Matthew 11:2-15
Offended by God
The church is more than the personality of one pastor. It shouldn’t rely on one man for its life and health. It’s not built around his ability to draw people in the doors or into the pews. For more often than not, a church built around such a pastor is doomed to fail. Inevitably, such a church begins to follow not God’s word but the word of a likeable pastor. They become the very ones with itching ears, seeking someone who will say only what they want to hear. In many ways, they turn the church into a place that is supposed to entertain them. But the church’s purpose isn’t to entertain. We’re not here to make sure you have a good time. You come, rather, to hear the Word of God proclaimed in this sanctuary. You come, not to hear a man, but to hear God. The sad part is many people don’t understand this. Many people believe the words of the pastor are his own words and that he has control over what to say. That is… they believe that if a pastor speaks something contrary to their lifestyle, it’s the pastor who simply wants to offend them. And many are offended… many in our society take offense now at even the smallest of things. And in this, they drastically misunderstand the ministry of the Church. For in reality, they’ve not been offended by a man, but by God himself.
For in our Gospel lesson this week, Jesus tells John’s disciples the very scandal of his ministry. He tells them that people will be offended by the words he says, by the miracles he performs, by who he is. For so, Jesus has the same words for us especially in our day, even as we heard:
BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO IS NOT OFFENDED BY JESUS!
I.
John had been preaching for quite some time in the desert before the ministry of Jesus. During that time, John had drawn a lot of people to him. Many supposedly went to see who this strange man was in the wilderness, not knowing what to expect. I’d imagine that of all the people that went out to see John, only a small portion actually stayed and listened to him. Only a few became his disciples. For John wasn’t one to butter you up. He wasn’t there to entertain people looking for a show. After all, as we heard last week, he called a group of Pharisees a “brood of vipers.” For this is what Jesus says to the crowd after John’s disciples come to him, “As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you,” Matthew 11:7-10. What did you go to see? John wasn’t so entertaining to draw such a crowd. He wasn’t some spectacular sight. People came because they wanted to hear the word of God!
For maybe the question for us today isn’t, what are people coming to see? But rather, why aren’t people coming to see? For so we must hear Jesus’ words again, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me,” Matthew 11:6. It was understood in Jesus’ day that the words of a prophet held much weight, whether you liked them or not. Nowadays, people could care less what God has to say. For people become offended by the slightest things, like saying there’s only two genders, or that marriage is between one man and one woman, or that life begins at conception, and I could name so many more. Indeed, God is offensive to us. God offends us because he calls out our sin that we cling to so closely. And we’re offended… at least, our sinful nature is offended by God. For so many have decided to cling to their sin instead of to the words of their Lord, and thus, have walked away from the church and God.
II.
Blessed, indeed, is the one who isn’t offended by Jesus. For our Lord doesn’t offend for the sake of being offensive. He offends because he speaks the truth into our world of lies. It’s the times when we’re offended that we must stop and consider whether the hurtful words are true or not. For such is the life of repentance. It’s a life that hears the Word of the Lord and answers, “Yes, Lord, you’re right, and I’m wrong.” It answers with faith… faith that the words of our Lord are nothing else than forgiveness and life! And in this, we’re blessed. For consider this even in everyday life. Isn’t someone who can accept criticism and learn from it better than one who passes it off as someone being offensive? So too in faith. Our Lord speaks in love for our benefit that we may learn the way of faith and life. This is just as Jesus told the disciples of John, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them,” Matthew 11:4-5.
For let us not forget the scandal that is our salvation. It was an offense to our human wisdom for our Lord to give up a throne for a manger. It was an offense for our Lord to lead a lowly life as a son of a carpenter rather than as a king. It was an offense for our Lord to be counted among sinners, to be condemned to death, and to hang upon the cross. Our Lord took the offense of our sin that he may lead us in love to life. For the scandal of the cross is the scandal of destroying everything we believe to be good and right. For we’re not saved by the strength of this world, nor by its wisdom. We’re saved by the humility and weakness of our God. For this is what we come to see. We come to see our very salvation, even though it’s an offense to us. For our sins were such an offense to God. But our Lord speaks in love that we may hear his words not as offensive but as truth.
For may we come to hear our Lord’s words spoken to us and not be offended, but rather respond in repentance and faith. Blessed are we who hear our Lord’s words because we shall see in them our very salvation in the scandal of the cross. In Jesus’ name! Amen!