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Nutshell Sermons — Dear God Is Jesus A Pacifist?. Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.
Dear God, is Jesus a pacifist? I'm seeing an incredible disparity between the Old Testament and the new. Back in OTBC, you didn't seem to have a problem with annihilating all of your enemies. So I was kind of wondering if I could get an endorsement for me to be able to take out a few unbelievers. But Jesus says that if your enemies hungry, feed him. And he lives by the sword, she'll die by the sword. But it sure seems like you and your son aren't saying the same things. So I was reading in the Old Testament where you were appointing Saul to be king. And you told him to go wipe out his enemies next door. The Amalakites. Every last living thing, including the livestock. So in the story of Saul, I read that he did what you said. But then in the last minute, decided to keep some sheep. Because you can work up an appetite killing everybody. And I love what Samuel says when he comes to check on Saul's work. And Saul says, yeah, I got her done. Killed all the God's enemies just like he said. And I love the sarcasm of Samuel when he says, so what's all this bleeding of sheep that I hear in the background? Rut-Roh.
So after this, you didn't want him to be king anymore. Because he didn't follow your instructions to the letter. And maybe because he favored livestock over people. Been there. And I can see how he might have confirmed your decision by going to another town and building a monument for himself. But it wasn't good news when he got the reviews. And I sound like he when he starts justifying his reasons for keeping a little something back for me. I was just setting some sacrifices back for later. That's it. Yeah. I was going to make sacrifices unto you for all you've done for me. And this is where your servant Samuel says, obedience is better than sacrifice. But I found myself wanting to be obedient to some of your previous orders from the Old Testament. And right now, it wouldn't be hard to be obedient to an order like that. Because you got a lot of enemies. And I don't think they're responding to Jesus sacrificing his life in obedience to you. So I was kind of thinking, maybe I could offer a sacrifice to pay for my disobedience. Thanks for letting me share.
Amen. Thanks for hanging with me here on Nutshell sermons. I find myself praying more often where I don't know where to start. Or even how to end. I try to find a balance in my emotions because we walk by faith, not by feelings. At least we're supposed to. It's hard to tell compassion from suicidal empathy. Or know the difference between forgiving and excusing. And often I find myself screaming for justice. When the real truth is, I just want revenge. So that's why I spend time with God every day. So I know what he wants for me to obey. And it's why I'm your friend here on the back row. And when we're not sure, we'll pretend that we know. Because I'll always insist that you're never dismissed.
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