"A COURAGEOUS CONFRONTER"
MATTHEW 3:5-10 AND MARK 6:17-20
INTRODUCTION:
How many of you are familiar with the X-Men? They are another of the superheroes of Marvel Comic fame and have been the stars of two blockbuster films for 20th Century Fox and “X-Men 3" is scheduled for release in May of next year.
The “X-Men” are a little different than our other Superhero sagas. Rather than being a cape crusader or possessing super powers because of a spider bite or even being from another planet, X-Men’s premise is that certain people have mutated within their species to have superhuman powers. The two main characters are Professor Charles Xavier, the good guy known as Prof. X, and Eric Lensherr, the bad guy, known as Magneto. Eric was a part of the holocaust where people, because they were “different,” were treated inhumanely. Now, as a mutant, Eric sees normal humans headed down that road again against them and he’s one angry mutant. He wants to destroy all homo sapiens and only the X-Men, a team of mutant superheroes stands in his way. In X-Men 2 a group of regular humans led by a father who saw his son become a mutant wants to eradicate the mutant population and toward the end of the film has convinced the President to help. The X-men have done everything in their power to bring about the end to the bad apples in the mutant contingency and do not want any additional problems. But by the end of the movie Professor Xavier realizes that the only way to prevent an all out war between the humans and the mutants is to confront the President with the truth.
VIDEO CLIP - X-MEN 2 - Start: Chap. 37 - 1:58:25 - End: 2:02:05 - 3:45
Now, I rather doubt that in any confrontation you may have that superheroes will be by your side to manipulate time and weather; nor do I think many of us will have the chance to confront the President. But all of us, from time to time, have opportunities to confront someone who is either about to be wrong, are wrong or are wronging others. Maybe you have someone in your family who is addicted to drugs and you’re not sure how to approach them. Maybe you have a friend who you see going down a wrong road but don’t know what to say. Maybe your child is being rebellious and you know that hurt and heartache lie around the corner but you don’t know what to do. Now, unlike that clip where there was some obvious intimidation - “We will be watching” we want to look at our Biblical Superhero, John the Baptist, and take a cue from him as to how to confront others. John is one of the greatest examples in history of a courageous confronter and can be a great help when we need to be the same.
I. CONFRONTING OTHERS: Matthew 3:5--10
I want to begin by looking at our hero and seeing his confrontation of others. First, he confronted those who were doing wrong in his sphere of influence: the religious leaders. Matthew tells us that people from everywhere were coming to hear John’s message. Vs:6- "People from Jerusalem and from all over the Jordan Valley, and, in fact, from every section of Judea went out to the wilderness to hear him preach, 6and when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River." Then look at vs:7- "But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptized, he denounced them. “You brood of snakes!” he exclaimed. “Who warned you to flee God’s coming judgment?" I want us to grasp what’s going on here. John is at the peak of his popularity. People are flocking to see and hear him. He was the talk of Judea. So much so that the religious leaders came out to investigate. Now, the presence of these religious leaders could of been flattering to John. To equate this visit with our day.. It would be like the seminary professors, the religious editors, the famous preachers: Rick Warren, Billy Graham, all coming to listen. This was John’s chance to make a favorable impression.
You know, we are taught in speech class that there is a proper way to address dignitaries: "Mister Chairman," "Madam Prime Minister," "Distinguished guests.." Shouldn’t of John said, "Illustrious Pharisees," "Honorable Priests, Distinguished keepers of the Law. I am both honored and humbled by your presence here today.” Well, John blew that protocol! He basically says in vs:7: "Hey snakes! Who tipped you off that without God you’re in deep trouble?" Whoa! You’re not going to find that in the Dale Carnegie course on “How to win friends and influence people.”‘
But John was into telling the truth. And not only does he call them names but he tells them.. they have to repent! Now, maybe those of you not in ministry don’t know this, but let me share a little secret: Those of us who are spiritual leaders often don’t like to be told we need to get more spiritual, let alone repent. Because after all we are the leaders.. we set the standards.. we are the examples.. “Why would we need spiritual adjustment.” That’s not what John thought. He told these leaders that they needed to change their ways or else. Vs:10- "Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever your roots." John is telling it to them straight. Remember John is preparing the way for the Jesus. And I’m sure he’s addressing some of the same religious leaders who will crucify Jesus three years later. So there is an urgency in his voice.. He is warning them, for their soul’s sakes. Can you imagine how incensed these guys were? But, you see, John placed saving souls over popularity. He didn’t care what they thought of him.. they were in danger and he wanted to warn them.
Now, interestingly, John didn’t talk to the average Jew like this. You don’t see him this stern or intense with the non-leader. Why? Well, one reason we just mentioned. Sometimes leaders can get to the point that they think they are immune to sin and they need a wake-up call from a spiritually mature person. But there is also a general Biblical principle at work here: you talk to people differently depending where they are spiritually. You don’t start talking computer programming language, hex editors and C++ Visual Basic, with the person who just bought their first computer. John was gentler with the non-leaders but he let the religious elite know that they were not setting the right standard for others, so he confronted them.
A second demonstration of John’s courage in confronting sin is when he confronts King Herod. Herod was a Jew and a politician. He was only a figure-head King.. he had no subjects.. And John had a problem with him. Mk. 6:18- "For Herod had sent soldiers to arrest and imprison John because he kept saying it was wrong for the king to marry Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife."(LB) Now, this is probably going to be very hard for us to identify with, but.. .. the politicians in John’s day were often involved in scandal. In this case, Herod was married to his half-brother Philip’s wife without her ever getting a divorce. William Barclay tells us that this woman apparently married Philip because of his wealth and then left him to marry Herod because he had more power and money. That’s enterprising but displeasing to God. Everyone knew that was going on but tolerated it. “After all - what two consenting adults do behind doors is a private matter, right? After all, what he does in private is not going to effect his public service is it?” John thought it did. Herod and Herodias, like many today has come to the place where as Judges 17:6 says: "..people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes." And in our culture it’s intolerant to say different.
But John had the courage to do so. Notice in vs:18 he - "kept telling Herod.." John kept bringing this issue up. We’re not sure if he talked to Herod privately (I think he did) but he didn’t pull any punches publicly saying, "Stop! What you’re doing is wrong." And the last part of vs:20 is interesting because it says that Herod, although being confronted, liked listening to John. "Herod was disturbed whenever he talked to John, but even so, he liked listening to him." Why would you like to listen to someone who was criticizing your lifestyle? There is something strangely uncomfortable yet comforting about the truth. How many times have I had people say to me, "Boy, you stepped on my toes." "Preacher, have you bugged my house? You been reading my mail? " And Herod, was convicted by John and he liked to hear him.
One of the bi-products of truth can be respect. People may not like what you say but respect you for saying it. Well, while Herod respected John, his wife Herodias, was not happy with John at all! Vs:19- "Herodias was enraged and wanted John killed in revenge, but without Herod’s approval she was powerless." "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." Herodias had been publicly scorned by John and she didn’t like it one bit. She wanted his “big mouth” shut and finally devised a plan. Vs:17- "For Herod had sent soldiers to arrest and imprison John as a favor to Herodias.." and stop her nagging. Oh, it doesn’t say "nagging" but you know that’s what it means. But John, even knowing that the outcome of his confrontation still said, "Herod you are wrong."
John did not put his own pride and popularity over telling the religious leaders the truth to hopefully save them and he did not back down from a powerful King and Queen to save his hide. He had the courage to confront. Now, that brings us to the application of how we are to react when we see someone in spiritual danger or hurting themselves or others. We have the same responsibility as John did to confront. Why do we do it? Why would we risk anger or ridicule? Because love demands it. A parent who sees a child reaching up to a stove and about to pull a pan of hot boiling water onto themselves would, out of love, do whatever they could to save their child: yell, scream, even tackle the child. Someone seeing or hearing that without realizing all that was happening might think of that as stern or harsh. But the impending danger requires a sudden, even possibly abrasive warning. John didn’t lash out at these men simply because he didn’t like them. Quite the contrary.. He loved them enough to warn them from impending danger that confronted their souls. Dr. Dobson in his book, Love Must Be Tough, writes: "The most effective way of drawing others away from hurt and to us in times of disrespect and apathy is found in confidence and courage, rather than in weakness and appeasement. Genuine love.. simply must be tough if it is to survive the stresses of today’s world." John the Baptist was warning these people of the spiritual cliff they were about to go over. Listen, if you were a motorist on a rainy night and learned that a bridge was washed out would you do what you could to warn people or would you just let them go on by, waving and saying “Good-luck!” If you did the latter you’d be negligent, possibility criminally negligent. John was exercising tough love.. it may have sounded abrasive but the serious consequences of their sin and what he knew personally about their lifestyles elicited this strong warning. It took a great courage but it was the loving, Godly thing to do.
Now, it is important that we confront sin but equally important that we do it in a way that honors God who loves the hurting. I believe we are to be courageous like John, but I believe that having to confront sin publicly and in the manner that John did is infrequent. Most of the time with our friends and family it is not an emergency situation. Usually small bits of information come our way to warn us that a family or friend may be headed down the wrong path. But you may know a person is wrong before God.. maybe it’s sexual sin, maybe it’s dishonesty in business, maybe it’s negative talk that is hurting others, maybe it’s the way they treat their spouse.. whatever it is, we need to courageously confront it, but.. we don’t do it with a self-righteous attitude, or with anger. So how do we confront? Gal. 6:1- "...if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently." (NIV) You see, we don’t do it because we think of ourselves as better but because we want their best.
Let me suggest a method for doing this. Jesus tells us in Mt. 18:15 that if someone does you wrong it is our responsibility to go and try to make it right. Now, in that passage Jesus is talking specifically about someone who sins against you but I think this can also be applied effectively to someone who is in trouble. Here’s what he says.
First step: Go to them face to face. Have them out to lunch or take them to a ball game and just say, “___________ there’s been something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about.” Then, very gently lay out what you’ve seen or heard and be honest with them. Help them see the circumstances a little clearer, remind them of the consequences.
CLIP FAMILY MAN - Chap. 9 - 1:02:00 - 1:04:17 - 2:17
That confrontation takes courage but you’re trying to save them & others pain.
Now, if that doesn’t work Jesus says to take the next step: go with others. In the world of addiction this is called “non-violent crisis intervention.” Where several friends or family try to show the person the severity of the problem by all of them agreeing on what they have seen. If you are a Christian, and this is one of the benefits of being a part of a church, you can take members of your small group or you can ask some leaders to go and help you in addressing the problem. This is tough but if it is serious enough and they won’t listen to you when you go alone, take others to help you.
A third step, or maybe an expansion on the second, might need be taken if that doesn’t help. You go with authorities. Now, please, this would only be in situations where the person is in imminent danger or a danger to others. For example, if they are threatening suicide or you believe they are going to harm another. The State of Colorado has something called the “health and welfare visit” where you can call a police officer to come and evaluate the circumstances and if they are a danger to themselves or others they can be taken by force to a place of safety, like mental health facility, where they will be evaluated by professionals. Now, remember this is a step that you ONLY use in those special circumstances. But, after you’ve gone to them yourself and then taken others with you, then, if necessary, intervene with authorities then...
The fourth step is one of the most difficult.. If nothing works you let them go. What might this entail? It may mean you cannot socialize with them any more or it might mean that you can’t have your children under their influence because of the values they are passing on to them. Now, letting go doesn’t mean giving up! You continue to pray for them, you remind them you are there for them but at this point you let them go. Please remember this is a process, you don’t start with this step. But you go to them and you go with the right attitude. Someone said, “If you enjoy going, you probably shouldn’t.” Confronting is something you pray over, something you agonize over and approach with fear and trembling. So, John had the courage to confront the sin of Herod.. of the religious leaders.. And he did it well, but maybe it takes the most courage to...
II. CONFRONTING OURSELVES: Mark 1:7; 6:20
I want you to listen to two verses of scripture about John that shows he didn’t just call others to change but he himself was repentant. (1) Mk. 1:7- "There is one coming after me who is greater than I; I am not good enough even to bow down and untie his sandals.(NCV)" John’s goal was to live a right life but he knew it wasn’t a perfect life. He knew compared to some people he might be more spiritual but compared to Jesus, he wasn’t even worthy to untie his shoes.
(2) Vs:20- "And Herod respected John, knowing he was a good and holy man." You see, John walked his talk. There was a consistency in his lifestyle. William Barclay wrote: "A man’s message will always be heard in the context of his character." Herod knew John’s lifestyle was above reproach and so did the religious leaders. In Mark 11 it tells us that the religious leaders were afraid of condemning John because all the people thought of him as a prophet, a righteous man. John didn’t just call people to change, he was willing to make changes in his own life when needed.
I think one of the greatest, most courageous needs today is that we face the reality of our own sin. Every one of us in this room is a sinner and we will not know true joy unless we admit that. If we are going to take God seriously we must take sin seriously. It’s time to quit the blame game, it’s time to quit covering it over, it’s time to quit excusing it. Remember John’s message was not repression of sin but repentance from sin. If we repress our sin we will not find peace. But if we will openly admit our failures to God we can be cleansed by the blood of Christ. 1 Jn 1:8: "If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth." But vs:9 says- "But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong."
There was an ad outside a dry cleaner that read: "We will remove any stain on any garment.. and then we will fix the hole for free." Sometimes the stain is so deep that it requires major reconstruction. Our sin separated us from God so He sent Jesus to die on the cross.. to be our sacrifice and Jesus calls us to repent. Lk 13:3 he said, “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”(NIV) Repentance can be defined in three words:
(1) Conviction: The first step is to acknowledge that we are sinners. I want to warn you that one of the first things that happens to you when you begin to think seriously about Jesus is that you are made uncomfortable. Repentance is not a process that makes you feel better.. you feel as John did.. "I’m unworthy." Dad’s since this is your day let me share an important suggestion. Be transparent enough to admit when you mess up. Tell your kids when you’ve done wrong. The AFA asked teens in our country who was more apt to admit a mistake.. Mom or Dad? Guess who they said? Yep.. Mom by 96%!! Conviction, understanding we are sinners is the first step.
(2) Contrition: Being contrite going past just admitting our sin but to be deeply sorry for it. Heind, the German poet, was confronted with his sin & arrogantly said, "God will forgive me, that’s His job." That won’t cut it with God. God says in Isa. 66:2- "The people I am pleased with are those who are humble and sorry for their sin and who tremble at my word."(GW) Not arrogance but humility, a deep sorrow occurs because we realize our sin nailed Jesus to the cross. Repentance is conviction, admitting what you’ve done, repentance is contrition, being genuinely sorry before God for all you’ve done against Him - and then-
(3) Change from those behaviors. There is a "proof" of the previous two steps. John said that there was to be a "fruit of repentance." The word repent comes from the Greek word "metanoia." It means to change directions. It was a travel word.. you are going one direction and you ask someone and they say, "Oh no, you’re going the wrong way.. you need to turn around (metanoia) and go the other way." John said in Mt. 3:8- “Prove by the way you live that you have really turned from your sins and turned to God.” A repentant person is not a perfect person. A repentant person is simply a person who has turned around. A person who is trying, with God’s help, to show the change that is a part of repentance. And the good news is, when you turn around to God, God will turn your life around for the better... forever!
You know who was the greatest courageous confronter? Jesus Christ. The only difference is he didn’t confront His sin, He had none.. He confronted ours.. Head on. On the cross he took each of our sins upon himself. He did it courageously, he did it determinedly and he did sacrificially. Giving up His life that we might live.
Are you a courageous confronter? Willing to approach those who do wrong, gently but bravely knowing it is what God asks? And, are you willing to confront your own sin and do as John said.. "Prove by the way you live that you have really turned from your sins and turned to God." God will help you do both.
{All Scripture taken from the New Living Translation unless otherwise noted}
