I hate being wrong—don’t you? Whether it’s something trivial or important, I really can’t stand the embarrassment of being proven incorrect. I remember one time when I was teaching a Bible Study, and in talking about another denomination, I misrepresented one of their central teachings. Someone in the class who had experience with that church body called me on it. I was confident of my position, but promised to look into it during the week. To my dismay, I looked into it, and learned I was wrong. I reported my findings to the class the next week and “took my lumps.” It ended up being a good thing, and I may have even gained a little credibility by admitting that I had been wrong.
We can only speculate about how Saul of Tarsus felt in the days following his encounter with Jesus on the Damascus road. We tend to think of Saul’s conversion in immediate terms; one moment he’s Saul the Christian hunter, the next he’s the Super Saint. And to be sure, coming face to face with the resurrected Jesus utterly changed him. But I have to think that mixed in with the shock and amazement and wonder was an almost sickening realization that his entire view of the world had been wrong.
It seems to be a very quiet Saul that we see early in Acts chapter nine, silently processing what had just happened to him. His way of looking at and understanding and functioning within his world had been wrong. His notions of what was pleasing to God had also been wrong. As if to underscore just how wrong he had been, God blinded him for three days. It was like God saying: “This is what you were, Saul—blind to the truth.” Adding insult to injury, Saul was depending on the help of a Christian—the type of person that up until then he had been trying to eliminate. Saul had a lot to think about as he sat in that house on Straight Street. He had to find out how wrong he had been before he could do anything right. It was a painful process—he wasn’t in the mood to eat or drink for those three days—but it was a necessary process. You may recall that it wasn’t long before Saul went public, candidly sharing what he had learned, pointing people to Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s promises.
As far as the Christian Church is concerned, it is still the Easter season, and the story of Saul’s turnaround is a dramatic example of Easter in action. For it is nothing else than a conversation with the living Messiah that shook the foundations of Saul’s life. It was an audience with Jesus, once dead and now very much alive and well, that caused Saul to switch sides. Saul’s conversion is great circumstantial evidence for the reality of Jesus’ resurrection. Why else would someone like Saul change so completely? He had nothing to gain by following Jesus, and had far more to lose. He had been thoroughly convinced that he was doing the right thing until the risen Jesus appeared to him. Something new was about to blossom in Saul. Because of his contact with the Jesus of Easter, a new person was about to emerge from the old. Saul was getting a second chance.
It is at this point that we meet Ananias, who is one of those great saints of Scripture who makes up the supporting cast of God’s salvation plan. A Christian living in Damascus, he is contacted directly by the Lord and told to go minister to Saul of Tarsus, who is in a house on Straight Street. This would be like God sending a message to you saying, “Go to the house on Mentor Avenue and look for Osama bin Laden—he is expecting you.” Just as you might object to the idea, so Ananias offers up some mild protest, but then the Lord reveals His thoughts regarding Saul’s second chance: He says, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” As astounding as these words would’ve seemed to Ananias, they would be proven true. Saul would do all the things God mentions here and then some. And to his credit, Ananias goes and finds the man who had been one of the most intimidating enemies of the faith. All sorts of thoughts and feelings must’ve swirled through Ananias as he drew close to the man who had relished binding Christians and throwing them in prison to await execution. But Ananias speaks only words of grace, saying, “Brother Saul”—just think of it, Brother Saul—“the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately his vision is restored—moreover, his entire way of seeing the world is remade as he is baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit. Now his second chance had really begun, and Saul, we can safely say, made the most of it.
Saul had to see how wrong he had been before he could do anything right. He endured those dark days, and now, because of the mercy and love of the very Jesus he had been persecuting, he was a new person. He was baptized into the Christian faith—the faith that held Jesus to be the Son of the Father; the true and greatest Passover Lamb; the Messiah from David’s family tree. Saul spent some time in the company of the Damascus Christians, and can you imagine what those conversations must have been like? Saul had been given a second chance, and he wasted no time in doing his first Christian preaching there in the Damascus synagogues. According to verse 22, Saul confounded the Jews in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ, and Saul would continue confounding his world with the cross of Christ Jesus as his message and a Christ-like life as his living letter to the world.
I say all that about Saul so that I can say this to you today: the life of Saul is proof that our God is the God of Second Chances. Our God wants everyone to admit how wrong they have been so that He can heal them with His mercy and fill them with His right-ness. Our God aches to forgive people and grant them a second chance. But here are the questions and you probably knew they were coming. How do you do at offering forgiveness and second chances to those who hurt you? Is this church a place where forgiveness and second chances describes how we deal with one another? Or is there another spirit at work?
I will never forget a statement made by Dr. James Bollhagen, a professor of mine. He said, “The church is not a place where people are granted forgiveness only if they can first prove that they don’t need it.” Did you catch that? I’ll say it again: “The church is not a place where people are granted forgiveness only if they can first prove that they don’t need it.” And yet so often that is exactly how Christians can act. It creeps so easily into any relationship—the withholding of forgiveness—a running tally of offenses committed—especially when the other person just doesn’t seem to care. We pass judgment on others, clinging to nuggets of conventional wisdom such as “A leopard doesn’t change his spots” and “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” We should be overflowing with forgiveness and second chances. We should be quick to give people the benefit of the doubt and just as quick to explain things in the kindest possible way. If we’re not, then maybe we still don’t really get what Jesus is all about. Or maybe we just have to see how wrong we’ve been before we can do what’s right. If you have guilt about the way you’ve treated people, be honest about it with God. Think of the shame that Saul must’ve felt as he sat in darkness for three days. You are invited to admit your sin to the God of forgiveness and second chances. If you are ready to own up to your sin, Jesus is ready to forgive it. The same Jesus who paid for your sin with His suffering and death is the same living Jesus who can send you on your way with new vision and new priorities. You have been given a precious gift: you have another chance to let the grace of Jesus dominate your thinking and spur you on to action. Do not take this gift for granted. Confound your world with Jesus in your words and deeds, and let’s honor Him by being a second-chance kind of church.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Not Seeing Is Believing
A five year old boy got his hand stuck in an expensive vase. The vase was especially precious to his mother. The vase had been her grandmother’s and it had been given to her on her wedding day. No matter what the boy’s parents tried, his hand would not come out of the vase. Dad suggested breaking the vase as a last resort. Mom suggested contacting the family doctor. They were able to get in to the doctor’s office, and the doctor examined the vase to see if maybe someone with pottery skills could cut a section out of the vase without too much damage.
Then the doctor looked at the boy’s free hand. He took the boy’s hand, opened his palm, and curled the thumb toward the little finger. Then he asked the boy if he could do that with the hand inside the jar. The boy said, “I can’t do that. If I do, I’ll lose the quarter I’m holding.”
We often hold on to things because we’re afraid of losing what we know. We do not believe that we may actually have greater blessing if we let go and trust in God. That is the basic struggle we have with faith. That struggle is reflected in two statements that come directly from today’s gospel lesson. The first is from Jesus. He says: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” The second is from Jesus’ disciple, Thomas, who said: “Unless I see…I will not believe.”
Do you feel like I sometimes do? Lord, unless You show me the answer to my financial problems, unless you show me the answer to my problems at school, unless you show me how to function within this organization, unless you give me a break from the illness that I’m dealing with…unless you come across, I’m really not going to believe you are a loving, helping Father anymore.
But you and I can’t make deals with God. He says to us, “Believe in me, and I will show you more than you ever dreamed could happen in your life.” Now, this is not “stay positive and you will get ahead” type thinking. This is Jesus asking you to notice the people whose faith released his power—the Roman centurion, the demon-afflicted man, the woman at the well, the paralyzed man, and many more. God doesn’t make deals. He will always escape you until you see Him revealed in Jesus His Son. So often in our relationship with God, we are pounding on a door that is already unlocked. Jesus is the key. Getting to know Jesus and trusting in Him means that the door to God is open. Faith like that is so simple, yet it can be so hard for us to grasp.
A Christian was talking about the age-old problem of human suffering. “Why does God allow it?” he asked. A friend of his answered, “This much I know: I have seen a lieutenant send one of his men, a dear and trusted friend, to certain death because the mission had to be accomplished. And the man spent no time in asking why. He saluted and went. And in my own life sometimes I do not know why, and I am not asking. I am just saluting, if that is my post.”
In your own heart, are you willing, no matter what confronts you, to say, “God knows. He has a reason for allowing this to happen. I trust him. That’s enough for me.”
That is the challenge Jesus has for you and me. It was the challenge he had for Thomas. “Stop doubting and believe.” It sounds so easy. It’s anything but. There are so many pressures tempting you not to live a life of faith. Our own laziness and self-centeredness do not help, either. But Jesus won’t make deals, and he’s not interested in excuses. He just wants to know, are you willing to walk by faith and not by sight? “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Let me assure you today this faith is a gift from God to you which comes when you repent of your sins and trust in the healing power of Jesus. He has saved you from eternal death and makes you a child of God. If you want to be and remain a child of God, it will mean letting Jesus work in you through faith, breaking through your doubts, and letting him say to you, as he did to Thomas, “You are blessed. You haven’t found all the answers to the questions in your life, but you have still believed in me. You are blessed.”
There was a woman who was well known in her community for her great calm in the midst of many troubles. Another woman went to visit her one day, thinking, “I’m going to find out the secret of her happiness.” And as she met her she said, “So you are the woman with the great faith I’ve heard so much about.”
“No,” came the reply. “I’m not the woman with the great faith. But I am the person with the little faith in the great God.”
Can you say the same?
Then the doctor looked at the boy’s free hand. He took the boy’s hand, opened his palm, and curled the thumb toward the little finger. Then he asked the boy if he could do that with the hand inside the jar. The boy said, “I can’t do that. If I do, I’ll lose the quarter I’m holding.”
We often hold on to things because we’re afraid of losing what we know. We do not believe that we may actually have greater blessing if we let go and trust in God. That is the basic struggle we have with faith. That struggle is reflected in two statements that come directly from today’s gospel lesson. The first is from Jesus. He says: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” The second is from Jesus’ disciple, Thomas, who said: “Unless I see…I will not believe.”
Do you feel like I sometimes do? Lord, unless You show me the answer to my financial problems, unless you show me the answer to my problems at school, unless you show me how to function within this organization, unless you give me a break from the illness that I’m dealing with…unless you come across, I’m really not going to believe you are a loving, helping Father anymore.
But you and I can’t make deals with God. He says to us, “Believe in me, and I will show you more than you ever dreamed could happen in your life.” Now, this is not “stay positive and you will get ahead” type thinking. This is Jesus asking you to notice the people whose faith released his power—the Roman centurion, the demon-afflicted man, the woman at the well, the paralyzed man, and many more. God doesn’t make deals. He will always escape you until you see Him revealed in Jesus His Son. So often in our relationship with God, we are pounding on a door that is already unlocked. Jesus is the key. Getting to know Jesus and trusting in Him means that the door to God is open. Faith like that is so simple, yet it can be so hard for us to grasp.
A Christian was talking about the age-old problem of human suffering. “Why does God allow it?” he asked. A friend of his answered, “This much I know: I have seen a lieutenant send one of his men, a dear and trusted friend, to certain death because the mission had to be accomplished. And the man spent no time in asking why. He saluted and went. And in my own life sometimes I do not know why, and I am not asking. I am just saluting, if that is my post.”
In your own heart, are you willing, no matter what confronts you, to say, “God knows. He has a reason for allowing this to happen. I trust him. That’s enough for me.”
That is the challenge Jesus has for you and me. It was the challenge he had for Thomas. “Stop doubting and believe.” It sounds so easy. It’s anything but. There are so many pressures tempting you not to live a life of faith. Our own laziness and self-centeredness do not help, either. But Jesus won’t make deals, and he’s not interested in excuses. He just wants to know, are you willing to walk by faith and not by sight? “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Let me assure you today this faith is a gift from God to you which comes when you repent of your sins and trust in the healing power of Jesus. He has saved you from eternal death and makes you a child of God. If you want to be and remain a child of God, it will mean letting Jesus work in you through faith, breaking through your doubts, and letting him say to you, as he did to Thomas, “You are blessed. You haven’t found all the answers to the questions in your life, but you have still believed in me. You are blessed.”
There was a woman who was well known in her community for her great calm in the midst of many troubles. Another woman went to visit her one day, thinking, “I’m going to find out the secret of her happiness.” And as she met her she said, “So you are the woman with the great faith I’ve heard so much about.”
“No,” came the reply. “I’m not the woman with the great faith. But I am the person with the little faith in the great God.”
Can you say the same?
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Standing Outside the Tomb
Today we stand outside an empty tomb. Of the four great religions of the world resting on personalities, the Christian religion is the only one that even talks about an empty tomb in relation to its founder. Abraham died some two thousand years before Christ, but the Jewish people never claimed he is resurrected. In fact, his tomb is still carefully preserved in Hebron in southern Palestine. No resurrection is ascribed to Buddha, either. In fact, Buddhist scripture says that when Buddha died it was “with that utter passing away in which nothing whatever remains behind.” Mohammed died at Medina on June 8, 632, and he is buried there, and thousands of Muslims visit his tomb annually. So millions of Jews, Buddhists, and Muslims do not claim resurrection for the founders of their religions. They lie in dust in their tombs.
But in Christianity, we have something else. We have a broken seal, a stone rolled away from the door and an empty tomb. Jesus does not rot in a Palestinian grave. He lives and is ruling over all things. For He is risen, just as He said. And because He has risen, we can boldly claim that Jesus is the Son of God. His teachings are truth with a capital T, God has accepted the sacrifice of his Son for the reconciliation of the world and all believers in Jesus will rise to eternal life. Now, if the Easter bunny led any of you here this morning in the spirit of “everybody goes on Easter,” allow me to disturb you enough to see what this day is really all about. It is about an empty grave—for Jesus and for you.
This empty Easter tomb signals that God’s mission of rescuing human beings for eternal life is complete. Jesus has done it all. The only way to explain why God came up with this plan—and why Jesus went through with it—is because he loves you and treasures you. He loves and treasures you, even when you do not love or treasure Him.
Was there a single day this past week that you planned without first taking your schedule to the Lord in prayer? Have you been trying to salvage a crumbling relationship by purely human means? Have you agonized in loneliness and wondered why God isn’t speaking to you—and yet your Bible remains closed, your baptism forgotten, and Holy Communion ignored as a living source of God’s power?
Truly, when you and I examine our lives, we must confess that we often live as if Jesus didn’t really exist as a personal reality in our lives. We often live as “practical atheists” even though we call ourselves Christians. We live the “as if” life—as if Jesus were still in the tomb, dead, and not alive in our hearts and homes today. The apostle Paul speaks for all of us when he says, “My own behavior baffles me. For I find myself doing what I really loathe…I often find that I have the will to do good, but not the power…the evil I don’t really want to do I find I am always doing…who can set me free from the prison of this mortal body? I thank God there is a way out through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
And so you and I need to say this happy Easter day, “Lord, be merciful to us sinners. Don’t give us what we deserve. And thank you, Jesus, that there is a way out of the tomb of selfishness.” It is Jesus who leads the way out of the tomb. It’s Jesus who is the way out of the grave. Jesus was crucified and buried to cancel out your sins, and he stood outside of the tomb that first Easter so that you can be confident that you will also stand outside of your tomb on the Day he returns. Your grave will not be able to hold you down. The reality of Jesus’ resurrection changes everything. It is the defining event in the history of this world. Will you let it be the defining event in your life? Will you let the reality of a living, personal God change everything about you?
In the gospel reading for this Easter we see Mary Magdalene come face to face with her resurrected Teacher. I don’t think it’s possible to put into words the emotional impact this encounter would’ve had on Mary. And yet, Jesus says, “Let’s not get caught up in the moment, Mary. You need to go and tell that you have seen Me.” If the resurrection of Jesus is real to you and me, then we are going to talk about it. We are going to tell others about a Savior who died but came back to life and is still alive. We’re going to speak about the risen Jesus in the hospital and the rehab center; the nursing home and the funeral home; and especially at the graveside. We won’t let the name of Jesus go unsaid. How can we, when we know that He has defeated death and stands outside of the tomb?
There was a young administrative assistant in an office building who exemplified what I am talking about. Jesus was a personal reality in her life, and she did talk about him with other people. In fact, she made such an impression on a sailor who visited the office building one day that he wrote a letter to her employer. He told her boss how he had come into that man’s office, lonely and scared to death about sailing again. He needed to talk to someone. So when the woman at the desk greeted him, he asked if there were any jobs available, and if there weren’t that was okay. And he said, if only a person had something to count on, or something worth dying for, then things wouldn’t be so bad.
Then he related how the woman smiled, and said, “Jesus is coming through and He’s worth dying for.” He said he just stared at the woman because she talked as if Christ was alive and a good pal of hers. In fact, he recalled, he was so struck by her comments that he sort of expected Jesus to walk through the door. It was that real.
He was only in the office ten minutes, but the brief encounter made such an impression on him that it changed him somehow. He was no longer scared like he was before. He wrote: “It was as though she had said, “I want to make you acquainted with my Friend Jesus. You ought to get to know each other since He’ll be going your way.” I’m nineteen and I never knew before that there was a God like that who would go along with a guy like me.”
“I never knew before that there was a God like that.” That’s the God that you can know in Jesus Christ—a God who is real and alive—a God who moves us to “show and tell” others about Him so that His power can change their lives, too.
Life-changing power is available to you this Easter day. Unlike other world religions whose founders lie as dust in their graves, the tomb of Jesus is empty. He is risen, just like he said he would be. Because of this, you can be sure that nothing can stand in the way of your connection to Him. We who used to be lost can now call God “Our Father who lives in heaven.”
He wants you to let Him live at the center of your life right now. He wants you to let Him remove the crippling power of fear from your life. He can do this because He stands outside of his own tomb. Trust Him to pull you out of yours today and for eternity.
But in Christianity, we have something else. We have a broken seal, a stone rolled away from the door and an empty tomb. Jesus does not rot in a Palestinian grave. He lives and is ruling over all things. For He is risen, just as He said. And because He has risen, we can boldly claim that Jesus is the Son of God. His teachings are truth with a capital T, God has accepted the sacrifice of his Son for the reconciliation of the world and all believers in Jesus will rise to eternal life. Now, if the Easter bunny led any of you here this morning in the spirit of “everybody goes on Easter,” allow me to disturb you enough to see what this day is really all about. It is about an empty grave—for Jesus and for you.
This empty Easter tomb signals that God’s mission of rescuing human beings for eternal life is complete. Jesus has done it all. The only way to explain why God came up with this plan—and why Jesus went through with it—is because he loves you and treasures you. He loves and treasures you, even when you do not love or treasure Him.
Was there a single day this past week that you planned without first taking your schedule to the Lord in prayer? Have you been trying to salvage a crumbling relationship by purely human means? Have you agonized in loneliness and wondered why God isn’t speaking to you—and yet your Bible remains closed, your baptism forgotten, and Holy Communion ignored as a living source of God’s power?
Truly, when you and I examine our lives, we must confess that we often live as if Jesus didn’t really exist as a personal reality in our lives. We often live as “practical atheists” even though we call ourselves Christians. We live the “as if” life—as if Jesus were still in the tomb, dead, and not alive in our hearts and homes today. The apostle Paul speaks for all of us when he says, “My own behavior baffles me. For I find myself doing what I really loathe…I often find that I have the will to do good, but not the power…the evil I don’t really want to do I find I am always doing…who can set me free from the prison of this mortal body? I thank God there is a way out through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
And so you and I need to say this happy Easter day, “Lord, be merciful to us sinners. Don’t give us what we deserve. And thank you, Jesus, that there is a way out of the tomb of selfishness.” It is Jesus who leads the way out of the tomb. It’s Jesus who is the way out of the grave. Jesus was crucified and buried to cancel out your sins, and he stood outside of the tomb that first Easter so that you can be confident that you will also stand outside of your tomb on the Day he returns. Your grave will not be able to hold you down. The reality of Jesus’ resurrection changes everything. It is the defining event in the history of this world. Will you let it be the defining event in your life? Will you let the reality of a living, personal God change everything about you?
In the gospel reading for this Easter we see Mary Magdalene come face to face with her resurrected Teacher. I don’t think it’s possible to put into words the emotional impact this encounter would’ve had on Mary. And yet, Jesus says, “Let’s not get caught up in the moment, Mary. You need to go and tell that you have seen Me.” If the resurrection of Jesus is real to you and me, then we are going to talk about it. We are going to tell others about a Savior who died but came back to life and is still alive. We’re going to speak about the risen Jesus in the hospital and the rehab center; the nursing home and the funeral home; and especially at the graveside. We won’t let the name of Jesus go unsaid. How can we, when we know that He has defeated death and stands outside of the tomb?
There was a young administrative assistant in an office building who exemplified what I am talking about. Jesus was a personal reality in her life, and she did talk about him with other people. In fact, she made such an impression on a sailor who visited the office building one day that he wrote a letter to her employer. He told her boss how he had come into that man’s office, lonely and scared to death about sailing again. He needed to talk to someone. So when the woman at the desk greeted him, he asked if there were any jobs available, and if there weren’t that was okay. And he said, if only a person had something to count on, or something worth dying for, then things wouldn’t be so bad.
Then he related how the woman smiled, and said, “Jesus is coming through and He’s worth dying for.” He said he just stared at the woman because she talked as if Christ was alive and a good pal of hers. In fact, he recalled, he was so struck by her comments that he sort of expected Jesus to walk through the door. It was that real.
He was only in the office ten minutes, but the brief encounter made such an impression on him that it changed him somehow. He was no longer scared like he was before. He wrote: “It was as though she had said, “I want to make you acquainted with my Friend Jesus. You ought to get to know each other since He’ll be going your way.” I’m nineteen and I never knew before that there was a God like that who would go along with a guy like me.”
“I never knew before that there was a God like that.” That’s the God that you can know in Jesus Christ—a God who is real and alive—a God who moves us to “show and tell” others about Him so that His power can change their lives, too.
Life-changing power is available to you this Easter day. Unlike other world religions whose founders lie as dust in their graves, the tomb of Jesus is empty. He is risen, just like he said he would be. Because of this, you can be sure that nothing can stand in the way of your connection to Him. We who used to be lost can now call God “Our Father who lives in heaven.”
He wants you to let Him live at the center of your life right now. He wants you to let Him remove the crippling power of fear from your life. He can do this because He stands outside of his own tomb. Trust Him to pull you out of yours today and for eternity.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Good Friday
Jesus, I will ponder now
on Your holy passion;
with your Spirit me endow
for such meditation.
Grant that I in love and faith
may the image cherish
of your suffering, pain and death
that I may not perish.
on Your holy passion;
with your Spirit me endow
for such meditation.
Grant that I in love and faith
may the image cherish
of your suffering, pain and death
that I may not perish.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Save Us Now, Lord Jesus (Palm Sunday)
God’s Word comes to us from the gospel of John, the 12th chapter: “The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”
Who was watching the parade on that fateful Palm Sunday? Who were the faces in the crowd? Just like at any modern parade or mass gathering, there were people from different walks of life represented on the Palm Sunday parade route. John mentions at least three distinct groups of people who were there when Jesus entered Jerusalem, riding on a donkey’s colt. These groups and individuals each had their own ideas and expectations about the One for whom this impromptu parade was thrown. For a brief time, they seemed to be united in their excitement, shouting, “Hosanna!” a word taken from Psalm 118. It is a Messianic Psalm, and the word Hosanna means “Save us now!” But don’t you wonder what all these different people were asking to be saved from?
Who does John mention in this passage? First of all, in verse twelve we are introduced to “the large crowd that had come to the feast.” The feast mentioned here is the feast of the Passover. The population of Jerusalem would routinely swell during the big holy days, and it is this combination of residents and guests that go out, with palm branches in hand, to meet Jesus. The palm branch was more than just a handy thing to wave—it had become a symbol of the Jewish nation—a Jewish nation that deeply desired independence from Roman rule. Their enthusiasm to greet Jesus was fueled by reports that he had actually raised someone from the dead. Could this miracle worker be the one to restore Israel and be its new King? The Large Crowd That Had Come To The Feast seemed to think so.
The next group John mentions is “the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb.” A couple things are implied here. One is that this group accompanied Jesus along the parade route and were distinct from the crowd that came out of Jerusalem to greet him. Another is that this group included the twelve disciples. What is not implied but explicitly stated is that this group “continued to bear witness” about the great sign Jesus had done in raising Lazarus from the dead. This bunch we might call the “true believers.” They had seen many of Jesus’ miracles, and they themselves had said things like “we believe and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God” to Jesus. But, in the spirit of full disclosure, John also reports that they “did not understand these things at first,” and it was only after Jesus was glorified that they could see the big picture.
The last group John names is the Pharisees, the obvious enemies of Jesus. Already in the fifth chapter of his gospel, John had revealed that the Pharisees wanted to kill Jesus because of his allegedly blasphemous comments. Now this Palm Sunday parade only added to their desperation. “It’s useless,” they say. “The world has gone after him.” But Jesus’ surging popularity does not make them give up—on the contrary, their plan to get rid of the rabble-rousing rabbi goes into overdrive.
So that’s quite a mix of people lining the palm-strewn path. You have curiosity seekers, you have those who are willing to jump on the bandwagon if it means an independent Israel, you have the true believers who had been with Jesus from the beginning, and you have his sworn enemies. All with their own hopes and expectations about this man on the donkey’s back. And all of them—the curiosity seekers, the bandwagon jumpers, the enemies, and the true believers—will be forced to re-evaluate their hopes and expectations when the parade grinds to a halt at the Hill of the Skull. For some, the death of Jesus on a cross was disappointing, but not earth-shattering. For others, it was a terrible tragedy. For still others, it was “problem solved.” But all of them were sure that the story of Jesus had come to an end.
If you were to somehow be transported and dropped into the crowd on that Palm Sunday, where would you fit in? Would you find company among Jesus’ enemies? Are you skeptical of the claims that Jesus makes? Would you prefer not to have to listen to or deal with this Jesus at all? There are many who still seek to silence the Son of God.
Would you find kindred spirits among those who hoped that Jesus would guarantee worldly prosperity? Are you looking for Jesus to come through with a big miracle that’s going to improve things for you? If he doesn’t do what you ask, are you going to walk away? Jesus did not come into the world to give us whatever we want—yet many hold Him to this standard, and reject him when he doesn’t deliver.
Would you find a place among the true believers—ready and willing to follow Jesus wherever he might lead? Are you sure about that? Even if that means following Jesus into a suffering like His? Even if that means people look at you funny? Even if it meant that your life was on the line? Many people want the benefits of being a “true believer,” but are you willing to pay the personal and social cost of being a follower of Jesus?
No matter who you identify with in the Palm Sunday parade, the cross of Jesus gives you reason to re-evaluate the expectations you have of Him. Here’s what I mean:
Jesus did not ride that donkey into Jerusalem to improve our lives but to save them. The King of Kings did not ride into Jerusalem to replace Roman rulers but to rescue the human race. Jesus did not endure the agony of the cross to change the political landscape, but to fundamentally change you. Instead of marching immediately to a throne, Jesus stumbled up the Hill of the Skull and was executed. This was not some accident—it was the plan. It had been all along. God punished His Son, the Messiah, the Holy One of God, instead of punishing human beings for their sins—instead of punishing you for your sins. By going to the cross, Jesus answered the Hosanna request. We are saved now—saved from torment; saved from eternal separation from everything good and godly; saved, in other words, from hell--because Jesus took our death sentence. The King took the punishment His people deserved. This was not the salvation that anyone was expecting. It’s not always what we’re expecting or looking for from God. But what Jesus has done meets our deepest need. You can know you are loved and forgiven and that God is for you, not against you.
Whatever your expectations of Jesus were when you entered this building today—please hear me on this: Jesus has died your death and offers you a brand new life. You are forgiven of all your sin. You have eternal life starting this moment. Jesus is alive and He is with you in your pain, as well as your joy. When sinners pray “Hosanna! Save me now, Lord Jesus,” He says, “I have; I will.” Then He forgives sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and He adopts people through water and His Holy Name, and He feeds people His body and blood for the forgiveness of sins and the renewal of faith. Hosanna! This is our word now. It is what Jesus does.
Who was watching the parade on that fateful Palm Sunday? Who were the faces in the crowd? Just like at any modern parade or mass gathering, there were people from different walks of life represented on the Palm Sunday parade route. John mentions at least three distinct groups of people who were there when Jesus entered Jerusalem, riding on a donkey’s colt. These groups and individuals each had their own ideas and expectations about the One for whom this impromptu parade was thrown. For a brief time, they seemed to be united in their excitement, shouting, “Hosanna!” a word taken from Psalm 118. It is a Messianic Psalm, and the word Hosanna means “Save us now!” But don’t you wonder what all these different people were asking to be saved from?
Who does John mention in this passage? First of all, in verse twelve we are introduced to “the large crowd that had come to the feast.” The feast mentioned here is the feast of the Passover. The population of Jerusalem would routinely swell during the big holy days, and it is this combination of residents and guests that go out, with palm branches in hand, to meet Jesus. The palm branch was more than just a handy thing to wave—it had become a symbol of the Jewish nation—a Jewish nation that deeply desired independence from Roman rule. Their enthusiasm to greet Jesus was fueled by reports that he had actually raised someone from the dead. Could this miracle worker be the one to restore Israel and be its new King? The Large Crowd That Had Come To The Feast seemed to think so.
The next group John mentions is “the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb.” A couple things are implied here. One is that this group accompanied Jesus along the parade route and were distinct from the crowd that came out of Jerusalem to greet him. Another is that this group included the twelve disciples. What is not implied but explicitly stated is that this group “continued to bear witness” about the great sign Jesus had done in raising Lazarus from the dead. This bunch we might call the “true believers.” They had seen many of Jesus’ miracles, and they themselves had said things like “we believe and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God” to Jesus. But, in the spirit of full disclosure, John also reports that they “did not understand these things at first,” and it was only after Jesus was glorified that they could see the big picture.
The last group John names is the Pharisees, the obvious enemies of Jesus. Already in the fifth chapter of his gospel, John had revealed that the Pharisees wanted to kill Jesus because of his allegedly blasphemous comments. Now this Palm Sunday parade only added to their desperation. “It’s useless,” they say. “The world has gone after him.” But Jesus’ surging popularity does not make them give up—on the contrary, their plan to get rid of the rabble-rousing rabbi goes into overdrive.
So that’s quite a mix of people lining the palm-strewn path. You have curiosity seekers, you have those who are willing to jump on the bandwagon if it means an independent Israel, you have the true believers who had been with Jesus from the beginning, and you have his sworn enemies. All with their own hopes and expectations about this man on the donkey’s back. And all of them—the curiosity seekers, the bandwagon jumpers, the enemies, and the true believers—will be forced to re-evaluate their hopes and expectations when the parade grinds to a halt at the Hill of the Skull. For some, the death of Jesus on a cross was disappointing, but not earth-shattering. For others, it was a terrible tragedy. For still others, it was “problem solved.” But all of them were sure that the story of Jesus had come to an end.
If you were to somehow be transported and dropped into the crowd on that Palm Sunday, where would you fit in? Would you find company among Jesus’ enemies? Are you skeptical of the claims that Jesus makes? Would you prefer not to have to listen to or deal with this Jesus at all? There are many who still seek to silence the Son of God.
Would you find kindred spirits among those who hoped that Jesus would guarantee worldly prosperity? Are you looking for Jesus to come through with a big miracle that’s going to improve things for you? If he doesn’t do what you ask, are you going to walk away? Jesus did not come into the world to give us whatever we want—yet many hold Him to this standard, and reject him when he doesn’t deliver.
Would you find a place among the true believers—ready and willing to follow Jesus wherever he might lead? Are you sure about that? Even if that means following Jesus into a suffering like His? Even if that means people look at you funny? Even if it meant that your life was on the line? Many people want the benefits of being a “true believer,” but are you willing to pay the personal and social cost of being a follower of Jesus?
No matter who you identify with in the Palm Sunday parade, the cross of Jesus gives you reason to re-evaluate the expectations you have of Him. Here’s what I mean:
Jesus did not ride that donkey into Jerusalem to improve our lives but to save them. The King of Kings did not ride into Jerusalem to replace Roman rulers but to rescue the human race. Jesus did not endure the agony of the cross to change the political landscape, but to fundamentally change you. Instead of marching immediately to a throne, Jesus stumbled up the Hill of the Skull and was executed. This was not some accident—it was the plan. It had been all along. God punished His Son, the Messiah, the Holy One of God, instead of punishing human beings for their sins—instead of punishing you for your sins. By going to the cross, Jesus answered the Hosanna request. We are saved now—saved from torment; saved from eternal separation from everything good and godly; saved, in other words, from hell--because Jesus took our death sentence. The King took the punishment His people deserved. This was not the salvation that anyone was expecting. It’s not always what we’re expecting or looking for from God. But what Jesus has done meets our deepest need. You can know you are loved and forgiven and that God is for you, not against you.
Whatever your expectations of Jesus were when you entered this building today—please hear me on this: Jesus has died your death and offers you a brand new life. You are forgiven of all your sin. You have eternal life starting this moment. Jesus is alive and He is with you in your pain, as well as your joy. When sinners pray “Hosanna! Save me now, Lord Jesus,” He says, “I have; I will.” Then He forgives sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and He adopts people through water and His Holy Name, and He feeds people His body and blood for the forgiveness of sins and the renewal of faith. Hosanna! This is our word now. It is what Jesus does.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Press On Toward the Goal
Each year a few thousand hopefuls run the Boston Marathon. The first place runner will typically complete the 26 miles in just under two hours and ten minutes. That’s running at a pace of a little over five minutes a mile. Those who are serious—but not world class—runners will finish in about three hours. Those running just for the fun of it will finish in six hours or less. Because of injury, cramps, heat exhaustion, or failing to follow the proper course, a significant number will not finish the race. Others who quit before the finish claim to have come to their senses before it was too late!
The Apostle Paul indicates that an athlete competing for a ribbon or medal is a good metaphor for life in Christ. And that life is not a sprint. It is very much like a marathon or cross-country race. Paul writes: “…forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Keep striving to exercise your faith in Jesus, no matter where you’re at in the marathon of life.
Where are you in the race today? The first ten miles of the race can be compared to our childhood, teenage, and young adult years. At the beginning, the adrenaline is pumping, the crowd is cheering, and some runners go out fast. Others find it frustrating to be stuck in the pack until it begins to move apart. Patience does not come easily when you are ready to go for it. You have the talent and the energy, but do you have a plan? Are you tempted to cheat to get an advantage? Runners can also make major mistakes when they are overconfident and refuse to listen to good coaching. In the first ten miles, we feel like we’ve got a lot to prove to everyone—including ourselves.
The second phase of the race, from eleven to twenty miles, is like our middle years. The early energy and adrenaline are gone. Boredom and fatigue are now the primary obstacles. There aren’t many spectators lining the streets at this point. It’s at this point in the race when you might begin to doubt your career; your calling; your marriage. The future doesn’t look so great, and it’s too late to go back and start over again. So what do you do? Quit? Take a shortcut? Keep plugging along? This is where the reality of the race sets in. Some find a good rhythm; some struggle to put one foot in front of the other.
The third and final phase of the race consists of the last six miles. It’s said that because of the drain on your body’s reserves after running the first twenty miles, it’s like you’ve only run halfway. It takes as much or more courage to run the last six miles as it did the first twenty. And at about twenty miles in, Boston has something called Heartbreak Hill. It is steep and long and it eliminates more runners than any other part of the course. This is the point at which many hit the proverbial wall. Some runners simply collapse, while others manage to make it to a nearby curb before their muscles give way.
It is heartbreaking to make it to the home stretch of life only to have to battle chronic pain or heart disease or cancer. It can be deeply disappointing to hit the wall after you’ve worked so hard to get to this point. You want to keep running the race of faith, but that curb over there looks awfully inviting.
Now, what if I were to tell you that, no matter where you are on the racecourse today, I could guarantee that if you keep running, you will share in the winner’s prize? Well, that’s the glory of the gospel—the glory of the good news about Jesus—because that claim can be made. If you run the race of life trusting that Jesus is already the Champion over sin and evil and death, then He will share His victory with you. In today’s Epistle, Paul is talking about the confidence that comes from being on Jesus’ team.
Listen again to what he writes, and bear in mind that he most likely was writing this while in prison: 8Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Paul was given strength, courage, and joy because he knew Jesus as His Savior and Champion. As he says here, the goal of his race was to be raised from the dead so he could live with Jesus for eternity. Knowing that he would be with Jesus in the future changed him in the present. It freed him to run his race with excellence, with urgency, and without fear. Paul knew that the prize of eternal life with God was already his because eternal life with God was never something he could earn or achieve. Jesus had won it already. Jesus stands at the finish line with trophy in hand, and beckons to us to run well and to run with grace, because the outcome is certain. It is true: what we know our future to be can actually change our present.
Think of it this way: there were two men who were both going to be doing the same job. It was a terrible, awful, Dirty Jobs-type of task that nobody wanted to do. Eighty hours a week, backbreaking, disgusting, menial work, and they wouldn’t get paid until the end of the year. One of the men knew he was going to be paid $15,000; the other knew he was going to be paid $15 million. Now, how do you think knowing that might affect the way they viewed their work? Mr. 15 Grand would probably complain, find ways to cut corners, and might eventually just quit. The fifteen million dollar worker, on the other hand, would likely whistle a happy tune while he worked. What you know your future to be actually changes you in the present.
And here’s what we know: Jesus went to the cross to pay off the high cost of our sin. Jesus disarmed death by his return to life. Jesus did these things for you so that you will one day stand in a resurrected, perfected body in full relationship with Father, Son, and Spirit in a Day of joy that will last forever. Believing in Jesus and his actions, that is what your future will be. Fifteen million dollars could not redeem one soul for heaven; but the blood of Jesus does for any who trust in Him. This is the prize you’ve already won!
Wherever you’re at on the racecourse of life, press on toward the goal to win the prize, confident that Jesus already has the victory in hand. Give your best effort to the One who gave His all for you.
The Apostle Paul indicates that an athlete competing for a ribbon or medal is a good metaphor for life in Christ. And that life is not a sprint. It is very much like a marathon or cross-country race. Paul writes: “…forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Keep striving to exercise your faith in Jesus, no matter where you’re at in the marathon of life.
Where are you in the race today? The first ten miles of the race can be compared to our childhood, teenage, and young adult years. At the beginning, the adrenaline is pumping, the crowd is cheering, and some runners go out fast. Others find it frustrating to be stuck in the pack until it begins to move apart. Patience does not come easily when you are ready to go for it. You have the talent and the energy, but do you have a plan? Are you tempted to cheat to get an advantage? Runners can also make major mistakes when they are overconfident and refuse to listen to good coaching. In the first ten miles, we feel like we’ve got a lot to prove to everyone—including ourselves.
The second phase of the race, from eleven to twenty miles, is like our middle years. The early energy and adrenaline are gone. Boredom and fatigue are now the primary obstacles. There aren’t many spectators lining the streets at this point. It’s at this point in the race when you might begin to doubt your career; your calling; your marriage. The future doesn’t look so great, and it’s too late to go back and start over again. So what do you do? Quit? Take a shortcut? Keep plugging along? This is where the reality of the race sets in. Some find a good rhythm; some struggle to put one foot in front of the other.
The third and final phase of the race consists of the last six miles. It’s said that because of the drain on your body’s reserves after running the first twenty miles, it’s like you’ve only run halfway. It takes as much or more courage to run the last six miles as it did the first twenty. And at about twenty miles in, Boston has something called Heartbreak Hill. It is steep and long and it eliminates more runners than any other part of the course. This is the point at which many hit the proverbial wall. Some runners simply collapse, while others manage to make it to a nearby curb before their muscles give way.
It is heartbreaking to make it to the home stretch of life only to have to battle chronic pain or heart disease or cancer. It can be deeply disappointing to hit the wall after you’ve worked so hard to get to this point. You want to keep running the race of faith, but that curb over there looks awfully inviting.
Now, what if I were to tell you that, no matter where you are on the racecourse today, I could guarantee that if you keep running, you will share in the winner’s prize? Well, that’s the glory of the gospel—the glory of the good news about Jesus—because that claim can be made. If you run the race of life trusting that Jesus is already the Champion over sin and evil and death, then He will share His victory with you. In today’s Epistle, Paul is talking about the confidence that comes from being on Jesus’ team.
Listen again to what he writes, and bear in mind that he most likely was writing this while in prison: 8Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Paul was given strength, courage, and joy because he knew Jesus as His Savior and Champion. As he says here, the goal of his race was to be raised from the dead so he could live with Jesus for eternity. Knowing that he would be with Jesus in the future changed him in the present. It freed him to run his race with excellence, with urgency, and without fear. Paul knew that the prize of eternal life with God was already his because eternal life with God was never something he could earn or achieve. Jesus had won it already. Jesus stands at the finish line with trophy in hand, and beckons to us to run well and to run with grace, because the outcome is certain. It is true: what we know our future to be can actually change our present.
Think of it this way: there were two men who were both going to be doing the same job. It was a terrible, awful, Dirty Jobs-type of task that nobody wanted to do. Eighty hours a week, backbreaking, disgusting, menial work, and they wouldn’t get paid until the end of the year. One of the men knew he was going to be paid $15,000; the other knew he was going to be paid $15 million. Now, how do you think knowing that might affect the way they viewed their work? Mr. 15 Grand would probably complain, find ways to cut corners, and might eventually just quit. The fifteen million dollar worker, on the other hand, would likely whistle a happy tune while he worked. What you know your future to be actually changes you in the present.
And here’s what we know: Jesus went to the cross to pay off the high cost of our sin. Jesus disarmed death by his return to life. Jesus did these things for you so that you will one day stand in a resurrected, perfected body in full relationship with Father, Son, and Spirit in a Day of joy that will last forever. Believing in Jesus and his actions, that is what your future will be. Fifteen million dollars could not redeem one soul for heaven; but the blood of Jesus does for any who trust in Him. This is the prize you’ve already won!
Wherever you’re at on the racecourse of life, press on toward the goal to win the prize, confident that Jesus already has the victory in hand. Give your best effort to the One who gave His all for you.
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