Allen Jackson - You Are Serving Someone - Part 2
What I’d like to establish with you is that God has an opinion. And I think that once you begin to establish that, it’ll be easy for you to identify some very persistent, powerful, unyielding rejections of God’s opinion. And if we can recognize it beyond ourselves, perhaps the Spirit of God would help us recognize some places within ourselves where we reject God’s opinion. And then we can change. In 2 Chronicles 6:6, God said, «I have chosen Jerusalem for my Name to be there, and I have chosen David to rule my people Israel». God chose the city of Jerusalem as his eternal city. When Jesus comes back to the earth, and he most certainly is, he’s going to rule and reign from that place. I know it’s gonna get a significant upgrade. But God chose Jerusalem. Oh, and that causes enormous consternation in the world. I’m not saying the inhabitants of Jerusalem are perfect or more godly.
In fact, I’ve been there many, many, many, many times and I can tell you they’re not. All the same garbage you can find in Middle Tennessee, you can find in Jerusalem. You can find it in Mea She’arim, you can find it in the most orthodox neighborhood in the city. It’s a people problem. But God chose that city. He did. It’s illogical. Most of the major cities in the world were located in very strategic places and they share some very common things. Usually there’s a body of water that provides enough water that would sustain an expanding population. They’re usually typically located at crossroads, significant points of travel, so that the trade routes were effected. Jerusalem doesn’t meet any of those criteria. The water source in Jerusalem, the primary water source is the spring of Gihon. It’ll only accommodate a population of about 1,500 people.
David’s Jerusalem was a small place. It’s not located on a major thoroughfare. In fact, it’s tucked away in the hills. It’s out of the way. You’d travel either along the Mediterranean coast or you’d travel along the Jordan Valley. Those are the easiest ways to travel. You wouldn’t climb the mountains to Jerusalem. I mean, there’s just nothing about it that would commend it to anyone. It’s dusty and rocky and dirty and it’s hard to get to and when you get there there’s not much water. And God chose it. For more than 3,000 years it’s been the capital of the Jewish people and what God called them to be. And the world hates it. At our formerly highly celebrated universities, the intellectual elite we’ve been told, what a fraud. What a fraud. They have almost unrelenting, unmitigated protest. What are they rebelling against? God’s choice. God’s choice. It’s not hard to find.
In Isaiah 44, it says: «Now listen, O Jacob, my servant, Israel, whom I have chosen. This is what the Lord says… he who made you, formed you in the womb, and he will help you: Don’t be afraid, my servant, Jeshurun». Jeshurun is another word for the Israel or the Jewish people. It’s a more poetic term, a more comforting term. «Whom I have chosen». God chose the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to make a covenant with them that would benefit all of humanity. God chose that. They didn’t earn it. I mean, we’re reading the book right now. They’re a grumpy, complaining, stubborn lot. The one who called them, the one who chose them, said, «You are a stiff-necked people».
That’s not a compliment. But he chose them. Our Lord and Savior, the one we choose as King, is an observant Jewish Rabbi. They have been hated and hunted throughout the course of human history. You know a few chapters of that, things like the Holocaust. It’s been very unsettling since October 7, a little over a year ago, to see the hatred for the Jewish people boiling in the tolerant, inclusive confines of American academia. Again, what a fraud. But the spirit behind it, there should be a warning to us. The spirit behind it is a hatred for an almighty God who would dare to choose and suggest that we should yield to his authority. I’m not saying everything the Jewish people does is right. I’m not saying that they shouldn’t be held accountable for their mistakes and their failures. I’m not saying that at all. But I’m saying God has chosen those people. And he said, «I’ll bless those that bless you and I’ll curse those that curse you».
I don’t think it’s a wise choice to take a position that puts you at odds with the designer. And parents, I’ll give you a little yellow light here. Our university, I hope you understand that’s what has been taught at those formerly elite institutions profoundly impacts what is taught at the lesser institutions because the faculty in the lesser institutions take their cues from those illustrious clowns that teach in those fraudulent places, and so our children have been taught these values and this hatred and this rebellion against God’s authority, and antisemitism is flourishing on college campuses in our culture. It’s flourishing in our churches.
Look in Luke chapter 9. God’s not done choosing. «A voice came from the cloud, saying, 'This is my Son, I have chosen him; listen to him.'» What’s the reason we should listen to Jesus? The only thing, God’s, «Look, I chose him, shut up and listen». «Well, I don’t…» «I chose him». See, there’s something intrinsic in us, because Adam rebelled, we’re a race of rebels, and a part of what it means to be a Christ follower is to take our old rebellious nature, our adamic nature, and say to it, «You will not dominate me».
That’s a choice beyond the choice of faith, choosing Jesus as Lord of your life. We do that and we gain a new authority. The Spirit of God is within us, but the Holy Spirit will not take our old nature, our carnal nature, and cause it to yield. We have to do that. And that takes a determination, that takes perseverance, that takes a humility. It requires of us a choice of obedience to God, not looking for reasons to extend license to ourselves why we should be able to not forgive. Why we should be allowed to be filled with envy or covetousness, or why we should allow ourselves to be filled with immoral thoughts or even behaviors. All expressions of that old carnal part of us. God said, «I chose him». And we’re his ambassadors.
You see, we have rejected so much of God’s authority, we’re reluctant to even say Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, those of us that go to churches, because we understand there is tremendous cultural pushback. «Well, not everybody believes that». No kidding. You get your little orange and white flag and put it on your car and not everybody in the Southeast likes those. And it makes you want a bigger flag. But we’ve accepted the messaging that says we should be embarrassed of Jesus. Look at 1 Peter 1, «With the precious blood of Christ, the lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world». God chose him. «Well, I don’t know why we have to believe in Jesus».
I’m not really sure either, but God chose him. I mean, I can give you some reasons and I can tape together the theology, but the reality, God chose him. I want to please the Lord. Show me what God has chosen and watch me get in line. I grew up in a barn in Tennessee, folks. I gotta keep it simple. God chose him. It’s an expression of his authority. «Who said God gets to choose»? He’s sovereign. He made the place. But the story is even better than that. Look in John 15. «If the world hates you,» this is Jesus, «keep in mind that it hated me first».
Okay, he’s told us, just plain language, he said, «Listen, they hate me. And they’re not gonna like you». «Oh, but I want them to like me. I’m so likable. How could you not like me»? Or «Maybe they’d like me more if I wouldn’t lead with Jesus, if I wouldn’t be so Jesus-forward. Maybe I could be more like them and less like Jesus, but when I go home in the privacy of my prayer closet, I pray in a closet. Then I’m gonna say 'Jesus.'» No, it doesn’t work. Jesus told us, he said, «Listen, they hate me. And they’re gonna hate you». «If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you don’t belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. And that’s why the world hates you». I have an announcement. He chose you.
Our lives are stained with rejection. Rejection is a part of this journey through time. We were left off the team, we weren’t picked for the group, we weren’t invited into the club. Somebody we made a covenant with said they didn’t want to honor the covenant, and the marriage broke down. Our parents’s marriage failed and we were children and we were left in the wind. No matter how logical you may try to approach it, it feels like you weren’t enough. Rejection touches our lives. The remedy for rejection is to understand God has chosen you. Here’s the rub, «Yeah, but I wanted those people to accept me. Why couldn’t they accept me»? We live in a broken world. Jesus helped us with this. He said, «They have hated me».
You see, it’s why a consciousness of the spiritual authority over your life is so important. When we cooperate with God, when we yield to his authority, he brings good things to us. He doesn’t remove us from the arena. He doesn’t deliver us from this present evil age, yet. Jesus was tortured to death in public. And yet we’re told, we read it together a moment ago, that God heard his prayers. So the fact that you have been rejected, I’m not saying it’s not true. I’m not saying it doesn’t leave a mark. I’m telling you there is healing and deliverance. You have been accepted. Look at the next passage, Romans 8:33, «Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen»? This is such a powerful, he said, «Listen, God has chosen you. Who’s accusing you»? He said, «God chose you. Where’s the knucklehead that’s accusing you»?
I mean, it’s asking, it’s a rhetorical question. It’s like, this is absurd. «It is God who justifies. Who is it that’s condemning? God has justified you. Who’s condemning you? Christ Jesus, who died… more than that, who was raised to life… is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us». You do no injustice to the text and the integrity of the message to say he’s interceding for me and make it a personal pronoun. God is for me. I know there’s voices against this. People go, «I don’t like that. You shouldn’t do that. Ah…» Oh yeah, I know. Don’t count your critics, just weigh them. And I don’t mean have skinny critics. That’s a different discussion. If you can, figure that out.
Ephesians 1:4, «He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight». We’re not holy and blameless. He’s had to make provisions so that we could be made holy. He’s had to make provisions so that we could be blameless. It’s why I will yield to his authority. It is the greatest bargain that will ever be presented to you. «Well, I don’t know if I can afford to follow Jesus». You can’t afford not to. I’m amazed at the things the devil, you know, people say to me, «Well, Pastor, you know, with my education». I try to be respectful. I go, «I know it’s a burden to carry the towering intellect that you’ve been gifted with, but submitting to God is still the best choice».
The things we won’t say but are in practice far more debilitating if you’re successful. And you have voices telling you you’re successful or you’ve accumulated a lot of resources or you’ve gathered some power then there really are voices within you that said, you know, «I don’t… this, the price, the cost may be too high. I can’t lay everything down». Jesus doesn’t require you to divest of everything. He requires you to yield. The rich young ruler, Jesus says, «Well, there’s one thing you lack,» and the young man went away. Jesus said, «It’s harder for the people who have more». Jesus said it, you better grapple with it. We’re the wealthiest group of people that have ever existed on the planet. I don’t care what the politicians tell you, you’re blessed. We are blessed. And we better be learning to yield. He chose you.
There is freedom in redemption and healing. My time is up. We’re gonna work on this some more. We’re gonna come to the Communion table, then we’re gonna pray that prayer that you’ve got. I think Communion today should be about God’s acceptance. The ushers are in the aisles. If you didn’t get Communion when you came in and you’d like some, they’ll bring it to you. If you’re at home, go grab a saltine cracker and a glass of water. You don’t have to have a handy-dandy church pack. Isn’t that good? Communion is a tangible expression of the redemptive work of Jesus. It’s the centerpiece of our faith. What makes all of this possible is what Jesus accomplished for us with his life, his death, and his resurrection.
I’ve described it to you many times. It’s not original with me. I’m recounting the story to you that a divinely ordered exchange took place on the cross where the perfect, sinless, obedient Son of God took all of the punishment that was due by divine justice, my rebellion, my ungodliness and yours, that in turn, you and I might receive all of the blessing that was due his perfect obedience. That’s how we get into the kingdom. He paid a price he didn’t owe, because we owed a debt that we could not pay. And when we come to the Communion table, we’re not just revisiting our salvation endlessly like a loop. What I find is that I make my journey through time that the Spirit of God continually puts before me choices that would offer to me or extend to me understanding and insight into fuller freedom than I have known.
We’ve cared so little about God that the only conversation we’ve really had any interest in is am I going to heaven or hell? «If I’m going to heaven, I won’t talk to you about anything else. I’ve got it. I can’t lose it, it’s mine». We’ve cared so little about God. And when we come to the Communion table, what we’re saying to the Spirit of God is I need help. I may need help to forgive. I may need forgiveness. And today we’re coming because rejection touches our lives. People who could have done better and should have done better didn’t. And it leaves you on the outside. It’s like they didn’t give me the rules, they didn’t tell me the… I didn’t understand. Nobody explained and I’m left with the consequence. Sometimes, we’re not mature enough either chronologically or emotionally or physically. We’re not there or maybe because of the family, so there’s lots of things, but the reality is rejection comes to our lives.
And you can say, «I don’t care,» but you do. We develop these coping mechanisms. «I don’t care what you think». «Yes, you do». I’d rather be applauded than hated. I’ve had both. Applause is better. And we can come to the cross of Jesus. He was despised, he was rejected, so that I can be accepted. Now, my old carnal nature says, «Well, you know, that’s really nice, but I wanna be accepted into the country club. Oh bother». You have to decide which authority you’re gonna yield to. If you want the applause of a godless, secular culture, just get on with yourself. But don’t conflate the two. Don’t try to manipulate the Word of God and the power of God to satisfy your old carnal nature. But you don’t have to leave here today with the burden of rejection. I know you’ve been rejected, but I’m telling you God loves you. He chose you. And in the words of Romans, the words of Paul, he said, you know, «If God is for us, who’s against us? If he justifies us, exactly who condemns us»?
So we’re coming to the cross to be accepted by God today. Are you ready? Jesus himself put this in place for us. He’s about to be betrayed. He’s about to be tortured horribly, and he stops and he says to his friends, «This bread is my body broken for you. As often as you eat this, do this in remembrance of me». What a gift. Let’s receive. And then he took a cup and he said, «This cup is a new covenant». It’s the strongest possible commitment available in the Scripture, a covenant. «This cup is a new covenant sealed with my own blood. As often as you drink it, you proclaim my death until you see me again».
Let’s receive together. Now, as you receive those elements, understand you’ve been chosen by God, not because you’re perfect. I didn’t get to read that passage in Corinthians. We will read it. It just says you were a mess. Oh me too, but I mean, says we’re a bunch of cracked pots. Says we’re from the wrong families and we went to the wrong schools and we don’t speak the right way and we got the wrong accents. And God chose us. I want you to stand with me. I think we should read this prayer together. Before we read it, how about taking a real deep breath? Some of you have carried rejection a long time. There’s a spirit that comes with it. You can be free in Jesus’s name. Take a deep breath. Say it with me:
I’m not rejected. I’ve been chosen by God. The Creator of heaven and earth loves me. I’m his child. Through the blood of Jesus, I have been justified. Through the blood of Jesus, I have been sanctified. I am the righteousness of God in Christ, highly valued in heaven. I’m a child of the King, in Jesus’s name, amen.
We got a prayer to pray. Come on.
Heavenly Father, in Your great mercy, You have chosen me to bear Your name and serve You. By Your great power, You have delivered me from the kingdom of darkness and brought me into the kingdom of Your son. I choose to yield my will to You, to submit to Your discipline and authority, to accept the direction of Your Holy Spirit. I boldly declare that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, my Lord and my King. Amen.