Brick” Hebrews 2:9 17 January 2016 Sanctity of Life Sunday

“Brick” Hebrews 2:9 17 January 2016 Sanctity of Life Sunday

It’s Sanctity of Life Sunday today and churches around the world will be celebrating life today- celebrating the Triune God as the creator of human beings made in His image. And today we also celebrate the truth of Hebrews 2:9, that Jesus died so that we might have life. As we mourn the loss of innocent life, as we grieve that children are murdered in the womb of their mothers, we have no place else to go but to Jesus. So we look to Jesus today, we see Him, namely Jesus, because He lived for us and he died for us as Hebrews 2:9 says-

But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

Jesus tasted death for us so that we could celebrate life. And so that we could mourn the loss of life- the lost lives of the unborn. So if you’re new to Grace, you have to know this about us: we are pro-life here. We are against abortion. We pray that abortion will one day be illegal. I just prayed that earlier in the service. We pray and hope that one day we won’t even have to have a Sanctity of Life Sunday!

So today’s sermon is not going to just be about me saying that killing innocent children in the womb is wrong. I believe it is wrong. I’m not going to just point out how evil abortion is because I’m pretty sure most, if not all of us here, believe that. Maybe you don’t believe that, but my guess is that almost all of us here would say that abortion is evil. And if you don’t believe that abortion is evil and you don’t believe that it should be stopped, then one sermon about it probably won’t change your mind. It might.

So what I want to do today on Sanctity of Life Sunday is offer some hope. I want to see the Gospel free us to live under the banner of “It is finished.” And the reason why is because we all need that hope today. You may not have had an abortion or been involved with one, but I know that you need some rest. We all need some rest from the heavy burdens we carry around. We all need to hear Jesus’ words in Matthew 11-

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

We all need some rest, we all need some hope, we all need burdens lifted because we’ve all done many things that we are ashamed of, right? We’ve all said and done things that we are ashamed of. Maybe you’ve had an abortion. Or, maybe your girlfriend or spouse had an abortion. And if that’s you, you need some hope today. You need some good news. You need to learn to rest in Jesus, rest in the good news of the Gospel. And even if you haven’t had an abortion, I know that you have said things about other human beings and to other human beings who are made in God’s image. I know you’ve said things about and to others that you probably are ashamed of. So I want to offer some hope today and not just be polemical and political about the issue of abortion.

And in order to do that, I need to share a bit of my past with you. I’ve told y’all before that I used to work in the film industry. My father-in-law owned a lighting company and we used to provide these specialized lights for movies, commercials, music videos, and special events. And it was in the fall of 1997 when I was informed that my next lighting job was to be for this band’s new music video. So I grabbed the call sheet and went home to look up this band on the internet.

Now, keep in mind that this was in 1997. The internet was still relatively new and it was very slow back then. Very, very slow back then. So I got onto my computer and “dialed up” the internet. And I waited and waited and waited as that old internet sound happened… Remember that? Remember that sound?

I was using AOL at the time. “America In Line” is how it was jokingly referred to back then- not America On Line. All of America was waiting in line to get on the internet. AOL was also called “AOHell” back then. The good old days of the beginnings of the internet!

So I waited for the connection and then went to the AOL search engine to type in the band’s name so I could go to their website. So I typed in the band name: Ben Folds Five. I don’t know if you know who they are. The singer Ben Folds has gone on to do solo work and I think he was even a judge on some reality competition show on T.V. So I didn’t know anything about this band, except that I had heard of Ben Folds’ name in a song by the group Counting Crows. Remember them? There’s a line in the song “Monkey” by Counting Crows that says-

Got nowhere but home go to go Got Ben Folds on my radio right now

So I had heard of Ben Folds because Counting Crows are one of my favorite bands. But I had never heard their music before. So I get on the website of Ben Folds Five and I’m expecting to see a five-piece jazz band. I thought Ben Folds Five was a jazz outfit. They sounded like they would be.

And to my surprise they were a three-piece band- piano, bass, and drums- and not a five-piece band and they did not play jazz music. Their website described their music as “punk rock for sissies.” I immediately thought, “These guys are clever and funny. This should be a fun video to shoot.” So I listened to a few song clips and immediately loved his voice. Ben Folds has that nasally kind of voice and kinda sounds like Joe Jackson to me. Remember him? He sang “Steppin’ Out” and “Is She Really Going Out With Him?”

So I’m looking at their website and I see that their new album was called “Whatever and Ever, Amen” which I immediately recognized as a play on country musician Randy Travis’ song “Forever and Ever, Amen.” Remember him? So I was thoroughly confused about what kind of band they were, but I loved how self-deprecating they were and I appreciated their humor. And I liked their music because it had this kind of 80’s Joe Jackson vibe. And I thought, this is gonna be a fun video to be a part of!

And when I got to the set, Ben Folds Five did not disappoint. They were a fun bunch of guys- very witty, funny, nice guys. And when it came time record the video, the song started to play and it was a very somber, slow, heart-wrenching song and nothing like their other songs. And the song that we were shooting the video for that day is their song called “Brick.” Remember that song? Maybe you’ve heard it. The song “Brick” was a big hit for them in the fall/winter of 1997-1998. And the girl in the video is actually the girl from the very first Jurassic Park movie. Just an interesting tidbit about the video.

“Brick” is a sad, emotionally heavy song about the physical and emotional horrors of abortion. So here was this crazy, fun, goofy band who called their music “punk rock for sissies” and they were singing this heavy song about abortion. The piano player and lead singer, Ben Folds, wrote the verses of the song about taking his high school girlfriend to an abortion clinic to have an abortion, the day after Christmas. And the chorus of the song, which was written by the drummer, describes the weight and the heaviness of the shame and guilt that Ben feels. In the song he describes his girlfriend as a “brick”- the whole situation is weighing him down. He’s drowning from the weight of it all. The abortion is a brick, a weight that he can’t bear and he’s drowning in all the emotional mess. So let me read the lyrics to you-

6 a.m., day after Christmas I throw some clothes on in the dark The smell of cold Car seat is freezing The world is sleeping I am numb

Up the stairs to her apartment She is balled up on the couch Her mom and dad went down to Charlotte They're not home to find us out And we drive Now that I have found someone I'm feeling more alone Than I ever have before

She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly Off the coast and I'm headed nowhere She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly

They call her name at 7:30 I pace around the parking lot Then I walk down to buy her flowers And sell some gifts that I got Can't you see It's not me you're dying for Now she's feeling more alone Than she ever has before

She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly Off the coast and I'm headed nowhere She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly

As weeks went by It showed that she was not fine They told me, "Son, it's time to tell the truth" And she broke down, and I broke down 'Cause I was tired of lying

Driving back to her apartment For the moment we're alone But she's alone And I'm alone And now I know it

She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly Off the coast and I'm headed nowhere She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly

I want to show you the video right now. Here’s “Brick” by Ben Folds Five…

** PLAY THE “BRICK” VIDEO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt5EHAqhR1c

Such a sad song. Here’s this high school couple, who on the day after Christmas, go to get an abortion. He’s numb. He can’t feel anything. And he goes to pick her up at her apartment and she’s balled up on the couch, crying, scared, overwhelmed. They’re together driving to the clinic but they are really alone. They are together but they are alone. This whole situation is driving them apart. So as they call her name to go have the procedure, he paces the parking lot and then he leaves to go sell some of his Christmas gifts in order to pay for the abortion and buy her some flowers. And he wants her to know that she’s not dying because of him. This is her choice.

So the weight of it all is crushing him. She’s a “brick” he says and he feels like he’s holding her and he’s sinking. It’s like he’s off the coast in the ocean and this situation is weighing him down and he’s drowning in the pain and sorrow. The weight is too much. He feels like he’s drowning. And they hide the abortion from their parents. Nobody knows what happened. But after awhile all of the heaviness took its toll. She was not okay. The emotional and physical pain of the abortion had caught up to her. Their parents could tell that something was up so they told them the truth. They broke down and confessed because they couldn’t carry the burden of the abortion anymore. He was tired of lying. She was not okay. It was all too much for any human being created in God’s image.

Here’s what Ben Fold’s said about the song-

“People ask me what this song's about... I was asked about it a lot, and I didn't really wanna make a big hairy deal out of it, because I just wanted the song to speak for itself. But the song is about when I was in high school, me and my girlfriend had to get an abortion, and it was a very sad thing. And, I didn't really want to write this song from any kind of political standpoint, or make a statement. I just wanted to reflect what it feels like. So, anyone who's gone through that before, then you'll know what the song's about.”

He wanted to write a song about his experience. He wanted to reflect on what it feels like to go through that experience. It’s such a sad song but it is one of my favorite songs. I love everything about the song. The emotion. The melody. The music. And the true story behind it all. I love how Ben has captured what it feels like emotionally to grapple with abortion, to grapple with life and choices in a fallen and broken world.

And it’s a fitting song to discuss because today is Sanctity of Life Sunday. And what I want to do today is speak a little bit more about what I said last week. The reason why we have a Sanctity of Life Sunday is because human beings are the pinnacle of creation. The reason why we have a Sanctity of Life Sunday is because human beings are the apex of creation. We have value and worth and dignity because we are made in God’s image. And that’s why we are against abortion.

And you may have noticed that our sermon title is just one word today. Y’all know me. I like long sermon titles. That’s why I like the Puritans. They had very long sermon titles. But today our sermon title is just one word: Brick.

And here’s why: The truth of the matter is that we all have “bricks” that we carry around. We are all weighted down with many different things in life. And we’re tired from carrying the weight of it all. The weight of words that we have spoken. The weight of choices that we have made. The weight of thoughts that we have entertained. The weight of all of the mess and junk and sin in our lives has a way of weighing us down. The weight of all of the guilt, all of the shame, all of the regret, all of the condemnation can be summed up in the one word that is our sermon title today: Brick.

And that’s why our big idea today will be one word- this one word: REST.

We all carry “bricks” around with us- the bricks of our past, the bricks of our failures. And Jesus came that we might find rest from all of that. Rest is our big idea today. And I get that from Jesus. Listen to your Savior’s words again from Matthew 11-

Rest. Jesus offers rest for our weary souls. Jesus offers rest to the tired. And He is gentle. He is lowly of heart. His yoke is easy. His burden is light. Such beautifully freeing words for people who labor and are heavy laden. Such beautifully freeing words for people who have “bricks” in their past that are weighing them down. Such beautifully freeing words for people who feel like they’re drowning because of everything going on in their lives.

I said last week that humans beings are the pinnacle of creation. And I’ve told you that many times before. We have value and dignity and worth because we are made in the image of God. As Genesis 1:26- 27 says. So to be the image of God means that we are God’s representatives in this world. We reflect Him. We live as human beings who are His representatives, who reflect Him. Richard Pratt says, “I think the most comprehensive definition of ‘image of God’ is: everything you are, minus sin.”

Everything you are, minus sin, is the image of God. Everything you are as a human being is the image of God, excluding sin. But sin has messed up the world! This world is broken. We’re broken. We’re broken because the first human being made by God, Adam- we’re broken and sinful because he sinned. And because we’re sinners, we all do things that we’re ashamed of. We say things about others or to others that we regret saying. What does James, the brother of Jesus say about how we use our tongues?

James 3:9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

How do we use our tongues? We say things about others or to others that we regret saying. I did it this week and as soon as the words left my mouth I wanted to yank them back in. We all gossip about image- bearers of God. We all slander image-bearers of God. And we don’t just say things to harm people, we may actually harm someone physically. Maybe we lose our cool as we are disciplining our kids and we spank too hard? Or, maybe we have physically abused someone- child or spouse? There are numerous ways that we have all not reflected God’s image as we are called to do. There are many ways that all have hurt image-bearers of God. And we do that because we are sinners. And what does Jesus say to us today? He says simply-

REST.

Come to me and rest. Take My yoke upon you and rest. Cast your burden on Me and rest. Lay your “brick” at My feet and rest.

John Piper has famously said this catchy phrase that I’m sure you’ve heard, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” I tweaked that and I think John Piper and Jesus would agree with my tweaking of that phrase. Here’s how I tweaked it:

God is most glorified in us when we are most sabbatized in Him.

Yes, sabbatized is a word. It means to keep the Sabbath, to rest. God is most glorified in us when we are resting in Him. God is most glorified in us when we are resting in Jesus’ finished work for us! God is most glorified in our lives when we bring our “bricks” and lay them at Jesus’ feet and rest in His finished work.

So Jesus is saying today that we should rest. Rest in my finished work. Rest in my life, my death, my resurrection. Rest because it is finished. Rest because I tasted death for you (Hebrews 2:9). Rest because for the joy set before me, I endured the cross, despising its shame (Hebrews 12:2).

And what was the joy that kept Jesus going to the cross? What was the joy that moved Jesus to taste death for us? It was the joy that He and we would have as we rested in His finished work! Preston Sprinkle says that it was-

The joy of being reconciled and reunited with His image-bearing-masterpieces-turned-enemies, who deserve wrath, not forgiveness, justice, not grace. Joy— for you— is what kept Jesus going. Through every slash of the whip, every pound of the nail, every agonizing breath, every shameful insult hurled from the mouths of His beloved enemies— it was for Jesus’s stubborn delight set before Him that He endured the cross. The ingenuity of the Persians, the barbaric fine-tuning of the Romans, the wood, spikes, hammers, splinters, and crown of thorns picked from a garden are all woven into the tapestry of grace as the only fitting way to capture God’s love for His image bearers. This is why you can’t make God love you. God loves you because of God. God acted in Jesus out of His own freedom to descend into a feeding trough and spread His arms across a splintery beam of wood. It was Jesus’s declaration “It is finished” that made God love you. And when Jesus declared, “It is finished,” He meant it. God’s punishment for our sin was paid for, permanently settled, finished— 100 percent. If you have responded in faith to God’s free pardon through Jesus, then God will never punish you for your sin. It’s finished. No more. If you screw up today or tomorrow (which you will), it’s already been paid for through Jesus. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” Paul said (Rom. 8: 1). None. God will not and cannot condemn you after He has already condemned Jesus for you. It’s impossible. God will never be angry with you since His anger was poured out on Jesus. All of it. One hundred percent. This point needs to soak into your bones, because we have a natural desire to cover our shame with guilt instead of grace. Guilt drags along behind us like a ball and chain, even though God has shattered the chain with a cross. (Charis p. 167-169)

In other words- REST.

Rest because every one of your failures has been laid upon Jesus’ back. And every one of your failures has died with Jesus in his death, when he tasted death for you, to be remembered no more. Rest because Jesus can remember your sins no more. Rest because all of your yesterdays are nailed to the cross and are to be remembered no more. Rest and remember no more. Rest because the Gospel is true. Rest because the Gospel is good news.

This is the beautiful Gospel that we proclaim. And in their book, Rid of My Disgrace: Hope and Healing for Victims of Sexual Assault, Justin and Lindsey Holcomb highlight the beauty of the grace of the Gospel-

Grace is available because Jesus went through the valley of the shadow of death and rose from death. The gospel engages our life with all its pain, shame, rejection, lostness, sin, and death. So now, to your pain, the gospel says, “You will be healed.” To your shame, the gospel says, “You can now come to God in confidence.” To your rejection, the gospel says, “You are accepted!” To your lostness, the gospel says, “You are found and I won’t ever let you go.” To your sin, the gospel says, “You are forgiven and God declares you pure and righteous.” To your death, the gospel says, “You once were dead, but now you are alive.” (p. 208)

Jesus tasted death for you so that you could experience grace. So let me ask you: What “brick” is weighing you down today? Is it the memory of an abortion? Or, the memory of hurtful words? Or, the memory of the pain you that you brought upon your family? What is it? What “brick” has you weighed down today?

You see, we have a natural desire to cover our shame with guilt instead of grace. That’s what we all try to do- cover our shame with guilt instead of grace. As if we could cover it!

The reality is that God knows all of your secrets. He knows all of the awful things that you have said to and about other people. He knows your addictions, He knows your fears, He knows what makes you toss and turn in bed at night. He knows it all and He still loves you and says, “Come. Rest.”

The good news of the gospel is that there's mercy for whatever “brick” you're carrying around and feeling the weight of. Whatever damage you may have caused another person made in the image of God, there is grace. Abuse (verbal or physical), immorality, porn, gluttony, racism, slander, gossip, lying, murder, swindling, etc. In other words, there is grace for everyone here because we have all done these things to some extent. And the beauty of the Gospel is that Jesus tasted death for us, knowing that we would do these things! And the good news of the Gospel is that Jesus sees the darkest, most hideous, secret places of our hearts and He still loves us!

But it gets even more surprising! You kind of expect that from God at this point, right? Not only does Jesus love us even when He sees the darkest, most hideous, secret places of our heart, He actually became all of these things on the cross for us. when He tasted death for us!

Galatians 3:13 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.’”

Commenting on this verse, Martin Luther said-

“Our most merciful Father, seeing us to be oppressed and overwhelmed with the curse of the law . . . sent his only Son into the world and laid upon him all the sins of all men, saying, ‘You be Peter that denier, Paul that persecutor, blasphemer and cruel oppressor, David that adulterer, that sinner who ate the apple in Paradise, that thief who hung upon the cross, and briefly, you be the person who has committed the sins of all men. See therefore that you pay and satisfy for them.’”

Jesus became the darkest, most hideous places of our hearts! All of those things that we hate, that we are ashamed of, Jesus became them on the cross when He tasted death. He took those “bricks” upon Himself when He tasted death, when He took our place. When He tasted death on the cross for us, Jesus became the racist, Jesus became the blasphemer, Jesus became the adulterer, Jesus became the thief.

Jesus became a racist on the cross. He became an abortion doctor on the cross. Jesus became a pimp on the cross. Jesus became a screaming parent hurling hurtful words at their children on the cross. He became a child abuser, a pedpohile, a pervert, a terrorist, an alcoholic, a drug dealer and a drug abuser on the cross. And He did it to save the people who do those very things.

What grace! What mercy! And because Jesus did that for us, because He tasted death for us, we can- REST.

Micah 7:19 He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

You can rest today because God has thrown the brick of your sin into the depths of the sea. Don’t drag a net through the sea of forgetfulness. Let the brick sink. Don’t drag a net through the sea of forgetfulness Let the brick sink and rest.

And when you feel the “brick” of shame dragging you down, remember to rest. And remember that God is most glorified in you when you are most sabbatized in Him.

You are not your “brick.” You are not your “brick.”

“Brick” Hebrews 2:9 Sermon Study Questions

1. Read Matthew 11:28-30. Do you struggle to find rest in Jesus? What do you think the rest that Jesus has in mind looks like?

2. Read 1 Peter 5:6-7. What does this tell us about Jesus? Do you believe it? What are the “bricks” in your life that drag you down? Have you believed the lie that you are the “bricks” that weigh you down?

3. Read James 3:9. What does this verse teach us about how we use our tongues and about humanity? Have you ever considered that “harsh words spoken” should be a part of Sanctity of Life Sunday?

4. What are some ways that you can get involved in seeing abortion end?

5. Discuss these quotes: