There's a Stirring # 6
Betrayal
One
of my heroes from history is General George C. Marshall. He was a general in
the United States Army in World War II. He was an interesting fellow. He served
as commanding general John Pershing's military aid during World War I.
After
the war, advancement in the Army was very slow. Yet, Marshall anticipated that
another great war was coming. Just in case he was able to advance, he decided
to keep with him a little black book. In this little black book, he would jot
down the names of different men who grabbed his attention. These were names of
men whom he saw as potentially great leaders in the Army. Were he to ever
maintain a position of leadership, he would be armed with those names, from
which he would select those to serve under him.
As
you well know, the United States did enter World War II. By the end, Marshall
had offered such impeccable leadership qualities, such an incredible ability to
organize, such character and deep integrity, that president Franklin Roosevelt
named him to serve in a position we would now call Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff. In essence, Marshall became Roosevelt's right-hand man.
As
the war was beginning, Marshall looked in his book and selected a man whom he
had been watching. This man did not have a very high rank in the United States
army. Numerous others held superior ranks. Yet, Marshall identified marvelous
qualities in this individual, and so he summoned this man to Washington to help
Marshal formulate war plans in the early stages of this massive endeavor.
This
gentleman proved so able, Marshall encouraged Roosevelt, Churchill, and other
allied leaders to name him as the commander of all Allied forces in Africa in
1942. The individual named a general, and served well.
In
1943, it became time to name the Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe.
The mission of this commander was to organize and lead the forces across the English
Channel onto the shores of France for a massive invasion. (Later, this invasion
would be called the “D-Day” invasion.) It was well known in leadership circles
that whoever was named the supreme commander would definitely be an important
figure in history.
If
you are in the army, you can think of nothing higher, no greater honor, than to
be named a commander. Early on, it was clear that the best man for this job was
General Marshall. Later he would reveal that he had indeed wished to serve in
that capacity. Nevertheless, Marshall had so much integrity, he refused to
lobby for the position.
Instead,
he decided to remove any influence and allow the president to make his own
decision. Marshall seemed slated to fulfill his personal dream, but he had only
one problem. He was so good at what he did for President Roosevelt, he became
so indispensable, the president could not bear the thought of Marshall leaving
him.
Consequently,
Roosevelt did not select Marshall to be the supreme commander. Instead, he
selected the man that Marshall had groomed and mentored, one whom Marshall had
named in his little black book years before. Roosevelt selected the man whom
Marshall had recommended as commander of the forces in Africa—Roosevelt
selected Dwight Eisenhower.
Obviously,
this proved to be a wise decision. The Allies were successful in their
invasion, and, in early 1945, Germany surrendered. Of course, Eisenhower moved
on to bigger and better things. Still, without George Marshall's mentoring and influence,
Dwight Eisenhower would have never been elected president of the United States,
in November 1952.
Here
is the part of the story I want to emphasize. As he was running for the
presidency, Eisenhower had to deal with all sorts of domestic issues that were
prevalent in that campaign. One of them was this: a senator from Wisconsin
named Joseph McCarthy.
In
1952, McCarthy was making wild accusations that various people in the United
States were communists. These included some who served in the United States
military and the United States government. Most charges were false; indeed,
McCarthy would ultimately prove to be unscrupulous. Still, the ultimate truth
did not deter a number of U.S. citizens from believing McCarthy. (Most U.S.
senators publicly supported him, including John F. Kennedy—elected in 1952.)
One
of the men that McCarthy accused of being a communist was George C. Marshall.
He denounced Marshall for “betraying” the United States during his mission to
China after the Second World War. In retrospect, McCarthy’s charges were
heresy—totally untrue.
(Later,
McCarthy’s flawed character would destroy his life; he would die in disgrace in
1957. Even before his death, he would be totally discredited and would become
an outcast to his peers. But that was still come.)
Like
some Americans in 1952, Eisenhower was irate at McCarthy's charges. As a candidate,
Eisenhower decided to rebut McCarthy’s accusation of his mentor-General
Marshall-in McCarthy's home state of Wisconsin, with McCarthy present on the
dais.
Eisenhower
wrote a defense of Marshall into his speech. Eisenhower's advisers saw the
speech and grew alarmed. They secretly met together. Afterwards, meeting with
Eisenhower, they, in effect, told him, “Listen, you are in Joseph McCarthy's
home state of Wisconsin. McCarthy will be there. Wisconsin is a critical state
in this election. If you lose Wisconsin, it could unleash an avalanche of
events that could cost you the presidency. You cannot say these words with McCarthy
present. This would be a public embarrassment to him.”
Eisenhower
had a decision to make. He thought about it long and hard. On the one hand, he
wanted to defend his mentor. Indeed, he wished to defend the man who more than
anyone else, was responsible for his being in such an envied position. On the
other hand, he wanted to win the election. He knew that if he defended the one
who helped him so much, he might not become president. Consequently, Eisenhower
decided to remove the passage that was potentially offensive to McCarthy.
Eisenhower
would go on to win the 1952 presidential election. He would serve two terms as
president. However, years later, he would write that one of his most personally
disappointing acts was the removal of his defense of Marshall from his 1952
Milwaukee speech. He regretted betraying a friend who had meant so much to him.
Betraying
the Mentor--Jesus
I
tell that story because in this book of Hebrews, you have Christians, who have been saved by
Jesus, mentored by Jesus, and blessed by Jesus. In a moment when these
Christians can stand by Jesus Christ and defend Him against the charges made by
their culture, they hesitate.
They
begin considering all they could potentially lose if they defend Jesus. They
could lose their jobs, maybe some relationships, maybe property, and maybe even
their own lives. So, they betray Him.
Now,
whether it be the case of Dwight Eisenhower, or the case of the Christians in
Hebrews, it is easy to stand back as a third party and say, “How awful!”
We
don't like betrayal, especially the betrayal of mentor and benefactor. We don’t
like to watch people betray others who have blessed their lives. That is one
reason why Hebrews challenges us so.
This
preacher is preaching a sermon to these Christians and he is pleading, “Gang, what
you are doing is unthinkable. You don't need to run away from Jesus; you need
to run toward Jesus. You should be publicly defending Him… and standing up for
Him. You certainly need not be giving up.”
Last week, we talk about how this Preacher tried to motivate the
Christians by talking about the Heavenly Father and his word. The preacher was
strong with them. He said to them, human beings will face God in one of two
ways:
1.
Guilty of unfaithfulness before God the Judge (Heb. 4:12-13) or . . .
2. With
confidence because of Jesus serving as helper and mediator (4:14-16).
He's saying, “Jesus
has been our mediator, our helper; he has run alongside of us.”
Look
over to Hebrews chapter two. As we have previously seen, verse 17 tells us, 17 For this reason Jesus had to be made like his brothers and
sisters in every way so he could be their merciful and faithful high priest in
service to God. Then Jesus could die in their place to take away their sins. 18 And now he can help those who are
tempted, because he himself suffered and was tempted. NCV
So
you have this God-figure who is so holy, and he is remote. You also have
another God-figure who is infinitely approachable. He has been tempted in every
way that we have, yet he has not sinned. Note this, 14We have a great high priest, who has gone into heaven, and
he is Jesus the Son of God. That is why we must hold on to what we have said
about him. 15Jesus understands
every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he
did not sin! (Heb.
4:14-15.) CEV
This
preacher picks up on the earlier theme and builds on it—Jesus is the great high
priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses. I think Jesus faced every basic
temptation that we have faced.
Now,
because of the context, what I think the Preacher is
talking about here is the temptation to leave the community. Jesus knows
what it is like to try to follow God, and have everybody around you (even his
own family—see Mark chapter 3:21) tell you that you're crazy. Jesus knows what
it is to have people persecute you. Jesus knows what it is to be marginalized—placed
by the “in-group” over to the side. Jesus knows the temptation to betray God’s
community and bail out on God’s people.
Consequently,
… whenever
we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God.
There we will be treated with undeserved kindness, and we will find help (Heb. 4:16.) CEV
If
you wish to live like the majority, be afraid on the “in-group’s” judgment. However,
if you wish to live like Jesus, you receive the privilege of entering into the
throne room of God—with confidence.
Anytime
we pray, we are proceeding into the throne room of God. However, the Preacher
here is not talking about individual prayer. You know whom he is talking about?
Those in the Christian assembly. He's talking to people who do not want to assemble.
He uses these very same phrases in Heb. 10:19, when he talks about the
Christians assembling together. He refers to the throne room of God again in
chapter twelve when he talks about the assembly of Christians.
Know
this: whenever God's people assemble together, they can pray with confidence
because of Jesus Christ. Together, collectively, they are going into the throne
room of God. That is why it is a big deal when Christians pray together.
When
I'm by myself, it is easy for me to pray, because I'm going to express things
important to me. It is a lot harder for me in an assembly to listen to pray in
our behalf. I am so self-centered. When you start mentioning your Aunt
Bertha in prayer, I have no clue who she is; therefore, in my flesh, my mind
starts to wander.
This
preacher from Hebrews tells me, “Mark, watch out about that; when someone is
going before the Father in prayer, all of your into the throne room of God. This
person is praying for all of you—through Jesus. Hence, I cannot take these
communal prayers for granted.
The
incarnation has consequences. Public prayer is a holy event.
I
have this mentor, this friend whom I am called to honor. Because of this
friend, I, individually, and, I, along with you, am offered the chance to go into
the presence of the awesome Heavenly Father.
There
are blessings to having Jesus as a high priest. His ministry is truly one of
mentoring, and I would even describe it as friendship.
The
website SHAREFAITH tells the story of Irish born Joseph M. Scriven (1819-1896), who was
twenty five years old, in love and engaged to be married. The day before his
wedding, his fiancé died in a tragic drowning accident. Heartbroken,
moved to Canada to start a new life. Working as a teacher, he fell in love
again and became engaged to Eliza Roche. Once again, Joseph's hopes and dreams
were shattered when Eliza became ill and died before the wedding.
I
am sure these events greatly distressed Joseph; however, his faith in God
sustained him. We know this because during the period of Eliza’s death, Joseph
received word from Ireland that his mother was ill. He could not go to be with
her, so he wrote a letter of comfort and enclosed one of his poems entitled What
a Friend We Have in Jesus.
Later,
a tune was added to this poem. Many of us have sung the hymn What a Friend
We Have in Jesus.
Now,
I cannot prove this, but I believe this to be true; when the Joseph Scriven wrote
his poem to his mother, he was thinking of Hebrews 4:14-16.
How do you properly fear the Heavenly Father?
Last
week, we talked about how the author of Hebrews amplified a statement of Jesus.
To paraphrase Jesus’ statement, “If you must fear someone, fear God.” Let me
show you how our passage today clarifies Jesus’ statement even more.
Years
ago, I heard Tom Nelson talk about what our prayer lives would be like without
Jesus. He pointed to the Wizard of Oz for an illustration.
Dorothy, the
Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, and the Tin Woodsman wanted to see the Wizard.
They make it to the Emerald City and what is the Wizard’s initial response? Is it
a warm welcome? No, the Wizard is a remote figure. He says things like, “Get
out of here! We don't want you round here!” Finally, the heroic quartet enters
into the Great One’s presence.
The
Wizard has his flame going, and he is very intimidating, “What do you want!”
They're
all scared. The Scarecrow can hardly stand. The Cowardly Lion jumps out the
window. It is a terrible thing to be in the presence of the great Oz.
Nelson
offers that story as a symbol of what prayer would be like before this God of
consuming fire—were it not for Jesus. However, with God becoming human, we can
go into the presence of the Heavenly Father—with confidence.
Look to
Jesus for Cues on How to Fear the Father
How did the Son of God fear the Heavenly Father. Check out chapter
five of Hebrews: 7 In the days
of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and
tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of
his reverence. 8 Although he was
a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal
salvation to all who obey him, 10
being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 5:7-10.) ESV
Did
you notice the word “reverence” in verse seven? That is the same word you find
in Heb. 12:28, except there we typically translate it as the word “fear”: 28 Since we are
receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by
worshiping him with holy fear and awe. 29 For our God is a devouring fire. NLT
I can take it by
faith that there is a man who knows everything we know, a God who became a
human being, who understood the tension of fearing God. He knew how
to treat this spiritual Being who is holy and set apart—the Heavenly Father. Yet
he is someone who deserves our love and deserves us to live for him. That
person is Jesus Christ.
1.What does it mean that Jesus learned obedience from what he
suffered?
Two questions surface
in Heb. 5:7-10. Did you notice it says Jesus learned obedience? What does that
mean? I'm not sure, but I think it means Jesus knew what it was to grow and
mature as a man. It is a hard thing to mature as a man, especially mature
spiritually. It is really hard to be God in Heaven and then become a human
being on earth.
Imagine
transitioning from having spiritual beings worshipping you to having human beings
despising you. Verse seven offers us a real key here: 7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications,
with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he
was heard because of his reverence.
I think here he's
talking of Gethsemane. We tend to think Jesus knew exactly everything that was
going to happen–every detail. Every part of the cross was programmed. However,
as one has preached, Jesus was not following a completely revealed script. Jesus
never says, “Okay this is Act three, scene two. Let’s get on with it and go to
glory.”
2.
What does it mean that Jesus was made perfect?
There
was something Jesus had to experience from a human standpoint, and he did. It
was the process of learning to obey his Heavenly Father.
Now,
what does it mean that Jesus was made perfect? Normally this word means, “complete”
or “mature.” Jesus completed the
maturation process at age thirty-three. Then he was ready to complete his mission.
I
believe this is the call of the Holy Spirit to these Christians in Hebrews: “You
guys need to withstand the hostility. You need to put up with people who say, ‘Get
away from us.’ You put up with that. You need to keep on believing. I know it
hurts, but you can trust your life with Jesus.”
His
illustration is… Jesus, because Jesus entrusted his life to the Heavenly
Father. He stayed in his relationship with the Father even though people were
trying to marginalize him. Even though there were people acting hostile toward
him, he endured in his relationship with his Heavenly Father. Jesus stayed
faithful.
Probably
a lot of people in Hebrews thought the same as we do when everything seems to
go wrong. When things go well, it is easy to believe that God is pleased with
us. But when things go badly, we tend to wonder, “Have I done something wrong?”
What
God was trying to tell them, and what God is trying to tell us, is: “If you are
trying to follow me, and things go south, that does not mean you are living the
wrong way. Things went south for Jesus, and Jesus was living the perfect life
before me. You can trust me even in the midst of bad situations.”
It’s
as if God the Father had a graduation ceremony for God the Son, and the Father
said to the Son, “Congratulations, you graduated with a perfect 4.0.” And with
that, Jesus became our High Priest.
Let
me end by pointing this out, we have a lot of things to go wrong in our lives,
and we always will. Sometimes, life is not fair. I
I
saw an episode of NIGHTLINE a few years ago. It was about this kid named Dillon,
who had this illness called “Fragile X” disease. This is a disease where a gene
goes bad, and basically a child suffers a mental retardation. He looks normal,
but he is mentally impaired. Dillon, as you might imagine, had trouble fitting
in school.
Kids
can be so cruel. One boy flippantly told Dillon, “Hey I want to come see you.” Dillon’s
parents told him not to get excited, but he could not help himself.
The
boy was to arrive at Dillon’s home at three o’clock. At one o’clock, Dillon goes
to the window and stands, near the front door. It is two hours until arrival,
yet Dillon is standing and waiting; he is so excited. Three o’clock arrives,
and his friend has not come. Time slowly passes. Five o'clock. Six o'clock.
Darkness arrives. The day is basically over, and Dillon is still standing at
the window. The little boy never shows up.
You
listen to that story, and it's easy to think “Oh God. Why do you let that
happen?” Especially to someone like this child; why would God let him be hurt?
But
our Lord says, “You know what, I know what it's like to be betrayed by friends.
In the most vulnerable moment in my life, my friends left me. I had to die
basically alone.”
You
may be sitting there thinking, “I love God, and I like the church; I like going
to church, but I got people around me who are always trying to get me to do
something else. Try to convince me to be with them. They try making me feel
different.”
Jesus says, “I
understand. When I was here on this earth, people hurled insults at me because they
did not like what I was about. And some of them spit at me. I know what you're
going through.”
Someone
else may be thinking, “Boy God, I got cancer, and the pain just wiping me out.
I cannot deal with the pain anymore here.”
Jesus
says, “I understand. When the Romans tried to figure out how to execute
criminals, they wanted to find the most painful way possible. They tried
burning people alive and that didn't work because people died too quickly; they
tried boiling people in oil, and that didn’t work like they wanted. Finally,
they decided, ‘If we nail somebody to a tree, we can inflict upon them the optimal
amount of physical pain. We can torture them because they will not die instantly.
This will prolong the agony.’ So they crucified me. I know; pain is bad.”
What
we need to understand is no matter how bad our experiences are for us, our
Lord's experience trumps ours.
Tom
Nelson, again, spoke about C. S. Lewis. Lewis served in World War I. He never
liked it when one of his commanders would be a sitting behind a barricade,
sipping tea, and issuing the order, “Go get them boys.”
No,
the commanders who inspired were the ones who crawled out of foxholes and said,
“Follow me, men.”
Jesus Christ
never said, “Go get them, church.” No, Jesus Christ has always said, “Follow
me.”
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