Risen indeed! 3.31.13

Mark 16:1-8

When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. ²And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. ³They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” ⁴When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back.

⁵As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. ⁶But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. ⁷But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” ⁸So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

1 Corinthians 15:1-7, 12-26

Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, ²through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain. ³For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, ⁴and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, ⁵and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. ⁷Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

¹²Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; ¹⁴and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. ¹⁵We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. ¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. ¹⁷If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. ¹⁸Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. ¹⁹If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

²⁰But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. ²¹For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; ²²for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. ²³But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. ²⁴Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. ²⁵For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

-----------------------------------------------------------

            The Easter story is the core of the Christian faith. It’s also a little hard to swallow. For many of us the basic story of Jesus makes sense. We grew up hearing stories of Jesus and his teachings. We’ve learned about his commitment to justice, his love and welcome for surprising people. We connect with his call to love others as we love ourselves and treat other people as we want to be treated. Even if we didn’t grow up in a church, our greatest values as a society were shaped by Jesus’ teachings.

            We can probably understand Jesus’ conflict with the religious leaders too. He guided people to God directly without getting obsessed with religious rules and traditions and authorities. That made the leaders uncomfortable, like serious change does in any institution. They couldn’t dismiss him, so they found a way to put him to death. We know enough about human selfishness and violence to believe that. It’s tragic and terrible, but it fits with what we know is wrong with the world.

            The resurrection is harder to believe. It doesn’t fit with what we know at all. When people die, they don’t come back. We’d like to believe in the resurrection, but it’s awfully hard to accept. We want to believe. We want love to be stronger than death. We long for a reason to hope that the world’s story has a happy ending, but we almost don’t dare.

            We’ve been disappointed before. So many things that we’ve hoped for haven’t materialized. The world is hard, and we don’t want to look soft. We don’t want to be suckers. It’s easier not to trust too much, and the resurrection is a huge leap of faith.

            We’re in good company when we have trouble believing the resurrection. Thomas couldn’t believe until he’d seen Jesus himself. The women in our story today were not only amazed, but afraid as well when they heard the news. They saw the angel with their own eyes and heard his message in the same tomb in which they had seen Jesus’ body laid. Still, the enormity of the angel’s announcement overwhelmed them, and they couldn’t share the message. If they struggled then, how can we believe now?

            I wasn’t there myself, and I can’t prove the resurrection to you. What I come back to every time is the testimony of the disciples. The women who followed Jesus from Galilee saw him alive after his death. The eleven disciples who had spent the last three years with Jesus saw him alive again after his death. Other disciples who had met Jesus along the way saw him alive on the road to Emmaus, or in a locked room or somewhere else in the month after his resurrection. Paul says Jesus appeared to more than 500 believers after his resurrection.

            They saw him alive, after they knew he had been killed. And more than just seeing him and telling others about it, which they could have made up if they wanted to, they committed their lives to his message. Many of the apostles died for their faith. Many other early Christians did too. They bet their life on the truth of Christ’s resurrection, the truth of Christ’s victory over death. They wouldn’t have done that if they weren’t really sure.

            Beyond that, the apostles and the growing community around them experienced the power of the risen Christ in their lives. People kept meeting Jesus, even those who hadn’t known him during his live. People, like Paul, who had never met Jesus experienced his presence in a transformative way, and gave their lives to the good news of God’s love in Christ. The power of the resurrection went beyond Jesus.

            That’s what Paul’s talking about in our passage from First Corinthians. The resurrection we celebrate today starts with Jesus, but it goes beyond him. From Adam and Eve until Jesus, death was the end of the line. Death had the final say. All the money, all the success, all the power in the world couldn’t stop death.

            Jesus changes all that. Human power, hatred and jealousy did their worst. The religious leaders and political powers fought against him. They tortured and killed him. But for Jesus death was not the end. In that moment death lost its victory. In Jesus’ resurrection love triumphs over death once and for all, not just for Jesus, but for all of us too.

            On the outside, it seems like nothing has changed, but everything has changed. Jesus has been raised and one day we will be raised up too. The power of the resurrection offers us new life. When we read about the early church, we see that the power of the resurrection is true. Those men and women decided to trust the risen Christ. They chose to believe that death wasn’t going to win. They didn’t just believe it in their heads; they bet their lives on it. They spend their lives telling other people about God’s amazing love. They spent their lives building community so strong that people shared everything.

Some traveled across the world to share the message of love. Others dropped everything to host missionaries in their towns. When a deadly plague struck Rome, everyone who could, left the city, except the Christians. The Christians in Rome stayed to care for the ill and dying. They did that because they knew they didn’t need to fear death, because Jesus had already conquered it.

That resurrection power, the faith that God can overcome every evil and deadly force, that hope is stronger than death, that love is stronger than fear runs through the history of the church. It was at work in nameless Christians teaching new believers when they knew the Empire might kill them for it. It was at work in St. Augustine watching barbarians destroy Rome, the center of Christian faith, but still trusting that God could use even that disaster for some good purpose.

The power of the resurrection was at work in St. Francis, serving the poor and restoring a church fallen into cynical isolation. It was there in Martin Luther, facing death for his faith, and in Martin Luther King believing God’s promise that in Jesus Christ all human divisions are overcome.

The power of Christ’s resurrection is still working in the world. It’s working in churches in Africa where there are so many people coming to know Jesus that they can’t fit into the church buildings. It’s working in Egypt, where it’s risky to follow Jesus, but people are following anyway. It’s happening in Chicago where a church of 30 that everyone expected to close rediscovered their neighborhood and the power of Christ in community.

It’s happening right here at Laurelton, where years of declining membership and finances are starting to turn around. A small congregation is opening its doors to the neighborhood and finding new life in the power of Jesus. Neighbors are discovering relationships and community in a simple breakfast. People are learning and growing by talking about the Bible over supper. We’re building community with new people and learning to ask deeper questions about what it means to follow Jesus today.

I’ve found in my own life that the more I trust Jesus, the more I cling to the resurrection, the more I let go of my fear, the better my life gets. Resurrection power isn’t just life after death, it’s also more life now.

Jesus bet his life that God’s calling was real. He faced death on the cross for you and me, and sure enough, love triumphed over death as he rose from the grave. Since then women and men across the centuries and around the globe have been betting on the resurrection, trusting that life conquers death. I’m betting my life on the resurrection now, and I invite you to join in the adventure of following the risen Jesus.

The power of the resurrection doesn’t mean everything is clear or easy. Things still go wrong, we make mistakes, recovery is fragile, people we love still die. But we can trust that death or error or fear or financial trouble will not have the last word. Christ is risen, and one day we will rise with him to see the redemption of all creation. We have nothing to fear because love is stronger than death. Christ is risen indeed.

Thanks be to God.

Laurelton Holy Week Schedule, 2013

Holy Week at Laurelton

Following is the worship and event schedule for Holy Week

Sunday, March 24^th – Palm Sunday

Worship 10:00 a.m.; Elder Linda Sullivan; Look for sharing this worship service with Eco-palms that we purchased through the Presbyterian Church (USA) (www.pcusa.org) website as part of their “Enough for Everyone” program.; Special Offering – “One Great Hour of Sharing”

Tuesday, March 26^th – Ecumenical Tenebrae Service

St. Ambrose Church – 7:30 p.m., this is a joint service sponsored by the Northeast Cluster of Churches. In years past, it has been a wonderful service and a great chance to get to meet our neighbors. There is also an opportunity for singers if people are interested.

“Tenebrae comes from the Latin for darkness or shadows. Candles are extinguished during the service to symbolize the gathering darkness of Christ's betrayal and death.”

Thursday, March 28^th  – Maundy Thursday

Pot Luck dinner – 6:00 p.m.; sign up on the kiosk in Christler Hall for a dish to pass.

Worship/Communion at 7:00 p.m. following Pot Luck dinner. After worship, we will strip the sanctuary of paraments and other symbols as we transition into Good Friday.

“The name [Maundy Thursday] is taken from the first words sung at the ceremony of the washing of the feet, “I give you a new commandment” (John 13:34); also from the commandment of Christ that we should imitate his loving humility in the washing of the feet (John 13:14–17). The penitential acts of Maundy Thursday have celebratory aspects as well: restoration through the bold declaration of pardon; the act of foot washing connoting humility and intimacy; the celebration of the Lord’s Supper embodying the mystery of Christ’s enduring redemptive presence. Maundy Thursday’s acts provide the paradox of a celebratively somber and solemnly celebrative service.”

Friday, March 29^th– Good Friday

8:45-11 a.m. - Ecumenical Walk of the Stations of the Cross. The walk will begin at First Genesis Baptist Church, 292 Hudson Ave.  As we remember the passion of Christ, we too remember this is our time to gather for "solidarity against violence and injustice.  Please join your fellow Faith in Action Network (formerly GRCC) members for this Ecumenical Walk.

12:00 p.m. Worship Service in Laurelton’s sanctuary

After worship, we will be draping the cross on our front lawn with a black cloth and crown of thorns.

“The Good Friday service is a penitential service, yet it is also a celebration of the good news of the cross. The passion narrative according to John is read on Good Friday, because at the heart of John’s passion narrative is the good news of the cross — the victory of the cross. Thus, John’s emphasis on crucifixion and glory corresponds to the tension and ambiguity of the day.”

Sunday, March 31^st – Easter Sunday –

Sunrise Service @ Durand Eastman Park Beach, Lakeshore Blvd., 6:30 a.m. (sunrise is at 6:42 a.m.); Parking lot B

Worship 10:00 a.m. – He is Risen! Risen Indeed!

     Rev. Sam Picard

     Special Offering – “One Great Hour of Sharing”

   

 Bring in flowers to share and to adorn the cross on Laurelton’s front lawn after worship.

"God is Love," 11.11.12

1 John 4:7-21

⁷Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. ¹⁰In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

¹¹Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. ¹³By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. ¹⁵God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. ¹⁶So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.

¹⁷Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. ¹⁸There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. ¹⁹We love because he first loved us. ²⁰Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. ²¹The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

Colossians 3:1-17

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, ³for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

⁵Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). ⁶On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. ⁷These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life.

⁸But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. ⁹Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices ¹⁰and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. ¹¹In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

¹²As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. ¹³Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ¹⁴Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. ¹⁵And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. ¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. ¹⁷And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

------------------------------------------------------------------           

In the beginning, before the big bang, before sun and moon and earth, before anything existed anywhere, there was love. God is love. The Bible doesn’t just teach that God is kind and merciful and just. It doesn’t just tell us that God is loving; it tells us that God is love.

            There’s nothing stronger than love, nothing bigger than love, nothing better than love, nothing more important than love. God is love.

            Love created the world. Love created human beings too. Not only were we created in and for love, God called our ancestors into a special relationship. God called Abraham and Sarah to leave their home and seek their fortune following God. Through wandering, slavery, more wandering and settlement, God led the people of Israel and taught them laws that would help them put love into action. Love surrounded and shaped them throughout their journey as a nation.

            That’s the beginning of the story, but of course, the story isn’t quite that simple. Even though love is at the center of creation, and even though love shapes the core of who we are, there are other powerful forces pushing against us too. We’re shaped by hunger for power and money and status. We’re shaped by a desire to control other people. We long to have our way and we fear things like death and shame and poverty.

            All those things mess up our relationships. Imagine: you meet someone. You have interests in common so you start spending time together. There’s an immediate connection as you talk about your hopes and plans for the future. Then worry starts to creep in. Do they care about me as much as I care about them? Will I be hurt? Can I be sure about the future?

            We start building walls to protect ourselves. Sometimes we wall ourselves in with our partner or family; other times we wall ourselves off from them too. We pile up things to protect ourselves from the uncertainty of the future. We try to insulate ourselves from danger and hardship; we look at people outside our walls as a threat.

            All that protection makes our relationships hard and brittle. Our connections with others become weaker, and our interactions grow colder. We keep more to ourselves and share less with others.

            That happens in our relationships with other people and in our relationship with God. With God is can be even harder because we’ve never seen God. Many of us come to church because we grew up coming to church. Our parents brought us to church, and something about the community and the music and the story keeps us coming back. Many of us are deeply committed to the church and feel strongly about its mission to help others, but there’s a connection missing between us and God.

            That’s not something new in our time; people have always struggled with maintaining a vibrant relationship with God. When the first fire of love in humanity got cool and the fear, greed and anger separating us from God and from each other got too tall to see over, God sent Jesus Christ into the world. In Jesus’ life we see what a life built on love looks like. We see him reaching out to everyone, unafraid of rejection or misunderstanding. We see him go head to head with the religious leaders, not hateful or defensive, but also not afraid of their power. In Jesus we see what we were meant to be.

            Even more than that, we see how much God loves us because God sent his dearly beloved son Jesus into the world knowing our fear and drive for power would kill him. This moment, the moment when God sent Jesus into the world, knowing he would connect with people in a new way but also knowing that he would be brutally murdered shatters the trajectory of human history and gives us a chance to start over.

Opened the scriptures, 4.15.12

1 Timothy 4:6-16

6 If you put these instructions before the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound teaching that you have followed. ⁷Have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives’ tales. Train yourself in godliness, ⁸for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. ⁹The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance. ¹⁰For to this end we toil and struggle, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

11 These are the things you must insist on and teach. ¹²Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. ¹³Until I arrive, give attention to the public reading of scripture, to exhorting, to teaching. ¹⁴Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you through prophecy with the laying on of hands by the council of elders. ¹⁵Put these things into practice, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress. ¹⁶Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; continue in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Luke 24:13-35

¹³Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, ¹⁴and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. ¹⁵While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, ¹⁶but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. ¹⁷And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad.

¹⁸Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” ¹⁹He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, ²⁰and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. ²¹But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.

Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. ²²Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, ²³and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. ²⁴Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.”

²⁵Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! ²⁶Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” ²⁷Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. ²⁸As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. ²⁹But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them.

³⁰When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. ³¹Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. ³²They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” ³³That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. ³⁴They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” ³⁵Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

-----------------------------------------

            This series of sermons is loosely organized around Easter, in particular what the risen Jesus did. Jesus didn’t spend a lot of time with his disciples after the resurrection because he was taken up to heaven. Since his time was short, Jesus had to spend it wisely. He needed to prepare his disciples for their ministry spreading the good news of forgiveness. We’re going to look at a few different things Jesus did over the next couple weeks; today we see that Jesus explained scripture to his disciples.

When Jesus appears to these two otherwise unknown disciples on the road they don’t recognize him. First, Jesus plays dumb by pretending not to know the events they’re talking about; then he reprimands the disciples for not understanding what he had told them during the journey to Jerusalem. He calls them “slow of heart” because they didn’t figure out that what had happened to him was what the prophets had written about.

We can understand Jesus’ frustration, the frustration of a teacher who has gone over and over a lesson with his disciples for years, but they haven’t gotten it. Jesus told his disciples three times that he would be killed and rise again, but his arrest still took them totally by surprise. Jesus predicted while his disciples looked at him blankly and suffered as they fled, just like he’d said they would. We can understand why Jesus is frustrated to see these disciples still confused about the events unfolding around them.

We can also see it from the disciples’ point of few. The week has given them too much to digest, too much to put together. From adorning crowds, to a bloodthirsty mob; from a royal procession to a traitor’s kiss, it would be hard to make sense of the week and hard to imagine the future.

In terms of the prophets, it is way too simple to say that they foretold what would happen to Jesus. It’s true that Isaiah’s words about the suffering servant being despised and rejected fit powerfully with Jesus. It’s true that other words of prophesy point to Jesus as well. At the same time, if you were to read all the prophesy about the Messiah and put it together into a story you would never come up with Jesus.

Frankly, the prophesy about a savior is varied and diverse. Most are passages that look forward to a powerful king. From that people expected a Messiah much like King David, a man to lead Israel’s armies and reestablish Israel as a strong, independent nation. Jesus doesn’t look anything like that: his armies are in heaven and he has no interest in the world’s power.

To understand what the prophets predicted about Jesus, you had to know the story of Jesus. Jesus fulfilled scripture, but not in the way you would expect from reading the prophets. So it makes sense that when Jesus rose from the dead one of his priorities would be to explain scripture to his disciples. He starts with these two and when they return to the rest of the community Jesus appears to the whole gathering to offer his explanation again. Scripture points to Jesus, but Jesus has to open it up to them so they can understand how it all fits together.

This time, the lesson takes. When we see the disciples on their mission to tell the world about Jesus in Acts or the letters, they show a keen understanding of how Jesus fulfills scripture. Whenever they make their case to people who know the Bible they build their arguments for faith in Christ from scripture. Jesus’ time with the disciples explaining scripture pays off because they can understand and explain to others the surprising ways God keeps promises.

Paul emphasizes scripture as well when he writes to instruct and encourage his young protégée, Timothy. He encourages Timothy to focus on reading scripture publically and to let his own progress in faith be an example to the community he leads. The risen Jesus and the Apostle Paul both highlighted the importance of scripture when they prepared leaders for the church, because God’s word is food and light for the church. Churches grow and thrive when they are engaged in scripture; they languish and die when they are not.

We know the Bible is important, so why is it so hard to making it a part of our daily life? For one thing, the Bible is big and it can be intimidating. Sometimes we feel like there’s so much we don’t know about its background or history that we can’t understand it on our own. While learning about the context and history of the Bible can deepen our understanding, most of what we need to understand the Bible is in the Bible. If we pick it up and read we will discover a world that is both strange and familiar. Like a novel, the Bible will introduce us to the characters we need to know and we’ll be able to follow the story as we go.

Some parts are easier to read and some harder. Genesis is great reading because it’s full of interesting stories. Occasionally there are boring patches, like genealogies, but the stories continue on the other side. The stories of the Bible are compelling too because they are full of interesting characters. Most of the important people are complex, like real people. They have moments of faith that are truly inspiring and other moments when we wonder what’s wrong with them. Those moments remind us that God calls real people to ministry, not perfect saints. They remind us of ourselves, with all our flaws and distractions, and how we are part of God’s story too.

Challenging parts of the Bible are an invitation to reflection. In a novel or history book if we get confused about why something happens we think about it, putting ourself in the characters’ shoes to imagine why they might have acted a certain way. With the Bible sometimes when we don’t understand something we are tempted to give up, thinking that it is “too hard” for us. Just like with any other book, pausing to reflect often leads to insight and understanding. Plus, sometimes we just don’t understand a piece of something, and that’s OK too. God can do as much with what we don’t understand as with what we do.

When it comes to scripture, there are lots of great resources available. Plus, if you get stuck on something you can always shoot me an email or give me a call. The main point of the church investing so much time and money in my training is so I can help you grow in your faith and understanding. It will make my day to get an email from you saying, “I was reading the Bible and I had a question about…”

"Death to life" Easter, 2012

Luke 23:55-24:12

⁵⁵The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. ⁵⁶Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment. But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. ²They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³but when they went in, they did not find the body.

⁴While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. ⁵The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. ⁶Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, ⁷that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” ⁸Then they remembered his words, ⁹and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest.

¹⁰Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. ¹¹But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. ¹²But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

Romans 6:1-11

What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? ²By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? ³Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

⁴Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. ⁵For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

⁶We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷For whoever has died is freed from sin. ⁸But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. ¹⁰The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. ¹¹So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

----------------------------------------

            Jesus had been traveling for three years. He had healed and taught, welcomed outcasts and called sinners to repentance. Often huge crowds followed him to hear his comforting and challenging words.

Besides the crowds, Jesus had a core group of followers who went everywhere with him. Twelve leaders, called apostles were the most famous, but there were also others Jesus sent out in his name to teach and heal. Other disciples supported and cared for Jesus in his ministry, especially many women.

            Jesus and his followers started to make their way to Jerusalem, the capital of Jewish life and worship. Along the way, Jesus told his disciples that he would be killed in Jerusalem, but that he would rise again. The disciples knew enough to be sad about that prediction, but they didn’t really understand, even though Jesus repeated it three times.

            When they got to Jerusalem, a huge crowd welcomed them with shouts of praise and songs to crown a king. Israel hadn’t really had a king in 600 years, but the people’s hope for someone to trust and follow hadn’t died. A welcome like that must have been a high point for the disciples. All Jesus’ talk about the kingdom of God seemed to be coming true. On top of that, the excitement of the big city at festival time thrilled these small-town fishermen.

            Then things went horribly wrong. The religious leaders had never liked Jesus. They worried about his teachings and were downright terrified of the attention he might bring from the Roman rulers. They also worried that Jesus’ teachings could weaken their power. As Jesus’ ministry continued, the conflict with the religious leaders got more and more intense, until they finally decided to kill him.

            At the Passover supper, Jesus told his closest friends that one of them would betray him and the rest would run away. Despite their passionate denials, that’s exactly what happened on Thursday night when officers from the Temple came to arrest Jesus.

            A whirlwind of interrogation, trial and torture followed, and by Friday evening Jesus had died on a Roman cross and been buried. True to his prediction, the disciples ran away. A few women and a man named Joseph made sure Jesus was buried decently before sunset, and the women made plans to go back to the tomb on Sunday morning after the Sabbath was over.

            That morning, Jesus proved once again that he wasn’t interested in playing by the rules. He’d been surprising people since birth, and death wasn’t going to limit Jesus any more than tradition had. The women came expecting to find their teacher’s body, expecting to anoint him with spices as a sign of their love for him, a last expression of care. Instead, they found the rock door rolled away from the front of the tomb and no body to be found. 

            It’s a great story, but all that happened almost two thousand years ago, so what difference does it make for us today? That answer will be a bit different for everyone since faith is a bit different for each of us, but Paul’s words to the church in Rome ring true today: faith is about deep questions, life and death importance.

            Christian faith is about following Jesus. Like the first disciples, we never do it perfectly. We misunderstand and fall short of our calling. A lot has changed over the two thousand years since the women and Peter found Jesus’ tomb empty. The early church was surrounded by threats from religious leaders and the Roman Empire. Following Jesus was very obviously a matter of life and death.

In the US in the 21^st century, we face different threats. We’re free to worship or not, and we’re free to believe whatever we want to. I thank God for our freedom, but I worry that the Christian majority in this country makes it easy to follow Jesus halfway and easy to forget that following Jesus is still a matter of life and death.

When we choose to follow Jesus we aren’t picking a club or a team or a style. We are choosing to join Jesus in his death. We are choosing to leave our sin and selfishness behind, to die to the world and begin a new life with Jesus. We are choosing to put Jesus first, to make him the center of our existence.

Faith can seem complicated and confusing. There are so many churches, so many opinions, so many points of view. Christians think different things about the Bible, politics, organization, money, family and everything else.

At the same time, faith in Jesus is simple because it means choosing to trust and follow Jesus. All the complications are second, and very distantly second. The point is following Jesus; everything else falls into place when we put Jesus first.

Word of Love, Christmas Day

Isaiah 52:7-10

⁷   How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
     who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
⁸   Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices, together they sing for joy;
     for in plain sight they see the return of the LORD to Zion.
⁹   Break forth together into singing, you ruins of Jerusalem;
     for the LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.
¹⁰  The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations;
     and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

John 1:1-18

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

⁶There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. ⁹The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. ¹¹He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. ¹²But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, ¹³who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. ¹⁴And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵(John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

--------------------------------------------------------------

         Last night we heard the story of a special baby born in a manger. We heard a story about young parents following God’s calling on an amazing journey. That story is earthy; while it has some unusual characters like angels, we can picture it pretty clearly in our minds. We can embrace this image of Mary and Joseph bringing their new baby into the world. We can wrap our minds around this child who is born to save us all from our sins.

         John’s Gospel tells the story very differently; he puts it in cosmic perspective. The beginning of John’s Gospel isn’t easy to picture; it’s poetic and philosophical instead of narrative. The way John tells it, we aren’t just talking about a child at Christmas; we’re talking about the eternal word of God.

That notion of God’s word is very Greek and philosophical. In Greek thought the Word, the logos, was the creating power of the whole universe. Underneath the structure of everything we can see, philosophers discerned a hidden power, a hidden logic that bound all creation together. That logic, that wisdom, was the logos, the word.

         John says the word of God was with God at the beginning of time. God created everything through that eternal word; the wisdom of God shaped and molded the whole universe. Not only did the word of God create the objects that make up creation, God’s word also touched the universe with the divine spark, the light of the world. In that moment at the beginning of creation the world came to life; God’s life sparked life and light in every living being God created. The plants and animals and people came to life by the loving, creative touch of God’s word.

         The eternal word of God was active throughout history. God created the world through the word, and God’s word and spirit continued to give light to those who had eyes to see it. Prophets and wise men and women saw the world by God’s light. They pointed others to the light of God’s love and justice. They reminded their neighbors that the world wasn’t really about power or wealth; it was about making sure everyone had enough to thrive.

They pointed to the light even in dark times. Elijah pointed to the light of God’s love even though he was chased into the desert by royal persecution. Jeremiah pointed to the light when he was locked up by powerful people who didn’t want to hear his message. Ruth pointed to the light of hope when she and her mother in law seemed all alone in a dangerous world. Even in the darkest times God’s light still shone; no darkness could quench that light.

Then the truly incredible happened. Maybe God got tired of waiting for people to see the light and change their lives. Maybe God’s heart ached so much because of our wandering, because of how we hurt and took advantage of each other. Maybe God missed us too much to hold back anymore. For whatever reason, one day the time was right and God’s word, God’s light, God’s love became flesh and lived with us.

He is Risen!

Acts 10:34-43

³⁴Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality,³⁵but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.³⁶You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ — he is Lord of all. ³⁷That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: ³⁸how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

³⁹We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; ⁴⁰but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, ⁴¹not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴²He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Matthew 28:1-10

¹After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. ²And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. ⁴For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men.

⁵But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. ⁶He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.⁷Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.”

⁸So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. ¹⁰Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

-------------------------------------------------------

            Once there was a man named Jesus. God sent him to bring light and healing into a world full of trouble and pain. Jesus taught people about God’s kingdom and love. He healed the sick and welcomed people who were caught at the edges of society and rejected by religious people.

            Jesus gathered huge crowds who were longing for God’s love. Many of them had been told all their life that they didn’t belong, that they weren’t righteous enough to please God, but Jesus welcomed them. It was obvious watching Jesus that God was doing something special. The power in his words, the warmth of his welcome and the strength of his healing set him apart.

            At the same time, he didn’t fit the mold of a holy man. He colored outside the lines of social boundaries and religious tradition. He criticized the religious leaders and challenged the comfortable. Some people, especially powerful people, thought Jesus might be dangerous, that he was leading people away from God. They also worried that his radical teachings could upset the delicate balance with the Roman Empire that allowed Jewish people freedom of worship.

            Finally, the religious leaders got fed up with Jesus and the challenge he represented to their authority. They found one of his closest followers to lead them to his hideout away from the adoring eyes of the crowd. They arrested him, condemned him of blasphemy for saying he was God’s son and they handed him over to the imperial governor of Jerusalem, Pontius Pilate.

            After some convincing and a staged demonstration calling for Jesus to be crucified, Pilate agreed. Jesus was whipped and beaten and mocked. Then he was led up a hill outside the city and nailed to a cross. That afternoon he died a horrible death, was buried in a tomb carved into a rock and the tomb was sealed with a huge rock guarded by soldiers.

            Even before his death Jesus’ followers had run away and hidden. In Matthew’s account none of his followers are there when he dies except for three women and a man named Joseph we never hear anything else about. The women went right up to the tomb on that Friday afternoon to see where he was buried so they could bring spices and ointments on Sunday morning to do one last kindness for Jesus.

            Everything seemed finished. Hope had died; fear had won; and nobody knew who else might be arrested.

            But God wasn’t finished yet.

Christ is alive!

Acts 10:34-43
34Then Peter began to speak to them: "I truly understand that God shows no partiality,35but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.36You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ — he is Lord of all.37That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced:38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.39We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem.
They put him to death by hanging him on a tree;40but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear,41not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.42He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead.43All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."
John 20:1-18
1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him."
3Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10Then the disciples returned to their homes.
11But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." 14When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.

15Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." 16Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). 17Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" 18Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
“I truly understand that God shows no partiality.” That’s how Peter begins his sermon in the house of a Roman military commander named Cornelius. For Peter, God has been turning his life upside down ever since a man named Jesus walked by where he was fishing and said to him, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.”

Peter followed, and in the course of his three year ministry with Jesus saw healing he never thought possible; he heard about the love of God with power he never imagined; he saw God’s love in Jesus embrace people that surprised him. As Peter and the other disciples came closer to Jerusalem Peter saw the growing conflict with the religious leaders threaten and finally kill this man they had followed along so many roads.

But the journey of God’s unexpected love didn’t end there. Sunday morning finds surprising news reach Peter’s ears, “They have taken the Lord, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Running to the tomb Peter and his companion find…nothing. The linen cloth Jesus was buried in is rolled up; the head cloth rolled up not far away, but no body, no sign of anyone.

Stranger still, that evening Jesus himself appears to Peter and the others, alive and well with only nail marks and a spear wound to show that Friday’s crucifixion had ever happened. Jesus breathes a Spirit of power on the disciples and sends them out to tell the world that he is risen and reigning.