Sunday Sermon: Facing Our Worldliness

Scripture Passage – Matthew 6:19-21

Description – The Fourth sermon in the 2013 Lenten Series “Facing the Cross”

 

What would you do if you found out a Ferrari was buried in your back yard?

 

Well, as I considered our main passage for this morning: I thought, “You can’t take it with you!”

The story I discovered regarding this Ferrari begins with an also true story of the 1977 burial of a Texas oil man’s 37 year old widow in her 1964 Ferrari 330 America after her accidental death. She was buried in the car next to her husband.

 

But the mystery Prancing Stallion was not the 330 America but a 1974 Dino 246 GTS  found in February 1978. Some kids, as the story goes, were digging in a back yard of a LA neighborhood home when they struck what appeared to be the metal roof of a car. They flagged down local law enforcement that got a team together and dug up the mystery car. No driver though, in the driver’s seat.

 

Well the investigation began into whose car it was and how it ended up in this back yard. Turns out it was bought by a plumber for his wife. (Ferraris could be bought back then for around $20,000 to $30,000. Today they are sold at ten times that amount!) They had driven it to a restaurant to eat in 1974, almost four years earlier, and came out to find it gone and filed a stolen vehicle report never knowing what happened.

 

One of the things that were noticed as the car was exhumed was that it had been wrapped in plastic and the exhaust ports were plugged with towels. Apparently someone, authorities concluded, were planning to return to dig it up so they made sure it could start up and not be ruined by its underground location!

 

The insurance company wrote off the car as a ‘righteous theft’ and paid the bank which had the loan. Car enthusiasts began calling the insurance company inquiring as to the availability and condition of the mystery Dino. After an interesting period of bidding a mechanic bought the car, reportedly got it restored then disappeared with it, later it was discovered to have been registered in California with a unique plate  DUGUP. The car has not been seen or heard about since.

 

(For the full story go here: http://jalopnik.com/5872514/the-true-story-of-how-a-ferrari-ended-up-buried-in-someones-yard )

 

Well, maybe you CAN take it with you!

 

But Jesus didn’t think so. Our main text for this morning says:

 

 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

 

We are just past half-way in this Lenten series which is calling us to face the cross. And so far we have faced our sins, temptations and fears as we have faced the cross.

 

Today we face our worldliness.

 

What on earth is worldliness Pastor Jim?

 

I used to hear sermons, and lectures, on being ‘worldly.’ Back then it meant, in my interpretation, flashy dressing – men or women, smoking, drinking alcohol, gambling, Sunday meals out, and such. That may seem very antiquated to our ears today and we kind of laugh, maybe smirk, at hearing it. Yet, are we living any better?

 

On the back of the bulletin insert which announced this series, there were some helpful description statements regarding each of its themes. The one for today says, “Accepting we are often all too dependent on worldly goods opens the door to seeing the value of everlasting blessings.”

 

Before we return to our main text I share another gospel text that gives us a very helpful thought regarding this issue of worldliness and our dependence on worldly goods to satisfy it. It is from the parable of the sower and I am reading from Matthew’s recording of it in Matthew 13:22

The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.

 Could this not be a good description of the results of worldliness?

But exactly what is “worldliness?” Well I found this definition of the word connected to the word ‘worldly’ “devoted to, directed toward, or connected with the affairs, interests, or pleasures of this world.” So perhaps we could say that worldliness is the attitude of being devoted to the affairs, interests, or pleasures of this world.

But I have all sorts of questions right now:

Does this mean that Christians should simply give up and move into the mountains somewhere all by themselves?

Does this mean that we shouldn’t care about our nation?

Does this mean we can’t have fun riding roller coasters at 92 MPH?

Does this mean that Pastor Jim has to give up his puns?

Does this mean that everything that Jesus said about asking, seeking, and knocking does not really matter?

Let’s look at our main text again for a moment.

 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

How do we know what our treasure is?

The word treasure in this passage means “the place in which good and precious things are collected and laid up; a casket, coffer, or other receptacle, in which valuables are kept; a treasury; storehouse, repository, magazine; the things laid up in a treasury, collected treasures.” Evidently someone thought a back yard in a LA suburb was a great treasure storing place.

I have a large Tupperware container of things that are treasures to me. I plan to pass them on to the boys later on. But eventually they will get old and crumble and get lost. Some of the stuff will eventually get thrown out by me because the meanings attached to them will no longer matter. That’s the way it is with things we call treasures here on earth.

Let me suggest this morning that our treasure can become our idol or idols. It is what we worship. Anything can be an idol. Power, money, position, family, anything can be an idol. And what did God required of the Israelites? “To have no other gods before me.”

I also think that it is important to remember that these words are part of what we have come to call the Sermon on the Mount and the contexts of these verses are important to consider. Read along with me as I read verses 22-24 which complete this segment of chapter 6:

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy,your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

In this chapter Jesus is pointing out the barriers to living simply and with a single hearted focus on God. In this chapter He is telling the disciples about some goals and pitfalls they are to achieve and avoid. And primarily the goals and the pitfalls are concerned about not being hung up on the praise of people or the pursuit of wealth, status, and possessions which are the treasures of earth that decay and rot away but the goal of heavenly treasures that come from serving God sacrificially and without anxiety. These mentioned things were all things that Jesus saw in the religious authorities of that day – the praise, the power, the wealth – they were idols. And Jesus believed that such things had blinded these men from truly seeing Him for who He really was. The same thing holds true for us!

So then what does all of this mean for us for us this day and week? Well let’s ask ourselves this question:

What would I find hard to give up if God asked me to give it up?

Worldliness is an attitude, a perspective that is at cross purposes with God’s mission. To face the cross is to face our worldliness. It is to face the many idols that we worship.

What are you hanging on to too tightly these days? Is it God or is it something or someone else?

I conclude with a poem that I think gives us perspective on this issue of worldliness as we consider the end of our lives and the kind of influence are lives will have on others.

The poem was called “The Dash” and can be read here http://lindaellis.net/the-dash-poem-by-linda-ellis/

Sunday Sermon: Facing Our Sins

Scripture Passage – Romans 3:23-24

Description – Initial Sermon in the 2013 Lenten Series “Facing the Cross”

(Note: the Lenten materials written by Mark Zimmerman and Rev. Jerry Hays “Facing the Cross” and published by Creative Communications for the Parish were used in the construction of this message and series. Grateful acknowledgement is given for their ministry.)

 

(Bring a mirror out and stand it in front of the congregation and ask someone to read the verses on the slide.)  “Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.”

 

This season of Lent is, in the best sense of the phrase, a ‘looking in the mirror time.”  But we instead of a mirror we look in two directions – outward at the cross as we ‘Face the Cross’ in this Lenten series and inward as we allow the Holy Spirit to show us what we need to be shown in our hearts and souls. Over the next six Sundays we are going to be facing the cross as we face, our “sins, temptation, fears, worldliness, one another, and suffering.”

 

This morning as we face the cross we face our sins because as we focus on the cross and what Christ has done for us, we can face our sins because they have been, and will be as we ask God to, forgiven!

 

Our main text this morning contains a familiar verse to many of us but it also contains an additional truth that we sometimes I think forget to ponder and believe. It is Romans 3:23 and 24 and I read this morning from the New International Version and the New Living Translation and the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.

 

“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

 

“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.”

 

“…since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,…”

 

Now if you notice the NIV and the NRSV has verse 23 as an incomplete sentence. So let’s look at what is said prior to verse 23 in these two versions to make it a complete sentence.

 

We go back to verse 21 in the NIV and here is what it says, “But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

 

Now here is what the NRSV says from verse 21 on to verse 25 to finish the sentence “But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christfor all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonementby his blood, effective through faith.”

 

“Pastor, I thought that we were just looking at verses 23 and 24. They make sense to me as they stand!”

 

They do to me, too.

 

But, having some understanding of the context is always helpful. And Romans is a very deep book. Paul is writing to make a point that because of what Jesus Christ has done for all of humanity both Jew and Gentile, the way to forgiveness has changed from the sacrificial system of the Old Testament to the way of Grace in the New Testament. No one, no one is excluded from the invitation and offering of Christ’s salvation on our behalf.

 

It was a radical concept back in the day because it was the point at which the emerging Christian faith was pulling away from its Jewish roots. And it was disturbing a great deal of people who thought that the old way should still be in place. Paul dealt with this issue throughout his ministry. He addresses it in some of his letters to the churches which appear later in the New Testament.

 

But now having a bit of context, let’s look out our main theme for this morning.

 

 Sin.

 

Wonderful word, isn’t it? Dark. Gloomy. Judgmental.

 

It is not a popular word.

 

But since the Bible uses it, we need to address it. This season of Lent requires us to think about the sin that we have in our lives.

 

But what is sin?

 

Good question!

 

There are a bunch of words used in the Bible about sin both in the Hebrew language of the Old Testament and the Greek language of the New. One such Greek word is Hamartolos which is pronounced ham-ar-to-los.’ It appears 45 times in the New Testament including four times in Romans. And the word used for sin in Romans 3:23 is the word Hamartano which appears 37 times in the New Testament and 6 in Romans. All of these words imply the idea of ‘missing the mark.’ In other words what Paul says to us, in the slightly larger context of Romans 3:21-25 is that everyone, Jew and Gentile, has missed the mark.

 

Missed the mark of what, pastor?

The doxa or glory of God!

Doxa is a Greek word which means, among the following, “opinion, judgment, view” and “the absolutely perfect inward or personal excellency of Christ…”

In other words we have fallen short in God’s view. We’ve sinned.

But what is sin, pastor?

Some people have a view of sin that is along the lines “of don’t smoke, don’t chew, don’t go with girls who do.” Sin is bigger and much deeper than this.

I think that we have often classified sin as something we ‘do.’ And sin is that. – We lie, we steal, we unfairly judge, among other things.  But sin is also more than something we do. There is an attitudinal dimension to sin. We can sin without “doing” anything. Jesus talked about such things in Matthew 5 where Jesus went to the motive of anger, revenge, and rage behind the act of murder and the motive of lust behind the act of adultery. In Jesus’ mind, the anger and the lust made a person just as guilty of sinning as the acts that accompanied them.

So Paul says, ‘we have all missed the mark that God has set up for us to hit.’ We are not perfect. We are in need of redemption!

This segment we call verse 23 is a segment that has been encouraged to be memorized and shared, over and over and over again. It tells a harsh story. We are flawed in God’s eyes and we cannot achieve the mark, the perfection of hitting the mark. At.all.

When I started writing this sermon I read our main text and I stopped and thought to myself, “Jim you have heard Romans 3:23 quoted and preached many, many, many times. But when have you studied, discussed, or heard a sermon on Romans 3:24?

“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

 

“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.”

 

“…since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,…”

 

There is good news this morning!

We are redeemable!

We are forgivable!

We are loved by God!

We are not a lost cause!

We are not a hopeless case!

This season of 40 days prior to Easter should and must give us pause because humankind is in need of redemption and a transformation that no government, economic, educational, or social program can make. Only the Lord truly can transform us. And none of us, unless we chose to resist God’s loving offer of forgiveness, are beyond this forgiveness, this transformation.

I close with a story from Brennan Manning about a college student named Larry who Manning taught in the late 1960’s. This is Manning’s description of Larry. “He was short, extremely obese, he had a terrible case of acne, a bad lisp, and his hair was growing like Lancelot’s horse – in four directions at one time. He wore the uniform of the day: a T-shirt that hadn’t been washed since the Spanish-American War, jeans with a butterfly on the back, and of course, no shoes. In all my days, I have never met anybody with such low self-esteem. He told me that when he looked in the mirror each morning, he spit at it.” (emphasis mine)

Manning goes on to describe their first meeting and then what Larry got as a gift for Christmas one year.

He lived on the east coast with his parents whose father, according to Manning never came to the dinner table no matter how hot it was without wearing a suit and tie. One evening Larry tells his dad that he had to leave for school the next day. His father inquired as to the time, Larry told him and his dad said that he would ride the bus with him to the bus station.

As they got off the bus, directly across the street is the factory where Larry’s dad worked. Six men are standing there and they begin to say, and I am quoting Manning here, “Oink, oink, look at that fat pig. I tell you, if that kid was my kid, I’d hide him the basement, I’d be so embarrassed.” Another said, “I wouldn’t. If that slob was my kid he’d be out the door so fast, he wouldn’t know if he’s on foot or horseback. Hey, pig! Give us your best oink!”

Larry went on to tell his professor, Manning, that his dad hugged him, kissed him and said, “Larry, if your mother and I live to be two hundred years old, that wouldn’t be long enough to thank God for the gift He gave to us in you. I am so proud that you’re my son!”

Larry went back to campus a changed young man. He cleaned up some, even began dating a girl, became president of a fraternity, and was the first to graduate with a 4.2 GPA. He also went to Manning one day and said, “Tell me about this man Jesus.” And for the next six weeks, 30 minutes at a time Manning did so. Larry went on to become a priest and a missionary, and again I quote Manning, “Sold out to Jesus Christ” because of his father’s love.

This is my point – this story is Romans 3:24 in my opinion. God has kissed us time and time again when we have felt ugly and unworthy. He embraces us in the presence of Satan demeaning taunts and tells us that He loves us!

So no matter our past and our appearance, we are loved and valuable to the Lord and this 40 day journey is a reminder that at the end… there is a cross and more than that, there is an empty tomb and even more than that – there is love, a love that takes us where we are and helps us become, if we so choose, the person that God has always meant us to become.

“Mirror, mirror, on the wall who’s the fairest one of all?”

What say you this morning?

Amen.

Sunday Sermon: The Disobedience of Fear

Scripture Passage – Deuteronomy 1

Description – The second in the 2013 series on Being Empowered by God

What do people fear the most?

Well I did some checking this week and found a couple of lists that have been compiled over the past forty years and found some things that, via surveys, people are consistently afraid of.

Flying

Public Speaking

Heights

Snakes

Mice

Bugs

Rejection

…and the like.

And it is reflected in some of the comments on my Facebook page last week when I asked “What do people fear the most?” One said in large capital letters HYPODERMIC NEEDLES! Another said rejection. Still another being judged.

And recent lists of what people fear show a move toward the acknowledgement of some deeper fears which were also shared on my Facebook page. For example at the website listverse.com here is a recent (2011) listing of human fears from number 10 to number 1:

Losing our freedom

The Unknown

Pain

Disappointment

Misery

Loneliness

Ridicule

Rejection

Death

And… Failure

 

Where does this great fear come from, this fear of failure? From lots of places – a parent, the classroom, marriage, work, from lots of different places and voices that suggest we cannot do something because we will fail.

I suggest this morning as we continue in our series about being empowered by God to live for Him requires us to name our fears, surrender them to God, and choose then to move obediently forward so that in spite of them, we live empowered by the Holy Spirit to accomplish what God wants us to accomplish!

I need to make clear at this point that fear is two sided. The positive side of fear is protection. We grab a child’s hand that is ready to touch the hot burner on the stove. We put floatation devices on infants so they can learn to enjoy the water and eventually learn to swim without sinking to the bottom. We steer clear of bees in the yard or on the trail because we don’t want to get stung.

There is a positive side to and of fear. It is for our protection.

But there is also a negative side of fear and I believe, as I reflect on my own life and recall stories in the Bible, it is one of the greatest barriers in allowing God to empower us. And our chapter for this morning is an example of what can happen when fear is allowed to rule our hearts and decisions and not faith and trust in God.

From the Message version of the Bible is Deuteronomy chapter 1: (Click on link to read: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%201&version=MSG )

Because of their fear and subsequent unwillingness and disobedience to take the land that they had been promised, and already given, through God’s covenant first made with Abraham, a generation of Israelites, including their leader Moses, were banished from ever setting a foot inside of it. Joshua, as we have just read and Caleb, who too believed God and his promise earlier, would become the leaders that would lead them across the Jordan River and into the Promised Land.

There is a pause in their journey as we come to this first chapter of Deuteronomy and Moses takes them back in time to remind them of their journey thus far.  It is not a pleasant reminder.

Notice Moses says several times that God has already given them the land and to “go ahead and take it!” But fear rises up and the people respond, “We can’t!”

Can’t? or Won’t?

What were the Israelites afraid of that kept them from taking the land that God had already promised and given to them?

I think that we can make a case that all of these reasons are plausible ones for their fears:

Losing our freedom

The Unknown

Pain

Disappointment

Misery

Loneliness

Ridicule

Rejection

Death

Failure

 

They did not know what was going to happen to them. Perhaps they might end up in a situation like they did in Egypt? They were coming into a new place, just like their ancestors did in Egypt, and who was to say that they would not end up like slaves all over again? Could we call this the fear of losing one’s freedom and of the unknown?

“Maybe,” they thought “the difficulty of having to settle down all over again is just too much. Let’s go back to Egypt.” Or maybe they thought, “How much is this going to cost me? My life? My oldest son?” Could we call this the fear of misery and disappointment?

Or maybe they were afraid of the resistance and difficulty that might come their way when they began to settle in their new homeland. The slurs and the insults might just be too much to bear. Perhaps the fear of loneliness, ridicule, rejection, and/or death at work?

But our main text seems to point to the biggest reason for fearing:

But then you weren’t willing to go up. You rebelled against God, your God’s plain word. You complained in your tents: “God hates us. He hauled us out of Egypt in order to dump us among the Amorites—a death sentence for sure! How can we go up? We’re trapped in a dead end. Our brothers took all the wind out of our sails, telling us, ‘The people are bigger and stronger than we are; their cities are huge, their defenses massive—we even saw Anakite giants there!’”

 

… fear of Failure.

“We cannot win! They are too big! It is too hard! We’re trapped! It’s no use!”

And they did not go in. The disobedient nature of fear took over. They did not do these things: name their fears, surrender them to God, and choose then to move obediently forward so that in spite of them, they were empowered to do that which God had already planned for them to do. By the way one of the ways that we can begin to identify our fears is by what makes us angry.

This fear of failure is a deep rooted thing. We pick it up, I think, like a piece of intelligence amongst a bunch of meaningless chatter. We become convinced, sometimes in an ever so slight way that we are “not good enough.”

Where does that come from?

Parents, teachers, pastors, friends, bosses, our own insecurity, and ultimately from the Devil himself.

 

Forty years would pass before Joshua and Caleb led the people of Israel into the Promise Land. Forty years that were wasted because fear kept them from possessing that which God had already promised and given to them. It did not have to be that way. God certainly had not planned for that to take place.

What is your greatest fear in being empowered by God to possess the future HE has for you?

For some of us it is fear of failure. We do not want to fail at any cost and the fear of failure freezes us up and we stop short of allowing God to empower us. I also think that the fear of change is another one. Change creates uncertainty and as a result a fear that I might lose out or be disqualified in some way or… left behind fills our hearts and creates an unwillingness to move forward. The Lord does not want that to happen to us. He wants to help us take hold of our place of empowerment and ministry with HIS help and strength.

The Sunday School class I have been teaching since September has been on how the 12 Steps of AA can help us grow in our faith and experience God’s great grace and peace as well. One of the lessons was on step nine “Made amends to such people wherever possible except when to do so would injure them or others.” The video for that day was inspiring and I realized that I need to make amends to a former boss of many years ago. I had tried to do so in the past but could not contact them. I tried one more time last month and found him and his wife, who was my boss as well, and make amends. They were both stunned and accepted my apology.

Then I realized that I need to make amends for a conversation I had with someone on Facebook several years ago. So I called this person and apologized for my words to her. She graciously was touched by them and accepted them.

I was afraid about doing this not knowing what would happen. But, in spite of my fear, I did it anyway and what a relief it was!

I know, I know, I know, I KNOW that there are many things to fear these days. Personal security is one of them. Financial instability is another. Employment uncertainty is a third. Health concerns are another.

But God has said to us, throughout the Bible, FEAR.NOT I.AM.WITH.YOU.ALWAYS.

Let us face our fears and surrender them to the Lord this morning. Let us allow Him to place courage in our hearts and wills so that we choose to believe and act for the advancement of His kingdom and mission. Amen.

Sunday Sermon: “Plus One And Counting…”

Scripture Passage – Mark 16:9-20

Description – The final sermon in the series through the Gospel of Mark
As I sat down to compose the meditation for this morning these two images came to mind
This one, as far as I know, did not get used this past year.

It is the clock at Kennedy Space Center used to count down, and then count up, the Shuttle launches and missions.

I believe it went silent after the final Shuttle mission
The second one is a familiar one from New Year’s Eve, the ball in Times Square.

This is apparently the actual ball which will drop in Times Square signifying the start of 2008. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In speaking about time one of the most common questions asked, perhaps millions of times each day is “What time is it?” Now I have recently deduced that in the Kane household, a variant of this question is asked, “What’s for supper?” It is a time question because the meaning behind it is “Can I get another game of <fill in the blank here> before mom (or Susan) says, “It’s time to eat!?”

And speaking of the issue of ‘how much time is the question “How much time do we have left?” It is a question many people of faith are asking these days. We look around and think, “Can it get any worse?”

“When will God finally say, “ENOUGH people! We’re done here!”

Many years ago I quit trying to figure out when Christ would return. There are so many different interpretations and views regarding His return that when I studied all of them in college, I finally came to the conclusion of “I don’t know. But I do know that He said to the gawking, wide-eyed disciples, “Go be witnesses and go make disciples.” And that is what I have worked on in the years since knowing and believing that Jesus could return at any moment.

And all of this talk about time brings us to the final text for our time in Mark this morning. It is, I suggest, a “plus one and counting…” text. It is Mark 16:9-20 and I want to read it aloud from two different translations. First the New International Version:

⁹ When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. ¹⁰ She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. ¹¹ When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.

¹² Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. ¹³ These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.

¹⁴ Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

¹⁵ He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. ¹⁷ And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

¹⁹ After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. ²⁰ Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.

And now from the New Living Translation:

After Jesus rose from the dead early on Sunday morning, the first person who saw him was Mary Magdalene, the woman from whom he had cast out seven demons. ¹⁰ She went to the disciples, who were grieving and weeping, and told them what had happened. ¹¹ But when she told them that Jesus was alive and she had seen him, they didn’t believe her.

¹² Afterward he appeared in a different form to two of his followers who were walking from Jerusalem into the country. ¹³ They rushed back to tell the others, but no one believed them.

¹⁴ Still later he appeared to the eleven disciples as they were eating together. He rebuked them for their stubborn unbelief because they refused to believe those who had seen him after he had been raised from the dead.

¹⁵ And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. ¹⁶ Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.¹⁷ These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages. ¹⁸ They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”

¹⁹ When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. ²⁰ And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.

Now what is the first thing you remember about this passage?

THE SNAKES!!! Right?

Like this Cobra!

2013 Mustang Shelby Cobra (Photo credit: Johnny Markus)

(oops, wrong Cobra!)

Like this Cobra!

King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Be honest now, when you hear the word ‘snake’ you tend to become, more shall we say, vigilant?

“But Pastor Jim, Jesus said that the disciples would handle snakes “with safety!”

Uh huh.

Not.Me.

Paul, as we read in Acts 28, had a poisonous snake bite him on the hand after being shipwrecked on the island of Malta but it did not kill him. And the locals thought he was a god of some kind after he did not drop dead. And if you were to read further into Acts 28 you will find that Paul was used by God to heal many people while shipwrecked there from physical afflictions. Just like Jesus said His followers would be able to do.

But this is the important point of our text this morning –  Jesus told the disciples to go and do the ministry, the telling of Christ’s salvation – the Good News and the ministry of miracles that would prove the power they had was NOT their own, but the Lord’s power working through them!

 The remaining disciples are now in a ‘plus one and counting’ time frame. We are in a ‘plus one and counting’ time frame. The end of the mission is Christ’s return. Are you ready for His return?

We do not know when our mission will end. Only God does. We are still on a mission.

Our mission, as followers and as this local church, is to live and tell the Good News of Christ – news that there is more to life than all of what we are dealing with.

There is still hope, not in power or a celebrity or a political view, but in a risen, living,  and loving God who has redeemed us from ourselves and our sinful disobedience and willfulness.

 This morning, as we remember and give thanks to God for His great love and sacrifice on our behalf, let us remember that we are in a ‘plus one and counting’ time and let us resolve to embrace and carry out the mission that God still has for us.

Amen.

Sunday Sermon: What A Group!

Scripture Passage – Mark 3:13-35

Description – The Seventh sermon in a series through Mark, Fall 2012

I recently finished reading a couple of biographies about the life and contributions of the late Lamar Hunt. Hunt was the founder of the American Football League back in 1960 as well as that of Dallas Texans who are now known as the Kansas City Chiefs. When he decided to start the AFL in the late fifties, Hunt was not yet 30 years old. His daddy was the legendary Texas oil man, HL Hunt and so there was money for him to have. But his love of sports was the motivational factor throughout his life. Not only did he win a Super Bowl he also won several MLS titles as owner of the Columbus Crew.

Hunt had been rebuffed by the late George Halas and the NFL in bringing a team to back to Dallas and so he began a network of potential owners in places like Minneapolis-St. Paul (who would switch to the NFL and begin play in 1961 as the Vikings), as well as Houston, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, and Boston. Together this group of owners would challenge the NFL throughout the early 60’s with the result that in 1966 he would help to initiate a merger with the senior league with one result being the largest American sporting event every year – The Super Bowl. What a group of men who took on an established and coming of age league and shaped the sport of football in ways large and small to make it what it is today.

Margaret Mead once said “A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

And as we continue to walk through the gospel of Mark, we are going to pay close attention to three different groups of people this morning. They are three groups that have and will consistently pop up in our study of Mark. Our text is the remainder of chapter 3, verses 13-35 that we will read and refer to in segments. Let us hear, now and throughout this message, the word of the Lord:

Mark 3:13-19:

“Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelvethat they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons. These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”), Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.”

This past week I spent a day at Anderson University hearing Dr. Adolfo Roitman, curator of the Dead Sea Scrolls and head of the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The Scrolls, considered one of the, if not the greatest archeological find in the 20^th century, contain the entire Hebrew Bible except for the book of Esther. Composed over 2000 years ago, they have offered both Jewish and Christian scholars a vast wealth of information that is still unfolding.

Hearing him reminded me that Jesus walked this earth as part of specific culture in a specific time and place. He stood outside of that culture but He also was a part of it.

We read in verse 13, “Jesus… called to him those he wanted…”

What He was doing in naming twelve men was common in that day in first century Judaism. David Bivin writes “Apparently, Jesus’ replies [to those who asked to finish something first before following Him] were directed towards persons whom he had invited to leave home and serve a full-time apprenticeship with him. This form of discipleship was a unique feature of ancient Jewish society.”  And this form Bivin goes on to say such a call required sacrifice and commitment to the teacher/rabbi.

And Karen Kogler in a study of discipleship in the First Century writes, “Jesus was not the only one in the Gospels to have disciples. John the Baptist and the Pharisees had disciples (Mark 2:18) and Jesus’ opponents at one point called themselves “disciples of Moses” (John 9:28). Jesus’ ministry takes place in the context of well-known organized groups, particularly the Pharisees, scribes (usually translated “teachers of the law” in the New International Version) and Sadducees, all represented in the Sanhedrin. The Gospels present these organized groups, rather than specific individuals, as the primary people who investigate and oppose Jesus, and eventually arrest Him and demand his crucifixion.”

So what Jesus does is common…

And what a group they turned out to be…

We know of at least four fishermen and one tax collector in the group. Not much is known about many of them and for some the only mentions of them are in this segment of scripture. Some are reportedly buried in Spain, Rome, Greece, Turkey, and India. But for the others we had no idea where they are buried or how they died.

They argued. They were clueless at times. They fled in fear after Jesus’ death. They returned afraid and stunned that He had risen from the dead.

But they were a group Christ called to go into “all the world” and preach the gospel. And because they went, this good and gracious news of forgiveness came eventually to each of us. And we are to pass it on to others!

Probably the best known of them, Peter disappears into the early history of the church within 20 years of Christ’s resurrection and return to heaven. Paul, who is converted in a dramatic way on the Damascus road, perhaps one of the roads that Jesus is travelling on at this point in time, takes center stage and more is said about his missionary journeys and less about what is going on in Jerusalem as we traverse the book of Acts.

A second group we find in the next segment of chapter three, verses 20-30, is a group we have already encounter and they have issues, lots of issues with Jesus. “Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”

So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”

He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”

 

What a group!

The level of conflict that we have seen building in the last chapter now crosses a line.

This time it is the scribes who go on the attack. “And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.” Jesus is drawing a crowd… of critics who have lots of intelligence and understanding but who are missing the point. They are concerned about power, control, and influence. Jesus is concerned about redemption.

And this time the scribes cross a line from which they do not turn back. “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”

Who on earth is Beelzebul? It means ‘lord of the house’ and is another name for Satan. And who on earth is Satan? He is the prince, the leader of the evil spirits and he is the Devil, the adversary.

So what the scribes are saying is that Jesus is possessed by Satan which is noted in verse 30, “He has an impure spirit.”  And it provides Jesus then to do two things: First, he uses a parable, the first recorded in Mark, to make a point. And a parable is not a pair of bubbles but a form of speech designed to make a point about something important.

“How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. Some of these words we remember were used by Abraham Lincoln in his unsuccessful US Senate race in 1858. The point Jesus is making is that this is impossible! “How can Satan do what I have done (the driving out of evil spirits)? It does not make sense. If Satan could drive out evil spirits he would be weakening himself.”

Second, Jesus makes a statement that has been studied and discussed and argued for a long time:

Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”

He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”

The statement “eternal sin” has been called the “unpardonable sin.” And it has raised the question, “What is the unpardonable sin?”

I remember many years ago a young woman asking me if pre-marital sex was the unpardonable sin. I don’t think that it is nor do I think there is support for that thought in the Bible.

The issue here is blasphemy. To blaspheme someone is to slander them. It is an assault on the character of someone. The scribes have assaulted the character of the very God they claim to serve and follow. But it is too late. They have rejected Jesus. Their hearts have grown hard and cold and will continue to do so.

What a group…

 

Finally there is Jesus’ family. Verses 20 and 21 says, “Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat.  When his familyheard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

Then on to verse 31 and through the end of the chapter we read:

Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him.  A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”

 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.

 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!  Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

 

Now it appears from this passage that Mary and Jesus’ brothers were nearby when word reached them that there was a commotion and Jesus was in the middle of it. So they decide to get Him out of there and after the conversation between the scribes and the Jesus they show up.

What a group…

 

The words used imply insanity. In other words, ‘he’s crazy!’ Now it is not clear who said “He is out of his mind.” It could have been someone in the crowd. It could have been one of the twelve. The context of the passage could be interpreted to indicate that the family said this. We really don’t know.

The point is, they show up and they ask for Jesus to come outside. (Can’t you imagine Mary right now? Oh.my.goodness. “Who does He think He is? This is madness. Enough! I am going to take Him by the ear and get Him back to Nazareth!”)

But Jesus doesn’t go outside to them.

To quote Scooby Doo, “Rut-roh!”  He points to I think, the disciples and says “Here are my mother and my brothers!  Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

What does He mean Pastor? Does Jesus mean we are to reject our families and forget about them? No.

It is about priorities. Who is to come first in our lives? Family or God?

God is to come first!

Jesus Christ came to earth to redeem the human race. He died on the cross to save us from our sins. His focus is on people doing God’s will unconditionally. He wants and He demands our total obedience – first and foremost!

Well I remember a seminary classmate who rejected his pastor/father’s help when it came to his ministerial ‘career.’ He said that his father encouraged him to go to ‘that’ seminary and it would guarantee him a position in that denomination. My classmate said no I am going ‘here’ to this seminary for this is where God wants me to go.

Where hear a lot of talk today, especially this year about values. Vote for your values. Vote for Christian values!

I have no problem with that perspective.

I want my kids to have Christian values now and in the future.

But more than that I want my boys to have a solid, committed, and sold out to Christ faith. I want them to walk with Jesus even if it means they move to the other side of the world because that is where Jesus tells them to go.

Jesus asks for more than our values. He asks us for our very lives, in service to Him, as He leads us!

Which of these groups do you see yourself in this morning? I choose again this morning to get in the boat with Jesus. I choose all over again to follow Jesus where ever and how ever it leads me.

What about you?

Obediently respond to Christ this morning. The altar is open. Amen.

Bivin article:

http://www.torahclass.com/archived-articles/954-featured-article

Kogler article:

http://theequipper.org/downloads/PDFs/Disciples.pdf

 

 

Sunday Sermon: Who does this guy think he is?

Scripture Passage – Mark 3:1-19

Description – The sixth sermon in the series through the Gospel of Mark, Fall 2012

 

When William Henry Harrison died a month after taking the oath of office as our ninth President (the first to die in office), way back in 1841, John Tyler, Harrison’s Vice President took the oath of office and assumed the Presidency for the remainder of the term. This was the age in American Politics of Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and Daniel Webster all of whom were strong leaders and most of whom wanted to be President. Many expected Tyler to step down after Harrison’s death, namely Clay. But Tyler did not and well… the rest is history.

John Tyler’s resoluteness to be the President of the United States on the heels of an unprecedented Presidential death in office was, I believe, a defining one for the office of the President. It would be over 120 years later before the 25^th amendment that outlined the order of succession would be fully ratified. And I have no doubt that someone probably said at some point, “Who does this guy think he is?”

 As we come to the beginning of Mark chapter 3 in our fall series through the book of Mark, I think that the same question is being asked about Jesus, “Who does he think he is?”

 

Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”

Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.  Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

Who is this guy? And who does he think he is?

 

The agenda that Jesus lays out in chapter 2, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners,” continues to gain momentum as we enter chapter three and this time the growing opposition, namely the Pharisees and their allies the Herodians, becomes an intentional plot to murder Jesus and silence Him.

Why?

He is challenging and threatening their agenda and more specifically their power and their control. So, as the text says, “some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath.”

I have to ask, “Accuse him of what?” Of healing on the Sabbath! He has already done it once after He forgave a crippled man his sins, and it got this group upset. And then He ‘worked’ on the Sabbath by taking some grain out of the fields and eating them right then and there!

Who does this guy think he is?

 

And so the issue of what constitutes the keeping of the Sabbath has become an issue between the religious establishment and Jesus. If you remember from last week I shared that the scribes who saw Jesus heal the man on the mat were known for adding to the requirements of faith. Jesus would eventually call them out on it in the final days before His arrest and crucifixion as we read in Matthew 23:1-4 “Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:  “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.”

Notice that Jesus tells his audience here “be careful to do everything they tell you, but do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.” It is not the essence of the faith Jesus is telling His audience to reject, it is the leadership’s practices, or lack of practices, He is telling them to avoid. And more precisely, based on verse 5 in our main text it, was their stubborn hearts which deeply distressed Him that was source of the conflict.

The issue then is the attitude of the heart Jesus observes in these men…

… and…

…in us…

I do not and I cannot stand here and determine what is in your heart today. But God can and He does. He knows what you are thinking and feeling this morning. He has complete clarity regarding your disposition.

And mine too!

 

Now, let’s briefly contrast this segment with the next segment, verses 7 -12:

Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. When they heard about all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him. For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him. Whenever the impure spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” But he gave them strict orders not to tell others about him.

What a contrast this is from the scene and attitudes within the synagogue!

The people are running after Jesus because they know that He can help them, He can heal them, He can deliver them!

And now the word is out…

many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon.

Idumea is in the extreme southern end of Israel, Tyre and Sidon were seaports to the west of Capernaum. So there were people coming from other parts of Israel to not just hear Jesus but to seek and experience His healing power. This is a scene that is repeated throughout Mark and the other gospel accounts of Christ’s ministry.  And again, as we have already read, there were those demons being cast out who recognized Jesus for who He truly was and being ordered to remain quiet.

So what do we do with this segment of scripture? As we prepare for communion where must our focus be?

First and foremost it must be drawn to Christ because as we partake of the elements this morning we are remembering His death and resurrection on our behalf. However I think that we get a very important look at Christ’s heart in verse five as He was “deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts.”

Sometimes our anger comes out because we care about somebody. Jesus loved these educated and passionate men. But He hated their stubborn attitudes that caused them to reject Him and His message.

How dangerous it is for our heart and our soul to grow hard when we think that God, as these men did, only works in certain ways. Jesus came, and as we continue our journey through Mark we will see this more and more clearly, to help spiritually sick people get well. He was not there to uphold traditions and practices that made it hard for people to follow God. He was there to liberate people and simplify the way to God. We dare not stand in His way. He will bypass us.

As we prepare for communion, let us admit the truth about what is in our hearts. And let us allow Christ to come in, clean it, and dwell within it. Amen.

Sunday Sermon: What in your life needs resurrected by God?

Scripture Passage – 1 Corinthians 15:13

Description – June 3, 2012 Communion Meditation

I begin this morning by expanding our main text to include verses 12 through 23 of 1 Corinthians 15.

“But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.

But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.

So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.”

Now much of the Christian faith focuses on the cross when it comes to talking about the forgiveness of our sins. And that is good because of the fact that when Jesus died on the cross a new way, a new covenant, to God was created. Out was the very old system of sacrificing animals in a certain way according to certain customs and in was a direct way to God via Jesus Christ that has become available to everyone who desires it.

But the resurrection was and is also a part of this new way to God. In fact to talk about the cross is telling only part of our salvation story. Without the resurrection, Paul notes there is no hope for anyone. So in light of our main text, I ask each of us this morning to consider this question What in your life needs resurrected by God?

Paul wrote our main text this morning in light of belief by some in the Corinthian church that the dead will never be resurrected. But that is not what the scriptures teach.

Jesus faced this same challenge as we read in Matthew 22 and verses 23-32. The Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead posed a story about a woman who was widowed seven times with the question, “whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all seven were married to her.” Jesus’ response points to His belief that there will be a resurrection of the dead and that one’s marital status will not matter.

“Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.  For when the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. In this respect they will be like the angels in heaven.

 “But now, as to whether there will be a resurrection of the dead—haven’t you ever read about this in the Scriptures? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’So he is the God of the living, not the dead.”

I know that people have a lot of questions about heaven and the final judgment and the resurrection of the dead, but those are best addressed in another message or a study setting with others. My focus this morning is on the resurrection power of Christ and how it is vital for our faith and life. And to give us some focus as we consider the need of a resurrection I offer 1 Corinthians 13:13: “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”

Clearly, our greatest resurrection need is for our soul to be resurrected. Romans 10:9 makes this clear “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Communion is a remembrance of Christ’s death AND resurrection on our behalf. Paul clearly links the two parts together in this verse.

We are in need of a resurrection, coming back to life, of our souls. Without allowing the grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ to operate in our hearts and souls, there is no hope for us. The human race needs a transformation! It is needs a resurrection experience. We cannot be, as Paul says, “new creation” without believing the resurrection of Jesus Christ!

 

What we believe in is what gives us hope and what gives us hope is where our faith lies.

And if we are honest, the glow of our early commitment to Christ eventually fades as time goes on. The devil and this fallen world wipe the sheen off of our souls. And, to borrow from the armor analogy in Ephesians 6, we get dents in our armor as we do battle with the enemy of our soul.

And our faith gets a workout. And it gets thin and weak.

 

We need a resurrection of our faith.

 

We are familiar with King David’s weakening faith. It led him to be involved in the murder of an innocent and honorable man because of an illicit affair with the man’s wife. Abraham’s faith weakened as he posed Sarah as his sister and not his wife and it caused problems for those who graciously welcomed them.

Truth be told, we all have dark spots on the skin of our faith. Cancerous lesions, that if left unchecked, can cause death.

Maybe the word “revived” instead of “resurrected” should be used in this message. And yet I think that we toss the word revival around like a well used baseball.

But instead of being revived, maybe our faith needs to be resurrected! That it is in need of major surgery and not a simple booster shot.

How is your faith in Christ this morning? Does it need a resurrection?

 

If we believe that “what we believe in is what gives us hope and what gives us hope is where our faith lies” then if our faith is need of a resurrection our hope must also be in need of a resurrection.

Peter is an example of this kind of a resurrection and I suggest that his campfire conversation with Jesus in John 21 is a resurrection of his hope as well as his faith and love.

Think with me for a minute. Have you ever betrayed someone? It is a very painful thing, isn’t it? A relationship is wounded and perhaps, like Humpty Dumpty, can never be put back together again.

But Peter did not betray Jesus did he? He denied Jesus.

Judas betrayed Him.

Denial, too, is a very powerful thing. There have been parents who have denied that their kids can do anything wrong or did anything wrong in the face of clear evidence to the contrary. There are spouses who deny the truth about the abuse in their relationships to the point of death.

As I think about Peter standing there, first next to Jesus at the moment of his arrest, then in the courtyard, at a distance, I cannot help but believe something in him died as he watched Jesus be led away and be crucified.

It was his hope.

He was not alone in those hours. Others’ hope died as well.

I don’t know about you but I would rather feel anything but hopeless. To feel hopeless is to feel like there are no more options. That nothing better is going to come along.

No one cares. No one can help.

It’s no use.

Our hope needs a resurrection from time to time.

What about yours?

 

Finally I ask “Does your love need resurrected?”

I am beginning to believe at this point in my life, that we have two choices when it comes to love. That we can both ignore the roots of love and constantly pick its fruit for our self-centered enjoyment or we can tend the roots of love and allow the fruit to become rich and full and more nourishing to our hearts and souls. We seem in our culture to want to pay attention to the fruit, the glamour, the pizzazz of love and forget about the need for love to have deep roots.

Peter’s faith and hope had taken a beating. I think Jesus knew this.

So He (Jesus) was going to see if there was any love left. And there was. “A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.”

Notice please that Jesus did not say, “Ok, good to know that Peter, thanks, I needed to hear that.”

No, He told Peter, “Then feed my sheep.”

He is saying, “Show me that you love Me. Take care of those to whom I have given you responsibility. Do something with your love for me.”

 

So what does all of this mean for us this week?

We all believe in something. That is what faith is about.

We all hope for something grand and meaningful in life. That is why we dream and have hopes for the future.

We all want to love and be loved. That is why we seek to love and be loved in return.

Faith, hope, and love bring meaning to life. But to bring the right kind of meaning to life, a Christ-centered meaning, we must have a faith, a hope, and a love that is alive and powered by and through the Holy Spirit.

One of my favorite hymns begins, “I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the world today. I know that He is living whatever man may say.”

As we take communion together this morning I remind us that we serve a RISEN savior! We do not believe in a dead god!

And because He is risen, we can be risen from spiritual deadness as well!

Let us be resurrected this morning by the Lord! Let’s have a resurrected faith, a resurrected hope, and a resurrected love!

Let us celebrate as we take communion together!

 

He is risen!

 

Amen

Thursday Thoughts: 4 Questions 4 Sermon Preparation

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I never took a homiletic class in seminary. Thought about it but since I was not figuring on becoming a ‘preaching’ pastor I did not. (Nor did I obtain the standard Master of Divinity or MDIV degree. Mine is an MA in Religious Education!)

I did take a speech class in college as I was required to as part of my BA. I waited until my Senior Year to take it and because it was time to take it and plus I had three years of college life under my belt by then. To have taken it as a Freshman would have been hard because my life experience and educational background would have been less.

Now in the early days of my ministerial career I preached perhaps once or twice a year. But in the last church I served before I came to my present location, it was up to once a month. Now, I preach around 45 sermons a year.

I think that I have gotten better at preaching over the past 11 years than when I came but there is always room for improvement.

But like golf which I would rather play than watch, I don’t like reading about preaching I like to simply preach.

I have had one or two homiletic books in my library but I have not opened them in a while. And the most important book to have shaped my preaching is a book on learning styles called The 4-Mat System by Bernice McCarthy. (It was a seminary text as well)

It is an excellent book and I have tried over the years to shape my sermons to include all kinds of learning styles. (The active learner, given the passive nature of most sermons, has been hard to accommodate. But I am working on it!)  (Go here for more information about the book http://www.amazon.com/4Mat-System-Teaching-Right-Left-Techniques/dp/0960899200/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316107009&sr=8-1 )

I have read many articles on preaching and I have talked with several colleagues about their preaching schedules and approaches. They have been helpful and informative.

I have incorporated suitable video clips in my sermons and have always tried to give the appropriate credit where due. And I now use my iPad to preach from. I save my Word doc file to my Dropbox account and then open my Dropbox app and read it from there! I manuscript my sermons otherwise we would at church all day!

But at the rock bottom I have always tried to be myself when it has come to preaching. I am primarily a conversational style of preacher and I always attempt to be as contextual as possible  in my explanation of scripture.

But this year four questions came to me that I have started to ask myself, and the Holy Spirit, as I have prepared to write my sermons. They have been very helpful and I share them here for the benefit those who teach and preach the Bible on a regular basis.

May God be honored by my preaching and teaching and by yours!

 Q 1: What does God want to say through me this week?

       Q 2: What course of action does God want us to take as a result of this message?

       Q 3: How will this help me honor God with my life this week?

       Q 4: How does this help me do my part in fulfilling the Great Commission and the Great Commandment?

these are my Thursday thoughts

Related articles

• More Thoughts on Sermon Manuscripts (timmybrister.com)

Sunday Sermon: A Mysterious Man Called Enoch

Scripture Passage – Genesis 5:23-24

Description – The first sermon in a three part series on “Walking With and Just Not For God.”

click on audio link to this sermon here 81411sermon

One of the things about the Old Testament is that it sometimes forces us to have more questions than answers.

We argue about the time sequence and scope of Genesis 1.

We wrestle with just exactly how the walls of Jericho did come down and also what they looked like.

We get stumped and puzzled about the strange dietary laws that tell the ancient Hebrews “you can eat this animal but not that animal.”

There is great mystery in the Older Testament, as Gordon MacDonald calls it, that often causes to want to close the Bible or at least turn to our favorite passage in the New Testament for something that we can at least wrap our minds around!

But there were those, believing themselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit, that brought the ancient Hebrew writings that Jesus Himself quoted, into the canon (that’s c-a-n-o-n which means authoritative standard) that we know today as the Bible. And there is mystery to things that we cannot fully wrap our minds around because, 1. the customs and culture of that day were vastly different to ours, 2. Some things in scripture have not been fully explained, and 3. our faith needs some mystery in it to be more clear and sharp…

… things, and people, like Enoch

Enoch lived 365 years, walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him. Genesis 5:23-24 (NLT)

Anthony asked the hunter to shoot an arrow. He did. “Another one,” said the Abbot. Off it went. “Another one.” The hunter obliged. “Again.”

This time the hunter objected.”If I bend my bow all the time it will break.” The abbot replied, “So it is also in the work of God. If we push ourselves beyond measure, the brethren will soon collapse. It is right, therefore, from time to time, to relax their efforts.”

(Source: August 10, 2011 email post from MINemergent.)

I cannot get away from the sense that there was a simple joy and peace in Enoch’s life because he took the time to rest and walk with God. And those moments were foundational to his intimate faith and walk with God.

The family and I did some intense walking, rather hiking, last month at Brown County State Park. The trail was only 1.5 miles long but the beginning and the end of it required a steep descent and a steep ascent. And in the heat, it was exhausting!

(I learned that I need to read the sign more closely. It dropped 345 feet in a short stretch as noted by the sharply downward slope in the picture! We had to rest and recharge. We did, in the pool, and that was helpful.)

Enoch had such days I am sure. He was not super special or super natural. He was human and yet I cannot help but feel there was this rhythm in his life that enabled him to live so closely to God.

How then do we begin to starting living more closely to and with the Lord?

We take responsibility for our own spiritual growth.

We need to slow down and create time and space for God.

Related articles

• Enoch, Patriarchal Prophet of Faith (fellowshiproom.org)

Wednesday Special: Sunday Sermon Videos

This past Sunday’s sermon (July 31, 2011) was video taped. It appears in the two segments below. This was our second service and I dressed in my auto racing theme to highlight the sports theme of our annual Vacation Bible School (VBS) program that started that evening and carried a sports team theme for the week of ‘God’s Champions.’

I thought about wearing my Cincinnati Bengals hoodie sweatshirt, but thought that it would have roasted me before I was done!

May you be encouraged by God as you watch and listen.