Did You Miss It?

Luke 24:1-12

There is something beautifully predictable about the celebration of Easter Sunday.  Family gatherings, fine cloths, even egg hunts. 

 There is a renewed sense of hope.  There are signs of new life.  The giant piles of snow are only big piles of snow.  Flowers are starting to poke out of the soil. In the midst of the long dark nights of winter we celebrated Christmas and we said that a light has come into the world and the darkness will not overcome it.  Its springtime and the days are longer than the nights again and we celebrate.

Whatever is happening in the world, today we glimpse eternity.  Today we see a bigger picture.

Today we see, clearer than in any other celebration that our life will continue on beyond the grave because of what Jesus Christ accomplished on that first Easter Sunday.  When Jesus defeated death, darkness was forever defeated.  We know that if there are dark times in our life we are children of God, living in the light of his love.

But I have to ask: Did you miss it?

You see the Gospel lessons are filled with stories of the disciples of Jesus Christ missing things.  I miss things all the time.  Just this week I missed the opportunity to be blessed.  I got so caught up in the business of the week that I forgot to go and serve at the Community Table.  I missed that opportunity to be blessed. 

How many opportunities did I miss to share what Jesus has done in my life because I didn’t have my eyes open and my feet ready? 

My wife could probably give you a longer list of things that I miss.  Most of the time we are not aware of what we are missing. 

You have made your way to Church this morning.  This day you decided that it was important to worship God.  You may have been taught since you were a child that God loves you so very much, or maybe you haven’t. But it’s true.  Did you miss it?  Did you miss the truth of Gods very real love for you?  God wants to spend eternity with you.  That’s why God became human.  That’s why Jesus was born, so that you and God can spend eternity together. 

The empty tomb is so very important to our faith.  Without the empty tomb the message of the cross is a message of terror and tragedy.  Without the empty tomb the cross is a story of defeat and darkness. 

It seemed that darkness had won on that Good Friday, when they nailed our Lord to the cross.  Even then while he was still living, hanging there, there must have been some hope that something miraculous would happen.  But then the unthinkable happed, he died.

It must have seemed unreal.  It must have seemed like a bad dream that they couldn’t wake up from.  He’s really dead. 

But then Jesus told them this was going to happen.  He told them and they missed it.

Did you miss it? Did you miss Jesus’ message to you that you will have eternal life when you trust in Him? When you believe in him as the Son of the Living God?  Did you miss the promise of abundant life in his name?  Did you miss his command to love one another? 

Its okay, the disciples missed things all the time.

The women missed preparing Jesus’ body for burial because it was the Sabbath. So they had to wait for the day after the Sabbath.  They missed the resurrection.  They missed seeing Jesus body because it wasn’t there because he was raised!

They along with all the disciples seemed to have missed what Jesus had been telling them about his own resurrection.  They missed it.  But Jesus appeared.  Jesus was there.

The stone was rolled away. They looked inside. Jesus body wasn’t there.  They were perplexed.  Suddenly there were two men in dazzling cloths beside them.  They were terrified.

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?”

These men, these angels, whatever they were they got it! They didn’t miss it! Jesus said he would live. Perhaps it was perplexing to them that these women were looking for Jesus in the tomb.   Jesus said he would live. Believe him!  They said, “Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.”   

God, in and through Jesus Christ reconciled the world to himself. 

Jesus freely offered himself and gave his life on the cross.  It was the perfect sacrifice for the brokenness of the whole world.  That sacrifice redeems us from all sin, so that nothing else is required.

You don’t have to do anything more to be forgiven of your sin than place your trust in Jesus and proclaim his name as your Lord. Let me say it another way: You don’t have to get better to be saved; you have to be saved to get better. Some folks think that because of their past, because of their lifestyle, because of their choices that they aren’t good enough or they wouldn’t be welcome in church.  Well as you know, not one of us is “good enough.” There is nobody that is “good enough” That’s the point of Jesus sacrifice.  It’s what he did that saves us, not our actions. 

We should be looking for the most despicable people and when they come, love them because they are here.  We don’t even have to concern ourselves with changing anybody.  When people come to faith God will change them.  You know it’s true. Think about your own faith journey.  Wasn’t it people who that pointed your attention to God and it was God that brought you along?  Love people where they are. Tell them about what Jesus taught.  Tell them about the transformation Jesus made in your life.

Tell them about the empty tomb.  Tell them about the perfect sacrifice.

God will work in people.  We need to bring people into the family, not good people. God’s not looking for people who think they have it all together.  We need to reach out to people who need Jesus.  Who need to hear that Jesus sacrificed for them and nothing else is required.

It’s when you have faith in Jesus Christ that the Holy Spirit comes and lives in you and makes you into His image.

So, how is it with you on this Resurrection Sunday? God’s perfect love is available to you.  Choose this day not to miss it.  

Jesus Forgave His Exocutioners

Luke 23:24
Everyone receives forgiveness from the father through Jesus Christ. But surely, the ones who hammered the spikes through our Lords hands and feet and hoisted him in the air to bleed and to suffocate are guilty, more guilty than most. Surely the ones, whose hands were responsible for taking the life of the incarnate God on earth, deserved eternal punishment!
When innocent life is taken, even the most ardent opponents of capital punishment soften their position. When the slayers of innocence live after their victims have suffered and died, there is something in us that screams for justice!
Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, these are places now infamous for senseless loss of life. In all three cases the murderers took their own lives, and there is an on easy sense of finality in that. But then there was the Oklahoma City bombing. Timothy McVeigh did an unspeakable thing. He was caught. She was executed.
In November 2009 major Nidal Hasan killed 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas. Hasan was paralyzed from the waist down in an exchange of gunfire with police. Hasan lives, and has not yet been convicted. His trial is in May. There is no innocence in these men.
Everyone receives forgiveness from the father through Jesus Christ, even these men who have taken lives. We believe that if they repent and find faith in Jesus Christ, they too will receive forgiveness.
Jesus faced his accusers and said very little. Jesus was put on mock trial and did nothing to stop it. Jesus was led to Golgotha to face his own death and he offered little resistance. When Jesus came face to face with the men that would take his life he loved them. He said, "father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing." They weren't asking for forgiveness, there is no evidence that they even felt remorse for what they were doing but this was Jesus plan and Jesus did not not come to judge, he did not come to condemn. Jesus came to save.
It is difficult enough, to face our own mortality, to face our own death with courage. But to face our own death when it is to come at the hand of another human being is another thing. If I look at you and I know you intend to do me mortal harm, my instincts are not leading me to love. My human nature is leading me to self-preservation. I will fight. I will do all in my power to stop you. God's plan for us is to live! God's plan is that we have on to life; God has offered us eternal life in Jesus name. His plan for us is to find life in him. Jesus preserves our life. Jesus offers hope, so that we don't have two worry about our lives.
To make that happen, Jesus came to give his life. Jesus could have saved his own life at any point. So when he came to the place where he was to die he looked at his executioners with compassion, because surely he knew that the ones who would be responsible for taking the life of the incarnate God would be guilty of eternal sin. They were part of Jesus plan. Would Jesus have them condemned for fulfilling his own will? Surely not!
So he said, "father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing."
Father forgive us for we do not know what we are doing! Jesus was complicit in his own death because it leads to our eternal life. But what are we complicit with that leads to our death that is profitable to no one? The way of death is this: it is the way of persecutors of the good, haters of the truth, lovers of falsehood; see that no one leads you astray. When we let sin in our life we are being complicit in our own death to the benefit of no one. Jesus offered his life for us. It was the perfect gift because it was complete. Everyone who trusts in Jesus receives forgiveness from the father.
Lest we forget Jesus mission let me remind you what the apostle John wrote in his gospel, "for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Remember: everyone, everyone, everyone is deserving of God's forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Let's be about being people who remind the world of that fact. Amen.

Casting Stones or Crowns? A Palm Sunday Message

Boy! This time last year we were having 80 degree days weren’t we?  This is springtime isn’t it?  Just think in about 3 and ½ months some of us will bring our kids or our grand kids to the big 4th of July parade and those little ones will struggle to get a better view or they will be right out in the street collecting candy from the ground, and it will be hotter than is comfortable and…you know what? I am not sure why we go. 

Sometimes we do things out of habit.  Sometimes we do things because it’s what the crowd is doing. Sometimes we do things with little thought about them at all.

Many people go to 4^th of July celebrations to celebrate our nation, or because they feel patriotic.  Some go just for the fun and festive atmosphere.  A celebration is always better when you know the reason why you are celebrating.

The apostle John was given a vision of the continual worship of Jesus.  After the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Apostle John was exiled to an island in the Mediterranean Sea.  During that time God revealed a vision of the heavenly realm and commanded John to record it. In that vision John saw certain creatures around the heavenly throne. The book of Revelation says, “Each one of the four living creatures had six wings and was full of eyes all around and inside.  They never rest day and or night, saying: ‘Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God, the All-Powerful. Who was and who is, and who is still to come.’ And Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the one who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders throw themselves to the ground before the one who sits on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever, and they offer their crowns before his throne, saying, ‘You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, since you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created!’”

So when the creatures gave praise to Jesus it caused a chain reaction of worship and praise beginning with the elders in the heavenly realm,  casting their crowns before the throne and continuing as it ripples through the earthly realm and through our gathering here today.  We worship because it is a reflection and continuation of Heavenly worship.  We worship because we want to be in the presence of our God.  We worship to give God praise; to give God thanks.

The people that praised Jesus as he came into Jerusalem had a great hope, but it was a selfish hope.  They weren’t there to praise Jesus for who Jesus was.   They were there for what Jesus could do for them. Their cheers were sincere in that they were joyful and happy and hopeful. But their intentions were imperfect.

The thing is our earthly worship is imperfect as well.  We have an obstructed view of the parade and sometimes we aren’t as fully engaged as we could be, because of it.

We come to worship to bring our best. We offer God our lives as a holy and living sacrifice.  Whatever accolades we receive, whatever thanks we get all belong to our Lord Jesus Christ.  We come to worship to take the crowns that we have been given and give them to Him.

But we are imperfect aren’t we?  

Paul the great apostle, the great evangelist, the great mystic, wrote a letter to the house churches in Rome.  He shared with them the struggles that he has had in his spiritual life.  He wrote   “For we know that the law is spiritual-but I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin. For I don’t know what I am doing. For I do not do what I want-instead, I do what I hate…Wretched man that I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

The most prolific writer in the New Testament recognized his own failure to live up to God’s perfection, but in the same breath recognized Jesus as the rescuer.  And Jesus is indeed the one who rescues us.

Remember the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery?  They brought her to Jesus not for justice but to trap him and bring charges against him.

He turned it around and made them look inside and see their own sinful nature.  He demonstrated in that one comment that we all fall short of the Holiness of God.  We all are in need of God’s forgiving love.

The crowd wanted to throw stones.  But they were turned away.

The crowd wouldn’t be turned away on that day that Jesus was being tried. 

The crowd would prevail in convincing Pontius Pilate to hand Jesus over to be crucified. 

But only because Jesus allowed it. 

Jesus was once attacked by a mob that wanted to throw him off a cliff.  He passed through them without being touched.  He was challenged at every turn and he always answered those challenges and silenced his critics.  He went to Jerusalem with the intent that he would sacrifice his life. 

Pilate may have given in to the demands of the crowd.  The crowd may have thought they won a victory. But it was Jesus who was working intentionally to win a victory for all who believe in him!

In this account of Jesus’ trial the only words that he spoke were a response to Pilate asking him if he is the king of the Jews.  Jesus said, “You say so.”

From that time to after his sentence being handed down from Pilate he said nothing.

When he was sent to Herod and Herod wanted a show; he wanted to see a miracle performed by Jesus for his own amusement.  Jesus said nothing.

When Herod and his soldiers mocked him, he said nothing.

Jesus was sent back to Pilate and the crowd demanded the execution of Jesus.  Jesus plans were unfolding as they needed to.  So Jesus said nothing.

When we are living in God’s will, when we trust in Jesus Christ there is nothing in this world that can defeat us.  Death for us is merely a door for us to eternal life in the heavenly realm where we wait for resurrection!

      Psalm 27 says “The lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is my strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

When the wicked come at me to eat up my flesh, even my adversaries and my foes, they stumble and fall!”

We have a short time on this earth.  We have a limited time to share the good news about Jesus Christ. Will we spend that time casting stones or casting crowns?  Are we going to spent time judging, fighting, maneuvering and trapping or are we going to spent our limited time praising, loving, worshipping, and serving? 

It might be easier to cast stones but life is infinitely better when we cast crowns. 

So, how is it with you today?  Can you stand firm in who you are as a beloved child of God?  Can you put more of your trust in the Lord that has secured eternity for you? 

Paradox

John 12:1-8

You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.  I always have Jesus.  Jesus is an ever present companion.  His love is manifest in many ways in this world.  The Holy Spirit is a constant presence in the world. The Glory of God fills the earth!  Jesus, what do you mean that “you will not always have me?” It seems self-contradictory.

A beautiful sunrise with the moon in the south.  

·         A paradox is a self-contradictory statement.

·         You can save money by spending it

·         Youth is wasted on the young

·         I can resist anything but temptation

·         Nobody goes to that restaurant because it is too crowded

·         Deep down, you are really shallow.

This passage of scripture has always seemed like a paradox to me.  I have always kind of agreed with Judas.  Why on earth wouldn't you want to sell that perfume that was worth nearly a year’s wages of a laborer and give the money to the poor?  It seems like Jesus himself would agree, since he often talked about feeding the hungry and clothing the naked.  But there is more to it than that.  If our faith was merely about social services then, yes, selling the perfume would be the only option but there is something deeper happening here.

This past week the Roman Catholic Church named its 266^th pope.  There was a notification on my phone from ABC News that white smoke was coming from that famous chimney on top of the Sistine Chapel. I turned on the television and watched the coverage that ABC was offering.  The pope is not our leader of course.   We are members of the United Methodist church.  We have our own structure and our own bishops but not only is the pope the leader of a denomination he is also a world leader.  It matters what the pope does and says even if we are not Catholic.  So I prayed for this Christian leader.  I prayed that the conclave of Cardinals would be led by the Holy Spirit to elect a leader that would do his part to help the world fully realize God’s will for humanity.   I was watching and waiting like millions of others to see who was going to emerge from behind those curtain-draped doors onto that balcony.  I found the whole thing really quite exciting.  Then to fill time, I suppose, the commentators on ABC started talking about the cardinals choosing someone based on political leanings and agendas.  One of them was criticizing the previous pope and was wondering out loud if the next one would be ‘as bad.’ It really threw a wet blanket on the whole event for me.  All the questions and observations they were bringing up were fair and appropriate but it seemed to be the wrong time.  It would be like watching the ball drop on New Year’s Eve and discussing the new tax code for the coming year.  It’s like they were missing the moment.

Have you ever done that?  You get so focused on the details that you miss the event all together? I see parents do that a lot. We spend so much time trying to capture video of our kid’s special moments we forget to enjoy the moment and fully celebrate with them. 

We worry so much about getting the dishes clean that we miss the party happening all around us.  We are so distracted by our sin that the abundant life that Jesus offers seems like a distant promise.

This passage of scripture is not actually a paradox.  It makes perfect sense when you understand that everyone works out of their own nature.  Just like the commentators on ABC news.  They are trained to analyze a situation, find the conflict, and try to make it relevant to the average person.  They are not trained to recognize the movement of the Holy Spirit or to stand in reverent awe of the mystery of God. And I shouldn't have expected them to.

Jesus told Judas, “You always have the poor with you but you don’t always have me.”  But we don’t always have Jesus, or rather; we don’t always let Jesus be in charge.  We don’t have him when we have selfish intent in mind. We don’t have him when we are being deceitful.  And we don’t have him when we are doing harm to our community.

It was six days before he Passover.  Six days before he was to give his life. He stopped and he had dinner with his friends. They were celebrating Lazarus’ new life. Jesus was about to go to Jerusalem to give his life.  He was prepared to die. But he was there to celebrate with his friend.  That’s love.

Martha served. Of course she served, that’s what she does.  That’s love.

Mary blew 10 months’ worth of wages on some perfume for Jesus because that’s what she does. That’s love.

We operate out of our gifts. We use our gifts to serve God. And we serve God by serving our community. The failure, the brokenness in this story found in Judas. He interrupts this web of intertwined love and community and celebration with his brokenness; with his selfishness; with his deceit.  Jesus stops it in its tracks. He says, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.” He wasn't saying that we should neglect the poor. He was stopping Judas in his lie.  Of course Jesus is concerned for the poor. But he is also saying that this is a unique moment in your lives and in history. He is about to give his life. Mary is honoring Jesus in the way that she knows how. Jesus is the incarnate God. God made flesh. He is God with us. And he is about to sacrifice his life for us. She is honoring him in his earthly body. And Judas’ words were dampening the moment. And Jesus stopped it, in effect saying, ‘no, I will not let you do this.’ This moment is bigger than the amount of cash this perfume is worth.  This is bigger than your temporary gain.  He is telling Judas, ‘don’t worry; you will have ample opportunity to steal later. But this moment: let it be holy.’

It is easy to take a holy moment and sully it with our sin and earthly concerns.  Conversely when we invite Jesus in; when we honor Jesus in the way that we are gifted to do so.  Ordinary moments can be transformed into holy moments. 

So how is it with you today?  How has God gifted you?  How can you use your gifts to honor Jesus Christ and make ordinary moments into holy moments?

In Due Time

Living in the present moment.  Enough said. 

Have your blessing arrived?  Have you arrived at the palace you want to be?  Are you longing for something else? 

If there is one thing I have learned in life, it’s that you need to live in the present moment.  If your happiness is somewhere off in the distance you will never reach it. 

The story of the prodigal son is a familiar one to many of us.  For those of you who are in the Thursday evening discussion group it is also very fresh because it was the subject of our study for an entire week.  I often pause before preparing a message on texts that are very familiar.  Texts such as these have been preached on and studied with great intensity and I feel humbled as I approach the task thinking, “What could I possibly add?”

That question, that moment of doubt is where the devil works.  The idea that we have nothing to add to the life of the church; to the family of God is completely contrary to the witness of scripture.  Each one of us has been given spiritual gifts meant solely for the building up of the Body of Christ, the church. 

I usually ask this question at the end but I am going to ask it now:  How is it with you today?  How is the devil convincing you to step aside? How are you being discouraged from giving yourself completely to the building of His kingdom? 

Now that I am in my 40s it’s a little different. But when I first felt the call to ministry, I was in my 20s. I thought, “How could I be a pastor.”  I knew I didn’t have the knowledge or the life experience to do what thought a pastor should do.  I say it’s a little different.  I still am in awe of the experience, knowledge and wisdom that is gathered in this sanctuary every Sunday through all of you, and I think “What could I possibly add?”

Then God says, “you will see, in due time.”

Jeremiah 1 says, “The Lord said to me, before I formed you in your mother’s womb I chose you. Before you were born I set you apart. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations. I answered, “Oh, Lord God, I really do not know how to speak well enough for that, for I am too young.” The Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ But go to whomever I send you and say whatever I tell you.” 

I may have been too young but I went anyway.  I love the story of King David. I especially like the story of his victory over Goliath. In 1 Sam 17. David was discouraged by his family.  David was mocked by his enemy. But through faith in God and the use of the skills that God gave him he defied human logic and won the victory.  And he was just a boy.

Perhaps being too young is not a problem of yours.  Genesis 18:13 “The Lord said to Abraham, “why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘will I really have a child when I am old?’ Is anything impossible for the Lord? I will return to you when the season comes round again and Sarah will have a son.”

“I’m too young.  I’m too old. I’m to this and I am too that.” These are all distractions and discouragement from the evil one.  What is God telling you this morning?

In our Gospel lesson this morning we read about Jesus telling a story about a Father and two sons.  The one son, knowing that he was an heir of his father’s estate thought that he could have a lot more enjoyment out of life if he had his share immediately.  So he asked for it. He took it. He spent it.

The other son was dutiful to his father.  He worked without complaining until the day his father threw a party for this brother who had spent his share and was now back home.

The Father represents God and the sons represent how we fail in our understanding of ourselves as children of God.

The son that took his inheritance early is like every one of us on any given day that thinks we can do without God’s council.  When we do things our way instead of God’s way.  When we give in to temptation; when we do what we should not do and when we do not do what we know we ought to do. Then time after time when we “come to ourselves” as the younger son did in Jesus’s story we return to God the Father.  And even before we think we are close, God comes running and throws his arms around us and welcomes us home. 

We can also be like the other brother, can’t we?  Putting our nose to the grindstone; getting the work done; carrying the load.  All the while resenting it a little bit.  All the while wanting recognition for all the hard work. 

What both sons failed to see was that the inheritance, the blessings were always there for both of them.  They just couldn't see it. When the younger son got to the end of his rope the only thing he wanted was to be home with his family.  He was willing to work as a servant just to be there. 

When the father had the talk with the older son, he said, “what is mine is yours.” The father never held back anything.  Both sons were selfish in their own way.  The Blessing was found in the company of one’s family. The blessing in the story is being in the loving presence of the father.  Sometimes it’s hard to see the blessing when you are swimming in it.

1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I talked like a child; I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. But when I became an adult, I set aside childish ways.  For now we see in a mirror indirectly, but then we will see face to face.  Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known.

We are fully known.  We are abundantly blessed.  As the children of God we are in his presence. 

God doesn’t care much about your chronological age or your perceived limitations. God is looking for his children to finally come to themselves and return home.  It doesn’t matter of you are young or old but God is looking for the mature Christian that can recognize the blessing of being in His presence. 

As you look around this sanctuary, realize that everyone here is like the brother that left and has now returned.  We have all made mistakes. We have all failed in some way, but each one of us here has made a decision to turn back and once again, and chose to be in God’s presence. 

So, how is it with you today?  How will you welcome each other? As the Father or the older brother?  Will you run out and love people without hesitation like the father did.  Will you celebrate with each other the decision to once again turn toward God?  We are swimming in God’s blessing.  May we always remember that and remind each other of that.