[Machine transcription]
In the name of Jesus, amen.
Dear Saints, Saint Peter warns us about scoffers coming in the last day. He says this, he says, know this first, I’m in 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 3, know this first, that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts.
Now, how will you recognize a scoffer? How will you know if you’ve found a scoffer, or how will you know, this is what I’m going after, how will you know if you are a scoffer? I’m really preaching to myself because I’ve been noticing that this. There’s a certain scoffer shape of mind, a scoffer way of thinking, and I think all of us are tempted to think that way.
Here’s how you know a scoffer. The scoffer says, where is the promise of His coming? Since the Fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it was from the beginning of creation. They willingly forget that by the word of God the heavens were of old, the earth standing out of the water, and that by the world that existed then perished, being flooded with water.”
In other words, the scoffer says that today is an awful lot like yesterday, and yesterday was an awful lot like the day before, and the day before was an awful lot like the day before that, and so tomorrow is going to be an awful lot like today. The scoffer forgets that God acts. The scoffer forgets that God changes things. The scoffer forgets that God judges, and the scoffer forgets that God blesses. The scoffer thinks that they know about tomorrow, how it’s going to be. And we are all tempted to this.
Now I want to take this scoffer-shaped mind and I want to apply it to two different things. First I want to apply it to July 4th, and second I want to apply it to the Gospel text and our own families.
First is this. Today is the 245th anniversary or birthday of our country. Now what do we think about that? What do we think about our own nation, the United States of America? What do we think about this experiment in ordered liberty that we’ve been engaged with in the last few generations? I would imagine that most of us are thankful for the gifts that we’ve received in this country. We’re thankful that we can gather as the Lord’s people in peace and give our prayers and praise to the Lord.
I would think though that a lot of us are worried about the way things are, or maybe most especially about the way things are going. We look at our own nation, and maybe not just our own nation, we look at the culture that we’re in and we are distressed. It seems like the trajectory of things is not getting better, but getting worse.
We can recognize plainly, with the wisdom given to us by Christ, that we live in a culture of death, a culture of now death on demand, and that it’s been getting darker for a couple of generations. And we lament the official statements that have pressed us in that way. We lament, for example, the Roe versus Wade decision or the Obergefell Supreme Court decision, but we think about that.
When we think about those things, this is the scoffer mind. We think, well, it can’t get better. I want you to look out for a phrase that is oftentimes used in the last five years or so, and that is being on the right side or being on the wrong side of history. Thinking that history has sides is part of the scoffer mind, that things are going one direction and that they’ll keep going one direction and that nothing can change them, that nothing can dial it back, that nothing can make it better or things are always going to be going in this direction. That is wrong.
You don’t know. I don’t know. The Lord alone knows what’s going to happen tomorrow and He, Jesus, who sits at the Father’s right hand, who sits on the throne and rules and reigns in the universe, has not authorized you to despair. He has not authorized you to think that today, that tomorrow is going to be just as bad as today, or even worse. He’s not given you permission; He’s certainly not commanded that; He has in fact forbidden you to worry.
Now, when we see evil in the world, we can know three things about it. Number one, that the Lord, well maybe four things. Number one, that the Lord does not cause it, but that the Lord does limit it and punish it and use it. That the Lord even uses evil to confirm His Christians in the faith and to bless them as He promised. Everything works together for those who love God and are called according to His purposes.
So that we can receive history and the time in which we are and the culture in which we live, we can receive it even as a gift from God. And we can know this, there is no rule or no law that says that things are always going to get worse. The scoffer thinks so, but not the Christian. We are not given permission to throw up our hands in despair or to wring our hands in distress; the Lord calls us to roll up our sleeves and get after it, to pray and to work in our neighborhoods and our cities so that we might bless them.
The Lord Jesus has put you here in Austin, Texas, today, and if you live here this week or whatever, He’s put you here for a reason, so that you might be a blessing. Now, here’s the point, now is not the time to run from the public square. Now is not the time to hide from the public conversation. Now, today, is the day that we should lean into it. That we should redouble our engagement in the public conversation.
And what does this look like? I’ll tell you what it certainly looks like for all of us. It looks like prayer. That all of us are praying for our nation, that all of us are praying for our state, for our county, for our city, for our elected officials, for our appointed rulers, and all this sort of thing, that we are, that we’re praying for them, and that we’re all looking for opportunities to be more involved.
If it means visiting the city council meetings, or being more involved in the local government, or even just paying attention to the stuff that’s happening in your community, or the neighborhood barbecues that you’re going to go to those and start conversations there with the people that are there, that we are not given over to despair, but to work and to pray and to bless.
All while knowing that the kingdoms of this world come and go. We trust not in princes. They are but mortal; earthborn they are, and soon decay. Nod are their counsels at life’s last portal when the dark grave claims its prey. We trust not in princes, but we work to bless and serve our neighbors, all while rejoicing that we belong to the eternal kingdom of God.
So when we think of the nation, let the scoffer mind be gone. And when it comes to thinking of our own family and friends, let the scoffer mind be gone. This is the wisdom that Jesus has for us.
Jesus has come to Nazareth, that’s His hometown, and He’s gone to the synagogue there, and He stood up in the synagogue, Luke tells us the full story. He stands up in the synagogue and He opens the Isaiah scroll and He reads the prophecy that the Messiah would come and bring healing, and then He rolls up the scroll, He hands it back over, He sits down and He says, today this scripture is fulfilled in your midst.
And instead of receiving that word with joy and gladness, the people are upset. Who is this guy? Who does he think he is? How does he say such things? And not only are they upset and they don’t receive Jesus or believe in Him, but they try to grab Jesus and not just throw Him out of town; they try to throw Him out of town where the cliff was. Throw Him overboard. Get rid of this.
It tells us in our text in Mark chapter six that Jesus could do no miracles there in their midst, and the reason He couldn’t do—He could do no miracles—it’s not like Jesus had like His divine powers were somehow reduced because of the people’s unbelief; Jesus could do whatever He wanted to do. The reason He couldn’t do many miracles is because they were trying to throw Him over the cliff.
And Jesus explains what happens: So the prophet is not without honor except in his hometown, with his relatives, and with his family. Now this is an amazing thing to consider, and I think that most of us will find this to be true. It is hard to talk to people about Jesus, but there’s different levels of difficulty in that conversation.
And the closer you are to someone who is far from God and far from Christ, the more difficult that conversation gets. I don’t know if it’s the same for you, but for me, to talk to my own family, to my parents, to my brothers, to my cousins, aunts and uncles, about the things of God is the most difficult. And, you know, I’m a professional at this. It’s hard to have those conversations. And Jesus says the same. He says, look, a prophet is not accepted in his hometown.
Now, on top of that difficulty of just talking, you know, to the children that have left church, to your grandchildren that haven’t been baptized, to your old roommate that’s left the faith, to your brother or sister who doesn’t believe anymore, on top of the difficulty of having that conversation, something else comes in, and that is the scoffer mind.
And how does it work in this context? The scoffer mind who thinks that yesterday is like today, tomorrow will be just like today, the scoffer mind says, well that’s just what they think, that’s just how it’s going, and they’re never gonna change. They’re never gonna come back to church. They’re never gonna change their mind. They’re never gonna see the love of God for them. They’re never gonna be any different.
You are not, you dear Christian, are not permitted, authorized to think that way. Jesus changes people. Jesus rescues people. Jesus is in the business of conversion. You are not authorized to despair of the faith of those that you love. Jesus hasn’t told you to worry about that. Jesus, who died for you, who rose from the dead for you, who sits at the right hand of the Father, ruling and reigning all things for you, also died for them and loves them.
And His working faith in their own heart by His Holy Spirit, that’s His promise. So you need not be afraid. The person who seems far from the kingdom, to you, the person who seems like they’ll never become a Christian, to you, looks to Jesus like the object of His love.
I mean, consider, if you would just—I mean, remember we had the story a few weeks ago of St. Paul when he was raging against the church, and he had papers from the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem to go and to arrest all the people in Damascus, and he was going to throw them in jail. In fact, not just the dads, but also the moms and the children. I mean, he was enemy of the church, number one. If you were thinking that there was one person to avoid, one person who God had probably hardened their heart and forgotten and cast off forever, then it would be this scoundrel Paul, but imagine when he shows up asking for baptism because Jesus converts and He has told us to pray for it, to look for it, He even sends out His disciples to preach repentance knowing that the Holy Spirit works.
So, what of tomorrow? What of tomorrow in our neighborhood? What of tomorrow in our state? What of tomorrow in our city? What of tomorrow in the political conversation? And what of tomorrow in your friends and family, and their faith, and their trust in Christ?
What of tomorrow? It belongs to Jesus, who loves you, who died for you and who does all things well. We rejoice that He sits on the throne and He banishes from our minds this scoffing unbelief that says that nothing changes. May God grant that for the sake of Christ. Amen.
And the peace of God, which guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord, bless and keep you today, tomorrow, and always through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.