Zach (Podcast Host) (20:21)
Let's be honest for a moment. Life with other people in whatever capacity is messy, and this reality is no different for the people of God. Though the church is a vibrant community filled with God's love, it's also composed of imperfect people. As a pastor, I've had a few people come up to me and say the church is filled with hypocrites. And my answer to that is, well, it's filled with a lot worse than hypocrites. You see, the church is made up of imperfect people face planting through life, desperately reaching for God. Though we aim to show everyone the tender care and love of God, there are times when we honestly fall short. And the people who are on the receiving end of that are often left hurt, bruised and scarred. The term coined today is church hurt. People who have grown up in the church or entered into the doors of church and had a traumatic and bad experience. Whether it was the hypocrisy of leadership or passive aggressive comments or insults, their experience with God's people left a bad taste in their mouth and as a result really cut off their ears to hearing the gospel. Such is the experience of Malchus, a temple guard who finds himself at the wrong end of Peter's sword. Hurt by one of Jesus followers, he projects his pain and anger onto the Lord himself. There are many Malchuses in our world, people who have been cut off from hearing the gospel because of cutting words or betrayal from a member of the church. Countless individuals have found themselves wronged in the name of God. But our story reminds us that those who have been hurt by the church and God's people don't have to remain hurt. Though people may harm us, Jesus wants to heal us. Our story begins with Judas private meeting with Caiaphas, the chief priest of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. This was the moment he locked in his decision to betray Jesus, the man who he once called a friend. Caiaphas sends Judas with a large detachment of Roman soldiers and officers from the temple guard. Though they may not have known what to expect in apprehending Jesus, they were going to prepare themselves for anything. They weren't going to let Jesus continue to spread his message any longer. As they enter the garden, they're faced with Jesus and his ragtag team of disciples. No armies formed from the masses ready for revolt, no mobs waiting to be set loose with violent revolution. Just 12 men enjoying the calm of the night. This quickly changes though when Peter jumps into action to defend Jesus and cuts off Malchus's ear. Peter Likely thought he was taking an incredible leap of faith to defend Jesus. The only problem is Jesus doesn't need us to defend him. Just moments prior, Jesus had just sent the troops flying onto their backs. Peter's act of boldness, as noble as it might have seemed on the surface, wasn't what the Lord was calling him to do. It's unfortunate to see Peter in this place. Peter allowed his own inflated sense of importance get in the way. Maybe Peter's heart was in the right place, wanting to protect his teacher. The wrong actions taken with the right motives are still wrong. What Peter didn't understand is that people aren't the enemy. God calls us to prepare for battle, but it's not a battle against people. Ephesians 6:10 says, we do not battle against flesh in blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. We have one enemy, and that's Satan, the one who stands opposed to God's will on every front. This is why Jesus rebukes Peter in the way that he did in Matthew 16. People aren't the enemy. The ones who are opposed to Jesus are lost. We can't view people with disdain and contempt who we have to see them with eyes of compassion. I have seen many people caught up in the same delusions as Peter. You see, Peter thought that Jesus needed his defending. He thought that somehow, some way, God, the creator of the universe, the Master of the stars and the heavens, the one who crafted and formed the cosmos, somehow needed his sword. Peter was gravely mistaken and it was an over inflated ego and sense of importance that had caused him to hurt someone. I think about how many people in my life I have cut off from hearing the Gospel because I was harsh or judgmental or mean. Sometimes we get so lost in our zealous mission that we forget that we're supposed to love people. I think about all the people that I have hurt and all the ears that Jesus has had to put back. Perhaps you find yourself in a place like Malchus today. Perhaps you've darkened the doors of a church or you have been a part of the church your whole life. All to be hurt by someone. Someone's cutting or judgmental words have left a scar. They've left you from hearing truly the love of Jesus today. Know that the imperfections and self righteousness of some of Jesus's disciples doesn't necessarily reflect Jesus himself. Look at the Gospel. Look at the story of Jesus. Does he seem like the type of person who wants to cut off your ear and shove you aside? Or is he the type of person to mend what's been broken and restore you so that you can be an agent of change, love, healing and justice in this world? Don't let the self righteous, don't let the pompous, and don't let the zealous bring you down. Be an example to them. An example of love, an example of courage, an example of temperance, and an example of forgiveness. As we learned in some of our previous episodes, Peter is continually wrestling with his identity and this is going to be an action he is going to have to repent from and really wrestle with. People are going to go through their own process of redemption and Jesus is going to take them through that process. But as for you, find healing and find restoration today. If you've been caught in a flurry of self righteousness thinking that God somehow needs you to own all the atheists or to prove every single person wrong, don't get it backwards. God doesn't need your defending, he needs your devotion and he needs you to walk with love, compassion, mercy and truth to be a blessing to the people around you instead of a hindrance. Thanks again for listening to the Jesus podcast. We're going to keep rolling with more outcast stories and then gracefully go into a whole new series on the miracles of Jesus. Can't wait.
