Give Us Barabbas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f19_wl57rhw

Clear the Stage by Jimmy Needham

Clear the stage and set the sound and lights ablaze
If that's the measure you must take to crush the idols
Jerk the pews & all the decorations, too
Until the congregation's few, then have revival
Tell your friends that this is where the party ends
Until you're broken for your sins, you can't be social
Then seek the Lord & wait for what He has in store
And know that great is your reward so just be hopeful
'cause you can sing all you want to
Yes, you can sing all you want to
You can sing all you want to
And still get it wrong; worship is more than a song
Take a break from all the plans that you have made
And sit at home alone and wait for God to whisper
Beg Him please to open up His mouth and speak
And pray for real upon your knees until they blister
Shine the light on every corner of your life
Until the pride and lust and lies are in the open
Then read the Word and put to test the things you've heard
Until your heart and soul are stirred and rocked and broken
We must not worship something that's not even worth it
Clear the stage, make some space for the One who deserves it
'cause I can sing all I want to
Yes, I can sing all I want to
I can sing all I want to
And still get it wrong
And you can sing all you want to
Yes, you can, you can sing all you want to
You can sing all you want to
And still get it wrong; worship is more than a song
Worship is more than a song
Worship is more than a song
Clear the stage and set the sound and lights ablaze
If that's the measure you must take to crush the idols

True confessions:  I belong to what is considered a "mega-church".  The founding pastor is a solid Bible teacher, and I always learn something when I listen to his sermons.  Alas, when the pastor is not there, attendance drops by about 20%. That means that up to one-fifth of the members of our church are in a cult of personality.  They just won't come when a guest speaker is there. Sometimes that 20% includes me.

Another startling statistic:  if you polled the members of my church and asked them why they come to church even if there is a guest speaker, I'll bet that half of them would say that they come for the praise and worship. I might even be one of them, because I love praise music done well.  I also love to be entertained, but that's just me.  I am often convicted by the Holy Spirit that I do not go to church to be entertained.  Worship, I believe, is more than the tingle in your spine or your goosebumps on your arm when the singing is especially beautiful.

I truly do love music, especially when it is done well.  I was a music major in college--I sang with the A cappella choir, and have been a part time music minister/worship leader/choir director from time to time in my career.  I know the power of music in people's lives:  it can lift you up; it can bring you down; it can make you want to dance.  But music can't replace worship.

True worship is admitting our brokenness before Almighty God, and adoring Him as True Perfection.  It is giving reverence to our Creator, our Sustainer, and our Eternal Hope.  Yes, this can sometimes be aided by reciting religious poetry set to a melody, enhanced by harmonious accompaniment.  On the other hand, it can happen in a quiet moment, when you are alone in God's presence as He brings to mind a word from Scripture.  Quiet meditation can be as thrilling as shouting Hallelujahs in a crowded building with a thousand other Christians.

We just need to be careful what we are worshiping.

Keeping with the theme of "Lies The Enemy Tells Us,"  I want us to look at a Bible character mentioned in all four gospels.  This man was not a disciple, but it turned out that given a choice, the mob assembled before the Roman procurator asked that he be pardoned for his crimes, while at the same time demanding that Jesus be crucified.

The man is known to us as Barabbas.  Some called him Jesus Barabbas.  At the time, Jesus was a popular name, so he may have shared the given name of the Messiah.  The Jewish spelling was Yeshua (or Jeshua), meaning "savior" or "deliverer".  Parents gave their sons that name in anticipation of the Messiah's coming.  Just like you can look for your name in Google (or another internet search engine) and find other people with the same name, people in ancient Israel could often look at Scripture and find other people with the same name.  Examples of men named Jeshua in the Bible are found in 2 Chronicles 31:15, Ezra 2:6 and 36, and Nehemiah 3:19 and 8:7.  There is even a town in Judah with that name, mentioned in Nehemiah 11:26.

The surname Barabbas literally means "Son of the Father."  When a Jewish boy turned 13 years of age, he was given a bar mitzvah, meaning "son of blessing", signifying his ascent into manhood.  "Bar" means "son of", as when Jesus was talking to the disciple Peter, who was also known as Simon: "Blessed are you, Simon bar Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in Heaven." (Matthew 16:17).  Simon's father's name was Jonah, thus the name Jesus called him: Simon, bar (son of) Jonah.  By the way, what was Jesus commending Simon Peter for in that verse?  What had been revealed to him by God the Father?  It was that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

So Jesus went around teaching that He was the Son of God, and that we could call God our Father.  Keeping this in mind, we turn our attention back to the character known as Bar-Abbas, or son of his father.  His first name may have been Jesus, and he may have often been asked whether he was the Jesus that turned water into wine, that fed the five thousand with five loaves and two fish, that had healed the sick and raised the dead.  Unfortunately, this man was famous for another reason: Luke 23:19 says, "He (Barabbas) was one who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection made in the city, and for murder."  Why would a mob shout to the Roman Procurator that a murderer and insurrectionist should be pardoned?

Well, let's look at other people throughout history.  Che Guevara, for one.  Fidel Castro.  Joseph Stalin.  These were people who were termed revolutionaries or insurrectionists (depending upon who tells the story).  Each one had killed people, but still each one had a following.  If any one of them had been imprisoned, their followers may have rioted, demanding a pardon. Just like the mob in Jerusalem in the courts of Pontius Pilate that day.

Here is the point I am trying to make.  Just like those people who sentenced Jesus to death, we are often given a false choice.  Would we rather hear a poor itinerant preacher like Paul, who was not much to look at but who rightly divided the word of truth?  Or would we rather hear someone with a huge following, like Joel Osteen or Oprah Winfrey?  Which one would be more likely to fill a stadium today?  We should not be so quick to judge the mob in Jesus' day, because when given the choice between Jesus, the Son of the (heavenly) Father, or Jesus, son of the fathers (religious or political icons who have gone before), many would choose the latter.  Many might be confused, which makes it incumbent upon us to clearly define the differences.  Those who choose rightly choose (eternal) life.  Those who choose wrongly choose death and damnation.