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Sunday, May 29, 2016

“Desertion!”


Scripture: Galatians 1:1-12

Paul’s letters all seem to begin in a fairly common format – he begins by 1) telling the recipients of each letter who it is that is writing to them, 2) who it is he is writing to, along with a word or two of encouragement, 3) an offering of grace and peace to them, and a thanksgiving for their ministries. However, his greeting to the Galatians is different with two notable exceptions– he includes a much more extensive word of “grace and peace” that almost sounds more like a scolding than a blessing, and he offers them no words whatsoever of thanksgiving! You might think, and rightly so, that Paul is a bit upset with these folks.

Read Galatians 1:1-5

He reminds the people that Jesus gave his all to save us from the evil of the age, and that it was all in the will and glory of God that it came to be. But he then will continue throughout this letter recounting just why Jesus came into our world and what this rescue cost him. And what is the issue that has him so riled up? He is appalled that the church is placing far less emphasis on the teaching of Jesus Christ and far more on the laws of Moses.

This was a fairly common problem in the first century church. At the time of this letter (approximately 50 AD), the church had yet to break away from Judaism and many converts to Jesus’s way were Jewish. Jewish influence was very strong - the traditions of a thousand years were very hard to break, and the Jewish leadership in the fledgling faith expected gentile converts to become Jewish.
This doesn’t mean that the people weren’t claiming Jesus as Lord and Savior – they just weren’t following his teaching completely. Remember that it would be several more centuries before the 66 books of the Bible would be chosen out of the thousands of letters, scrolls, and other writings that had been produced, and many followers of The Way were still leaning on the Hebrew teachings for consistency in faith expression. In essence, Paul was telling the churches that Jesus died to free them from these oppressive and inconsequential rituals, so why are they still doing them?

Jesus had never condemned the Law of God (Matthew 5:17-18) – he only taught that the Law of Moses was overly restrictive and left no room for faith to grow and thrive. And yet, Gentile believers were being coerced into accepting Jewish customs and traditions as the only way to live a righteous life. As we read though the Gospels, we discover that all of the Lord’s teachings were intended to uncover the difference between God’s law and Moses’ law – to show which we were to keep, and which we should let go of.

Read Galatians 1:6-9

He implies that their “new gospel”, based solely in the law, has no truth in it, which is quite a statement for a former Pharisee – and he even calls them “deserters”! Desertion was a serious charge, even in that day, but we can understand this call perfectly in our own military’s context. A soldier takes an oath of allegiance to both their country and their senior leaders, and failure to stay faithful to that oath is the most serious offence that can be committed, and that failure is worthy of death. That is how serious a situation the church now found themselves in.
And it isn’t the fault of the new converts to Christ – the fault rests squarely on the shoulders of the leadership and the teachers of these new congregations. In James 3:1, a letter written at about the same time as this one, we are told that those “who teach will be judged more strictly.” Paul is in agreement, and says that anyone who proclaims a “gospel” other than what came from Christ will be “eternally condemned”. He wanted the churches in Galatia to know that they had fallen to that very level.

We need to understand, though, that when Paul refers to “another gospel”, he isn’t implying that this is another possible “truth of God”! He says that it “is no gospel at all.” Demands that centered on circumcision and dietary laws were, in all likelihood, at the core of this false teaching, and it was being taught as though it had come directly from Jesus Himself. And it would take time, and no small amount of angst, before correction would begin to set in.

And Galatia wasn’t the only church to receive this false teaching – in Acts 15:1, we read that Antioch was subject to the same issue, as well as did the church in Corinth. And quite honestly, false teaching has never been defeated - it has been a problem throughout the centuries. The early church experienced Gnosticism – the belief that certain people had received special spiritual understandings that no one else had, and that it gave them a closeness to God that others did not have. The Middle Ages had the Crusades and the Inquisition – two very dark times in the life of the church. Even the 200 years of the Reformation were bloody and hateful, and lies and intrigue plagued both the reformers and the established church.
And this doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of problems that the Church has had to endure, and today is no different – today it is social issues that have taken hold of many in the church, and the result is the same. False teaching will always be a divisive factor for us, and it will continue to plague the faithful until Christ returns to make his truth our watchword. In general, these issues arise because some dynamic speaker takes some scriptural verse out of context, and uses it to advance their own personal agenda.

But we don’t have a Paul today to hold us accountable to the truth of Jesus, so who is going to do it for us? How will we know? How will we stay focused on God’s truth?
The first century church didn’t have scripture – the word of God in Christ Jesus had to be passed on by word of mouth, or by letters that circulated among the various congregations in a city, or by itinerant evangelists. And any of these methods could be misunderstood, or offered out of context, or even false in both word and context.
But we have the Bible and Bible study materials, and even at that, there are good studies and there are others that lead us away from the truth. The best studies involve discussion as well as teaching, with various thoughts and understandings being shared and evaluated by the participants. We are to hold each other accountable, and not depend on the explanations, or prejudices (!) of only one person.

When there is no accountability, the defection from God’s grace and way becomes rampant, and Paul proclaims a curse on the false teachers of his day. But this isn’t just Paul’s idea – even Jesus offered a condemnation on those who taught contrary to his life. In Matthew 5:19, the Lord tells us that anyone who sins, or who even teaches a way that is contrary to his, will be called “least” in the Kingdom of God. And being “least” is not good news, believe me!

Read Galatians 1:10-12

Paul says that the concerns he is expressing have nothing to do with his trying to win the admiration and approval of humanity. It may be that he had been accused of teaching such abrupt thoughts because he was trying to start his own brand of faith. It hadn’t been that long since Paul, as Saul, had terrorized believers all over the area, and there was still some mistrust of his sincerity in proclaiming the truth of Jesus Christ. And that is typical of anyone who had a radical change of heart in faith. But he tells the people that this has nothing to do with trying to develop a personal relationship with anyone – it only comes from his desire to be Christ’s servant in ministry.

Had the church been deceived in faith? The answer is a resounding “Yes!” Had they deserted Christ to the point of no return? No. The truth is that as long as we have the word of God available to us, and as long as we allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through our lives, there is always hope of restoration. Desertion in the military is a punishable offence, but failure to follow Jesus can be turned around and forgiven. And his way will always rise to the top. (John 8:31-32) All who would profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior have an obligation to know his truth, to follow his way, and to teach others to do the same.

And the church of today is in no different a situation than where the churches in Galatia were. The advancement of personal agendas, the influence that comes from individual desires, scripture that is changed or just plain ignored, the induction of other faith ideals, the infusion of societal norms, or out and out lies – they all serve to falsely influence and de-educate the faithful. But as the Church, we all must be vigilant for deviations from Christ’s teachings, and we must call the false teacher to account. And if we are the one who has “deserted”, we need to be open to the correction of others.

The truth of God is forever, and it has been given that we might be forever in him. And there is no other way.

Sunday, May 22, 2016

“Glory for the Unworthy”


Scripture: Romans 5:1-11

Over the past 7 weeks, we have been considering the gifts and joys that have come to us because of Easter. We’ve seen that it brings not only great power and grace and all kinds of goodness, but that we also have a responsibility that comes from faith in all that God has done for us. Last week, we saw the love of God, as well as the culmination of all the other gifts, that was evident at the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost.

The Holy Spirit has enabled all who call Jesus Christ Lord to serve Almighty God in exceptional ways. There is nothing common about this service; there is nothing normal or expected or routine about those things that the Spirit empowers us to do. There is only joy in the discovery of what God can do with us by faith.

Read Romans 5:1-5

“We have been justified through faith”. So what does this word “justify” imply? According to the United Methodist Discipline (2012 edition, pg. 50), “We believe God reaches out to the repentant believer in justifying grace with accepting and pardoning love. Wesleyan theology stresses that a decisive change in the human heart can and does occur under the prompting of grace and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.” God pours out his incredible love for us, and in response, our hearts will changed for the better.
Justification is not the same as judgment – as a matter of fact, it is the opposite. Judgment is the evaluation of our sinfulness, while justification is the absolving of our sin, it is our liberation from the penalties for our sin. But as a caveat, note that the above explanation stresses that it is for “repentant believers” – in accepting Jesus as Lord of our lives, we are renouncing the hold that sin has on us.

It is about our acceptance of a new way of life – one that God defines, and not one of our own choosing. This new life brings us to a peace with God that we could never gain on our own. And conversely, without this repentant new life, we will continue to live in conflict with the Lord’s ways, and there will be no peace, no justification, no forgiveness and no life in him. Through surrender of our old life, we gain access to the new life that can only exist for us by faith and discipleship in Jesus Christ.

Paul tells us that this is a reason for rejoicing! And why not? It is the greatest gift that anyone could receive on their “new birth” day! But then he goes even further by saying that this glory of God works in and through our lives, even within the suffering that all will experience, both in our human frailty as well as in our spiritual commitment to Christ (Matthew 5:11-12 and John 15:18-25), and it will continue throughout the entire process that leads us to the fullness that hope in Christ will bring.

And where does this hope come from? From the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which, again, comes to us by faith in Christ! And our responsibility? To wait patiently, hopefully, even expectantly, but always without worry for the outcome!

Read Romans 5:6-8

Paul now returns, without saying so, to the issue of justification. Christ’s death on the cross – any death by crucifixion, for that matter – had been seen as a punitive act. Execution at the hands of any authority has always been the penalty for an extreme and criminal act against humanity. But Paul is telling the Church that this death was totally different than any other execution – that this one was necessary to overturn the crimes that others have committed against God’s ways, and the penalty was accepted by God Himself, for the benefit of the very ones who had, and were, sinning.

He makes the point that while some people might sacrifice their own lives to protect someone who was a great friend, or for someone who was seen as worth dying for, Jesus willing allowed his life to be taken from him as a redeeming – a justifying - sacrifice for those who were unworthy of this gift! God fully understood that humanity was totally helpless to live a Godly life, he understood that we were lost in the dark and sinful ways of this world, and that we could never find our way to glory on our own. So he destroyed the obstacle.

God’s way is always perfect – Jesus’ coming to earth was at the perfect time, and his sacrifice on Calvary was the perfect gift for the lost of earth. But it wasn’t made for those who deserved it – it was for all who didn’t deserve it! (Mark 2:13-17) It wasn’t for the righteous – it was for all the sinners of earth! Why would God do that for us? What drove him to such an extreme act on his part, when he knew that most people would never accept his gift?

It is simply out of his great and undying love for us – he wanted to give the people of earth the opportunity - the perfect and uncluttered opportunity – to live a life in eternity with him! Too many folks see God as the epitome of condemnation, when in reality, he is the essence of redemption. There is no need for the Lord to condemn us – we already stand condemned by the lives we lead. Almighty God, through the gift of his Son Jesus Christ, and by our acceptance of his gift, will overturn our sentence of death, and will replace it, not with just release, but will restore us to eternal glory in him!

A holy and righteous life, given that we might know holiness and righteousness for ourselves. What an offering!

Read Romans 5:9-11

Justification comes, not in a clean and easy way, but by the blood of Jesus – the loving sacrifice of Almighty God. A gift – not because we deserved it, but because we needed it and because God created it and wants us to have it. The giving of the blood of Jesus as redemption for our sinful souls was never an accident or afterthought – it had been planned and prepared for since the beginning of time. And Paul tells us that if God was willing and able to do this, then the rest is a snap!

You see, justification is a two part effort. Jesus gave his life in a horribly painful and demeaning way in order that the hold that sin has on our lives might be broken. That’s the first part – the part that prepares the way for what comes next. The second part comes when we accept his sacrifice, when we claim the gift of his redemptive shedding of blood, and it is then that we gain his salvation. The first part is offered on behalf of all the people of earth, but the second part only comes to those who accept the gift and call Jesus Lord and Savior.

The gift of redemption is offered while we are still unworthy to receive this blessing, but reconciliation – our entrance into God’s joy - comes to the redeemed – the newly made “worthy” - when they receive the gift of Jesus’ blood. So what should our response to this incredible life be?

In the second verse of our second hymn today (“Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing”), we sang “Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by thy help I’m come”. In 1 Samuel 5-7:12, we read of a battle that Israel fought against the Philistines, in which they not only lost the battle, but also lost the Ark of the Covenant. Eventually, they would have the opportunity to retake the Ark, but only after Samuel offered a sacrifice - a lamb - to God. God would respond, routing the enemy, which allowed Israel to once again regain the symbol of God’s presence with them.
The original battle was fought near the town of Ebenezer, and as a memorial to God’s provision in their lives, Samuel set up a stone near that site, and named it Ebenezer, which means “stone of help”, or “So far, the Lord has helped us”.

When we accept the Lord as Savior, when we claim the cleansing power that his blood became for us at Calvary, we “set our lives up” as a living memorial to all that God in Christ has done for us. We become a “living stone”, if you will (1 Peter 2:4-6), and we allow the Lord to build up the Church through our faith.

Have you claimed the blood of Jesus for your own life? All too many people think that they are unworthy of Jesus, and that they have to put off their commitment to him until the time when they do feel worthy! Let me tell you a secret – that time will never come! The time that we all must claim Christ is upon us, even though our sinful lives would imply otherwise.

If you have never made a decision for Christ before, let today be the day. If you have never dedicated your life to him, or if you feel called to remake the pledge that you made years ago, will you pray this prayer with me?

“Precious Lord Jesus, I know that you died because of my sin, and I truly am sorry. I can never make myself worthy of you, but you have told me that you have already made me worthy. Lord, this day, I claim the gift of blood that you shed at Calvary. Cleanse me of the world’s ways, and make me whole again. My Lord and Savior, show me how to become that “living stone” for you. In Jesus’ name I pray and live. Amen.”

And Amen and Amen!

Sunday, May 15, 2016

“The Love of Easter”


Scripture: Acts 2:1-21

Today is Pentecost – the day when the church took on a whole new level of energy. Jesus had promised that after he left earth, an Advocate, a Counselor, a Godly power would come to bless the faithful – but when would this power come? The last of the prophets disappeared from earth over 400 years before Christ was born – would they have to wait that long before this divine Presence arrived?

It had only been about a week and a half since Jesus’ ascension, and the faithful had never given up hope for the coming of this new power. They had continuously been in prayer and praise of all that the Lord had done for them, as well as all that they believed he would soon be doing through his Spirit.
The thousands who had been coming to Jesus for healing and blessing and feeding had dwindled to a mere 120 (Acts 1:12-17), but these few would become the basis for the eruption of faith that was about to occur. Pentecost was the Jewish Festival of Weeks, occurring 50 days (or 7 weeks) after Passover. It was a celebration of both the impending harvest (Feast of First Fruits) and of the giving of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai.

For the Church, though, it would be a day unlike anything the faithful had ever experienced before, and greater than anything they could ever imagine.

Read Acts 2:1-4

Jesus had foretold the power of this day in John 16:5-11. He said that the Spirit will prove the world wrong on a number of accounts – on what sin is all about, on what makes for a righteous life and what does not, and on the coming judgment. And earlier, in John 15:26-27, we read that this Person will be known as the Spirit of Truth, and that those who believe will also testify to the world as people of the truth.

This would no longer be a Spirit of condemnation – he will be a Spirit of hope and power and encouragement. It would be the Spirit that comes directly from God, it would be the Spirit who would enable the faithful to be witnesses to the Truth of God. This Spirit can be nothing other than what God is – truth and faithfulness and love for all who will proclaim him as Lord of their lives.

And on this day of “First Fruits”, the Spirit would demonstrate the power of God to all who were anywhere near that house. It would be poured out upon those who believed, and they would become those Spirit-filled witnesses that Jesus had spoken about. But why in such a dramatic way? Does God need to appear in power in order to bestow power? No. Note that in 1 Kings 19:11-18, we find Elijah hiding in a cave out of his fear of Jezebel, and while he cowers there, God comes to him. The prophet first experiences a powerful wind, then an earthquake, and then a fire, but the Lord isn’t in any of them. God speaks to Elijah in the sheer silence that comes after those great and powerful events.

On this Pentecostal morning, there is no earthquake, but there is the sound of a rushing wind and what appears to be tongues of fire that touch and empower all who are in the room that day. For Elijah, God wasn’t in the great events – he was in the silence that followed. The Spirit wasn’t, by necessity, in the wind and fire of Pentecost - but in the silence that followed. The Spirit spoke the will of God to the faithful, enabling them to begin the work that the Lord had planned for them – to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to the entire world. Those great events of wind and earthquake and fire were merely the heralds of the Spirit’s coming. The Spirit was quietly filling people with divine insight, divine wisdom, and the divine truth that Almighty God wanted the people of earth to know.

Read Acts 2:5-13

Pentecost was one of three primary festivals for Israel, and as such, people from all over the world would come to Jerusalem to worship at the temple and to offer gifts of thanksgiving to their God. This day was no different, and as we read, people from 16 different nations were in the immediate area, and would hear the incredible sound that emanated from the house. And it’s interesting to note that it wasn’t the wind and fire that amazed these visitors to Jerusalem, it wasn’t even the fact that so many were speaking all at once! It was that each and every person understood what was being said, and we also have to realize that every message being shared in every language was not only heard clearly, but was perfectly understood! This is the power of the Spirit – to work though the lives of those who love the Lord, in ways that they never could on their own.

“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even great things than these …”
(John 14:12-14) It is so easy to think that Jesus’ words mean that we will be doing these great things, when in fact, it is the power of the Spirit who is at work in the lives of those who believe. And on this day, the power of the Spirit had become the power of understanding. No longer would the word of God be confined to the people in and around Israel. The love of God could now be shared throughout the world through the faithful witness of those who would love God in return.

But what do we do about those who didn’t understand – those who simply thought that the cacophony was being raised up because the men were drunk? If the Spirit was bringing understanding into so many lives, why didn’t these others understand? While some believe that this is due to the amazement and perplexing thoughts by a few, I’m not quite ready to think that our mental confusion could become an obstacle to the Holy Spirit! I am more inclined to think that it was a lack of faith on the part of the hecklers. Those who are closed to God’s ways can also be closed to the working of the Spirit, until, that is, some life event awakens them to this greater power for their lives. This day may have been the beginning of that awakening, but they weren’t quite there yet.

Read Acts 2:14-21

And Peter begins his great sermon to the people by addressing the scoffers’ doubts. He reminds the people that this day and this event had been prophesied by Joel 800 years ago. Peter tells the people that the truth of prophecy, as well as the events of that day, initiate the beginning of a new era for Israel, and presumably, for the entire world. Peter has added the words, “In the last days, God says” to the original prophecy (Joel 2:28-32), and in doing so, has proclaimed the beginning of the new day, or “last days”, which are to herald the return of Christ as the judge for the people of earth.

The outpouring of the Spirit initiates the urgency of carrying the salvation message to all corners of the earth. This message is not a message of calamity and condemnation! It is a promise of God’s restoration and renewal of the broken relationship that had existed between humanity and the Lord for thousands of years. And the addition of “God says” underscores the idea that it is God’s word and God’s will that is being placed in action, and not ours.

This prophecy had always been seen by Israel as one that proclaimed the coming judgment and condemnation by God. The signs and wonders that Joel, and now Peter, spoke of were all items of disaster, and not of hope. But now, with the coming of the Spirit, “the day of the Lord” could finally be understood as a day of restoration instead of retribution, of salvation instead of conviction, of empowered witnesses to the Good News instead of judgmental and legalistic pronouncements.

And Peter ends with the prophetic words “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Israel had always seen this cry to the Lord as one pleading for mercy, but now it can be understood as one of praise and rejoicing. By faith in Jesus Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, God had suddenly become a God of love and compassion, instead of a God of demands and disparaging decrees.

Jesus’ death and resurrection could now be claimed as a reason for renewed hope and rejoicing, and no longer as something to fear and lament. A new day had dawned for the people of earth, and Jesus’ proclamation that his people would now be carrying on his ministry, that his faithful servants would do what he had been doing, and that they would do even greater things, was now proven by the power of the Spirit. The love of Easter was now a reality for all who would follow Jesus and who would open their lives to the inspiration and enabling of the Holy Spirit. This Spirit came, not to simply shock and amaze people, but to confirm all that Jesus taught, and to instruct us in the ways of Almighty God.

A new day had, indeed, dawned, and the Light of Christ had begun to bathe the world in the glory of God’s grace. Praise the Lord for his great love of creation, and for the plan of salvation that is available for all who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Sunday, May 8, 2016

“The Gift of Easter”


Scripture: John 14:23-31

John’s gospel repeatedly offers a vision of Messiah that is totally different from the normal expectations of that day. Lord Messiah was supposed to be kingly in appearance, mighty in strength, a warrior without equal, of immediate royal descendency, and one who will destroy all of the evil that the world is shackled by.
But with Jesus, there isn’t even one of these attributes that is evident. John’s 14th chapter even goes so far as to give an insight into Jesus’ nature that doesn’t make a bit of sense to Israel. “Trust me – I’m going to prepare a place for you in my Father’s House”. And they wondered, where is that, and why not here? (v. 2-3) ”Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” And they wondered, God looks like you? (v. 9) “Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing … and even greater things” And they wondered, healing? Restore life? Preach unfathomable truths? (v. 12) And then there is a number of verses calling us to love him. (v.15-31) Love Messiah? Shouldn’t we stand in awe of him? To fear him? To fall down before him?

As the early church began to read this letter, they very quickly came to the realization that Jesus Messiah was unlike anything that they had ever believed he would be.

Read John 14:23-24

It would seem from these words that loving the Lord is an absolute necessity if we are to be his disciple! Loving Jesus leads us to respect and obey his word, and our failure to love him leads us to deny his word. But here’s the rub – how many of us truly and completely obey the commandments of Jesus? Now before you begin to think that all is lost because you still sin from time to time, remember that Jesus knows our hearts as well as our lives. God knows that we can’t be perfect in our actions – he knows that we will never reach the ultimate level of righteousness in this lifetime. The question, I believe, is whether we deeply love him and his word, and strive to follow in all that he taught! In addition, there is forgiveness in those times when we fail, but then truly repent of those failures - and in doing so, we show him that we do love him.

Following the Lord will never be easy, but he has kept the promise he made - “I will never leave you, I will never forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5; Deuteronomy 31:6) But he did leave when he ascended to heaven, didn’t he! Does this mean that he has disowned us?
Not at all. In verse 16, we read that Jesus will ask the Father to send us another Counselor, who is the Spirit of Truth. And this Spirit will be accepted by all, simply by the love that they have for the Lord. There’s that call to Love him again! And we read that these words are jointly offered by both Jesus and the Father – that there is no disagreement between them. If Jesus said it, God will do it, just as he told us that whatever we ask in his name will be given (v. 13-14). As solid and unshakable as the Divine relationship is, that is how firm our relationship will be with Jesus when we show love to him with our whole heart.

The Love of God in Christ Jesus is the gift, in its many forms, of Easter.

Read John 14:25-27


Some think that Jesus’ teaching was only for that day – that much of what he introduced to the world doesn’t really fit with societal norms of today. That is certainly true, but it didn’t fit all that well with the society of his day, either! God’s ways never seem to be ours (Isaiah 55:8-11), and yet, we are called to live in his!
Jesus spoke words that few would accept while he was with us in the flesh, but those words will never change simply because we don’t like them, or because he had to return to the Father. As surely as God is with us today, the word of God that Jesus carried into this world will never change one iota, either. They are God’s ideals, and Jesus’ words, and the Spirit’s mission to us. The truth and way of God is ever before us, and it must be ours.

We are told that even though Jesus has left, and another aspect of God will come, the word of God will never disappear from the world. The Spirit can never, and will never, teach anything contrary to what Jesus taught. There is nothing new in the Spirit – he has come to constantly remind us of the Godly truths that have always been.

The work of the Holy Spirit is to keep the work and word of God alive in our lives. He raises that word up; he inspires us with God’s call on our lives; he summons us to a life that is faithful and loving toward Christ. The Spirit’s purpose, it seems, is to keep Jesus’ ministry alive in us. This sounds strangely like “You will do what I have been doing ... you will do even greater things than these !!!”

And then the Lord imparts his Peace to those who love him. His peace isn’t just a word of farewell – it is his promise, once more, that his leaving does not imply that we are being abandoned to our own wiles, but that all who will follow his ways will never have to find their own way in faithfulness, but that there will continue to be a Counselor and Guide for our lives.

Proof of the promise of God is also the gift of Easter.

Read John 14:28-31

More strange words! If you loved me, you would rejoice that I’m leaving you, even though I’ll be back one day! Have you ever been happy when a friend was moving out of town? When I was growing up, my best friend Skip Freeland was moving a long way away – all the way to Plattsburgh! I wasn’t the least bit happy that he was leaving – I even had a very difficult time saying good bye to him. I would never see him again, but I did run into his father once, but that was the limit of our contact. And that is the world’s view of seeing our best friend leave – there is no joy in it.

The Godly way, though, is to not only look to our own happiness, but to the blessings that will be coming to the other person. Jesus was going to become one with his Father once again – no more human limitation, no more tiredness, no more pain, no more hatred, no more eating or breathing or speaking – just Oneness within the Divine Nature. Isn’t that sufficient reason to rejoice, to simply know that he was going Home?

Skip’s dad was getting a good promotion in his job; Skip liked the outdoors, and the Adirondack Mountains would give him many hours of pleasure. Neither of us was happy about the separation, but I should have been pleased at the new opportunities that would be coming to him and his family.

The other reason that the Lord’s disciples should rejoice at Jesus’ leaving was that the Spirit would be coming to give them an entirely new attitude toward ministry. They would soon discover that the power of the Holy Spirit would be the enabling factor that allowed them to actually do those things that Jesus had been doing, and even greater things. The power of the Spirit would enable the Church to grow; the Spirit would lead each and every person who came to love the Lord toward God’s ways, and away from the ways of earth – and not just for the first disciples, but for everyone throughout the ages who would love Jesus.

The poet William Blake wrote:
Unless the eye catch fire,
God will not be seen.

Unless the ear catch fire
God will not be heard.

Unless the tongue catch fire
God will not be named.

Unless the heart catch fire,
God will not be loved.

Unless the mind catch fire,
God will not be known.

--Attributed to poet William Blake.

The working of the Holy Spirit can only be described as “fire”. It creates light and heat and newness. It spreads like nothing else can. It moves and dances and leaps, and even though it may seem to die out, the slightest breeze can fan it into conflagration within minutes.

And it could only come after Jesus had left, it could only come as a result of Easter. The Spirit of God will set the eye and ear and tongue and heart and mind of those who love Jesus on fire! And our lives will never be the same again!

What a gift! And all because of Easter. Sounds to me like a pretty good reason for rejoicing!

Sunday, May 1, 2016

“The Promise of Easter”


Scripture: Revelation 21:1-6; 21:22-22:5

As Jesus’ humanity slowly ebbed from his body on Calvary, he offered up 7 thoughts – some to his Father, and some to those who were gathered around him. The last of these “words” was “It is finished.” (John 19:28-30), and then, he “gave up his spirit” and died. The word “finished” implies an end – that whatever had been underway was now over, that it no longer was.
But with 2,000 years of perspective before us, we know that it was only Jesus’ mission to earth that was finished – that there was still more to come from His ministry. Easter was just a few short days away, and everything that the Lord has said and taught and did would slowly begin to make sense.

Easter is a promise of glory that is yet to come. The depth and power of that promise is still veiled, the details of that glory are only partially known, and none of it can ever be fully understood. But the promise is still there, for all who love and believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, even as the fullness of the promise remains unknown for now.

Read Revelation 21:1-6

Romans 12:2 tells us “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Don’t worry about the ideals, the ways, the structure, the beliefs that are based in worldly concepts - they are all so temporary, they don’t even matter. The Revelation emphases this point, in that everything that we know in this day is going to vanish – and not just be hidden, they will be GONE! Heaven will be gone, the earth will be gone, all of the physical created order will be gone, and the sea, which represents judgment, will be gone. In Chapter 13:1-10, we read about the “Beast of the Sea” – this is the anti-Christ, and he comes out of “judgment”, out of conflict, out of, if you will, sin. And not only will sin be banished, but the source of sin will disappear from existence.

But the void that is created by the destruction of all that is in place now, will be filled with God’s glory. A new city – a holy city – will come down from the new heaven, and will become the new resting place for all of God’s people. This City of God will epitomize the concept of newness!
No more tears! No more death. No more sorrow. No more pain. It will be a freshness, a renewing, that we all long for, but, quite honestly, I doubt that any of us can even begin to understand what that will be like! We will no longer have to build those emotional walls to protect us from the evil and pain that comes from the world! Distrust will vanish! Hatred will be banished!
Life will become complete and joyful and sufficient in a way that is, without question, unknown to us now. Even the concept of life will be changed – Newtonian physics, chemistry, gravity, thermal dynamics, physical structure, mental concepts – nothing that we know will survive the change! NOTHING!

Read Revelation 21:22-27

No more physical places to worship in – no more temple, no more churches, no more cathedrals, no more chapels! Worship is going to be in and of the Father and the Son directly. No more pastors, no more Bible study, no more committees and committee meetings (Yea!!), no more sacraments! The newness that will be, will be complete and perfect!
No more sun, no more stars, no more moon – the glory of God will bathe all who worship and reside in the Lord’s newness. Remember the first day of creation? (Genesis 1:1-3). The Light that God spoke into existence was his Shekinah Glory, and the emptiness, the darkness that preceded the coming of Light is the chaos and hopelessness that comes from evil and sin. In the remaking of all that is, there is no more evil or sin either! It will be gone!

The Light of God will be the peace that covers the newly created order. Worldly authority will surrender to the Light; the need for worldly security will be no more; national pride and divisiveness will vanish; unity in purpose and thought and joy and celebration will replace all of the different ways we currently live and worship. And this new way, this new life, this new worship will only be available to those who have already claimed the Son of God, Jesus the Christ, as their personal Lord and Savior.

The Promise of Easter will only be available to those who have claimed that promise for their own lives.

Read Revelation 22:1-5

Remember Jesus’ conversation with the woman at Jacob’s well? They talked about water, and who was going to give who a drink? (John 4:1-42) Jesus would promise her the Living Water when he told her that the water that he gives will become a “spring of water, welling up to eternal life.” Now we learn that this living water comes, not from a well, but from the throne of God, and flows sufficiently to fill the greatest street of the Holy City.

It is not only a life giving flow, but it sustains the tree of life – the second tree in the Garden of Eden that Adam and Eve were forced to lose out on. They ate from the tree of knowledge because of their own arrogance, but were ejected from the Garden before they could eat of “life” (Genesis 3:21-24). This tree is also a new creation – unlike any that we have ever heard of. It stands on both sides of the Life giving flow – not two trees, but one on both sides. It produces, not one crop of food each year, but twelve crops every month! And its leaves are a healing balm – not for the people, because there will no longer be a need for any kind of healing, except for the nations. There will no longer be tribes, or countries, or even families(!) – they will be “healed” – they will be united in one Family – the Family of God – it will be “one nation, under God, indivisible”, if you will.

Isn’t this an incredible new way, a new concept, a completely new life? None of this could be possible without Easter!

And then the most improbable will occur. The face of God will be revealed, and all will be able to look upon him without fear of death or calamity. As we read through the Hebrew texts, we see that no one can look upon God, or even touch the place of God, without fear of death. (Exodus 33:18-23). But now, the faithful will be able to look fully on the face of God, and will even have the holy and unspeakable Name placed on the forehead of every believer. Our intimacy with God will take a huge step upward. As much as we know that the Lord God is always there for us now (Hebrews 13:1-6), we will come to know him in a new and wonderful and complete way in that day.

The Promise of Easter is no longer in a single day – it is eternal. From the first day of creation through the glorious day of timelessness, the promise of Easter, the new life of Jesus Christ, the new birth that comes by faith in the Son of God, will reign supreme and forever.

The Promise of Easter is the live giving flow that comes directly from the throne of God, and it will never dry up – not by one drop or even by one molecule. It is forever.

The power and joy of Easter is one that keeps on giving and giving, over and over, and there is even more coming than we can ever imagine.