Whenever I begin teaching my confirmation students the Bible, I always start with Genesis chapter 1 verse 1. That verse reads, “In the beginning when God created the heaven and the earth...” I ask them, “Who is the subject of this sentence?” Immediately, someone will yell out, “God!”
And I say, “That’s right. God is the subject of the first sentence of the Bible. The first sentence of the Bible tells us who the entire book is about. The Bible is about God. Now, are we the subject of the Bible?”
The kids usually have to think about this for a moment or two, but the general consensus then becomes, “No.”
And I say, “That’s right. We are not the subject of the Bible. Now, we can certainly find ourselves in the story of the Bible. We can certainly relate to things in the Bible. There are certain things in the Bible that apply to us, but at the end of all of this, the Bible is not about us. The Bible is about God.”
As Paul finishes out his letter to the Romans, he wants to bring everyone back to this basic fact. When all is said and done; when all the chips are laid on the table; when all the facts are made known, ultimately anything and everything about the Christian life comes back to God. Anything and everything about the Christian proclamation is about God and his wonderful, marvelous, overwhelming, action in and through Jesus Christ.
Paul finishes with a sentence that would have made his grammar teacher turn over in her grave. Paul runs things on and on and on as he seeks to bring folks to a place where they will give honor and glory to God. Listen to the words once again: “25 Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— 27to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory for ever! Amen.”
Paul indicates that God is working to strengthen us according to the Gospel and the proclamation of Jesus. There are those who would like to say that Christianity is simply about enduring this life for a little while so that we can experience the true life of the world to come. They accuse Christians of ignoring the here and now and simply focusing on heaven, but this is not what Paul is indicating here. Paul is not talking about heavenly strength. He is talking about a strength that takes place here and now; a strength that can embolden us in this world; a strength that empowers us to truly live a life of freedom and joy. How is such a thing possible? I mean, when you look at much of the world today–including the Christian world, do we see such freedom? Do we see such joy? Do we see such strength? Maybe. But mostly not. Perhaps we need constant reminder of how the gospel of Jesus Christ strengthens us.
First, it says that we are sinners. This is the fundamental, basic starting point of the Gospel. We are all broken. We all fall short of the glory of God. We are all in need of a savior. This doesn’t quite seem like it is a position of strength. How can admitting that we are sinful be a position of strength? It seems like we are admitting weakness. It seems like we are admitting that we are flawed. It seems like we are admitting that we are in need.
And, indeed we are. But this is actually a point of strength. How? I remember watching “Spiderman” long ago, and the main villain in the movie has a potent line. The villain says, “The one thing people love more than a hero is to watch that hero fall, fail, die trying.” There is some truth to that statement. We admire someone who rises to the top, but we also become enamored in the drama of watching others trying to displace the person at the top. Why do you think we become so enamored with what goes on in politics? Why do you think we get so wrapped up in our candidates? Who will become strongest? Who will last? And who will find your opponent’s fatal flaw? Who will find the unforgivable sin? What story of brokenness will be used to topple the king of the hill?
But what if you are unafraid of your brokenness? What if you are unafraid of your flaws? What if you admit, honestly admit that you are a broken, flawed, sinful individual? What if someone comes up to you and says, “Aha! I heard you cuss the other day, and you shouldn’t do that! I’m going to tell everyone about what you did!” And you respond, “Yes, you are right. I have failed. I am flawed. I acknowledge this beyond a shadow of a doubt. Go ahead, tell everyone that I miss the mark.” What does anyone have over you then? What can anyone use against you? You’ve already admitted your weakness. You’ve already admitted your sin. No one can use it against you! When we admit that we are flawed, broken, sinful beings, we are free from the tyranny of having to be perfect people living perfect lives. We are freed from spending time, energy, and money trying to hide our imperfections. We are freed from hypocrisy for we readily admit that we do not do that which we ought to do. There is great freedom in admitting that one is flawed and imperfect.
Yet, one must be careful–so very careful. Because if you spend all of your time thinking that you are imperfect and flawed, you can become very, very depressed. You can become so wrapped up in your weakness that you grovel and wallow in sorrow. You can become so caught up in the doom and gloom that you think of yourself as a victim of karma, cosmic justice, or pure, bad luck. You are like Charlie Brown having just hung that ornament on that scrawny little tree and watching that tree bend over unable to bear the weight of that glass ball. You look up and say, “I broke it. I’ve ruined Christmas.”
Ah, but the gospel offers a strong corrective here. It reminds you that in spite of your brokenness; in spite of your flaws; in spite of your failures; in spite of the fact that you have fallen short of the glory of God, you are deeply, wonderfully, marvelously loved. For the God of the universe came down to earth to die for you. The God of the universe took on human flesh and gave Himself in your place so that you would not receive punishment for your sin. The God of the universe braved the fires of hell; braved the wrath of God on your behalf–certainly not because you were perfect and good, but because He is good. When you remember this amazing grace, you ascend from the depths of depression, sorrow, and victim-hood to claim your status as a beloved child of God–a daughter or son of the Most High. To know this status indeed brings strength!
Oh, and when you know that your worth and value comes from God and God alone, you find freedom. You find glorious freedom. I know that a lot of you Astros fans are still riding high from their first World Series win. It’s an awesome feeling when the team that you support wins the championship. But do you remember what it was like only a few short years ago? Do you remember what it was like when the Astros were in last place? What if you got your self-worth and value from how the Astros did? What if your every emotion hinged upon whether or not they won or lost? Sure, it feels good now, but what about when the cycle reverses? You see, when your value and self worth is tied to anything, you stand a very good chance of finding yourself high one minute and down low the next minute. If your value is tied to your stock portfolio, right now, you are feeling very good about yourself, but in 2009, you probably weren’t feeling very great. And if you really, really think about it, you are enslaved to where you get your value. You are completely dependent upon it for your satisfaction and worth. But when you get your value from God–you are freed from such things. Nothing in this world has control over you anymore. Talk about amazing strength!!
And so, your ego finds itself going neither too high–because you know that you are flawed–nor too low–because you are deeply loved. The good news of Jesus Christ makes you humble and strong all at the same time, and it brings you incredible freedom.
But we are not done yet! For there is more to the story that must be told. There is even more strength that comes! For we also know that we have a sure and certain hope! We know that God has an ultimate destination for our lives! This is very important to realize because, as C3PO said in Star Wars, “It seems to be our lot in life to suffer.” Indeed, it is. It is our lot in life to suffer. Everyone sooner or later suffers. We suffer the pain of broken relationships. We suffer the pain of betrayal. We suffer the pain of illness. We suffer the pain of job loss. We suffer the pain of broken expectations. We suffer the pain of injury. We suffer the pain of our bodies breaking down. We suffer the pain of death. Life is full of suffering. Life is full of injustice. Life is full of things that sometimes do not make any sense to us.
But God strengthens us through the power of the resurrection! God strengthens us by showing that His kingdom is breaking into the world. Jesus is the first fruits of that kingdom raised from death to life. For the resurrection shows that God will unmake all the evil that has ever befallen us. God will reverse all injustice, pain, suffering, and even death. When God’s kingdom arrives in its fullness, we will have a new heaven and a new earth and a new body. We will be in the presence of God, and He will wipe every tear from every eye. Suffering no longer leads us to despair. We may question it. We may raise our fist in anger against it. We will work to alleviate it, but it no longer devastates us for we now know God’s ultimate plan for our lives. We know that God’s plan is to make all things new. We have a sure and certain hope, and that hope gives us strength!
Put all of those things together. Know that this mystery remained hidden for a long, long time, but now it has been revealed. Now it has been made known to all the world. It has now been passed down to us through the writings of scripture, and it comes to us–to our very hearts. This is what God has done. This is what God does for us through Jesus Christ. It is nothing less than amazing. It is nothing less than wonderful. It is nothing less than fantastic! This is the God we come together to serve and worship and give glory and honor to. This is the one God who saves by grace. This is the one God who reveals true wisdom–a wisdom that is so contrary to the way the world works! This is the God revealed to us in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
Have you been grasped by this Gospel? Has this good news sunk deep down into your soul? If it has, you know that there is only one thing to do. Give glory to God! Raise your voice in song to God! Tell everyone what God has done!! So ends the book of Romans–with a call for all of us to give such glory, praise and worship to our God. May His work in Jesus Christ grasp us through and through. Amen.
Showing posts with label resurrection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label resurrection. Show all posts
Monday, December 11, 2017
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
Beat It Into Their Heads Continually: Easter 2017
On Monday, I drove to Austin to visit one of our members who had had open heart surgery. As I got about half-way there, KSBJ played out on my radio, so I began searching for a Christian radio station in Austin. Fortunately, I found one. However, this station was not like KSBJ. KSBJ is a listener supported station with no commercials. The station in Austin had commercials, so along with local businesses, local churches also ran ads. Not surprisingly, many of those ads were about upcoming Easter services. One ad did catch my attention. A church was advertizing its Easter activities complete with a helicopter that would be dropping 20,000 eggs for their egg hunt. I heard that ad several times during my trip, so I know the number and the event is accurate.
I must admit that there was a small part of me that thought about calling up Christa and saying, “How much do you think it would cost to get a helicopter to drop the eggs for our egg hunt, and do you think the congregation would go for it?” But there was a larger part that began seriously thinking about what this congregation was doing. I mean, I’m all for getting people to come to your church and to church activities. I have absolutely no problem with that in the least, but this seems like a different kind of animal. If this church is bringing in a helicopter for its Easter egg hunt, what are they going to do for the sermon? Will they have a live-re-enactment of the resurrection complete with the ground shaking, angels appearing and rising into heaven, with smoke and loud music and the like? Will the message of the resurrection take a back seat to a helicopter with 20,000 eggs? It seems like there is a strong possibility of that happening. It seems way too gimmicky, in my opinion.
So, there will be no helicopter here today. There will be no lights, or re-enactments, or smoke, or manufactured ground shaking. For as awe inspiring as such things might be, I know of no one’s life who was changed by seeing a helicopter drop 20,000 eggs. I know of no one who had a change of heart by packing an Easter basket with eggs. I know of no one who found the peace that passes all understanding by watching the gimmicks of congregations. But I do know of many, many people who have had lives changed, hearts melted, who have found peace by encountering the risen Jesus. And it is my hope and my prayer that each of us here today encounter Him.
Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, today we are presented with momentous news. The one who died on the cross has been raised. The tomb is empty. Death is undone. Open our hearts and our minds so that we might see what you have accomplished through the death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
500 years ago, Martin Luther kicked off a huge event in history that we will be celebrating later this year. Historians call it the Reformation. Those of us whose churches found their beginnings at this time in history remember how one man dared to call the church back to its foundational beliefs. It was the radical notion that God had acted through Jesus Christ to bring about our salvation through no action of our own but solely by the grace of God.
Luther himself talked about God’s action in this way in his commentary on the book of Galatians, “Here I must take counsel of the gospel. I must hearken to the gospel, which teaches me, not what I ought to do, (for that is the proper office of the law), but what Jesus Christ the Son of God has done for me: to wit, that He suffered and died to deliver me from sin and death. The gospel wills me to receive this, and to believe it. And this is the truth of the gospel. It is also the principal article of all Christian doctrine, wherein the knowledge of all godliness consists. Most necessary it is, therefore, that we should know this article well, teach it unto others, and beat it into their heads continually.” Yes, Luther said, we must beat the Gospel into folks’ heads continually. Therefore, this morning, I brought a baseball bat... I bet you some of you are wishing we had a helicopter with 20,000 eggs right about now.
Please stop getting up to head to the exits, I’m putting the bat down. Jesus didn’t condone violence, and I’m not about to start that now. However, I am not going to apologize for using Luther’s quote because the Gospel is indeed so radical that we need to hear it over and over and over and over before it really starts sinking deep down within the very fabric of our heart and soul. We need to have it repeated over and over and over so that it weasels its way deep into our hearts and transforms them. We must hear the Gospel over and over and over again because it goes against the way the entire world works.
So, let’s begin there. How does the world work? I want you to think about your life for a moment. I want to think about all the things you engage in. Think about work. Think about school. Think about family and friends. Do you realize that you are in a constant state of working to justify yourself? Perhaps you have never thought of it that way, but let me show you what I mean. If you are in school, why do you work to get good grades? You are showing justification that you have mastered the material and are ready to move to the next step. If you are working, why do you work hard and put in the hours you put in? You are working to justify why the company should give you a paycheck, allow you to keep your job, and even perhaps give you a raise. You are justifying your position to those for whom you work. And even if you are self-employed, you must justify your work to your customers. If you are a handyman, you’d better do a good job or else no one will be calling you. Yes, even within our engagements with family and friends, we are constantly trying to justify ourselves. As a parent, I am constantly asked, “Why?” by my children. That question is nothing more than them saying, “Justify why you are telling me what you are telling me.” And if you don’t think you have to justify yourself even within your immediate relationships, get angry about something and let your tongue slip. See if you don’t have to quickly justify what you said. Or guys, leave the toilet seat up several times in a row. One more example, and then we will move on. This example is front and center in our society even though we might not realize it: sports. If you play any sort of team sport, you are in a constant state of justifying yourself for playing time. You are having to prove over and over and over why you should be playing and why the guy on the bench shouldn’t. And if you slip up; on the field or in your character, you are out of luck.
Have I shown you enough? Do you see how you and I are in a constant state of working to justify ourselves? Do you see how the world is set up so that we must continually justify ourselves?
Now, let’s shift to religion. Did you know that just about every single world religion is in the self-justification business? The emphasis of just about every single world religion is: if you do x, y, z, then you will receive the blessings of God. If you do not do x, y, and z, you can expect God’s punishment. If you keep failing, try harder. You must justify yourself and prove that you are worthy of God’s blessings.
Here is what Christianity says. Christianity says, there is no way that you can justify yourself before God. God has said that we must do x, y, and z, but God’s standards are so high that if we break x, y, or z, we have dug ourselves a hole and no matter how hard we try we can never, ever justify ourselves. We are indebted to God for our failure to live as we should.
Most of us know this at a very deep level. Sure, we try to fool ourselves. We put on some brave faces and some brave phrases. We like to think that “I’m okay and you’re okay.” We like to believe, “You are perfect just the way you are.” We like to tell ourselves that we are basically good people who just make a few mistakes along the way. Yet, when we examine our lives, we know this isn’t the case. When we really think about how we act and what we do, we know that we hold everyone else to a standard that we ourselves don’t even live up to. Maybe this is why we try to keep ourselves so busy these days. Maybe this is why we work so hard and play so hard and keep our brains engaged with our cell phones. The more we distract ourselves, the more we don’t have to think and reflect upon who we are and why the world is the way it is. The more we distract ourselves, the more we don’t have to reflect upon how indebted to God that we are because of our shortcomings.
But here is the good news. When every other world religion would say, “Try harder. Work harder. Pay your own debt. Do more good than evil.” Christianity says: God, knowing that we could not cover the debt, took on human flesh, became like us, experienced all that we experience, but lived without sin. God came down in human flesh and became the sacrifice of atonement to pay our debt. God came down in human flesh and took the punishment that was meant for us because God loved us so dearly.
Some may quibble at this thought, but what parent doesn’t do this for his or her young children? If your kids were walking in the store and they accidentally broke an item on the shelf, would you allow your kid to be arrested and charged with vandalism? No, you would pay for the item because you love your kid. God desires all people to be His children, so He came into this world to cancel our debts–to pay for them Himself by taking the wrath of God upon Himself so that we would not have to face it.
This is what Jesus spent His whole life teaching and preaching. This is what Jesus spent His whole ministry working toward. His life was one great trajectory toward the cross where He justified us before God the Father. Christianity says: you do not justify yourself; God the Son justifies you–makes you right by His actions. You are made right with God by grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God set forward as a sacrifice of atonement effective through faith. This means, you are now made right with God by trusting in what Jesus does instead of what you do. Let me say that again: you do not justify yourself like the world demands you do. Instead, you are justified by Jesus’ on the cross.
This is not the way the world works. This is not the way every other world religion works. It is contrary to almost everything we have been taught. Who would come up with such a scheme that is so contrary; that is so backwards? It’s crazy and would have been rejected if not for one thing:
The resurrection.
I bet you were wondering when I would actually get to why we are here today. I bet you were wondering when we would get to the empty tomb. Well, here it is. You see, the resurrection is the Father’s stamp that says, “You see. Everything that Jesus said was true. Everything He said about being the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world; everything He said about being the Son of God; everything that He said about salvation coming through Him as the way, the truth, and the life; everything that He said about being the light of the world; yeah, all of it is true. All of it.
This means you don’t put your hope in your actions.
You don’t put your hope in your ability to do good things.
You don’t put your hope in your ability to follow the rules and laws in the Bible.
You don’t put your hope in the world telling you to justify yourself.
You put your hope in Jesus.
You put your hope in what He has done.
You put your hope in the cross and in the resurrection.
You trust in Jesus, not in yourself.
Oh, and that is so hard. It is so hard to trust in someone else. It is so much more instinctual to pave our own way; to walk our own path; to take everything into our own hands and do it ourselves. It is so much more instinctual and in accord with the world to present our own defense; argue our own case; present why we should be in the right; to justify ourselves. In fact, we keep wanting to go back to that. We keep wanting to do it all on our own. We need to have the gospel beat into our heads continually. Where is that baseball bat?
No. We don’t need that baseball bat. We need Jesus. We need to be reminded about Him. We need to hear over and over and over again how much He loves us. We need to hear over and over again how He was willing to suffer and die for us. We need to hear over and over again how He loves us when we are unlovable. For as we hear about how He died and rose for us; as we think about the cross and resurrection, as we think about Jesus, He moves down into our hearts and makes His home deep within us bringing us peace; bringing us hope; bringing us joy. It’s Jesus who changes us; not helicopters; not 20,000 Easter eggs; not lights and smoke; not even ourselves. Just Jesus.
Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, give us Jesus. We know He is alive. We know He has risen from the dead. We know He longs to dwell in our hearts. Lead us to trust in Him. Beat it into our heads that we can trust in Him instead of ourselves. And lead us to the hope, peace, and joy that is only found in the cross and resurrection. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
I must admit that there was a small part of me that thought about calling up Christa and saying, “How much do you think it would cost to get a helicopter to drop the eggs for our egg hunt, and do you think the congregation would go for it?” But there was a larger part that began seriously thinking about what this congregation was doing. I mean, I’m all for getting people to come to your church and to church activities. I have absolutely no problem with that in the least, but this seems like a different kind of animal. If this church is bringing in a helicopter for its Easter egg hunt, what are they going to do for the sermon? Will they have a live-re-enactment of the resurrection complete with the ground shaking, angels appearing and rising into heaven, with smoke and loud music and the like? Will the message of the resurrection take a back seat to a helicopter with 20,000 eggs? It seems like there is a strong possibility of that happening. It seems way too gimmicky, in my opinion.
So, there will be no helicopter here today. There will be no lights, or re-enactments, or smoke, or manufactured ground shaking. For as awe inspiring as such things might be, I know of no one’s life who was changed by seeing a helicopter drop 20,000 eggs. I know of no one who had a change of heart by packing an Easter basket with eggs. I know of no one who found the peace that passes all understanding by watching the gimmicks of congregations. But I do know of many, many people who have had lives changed, hearts melted, who have found peace by encountering the risen Jesus. And it is my hope and my prayer that each of us here today encounter Him.
Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, today we are presented with momentous news. The one who died on the cross has been raised. The tomb is empty. Death is undone. Open our hearts and our minds so that we might see what you have accomplished through the death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
500 years ago, Martin Luther kicked off a huge event in history that we will be celebrating later this year. Historians call it the Reformation. Those of us whose churches found their beginnings at this time in history remember how one man dared to call the church back to its foundational beliefs. It was the radical notion that God had acted through Jesus Christ to bring about our salvation through no action of our own but solely by the grace of God.
Luther himself talked about God’s action in this way in his commentary on the book of Galatians, “Here I must take counsel of the gospel. I must hearken to the gospel, which teaches me, not what I ought to do, (for that is the proper office of the law), but what Jesus Christ the Son of God has done for me: to wit, that He suffered and died to deliver me from sin and death. The gospel wills me to receive this, and to believe it. And this is the truth of the gospel. It is also the principal article of all Christian doctrine, wherein the knowledge of all godliness consists. Most necessary it is, therefore, that we should know this article well, teach it unto others, and beat it into their heads continually.” Yes, Luther said, we must beat the Gospel into folks’ heads continually. Therefore, this morning, I brought a baseball bat... I bet you some of you are wishing we had a helicopter with 20,000 eggs right about now.
Please stop getting up to head to the exits, I’m putting the bat down. Jesus didn’t condone violence, and I’m not about to start that now. However, I am not going to apologize for using Luther’s quote because the Gospel is indeed so radical that we need to hear it over and over and over and over before it really starts sinking deep down within the very fabric of our heart and soul. We need to have it repeated over and over and over so that it weasels its way deep into our hearts and transforms them. We must hear the Gospel over and over and over again because it goes against the way the entire world works.
So, let’s begin there. How does the world work? I want you to think about your life for a moment. I want to think about all the things you engage in. Think about work. Think about school. Think about family and friends. Do you realize that you are in a constant state of working to justify yourself? Perhaps you have never thought of it that way, but let me show you what I mean. If you are in school, why do you work to get good grades? You are showing justification that you have mastered the material and are ready to move to the next step. If you are working, why do you work hard and put in the hours you put in? You are working to justify why the company should give you a paycheck, allow you to keep your job, and even perhaps give you a raise. You are justifying your position to those for whom you work. And even if you are self-employed, you must justify your work to your customers. If you are a handyman, you’d better do a good job or else no one will be calling you. Yes, even within our engagements with family and friends, we are constantly trying to justify ourselves. As a parent, I am constantly asked, “Why?” by my children. That question is nothing more than them saying, “Justify why you are telling me what you are telling me.” And if you don’t think you have to justify yourself even within your immediate relationships, get angry about something and let your tongue slip. See if you don’t have to quickly justify what you said. Or guys, leave the toilet seat up several times in a row. One more example, and then we will move on. This example is front and center in our society even though we might not realize it: sports. If you play any sort of team sport, you are in a constant state of justifying yourself for playing time. You are having to prove over and over and over why you should be playing and why the guy on the bench shouldn’t. And if you slip up; on the field or in your character, you are out of luck.
Have I shown you enough? Do you see how you and I are in a constant state of working to justify ourselves? Do you see how the world is set up so that we must continually justify ourselves?
Now, let’s shift to religion. Did you know that just about every single world religion is in the self-justification business? The emphasis of just about every single world religion is: if you do x, y, z, then you will receive the blessings of God. If you do not do x, y, and z, you can expect God’s punishment. If you keep failing, try harder. You must justify yourself and prove that you are worthy of God’s blessings.
Here is what Christianity says. Christianity says, there is no way that you can justify yourself before God. God has said that we must do x, y, and z, but God’s standards are so high that if we break x, y, or z, we have dug ourselves a hole and no matter how hard we try we can never, ever justify ourselves. We are indebted to God for our failure to live as we should.
Most of us know this at a very deep level. Sure, we try to fool ourselves. We put on some brave faces and some brave phrases. We like to think that “I’m okay and you’re okay.” We like to believe, “You are perfect just the way you are.” We like to tell ourselves that we are basically good people who just make a few mistakes along the way. Yet, when we examine our lives, we know this isn’t the case. When we really think about how we act and what we do, we know that we hold everyone else to a standard that we ourselves don’t even live up to. Maybe this is why we try to keep ourselves so busy these days. Maybe this is why we work so hard and play so hard and keep our brains engaged with our cell phones. The more we distract ourselves, the more we don’t have to think and reflect upon who we are and why the world is the way it is. The more we distract ourselves, the more we don’t have to reflect upon how indebted to God that we are because of our shortcomings.
But here is the good news. When every other world religion would say, “Try harder. Work harder. Pay your own debt. Do more good than evil.” Christianity says: God, knowing that we could not cover the debt, took on human flesh, became like us, experienced all that we experience, but lived without sin. God came down in human flesh and became the sacrifice of atonement to pay our debt. God came down in human flesh and took the punishment that was meant for us because God loved us so dearly.
Some may quibble at this thought, but what parent doesn’t do this for his or her young children? If your kids were walking in the store and they accidentally broke an item on the shelf, would you allow your kid to be arrested and charged with vandalism? No, you would pay for the item because you love your kid. God desires all people to be His children, so He came into this world to cancel our debts–to pay for them Himself by taking the wrath of God upon Himself so that we would not have to face it.
This is what Jesus spent His whole life teaching and preaching. This is what Jesus spent His whole ministry working toward. His life was one great trajectory toward the cross where He justified us before God the Father. Christianity says: you do not justify yourself; God the Son justifies you–makes you right by His actions. You are made right with God by grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God set forward as a sacrifice of atonement effective through faith. This means, you are now made right with God by trusting in what Jesus does instead of what you do. Let me say that again: you do not justify yourself like the world demands you do. Instead, you are justified by Jesus’ on the cross.
This is not the way the world works. This is not the way every other world religion works. It is contrary to almost everything we have been taught. Who would come up with such a scheme that is so contrary; that is so backwards? It’s crazy and would have been rejected if not for one thing:
The resurrection.
I bet you were wondering when I would actually get to why we are here today. I bet you were wondering when we would get to the empty tomb. Well, here it is. You see, the resurrection is the Father’s stamp that says, “You see. Everything that Jesus said was true. Everything He said about being the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world; everything He said about being the Son of God; everything that He said about salvation coming through Him as the way, the truth, and the life; everything that He said about being the light of the world; yeah, all of it is true. All of it.
This means you don’t put your hope in your actions.
You don’t put your hope in your ability to do good things.
You don’t put your hope in your ability to follow the rules and laws in the Bible.
You don’t put your hope in the world telling you to justify yourself.
You put your hope in Jesus.
You put your hope in what He has done.
You put your hope in the cross and in the resurrection.
You trust in Jesus, not in yourself.
Oh, and that is so hard. It is so hard to trust in someone else. It is so much more instinctual to pave our own way; to walk our own path; to take everything into our own hands and do it ourselves. It is so much more instinctual and in accord with the world to present our own defense; argue our own case; present why we should be in the right; to justify ourselves. In fact, we keep wanting to go back to that. We keep wanting to do it all on our own. We need to have the gospel beat into our heads continually. Where is that baseball bat?
No. We don’t need that baseball bat. We need Jesus. We need to be reminded about Him. We need to hear over and over and over again how much He loves us. We need to hear over and over again how He was willing to suffer and die for us. We need to hear over and over again how He loves us when we are unlovable. For as we hear about how He died and rose for us; as we think about the cross and resurrection, as we think about Jesus, He moves down into our hearts and makes His home deep within us bringing us peace; bringing us hope; bringing us joy. It’s Jesus who changes us; not helicopters; not 20,000 Easter eggs; not lights and smoke; not even ourselves. Just Jesus.
Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, give us Jesus. We know He is alive. We know He has risen from the dead. We know He longs to dwell in our hearts. Lead us to trust in Him. Beat it into our heads that we can trust in Him instead of ourselves. And lead us to the hope, peace, and joy that is only found in the cross and resurrection. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Monday, April 3, 2017
Expect to Suffer: Romans 8:18-25
Today we tackle one of the pervasive lies that has been spread about Christianity. It’s a lie that actually has great appeal, and there are many churches who have grown very, very large because of that lie. It’s a lie that captures the imagination because it feeds our need and desire to be safe, secure, and have control over our lives. It is the lie that says: if you become a Christian, then you will never suffer and you will only have blessing upon blessing in this life; things will always turn out great for you; you will find yourself healthy, wealthy, and with fantastic relationships. In a word: no. This message is not the message of Christianity. It incorporates part of the Christian message, but it misses the entire message, and it can have very negative effects.
Why would I say that? More than a few times I have counseled people who have held this particular understanding of Christianity. Their lives were going along swimmingly; fantastic. They were riding huge waves and enjoying life, but then a monkey wrench was thrown into their plans: maybe it was the loss of a job; maybe it was a diagnosis of cancer; maybe their spouse filed for divorce. Suddenly, their entire view of the faith came crashing down. Every time, the same questions are asked: Why is this happening? I thought I was doing everything right? I thought my faith was strong? Why is God allowing this to happen to me? Why do I have to suffer?
At this point, it is hard to undo what has been done to this person theologically. It’s hard to go back to the very beginning and deal with the problem that nearly every person on this planet has to deal with: the problem of suffering. It’s hard to look a person in the eye who expects God to protect them from suffering and tell them: when you become a Christian, you should not expect to avoid suffering. In fact, when you become a Christian, you should expect to suffer.
This is exactly what St. Paul was getting at when he ended his teaching on what it meant to be a child of God with these words, “...if, in fact, we suffer with Jesus so that we may also be glorified with him.” Paul is hearkening back to earlier in the book of Romans when he talks about Jesus as our representative. He is going back to the thought that when we are joined to Jesus in baptism, whatever happens to Jesus happens to us. Jesus died, therefore, we have died and we will die. Jesus was raised from the dead, therefore we have already experienced the resurrection and one day we will be raised from the dead. What Paul didn’t go into earlier in the book of Romans, he begins going into now: Jesus suffered, therefore, we also suffer. If what happened to Jesus happens to us, then we can expect suffering just like Jesus suffered.
This oftentimes raises an important question: why did Jesus have to suffer? There are actually two reasons, one that applies to us and one that doesn’t. We’ll take the one that doesn’t first. One reason Jesus suffered is for the redemption of the world. Jesus became the sacrifice of atonement to make us right with God. When he suffered on the cross, he had heaped upon him the sins of the world–your sin, my sin. He faced God’s punishment for those sins on our behalf, and he suffered for us. This is not the suffering we face. We face the second type of suffering–the suffering that comes by living in a world where the power of sin is still operative. Remember, sin is not just the things that we do. Sin is also a power that is unleashed and is working in the world. It is corrupting the world, and it is corrupting us. Jesus entered into the world, and sin did its best to corrupt him. Sin did its best to turn him away from the Father. Sin tried many and various things to corrupt him: it appealed to pride and power; it made Jesus face death; it brought persecution upon him; it confronted him with disease and demonic power; it unleashed the fury of nature; and Jesus faced it all. Jesus experienced the suffering that the power of sin has in the world. And if Jesus experienced this, we can expect it as well. Sin will unleash its power upon us to try and corrupt us and alienate us from our heavenly Father. We can expect to suffer.
And the question is: is it worth it? Is it worth going through this suffering? Is it worth it to deal with the headaches and heartaches? Is it worth facing disease and the death of our bodies? Is it worth having people make fun of us? Is it worth it to deal with the fallen nature of humanity and turn the other cheek? Is it worth it to stand on principle and face alienation?
Paul answers that question next: 18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. When my children were younger and had to get their vaccination shots, Dawna and I promised them: if you hang in there and don’t fight, we will get you an ice cream cone at Dairy Queen. My kids dreaded those shots. They didn’t want the needles and the injections of the medicines that burned going in. But they knew there was something at the end that was better. They knew there was something they could look forward to. They knew that there was something great to be had if they made it through the pain. This was a very effective plan on Dawna’s and my part until our youngest came along and decided that he didn’t like ice cream. Thankfully, he liked french fries...
But I digress. Paul is essentially making the same point. He is saying: compare what you are going through now with the reality that will come later. What happens down the road; what happens when the glory of God is revealed will make these sufferings pale in comparison. When we enter into the fullness of the promises of God, everything that we have experienced will become clear. Everything that we have experienced will fade into a distant memory. We will look back and say, “Man, that wasn’t fun, but I get it now, and I wouldn’t trade it in the least because what I know now and experience now puts that into perspective.”
Paul then adds, that the entire creation is watching us and what God is doing in us as He redeems us: 19For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; 20for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. You see, the creation is also infected by the power of sin. Creation is not what it was meant to be. I know that many people look at nature and see beauty and wonder and that “everything works in harmony.” Well, if harmony means that there is a constant battle for survival–that the rule of thumb is kill or die, then I guess nature is indeed a thing of beauty. Folks who think nature is just wonderful or beautiful are observing it from civilization and for only small glimpses. They are not seeing prey trying to avoid predators. They are not seeing plants raising their defenses against infestations. They are not seeing how everything in nature is simply trying to survive. And despite nature’s best efforts, things still die. Things still decay. This is not the way God intended nature to be. And in this snippet, Paul personifies nature. He indicates that nature has some sort of awareness and consciousness. He indicates like others who wrote Scripture before that nature is longing for redemption. And Paul says that nature is looking for the children of God to emerge. Nature is looking for us because it can then see that the process of redemption is underway. It can see that the battle it is currently engaged in will have an ending. Its suffering will one day end as well. There is something to look forward to.
This is probably why Paul turns to the next analogy: 22We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; 23and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. I’ve never been through labor. I don’t want to go through labor. I watched Dawna go through it and then end up having an emergency C-section. No thanks. You ladies are wonders of God’s creation when it comes to birth. I didn’t have to go through it to see that labor pains suck. And if there weren’t some sort of pay-off in the end, I’m not sure anyone would ever endure them. If there weren’t a baby wrapped in warm cloths handed to you after all was said and done, no one would purposely endure them. But when your child is placed in your hands and you look at that child’s beauty and marvel at this new life, all that pain becomes worth it. All that agony fades into a distant memory. This is what was waited for. This is what was anticipated. Moaning and groaning is proper when going through the process, but when all is said and done...there is joy–pure, unadulterated joy. Paul says we are still in the labor process. The full redemption of our bodies and this world has not happened yet, but the process has begun. Our suffering is a part of that process, and Paul gives us the antidote to help us through it.
24For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. You see, hope is the antidote. We know there is something at the end. We do not have it yet, but we know it is coming. We know that it is just around the corner. Dawna and I adopted a rather interesting method of giving our children birthday presents. Rather than go out and choose something for them, we take them to the store and allow them to choose their gift. As their birthdays approach, they become more and more excited. They generally know what they are going to pick out ahead of time. They generally know what gift they will choose, but they don’t have it yet. It’s not in their possession yet, and so they live in hope. They live in expectation. They live with growing excitement as each and every day brings them closer to their birthday. If they already had their present in hand; if they had already received it long before their birthday, they wouldn’t have the excitement. They wouldn’t have the hope. They wouldn’t have anything to look forward to. But because it is not in their possession yet, they have hope. They know it’s coming; they know our promise is secure; so they patiently and excitedly wait.
This is exactly what we do as Christians as well. We have a sure and lasting hope. We have a sure and lasting promise. We don’t have it yet. But it is coming. Each day draws us closer. Each day is one more step toward the full redemption of this world and our bodies. Each day brings us closer to the promised resurrection and fullness of joy of being in the presence of our Father, our Daddy as Paul reminded us last week. We long for it, but we are patient as we wait. We endure the sufferings of this world because we know there is more to come. And we look to the author and perfecter of our faith as we do so.
Jesus is extremely crucial to this whole process. In fact, it is Jesus death on the cross and subsequent resurrection that is in Paul’s mind as he writes these words. You cannot have the resurrection without the cross, and you cannot have the cross without the resurrection. They both go hand in hand. They both must be held in tension. Both provide the Christian with the answer as to whether or not suffering is worth it, and the answer is a resounding yes. The cross shows that God is not above our suffering; God is not removed from our suffering. God suffers with us and like us. God knows pain. God knows agony. God knows injustice and hatred. God knows what it is like to die. God has experienced it with us. Yes, God understands our suffering because He’s been through it himself. And if God didn’t prevent Himself from suffering, we should not be surprised when He doesn’t prevent us from suffering. There is more to the equation: there is resurrection. There is re-birth. There is renewal. The resurrection is the promised hope. It is what we can look forward to–a new body free of pain, injury, hunger, want; a new body that will never die; a new body that will experience the love and fulfillment of God.
We must not be fooled by anything that minimizes the cross or the resurrection. We must not be led astray into accepting any form of Christianity that promises that we will never suffer or that our hope is in something less than resurrection. We must not lead people astray and offer them false hope. When we become Christians, we will suffer. That is a given, but we can endure because we also know what is in store. We know that there is resurrection in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Why would I say that? More than a few times I have counseled people who have held this particular understanding of Christianity. Their lives were going along swimmingly; fantastic. They were riding huge waves and enjoying life, but then a monkey wrench was thrown into their plans: maybe it was the loss of a job; maybe it was a diagnosis of cancer; maybe their spouse filed for divorce. Suddenly, their entire view of the faith came crashing down. Every time, the same questions are asked: Why is this happening? I thought I was doing everything right? I thought my faith was strong? Why is God allowing this to happen to me? Why do I have to suffer?
At this point, it is hard to undo what has been done to this person theologically. It’s hard to go back to the very beginning and deal with the problem that nearly every person on this planet has to deal with: the problem of suffering. It’s hard to look a person in the eye who expects God to protect them from suffering and tell them: when you become a Christian, you should not expect to avoid suffering. In fact, when you become a Christian, you should expect to suffer.
This is exactly what St. Paul was getting at when he ended his teaching on what it meant to be a child of God with these words, “...if, in fact, we suffer with Jesus so that we may also be glorified with him.” Paul is hearkening back to earlier in the book of Romans when he talks about Jesus as our representative. He is going back to the thought that when we are joined to Jesus in baptism, whatever happens to Jesus happens to us. Jesus died, therefore, we have died and we will die. Jesus was raised from the dead, therefore we have already experienced the resurrection and one day we will be raised from the dead. What Paul didn’t go into earlier in the book of Romans, he begins going into now: Jesus suffered, therefore, we also suffer. If what happened to Jesus happens to us, then we can expect suffering just like Jesus suffered.
This oftentimes raises an important question: why did Jesus have to suffer? There are actually two reasons, one that applies to us and one that doesn’t. We’ll take the one that doesn’t first. One reason Jesus suffered is for the redemption of the world. Jesus became the sacrifice of atonement to make us right with God. When he suffered on the cross, he had heaped upon him the sins of the world–your sin, my sin. He faced God’s punishment for those sins on our behalf, and he suffered for us. This is not the suffering we face. We face the second type of suffering–the suffering that comes by living in a world where the power of sin is still operative. Remember, sin is not just the things that we do. Sin is also a power that is unleashed and is working in the world. It is corrupting the world, and it is corrupting us. Jesus entered into the world, and sin did its best to corrupt him. Sin did its best to turn him away from the Father. Sin tried many and various things to corrupt him: it appealed to pride and power; it made Jesus face death; it brought persecution upon him; it confronted him with disease and demonic power; it unleashed the fury of nature; and Jesus faced it all. Jesus experienced the suffering that the power of sin has in the world. And if Jesus experienced this, we can expect it as well. Sin will unleash its power upon us to try and corrupt us and alienate us from our heavenly Father. We can expect to suffer.
And the question is: is it worth it? Is it worth going through this suffering? Is it worth it to deal with the headaches and heartaches? Is it worth facing disease and the death of our bodies? Is it worth having people make fun of us? Is it worth it to deal with the fallen nature of humanity and turn the other cheek? Is it worth it to stand on principle and face alienation?
Paul answers that question next: 18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. When my children were younger and had to get their vaccination shots, Dawna and I promised them: if you hang in there and don’t fight, we will get you an ice cream cone at Dairy Queen. My kids dreaded those shots. They didn’t want the needles and the injections of the medicines that burned going in. But they knew there was something at the end that was better. They knew there was something they could look forward to. They knew that there was something great to be had if they made it through the pain. This was a very effective plan on Dawna’s and my part until our youngest came along and decided that he didn’t like ice cream. Thankfully, he liked french fries...
But I digress. Paul is essentially making the same point. He is saying: compare what you are going through now with the reality that will come later. What happens down the road; what happens when the glory of God is revealed will make these sufferings pale in comparison. When we enter into the fullness of the promises of God, everything that we have experienced will become clear. Everything that we have experienced will fade into a distant memory. We will look back and say, “Man, that wasn’t fun, but I get it now, and I wouldn’t trade it in the least because what I know now and experience now puts that into perspective.”
Paul then adds, that the entire creation is watching us and what God is doing in us as He redeems us: 19For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; 20for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. You see, the creation is also infected by the power of sin. Creation is not what it was meant to be. I know that many people look at nature and see beauty and wonder and that “everything works in harmony.” Well, if harmony means that there is a constant battle for survival–that the rule of thumb is kill or die, then I guess nature is indeed a thing of beauty. Folks who think nature is just wonderful or beautiful are observing it from civilization and for only small glimpses. They are not seeing prey trying to avoid predators. They are not seeing plants raising their defenses against infestations. They are not seeing how everything in nature is simply trying to survive. And despite nature’s best efforts, things still die. Things still decay. This is not the way God intended nature to be. And in this snippet, Paul personifies nature. He indicates that nature has some sort of awareness and consciousness. He indicates like others who wrote Scripture before that nature is longing for redemption. And Paul says that nature is looking for the children of God to emerge. Nature is looking for us because it can then see that the process of redemption is underway. It can see that the battle it is currently engaged in will have an ending. Its suffering will one day end as well. There is something to look forward to.
This is probably why Paul turns to the next analogy: 22We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; 23and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. I’ve never been through labor. I don’t want to go through labor. I watched Dawna go through it and then end up having an emergency C-section. No thanks. You ladies are wonders of God’s creation when it comes to birth. I didn’t have to go through it to see that labor pains suck. And if there weren’t some sort of pay-off in the end, I’m not sure anyone would ever endure them. If there weren’t a baby wrapped in warm cloths handed to you after all was said and done, no one would purposely endure them. But when your child is placed in your hands and you look at that child’s beauty and marvel at this new life, all that pain becomes worth it. All that agony fades into a distant memory. This is what was waited for. This is what was anticipated. Moaning and groaning is proper when going through the process, but when all is said and done...there is joy–pure, unadulterated joy. Paul says we are still in the labor process. The full redemption of our bodies and this world has not happened yet, but the process has begun. Our suffering is a part of that process, and Paul gives us the antidote to help us through it.
24For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. You see, hope is the antidote. We know there is something at the end. We do not have it yet, but we know it is coming. We know that it is just around the corner. Dawna and I adopted a rather interesting method of giving our children birthday presents. Rather than go out and choose something for them, we take them to the store and allow them to choose their gift. As their birthdays approach, they become more and more excited. They generally know what they are going to pick out ahead of time. They generally know what gift they will choose, but they don’t have it yet. It’s not in their possession yet, and so they live in hope. They live in expectation. They live with growing excitement as each and every day brings them closer to their birthday. If they already had their present in hand; if they had already received it long before their birthday, they wouldn’t have the excitement. They wouldn’t have the hope. They wouldn’t have anything to look forward to. But because it is not in their possession yet, they have hope. They know it’s coming; they know our promise is secure; so they patiently and excitedly wait.
This is exactly what we do as Christians as well. We have a sure and lasting hope. We have a sure and lasting promise. We don’t have it yet. But it is coming. Each day draws us closer. Each day is one more step toward the full redemption of this world and our bodies. Each day brings us closer to the promised resurrection and fullness of joy of being in the presence of our Father, our Daddy as Paul reminded us last week. We long for it, but we are patient as we wait. We endure the sufferings of this world because we know there is more to come. And we look to the author and perfecter of our faith as we do so.
Jesus is extremely crucial to this whole process. In fact, it is Jesus death on the cross and subsequent resurrection that is in Paul’s mind as he writes these words. You cannot have the resurrection without the cross, and you cannot have the cross without the resurrection. They both go hand in hand. They both must be held in tension. Both provide the Christian with the answer as to whether or not suffering is worth it, and the answer is a resounding yes. The cross shows that God is not above our suffering; God is not removed from our suffering. God suffers with us and like us. God knows pain. God knows agony. God knows injustice and hatred. God knows what it is like to die. God has experienced it with us. Yes, God understands our suffering because He’s been through it himself. And if God didn’t prevent Himself from suffering, we should not be surprised when He doesn’t prevent us from suffering. There is more to the equation: there is resurrection. There is re-birth. There is renewal. The resurrection is the promised hope. It is what we can look forward to–a new body free of pain, injury, hunger, want; a new body that will never die; a new body that will experience the love and fulfillment of God.
We must not be fooled by anything that minimizes the cross or the resurrection. We must not be led astray into accepting any form of Christianity that promises that we will never suffer or that our hope is in something less than resurrection. We must not lead people astray and offer them false hope. When we become Christians, we will suffer. That is a given, but we can endure because we also know what is in store. We know that there is resurrection in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Monday, July 25, 2016
An Embarrasing Ending
This week at church camp was tremendous. Our young folks accounted themselves well as they learned and grew with others–learning about Superhero faith. I won’t bore you with all the details, but I will share with you this morning one fascinating thing I observed. One of the Bible readings on the Wednesday of camp was our Gospel reading from the book of Mark–the resurrection story of Jesus. It was read no less than three times that day: at morning worship; during Bible study; and at evening worship. And every time the lesson was read, verse eight was omitted. I can’t say that I necessarily blame them for omitting it. It’s rather embarrassing.
“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.”
What in the world is wrong with the gospel writer? I mean, who in their right mind would stop right here at the end of this story? Who in their right mind would quit with the women hiding in terror after what they had seen and heard? Who in their right mind would stop without having Jesus appear and talk to the disciples; let them know that He is indeed risen; and send them out to proclaim the news? Who in their right mind would stop right here? It’s embarrassing.
Indeed, several commentaries I consulted this week said that Mark must have had a longer ending. They believe that the early manuscripts were either mutilated or had pages lost. Mark could not have ended right here. In fact, later scribes even took it upon themselves to add endings to the book of Mark. If you want to have a little bit of fun, you can check out a good study Bible, and they will have two separate endings for the book of Mark available for you to see.
Some of you might ask, “How do you know that someone else added them? When I took Greek, we translated a huge portion of the book of Mark. When you get a chance to study someone’s writing style, you get a chance to see how they write, and you can definitely tell when someone else is being quoted or is writing. In the Greek text, it is blatantly obvious that whoever wrote the two endings attributed to Mark is not Mark. The earliest texts that we have end at verse eight. They told no one because they were afraid.
This is not the Easter message that we are accustomed to. This is not where we like to end up. The Christian faith has a huge mandate to tell the good news that Christ is risen not to cower in fear. I mean, without the resurrection, Jesus would probably have been less than a footnote in the pages of history.
William Lane says this in his commentary, “Were it not for the resurrection, Jesus of Nazareth might have appeared as no more than a line in Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews, if he were mentioned at all. The witness of the four Gospels is unequivocal that following the crucifixion Jesus’ disciples were scattered, their hopes shattered by the course of events. What halted the dissolution of the messianic movement centered in Jesus was the resurrection. It is the resurrection which creates, ‘the good news concerning Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.’”
It would seem that Mark would have known this and would have written accordingly. But maybe, just maybe he did. For you see, as I have preached through this book, I have come to see Mark as a literary genius. Each story has built upon the previous one. Each story is deeply rooted and grounded in the Old Testament understanding of the Messiah. Throughout the Gospel stories and words are chosen to bring things together into a brilliant message of the revelation of Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah who has given His life as a ransom for many. There is a method to Mark’s madness that culminates in a brilliant ending. Let’s look at that ending now.
First, Mark tells us about the women who come to the tomb early in the morning, just after sunrise to bring spices to anoint Jesus’ body. It was customary for Jews to bury their dead and put a lot of spices and fragrant oils around the body as the body decomposed. After a year, relatives or friends would enter the tomb and collect the bones and put them into an ossuary or bone box. The spices and oils helped mask the smell of the decomposing body. Because Jesus’ body was buried with haste these spices and oils were not put upon him. The women came to give Him one last dignity.
But they were presented with a problem: a large stone had been rolled into place to cover the opening of the tomb. Presumably it was so large and difficult to move that these women would not be able to do that by themselves. They were going to need some help, and it is highly probable they were expecting a gardener or someone of the same sort to be there to help them.
What they discovered, however, was completely unexpected. The stone was rolled away. This caused them no small amount of consternation. They entered the tomb unsure of what they might find.
Much to their surprise, they find a young man seated on the right hand side in the tomb. Now, several weeks ago, when I preached on the betrayal scene in the Garden of Gethsemane, we also saw Mark tell us about a young man who was in the garden. This was a “neoniskus.” The Greek word connoted someone who was strong, handsome, vital, and brave. Mark also informed us that this young man was wealthy as he wore a linen robe. This “neoniskus” was last seen fleeing from the Garden of Gesthemane naked; his robe in the hands of those who were sent to arrest Jesus. All of the young man’s courage, wealth, looks, vitality, and strength were nothing. All of these things failed him as he raced away naked, alone, and embarrassed.
I don’t think it coincidence that Mark uses the same word to describe this young man at the tomb. Mark is not one who uses coincidence. There is a definite reason the “neoniskus” reappears because there is a stark contrast to the time we saw him before. Now, this “young man” is seated; fully clothed in white, calm, collected, and seated in a position of power and authority. He is no longer running or scared. Something has happened to transform him mightily. What could that have been?
You know the answer. He has met the resurrected Jesus, and he now tells the women exactly what has happened. “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.”
The women flee. They do not walk away in a state of euphoria. They do not marvel at this news in some sort of holy stupor. They run!! Terror and amazement had seized them, and they told no one!! They told no one.
Why? Why wouldn’t they have told anyone? This is madness. If Jesus truly is raised from the dead, then hope is restored. The news that the Kingdom of God was at hand is powerfully relevant. That proclamation did not die with Jesus upon the cross. God is indeed on the move! Why aren’t they sharing this?
Scholars pose several reasons. One is that the women believed that the end judgement was at hand. For if Jesus had been resurrected, then this was the beginning of the immanent and promised resurrection of the dead–when God would render His final judgement. It was a time to be dreaded and feared. The women were cowering because they believed this event was unfolding before their very eyes. This interpretation could be very true.
But now, let me share you Mark Edwards’ take on this from His commentary:
It is an encounter with the resurrected Lord, not the empty tomb that produces faith. The resurrection does not magically dispel fear and cowardice, transforming fallible human characters into faithful disciples. Faithful discipleship consists of following Jesus, not contemplating doing so; acting courageously on his behalf, not standing on the sidelines and watching...Throughout the Gospel, Mark has warned that signs, miracles, and portents do not evoke faith (8:11-13). The same note persists at the resurrection, the greatest of all signs: even the visitation of angels at the empty tomb fails to produce faith. Faith comes rather through hearing the gospel and personal encounter with the One who was crucified and is now raised from the dead. Even at the close of the story, the human characters fail the divine will: in his earthly ministry, Jesus commanded people to silence, and they spoke; in his resurrected state, the women are commanded to speak, and they flee in silence!
It is the resurrected Lord, not the empty tomb that produces faith.
It is the resurrected Lord, not the empty tomb that produces faith.
It is the resurrected Lord, not the empty tomb that produces faith.
The women had seen the empty tomb. They had been told that Jesus was risen from the dead, but they had had no encounter with the risen Lord. They had not come to faith. They would eventually, by the way, but at this moment in time, faith was an impossibility. It went against all rational judgement. It went against all they had ever known. It went against all they had ever been taught and all they had ever assumed. If indeed Jesus was raised from the dead, everything was now different.
Everything was already different for that “neoniskus”. His entire life was different. No longer naked, ashamed and embarrassed; no longer fleeing for his life while deserting Jesus; he is now clothed, sitting with power, and sharing the good news. He has been transformed from head to toe, from inside to out. He has encountered the risen Lord.
Mark leaves us with a stark contrast between the young man who had encountered the risen Christ and the women who had not. He leaves us hanging by a thread asking us to consider, “Who is going to go and tell the news? Who is going to tell others about what Jesus has accomplished? Who is left who has seen Jesus heal the sick and make the lame to walk? Who is left who has heard of Jesus calming the storm and feeding the multitudes? Who is left who saw Jesus transfigured on the hill with the voice from heaven confirming that Jesus is God’s Son? Who is left to tell of how Jesus came to give His life as a ransom to many? Who is left to stand at the foot of the cross as the Roman centurion did and say, “This truly is God’s Son.”? Who is left to tell of the empty tomb and the resurrection to new life?
Who is left to tell the world that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him? Who is left who knows these things; who has encountered the risen Christ; and who will now proclaim?
The answer, my brothers and sisters is: you and me. You and I have traveled through these stories. You and I have seen and heard what Jesus has done. You and I have witnessed these events through the eyes of Mark. And now, we must ask ourselves: have we encountered the risen Jesus? Have we encountered the One who died for us? Have we encountered the one who has saved us and forgiven us from our sins? Have we been clothed with new garments, had our shame removed, and filled with power?
If you profess Jesus as your Lord and Savior; if you have encountered the risen Jesus, it is now up to you and me to write the end of Mark’s Gospel. It is now up to you and me to move into the world to tell others what Jesus has done. It is now up to you and me to invite others into a relationship with the living Lord. The women were amazed and terrified. They told no one. May we have the courage to do differently. Amen.
“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.”
What in the world is wrong with the gospel writer? I mean, who in their right mind would stop right here at the end of this story? Who in their right mind would quit with the women hiding in terror after what they had seen and heard? Who in their right mind would stop without having Jesus appear and talk to the disciples; let them know that He is indeed risen; and send them out to proclaim the news? Who in their right mind would stop right here? It’s embarrassing.
Indeed, several commentaries I consulted this week said that Mark must have had a longer ending. They believe that the early manuscripts were either mutilated or had pages lost. Mark could not have ended right here. In fact, later scribes even took it upon themselves to add endings to the book of Mark. If you want to have a little bit of fun, you can check out a good study Bible, and they will have two separate endings for the book of Mark available for you to see.
Some of you might ask, “How do you know that someone else added them? When I took Greek, we translated a huge portion of the book of Mark. When you get a chance to study someone’s writing style, you get a chance to see how they write, and you can definitely tell when someone else is being quoted or is writing. In the Greek text, it is blatantly obvious that whoever wrote the two endings attributed to Mark is not Mark. The earliest texts that we have end at verse eight. They told no one because they were afraid.
This is not the Easter message that we are accustomed to. This is not where we like to end up. The Christian faith has a huge mandate to tell the good news that Christ is risen not to cower in fear. I mean, without the resurrection, Jesus would probably have been less than a footnote in the pages of history.
William Lane says this in his commentary, “Were it not for the resurrection, Jesus of Nazareth might have appeared as no more than a line in Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews, if he were mentioned at all. The witness of the four Gospels is unequivocal that following the crucifixion Jesus’ disciples were scattered, their hopes shattered by the course of events. What halted the dissolution of the messianic movement centered in Jesus was the resurrection. It is the resurrection which creates, ‘the good news concerning Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.’”
It would seem that Mark would have known this and would have written accordingly. But maybe, just maybe he did. For you see, as I have preached through this book, I have come to see Mark as a literary genius. Each story has built upon the previous one. Each story is deeply rooted and grounded in the Old Testament understanding of the Messiah. Throughout the Gospel stories and words are chosen to bring things together into a brilliant message of the revelation of Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah who has given His life as a ransom for many. There is a method to Mark’s madness that culminates in a brilliant ending. Let’s look at that ending now.
First, Mark tells us about the women who come to the tomb early in the morning, just after sunrise to bring spices to anoint Jesus’ body. It was customary for Jews to bury their dead and put a lot of spices and fragrant oils around the body as the body decomposed. After a year, relatives or friends would enter the tomb and collect the bones and put them into an ossuary or bone box. The spices and oils helped mask the smell of the decomposing body. Because Jesus’ body was buried with haste these spices and oils were not put upon him. The women came to give Him one last dignity.
But they were presented with a problem: a large stone had been rolled into place to cover the opening of the tomb. Presumably it was so large and difficult to move that these women would not be able to do that by themselves. They were going to need some help, and it is highly probable they were expecting a gardener or someone of the same sort to be there to help them.
What they discovered, however, was completely unexpected. The stone was rolled away. This caused them no small amount of consternation. They entered the tomb unsure of what they might find.
Much to their surprise, they find a young man seated on the right hand side in the tomb. Now, several weeks ago, when I preached on the betrayal scene in the Garden of Gethsemane, we also saw Mark tell us about a young man who was in the garden. This was a “neoniskus.” The Greek word connoted someone who was strong, handsome, vital, and brave. Mark also informed us that this young man was wealthy as he wore a linen robe. This “neoniskus” was last seen fleeing from the Garden of Gesthemane naked; his robe in the hands of those who were sent to arrest Jesus. All of the young man’s courage, wealth, looks, vitality, and strength were nothing. All of these things failed him as he raced away naked, alone, and embarrassed.
I don’t think it coincidence that Mark uses the same word to describe this young man at the tomb. Mark is not one who uses coincidence. There is a definite reason the “neoniskus” reappears because there is a stark contrast to the time we saw him before. Now, this “young man” is seated; fully clothed in white, calm, collected, and seated in a position of power and authority. He is no longer running or scared. Something has happened to transform him mightily. What could that have been?
You know the answer. He has met the resurrected Jesus, and he now tells the women exactly what has happened. “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.”
The women flee. They do not walk away in a state of euphoria. They do not marvel at this news in some sort of holy stupor. They run!! Terror and amazement had seized them, and they told no one!! They told no one.
Why? Why wouldn’t they have told anyone? This is madness. If Jesus truly is raised from the dead, then hope is restored. The news that the Kingdom of God was at hand is powerfully relevant. That proclamation did not die with Jesus upon the cross. God is indeed on the move! Why aren’t they sharing this?
Scholars pose several reasons. One is that the women believed that the end judgement was at hand. For if Jesus had been resurrected, then this was the beginning of the immanent and promised resurrection of the dead–when God would render His final judgement. It was a time to be dreaded and feared. The women were cowering because they believed this event was unfolding before their very eyes. This interpretation could be very true.
But now, let me share you Mark Edwards’ take on this from His commentary:
It is an encounter with the resurrected Lord, not the empty tomb that produces faith. The resurrection does not magically dispel fear and cowardice, transforming fallible human characters into faithful disciples. Faithful discipleship consists of following Jesus, not contemplating doing so; acting courageously on his behalf, not standing on the sidelines and watching...Throughout the Gospel, Mark has warned that signs, miracles, and portents do not evoke faith (8:11-13). The same note persists at the resurrection, the greatest of all signs: even the visitation of angels at the empty tomb fails to produce faith. Faith comes rather through hearing the gospel and personal encounter with the One who was crucified and is now raised from the dead. Even at the close of the story, the human characters fail the divine will: in his earthly ministry, Jesus commanded people to silence, and they spoke; in his resurrected state, the women are commanded to speak, and they flee in silence!
It is the resurrected Lord, not the empty tomb that produces faith.
It is the resurrected Lord, not the empty tomb that produces faith.
It is the resurrected Lord, not the empty tomb that produces faith.
The women had seen the empty tomb. They had been told that Jesus was risen from the dead, but they had had no encounter with the risen Lord. They had not come to faith. They would eventually, by the way, but at this moment in time, faith was an impossibility. It went against all rational judgement. It went against all they had ever known. It went against all they had ever been taught and all they had ever assumed. If indeed Jesus was raised from the dead, everything was now different.
Everything was already different for that “neoniskus”. His entire life was different. No longer naked, ashamed and embarrassed; no longer fleeing for his life while deserting Jesus; he is now clothed, sitting with power, and sharing the good news. He has been transformed from head to toe, from inside to out. He has encountered the risen Lord.
Mark leaves us with a stark contrast between the young man who had encountered the risen Christ and the women who had not. He leaves us hanging by a thread asking us to consider, “Who is going to go and tell the news? Who is going to tell others about what Jesus has accomplished? Who is left who has seen Jesus heal the sick and make the lame to walk? Who is left who has heard of Jesus calming the storm and feeding the multitudes? Who is left who saw Jesus transfigured on the hill with the voice from heaven confirming that Jesus is God’s Son? Who is left to tell of how Jesus came to give His life as a ransom to many? Who is left to stand at the foot of the cross as the Roman centurion did and say, “This truly is God’s Son.”? Who is left to tell of the empty tomb and the resurrection to new life?
Who is left to tell the world that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him? Who is left who knows these things; who has encountered the risen Christ; and who will now proclaim?
The answer, my brothers and sisters is: you and me. You and I have traveled through these stories. You and I have seen and heard what Jesus has done. You and I have witnessed these events through the eyes of Mark. And now, we must ask ourselves: have we encountered the risen Jesus? Have we encountered the One who died for us? Have we encountered the one who has saved us and forgiven us from our sins? Have we been clothed with new garments, had our shame removed, and filled with power?
If you profess Jesus as your Lord and Savior; if you have encountered the risen Jesus, it is now up to you and me to write the end of Mark’s Gospel. It is now up to you and me to move into the world to tell others what Jesus has done. It is now up to you and me to invite others into a relationship with the living Lord. The women were amazed and terrified. They told no one. May we have the courage to do differently. Amen.
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
What Changes Insanity into Sanity?
In a very real way, I think you have to be somewhat insane to be a Christian.
Now, if you think that Christianity is basically like all other religions that try to simply tell us to be kind to each other and do the right thing so that we can achieve some sort of eternal life, then I probably offended you with that statement. I am not going to apologize.
Before you try to do me bodily harm, please hear me out. I do not say what I said lightly, and neither do I say it as someone who is outside of Christianity. In fact, I say it as one who was born and raised a Christian; who is a leader in the Christian church; and as one who works to get people to become Christians and follow Jesus. But I still say it. I think you have to be somewhat insane to be a Christian. Why would I say such a thing?
Well, let’s delve beneath the superficialities that most people ascribe to the Christian faith. Let’s delve beneath the idea that Christianity is simply a way of life that tries to get you to be kind to one another; to live morally; and to somehow end up in God’s good graces so that you can live forever. Let’s examine the reality of what Christianity entails and the things that our founder, Jesus of Nazareth taught and claimed. Let’s look at these things, not as those who have heard them watered down and explained away, but as if we were hearing them for the first time. Mind you, at this point, I am going to be quoting Jesus directly. If you disagree with what I am saying, please know, you are not disagreeing with me; you are disagreeing with Jesus Himself as revealed to us in the writings of the Bible.
Let’s start off with something that is rather straight-forward. Troubling, but straight-forward. In the book of Matthew chapter five, Jesus says this, “21 ‘You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not murder”; and “whoever murders shall be liable to judgement.” 22But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgement; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, “You fool”, you will be liable to the hell of fire.” Did you catch exactly what Jesus is saying here? Did you catch how He tells you straight-forward that you cannot be angry with one another because if you are that is comparable to murder? Who in their right mind would think that simply being angry with another person and murdering a person are the same thing? Who in their right mind would think that being angry with someone deserves a first class ticket to hell? And yet, this is what Jesus taught!!! This is what our leader tells us to do!!! And this is just the beginning.
Let’s move onto something else. Let’s move to the book of Luke chapter 14 where Jesus says the following: “28For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.” 31Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. 33So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.” Again, I ask you, did you hear that last phrase that Jesus said? Did you hear Him blatantly say, “None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”? Is there any one of you here this morning who has no possessions? Is there anyone here this morning who qualifies to be a disciple? Is there anyone here this morning who can claim to follow Jesus’ teaching here? Is there anyone here this morning who will ever be able to follow this? I’m not done either.
Let me go to the Gospel of Mark chapter 8. This teaching that I am about to relay to you is found in all of the earliest Gospels–Matthew, Mark, and Luke. There is no doubt in my mind that Jesus actually said this, and He lays it out for all to consider. Here is the teaching, “34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” We’ve sanitized this statement too much throughout the years, and it has lost its power for the most part. Let me try and put it all out there for you in this way. Jesus says: give up your identity; give up your status; give up everything that you think makes you, you; give up your history, your claim to fame, your titles, the respect you believe you have earned; give up all of those things and then consider yourself a dead person walking. Believe that you are under a curse and have died to follow me. How does that sound for sanity?
Let me stop for just a moment here and say that these teachings I am putting forward from Jesus are not obscure, dig through as much as you can to find something to fit your agenda, teachings. These teachings are vintage Jesus. They are core teachings. This is what the founder of the Christian movement demanded of His followers!!! And would any sane person adhere to them?
Ah, but let me press onward for we must continue down this rabbit hole. We must continue to wrestle with such matters no matter how uncomfortable they may be making us–for if we are going to get to the truth of the matter, all of the evidence must be set before us.
For Jesus did not simply offer us these unimaginable teachings; He also claimed something unimaginable about Himself. He claimed to be God. Now, I know there are some scholars who say that Jesus did no such thing. They claim that this thought only entered into the Christian faith long after Jesus’ life and death as an embellishment, but this is simply not the fact of the matter at all. The apostle Paul is the earliest writer of Christian scripture, and in what we believe to be his final book, Philippians, Paul quotes what many scholars deem to be an early Christian hymn:
5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
7 but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
8 he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Let me point out to you this morning that Paul was born a Jew and that Christianity started off as Jewish movement. No good Jew would ever–EVER claim that a man had equality with God. This was forbidden. It was considered idolatry. It was blasphemy, and yet, in one of the earliest hymns sung by the church, Jesus is considered equal with God. The early church believed Jesus was God!!
And Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John each record Jesus’ teaching that He was indeed God come to earth. If you do not believe me, please catch me later, and I will show you how in each Gospel, Jesus is shown to be God come to earth. This was no late fabrication or embellishment. It was there from the beginning.
Why is this important? Here is why: tell me, what do we do when someone claims to be God? How do we react to someone who thinks he or she is an incarnation of God? Do we readily accept them? Do we embrace their teachings? Do we fall on our faces and worship them? What would happen to you this morning if I stood up here and claimed that I was God? You know what you’d do. You know what we do. We call such people delusional. We call them crazy. If it is in our power, we have them committed. Most people do not take them seriously in the least!!
Ah, but you may say, sometimes such people gather a following. And you are absolutely right. They do oftentimes gather a following–right up until they die or are killed. And then, nearly 100 percent of the time, the following dies out. I mean, let’s use two modern day examples: how many people do you know who claim to follow Jim Jones these days? If you don’t know who Jim Jones is, I rest my case. Or David Koresh? Any Branch Dividians that you know of? When someone who claims to be God is killed or dies, the movement dies with them. People realize the person was delusional. It has happened many, many times in history–almost every time in history.
But here is the thing: it didn’t happen with Jesus. In fact, the movement surrounding Jesus actually took off after His death!! The worship and adoration of Jesus actually increased after He died. His followers did not hesitate to pass on Jesus’ teachings–no matter how difficult they seemed or how contrary to nature they seemed. And people actually tried to follow them. People tried to deny themselves and who they were. People tried giving up their possessions. People tried living without anger and animosity toward anyone else. People proclaimed that Jesus indeed was God who came to earth even though He met His demise hanging bloody, beaten, bruised, shamed; executed on a cross.
What would cause people to do such a thing? What would cause people to become so irrational? What would cause them to try to follow such difficult, insane teachings? What would cause them to say that indeed Jesus was God and that He wasn’t lying despite His horrendous death? What would cause them to begin a movement that grew and grew and grew doing the exact opposite of every other Messianic movement until that time? What would cause these people to lay down their lives as they proclaimed, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be save through Him!”?
What would change the course of normal history and cause otherwise normal people to strive toward insane things?
It’s the reason we are here this morning.
Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Amen. Alleluia!
Now, if you think that Christianity is basically like all other religions that try to simply tell us to be kind to each other and do the right thing so that we can achieve some sort of eternal life, then I probably offended you with that statement. I am not going to apologize.
Before you try to do me bodily harm, please hear me out. I do not say what I said lightly, and neither do I say it as someone who is outside of Christianity. In fact, I say it as one who was born and raised a Christian; who is a leader in the Christian church; and as one who works to get people to become Christians and follow Jesus. But I still say it. I think you have to be somewhat insane to be a Christian. Why would I say such a thing?
Well, let’s delve beneath the superficialities that most people ascribe to the Christian faith. Let’s delve beneath the idea that Christianity is simply a way of life that tries to get you to be kind to one another; to live morally; and to somehow end up in God’s good graces so that you can live forever. Let’s examine the reality of what Christianity entails and the things that our founder, Jesus of Nazareth taught and claimed. Let’s look at these things, not as those who have heard them watered down and explained away, but as if we were hearing them for the first time. Mind you, at this point, I am going to be quoting Jesus directly. If you disagree with what I am saying, please know, you are not disagreeing with me; you are disagreeing with Jesus Himself as revealed to us in the writings of the Bible.
Let’s start off with something that is rather straight-forward. Troubling, but straight-forward. In the book of Matthew chapter five, Jesus says this, “21 ‘You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not murder”; and “whoever murders shall be liable to judgement.” 22But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgement; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, “You fool”, you will be liable to the hell of fire.” Did you catch exactly what Jesus is saying here? Did you catch how He tells you straight-forward that you cannot be angry with one another because if you are that is comparable to murder? Who in their right mind would think that simply being angry with another person and murdering a person are the same thing? Who in their right mind would think that being angry with someone deserves a first class ticket to hell? And yet, this is what Jesus taught!!! This is what our leader tells us to do!!! And this is just the beginning.
Let’s move onto something else. Let’s move to the book of Luke chapter 14 where Jesus says the following: “28For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.” 31Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. 33So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.” Again, I ask you, did you hear that last phrase that Jesus said? Did you hear Him blatantly say, “None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”? Is there any one of you here this morning who has no possessions? Is there anyone here this morning who qualifies to be a disciple? Is there anyone here this morning who can claim to follow Jesus’ teaching here? Is there anyone here this morning who will ever be able to follow this? I’m not done either.
Let me go to the Gospel of Mark chapter 8. This teaching that I am about to relay to you is found in all of the earliest Gospels–Matthew, Mark, and Luke. There is no doubt in my mind that Jesus actually said this, and He lays it out for all to consider. Here is the teaching, “34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” We’ve sanitized this statement too much throughout the years, and it has lost its power for the most part. Let me try and put it all out there for you in this way. Jesus says: give up your identity; give up your status; give up everything that you think makes you, you; give up your history, your claim to fame, your titles, the respect you believe you have earned; give up all of those things and then consider yourself a dead person walking. Believe that you are under a curse and have died to follow me. How does that sound for sanity?
Let me stop for just a moment here and say that these teachings I am putting forward from Jesus are not obscure, dig through as much as you can to find something to fit your agenda, teachings. These teachings are vintage Jesus. They are core teachings. This is what the founder of the Christian movement demanded of His followers!!! And would any sane person adhere to them?
Ah, but let me press onward for we must continue down this rabbit hole. We must continue to wrestle with such matters no matter how uncomfortable they may be making us–for if we are going to get to the truth of the matter, all of the evidence must be set before us.
For Jesus did not simply offer us these unimaginable teachings; He also claimed something unimaginable about Himself. He claimed to be God. Now, I know there are some scholars who say that Jesus did no such thing. They claim that this thought only entered into the Christian faith long after Jesus’ life and death as an embellishment, but this is simply not the fact of the matter at all. The apostle Paul is the earliest writer of Christian scripture, and in what we believe to be his final book, Philippians, Paul quotes what many scholars deem to be an early Christian hymn:
5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
7 but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
8 he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Let me point out to you this morning that Paul was born a Jew and that Christianity started off as Jewish movement. No good Jew would ever–EVER claim that a man had equality with God. This was forbidden. It was considered idolatry. It was blasphemy, and yet, in one of the earliest hymns sung by the church, Jesus is considered equal with God. The early church believed Jesus was God!!
And Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John each record Jesus’ teaching that He was indeed God come to earth. If you do not believe me, please catch me later, and I will show you how in each Gospel, Jesus is shown to be God come to earth. This was no late fabrication or embellishment. It was there from the beginning.
Why is this important? Here is why: tell me, what do we do when someone claims to be God? How do we react to someone who thinks he or she is an incarnation of God? Do we readily accept them? Do we embrace their teachings? Do we fall on our faces and worship them? What would happen to you this morning if I stood up here and claimed that I was God? You know what you’d do. You know what we do. We call such people delusional. We call them crazy. If it is in our power, we have them committed. Most people do not take them seriously in the least!!
Ah, but you may say, sometimes such people gather a following. And you are absolutely right. They do oftentimes gather a following–right up until they die or are killed. And then, nearly 100 percent of the time, the following dies out. I mean, let’s use two modern day examples: how many people do you know who claim to follow Jim Jones these days? If you don’t know who Jim Jones is, I rest my case. Or David Koresh? Any Branch Dividians that you know of? When someone who claims to be God is killed or dies, the movement dies with them. People realize the person was delusional. It has happened many, many times in history–almost every time in history.
But here is the thing: it didn’t happen with Jesus. In fact, the movement surrounding Jesus actually took off after His death!! The worship and adoration of Jesus actually increased after He died. His followers did not hesitate to pass on Jesus’ teachings–no matter how difficult they seemed or how contrary to nature they seemed. And people actually tried to follow them. People tried to deny themselves and who they were. People tried giving up their possessions. People tried living without anger and animosity toward anyone else. People proclaimed that Jesus indeed was God who came to earth even though He met His demise hanging bloody, beaten, bruised, shamed; executed on a cross.
What would cause people to do such a thing? What would cause people to become so irrational? What would cause them to try to follow such difficult, insane teachings? What would cause them to say that indeed Jesus was God and that He wasn’t lying despite His horrendous death? What would cause them to begin a movement that grew and grew and grew doing the exact opposite of every other Messianic movement until that time? What would cause these people to lay down their lives as they proclaimed, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be save through Him!”?
What would change the course of normal history and cause otherwise normal people to strive toward insane things?
It’s the reason we are here this morning.
Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Amen. Alleluia!
Monday, February 22, 2016
When the Truth Confronts You
No one likes to be told or shown that they are wrong. No one. Most of us are quite happy to grasp onto our beliefs despite argument to the contrary. Even if we are confronted with strong evidence that our stated positions are lacking, we will end any sort of debate or conversation with the be all and end all phrase, "Well, we are just going to have to agree to disagree." Such a statement is fine if you are simply disagreeing about an opinion. I mean we can agree to disagree that chocolate ice cream is better than vanilla ice cream or that pepperoni pizza is better than cheese pizza, but when it comes to matters of deep substance, when it comes to matters of truth, we can’t simply agree to disagree. We must have the courage to argue; to debate; to wrestle; and to even change our minds when presented with evidence that we are wrong.
As Christians, this is particularly so because it follows the nature and teaching of our founder, Jesus. Jesus was not an "agree to disagree" kind of guy. Nowhere in the Gospels do you see Him acquiescing to a point of view that is different by simply agreeing and letting that viewpoint go unchecked. Jesus entered into the dialogue, defined His position–which was God’s position, and then pointed out the error of the other view. It cost Him to be less likeable among certain groups, but it also won Him the admiration of many who saw that He was both impartial and consistent as He taught and proclaimed God’s Kingdom. Today’s Gospel lesson is a perfect piece of evidence showing Jesus’ confrontational nature when it comes to matters of Truth.
Let’s set the context once again as we turn to this encounter between Jesus and the Sadducees. Remember, Jesus had entered into Jerusalem with all the markings of the coming Messiah. He cleansed the Temple pointing out how the Sanhedrin or Jewish Religious High Court had used the Temple for their own selfish purposes instead of using it as a place where all the people of the world were intended to worship. The Sanhedrin took objection to Jesus’ actions and wanted to arrest Him and kill Him, but they could not because Jesus had endeared Himself to the crowds. Arresting Jesus without pretense would have caused a riot amongst the people causing the Romans to intervene thereby causing the Sanhedrin to lose their standing both in the crowd’s eye and in the Romans’ eye. Therefore, they had to discredit Jesus and turn the crowd against Him or show that Jesus was a threat to Rome. Last week, the Herodians and Pharisees took their shot with a question about taxes. This week, the Sadducees throw Jesus a religious curve ball.
Now, unlike the Pharisees and Herodians, the question the Sadducees throw at Jesus is not a life or death question. No one is going to kill Jesus or arrest Jesus based upon Jesus’ teaching on the resurrection. The Sadducees are trying to discredit Jesus by making Him look stupid. Little do they know the consequences that will befall them.
Mark tells us the Sadducees–who do not believe in the resurrection come to Jesus. Now, let me take just a moment to explain why this detail is important. You see, Judaism during the time of Jesus was not a united religion. There were many different groups vying for the heart of the populace. There were Pharisees, there were Sadducees, there were Zealots, there were Esseens, there were Herodians, and so on and so forth. Each of these groups practiced the Jewish faith a little different from the others. Each had various authorities they cited to bolster their positions. All of them agreed on the basic tenets of Judaism, but there were other things they disagreed about vehemently. The resurrection was one of them. Most Jews at the time believed that in the future, God would indeed resurrect those who had died as part of establishing the Messianic kingdom. They gleaned their beliefs from portions of the Psalms, Ezekiel, and the book of Daniel. However, the Sadducees did not buy these arguments. The Sadducees were convinced only by the authority of the Torah–the first five books of the Old Testament. If it could not be found in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, or Deuteronomy, then it was human ideal and not to be trusted.
The Sadducees were convinced there were no referents to the resurrection in the Torah despite many arguments from the Pharisees to the contrary. The Sadducees were convinced that all of the Pharisaical arguments fell short, and they felt confident that they could show how stupid the belief in the resurrection was. They attempted to use that argument on Jesus.
"Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. 20There were seven brothers; the first married and, when he died, left no children; 21and the second married her and died, leaving no children; and the third likewise; 22none of the seven left children. Last of all the woman herself died. 23In the resurrection whose wife will she be? For the seven had married her."
Now, my initial answer to this line of thought would be, "What in the world was that woman putting into her cooking?" I mean, honestly, if I were like the fourth or fifth brother in line, I would have been like, "Uh, no thank you. I would rather take the chance of enduring God’s wrath than marrying her!!" But, perhaps this is beside the point.
The point the Sadducees are trying to get across is a point based in the Torah which God was offering both protection for a woman and protection for the blood line of a family. There are certain stipulations that surround this law in the Old Testament, and should you like to delve into it further, you can read about it in Deuteronomy 25:5-10. We will not do that now. What we will do now is follow the train of thought of the Sadducees. They are basically trying to show the absurdity of this scenario. If the resurrection is real, and if we are married to our spouse in the resurrection, then this woman will have seven husbands. There is no allowance in the Torah for a woman to have seven husbands, therefore the resurrection will not happen.
Jesus responds rather harshly and with a great deal of confrontation, "Is not this the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God?" I want you to stop right there for just a moment and contemplate Jesus’ words. I mean, really just let that sentence sink in for just a moment. How in the world would you feel if someone asked you that question? Don’t you know you are wrong because you neither know the scriptures or the power of God? Jesus cuts the Sadducees to the heart because they prided themselves in knowing the Scriptures. They prided themselves in knowing about the power of God, but Jesus says they are ignorant of both, and He does so in two ways.
First, Jesus challenges their premise about being married in the resurrection: "25For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven." Now, some of you might be looking at your spouse right now and thinking, "What? I won’t be married to her in heaven? That’s not what I want!" I am sorry to break the news to you. In the resurrection, there will be no need for marriage. We will indeed recognize one another. We will be overjoyed to see one another, but we are entering into a totally different reality. Angels don’t need to marry because they are totally and completely satisfied by the love of God. We will be like that, Jesus says thus nullifying the Sadducees premise and their logic.
But Jesus doesn’t stop there; He continues on with point number two: and as to the resurrection–whether or not it will take place. Jesus points out a critical text in the Torah. It is when God reveals Himself to Moses in the burning bush. God tells Moses, "I AM the God of Abraham. I AM the God of Isaac. I AM the God of Jacob." God does not say, "I was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." No, God IS the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And then Jesus makes another appeal to a belief held by every religious group, "God is the God of the living and not of the dead." If Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were not to be raised; if they had ceased to exist, then God would not have spoken as if He were still their God! Jesus points this out to the Sadducees, I am sure, much to their dismay.
And then Jesus drives the final nail, "You are quite wrong." "You are way off base." "You do not know what you are talking about."
Oh, imagine Jesus saying that in our cultural milieu today. Imagine Jesus confronting the various religious groups today and saying, "You’ve missed the mark. You are wrong. You don’t understand scripture or the power of God."
You know what most folks would say to Jesus? You know how they would respond?
It’s not hard. We hear the arguments all the time:
"What gives you the right to say that I am wrong?"
"What is the Truth?"
"How do you know the Truth?"
"How do you know your read of Scripture is the right one?"
"We will just have to agree to disagree.
And, of course, Jesus isn’t exactly here to defend Himself. We are. And it is we who bear the brunt of these questions. They deserve some sort of answer as well–particularly if we want to establish Jesus as our authority.
First, we must establish that there is some sort of Absolute Truth. There are some who wish to say that truth is relative or that truth does not exist, but that is an absolutely illogical position to take. How so, you might ask. First off, you cannot start with a self-refuting statement. If you say, "Truth is relative," then the statement "Truth is relative" must be absolutely true. How can that be? Or, if you say, "Truth does not exist," well, then how can the statement "Truth does not exist" be true? It can’t. There must be some sort of Objective Truth giving meaning and, well, truth to our statements.
But now comes the hard part. We can know that there is objective Truth, but we cannot know it objectively. Think about that for a minute. There is objective Truth, but we cannot know it objectively. We are dependent upon that Truth being revealed to us. This is important especially when we get into arguments of a religious nature.
For instance, in the above argument between Jesus and the Sadducees, there are two positions: the resurrection will happen or there is no resurrection. Which of these is True? We have no evidence of resurrection (at least we didn’t at the time)? The two positions are mutually exclusive. They both can be wrong. One can be right, but they cannot both be right. How does one decide? They appeal to the evidence. They appeal to what God has revealed.
As Christians, this is exactly what we do when we enter into arguments of a religious nature. We do not appeal to our own authority. We do not appeal to ourselves. We appeal to Jesus. For if Jesus is who He says He is and did what He said He did, then to use the famous catch phrase of C.S. Lewis: He is either Lord, a lunatic, or a liar.
Jesus, of course, claimed to be the Son of God. He claimed that He was laying His life down for the world. He claimed to be the ransom for many who would reconcile the world unto God. He claimed to be the I AM, God incarnate. He claimed to be the resurrection and the life. He claimed to be Lord of the world. He claimed that God sent Him into the world because God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
Folks may say, "Well, that’s not good enough. Just because He said these things about Himself doesn’t prove that He wasn’t a liar or that His followers turned him into something that He was not." Fair enough criticism. But let’s look at the facts because there have been a lot of people who have claimed to be a Messiah. There have been a lot of people who came along in the history including the recent history of humanity who claimed to be God. What happened to their followings? What happened to their followers after these folks died?
Historically, whenever such folks came about, they would raise a following, but when the leader died, all the followers left. No one stuck around. Not so with Jesus. Everyone thought His followers would disband. Everyone thought the things that He taught would go away. But something happened that changed all that. Something happened that showed that Jesus was who He said He was and did what He said He did. That was the resurrection. Jesus was raised from the dead. Oh, sure, there are those who scoff at the notion and say that such a thing is impossible. Might I remind you that even science cannot say that such an event is impossible–they can only say that it is highly unlikely. If you add up all of the cumulative evidence, you must admit that something happened that unexpectedly changed the fortune of the world–that transformed a movement that should have died–that initiated a movement that has now spread throughout the globe. You can’t escape it. You must wrestle with it.
And when you do; when you delve into the resurrection you come face to face with Jesus. You come face to face with the God who died for you. You come face to face with the Truth who will confront you and love you with a love too deep for words. He will tell you you are wrong; that you are a failure; that you have misread scripture and gone astray, but He will also take you into His loving arms and transform you and your life like nothing else can do. Amen.
As Christians, this is particularly so because it follows the nature and teaching of our founder, Jesus. Jesus was not an "agree to disagree" kind of guy. Nowhere in the Gospels do you see Him acquiescing to a point of view that is different by simply agreeing and letting that viewpoint go unchecked. Jesus entered into the dialogue, defined His position–which was God’s position, and then pointed out the error of the other view. It cost Him to be less likeable among certain groups, but it also won Him the admiration of many who saw that He was both impartial and consistent as He taught and proclaimed God’s Kingdom. Today’s Gospel lesson is a perfect piece of evidence showing Jesus’ confrontational nature when it comes to matters of Truth.
Let’s set the context once again as we turn to this encounter between Jesus and the Sadducees. Remember, Jesus had entered into Jerusalem with all the markings of the coming Messiah. He cleansed the Temple pointing out how the Sanhedrin or Jewish Religious High Court had used the Temple for their own selfish purposes instead of using it as a place where all the people of the world were intended to worship. The Sanhedrin took objection to Jesus’ actions and wanted to arrest Him and kill Him, but they could not because Jesus had endeared Himself to the crowds. Arresting Jesus without pretense would have caused a riot amongst the people causing the Romans to intervene thereby causing the Sanhedrin to lose their standing both in the crowd’s eye and in the Romans’ eye. Therefore, they had to discredit Jesus and turn the crowd against Him or show that Jesus was a threat to Rome. Last week, the Herodians and Pharisees took their shot with a question about taxes. This week, the Sadducees throw Jesus a religious curve ball.
Now, unlike the Pharisees and Herodians, the question the Sadducees throw at Jesus is not a life or death question. No one is going to kill Jesus or arrest Jesus based upon Jesus’ teaching on the resurrection. The Sadducees are trying to discredit Jesus by making Him look stupid. Little do they know the consequences that will befall them.
Mark tells us the Sadducees–who do not believe in the resurrection come to Jesus. Now, let me take just a moment to explain why this detail is important. You see, Judaism during the time of Jesus was not a united religion. There were many different groups vying for the heart of the populace. There were Pharisees, there were Sadducees, there were Zealots, there were Esseens, there were Herodians, and so on and so forth. Each of these groups practiced the Jewish faith a little different from the others. Each had various authorities they cited to bolster their positions. All of them agreed on the basic tenets of Judaism, but there were other things they disagreed about vehemently. The resurrection was one of them. Most Jews at the time believed that in the future, God would indeed resurrect those who had died as part of establishing the Messianic kingdom. They gleaned their beliefs from portions of the Psalms, Ezekiel, and the book of Daniel. However, the Sadducees did not buy these arguments. The Sadducees were convinced only by the authority of the Torah–the first five books of the Old Testament. If it could not be found in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, or Deuteronomy, then it was human ideal and not to be trusted.
The Sadducees were convinced there were no referents to the resurrection in the Torah despite many arguments from the Pharisees to the contrary. The Sadducees were convinced that all of the Pharisaical arguments fell short, and they felt confident that they could show how stupid the belief in the resurrection was. They attempted to use that argument on Jesus.
"Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. 20There were seven brothers; the first married and, when he died, left no children; 21and the second married her and died, leaving no children; and the third likewise; 22none of the seven left children. Last of all the woman herself died. 23In the resurrection whose wife will she be? For the seven had married her."
Now, my initial answer to this line of thought would be, "What in the world was that woman putting into her cooking?" I mean, honestly, if I were like the fourth or fifth brother in line, I would have been like, "Uh, no thank you. I would rather take the chance of enduring God’s wrath than marrying her!!" But, perhaps this is beside the point.
The point the Sadducees are trying to get across is a point based in the Torah which God was offering both protection for a woman and protection for the blood line of a family. There are certain stipulations that surround this law in the Old Testament, and should you like to delve into it further, you can read about it in Deuteronomy 25:5-10. We will not do that now. What we will do now is follow the train of thought of the Sadducees. They are basically trying to show the absurdity of this scenario. If the resurrection is real, and if we are married to our spouse in the resurrection, then this woman will have seven husbands. There is no allowance in the Torah for a woman to have seven husbands, therefore the resurrection will not happen.
Jesus responds rather harshly and with a great deal of confrontation, "Is not this the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God?" I want you to stop right there for just a moment and contemplate Jesus’ words. I mean, really just let that sentence sink in for just a moment. How in the world would you feel if someone asked you that question? Don’t you know you are wrong because you neither know the scriptures or the power of God? Jesus cuts the Sadducees to the heart because they prided themselves in knowing the Scriptures. They prided themselves in knowing about the power of God, but Jesus says they are ignorant of both, and He does so in two ways.
First, Jesus challenges their premise about being married in the resurrection: "25For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven." Now, some of you might be looking at your spouse right now and thinking, "What? I won’t be married to her in heaven? That’s not what I want!" I am sorry to break the news to you. In the resurrection, there will be no need for marriage. We will indeed recognize one another. We will be overjoyed to see one another, but we are entering into a totally different reality. Angels don’t need to marry because they are totally and completely satisfied by the love of God. We will be like that, Jesus says thus nullifying the Sadducees premise and their logic.
But Jesus doesn’t stop there; He continues on with point number two: and as to the resurrection–whether or not it will take place. Jesus points out a critical text in the Torah. It is when God reveals Himself to Moses in the burning bush. God tells Moses, "I AM the God of Abraham. I AM the God of Isaac. I AM the God of Jacob." God does not say, "I was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." No, God IS the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And then Jesus makes another appeal to a belief held by every religious group, "God is the God of the living and not of the dead." If Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were not to be raised; if they had ceased to exist, then God would not have spoken as if He were still their God! Jesus points this out to the Sadducees, I am sure, much to their dismay.
And then Jesus drives the final nail, "You are quite wrong." "You are way off base." "You do not know what you are talking about."
Oh, imagine Jesus saying that in our cultural milieu today. Imagine Jesus confronting the various religious groups today and saying, "You’ve missed the mark. You are wrong. You don’t understand scripture or the power of God."
You know what most folks would say to Jesus? You know how they would respond?
It’s not hard. We hear the arguments all the time:
"What is the Truth?"
"How do you know the Truth?"
"How do you know your read of Scripture is the right one?"
"We will just have to agree to disagree.
And, of course, Jesus isn’t exactly here to defend Himself. We are. And it is we who bear the brunt of these questions. They deserve some sort of answer as well–particularly if we want to establish Jesus as our authority.
First, we must establish that there is some sort of Absolute Truth. There are some who wish to say that truth is relative or that truth does not exist, but that is an absolutely illogical position to take. How so, you might ask. First off, you cannot start with a self-refuting statement. If you say, "Truth is relative," then the statement "Truth is relative" must be absolutely true. How can that be? Or, if you say, "Truth does not exist," well, then how can the statement "Truth does not exist" be true? It can’t. There must be some sort of Objective Truth giving meaning and, well, truth to our statements.
But now comes the hard part. We can know that there is objective Truth, but we cannot know it objectively. Think about that for a minute. There is objective Truth, but we cannot know it objectively. We are dependent upon that Truth being revealed to us. This is important especially when we get into arguments of a religious nature.
For instance, in the above argument between Jesus and the Sadducees, there are two positions: the resurrection will happen or there is no resurrection. Which of these is True? We have no evidence of resurrection (at least we didn’t at the time)? The two positions are mutually exclusive. They both can be wrong. One can be right, but they cannot both be right. How does one decide? They appeal to the evidence. They appeal to what God has revealed.
As Christians, this is exactly what we do when we enter into arguments of a religious nature. We do not appeal to our own authority. We do not appeal to ourselves. We appeal to Jesus. For if Jesus is who He says He is and did what He said He did, then to use the famous catch phrase of C.S. Lewis: He is either Lord, a lunatic, or a liar.
Jesus, of course, claimed to be the Son of God. He claimed that He was laying His life down for the world. He claimed to be the ransom for many who would reconcile the world unto God. He claimed to be the I AM, God incarnate. He claimed to be the resurrection and the life. He claimed to be Lord of the world. He claimed that God sent Him into the world because God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
Folks may say, "Well, that’s not good enough. Just because He said these things about Himself doesn’t prove that He wasn’t a liar or that His followers turned him into something that He was not." Fair enough criticism. But let’s look at the facts because there have been a lot of people who have claimed to be a Messiah. There have been a lot of people who came along in the history including the recent history of humanity who claimed to be God. What happened to their followings? What happened to their followers after these folks died?
Historically, whenever such folks came about, they would raise a following, but when the leader died, all the followers left. No one stuck around. Not so with Jesus. Everyone thought His followers would disband. Everyone thought the things that He taught would go away. But something happened that changed all that. Something happened that showed that Jesus was who He said He was and did what He said He did. That was the resurrection. Jesus was raised from the dead. Oh, sure, there are those who scoff at the notion and say that such a thing is impossible. Might I remind you that even science cannot say that such an event is impossible–they can only say that it is highly unlikely. If you add up all of the cumulative evidence, you must admit that something happened that unexpectedly changed the fortune of the world–that transformed a movement that should have died–that initiated a movement that has now spread throughout the globe. You can’t escape it. You must wrestle with it.
And when you do; when you delve into the resurrection you come face to face with Jesus. You come face to face with the God who died for you. You come face to face with the Truth who will confront you and love you with a love too deep for words. He will tell you you are wrong; that you are a failure; that you have misread scripture and gone astray, but He will also take you into His loving arms and transform you and your life like nothing else can do. Amen.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
When Troubles Beset Us...
Perhaps you recognize the title of this post as part of the Gospel hymn “On the Wings of a Dove.” The entire verse is as follows:
When troubles beset us; When evils come
The body grows weak, and the spirit grows numb
When these beset us; well He doesn’t forget us
He sends down His love, on the wings of a dove.
I share this with you in the knowledge that many, many within our congregation have been beset with such troubles. There are many who are struggling with dealing with loved ones who are sick and dying. There are some who have lost spouses. There are some who are fighting illness themselves. There are some who are recovering from surgery. There are some who have had weird life circumstances cause stumbling and falling. One wonders why such things happen.
There is no perfect answer. Believe you me. If there was, I would write the book and sit back and enjoy the royalties. But I haven’t written that book because no answer is satisfactory. I can tell you a couple that are flat out wrong. Wrong answer number 1: “Jesus wants you to have victory over such matters.” One need be reminded, Jesus’ victory came on the cross–through suffering and persecution. The victory is won, no doubt, but not without a great cost. Wrong answer #2: If you just had enough faith, things would turn out right. Please, no one has enough faith. No one. This is why we are saved by sheer grace. We are dependent upon the mercy of God for all that we get. We don’t earn it by our faith. Wrong answer #3: God is causing this to test me. God knows you would fail. God knows we would all fail. Our human nature is weak. Furthermore, if you look at the life of Jesus, you will not see God testing Jesus (that would be a bit redundant). You will see the Enemy testing Jesus. It is the Enemy who tries to bring about our downfall by tests.
Which leads me to offer a few answers that I think help us grapple with trials and tribulations. Answer #1: When you are seeking to follow Jesus and the Gospel begins to take root in your heart, the Enemy works to steal you away. The Enemy sets up road blocks and trials to make you question your commitment to Jesus. Over and over again, we see this plainly in scripture. Answer #2: We cannot escape our choices. This is not a popular answer, but it is reality. It does not cover everything, but if you have lung cancer after smoking for 30 years, this is no surprise. One must make a distinction between things that we have some part in and things we don’t. Answer #3: I have no idea what-so-ever. This is the hardest one to accept because we want a reason. We want a clue as to why things are happening. Sometimes, there is just no good answer, and we must hope that God is in the midst of our trials and tribulations working to bring about a positive solution.
That last sentence is an important one because it demands trust in God. It demands that we have hope. It’s a hard thing to have at times, but it is central to our faith. The cross was the darkest day for the Christian, but it was followed by the light of the resurrection. Cross. Resurrection. Death. Life. God worked to bring hope from tragedy, and it is this that we hold onto desperately in the midst of our trials. May that hope find its way into your heart and mind. Amen.
When troubles beset us; When evils come
The body grows weak, and the spirit grows numb
When these beset us; well He doesn’t forget us
He sends down His love, on the wings of a dove.
I share this with you in the knowledge that many, many within our congregation have been beset with such troubles. There are many who are struggling with dealing with loved ones who are sick and dying. There are some who have lost spouses. There are some who are fighting illness themselves. There are some who are recovering from surgery. There are some who have had weird life circumstances cause stumbling and falling. One wonders why such things happen.
There is no perfect answer. Believe you me. If there was, I would write the book and sit back and enjoy the royalties. But I haven’t written that book because no answer is satisfactory. I can tell you a couple that are flat out wrong. Wrong answer number 1: “Jesus wants you to have victory over such matters.” One need be reminded, Jesus’ victory came on the cross–through suffering and persecution. The victory is won, no doubt, but not without a great cost. Wrong answer #2: If you just had enough faith, things would turn out right. Please, no one has enough faith. No one. This is why we are saved by sheer grace. We are dependent upon the mercy of God for all that we get. We don’t earn it by our faith. Wrong answer #3: God is causing this to test me. God knows you would fail. God knows we would all fail. Our human nature is weak. Furthermore, if you look at the life of Jesus, you will not see God testing Jesus (that would be a bit redundant). You will see the Enemy testing Jesus. It is the Enemy who tries to bring about our downfall by tests.
Which leads me to offer a few answers that I think help us grapple with trials and tribulations. Answer #1: When you are seeking to follow Jesus and the Gospel begins to take root in your heart, the Enemy works to steal you away. The Enemy sets up road blocks and trials to make you question your commitment to Jesus. Over and over again, we see this plainly in scripture. Answer #2: We cannot escape our choices. This is not a popular answer, but it is reality. It does not cover everything, but if you have lung cancer after smoking for 30 years, this is no surprise. One must make a distinction between things that we have some part in and things we don’t. Answer #3: I have no idea what-so-ever. This is the hardest one to accept because we want a reason. We want a clue as to why things are happening. Sometimes, there is just no good answer, and we must hope that God is in the midst of our trials and tribulations working to bring about a positive solution.
That last sentence is an important one because it demands trust in God. It demands that we have hope. It’s a hard thing to have at times, but it is central to our faith. The cross was the darkest day for the Christian, but it was followed by the light of the resurrection. Cross. Resurrection. Death. Life. God worked to bring hope from tragedy, and it is this that we hold onto desperately in the midst of our trials. May that hope find its way into your heart and mind. Amen.
Monday, April 13, 2015
An Invitation to Trust
One of the things which has helped me grow in my Christian faith and understanding has been listening to debates between Christians and atheists on Youtube. Now, it’s not as bad as you might think. I mean, some of you might think sitting on a prickly pear cactus and eat raw tofu might be more enjoyable, and I understand that. But for yours truly, I truly learn a lot about my faith and the views of those who do not share my faith.
One interesting thing keeps popping up over and over and over in such debates, and it is a criticism of Christianity and belief in God in general. Many people have a problem with what is called “blind faith.” This is the idea that our beliefs and practices have no evidence to back them up. We simply believe without anything measurable to point to as a basis for that belief. The argument goes something like this: well, you don’t have any evidence to back up your belief, so why not believe in the tooth fairy or the giant spaghetti monster?
In reality, this criticism is a valid criticism–if, and it is a big if, faith were simply an intellectual assertion–kind of like a switch in the brain that you turn on and off. “Click” I believe in God. “Click” I don’t believe in God. Whether I turn the switch on or off has very little bearing on my life. And there are many believers who fit right into this category. There are many believers for whom faith in Jesus is simply a belief that indeed He is God; He died; He rose from the dead, and if I give intellectual assent to this, then I am saved. Furthermore, as many, many pastors have said, it is quite all right to have doubts about such things. It is quite all right to wrestle with the intellectual problem of God taking on flesh and living among us; performing miracles; dying; and then rising from the dead. Simply believing this as passed down throughout history is a difficult thing especially in light of the scientific evidence about how the world generally works. Having doubt is not a bad thing–or so we are told.
Again, what is being said here is true–if, and it’s a big if, faith is simply an intellectual matter that is all in our heads. If faith is simply a condition of our heads grasping something and believing it, then we have to deal with the criticism of blind faith and the idea that doubt is a good thing. However, this does make Jesus’ words today in the 20th Chapter of the book of John a bit problematic. For if I get up here and say, “It’s okay to doubt,” and then you hear Jesus tell Thomas, “Do not doubt but believe,” then you are left in a bit of a conundrum. Who do you trust? Do you trust what I say? Do you trust what Jesus commanded? Do you trust that the writer of the Gospel actually gives us the words of Jesus? Did the writer make this story up? All of these questions come to life and then snowball if faith is something that is purely intellectual; purely a head thing that has no evidence to back it up.
But I do not think faith is simply a head thing. I do not think faith is simply a matter of clicking a switch up in our brains which turns on and off. I think faith runs much deeper, and honestly, the translation of verse 27 leaves a lot to be desired. I think it should be translated in the following way: 27Then Jesus said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not distrust but trust.’ How does this change things, and how does it affect our lives? Hold onto your seats.
To get at this question, we need to take a quick trip through the Gospel of John to look at Thomas. Thomas gets a lot of attention in this text, and he is important; although the main focus of this text is not Thomas, but Jesus. We’ll get there shortly. But let’s take a look at Thomas for a few minutes as we see his history throughout the Gospel of John. We begin in Chapter 11 as Jesus tells His disciples He is going to Bethany after Jesus’ friend Lazarus has died. The last time Jesus was in Bethany, the crowds threatened to kill Him. The disciples know this, and they are afraid for Jesus. They are afraid Jesus will be killed. As His followers, they stand to suffer the same fate. Thomas bravely steps to the fore and says, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Thomas definitely shows bravado here. He is willing to die with Jesus, but I am convinced that Thomas doesn’t quite understand who Jesus really is. Thomas doesn’t fully understand the extent of what Jesus is about and how this will really impact him.
Why do I say that? Because of the next time we run into Thomas is in John chapter 14. In this chapter, Jesus has just told His disciples that He will be going away and that He will bring them to Himself. Jesus also says that the disciples know the way to the place He is going. Thomas then says, “We do not know where you are going, how can we know the way?” So, Thomas goes from a willingness to die with Jesus to being confused. He doesn’t quite get Jesus at all. Jesus responds famously, “I am the way, and the Truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus, of course, is revealing that He is the Lamb of God who has come to take away the sins of the world by His life, death, and resurrection. Thomas doesn’t get that. He still has a certain expectation of Jesus. Thomas still believes that Jesus is going to do something vastly different. I think Thomas believes Jesus is going to be the Jewish Messiah who will come with power and might, but not the suffering servant who gives His life as a ransom for many.
This is why when we meet Thomas today, Thomas initially refuses to believe or trust the witness of his fellow disciples. Jesus had appeared to them in that locked room; breathed new life into them; and commissioned them to spread the news–to forgive sins. Thomas was not there at this initial gathering, so when he returned, the rest of the crew greeted him with the news, “We have seen the Lord.”
Thomas doesn’t believe them. He doesn’t trust their witness. We automatically ask, “Why?” Scripture is not explicit here. We don’t know the workings of Thomas’ brain at this point, but based upon our experience of Thomas in the book of John and what he said to the disciples and to Jesus in John 11 and John 14, I think Thomas refused to believe and refused to trust his colleagues because he knew it meant he would have to die. Hear me again on that one: if Jesus was risen from the dead, then it meant Thomas would have to die.
Please know, I am not talking about physical death. No. That would have been the easy way out. Physical death was something Thomas was willing to face earlier, but I don’t think he was ready to face the death that Jesus had talked about with His disciples before, “If anyone wants to save his life, he must lose it; and if anyone loses his life for my sake and the sake of the Gospel, he will save it.” This kind of death is much, much harder. This kind of death is traumatic. This kind of death means a radical shift in one’s worldview and understanding. If Jesus is raised from the dead, then I must give up everything I once thought would bring me happiness and joy. I must give up everything that I once thought that made me who I am. I must give up everything I once placed my trust in to bring me peace. I must give up everything I once wanted and desired; and I must put my trust in Jesus.
I don’t think Thomas wanted to die that kind of death. I don’t think Thomas wanted to give up his dream of a Messiah who would overthrow Israel’s enemies. I don’t think Thomas wanted to give up his dreams of power and authority. I don’t think Thomas wanted to give up his ideas of a Messiah who was powerful and mighty; a warrior of paramount who would bring about world peace–and, of course, the dominion of the kingdom of Israel of which he would be one of the twelve rulers. Thomas wanted all of this. This was his deepest heart’s desire. It was something he was willing to die for, and when he thought Jesus would give it to him, he was glad to follow Jesus to death. It’s why Thomas couldn’t understand Jesus’ comments about preparing the way to the Father. Thomas wasn’t thinking of such things. His heart and mind and trust were somewhere else.
But if Jesus was raised from the dead, those dreams must come to an end. Those desires must cease. His heart could no longer be captured by what Thomas wanted. If Jesus were raised from the dead, a radical new way of life was mandated; a way of life with Jesus at the center. And so, Thomas came up with a list of demands which could surely not be satisfied. “Unless I place my hands in His wounds, I will not trust.”
You know, there is a reason we quote Isaiah 53.5: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.” For Jesus came to Thomas. Jesus had Thomas touch his wounds, and by Jesus’ wounds, Thomas was healed. Thomas was put to death. When Jesus came to Thomas, all of those things Thomas thought were his dreams and desires left. “My Lord and my God!” Thomas cries out.
“Do not distrust, Thomas. Trust.” Thomas entire being was affected by his encounter with Jesus. Thomas entire soul was changed. It was not an intellectual switch in his brain that was thrown, but it was a change to his very core as he put his trust in the one who died and rose again.
“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet trust,” Jesus then says. There is no doubt as to whom this statement is directed. It is not directed to the disciples who are standing in that room. It is not directed at Thomas who has touched Jesus. It is directed at you and me. It is directed at all who will hear the message about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. It is an invitation to us to come and die–to walk away from all of those things that we once believed would bring us happiness; peace; satisfaction; and joy. It is an invitation to stop placing our trust in money; power; politics; science; sports; status; possessions; friends; family; co-workers; humanity; and ourselves. It is an invitation to put our trust solely and squarely in Jesus Christ and look to Him for our identity, for our hope, for our well-being, for meaning, for purpose, for peace, and for joy. It is an invitation to rethink our entire lives and our entire being–not just some intellectual assertion that Jesus is risen from the dead. It’s an invitation to make Jesus our deepest heart’s desire and proclaim Him our Lord and our God.
Why? You may ask. Why should I put my trust in Him instead of all of these other things? Why Jesus above material possessions or money or power or politics? Why Jesus over any other religion or philosophy? Why trust Jesus instead of trusting myself?
Let me start by going backward. Trust yourself? If you start believing your own press and thinking you have the ability to handle every situation in the world, then you have become your own god and will eventually end up like Narcissus. You will fall in love with yourself and end up consumed with yourself dying alone. If you put your trust in any other god, they will demand your total allegiance and punish you dearly when you mess up. If you trust in wealth, possessions, power and politics, they will demand everything of you and never give you enough to satisfy.
Only one God has dared die for you when you were undeserving. Only one God dared die for you when you rejected Him. Only one God dared to love you deeply when you refused to love Him. Only Jesus was willing to do this for you and demand nothing in return.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world may be saved through Him!
And if Jesus was raised from the dead, then this is most certainly true. And when you put your trust in Him; when you put your trust in His saving actions, your life will be transformed. Not in the sense of material possessions or health or financial well being, but with a peace that passes understanding and with a joy that can never be taken from you. Today, Jesus invites you to trust Him. Not with some simple belief, but with your entire being. Let His wounds heal you that you may fall on your knees and say, “My Lord and my God.” Amen.
One interesting thing keeps popping up over and over and over in such debates, and it is a criticism of Christianity and belief in God in general. Many people have a problem with what is called “blind faith.” This is the idea that our beliefs and practices have no evidence to back them up. We simply believe without anything measurable to point to as a basis for that belief. The argument goes something like this: well, you don’t have any evidence to back up your belief, so why not believe in the tooth fairy or the giant spaghetti monster?
In reality, this criticism is a valid criticism–if, and it is a big if, faith were simply an intellectual assertion–kind of like a switch in the brain that you turn on and off. “Click” I believe in God. “Click” I don’t believe in God. Whether I turn the switch on or off has very little bearing on my life. And there are many believers who fit right into this category. There are many believers for whom faith in Jesus is simply a belief that indeed He is God; He died; He rose from the dead, and if I give intellectual assent to this, then I am saved. Furthermore, as many, many pastors have said, it is quite all right to have doubts about such things. It is quite all right to wrestle with the intellectual problem of God taking on flesh and living among us; performing miracles; dying; and then rising from the dead. Simply believing this as passed down throughout history is a difficult thing especially in light of the scientific evidence about how the world generally works. Having doubt is not a bad thing–or so we are told.
Again, what is being said here is true–if, and it’s a big if, faith is simply an intellectual matter that is all in our heads. If faith is simply a condition of our heads grasping something and believing it, then we have to deal with the criticism of blind faith and the idea that doubt is a good thing. However, this does make Jesus’ words today in the 20th Chapter of the book of John a bit problematic. For if I get up here and say, “It’s okay to doubt,” and then you hear Jesus tell Thomas, “Do not doubt but believe,” then you are left in a bit of a conundrum. Who do you trust? Do you trust what I say? Do you trust what Jesus commanded? Do you trust that the writer of the Gospel actually gives us the words of Jesus? Did the writer make this story up? All of these questions come to life and then snowball if faith is something that is purely intellectual; purely a head thing that has no evidence to back it up.
But I do not think faith is simply a head thing. I do not think faith is simply a matter of clicking a switch up in our brains which turns on and off. I think faith runs much deeper, and honestly, the translation of verse 27 leaves a lot to be desired. I think it should be translated in the following way: 27Then Jesus said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not distrust but trust.’ How does this change things, and how does it affect our lives? Hold onto your seats.
To get at this question, we need to take a quick trip through the Gospel of John to look at Thomas. Thomas gets a lot of attention in this text, and he is important; although the main focus of this text is not Thomas, but Jesus. We’ll get there shortly. But let’s take a look at Thomas for a few minutes as we see his history throughout the Gospel of John. We begin in Chapter 11 as Jesus tells His disciples He is going to Bethany after Jesus’ friend Lazarus has died. The last time Jesus was in Bethany, the crowds threatened to kill Him. The disciples know this, and they are afraid for Jesus. They are afraid Jesus will be killed. As His followers, they stand to suffer the same fate. Thomas bravely steps to the fore and says, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Thomas definitely shows bravado here. He is willing to die with Jesus, but I am convinced that Thomas doesn’t quite understand who Jesus really is. Thomas doesn’t fully understand the extent of what Jesus is about and how this will really impact him.
Why do I say that? Because of the next time we run into Thomas is in John chapter 14. In this chapter, Jesus has just told His disciples that He will be going away and that He will bring them to Himself. Jesus also says that the disciples know the way to the place He is going. Thomas then says, “We do not know where you are going, how can we know the way?” So, Thomas goes from a willingness to die with Jesus to being confused. He doesn’t quite get Jesus at all. Jesus responds famously, “I am the way, and the Truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus, of course, is revealing that He is the Lamb of God who has come to take away the sins of the world by His life, death, and resurrection. Thomas doesn’t get that. He still has a certain expectation of Jesus. Thomas still believes that Jesus is going to do something vastly different. I think Thomas believes Jesus is going to be the Jewish Messiah who will come with power and might, but not the suffering servant who gives His life as a ransom for many.
This is why when we meet Thomas today, Thomas initially refuses to believe or trust the witness of his fellow disciples. Jesus had appeared to them in that locked room; breathed new life into them; and commissioned them to spread the news–to forgive sins. Thomas was not there at this initial gathering, so when he returned, the rest of the crew greeted him with the news, “We have seen the Lord.”
Thomas doesn’t believe them. He doesn’t trust their witness. We automatically ask, “Why?” Scripture is not explicit here. We don’t know the workings of Thomas’ brain at this point, but based upon our experience of Thomas in the book of John and what he said to the disciples and to Jesus in John 11 and John 14, I think Thomas refused to believe and refused to trust his colleagues because he knew it meant he would have to die. Hear me again on that one: if Jesus was risen from the dead, then it meant Thomas would have to die.
Please know, I am not talking about physical death. No. That would have been the easy way out. Physical death was something Thomas was willing to face earlier, but I don’t think he was ready to face the death that Jesus had talked about with His disciples before, “If anyone wants to save his life, he must lose it; and if anyone loses his life for my sake and the sake of the Gospel, he will save it.” This kind of death is much, much harder. This kind of death is traumatic. This kind of death means a radical shift in one’s worldview and understanding. If Jesus is raised from the dead, then I must give up everything I once thought would bring me happiness and joy. I must give up everything that I once thought that made me who I am. I must give up everything I once placed my trust in to bring me peace. I must give up everything I once wanted and desired; and I must put my trust in Jesus.
I don’t think Thomas wanted to die that kind of death. I don’t think Thomas wanted to give up his dream of a Messiah who would overthrow Israel’s enemies. I don’t think Thomas wanted to give up his dreams of power and authority. I don’t think Thomas wanted to give up his ideas of a Messiah who was powerful and mighty; a warrior of paramount who would bring about world peace–and, of course, the dominion of the kingdom of Israel of which he would be one of the twelve rulers. Thomas wanted all of this. This was his deepest heart’s desire. It was something he was willing to die for, and when he thought Jesus would give it to him, he was glad to follow Jesus to death. It’s why Thomas couldn’t understand Jesus’ comments about preparing the way to the Father. Thomas wasn’t thinking of such things. His heart and mind and trust were somewhere else.
But if Jesus was raised from the dead, those dreams must come to an end. Those desires must cease. His heart could no longer be captured by what Thomas wanted. If Jesus were raised from the dead, a radical new way of life was mandated; a way of life with Jesus at the center. And so, Thomas came up with a list of demands which could surely not be satisfied. “Unless I place my hands in His wounds, I will not trust.”
You know, there is a reason we quote Isaiah 53.5: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.” For Jesus came to Thomas. Jesus had Thomas touch his wounds, and by Jesus’ wounds, Thomas was healed. Thomas was put to death. When Jesus came to Thomas, all of those things Thomas thought were his dreams and desires left. “My Lord and my God!” Thomas cries out.
“Do not distrust, Thomas. Trust.” Thomas entire being was affected by his encounter with Jesus. Thomas entire soul was changed. It was not an intellectual switch in his brain that was thrown, but it was a change to his very core as he put his trust in the one who died and rose again.
“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet trust,” Jesus then says. There is no doubt as to whom this statement is directed. It is not directed to the disciples who are standing in that room. It is not directed at Thomas who has touched Jesus. It is directed at you and me. It is directed at all who will hear the message about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. It is an invitation to us to come and die–to walk away from all of those things that we once believed would bring us happiness; peace; satisfaction; and joy. It is an invitation to stop placing our trust in money; power; politics; science; sports; status; possessions; friends; family; co-workers; humanity; and ourselves. It is an invitation to put our trust solely and squarely in Jesus Christ and look to Him for our identity, for our hope, for our well-being, for meaning, for purpose, for peace, and for joy. It is an invitation to rethink our entire lives and our entire being–not just some intellectual assertion that Jesus is risen from the dead. It’s an invitation to make Jesus our deepest heart’s desire and proclaim Him our Lord and our God.
Why? You may ask. Why should I put my trust in Him instead of all of these other things? Why Jesus above material possessions or money or power or politics? Why Jesus over any other religion or philosophy? Why trust Jesus instead of trusting myself?
Let me start by going backward. Trust yourself? If you start believing your own press and thinking you have the ability to handle every situation in the world, then you have become your own god and will eventually end up like Narcissus. You will fall in love with yourself and end up consumed with yourself dying alone. If you put your trust in any other god, they will demand your total allegiance and punish you dearly when you mess up. If you trust in wealth, possessions, power and politics, they will demand everything of you and never give you enough to satisfy.
Only one God has dared die for you when you were undeserving. Only one God dared die for you when you rejected Him. Only one God dared to love you deeply when you refused to love Him. Only Jesus was willing to do this for you and demand nothing in return.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world may be saved through Him!
And if Jesus was raised from the dead, then this is most certainly true. And when you put your trust in Him; when you put your trust in His saving actions, your life will be transformed. Not in the sense of material possessions or health or financial well being, but with a peace that passes understanding and with a joy that can never be taken from you. Today, Jesus invites you to trust Him. Not with some simple belief, but with your entire being. Let His wounds heal you that you may fall on your knees and say, “My Lord and my God.” Amen.
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