“Journey to the Cross: Purity”

Scripture: Mark 7:1-23

As we follow Jesus on his Journey to the Cross, we see his ministry beginning to unfold. He seeks out a man who is filled with a legion of demons, and who is ostracized by the people of his village. A man comes to Jesus in faith, but not for his own healing, but for his young daughter who is dying. Jesus then encounters a woman who has been plagued with a hemorrhage for many years, and, unable to ask for his healing and in a desperate demonstration of faith, she touches Jesus’ clothes. Jesus heals all three of them.
The people of Nazareth wouldn’t believe, and his power is limited to only a few minor miracles. These three, though, are healed perfectly and completely in the power of faith. But Jesus’ ministry wasn’t only about healing. His primary mission to earth is to teach us that he is the true and only way to salvation, which, of course, is our ultimate healing from sin. And today we see this other branch of his mission, which is in his teaching.

Read Mark 7:1-5

When the teaching flies in the face of tradition, it always causes problems.

Pastor and author Mike Cope writes:
My wife and I recently had a college student and the girl he was dating over to our house for lunch on a Sunday. As we started to relax, I said, “Why don't you take your coat off?” I'd already taken off my tie and coat.
The young man kind of hem-hawed around, however, as if he didn't want to do it. Finally, he got me off in a corner and said, reminding me of an old trick I knew well when I was in college, “The only parts of my shirt I ironed were the cuffs and the collar.” He had pressed just the parts that showed. The rest of the shirt looked as if he had ironed it with a weedeater!
That was the way of the Pharisees: the part people could see looked great, but a weedeater appeared to have done the ironing on the inside.
--Mike Cope, “Righteousness Inside Out”, (Nashville, Tenn.: Christian Communications, 1988), 26.

When Jesus saw the ragged outside of people, he healed them. When he saw the raggedness of their heart and spirit, he forgave them. The Pharisees wouldn’t confess to either one. For them, the outside was an indication of the inside – if you were sick, or crippled, or lame, that meant that you were sinful. If you looked good on the outside, it meant that you were righteous. If you didn’t, you weren’t!
It seems that the learned of Israel had a major disconnect with the reality of faith, at least that which Jesus represented, but that never seemed to deter them. For the Pharisees, it was all about what you did and how you appeared that mattered. If you did everything according to their interpretation of Torah, you were in! If not, you were out.

And the Pharisees are still alive and well in the year 2013. Do you know anyone who is like that? That if you don’t do everything just right, you are a waste? If you don’t pray the way they do, if the proper hymns aren’t sung, if the parishioners aren’t wearing the right clothes, if the liturgy isn’t the same as they remember when they were growing up, well, something is amiss, and they will be the first to tell you about it. I don’t see too much of this in our churches, but every church is going to have some, and some pastors talk about this all the time, and it drives them to distraction! Their frustration drives me to distraction! What can we do about it?

Read Mark 7:6-13

Jesus knew what to do about the ones who were only holy on the outside – he told them what was true. “You have let go of the commandments of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.” (v. 8) Now, I don’t want anyone to think that I’m advocating for the concept of rigid conformity. Jesus never did, and neither do I. That’s what got Israel into trouble in the first place. Order must still hold some importance in our lives, but to live it to the point that it damages our Christian witness is dangerous.
The Lord tells them that they nullify the word of God by their traditions. The United Methodist Church Discipline speaks of “The Wesleyan Quadrilateral”. John Wesley felt that there were 4 aspects to our understanding and the living out of a faithful Christian witness. He “believed that the living core of the Christian faith was revealed in Scripture, illuminated by tradition, vivified [to make alive] in personal experience, and confirmed by reason.” (The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church, 2012, pg 80) Unfortunately, many today take the stand that all 4 of these are equal, and that if scripture doesn’t seem to meet up with the others, then it must by lacking and must be corrected. Jesus would passionately disagree.

The truth and ways of God must always be first, and if our traditions and our experience, and our reason supports it, that is good. But when we begin to let the mortal things of earth take precedence, then we need to rethink our position.

Read Mark 7:14-23

Jesus’ teaching ministry, for some, was as difficult to accept as his healing ministry. But he never wavered in presenting the truth of God to whoever would hear him. Sometimes people listened to learn from him, and others listened to gain ammunition to condemn him. Either way, Jesus saw them all as his reason to teach and heal and proclaim and love. And he explains to the crowd, including the Pharisees, why cleanliness is a moral issue, and not a ritualistic one. He was, in essence, telling them that you can wash your body 50 times a day, but if your heart is a cesspool, you haven’t got a chance.

Everything that Jesus would teach would center on this concept of morality versus ritual. He told the Pharisees that the lack of washing your hands before you eat doesn’t make you a sinner, but that there were many other things, many of them attitudes that these learned leaders lived with daily, that did condemn you. Let’s think about some of these “heart failures” for a moment.

How about “evil thoughts” – any thought that goes against one of God’s commands; “greed” – the desire to have more than you really need; “envy” – the desire to have something that someone else has, which is a specific form of greed; “malice” – hatred for another person; “arrogance” – the attitude that you are better than another person.
How about “lewdness” – vulgarity, or using the Lord’s name in vain; “slander” – an intentional lie to demean another person; “deceit” – a deceptive act intended to tear another person down. All of these are also addressed in the 10 Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17), but apparently people were still falling short on them; “theft” – #8, “you shall not steal, #6, murder – “you shall not murder” - #7, Adultery – “you shall not commit adultery.”. These had been spelled out very clearly ever since the exodus – 1,200 years before Jesus, and they still didn’t get it, and we still don’t get it.
And sexual immorality – the others were fairly narrowly defined, but this one was about as broad as any condemnation that Jesus would ever offer, and he doesn’t grant any exceptions. This one covered nearly every sexual practice that the Romans and Greeks were know for – everything from bestiality to incest to orgies to homosexuality to extramarital affairs to multiple partners and the list could go on and on. In one sentence - in almost one breath - Jesus told the people of Judah that it would behoove them not to imitate the ways that the people of the world lived, that they were being held to a higher standard. And the Pharisees were worried about washing their hands before eating?

Every one of these acts make us unclean, every one disrupts our quest for Christian purity, to be Christ-like. These commandments weren’t given only for Judah in the first century – they are for the people of all time. To paraphrase Jesus – “we have set aside the commands of God and are holding on tightly to our own, precious understandings and ways.” We don’t get to define our relationship with the Lord – he and only he gets to do that. We don’t get to offer God our covenantal relationship – he and only he gets to do that. We don’t get to define which things make us unclean, and which ones make us righteous – God and God alone does that.
Jesus’ teachings were never easy to take, and they were never intended to be. But when we try to follow, and even when we fail, the Lord is always with us, ready to pick us up, dust us off, and begin the journey with and for us all over again. His journey to Jerusalem, and his appointment, with the cross would be a long and difficult road to travel, but he never slowed and he never veered off the way that would take him to Calvary.
Can we do any less for him?

“Journey to the Cross: Restoration”

Scripture: Mark 5:21-43

Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee to begin a ministry for the Gentiles. He healed a demon-possessed man, and when the man asked to go with Jesus, he was told to stay at home, and witness to the very people who had abandoned him to the Satan. Jesus didn’t stay in the Gerasenes area, though, but he did place a new disciple there to care for the very people who asked him to leave.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to stay – it was simply that he had more – much more – to do, and he had to return to Judah’s side.

Author and poet David Whyte writes:
Are your strengths in God's control? St. John of the Cross is known in Christian history as one of the most spiritual people ever to have walked the path of discipleship. One day, John was alone in his room praying when he experienced a rapturous vision of Mary.
At the same moment, he heard a beggar rattling at his door for alms. He wrenched himself away and saw to the beggar's needs. When he returned, the vision returned again, saying that at the very moment he had heard the door rattle on its hinges, his soul had hung in perilous balance. Had he not gone to the beggar's aid, she could never have appeared to him again.
- David Whyte, The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America [New York: Doubleday, 1994], 62).

The world not only has much for Jesus to do, there is also a great deal that waits for us, too. And so, we continue on our journey with Jesus to Jerusalem and our encounter with the Cross.

Read Mark 5:21-24

For me, an interesting contrast between the demonic that we read of on Ash Wednesday and the ruler of the synagogue is that in the first case, Jesus went to him, while in the second, Jairus comes to Jesus. I think that the lesson for us is that, if we are at all able, we only have to go to Jesus, and ask. But if we are unable to go, to take even one step in his direction, he will come to us wherever we are.
Jairus’ daughter was extremely ill, and nothing had helped her so far. He had heard about Jesus and the power that was in his voice and touch, and so he came to ask for the Lord’s help. He was taking a huge risk, but he came just the same.
You see, Jairus was a senior official in the synagogue. He was a Jewish leader, and as such, he was expected to adhere to the orthodoxy of faith. Even in the earliest days of Jesus’ ministry, he was walking and talking and teaching far outside of the traditional Jewish understandings. As a point of reference, the Talmud of today is, as I understand, a huge document – over 6,000 pages in length, and is the basis for all rabbinic law and codes. It covers such diverse topics such as law, ethics, philosophy, customs, history, theology, lore, and many others. It was not officially complied until long after Jesus left this realm, but is based on all of the rabbinical thought and study and writings from even before his first coming.
Jairus could have gotten into a lot of trouble when he came to the Lord and asked for his help, but he came just the same.

Read Mark 5:25-34

The woman was in great need. She had been suffering for many years, and had spent all she had on doctors and cures and anything else that even had the slightest chance of bringing her a bit of relief. But they were all useless – nothing could help her. So in desperation, she followed the crowd to the road that Jesus was traveling, determined to seek his power and touch for her life. But he passed by her before she could approach him, and even that would have been an uncertain act! First, she was a woman, and women didn’t approach men for favors. Second, she had an issue of blood, and as such, she was unclean! And if Jesus had consented to touch her, he, too, would have been made unclean. There was no way that her request could come to a happy ending, but she just had to try.

But Jesus already had a mission – Jairus’ daughter was dying, and he had to care for her condition, too. He was very focused on reaching her in time and he had walked right past the woman before she could ask for his help. In desperation, she struggled to touch whatever of Jesus’ Presence that she could. In faith, and with nothing else, she reaches out.
And then a glorious and unexpected thing happened – Jesus fells the Spirit within him rush out of his Being. What could have caused it? Who might have touched him? Why did the Spirit flow to someone else? “Who touched me?”, he asks. A strange question, indeed, because there were many people all around him, pushing and shoving and reaching out to the Lord – how could he sense one specific person’s need?
And the woman was healed immediately! The blood flow stopped, the hemorrhage was sealed up, and strength would begin to return to the woman’s body. But courage was still a little ragged, and when Jesus asked who had touched him, fear overtook her. She had touched a man, she had made this marvelous rabbi, this man of power and Spirit, unclean! What was he going to do to her? She knelt before him, and told him the entire truth of her bold move, and in return, Jesus showed her a love that no one else had for over 12 years.

The woman could have gotten in a lot of trouble when she came to the Lord and touched him in desperation, but she came, and touched, just the same.

But Jairus’ daughter? Was it too late for her? Had Jesus delayed too long? Had he given too much to the woman?

Read Mark 5:35-43

2 Corinthians 12:9 -”My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Faith in the face of complete defeat, total loss, the ultimate weakness, will perfect the power of Christ. And for the young girl, the faith that her father had in Jesus was enough. For the woman with the hemorrhage, the faith that if she could but touch the hem of Christ’s coat was enough. And in faith, they were both restored to life!

Two of the most unlikely candidates to receive the touch of God – an unclean woman, and a little girl. The exalted of Israel wouldn’t have given either one a second look, and maybe not even a first – neither of them were worth their time. And yet, these faithful were both worthy of Jesus’ time and power.
For too many people today, worthiness seems to be something that they think they have to earn. They will never be good enough, they will never be righteous enough, they will never have enough faith, so why should they even expect that God might honor their prayers? The truth is that huge faith, perfect faith is not what is needed. In Matthew 17:20, Jesus tells his disciples that if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, nothing will be impossible for them.
Can we muster up that much faith? Is it as small as “I know that Jesus has healed others, do you think he might want to heal me, too?” Is it as small as “I know that Jesus said that whatever we ask in his name will be given – is that enough for me, too?” (John 14:12-14) Is it as small as “Jesus, I know that you are God – will you lift me up out of my mess?” How much faith is enough? Just enough so that we are surrendered in our weakness to the power that is in Christ, and in him, perfection will be ours.

Restoration in Christ comes in many forms. It comes as healing, it comes as forgiveness, it comes in faith, and ultimately, it would come in sacrifice. But we can never expect that it will come on our terms. It isn’t by our desire; it isn’t by our means; it isn’t in our way – it is always by Christ. We don’t define our restoration – we simply put our need, our faith, our hope, our life in the hand of Almighty God, and believe that his is the best that we could ever receive.

Do you have that much hope? That much trust? That much faith? The woman did. Jairus did. Moses did. Paul did. Many others did. And it doesn’t take much! All you need is faith the size a mustard seed!

And if you do, you will have sufficient faith to walk with Jesus all the way to Jerusalem.

“Journey to the Cross: The Other Side” (Ash Wednesday)

Scripture: Mark 5:1-20

Tonight, we begin this journey called Lent. The word itself comes from a Germany word that means “Spring”. It may have originally been referring to the season that comes between Winter and Summer, but I like to think of it as what comes from these days of Spring. Spring follows a time of hibernation, of rest, of quiet. Spring follows a time of, if you will, death. Lent is, just as Spring is, a time of reawakening, of new birth, of new life, of a shout of “Hallelujah! I’m alive!”.
Lent is the time when we begin to reexamine and reveal the things that we harbor deep within – those things that are not of God. It’s a time of “spiritual house cleaning”.

A cleaning woman who had received Christ at a Salvation Army meeting was asked what difference Jesus made in her life. She said, “I don't sweep dirt under the carpets anymore.”
- From Homiletics OnLine

Lent is a time when we stop sweeping the dirt of this existence - our sinfulness - under a spiritual carpet, and begin dumping it where it belongs – at the foot of the Cross.

Read Mark 5:1-5

Jesus was a Jew, a man of Israel. As such, he was supposed to follow the law, and a couple of their commandments were that you never associated with either a Samaritan or a Gentile, and you went out of your way to avoid towns where Gentiles lived. Another law was that you never came close to a person who was either ill or demon possessed. These were all considered as “unclean”, and no self respecting Jew ever wanted to be considered unclean! But that never seemed to stop Jesus! In this story, he intentionally crosses the Sea of Galilee, from Judah into a foreign land, and immediately encounters, not only a Gentile, but one who is demon possessed.
Why would Jesus do that? Why would the Lord intentionally snub the laws of his own people? I think that it was never his intent to snub anyone – his whole purpose in coming into this existence was to show everyone – Jew and Gentile alike – the true way to live this life. And he would be unable to do that if he never crossed to the other side of the lake.

He went to meet a man who was not only wasn’t a Jew, but was demon possessed. He had been ostracized by the people of his town, forced to live far away from them in the caves where the town’s dead were buried. He was uncontrollable; he was self destructive, he was unclean to the max, and no one wanted anything to do with him – the people had decided to “sweep this dirt” of their town under the carpet. Everyone, that is, except Jesus.

Read Mark 5:6-13

It would seem that the demons knew exactly who Jesus is, and they plead for their very existence. “Please don’t torture us!”, they cry. Don’t torture them?! After all that they had caused this man to endure?! But the Lord isn’t there to minister to the Satan’s minions – they had already made their choice, and they would have to live, and die, by it. But this afflicted man was another story. He was suffering for no reason other than the Satan’s agenda and the lack of compassion on the part of the town’s people, and Jesus was not going to let it continue.

And in faith, Jesus will not let us suffer needlessly, either. Whether it is a temporary illness or the indwelling of thousands of demons, the prayers of the faithful can bring the power of glory to bear on our troubles. But “in faith” is the key. James 5:15 tells us that “the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up.” In the case of the possessed man, where do you suppose the faith was? The man was in great need, but did he know who Jesus was? The demons knew who Jesus was, but was this a sign of faith? I don’t think it was either one – I believe that it was mercy that defined Jesus and the healing that day. The man couldn’t ask for or express faith, and the demons didn’t trust Jesus as their Lord. And so, it was the grace of Jesus that won the day. Not for the demons, and certainly not for the pigs, but totally for the helpless man. And he is ready, willing and anxious to do the same for us – if we let him.

Read Mark 5:14-20

“Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” But the man doesn’t just tell his family, does he? He tells everyone he can reach in the 10 city area, and the story spreads far and wide about the mercy and power and glory that is Jesus Christ. Jesus took the “dirt” from the man’s life, and destroyed it. He didn’t sweep it under some proverbial “rug”, he didn’t simply move it out of sight, he didn’t just calm the demons to the point that they could no longer do any mischief – he destroyed it all!

And all of this came to be because Jesus crossed over the sea from Judea to the Gentile lands. No longer was salvation limited to Israel – it had been opened up for everyone who would believe.

The preacher and theologian Peter Gomes writes:
What "born again" in the gospel literally means is to begin all over again, to be given a second birth, a second chance. The one who is born again doesn't all of a sudden get turned into a super-Christian. To be born again is to enter afresh into the process of spiritual growth. It is to wipe the slate clean. It is to cancel your old mortgage and start again. In other words, you don't have to be always what you have now become. Such an offer is too good to be true for many, confusing for most, but for those who seek to be other than what they are now, who want to be more than the mere accumulation and sum total of their experiences, the invitation, “You must be born again”, is an offer you cannot afford to refuse.

—Peter J. Gomes, The Good Book: Reading the Bible With Mind and Heart (New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1996), 188.

Had Jesus gone out of his way to cross the Galilean Lake in order to minister to this man? No – it had always been God’s plan to extend the offer of salvation to all who would believe, not just some narrowly defined segment of society. But as Pastor Gomes says, it isn’t an instantaneous and singular event. It is a journey.

And for Jesus, it would also be a journey. Salvation wouldn’t just be conveyed to all, and then he could leave. Jesus was on a journey that would take him to Jew and Gentile alike, and would culminate in his great sacrifice at Calvary, in the giving of his all on the Cross. And for us, Lent is also a journey – one that requires that we stop sweeping our dirt under the carpet – to stop living our life in a shadow – to throw our sin out into the light of the Glory of heaven, and to then let him take it, never giving it back, and destroying it forever.

Are you prepared to take that Journey to Calvary with Jesus, to welcome the Holy Spring of new life in you, to surrender the dirt of the world that creates that great separation between you and God, to allow him to make the God-sacrifice on your behalf?
Will you show the Lord what his “crossing over” really means to you?

“To Stay or Go – That is the Question!”

Scripture: Luke 9:28-36

Jesus’ ministry had begun. In the gospel of Luke, we read that he had reintroduced himself to the people of the Galilee; he had healed a number of people –Jews and Gentiles alike; he had been preaching the good news of his coming; he had proclaimed his own suffering and death; he had begun to gather more and more followers wherever he went; and he had shown the disciples what they could do when they are sent out in ministry in his name.
His ministry and mission to the world had been set in motion, but there would still be so much more to do and so many things yet to prepare for.

Read Luke 9:28-31

Joyce Meyer writes:
Can you imagine Jesus traveling around the country with his disciples talking about how hard everything was? Can you picture him discussing how difficult going to the cross was going to be...of how he dreaded the things ahead...or how frustrating it was to live under the conditions of their daily lives: roaming the countryside with no place to call home, no roof over their heads, no bed to sleep in at night?
-- Joyce Meyer, Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind, 196.

Jesus had already been doing the things that Joyce writes about, but it wasn’t the constant traveling around the countryside or the lack of a home to call his own that worried him. Even we could adjust to that. The thing that he needed additional preparation for was his Journey to the Cross.
With all due respect to Ms. Meyer, very few Christians can honestly claim that they are prepared for persecution and crucifixion. Can we prepare for ministry and mission that will take us to the far corners of the earth? Yes. For the giving up of “creature comforts” and rewarding activities that hold us back from ministry? Yes. For exchanging a life of prestige and authority and personal comfort for one of humility and faith and struggle? Yes, even that. But preparation for suffering beyond all imagination? For the betrayal and abandonment of those who are closest to us? For the lies and humiliation by those who oppose us without offering a single word in our own defense? For torture? For death? And with our last breath, to forgive the very ones who brought all of this to bear?
Very few.

And so Jesus invites his 3 closest friends to join him on a trek up the side of the mountain, where he would meet with 2 others in a glorious gathering. And while Matthew and Mark both write about the Transfiguration, only Luke writes of the purpose. Jesus and Moses and Elijah would talk about Jesus’ upcoming departure from earth. We can only surmise as to the details and depth of the conversation, but let’s consider the possibilities for just a moment.
Moses represented the Law and Elijah the prophets. The Law had always been seen as the way to salvation. The prophets had, for the most part, proclaimed that the people needed to leave their evil ways and return to the ways of God. But Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection would create a way to salvation that moved away from the law and into faith, and he would become the means for everyone’s return to Godly ways. His departure from the earth, his return to heaven, would signal the fact that all had been put in place for the salvation of those who would simply believe in him as Lord and Savior.
The Law that Moses brought to the people would, in part, be overturned, but the message of the prophets would become even more poignant and more timely for the world. God would no longer be seen as requiring sacrifice as an important part of faith – He would become the only sacrifice, once and for ever, that anyone would ever need. And when his sacrifice was complete, the “Sacrificial Lamb” would no longer need to live in flesh on earth. He could return to his Holy Home in heaven.

Read Luke 9:32-33

The 3 disciples, though, nearly miss it all! Why? Because they were sleeping! Now, with all due respect, I expect that climbing a mountain requires considerable effort, and I’m sure that they were tired! I’ve climbed hills, but never a mountain, and quite honestly, I have no overwhelming desire to ever do so! But how could the three say no – even though they didn’t have a clue as to why they needed to take this hike.
But they do wake up in time to see Jesus in his “shekinah glory” – the Presence of God - and they see his two companions, and even though they had never met them, they knew who they were immediately, without hesitation or question. Can you imagine the shock and amazement that must have settled on the disciples? The very Presence of God had come upon Jesus, and the two most revered historical figures in Jewish faith were standing before them! Do you think they might have had trouble even taking a breath, let alone thinking or speaking?
But when Peter finally finds his tongue again, he suggests that they set up 3 booths, presumably a reference to the Feast of Tabernacles. The feast was one of the three mandatory holidays for Israel, commemorating the ramshackle homes that they left behind in Egypt, and which served as a reminder of Deuteronomy 31:8-9 – “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged.” Not in exile, not in sin, not in destitution, not in life, and never in death.
But Jesus doesn’t need the reminder, and he won’t let the disciples fall into the old ways, either. He would be their reminder of God’s presence, and they didn’t need anything else to sustain them.

Read Luke 9:34-36

The Voice of heaven gives the men three orders – first, “This is my Son.”; second, “I have chosen”; and third, “Listen to him”. Why these words?
As God’s Son – his only Son - Jesus would be heir to all that God has and is, and as such, has the right to speak and act on behalf of the Father.
As God’s Chosen – his only Chosen – Jesus, through his great sacrifice, has been chosen to be the only way to glory for the people of earth.
And because he is the Son, and because he is the Chosen, the people of earth had better listen to him!

The glory of God had been made evident in many ways throughout history. It was in the cloud and fire that lead the people out of Egypt and into the Promised Land (Exodus 13:20-22). It was in the cloud that enveloped Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19:1-9). It was reflected in the face of Moses when he came back down the mountain (Exodus 34:29-35). And this glory, the same glory that descended on Jesus, is given to us, too. (2 Corinthians 3:12-18) Moses’ face would have to be veiled, but our faces must remain unveiled, so that others can see the glory of God that is reflected from us.
With unveiled faces, we not only reflect the glory of God, but we are also being transformed into his likeness. Now you may be thinking that we were already made in God’s likeness at the creation – why should we have to be remade? The point here is, I believe, that in our sinful condition, we have separated ourselves from God and his image. It has left us, and because we are still sinful, there is nothing that we can do to get it back. It is only in Christ Jesus that the image of God can return to us, and it is no longer an image, a reflection, a radiance that must be kept hidden. It is one that transforms us and renews us, and it is meant to be seen by all who we meet.

Peter wanted to build three shelters on the mountain. The tradition of the festival of Booths was that the people would eat and sleep in them for a week. He didn’t want to go back down to the world – at least, not yet. He wanted to bask in the glory of the day for just a little while longer. But Jesus wasn’t about to let him do that. Ministry wasn’t finished, and there was still much to do before his departure could occur. Neither he nor Peter, nor any of the other followers, had the luxury of spending any significant time away from the world. Jesus was on a journey that would take him to Jerusalem and his rendezvous with a Roman cross.
And as the “transformed of Christ”, we, too have a mission to carry out, and there is no room for our taking time to ponder the glory that has come to us. On Wednesday, we begin a journey called Lent. And just as Peter and the others had to do, we will have a decision to make – will we be content to stay on the mountain top that is covered with glory, or will we decide to head back down to the valley, without hesitation, to begin ministry in the name of Jesus Christ? Peter wanted to stay in the booths that reminded him of a bygone day, but Jesus was leading him into a new day, a new way, a new life. And all too often, we want to stay in the rickety life that we used to live, but Jesus is telling us to leave the old behind and rejoice in the newness that comes in a life in him. Peter nearly slept through the glory time, and if we aren’t careful, we just might miss it all, too.

The story of Jesus’ transfiguration isn’t only a story of the glory that came to him – it is a call to all who would take his name for their own. If we would truly be his, then we must walk his path, speak his gospel, meet his people (all of them, not just a select few!), touch the lepers of today, love the unlovable of today, reach out to the lost of today to teach them of his glory and grace. We have been given the opportunity to lead others into the hope of a tomorrow that will be filled with an unending glory!

Are you being “transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory”? If not, Lent is a great time to begin! But if it has already begun in you, what are you doing about it? Are you keeping it to yourself, or are you sharing it with all who will listen? Are you going to stay with the old, or go in the new?

“And Sometimes the Truth Hurts!”

Scripture: Luke 4:22-30

Last week, we were with Jesus when he returned to the Galilee and his home town of Nazareth. The welcome was, at first, enthusiastic, and the people were struck by the power of the teaching that he offered them. He read from the prophet Isaiah, and proclaimed that the prophesy had finally been fulfilled, that he is the One who Isaiah spoke of, the One who has been anointed to preach the good news to each and every one of them.

They were amazed; they were awestruck at his authoritative way and words. And to think that this was the boy they had know when he was just a lad! But the teaching would soon take a turn to issues that they didn’t want to hear about.

Read Luke 4:22-28

From enthralled to infuriated in a matter of moments!

Have you heard about the woman who went shopping with her daughter? The crowds were awful. She had to skip lunch because the schedule was so tight. She was tired, hungry; her feet were aching; and she was more than a little irritable. As they left the last store and headed for the car, she asked her daughter, “Did you see the nasty look that salesman gave me?”
Her daughter answered, “He didn't give it to you, Mom. You had it when you went in.”
- From Homiletics On Line

One might think that it was Jesus’ words that turned the crowd against him, but I think that it was the attitude that they already had that did the deed. Jesus didn’t tell them anything new – he just reminded them of what had already been and what it meant for them.

The story of the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17) came to be because of the unfaithfulness of Israel. There had been a succession of kings in Israel ever since the split had occurred in the kingdom, and each of them steadfastly refused to show honor to their God Jehovah. Elijah was raised up as one of the first prophets to call the nation to return to the Lord, and this drought came as a sign of their disobedience. The people suffered for years because of the lack of rain, but Elijah was sent many miles to the north, beyond Samaria, to a poor helpless widow and her son. But even as one of the “outsiders”, as the despised of Israel, she received the prophet, and trusted the words that he spoke to her, and she was fed throughout the days of the famine. And during that time, she would come to understand the power and grace of the Lord God Almighty through the healing of her son. And Israel never did.
The story of Naaman (2 Kings 5) was another story of faith, but not one that included anyone in Israel. Naaman was a great warrior who commanded the army of Aram, but he had leprosy. A slave girl of his wife’s who had been taken from Israel, told him of a great prophet, Elisha, who could cure his disease. In faith, he was told to bath in the Jordan 7 times, which eventually he did, and his skin was restored to perfection.

Neither of these people were from any of the twelve tribes of Israel. They were foreigners; they were unclean; they were seen as the enemies of God, not as those who should be blessed by him! And Jesus was reminding the people of Nazareth that things hadn’t changed all that much from the days of Elijah and Elisha.

And he reminds us that some things never change. There are many people I know, and I’m sure that you know some, too, who refuse to follow the Lord’s commands, and are able to justify to themselves and to others, why they shouldn’t have to. It’s true that Jesus rejected many of the laws of Israel, but they were solely those that involved ritual, those that called for “works”, the mandate that they do things in a particular way. Those are the things that Jesus told us to cast off.
But the things of faith, the moral commands of God, the ways we are to show love and respect and honor to both the Lord and to people of the earth - we were never told to let go of those. As a matter of fact, Jesus was constantly tightening them up, not relaxing them. It isn’t the things that go into our mouths that make us unclean, he would tell us, but the things that come out of our minds and hearts and mouths that make us unclean (Matthew 15:10-20) The “things” we do in the name of “religion” are nothing more than our feeble and futile attempts to please the Lord, and the way we show love for the things of earth, and reject the things of God, destroys any hope for a lasting relationship in him.

Read Luke 4:29-30

The people were so put off by Jesus’ speaking the truth about the depth of faith in others, and comparing it to their lack of true faith, that they were ready to shoot the messenger. Never mind the message – if they could just get rid of the one who was condemning their shallowness, everything would be OK again.

Sometimes the truth hurts, and we just don’t know what to do about it! When our long held beliefs are challenged, and when we are told in no uncertain terms that our ways are all wrong, and when we are confronted with the fact that others who we detest are right, and that we have to be more like them, our first reaction will always be denial.
“How can this idea possibly be true?” “How can anyone believe this dribble?” “Don’t they know that I’m right and this person is completely off base?” “They are just trying to demean everything that I know to be true!”
And our very next thought is to take action – any action – to stop the spread of this “heresy”. Shout down the false messenger, solicit support from as many people as we can, and, if necessary, throw the offender under the first bus that comes along.

But what should our response be? Why shouldn’t we strongly defend our position? After all, don’t we have a right to our own opinion? The truth is that there are a lot of unanswered questions in scripture, and a lot of room for discussion in the church, but there is also a very fine line between disagreement on the minute details of faith, and an outright denial of what an honest faith requires.
For Israel, their faith turns out to be a half-hearted, lukewarm attempt to honor their God. They claimed to be God’s people, they wanted the benefits that his grace could bring to their lives, but an outward expression of faith was better and easier to give than a deep and heartfelt allegiance to the Lord and his ways. And for many people of today, the same still holds true. It is far easier to live the appearance of faith, to live a lukewarm faith, than it is to actually live a life of honest faith.
Faith is tough! It means giving up the things we have always enjoyed doing. It means giving up our old ways. It means giving up the things that our friends will continue to do and who will question why we aren’t! Moving away from a life in life, and toward a life in Christ, means that it is no longer about our satisfaction, about the ways that bring us pleasure – it can only be about a life in Jesus and the ways that bring honor to him.
The people of Nazareth were intent on throwing the messenger off a cliff, but the time and way of his sacrifice had not yet come, and he simply walked away. The message had been offered and rejected, and so the messenger left the people to their own designs.

So what does this mean for us? Does this mean that unless we follow all of Jesus’ ways perfectly, we, too, will experience Jesus’ back? Does this mean that unless we change our worldly ways immediately and completely, that the glory of heaven will be lost to us forever?

In answer, I can only fall back on the word of scripture – words such as those:
Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
John 14:6 – “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 3:16-18 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already ..”
Matthew 28:19-20 – “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.”

This is what these passages say to me.
First, that we are sinners, and that in our sin, we have no hope. But a way has been secured for us in Christ Jesus, and we can access that way by faith in him as the Son of God and as the one and only way to eternal life. This faith is the only means to the removal of our condemnation, and that without faith, the condemnation remains.
But our task doesn’t end with faith – faith is to enable us to evangelize the earth. We are the ones who are to share his gospel with those who do not yet believe. We are the ones who are to lead others to a baptism, to a life, in Christ, and all who believe are to learn the ways of Christ and are to live those ways to best of their ability. We are to learn the ways of God though Jesus’ words, but that doesn’t mean that we gain perfection. We are to learn his ways, but that doesn’t mean that we will always perfectly live them. Remember that we are still sinners, redeemed only by the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.

The bottom line is this – we are unworthy, just as Israel and Judah were. And as with the people of Nazareth, we have been offered a way that carries us beyond our own helpless state. But “offered” is the key word – not only do we have to hear the offer, we also have to accept the offer.
Have you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Have you confessed your unworthiness to be a child of the King? Have you surrendered the things of life that do not reflect Jesus’ teaching?
If not, will you give the Lord your life today? Will you live a life, not in the world, but in the faith that Christ suffered and died and rose again to win for us?