NATIONAL COMMUNITY CHURCH
March 22, 2015
Elements: Gentleness
Mark Batterson
Turn to Matthew 11 and we will get there in just a few moments. I think that Teddy Roosevelt,
for a variety of reason, probably ranks as my favorite president. I’ve read about half a dozen
biographies and I find him to be a rather interesting personality. Oh, and he also signed, on
February 28, 1903, the Bill of Congress that allowed for the creation of Union Station and that’s
where we met for 13 years so he is the guy that helped build our church! So one more reason to
appreciate Teddy Roosevelt! I think it would be safe to say that although by all accounts, he was
a momma’s boy. In fact, he was a 100 pound weakling as a kid in part because of the asthma that
he had. But those of us who remember, we remember him as a man’s man. He was the Rough
Rider who courageously helped win the battle of San Juan. He is the guy that would go on
African safaris for months. He set up a boxing ring at the White House! Much to the chagrin of
the Secret Service, whoever was willing to get into the ring with him, he would go a few rounds
with whoever. One time he got hit in the left eye and went blind and didn’t tell anybody about it.
That’s nothing! October 14, 1912, he was in Milwaukee giving a little campaign and he was shot
at point blank range by a would-be assassin. The 32 caliber bullet lodged two inches deep in his
chest, yet he refused to go to the hospital before giving the speech. And in apologetic fashion,
you’ve got to love this, he says to the crowd, ‘The bullet is in me now so I cannot make a very
long speech.’ Which evidently meant 53 minutes. 53 minutes! By the time he was done, he was
standing in a pool of his own blood! A man’s man! Teddy Roosevelt! This is also the same guy
that would keep heads of state waiting while he finished up a game of hide and go seek in the
White House with his kids. Oh and this is the same president that also taught a Sunday School
class for children.
One of the favorite stories is when he was a New York Assemblyman, he was at the Hurst
Roadhouse outside of Albany and there were three bullies there making fun of him and calling
him a momma’s boy and one of the guys took a swing at him. He ducked and then he took off his
glasses and put them in his coat pocket and knocks two of them flat on the ground and the third
guy gave up. What I love, this is classic Roosevelt, he then treated them to a round of drinks.
How did Teddy Roosevelt go from momma’s boy to man’s man? His personality had a gentle
side to it. I think it probably goes back to his father. Teddy said that his father, Theodore
Roosevelt, was the best man he ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness
and tenderness and great unselfishness. He was big, powerful, but his heart was filled with
gentleness for those who needed help or protection.
He said, ‘I was sickly and timid boy but he took great and untiring care of me.’ These are some
of his earliest memories. He said some of his earliest memories are of the nights when he would
walk up and down with me for an hour at a time holding me in his arms when I was suffering
with asthma. This powerful man would just gently care for his son.
I’m not going to go off talking about how manhood is something that is a little confused or
misunderstood. I think it is and I think that’s probably because we sometimes lose our moorings
as it relates to what it means to not just be a man but to be a man of God. And by that I mean by
biblical definition.
I don’t want to just be a man, I would like to be a gentle man. I’m not just saying someone who
holds the door. I like old fashioned etiquette and courtesy and politeness. I think there is
something good about that. But what we are talking about this weekend is a quality that is
beyond that. It is fruit of the Spirit. It is a gentleness that reflects our omnipotent God, yet gentle
and so loving and so caring and so patient.
I know that if you didn’t have a father like Teddy Roosevelt’s father, or maybe you grew up in a
situation that was emotionally or physically abusive, I know it can be so hard to really
understand this dimension of our heavenly Father’s character and personality. But my prayer is
that the Lord would reveal it to us this weekend. And I think it is seen best in the person of Jesus
Christ.
Matthew 11:28
28 “Come
to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.29 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. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
There is an invitation on the table. And it still stands. And I know that some of you are weary
and heavy laden and that you are trying to do this thing on your own. We will talk about that in a
minute.
Jesus is such a challenging personality to capture in any form or fashion. I have written a few
books and in some of those books, I have tried to depict the different Jesus dimensions of Jesus’
kaleidoscopic personality but sometimes I feel like it falls so far short because it is impossible.
Then there are the movies. There are some wonderful film-makers and producers who try their
best, like authors who try their best, but it is so hard to encapsulate. In part I think because of the
duality of Him being fully God and fully man. He is one person in one category all by Himself.
There is no one else like Him.
I think one of my favorite scenes in the gospels is Jesus walking into the temple and there is a
little bit of fire in his eyes because they had turned the house of prayer into a den of thieves and
Jesus throws a little temple tantrum! He turns some tables upside down and then drives out the
money changers and the animals out that they were using for sacrifice making it so much easier.
I think my favorite part of the story, He drove them out with a whip, a whip that He made! He
made it! Guys, this is a man’s man! I sometimes joke with Pastor Joel, what a strong word last
weekend, I hope you received that word on faithfulness. We sometimes joke because it took
months to get this, you can’t even see it can you? This five o’clock shadow is months of hard
work! Joel can grow the full beard and sometimes I just feel like a little bit less of a man. Ok,
that was not in my notes!
Dorothy Sayers said:
“The people who hanged Christ never, to do them justice, accused him of being a
bore - on the contrary, they thought him too dynamic to be safe. It has been left
for later generations to muffle up that shattering personality and surround him
with an atmosphere of tedium. We have efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of
Judah, certified him "meek and mild" and recommended him as a fitting
household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies.”
So let’s not ignore this wild side, this powerful dimension. Do you remember when Jesus
encounters the demoniac? Everybody was scared to death. His name was Legion. It was the
largest unit in the Roman military so he was probably possessed by 6,000 demons. I don’t know
about you but one is scary enough! I say that facetiously because He that is in us is greater than
he that is in the world and we have nothing to fear but God and when you fear God, you don’t
have to fear anything else. But everybody scared and this guy lived in a cemetery. It says he cut
himself. This demon would self-inflict these wounds and it said he couldn’t be bound. There was
a demonic force at play that had a physical strength that was way beyond human ability. So
everybody steered clear of that part of the countryside and don’t you know it, Jesus crossed the
Sea of Galilee and the disciples were probably like, let’s go a different way, but Jesus went right
into the demoniac dock. I love this beautiful story. The Bible is so descriptive in its language that
the demoniac starts coming at them but it says Jesus started moving towards him. This is the one
who can scare a demon out of a demon possessed man just at the sight of Him. Everybody else
was afraid of him but these demons just cower in the presence of the Son of God because of his
strength and his authority.
So what I’m talking about this weekend is not weak and meek. I’m talking about strong and
gentle. This incredible combination that you see in the person of Jesus. Have you ever noticed
the way Jesus treated woman? Even women that were outcasts and women that were in certain
occupations that men would prey on and seen as more of a commodity, the way Jesus would treat
them with such dignity and respect and honor, the way He was so loving and gentle. I’m sure
there were moments that the Pharisees were intimidated and it was a show of power in moments
and Jesus knew when to do that. But when all kinds of people would come and bring little
children, isn’t it interesting how children felt so at ease with Him as He might put a hand on their
head and bless them. This is gentle Jesus, if you will.
He says
28 “Come
to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.29 Take My yoke
upon you and learn from Me,
Let me do a little teaching on this for just a moment. It is a double entendre of sorts here, the
word ‘yoke’ because there is a literal yoke. It is a wooden bar that would allow two animals to
pull something. I know we don’t have too many farmers at our church but you know what I’m
talking about, two yoke of oxen pulling a plow. Technically, what a yoke does is it relieves 50
percent of the weight. That’s great because you don’t have to do it yourself. Someone else can
help carry the weight. So Jesus is saying get in the yoke with me. I think it is safe to say that
Jesus does more than pull his weight. So this is better than a 50/50 deal! Some of you are striving
to do this thing in your own strength and your own wisdom and you are giving it 100 percent and
when that doesn’t work, you try harder and then even harder but the Bible is so explicit. It is not
by might nor by strength but by my Spirit, sayeth the Lord. It is the Spirit of God at work in and
through us that helps us accomplish the plans and purposes of God.
So I think what Jesus is saying here is help me help you. You’ve got to let go and let God! I
think sometimes when we try to solve our own problems, we make them even worse. So quit
trying to pull all the weight by yourself. Get into the yoke with Jesus and let Him take that
burden and carry the load for you.
That’s the literal translation. The figurative one is interesting as well. A yoke was a Jewish
rabbi’s interpretation of Scripture. It was their unique teaching, their unique take on the Torah.
So what is NCC’s yoke, for example? You might look at our three core convictions. Every
church has the same mission, to go and make disciples, to go and preach the gospel. But we have
a yoke here, that the church ought to be the most creative place on the planet, that the church
belongs in the middle of the marketplace, and that God is going to bless us in proportion to how
we care for the poor in our city and how we give to missions. That is our unique interpretation.
Now, one of the ways you would find out a rabbi’s yoke is by asking the question – which
commandment is most important. Does that ring a bell? Sometimes we read it and think it was a
trick question. But it was a logical question. It would be the question you would ask a rabbi to try
to discern what it is that makes them unique. And you have to love what Jesus does here. He
takes the 613 laws of the Old Testament and the commandments and He says love the Lord your
God with all your heart and mind and soul and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.
What’s happening here is like Jesus saying let me take these 613 heavy laws and let’s try loving
God and loving people. Let’s try that! That’s my yoke.
Can I take a moment to speak very specifically to those of you who maybe come from a
legalistic background? I went to lots of different churches growing up and you know how much I
love the church. There is not a perfect church, because you are here and I’m here! But I was in a
few churches that were very legalistic and that legalism takes different forms but I mean, it was
kind of like playing the part and acting like everything was alright and whoever dressed the best
and put on the best act, if you will, wins the game. You can’t admit you are wrong. You are a
sinner but you aren’t wrong. Like you could never admit that anything was really not perfect.
You have to play the game so to speak. What I’ve found is that in legalistic atmospheres you
would rather be right than righteous. You are more focused on just looking the part. And what
I’ve found is that legalism leaves a strange scar tissue in our spirit where it becomes this
performance thing and it is so hard for us to receive the grace of God where it is 100 percent God
and 0 percent us. With legalism we still want it to be at least 1 percent our effort. But it is not. So
what happens then is when you grow up in a religious system that is very legalistic, I think you
often second guess everything you do. It is this nervousness, this cautiousness, you are generally
afraid of making a mistake. You would rather not make a mistake. I think the big thing to me is,
if I told you to close your eyes and imagine your heavenly Father looking at you, if you grew up
in a legalistic environment, it would be very hard for you to envision the heavenly Father smiling
at you. I think sometimes we miss the heart of God. We are the adopted children of God and yet
we operate with this kind of orphan spirit. But we have a heavenly Father who is so gentle and it
is evidenced in Jesus and his yoke. It is not legalistic. He takes off those 613 laws and He says I
will fulfill the law for you and I will go to the cross for you and I will pay the penalty for your
sin and we will call it even. That is what He does for us! He said I came that you might have life
and have it more abundantly.
This is tough to put a finger on but occasionally I will get to visit a church or be somewhere else
and it’s this sense of, is it life-giving? Is it life-giving? If it is, that’s the Spirit of Jesus at work in
that place. He said my yoke is light and easy.
Here’s what I’m saying, if you let Him, He will take off the weight of sin from your shoulders
and it probably feels like the weight of the world but He will take that off your shoulders for you.
Then Jesus says
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
I think gentleness is probably one of the most overlooked and underappreciated fruits. On one
level, it is how to win friends and influence people. But it is beyond that. It is a way to curry the
favor of God. It is a way to operate in the kind of spirit that will actually have the kind of results
that God wants to have.
Let me share a couple verses, you can jot them down and look at them later.
Proverbs 15:1
A gentle answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger.
I think as a parent, as an employer, as a friend, I really have to discern the spirit in which I’m
speaking. Is this coming out of anger? Am I speaking out of pride? I tell you what, we are so
good at deceiving ourselves aren’t we. So sometimes we will speak out of our insecurity and we
will just mask it somehow but I have found that when you are operating in the true spirit of
Jesus, it is gentle. It is always gentle. How can I say that? Look at the voice of the Holy Spirit in
I Kings 19:12
2 After
the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a
gentle whisper.
Let me ask you, what kind of voice does God speak in to you? He doesn’t yell does He? I had
some coaches who yelled and it generally made me more nervous and I would usually miss the
shot or mess up. God doesn’t yell at us. You have to learn to hear that voice. He speaks in a
gentle whisper. Why does He speak in a gentle whisper? Because when you speak quietly, the
person you are speaking to will have to get in close proximity to you to hear it. And then if you
speak even more softly, that person might have to get so close to you that their ear is right next to
your mouth. That is why God speaks in a gentle whisper. It is not about hearing what He has to
say, He just wants to get you real close to Him. And then it’s almost like He tricked you, He says
now that you are here, I just want to give you a hug since you’re here. That is our heavenly
Father. He speaks in a gentle voice.
I Peter 3:16
If someone asks you about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it, but do this in a
gentle and respectful way.
In other words, don’t just thump them with that Bible. Speak in a gentle and respectful way.
Ephesians 4:2
Be completely humble and gentle.
Philippians 4:5
Let your gentleness be evident to all.
Titus 3:2
Always be gentle towards everyone.
Here is my point. This is huge! This is all over the place. And then right after the fruit of the
Spirt, guess what? Then you get to Chapter 6 of Galatians verse 1 and here’s what that says
Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a
spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.
Can I tell you my knee-jerk reaction when I hear about a high profile failure of some sort, a
moral failure of some sort? Listen, it happens all the time. You don’t have to watch the news too
many nights in a row to hear about an entertainer or an athlete or someone who works in politics
or a pastor who will make a tremendous mistake. I am afraid that sometimes we shoot our
wounded and we are very quick to pick up stones and Jesus said he who is without sin cast the
first stone. Can I tell you my reaction? Some of these have been friends and it has been bitterly
disappointing and sometimes I get a little upset because I know the collateral damage that has
been done. I want to tell you exactly the first thing that fires across my synapsis, but for the grace
of God, there go I. It is only the grace of God that keeps us from that. I think the least
judgmental people are the people who have experienced the most grace. We need God’s grace to
produce that gentleness in us.
Let me zero in on one dimension of gentleness that might not be the very first thing that comes to
mind but I think it is the essence of this word. In the Greek language, it means to not be overly
impressed with oneself. Isn’t that interesting? I think I have said it a time or two in the last
couple of months that few things are less impressive than someone who is trying to impress. You
almost feel sorry for them. By the way, I have been guilty of that so many times. And I look back
on it and think, that was embarrassing. But in the same breath, nothing is more impressive than
someone who is really not trying to impress at all. I think the best biblical phrase is ‘without
guile.’ Unaffected about what people think. Just a desire to please their heavenly Father.
This is an interesting dimension to me. Do you remember when Dick Foth kicked off this series
and said there are two kinds of people, people who walk into a room and say here I am, and
people who walk into a room and people say there you are. Some people it is all about them and
other people it is all about whoever else is there.
These couple of things might be worth jotting down or tweeting. The best way to be interesting is
to take a genuine interest in others. If you are genuinely interested in others, people will think
you are so interesting because you are interested in them.
There is a story I love, I don’t know where I read it, about a woman who had back to back
dinners with two 19th Century Prime Ministers, William Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli, who
happened to be bitter political rivals. She was asked of her impression of each and she said,
‘After dinner with Gladstone, I thought he was the cleverest man in England. Then after my
dinner with Disraeli, I thought I was the cleverest woman in England.’
What I love is the fact that it is Foth who shared that and it is probably Foth who models that
better than anybody I know. I don’t know anybody who takes a more genuine interest in other
people than Dick Foth. Maybe that’s why I find him so interesting! He took an interest in me 19
years ago and began to love me and counsel me and mentor me.
A few other meanings of the word are calm, considerate, courteous, but I want to get to an issue
right here. I think sometimes we have a tendency to use our personality as an excuse. I want to
tell you something, I am all for you knowing yourself as well as you possibly can. So I’ve taken
the Myers Briggs, some of you maybe have taken the DISC profile. I’ve done the strengths
finder several times. Our executive leadership team this week, part of our retreat this week was
going through our personality types to understand how we can work with each other even more
effectively by understanding our strengths and our blind spots, our stressors and areas where
maybe our strength is actually a weakness. I think it is so important that you understand that but I
also want to say this, don’t use your personality as an excuse. Don’t talk to me about your
genetic predisposition. You still need to obey the Word of God. I understand that you might have
grown up in an ethnic situation where you have certain inclinations towards certain ways of
talking or doing things and I respect that, but there is still a baseline of us exhibiting the
character of God, and I think gentleness is one of these examples. I don’t care how you are wired
or how short your temper is, gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit so there is really no other option.
So maybe here’s another way to say it because I think this is critical. The Bible talks about
spiritual gifts. One of the lists is in Romans 12:6-8 and it lists seven motivational gifts.
Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them
accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; 7 if service, in his serving; or
he who teaches, in his teaching; 8 or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives,
with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
I love a couple of things about this. Do it to the best of your ability, diligently. You’ve got to
keep growing in your gifting. The other thing I want to notice is about the spirit in which you do
it. Don’t show mercy begrudgingly, show it cheerfully. Just because it is not your gift doesn’t
mean you are off the hook. You say you don’t have the gift of giving, but you can still tithe.
Tithing is the baseline of giving our first fruits back to God. Now, I know people who have the
gift of giving who give way beyond that. It is one of our gifts, Lora and I, we love it. We find
great joy in giving. Our goal is to ultimately live off 10 percent and give 90 percent back to God.
We find no greater joy than giving back to God. I know people who exercise this gift in
incredible ways but there is still a baseline of obedience.
What I’m saying is, it doesn’t matter what your gifts are, what your personality is or what your
past is, these are non-negotiables. You say you don’t have the gift of mercy, listen, I get that you
might not be Mother Teresa, you don’t have to start Mission of Mercy, but you have to show
mercy. You still have to exercise that character of God.
We talk all the time, Pastor Heidi, our Pastor of Prayer, will often ping us as a staff and remind
us about operating in the opposite spirit. This idea of if you encounter meanness, try being nice.
It’s simple. If someone is frowning, just try smiling. If someone is operating in a spirit of pride,
why don’t we try humility? I just think that this is about operating in the opposite spirit and you
see it in Jesus. He says I am humble in heart. Meekness is not weakness. You can have a certain
level of strength but not be able to control that strength. But there is a higher level of strength
that is the ability to control your strength. There’s power and there’s will-power and sometimes it
takes will-power to control your power. Just like Jesus who didn’t react when they nailed Him to
the cross. He could have shown them his power but instead He showed them his will-power and
didn’t say anything but suffered silently for our sake.
There are going to be moments when you have to exercise that will-power and respond in
gentleness.
In 1992, Larry Trapp hit the front page of newspapers across the country. He was the Grand
Dragon of the Klu Klux Klan. For years, Larry Trapp terrorized a Jewish leader in his
community, sent hate mail, threatening phone calls, bomb threats. Then he did an about face. He
burned his Nazi flags, destroyed his hate literature, and renounced the KKK. How does that kind
of transformation happen? I’ll tell you what happened. Larry Trapp started dying from diabetes.
He was eventually confined to a wheelchair and couldn’t take care of himself any longer and
that’s when this Jewish leader that he terrorized invited him to come into his home and live with
him so that he could care for him. Larry Trapp he showed him so much love that he couldn’t help
but love them back.
Show more love. Show more kindness. Show more patience. Show more gentleness.
We don’t operate in the spirit of this world. We operate when needed in an opposite spirit, a
spirit that is kind and humble and gentle and patient. And Jesus says come to me all you who are
weary and heavy laden.
Can I just say that He is a gentleman? What I mean by that is this. He is not going to break down
the door. Revelation 3:20, I stand at the door and knock. But you have to answer the door
because He is a gentleman.
This weekend, I wonder if there are some of you, you’ve been trying to do this thing on your
own for way too long in your own strength and power and you need to surrender. You need to
get into that yoke with Jesus. I want to challenge you to do it this weekend, to just surrender your
life to Him and let Him take that weight of sin off of your shoulders and take on his yoke that is
light and easy.
Father I pray that your Spirit would work in our hearts right now to be responsive to the
invitation that was extended 2,000 years ago. Lord I pray for those this weekend that would
accept that invitation.
If that’s you I invite you to pray with me. It doesn’t have to be out loud. Pray something a little
like this.
Lord Jesus, I am a sinner in need of a Savior. I have turned my back on you and tried to do this
thing in my own will and my own way and my own strength and I’m at the end of myself. But I
thank you that that’s where we find you and we find you with open arms to embrace us and to
love us. So right here right now, I surrender my life to the Lord Jesus Christ. I take off the yoke
of bondage, the yoke of burden, the yoke of pride, the yoke of my own sin and I get in the yoke
with Jesus and I thank you for this gift of salvation that you have given to me and I now receive
it fully with a grateful heart giving you thanks and praise, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Transcribed by:
Ministry Transcription
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