1 Corinthians 1:1-3

1 Corinthians 1:1-3 

English Standard Version 

  When I think about my young dreams to play professional sports, they were perhaps not dreamt in accordance with my talents.  They were aspirations, but not aligned with reality.  I didn't pay enough attention to what I was actually good at and think about my dreams related to my actual skills.  I just liked playing basketball.  It's a shame I was terrible at it.

  Paul, here, is called to be an apostle.  It's interesting to think about Paul's life -- while he was trained and skilled in religion, he certainly wasn't trending towards Christianity as he was persecuting it.  But God called him -- he had leadership skills and plenty of passion.  He needed a little adjusting, but God took care of that on the road to Damascus!

  Others were called to be saints together.  They weren't called to be apostles -- they had other calls, just as important, but different.  We're not all called to be apostles.

  So when you listen to how God is calling you, pay attention to what is going on in your life around you, to the skills and passions that you have, to the community you have and how they affirm you in your life, and then move in that direction, listening for God's Word to continue to guide you, often speaking through those around you.  It can be hard to find your call, but we're all called -- some as apostles, some as saints together, others in other roles.  Thank God we have one another!

Luke 2:16-20

Luke 2:16-20 

English Standard Version 

  There's a place for everyone in Scripture.  For the extroverts, we have the shepherds, going with haste and telling everyone what they've heard. For the introverts, we have Mary, taking it all in and treasuring these things in their hearts.  Some glorify God publicly, others privately.  Each of us has our own walk -- don't try and live someone else's life, don't try and fit yourself into someone else's faith.  It's easy to wish we had someone else's life, but that's not how we're called.  We live together, and we benefit from each other's gifts.  To withdraw from community is to miss out on the gifts of one another.  But we don't have to imitate or copy each other -- we're all called differently, separately, and we glorify God in our own ways.

Luke 2:13-15

Luke 2:13-15 

English Standard Version 

  Curiosity is said to have killed the cat, but in the case of Christianity, it can be one of our greatest strengths.  

  Without curiosity, the shepherds hear the angels and then stay in the fields.  Without curiosity, they're intrigued by the message of the angels, but since it doesn't fit in the mold of what they're expecting, it'd be easy to cast it aside and not take the next steps.

  But they hear what the angels have to say, and curiosity takes over, so they go and look for what the angels have spoken about.

  It's a question for us, too.  Are we curious enough to follow where angels may lead?  When we have thoughts on our hearts or minds, do we patiently listen for more direction, talk about them with a friend, find what opportunities are out there?  God is always calling us forward, but we have to be willing to follow, even if we're uncertain about what the next stage of the path looks like.  God will be there to catch us if we fail, and we'll often receive more guidance along the way.  But we need to be willing to step out in faith and let our curiosity lead us forward.

Luke 2:8-12

Luke 2:8-12 

English Standard Version 

  Think of all the possible people that the angels could've announced the birth of Jesus to.  If there was someone born that was going to change the course of human fate, you'd imagine that they'd be announced in every palace on earth.  

  Would that have worked?  

  We don't know.  If that had been God's plan, it would've almost certainly worked.  I'm not going to doubt God's plan.

  But we know that God started with the shepherds, just like God chose humble fishermen as the first disciples.  And from those humble beginnings, the Gospel spread to every corner of the known world.  

  So what does that teach us?  We'd be wise to think about how the Gospel is at work in the humble parts of the world.  We often have our eyes focused on the most powerful places in society and we don't think much about the humbler spots.  May we pray for the wisdom to open the eyes of our hearts to follow wherever God may lead, even if it is to unexpected spots that are far from the centers of power.

Luke 2:1-7

Luke 2:1-7 

English Standard Version 

  Every year, we come to this point, and every year, it's a miracle unfolding before us.  A baby, fragile and vulnerable, entering a world of poverty and danger, all of it woven together to help us see the breadth of the love of God.  You'd never write the story this way -- you'd have the Prince of Peace coming into a castle, with a throne inlaid with gold waiting him, but that's not the way the story goes.  If Jesus came into wealth and power, only the wealth would understand him.  Instead, Jesus comes in poverty, and we see dependence and need, and the entire world looks upon him and can identify.  We're all in need.  

  So let us come to the manger and peer in with anxious hearts, ready to be comforted, trusting in the God who comes to us in mysteries, in riches, in love.  May we come this Christmas and hear the story again, and as it comforts our weary hearts, may we be enrobed in light and love and encouraged once more to love the world with the same selfless love with which God loves us.

  Merry Christmas!!

John 20:30-31

John 20:30-31 English Standard Version 

The Purpose of This Book 

  There's so much we never see.  We don't know the half of what goes on with most news stories, but reporters summarize the events to give us an understanding of the most important people and newsworthy items.  When you're telling someone about your day, do you tell them every little detail?  Or do you summarize and capture the most important moments?

  Likewise, when John is trying to tell you about the life of Jesus Christ, he summarizes.  He would've run out of paper if he'd tried to tell you everything.  All the parchment in the world couldn't contain that.  But he tells you the most important things that you need to know, and we can trust that the things that are left out are similar enough to what is in there that it fits with the image of Jesus portrayed in the Gospels.  

  So we can believe based on what we have read, and trust that we'll know the remaining details someday.  

John 20:26-29

John 20:26-29 

English Standard Version 

  There are so many people who think God is out to get them.  As though God, the perfect Creator of the universe, would need to play 'gotcha' games to find a reason to smite anyone.  

  What Jesus is showing us here is that it is the will of God to save.  Jesus wants Thomas to believe -- he goes out of his way to give Thomas the proof.  Jesus doesn't tell Thomas that he needs to believe more or figure it out on his own.  Jesus reaches out in grace and love to bring Thomas in and speak to his doubts.

  Jesus looks at you and I the same way -- through a lens of grace and love.  Jesus wants you to believe, to have faith, and sends out the Holy Spirit to speak to our doubts and questions.

John 20:24-25

John 20:24-25 

English Standard Version 

  For the record, this seems like an entirely reasonable position that Thomas takes.  Also, it reminds us that the 1st century disciples weren't any more likely to believe that dead people came back to life than we are.  If we were told this, we'd want a little evidence, too, and more than just an online video.  We'd want concrete proof, and would be unlikely to settle for anything less.

  So let's not be too hard on Thomas, and may we pray for God to soften our hearts around areas where we struggle to believe.  

John 20:19-23

John 20:19-23

English Standard Version 

  In the 21st century, it's easy to think that the disciples were gathered together, perched on the edge of their chairs, waiting for Jesus' resurrection.

  No, they were in a locked room, afraid for their lives, wondering if the Romans would kill them, too, as an effort to completely crush the movement.

  They didn't fully realize how much more powerful Jesus was than the Roman empire.  If they had known at the time, then maybe they wouldn't have been sitting inside behind locked doors, but would instead be sitting in the garden, unafraid of the Roman guards, waiting for the resurrection.

  But they weren't.  They were hiding, afraid.

  What's amazing is that after Jesus ascended to heaven, this group of scared disciples would go on to transform the world, and they'd do so unafraid of death.  Most of them would be publicly martyred, killed for their proclamation.  They were afraid here, but not later on -- they went boldly into public, each of them proclaiming what they believed to be true.

  What changed?

  Jesus came into a locked room and breathed the Holy Spirit upon them.

  It is my solemn prayer that the same Holy Spirit come into the locked doors of our hearts and continue to breathe that same peace upon us, that we, too, may go out into the world with joy and boldness.

Sermon for December 18, 2022

John 20:18

John 20:18 

English Standard Version

  What would you say if someone came up to you a few days after a funeral and told you that they'd seen the deceased at the grocery store? Would you laugh in their face?  Silently make a note to call friends and family later?  Be so upset that you'd cry?

  There's all sorts of possibilities, but I doubt you'd immediately jump to belief that the person had risen from the dead.  These things don't happen.  It's easy to assume in our modern day that people were simpler and more gullible 2,000 years ago.  But they understood life and death -- what do you think they had all those purity codes for?  They didn't have the same level of scientific knowledge, but they were just as skeptical as we are of the idea of someone rising from the dead.  

  But Mary saw enough to convince her to go and tell the story.  She understood and believed, and then was the first witness to the resurrection to invite others to explore this possibility that opens a window into a new reality.

  May we pray for the wisdom to have open minds and open hearts.  Open minds to listen to what God has to say to us and is calling us into, and open hearts to love those that God puts in our path.

John 20:17

John 20:17 

English Standard Version 

  Jesus has been resurrected for less than a day and he's already pointing people towards one another.  Christianity isn't meant to be just 'me and Jesus', but rather there is a horizontal component that is just as important as the vertical -- we do faith with one another.  This is where a lot of spirituality programs fall short -- they miss that Jesus is always sending us out into the world together, to love and serve one another.  I think we miss this a lot in church, too -- church isn't just about showing up once a week to serve God individually.  It's about building relationships with one another, building a community of faith that worships together, as one body, and complimenting each other's strengths and weaknesses.  We do this together, not individually, and we're better for it, even as we're occasionally in conflict, because we all have some sharp edges that run up against the sharp edges of other people.  

  May we love and serve together, and recognize the ways Jesus sends us into the community.

John 20:16

John 20:16 

English Standard Version 

  There's a delicate and intimate nature to Jesus' interactions with us -- in the midst of the cosmic work that he's doing, he addresses us by name -- he calls us, the same way he calls us into being.  In the midst of a billion souls, Jesus knows your name and speaks it over you.

  And to hear Mary's response -- Rabbon means great master, while the 'i' on the end is possessive, meaning 'My Great Master' or 'My Great Teacher'.  This is the highest designation a teacher can receive, and isn't it amazing that it's Mary that bestows such a title upon Jesus?  It's not a lifelong student or someone with a clean background, but Mary Magdalene who calls Jesus this name.  Jesus addresses her by name, and in response, she gives him honor. 

  What Jesus is telling us is that on the other side of the resurrection, we are known by name and interact with Jesus on an individual level.  Again, this is all regardless of our backgrounds -- Jesus loves us and calls us by name.  

  What a gift.  What love is poured upon us, and even on the other side of the grave, we have the opportunity to respond in praise.

Romans 12:1-2

Romans 12:1-2

English Standard Version 

   I found my old CD cases, which are a fascinating time capsule into the music I used to listen to 20 years ago when I was actively buying CDs.  I've got a CD player in my car that has presented the opportunity for nostalgia every time I drive down to Cincinnati or out to some rural Ohio business.  It's fantastic, and it's also a reminder as to how much life has changed.  I'm not the same person I was 20 years ago, but I really did have some great taste in music back then!  When I think about presenting myself as a living sacrifice, that means something different today than it used to.  15 years ago or 15 months ago, I was a different person, and sacrificing different things.  

  Part of the amazing reality of Christianity is that it evolves and grows as we grow -- we find additional depth in the Word of God.  As we encounter all the various joys and challenges of life, we find new facets of faith that we hadn't thought about before, and the Holy Spirit encourages us to lean into faith, to sacrifice differently.  The old saying I quote whenever I read this passage is that the problem with living sacrifices is that they keep crawling off the altar!  We're never the same, and we come back, time and time again, to be comforted and challenged and encouraged and embraced.  

  We also see the amazing reality that Christianity has something relevant to say to modern America.  What Jesus taught in 1st century Jerusalem is applicable to daily life.  We present our bodies and renew our minds, and it's all offered to God.  It matters how we surf the internet and what we watch on television -- this is part of our spirituality.  Faith doesn't shrink, but we change and wear the cloth of Christianity in different ways.    So may we give thanks for the gift of a relevant faith and a God that cares about us just as much today and God cared about us a decade ago, and that love will stretch on forever into eternity, long after the sun has worn itself out and the oceans have ceased to crash on the shore.  Thanks be to God! --

John 20:14-15

John 20:14-15 

English Standard Version 

  Martin Luther talked about the human heart as a factory of idols -- in summary, he said we have an amazing ability to turn almost anything into an idol.  Augustine talked about it as a disordered loves, in that we love other things more than God.  We look at the world, and we see other things to worship, and we neglect the worship of God.

  Mary falls prey to the same temptation in a different way.  She's not guilty of idolatry, but she looks directly at Jesus and sees a gardener.  She's despondent and wracked by grief, so it makes sense, but it's strange to picture, this woman who knows Jesus looking directly at the resurrected Savior and assuming it's a stranger.  

  We do the same thing.  God shows up and is active in the world and in our lives, and we assume that it's something else.  Our eyes aren't clouded by grief, but usually by some other worldly desire, and so we're caught up chasing the world's success, and we miss God in front of us.

  May we pray for clear vision, for God to direct the eyes of our heart, that we may see when God is in our lives, leading us forward, and follow God wherever we are led.

John 20:12-13

John 20:12-13 

English Standard Version 

  I imagine people who are born and raised in San Diego don't truly understand winter.  They might know what winter is conceptually, but the idea of being cold because it's negative 5 degrees and the wind is howling is so foreign as to be incomprehensible.

  The angels have the same problem.  They can't understand weeping. They've seen the Gospel narrative unfolding, and they know Jesus has been raised from the dead, so all they know is joy.  Weeping from sorrow doesn't occur to them.  

  One day, when we're on the other side of the veil, we won't know sorrow.  We won't know heartbreak.  We won't remember what it's like to weep with sorrow.  In the meantime, we unfortunately still know this reality all too well.  We lose people.  We experience illness.  Our minds and bodies fail us.  In this world, death is still here -- so may we aspire to the day when we understand the world as angels do, and may we be extremely sensitive to one another as we undergo heartache.  We may not understand why others are weeping, for they may be experiencing heartbreak that we don't understand.  May we listen well, and care deeply.

Sermon for December 4, 2022

John 20:11

John 20:11 

English Standard Version 

  I don't like thinking about death very often.  It's not the brightest subject.  But it's real and it's out there, whether I like it or not.  One of our clients lost his wife very surprisingly and far too young the other day, and I can't help but ponder it.  As a Christian, I believe that death is a veil that we pass through into something else.  My belief in this is based on the fact that Jesus Christ died and rose from the dead.  He's the only person in human history to do this, he predicted it, and the foundation of the church that I serve is rooted in this fact.  The apostles went to very, very unpleasant deaths proclaiming this to be true, and if there was a body, the Romans could've produced it at any point to put an end to any resurrection nonsense.  They didn't because they couldn't.

  Therefore, death is truly a beginning -- like a newborn child, when we die, we pass through something immensely stressful, and we enter into a world completely unknown, where our senses are likely to encounter a world unlike the one we've known in our previous experience.  Try explaining the world to a newborn that's spent 9 months in a warm, dark place, listening to its mother's heartbeat and digestive track as it moves food along the process.  It simply wouldn't compute -- the outside world is too different.  No wonder babies cry when they're born.  

  And yet, because it's so hard for us to contemplate, and because we can't wrap our heads around a completely different experience, we end up like Mary here in John 20:11 -- when we think about it, we find ourselves standing outside of death, weeping at the very thought of it.  This world is so beautiful, and so many relationships are so rich, and the next step is so foreign, that we cannot help but weep out of sorrow for what we lose.  Mary, who knew and saw far more than I did, wept at the reality of it.  

  Tim Keller says that the only thing death can do is make us better.  I think about that a lot.  It's an unshakable optimism and confidence in God's sovereign power over death.  I pray for that.  I hope for that.  I don't know that I have it now.  But maybe I'll grow into it.  

John 20:8-10

John 20:8-10 

English Standard Version 

  Verse 10 never fails to amuse me.  We're told that John went in and believed (after John reminds us all that he'd beaten Peter in the race), although they still didn't grasp this in line with the larger witness of Scripture, and then they just went home.  They discovered the largest news event to ever take place, then decided to chill at home on the couch for a bit, maybe grab some breakfast.  It'd been a big morning, after all.

  The movie industry makes us think that change happens radically.  We see it so often on the big screen that we come to expect it in our own lives.  Main characters in movies have radical life-changing transformations overnight, and they go out into the world instantly as new people.  Commercials tell us that changing our lives or bodies can happen in only a few shorts days, so we workout twice and then wonder why our muscles haven't grown.  We are constantly disappointed because our goals are so high.

  But real change takes time.  Allowing the Holy Spirit to work requires great acts of patience.  It's not to be rushed.  God will change you, but it likely won't be quick.  After each encounter, it's helpful to pause and rest, to reflect, like Peter and John do, and see what God has in store.  Don't feel disappointed if you're not seeing instant changes -- be patient with yourself and with God.  

John 20:5-7

John 20:5-7 

English Standard Version 

  What do you do when you see the unbelievable?

  Usually, when presented with evidence that something miraculous has happened, we try and come up with some explanation, and there usually is.  It's unlikely that a true miracle happened -- there's probably some perfectly plausible reason.

  When Peter and John went into the tomb, what do you suppose they thought?  They saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth wasn't with them, but folded up on its own.  There was no body, which was unexpected, because they watched Jesus die.  Usually, when people die, the body hangs around.  It could've been grave robbers, but what grave robber takes the time to fold a cloth and place it elsewhere?  Was there some sort of gang of impeccably neat grave robbers?  Unlikely.  But Peter and John had to consider every option... because there's usually a way to explain a miracle.   

  But sometimes, it really is a miracle.  

John 20:3-4

John 20:3-4 

English Standard Version 

  For two thousand years, no one has been asking whether Peter or John reached the tomb first, and yet John was certain to note in his Gospel that he was faster than Peter.  It's amazing to think how much we want to know, like more details about what Jesus said and did after his resurrection, and what details we do know, which is who would run a footrace between Peter and John.  

  But this is also one of those details that helps us see the Gospel as a true account.  They wrote what they remembered.  They weren't certain as which details would be the most important, so they recorded what stood out to them, and we've been piecing things together ever since.  

  We don't know everything we want to, but we know enough to believe.  We take the rest on faith.  But, if challenged to a race once you reach heaven, opt to race against Peter, not John.

Sermon for November 27, 2022

John 20:2

John 20:2 

English Standard Version 

  Maybe some of the most powerful words in the English language are 'I don't know.'

  So often we're trying to fake it.  We want others to think that we're competent and capable and all those things -- we need to be respected and maybe even admired.  We have a self-image and we want others to see us the same way we see ourselves, so we often project knowledge, even if we're not as sure as we're pretending to be.

  Admitting that we don't know can be hard.  Especially if it's something that we've been doing for years -- over time, we become more trapped and more committed to making others think we know.

  It can be so liberating to admit that we don't know, to rely upon the wisdom of the group.  To admit that we don't know is to allow room for others to come alongside and help us figure it out.  It creates space for others to say that they also don't know.  It transforms the atmosphere, because we're no longer performing, but all figuring it out together.

  Mary was willing to say she didn't know, and then Peter came along with her to find out.  Together, they started putting the pieces together on what God was doing.  Admitting she didn't know created a community where they discerned together what God was doing.

  There's a long, long, long list of things I don't know.  I pray for the wisdom to admit them when they come up, that we may work together to listen to what God is saying and how God is moving.

John 20:1

John 20:1 

English Standard Version 

  Discipleship is hard.  The world places so many demands and so many distractions on us -- I get caught up in so many other things I'm trying to do.  These things seem more pressing, even though they're not as important, but the repercussions can be more immediate.

  I wish I had the same mind that was in Mary Magdalene.  She got up early and went to the tomb.  Maybe she knew exactly what she was doing, or maybe she wandered there by accident, lost in her grief, but regardless, she got up and went to the tomb, and because she showed up, she was the first witness to something incredible.  The resurrection of Jesus Christ has changed the entire world, and she was first, because she got up early and went to the tomb.

  I truly believe that getting up early and starting the day with Jesus has the ability to change our lives as well.  I don't do it often enough. I get busy.  I make excuses.  But showing up, day after day... who knows what God might do.  There's no guarantee that every day we'll witness something amazing, but if we don't get up and spend time with Jesus, we'll definitely miss it.  So may we imitate Mary and show up, day after day, trusting in God to be at work.

John 19:38-42

John 19:38-42 

English Standard Version 

  When we think about stewardship, we often think about giving money, but stewardship goes far beyond that -- it's not just about money.  Sometimes, we realize we have just the right gift that's needed at just the right time.  Joseph of Arimathea was a secret disciple of Jesus, and when Jesus died and needed a tomb, Joseph happened to have just the place, a tomb where no one had ever been laid.  It turns out this resource he had was exactly what the church needed at exactly the right time.  I doubt he had ever thought about how this resource might be beneficial to the church, but when the time came, he was ready to give.

  May we have the same spirit -- one that looks at the world and wonders how we might use our resources to meet the world's needs.  Joseph hadn't planned on this, but when the need presented itself, he was ready and willing.  May we live the same way, ready and willing to help when we see needs, looking at our resources as potential ways to help one another in times of need.

Sermon for Nov 20, 2022 (John 18)

John 19:31-37

John 19:31-37 

English Standard Version 

  There are plenty of competing theories as to what happened to Jesus when he was crucified and then later vacated his tomb.  One of the theories is the 'swoon' theory, which postulates that perhaps Jesus was just sorta dead on the cross, and the Romans overlooked the fact that the guy they'd hung on cross all day wasn't really super dead, and that later on, the coolness of the tomb revived Jesus and he went on his merry way.

  There's a few issues with this theory.  One of them being that even if you accept the first part of the theory, he still had the issue of rolling a way a giant stone and then slipping past the guards posted outside to ensure things were in order.  To accept that a guy weakened by hours hanging from a cross managed to do this is a stretch... Having watched all of the James Bond movies, most of them at least twice, even he doesn't escape from such improbably circumstances without help.

  Also, the soldiers who were professionals at killing people spent their entire days killing people.  They knew what dead people looked and acted like, so it's not likely that they would've failed to notice Jesus' death.  They still pierced him with a spear, causing blood and water to pour out, the water being a result of fluid gathering around the heart due to the rapid heartbeat caused by extended shock.  So they pierced the fluid sac around the heart.  Given that Jesus wasn't rushed to a modern ER after this, it's unlikely he could've survived this, even if he was alive... but even if he did, and you accept the idea of him then escaping from a tomb, are you really ready to then believe that he looked well enough to convince the disciples only days later that he had really risen from the dead and he wasn't just faking it?  And remember, they were convinced enough of this that they went to their deaths proclaiming that he was really raised from the dead, and people only go to their deaths for believing something that they really think is true.  This wasn't simply a joke to them.  

  All that to say, it takes a lot of faith to believe that Jesus didn't die on the cross before that tomb was empty on the 3rd day.  

John 19:28-30

John 19:28-30 

English Standard Version 

  I was driving home the other day and saw the flags out along the sidewalk that mark where the gas lines and other utilities are buried.  Most of the time, you never see the lines and there aren't any markers, so you never give a second thought to the idea that directly below your feet, there are all sorts of pipes and conduit with water and energy and waste coursing through them.  There's so much happening just below the surface, but you don't see it so you don't think about it.  There are flags that remind you of what is beneath the surface, but they blend into the background so that you don't think much about those, either.

  When I think of Jesus on the cross, the same is true.  The Romans looked upon him and saw just another criminal dying on the cross.  They crucified lots of people -- Jesus was just another, barely noticed.  

  But there was so much happening that we didn't see, that we didn't notice.  It was right beneath the surface, and a few people took the time and energy to look, and because of that, they followed him, and their lives were transformed.  

  Do we take the time to notice what God is doing?  It's so easy to barrel through life, through the days, without paying attention to what God is doing in the moments.  Do we look for God's work in our relationships?  Do we stop and pray for Holy Spirit wisdom to guide us in big decisions?  Or are we moving along the road at speed, unaware of so much happening around and within us?  God is here, and God is at work -- will you slow down enough to realize it?

The Woman in the Library

   How well do you know someone?  

  I finished reading The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill last week.  Four strangers are bound together by a scream overheard in a library, and as their lives intertwine, they discover threads connecting their lives previously unknown, all the while striving to know what happened to the woman whose death was accompanied by the scream.  At the end of every chapter, there is correspondence between the author and a reviewer, and it takes a turn for the macabre each and every chapter.

  All of it makes me think about how well we know people.  We choose what we reveal to one another, and our identities in different parts of our life can be very different if we would like.  We display a personality at work that may or may not correspond to the person we are in the evening or on the weekend.  People know part of our story that we tell, and we can omit the painful parts if we like.  But then what do we do when the truth comes out?  Do we recognize that everyone is hiding something?  Or do we run?

  When we come before God, we don't have the chance to hide anything, although I think we'd often like to.  But we are fully known by God.  Thankfully, we're loved in spite of our weaknesses, in spite of our failures... but it's easy to feel embarrassed before God.  We're not perfect.  Often, we're not even close.  Sometimes, I know what Jonah feels like -- we want to run from God, to hop the next ship to Tarshish and start over, or like Moses, to run into the wilderness.

  We discover the futility of running from God.  God is already there, arms open wide, with grace beyond grace.  We are fully known and fully loved.

  May we extend that same grace to one another.  May we not hide our brokenness, but rather let the light shine through the cracks, that others may know the wonders of unconditional love.

John 19:23-27

John 19:23-27 

English Standard Version 

  It's strange, right -- the soldiers have no problem brutally killing Jesus on the cross, but when it comes to tearing his tunic, they suddenly get sensitive.  

  Here's Jesus, dying on the cross, and what is he doing?  He's taking care of his mother and the disciple.  To the very end, he's taking care of others.  What does that say about Jesus?  How lucky are we that we were created by a God who made us in his image and loves us enough to care for us right to and through his dying breath?  The world wasn't made by someone who set it in motion and left it on its own... but rather by someone who cares about the brokenness in the world and is doing something about it. 

  May we love the world in the same way, that we care about it and the people in it up to and through our dying breath!

John 19:17-22

John 19:17-22 

English Standard Version 

  What if you had to carry your own cross?

  I wonder about the things that are putting us to death, as individuals and as a society.  Seems like we pay most of them little attention -- like the unhealthy food we often mindlessly put into our bodies, we're often pouring unhealthy habits into our souls, staring with greed at the next big thing that we think will bring us peace in our life but only breeds more anxiety and competition, leaving us with scarce resources and stressing our financials and souls.  

  Maybe we are carrying our own cross, only we don't realize that it's a cross, because we're too busy trying to keep up with everyone else.  If we're all marching in the same direction, then we can't be wrong, can we?

  Can we?

  I wonder how Jesus regarded the cross he was carrying.  Did he carry it with the confidence of a man about to die and rise from the grave?  Or did he weep with the overwhelming knowledge that humanity treats death so callously that we design such instruments of torture?  Did he mourn for all the ways we've strayed from the Garden of Eden and left behind the peaceful bliss offered to us by God in that place?  Or did he have joy in his heart as he realized that this was the instrument through which we would be redeemed?

  May we pay attention in the world, to notice the crosses we carry and those burdening one another, and may we receive one another with grace, for life is hard enough without us making it harder for one another.  May the joy we find in a Savior willing to die carry us forward into the world today.

Sermon on Zechariah 3 -- the Truth of the Gospel

John 19:12-16

John 19:12-16 

English Standard Version 

  It's so easy to get addicted to the world.  In 1 Corinthians, Paul tells us that the way of the cross is a stumbling block, and it's as true today as it was then.  The little hit of dopamine that comes from getting likes on social media or seeing the count of views on YouTube or whatever statistics they show on Instagram... that's a real influence.  It shapes behavior, and it's hard to go against that.  To choose to die to yourself daily is to choose a different route, to swim upstream, and it can be lonely.  For the chief priests to turn away from the power offered by intimacy with Rome was too much to ask.  All it cost them was to hand over Jesus Christ.  

  May we make wise choices, today and every day, and recognize that the ways of the world and the way of the cross don't always align.  May we notice the ways that our soul pulls us, and may we have a community that gathers around us and helps us to choose the wiser path, no matter the cost, recognizing that the gain is eternal and worth the world.

John 19:6-11

John 19:6-11 

English Standard Version 

  Do you ever find yourself making decisions that you're unqualified to make?  This is Pilate's world that he's suddenly living in -- the Jews aren't able to put Jesus to death, but they're desperate to get rid of him, so they're using Pilate as a partner in their scheme.  Pilate wants to get to the bottom of this, but he's not able to get Jesus to give him a straight answer.  Jesus knows that death is the path that leads to life, not just for him but for all of humanity, and so he won't speak the words that would allow him to go free -- that freedom would be momentary, and wouldn't offer the forgiveness that he came to extend to all humankind.  

  I'd love to know so much more about the conversations between Jesus and Pilate.  Pilate must have been on the edge of his seat, wanting to know so much, but he was in a rush to keep the Jews happy, and so he allowed them to use the Roman army to keep the peace.  He obviously didn't realize the impact his decisions would have on human history, or else he probably would have asked a lot more questions.

  I hope we all have the intellectual curiosity to pursue Christianity and the truth of it.  There's a lot of great books that have been written by a lot of great minds about whether it is true or not.  It's worth investing our time in, and I believe Christianity stands up to intellectual scrutiny.  So many tough questions have been asked of the faith over the years.  May we ask our tough questions and see where the paths lead.

John 19:1-5

John 19:1-5 

English Standard Version 

  They put the crown of thorns on him to mock him as a king, but they didn't understand his kingdom stretched far above and beyond their own.  They saw their spears and thrones as the height of power, and couldn't imagine a King whose realm isn't limited by time.

  They dressed him in purple, a royal color, and paraded him in front of others, beaten and bloodied, thinking they were mocking his lack of power.  They didn't understand that he could speak a word and the world would turn to dust, that his death on a cross would lead to the defeat of death itself.  They didn't realize how small they were in comparison to the foes Jesus was facing.  They thought they were rulers because their vision was too small.

  We do the same thing as well.  We think of riches or popularity and think these things offer us security in the world.  We think our jobs or houses are the most important things in the world, and we forget about the kingdom of God that we cannot see.  We forget the urgency to care for other people, because we are so focused on those who are right in front of us.  We don't allow the Holy Spirit to stretch our vision to see the reality of God's Kingdom, to understand the commissioning that God places upon us.  

  So may we pray for the wisdom to focus on the things of God first, and allow Scripture to define our priorities.  May we emphasize the things of God, and allow God to lead us forward, day by day.

John 18:33-38

John 18:33-38

English Standard Version 

  Pilate could be a modern hero.  Truth has become so relative -- we often hear people praised for seeking their truth or speaking their truth.  There isn't one central truth anymore in society -- everyone gets their own truth, which presents some challenges when we need to agree on what is right and wrong, because that's generally based on mutually agreed upon truths.  

  Jesus offers a different path -- he tells us that he is the way, the truth, and the life.  Truth isn't relative, it's found in a person.  Which means it also isn't abstract -- it's real and grounded in someone who lived, just like us.  We often struggle, because we're not sure exactly how the words and life of Jesus translate into modernity, which means we have to figure out how to confront countless issues without direct knowledge of how Jesus would respond.  How do we know what truth is in a modern era when there seem to be more questions than answers?  What is truth when trying to get our arms around a constantly changing and evolving society?  

  The first and best answer to that is to look at the sum total of Jesus' life.  It was lived sacrificially, which tells us something about truth.  Truth is reaching out to hurting people in grace and with patience.  Truth tells us that sin has real consequences, but it also gives us all a path forward because we see the selfless love God offers to take those consequences upon Jesus Christ.  We're not paralyzed in uncertainty, but rather motivated to action, visiting the sick and hurting and pouring ourselves out the same way Christ pours himself out for us.

  It isn't easy to live by the truth of Christ in a relativistic society.  But God shows us that the work is worth it in describing to us the eternal life and peace that awaits us on the other side of the ridge.

John 18:28-32

John 18:28-32

English Standard Version

  Here's the leaders of the Jewish community who, at the same time, are worried about keeping themselves ritually pure while also wrongfully condemning a man to death.  They've managed to convince themselves that getting rid of Jesus is the most important thing, and when people can do that, they can make moral compromises because they believe the end justifies the means.  Shortcuts are fine when they're in pursuit of a righteous end, right?

  Jesus leads us down a different path -- one where you can't cut corners or cut out people simply to achieve your own goals, no matter how righteous you may think they are.  If you're walking over someone to get somewhere, then that place isn't worth going to.  Jesus is constantly drawing our attention to people who have been cast aside, often by going and directly serving those very people, illustrating how much they matter to God and should, therefore, matter to us.  When we invest the time thinking about how our choices impact others, it should prevent us from taking advantage of others or using them as a means to an end.

John 18:25-27

John 18:25-27

English Standard Version 

  Nobody ever plans for moral failures.  People don't wake up in the morning and think about how they'll cheat on a spouse or lie on their taxes.  Opportunities present themselves, and people do what they never would have expected they're capable of doing.  It's been happening for thousands of years, and it's tragic, but it's also human nature.  We're fallible, but we generally assume we'll do the right thing, and we do, often, but not always.

  What I love about Scripture is how accessible it is.  I can relate to Peter.  If you asked me to my face, I'd tell you that I'd never deny Jesus like this.  But Peter didn't think he would, either.  He was afraid and reacted out of fear.  I've made bad choices, choices that I never thought I would make, things I regretted and then ended up doing again, even though I had made promises that I'd never do that again.  

  There's a place for Peter in the story of salvation that God is writing.  The place isn't at the middle, because that's where Jesus is, but all around Jesus, we're invited into that place, brokenness and all.  There is healing on the path there for us, no matter what, so when the rooster crows and reminds us of our sin, that's not the bell tolling an end, but rather a reminder of the new beginning made possible in Christ.

Sermon for November 6, 2022 -- Fruit of the Spirit

John 18:19-24

John 18:19-24 

English Standard Version 

  One option is to go through life thinking about the things you ought to get.  This often includes respect that ought to be due to you.  Or maybe you're thinking about the breaks that you should get for one reason or another -- the favors the world owes you.  It's an easy trap to fall into, especially when we see some of the breaks other people get.  If we're just as good as them, then we ought to get those same breaks, right?

  One way or another, we learn (usually the hard way!) that we often don't get what we think we should.  This is where a firm sense of humility and a grasp of theology helps us see a way forward out of our disappointment.  

  When we're humble, we can accept that we deserve God's condemnation.  We have sinned and fallen short, and in God's eyes, we are no better than the officers striking Jesus for speaking the truth.  Because we have sinned and not kept up our end of God's covenant, we deserve the worst.  

  However, our theology teaches us that because of the free gift of grace that is seen most fully in the life and atoning death of Jesus Christ, we do not get what we deserve, but instead receive the honor that Christ fully deserved for living the perfect and sinless life.  Christ gets the punishment we deserve, and we get the honor Christ deserves.  

  Thanks be to God that we don't get the hell we deserve, and are instead destined for eternal life, because of what Christ has done on our behalf.

John 18:25-27

John 18:25-27 

English Standard Version 

  Have you ever had a moment in your life that you wished you could have a do-over?  Maybe you'd say something different, or do something different.  You look back on that moment with regret, but you don't have a second chance.

  Peter gets a second chance to not deny even knowing Jesus Christ.  If you remember, he utterly failed the first time.  I bet he's been kicking himself ever since, wishing he had a do-over.  

  Well, he gets a second chance!  

  And he totally fails again.  Completely misses his opportunity and once again denies knowing Jesus Christ.

  And a second time, there is grace for his failure, and he is still one of the key disciples after the resurrection.

  So friends, there is grace for you, too, even when you get it completely wrong, even if it isn't the first time you've gotten it wrong!

John 18:15-18

John 18:15-18 

English Standard Version 

  How do you feel when you see others who publicly fail?  In many ways, it reminds us that we're all alike -- those who achieve great heights in society are just like us in so many ways.  I've learned this over and over again, and it's always sobering.

  This Scriptural passage is one of the passages in the Bible that gives me more hope than so many others.  Here's Peter, the guy who will go on to be one of the leaders in the early church.  The primary church in Catholicism is named after him!  And he completely and totally fails at following Jesus when presented with the slightest opposition.  Fortunately, this isn't the end of his story, just as it goes for you and I -- when we fail, even publicly, it's not the end of our story, because Jesus has a way of redeeming and restoring us.  Thanks be to God for grace that covers our sins, even when everyone knows ahead of time that we're going to fail, but we are a community of broken people brought together by a God who restores and redeems!

John 18:3-11

John 18:3-11 

English Standard Version 

  Even his enemies were seeking him out!  

  If you knew you were going to be hunted down, persecuted, and put to death, you'd run, right?  Especially if you knew you were innocent and you knew you would be convicted anyway.  There's no way you'd stick around, right?  And if you had the power to escape, and didn't need to fear anyone or anything?  Why would you stay?

  It never ceases to amaze me -- this is the moment of choice, when Jesus commits to seeing the plan through.  He could have left Jerusalem and never seen the Pharisees again, but he chose to stay, simply because of how much he loves you.  

  May that never cease to amaze you, and in the very darkest of days, in your most despairing moments, remember that even if the entire world has turned against you, Jesus loved you enough to stay.

John 16:21-24

John 16:21-24

English Standard Version 

  Well, I've certainly never given birth to a child, or anything nearly as challenging as that, but I've done plenty of hard things.  When I think about triathlons I've competed in, they weren't easy, but at the moment when I crossed the finish line, there was nothing but joy.  The same is true for graduations -- I don't get dragged down by exhaustion from work that was done, but celebrate the accomplishment.

  In this life, there will be plenty of challenging moments.  We will undergo suffering and trials, both in our own lives and those around us.  At times, we'll likely wonder where God is and what God is doing.  There aren't often easy answers in those moments, but God promises us that those will pass, and that the fullness of joy is awaiting us on the other side of our suffering.  One day, there will be the fullness of joy, and the hope of this is what helps us push through the dark nights of the soul that we face.  Like a traveler on a lonely road in the dark of night, we wait for the dawn, knowing the stone has been rolled away and the tomb is empty and we shall rejoice together one day.

John 16:16-20

John 16:16-20 

English Standard Version 

  So Jesus spends 3 years, every day, with the disciples.  He predicted his death and resurrection, speaking plainly about his ability to transform sorrow into joy, and yet when he died on the cross, what did the disciples experience?  Sorrow.  Were they filled with hope and expectation that their sorrow would turn into joy?  It didn't seem like it.  Thomas certainly didn't expect Jesus to turn his sorrow into joy.  He thought there was only sorrow.

  So, too, with us.  We have sorrow, and in the depth of our sorrow, it's so hard to remember Jesus' ability to turn sorrow into joy.  We forget, and we lack imagination, so we live in sorrow and doubt and fear, wondering if joy will come again in the morning.  

  It's so important to continue to pray for God's wisdom to guide our hearts, and for us to sit with those who are in sorrow -- they need someone to gently and compassionately remind them that there is joy for the sorrow, that there is sunrise for the night, that there is hope in despair. No matter how dark the night, there is always some light to shine, now and forever.

John 15:7-11

John 15:7-11 

English Standard Version 

  There's a lot of criticism of workplace environments lately, and I think there's a lot of valid questions being asked about the nature of work and how we interact with our work environments.  Work should be a two-way street, where the employee offers time and gifts to the workplace, and the employer offers compensation and fulfillment to the employee.  When that balance gets out of whack, one way or the other, things fall apart, because there's a lack of mutual trust.

  When we think about church, we often think about what we give, in terms of time and money, and it's important to think about what God wants to give you.  Jesus longs for our joy to be full.  Jesus doesn't just want us to be happy and be at peace, although he wants that for us, but a fullness of joy that pervades, that has depth, that lasts, now and forever.  That's what God wants to give us.  What could we give back?  We give everything back, with joy, knowing that God is giving us even more than we could possibly give.

John 15:1-5

John 15:1-5 

English Standard Version 

  No church ever puts an advertisement out on the church sign that people should come check out the community and find out how God will prune them!  Not exactly a winning slogan, but that's the teaching from Jesus Christ -- that God prunes those who are bearing fruit, in the hopes that there will be even more fruit.

  So when we come across challenges in our walk with God, when we feel like we're running into a wall, may we have the openness to the Holy Spirit to wonder how God might be pruning us, that we may be drawn even closer into community with God and with one another.

John 14:25-31

John 14:25-31

English Standard Version

  What were the things you wanted when you were a kid?  When I was younger, I had a poster of a Lamborghini on my wall and thought that if you ever had a million dollars, then you wouldn't have a single problem in the world.  

  Well, I don't have a Lamborghini or a million dollars, but the idea of what success looks like as an adult is very, very different than what I thought it was as a kid.  The idea of anxiety didn't really occur to me as a youngster.  

  Did I appreciate the promise of Jesus in John 14 as a child?  Probably not.

  Do I fully appreciate it now?  I certainly do now.  When Jesus tells me that I should not let my heart be troubled, I think of all the things that trouble my heart, and I think about how all the promises of various things in the world that fall short of that, and it amazes me how much time and energy I invest trying to eliminate my own troubles, rather than turning to Jesus.  Money or success or beauty or fame or popularity -- none of these will ease all your troubles.  Many of them only make them worse.  

  But Jesus offers to give us peace.  It won't necessarily be peace like the world thinks about it, but it'll be peace that keeps our hearts from trouble and fear.  Let us cling closely to Jesus, in anticipate of this, hanging on to Christ as our only hope in every moment.

John 14:15-17

John 14:15-17 

English Standard Version 

  If you love cupcakes, you'll eat cupcakes.  And if you eat enough cupcakes, there are repercussions of that as well.  

  If you love the theater, you'll go see lots of musicals.  As a result, you'll learn many of the plays by heart, and you'll meet lots of people who also love the theater.

  When you love things or people, you act appropriately.  Augustine talked about the root of sin being our disordered loves -- we love the wrong things too much, and so we do the wrong things as a result.  In the same way, when we love the right things, we make the right choices.  Jesus is trying to teach us to love the same things God loves, to love all people because God loves all people.  When we love properly, we then act out of that love, and then the way we act changes us -- there's a result, and then our life isn't the same.  

  In the same way, when we love God, we do the things God calls us to do.  And Jesus is sending us more help in the person of the Holy Spirit, who guides us and strengthens us and teaches us and inspires us.  The Holy Spirit encourages us to continue loving the things that God loves, and so it's a cycle -- the more steps we take, the more encouragement we receive, the more we want to keep loving the things of God.

  So may we take the first step, no matter how small, and let God guide us from there.

John 14:8-14

John 14:8-14 

English Standard Version 

  At one point, I wanted to be an architect.  Then I thought I'd be a pilot.  There were some other career choices, too, before I finally settled on engineer.  That didn't work out.  At all.  Most days, I'm still trying to figure out who I am!

  Jesus, however, knew exactly who he was.  He didn't waver on his identity - he was fully God and fully human.  He wasn't just a great teacher that other people mistakenly identified as God.  Read the verses again -- does this sound like someone who is simply trying to teach moral truths?  Is he simply hoping you'll live your best life?  Or is he transcendent and inviting us into an eternal relationship with the God who created the universe and can speak power over death itself?  

  Jesus knows who he is, and he calls you by name, which means that however much we may be confused about parts of our identities, we can clearly define ourselves as children of the living God who are claimed by the Son of God and marked as Christ's own forever.  That's a pretty good starting point for our identities!

John 14:1-7

John 14:1-7 

English Standard Version 

  Whenever I go visit a national park, I always stop at the visitor center and ask for recommendations.  At every one, they pull out a map, and they usually helpfully circle the best places to hike.  Sometimes, they do this enthusiastically.  Sometimes, you can tell they've given the same speech and circled the same destinations on a map 16 times in the last 20 minutes.  Once, they told me all the best places that I should go see, but to do any of it, I needed a ticket that I couldn't get.  Less helpful, but the same map.

  Jesus doesn't point to a map.  He doesn't give us directions to follow.  Instead, he tells us that he is the map.  He is the way.  We don't get a map, we get a relationship, and we should remember that the relationship is with someone who is willing to die for us, even if we're going to stray from the map and get lost -- the God in the relationship comes after us.  We're the lost sheep going away, but we can't fall off the map, because God pursues us.

  It's way better than a map -- it's a person, and that person loves us enough to pay any price to be in an eternal relationship with us.  Rather than follow a map, we follow a person, and that person chooses us!

John 13:36-38

John 13:36-38 

English Standard Version 

  Imagine going in for a performance review with your boss, who tells you that everything is going swimmingly, and two weeks later, you receive a notice in the mail that you're fired.  I highly, highly doubt that you'd have kind things to say about the boss or the company.  If you knew that's how this company treated people ahead of taking the job, would you have even taken it?

  Imagine going to a restaurant and placing your order.  The waiter assures you that your food will be out surely, and then you never hear from them again.  You leave hungry.  How many stars do you give them on your review?  If you knew it was going to happen ahead of time, would you have even gone?

  Here, Peter tells Jesus that he's going to follow Jesus wherever, and promises that he'll lay down his life for Jesus.  Jesus, however, knows that Peter will deny even knowing Jesus.  Jesus tells Peter this.  Despite knowing that Peter will do the exact opposite of what he says he will do, Jesus goes ahead and dies for him.

  Despite knowing that you and I will do the opposite of what we say we will do, Jesus goes ahead and dies for us, too.  We don't get what we deserve, and thanks be to God for that!!

John 13:31-35

John 13:31-35 

English Standard Version 

  The church hasn't always gotten this one right.  Jesus tells us directly that we have one job -- to love one another, just as Christ loved us.  Well, Christ loved us sacrifically, to the point of dying on a cross so that we might be saved.  The church has gotten this spectacularly right at certain times, choosing to serve communities near and far.  At other times... well, we haven't done so great.  We've been greedy and selfish and chosen our own interests over the interests of our communities.  There is a long, long list of things that we would do differently if we had the chance.  By failing to love one another, we haven't pointed to Christ in the way we should have, and that's tragic.  Other people have looked at the church and turned away, uninterested due to the failures of the church.  It's terrible.

  We in the church should never set ourselves up as perfect.  We aren't, and we should always be humble enough to admit our mistakes.  But we should always choose to love sacrificially first.  It's much easier to protect our own interests, but that's not how we're called.  We're called to love, first and always, the way that we're loved.  And Christ loves us without limit -- even in our very worst, Christ chooses to love us.  May we look around and love the world the same way.

John 13:21-30

John 13:21-30 

English Standard Version 

  It's easy to say we wouldn't do it, right?  Sitting here, reading this, we wonder what Judas was thinking.  

  But in the middle of it... we make different choices.  It's always easy to be dispassionately removed from a situation and talk about what you would do.  But when that temptation is in front of you, or you're caught up in emotions, that calculating decision process often isn't available.  We're all capable of incredibly poor choices.  Many of us are lucky enough not to be in circumstances where the wrong decisions we make have grave consequences.  But that doesn't mean we're better than anyone else.  It simply means we are on a different path, and but for the grace of God, who knows what path we might be on.  I can't say I'm any better than a lot of people who have done far worse things, but I haven't faced the same temptations under the same circumstances with the same pressures.  

  We all fall short, and we all rely solely on grace, and grace alone, to deliver us.  We deserve condemnation, and yet we are given grace.  So may we treat one another with grace, for we are all damaged, and capable of great damage.

John 13:12-20

John 13:12-20 

English Standard Version 

  The Dead Sea is a lake that only receives.  No rivers flow out of it.  

  The Sea of Galilee, on the other hand, has a river that flows into it and another flowing out of it.

  Guess which one the disciples fished in, because it was teeming with fish?

  What kind of person would you like to be?  A dead end for grace, where blessings flow in and never leave, or one vibrant and alive, both receiving and giving, where your fingers are open to let the blessings of God run through them, leaving room for more?

  What kind of church do you want to participate in?  One that focuses inward, or one that looks beyond the walls to see how it can serve the community?

  May we always be thinking of ways to share what we have received, to communicate the love and grace of God!

John 13:4-11

John 13:4-11 

English Standard Version 

  Have you ever seen an advertisement for a product that you didn't know you existed and yet suddenly couldn't live without?  That's what I think of when I read about Peter's change of mind here in John 13.  Peter has spent years with Jesus, yet he can't figure out that Jesus is eager to serve him, until Peter tells him that the only way to be saved is to be served by Jesus.  Suddenly, Peter can't get enough of Jesus' service!  

  To go see a doctor, you have to acknowledge that you're sick.  This is hard for us -- we have pride, and don't like to acknowledge that we need someone else to save us or deliver us.  We don't like to think of ourselves as in enough trouble to need to be saved.  

  But the Gospels teach us that we all need to be saved.  Each and every one of us has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  Are you humble enough to admit that?  You need a doctor.  Each and every one of us cannot enter God's presence without the intervening love of Christ.  He gives it freely, thanks be to God!

John 12:44-50

John 12:44-50 

English Standard Version 

  Here's Jesus, once again blowing holes in anyone's theory who would say that he was just a nice teacher who never claimed to be God.  He clearly taught that his authority extended well beyond his group of apostles, well beyond the present time and place, and into eternity.  The very Creator of the universe was giving him direct commands...

  And those commands are to save.  I think it's so important that the Christian church be rooted in this reality -- that God's goal is to save people.  God wants to save people.  God created people to be with God, and the reality of sin breaks the very heart of God, which is why God is willing to pay such a high price so that people might be saved and reunited with God.  Jesus was willing to pay the price because Jesus shared this love.

  If this is God's fundamental orientation, how should that guide our life?  

  It's so easy to overlook people, to get wrapped up in what we're doing and ignore the needs of the world around us.  But that can't be out way of life if we're following Christ, because Christ's basic guiding principle is to save.  We can't save people, but we can join with Christ in loving people, even at great cost to ourselves, because people, all people, are worth saving.

John 12:12-19

John 12:12-19 

English Standard Version 

  How many times have you avoided asking a question because you were afraid of looking foolish?  

  The disciples give us all a lot of comfort.  They spent 3 years with Jesus, but there were so many things they didn't understand.  They heard and saw directly, but the pieces didn't fall together until later, until after the resurrection. 

  So when you have questions, remember that you're in good company.  It's ok not to know everything, and sometimes, it's enough simply to trust the one who does know everything.

John 12:9-11

John 12:9-11 

English Standard Version 

  This passage always amuses me.  Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, so the chief priests plan is... to put Lazarus back to death.  I like to imagine this going back and forth, every other day, with one group killing Lazarus and then Jesus, exasperated, bringing him back to life after every attempt.  How many times before the chief priests realize that Jesus is always going to win?  Once?  Twice?  Ten times?  

  It's an important question for us, too.  The devil is always attacking us, but Jesus isn't going to give up.  Jesus isn't going to grow exhausted from saving us.  Jesus will always win, for he's claimed us as his own, and that is a permanent victory.  Great news for us!  Jesus, as always, wins in the end!

John 12:1-8

John 12:1-8 

English Standard Version 

  A lot of times, when we think about giving, we usually think about how little we can give.  We think of it as a sacrifice, and we're thinking about how we could use that money somewhere else, on something that might do a little more for us.

  Good thing Jesus didn't think like that!  

  He was willing to give everything, because he thought the reward (which is you!) was worth any price that had to be paid.  He didn't think about what he was giving up, because his love for you is so great that he was only focused on that.

  In the same way, here in this text, Mary is so focused on what she's receiving in having Jesus as her Lord, that she isn't worried about the cost of what she's giving up.  What she has received in Christ is so much greater than anything she can give, that she therefore gives willingly.

  So when we think about what we give to God, it's not a matter of willing ourselves to give more by trying to feel guilty that we're not giving enough.  Instead, it's a matter of focusing ourselves on the eternal relationship we're going to have as a free gift because the Creator of the universe loves us enough to grasp us out of the pit we were in.  The more we focus on that, the more we realize that any gift we can give is a small pittance compared to the reward we've been given, and so we give out of gratitude, not guilt.

John 11:54-57

John 11:54-57 

English Standard Version 

  Healing people had a cost to Jesus.

  Here, because he'd raised Lazarus from the dead, he was no longer able to walk openly.  The Jewish leaders were so intent on removing him from the scene that he couldn't come and go as he wanted.  Imagine -- the person who designed and made the world, not being able to walk about it freely!  The indignity of it is appalling.  We've come a long way from the Garden of Eden, right?  

  Jesus was willing to bear the cost of this for us.  Such are the sacrifices that are made out of love -- we choose to restrain ourselves.  In marriage, each spouse gives up other options to make a commitment.  It's a sacrifice, but one the beloved makes willingly, because the reward of complete trust and mutual love is well worth the sacrifice.

  So when we're amazed at the sacrifice, realize that it's made because Jesus thinks the reward of spending eternity with you is with it.  Jesus constrains himself because he loves you.  The creator of the world, who could have no constraints, takes them on out of love and devotion.  

  Clearly, you're worth a lot to God.

John 11:45-53

John 11:45-53  

English Standard Version 

  Some people look at events out of a perspective of fear.  Others choose hope.  Part of that depends on what you're clinging to -- if you've built your life on something that can be taken away by a stronger force, then you're likely to live in fear.  If, however, you've built your life on a solid foundation, then you don't have to be afraid, because your future cannot be taken from you, no matter how strong the opposition may be.

  The Pharisees saw Jesus raise a man from the dead, and rather than think about how exciting this was, they shrunk back in fear and worried that they might lose what they had.  Others watched the same man raise someone from the dead and realized that they might never need to fear death again.  Same events, same participants, wildly different outcomes.  

  Which group would you rather be in?

  When we choose to build our lives on Christ, then no matter what the Romans or any other army might do, we don't have to be afraid, because we're safe in the arms of the strongest force that's ever been.  

  How do we know where the foundation of our life is?

  Well, what would you do if you lost all of your money?  Or your health?  Losing these things would of course be tremendously difficult.  I'll not pretend otherwise.  But they shouldn't be the end of us.  We should still be able to find a reason for hope, no matter what, because no matter how far down we go, we discover that the bottom is solid.

John 11:40-44

John 11:40-44

English Standard Version 

  When a kid at a park yells for mom, every single mother in the area looks up, wondering if it is there kid that is in need.  The word 'Mom' doesn't distinguish between all the different moms that are there -- they're all programmed to respond to a child in need.

  Whenever I read this voice, I think about how Jesus is very specific when he yells in the graveyard.  Had Jesus not, then every dead soul in that graveyard might've wandered out, creating a scene of chaos as Lazarus was one among many.  Such is the power of Jesus over death!  He is the one who unbinds us, who releases us from the things that hold us, who sets us free so that our future might not be determined by the forces opposing us.

Sermon for October 2, 2022

John 11:38-39

John 11:38-39 

King James Version 

  Sometimes, the King James Version captures poetic images that are moving and beautiful and help us grasp the depth and breadth of God.  

  Sometimes, I read the King James and it says something like, "He stinketh".  It's amazing, right?

  This is what death does.  It decays.  It tears apart.  It destroys.

  Jesus heals.  He binds up.  He sews together.  He makes the sad things come untrue.  He unites.

  May our lives reflect our faith, as we seek to join Jesus in his mission to bind up what might otherwise come apart.

John 11:28-37

John 11:28-37 

English Standard Version 

  I was listening to a sermon on this the other day, and it was talking about the line Jesus wept.  The preacher said that wept isn't necessarily the best translation -- it's more akin to the stamping of a bull in rage.  Jesus was moved with anger at what death had done, and he was enraged out of his love. He saw what death did to those he loved, and he saw what it did to the community, and he was moved to action.

  On a bigger picture, this is what God does for us.  God sees the way sin is destroying our community, and God is moved to action -- God enters into creation in the person of Jesus Christ, and dies for our sin so that death might no longer determine our fate, so that sin might no longer separate us from God's presence.  Such is God's love for us.

  The question for us, then, is what makes us angry in the world?  Maybe it's the way poverty leaves children hungry.  Maybe it's the way war displaces innocent civilians.  Maybe it's the way emotional stress chews people up.  Maybe it's the loneliness of children.  Maybe it's the way people are victimized by emotional and physical violence in relationships.  It could be any number of things.  But when we pay attention to the hurt in the world around us, it should make us angry, and it should move us to intervene, to use our resources to communicate our love for the world and the people in it.  

  What are you paying attention to, and what makes you angry?  That's your mission.

John 11:17-27

John 11:17-27

English Standard Version 

  Christianity doesn't ask us to believe in an abstract concept.  Christianity asks us to put our faith in a person, in a specific individual who lived in a specific time and place, who walked the dusty streets of Galilee and had specific conversations with specific people.  He was real, and is attested to in the documents of history, and we put our faith in him.  He's also willing to show us the way, to show us that he's willing to do anything that he asks of us.  He doesn't command from afar -- he invites to follow and then he sends, only when we've walked in his shoes.  

  In some ways this is harder, because we see the impossibly high standard that Jesus sets, which is why it is so important that we hear the words of grace and forgiveness that he speaks.  Here in John, Jesus has showed up after Lazarus has died, and no one understands, but Jesus looks for the best in people -- he's not quick to condemn, but rather listens to them with compassion.

  I don't know what eternity is like, or what the halls of heaven look like.  It's hard to wrap my head around some of these things.  But I can picture Jesus the first century man, the one who ascended the cross and then burst forth from a tomb, the one who taught and healed and listened and prayed and wept and laughed.  I can relate to that, and as I grow in faith, I can build upon this man and place my trust in him, and from there, I can launch into the more challenging concepts, but I can start with Jesus, the man, and build that relationship, day by precious day.

John 11:5-16

John 11:5-16 

English Standard Version 

  How we do know Thomas? We all know him as Doubting Thomas, because he had the nerve to wonder if a man could really rise from the dead.  I still think he got a raw deal and should be known as 'Thomas, we should go and die with him,' because he's the one willing to follow Jesus even though everyone in Judea is ready to kill Jesus.  Many people get known by their worst moments, even though they have many great moments.  Here's your reminder that even the disciples had some rough moments, but that didn't separate them from fellowship with Jesus Christ.

  There's an old saying that God is never late, always on time, but it's curious to me that when Jesus heard Lazarus was ill, he then stayed two more days.  Remember, this, too -- Lazarus was dying, but God knew exactly what was happening.  God's decision not to intervene wasn't done because God didn't notice, but it was an intentional decision made with a long-term view in mind.  Lazarus died, and was later raised, for the glory of God.  May all of our lives serve the same purpose, to bring glory to God, even in the lowest moments, when we wonder where and how God is at work.

John 11:1-4

John 11:1-4 

English Standard Version 

  If you're Mary or Martha and you see Lazarus start to get sick, you're not worried, right?  Lazarus has clearly started to get worse, because they get concerned enough to send for Jesus, but they know that Jesus loves Lazarus, and nothing bad will happen to people Jesus loves, right?  

  We who know the end of the story can say that this turned out well.  But that's only because we know the end of the story.  For Mary and for Martha, as well as for Lazarus, there's fear and uncertainty.  There's curiosity about where this is going.  There are questions about why Jesus doesn't act.

  Jesus, however, is purely confidant.  Jesus isn't worried.  He sees the long-term and knows that it ends in glory.

  May we have the confidence to trust that Jesus is looking out for us, too, and to believe that he loves us even when we're sick and uncertain.

John 10:7-18

John 10:7-18 

English Standard Version 

  Do you know those beverage coolers at public events, the cylinders with the lid that hinges open?  Imagine reaching into one of those packed with ice, and you're trying to find just the right can, and as you fish around in the cooler, your fingers start to tingle with the cold, and as you continue to fish around in there, eventually your hand gets colder, and then it moves up the arm, and the longer you leave your hand in there, trying to grasp what you're searching for, the more the sensation travels farther up your arm?

  That's what I think of when I read this passage.  (I know, it's probably a terrible metaphor, but it's my metaphor, so work with me!)  The enormity of the truth of who Jesus is lays deep inside passages like these, and the more I think about them, the more I read them, the more I reflect upon them, the more of me is absolutely in awe of the love God has for us.  It starts as a small sensation when you read about the shepherd laying down his life for the sheep, and the more time that I spend with it, the more it grows and captures my heart as I realize that Jesus didn't have to die -- he could have remained in heaven for all of eternity, but instead he chose to come to earth, he chose to live in poverty, he chose to take our sins upon us and suffer and die for us, all because he loves us like a shepherd loves the sheep.  Jesus alone had the authority to lay down his life, and he utilized that so that the sheep would be saved.  

  And as a sheep, I still rebel against God... knowing this, I don't constantly turn to God in worship.  It's hard to believe, but it's because when I turn from this truth, I get so distracted by the cares of the world that the other shiny things seem more important.  It's crazy...

  But for a moment, the more I stare at this, the more I think on this, it's simply an amazing sensation that overwhelms the soul... what love transforms us!