“This Sermon is Not Yet Rated”
"This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of King David and of Abraham:" Matthew 1:1 (NLT
Intro: This sermon contains everything a box office hit movie would have, just not from the perspective you might be thinking.
It contains loyalty, betrayal, deceit, regret, secret rendezvous, back room deal, political corruption…and in the truest form of a good soap opera…, the main character gets killed off and miraculously returns on the next episode.
Continuing with Matthew 1 verse 2 on through verse 16 is a list of the generations from Abraham
to the birth of Jesus Christ the Messiah. One might think of this as the list of the credits
that would appear at the end of a movie…
Before I go on I want to share a little bit of humor.
A pastor had agonized all week over the Sunday morning sermon,
When he stood up to preach, he drew a complete blank
Just as he bowed his head to turn off his microphone and sit down
Someone reading the scripture came through the PA system
Then followed with a prayer
So the pastor decided to go along with it.
In fact he lip-synched the entire message.
Occasionally he would raise his hand and pointed toward heaven.
The congregation set up and took notice
There were several Amen’s.
And he even saw a couple of people wiping tears from their eyes…
Just as he thought he was about to get away with it…
The announcer came on and said,
Thank you for tuning in today…,
to the Billy Graham Ministry…, Radio Broadcast.
Since the early 1920’s when the first commercial Radio stations started broadcasting
and the 1940’s when the first commercial Television stations came on the air
Radio and Television have entertained, informed, educated, and shaped society and the culture around us.
The Motion Picture Association of America rates a film for suitability for certain audiences.
Anywhere from: G- General Audiences All ages admitted to
NC-17- No One 17 and Under Admitted
Television gives viewers an idea of the suitability of a program with a disclaimer such as:
"Viewer discretion advised."
"Intended for mature audiences only."
Some programs go from production to audience before they are submitted.
And are given the disclaimer: “This Film Is Not Yet Rated”
The title of today’s message is:
“This Sermon is Not Yet Rated”
We are going to talk about four things: Language, Drugs, Sex, and Violence
I hope this sermon will raise questions which encourage us to talk further about the meanings of our faith.
Let’s start out with Language
What do you call it when the church uses language that is supposed to be understood by everyone but is actually language that is not understood by seekers and non-believers?
I. Language_write beside it the word TRADITIONS
"And the people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery." Matthew 27:39 (NLT)
It was a tradition when someone was being crucified for there to be something like a parade.
People would line the streets to watch crucifixion.
If I were to ask you to describe the crucifixion to me,
you might use words like Cross, and Suffering, and Salvation.
Everyone knows what a cross looks like
Most of us can identify with suffering in some form or fashion
And Salvation is the centerpiece of Christianity
But do we understand the real meaning and true biblical nature of these words?
Language can be deceptive and confusing.
What means one thing to one person might have an entirely different meaning to someone else.
The language of religion and the church is perhaps the most misunderstood of all the languages of the world.
It is common for a church service to include words such as:
Grace, Baptism, Born again, Apostles Creed, Wesleyan
The hymns we sing include phrases like: (don’t get me wrong these are some of my favorite hymns) Here I raise mine Ebenezer---(Hebrew meaning “stone of help”) (Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing 400 UMH)
Cherbrim and Seraphim (Holy Holy Holy 64 UMH)
And angles prostrate fall (All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name 154 UMH)
Who is He in Yonder Stall (hymn 190 UMH)
We sing these hymn with passion and reverence
But I’m not sure that the newcomer to faith has a clue to what they mean…
Bible studies might tackle topics subjects such as: Judgment, Revelation, Dispensation, Tribulation. But what does all this mean?
What do we mean by Baptism.
You might be thinking about water…
But what about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit
It is common for people who have been members of the church for many years
to have difficulty explaining basic Christian beliefs of the church.
All of this confusion of language is further evidenced
by the changes that have taken place in the last couple of decades.
When we invite someone to church they may very well ask is our service Traditional, Contemporary or Blended?
In the past 12-15 years the church has begun to redefine the language it uses
Seeker sensitive and non-believer language…
Has replaced much of the fire and brimstone language of the 1800’s and early 1900’s revival days.
The latest trend is to “ReThink Church”
Church is supposed to be a spiritual place for you to ask questions…, discuss…, get involved and make a difference!
What is spirituality?
We don’t all have to experience it exactly the same way.
The church is made up of many different parts and people.
Look around you and think of it like many different doors.
“Doors come in all shapes and sizes.
There are big doors, and small ones, short doors and tall ones,
Doors come in all different colors and are made out of different materials such as wood, and metal, and stone.
Doors can also be opportunities, or they can become barriers,
Doors can be made to keep people out or opened to let people in…
What if we started re-thinking church as 10’s of thousands of different open doors…
Instead of having to walk through just one door
What if our language and our thinking were truly “open hearts, open minds, open doors?”
What language do you speak?
Let’s look next at what does the bible says about drugs?
II. Drugs write beside it the words VINEGAR WITH GALL
"They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof,
he would not drink." Matthew 27:34 (KJV)
A little old lady was amazed at how nice the young man was who lived next door.
He would often help her carry things in from her car or assist in her yard.
She finally asked the young man, "Son, how did you grow up to become such a fine young man?"
He replied, "Well, all during my childhood I had an ongoing drug problem."
The lady was shocked. "I can't believe that," she said.
The man smiled and said "Yes ma'am, it's true.
They drug me to church on Sunday morning,
they drug me to church on Sunday night,
and they drug me to church on Wednesday night!"
And those drugs are still in my system.
Vinegar mixed with Gall is generally understood to have been a type of narcotic that was used to deaden the pain. Roman soldiers were known to give people who were being crucified this mixture of drug so that that the person hanging on the cross would not resist and it would speed up the process of death.
The question we need to explore is why do people take drugs?
We know that drugs can be useful. Aspirin, Tylenol, vitamins, allergy medication, cholesterol, diabetes , blood pressure, heart pills. The list of helpful and healing applications goes on and on.
There are two Bible references to drugs.
The first one is here in Matthew 27:34
The second one is Galatians 5:20 uses the Greek word pharmakeia,
which is where we get the word pharmacy from.
But Galations 5:20 is not translated as helpful administering of drugs to make a person whole or to heal… But the word is translated as demonic or sorcery, Why?
Because people in the bible had already learned to abuse drugs.
It is safe to say that the majority of drug abuse…, is for recreation and entertainment…
And the bible says that that kind of pleasure of the flesh is pharmakeia.
Drug…, ABUSE…, is…, sin.
Jesus was in the middle of horrible pain and suffering…,
And yet Jesus refused to take any kind of mind altering drug.
Why?
I am convinced that it is because Jesus did not go to His death on the cross in some altered state of mind…
Jesus suffered death fully knowing what he was doing…
His judgment was not impaired,
Jesus died on the cross with clarity of thought.
Think about the words, “he would not drink” the wine mixed with bitter gall.
Jesus knew what he was doing…, when he went to the cross.
O.K. point number 3 here is the DISCLAIMER:
Because we do have children in the audience
I want you to know that that following is rated PG for parental guidance is needed.
While your child may have questions about certain words that they hear this morning
I do not intend to use language that they would not already have heard
or will hear…, in December.., which is just a few months away.
III. Sex write beside it the words VIRGIN BIRTH
"Now this is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit." Matthew 1:18 (NLT)
Christmas and the Apostle’s Creed may not be at all what you were thinking that I would talk about… But they are basic principles of the teachings of the church.
Every Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus…
We sing hymns, we exchange presents, we have Christmas pageants…
Christmas is not a dirty word.
The birth of Jesus had to be free from the fallen nature
that was passed down to all other human beings
because of Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden.
So God made it so that Mary became pregnant without (sex) physical contact.
The Apostle Creed says that we believe that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit
And was born of the Virgin Mary
By the Holy Spirit Jesus he was born without a human father.
By the Virgin Mary Jesus was born with a human mother.
This is the mystery of Jesus being fully human and fully divine.
Why are these two teachings so important to the Christian faith?
Hebrews 4:15 "This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses,
for he faced all of the same temptations we do, yet he did not sin." Hebrews 4:15 (NLT)
Because he is human he knows our every weakness…
Because he is human he understands our every experience…
Every struggle, every lust, every lure, every appeal of temptation,
every impure thought, every addiction, all of our ugliness,
all our bad habits…,
Jesus knows every sorrow,
Jesus understands our brokenness.
But because he is fully divine…
Because he is the Son of God
Then Jesus can heal,
He can relieve
He can forgive
He can restore your purity
He can rewrite and bleep out all the language
He can edit out all the addictions and bad habits.
Jesus can even take an “X rated” life…, and turn it back into a family show…
You may be thinking how is this possible?
Learn this lesson: Jesus has already been through all the Violence…
IV. Violence write beside it the word CRUCIFIXION
"And sitting down they watched him there;" Matthew 27:36 (KJV)
The crucifixion of Jesus is one of the most violent events in all of history.
Film critic Roger Ebert called “‘The Passion of the Christ’ the most violent film I have ever seen."
Nearly ten minutes of the movie is devoted to the flogging of Jesus.
He was beaten with 39 lashes of the whip
In an interview by Diane Sawyer's, Mel Gibson said:
I wanted it to be shocking; and I wanted it to be extreme ...
So that they see the enormity – the enormity of that sacrifice;
to see that someone could endure that and still come back with love and forgiveness…
On television now is the show “Horders Buried Alive”
a few weeks ago the show dealt with a Vietnam veteran and his obsession with hoarding
His house was piled to ceiling with junk.
There were walls of trash and garbage both inside and outside of his home…
The psychologist and therapist diagnosis was that some people who have gone through a traumatic event often build physical walls because they are not able to let go of their past….
Do you have any walls?
Closing: Life can be one big drama after another. So the temptation is to grow up relieving the past over and over again in our life. Life does not have to be a rerun or repeat of the same old episode. Jesus Christ calls us to a bolder and better lifestyle. God is able to tear down the walls of our past. When we show our faith in God supernatural doors will open up for us.
Will you pray for God to do a good work in you?
