Pastor Jon Burgess
July 17, 2016 - W1629

Tonight we are continuing with our “When” series and we are going to talk about what to do when our trust is betrayed. We will look at the lives of David and Jesus Christ as examples of how to traverse the tricky waters when our trust is betrayed. The Bible says, “But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went; his head was covered and he was barefoot. All the people with him covered their heads too, and were weeping as they went up.” (2 Sam. 15:30)   In scripture the Mount of Olives was a very important place. David went there to seek refuge in God and from his son Absalom who abused and misused David’s trust in him, and who stole the kingdom from him. Jesus traversed over to the Mount of Olives on His way back and forth from the temple to Bethany. Jesus also taught there and cried over Jerusalem there.

At one time or another, we have been in a similar situation as David. Someone who we had put our trust in, hurt and wounded us – seemingly beyond repair. After the Last Supper, the Bible says, “Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives. On the way, Jesus told them, ‘Tonight all of you will desert Me…’” (Matt. 26:30-31)

Each one of us will have our own Mount of Olives moment just like Jesus and His disciples, King David, and King Solomon had. We have to decide who to serve, and where to serve.

Many of us have been betrayed by public officials and by people we have put our trust in.

Your Mount of Olives moment means that you will experience some crushing. In ancient days, a large mason stone was used to crush olives until all the precious oil was squeezed out. This oil was then used in anointing and as part of sacrificial offerings. The sooner the olives were crushed after picking them, the better tasting and more valuable the oil was. If you are in a Mount of Olives moment, lean into it and do not avoid it, so you can learn what God wants you to learn from this situation, and so that you may see the precious things derived from working with this situation. The more we distance ourselves from the crushing – from the process that God wants to bring us through, the more bitter we will become. So surrender your pain to God. Bring your situation of betrayal to God, and learn to trust again.

On your Mount of Olives moment you need to decide if you will be

1. Stubborn, cynical, or surrendered.

After years of running from Saul, and receiving the throne, David’s son steals the throne away from David; however, David chose to surrender to God, instead of being stubborn or cynical. Jesus was not stubborn when He decided to go to the cross. Jesus could have been stubborn, but instead He chose to bear the cross.

Cynicism is a frame of mind where we feel that we cannot trust people because they are motivated by self- interest. All of us have been burned, and we all have the potential to become cynical. David did not become cynical when his own leaders and his son turned on him. On the way up to the Mount of Olives Jesus told His disciples that they were all going to leave Him; however, He did not become cynical. David had every reason to be stubborn and cynical. In the Bible, David said, “Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, You will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth You will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once more.” (Ps. 71:20-21)

Jesus’s response to those that were about to betray Him and who betrayed Him was written in the Bible, “He went on a little farther and bowed with His face to the ground praying, ‘My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from Me. Yet I want Your will to be done, not Mine.’” (Matt. 26:39)

Jesus died to His own will, before he died on the cross. Before you can step into the fullness that God has for, you, you have to step into the place of absolute surrender. We have to surrender our anger to God and die to our will. “In your anger, do not sin.” (Eph. 4:26) It is not sinful to be angry, because anger is an emotion. It is what we do with that anger that determines whether we stay stuck in cynicism and our own stubbornness or propelled into a future that God has for us. King David and Jesus surrendered their anger to God – we must do the same, so we can move forward. God may be trying to move you to a fresh place after an injustice has been done to you; however, you might not move forward with God if you fixate yourself on all the betrayals from people you had trusted.

I came across this great photo showing Gary Tittle, the assistant chief of police from Dallas holding a pink rose as he comforts a black man. Gary was hugging everyone at this makeshift memorial because his heart was broken from the violence in the city. A time magazine reporter took this picture, but was taken aback from the Instagram comments that said the picture was a sham. Many people were cynical and did not see the picture as one of healing and reconciliation. Jesus Christ has reconciled himself to those who have found Him; therefore, we should be bearers of hope.

2. Slumbering, selling out or strengthened.

When Pastor Justin was traveling on a bus with our Youth Performing Arts group in Florida, he took this picture of our youth laying hands on the ankle of fellow performer Brandon, who had sprained his ankle. As they were praying, they watched as the swelling receded, and the pain disappeared.   By the time they arrived at Disney World, our youth were able to glorify God with their performance. This is another depiction of a choice that you and I have to make on our Mount of Olives moment. Will we sell out because we cannot control God, or will we allow God to strengthen us through His spirit and with those around us? Many times, God will strengthen us using a brother or sister in the Lord.

Edmund Burke said that the only things necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing, I fear that the church may be passively waiting for God to return. Will we be like the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane and sleep through His coming? Are we going to live in indifference, or will we make a difference when God calls us?

Judas wanted to overthrow Roman rule, and wanted to establish a kingdom different from Jesus’s plans. Over time, Judas got more and more angry at Jesus, and started to pick on things that he believed Jesus did wrong, until he built a case against Jesus and gave Him the kiss of death in betrayal. There is a little Judas waiting to grow in each of us, because we want to tell God what to do and what we want. Instead, surrender to God and let Him decide what we will do with our lives. Allow yourself to be strengthened as David did. The Bible says, “My mouth will tell of Your righteous deeds, of Your saving acts all day long - though I know not how to relate them all. I will come and proclaim Your mighty acts, Sovereign Lord; I will proclaim Your righteous deeds, Yours alone.” (Ps. 71:15-16)

Tonight, let God wake you up. Let God have control and you will received super-natural strength. Jesus’s disciples were sleeping when He needed them, but God helped Him. The Bible says, “An angel from heaven appeared and strengthened Jesus.” (Luke 22:43) I want to be one of those angels who will strengthen someone when they cannot go on. I do not want to pass them by because I am too busy. I do not want to refuse following God because I do not have the time to do what He wants me to do. I believe that each one of us are called to be an angel to strengthen another person. You will receive more strength when you strengthen someone in the process.

In our Mount of Olives moment, we have to decide what strategy to receive.

3. Strategies of Hell or Heaven

We live according to a certain set of strategies that are birthed out of Heaven or birthed out of Hell. Rocky Davis took a picture of a rainbow siting over our church. According to scripture, rainbows represent God’s covenant with his people that the Earth would never be flooded by water again. The rainbow is God’s Heavenly strategy. A dark cloud represents the Enemy’s strategy. That always seems more logical. The rainbow represents God’s covenant with us.

David said, “For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth. From birth I have relied on You; You brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise You. I have become a sign to many; You are my strong refuge.” (Ps 71:5-7)   David was singing in the midst of his betrayal by his son Absalom.   Although David’s trust had been betrayed, he refused to stop trusting God.

Let’s look at Jesus’s strategy of Heaven when the soldiers came to lead Him away, and Peter had cut off a soldier’s ear. The Bible says, “But Jesus answered, ‘No more of this.’ And he touched the man’s ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders who had come for Him, ‘Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on Me. But this is your hour when darkness reigns.’” (Luke 22:51-53)

Jesus gave darkness an hour so he could give us eternity. Jesus went peacefully with His captors so you and I could know peace from our captors. The Bible says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Rom 12:21)

Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very things it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence, you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but do not murder the hate. In fact violence merely increases hate. So it goes … Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

Everyone who knows the light, has the light. Who is suppose to drive out darkness? Those who bear the light of Jesus Christ. Who has the love?   Those who have met the love of God.

CNN video recorded two protest groups. One group called themselves the Black Lives Matter. The other group said that all lives matter. When the two sides decided to get together, reach out to each other, and prayed for the common good of all, they were each offering a “second chance hand”.

4. Second chance hands

Will we give each other that second chance hand? Some glorious day, we will arrive in Heaven and see Jesus and His nailed scarred hands. How much more can you and I be the hands that our nation, our island, and our family so desperately need? God does not hold things against us, but gives us a second chance moment by meeting us, after we have done something contrary to what is right.

When Absalom died in the middle of battle, David said, “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you O Absalom, my son, my son.” (2 Sam 18:33) In that Mount of Olives moment, David was able to move forward with love. Jesus laid down His life for us and died instead of us. Even as Jesus was dying in pain, “Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’” (Luke 23:34)

Forgiveness is not what you feel like doing when your trust is betrayed; however, Jesus forgave us despite being betrayed, and despite being cursed. Forgiveness is the reason why we can be in this room and be free, and it is because we have been given a second chance. Tonight God wants you to offer your hand to a relationship that you have written off.   Tonight God wants you to bring people back to Him where your trust has been betrayed. Tonight, the God of Heaven is reaching out and saying, “Come home, because I died so you can live.”

Study Suggestions

1. After being betrayed, what should you do?

2. What kind of strategy should you have? Why?

3. What should you offer to your betrayer?

4. After being betrayed, who should you praise?