Lent 2005 - The Nails of the Cross -- Hatred
Matthew 20:18, 21:15-16,
26:3-4, 59-60, 27:20-21, 41-43
by Pastor Eldon Reich
Today we look at the SIXTH NAIL OF THE CROSS.
The Nail of HATRED
What is HATRED?
What are its affects?
What can we do to escape it?
I have never seen more hatred in
American then these last few years
Especially during the last 2004
election.,
If you were with us, we like you…
If you’re against us,
then we not only despise you, we hate you.
From politics to
sports, from race to economics,
from Yankees and Southerners,
Blacks and whites and
Native Americans
to an increasingly
number of people who are not just filled,
but rather consumed
by hatred for other people.
Road rage is epidemic
We have had our first
Basketball assault charge for delibertly throwing an elbow.
Sporting event rage
is now now in the teenie games
Its even here in
Two
young boys out walking when a Rottweiler dog
jumped
out from behind a fence and attacked one of them.
The
other boy grabbed a 2x4 and smacked the dog on the head
and
then managed to wrap the broken chain from the dog’s leash around the dog’s
neck
and
chocked the dog to death, saving his friend’s life.
A
newspaper reporter happened to have witnessed the whole thing
and
ran over to the young men and said,
“That
was amazing, I’m writing this up for
tomorrow headline:
“Young
Central Eaglesfan saves friend from vicious dog.”
The
boy stopped him and said, “Sir, I’m sorry but I’m not a Eagles fan.”
The
reporter looked at him strangely then he said,
‘Oh
that’s fine, let me rewrite this…
Young
Northern Wolves fan saves friend from vicious dog.
Again the young boy interrupted.
“Sir,
I’m sorry but that’s not true…
I’m
not a wolves fan.
I
just moved here from
And
I’m a Winona Warriors fan.
The reporter looked at him and said,
“Oh”
The
headlines of the paper next day read.
“Spoiled
little brat murders precious family pet.”
We laugh at that but
I. WHAT IS HATRED?
English & Hebrew definitions define hatred as—
a strong dislike, or state of mind of ill will for another so we treat them as an enemy.
In other words hatred
is not an involuntary reaction,
1. HATRED IS A CHOICE.
Jesus said: No
servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the
other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God
and mammon. Luke 16:13
We would like to blame others for our hatred.
I wouldn’t have
gotten angry if that other person hadn’t made me angry.
I wouldn’t have said
those ugly words if someone had not provoked me.
But it is our choice.
A mother was
shopping with two children age 5 and 3 years old.
They became angry
with each other and started shouting back and forth
"I hate
you!" and "I hate you, too!" they yelled back and forth.
The mother intervened and said: “That’s not very nice, and I’m certainly not
going to take two little boys who hate each other to McDonald’s for
lunch."
Five-year-old Jamie quickly backed down. "I don’t really hate you,
Billy."
But Billy, with the clear logic of three years, responded, "I still hate
you! I’m not hungry." -- Joanne H. Hunter,
So no food for either.
2. HATRED COMES FROM THE
PERCEPTON OR REALITY OF ONE’S RIGHTS BEING VIOLATED.
That’s why kids draw line in the
sandbox,
Or the back seat of the car
Or when I was growing up we only
had three bedrooms on the farm.
And my brother and I had to sleep
together.
Believe me there was always a line
in the bed.
Your side my side.
It is only when we assume our
rights, .
Can another person can cross it,
or violate it.
Those rights can be legal, or just
made up.
You violate my space and you see
what happens.
One day, a hitch
hiker gets a ride from Billy Bob.
They came to an
intersection with a
redlight.
Billy Bob went right
through the red light.
The passenger looked
at Billy Bob and said:
"What the heck
are you doing? You're going to get us killed!"
Billy Bob responded, "Don't worry, my momma always drives like
this."
Not long after Billy Bob came to another stoplight and that too was red.
Billy Bob sped right
through the light.
The hitchhiker said:
I told you, you’re gonna get us killed
Stop this nonsense
or let me out.
"All right!
Billy Bob says, I get it, but I told you my momma drives like this all the
time!" Soon, the two guys ran into another light. This time it was green.
Billy Bob slammed on
his brakes and the truck skidded to a stop.
The passenger
screamed. "What in the world are you doing man, this is the third time you
almost got us killed. Why did you stop at a green light?"
"Well," said Billy Bob, "my momma might be coming the other
way!"
Proverbs
14:17 says, “A quick-tempered man does foolish things, and a crafty man is
hated.”
II. WHAT ARE THE AFFECTS OF HATRED?
Psychologists tell us that the emotion of hatred
produces more immediate effects of chemical balance in the body
than any other emotion, including fear,
The emotion of hatred may pass quickly but the damage doesn’t’.
“It’s all over in a minute we say”
So is a tsunami, but it takes months to clean up.
Matthew 21: 15But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing
things that he did, and heard the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna
to the Son of David,” they became angry 16and said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” Jesus
said to them, “Yes; have you never read,
‘Out of
the mouths of infants and nursing babies
you have
prepared praise for yourself’?”
Jesus was saying before you get
angry about me:
Check out the scriptures that you
have in your own synagogue.
But the Pharisees rights to rule
their religion superceded their sight to God Word..
1. HATRED DISABLES OUR ABILITY TO SEE AND
UNDERSTAND GOD’S WORD.
Almost immediately from the
beginning
The Pharisees and Chief Priest
missed who Jesus was
Because of hatret.
Look at Mark 3:2 and Jesus early ministry:
Jesus is in the Synagogue on the
Sabbath and a man with a shriveled hand came.” (Now it looks like this was a set up by the
Pharisees because a cripple was not to
be in the Synogogue.
Mark 3:2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand. “Stand up in front of everyone”. 4 Then Jesus asked them “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” They remained silent. He looked around them with anger and deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts and said to the man. “Stretch out your hand”. He stretched it out and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus. Mark 3:1-6
In stead of seeing that Jesus
just fulfilled scripture of Isaiah as the messiah.
Healing to the sick
Bringing salvation to the lost.
Feeding the poor.
Freeing of the prisoners
The Pharisees missed it because
hatred clouded their souls to the word of God..
Do we have a difficulty
understanding God’s word for our lives?
Maybe its because we have
something that is distorting or blinding us to God’s word..
Hatred does that.
2. HATRED DESTROYS OUR ABILLITY
TO MAKE MORAL CHOICES.
Matthew 263Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered
in the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, 4and they conspired to
arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.
I thought the church and its leaders were supposed to
Protect the innocent
To maintain the moral conscience of the community.
To defend the weak and helpless.
Why would you allow a behemoth
criminal like Barrabas
Back in to society
To steal, kill, and terrorize,
knowing who he was?
Hatred destroys our ability to
make good choices.
a
when employee left out his chalupa (cha-loo-pa).
Most people just complain, but this guy was so enraged that his took his 6’3
270lbs frame and tried to climb through the 14- by 46-inch drive-through window
and got stuck. The frightened manager and employees locked themselves in an office
and called the police. The police arrived at the drive-through and discovered
the legs and back end of the football player kicking in midair.
3. HATRED CLOUDS OUR COMPASSION
FOR OTHERS
There not an ounce of compassion
in the Chief Priest?
They were all too familiar with
Crucifixions. .
They knew he was innocent.
But their hatred closed the door on compassion.
They joined the crowd.
41In the same way the chief priests also, along with the
scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, 42“He saved others; he cannot save himself.
They mocked him in his unprotected state of suffering and pain.
Are we in the church, guilty of beating a person when he’s down.
When he has been wounded and hurt, betrayed and abused.
Because he from another country,
Or has different colored skin.
Or because he’s divorce.
Or a single mothers,
Does that mean they can’t serve on church committees?
Or help in worship?
Or work with youth?
For the Chief Priest hatred simply
overtook and compelled them
toward the abyss of total
separation from God.
They missed the Messiah.
4. HATERED PLACES
OUR ETERNAL DESTINY IN JEOPARDY
Jesus said: I John
Friends if your passing through hell,
Don’t let hate keep you there.
Keep on
going.
Walk
thru the valley.
III. WHAT CAN WE DO TO OVERCOME HATRED
1. SURRENDER TO
GOD.
Don’t let it get
its hook in you by demanding your rights.
As I look around the world.
I find that there is a circle around me.
The center of that circle is always where I am standing.
I am at the center.
That is the nature of the carnal sinful I
The fight began when someone else wants my center.
Including God.
Galatians
When we surrender we discover
That we have been rescued from
the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
in whom we have redemption the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians
1:13-14
2. FORGIVE THOSE
WHO HAVE HURT YOU.
Jesus said Father
forgive them
He could have
said: Father Fry them.
Sally was taking a
seminary class. One days when
she came into the class she found a large target placed on the wall, with
several darts resting on a nearby table.
Professor Smith told
the students to draw a picture of someone they disliked or someone they really
hated —and he would allow them to throw darts at the person’s picture.
One girl drew a picture of another woman who had stolen her boyfriend.
Another drew a
picture of his younger brother.
One by one they
filled their page with an image they hated.
Then the Class lined
up and hung their pictures over the target and began throwing darts.
Some of the student
threw with such force that they ripped apart their targets.
When all had finished
the professor removed the target from the wall.
To everyone’s
surprise underneath the target where all the pictures had been
Placed was a picture
of Jesus.
The saviors face was
a mangled mess of
Holes and jagged
marks
His eyes were
virtually pierced out.
The Professor Matthew 25:40. "Inasmuch as ye
have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto
me"
We must forgive those who have hurt us.
3. BE PROACTIVE IN YOUR
RELATIONSHIP.
You be the first to seek and give
forgiveness.
Be an
imitator of Christ.
They tell us you can tell the size of the person by the size of the thing that makes the person mad.
How do you handle the hurt and pain other give you?
Do you hate them?
Or do you seek to forgive.
Its not easy.
Especially with the war going on right now.
In World War II. A father put his son on the trains for action against the Japanese. And with bitter tears he waved goodbye and said: "If my son is killed, I hope every Jap in the world is killed!"
But the father being a Christian had a difficult with the way he felt
and finally realized that is was not right to hate,
whether his son lived or died. He declared rather,
"I will not hate. I refuse to
be destroyed by hate!"
A year later the son was killed.
When the insurance money arrived.
The father did not need the ten thousand dollars
so he sent it to the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board
and designated it for missions to the Japanese.
That is what the redeeming love of God can do for us.
So this morning,
If you find yourself full or anger, hate and revenge.
And bitterness toward a spouse, a neighbor, our government,
Even our president, we must turn it over to God.
Jesus didn’t just say father forgive them.
He placed his life in
a position to redeem them.
It was his blood the
Chief Priest hated that provided for their salvation
Do unto others what
you want them to do unto you. Matthew 7:12
And don’t allow the Nail of Hatred to pierce your soul
Or the flesh of Christ
As we surrender our great need to him.
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