A Tragic Death

SERMON: 2008-11-23--ac0807--a-tragic-death-part-1 SOURCE DURATION: 00:44:35.000 PROPOSED CUTS: 1 CONFIDENCE: 0.95 APPROVED: false REASON: The content shifts from theological exposition (Candidate 0) to a clear hymn/responsive song structure starting with Candidate 2 ('Today I choose to follow you'). Candidate 1 is the final segment maintaining the narrative flow of the sermon before this transition. Acoustic segmentation found sustained music at the end edge and moved the boundary to the adjacent transcript segment. ACOUSTIC EVIDENCE: available ACOUSTIC MUSIC INTERVALS: 00:40:39.920-00:44:32.200 ACOUSTIC SPEECH OVERLAP: yes ACOUSTIC BOUNDARIES APPLIED: end Inline CUT markers identify each proposed audio boundary after the relevant word. --- ORIGINAL TRANSCRIPT WITH PROPOSED CUTS MARKED --- We're talking this morning as I said last week about the subject of suicide and I well understand that suicide is a very sensitive subject and few people there are who in the course of life haven't probably at least at one point or another wondered would I not be better off dead. Now fortunately only relatively few people try and even fewer people succeed. But for those who succeed and for their family suicide is an incredibly painful thing. And I would have thought until I looked into it more deeply this week that the highest level of suicide in our country would be found among teenagers but I have discovered that's not true. The highest level of suicide interestingly enough is among men in their forties. And statistically men kill themselves successfully four to five times higher than women. That also surprised me because I would have thought more women are prone to depression which is the primary cause for suicide than men. I think one of the reasons for the difference is that women tend to use pills more often and men tend to use guns more often and thus the figures are significantly skewed. But appreciate the pain that somebody finds himself or herself in when living is no longer worthwhile. And the story that we're looking at and have been now for the last week or so is the story of Judas who of course is one of the outstanding suicides in scripture. There are a number of suicides in the Bible. Notable is King Saul in the Old Testament. Also a fellow by the name of Ahitophel, counselor to David. But in the New Testament the one suicide that really stands out is Judas. So let's read again from Acts chapter one the story that is the basis on which we are operating this morning as well as last week. We begin Acts one verse 15. In those days Peter stood up among the believers a group numbering about 120. Remember now these were all waiting as Jesus had told them for the baptism of the Holy Spirit and he said brothers the scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. He was one of our number and shared in this ministry. With the reward he got for his wickedness Judas bought a field and there he fell headlong his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this. So they call that field in their language a caldama that is field of blood. Therefore said Peter it is written in the book of Psalms may his place be deserted. Let there be no one to dwell in it and may an other take his place of leadership. Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection. Now as you may or may not know the tragic death of Judas is described for us in two scripture passages. The first is Matthew chapter 27 where the Bible tells us that when Judas discovered that Jesus was going to be sentenced to death on the account of his betrayal he was filled with remorse went back to the temple threw his 30 pieces of silver at the religious leaders who were there and then says Matthew promptly went out and he hanged himself. The other account is the one that we've just read here in Acts chapter 1 where Luke in his parenthesis tells us that with the money that he had received for the betrayal of Jesus Judas went out and bought a field and that in that field he fell somehow headlong and split open his guts. And so those two stories when you lay them side by side at first glance seem rather contradictory in the one story he hangs himself in the second story he splits wide open in the one story it's the religious leaders who buy the field with his money that he has returned according to Acts it is Judas himself who purchases the field and of course critics of the Bible over the years have seized upon apparent inconsistencies like that to say see told you you really can't trust the Bible it's full of contradictions but hold on a minute just because something looks to be contradictory doesn't necessarily make it so take for example the following story a man is involved in a traffic accident gets taken to the hospital with serious injuries one witness comes forward and he says I saw the accident happen he was riding his bicycle when a car ran into him and that's what caused his injuries another witness comes forward and he says no you've got it all wrong I watched the accident happen he was in a motor vehicle and he got broadsided by another car and that's how he got injured and that's why he's in the hospital how do you square two stories like that well in this particular instance and I believe it's a true story both stories are correct because fact of the matter is the dude was riding his bicycle got hit by a car got picked up by an ambulance and wouldn't you know it the ambulance got involved in a car crash when somebody ran an intersection and so it looks to be contradictory isn't always contradictory and so historically people have tried to reconcile these two stories the story of Matthew and the story of Acts by saying this in our likelihood Judas did go out and he hanged himself in the process of hanging himself either his rope broke or the branch broke or his body was up there for such a long time that it was decomposing and he fell on something sharp and he split his gut wide open that way the two stories come together the reality of the breaking rope has caused one observer to make the observation that even in his death Judas was such a tight wad he couldn't afford to buy a good enough rope to hang himself interesting take on Judas's life well you say what about the field well the religious leaders could hardly buy that field in their own name with blood money now could they so the chances are they bought the field they put it in Judas's name and it became forever known then as a field of blood which is one of the elements that is in common by both stories a place that was a shameful shameful testimony to the reality of Judas's betrayal so as we look then at the suicide of Judas the tragic death at his own hand and then the whole broader subject of suicide allow me to make two or three observations this morning and the first is this Judas's death is foretold in scripture for notice again how the story unfolds for us here in Acts chapter one Peter stands up and here is what he says brothers the scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas who served as a guide for those who arrested Jesus he was one of our number and shared in this ministry then he goes on to say in verse 20 after Luke's parenthetical observation he says it is written in the book of Psalms may his place be deserted let there be no one to dwell in it and may another take his place of leadership now here's a good little test of your Bible knowledge what Psalm or Psalms is Peter referring to well it's Psalm 69 verse 25 and Psalm 109 verse 8 and the interesting thing is you can go back to Psalm 69 and you can go back to Psalm 109 and you can read it from one end to the other and you'll find nothing there about Judas and you'll find nothing there that seems to point forward to Judas so the big question is Peter what are you doing quoting those Psalms and applying them to Judas well here is the key both of these Psalms are known as imprecatory Psalms imprecatory means calling down the curses of God on your enemies listen to how the psalmist puts it in Psalm 109 may his children be fatherless his wife be a widow may his children be wandering beggars may they be driven from the ruined homes may a creditor seize all he has may strangers plunder the fruit of his labor may no one extend kindness to him or take pity on his fatherless children may his descendants be cut off and their names blotted out from the next generation may the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord and may the sin of his mother never be blotted out how would you like to be the subject of an imprecatory Psalm it's inviting the curses of God on the enemies of God and of truth we know and most Christians today are a little uncomfortable with the imprecatory Psalms in fact they probably ought to be a little uncomfortable with the imprecatory Psalms doesn't sound too much like Jesus and turning the other cheek does it but you have to understand the imprecatory Psalms from the psalmist's point of view and from a kingdom point of view this isn't a psalmist venting his personal anger and his personal frustration at people who have disappointed him or given him trouble that is always wrong and when David sort of sneaks into that place occasionally as all of us are tempted by times he always catches himself and he always knows that he's in the wrong place but this calling forth the judgment of God on the enemies of God is from a kingdom point of view this is from Lord I want to see your kingdom come and everything and everybody that stands in the way of the coming of that kingdom Lord get rid of all causes of sin think of it this way you know there's a plague raging or there's a bad ruler who tyrannizes the population and God's people cry out and they say God smite that plague smite the enemies of God so that the purposes of God can be established does that make sense and so when here in Acts chapter one Peter applies these two Old Testament Psalms to Judas here is what he is really saying Judas in betraying Jesus sides with Satan opposes God and whenever you oppose God you bring upon yourself the curse and the judgment of God and that typically ends in death and destruction not infrequently at your own hand and that of course is where this passage becomes particularly relevant for each one of us in this place today we talked last week about sin crouching at the door and how particularly at those moments when our hearts are wide open and we're looking for love and we're looking for acceptance and and it's denied us how in those moments of intense pain and disappointment and discouragement we are most vulnerable to Satan's temptation and Satan is trying to get in to work us in that downward spiral and it's that moment when we have to make those choices to either push that all away and put our hope and our trust and our confidence in the living God or when we give in to that then we slide in to that place where Satan gains the upper hand we make those choices to stand against God we bring upon ourselves the curse particularly when we do this persistently and determinately over a period of time please don't misunderstand that every time we have a bad day we're putting ourselves in grave danger we're talking about patterns here and when we give in to those patterns and we place ourselves under the power of the curse that curse has a nasty way of working its way out we lose the sense of God's presence don't we we become solidified in our own position of arrogance and pride and determination out of our pain we now start making decisions which are unwise and ungodly and gradually the events of life overtake us and the load becomes bigger and bigger and heavier and heavier and before you know it we get to that kind of place where we no longer see any light at the end of the tunnel and death becomes the most attractive alternative to solve the pain that we're experiencing in life and as I said earlier if Judas is the primary New Testament example of that King Saul is probably the best Old Testament example of that process called and anointed by God to be king over Israel Saul did not have a heart that was yielded to the Lord time and time again made sinful rebellious choices that placed his own interests ahead of the interests of God God withdrew his presence an evil spirit took over in his life he began losing military battles ended up consulting the forces of darkness because God was no longer speaking with him and in the end what happened he lost the battle against the Philistines and to his great shame ended up falling on his own sword committing suicide you see when we make that choice not to trust God and we do it knowingly and deliberately sin is crouching at the door and Satan wants to take us down and put us in that place of destruction so that's the first thing that's worth noting for us is that Judas's death is foretold in scripture and then the second observation that I want to make is that Judas is consumed by guilt and remorse let me read you just how Matthew puts it in Matthew chapter 27 when Judas who had betrayed him saw that Jesus was condemned he was seized with remorse and returned the 30 silver coins to the chief priests and the elders I have sinned he said for I have betrayed innocent blood they replied what is that to us that's your responsibility so Judas threw the money into the temple and left and then he went away and he hanged himself here's a question for us to ponder this way and I wonder what your response to that would be I wonder how many of us here believe that Judas could have been saved give me a show of hands could Judas have been saved well it's a tough question because on the one hand he was in league with the devil and certainly severely in the devil's grip but I think a proper understanding of the gospel of grace means that had Judas been given the grace to repent had he fallen on his knees acknowledged his sin not only but also been prepared to humble himself to receive God's grace I think Judas could have been forgiven don't you but you see there's a world of a difference between repentance and remorse repentance means a turnaround repentance means you were walking this way and now you're turning around and you're walking the other way for Judas repentance would have been the recognition that his whole value system was wrong that he was looking for the Messiah to give him blessings in the here and now that he hadn't been interested in the coming kingdom that he needed God's grace and God's forgiveness to change his heart Judas wasn't able to go there because that's not who he was and not how he looked to live and so instead he had what the Bible calls remorse and you know what remorse is remorse means you're feeling bad for what you've done you're feeling bad because you hadn't anticipated the consequences it's very interesting when you read the story of Judas it probably never occurred to him when he betrayed Jesus that his enemies would seize upon it to put him to death maybe he just wanted to teach Jesus a lesson so that he would never disappoint Judas again in that same way I don't know but he was certainly taken aback and he was filled with remorse he felt badly but remorse is not repentance and it's always interesting to compare Peter with Judas because while Peter didn't betray Jesus in the same way that Judas did he certainly denied him and the Bible says he went out and he wept bitterly and Peter received grace to repent and Peter as you know was restored by Jesus and forever went on to become a blazing apostle in obedience and faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ Judas was unable to repent even though he felt very badly for his sin he was consumed by guilt consumed by remorse and I suspect consumed by hopelessness and herein lies I think the key to understanding why even today sometimes people are driven to the point of suicide I wonder if you've ever asked yourself that question why do people kill themselves why have there perhaps been moments in your own life when you have said I don't know if life is worth living maybe I and everybody else around me would be better off if I were just dead well there are many reasons why people commit suicide but really it boils down to this you can put it this way the pain of living exceeds the pain of dying the pain of living think about this exceeds the pain of dying most people are not anxious to die they're anxious to get away from the pain another way to put it is this way people commit suicide when the pain of living exceeds the resources for coping and diagrammatically you can picture it this way when the pain is heavier than your coping mechanism then death by suicide becomes an attractive alternative you see we live in a fallen world and in that fallen world pain is a reality of life isn't it pain can be physical can be emotional can be spiritual it can be short term it can be chronic and chronic pain particularly is almost always produced by some kind of trauma that invades our being that can be physical that can be emotional that can be spiritual it can be long term injury suffered in an accident perhaps Lord willing next week I'll tell you the story of my friend Wayne who killed himself a year ago and killed himself because for three years he had suffered with chronic pain after an accident that nobody knew how to identify or alleviate and in the end it was too much and he took his own life for some people it's emotional for some people it's spiritual the earlier the injury you've often heard us talk about this the earlier the trauma the deeper it entered into our souls the greater is the pain and when that pain reaches a certain critical proportion in a person's life and it outweighs their ability to cope that's when suicide is an incredibly attractive alternative and for those of us who point fingers and for those of us who say how in the world could he or she ever do that they had the whole world at their fingertips it only means we don't understand what is the pain that some people live with and the greatest pain I believe is the pain of early childhood rejection the sense of I don't belong I am a misfit I don't know how to fit into life and my experience has been that as long as we have light at the end of the tunnel as long as a person has some hope that one day life is going to be different one day this problem is going to resolve itself one day I'm going to be healed one day my marriage is going to be fixed one day I'm going to overcome all those things in me that I so hate about myself that keeps me from living significant and meaningful relationships one day that will all be fixed as long as we have light at the end of the tunnel our ability to endure is almost without limit but take that light away from me let me be overwhelmed by the hopelessness of my situation and I will show you a candidate who is ready for suicide don't ever underestimate the power of pain so again then here is the question how can we help one another how can we help ourselves when we find ourselves in those places where the pain of living exceeds our coping skills to keep us alive well let me take you back for just a moment to that diagram because therein lies the key you will notice that one of two things has to happen either my pain has to be alleviated it has to be lessened so that I can manage or my ability to cope with the pain has to increase so that I can outlive the pain that would drive me into the ground so how can we help one another when we're in those kind of places we have to find some way of diminishing the pain or we have to increase our ability to cope with the pain and here's where the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in the context of Christian community is such incredibly good news because what has Jesus done I mean we're heading in a few weeks into the Advent season why does Jesus come into the world he comes into the world as a man of sorrows acquainted with grief he knows loss he knows pain he knows helplessness he knows on the cross what it is to be forsaken by God himself the cry my God my God why have you forsaken me is the cry of all God's people throughout all ages when they've been in those places where there seems to be no hope and when hell burns hot Jesus for that reason according to the book of Hebrews is a sympathetic high priest that is to say he knows our weaknesses he knows our pain he knows us in ways that we don't even understand ourselves because he's been there he'll never point his finger at you and say what a jerk and stupid idiot you are how come you don't have a lot more faith he knows the reality of temptation and he knows the reality of being caught up in the powers of hell I mean the book of Acts is all about the resurrection of Jesus isn't it it's all about the fact that he was obedient even to death and therefore God has highly exalted him and given him the name that is above every name that at the mention of the name of Jesus every knee should bow and you know it makes the gospel good news Jesus in his resurrection always gives light at the end of the tunnel he is the Lord God Almighty who created the whole universe out of nothing sustains it by his mighty word of power and all he has to do is flick his finger all he has to do is speak into your situation and into my situation and all the powers of hell are driven back and he raises us up to new life that's the good news of the gospel and that good news of the gospel is mediated by you and me as part of God's people maybe you're here this morning you can't identify with anything that we're talking about it that's all right consider yourself blessed consider yourself favored but I'll tell you for every one of you there's somebody else if not here then out there that knows a hopelessness a despair and a depression that will often make death look incredibly inviting and very tempting and if they have not yet tried to kill themselves or if they have tried to kill themselves and have not succeeded it's only because God's grace was there to hold onto them and to sustain them and you and I as members of the body of Christ we are his hands and we are his feet and what does he invite us to do he invites us to step in to those places of suffering he invites us to enter into their world now very few people ever killed themselves without having given some indication of some longing to be released from the pain of life it will often be hidden you often will not be able to spot it but it will show up in comments like this I can't go on any longer I hate this life there's no point to this stupid life everybody would be better off without me life is not worth living nothing matters anymore I don't care about anything anymore I want to die and it's easy for you and me to write that off as drama and sometimes for some people it is drama and it's just a way of capturing attention but you know I've learned over the years you don't take that kind of chance because you don't know where it's coming from and those things are often a cry for help and an invitation that says won't you step into my world and at least share my pain and share my suffering with me and it's in that regard that I find the story of Judas in Matthew's gospel extremely fascinating because when Judas is overcome with remorse feelings that he doesn't know what he can do with him what does he do well he goes back to the temple and he throws the money back at the priests and at the Pharisees and why do you suppose he goes back to the temple is it not to try to get rid of his guilt is it not because perhaps he wants some understanding that he now knows that that he's been foolish and he has sinned and has sinned seriously he doesn't know what to do with himself and what do the scribes and the Pharisees do he says I have sinned for I have betrayed innocent blood imagine for a moment if they had put their best pastoral self forward do you ever think about that what if they said oh Judas you're a man who is troubled let us help you with your trouble Judas might still be alive at least he wouldn't have killed himself then he wouldn't be alive today obviously but what do they do instead now listen carefully to the text what's their response what is that to us it is your responsibility and so what's the next line he threw the money into the temple and he left and he went away and he hanged himself you know when people go out and hang themselves or drown themselves or take pills because sometimes they've tried to reach out they've tried to be heard and they were not heard and even their attempt at killing themselves often is a cry for help rather than a desire for death and you and I we need to be sensitive to that we need to learn how to step into those situations not only but then of course we also need to be able to provide hope remember what I said earlier light at the end of the tunnel I can live through almost anything as long as they know that it's not forever you take that light away from me convince me that I'm so rotten that I will never be different that my circumstances and my situations will never change and that my pain will be eternal that I'm a candidate for suicide and providing hope means we speak not only the gospel into that situation but we try to take people by the hand and we try to encourage them that this too will pass not minimizing their pain but that if they will only hold on God in Christ is bigger and we not only step into their pain but we take them by the hand we pray for them we empower them when their own faith can no longer carry the day when the darkness is so deep they can no longer pray you and I we can stand in the breach and we can intercede with heaven until all the power of hell lets go and one of God's people can be redeemed from the power of the curse what I end this morning with a true story the story of a girl whose name is Erin at the time of writing she's almost 20 years old and she says I accepted Christ when I was 12 years old but I didn't believe it in my heart I grew up in a broken home my folks divorced when I was only 9 or 10 my mom started dating men who are not so nice they would drink and verbally abuse my mother and as the years went on I became an adult child I took care of my mom emotionally and put all my feelings in hold to take care of her during all of this I dived head first into church and I was very active in my youth group and was an honor roll student this continued until I was 16 when my mom kicked me out of our house and I went to live with my father when I moved to my dad's he didn't allow me to go to church or to call my friends because it was a long distance call I went into the worst depression I had ever experienced I overdosed three times I was fortunate that the last time I didn't destroy my liver or my kidneys but it didn't stop there I became addicted to inflicting harm on myself by cutting I know that people might say how can you get addicted to that but trust me you can it is addictive because it becomes the only thing that can relieve your pain it takes control of your every waking thought and it becomes the only way to tell if you're really alive for four years this is how I survived and I have the scars to prove it but in the past few months God has really been working on my heart I went back to church and God led me to seek out an old friend in my church now listen to this listen to what a difference friends can make this man is the first person in a long long time to take the time and listen to my concerns and not judge me he then took a step further gave me Bible verses to combat this depression and addiction my favorite verses Isaiah 40 verse 4 every valley shall be lifted every mountain and hill shall be made low the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth God hasn't stopped there I'm a first-year nursing student I work in a hospital with liver and kidney transplant patients I have switched from listening to alternative music which I was into heavily back to Christian music I'm reading my Bible which I never did before I have been free of my addiction for a number of months now and importantly I am alive and well and for the first time in a long time I feel hopeful and life doesn't seem so bleak she goes on to say then for those of you who are wondering my past does come back to haunt me and I still want to give in to urges to feed my addiction but now I'm not alone though I realize now that I was never really alone I just didn't want to seek God's help God has given me scripture and if I can't think of any God has said here is this friend that I have placed in your path call him and through him I will tell you the scriptures that you need the one thing that I have learned is that God doesn't always make your life a better roses but he always gives us a way to deal with our pain hurt or addiction God is wonderful and no matter how far we run or what we do he will always be waiting for us with open arms and unwavering love Isaiah 41 says do not fear for I am with you do not be dismayed for I am your God I will strengthen you and help you I will uphold you with my righteous hand I don't know where you find yourself this morning this may be totally over your head unrelated to your life and if so wonderful but maybe just maybe that girl's story echoes with your own heart and maybe there are those times in your own life where you say the world my husband my children my wife they would all be better off without me remember that when you take your own life for whatever reason you don't make life easier for the people that you leave behind because you leave a ton of unanswered questions unresolved relationships and if you really want to serve the Lord and follow him then trust that he's big enough to walk you through this valley this too will pass may not sound like it but God has put you in a community where there's a lot of people that have been where you are and they can help you if you want to reach out so if you're in that kind of swan talk to somebody talk to me if you want to and together we'll see that Jesus is bigger than all the power of hell and God's people said amen. [CUT] [PROPOSED CUT 1 START at 00:40:39.920; remove through 00:44:35.000] Today I choose to follow you Today I choose to give my yes to you Today I choose to hear your voice and live Today I choose to follow you As we meet in my house we will serve you As we meet in my house we will stand our lives on you Today I choose to follow you Today I choose to give my yes to you Today I choose to hear your voice and live As we meet in my house we will serve you As we meet in my house we will stand our lives on you As we meet in my house we will serve you As we meet in my house we will stand our lives on you As we meet in my house we will serve you As we meet in my house we will stand our lives on you As we meet in my house we will serve you As we meet in my house we will serve you As we meet in my house we will stand our lives on you As we meet in my house we will serve you As we meet in my house we will serve you As we meet in my house we will serve you As we meet in my house we will serve you As we meet in my house we will serve you [CUT] [PROPOSED CUT 1 END at 00:44:35.000; resume after this marked segment]