WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?

 

WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?

Good morning family,

Many years ago, when I was still in high school. As some you may already know, I went to Veritas College and because it was the Co-Ed school for the CBC conglomerate, we would have sporting tournaments against all the other CBC schools. It just so happened that our school got to host the Inter CBC Cricket tournament and I was in standard 8. For those of you that are slightly younger, you would call this grade 10. I was chosen for the first team and if you know how the opening game goes, the entire school comes to watch the host team play against the previous year’s winners. I was fielding on the boundary and the ball came streaming down after a cover drive. I dived like my life depended on it, stopped the boundary and threw the ball back. Needless to say the crowd cheered. A few minutes later, I heard the supporters behind me laughing. I couldn’t understand why until a breeze blew and I felt it on my right hamstring. I had torn my pants diving for the ball and the entire school got to see my tush… Can you imagine the embarrassment?!

 

Today’s message is titled: WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?!

 

MATTHEW 27:27-31 (NKJV)

The Soldiers Mock Jesus

27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the [a]Praetorium and gathered the whole [b]garrison around Him. 28 And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. 29 When they had [c]twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.

-          The crucifixion was an extremely slow and grueling process

-          It was intended to be embarrassing

-          The mocking, the whipping, the banter was all part of the humiliation process

-          Clothes ripped of Jesus’ body

-          Roman soldiers gathering around Him to laugh at His claim of being the Son of God

-          Can you imagine the embarrassment?!

-          Can you picture Jesus thinking… “WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?!”

-          “You are mocking and abusing my Father by abusing me!”

-          “Do you think it’s okay?!”

-          “Why are you playing games with life?!”

-          “Why are you finding joy at the expense of another person?!”

 

Have you laughed at someone recently? Have you teased someone recently? Have you benefited from another’s demise? You see there is always someone that starts this process? Are you that person or are you the one influenced by that person? What is your involvement in the situation?

Did you really have to say it? Did you really have to do it? Did you really have to be a part of it?

-          You see that we have been given the freedom of choice

-          We can choose to stand for something, or we fall for anything

-          The Bible says death and life are in the power of the tongue

-          What we say does not just affect us, but it also affects those we speak it over

 

Ephesians 4:30-32 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, by whom you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, quarreling, and slander be put away from you, along with all hatred. And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another just as God has forgiven you in the Messiah.

 

-          Let us think twice before we act once

-          The preconceived idea becomes more dangerous than the weapons used to execute that very idea

-          We need to be cognizant of our interpretation of the very thoughts that our minds are fed with

-          Fragile or not, weak or strong it is not of God to hurt the heart of God’s people.

-          We were all created by God and have been given equal opportunity and where someone is in there walk is not your business however if God creates and encounter, it your responsibility to execute the values that the living word teaches us

-          Wrestle with your thoughts until you take them captive.

-          They could be used to either destroy or to build up

-          Speak seeds that will give sprout to fruit

-          And when your fruits come to pass, then help someone else bring in their harvest

-          When your storehouse is filled with the right substance, you are able to be used to nourish those around you

-          Whether you come into contact with them at the supermarket, whether you come into contact with them at a sports event, whether you come into contact with them on your daily walk around the area… Every encounter is a Devine appointment that God has placed you in to infiltrate change. Now it can either be a positive life regenerating one or it could be devastating

 

If you are listening to this, there is a reason why you are supposed to. You may even be the person that this very thing is happening to. You could find yourself being mocked. The world mocked Jesus, who are we?

But you know what?! Jesus rose from the grave. Death was defeated. The curtain tore in the temple. God said we can have a direct relationship with Him through His very Son. The same one that the world had an opportunity to accept but rejected.

 

WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?!

 

Let us pray!