2011 05 08 First Things First

2011 05 08 First Things First

Acts 2:14a, 36-41, Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19, 1 Peter 1:17-23

I remember weeks ago, looking forward to this Sunday because I knew that one of the scriptures listed in the lectionary was Luke 24:13-35…The Walk to Emmaus.  It has only been a few weeks since I went on an Emmaus Walk.  That weekend was such a time of spiritual renewal and revival in my life personally.  When I saw I would have the chance to preach on Luke 24, I was psyched.  I was excited.  I would have a chance to tell you how God had blessed me that weekend. 

But take a look at the scriptures I have read from this morning.  Did I read from Luke 24:13-35?  Nope.  Sometimes, one of the dangers of being a preacher is getting ahead of myself.  OH! OH! OH!  I know exactly what God wants me to preach that day.  Yes!  The problem is that God has called me to preach on something else.  I needed to reel in my zeal to tell you about that first walk to Emmaus.  I really needed to look at the other scriptures and put the first things…first.

The passage in 1 Peter this morning is...for the lack of a better term…gorgeous.  Peter is writing to the church at large.  He is writing a letter that is to be circulated to the Christians of the world, giving them guidance on how to live a life of faith.  It is a tough thing, being a Christian.  The Romans see Christianity as a form of Judaism.  So they treat...and mistreat…Christians as they do the Jews.  However, the Jews see the message of Jesus as foolishness at best, and blasphemy at worst.  So the Jews don’t want any part of them either.  Persecution is a part of the life of a Christian in those times.

Many Christians might balk in the face of such trouble.  The temptations to leave the faith would be great. But Peter’s words are beautiful and flow like honey as an encouragement to Christians scattered throughout the lands.  In verses 13-16, he encourages believers to hold fast to their faith, seeking holiness in all their words and deeds.  Peter reminds them to "Be holy, because (the Lord is) holy."   

17 Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.  At first, I thought maybe Peter was talking to people who were displaced from their homes, living in strange lands. However, as I read this passage, I think that Peter was trying to remind us of something very important.  The earth is not our home. 

If a person had fallen onto hard times, they could voluntarily sell themselves into servitude.  It would insure that they needs would be met or that their families might be cared for.  And if a relative had the financial means, they could buy him out of servitude.  They could redeem him.  But listen to Peter and what he says about Christ.

18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

Christ, the immortal son of God, became the perfect sacrifice, and paid the price for all of humanity…US…to be redeemed, bought, purchased, delivered, saved, from our sin.  That is huge.  It is of absolute and enorrmous value to understand just what God has done for us through Jesus.  Not only because it sets us free form a past of bondage, but sets us free to a life of love.

22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

Love one another deeply.  Love others beyond your capacity.  Love others beyond your own abilities.  Love God and others with a love that brings new life…that brings new birth.  Live in holiness and reverent fear, love with the love that God has shown to us.  If we do this, we will show ourselves worthy of eternity. We go beyond being simple residents of earth and become citizens of heaven.  When we are born again, reborn in faith and obedient in hope, the earth is no longer our home, but a place in which God’s love is on display to those around us.

This week, get out your Bibles and do some reading.  Peter has something to say for the Church, and it is just as important now as it was then.  But it not the entire story.  There is more on my heart today, and let me explain a little why that is. Throughout the course of my week, I tend to read the internet blogs and postings of other pastors, church leaders, and theologians.

I read a good one this past week.  Dr. Timothy Tennent is the president of Asbury Theological Seminary, where Jennifer and I attended.  He was not the president when we were there, and I admit that when I first “saw” him.  I was not all that impressed.  Let me tell you…after reading some of his internet posts, I have changed my tune. 

Dr. Tennent had written in response to an article that blamed problems in large denominations, on independent non-denominational churches.  Dr. Tennent disagreed with this view.  He argued that denominations such as the United Methodist Church have lost ground because they have gotten away from the basics.  Dr. Tennant reminds us that, “The church is one, holy, catholic and apostolic.”  The Church is to be (one) united, (holy) separate from the world, yet (catholic) reaching the world through the gospel of Jesus Christ as known from the (apostolic) spirit-filled and Biblical witness we have received.

In an effort to be relevant and cool, the Church has emphasized form over substance.  The recent motto or catch phrase of the United Methodist Church is?  (Do you know?)  “Open hearts, open minds, open doors.”  In an effort to supposedly reach people for Jesus Christ…we forgot to mention…Jesus Christ.

The Methodist Church wants to be relevant and cool.  It wants its congregations and pastors to reach out to this new generation of young people.  I don’t argue with that.  I can’t.  The Church needs to minister to every generation…..all people….plain and simple.  But have we traded the message of Jesus for popularity?  Jesus did not come to be popular.  He came to change how the world would know God.  He came to change the world…period.  But popularity was never part of his message. Yes, he preached a message of grace and forgiveness.  He proclaimed the love and peace of God.  But there was something else.  Something that had to come first, and John the Baptist preached it even before Jesus did. A tough message of repentance.

Everyone wants to be godly.  Because of the fall, I believe that we are all born with two birth defects.  1.)  Sin.  2.) A hole in our hearts that only God can fill.  I thin that were all born knowing that something is wrong.   Maybe we can overcome both of these on our own.  Maybe if I do enough good works or maybe if I avoid doing all the bad stuff, I’ll be OK..  But whatever we do or say on our own, there is no OK. 

And so…with broken hearts we walk this earth.  In Acts 2, Peter points out that the people have done a terrible wrong. 36 "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." 37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" 38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-- for all whom the Lord our God will call."

In having their sins revealed to them, the people are crushed.  Their hearts are broken.  What is the answer?  What is it that will bring them from the bonds of sin, and the brink of death?  What message can possibly save these sinful people? “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

I cannot speak for Dr. Tennent, but I think that this might be a good part of what he was writing.  We don’t ask much of people anymore.  We don’t tell them to repent of their sins.  After all, these are good people.  That would be insulting.  I believe that today’s Church wants the people to be good, but God calls us to be holy.  The Church wants the people to be loving, but God calls us experience new life through the forgiveness of sins. 

Did Peter’s message to the crowd in Acts 2 work?  Did they repent?  Were the baptized?  Did people actually allow this harsh message to change their lives?  YES. 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

The Church, its people, its leaders, its life, and its message need to be all about Jesus.  Christ proclaimed.  Christ crucified.  Chris risen and coming again.  And this message causes pain.  It inflicts damage on the wayward heart, but that message always points back to the healer, Jesus. That pain produces repentance.  That repentance yields forgiveness, and that forgiveness leads to new life…a life of holiness today, tomorrow, and forever. 

Is this what you want?  Is that the life you want.. for yourself?  For your children?  39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-- for all whom the Lord our God will call."  If a life of holiness is what God is you to, then answer his call.  If the Holy Spirit is calling you to repent and be baptized, then listen.  God is not calling you to pain and embarrassment.  He is calling you to new life, but you have to get the old life out of the way and put first things first.  Are any of you ready to do that?  Let us pray.

2011 05 01 Not By Sight

2011 05 01 Not By Sight

Psalm 16, 1 Peter 1:3-9, John 20:19-31

This weekend has been a fairly exacting one.  And if you are not sure why I am saying this, it means that you have either been abducted by aliens or trapped in a bank vault for the last week.  The hype has been going on for weeks, but the world’s excitement over the British Monarchy reached a fever pitch this past Friday when Prince William married Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey.

It is believed that as many as 2 billion people either watched the royal wedding on TV early Friday morning, or watched one of the repeated airings that seemed to be on virtually every channel throughout the weekend.  I know of many people who set their alarms and even woke their children up in the wee hours of the morning, just so they could say that they watched it live.

Let’s just say that everyone in our family was sleeping soundly that morning as the wedding took place.  The royal wedding may very well have been the most watched event in our history, and ti seems as if everyone has an opinion or comment about it.  Kate’s dress, William’s Irish Guard uniform, the flowers, carriage ride, and even the couple’s first married kiss have all been planned, organized, scrutinized and commented upon again and  again.

A good number of my Methodist pastor friends were excited over the fact that William and Kate chose they hymn, “Love Divine, All Love Excelling” for their service.  They were being married at Westminster Abbey by the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.  This is somewhat ironic, seeing as how  that hymn was written by the renegade Anglican clergyman, and Methodism co-founder, Charles Wesley.  When John and Charles Wesley were alive, they probably wouldn’t even be allowed into Westminster Abbey, let alone have their hymns sung there.

Although it seemed as if the eyes of the world were focused on this historic event, I didn’t watch it.  Any of it.  Now, I have nothing against the British monarchy, William and Kate, or how they were married.  As a pastor, after all, I am a big fan of marriage and weddings should be a great and wonderful ceremony of the joining of husband, wife, and God.  I just didn’t get into it.

You see, my heart is still back at Easter.  The resurrection.  Every Easter we celebrate Jesus’ return from the dead, the miraculous working of God’s power that took Jesus from life to death, and back again.  One of the things about Easter and the scriptures that are read every year on that day…is that they’re incomplete.  That is…the story isn’t over.

When we left church last Sunday, Jesus had only appeared to the women who had gone to his grave.  The disciples did not believe the women.  In two of the gospel accounts, we know that Peter and probably John did go to the grave and find it empty. But that first resurrection morning left as many question for the disciples as it did answers.  Where is he?  Where did Jesus go? How, when…why?  The answers would come to them that same evening as the disciples had  gathered together.

John 20:19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

“He showed them his hands and side.”  Jesus had spent years with these men.  All this time, Jesus ate, drank, laughed, and cried with these ten men. For three years, he poured his teachings, his knowledge…his life into them.  You might think that they would immediately recognize their teacher and friend.  But still, “he showed them his hands and side.”

Jesus wanted their time of question, grief, doubt, and death to be over.  When Jesus died on the cross, they too had died.  Their entire future was wrapped up in the life and teachings Jesus had shared with them.  With Jesus’ last breath at Golgotha, their futures died as well.  They would be outcasts, scorned and persecuted, and without Jesus this was not a life that they could endure.

But when Jesus appeared to the disciples, that burden was gone.  The wounds and scars be showed to them proved that Jesus had overcome death.  Nothing would be impossible for them now. In this passage from John, we read that Jesus commissioned them to go into the world as witnesses of what they know about Jesus, and they were given the Holy Spirit to empower them to these ends.Before he left, Jesus told them that unless they forgive the sins of others.  If they do not, they will not be forgiven their sins.

Thomas.  Remember how I mentioned ten disciples a few moments ago?  There was a reason for that.  Somehow Thomas wasn’t there.  He missed out.  Later, when he came across the disciples and they told him what they saw, he didn’t believe.  He needed to see it himself.  The second half of verse 25, “But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.’"  A week later, that would change.

26b Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." 28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

Thomas got a second chance at faith.  His hardened heart was broken when he saw Jesus standing there.  For a moment, put yourself in Thomas’ shoes.  Imagine his shame.  He doubted the message the women gave.  He doubted his closest friends…his fellow disciples and what they saw. He doubted when Jesus first told him that he was rise from the dead.  Imagine his shame when Jesus told him to touch his hands and side.  It is hard to face the facts that you’re wrong.  I’m sure that we have all been down that path before.  But Jesus forgave Thomas.  Just a week earlier Jesus told the disciples to forgive others, as they have been forgiven.  I sure that this would include Thomas as well.

"Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

The accounts of historians vary.  Thomas is believed to have taken the good news of Jesus Christ throughout the Roman Empire and even across India.  Not bad for a guy who didn’t believe.  Paul, the persecutor of Christians, took this same message to the people of Greece and Rome.  And Peter, who denied knowing Christ three times, preached throughout Israel and the rest of the known world.

If you stop and think about it, it really is kind of strange the way God has gone about things.  When Jesus was born, the announcement of his birth was shared with shepherds and pagan wisemen. When he rose from the dead, he first appeared to faithful women and doubting men.  That might be a good subject for another sermon.

Again, it is strange how God has gone about this.  Jesus reappeared to only a handful of people.  William and Kate get married and 2 billion people see it.  For all of its grandeur and beauty, William and Kate’s wedding is relatively meaningless.  Although he will sit on the British throne as king, he has little power.  Don’t get me wrong.  I know that they are kind and charitable people.  Instead of receiving wedding gifts, they are requesting that people donate money to charity.  They appear to be some very wonderful people…but to what end?

Time will come, and time will go.  Someday, there will be another royal wedding.  There will be another king and queen, and perhaps their wedding will be broadcast to 3, 4, or 5 billion people.  I don’t know.  And the benevolence of that king may even outshine William’s.  But Jesus did not come to the earth to bring only benevolence and kindness.  Jesus came to bring salvation to the people of the world.

In 1 Peter 1, Peter praises God for the mercy he has shown humanity.  In Christ, God has given us a new hope...an inheritance n eternity…a coming salvation.  He tells us that there will good times and bad, happy and sad.  But he also reminds us that these trials and temptations will refine and strengthen our faith, showing it as genuine and real to all who see..  

8Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

It was not broadcast far and near on televisions.  It was not shared around the world through an internet blog or webcast.  The resurrection of Jesus Christ was witnessed only by a small group of women and men, and through their genuine faith, has salvation come to the world.  None of us here have seen Jesus with our eyes, but we know him in our hearts.  We believe in him and love him.  This faith and love that we have is the witness that we bear to the world.

How is it with your soul today?  Are you Thomas before he saw Jesus, or after he saw Jesus?  Are you willing to live by faith and not by sight?   Or are you waiting for Jesus to materialize like something out of an old episode of Star Trek?  Are you willing to put your doubts behind you and live in the power of the resurrected Jesus?  Trust in him.  Put our faith in him and keep him there.  If you are already a believer, what are you doing to help the doubting Thomases of the world?  Although they will never see Jesus in the flesh, can they see Jesus in you?

8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

2011 04 24 JESUS IS ALIVE!!!

2011 04 24 JESUS IS ALIVE!!!

Psalm 118:1, 14-15a, 19-24, Colossians 3:1-4, Matthew 28:1-10

The resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Finally…we have made it.  It is Easter Sunday.  We have come to the completion of Holy Week, and the end of our Lenten journey.  I don’t know about you, but the last 40 plus days of Lent and the past 7 days of Holy Week, have been most difficult.  April 19 was my sister’s birthday.  Ordinarily, a birthday is a source of joy, but I remember turning on the TV that morning and finding out that April 19 is not a highly celebrated day. 

This past Tuesday was the 18^th anniversary of when the Branch Davidian’s compound was destroyed in Waco, TX.  It was the 16^th anniversary of the terrorist bombing Oklahoma City, and the one year anniversary of the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, leading the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.   That’s just one day.  Since Ash Wednesday, our country has seen blizzards, tornadoes, and out of control wildfires.  We have witnessed the damage to Japan by an earthquake and tsunami, followed by terrible radiation coming from one of its nuclear plants. There has been unrest and civil war in most of the Middle Eastern and North African nations.

We have seen and been reminded of a lot of death, damage, and destruction in the past weeks.  One morning this past week as Jen and I were praying, I was reminded of a simple but powerful fact.  Evil and death are very real.  Now, I know that this is no big surprise for most of us.  We open the newspaper, turn on the news, or surf the net and find all sorts of tragic happenings occurring every day. 

Now I am not 100% sure if the times are becoming more evil, or maybe we are better today at spreading bad news than we were 100 years ago.  One thing that is happening is that we are missing out on the message that was first shared less than 2,000 years ago on the first Easter morning.  JESUS IS ALIVE!

From our reading in Matthew this morning, we know that the women waited until Sunday to go to Jesus’ tomb.  The day before had been the Sabbath, and they were not permitted to do any work or touch a dead body on that day.  So they waited.  As they came to the tomb, there was an great earthquake.  The stone had been rolled away from the tomb, and an angel sat upon it. 

3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. With all of the storms we have had recently, we all know what lightning looks like, but I doubt that any of us have seen anything like this.  4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.  I can believe that.

But to the women, the angel spoke, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you." 8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.  JESUS  IS ALIVE!!!

You see, the women did the right thing.  Fear hinders.  Fear halts.  Fear keeps our minds from working, and our hearts from acting the way we know that we should.  These women could have frozen dead in the steps just like the guards, but that would have kept them from doing what was really important at that exact moment…” go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee.”

The human heart can be paralyzed by fear, and the mind can be distracted by unnecessary distractions.   Can you imagine if the resurrection of Jesus had taken place in modern times?  If this sort of thing had happened today, the women might have gotten out their cellphones to record the video.  Then they might contact the news outlets, giving interviews or even selling their story to the highest bidder.  Tonight on Inside Edition -- Angels…servants of God or aliens from outer space, we have shocking footage of two women and their encounter.

These women had their hearts in the right place.  Although their hearts were afraid and their minds rushing, they ran off to tell the disciples… JESUS  IS ALIVE!!!  It wasn’t all that important that there had been an earthquake or that the stone had been rolled away.  It wasn’t even all that important that they had encountered an angel.  The most important fact…was that JESUS  IS ALIVE!!! 

As they rush off with to share with the disciples this good news, suddenly Jesus appeared to them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

Their faithfulness is rewarded.  Although they had not seen, they believed the message the angel had given them.  Now, Jesus appeared to them.  When they would go before the disciples, the women would testify with 100% certainty.  Jesus’ body had not been stolen.  It had not been misplaced.  Their faith of the hearts would now be accompanied  by the knowledge of their minds.  They had seen him.  They had heard him.  They had even touched him.  This was no fluke, hallucination, or apparition.   JESUS IS ALIVE!!!  He is really alive…and no distraction will prevent them from telling the disciples what they know to be true.

It is easy for us today to become distracted.  The world we live in today sensationalizes the evil that surround us.  The world in fact celebrates that darkness.  At Christmas just a few short months ago, we celebrated how the birth of Jesus brought light into the world.  Jesus is that light.  With his death, the world wanted to stifle that light, hide that light…destroy that light, so that we might not see it.

The world wants us to be distracted from the message those ladies shared that first Easter morning.  JESUS IS ALIVE!!!  But Paul reminds us where to focus our lives.

Colossians 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

We get so caught up in what is going on around us, that we miss what God is doing for us.  We keep our eyes to the ground and our noses to the grindstone.  It’s not too surprising that our minds end up in the gutter.  It is not surprising that we watch the news waiting for the next epic tragedy or colossal disaster. 

Paul tells us that if we believe in Jesus Christ…if we believe that JESUS IS ALIVE, then we need to lift up our hearts to him.  How can we live a Godly life when our hearts are worldly and filled with the garbage and filth of this world? How can we live the life he has for us, when we fill our minds with every bad thought that comes across the TV or internet.  I am not calling you to change you hearts or minds.  That is impossible.  When we fill ourselves with darkness and evil, that is the kind of people we become.

Paul is telling us to give ourselves to Christ.  Give him our darkness, our sadness, our struggles…all of it.  There is no heart or mind too evil or filthy to give to him.  Jesus went to the cross for that exact purpose.  In his death, we are hidden.  In his death, we die too.  But his death overcame the sin of the world.  As we die in him we also rise in him.  Because Jesus is alive…so too can each and every one of us be alive. 

Easter is not the completion in our Lenten journey, it is the beginning of our walk with Jesus Christ.  That is why we come to Church.  Each Sunday is a one week anniversary of Jesus resurrection.  Every Sunday we celebrate the risen Christ as we worship.  Every Sunday is Easter (minus the bunnies, baskets, and bonnets).  Every Sunday, we gather in worship to celebrate what God has done, not only to Jesus, but to each of us who follow him.

JESUS IS ALIVE!!!  Do you believe it? Do you believe it enough to give him your sins and ask for forgiveness?  Do you believe it enough to follow him?  Do you believe it enough to share this news with others, just as the women did that first resurrection morning?  I hope that you do, but if you don’t…or if you’re not sure…listen to you heart.  Is God speaking to you?  Would you like to say something back?  Then you should pray.

2011 04 24 Beyond the Cross and Tomb

2011 04 24 Beyond the Cross and Tomb

Luke 24:1-12

It was the first day of the week, and although the darkness was giving away to the light of the morning sun, there was still darkness in the hearts of the women.  They had gotten up early when it was still dark, gotten dressed, gathered their things and began that walk to the tomb.

It was still dark in their hearts because they remembered the events of three days past.  Jesus had died.  The one who had walked and talked with them only a week earlier…he was now gone.  He had allowed them to hear his teachings and sit at his feet.  They had witnessed great miracles and seen crowds gather around Him. 

Maybe this fact is lost on us today.  But remember, that women were second class citizens back then.  They would not be allowed into the synagogues.  They would not be allowed to gather near the rabbis.  They would be expected to stay at home, care for the children, and prepare the meals.  But Jesus was different than the rest.  Not only did he share his teachings, but he would come to their homes.  If they could not get out, he would come to them.  Jesus had been especially kind to women healing them, talking with them, and just caring about them.

I guess that it is really no surprise that they are the ones perhaps most devoted to him.  They were there at the cross when he died, and now they were on their way to the tomb.  One last time for them to see their teacher, their healer…their friend. 

And so they round the corner, and there it is!  It is the tomb, but something’s wrong!  The stone is rolled away.  There’s no body. He’s gone!  He’s gone.  They don’t know what to think.  They were there when his body was placed in the tomb, and now…what’s that?  Two men…with clothes as white as lightning are there before the women.  They have never seen anything like this before, and so instinctively, they drop to the ground to hide their faces from these glorious creatures. 

"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'"

I can only imagine what it must be like to stand in the presence of an angel.   But knowing me, I cannot imagine being there and having a single clear thought in my mind.  Starstruck…in awe…I probably would have fainted.  But there must have been something about the voice of an angel reaching the hearts of those women.  'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'" It was then that they remembered his words.  It hit them.  Everything became so clear to them. 

They ran back to where the disciples were gathered…more like where they were hiding.  He’s alive!  He’s alive!  Just as he said it would happen!  He’s alive!  He has risen from the grave!  Don’t you remember what he told us?  It’s all true.  We saw it all with our own eyes.  And the angels…YES…the angels!  We saw two angels and they reminded us of everything!  Isn’t this wonderful?  Isn’t this great?  He’s alive, Peter!  He’s alive James!  John, we saw him!  He’s alive!  He’s…he’s…he’s alive.  You do believe us, don’t you?

Mary…Joanna…you’re tired.  You’ve been crying the last two days straight.  You’re worn out.  You’re exhausted.  Now, go home and get some rest.  You’ll feel better after you’ve had a chance to think things through.  Most of those gathered did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb.

When he got there, he saw what the women had seen, minus the two angels.  He saw the open tomb, the heavy stone rolled aside.  The strips of linen cloth were still lying inside.  And so he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.  This just doesn’t make any sense.  I know that he’s dead.  OK, I wasn’t there.  I know…I chickened out.  I denied that I even knew him.  But I mean…come on, everyone knows that Jesus is dead.  The Romans, the Temple Leaders, the spectators, gawkers, and busybodies.  And Joseph…he’s a good man.  He wouldn’t steer me wrong.  Joseph wouldn’t lie to me. Would he?  Jesus was right there…in that tomb…wrapped in those cloths.  He was dead…

Maybe Peter was suffering from selective hearing or maybe tunnel vision.  He had heard the words of Jesus, and certainly Peter took notice of his deeds, but none of this makes any sense to him.  Maybe Peter was afraid.  Maybe he knew that it was true.  And sometimes the truth is a hard pill to swallow. 

I think that Peter was struggling to look beyond the cross and tomb.  He saw them as facts as occurrences in his life, but now they were Christ’s teachings becoming fulfilled.  This may have been a difficult reality for Peter to accept.

As we walk with Christ, we all have times in which we struggle.  And in those times, we just can’t see how any good could possibly come from our circumstances.  We don’t understand how any growth can come from our trials.  But that is the problem…we don’t see things through God’s eyes. And so we often walk away, wondering to ourselves what just happened…just like Peter.

Maybe Peter was afraid that this was all true.  Because if it is true that Jesus is raised from the dead…and if everything he said was true, then… Peter cannot continue to live the way he has.   If it’s true, then he cannot hold anything back from Jesus. If Jesus really died for Peter then Peter is really going to have to live for him. 

And that is the reality for us here today.  A believer in Christ must not only be willing to look beyond the cross and tomb, but also live beyond the cross and tomb.  Pardon the expression, but any fool can say I believe in Jesus.  Living beyond the cross and tomb means taking our thoughts captive…how we think about Jesus…and turning them into a heartfelt faith.  A heartfelt faith changes people of darkness into vessels of light.  A heartfelt faith takes empty words and fills them love and grace. A heartfelt faith takes hands of flesh and turns them into instruments of help and healing.  Living beyond the cross and tomb means a new life of heart and mind. It is a complete and total transformation.

That is one tough prospect to face.  It is not easy to do because the world wants to tear down our faith and destroy it.  The world likes its Christians docile and inactive.  The world wants us to live our faith quietly and passively.  The world wants Christians to look like them, so they will not have to change their own lives.

But living beyond the cross and tomb is a life of power.  True faith that Christ is risen from the dead is empowered by the Holy Spirit.  And not only does it allow us to live holy lives, but it compels us…it requires us to share that faith with others.  That is why the women could not keep silent.  They had to go back and tell the disciples.  He is alive!  He is alive!  He is alive!

To understand what Jesus has done for us is to understand how much he loves us. Romans 5:6-8 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Christ died for us, but he loved us too much to stay that way. 

Throughout his ministry, Jesus taught that we are to love.  Love God, our families, our neighbors, our enemies, our elected officials.  It doesn’t matter whether they love us or not.  His love for all mankind took him to the cross of sacrifice and to the empty tomb of redemption.  We too must love beyond the cross and tomb.

In the end, Peter eventually came around.  Peter believed.  He too believed that Christ was raised form the dead.  And when the Spirit fell upon the disciples at Pentecost, there was little doubt over the mission Peter must fulfill, the life he must live, and the love that he must share with others.

So this morning, let’s not walk away from the empty tomb, wondering to ourselves what happened.  Let us all draw near in faith, so that we might all listen, live, and love…beyond the cross and tomb.

2011 04 17 From Palms to Passion

2011 04 17 From Palms to Passion

Matthew 21:1-11 (Palm), Psalm 118:1, 19-20, 22-27, 29, Matthew 27:27-54 (Passion)

A journey.  You and I over the past few weeks have been on a journey.  Back on Ash Wednesday, we decided from which things we would fast, and how we would deepen our relationship with Christ.  Our journey is nearing its completion.  We are only one week away from Easter, and then our lives and return to normal.

In reality, that’s not really the case.  It is this week ahead of us that changes our lives forever.  It is this week ahead of us that prevents us from ever returning to what we might have once called “normal”.  It is Holy Week.  If your journey through Lent has been non-eventful…if your time of fasting has not produced any spiritual fruit, then pay attention over these next seven days.  Clear out your schedules.  Get your noses out of your electronically dictated lives, and open your Bibles, pray, and focus your hearts on the final days of Christ.

For Jesus, this week started simply enough.  It was almost time for the Passover, and Jesus wanted to be in Jerusalem.  For some time, Jesus has been staying out of Jerusalem.  His teachings attracted many followers, but they also created many enemies.  Jesus was a wanted man, and should he come back to Jerusalem, there would definitely be people looking for him.

As Jesus and the disciples approached the city, he sent two disciples ahead of him to fetch a donkey upon which he would ride.  There are a couple of reasons for this:  1.) He did so to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”  2.) Jesus did so as a sign of his humility.

Pastor Doug Gildenmeister reminded us this past Wednesday at the Lenten Luncheon that there were many means by which Jesus could have arrived in Jerusalem.  Obviously, he could have walked.  Jesus could have arrived by chariot.  He could have been carried on the shoulders of his faithful disciples.  He could have ridden a white horse leading an army of men and angels.  Jesus could have flown into Jerusalem on a flying carpet if he wanted.  Instead, he entered the mighty city of God…on a young donkey.

His entrance into the city did not go unnoticed.  Crowds gathered.  People from all over Judah and Israel would be gathered together for the Passover celebration.  Many would have witnessed his miracles first-hand.  Others would have heard of his powerful teaching.  Most of the people would be familiar with Zechariah’s prophecy.  Without a doubt the crowds would have known who Jesus was, and they celebrated!  They spread their cloaks on the road and placed palm branches in his path. "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!"  The crowds were celebrating more than just the arrival of a great prophet.  They celebrated the coming of their king!  Hosanna!  Save us!  Save us…but from what?

All throughout his ministry, there have been people following Jesus for all the wrong reasons.  They came with their sick, but only because they wanted to save their loved ones…not to worship him.  They followed him because he provided fish and bread to eat…not because he was the bread of life or that he offered them living water.  They welcomed Jesus because they wanted to be saved from the Romans…not from their sins.

The people in the crowds just wanted to be part of the show.  They wanted to be a part of the festivities.  If Jesus went on to kick the Romans out and rule on the throne of Jerusalem, they could say, “Jesus…remember me?  I was there when you first entered Jerusalem.  Yeah…I was the one with the palm branches.  Yep…that was me!  I always believed in you Jesus! Hey…uh…can I have a job?”  But…if things went south.  If things turned sour, they could deny they ever knew him.  “Jesus?  Nope, never heard of him.  You must have seen someone else.”

The crowds were a fickle bunch.  They would love you…as long as they got what they wanted out of you.  Just a few days after the crowds welcomed Jesus with palm branches and hosannas, they crowds, they now screamed with clenched fists…”CRUCIFY HIM!”  The crowds wanted Jesus to save them, and that’s exactly what he came to do…just not the way they expected or wanted.  They wanted a king, but Jesus came to be their savior…and the savior of all mankind.

The crowds did not understand this, and I suspect that many of us today have trouble as well.  Jesus came in humility to be the sacrifice all humanity’s sin, and he came to give new life.  I have three things I want to say about Jesus’ journey to the cross.

First off, there can be no humility without enduring humiliation.  It is easy for anyone to talk a good game, but we want to see people walk the walk, especially when the walk is difficult.  Jesus was humiliated physically as he we struck repeatedly and spit upon by the priests and elders.  He was humiliated emotionally by the soldiers who dressed him in purple and placed a crown of thorns on his head.  I believe that he was humiliated even spiritually, as his closest friends and followers abandoned him.  Jesus at any time during his ordeal could have rejected the claims he made about being the messiah.  Doing so would have shortened his punishment or quickened the suffering of his death.  Most of the people expected Jesus to weaken under the pain, but he didn’t.   Jesus could have called upon angels or his Father in heaven to take him away from that place.  But always remember, Jesus was humble, and humility without humiliation is false humility.  Jesus must endure is humiliation at the hands of men in order to be humble in the eyes of his father.

There can be no sacrifice without suffering.  Jesus came to earth as the Messiah…the Christ, the anointed one who would save people from their sins.  In the sacrificial system instituted back in the time of Moses, animals would be sacrificed.  Their blood was spilled to cover sin.  Nowadays, if a person mistreats a dog, cat, horse, cow, or even a mouse, someone calls the SPCA, and that person is brought up on charges and possibly even jailed.  In our society, we cannot stand the thought of an animal suffering, and the idea of an animal sacrificed to god seems foreign and cruel.  But maybe that is exactly the point.  For God, it was better that an animal suffer pain and death, than for his people to suffer eternal death and separation from God.

But in going to the cross, the suffering of Jesus did not just cover the sins of a person or a family, it defeated sin in the world.  Through the suffering of one man, all mankind could have the opportunity to suffer no more in the darkness of sin.  No more would the blood of animals need to be spilled.  1 Peter 2:24 reminds us that by his stripes…by his wounds…by his suffering…by his blood, are we healed, and the right relationship between God and man has been restored. The Lamb of God went to the cross in order that the bloodshed could stop.  

There can be no humility without humiliation. There can be no sacrifice without suffering.  Finally, there can be no life, unless death has been tasted first.  In the early Church, there were a number of heresies which claimed that Jesus did not die.  Some claimed that Jesus did not have a real body, but that he was just a spirit or ghost.  Without a physical body, Jesus only appeared to die.  In another heresy, some believed that Jesus was a real human being, but that God could not allow him to die and at the last moment, substituted a physical or spiritual look alike on the cross.

What the Church of Jesus Christ knows in its mind and believes in its heart, is that Jesus Christ really was a man who died on the cross of Golgotha.  He was no ghost, spirit, or apparition, he was the Son of God, the Word made flesh, God who became man.  He did not only endure humiliation.  He did not only suffer pain and misery. As Christians, we believe that this man died for our sins…because he had to.

John 12:24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Jesus’ death on the cross was absolutely necessary because it was only with his death that there could be a resurrection.  Only in his death can we die to sin.  Only through his death, can death be finally stripped of its power over the world.  There can be no life, unless death has been tasted first.  This is the power and the symbolism of baptism.  We are lowered into death.  We share in the death of Christ, so that as he is raised in the power of resurrection, we too are raised.  There can be celebration of new life at Easter unless the pain of death is felt on Good Friday. 

For Jesus, it was a short journey from palms to passion, from joy to sorrow, from life to death.  This week…this Holy Week…remember why we are here.  Remember the joy of Jesus’ victorious entry into Jerusalem, but especially on Friday remember the humiliation.  Remember the pain and suffering.  Remember the death of Jesus Christ.  Then remember why he did it.  And if you cannot remember why Jesus bore the cross and died, all you have to do is look in the mirror.  Remember that he died for you, and God wanted you to have life..and have life to the fullest. Then come back next Sunday, and you’ll really have a reason to celebrate.