The Good Shepherd

“I am the good Shepherd: the god shepherd gives his life for the sheep.”

place the eternal truth of the love of God before your children and they will grow as God intends.

As parents and grand parents, as aunts and uncles, and as Sunday School teacher's and adult role models living in a culture that promotes self-indulgence and exploitation of others we have a huge task at hand. The next generation of adult Christian leaders is among us. They are here, perhaps one day a week for perhaps one hour. The rest of the week they are inculcated, inundated, and indoctrinated. They get conflicting messages from school, internet and television and I would count on very little of it jiving with the eternal truth of the love of God in Jesus Christ. So we may only get an hour. We ought to make to most of it.

I remember the churches I attended as a child. I went to Mt. Pleasant 1^st United Methodist and Weidman United Methodist on a semi/less than regular basis. I remember having to be good; having to sit still and be quiet. I remember trying to figure out why we only read the first line of each paragraph on the song book then the second line in each paragraph when I was taught something completely different in school. I remember the pastor in his robe standing in front saying something like. “Blah, blah, blah...” Then at the end of church when we were free to leave the crowd was so big and so slow to move it was hard to get out of the building with any speed.

This was my perception of worship as a child. Certainly not what I hope for my children or any child that comes to St. Paul UMC. But this may be similar to what some are experiencing even today. Our mission here at St. Paul is to know Christ and to make him known. An that is exactly what needs to happen for the next generation of Christians to grow into the people that God intends them to be. Know Christ: brothers and sisters focus on your knowledge of the Savior; focus on your relationship with God; focus on your obedience to Christ commands to Love God and neighbor, and to proclaiming that the Kingdom of God has come near and that we are to turn to God and thus receive forgiveness for our failures. That's knowing Christ and making him known whether you are 8 or eighty.

Alright this next part is for the older folk out there. Youth you can tune out if you want. Anyone over 18 years old, here's the deal. We will always have someone that will stand here and proclaim the Good News about Jesus Christ. We will always have a place to come and love each other and have fellowship with each other. The Church that Jesus Christ established will know no end, that's a promise. We will always have potlucks, and Christmas parties. We will always have Easter breakfast and Sunrise service. The thing is we only have these youth and children here an hour a week sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. We ought to do our best to make the most of it. I want to invite you to think about your child or any child's experience here. What is inviting about this place from there perspective. What is intriguing? What about this place will hold a child's attention and what will communicate the eternal truth of God's love through Jesus Christ. We have to ask ourselves are we doing all we can to shape disciples for Jesus Christ or are we doing what is comfortable for us?

We celebrate when our toddlers learn to walk and we rejoice when they learn new words and can talk. But then it seems we spend the rest of our time telling them to sit down and be quiet. The youth and the children of the church are not the future of the church they are the church. They are our much younger brothers and sisters in the faith. They are here often times only because they have an adult in their lives that has come to know Christ and they want to make him known. We have just a small widow of opportunity to demonstrate the extravagant love of God to these young disciples so that they can come to a desire to know the love of God for themselves.

Alright this next part is for the youth. You older folk, you an tune out if now if you want to. Youth, this is your church. God has made you and has equipped you with talents and spiritual gifts. These talents and spiritual gifts are not solely for your benefit they are for you to honor and love God as well as to build up and help your brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. Your understanding of God may have started with your parents or grandparents. It will always be formed by the experience of others because our knowledge of Christ comes from our collective experience of him. However your own experience of God through Jesus Christ is just as important to the life of this church as anyone's. Your church needs you. It is only by the sharing the talents and gifts that God has given you that we are made whole. Some may tell you of other priorities. Some may tell you to to put your self first, or the environment, or the government, or our country or some union or political party. But as a beloved Child of God you know the highest priority is loving God and demonstrating that love by loving your neighbor. Youth, you can change the world. You can be an example of God's love and change even those who you think know more than you about God.

In the Gospel lesson today Jesus refers to himself as the Good shepherd. The good shepherd lays his life down for his sheep. This is almost a foreign idea to us. When this was written it was literally true. The shepherd in the ancient world had the responsibility of protecting the flock of sheep. He couldn't just say that one of the sheep was lost to a predator, he actually had to bring in the mangled carcass of the animal to prove what had happened. When David was trying to convince Saul that he could fight Goliath he cited his experience in fighting off Lions and Bears in protecting the flock of sheep he had charge of.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. We are his flock. When he saw that we had gone astray and we were threatened by predators on all sides he came and guided us to safety. He gave up his own life so that we would would be safe forever. He laid down his life for his flock. And now we have been given charge of the flock. We still have eternal security in his name because of his sacrifice. But there are still predators. There are still dangers and we as a gathering of God's people have to care for each other so that we don't get bumped around as much.

Brothers and sisters we need to focus on making disciple for Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world starting with the disciple within our own walls. We may feel uncomfortable with change sometimes but we only have an hour a week to make a difference for our best voices outside these walls, the youth and children of this congregation. We need to get the nursery upstairs. We need to hear the sounds of children in the midst of worship. We need to honor their place in our life of faith. We need to use this building as a safe place for children to come after school if they don't have another place. This place needs to be where they experience the unconditional and boundless love of God through Jesus Christ.

So how is it with you today? How can you make this place a better place for the Young Disciples?   

Anything Jesus

Anything Jesus.

This is the third week of the Easter season. We celebrate that Jesus is alive and is the Lord of OUR lives. Jesus is above and Jesus is present. Jesus is beyond, and yet he is with us now.

On Tuesday this congregation fed over a hundred people.

Those hundred people came for a meal because they needed something. Perhaps they needed food. Maybe they needed to spend time with others. Some may have needed a break from cooking at home. Probably some came without knowing what they needed but they came.

You all fed over a hundred people. I like that. I would love to see more of that type of ministry. The gathering of Jesus' disciples blessing one another. These things can be hard work. I appreciate the donations of food. I appreciate the work of the volunteers. Serving and giving of oneself is always rewarding but it isn't always easy. Sometimes we even do things that are uncomfortable and difficult (I have a magnet on the refrigerator that keeps reminding me of a bike ride for H.E.L.P ministries in August). But that is what we are called to do.

Jesus blesses us through our participation (submission and service) in the community of believers.

This point on the spiritual journey, when one realizes that it is not what we get from our faith but it is how we serve our God and our neighbors, is the point when we start to realize the fulfillment of Jesus promise of an abundant life.

There is this distorted view of Jesus that I call the “Anything Jesus.” This is where Jesus is anything I want him to be. Anything Jesus can be molded to fit my life. Anything Jesus fits in my pocket and can be taken out when it is convenient for me and can be put away when it is not.

Anything Jesus looks exactly like me and does not look like you. Anything Jesus makes makes me feel okay about trashing the environment, because after all, we have been given dominion over the earth. Anything Jesus says its okay what I do what I have done as long as the pastor and the folk at church don't find out.

The problem is Anything Jesus doesn't exist.

Jesus, the man who lived in Nazareth, who defeated death by raising from the dead after being crucified, does exist and lives today.

We talked last week about how Jesus was there with the disciples in the locked room, twice. He was there on the day of the resurrection and showed himself to them. But Thomas wasn't there. He came a second time so that Thomas would believe. He showed them the marks of the nails in his hands and he showed them his side where the soldier speared him.

In today's scripture Jesus again is with his disciples and he shows them his hands and feet. He assures them that he is the one they have been with all along. He demonstrates to them that he has flesh, that he is not a ghost. In fact he asked them for something to eat.

He asked for something to eat!

The Lord of Life, the Author of Salvation, God in the flesh, the one who fasted for 40 days in the wilderness, the one who multiplied the loaves and fishes to feed the thousands, asked for something to eat.

If Jesus were here, in the flesh right now and you had utterly no doubt that it was indeed him, what lengths would you go to to get Jesus something to eat if he asked for something? Would one of you volunteer to go out buy him something? Would you go home and cook him a meal?

I would sell all I owned to buy food if that meant that I could serve the Lord Jesus a meal.

Our God, the God of all creation became a person. Jesus is God. Jesus walked the earth and ate and drank and lived life as we do.

God has given us a body. We have flesh and bone. We have hunger and we thirst. Sometimes we make poor decisions. We don't treat our bodies with reverence. We fail to use our bodies in the service of others. We forget that our strength is to help the weak; that our gifts and talents are to build others up. The problem is that we get caught up in our failures. We start to focus on ourselves. When we lose sight of God when we quit focusing on God and focus on ourselves that is when we get lost. When we get lost we start to have anxiety and we focusing on our sin. You ever get stressed out? Your shoulders start to get tense. Some people tighten their stomach muscles. Some get ulcers. None of these physical things that happen to our bodies help alleviate the cause of stress or anxiety in our lives.

Focusing on our failures and trying through will-power to change our actions and ways of thinking is like trying to keep your boat from sinking by lifting up on your seat! (I am indebted to Alan Watts for this illustration. Something similar is found in his work The Art of Contemplation)

When we fail we have the opportunity to turn from that failure and refocus on what God would have us do. This is called repentance. Jesus commands us to proclaim repentance and forgiveness of sins to the whole world. It is not a message of making others in our image. It is a message of God's love. It is a reminder of our God-given purpose in this life. When we remember our purpose, and we make a course correction we are have forgiveness for the mistakes we have made.

The Anything Jesus has a message of forgiveness but not of repentance. Anything Jesus makes us feel like we can do anything because , after all, it will be forgiven right?

Instead of following this false, Anything Jesus, lets take the focus off of ourselves and start living a life where “anything Jesus” becomes an answer to how we will respond to His call to serve him.

What will you bring me to eat? Anything Jesus.

What will you do to bring about my kingdom? Anything Jesus.

What will you give or give up to make my love known? Anything Jesus.

Jesus blesses us through our participation (submission and service) in the community of believers.

Jesus asked do you have anything to eat? I am sure that any one of us would have given him what ever we could. In fact you who served those 100 plus people at the Community Table this week did serve Jesus. What ever you do or do not do even to the least of these you do it or fail to do it for Jesus.

That is the beauty of service in the Christian community. We have the opportunity to serve the Risen Lord. Through that interaction we are transformed. Not by gaining merit for our hard work and not by making up for the bad that we have done, but by the Spirit of God living in us and changing our nature.

We are powerless on our own. We are broken. We are flawed. But with Jesus we are redeemed. We are forgiven. We are made new.

So, How is it with you today? Is today the day that you turn toward Him? Is today the day you find forgiveness for your failures? How will you go out today and share Jesus' message of repentance and forgiveness?

Faith, Doubt, Belief

John 20:19-29

Fruit trees in blossom

Good morning Easter People! We come to worship the Lord Jesus lives forever and ever! We have come through the season of Lent the time of preparation and now we bask in the peace of Christ...

If only it were that simple right? If only our spiritual lives followed the church calendar we could predict when we would be joyful and we would know we we would be repentant. If our relationship with God followed the church calendar we could store up faith and spiritual nourishment in May to last us through the summer when we go on summer vacations and take a break from Sunday School.

If our faith followed the church calendar this would be a high point for every one of us. But the truth is not every one of us is spiritually strong this morning. The truth is that some of us are feeling very weak indeed. Some, like Thomas in the Gospel reading today came here today not believing, but came with great skepticism.

I know a person, and perhaps you know someone like this as well, who has no doubts about anything he says. This man that I know was once a neighbor to me. When we moved in to this particular place he was 14 years old and it didn't take him long to come over to both introduce himself and to also offer his babysitting services to us for our then 1 ½ year old son Alex. Matt was funny. He was sure of everything. He was sure that he was going to be rock star. He was sure that his dad was the smartest, strongest, wisest man alive. He informed us that his house was indeed bigger and better than ours not as a way of bragging but just as a matter of fact. Matt loved to ague. If you disagreed with Matt he would argue his point relentlessly even if the facts and the evidence were overwhelmingly against him. I admit that I found this trait of his annoying at first. Especially since he often visited us unannounced. But than I just came to accept that that is just who Matt is. Then I had a little sport with it. I would propose ludicrous arguments and stick to them just so he would have something to argue with me about. One time I just dropped the statement, “Did you know, Matt, that there are no pigs anywhere in the country of Mexico?”

Of course there are.

Have you ever seen one? I haven't.

Even though he knew that I was offering up a false argument he was still compelled to try to disprove my statement. But I wouldn't relent. That must have been infuriating to him that my only proof of my statement was that I or he had never seen a pig in Mexico. Never mind that at that time neither one of us had ever been to that country. He didn't seem to mind my teasing in fact he asked me a few years ago to officiate his wedding, which I gladly did.

But isn't that the same argument that Thomas is using? It cant be true because I haven't seen it. There are a lot of things in this world that I have not seen but I believe are true. For example I have never seen the Indian Ocean. I have seen pictures, but those cold be of any ocean right? I am pretty sure the Indian Ocean exists. I have not seen an atom. I have seen a model of an atom but I have never seen one with my own eyes. Just the same I believe they exist. How about something a little more difficult? Ghosts. Do you believe in ghosts? If you don't is it because you have never seen one? What about Angels?

Someone once said something to me that made me stop until I realized what he was really saying. He said “I don't believe in candles.”

What?

He doesn't believe in candles? Look I'll show you one right now. But that's not what he was saying. What I didn't hear was that he didn't believe that people should ever use candles. It seems that at some point in his past there was an accident, there was a fire and he suffered some sort of loss. So his solution was to never use candles again. This came up as we were doing some wedding planning and I asked him if he and his bride wanted to use a unit candle. If he had just said no we would have gone on from there and I would have never known about the tragedy and the hurt in his life.

That is the beauty of the gathered body of Christ. Not only do we go out and do the work of God. Not only do we partner with God in the redemption of the world. But we share in each others lives. We lift each other up. We bear one another's burdens.

We are afraid, disappointed, let down, agitated and we need assurance for tomorrow.

God is already there. We who have eternal life are there as well. The victory is already won.

The Gospel lesson today starts on Resurrection Sunday. The disciples of Jesus were gathered behind locked doors. They were afraid, disappointed, and let down. They felt no assurance. Everything they were hoping for was seemingly lost. Then Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”

He showed them his hands and his side.

“Peace be with you, as the Father has sent me so I send you.”

What an amazing experience. Jesus the one they saw get arrested was there! The one whose beaten body they saw hanging on the cross was there offering them peace.

Everything was different now. Everything is not lost. There IS hope! There is GREAT hope!. But what do do next?

Then some time later in walks Thomas. Jesus was no longer there but they tell him. They tell him but he refuses to believe. To him it is a ludicrous statement. He too saw the body of Jesus taken down from the cross and put in the tomb. A far more ludicrous statement than “there are no pigs in Mexico” or “I don't believe in candles.” He must have thought they have gone mad. I imagine that their statements were infuriating to Thomas.

Perhaps our truth claims about Jesus are still infuriating to those who have not yet experienced the Risen Christ.

Some will walk away from the peace of Christ because they see no proof. Some walk away or stay away from the Church because they have some hurt inflicted on them by the brokenness of another human. Some people, when they walk away from he Church also walk away form God.

So I say be gentle with the atheist. Be gentle with the secular humanist. Pray that they come to know and believe with out ever seeing. But if that is not possible, pray that they can see what they need to see and experience what they need to experience to know that God loves them; That God died for them; That Jesus defeated death so that we may join in his eternal life.

We all have some degree of doubt. It ebbs and flows. If you find yourself in a time of questioning and doubt, surround yourself with those who can encourage you. Hear the testimony of those who have seen and have experienced the Resurrected One. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who who have not seen and have come to believe.”

Twenty years ago I  wouldn't have guessed
Jaylen would be a part of my life.
The fact that he is, is just one more
piece of evidence of God's great love. 

So how is it with you today on your journey of doubt and faith? Thomas said that he would not believe unless he saw the mark of the nails in his hands, and but his finger of the mark of the nails and put his hind in Jesus side. What will it take for you to believe? What will it take to remove your doubt? Spend some time thinking about that. Not what you want. But what is the minimum that you need to come to belief that God loves you?   

Adoption

I want to share a blog post for any who may be interested. It's an honest description of what it is like to adopt. The author says it better and more thorough than I ever could.

I love my kids more than anything. Its just that adoption is not at all like those public service messages on television promoting it. It's beautiful and difficult. It's good and right while also frustrating. It's heart warming as well as heart breaking. And I would do it all over again if I had the choice.

Here's the link. It's lengthy but worth it. http://jenhatmaker.com/blog/2011/09/06/after-the-airport#.T3BPi_91mhR.mailto

The Murals of Ludington

I wonder if the values of a community are reflected in their public art. Murals of Medal of Honor recipients, beloved clergy, an historical figure, community celebration and life at leisure. These paintings cover a wide range of history and experience here in Ludington, Michigan. I don't know who coordinates which images are approved but It seems they tell a story of where we have been, and the best of who we are.
I would, however, suggest a third movement in this continuum: a vision of where we want to be. I would suggest an image of the struggles of the past (or present) and how they were (or are being) overcome.

When we come to the end of our earthly life, all the choices and decisions we have made will be the path that brought us to that moment. It may be a time of peace and acceptance or it may be a time of regret and anguish. As we continue through the Easter season we should remember that Jesus chose the way of the cross. He chose to be a servant. He chose to give himself for those whom he loved (all of us), and not just those who loved him.
If Jesus' family had a camera, I am sure there would be no pictures of the crucifixion in the family photo album. The crucifixion of Jesus is, however one of the most significant events in human history.
So the murals in Ludington depict the happy, the honorable and the humble. Perhaps I am the only one that would like to see a mural of the not-so-pretty side of life. But if we are going to tell the story of our life, we should make it as complete as possible.

Here He Was.

Jesus is alive... Jesus lives. The man who had his birth at Bethlehem, the birth that we celebrate every year on December 25^th is currently alive. The One who suffered death on a cross after being tortured by a garrison of Roman soldiers, was able, around the year 30 A.D. This is who we worship. I wonder if you have met him. I wonder if you know him.

What does it mean that we say we gather in the name of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ!

What does it mean when we exchange the: “the Lord be with you... And also with you.”?

It means that when our heart truly belongs to God, when we truly seek first the kingdom of God as a follower of the Risen One and when we gather with other believers then Jesus promises that he will be present with us.

I wonder...are there two or three here this morning who are followers of Jesus Christ. I wonder are there two or three who seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. I wonder are there two or three here his morning who has put all their faith in the Lord Jesus the Messiah. If there is say Amen.

Jesus is here with us this morning my friends!

He is alive!

He is alive and is seated at the right had of the Father.

He is seated at right hand of the father and is present in our gathering today. The ever-present, all-powerful, all-knowing creator of the universe is here to listen to you praise Him. God is present to hear your prayers. God is here to comfort and to inspire. To convict and to console. To love and to forgive.

Jesus is alive. I know he is alive because he is here.

He is here because he loves you. And he is going out ahead of you preparing work for you. So we are going to have to go out to meet him.

You see we always know where he has been because people that encounter the living Lord can't help but tell about it.

Where he was. We know that he was in Bethlehem. In Nazareth ,by the sea of Galilee. In capernaum. In Samaritan villages and in Bethany He has in the Jordan river in the wilderness. In a garden in the Kidron valley, and we know that he was in Jerusalem in the temple. We also know that he was Just outside Jerusalem on a hill called Golgotha, and we know that he was in a garden tomb... for a little while. We know that he has walked on the road to Emmaus that he was on the shore of the sea of Galilee preparing breakfast for his friends over a charcoal fire. These are places Jesus has been. We can see them for our selves. But He has been there all along. Not in bodily form as Jesus but God has always been there, interacting with people

That is what the bible is. It is a record of God's interactions with people. And then the people wrote their experiences down. Sometimes the accounts were written generations after the event. Sometimes the writings are an understanding of Gods will as understood by the writer, such as in Paul's letters. The Christian faith makes no claim that God dictated the words of scripture or that the Bible came to us by Supernatural means. Holy Scriptures, inspired and authoritative as they are came through the filter of human experience. And I am glad that it did. I have yet to find a manuscript of God's words laying around for me to find. I Have, however experienced God's presence. I have known others who have experienced the presence of God and written about it, they share it and have changed the direction of their life because of it.

The Bible is an inspired book and record of how God has interacted with people. We can an many people do go to the places mentioned in Holy Scriptures. We can tour the places where Jesus taught and performed miracles. We can go and see the places where the apostle Paul went on is missionary journeys through out the Mediterranean Sea. We can read and learn from the writings of those who came and went before us about how they had a relationship with God and it is very informative and very inspiring. But I don't think that was Jesus point in coming.

Fast forward to the contemporary church: You and me. The model of church that we and millions and millions of Christians follow is one that says, “we have a building where we worship God.” People should just know to come here. But Jesus says, “Go! make disciples. Tell people to turn away from a life without god and turn toward God. Jesus says Go! Do the the will of my father.

It's not about a list of rules or behaviors that you have to adopt when you join a church. It's about developing a connection to the Living Lord Jesus Christ. Its about listening for his voice. It is about seeing the world through His eyes and letting him use your hands to do the work that needs to be done. When you look at the world through Jesus' eyes you see the hurt and the brokenness in this world and you feel compelled to do something about it. Some people get so caught up in fixing one particular thing in this world that is broken that they forget to love God and to love people. It happens. Christians are not perfect. We get distracted just like everybody else but just because we fall once and a while doesn't mean that we are defined by our failures. We are defined and designated as adopted children of God. As a follower of Jesus Christ our mission is that same as his mission: To proclaim the Good news of the Kingdom of heaven. Its good news that says that That God loves us. That he is willing to sacrifice himself for us. We need only trust him and submit our will to his, and we will have life in abundance.

The Point is this: We know where Jesus has been! But it is his instructions about what comes next that is most important right now. Knowing where Jesus has been is important because that is how we come to believe. But once we believe...well then we need to stop being religious tourists and we need to meet Jesus where he said he would be.

In the Gospel Lesson this morning the two Marys and Salome went to the tomb of Jesus with their spices they bought after sundown some 11 hours before to anoint the dead body of their beloved Jesus. He wasn't there. There was a young man who pointed out where Jesus was. That was vital information in that they had to understand that he was no longer there. But the most important information came next. He said, “But 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.”

Jesus is going ahead of you to meet you just as he told you. Now Peter and the other disciples were fortunate that they were able to see Jesus again after his death and resurrection and before his ascension to heaven. They saw and spoke with Jesus. We speak with Jesus and have communication with him by means of the Holy Spirit empowering us with knowledge and wisdom for the task at hand. But indeed Jesus Goes ahead of us. Yes he wants us to understand and believe what he did for us for our salvation. Jesus wants us to understand the enormity of the sacrifice he made for us. But if all we do is understand, well then that's like hearing a story about how you were nurtured as a baby then ignoring those who loved you. Our parents our grandparents who loved and nurtured us not only want to continue to nurture us but they want to love us and want to be loved back. The relationship with have with God is not one that ends with our understanding of what God has done for us, but rather that is precisely where it begins.

We were saved not to remain the same. We were saved to be God's people. To love God. To be obedient to God's will. To be Holy as He is Holy.

So How is it with you on this most Holy day? You can point to many places in your life and in the lives of those you know and say Here God was. You can read scripture and recognize where God was. But are you looking to the place where God said to Go. The place where God is going ahead of you. The place where He will meet you?

May you clearly hear the voice of the Lord Jesus. May you seek first His Kingdom. May you allow God to make you better than you have ever been before.

Good Friday

Luke 23:43

Very truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.

Most of the world thinks that you are delusional that I am delusional. We put our faith in a man that lived 2000 years ago in a small corner of the globe thousands of miles from here. We have the hope of eternal life because we trust in the one named Jesus. The promise of eternity in paradise gives us hope for life beyond death's door and it empowers us to live boldly as His people.

Very truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.

This was a response to one of the criminals on a cross near Jesus. Suffering the same death, this criminal received this promise from Jesus.

The thief did not have understanding. He hasn't traveled with Jesus. He hadn't heard Jesus' teachings. He had simply come to the end of all that he knew and to the end of his abilities to save himself. He acknowledged his own guilt, he said, “we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” and put all his faith in the one who was crucified. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Chalk art by Rod Snow

Did he know Jesus? Perhaps, but we don't know how much he knew about Jesus. We know he witnessed his crucifixion, witnessed Jesus praying to God for forgiveness for those who were doing this to him. He witnessed the soldiers dividing up Jesus cloths before he was even dead. He saw Jesus in his beaten state being scoffed at the leaders, mocked by soldiers, even by the other criminal facing the same death mocked him. He saw all this and yet he saw Jesus for who Jesus really was.

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Today you will be with me in paradise...Today. Your suffering in this world will soon end. You will be in the presence of God and the struggle and pain of this world will melt away.

Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.

The thief was not delusional you are not delusional I am not delusional. Though I can see how the details of the story could lead some to that conclusion. The thief on the cross saw Jesus' weakened state. He knew that he was not going to come down off the cross and be the conquering hero that the people were hoping for. Despite this, he put his trust in him and acknowledged him as king. It makes no logical sense to do this outside of having the gift off faith. There is no reason for him to come to this conclusion given the information at hand and yet he does and so do we.

We do because we have experienced the Living Lord. We have experienced the resurrection. This is Good Friday and we remember what happened on that day but we don't have to pretend we don't know what happened on Sunday.

Likewise we don't have to get stuck in a Good Friday way of life disparaging over what we are losing or what has been lost. Rather we always look forward in hope to the resurrection; to our redemption and to our restoration.

Following The Crowd

Following the crowd can be dangerous.

Almighty God, on this day your Son Jesus Christ entered the holy city of Jerusalem and was proclaimed King by those who spread their garments and leafy branches along his way. Let those branches be for us sign of his victory, and grant that we who bear them in his name may ever hail him as our Lord, and follow him in the way that leads to eternal life. In his name we pray. Amen.

Following the crowd can be dangerous. Following the crowd can often be reactionary and based on emotions in the moment. This is Palm Sunday and the crowd that greeted Jesus got what they asked for. They probably didn't know it. They probably thought they were asking for something other than what they got but they shouted Hosanna! As Jesus came into Jerusalem on the donkey. Hosanna means, “Save us now, we pray.” And that is just what Jesus came to Jerusalem to do. He would offer salvation not only to those around him but the offer would be for all people of all times. But as is usually the case the crowd doesn't usually know what is best for themselves.

This has happened before in scripture. In the first book of Samuel the people of Israel ask that their nation have a king like other nations. Samuel the judge takes this request to God in prayer. and God tells Samuel that the people have not rejected him but indeed they have rejected God. But God gave the people another chance to change their minds. He sent Samuel back to warn them of what life would be like with a king.

The Judge Samuel warns the people in 1 Samuel 8:10-18

• "He will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots
• he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties
• and some to plow his ground
• to reap his harvest
• to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots.
• He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.
• He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers.
• He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers.
• He will take the best of your cattle and donkeys and put them to his work.
• He will take one tenth of your flocks and you shall be his slaves.

And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the Lord will not answer you in that day."

Despite these warnings the crowd still demanded a king. And they got one.

Centuries later after may kings and many foreign invaders, Jesus came into Jerusalem that day on a donkey. This is the way a king would enter a city. A king at war enters on a horse and a king at peace enters on a donkey. Jesus knew this. Jesus knew the expectation and the desire of the crowd. The people of his day were looking to be saved by a messiah who would come with sword and crush the occupiers in their country. They had great hope and expectation and they shouted Hosanna! Save us! Destroy the occupiers! But Jesus doesn't follow the crowd. He didn't destroy he Romans. He didn't fall in line with the religious authorities of the day. Jesus followed God's way. Jesus plan is God's plan.

Currently, in our culture there is a vocal crowd that started as occupy Wall St. now there are occupy movements all around the world. This crowd says that capitalism is bad and that it should be replaced by another economic system. There are indeed injustices in the world and I always stand on the side of justice. We ought, however, to be careful about what we ask for. Like the Israelite request for a powerful king, just like other nations have. When you give someone power, they don't often like to give it back.

Putting our faith in government is a risky venture.

The message that we as followers of the way should be living and delivering is that apart from Jesus we can do nothing! We should live out the life that Jesus has saved us for: Living boldly as we let God re-purpose all of our hopes and dreams and passions so that our actions, all of them work to make our lives look more like the Kingdom of God.

God did not call us to be his people so that we could live the same lives that we lived before we believed. God calls us to be Holy. God calls us to grow in his love.

Yes he accepts us just as we are: bruised and broken but God does not expect us to stay that way. We aren't like the ones standing on the side of the road when Jesus passed by. We are the ones following along with him. Going where he goes. Doing what he does. We ought to confront anything and anybody that gets in the way of our relationship with God. We ought to stand up and fight evil in what ever form it presents itself if it means that a brother or sister and better know the love of God.  And indeed we should fight every form of injustice. 

We are not called to be passive witnesses. We are not in our lawn chairs along the parade rout of faith we are marching on the Holy city to set things right.

Jesus rode into Jerusalem that day to make a statement about who he was. But that was not the only statement he made that week. That first holy week.

Very soon, perhaps the next day Jesus came into the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers and drove out the animals that were being sold. Remember that?

On Thursday of that week (the following is a scriptural adaptation from the United Methodist Book of Worship) “Jesus...went forth with his disciples across the Kidron valley where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place; for Jesus often met there with his disciples. So Judas, procuring a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that was to befall him, came forward and said to them, “whom do you seek?”

thy answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

Jesus said to them, “I am he.”

Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.

When he said to them, “I am he,”they drew back and fell to the ground.

Again he asked them, “whom do you seek?” and they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he; so, if you seek me, let these men go.”

Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it an struck the high priest's slave and cut off his right ear.

Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup which the Father has given me?”

so the bad of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Judean authorities seized Jesus and bound him> First they led him to Annas; for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. It was Caiaphas who had given counsel to the religious authorities that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.

The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jewish people came together; I have said nothing secretly. Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me, what I said to them; they know what I said.”

When he said this, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken wrongly, bear witness to the wrong; but if I have spoken rightly, who do you strike me?” Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said to him, “are not you also one of his disciples?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”

One of the servants of he high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” Peter again denied it;

Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to Pilate's headquarters. It was early. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so that they might not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. So Pilate wen out to them and said, 'What accusation do you bring against this man?” They answered him, “If this man were not an evil doer, we would not have handed him over.” Pilate said to them, “take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”

The religious authorities said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put any man to death.”

Pilate asked Jesus, “are you the King of the Jews?”

Jesus answered, “do you say this of your own accord, or did other say it to you about me?”

Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew?”

Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me; what have you done?”

Jesus answered, “My kingship is not of this world; if my kingship were of this world, my servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the religious authorities; but my kingship is not form the world.”

Pilate said to him, “so your are a king?”

For this reason I was born, and for this I have come into the world,to bear witness to the truth. Every one who is of the truth hears my voice.”

Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

After Pilate had said this, he went to the religious authorities again, and told them, “I find no crime in him. But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover; will you have me release for you the King of the Jews?” they cried out again, “not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.

Then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him. And the soldiers braided a crown of thorns , and put it on his head, and addressed him in a purple robe; they came up to him, say9ing, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands.

Pilate went out again, and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you, that you may know that I find no0 crime in him.” so Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”

When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out,”crucify him, crucify him!”

Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no crime I him.”

The religious authorities answered him, “We have the Law and by that law he ought to die, because he has made himself the Son of God.”

When Pilate heard these words, he was the more afraid; he entered the headquarters again and said to Jesus, “where are you from?”

but Jesus gave no answer. Pilate therefore said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and the power to crucify you?”

Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore he who delivered me to you has the greater sin.”

But that Thursday before all this happened he had one last thing he wanted to share with his disciples. They had a meal together. And during that meal he took some bread and broke it and said this is my body...