OPEN One night a teenage girl brought her new boyfriend home to meet her parents, and they were appalled by his appearance: leather jacket, motorcycle boots, tattoos and pierced nose.
Later, the parents pulled their daughter aside and confessed their concern.
"Dear," said the mother diplomatically, "he doesn’t seem very nice."
"Oh, Mom," replied the daughter, "if he wasn’t nice, why would he be doing 500 hours of community service?"
APPLY: Now, why was this guy doing 500 hours of community service?
Because he probably WASN’T very nice.
He was NOT the kind of boy this mother wanted her girl going out with.
That mother was right!
And how did she know he wasn’t the right guy for her daughter?
Because of… his markings.
Now, in our text this morning, we’re reading about an entirely different kind of “marking. Deuteronomy describes a marking that only special people had.
"If a fellow Hebrew, a man or woman, sells himself to you and serves you six years, in the seventh year you must let him go free. And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed. Supply him liberally from your flock, your threshing-floor and your winepress. Give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you.
Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today. But if your servant says to you, "I do not want to leave you," because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, then take an awl and push it through his ear lobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your maidservant.” Deuteronomy 15:12-17
In our society, a person who gets into financial trouble goes on Welfare. But in early Israel, they had a little different kind of Welfare.
· 1st, God demanded that His people have compassion on the poor and help them.
· Then, He commanded that a certain portion of the Temple tithe was to go to help those struggling financially.
· Then, He also required that a certain portion of fields and vineyards were set aside for the needy to collect food. The poor were allowed to glean what they needed from the unharvested parts of fields.
But, if an Israelite found this wasn’t enough to meet his/her needs, they had one last option open to them. They could sell themselves into slavery and the money from being sold into slavery would be used to pay off the person’s debts.
Now this slavery was only be for a limited amount of time.
God decreed that after serving 6 years, these slaves were to be set free.
AND once they were freed - they were NOT to be sent away empty-handed.
The master was commanded by God to send these former slaves on their way, with a liberal supply of sheep, grain, and drink, so they would have a small nest egg to restart their lives.
But what if this slave didn’t want to be set free?
What if he wanted to stay with his master?
What if, as Deuteronomy 15:16 says “your servant says to you, ‘I do not want to leave you,’ because he loves you and your family and is well off with you…”?
Well, then, God allowed the slave to make the relationship permanent. And the way this relationship became permanent was that the servant was voluntarily “marked” for the rest of his life.
As Deuteronomy 15:17 says: “then take an awl and push it through his ear lobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your maidservant.”
Now, I know a lot of people it’s common for people to have their ears pierced, and their noses, and their belly buttons and their tongues. But I’m just gonna tell you. As far as I’m concerned… that’s just plain dumb.
There’s no way I’d go thru that much pain to put a new hole in my body that God didn’t design my body to have.
But the slave did it deliberately.
He CHOSE to have this mark placed on him.
And he chose that mark because he loved his master and he didn’t want to leave him.
Now, how does that apply to us?
Well, Romans 10:9 says “…if you confess with your mouth, ‘JESUS IS LORD,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
In the days of Jesus, if you called someone your LORD, you were saying they owned you.
They were your master.
They decided where you lived, where you worked, how you spent your time, who you spent your time with, and on and on and on.
Now, most slaves in Jesus day had no choice.
In those days, slaves were slaves forever.
Their only hope was that their master would set them free.
Otherwise: once you were a slave you were always a slave.
But in Romans 10, God is telling us that you can choose to be Jesus’ servant.
You get to choose if Jesus is going to be your Lord/Master.
You get to choose whether or not you will serve Him.
You get to choose if you will allow Him to have ownership of your life.
BUT – that choice is the only way you get to stay with Jesus.
If you sign up to be a Christian it’s pretty much all or nothing.
Becoming a Christian means – Jesus owns you.
ILLUS: When a person wants to become a Christian I explain faith, repent, confession, baptism, etc. but I especially dwell on this “Lordship/Master” thing. I pull out my wallet and I explain: “Confessing Jesus as Lord means that Jesus owns everything I have.”
He owns whatever money I might have (I spend it… but it’s His)
I’m spending God’s money (movies/books/cable/magazines)
He owns my retirement fund/ 401K, etc.
He owns my house/ car/ clothes on my back
He owns mind/heart/soul
Then I turn to the pictures in my wallet… and I point out my children, and I say: As a Christian your children belong to Jesus/ They are His, not yours. AND Your wife/husband belongs to Jesus too.
I Peter 3:7 says “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.”
God takes this seriously. If a husband mistreats his wife (or a wife her husband) God WILL NOT listen to their prayers. When we turn our lives over to Him… He expects ALL of our lives, not just part.
Now, I want you to notice what part of the servant God wanted pierced in Deuteronomy.
Do you remember? (the ear)
“…take an awl and push it through his ear lobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life.” Deuteronomy 15:17
The Ear?
Why the ear?
ILLUS: I remember reading about a woman talking with her husband at breakfast table about their son: “It sure is a lot easier to get Junior up for school since he got his nose ring.”
Now, what was that mother saying?
She was saying she was using that nose ring to get her boy’s attention. He might not LISTEN to her… but he’d FEEL her eagerness for him to get up.
God chose the ear of the servant because - in this ceremony (where the awl was pushed thru) - the servant was declaring to his master = he was going to “listen” to him the rest of his life.
What the master said would be Law to him.
He would be eager to “hear” and obey.
When you and I became Christians we declared to God… we’re going to listen to YOU. YOUR voice (God) is going to be the ONLY voice that gets our full attention.
Now this kind of LISTENING implies more than just HEARING what God says. This kind of Listening is a listening that says “I not only hear, I will obey!”
ILLUS: Too often, churchgoers can become “spiritual hitchhikers”.
Have you ever been driving along the road when suddenly you saw a hitchhiker ahead?
What’s the universal symbol of the hitchhiker? (his thumb)
His thumb signal is giving a message loud and clear,
"If you will furnish the car, the gasoline, the time and do the driving, I’ll ride with you.
But, you’re ’nuts’ if you think that I’m gonna chip in with any gas money; by the way, if you have an accident and I’m injured, I’ll sue you for everything you have."
In the same way, in just about every congregation you’ll find these “spiritual hitchhikers”.
They essentially say to God "If I’m comfortable. If I’m happy. If I like the preaching, the song service, and I like people… then I’ll SIT at church and take it all in.
But you’re crazy if you think that I’m gonna chip in with any real financial support. Nor will I be involved with personal work, visitation, benevolence, etc., etc. And - by the way - if anything happens that irritates me, I’m outta here!
So, on my own terms, I’ll ride along with you, God"
In other words… that person says “I’ll listen to you God BUT I’m not going to obey You. I’m not going to work for You. I’m not going to sacrifice for You. I am here in church to be entertained and satisfied… and that’s it. This is MY Christianity… and I’ll do it on MY terms. (adapted from an article by Maurice C. Hall; Whittier. CA)
That kind of servant isn’t really “marked” for obedience.
They just have ears that want to be tickled… not pierced
And frankly, I’m not sure I’d want to be that kind of servant
Jesus said: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” John 15:1-2
I’d rather be the servant who hears and obeys.
I’d rather NOT be the branch that God cuts off and throws away.
JUST SAYING…
Now, there’s something else to worth repeating. This piercing of the ears was a VOLUNTARY act. The servant DID NOT have to do it.
So, why did he do it?
Did he do it out of FEAR?
Oh no…
Deuteronomy 15:16-17 says “But if your servant says to you, ‘I do not want to leave you,’ because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, then take an awl and push it through his ear lobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life...”
Why did the servant allow his ear lobe to be pierced?
Because he LOVED the master and he loved His family.
In the same way, the only reason for someone to become a Christian and live for Jesus is because they love Him so much - and they love His family (the church) - so much that they can’t think of doing anything else with their lives.
Jesus said “He who does not love me will not obey my teaching” John 14:24.
BUT “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me…" John 14:21
"If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching…” John 14:23
“If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. John 15:10
The good servant obeys Jesus… because he loves Him.
So the question this morning for you is this… do you REALLY love Jesus?
I’m not asking the question to make you feel guilty.
And I’m not asking because I think you need to fill some quota of good deeds.
I’m just asking: are you so consumed with love for Jesus that you literally want to please Him in everything you do?
Now, two more things:
1st – it says here in Deuteronomy 15 that the servant was marked for life.
Are you are marked?
Well, yeah. Once you became a Christian… God marked you.
Ephesians 1:13-14 says “… you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, YOU WERE MARKED in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession— to the praise of his glory.”
Really!
God has placed His Spirit inside of every Christian.
And when God looks at you, He looks to see His Spirit inside of you.
But that Spirit is not just some dormant mark on our body.
That Spirit is given to us to guide us, teach us, rebuke us, comfort us, pray with us. God’s Spirit is an active power force that dwells within you and I to strengthen us and help us as we walk beside God.
And when do we get that Holy Spirit?
Ephesians says “Having believed”
Now, there are churches that say that this is all you have to do.
They lead people in a “Sinner’s Prayer” and have them ask Jesus into their hearts.
Now, I like that idea. It’s very appealing.
But there’s just one small problem with that approach.
Do you know what it is? (That’s right – this Sinner’s Prayer is not found taught ANYWHERE in Scripture).
Besides, we already discovered that God requires us to “confess that Jesus is our Lord.” That action alone requires more than jus “faith”. It requires a conscious decision to act on that faith.
Additionally, it doesn’t match the symbolism of Deuteronomy 15. To say that faith alone saves you would be like having the servant in Deuteronomy 15 simply “declare” that he/she wanted to belong to their Master… and stop there.
But that servant wasn’t allowed to “stop” with a simple declaration, and neither are we. The crowd at Pentecost interrupted Peter’s sermon to ask “What shall we do?” To which Peter replied: Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Acts 2:38
Faith should lead us to repent and be baptized.
Now this makes sense for two reasons.
1st – the servant who had his earlobe pierced surrendered something.
He surrendered all his past to his master (not going back to his old life)
When we repent… we surrender all of our past to God.
We declare to God that we are turning away from the way we used to live. We don’t have any desire to go back that old way of life.
And we turn toward God.
That’s what repentance is. Repent means to turn. Turn away from our way of life and turn to God.
2ndly – The servant’s ear was pierced.
When you became a Christian, do you remember having of your body parts pierced?
No?
Come to think of it, I don’t remember that being part of what we do here.
You and I did NOT have any body parts pierced to become a Christian.
Hmmm.
We didn’t have any body parts pierced.
(pause) Oh! We didn’t.
But somebody else did.
Who had His body pierced?
Well, it was Jesus
Jesus WAS pierced for us.
Isaiah 53:5 say “… he was PIERCED for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
We weren’t pierced to belong to Him.
He was pierced so WE COULD belong to Him.
And where did that piercing take place?
On the cross… where He died for our sins.
So we did NOT have our body pierced to belong to Christ.
Jesus had His pierced so that He could buy us for Himself.
But the beauty of the salvation act is that God allows us to identify with what Jesus did on that cross.
(We showed a graphic on the overhead that showed the cycle of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Like the one found at http://www.whybaptism.org/images/Gospel_Enacted.jpg)
Notice that Jesus died, was buried and rose from the grave.
When we’re baptized into Christ, we go through exactly the same process:
1. We die to our sins
2. Our bodies are buried in watery grave.
3. And we are raised from that grave to walk in newness of life.
That precisely what Romans 6:3-5 says when it declares: “don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.”
INVITATION
