Sermon Sandwich
Sermon Sandwich—Offended by God?
Trinity Church, 1589 Hwy 174, Edisto Island, SC 29438
www.trinityedisto.com 843-869-3568
3rd Sunday of Advent, December 11, 2022
Holy Eucharist - Renewed Ancient Text; 2019 BCP, p.123
Matthew 11:2-19 Sermon Notes
Intro - Offended by God?
Matthew 11:6 - And blessed is he who takes no offense at me.
Offense - skandalon - that which causes offense and thus arouses opposition, scandalous, a stumbling block, offensive
Blessed - fortunate, highly favored, intimacy of relationship.
Cursed - ill fated, damned, cut off from relationship.
The Offensiveness of Jesus to John the Baptist
Matthew 11:2-6 2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is he who takes no offense at me.”
Isaiah 61:1-2 - The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
How do Believers make our way
through the offensiveness back to the Blessedness?
1. Perspective - Who is Jesus?
And the perspective begins with this wise Question of John the Baptist;
Matthew 11:3 - “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
Wisdom begins to be shown by the questions we ask.
If Jesus is the Messiah and God, if Jesus is crucified and resurrected, then all my issues and offenses begin to take on a different perspective. An eternal and heavenly perspective. My life gets caught up in His life. My story begins to be caught up in His Story. He goes through The crucifixion and The resurrection, I will go through crucifixions and resurrections.
2. Pray - We are invited to take anything to our Father in prayer.
Any problem, any emotion, anything we find offensive.
3. Promise - Is there a Promise that would go with that Offense?
II Peter 1:4 - he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
4. Praise - My being offended is the time to press in with Praise and Worship.
There are multiple examples in Scripture where the People of God are engaged in praise and worship and God goes on the move.