Whose You Are

Luke 3:15-17, 21, 22

You are my son; with you I am well pleased. 

YOU are my family.  YOU bring me joy just by being you.  We all need to know that we are loved. We need to know that we are accepted. We need to know that we belong somewhere, and whether we admit it or not, we all desire affirmation. 

You are my son; with you I am well pleased. 

God loves you.   God’s love for you is perfect.

Savannah and I at a Cross Country meet last Fall.

The perfect love of God is also filtered through the imperfect people around you.  And the love of God that flows through you also travels an imperfect vessel.  Who among us has not failed someone with the best of intentions? 

One time my dad was saying how some of his work colleague’s children were getting into a lot of trouble and how lucky he was that I didn’t screw up like that.  I took that as “You are my son; with you I am well pleased.”  That’s one of the things we have to do for each other. We have to listen for the voice of God behind the flawed human words and actions and hope others do the same for us.

God loves you and God’s love is perfect.   

In one of the letters written to the early Christian Community it says “Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.” 1 John 3:15.  If you hate, you have no eternal life in you.  That’s because when you hate, the Grace of God, the love of God is not flowing through you.  Think about it.  When you decide you hate someone, or decide that they are your enemy or you say to yourself “I just don’t like them”, nothing they do will be able to please you.

“Oh look at her, eating those crackers like she owns the place.” 

Think for a moment on the mistakes you have made in your life.  Think about the words you have used were hurtful.  And yet the Heavenly father says, “You are my child, with you I am well pleased.”

You might be thinking, “Now hold on God said that about Jesus, not me.”

He said it about Jesus so he could say it about you!

1 John 3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

God loves you and God’s love is perfect!

The fullness of God is glimpsed in today’s text.  Jesus of Nazareth the incarnation of God-God in the Flesh came to the Jordan to be baptized by John.  The Holy Spirit the very power of God came down and rested on him and the Words of the Heavenly Father affirmed it all.  You are my son; with you I am well pleased.”  All three: Father, Son and Holy Spirit are present and in accord.  It’s a relationship.  It is unconditional love and unity. 

It was that unconditional love and unity that was extended to us when Jesus offered himself as an eternal sacrifice for us. 

Yes it was the Father who said to Jesus, “You are my son. With you I am well pleased.” But by spiritually joining with Jesus we join also in the Fathers pleasure. 

In his earthly life Jesus extended the invitation into this family of God.  His flawed and imperfect followers didn’t fully understand.

 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 

You are invited to be part of that family of God.  We all are!  God loves you and God’s love is perfect!

This Cross that we have at the front of the sanctuary, most of you know that it is made from wood from a part of this building and is now repurposed to Glorify God in a new way.  This cross or the one that is around your neck is a symbol of the lengths that God has gone through to show you love.  Just for a moment I want you to look at the cross.  I want you to look at it in a new light.  As you look at the cross I want you to see it as a lens.  The cross is a lens that God looks through to see us.  God sees us everywhere and at all times of course.  He sees all of our flaw and failures.  He sees wars and greed.  But when he sees us through the lens of the cross, when he sees us in light of Jesus he only sees the righteousness of his son in whom God is pleased.  When we join ourselves to Jesus we are made right with God.

"This is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our righteousness." Jer. 23:6

2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

If the cross on the wall is a lens through which God sees us, it must also be a lens for us to see God and indeed it is.    If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Jesus and the Father are one.  When we know Jesus we know the Father and are blessed with the Holy Spirit. 

God loves you and God’s love is perfect.

God has gone to great lengths to show you his love.

God became human to relate directly to us.  Jesus started his ministry be being baptized not because he needed to be washed of sin but to relate to the people he was serving. 

I had a discussion recently about the necessity of baptism for salvation.  The answer that always comes up is that the thief on the cross that Jesus promised paradise was not baptized.  No ritual was needed only the unconditional perfect love of God. But to be baptized is to participate in an act that God has poured out his love publically to his son. What a wonderful thing.  When was the last time you said with a warm heart “I am baptized”? It’s a statement of identity.  It’s a statement of the power and the love of God to overcome the darkness of this world.

So how is it with you today?  Is the perfect love of God flowing through you? I want to challenge you to look inside.  Where ever you find resentment, fear, anger or hatred let the perfect love of God dissolve it so that you may have eternal life. 

Pass the Cup

Mark 10:35-45

Today is a beautiful day to be alive in Christ.  Celebrate!

We are fully into the the Fall season. This is definitely not summer anymore. This is my favorite season of the year. I love the mild temperatures. I love the changing colors. I even prefer wearing long pants. There is one more thing I appreciate about the passing of summer: the reduced likelihood of potato salad. I don't like the stuff. It's cold potatoes and mayonnaise. What's to like? When there is no potato salad there is no question: “What? You don't want any Potato salad?” as I pass the bowl at the dinner table from the person on my right to the person on my left with out taking any. Wouldn't it be nice if we could just pass on other things in life that we find unpleasant? I'll pass on sickness and disease. I'll pass on war and violence. I'll pass on suffering and greed.

We face what is before us. The cup that we are given is the experiences that lie before us. Some of us actively try to shape our lives while others are more passive about what our course of life.

I would really have liked to meet the Apostles James and John. The were bold; they were full of zeal; they weren't afraid of taking a risk; they were willing to try at the risk of being wrong. In this scripture they approached Jesus and asked him to grant them whatever they requested...

Say what now?

These two brothers have it in their minds that they are going to have some sort of high position in Jesus' glory that is to come, so they tell Jesus that he ought to get on board with the idea.

Can you imagine? I mean what would your reaction be? Imagine if you had a small group of people that you loved and cared for, that you were trying to teach, that you were trying to equip. Imagine that you knew that this small group of people was going to face difficulties that they could not yet fathom, then suddenly two of them come and make this demand. “Do for us what ever we ask of you.”

Now, I am glad that the job of savior of the world has been taken by Jesus because if I were in this situation I would have told James and John to go sit down and, “You better watch how you talk to me!” But Jesus isn't like that. Jesus asks the obvious question, “What is it that you want me to do for you?”

“Grant that, in your glory, we may sit at your left and right hand.” Bold! Bold, bold, bold. I love it! -reminds me of the first days when I came to faith as an adult and joined a church. I wrote a letter to the pastor saying that I was willing to serve in whatever way I was needed. Give me the word and I will and I'll do it!

I anticipated the answer. I waited for a reply. Nothing came. Weren't they just pining away to employ everything I had to offer? Weren't they deficient in some way that I could ride in and add my presence and make the church all that it could be?...The answer and the response to the my letter never came. Instead I got a call from Mr. Campbell, a humble man that was a very long-time member of the church. Mr. Campbell invited me to Saturday morning men's bible study that he led. In that group of men the next youngest was 30 years my senior. In that group of men I learned how to pray. In that group I learned how to listen. In that group I learned what it meant to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Jesus said to James and John, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink and are you able to be baptized with with my baptism?” He is asking them if they realize what he is facing. It is his purpose to reconcile humanity to a right relationship with God. To do that he will suffer and die. The prophet Isaiah said “Wake up! Wake up! Get up, O Jerusalem! You drank from the cup the lord passed to you, which was full of his anger! You drained dry the goblet full of intoxicating wine.” but a little later he writes, “This is what your sovereign master, the Lord your God, says: “Look, I have removed from your and the cup of intoxicating wine, the goblet full of my anger. You will no longer have to drink it.

He will give everything for those he loves. Jesus is asking James and John if they understand that is what it means to be his disciple. They claimed that they understood. Jesus affirmed that they would indeed suffer and sacrifice, but that doesn't mean that Jesus wanted it that way.

Remember Jesus prayerful words in the garden the night before his execution. He was facing his own death and he prayed, “My Father, if this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, let your will be done.” Jesus didn't want to suffer and die but that was the path that was before him and he walked it in faith.

The cup that we are given is the set of life experience that lie before us. It is not some script that is predetermined it is a set of choices. When we make the choice to follow Jesus, when we live by faith, when we finally trust in the power of God, what ever our cup is we can drink of it deeply because it will be filled with God's blessings.

I'm not saying everything in the life of a disciple of Christ is easy. There are certainty difficulties that come with being a follower of Christ. God expects us to be good stewards of what we are entrusted with. We are expected to feed the hungry, cloth the naked and visit the sick. We are supposed to trust in God even when the world is crashing down around us. We are supposed to be witness for Christ in a world that is becoming increasingly hostile and increasingly intolerant of people of faith.

God does not make people hungry, but God gives us the ability to feed them.

God does not does not give us cancer but God does give us and intellect, the desire and a wisdom to fight it.

The world may be hostile to the message of Christ but that is nothing new! They crucified the author and originator of this message.

We are not called to let the cup pass from us. We are called to know Christ and to make Christ known. We are called to actively step into a life of discipleship and to drink deeply of the cup that God lies before us.

All those difficulties that impede us. All those “Red Lights” along our faith journey are opportunities to sharpen our faith. They are opportunities to hone our understanding of God's will for us.

So, how is it with you today? You may be facing a very significant challenge. You may not be in the place you want to be. You may not have achieved all the things you wanted to achieve to this point in your life but God is calling you to be present in your life right now, to drink the cup of discipleship. To follow his way. Don't let the cup pass you by.   

Greater Things

Mark 6:1-13

The blessings of God are plentiful and ready to be poured out on us! God's love is more than we can contain or comprehend. I would give the person credit if I could remember who said it but someone once said, “Saying that God's grace is sufficient for us is like saying that the ocean is sufficient for one clam.” God loves you and that's the truth but can that statement encompass the enormity of that truth? God's love is huge. We swim in it and are so used to it that we don't even notice it most of the time.

This past week on the 4^th a few of you were at the _______________'s for their annual party to watch the fireworks over Lake Michigan. I was struck and I heard some of you comment on the beauty of the lake and of the sunset. For those of us who don't see that every day, we are awestruck. What a beautiful scene. The sun was setting. The reflection of the sun on the water. The haze of the day making the light slightly diffuse. The unusual stillness of the air that day. It was something that grabbed the attention. It was the subject of conversation. For those of you who see that everyday, I am sure you can appreciate it but it is easier, I'm sure, to get other things done with out being distracted by its beauty. Familiarity can lead us to take a thing for granted. Even God's love for us.

Were going to have a baptism today; That's a good thing! In baptism we are participating in sharing God's love...God's grace. We will take take water, pray that God will bless and use it to pour out his grace on one of his beloved children.

Our actions are only minutely significant during the sacrament of baptism compared to the action of God at the same time. The mystery of God and the grace of God, God’s gift of blessing on us when we don’t deserve it, are the things that really matter. It is God that is continually calling us to join in an ever-deepening relationship. It is the grace of God that draws us to God, not the physical pouring of water. When we do those things we are partaking in the gift that God gave us. The gifts of his love and grace. God didn’t give us the sacrament of baptism to use as a tool, but as a way of sharing His love.

When a parent is moved to have their child baptized it is the work of God’s grace. When an child is baptized, that child may not have the memory of the event, but will have the blessing of God from the earliest time in their life. When we baptize, we are resting in the mystery of God and asking God to pour out blessings on that child, and we offer up our intentions as the body of Christ to nurture that child as to raise them up in such a way that they will come to know and profess Jesus as Lord on their own. But ultimately that relationship can only be between the believer and God.

The blessing of God is already here. It is our faith that allows us to receive it. God's love is already present. We may have not noticed it. We may have gotten used to it but God's love surrounds us and is pressing in like powerful flood waters.

Every year we hear about the Mississippi river flooding. Each community builds levies, walls of earth to raise the banks of the river, to protect their city from flooding. A year ago I lived in Ashley which is probably the flattest part of Michigan I have ever seen. There is a home owner there that has built a levy all the way around their house to protect it from the the water that has no place to go. If God's love and blessing is like flood waters then the levies we build that keep us from those blessings may be doubt and apathy that comes from familiarity.

In the scripture lesson today Jesus went to his hometown. He went to the place where it was familiar to him, and he was familiar to the people there. “I this not the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not his sisters here with us? And they took offense at him...and he could do no miracle there except that he aid his hands on a few sick people and healed them and he wondered at their unbelief.”

Jesus is still Jesus the son of God. But in his hometown the people were to familiar with him to appreciate the blessing that he had for them and so they did not receive it. But later he sends out the disciples in pairs and scripture says that “they went out and preached that men should repent and they were casting out many demons and were anointing wit oil many sick people and healing them.”

They brought the message that Jesus sent them with and many was the number of successes. Where Jesus had limited success, the disciples had many successes. In the Gospel according to Luke it says that “A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.” and again in the gospel of John it says, “Truly I say to you he who believed in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works then these he will do; because I go to the Father.”

Jesus intends for us to do greater things. Jesus as a man on the earth had limitations. Jesus as the everliving Lord of Life has no limitations. Jesus has empowered us with the Holy Spirit to be his body on earth; to tell people about the kingdom of God; To preach repentance and forgiveness of sin. We have to have faith to have the courage to go out and proclaim God's truth even though we may not know that the reaction or result may be. God prepared the hearers heart. God grants the gift of fiath to those who will hear the Good News about Jesus Christ.

We're gonna have a baptism today and that's a good thing. The family of God is growing. This little one will receive a physical sign of God's love. She is being initiated into the family of God. We are placing her in God's hands so that faith may be granted to her. We are participating with God in this act of Divine love so that she can make an apeal to God for a good conscience throguh the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are not brought into the family of God merely for our own good. We are brought into the body to be obedient disciples. The whelming flood of Gods love flows through each one of his believers. We are the crack in the levy of apathy. Where there is complacency we will be the extravagance of God's love that gets people's attention. Where there is familiarity we will be the fresh voice of God's presence.

So how is it with you today? Is there familiarity and apathy in your spiritual walk? Let today be a day that you re-affirm your baptism and step into a new day of intentional, obedient faith to the God that has unending love for each of us.

 

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.

Seeking the Light

I usually post my sermon manuscripts however, this is a slightly edited transcript of the sermon I delivered on Sunday, March 18, 2012.

John 3:14-21

21 years ago I was taking a math class at Ferris State University. My professors name was Dr. *****. I assumed that he was like most other teachers I have had in my life and that this math class was like most other math class I have had, that is, the material is presented, tests were given and grades were assigned. Well I found that this professor was a bit different. I found this out when I was taking a quiz in his class. You see I am no math wiz. Math doesn't come easily to me. This was at least the second time I had taken this introductory level math course and I was really struggling with this quiz. I had got a couple of the answers right but I got most of them wrong. I got up, put the quiz on his desk and started to leave. I got nearly to the door when he stopped me. I went back and he showed me where I got stuck on the first problem I got wrong. So I reworked the problem. Then he showed me my mistake on the second and all through the quiz until the whole thing was corrected. I got 10 out of 10 on that quiz because he let me re-work all my answers. I thought, “wow, I can really work with this guy.” Now at exam time at the end of the year, for what ever reason the final test is not the same day and hour as the time you normally have your class time. It's all different. So somehow someway, I got confused, and I missed my final exam. I just forgot about it. I didn't even remember that I forgot it, I just moved on. So I left that summer, for Georgia, to serve in the Army. Mid way through the summer down there I got a call from my professor. He said, “Jon, you forgot to take your test.” Do you want to retake it.” I said I can't I'll be in Georgia all summer. He said, “Well, when you get back next fall just come to my office and take it. So that fall I took the test, did alright on it and passed the class. I was amazed at his compassion. He didn't want me to fail. He gave me every opportunity to succeed. I could have ignored his call. I could have blown off the opportunity to take the test again. But why would I?

God so loved the world that he gave his only son...not to condemn the world. Jesus came to love the world.

God cannot be put into a box. God cannot be reduced to a set of rules. God cannot be summarized by set of concepts. God cannot be contained by our own ideas. God is a living God. God may not act in a way that we expect God to act. Because God isn't just a concept.

In the scriptures of the old testament there are many things that God does and commands others to do that we wouldn't guess that God would do. Some have taken to believe that in these cases the prophets of the Old Testament got it wrong? But I have to ask them, What if they really got it right? What if those difficult passages in the Old Testament and our understanding of an all loving God can and should co-exist?

At the very least we would have to admit that God, sometimes, acts in unexpected ways? So what if God doesn't conform to the way that you think that God should act?

God is bigger than our idea of Him.

We may want God to be this or to be that. But God will be who God is.

If we have understanding, the truth is the truth. If we don't understand the truth is still the truth. It doesn't depend on us.

My brother with his little girl at his surprise birthday party.  This pic was
taken by his wife Holly.  

On Saturday I was at my brothers house, it was his birthday. He was a St. Patrick Day baby. My brother and I are very close. We could go months between visits and we could just pick up just as if we had seen each other the day before. The thing is that he and I are so much alike. There is nothing that he could say that would surprise me. Any opinion or idea that he has, just as easily could have come out of my mouth. We're very close. To say that we are close is not even a shadow of a glimpse of the closeness of the relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit because they are one. Yes, they are separate but they are of the same essence. When one person of the trinity says something, the other two are in complete agreement at all times. And so, when God the Father saw that humanity was lost, he sent Jesus (God the son) so that he could be right there with us.

The rules, according to human understanding were that, if you follow God's law, things would be okay. And if you didn't follow God's law, you would be punished.

God saw that things were going astray, things for humanity were going bad. God saw that humanity needed him and perhaps now they could also see it as well. And so God the Son took on the flesh of humanity. He took on our weakness, he took on our vulnerability all while having the same essence of God the Father. That was unexpected.

He did that as an act of love. He didn't want to see us fail anymore. He didn't want to see us suffer. He didn't want to see us stumble around in the dark anymore. He wanted to bring us light. He wanted to bring us into his light.

God so loved the world that he gave his only son so that who ever would believe in him would have eternal life.

God did not come to condemn the world. God has not pronounced condemnation. God has not pushed anyone out. God has not chosen some while leaving others out. Humanity was already in trouble. Humanity was already stumbling around in the dark. We were already lost. That's why the Father sent Jesus. Jesus arrival in history for humanity was the most loving act that God could do. We have the choice to accept that love, to step into that light or to stay in the dark.

We all need the light of Christ. We all need regeneration. Not one of us is good enough on our own. We all need what Jesus has to offer. When we accept the light of Christ and live in that light, the fruit will be a transformed world and a transformed life for ourselves.

So how is it with you today?

Are you letting the light of Jesus grow inside you?