Escape for the Scapegoat

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright.

Everyone who's ever going to know Christ begins with knowing that glorious news. He loves you. He died for you.

He took away your sin by paying the debt for your sin. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see yourself in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series, Free Yourself, Be Yourself. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It could be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries. As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at PastorAlan.org, or call 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. More on that later in the program. But now, let's get started with today's teaching.

Here is Alan Wright. What happens in shame-based homes is that the children often grow up never being instilled with a clear sense of healthy boundaries. They have a sense that I exist to perform or to please others. If you think that you exist in order to please others, then your mind, even as a child, is asking, what do I need to do to make you happy? What do I need to do so that everybody will be pleased with me? And that child has a hard time even understanding what he or she really wants himself.

It's not validated. If you take the most extreme form of shame, abuse, molestation, which unthinkable numbers of people have suffered, there's tremendous tragedy. But what it says in cases of abuse and molestation, it says essentially to the child, you exist for my pleasure.

You exist to be used by me. And the child, therefore, has no healthy boundaries. If I exist for other people to use me, then how will that child ever be able to know how to say yes, how to say no, how to grow up as a teenage girl and say to the boy, no, no.

Or to grow up as a man and be in the workplace and be able to have healthy boundaries about when he says that's enough and I need to take some Sabbath now. All of these questions, they all just get totally and completely blurred in a shame-based unhealthy home. In a healthy home, you see, what happens is that it's very clear that the child is honored, that yes, there's discipline, but it's loving discipline, and the child is not used.

The child may have tasks and chores, of course, in a healthy home, but it's understood that you are a very valuable human being in and of yourself. We respect who you are as a person. We respect your issues of privacy. We respect the fact that you don't exist just to please us.

We celebrate you. What you want matters. We'd like to hear what you're thinking. All of this, it's just natural. In a healthy home, you're not thinking about it. It just happens naturally. The child is learning, hey, what I want matters, and I've got many wonderful things to give, but what I have and who I am is very important, and people shouldn't just take that from me.

That's healthy. Another way of thinking about boundaries, you could think of it as a tale of five fences. Imagine that you're just riding down the road, and you see a farm and cows out in a field, and you see a field, and there's no fence. Well, that would be an example of lost or non-existent boundaries. No fence whatsoever. Anybody could come and go. Cows could come and go.

Nothing is safe. Imagine you drive down the road just a little bit further, and then you come to a broken fence, and there's some places where the fence is healthy, but other places where it's just broken. That would be an example of what you might call unclear boundaries. There are some boundaries, but it's unclear. It's spotty.

It's broken. It's not clear. Back to our analogy of large item pickup, it's like people are always trying to read you. Did you want to serve in that way? Did you want to give in that way?

Was your time not really available, and you resent doing this? It's unclear. Maybe you drive a little further down, and you see a partial fence. You see that sometimes there's a fence. Sometimes there's not a fence. Sometimes there's a fence. Sometimes there's not a fence. This is what you might call a boundary that's become blurred, and people around you, again, they're unclear about what are you saying. Maybe you drive a little bit further, and what you see now is that there's not only a fence. It's a big rigid brick wall, tall, all the way across, and you can't see in, and there's no gate, and you can't see out, and you might call this, this has become rigid boundaries, where some people, the way they respond to not having healthy boundaries is they just put a wall up around their heart.

I'm not going to let anybody in, and I'm not going to let anybody know me. This is going to be a wall. See that's actually a response to not having healthy boundaries, but if you drove a little further down, and what you saw was a good fence, and it had a good gate. In other words, the farmer, he can let anyone in. He can let anyone out.

You can see into the field. It's not like we just have a wall here where you can't see anything. It's just that there's a fence. It's very clear what the boundary is, but there's also a gate, and I can choose to let people in, let people out, according to what I feel is appropriate.

That's what healthy boundaries are. It's interesting in the scriptures that many people, and I actually had time in my life, I didn't realize that on one of the most important ceremonial days in the life of Israel, the Day of Atonement, that there were actually two goats on that day. We know, I think all of us that are Christians, know something about how Jesus became the fulfillment of the Old Testament picture of the sacrificial lamb, the sin offering, the lamb who takes away the sin of the world. So there was a goat on the Day of Atonement that was offered for the people's sin, and that goat's blood was shed. The innocent blood of an innocent animal, an unblemished animal, shed symbolically paying the debt for the sins of the people for their guilt.

But did you know there were two goats on the Day of Atonement? Leviticus chapter 16. I'll pick up reading some of the instructions for the Day of Atonement. Leviticus chapter 16 verse 15. Speaking of what the priest is to do, he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. Thus he shall make atonement for the holy place because of the uncleanliness of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleanliness. No one may come or be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the holy place until he comes out and he's made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel.

Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it. This is the description of the blood offering, the goat that is offered up for the sins of the people. But there's another goat also on that day.

And this we read about at verse 20. And when he is made an end of atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. This is a live goat. And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel and all their transgressions and all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness and the goat shall bear all the iniquities on itself to a remote area and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness. There were two goats on the day of atonement. There was the sin offering where they put the weight of the sin of the people onto this goat and they slay the goat and the blood that was shed was a symbol of paying for the debt of the sin. But there was another goat and this was the goat that's called the scapegoat. And what they would do is they'd lay their hands on the scapegoat and they wouldn't kill the goat but they'd send the goat out to dwell by itself in a solitary place out in the wilderness. You just go out and bear our shame. There was a goat that was paying for sin and there was a goat that was bearing the shame. And the whole point of it was that goat goes out into a solitary place out in the wilderness alone. You don't have any fellowship with anybody else.

You're just an outcast from our midst. So it was getting in touch with both the inward sense that there must be a payment for our sin but something also must bear our shame. It's escape that we're going to heap onto you the shame of Israel. That's Alan Wright and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. We all need a positive faith-filled vision spoken over our lives.

Without it, we can let go of the past and move forward confidently under the favor of God. If you'd like to replace every curse with blessing in your life and if you'd like to learn how to speak life and empower the people you love, contact us today to get Pastor Alan Wright's new book, The Power to Bless. We have a very special offer this month. When you make your gift of $40 or more to Alan Wright Ministries, we'll send you two copies of the beautiful hardcover book, one for you and one for you to share as a gift. As an added expression of our gratitude for your generous gift, we'll also include a DVD with two important video teachings with additional content on blessing from Pastor Alan. Your gifts and only your gifts make this ministry possible. So please partner with us to help us reach thousands of people every day with the gospel of the grace of Jesus Christ. And when you do, you'll become empowered to change the world God's way by the power of blessing.

As the year draws to a close, your gifts matter more than ever. In this final month of the year, your partnership is pivotal for this ministry. Call us at 877-544-4860 or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Unlock the power of blessing your life. Discover God's grace-filled vision for your life by signing up for Alan Wright's free daily blessing. If you want to fill your heart with grace and encouragement, get Alan Wright's daily blessing. It's free and just a click away at PastorAlan.org.

Today's teaching now continues. Here once again is Alan Wright. He was getting in touch with both the inward sense that there must be a payment for our sin, but something also must bear our shame.

It's escape that we're going to heap onto you the shame of Israel. Well, we are all prone when we have shame to want to do something with the pain of that shame and we want to see it transferred somehow to someone else and so there is always a temptation to make someone into a scapegoat. You know the perfect picture of the scapegoat is Charlie Brown. Good old Charlie Brown. You know the thing about Charlie Brown is why was it Charlie Brown? What was it about Charlie Brown? Was he really a blockhead? Was he really dumber than the rest of them? Was he really just plainer?

Was he really just the problem? Why Charlie Brown? You're not told why it's Charlie Brown. It's just Charlie Brown because it's Charlie Brown. In fact of the matter the genius of Charles Schulz and the whole character of Charlie Brown is that there are times you realize Charlie Brown is the smartest of them all. When he goes out and gets that little Charlie Brown Christmas tree and brings it back, he's actually the only one that's capturing the real meaning of Christmas in his heart and in the end there is a little celebration of Charlie Brown, but they're always saying Charlie Brown you blockhead. Charlie Brown you ruined our play. Charlie Brown you've done some dumb things but this is the dumbest thing you've ever done.

What's going on there? That's a picture of scapegoating. We feel bad about our Christmas play so we're going to blame you Charlie Brown.

So we don't have to feel bad about it. If we could pick out somebody and say they are the problem, it's like figuratively just laying hands upon the scapegoat and confessing all of our shame and then sending it out into the wilderness all on its own. This is at the heart of racism. This is at the heart of any time where there's a whole culture or institution that picks out a whole group of people and says you're the problem and this becomes something that is quite characteristic in unhealthy homes. In a shame based home often they'll be one of the children that'll be picked out as the scapegoat. Maybe Johnny is the one who's just getting a little bit more trouble at school and instead of the family dealing with the deep inward issues of shame that are in that family they start focusing on Johnny. Johnny's the problem.

Johnny is always in trouble. Our family would be healthy if it weren't for Johnny and there's Johnny feeling like all the weight of the world has been pressed in upon him like the hands of everyone or laid upon him and all of the wickedness of the family confessed over him and he's got to dwell in an isolated place. So many Christians have experienced in some beautiful way a sense of what it means for Jesus to pay the debt of your sin. And if you've never experienced that, if you've never embraced it in its fullness let me remind you of the gospel. That the gospel of Jesus Christ announces that there was a debt of sin so great we could never pay it. That there was no one who was righteous who could live a righteous life as a human being and represent humanity and so God's sin is only begotten son so that Jesus who was God became flesh a full human being so that he could represent all human beings when he paid the debt of sin. And so everything that is good about the good news begins with understanding this. That when you accept Christ you accept the fact that Jesus paid the debt for your sin.

An incredible exchange took place. The Bible says Jesus who knew no sin became sin so that we would become his righteousness. Jesus is the lamb that takes away the sin of the world. And everyone who is ever going to know Christ begins with knowing that glorious news. He loves you, he died for you, he took away your sin by paying the debt for your sin. Christians understand that and yet it only begins there. Because the Christian life is not only discovering I'm saved and I'm going to live with God forever.

Christian life is discovering how free we are in Christ. And in order for that to happen we have to allow Jesus not only to be the lamb that was slain we have to also allow him to bear our shame. Isaiah prophesied it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer and to make his life a guilt offering. That was the lamb that takes away the sin of the world. But because we also needed someone to bear our shame Isaiah said he took up our infirmities and he carried our sorrows. He carried them to hell for us, he carried them to the desolate place. What happens is when you discover the gospel all the messages of your life that have been communicated to you that you don't matter you just exist to please others.

You don't measure up and you need to spend your whole life just trying to figure out what you need to do to please other people so that finally they will accept you. Something radical happens when you receive the gospel. When you receive the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. What you receive is an astounding assurance that in Jesus Christ you have been forever fully accepted. Which means that you are of infinite value and nothing can ever change that and a self worth that comes into you explodes on the inside of you that you realize I matter so much to God that he died for me.

It doesn't take away from the fact that I was born in sin. It doesn't excuse my wrong doing but what it means beloved is that you really matter, what you want really matters and that the Holy Spirit can lead you about who to say yes to, who to say no to. In other words the gospel is the answer to unhealthy boundaries. We'll never have our boundaries healed simply by studying the techniques.

We'll never have it fixed by just saying well I'm going to put up a big wall and nobody's going to get to me. No instead this is an invitation for your heart to be made supple and open to the leadings and the promptings of the Holy Spirit. In other words you have a lot to give and there are some things that you just need to put out there and let everybody know this is available. But there are also some things that are very precious. There are things that are precious that God's not calling you to give away, things he's not calling you to do.

Instead he's making it clear to you by his leading no this is not at the curbside. If you've been hurt, if you've been abused, if people in life haven't treated you like what you want matters then I pray that you will see Jesus as not only the lamb who was slain but also that you would see that Jesus is a scapegoat and he has carried your sorrows away. Let Jesus be everything to you. Let him be both the lamb and the scapegoat and may your heart be free. That's the gospel. Alan Wright in today's teaching Escape for the Scapegoat from our series Free Yourself, Be Yourself.

Pastor Alan is back with us joining us here in the studio in just a few moments for today's parting good news thought. Stick with us. Ever feel like something's holding you back as if you lack an important key that could change everything?

Is there someone you love who seems stuck? You'd like to help them but how? What's missing might be the timeless power of blessing. We all need a positive faith-filled vision spoken over our lives.

Without it we'll never rise to our God-given potential. With it we can let go of the past and move forward confidently under the favor of God. If you'd like to replace every curse with blessing in your life and if you'd like to learn how to speak life and empower the people you love, contact us today to get Pastor Alan Wright's new book, The Power to Bless. We have a very special offer this month. When you make your gift of $40 or more to Alan Wright Ministries, we'll send you two copies of the beautiful hardcover book, one for you and one for you to share as a gift. As an added expression of our gratitude for your generous gift, we'll also include a DVD with two important video teachings with additional content on blessing from Pastor Alan. Your gifts and only your gifts make this ministry possible. So please partner with us to help us reach thousands of people every day with the gospel of the grace of Jesus Christ. And when you do, you'll become empowered to change the world God's way by the power of blessing.

As the year draws to a close, your gifts matter more than ever. In this final month of the year, your partnership is pivotal for this ministry. Call us at 877-544-4860 or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Unlock the power of blessing your life. Discover God's grace-filled vision for your life by signing up for Alan Wright's free daily blessing. If you want to fill your heart with grace and encouragement, get Alan Wright's daily blessing.

It's free and just a click away at PastorAlan.org. Back now with Pastor Alan in the studio with our good news thought for the day. Pastor Alan, do Christ's words, it is finished, really seem to apply right here with this teaching?

It is finished. We don't add to it. We don't take away from it. And that's the greatest security we could ever have, Daniel. You know, maybe it's important, Daniel, to leave our parting word with those that have been hurt the most and maybe to a female listener right now.

And we know the statistics, sadly, of how many have been in some way abused, misused or molested. And I just feel like it's imperative to say, you do not exist for the pleasing of others. You do not exist to be used by others. You exist because God made you glorious.

He made you beautiful and He made you for wondrous purposes in this world. No one should be allowed to make a scapegoat of you. Let Christ take all your shame.

Let Christ be the scapegoat and you, child of God, live free in Jesus' name. Thanks for listening today. Visit us online at PastorAlan.org or call 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. If you only caught part of today's teaching, not only can you listen again online, but also get a daily email devotional that matches today's teaching delivered right to your email inbox free. Find out more about these and other resources at PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Alan Wright Ministries.