Where in the World is God? Where was God when the world wanted entertainment?

Dear Worshipers of our Suffering Savior,

            In the musical, Jesus Christ Superstar” I do believe the composer caught the essence of King Herod. I would like to read to you from the song King Herod sings in that musical:

Jesus, I am overjoyed to meet you face to face.
You've been getting quite a name all around the place.
Healing cripples, raising from the dead.
And now I understand you're God,
At least, that's what you've said.
So, you are the Christ, you're the great Jesus Christ.
Prove to me that you're divine; change my water into wine.
That's all you need do, then I'll know it's all true.
Come on, King of the Jews.
Jesus, you just won't believe the hit you've made around here.
You are all we talk about, the wonder of the year.
Oh what a pity if it's all a lie.
Still, I'm sure that you can rock the cynics if you tried.
So, you are the Christ, you're the great Jesus Christ.
Prove to me that you're no fool; walk across my swimming pool.
If you do that for me, then I'll let you go free

We might consider that song sacrilegious but that is exactly what King Herod was like. He wanted a show, he wanted to be entertained, he did not want Jesus as his King and his Savior. So is this world sacrilegious. It wants to be entertained, even at the expense of Jesus.   That leads us to the question for us this evening, “Where in the World is God, when the world only wants entertainment?”

Why do you want Jesus?

            When Jesus was arrested he was first brought into the religious court of Caiaphas. After being found guilty of blaspheme they sent him to Pilate. At the beginning of the trial Pilate had to confess he could find no guilt in Jesus. Then it came out that Jesus had been doing his ministry in Galilee. Pilate saw an opportunity to rid himself of this problem. Galilee was under the jurisdiction of a King Herod who happened to be at that time in Jerusalem. So Pilate sent him to King Herod. 

            Last Sunday I mentioned that this is the King Herod that was involved in the killing of John the Baptist. He had heard of the ministry of Jesus. In fact thought that he was John the Baptist coming back from the dead. So here was an opportunity of a lifetime to meet a person of fame. What would he do with the moment? What would he want to walk away with after meeting Jesus? He hoped to see him perform some miracle.   King Herod wanted to be entertained.   He wanted a magic show or miracle show I suppose. In the time that would follow the Bible continues, Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. Here we meet the real King Herod, ridiculing, mocking and getting rid of Jesus. Jesus didn’t give him what he wanted, and Herod was done with him. 

            What does this world really want? What does it expect from religion? What does it want God to provide? How much of our world wants to experience something new and then go on.   Have an experience that lifts them up for the moment…and then they need something else for another high. People are searching, but they don’t know for what. They try alcohol, but it lasts only for a moment. Others it is the sound of the slot machine cashing out. Others it is the physical relationship for the moment and then move on to someone else. Even in sports, the joy of victory, but then there is the agony of defeat and you try to capture the past or maybe try to find hope in the next year. This is the problem when we want to our senses to be entertained for the moment. 

            Today I have found people want the Lord to be the great vending machine in the sky. Insert a prayer, a request and out comes the miracle, the response you expect. I had someone quit a church once because they said, my prayers are no good, and he didn’t get what he wanted. I wonder how many want a time in the presence of the Lord to see him work a miracle in the hospital even though they have lived a life of abusing their bodies.   Or how many who have no respect for marriage and God’s expectations of being a Christian husband or wife only to find that their marriage is falling apart. Then they go into the pastor’s office wanting a quick prayer and a miracle to fix their failed marriage. How about a student who didn’t study for a test and says a prayer expecting a miracle from Jesus plus an A on their report card?    

II. What is Jesus’ answer?

            . Herod plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. That in itself was Jesus answer. In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, (Mat 7:6 NIV) "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces. Perhaps in the language of our day, Jesus wasn’t going to dignify your request with an answer. It was an insult for the way this king dealt with the King of kings. 

His response or lack one was a prophecy that would be fulfilled in front of Herod and Pontius Pilate: (Isa 53:7 NIV) He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. (Isa 53:9 NIV) He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. I like how the Apostle Peter summed it all up in his Epistle: (1 Pet 2:23-24 NIV) When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. {24} He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. This is the story of the work of Christ as it applies to our lives. 

            The Apostle John had special time with Jesus. He would write about all the entertainment that the world can offer this way: (1 John 2:15-17 NIV) Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. {16} For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. {17} The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. Whatever our flesh may want, like Herod, to be entertained for a moment is not what Jesus offers. Where was God when the world wanted entertainment? Right there in front of King Herod, but he did not recognize that what Jesus offered was not a miracle for the moment, but an eternity. Amen.