys, team leader Juilius interrupted the coach saying, “No, it ain’t Coach. With all due respect, you demanded more of us. You demanded perfection. Now, I ain’t saying that I’m perfect, ’cause I’m not. And I ain’t gonna never be. None of us are. But we have won every single game we have played till now. So this team is perfect. We stepped out on that field that way tonight. And, uh, if it’s all the same to you, Coach Boone, that’s how we want to leave it.”
Whether Julius’ words were inspired in that locker room, or if they were equally inspired words written in a screen writers office, they are words that give us insight into that moment – and, they are words that provide insight into Jesus final words spoken in his first sermon preached.
In Matthew 5-7, Jesus’ words left the listeners astounded. Words that are as pertinent today as they were then. Words that challenged the status quo, words that called people then, as well as people now, to a different standard.
Here is the thing, Julius, in that locker room was not talking to or about himself or the other players, he was not talking to or about the coaches, he was not even talking about their fan in the bleachers – Julius was talking to the team, the other players, the coaches, and even the fans.
“Now, I ain’t saying that I’m perfect, ’cause I’m not. And I ain’t gonna never be. None of us are. But we have won every single game we have played till now. So this team is perfect. “
[Quit screen share]
This is the sentiment of Jesus as he wraps up his first public message. He is standing in the midst of a people who have largely, up to this point, lived on the margins. Many are outcasts of society, rejected, considered unclean and unacceptable. Many in the audience are surely Jews but the fact that they are in an area with a huge gentile, non Jewish population, we know that there are many outside of the Jewish faith sitting in the crowd. They are all victims of the Roman oppressors and, at the same time, they are all trying to placate their own religious institutions and expectations. They have come to accept their own hopelessness, that their lives will only get more difficult. This crowd knows that the scoreboard is telling the world they are losers, they are all well aware of their status and their lack of worth.
This group of people, a group that was not acceptable and a team that could not really fully accept each other, this group is Jesus’ team. This is the people who have unknowingly been waiting for this sermon their entire lives, and these are words their ancestors waited for all of their lives. Words that are still the words our world awaits even today.
[Slide 5 – Screen Share through Slide 11]
Let’s go to the end of Christ’s message to better understand the message itself. Gregory Brown says, “Here at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Christ gives his conclusion—the application of his sermon. Jesus is calling all listening to choose which path they will take, which kingdom they will be a part of. No one is born into God’s kingdom, at least not by natural means. It matters not if one’s parents were Christians, if they were baptized or dedicated as infants, no one enters until they have made a decision to enter.”
(Gregory Brown, Chaplain and Professor at Handong Global University and Teaching pastor at Handong International Congregation)
[Slide 5]
Dietrich Bonhoffer encapsulates Jesus’ purpose as a telling of ‘the extraordinary character of being a disciple of Jesus, one who chooses to be nothing less than a visible alternative to the world. Jesus’ message begins displaying the simple and hidden character of the life to which the disciples are called.’ (Hauerwas, Matthew, p.84)
Jesus began this first public message redefining those who are blessed as being the poor, the mourners, the gentle, the hungry, the thirsty, the merciful, the pure, the peacemakers, the persecuted and the insulted – he is talking to the people sitting before him. Then, Jesus raised the bar on the familiar commandments of the law, hatred became murder and lust became adultery. Faith was moved from the required minimal obligations of an institution to the core of each listeners’ heart and mind.
[Slide 6]
Then Jesus focused on the act of prayer. Moving it from an act of repetition requiring no personal sacrifice or introspection to being a personal and sincere act. Prayer is more about God speaking to us than about us talking to God. Prayer is used by God to open our eyes, to remind us of truth, and to empower us to trust God. A reminder that God is God and that we are not God.
[Slide 7]
The Saint Sebastian monks, every morning at 4:00 am recite this prayer, “God is with me, God is within me, God is not me. Amen”
[Slide 8]
The spiritual act of prayer is a finite practice of remembering that we are finite human beings somehow connected to an infinite God. Prayer connects us to God, to ourselves, and to each other. We can only know and understand who we are in relation to who God is. We can only know who we are not, in relation to who God is.
[Slide 9]
“Prayer is our admission that even our best intentions as individuals and as a community can still have devastating consequences because we are not gods.” (Topper)
[Slide 10]
This is why we pray to God, “Your will be done, Your Kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven.”
[Slide 11]
Then, we arrive at chapter 7 where Jesus wraps up his sermon by detailing how we must live in God’s Kingdom while also existing in the ‘just as real’ world of fallen humanity. Remember, Jesus is talking to those who either are believers or are contemplating becoming believers, followers of this Jesus. He is talking to his team. This is not about the world outside, it is not about the behavior of those who have rejected this team, it is not about convincing or forcing a manner of believing and living on those who did not make this choice. Jesus is now talking to what will become the church. And oddly, it is here that Jesus begins with the negative instruction, “Do Not Judge.”
[Stop Screen Share]
Now this isn’t an ‘anything goes’ command. Jesus is not saying that we are to disregard our pursuit of justice, because that would completely violate the prophecy of Micah. Jesus is not saying that we should cease to condemn gossip and slander because that would totally invalidate Paul’s teaching on unity. Jesus is, however, talking about judging people for who they are, their color, their culture, their backgrounds, their ancestors, their economic status, their social status, their religious status, their relationships, their education, their vocation, their religion, their faith practices, and judging because we simply do not understand another or when we are uncomfortable around another.
Why ‘do not judge’? Because it blocks our own vision, it distorts our perspective, it blinds us to those that God loves. A log in our eye hinders us from being able to remove a speck in the eye of another – or to even really understand their speck.
Jesus is talking to a community, a community called to be salt and light to the world, a world that includes new communities outside of themselves and ourself. ‘Do not judge’ is a call to be a team, not always in agreement, but to support and encourage each other – to love each other. For just as we cannot love each other unless we love God, we also cannot love God if we do not love each other.
Jesus is sending this new team out on the field telling us to genuinely look at ourself, to take the log out of our eyes so we can see. No longer looking at how we can fix each other and instead to look at our ourself so that we can love each other, and in doing that, so we can love God and be open to God’s Spirit to begin the work of transforming us.
Then, it is in recognizing the depth of Jesus’ instructions we surprisingly find ourself already in the process of seeking, searching, and knocking. Not just knowing the words of God, not just accepting the life of the Son, not just looking for the leading of the Spirit. It is a change of perspective, a reordering of priorities, and a vulnerable acceptance of our need for God in the same way everyone else needs God.
Jesus is calling us to be available to God’s transforming power. Jesus is talking to his team, a team that will learn from him and then, we will be salt and light pointing others to Jesus through their lives.
“Therefore, in everything and to everyone, treat others the same way you want them to treat you…after all, this is the Law and the truths from the Prophets.”
I end with the poetry of Erin Conaway, pastor of Seventh and James Baptist Church in Waco, TX. poetry/prayer inspired by Jesus’ first sermon,
When we see the world through your eyes alone we start to care for our neighbors, and the strangers, and the widows, and the orphans, and the drug addicts, and the sinners, and the tax collectors, and the lazy ones, and the suffering ones
There grows within us an enmity of self, a division of ego, and your call to love
Self interest wont give way to love without a war
So, when we get it and when we let it cover us
When we love beyond what’s good for me
When we stand up for others who cannot stand up for us
When we give and live as you called us to do
Conflict, Angst, Tension, Lashing Out, Fights,
They happen within us as well as between us
And, that is when you want us to consider heaven over earth
And to keep working, keep persevering, keep giving, keep loving
Until we get there or until things are here as they are there
Whichever comes first
Bless us merciful one
Fill us with the wholeness with which we were created
Bring Joy in our hearts as you describe it on your terms,
in your way and in your name
Music
How Deep The Father’s Love For Us
Verse 1
How deep the Father’s love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure
How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory
Verse 2
Behold the Man upon a cross
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished
Verse 3
I will not boast in anything
No gifts no pow’r no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection
Why should I gain from His reward
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom
Way Maker
Verse 1
You are here moving in our midst
I worship You I worship You
You are here working in this place
I worship You I worship You
Chorus
(You are) Way Maker Miracle Worker Promise Keeper
Light in the darkness my God that is who You are
Verse 2
You are here touching ev’ry heart
I worship You I worship You
You are here healing ev’ry heart
I worship You I worship You
Verse 3
You are here turning lives around
I worship You I worship You
You are here mending ev’ry heart
I worship You yeah I worship You Lord
Chorus
(You are) Way Maker Miracle Worker Promise Keeper
Light in the darkness my God that is who You are
Tag
That is who You are
That is who You are
That is who You are
That is who You are
Bridge
Even when I don’t see it You’re working
Even when I don’t feel it You’re working
You never stop You never stop working
You never stop You never stop working
Chorus
(You are) Way Maker Miracle Worker Promise Keeper
Light in the darkness my God that is who You are
Tag
That is who You are
That is who You are
That is who You are
That is who You are
Community
- Next Sunday, Matthew 13:24-43, Seeds: Good/Bad
- Wednesdays Noon Bible Study, February 22-April 5, Lenten Season
- Spring Gathering, March 26
- San Francisco Immersion Trip, May 17-22, if interested speak w/Rick
Benediction (Blank Slide)
May we go with Jesus’ radical words ‘Happy are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are gentle, those who hunger and thirst, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who have been persecuted. May we go, with the challenge to be salt and light, to be a light shining before others and in so doing, may we see with God’s eyes and glorify God.
Closing Peace
Leader: May the Peace of the Lord go with you.
Response: And also with you.
Order, Words, & Voices 