comparative religion

Jesus Hates Religion Part 4

October 5th, 2009 | Posted in sermons | No Comments
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Introduction

Tanya was upset with me because I had an R. Kelly CD in my car. According to her, no Christian should ever listen to that type of music and if I ever wanted to be in ministry (like she was) then I would have to stop listening to music with sexual overtones. It later came out that this woman, who was so opposed to music with sexual overtones, was engaged in sexual relationships with more than one minister at the church. Tanya majored on the minor issues and minored on the major issues.

Matthew criticized me openly because there were very small details of my theology that did not match with his. We agreed on the essential doctrines of the Christian faith but because I did not agree with him on certain small matters he told me and everyone he could that I should not be planting this church. It later came out that this same man, who was so concerned about correcting my faith and practice, had a wife at home who felt consistently ignored and children who had no clue about what it meant to follow Jesus. Matthew majored on the minor issues and minored on the major issues.

Now, Tanya and Matthew are not unique. They are just two of more than two hundred people in my life who have overemphasized the less important things while underemphasizing the most important things. They are just two of more than two hundred people in my life who have majored on the minors and minored on the majors. I imagine that you could tell many similar stories of the people in your life. And why is that? Why did Tanya and Matthew fall into this? Why do we all know so many others who do the same thing? And how do we keep ourselves from becoming just like them? How do we keep ourselves from being so consumed with less important things that we fail miserably at the most important things?

Important questions to ponder for all of us. Important questions that Jesus will answer for us tonight as we conclude our study of Matthew 23. Turn there with me if you will.

This is the fourth and final week of our sermon series, “Jesus Hates Religion (And You Should Too).” Now, I am, of course, aware that the title of this series is strong, uncomfortable, perhaps even offensive. But if we’ve seen anything over the past three weeks we have seen that it is true. And for us to focus on its offensive nature rather than focusing on its truthful nature would be for us to major on a minor and minor on a major.

So let’s quickly review why Jesus hates religion and why you should do the same. Remember, when we talk about religion we are talking about any and every system of belief which claims that if you obey its teachings then you will be accepted, loved, and blessed. And this is, of course, the basic philosophy of every single religion in the world. The basic message of every religion in the world is that if you obey its claims then you will be accepted, loved, and blessed by God, or by the universe, or by others, or by karma – or whatever. This is even the message, unfortunately, of thousands upon thousands of “Christian” pastors who tell you that the more you obey God the more he will accept you, love you, and bless you. This message is everywhere – except in the Bible. This is not the message of the Scriptures. This is not the message of Jesus. No, to the contrary, the message of Jesus is that religion – as just described – is evil.

Straining Out the Gnat and Swallowing the Camel

If you’re wondering why religion is evil listen to the words of Jesus as he speaks directly to the religious leaders of his day in Matthew 23:23-24.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

Three weeks ago we saw that Jesus hates religion because it produces fear. Two weeks ago we saw that Jesus hates religion because it produces pride. Last week we saw that Jesus hates religion because it produces sin. And this week we see that Jesus hates religion because it produces people who overemphasize the less important issues and underemphasize the more important issues. In other words, Jesus hates religion because it majors on the minors and minor on the majors.

Let’s talk a little about what’s happening here. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day went to exceedingly great lengths to obey God’s command to give 1/10th of their crops as an act of worship. And this was a good thing to do. The Bible did command them to return to God 1/10th of the crops he gave to them. But they were so driven by their religious view of the world that they went beyond God’s actual command – which was to give 1/10th of their edible crops – and ensured that they also gave 1/10th of the spices they flavored their food with. Now just picture for a moment how much work and precision this would require. This would be the equivalent of you walking into your spice cabinet, pouring all of your herbs onto your kitchen counter, and then meticulously separating one out of every ten.

Can you even imagine how much time and energy this would require of you? You would be so consumed with obeying God in this area that there wouldn’t be much time or energy left to focus on obeying God in other areas. And that was just the case with the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. He says, “You give a tenth of your spices…but you neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness.” These religious leaders were so consumed with the smallest little detail of one of God’s commands that they completely ignored the far more important command to pursue justice, the far more important command to show mercy, and the far more important command to be faithful.

As Jesus says, it wasn’t that they shouldn’t have been doing the one thing, it’s that they should have been doing all of those things – paying special attention to the most important things. But, instead, they majored on the minors and minored on the majors. Listen to what Jesus says to them in verse 24, “You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.” That is both a humorous statement and a humiliating statement at the same time. Jesus says that they will go to great lengths to make sure they don’t swallow something as small as a gnat but then they’ll go and swallow something as huge as a camel. Their religious view of the world led them to major on the minors and minor on the majors.

And religion is still doing the very same thing today. We have churches all over the city who literally spend more time talking about money and offerings than they spend talking about Jesus and his offering. We have churches all over the city who are more concerned about making sure their church musicians play music well than they are about making sure their church musicians love Jesus well. In this very city to this very day many churches are filled with people who are more concerned with what you do than they are with why you do what you do, more concerned with who you vote for than they are with who you live for, more concerned with knowing the Bible than they are with obeying the Bible, more concerned with focusing on the family than they are with focusing on Jesus, more concerned with the sermon delivery than with the sermon content, more concerned with not being poor than they are with caring for those who are poor, more concerned that you wear the right things than they are that you believe the right things, more concerned about non-Christians saying “God damn it” than they are about non-Christians actually being damned by God. This is straining out the gnat and swallowing a camel. This is majoring on the minors and minoring on the majors. This is the evil of religion.

Cleaning the Outside and Leaving the Inside Filthy

Jesus hates religion because it produces people who overemphasize the less important issues and underemphasize the more important issues. Let’s look at one more way that religion does this. Listen to Jesus’ words from Matthew 23:25-28,

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”

Here Jesus gives us another way that religion produces people that major on the minors and minor on the majors. This time he says that religious people are like people who clean the outside of a cup until it’s spotless but never bother to clean the inside of the cup. They just leave the inside of the cup filthy. Now on the surface this is a humorous illustration. You can’t help but laugh at someone who would be so foolish as to drink out of a cup that was filthy on the inside just because it looked clean on the outside. But this humorous illustration becomes a humiliating illustration when you realize that this foolish person might be you. Jesus’ point is that religious people are so foolish that they are more concerned with looking righteous than they are with being righteous.

Then he gives a second and even more offensive illustration. He compares religious people to whitewashed tombs. He tells us that religious people are like the most beautiful, most ornate tombs you might see in your local cemetery. On the outside they look amazing, but on the inside they are as disgusting as disgusting can be. They are filled with dead bones, slimy insects, and everything unclean. Jesus says that this is what religious people are like. They look righteous on the outside but on the inside they are filled with hypocrisy and wickedness. And this isn’t some exception to the rule. This is the rule. This is the natural product of having a religious view of the world. Because religion is more concerned with looking righteous than with actually being righteous. Religion majors on the minors and minors on the majors.

And though Jesus’ words are 2,000 years old they are just as applicable today as they were then. In this very city to this very day many churches are filled with people who are more concerned with avoiding the appearance of evil than they are with avoiding evil, more concerned with being able to quote the Bible in public than they are with obeying the Bible in private, more concerned about keeping lust and violence out of their DVD player than they are with keeping lust and violence out of their hearts, more concerned with not getting divorced than they are with loving their spouse well, more concerned with going to church than they are with being the church, more concerned with not having a filthy mouth than they are with not having a filthy heart. This is cleaning the outside of the cup and leaving the inside dirty. This is majoring on the minors and minoring on the majors. This is the evil of religion.

Why Does Religion Produce This?

Now why does this happen? Why is this just as common now as it was in Jesus’ day? Why are religious people still majoring on the minors and still minoring on the majors 2,000 years later? The answer is actually rather simple. Religious people are still minoring on the majors and majoring on the minors because religion itself requires it.

Let me explain how it does this. Remember, when we talk about religion we’re talking about any system of belief that claims that if you obey its teachings then you will be accepted, loved, and blessed by God. Well — if you have this view of the world — if you believe that God most accepts you, most loves you, and most blesses you when you are most obeying him then you will be forced to overemphasize lesser things while underemphasizing greater things.

This is true for two reasons. First, religion forces you to overemphasize the lesser things while underemphasizing the greater things because the lesser things are easier to measure. The lesser things are easier to measure and since the religious person believes that their position with God is directly tied to how well they obey God, they have to find simple ways to measure their obedience. They have to find simple ways to measure their obedience because that is how they determine where they stand with God. So, to look back to the example that Jesus used with the religious leaders of his day it was much easier for them to measure how well they obeyed God in giving 10% of their crops than it was for them to measure how well they obeyed God in being just, merciful, and faithful. Because it was easier to measure the lesser thing they majored on the minor and minored on the major.

This is the same reason why religious people are more concerned with appearing righteous on the outside than they are with being righteous on the inside. It is far, far easier to measure the cleanliness of my speech than it is to measure the cleanliness of my heart. It is far, far easier to measure how often I am going to church than it is to measure why I am going to church. If you have a religious view of the world you are required to overemphasize the lesser things and underemphasize the greater things because your position with God depends on your obedience to him and it is easier to measure your obedience in the lesser things than in the greater things.

Second, religion forces you to overemphasize the lesser things while underemphasizing the greater things because the lesser things are not only easier to measure, they are easier to measure up to. Because the religious person believes that their position with God is directly tied to how well they obey God, they have to convince themselves that the most important things are those things that are easiest for them to measure up to. They have to do this because if they don’t they will have to face the fact that they will never be worthy of God’s acceptance, love, and blessing no matter how much good they do. This is why religious people place an exceedingly high value on giving a certain percentage of their income while placing a much lower value on justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Because, the truth is, anybody can count 10% of their income and give it to the church without much effort at all. But being a truly just, truly merciful, truly faithful person – it is nearly impossible to measure up to that. Because it is easier to measure up to the lesser things religious people major on the minors and minor on the majors.

This is the same reason why religious people are more concerned with appearing righteous than they are with being righteous. Because, honestly, it is much easier to look righteous on the outside than it is to be righteous on the inside. It is much easier to not have an inappropriate sexual relationship than it is to not have inappropriate sexual thoughts. It is much easier to worship God in church than it is to worship God in your heart. If you have a religious view of the world you are required to overemphasize the lesser things and underemphasize the greater things because your position with God depends on your obedience to him and it is easier to measure up to the lesser things than it is to measure up to the greater things.

Knowing the Judgment We Deserve

Now why are we spending so much time here? Why does it even matter if any one of us majors on the minors while minoring on the majors? It matters because Jesus promises to judge those who do. Remember his words to the religious leaders. His words were “Woe to you.” For Jesus to say, “Woe to you” is for Jesus to say, “I am greatly displeased with you, and judgment is coming.” But just in case that is not clear enough let’s listen to Jesus’ words to these same people in verse 33, “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?”

If you have a religious background, if you are a person of faith of any type, it is important that you examine yourself in light of Jesus’ words tonight. Do you, in any way, in even the smallest possible way, believe that God accepts you more, loves you more, or blesses you more because you obey him more? Do you, in any way, in even the smallest possible way, obey God because you fear that if you don’t he will accept you less, love you less, or bless you less? Are you guilty of having a religious view of life, of majoring on the minors and minoring on the majors? If so then Jesus asks you tonight, “How will you escape being condemned to hell?”

If you’re not a religious person, if you’re not a person of faith, if you would describe yourself as irreligious or perhaps spiritual you may be tempted to think that Jesus’ words don’t apply to you. But if you believe that you are dead wrong. Because Jesus’ words are just as applicable to you as they are to the religious person. As an irreligious person you, too, are guilty of majoring on the minors and minoring on the majors. Your view of the world forces you to do this. Your view of the world forces you to major on loving people, and to minor on the far more important issue of loving God. Your view of the world forces you to major on who you think God is, and to minor on the far more important issue of who God says he is. Your view of the world forces you to major on doing what is right in your eyes, and to minor on the far more important issue of doing what is right in God’s eyes. And so Jesus asks you tonight, “How will you escape being condemned to hell?”

Escaping the Judgment We Deserve

Religious person. Irreligious person. Jesus hates religion and Jesus hates irreligion because both produce fear, both produce pride, both produce sin, and both produce people who major on the minors and minor on the majors. So how will you escape the judgment that Jesus promises to both religious and irreligious people? How will you escape being condemned to hell?

The answer is not to become a more devoted religious person who does a better job at obeying God. That’s what got you here in the first place. The answer is not to become irreligious and pretend that hell is not real or that if it is you don’t deserve it. That’s what got you here in the first place. The answer is to look to Jesus. Jesus, the one who experienced hell in the place of his people. Jesus, the one who though he had been united to God the Father for all of eternity was willfully separated from him and judged by him in the place of his people. Jesus, the one who though he obeyed God perfectly at every point, tasted hell for you so that though you have failed to obey God at every point you would never have to taste hell. Ever. If you simply turn from your religion, turn from your irreligion, and turn to him in faith.

The ultimate way, the worst way, that you and I major on the minors and minor on the majors is by thinking that it is our minor work that makes us acceptable to God instead of recognizing that it is Jesus’ major work that makes us acceptable to God. Let us repent of that tonight. Let us turn from that tonight. And let us turn to him and rest all of our confidence in who he is and what he has done.

Jesus Hates Religion Part 1

September 14th, 2009 | Posted in sermons | No Comments
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Introduction

I want to start tonight by telling you about a young man named Tim. When Tim was in his early twenties his father was diagnosed with cancer. Tim was heartbroken. Worse than that, Tim was afraid. You see, Tim was aware that he hadn’t been as good of a person as he knew he should be. He knew he wasn’t the most religiously faithful person in the world. And so he couldn’t help but think, “God is punishing me for not being obedient to him. If I wouldn’t have done what I did last month, if I would have been living right more consistently, my dad wouldn’t be sick right now.” Tim was afraid that his dad was going to be taken from him because of his own lack of obedience to God.

And so what did he do? He immediately started doing everything he could to earn his way back into God’s good graces, thinking that if he just did the right things then God might remove his punishment and spare his dad’s life. So Tim started going to church more, he started praying longer, he started reading the Bible more consistently, he made sure he was faithful to give money to the church and to help those in need. He did these things faithfully. He did these things religiously.

And then his dad died.

And Tim became more afraid than before. Because even with all these new things he was doing he knew that he was still falling short of God’s standards. As far as he could tell, all of the good things he had been doing were not good enough to remove God’s punishment from him. So he became even more intensely committed to those and other things. Tim thought, “If I just do better, if I just try harder, if I’m just more obedient to God, if I’m just less self-absorbed then God will be pleased with me and he won’t bring suffering like this into my life again.”

Well, Tim did do better, Tim did work harder, but suffering still came just as suffering still comes for all of us. So now, three years after his dad’s death, Tim is still ruled by fear. The fear of whether or not God accepts him. The fear of if and when God is going to punish him again. Despite all of his attempts to earn God’s favor Tim is never quite sure if he’s good enough.

What about you? Whatever your spiritual beliefs are, do you ever find yourself influenced by fear? Are you ever concerned about whether or not you’re good enough? Are you ever worried about whether or not God accepts you? Or other people accept you? As you strive to do good things, as you strive to be a better person, do you ever become weary? Or burdened?

If you would answer any of those questions with a “yes” Jesus wants to speak to you tonight. And he will. As we open up the Scriptures to Matthew chapter 23 tonight and for the next four weeks. But before we hone in on the specific verses we’re going to focus on tonight Jeff is going to set the context for us by delivering Jesus’ entire teaching from this chapter. As you listen to Jesus’ words remember that he begins by addressing his disciples and then goes on to talk about the scribes and the Pharisees, the very well-respected religious leaders of his day.

What the Problem is Not

Jesus’ words in this chapter speak to Tim and to his situation and they speak to every one of you, because every one of you can identify with Tim in some way. As you probably already know, we have chosen to summarize Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 23 with these strong and offensive words: “Jesus Hates Religion (And You Should Too).” Now why would we say that? It’s clear that there’s something about the religion of the Scribes and Pharisees that has Jesus vehemently upset. But what is it? What is it about religion that so repulses Jesus? What is it about religion that should so repulse you?

If I were to ask that question of my irreligious friends most of them would say, “the rules.” They would say that the biggest problem with religion is this long list of rules because those rules open up the door for judgment. Maybe you would answer in the same way. But here’s the interesting thing. This is not Jesus’ answer. This is not Jesus’ issue with religion. Jesus is not opposed to religion because he’s opposed to rules. In fact, Jesus himself is quite a strict rule-giver. Remember the famous Sermon on the Mount found in this same book? In that sermon Jesus goes out of his way to very clearly define a number of rules. Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.” He says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” He goes on to say, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Jesus is not anti-rule. Jesus himself has laid down the most difficult rules of all.

We see this in the opening verses of Matthew 23. Looking at verses 2 and 3 we see Jesus say, “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you.” Jesus says that the scribes and Pharisees – the religious leaders of his day – are in some ways to be respected. Why? Because they sit in Moses’ seat. In other words, they interpret Moses’ teaching, they interpret the Scriptures, they interpret the inspired Word of God. When they interpret God’s Word properly, Jesus says, you must listen to them, you must be careful to do everything they tell you.

As we heard when Jeff shared Jesus’ teaching with us, Jesus does not approve of all of their teaching (not by any means). But he does approve of their teaching when it is consistent with what God has revealed in his Scriptures. Does Jesus hate religion? Absolutely. Does Jesus hate religion because he hates rules? No. So while, yes, you should hate religion you should hate religion not for your own reasons but for the same reasons Jesus hates it. And what are those reasons? We’ll uncover one of them now as we continue to examine these first few verses.

What the Problem is

Right after Jesus tells us to do what the religious leaders tell us to do in verse 3, he goes on to add, “But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.” Here we start to see Jesus’ distaste for these religious leaders. Jesus’ issue with religion is not that religion has rules. Jesus’ issue with religion is that religion calls us to obey both right and wrong rules for the wrong reasons. Again, Jesus’ issue with religion is that religion calls us to obey both right and wrong rules for the wrong reasons.

How do I know that? Because of what Jesus just said. On the one hand he said that there’s nothing wrong with rules per se. But then he says that the rules of these religious leaders are like heavy, cumbersome burdens that they heap upon our shoulders. So what’s the difference between the rules that we are to be careful to obey and these rules that Jesus calls heavy and cumbersome burdens? Well, there are three things I want to point out, one of which I want us to focus on for the remainder of our time together.

The first problem is that religion provides us with rules that even the religious leaders themselves can’t keep. That’s why Jesus says, “Do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.” In other words, unlike Jesus, religious leaders are hypocrites. The second problem is that a significant portion of religious rules are man-made instead of God-given. Jesus is not against rules so long as those rules come from God. God-given rules are life giving. But man-made rules are life draining. And religion is filled with man-made rules. God says, “Don’t get drunk”…religious people then say, “Don’t drink.” God says, “Don’t commit adultery”…religious people then say, “Don’t watch R-rated movies.” God says, “Pray to me”…religious people then say, “Pray this many times a day for this length of time.” And why? Why is it that religious people create these additional rules? They do it to make it more difficult to break God’s rules, right? They say, “Don’t drink” so that it will be even more difficult for you to actually get drunk. They’re doing everything they can – including making up their own rules – in order to keep you and them from breaking God’s rules. And this brings us to the third reason that Jesus is opposed to such religious rules. They are born from fear and they produce fear.

This is the first reason that Jesus hates religion and you should too. Jesus hates religion because religion is based on fear and produces fear. Religion stacks upon your shoulders rule, upon rule, upon rule, upon man-made rule and then says that you must keep these rules in order to be accepted by God. And that’s the basic definition of religion that we’ll be working from these next four weeks. Every religion in the world basically says this: “If you obey then you’ll be accepted, loved, and blessed.” Every religious leader, with the exception of Jesus, teaches some variation of this same basic philosophy: “If you obey these rules then you will be accepted, loved, and blessed by God, or by the universe, or by others, or by yourself – or whatever.”

And Jesus hates religion for this very reason. If you are most accepted, most loved, and most blessed when you obey the demands of your religion then you will only obey the demands of your religion out of fear. Everything you do you will be doing because you fear not being accepted, not being loved, or not being blessed. Remember Tim? The young man whose story we started with tonight? Tim was convinced that his father was dying because of his own disobedience. Tim was certain that if he had just obeyed the demands of his religion then God would be blessing him instead of cursing him with this suffering. So he immediately gave himself to following the very particular demands of his religion. And even though some of the things he was doing were good things he was doing them for only one reason: fear. He feared losing his father so he started doing religious things hoping that God would accept him, love him, and bless him in return by keeping his dad alive. But, as you know, his dad died. And then Tim responded with even more fear. Because as good as he was doing he obviously still wasn’t doing good enough to receive the acceptance, love, and blessing that he so desired from God. So he gave himself to praying even more, and reading the Bible even more, and going to church even more, and avoiding the “wrong” people and the “wrong” things even more. But for what? For fear. He feared what would happen to him if he didn’t do it. He feared that God would not accept him, would not love him, and would not bless him. He feared that God would allow even more suffering to come into his life.

How This Works in Your Life

This is why Jesus hates religion. Jesus hates religion because of what it did to Tim. And Jesus hates religion because it does the same thing to you. It enslaves you. It enslaves you. Do you see that? If you live as though the acceptance, love, and blessing of God depends on how good of a person you are then you will forever be a slave to fear. You will never know for sure when you have done enough good for God to accept you, love you, and bless you so you will break your back carrying these heavy burdens on your shoulders, always afraid that if you drop them then God will frown upon you and punish you.

Now maybe you’re not a religious person. Maybe you would describe yourself as spiritual or irreligious. So maybe you think that this isn’t an issue for you. But it is. Even if you’re not concerned about living for God’s approval you are concerned about living for someone’s approval. You’re living for the approval, love, and blessing of someone whose opinion you value. It might be your spouse, it might be your boss, it might be your peers, it might be karma, it might be your conscience. You too are living for the approval, love, and blessing of someone. This is why you get so upset when religious people tell you that God doesn’t approve of the way you live. This is why you are so quick to tell religious people that you may not go to church but you are a good person. You too are living for the approval, love, and blessing of someone. You’re thinking, “I better do this because if I don’t then I might not get what I want from this person…I better not do that or it might come back to hurt me…I better be like this so that this person will love me…I better not ever do that again or it’s going to be very hard to feel good about myself.”

Religion and irreligion look very different. But at their core they’re really the same thing. Whether you’re religious or irreligious you’re living in fear. You’re doing what you do and saying what you say because you want the approval, love, and blessing either of the Creator or of the people he’s created. Jesus hates religion – and Jesus hates irreligion – for this very reason: it makes you a slave to fear.

Conclusion

Every religion in the world – EVERY religion in the world – tells you that you must earn acceptance, love, and blessing by doing what that particular religion demands of you. Every religion in the world thrives on your fear and tells you that you must earn acceptance, love, and blessing by your faithful adherence to the religion. Even irreligion does this. But not Jesus. No, Jesus is different. Jesus does not make God’s acceptance, love, or blessing dependent on your ability to measure up. Jesus does not heap burdens upon burdens upon your shoulders that you cannot carry. No, Jesus doesn’t offer religion. Jesus does not offer religion. Jesus offers something utterly unique. Something that no other system of belief or philosophy offers. Instead of offering religion Jesus offers redemption. Jesus offers rest.

Let me read to you the words of Jesus from Matthew 11:28-29. As he spoke to the religious and irreligious people of his day this is what Jesus said to them and what Jesus now says to you. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Religion offers slavery to fear. Jesus offers freedom to rest. Listen, if God’s acceptance, love, and blessing depends on your performance as so many religious people have told you then, yes, you should be plagued by fear. Because look, the holy and righteous God doesn’t merely demand your obedience to this or that rule, he demands absolute perfection. And you’re not perfect. In fact, you’re not even close. You are more likely to reach the moon with your bare hand than you are to ever reach perfection.

So if it’s up to how well you live to earn God’s acceptance, love, and blessing then, yes, you should be plagued by fear. But you don’t have to plagued by fear. Because it’s not up to you to earn God’s acceptance, love, and blessing. Jesus has earned the Father’s acceptance, love, and blessing for you. Being God himself he willfully became like you and came to you in order to save you. He lived the life of perfection that you daily fail to live. And he lived this life in your place. He also died the death under God’s righteous and wrathful judgment that you deserve to die for loving yourself more than the God who made you. And he died this terrible death of God’s rejection, hate, and curse in your place. And then the Father, God, raised his Son, Jesus, from the dead to show that his work was completed and accepted on your behalf.

Now, if you choose to trust in Jesus’ work and not your own then God has declared Jesus’ righteousness to be your righteousness so that, regardless of your performance, God accepts you, loves you, and blesses you on account of Jesus. If you choose to trust in Jesus’ work and not your own then God has likewise declared Jesus’ judgment to be your judgment so that, regardless of your performance, there is no wrath remaining for you, only the reward of being united to God now and forever on account of what Jesus has done in your place.

This is why while every other religion offers you fear Jesus invites you to come to him and find rest. Because all that God demands of you no longer rests on your shoulders. Jesus has taken your burden and made it his own so that you can be free from fear now and for all eternity. If you find your religion or irreligion wearisome, burdensome, exhausting, fear-inducing, or guilt-inducing the odds are you are missing out on the person and teaching of Jesus Christ. Flee from religion tonight, flee from irreligion tonight, and rest in Jesus who has met every one of God’s demands for you.