Manuscript: The Crowd

So we are at the halfway point of our lenten season. Three more weeks to go after this Sunday. Our journey has been taking us through the Gospel of Matthew chapters 26-28. We know that this section of Scripture begins with Jesus' thesis statement, "as you know, passover is in two days and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified." We know that at that same time, the High Priest Caiaphas was meeting with some of the chief priests and elders plotting Jesus' arrest, but not during the festival for fear of rioting that may occur. We know that at least one of Jesus' followers "understood" what he had said and she anointed his body for burial while at a dinner in Bethany. We also know that this was the final straw for Judas. He had come too far to come away empty handed and his character flaw that went unaddressed rose to the surface and he agreed to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. The same amount a male slave would have been worth. We know that he was not the only disciple that would betray Jesus as evidenced by Peter, James and John in the Garden. And now we come to the crucial scene where Jesus goes from talking about his betrayal to living through it.

The religious leaders saw an opening to apprehend Jesus through Judas. At minimum, he could give them easy access to Jesus in moments that would not be so public as to enrage Jesus' followers. Judas also gave them some protection from Jesus' followers through him being one of them. Even his own thought he needed to be stopped would have been the spin put on this event. And so they put together a group of people who armed themselves with clubs and swords and headed to Gethsemane under the direction of Judas. Once at Gethsemane, Judas takes the lead. He instructs them that the one he kisses will be Jesus. Talk about injury to insult. Judas approaches Jesus, greets him with the respectful term "Rabbi" otherwise known as "teacher" and then leans toward him and kisses him on the cheek. The ultimate sign of respect and inclusiveness is used as the ultimate sign of betrayal. It is bad enough to be betrayed, but by someone who would feel close enough to you to give you that type of greeting is chilling. And if that is not enough, Jesus responds to Judas by calling him "friend". Even in the midst of betrayal, Jesus keeps the door open for Judas' repentance and return.

Jesus is quickly seized and demonstrates great restraint as he calls off his own disciples from entering into battle against his captors. The name is not mentioned, but we know from John that it is Peter who draws his sword and strikes the High Priest's slave. Jesus, in a great act of compassion, reaches out and heals one of his captors. Words from his first sermon must have been ringing in the disicples ears, "you have heard it said love your neighbor, but hate your neighbor, but I tell you to love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you." This will be a lesson in word and deed that will serve the disciples well in the near future. Jesus truly loves his enemies. So much so that he is unwilling to leave them in their current state without a word of warning. "Why are you out here with clubs and swords?" Jesus says. "Why didn't you arrest me in the Temple? I was there teaching everyday." Implied in this foray is that they were also there listening but not understanding. Jesus knew full well why they were here under the cloak of night fully armed to arrest a teacher. THE LEADERS WANTED HIM GONE FOR THEIR OWN CONVENIENCE AND SECURITY OF THEIR POSITION. And they did not care what Jesus thought about them or what arguments he made. But the crowd. That was another matter. What was their reasoning to be party to this arrest? For sure, some were mercenaries who were being paid. But what about the others? What could have driven them to this point?

The Milgram experiment was a series of seminal social psychology experiments conducted by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram, which measured the willingness of study participants to obeyan authority figure who instructed them to perform acts that conflicted with their personal conscience.

Milgram set up a simple experiment at Yale University to test how much pain an ordinary citizen would inflict on another person simply because he was ordered to by an experimental scientist. Stark authority was pitted against the subjects' [participants'] strongest moral imperatives against hurting others, and, with the subjects' [participants'] ears ringing with the screams of the victims, authority won more often than not. The extreme willingness of adults to go to almost any lengths on the command of an authority constitutes the chief finding of the study and the fact most urgently demanding explanation.


• The agentic state theory, wherein, per Milgram, the essence of obedience consists in the fact that a person comes to view himself as the instrument for carrying out another person's wishes, and he therefore no longer sees himself as responsible for his actions. Once this critical shift of viewpoint has occurred in the person, all of the essential features of obedience follow.
○ This to me begins to make some sense of what the individuals in the crowd might have been feeling. The religious leadership, who they looked up to and were beholden to understand the law and therefore their way of life said that Jesus was a bad thing for the society and needed to be arrested. They were simply carrying out the will of the leadership. Just instruments of the higher-ups. No need to think much about it, they had made the decision, we are just carrying out the details. We neither made this decry or accept its consequences. Call them the faithful.

• The first is the theory of conformism, based on Solomon Asch's work, describing the fundamental relationship between the group of reference and the individual person. A subject who has neither ability nor expertise to make decisions, especially in a crisis, will leave decision making to the group and its hierarchy. The group is the person's behavioral model.
○ The multitude reinforced the behavior. It was alright because so many people were involved in it along with the leadership. It has to be appropriate behavior, or someone would stand up and say something. That is why I believe Jesus' scolding had more effect upon the crowd than the leadership. He was standing up and saying what no one else was brave enough to say. "Why not arrest me while I was in the temple?" Why do it under the cover of darkness fully armed like I am a criminal? It is the age old question, "if everyone else was jumping off the bridge, would you?" Yes, as a matter of fact.

We have been asking the question throughout lent, "Were you there?" What can we learn from the crowd that might lead us further along our spiritual continuum? For me, it is important to remember that who we follow is important. Passion is not enough. Wanting to do right is not enough. Following with all your heart is not enough. I have used this example before, but it is worth repeating. It matters who you are following. We are what we eat in terms of our spiritual lives as well as our physical lives. We tend to follow those who have the strongest voice, those who we hear most often, those who we seem to identify with the most.

Who are we listening to? Elsworth Kalas says that preachers need to have one foot in the bible and the other in the New York Times, and you better know which is the most important. We are called to be in our culture, not of it. Rick Warren, from Saddleback, explains it like this. He loves Sea Bass. But even though it lives in saltwater all its life, he still has to put salt on the fish to make it palatable. Living in the world, not getting tainted by it. Easy to say, tough to do. But this is our task. Do we feed ourselves a balanced diet of sacred and secular? Are we out of kilter toward the secular? Does our devotion life manifest itself in a positive outlook for our life and hope for the future?



We see the effects that a negative influence can have upon a situation and lives. But I see a picture bigger picture for us today. A very positive picture of possibilities for this community, nation and the world. Let me build the case for a moment. The NYTimes and Dallas Morning News reported this week that a 2007 Pew forum survey identified the following trends.

1. More than a quarter of all Americans have left the faith of their childhood for either another religion, or no religion at all. If you count shifts between one Protestant Church and another over 44% of all Americans have changed faiths just in the last ten years or so. What this reflects is the erosion of brand name/denomination loyalties. 

2. Only 16% of all Americans say they have no religious affiliation at all (up from 5-8% in the 80s), and while this number is up over previous surveys, it shows just how very religious a country America is compared to European countries. The claims that America has a precipitous rise in the number of atheists is false. In fact, most of those who claimed they were unaffiliated, simply meant they were not aligned with 'any religion in particular', but most did not reject religion either.

3. The decline of Protestantism is especially notable. In the 1970 Protestants accounted for two thirds of all Americans, now it is close to 50%.

4. Evangelical Protestants now account for the majority of Protestants, but only slightly. What this reflects is the defection of mainline Protestants to more Evangelical Protestant denominations and individual churches.

5. It has been well documented that the United Methodist Church has lost approximately 40% of its membership from
1968 through today and that trend continues to get worse as each year passes.

Did I say this was a positive picture of possibilities? The interest in spirituality is at an all-time high. Atheism is not a major trend in the US. People are interested in what we have to say. We must start saying it! And that begins with you and me. Malcolm Gladwell demonstrates in his book The Tipping Point that it does not take a huge body of people to begin something. It takes some key influencers who are committed to spreading the message. We are all key influencers in our familes, work places, neighborhoods, and this community. Some in this room reach far into this geographic region, this country and even the world with your influence. But we have to start carrying our message and enthusiasm out into our Monday through Saturday places. We are a people with a message of hope and positivity in a world of negativity. We are people that can focus on solutions instead of joining the world's trend of pointing out the problems ad nauseum. I am not talking about beating people over the head or forcing them in some way. I am talking about being an infectious people who are quick to give a hand, slow to anger and impatience, and being good listeners. I contend that those three attributes are rare in our world and are lights in the midst of darkness.

The crowd in the passage was led to destruction. But they were led and willingly went together as a result of many influences. We, too, have the power of influence. Paul said that, "greater is he who is in the you than he who is in the world." God's influence is much greater than the worlds will ever be, IF IT IS CARRIED FORWARD. By you being here today, you are validating that God is important to those outside these walls. Your very presence is a witness to the world in a more powerful way than your or my words will ever be. Think about what you are saying to your neighbors when you leaving the house each Sunday morning and come to Sunday School and worship. We as a body of believers, by our very presence are encouraging those around us to perhaps live a better life centered on God, to think twice before making decisions that will leave lasting effects on their family and children and careers. Our very presence as a group sends the message to each other that we are not alone. There is strength in numbers. There is a group dynamic that God created and uses to draw more people to Himself.

But let us not stop with our attendance. In Acts 1:8, Jesus lays out how the message will spread. He says this, "you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the world." We are the messengers. God has entrusted us with a great honor and responsibility. Are we ready to accept it and continue to grow God's kingdom? A few months back we wrote down names of people who we are praying for to come to the saving knowledge of Christ. Today, I want you to again take a moment to write down the name or names of someone(s) who God brings to your attention who you could invite to come with you Sunday morning. It is important to pray, it is also important to participate with God in something like this. Multiple studies have indicated that most people are willing to attend a church if they are not currently involved in one, IF THEY ARE ASKED.

The leaders in the Temple asked, and they gathered a multitude who were willing to destroy the one who came to save them. Today, our world is asking, that is for sure. Just pick up a magazine, turn on the TV, or listen to the radio. The world is asking for our souls to be super-sized with consumerism while we have sat back and hid under the shield of: there is two things you don't talk about, religion and politics. That is a lie from the pit of hell. People are interested. People want to know how your faith has impacted you. They just don't want you to tell them how it will impact them. Will we spread the message? Will we spread the gospel, and if necessary use our words along with our love? For the sake of the world, I hope so.