“A Face Like Flint”  Isa. 50:5-9; Rom. 8:32-34  Palm Sunday 4/1/07  Rev. Dr. J. Ben Sloan

Every indication in scripture is that Jesus knew before he ever went to Jerusalem that they would falsely accuse him and have him executed.  Yet he did not shrink back from that.  He set his face like flint.  He was bold and brave for us and for God.  He had a clear purpose.  Today many are wandering aimlessly without purpose, and full of hesitation and lack of confidence in their God-given abilities and destiny.  Jesus was condemned by others, but he did not let that condemnation take away from his fulfilling his goal. 

                There was one time in my life where I visited some prisoners condemned to die.  One fellow, I’ll call Jerry, was a tough guy, but also a sad guy.  When I asked him how he felt about it, he got angry.  “Why do they want to put me to death?  Putting me to death won’t bring back their loved one?  He said there’s nothing I can do about it but go through the appeals process, so eventually they will get me.  I might as well not talk about it.”  He was angry.  He was sad.  But there was another guy, I’ll call George.  He had become a Christian in prison.  He maybe became a Christian out of desperation, but he had nonetheless a strong faith that helped him through.  He said, “I know I am going to die.  I guess I deserve it.  But I also know that God will forgive me and I’ll go to heaven.  In the end, there’s nothing they can do to hurt me eternally.”  People choose how they will live, and also how they will face death.  In many ways we are all like Jesus—everyone of us.  In many ways we are like those condemned men.  Everyone of us will die—sooner or later.  The question is how do we face our death sentence—and the death sentences of our friends and family members. 

                I remember reading once of the celebration of 100 years of bringing the good news of Christ to Zaire- now the Congo.  One old man stood up and said that when the missionaries first arrived the tribal leaders decided to test them by slowly poisoning them to death.  One by one their children would die, and then some of the missionaries.  The tribe decided to become Christians not because of the way they preached, but because of how the died.   Jesus knew that it was in his dying that we would have eternal life. 

                Have you ever wondered if Jesus smiled going into Jerusalem?  The scripture tells us in Luke that there was joy among the disciples about his coming (Lk. 19:37) and also that Jesus wept over Jerusalem (Lk. 19:41).  Jesus knew he was going to die, and would be rejected by the city he was entering.  In that sense he was sad.  In another sense, Jesus knew that after his death was the resurrection.  

                Isaiah gives a description of a godly person in a similar situation as Jesus.  The church has traditionally used this passage to help us understand some of the emotions Jesus was going through.  Paul obviously saw this connection as he drew from Isaiah in his passage in Romans about no one can ultimately condemn us.  This person in Isaiah was mocked, spat upon, he had his beard plucked out, he was beaten as Jesus was.  But it says, “I have set my face like flint because….He who vindicates me is near.”  Like the second prisoner I mentioned, if you know that God is on your side, you can be tough because no one can eternally harm you.  In fact, your eternal blessing is assured.  Oswald Chambers used to say when you fear God you fear nothing else.  But if you do not fear God you fear everything else. 

                We can try to be tough in our own strength and have a stiff upper lip.  But there is no rationale for that.  On the other hand, we can be tough- setting our face like flint  because God will vindicate us.  Jesus smiled on Palm Sunday, but he also wept.  He wept that we reject Him so much. But He smiled because his going to Jerusalem would mean his message, his person was vindicated by God. 

                I have always been fascinated at how fickle human approval is.  Palm Sunday is a great reminder of this.

On the one hand there was a great parade and shouts proclaiming Jesus as king.  But within a few days all of Jesus’ friends fled, and the crowd condemned him, mocking him.  Both our passage in Isaiah and Romans ask the question, “Who is it that condemns?”  People may applaud one minute and condemn the next.  But we have the assurance that the One who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all—will not condemn those who believe.  Knowing that we can trust God because God does not condemn but loves those who love Him is a very important and freeing thing. 

                On April Fool's Day 23 years ago, Dr. Gary Hamlin, a Joplin, Missouri, became a "fool for Christ." Soon, he began doing seemingly foolish things.

   "I lived the first 40 years of life for Gary Hamlin's personal gain," he says. "But as I became obedient to God, he opened my eyes to other people who needed my help."

   First, Hamlin co-founded a Teen Challenge center offering free counseling and medical care for young people in trouble. He and his family hosted some of these teenagers in their home. Then, when no other physician volunteered, Hamlin became the first medical director of the AIDS Project of the Ozarks. Lafayette House, a Joplin facility for battered women and children, also engaged Hamlin's services, which he provided free of charge.

   But God had more plans. On April 1, 1988, Hamlin opened a highly unconventional medical practice--the Benevolent Friday Clinic. Any patient who needs medical care receives it. No one is turned over to a collection agency for non-payment. Medicare and Medicaid assignments are welcomed.

                When you know that there is no condemnation in Christ, and that He is your hope, you can let go of your control a little bit and do some unusual, creative things.  Today is Palm Sunday, Passion Sunday, Confirmation Sunday- but it is also “April Fool’s Day.”  I invite you to trust in God, and to let go of a little bit of this life.

“I have not drawn back. I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.  Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced.  Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near. Who then will bring charges against me?  Let us face each other!  Who is my accuser?  Let him confront me!

It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me.  Who is he that will condemn me?  They will all wear out like a garment; the moths will eat them up.

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?  Who will bring any charge against those who God has chosen? It is God who justifies.  Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus-who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”