Sermon 18.9.2013

Here goes...
(the final formulation of my 4-part blogged series on spiritual maturity - a sermon)

1.      INTRODUCTION

A.    Good morning, friends. It's a pleasure to bring you God’s Word today. May the words of my mouth 

      and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in His sight.

B.      The theme of this term takes the form of a humble plea: "Mould me to be spiritually mature..." According to most English dictionaries, the adjective “mature” means: (1) to be fully grown; (2) to have reached the most advanced stage in a process; (3) to be ripe as fruit, or fully aged, as good cheese or wine; and (4) to have attained fruit-bearing capacity. We can say that maturity is an outcome that testifies to a formative process in the course of time. As for spiritual maturity... well, behold a spiritually mature person, and we can imagine that he’s been through quite a process in spiritual formation – and he was devoted to it too. Those long years have not been wasted.

C.     The Bible indicates that the spiritually mature person is a grown up in Christ. A spiritual adult, so to speak. Think of an adult - no longer a baby who needs to be fed with milk, burped, cleaned and pacified; no longer a toddler learning to walk and talk; no longer a child easily swayed by impulses, the need for people-approval and wrong teachings; and no longer a teenager on a rebellious quest to search for an identity. Or at least that’s what an adult is supposed to be like! A spiritual adult is grown up - secure in his identity in Christ, grounded in God's Word and disciples others to be likewise. The Bible also implies that spiritual maturity is not exactly a static endpoint that one arrives at and is satisfied - fullstop. Rather, it is a dynamic state, concerned with both being and becoming – with Jesus Christ as one’s vision and greatest delight. A spiritually mature person has grown to treasure life-long discipleship. How did he get there? Walk by the Holy Spirit, the Bible says – shed the old self and let the new self grow on you. The new self that bears Spirit fruit. The new self that participates of Christ’s image. The new self that anticipates God’s glory.

D.    Indeed, this process of spiritual formation can only proceed as God works in us – through the Holy Spirit, to whom we must reciprocate. It is then, only fitting that we ask God to mould us to be spiritually mature as a way of surrendering to Him.

2.      JUDAS ISCARIOT – THE BETRAYER

A.    I must then, present you a Bible character who I trust, will help compel us to desire to be spiritually mature. Let us take a moment to hang out with Jesus and His twelve disciples at the Last Supper – and here, I bring you a dramatised picture of Matthew’s Gospel account in chapter 26:20-25. You can check out Matthew chapter 26 later...but for now, please do hear me out and try to imagine the picture as best you can.

B.     Twilight was deepening towards the night. Supper – a solemn affair, no doubt. Suddenly, the beloved voice of the Lord broke in on the stillness, troubled: “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.” The calm was shattered. Hearts were pierced with dismay. Shock and fear must have been on the disciples’ faces, as even the most sincere wondered if he could be capable of such a terrible thing. “Surely not I, Lord?” each one said, dreading His answer. Jesus went on: “He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me. The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” And amongst them, one more voice piped up: “Surely, it is not I, Rabbi?” - the voice of a disciple whom we shall call Judas Iscariot, because that was his name. Judas, the undercover in league with the chief priests and elders of the Temple, who were waiting for a good opportunity to arrest Jesus.  Jesus had a different answer this time. “You have said it yourself.” And it was time for the bread and cup. The garden of Gethsamane awaits.

C.     Friends, Judas Iscariot is no stranger to us. Amongst Christians, his name still commands both fascination and contempt, as it has throughout Church history. Judas is someone you would never want to name your son after, I’m sure. Out of the Church, his name is synonymous with betrayal, especially in Western culture, art and literature. And it is no surprise. He was the disciple who eventually betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver - with that infamous kiss at Gethsamane. Kissing, in that culture and time, was part of friendship etiquette. An expression of acceptance and respect. A sign of peace. This time for Judas, the kiss was a show that marked the beginning of an end - for Jesus and for himself.

D.    We all know how the curtains fell for each one. With the Father’s sovereign approval - Jesus was arrested, tried and crucified between two thieves. The Son of Man died - fulfilling both Scripture and His mission on earth. And Easter happened. What about Judas? In great remorse, he went back to the religious leaders - and tried to return the silver, but all was in vain. Eventually, Judas disappeared – possibly, with a rope in his hands. “It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” As we think over Jesus’ words – more compassionate than stern – we imagine that Judas could have, in those final moments, cursed the day of his birth. He hanged himself to death. And that was the end of the betrayer - Judas Iscariot.

3.        JUDAS ISCARIOT – SELFLESS HERO OR SELFISH VILLAIN?

A.      Sympathy and disbelief have led scholars in the past century to challenge our verdict passed on Judas’ character. Their theories include: (1) Judas saw Jesus as a threat to Israel rather than the Messiah, and so he could have betrayed Jesus out of his patriotic love for Israel. (2) Jesus seemed to have been procrastinating the coming of His Kingdom, and so, Judas could have sacrificed himself to spur Jesus to action. (3) Judas could have been testing Jesus innocently, to see whether He was the true Messiah or not. (4) Judas was unable to avoid his life destiny as “Betrayer”. His role could have been forced on him, poor thing. (5) Judas was fulfilling the Lord’s request for a favour – to release Him from the human form He had assumed in descending to our world. And why Judas, of all people? Oh well, Judas was Jesus’ best friend - says the Gnostics' Gospel of Judas. And I’m sure if you Googled the Gospel of Judas, you would be as intrigued and perplexed as I was.

B.      As far as I am concerned, Judas was no selfless hero. He wasn't doing Jesus or Israel any favour. He wasn’t so innocent in testing the Lord. He hadn’t been born to betray, or created to be condemned. Rather, he had betrayed Jesus out of selfish ambition. He wasn’t ignorant. It was a blatant sin. You see, both the Gospels of Luke and John said that Satan “entered” Judas before he left the Supper to plot the arrest. The Greek word for "entered” suggests a satanic possession. And that’s severe! But we know that such possession cannot be so easy or random. It is nothing like catching a flu bug from your once-in-a-blue-moon visit to the shopping mall! Or going out for a walk and getting caught in a sudden shower of rain. People do not head one way and suddenly get possessed so they head the other way – least of all, those who walk right with God and delight in His ways. The Gospel of John reveals to us that Judas had been a thief long before he was the betrayer. Judas had cherished sin and thus, he was instrumental in Satan’s purposes against Jesus. Satan entered Judas.

C.      When a company of people moves from place to place, for example in a mission trip, isn’t it much better for just one person to handle the common fund? Saves a lot of trouble and confusion, doesn't it? For Jesus and His 12 disciples, Judas was that man. He was the approved and trusted keeper of THE money bag. Unfortunately, the treasurer turned into a thief. He began sneaking money out of the bag - hiding his greed well, under a cloak of piety. You may remember, that when Mary of Bethany, in John chapter 12, anointed the Lord’s feet with expensive perfume, Judas had appeared shocked by her extravagance. “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?” he asked. Judas had wanted the money that might have ended up in THE bag had the perfume been sold, John's Gospel reveals. It is likely that the same greed had led him to betray Jesus. For what this time? Thirty pieces of silver – the price of a slave according to the Old Testament (Exodus 21:32). Probably a kind of mockery of Jesus on the part of the religious leaders. And Judas could swallow that. A hero? You tell me.

D.      Well, it has been said that the 12 disciples represent the personalities of those who would later come to follow the risen Christ - examples of how God can use us for His glory despite our failures, if we yield to Him. As for that one disciple who had failed to yield to Him, God can still use his story to teach us important lessons. And so, what important lessons on spiritual maturity can we draw from Judas' story today?

TWO THINGS and I'll end.

4.        LESSON FROM JUDAS ISCARIOT (I) 

A.      FIRSTLY, Judas was not the only one who betrayed Jesus. All the other disciples, who had dipped their hands with Jesus in the bowl, fled when He was arrested. Even Peter betrayed Jesus. Denied Him 3 times to be exact. But hey, Peter turned out to be an important figure within the Early Church! History even tells us that Peter was martyred for his faith. However, it was a good death - in the sense that it was in God's good time. We can also say that Peter, like Paul, had fought the fight, finished the race and kept the faith.  Peter died hoping. Did Judas die hoping? No, it was far from a good death. He died haunted - by his sin. 

B.      Why such different outcomes for the two disciples, whose sins were almost equal in greatness? Why such different outcomes for two equally remorseful men? A friend jokingly suggested to me that Peter did not have the guts to kill himself, while Judas did. Well, perhaps their personalities did play a role. But the heart of the matter? One repented before the Lord and received forgiveness. The other one did not. 

C.      Why not? You know - Judas almost got it right. In his sin - he realised, he was remorseful and he went to deal with it. All very important steps! But the one thing he missed was a tragedy far greater than betraying Jesus. He tried to sort out his sin himself – and when nothing worked, he took his own life. Why did he not ask Jesus for forgiveness instead? Could he not have flung himself at the foot of the cross and pleaded for mercy from the crucified Christ? I believe that Jesus would have assured him as He had assured the believing thief on the cross (Luke 23:43). OR could he not have waited until after Jesus had risen and thrown himself at the Lord’s mercy? I believe that Jesus would have forgiven him graciously as He forgave Peter. After all, Jesus loved Judas as much. Had Judas not known? Jesus had preached about unconditional love and forgiveness. Jesus had evidenced the pardon of God for the penitent - for example, in the case of the adulterous woman (John 8:1-11). Jesus had even washed the feet of His disciples, John’s Gospel reminds us. Jesus had died for Judas as well as the rest. Peter must have made sense of it all. Love invites one to be fully vulnerable with his Lover. 

D.      Today, the Lord’s love, proven true in the Cross, still invites us to come and lay our shame at His feet. If we accept His invitation and draw near to Him with faith that He would not reject us, we will find hope. We will be liberated by His forgiveness daily... to move past our sins, forgive ourselves... and live our lives in Christ to the fullest. Imagine – if Judas had received the forgiveness of Christ, perhaps he could have even gone on to cry, "Lord, mould me to be spiritually mature..." 

E.      Friends, there is no way that we can grow up in Christ and mature spiritually until we first know and believe that He loves us. The hymn-writer of “Amazing Grace” – John Newton – rightly said: "To behold the glory and the love of Jesus is the only effectual way to participate of His image." Indeed, spiritual formation flourishes in the love of Jesus Christ.

5.        LESSON FROM JUDAS ISCARIOT (II) 

A.      SECONDLY, how Judas turned out is heartbreaking, when we consider how close he had been to the Lord. Like the rest of the disciples, Judas had given up much to follow Jesus. He had ministered in the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 9:1-2). He had eaten meals with Jesus, listened to His Word, observed His life and witnessed miracle after miracle. In fact, Judas must have heard and witnessed even more which have not been recorded. How often we hear Christians or even ourselves say, “If only I had seen Jesus with my own eyes and walked with Him back then, I would be a much better Christian than I am...” Judas’ story silences such assumptions, don’t you think? 

B.      We do not know for sure how much faith Judas had in Jesus. But we do know that he put an awful lot of faith in money despite Jesus' warning of how one would not be able to serve two masters – especially not God and mammon. Also, he seemed to have had more faith in the religious leaders than in Jesus and His words - even though he had been privileged to be close to the Lord, as one of the 12 disciples. 

C.      Judas is a warning for Christians today to take spiritual maturity more seriously - to grow up in Christ and to yield to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Yes, we go to church on Sundays. We may sit in the pews, join in the liturgy, listen to sermons and participate in Communion. And then, we go home. We may dip our hands into the bowl of fellowship with the Lord. But do our week days look anything like our Sundays? What about when trials shake us and Satan’s temptations come our way? What do we do about our sinful habits? You see, it is possible to do churchy things and still not yield to the work of the Spirit in our lives. We fail to grow up as Christians. We do not grow into our new selves and bear Spirit fruit. We are not too alarmed when we betray the Lord in our thoughts and actions – during moments of complacency and compromise. We are not secure in our identity in Christ; not grounded in God’s Word; not steadfast in our faith. In fact, we might even end up denying our faith when put to test. We might end up lost like Judas. 

D.      I am reminded of a quote by an evangelist named Billy Sunday: "Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile..." How true. I would like to add that even serving in ministries, doing missions, attending Bible seminars and going to the seminary do not guarantee that we won't fall away and deny Christ during a crucial test. But spiritual maturity does guarantee that we won't fall away and deny Christ during crucial tests. And spiritual maturity will see that we finish well in our earthly lives. A spiritually mature person may look forward to a good death and beyond. 

E.      Friends, we are reminded not to be over-confident and assume that we would never fall away – even when we have been privileged to enjoy the most intimate relationship with the Lord. Even when we’ve made our sacrifices to follow Him. Even when we can claim to a larger knowledge of the Bible. Even when we’ve ministered in the Lord’s name.

6.        CONCLUSION

And so, as we have accepted the love and forgiveness of God in Christ, may we then seek to be spiritually mature.

Let us pray:

Merciful Father, we tremble to think of Judas’ destruction. We tremble even more when we realise that each of us could follow in his ways. We humbly ask that you would mould us to be spiritually mature. And grant us strength that we may walk by Your Spirit, yield to His work in our lives and finish well on this side of eternity. In Jesus’ name, amen.