Part 9: The Most Dangerous People in the World (The Alternative Community) // Ty Gibson

one of the most disconcerting experiences one of the most disappointing experiences one of the most troubling experiences I have ever had as a follower of Jesus was during a Memorial Day weekend event while the event wasn't specifically for Memorial Day it was an event that just overlapped with Memorial Day weekend and I was there as the featured speaker it was a large gathering of Christians in a church there were thousands of people there to worship Jesus and I was the speaker and so I came out and sat down at the appropriate time waiting for introductions to be made for prayers to be had and for you know the program to unfold I mean when you're the speaker you have the time at which it's your turn to stand up well I want to tell you that I wanted to stand up before it was my turn because as i sat there on the stage something unbelievable unfolded before my eyes the leader of the event the emcee a great man a wonderful man a man I love and appreciate stood up to the microphone and he expressed in remembrance on Memorial Day weekend he expressed sorrow and sadness grief and mourning for those who have lost their lives in military service no problem so far I'm feeling that people who have lost their lives in military service but then as he was making the announcement patriotic music began to play and soldiers in uniform with rifles began to march up the center aisle of the church and they took formation on the stage in front of me and move through a military ritual with their guns with their firearms as the crowd went wild with shouts of approval and interest with an American flag on one end of the stage and a Christian flag with a cross on it on the other end of the stage now what I want to share with you today is it is a delicate matter indeed to be a follower of Jesus who has a kingdom that is a political movement that he's initiated in the world with specific ethics that define that Kingdom and at the same time be a part of a nation any nation in the world in fact and to somehow maintain the balance of being a good citizen and even patriotic if you have patriotic values like like justice and freedom for all which are good values praise God for all of that right to maintain a sense of patriotism to the principles that are good that are inherently good in the constitution of a nation and at the same time to maintain as your highest oil Tees commitment to the kingdom of Christ and his deliberately nonviolent anti-military kingdom ethic so what I'm gonna explore with you today and it's gonna be hard I'm telling you that what I we're about to explore it's gonna be hard for me it is hard for me I've been pondering this for years and in a laser-focused sense just over the last week preparatory for our time together here I've been challenged to the depths of my being to the core of my being if you simply come into the house of God to be told everything you already believe and to have all of your opinions coddled then coming into the house of God is dangerous to your ideology to my ideology we had better be prepared to have the God of the universe in Christ tell us things we don't know and things that go against the grain of our existing opinion system and so I find myself challenged by the things we're about to explore because in fact Jesus came into the world if you just read the Gospels Jesus came to the world and he introduced a new relational principle unlike anything the world at that time or since has had to offer Jesus brings something new unique completely other than the prevailing systems have to offer in fact he established a different kind of kingdom than the world to that point had ever known and the world still has never known a kingdom like the kingdom that Jesus inaugurated and declared himself to be the king of Jesus launched a non-military kingdom led by himself as a non-violent King now we find that really hard to process like the people at the time of Jesus found it hard to process they were looking for a deliverer they were looking for a messiah they had read the prophecies of the Old Testament and the religious elite of the time they knew that he was going to be coming sometime and here he came unlike anything they expected so when Jesus came and the first announcement out of his mouth was the kingdom of heaven is at hand Matthew chapter 4 verse 17 man their hearts were racing with excitement this is it he's the one the Romans they have no idea what's coming they wanted a military Messiah they had anticipated a military Messiah they wanted violence they wanted one regime to pass and for Israel to be exalted to the pinnacle of world power on the premise of power that is grounded in violence that's what they wanted but Jesus didn't simply say the kingdom of heaven is at hand there's an ellipses there at the beginning I left something out Jesus came and he announced repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand now the word repent is very fascinating it is in our English repent of course but Metanoia in the Greek and it literally means to change your perspective to change your mind to undergo a paradigm shift now we have in our very local last few hundred years of Christianity we have narrowed the idea of repentance to the individual sinner repenting for individual sins in order to be saved now there is truth to that usage of the word repentance but Jesus is using the word repentance in the context of launching a kingdom Jesus is talking not about in this context at least he's not talking about a behavioural a change of lifestyle with regards to personal moral failings now we need to repent on that level there's other scriptures for that but what is Jesus talking about Jesus is talking about you need to undergo a change in ideology in perspective your mind needs to be changed regarding what it is that God is now through me doing in the world I'm launching a kingdom and the only way that you're going to be able to see it discern it for what it is is if you are willing to undergo a radical appending of your entire way of thinking you are not going to sustain this kingdom in your thinking if you try to force fit violence into my new regime so Jesus comes along and he is what we might call a script flipping Messiah he comes along and he says listen listen we're gonna do life we're gonna do Empire we're gonna do Kingdom we're gonna do everything differently than you've ever forever ever imagined doing it and the Sermon on the Mount you've I don't know if you ever heard of the Sermon on the Mount in this context but but but but we're expounding Scripture here I invite you to read the actual account of the Gospels this this isn't I'm not fabricating this the kingdom of God is announced in Matthew chapter 4 in the immediate context of saying repent change your entire paradigm regarding what it looks like to be a kingdom and what you expect for a messiah change everything you've ever your expectations need to be completely upended that's in chapter 4 in chapter 5 Jesus gives what is commonly called his Sermon on the Mount now it's called the Sermon on the Mount because it happened on a gentle slope on an amount so it's descriptive of the geography but but that terminology is not particularly significant Sermon on the Mount really in the context of the biblical narrative the Sermon on the Mount constitutes Christ's political manifesto for the kingdom he just announced there's a context here repent the kingdom of heaven it's here now everybody sit down and let me explain to you what this kingdom looks like because it's completely different than what's going on with the Roman Empire it's completely different than how the Greeks before the Romans ruled it's completely different then how the Persians ruled before that it's completely different than the way the Babylonians ruled before the Persians it's a completely different way of thinking so everybody have a seat on the gentle slope here I'm gonna explain to you I'm gonna give you my kingdom ethic now the sermon of the mount has so many features I would encourage you to read it this afternoon if you possibly can't just sit down and take it and it is it is without question the most significant public address that has ever been made in all of human history there's nothing that even compares with the completely countercultural up ending of human thought that Jesus embarks upon in this message he says nothing that anybody is expecting and to this day nobody on the planet as a corporate body actually believes that and practices the Sermon on the Mount there are individuals who here and there who are trying really hard to imbibe what Jesus taught there is not a single corporate entity on the planet that has actually ever thoroughly acted out the Sermon on the Mount it is the most profound challenge to human nature that has ever been articulated the Sermon on the Mount has many features read the whole thing but among them and chief among them is Jesus says that my kingdom belongs to the meek the merciful and the peacemakers one one friend of mine Angelo Grasso I was with him last week he said it's it's this Sermon on the Mount is is to the humble the hungry and the hunted these are the individuals Jesus is addressing and peacemakers here doesn't mean making up with your kid sister peacemaking in this context is existing in the world as agents of non-combatant peace on the world stage people who flip the script and do life differently that doesn't mean you might not need peace with your kids sister think about that go make up with her later on but then not what we're talking about here and that's not what Jesus is talking about he's talking about a complete change of ideology conquest Jesus explains will be by love of enemies by forgiveness and by non-violence this is your scene aren't you feeling the weight of it why nobody's ever actually said hey let's do that and Jesus clearly deliberately overturns lex talionis now for those of you who are wondering what that is Lex talionis is Lex's law and telly honest is retaliation this is the way scholars refer to the prevailing system of dealing with wrongs it is the law of retaliation it says listen when somebody violates you whatever they have extracted justice requires that you get the same back at least in quantity in kind at least so the Old Testament came along into a world now this is so crucial to understand if you want to understand world history and if you want to understand the biblical narrative you have to understand this shift so Moses taught in a world that was practicing what we might call gratuitous retaliation not I for I if you take my eye I'll take your head in other words there was no real serious effort to achieve legal due process and an equality of offense to violence to reconciliation to restoration so Moses came along and people have camped there for thousands of years a lot of churches are there right now the Bible says I for an eye tooth for a tooth okay in the context of the biblical narrative the the eye for an eye tooth for a tooth that Moses taught the Lexx telling us telling us that was an effort to mitigate gratuitous violence that was not Moses stepping on the world stage and saying to Israel hey you need to make sure you get your due he was saying don't take more than your do if someone kills your cow don't take their child that was the context in a world of gratuitous violence Moses throttled it down it was a step in the right direction Jesus came along and he completely even overturned what Moses had to say on it even though Jesus is the one who inspired Moses to write the i4i text in that historical context Jesus comes along in Matthew chapter 5 verses 38 and 39 in the Sermon on the mountain he says you have heard that it was said an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth who's he quoting Moses he's quoting the Old Testament he's quoting scripture you've heard that it was said an eye for an eye tooth for tooth but I tell you because repent the kingdom of heaven it's here let me tell you what this kingdom is going to be like but I tell you I tell you not to resist an evil person but whoever slaps you on your right cheek turn the other to him also really there's nothing like this in history there's nothing like this in every one after it including Gandhi and Martin Luther King jr. were simply building on the trajectory of what Jesus taught Jesus is entering entering introducing in the world a whole new way of doing justice you have heard that it was said you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy Jesus says what we can do better than that he says but I say to you love your enemies bless those who curse you do good to those who hate you and pray for those who spitefully use and persecute you this is this is groundbreaking stuff this is true metanoia this is change your perspective this is hey we're not going to do life the way that you've considered it normal to do life anymore that you may be sons of your father in heaven now watch this this is amazing live like this live by this non violent non retaliatory ethic live this way so that you can be children of your father for he makes the Sun Rise on the evil and on the good and he rain on the just and the unjust the law of eye-for-an-eye through Moses was mitigating to the circumstances but God ultimately doesn't want you taking an eye for an eye God wants you and I to forgive our violators it's amazing therefore you shall be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect and Christians down through the centuries have argued over the word perfect without looking at really the point of the sermon is far more challenging than just you know channel surfing watching religious television alone in your house and making sure you don't do anything wrong it's not talking here this is not be perfect stop eating Doritos this is this is has nothing to do with your dress length ladies no that's not to say Doritos are good for you they're not you should stop eating them immediately and as not to say that you should be wearing miniskirts ladies that's a different subject but that's not what this is talking about this is talking about the word privet here is mature be mature like your father there's a trajectory in the biblical narrative and Jesus is now bringing the most mature expression of the character of God into the world I for an eye yeah that was fine for then it's not fine for now Jesus is saying retaliatory violence I guess there's a place for that somewhere in history there's no place for it in the kingdom of Jesus so I guess you've heard that Avengers in game is now the most lucrative movie in history it's far surpassed whatever the other lucrative movies are what's the one with the guy on the boat with the wind in his hair Titanic and what's the one with weird people trying to save the earth avatar those are were the top two ok avatar and Titanic sorry well Avengers Avengers now has has sold more box office tickets worldwide than any they're moving now you know what this is about don't you this is listen listen listen listen the reason why this appeals so viscerally to all of us as human beings is because the universal almost unquestioned story that is embedded in the human psyche is that might makes right in the superhero myths even the good guys are you operating by the same basic principles and methods as the bad guys they're just more violent more powerful they have more ability to kick some heinie right but they're still violent superheroes there's no fundamental difference in character are you tracking with me so there's a universal belief system it's it's not don't blame anyone else it's in you it's in me it'll come out when somebody cuts in front of you at LA and the line at the grocery store the airport it'll come out you've like whoa I for an eye this is not cool you just stepped in front of the who do you think you are because I happen to be me and you just cut in front of me and suddenly all of that something or other comes up to the surface and you want your do it's embedded in our psyche this is what Walter wink one of the most incredible biblical scholars in my opinion that's ever lived he was operating at one of the universities in New York for a long period of time before his death and he coined a term to describe what this is that is pervasive in human culture and that is embedded in the superhero myths of Superman Batman all of the man's and the now the women that are superheroes so it's the same thing everywhere you turn he called it the myth of redemptive violence and he describes what it is the myth of redemptive violence is the belief that violence saves that war brings peace and that might makes right basically just bigger guns bigger bombs and we will exterminate evil from the world no we won't and he explains why violence never stops violence this is the psychology of it that you would think people who have gone to very prestigious military academies and high high ranking universities in the world would be able to discern this psychology and put a stop to it I think they are intelligent enough to know but there's too much money involved and I'll get to that in a minute violence never stops violence for one simple psychological reason because it's very success leads others to imitate the violence you just got to keep doing it because it worked for that nation and that nation and that guy and that guy in that gang across town got what they wanted when they leverage their violent might it's a fundamentally flawed way of thinking that collapses on itself this is how Walter wink describes that my son Jason describes it the best I've ever heard the worst thing about evil is that it convinces good people to do bad things to combat it pause there think of things it's through so that they become the evil they are fighting and in this way evil perpetuates itself it goes on and on and on because it is contagious by virtue of its success and so this is fiction of course the superhero myths are fiction but what's the nonfiction version of this thing now while the Sermon on the Mount in my opinion is the greatest public delivery in history the greatest presidential address in history again in my opinion see if look it up google it and read Eisenhower's departure speech he was the President of the United States he well first he was a supreme camp commander of the Allied forces in Europe in World War two this guy knows what he's talking about with regards to war he's seen it he knows what he's talking about he became the 34th president of the United States of America and in his farewell address in 1961 you should read the whole thing word-for-word all of it it should be in the Bible I mean it's not it should be not really that's called hyperbole I'm exaggerating for effect I'm showing you my level of enthusiasm for what he understood so what did he say as he in 1961 world war ii highest-ranking general What did he say as he departed from the presidency we annually this is in 1961 you guys we annually spend more on military security alone we annually spend on military security alone more than the net income of all United States corporations we're already there in 1961 take all the products and services of all the corporations and more money by 1961 which is understandable because World War two had just occurred but check this out this is prophetic this guy understood what was happening now this conjunction this conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry think their dollars and cents I mean if you're gonna have a war you have to have weapons you have to have weapons what manufacturers somebody has to make these guns and bullets and bombs and tanks right and so this is the industry this is the arms industry and he says listen this conjunction the combination of these two elements of an immense military establishment a large arms industry is new in the American experience nothing like this had ever occurred to this point World War two brought this on and he says we recognize the imperative need of this development I mean we had to to deal with the Nazi regime it was necessary in order to hire some corporations to make some weapons in or you see where he's going with this listen though he says yet let me qualify he says we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications the grave implications of what combining money with war our toil resources and livelihood are all involved in what war and the manufacture and sale of weapons so is the very structure of our society in the council's of government we must guard like this he's departing out of the presidential office he's saying I am I am issuing a warning he says we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence by who with her sought or unsought by millet by the military-industrial complex you've heard that term that's the most popular term out of the sermon we need to guard against what he calls the military-industrial complex militant military meaning military and weapons and industrial meaning the manufacture of the needed implements for conducting war in other words he's saying be warned because there's money involved now and wherever there's money involved people do not walk away from money very easily the total influence he says economic political even spiritual is felt in every city every state house every office of the federal government the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist 1961 this is a prophetic warning he's saying he's saying American people be warned if you let corporations who make the weapons have undue influence in government war will be made an industry and nobody will have the guts to stop it because everybody's pockets will be lined with the cash that is produced in the process we must never let the weight of this combination what combination war and money to be made off of war we must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic process my goodness he understands something because every gun he says this is his clothes every gun that is made every warship launch every rocket fired signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed those who are called and are not clothed he's saying the same money that could be used to bring relief to suffering humanity will be channeled into war efforts and the manufacture of weapons if we're not careful America is currently as if the prophesy of Eisenhower came true he issued a warning we ignored it so where are we today America is now the world's largest arms dealer what does that mean arms dealer that means that in 2015 alone the u.s. sold forty six billion dollars worth of weapons to foreign markets what does this mean well that also means that most nations have military bases in their own countries you would expect that right right ok but check this out there are only a few just a handful of nations that actually have military bases outside of their own borders very few this is an an anomaly in history watch this England has 16 military bases outside of the United States France has 15 Russia has 9 military bases outside of Russia the United States of America has 600 plus military bases scattered around the world what does this mean this means that America is the largest most powerful most wealthy financial war machine in the history of mankind there's not even a close second and this in no way analyzing this information and being honest with the implications of the gospel in the kingdom of Christ in no way has anything to do with diminishing the honesty sincerity and our gratitude for the individuals who have fought in military service and lost their lives and been injured in the process praise God for these brave men and women and yet we cannot as followers of Jesus ignore the gospel or somehow turn the peacemaking gospel of Christ into a military gospel just to give you an idea of the numbers the United States in 2015 spent five hundred and ninety six billion dollars on the manufacture of weapons and the maintaining of the military to give you an example of what that compares with if you take the next seven nations that occupy the next seven positions of power in the world militarily China Saudi Arabia Russia the UK India France in Japan the total middle military spending 566 billion for all those seven nations so it is a little strange when politicians and by the way I'm just quoting Trump because he said this Hillary Clinton said the same thing leading up to the election the same thing in her own way and all of the presidential candidates said the same thing all of them this is not a Republican Democrat conservative liberal issue this is if a person is coming in to office or wanting to occupy political office there is a military-industrial complex that needs to hear certain words spoken in order to put its money behind you getting into office it doesn't matter where you are in the political spectrum he just happened to say leading up to the presidential election that made him president we've got to make America strong again and right now we are not strong believe me he's says we have a depleted military we have the greatest people in the world in our military but it is very sadly depleted why just gave you the numbers if the United States of America if the United States military is depleted and weak then I'm the little girl in the comic strip on the planet xenon and mathematics are not a science of numbers we just saw the numbers the United States military is not weak by any stretch of the imagination there is no competition in the world I just watched the news last week where a high ranking military official was asked by a journalist what if Iran continues to flex its muscle what will be the result and this high-ranking military officials said they would be very very wrong to do that and it would just be a momentary event that would end them there is no sense in which the American military is weak or depleted there is no sense in which the United States of America occupies a weak position on the stage of world affairs so the familiar script of Kings shifting gears now because I was super uncomfortable with everything I just said the last five minutes and I imagine you are too so let's just take a deep breath oh Lord oh that was crazy why did he say all that I don't know he did though okay so let's go on the familiar script of Kings down through history the king marshals an army and he declares war rides in front of the armies on a stallion and he kills his enemies with a battle cry on his lips this is the script over and over and over again the new script of King Jesus is the king marshals disciples pupils students I'm not going to train you in the art of war I'm going to teach you concepts ideas and principles that will change your thinking he gathers disciples he rides in front of his followers on a donkey a deliberate a deliberate act of political irony this isn't mistaken he says I'll tell you who I am find a donkey yeah I'll be your king put me on a weak beast and he voluntarily dies at the hands of his enemies with a prayer of forgiveness on his lips that's who Jesus is this is the new script that he introduces into the world Jesus founded his church and the premise of enemy love and non-violence and you and I need to decide whether or not we want to be a part of that kind of Kingdom as hard as it is that's what he taught now you're probably familiar with hacksaw Ridge very popular movie I think two years ago something like that it's the story of Desmond das who was a seventh-day adventists conscientious objector who is the only the only individual who received the Medal of Honor for bravery and valor who was a noncombatant from World War two because he literally as you know from watching the movie no doubt or you may have read the books that so many of them about him this individual risked his life he wasn't a coward by any stretch of the imagination he risked his life to carry on his back seventy-five fallen soldiers he somehow was able to hold in tension in his mind I'm here in support of my cont three against this evil regime called Nazism but I won't take another human beings life if you want me to serve I'll save lives and he did there's nothing like it in military history that's ever been recorded what this man did this book was just handed to me last week I was speaking for the Ruhr at the the North American division religious liberty summit in Washington DC if you're interested you can let me know if today wasn't too much for you I gave three messages they're called the politics of Jesus part 1 part 2 part 3 and this book was handed to me fresh off the press it was just published like a month ago and just last week somebody put it in my hands it's called Adventists and military service it was edited mostly written by Frank hosel and some other scholars seventh-day Adventist scholars who got together and said hey let's address this issue and right off the first page they're saying hey what this book is about is that Christians under the kingdom of Jesus are called to be their words not mine conscientious agents of peace what a high calling what a beautiful thing in a world that is addicted to violence and war why not be different why not be countercultural while the world is raging and foaming at the mouth while there's political and international hatred why not the Church of Jesus Christ be something different why not be conscientious agents of peace the book they go on to say describes what it means to practice an ethic of non-violence and true love there are just a few denominations Christian churches down through from coming out of the Protestant Reformation the Mennonites certain branches of Baptists the Baptist's tradition the Anabaptists and seventh-day Adventists and a few others that have taken the Sermon on the Mount seriously I'm very very happy to be a seventh-day Adventist for a number of reasons one of those reasons is because of the ethic that seventh-day adventists generally hold regarding war in violence seventh-day adventists do serve in military but as conscientious objectors generally that's not the case on every in every case it's a matter of conscience it's not compulsory but we feel called upon to teach to preach what Jesus taught and preached this book is remarkable chapter by chapter by chapter yet outlines the history from Old Testament to New Testament down right through the two world wars and into our very time the seventh-day Adventist Church the book says has a long and rich history of being a church that affirms peace and discourages participation in war and acts of violence praise God for that praise God that we can be a part of the Church of Christ in which we say we are sworn off of violence and believe in the kingdom ethic of love and forgiveness it seems that most Jews during the New Testament times had no ethical difficulties condoning military activism and war the disciples wanted Jesus to actually launch a military affront to Rome so it was not it was common for first century during the time of the New Testament nobody was thinking in terms of hey maybe let's not seek to advance any given kingdom nobody was thinking this way except for perhaps the Essenes basically a group of Jewish hippies that lives outside of Jerusalem hopefully not smoking pot by the way where any of you Thursday night at the matthew night arena besides me anybody at the Neil Young conference a conference concert you did say a whole lot it was really interesting as a demographic said if you want to get all the hippies in Eugene into one building have a Neil Young concert I was there I witnessed it firsthand you know what he sang about and talked about kindness and love and trust and non-violence I was just blown away by song two I was in tears but even the secular hippie movement with its orientation toward peace comes short of what Jesus launched and has to offer through the church so as far as we can tell the book says our understanding of non-violence or the concept of non-combatants II due to ethical reasons was shaped significantly by Jesus Christ Jesus is the one who launched this whole new way of operating by inaugurating a kingdom and declaring himself a king of a non-violent Kingdom this is why Walter Brueggemann the Old Testament scholar says that the gospel is a very dangerous idea the gospel is a very dangerous idea well what's dangerous about it there is nothing innocuous or safe about the gospel Jesus did not get crucified because he was a nice man Jesus was crucified as an act of political and religious retaliation because he was launching a whole new ideology that was contrary to the military industrial complex of Rome and Judaism of his day he could not be sustained or tolerated by either the religious establishment or the political establishment because he was suggesting that he was the king of a whole new Empire the ethic of which is to love enemies to forgive violations and to set in motion a whole new way to be human Jesus is the most dangerous person in history I suggest you and the most dangerous people in the world prophetically in hope I say this the most dangerous people in the world are those who believe the flipped script that Jesus taught and lived out all the way to the cross of Calvary Martin Luther King jr. understood the Sermon on the Mount and he articulated in summary what it's all about unarmed truth and unconditional love have the final say in reality as followers of Jesus we're in the process of trying to figure out whether or not we can imbibe the radical kingdom ethic of Jesus he is called the Prince of Peace for a reason Jesus came to the world announcing the beginning of a whole new way to be human and the church is the alternative community of Christ and as such the church is the most dangerous people group in the world because the church if it lives out the implications of the gospel and the Sermon on the Mount is the only alternative to what the world has to offer by way of somehow pulling together the lethal fusion of money and war hey thanks so much for watching we hope that message was a blessing to you God's Word is powerful it penetrates into our minds into our hearts brings about transformation in every aspect of our lives listen we don't want you to miss any content so again we want to encourage you to click on subscribe and track with the content that's going to be coming out week after week and if you'd like to partner with us in this global Ministry of taking the gospel of Christ to the whole world we want to invite you to become a partner in this ministry click give and join with us you

Channel: Storyline Church

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Length: 46min 13sec (2773 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 26 2019