Irony of Jesus
Stephen kicked us off with the story of Joseph and how God’s plan through the events in his life was ironic.
Then Andrew came in and talked about Peter and how his life was also ironic…
And now it is my turn to share with you part three of our irony series entitled, the irony of Jesus. I should probably introduce myself before I start, my name is Michael Minshew and I would like to let you in on a little secret about me. Are you ready? I love baseball. I absolutely love it. And for the last fourteen years, it has been a huge part of my life. But I never imagined that God would use this game to impact my life in a different way than just playing the game. But I’ll talk about that a little later…
Now the people who heard that the Son of God was coming thought Jesus was coming to be a conquering king and rule over them in a king-like manner, but God soon changed those thoughts as Jesus began his works here on earth. Their expectations of who Jesus was would soon change as they found that he came to die on the cross for their sins. And as we see in Philippians 2:1-8, Jesus came to earth to be a servant and encourage others to do so as well.
Philippians 2:1-8. “ 1So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
As I said before, people thought Jesus would come and rule as a conquering king, and Jesus will indeed come back to rule, but He first came in the form of humility. As we see in verse 7, he made himself nothing and in doing so, took the form of a servant. This is a great example of Christ’s humility because Jesus is the son of God. And he could’ve stayed up in Heaven and never come down to earth. But instead he chose the path of a servant. It was his love for us, his children that drove him down, to human form. And as he walked the earth, he took with him that servant-hood mindset, and humbly looked to other’s interest and showed love. And he remained a humble servant even to the point of death on the cross. This was the ultimate act of humility, the ultimate act of service, the ultimate act of love.
So just to remind you again, I love baseball. I would spend hours outside throwing a tennis ball up against the bricks of our house and simulate games where, of course, I would always win. And I continued to do this up until my junior year. And it was that year that of baseball that God really took baseball back from me. You see, this was the year I had been waiting for for a long time. Varsity baseball. The big time. And I was ready to play. So the first game rolls around, and I am pumped, I have my sweatbands on, wearing number 19, with James 1:22-24 written on the inside of my hat. And as soon as I get back to the dugout after warming up, I’m met by my head coach, and in his hands, is the stat book. Now my job for the night had just become very clear, and it wasn’t to play first base either. Instead, my job was to watch the game, and keep a record of what happened. But in that moment, God reminded me of something and it was something that He had been teaching me since my first day playing baseball for North Crowley. That my number one job was not to play first base, no matter how badly I wanted to. My job was to show love to the other guys on my team, and to encourage them in any way that I could. It’s ironic because I went into high school expecting to just play baseball, but the outcome of that situation was completely different. God took that passion and used it to teach me greater things that are so much more important than just playing a game.
Jesus showed the people something greater than they had expected, service and love. The irony is that their expectations of Jesus, was an all-powerful King who was just coming to rule over them. But instead, they got a servant in Christ Jesus.
We’ve seen the irony if Joseph and Peter’s life. And maybe you’re sitting here today and maybe your life is like Joseph, and it’s been tough. A life where the outcomes were different than your expectations. Where the situations in your life, have not been pleasant. And you may be in a place that you really do not enjoy being in right now. But just like Joseph, God can still use these situations in your life to bring people to him and can strengthen your walk with Him through it all. Or maybe you are like Peter, and you have walked alongside God for awhile, but have strayed from the path. And you’ve disobeyed God through your words and actions. And you’ve continued to do so. And you feel trapped in your sin. But just like Peter, your life can be restored too. God can bring you back on that path. He can release you from your sin. And God can still do incredible things with and through you. And we know the irony that Jesus, who some thought would rule as a conquering king, but before he does that, he became a servant first to all mankind and died on the cross to save the world. Now for some of you today, you may not know who Jesus is, or you may have even had a different perspective of who Jesus is as you came today. But remember this, no matter what the situation, no matter what is going in your life, God still loves you. So my question for all of you today, is what is going to be your response to this love?
Now in a moment we are going to take an offering, and if you do not know who Jesus is, please do not give anything, but instead take this time to reflect on what we have learned today about who Jesus is and what your response will be to His love for you. And if you are member, and you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, then we ask for you to accordingly to what God wants you to give.
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