What Jesus Says to a Complacent Church

“… all the foundations of society are being shaken to the core.”  Psalm 82:5 (Living Bible)
 
Sometimes our world feels like it’s being turned upside down as we encounter injustice, idolatry, and immorality. Of course none of it is new!  Scripture shows us that these kinds of situations happened to God’s people many times throughout history.
 
Nevertheless, in a rapidly changing world God wants us to “keep on” – not just surviving, but thriving.
 
So we shouldn’t be surprised by adversity, but instead look at how God could use it for good, and trust God for the situations we don’t understand.

We live in a world in which the winner takes all. Consider the Olympic swimming. As little as one hundredth of a second can separate gold from silver in the final.

But we only value the gold medal. We only remember the gold medalist. 

Yep, it’s definitely a winner–takes–all world we live in, because the one thing that this world values above everything else, is success.

And who doesn’t want to succeed at whatever you turn your hand to. You start a business, you embark on a career, you enter into a marriage relationship, you bring children into this world. Is there anyone amongst us who doesn’t want to succeed at those important things?

Of course not!

And yet there’s something about ambition that can get real ugly, real quick. There’s something in each one of us that wants to shy away from ambitious people.

Think about it, how much do you value the quality of “ambition” in other people. It’s not up there in your top ten is it? Even in your top 20?!

In any case, didn’t Jesus say that “if you want to be first, you have to be last?”

So now, we have a dilemma. We all value success, yet we don’t much like that “ambition” label. But don’t you, at least to some extent, need to be ambitious in order to be successful?

Well, this Sunday, we’re going to take a look at the rights and wrongs of ambition.

From a different perspective. From the Bible’s perspective. From God’s perspective.

“You will be my witnesses.” Acts 1:8 (New International Version)

God’s mercy towards us is never-ending. However, the world is becoming more unkind, less loving.
In a mean world, our greatest witness is to show mercy.
As Christians, we’re called to be agents of mercy. We don’t have to convince everyone, just tell people about the many times God has helped us.

“A new day will dawn on us because our God is loving and merciful.” Luke 1:78 (God’s Word)
 
Easter means it’s a new day of mercy “because our God is loving and merciful”.
 
Two questions we’re going to explore today are -
when do we need God’s mercy, and
what happens when we accept it?
 
(1) Ashamed:
we need God’s mercy when we’ve messed up. God’s mercy forgives and frees us from guilt.

(2) Angry:
we need God’s mercy when we don’t have what we need. God’s mercy makes the impossible possible.

(3) Afraid:
we need God’s mercy when we’re facing death. God’s mercy will save us for eternity.

There’s a lot going on when Jesus enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
 
He knows what He’s getting into, and we know He’s not exactly thrilled about it (“My Father, if there is any way get Me out of this” - Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane).  But He’s determined to go there.
 
When He arrives, He’ll disappoint His followers.  They’re ready for a military/political victory. 
 
Jesus, on the other hand, was ready to take up His cross. And die.
 
He was a great disappointment to many who laid so many expectations on Him.
He went anyway.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” Matthew 5:7 (New International Version)

Jesus showed us love in action by giving mercy to a leper and willingly entering into his pain and suffering. He told us to do the same to outcast, lost and broken people today. 

God promises to bless those who are compassionate to others who need it most. 

As followers of Christ, we are His body here on earth and if we’re willing to be used, He will pour out His love, mercy and kindness through us. 

“Jesus saved us, not because of the good things we did, but because of His mercy. 

He washed away our sins and gave us a new life through the Holy Spirit.” Titus 3:5

The miracle of mercy is how much we matter to God. God gives us new life in Christ through the Holy Spirit not because of the good things we did, but because of His mercy.

When we’re spiritually lost, we lose our direction, God’s protection, our potential, our happiness and our home in heaven,  but we don’t lose our value!

God’s mercy in salvation rescues us from ourselves, recovers our value, and reconnects us to God. We connect to God’s mercy when we get fed up with our lives, own up to our sin, and offer up ourselves to God. 

“Forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.”  Matthew 6:12 (New Living Translation)

In His great mercy, God forgives us freely, immediately and completely, without any conditions. His forgiveness lasts forever, not just for this lifetime.

Because of His great mercy, we‘re to forgive others as completely and unconditionally as God in Christ has forgiven us (Ephesians 4:32). However, we’re not called to forget evil that has been done to us. Instead we're to use wisdom regarding those who hurt us. We don’t automatically trust them again. Trust must be rebuilt.

Finally, forgiving others means we release them to God. He is the only one who’s qualified to judge other people, because He knows their hearts, as He knows ours. Regardless of what we have done, Jesus gave His life for each one of us. God’s mercy triumphs over judgment (James 2:13). 

“Because of His great mercy God has given us a new life by raising Jesus Christ from death. This fills us with a living hope.” 1 Peter 1:3
 
Because we’re imperfect people living in an imperfect world we all experience failures in life.

The night Jesus was arrested, two of his closest friends had massive failures: Judas betrayed him and Peter denied him. It was the same sin, just expressed in different ways.

What causes our personal failures? Like Peter, we 1) overestimate our own strength; 2) fear the disapproval of others, and 3) speak without thinking.

But Peter also did three things right. He 1) grieved his failure; 2) let his small group support him; and 3) cast himself on God’s mercy.

“Give yourselves completely to God – every part of you – because you’ve been brought from death to life, and now you want to be used by God for good, and for His righteous purposes.”
Romans 6:13 (Living Bible)
 
The greatest joy and thrill in life is being used by God. Used for purposes greater than ourselves. It’s what we were created for. Unfortunately, many people feel unworthy because of past behaviour, or unqualified due to lack of training. But through His mercy, and regardless of our pasts, God can use all of us to minister His love to others. God wants our lives to have eternal significance as we serve Him with authenticity (not acting like someone else) while remembering that “our message is not about ourselves – it is about Jesus Christ as the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 4:5)