Living Dangerously: Dangerous Leader

2015 Summer Sermon Series

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Most dangerous animals, according to nine and ten year old children: Black mamba snake, cobra, komodo dragon, diamondback rattlesnake, cheetah, tigers, lions, bears, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, crocodile, and great white shark.

Most dangerous jobs to have: crocodile wrestler, lion tamer, bullfighter, high-steel construction worker, lineman, underwater welding, any kind of military personnel, hockey players, miners, astronaut, firemen, policemen.

Most dangerous places to live: Antarctica, Arctic Circle, Japan, China, the Middle East, Afghanistan and Iraq, and Hawai’i.

A “Dangerous Leader” Lord Jesus sets the example of full devotion for all of us to follow. He demonstrates the courage and resolve needed to live dangerously. A strong call to see and follow His example in service, sacrifice, and ministry.

The Jewish religious establishment was terrified of Jesus. He was a threat to their power and authority.Jesus was an iconoclast, who attacked settled beliefs. He was a revolutionary. He was a rebel. He was a catalyst for change.

Why was Jesus so dangerous?

He challenged long-held teaching about law and duty. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5), He carried traditional views of law to their logical conclusion. The black and white of the law was really only the beginning of what God was hoping and expecting. What was the heart, the core of the commands given? “You have heard that it was said,” . . .

  • 21-26. You shall not murder. Hatred and disunity are really the bigger issue.
  • 27-30. You shall not commit adultery. Lust is the root of this kind of sin.
  • 31-32. Write certificates of divorce. Stay faithful to your spouse.
  • 33-37. Don’t break your oath. Don’t make an oath, just live with integrity, doing what you say you will.
  • 38-42. The law allowed for “Eye for eye,” lextalionis, the law of retaliation. Jesus recommended blessing with kindness those who accost and injure.
  • 43-48. Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. Love all, including and especially your enemies and those who hate you.

He called out hypocrisy. Matthew 23 is a blunt rejection of the hypocritical living of the Pharisees. Jesus declares seven woes on them for

1)keeping the people away from the kingdom of heaven (13-14)

2)for converting people to lives lived for show (15)

3)for failing to recognize the true priority of God and His holiness in their speech (16-22)

4)for legalism in tithing and neglecting justice, mercy, and faithfulness (23-24)

5)for focusing on their outward purity and righteousness (25-26)

6)for ignoring and denying their sin and corruption (27-28)

7)for failing to see their own guilt and failures (29-32)

He crossed social and cultural boundaries.He modeled a counter-cultural lifestyle. He associated with people of questionable character, behavior, and background.

  • Women. He was not afraid to befriend and engage with women. In a society where women had few rights or freedoms, Jesus demonstrated their value. Rather than being dismissive, He was kind to women, even those who may have deserved some righteous judgment and scrutiny. Mary and Martha appear to be very close friends. There were several females who followed Jesus all the way to the cross.
  • Children. They were not doted on or fawned over. The disciples tried at one point to keep people with children away from Jesus so He could do the important work of the Messiah. He said “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these (Matthew 19:14, Mark 10:14, Luke 18:16). He welcomed them. He gathered children up into His arms and blessed them.
  • Foreigners. While the rest of His countrymen saw themselves above the Samaritans to the north and the resident Romans, Jesus was willing to mix with them and to bless them. Samaritan woman at Sychar. Roman centurion—“I have not found such great faith even in Israel” (Matthew 8:10 and Luke 7:9).
  • Unclean and untouchable. Lepers. Blind. Demon-possessed.

Jesus called people to follow Him all the way. He offered a call to die to self.

  • In Mark 3, we find the Pharisees beginning to plot about how to kill Jesus (3:6). From then on, it’s clear even to the populace that Jesus is a marked and wanted man. In John 7, the people of Jerusalem ask, “Is this the man they are trying to kill?”
  • He promised that to follow Him would bring judgment from the rest of society. He told the disciples that if the world hated Him, it would also hate them.
  • Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:12. “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Greek word is “Dioko,” which means driven away, chased, pursued with hostility, harassed, mistreated.
  • Take up your cross and follow Me. Before there was an inkling that He would die on the cross.

Revelation 2:10b, “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.”