Scripture Text: Luke 19:28-40
As we continue on our Lenten journey, we join Jesus as He heads for Jerusalem and His encounter with divine destiny. It’s been a long 3 years, and as hard as the trip has been so far, the real pain has yet to begin, and the real destination has yet to be revealed.
The disciples are not especially anxious to go back to Jerusalem. Even though Passover is approaching, with it’s obligation for the sacrifice of a lamb at the temple, even though tradition tells them that this is the right thing to do, even though Jesus seems bent on returning to the city for some strange reason, they do not want to go.
They know that both the Jewish and Roman authorities are just aching to get their hands on this band of believers, and the disciples are fearing for their lives. And on top of that, Jesus has been acting pretty strange lately – all that talk about His having to die so that He can then be raised from the dead after three days in the ground. What in the world is that all about?
Nothing is making any sense anymore, and they would just as soon avoid this whole Jerusalem thing altogether!
Read Luke 19:28-34
And it continues to get stranger. Not only does Jesus tell them to take a man’s young donkey without any compensation, but He tells them what the owner is going to say and how they are to respond! And what in the world does Jesus need with a donkey? He’s never ridden one before – why now? After all, He is a famous rabbi, and He should be praised, not humbled by riding on such a lowly beast!
Glorious? Absolutely. A king? Certainly. But a conquering warrior? Not even close. A victorious king always returned home to accolades and grand parades, but the people who would be praising Christ on this day were the lowest of the low, not the grandest. Jesus had become the king of smelly fishermen, and despised tax collectors, and hated Samaritans,and
condemned prostitutes, and the unclean – the blind, crippled, and demoniacs. They were all shunned by the “good” people of the nation, and yet, Christ welcomed them all.
Some king! Some hero! These were not the people who His friends had hoped would be following Jesus, but then, neither were they! This is NOT who the disciples wanted Jesus to be, this was not how they had expected the saga to play out, and their life with Him was getting stranger by the minute!
Read Luke 19:35-37
But even so, there was still a great crowd of admirers waiting for them as they approached the gates of the city, and the shouts of adoration began to swell. Well, maybe this day would turn out better than they had thought.
Perhaps they were even remembering when Jesus told them “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:13-17) Well, that’s exacly who had turned out that day – sinners of all kinds and shapes and sizes. Not a righteous person among them!
Isn’t it strange - the God of all Creation, the Anointed One of prophesy, the long awaited Messiah, had come to earth just for the likes of these?
Glory for the inglorious! Healing for the unclean! Salvation for the undeserving! Riding into town on a borrowed donkey, humbled at His own volition, heading for a show down with earthly authority, with an outcome that no one would believe!
And He was about to do this for every single person who had come out to cheer for Him that day. His words “The Lord is in need.” weren’t meant for just that small burro. He was in need of these very people, and He is in need of each and every one of us.
But if He had just been a little more “politically correct”, if He had lightened up on the Pharisees and not been so down on all the work that they had done over the centuries, if He had just cut them all some slack,
He might have gotten more of the elite, the educated, the leadership of Israel! But of course, He had one message to deliver and it couldn’t be watered down. Not for them, not for anyone! His voice could not be silenced.
And the people could not be quiet, either.
Read Luke 19: 38-40
“Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest!” At least for now it was peace and glory. They were all caught up in the excitement of the moment.
But what would they be shouting later in the week? Would the message of “glory in the highest” still resound throughout the city? In retrospect, we know that it wouldn’t, that the voices of the people would, indeed, be silenced.
Are we too quiet? Or do we continue to proclaim the “peace and glory” of Jesus Christ no matter what comes?
Do our voices ring out on Sunday, but seem to be strangely quiet the rest of the week?
Do we hear the Lord calling our names, saying “I am in need of you”, but because of our busy, hectic lives, because we don’t want to bother those around us, because we think that someone might be offended at the name of Jesus, we respond “I’ll get back to you in a little while”?
Do we want the glory of Palm Sunday without all the struggles and pains and fears of holy week?
Do we want to hear God telling us “Well done, good and faithful servant”, but without our having to submit to all the inconveniences of actually following Him?
Do we expect to receive the glory of God without being truly yoked with His Son?
It’s Palm Monday. The donkey awakened, his mind still savoring the afterglow of the most exciting day of his life. Never before had he felt such a rush of pleasure and pride. He walked into town and found a group of people by the well. “I’ll show myself to them,” he thought.
But they didn’t notice him. They went on drawing their water and paid him no mind.
“Throw your garments down,” he said crossly. “Don’t you know who I am?” They just looked at him in amazement.
Someone slapped him across the tail and ordered him to move. “Miserable heathens!” he muttered to himself. “I’ll just go to the market where the good people are. They will remember me.”
But the same thing happened. No one paid any attention to the donkey as he strutted down the main street in front of the marketplace.
“The palm branches! Where are the palm branches?” he shouted. “Yesterday, you threw palm branches!”
Hurt and confused, the young donkey returned home to his mother.
“Foolish child,” she said gently. “Don’t you realize that without him, you are just an ordinary donkey?”
—Various sources, Homiletics On Line.
Without Jesus, we are just ordinary people who will continue to be ordinary. No grand parade. No shouts of “Hosanna”! No “glory in the highest”. No “heavenly peace”. No eternal life. We will just be left standing on the side lines, wishing that the crowd would keep the noise down.
Where will each of us be standing by this time next week? What will we be shouting then?
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
"Tell it Over and Over Again!"
Scripture Text: Matthew 26:6-13
(Similar references in Mark 14:3-9, Luke 7:36-50, & John 12:1-8)
With Palm Sunday only a week away, we find Jesus now on his way to Jerusalem, and as such, is prepared to receive the dichotomy of emotions from the people, as well as the glory that will come from the love of God. On Sunday, he will be praised with loud hosannas, and by Thursday, he will be thrown aside in favor of the thief and murderer Barabbas. But there is a lot of life for Christ to live in between these two days of extremes.
Today, we find him in Bethany – a suburb of Jerusalem – and he is enjoying a meal with one of the families of that village.
Read Matthew 26:6-9
Each of the gospels records a similar event, but with a few differences. But the central points are basically the same. Jesus is relaxing and a woman comes to him with a jar of fine perfume, and anoints him. While others object to the extravagance, he explains that this was done to prepare him for his death.
In the Jewish tradition, there are several reasons for anointing.
1. Kings, priests and even prophets were anointed as a sign of authority for their office. Oil was poured on their head as a sign of holy consecration, and in some traditions, this practice is carried on, in various ways, even today.
2. Anointing was also offered as a sign of hospitality – usually with oil, but sometimes with water. It was meant to refresh and invigorate the body, and it was a sign to the person that they were welcomed into this home.
3. Oil was used for medicinal purposes. Both the ill and wounded received oil for purposes of healing. In our healing services, a small amount of oil or balm is placed on each person who comes forward.
But the anointing on this day was for none of the above reasons. It was given as an anointing for a person who had died. In addition to the spices that were applied to the body, oil was applied as a sacred sign of God in their life. In 3 of the gospels, the reason that is given is just this – the only difference is in Luke, where he reports it as a sign of admiration and welcome. Either way, the women who came to Jesus in these stories were not acting on their own behalf – there was no way they could have had the courage to do these things on their own – they were acting directly on behalf of God – preparing Christ for his earthly death and, in a most loving way, welcoming him into the next life.
And while the women had no clue as to why they were doing this very precious act for the Lord, those who were observing that day were even more in the dark. Whether it was the disciples, or the Pharisee, or just random bystanders, they could only see this holy gift as a waste of good oil. And in Mark’s gospel, we discover that the value of this gift would be about 1 year’s wages, and those were men’s wages, not women’s! It would have been far more than a year’s income for the woman. It was an extremely expensive gift that she gave that day.
But perhaps the real question for us is this: "Why should Jesus be anointed for death before he had actually died?"
Read Matthew 26:10-13
Anointing after death would be a private thing, and even beyond that, it would be an expected act, a required act. It would have signified the death only, and not the prophesy that his death was near. These women, regardless of which gospel account you are reading, were acting so far outside of their normalcy, out of their comfort zone, out of their routine responsibilities, that these preparations could only be accomplished through the power, and at the direction, of God. It was prophesy itself!
And Jesus tells all who are within earshot that “I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” – in memory of her obedience to God’s call on her life. That should give us an idea of how important this act truly was. And this story has been told and has been read and has been shared by believers for 2,000 years! And as insignificant as this woman would have been in society, and as misunderstood as her act obviously was, this story has truly had a major impact on the Church.
It is about doing what you can and giving what you have.
She may very well have sacrificed the ointment that she had scrimped and saved for over many years, and that would have been used for her own anointing in death. But she had it available, and for some strange reason, felt that this man had a far more immediate need. She gave what she had in the moment that it was needed.
From a poem by Sun Ai Lee-Park –
“A stone is thrown into a calm lake and the stone makes waves spreading, reaching to the far side.
Let us throw stones into the deadly calm of the lake that is our world - no matter how small is the stone, no matter how small is the wave.
The stone brings awakening, the wave is a movement, and the movement spreads when all of us standing together on all sides around the lake keep throwing our little stones.
The wave will never cease till the whole lake starts bubbling with life.”
--Extract from a poem by Sun Ai Lee-Park, as cited in Pauline Webb's “She Flies Beyond: Memories and Hopes of Women in the Ecumenical Movement” (Geneva: WCC Publications, 1993), 73.
So why aren’t we throwing our stones? Why aren’t the stories being told over and over in memory of our faithfulness? These women were nothing special – Luke’s account even tells us that she is a sinner, implying that the woman was a prostitute! And yet, she must have had great faith to do this strange thing. Is ours that strong?
During the past year and a half, we have all experienced a considerable struggle with our financial security. Some have been laid off and others are still facing that possibility. Some have been on reduced work weeks. Some who are retired have seen their retirement investments vaporize. And yet, even though our worship attendance has dropped off significantly from this time last year, our giving seems to be on the rise, and that doesn’t even include our generous gifts to the Haiti relief effort. We have 3 opportunities for Bible study each week, and all of them are well attended. We have a prayer group that meets every week to remember the needs of our church and our world. We have several small group ministries, and they seem to be growing. Other churches, many of which are larger than Campville, are not doing nearly as well.
I have been throwing as many of our “stones” into the “Pond” as I can, but it’s a big pond. Have you been throwing any? Have you been letting others know about this church and its ministries? Have you been making waves of faith?
The story about the woman isn’t told as a means to brag about her – rather, it is about the memory of her expression of faith and her love of Jesus. You may have seen the ads on television where a number of people are proclaiming “I’m not ashamed – I’m not ashamed – I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” I’m sorry that I don’t remember who sponsored the ad, but at least I remember the message. The passage is from Romans 1:16 “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.”
That is the message that our stones need to tell. Our individual ripples may not be very big, but together, with the many others who are telling the story, the ripples can become a tsunami! We need to share the gospel over and over, throw as many stones as we possibly can. Don’t try to pick the right time, or the right place, or the right person – just start throwing!
Tell the stories of scripture.
Tell the stories of Jesus.
Tell the stories from Campville UMC.
Tell the stories that come from your own life.
Tell them, over and over again. Turn ripples into incredable waves.
(Similar references in Mark 14:3-9, Luke 7:36-50, & John 12:1-8)
With Palm Sunday only a week away, we find Jesus now on his way to Jerusalem, and as such, is prepared to receive the dichotomy of emotions from the people, as well as the glory that will come from the love of God. On Sunday, he will be praised with loud hosannas, and by Thursday, he will be thrown aside in favor of the thief and murderer Barabbas. But there is a lot of life for Christ to live in between these two days of extremes.
Today, we find him in Bethany – a suburb of Jerusalem – and he is enjoying a meal with one of the families of that village.
Read Matthew 26:6-9
Each of the gospels records a similar event, but with a few differences. But the central points are basically the same. Jesus is relaxing and a woman comes to him with a jar of fine perfume, and anoints him. While others object to the extravagance, he explains that this was done to prepare him for his death.
In the Jewish tradition, there are several reasons for anointing.
1. Kings, priests and even prophets were anointed as a sign of authority for their office. Oil was poured on their head as a sign of holy consecration, and in some traditions, this practice is carried on, in various ways, even today.
2. Anointing was also offered as a sign of hospitality – usually with oil, but sometimes with water. It was meant to refresh and invigorate the body, and it was a sign to the person that they were welcomed into this home.
3. Oil was used for medicinal purposes. Both the ill and wounded received oil for purposes of healing. In our healing services, a small amount of oil or balm is placed on each person who comes forward.
But the anointing on this day was for none of the above reasons. It was given as an anointing for a person who had died. In addition to the spices that were applied to the body, oil was applied as a sacred sign of God in their life. In 3 of the gospels, the reason that is given is just this – the only difference is in Luke, where he reports it as a sign of admiration and welcome. Either way, the women who came to Jesus in these stories were not acting on their own behalf – there was no way they could have had the courage to do these things on their own – they were acting directly on behalf of God – preparing Christ for his earthly death and, in a most loving way, welcoming him into the next life.
And while the women had no clue as to why they were doing this very precious act for the Lord, those who were observing that day were even more in the dark. Whether it was the disciples, or the Pharisee, or just random bystanders, they could only see this holy gift as a waste of good oil. And in Mark’s gospel, we discover that the value of this gift would be about 1 year’s wages, and those were men’s wages, not women’s! It would have been far more than a year’s income for the woman. It was an extremely expensive gift that she gave that day.
But perhaps the real question for us is this: "Why should Jesus be anointed for death before he had actually died?"
Read Matthew 26:10-13
Anointing after death would be a private thing, and even beyond that, it would be an expected act, a required act. It would have signified the death only, and not the prophesy that his death was near. These women, regardless of which gospel account you are reading, were acting so far outside of their normalcy, out of their comfort zone, out of their routine responsibilities, that these preparations could only be accomplished through the power, and at the direction, of God. It was prophesy itself!
And Jesus tells all who are within earshot that “I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” – in memory of her obedience to God’s call on her life. That should give us an idea of how important this act truly was. And this story has been told and has been read and has been shared by believers for 2,000 years! And as insignificant as this woman would have been in society, and as misunderstood as her act obviously was, this story has truly had a major impact on the Church.
It is about doing what you can and giving what you have.
She may very well have sacrificed the ointment that she had scrimped and saved for over many years, and that would have been used for her own anointing in death. But she had it available, and for some strange reason, felt that this man had a far more immediate need. She gave what she had in the moment that it was needed.
From a poem by Sun Ai Lee-Park –
“A stone is thrown into a calm lake and the stone makes waves spreading, reaching to the far side.
Let us throw stones into the deadly calm of the lake that is our world - no matter how small is the stone, no matter how small is the wave.
The stone brings awakening, the wave is a movement, and the movement spreads when all of us standing together on all sides around the lake keep throwing our little stones.
The wave will never cease till the whole lake starts bubbling with life.”
--Extract from a poem by Sun Ai Lee-Park, as cited in Pauline Webb's “She Flies Beyond: Memories and Hopes of Women in the Ecumenical Movement” (Geneva: WCC Publications, 1993), 73.
So why aren’t we throwing our stones? Why aren’t the stories being told over and over in memory of our faithfulness? These women were nothing special – Luke’s account even tells us that she is a sinner, implying that the woman was a prostitute! And yet, she must have had great faith to do this strange thing. Is ours that strong?
During the past year and a half, we have all experienced a considerable struggle with our financial security. Some have been laid off and others are still facing that possibility. Some have been on reduced work weeks. Some who are retired have seen their retirement investments vaporize. And yet, even though our worship attendance has dropped off significantly from this time last year, our giving seems to be on the rise, and that doesn’t even include our generous gifts to the Haiti relief effort. We have 3 opportunities for Bible study each week, and all of them are well attended. We have a prayer group that meets every week to remember the needs of our church and our world. We have several small group ministries, and they seem to be growing. Other churches, many of which are larger than Campville, are not doing nearly as well.
I have been throwing as many of our “stones” into the “Pond” as I can, but it’s a big pond. Have you been throwing any? Have you been letting others know about this church and its ministries? Have you been making waves of faith?
The story about the woman isn’t told as a means to brag about her – rather, it is about the memory of her expression of faith and her love of Jesus. You may have seen the ads on television where a number of people are proclaiming “I’m not ashamed – I’m not ashamed – I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” I’m sorry that I don’t remember who sponsored the ad, but at least I remember the message. The passage is from Romans 1:16 “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.”
That is the message that our stones need to tell. Our individual ripples may not be very big, but together, with the many others who are telling the story, the ripples can become a tsunami! We need to share the gospel over and over, throw as many stones as we possibly can. Don’t try to pick the right time, or the right place, or the right person – just start throwing!
Tell the stories of scripture.
Tell the stories of Jesus.
Tell the stories from Campville UMC.
Tell the stories that come from your own life.
Tell them, over and over again. Turn ripples into incredable waves.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
“Rolled Right Into a Brand New Day”
Scripture: Joshua 5:9-12
Lent is about taking a risk. It’s true! We can’t walk through these 40 days, in a faith-filled way, without changing the way we see, and experience and respond to God. We must dare to trust Him more, and allow Him to use us in new and better ways. It may require the surrender of some routine, every day activity that we know is nothing short of sinful, or at the very least, harmful to our lives. It may require taking a step to improve our quality of life – to eat more healthy, to quite smoking,
to exercise daily, to read the Bible every day, or possibly to get the courage to speak to a friend about our relationship with Jesus.
It isn’t easy if we try to do it by ourselves – as a matter of fact, it’s nearly impossible, but with Christ, it can become a marvelous blessing.
When I received my Devotional Bible as a gift from my wife and parents in May of 1993, I opened it randomly and turned to the following poem. It was the first thing I read from this, and I have never forgotten it. It’s called “Respond”:
“Give me courage Lord to take risks, not the usual ones
- respected
- necessary
- relatively safe,
But those I could avoid, the go for broke ones.
I need courage, not just because I may fall on my face or worse,
But others seeing me a sorry spectacle if it should happen will say
‘He didn’t know what he was doing', or 'he’s foolhardy …’
When it comes right down to it Lord, I choose to be your failure before anyone else’s success.
Keep me from reneging on my choice.”
- Joseph Bayley, "Men's Devotional Bible", Zonderan Publishing, 1993
When Israel was in bondage in Egypt, when their lives had little value to either them or Pharaoh, there was no risk. They would live, work, suffer, and die. It was simple. But when Moses returned from his 40 years in the Sinai, and began bringing down the heavenly plagues to convince Pharaoh to let the people go, it was then that the risk-taking began. Every plague brought depravation to the Egyptians, and when the plague was lifted, the Egyptians made the lives of Israel even more miserable. And after the first 9 plagues, during which the Hebrews were protected by God, they were told to prepare for the 10th – the death of every first born male, human and animal alike. If this didn’t convince Pharaoh, their lives would truly be worthless, and they could all die with a single word from his lips.
But this time, salvation would require a step on their part – they would prepare a holy meal, and perform a holy act, to show the avenging angel that they were the faithful.
The last hundred years or so in Egypt were defined by one of two conditions – it was either total depravity or absolute fear. They had no joy, no faith, because their eyesight was blinded to nearly all of God’s grace, and certainly to all of His glory.
Read Joshua 5:9-10
And then there was that 40 years of wandering in the desert before they finally entered into the glories of Canaan – the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob so many years before. And now, Joshua is telling them that the “reproach of Egypt” – that time when it seemed that God was so far away and for some unknown reason, had apparently come to hate them – that this notion that God had abandoned them had become a thing of the past. They had finally come home to Him!
And so they remembered that last night in Egypt, the night when they summoned up the courage to belief God’s word, to follow those strange, seemingly ridiculous instructions, and when their faithful obedience allowed the angel of death to pass safely over them.
Read Joshua 5:11-12
The “reproach” had been rolled away, and they had rolled into a new land, a new way, a completely new day, and that dreaded manna had become a thing of the past! Hallelujah!
Their journey from slavery to freedom had been a long, tiring, and stressful road, and at times it had even turned deadly for the people. It could have been much shorter – in fact it could have been less than a year, but because of their disbelief that God was, indeed, leading them into a land of security and plenty, most of those who left Egypt would never benefit from the bounty of that God-given home.
They endured the torment of slavery, the risk that came with the plagues,
the torture of a 40 year walk through the desert, and they never got to see the fulfillment of God’s promise.
All because they still wanted to do it their way, and refused to “let go and let God”! What a waste!
What will come from our forty day journey – this time called Lent? We’re over half way through it, and I have to ask - have you learned anything new about your life? Is there anything that you are now determined to change – not temporarily during Lent, but permanently beyond Lent? Are you committed to see that Promised Land for yourself, and not to be denied the glory? Have you come to the decision that God truly knows what is best for your life, and that all you have to do is to claim that divine wisdom? Do you know if you will be included when God rolls His people right into that glorious new day? Do you know for certain?
Taking that first step in Christ is not easy. It is a step, very possibly, that will carry you into the unknown. And you think “Well, if I make that commitment to Jesus, what will I have to leave behind? I need my life, you know!” But do you? Would you really prefer to have the life that you have made, instead of the one that God is making for you? Pray the prayer that Joseph Bayley has given us -
“Give me courage Lord to take risks, not the safe ones, not the every day ones, but the ‘go for broke’ ones.”
I’m told that there is a move in poker that is called “all in”. Apparently, a player can declare “all in” while betting every cent that they hold. There are strategies involved with this, but if you win, you win the pot without taking any more risk. If you loose, you have nothing left.
Our relationship with God is an “all in” move, but without any risk. We give Him everything that we have, everything that we are, everything that we hold. We can keep nothing back. And when we go “all in” with Him, we always win. Hallelujah!
No more manna – that “what is it?” stuff – that worldly food that may satisfy for today, but has no lasting value whatsoever. Feast on the provision of God’s Promised Land, and let the struggles and limitations and the bondage of the past be celebrated as a time that has been “passed over”. It no longer exists, it no longer is.
Will you make that decision today? Will you allow this Lent to be a time of change in your life, and not relegate it to being just another 6 ½ weeks of life on earth that have no lasting value? Discover the nourishment that comes after the manna - a source that is not temporary, that never fades after one day, that has to be resupplied on a daily basis. God's Grace is forever, and is offered to each of us this very morning!
If you would like to make that commitment to Christ today, or perhaps you feel that you would like to re-commit your life to Christ, I invite you to come now, during prayer or during our hymn, just as your are.
Won’t you go “all in” with Jesus, and be rolled up into that new and glorious day with Him? Won’t you? Come!
Lent is about taking a risk. It’s true! We can’t walk through these 40 days, in a faith-filled way, without changing the way we see, and experience and respond to God. We must dare to trust Him more, and allow Him to use us in new and better ways. It may require the surrender of some routine, every day activity that we know is nothing short of sinful, or at the very least, harmful to our lives. It may require taking a step to improve our quality of life – to eat more healthy, to quite smoking,
to exercise daily, to read the Bible every day, or possibly to get the courage to speak to a friend about our relationship with Jesus.
It isn’t easy if we try to do it by ourselves – as a matter of fact, it’s nearly impossible, but with Christ, it can become a marvelous blessing.
When I received my Devotional Bible as a gift from my wife and parents in May of 1993, I opened it randomly and turned to the following poem. It was the first thing I read from this, and I have never forgotten it. It’s called “Respond”:
“Give me courage Lord to take risks, not the usual ones
- respected
- necessary
- relatively safe,
But those I could avoid, the go for broke ones.
I need courage, not just because I may fall on my face or worse,
But others seeing me a sorry spectacle if it should happen will say
‘He didn’t know what he was doing', or 'he’s foolhardy …’
When it comes right down to it Lord, I choose to be your failure before anyone else’s success.
Keep me from reneging on my choice.”
- Joseph Bayley, "Men's Devotional Bible", Zonderan Publishing, 1993
When Israel was in bondage in Egypt, when their lives had little value to either them or Pharaoh, there was no risk. They would live, work, suffer, and die. It was simple. But when Moses returned from his 40 years in the Sinai, and began bringing down the heavenly plagues to convince Pharaoh to let the people go, it was then that the risk-taking began. Every plague brought depravation to the Egyptians, and when the plague was lifted, the Egyptians made the lives of Israel even more miserable. And after the first 9 plagues, during which the Hebrews were protected by God, they were told to prepare for the 10th – the death of every first born male, human and animal alike. If this didn’t convince Pharaoh, their lives would truly be worthless, and they could all die with a single word from his lips.
But this time, salvation would require a step on their part – they would prepare a holy meal, and perform a holy act, to show the avenging angel that they were the faithful.
The last hundred years or so in Egypt were defined by one of two conditions – it was either total depravity or absolute fear. They had no joy, no faith, because their eyesight was blinded to nearly all of God’s grace, and certainly to all of His glory.
Read Joshua 5:9-10
And then there was that 40 years of wandering in the desert before they finally entered into the glories of Canaan – the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob so many years before. And now, Joshua is telling them that the “reproach of Egypt” – that time when it seemed that God was so far away and for some unknown reason, had apparently come to hate them – that this notion that God had abandoned them had become a thing of the past. They had finally come home to Him!
And so they remembered that last night in Egypt, the night when they summoned up the courage to belief God’s word, to follow those strange, seemingly ridiculous instructions, and when their faithful obedience allowed the angel of death to pass safely over them.
Read Joshua 5:11-12
The “reproach” had been rolled away, and they had rolled into a new land, a new way, a completely new day, and that dreaded manna had become a thing of the past! Hallelujah!
Their journey from slavery to freedom had been a long, tiring, and stressful road, and at times it had even turned deadly for the people. It could have been much shorter – in fact it could have been less than a year, but because of their disbelief that God was, indeed, leading them into a land of security and plenty, most of those who left Egypt would never benefit from the bounty of that God-given home.
They endured the torment of slavery, the risk that came with the plagues,
the torture of a 40 year walk through the desert, and they never got to see the fulfillment of God’s promise.
All because they still wanted to do it their way, and refused to “let go and let God”! What a waste!
What will come from our forty day journey – this time called Lent? We’re over half way through it, and I have to ask - have you learned anything new about your life? Is there anything that you are now determined to change – not temporarily during Lent, but permanently beyond Lent? Are you committed to see that Promised Land for yourself, and not to be denied the glory? Have you come to the decision that God truly knows what is best for your life, and that all you have to do is to claim that divine wisdom? Do you know if you will be included when God rolls His people right into that glorious new day? Do you know for certain?
Taking that first step in Christ is not easy. It is a step, very possibly, that will carry you into the unknown. And you think “Well, if I make that commitment to Jesus, what will I have to leave behind? I need my life, you know!” But do you? Would you really prefer to have the life that you have made, instead of the one that God is making for you? Pray the prayer that Joseph Bayley has given us -
“Give me courage Lord to take risks, not the safe ones, not the every day ones, but the ‘go for broke’ ones.”
I’m told that there is a move in poker that is called “all in”. Apparently, a player can declare “all in” while betting every cent that they hold. There are strategies involved with this, but if you win, you win the pot without taking any more risk. If you loose, you have nothing left.
Our relationship with God is an “all in” move, but without any risk. We give Him everything that we have, everything that we are, everything that we hold. We can keep nothing back. And when we go “all in” with Him, we always win. Hallelujah!
No more manna – that “what is it?” stuff – that worldly food that may satisfy for today, but has no lasting value whatsoever. Feast on the provision of God’s Promised Land, and let the struggles and limitations and the bondage of the past be celebrated as a time that has been “passed over”. It no longer exists, it no longer is.
Will you make that decision today? Will you allow this Lent to be a time of change in your life, and not relegate it to being just another 6 ½ weeks of life on earth that have no lasting value? Discover the nourishment that comes after the manna - a source that is not temporary, that never fades after one day, that has to be resupplied on a daily basis. God's Grace is forever, and is offered to each of us this very morning!
If you would like to make that commitment to Christ today, or perhaps you feel that you would like to re-commit your life to Christ, I invite you to come now, during prayer or during our hymn, just as your are.
Won’t you go “all in” with Jesus, and be rolled up into that new and glorious day with Him? Won’t you? Come!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
“Are You Just Passing Through?”
Scripture Text: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13
In recent conversations with some of you, I’ve heard this same question asked over and over, in one way or another – “We can offer so much to folks here in Campville – why won’t more people join us?” I think that the issue is very complex with most of the reason behind it buried in societal norms, so I would hesitate to try to offer a simple “fix” to resolve the issue. Let it suffice to say that people, both inside and outside of the church, only see the surface luster of faith, which by the way, isn’t all that shiny, and never dig deeper to discover the true treasure of walking with our Lord Jesus Christ.
But this isn’t some new moral condition that has recently sprung up – it has been around for thousands of years, has been written about, discussed in small and large groups, lamented in just about every Christian denomination you can think of, and still it persists. What is this persistent malaise all about?
William Boggs, in his book, Sin Boldly: But Trust God More Boldly Still, writes “What passes for faith in our time is not much different from that experience at the orchard. So often we stay right around the edges, not trying very hard to deepen our understanding, content to lead unexamined lives where we know ourselves very little and God even less. No wonder the fruits of religious experience taste so bitter in our mouths and bring so little nourishment to the lives of people who are otherwise quite famished and searching for something that will fulfill the deepest hunger of their souls.”
“How is it that a message as fresh and invigorating as the one the Bible gives us becomes more like taking a dose of castor oil than biting into a juicy, refreshing peach? Perhaps it is because we pick from the [scraggly] trees around the outer edges of our faith and never bother to go deeper into the truly satisfying experience of a God who deals with us in love and tender mercy. At the center of the Garden, grace brings forth fruits of [faith] and mercy that blossom together.”
-William Boggs, “Sin Boldly: But Trust God More Boldly Still” (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1990), 101-102.
Read 1 Corinthians 10:1-5
Israel of 1200 BC was no different than the people of 2010. They ate the wilderness food that God sent every day, drank the wilderness water that gushed out of solid rock, followed the divine fire and cloud that never left them for 40 years, passed through the water safely both at the beginning and end of the journey, and still they wondered why God wouldn’t lead them the way they wanted Him to. They readily accepted the gifts of God, but how often do we read that they ever gave Him thanks for all He gave? Seldom, and then only when Moses made them do it.
And as unhappy as they were with their great Jehovah, God was even more displeased with them.
Have we learned any lesson whatsoever from the Children’s experience in the desert? Not really. They built that horrendous idol that we know as “the golden calf”, and instead of destroying our own “calves”, we create new and improved versions of the beast. We look to our jobs in idolizing ways; we buy fancier cars and bigger homes; we put our personal joys ahead of any joy that we may find in God; we put far more trust in society and the secular culture than we do our faith; we work harder and longer so we can get more money and power, but ignore the most precious gifts that already surround us.
And I include all of these things in the list, not because I’ve seen them in others, but because, God forgive me, they have been mine. And they just might be on your list, too.
How do we get beyond this un-Godly mindset? I believe it was George Washington who said “If we don’t learn our history, we’re doomed to repeat it.” Consider the history of Israel.
Read 1 Corinthians 10:6-11
“Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.” Israel never quite learned the lesson that God was trying to teach them, and over and over they failed drastically. The consequences of their failures were dramatic and painful, but they never seemed to change their ways. “Blame God for the ache, and keep on with the life we have chosen!”
We have the history written down, and placed in our hands, and yet the people of 2010 don’t seem to have learned the lessons very well either. We only see the surface of “church”, and it comes up lacking. And it always will, because the surface has a “human” touch. It represents what people do, and it never is about what God can do. At least that’s how it will be until the people of God begin to stand firm on the gospel of Jesus Christ, and start to show the world what it really means to be a disciple!
Is the surface pain that we see and feel real and hurtful and even debilitating? Absolutely! It is the human condition, and it exists in the church as surely as it exists in the world. But the church has one advantage that the world doesn’t – the Body of Christ can come together as one, to begin the healing process and to let the pain subside. Together we can overcome our limitations, but only if we start to delve deeply into God’s plan for our lives, to seek His will, to know His heart, to receive assurance that this painful existence is only temporary. And this is what is lacking in the church - our witness to the glorious presence of Christ!
Do we act as though this place is the end all, and there isn’t anything else? Or do we see this time as an opportunity to prepare for the next and far more glorious life? Do we follow the rules and standards of earth because we plan to stay here, or do we follow God’s rules because we are just passing through here on our way into His glory? It’s one or the other.
Read 1 Corinthians 10:12-13
So after telling us that our faith must be strong and focused, Paul is now warning us to not get too confident in our faith. And as soon as we think that our faith is firm and solid, he says that we are setting ourselves up for a great fall. But if we praise Christ for our faith, if we give Him the glory for the victory that is already won, if we proclaim our inadequacy and His sufficiency, if we humbly and honestly follow as joy filled servants, and not with grumbling hearts as Israel did, it is then that we will be well on our way.
We can’t be content with a life that exists only on the fringes of faith. We have to be willing to step toward the center and right into the heart of Christ. Remember the words of William Boggs that told us of our tendency to stay just out of reach at the edges, surrendering any desire to deepen our understanding, satisfied to lead hidden lives, knowing so little about our selves and our God.
Boggs wrote “No wonder the fruits of religious experience taste so bitter in our mouths and bring so little nourishment to the lives of people…” Does your tongue sense a bit of bitterness?
We forget the fact, or even worse, fail to acknowledge it altogether, that this life is only a stopping off point on our journey to eternity. Unfortunately, it is a place that all too many people see as a great place to stay. Remember Israel, who, when the first trials of desert life began to wear them down, pleaded with Moses to take them back to bondage in Egypt! It had to be better than this horrible journey in freedom! They had lost sight of their destination, and the blessings that it would bring to them.
Our destination is a land of glory, and this place isn’t it! But we aren’t just passing through – we are also preparing for a grand arrival at the throne of Jesus, and we can’t let the things of this world slow us down or hold us back.
Taste His grace, bath in his mercy, rejoice in His glory, and never forget, even for a moment, the lessons of our history. If we learn those lessons well, others will see the victory in us, and they, too, will see that this isn’t the terminus – and will want to know more about the destination.
Show them, won’t you?
In recent conversations with some of you, I’ve heard this same question asked over and over, in one way or another – “We can offer so much to folks here in Campville – why won’t more people join us?” I think that the issue is very complex with most of the reason behind it buried in societal norms, so I would hesitate to try to offer a simple “fix” to resolve the issue. Let it suffice to say that people, both inside and outside of the church, only see the surface luster of faith, which by the way, isn’t all that shiny, and never dig deeper to discover the true treasure of walking with our Lord Jesus Christ.
But this isn’t some new moral condition that has recently sprung up – it has been around for thousands of years, has been written about, discussed in small and large groups, lamented in just about every Christian denomination you can think of, and still it persists. What is this persistent malaise all about?
William Boggs, in his book, Sin Boldly: But Trust God More Boldly Still, writes “What passes for faith in our time is not much different from that experience at the orchard. So often we stay right around the edges, not trying very hard to deepen our understanding, content to lead unexamined lives where we know ourselves very little and God even less. No wonder the fruits of religious experience taste so bitter in our mouths and bring so little nourishment to the lives of people who are otherwise quite famished and searching for something that will fulfill the deepest hunger of their souls.”
“How is it that a message as fresh and invigorating as the one the Bible gives us becomes more like taking a dose of castor oil than biting into a juicy, refreshing peach? Perhaps it is because we pick from the [scraggly] trees around the outer edges of our faith and never bother to go deeper into the truly satisfying experience of a God who deals with us in love and tender mercy. At the center of the Garden, grace brings forth fruits of [faith] and mercy that blossom together.”
-William Boggs, “Sin Boldly: But Trust God More Boldly Still” (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1990), 101-102.
Read 1 Corinthians 10:1-5
Israel of 1200 BC was no different than the people of 2010. They ate the wilderness food that God sent every day, drank the wilderness water that gushed out of solid rock, followed the divine fire and cloud that never left them for 40 years, passed through the water safely both at the beginning and end of the journey, and still they wondered why God wouldn’t lead them the way they wanted Him to. They readily accepted the gifts of God, but how often do we read that they ever gave Him thanks for all He gave? Seldom, and then only when Moses made them do it.
And as unhappy as they were with their great Jehovah, God was even more displeased with them.
Have we learned any lesson whatsoever from the Children’s experience in the desert? Not really. They built that horrendous idol that we know as “the golden calf”, and instead of destroying our own “calves”, we create new and improved versions of the beast. We look to our jobs in idolizing ways; we buy fancier cars and bigger homes; we put our personal joys ahead of any joy that we may find in God; we put far more trust in society and the secular culture than we do our faith; we work harder and longer so we can get more money and power, but ignore the most precious gifts that already surround us.
And I include all of these things in the list, not because I’ve seen them in others, but because, God forgive me, they have been mine. And they just might be on your list, too.
How do we get beyond this un-Godly mindset? I believe it was George Washington who said “If we don’t learn our history, we’re doomed to repeat it.” Consider the history of Israel.
Read 1 Corinthians 10:6-11
“Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.” Israel never quite learned the lesson that God was trying to teach them, and over and over they failed drastically. The consequences of their failures were dramatic and painful, but they never seemed to change their ways. “Blame God for the ache, and keep on with the life we have chosen!”
We have the history written down, and placed in our hands, and yet the people of 2010 don’t seem to have learned the lessons very well either. We only see the surface of “church”, and it comes up lacking. And it always will, because the surface has a “human” touch. It represents what people do, and it never is about what God can do. At least that’s how it will be until the people of God begin to stand firm on the gospel of Jesus Christ, and start to show the world what it really means to be a disciple!
Is the surface pain that we see and feel real and hurtful and even debilitating? Absolutely! It is the human condition, and it exists in the church as surely as it exists in the world. But the church has one advantage that the world doesn’t – the Body of Christ can come together as one, to begin the healing process and to let the pain subside. Together we can overcome our limitations, but only if we start to delve deeply into God’s plan for our lives, to seek His will, to know His heart, to receive assurance that this painful existence is only temporary. And this is what is lacking in the church - our witness to the glorious presence of Christ!
Do we act as though this place is the end all, and there isn’t anything else? Or do we see this time as an opportunity to prepare for the next and far more glorious life? Do we follow the rules and standards of earth because we plan to stay here, or do we follow God’s rules because we are just passing through here on our way into His glory? It’s one or the other.
Read 1 Corinthians 10:12-13
So after telling us that our faith must be strong and focused, Paul is now warning us to not get too confident in our faith. And as soon as we think that our faith is firm and solid, he says that we are setting ourselves up for a great fall. But if we praise Christ for our faith, if we give Him the glory for the victory that is already won, if we proclaim our inadequacy and His sufficiency, if we humbly and honestly follow as joy filled servants, and not with grumbling hearts as Israel did, it is then that we will be well on our way.
We can’t be content with a life that exists only on the fringes of faith. We have to be willing to step toward the center and right into the heart of Christ. Remember the words of William Boggs that told us of our tendency to stay just out of reach at the edges, surrendering any desire to deepen our understanding, satisfied to lead hidden lives, knowing so little about our selves and our God.
Boggs wrote “No wonder the fruits of religious experience taste so bitter in our mouths and bring so little nourishment to the lives of people…” Does your tongue sense a bit of bitterness?
We forget the fact, or even worse, fail to acknowledge it altogether, that this life is only a stopping off point on our journey to eternity. Unfortunately, it is a place that all too many people see as a great place to stay. Remember Israel, who, when the first trials of desert life began to wear them down, pleaded with Moses to take them back to bondage in Egypt! It had to be better than this horrible journey in freedom! They had lost sight of their destination, and the blessings that it would bring to them.
Our destination is a land of glory, and this place isn’t it! But we aren’t just passing through – we are also preparing for a grand arrival at the throne of Jesus, and we can’t let the things of this world slow us down or hold us back.
Taste His grace, bath in his mercy, rejoice in His glory, and never forget, even for a moment, the lessons of our history. If we learn those lessons well, others will see the victory in us, and they, too, will see that this isn’t the terminus – and will want to know more about the destination.
Show them, won’t you?
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