“Love Jesus, Love His Ways”

Scripture: 2 John 1:4-11

For the past three weeks, we have been considering the impact that Jesus’ resurrection and subsequent appearances had on his disciples. Every one of those reunions was a total surprise to the faithful, and in every one of them, Jesus revealed himself through some personal “gift” to each person.

And if we are honest, Jesus has always been in the business of giving gifts – even to us - to reassure us when we are totally overcome with surprise at his entry into our lives. That is Jesus’ approach to us, and it’s his perfect understanding of what we need if we are to eagerly follow his lead. But what about our approach to him? What is it that Jesus might need from us?

I know, I know, you’re trying to imagine what in the world Jesus could ever need from the likes of us! After all, we’re talking about the King of Creation! He could have anything that he could ever want, simply by speaking it into being. How could Jesus ever need anything from us?

The truth is that at creation, God did create all that is necessary, but some of it was intended to be hidden until the right moment came for its revealing. And one of those things, love, was hidden within our soul.

Read 2 John 1:4-6

Our text begins with a description of the character that comes from living the Christian life. In John 3:29, John the Baptist also addresses this issue, and describes it as “joy” when the “bridegroom” came into his life. And in John’s epistle, he says that the joy of Christ comes to him when he realizes that others have begun to know and live in the truth of faith.

For both the Baptist and the Evangelist, the fullness of Christian joy is all based on living and walking in the light of Jesus Christ. This growth in faith occurs when we begin to exhibit the image of Christ in an outward and obvious way. Faith that is internal is a good beginning, but until our love of Christ begins to blossom and reflect his love to others, it is only a half-faith.

The letter continues with a request to love one another, and in order to do that, our author says that mutual love is all based on following the commands and teaching that Jesus has given. After all, love is the basis for the two greatest commands – Love God and Love Each other. (Matthew 22:34-40) And that brings up an interesting issue – loving God, as well as our neighbors, requires that we follow all of the Lord’s commandments. Not just the ones we like; not just the ones that are comfortable – all of them.

Truth – Commandment – Love. All connected. All interdependent. A “trinity of heart”, if you will, that sustains and completes us in faith. The only question that might remain is just who is this “dear lady” that the letter was written for? Is our author commending a faithful female friend to the love of Christ, or is it more than that?
This “lady” could certainly be a person, but the tradition of the epistles, regardless of who writes them, is that they are written to a church or group of churches. The Church is being called to that “trinity of heart” – to live a Christ like life. It’s never easy, but it is necessary if we want to be Christ’s representatives on this earth.

Read 2 John 1:7-11

And here is the gist of John’s letter – a warning that false teachers are becoming more and more prevalent, and are beginning to be a problem for the church. And the problem? That some of the aberrant teaching is that Jesus’ presence on Earth wasn’t all that it seemed to be. This was a fairly common problem in the early church, and actually revolved around an issue that has plagued the Church for 2,000 years – and that is our human attempts to explain God and his plan away, to make it more compatible with our physical laws and human capabilities and limitations.

Personally, I don’t understand why anyone would want to worship a Divine Being who was subject to the same restrictions as we are. But that is exactly what people are always trying to do – make God more personal by humanizing him. Genesis 1:26 tells us that we were make in God’s image – not the other way around! We don’t get to recreate the Lord to suit our purposes!

We read “… do not lose what you have worked for.” The only truth that we can depend on is that which comes to us from the Lord through his word. We can’t add to it, and we can’t take anything away. Our job is to understand it and accept it. And that is what our “work” is for – accepting the truth that Jesus taught, sorting out which commandments come from God, versus those that come through the Law of Moses, and learning what divine love is all about- that it is loving the individuals, not the things they do.

And how about that caution against running ahead of Christ’s teachings? Have you ever thought that you knew exactly what God wanted you to do, and decided to start doing it right away? Getting ahead of the Spirit’s leading will always lead to problems. When we take the lead, life begins to be lived on our terms, not the Lord’s, and we lose all that faith has ever brought to us.
Following Christ’s way, loving in Christ’s way, accepting his truth and commandments as the only acceptable approach to faith, is the fulfilling that John is talking about. And he tells us that if anyone comes to us teaching anything that is contrary to that of Christ’s, send him packing, and don’t ever become involved in his “wicked work”.

United Methodism is going through that very same struggle today. Oh, we aren’t disagreeing over whether Jesus came in the flesh or not (I don’t think!), but our area of disagreement is just as critical. And the issue is - will we accept the authority of God’s Law as contained in scripture, or will we run on ahead of him, and begin creating our own understanding and standards for faith?

I have heard that the Council of Bishops and the Commission on a Way Forward are politicizing the alternatives that will be offered to the Special General Conference in February next year. Originally, there were to be three options to vote on – one that would recognize the authority of scripture and would create accountability for all who violated that authority; another that would liberalize the Church in many ways; and a third that would allow Annual Conferences and individual churches and pastors to choose one of three ways – liberal, conservative, or blended.

The first option, as I understand it, the only one that would restore accountability and authority to scripture, will be dropped from the proposal for reasons solely based in church politics.

And if that isn’t enough cause for concern, there is also an effort underway to rewrite our Social Principles that has been underway for five or six years. I recently received an email that the Commission on Church and Society, the agency who has been charged with the rewrite, has put out a preliminary draft of their work, and is requesting comments from the church on their approach. I haven’t had time to study the draft in depth, but from a rough glance at several of the sections, it, too, is being liberalized even further than it already was.

It appears that John’s letter of caution, written in the late first century A.D., has never been taken to heart. You would think that in 1,900 years, we might have learned the lesson that he was presenting, but apparently not. Some believe that Truth is still relative, and that Christ’s truth is just one of many that we need to consider. Some believe that his commands are only suggestions, and that each and every individual has the right to make their own interpretations of the meaning behind all that he taught. Some believe that the command to love implies the acceptance and support, and love, of all that people do, and not just of their being.

You may notice that the above is nothing less than the humanization of God’s will, which it never could be and never will be. We need to walk in the truth of God, regardless of what the world may think, and regardless of pressures that may come against us. Truth – Commandment – Love in Christ’s way is the only way we can ever enjoy the grace and passion of our Almighty God. We must not lose everything that faith in Christ has brought to us.

It’s time that “the dear lady” who this letter is written for, the church of Jesus Christ, begins living like God intended us to. It's time for the Church to start acting like one who truly does love both God AND neighbor!

“Resurrection Sightings - Peter and the Fishermen”

Scripture: John 21:4-19

Today, we consider the third in our study of the recorded “Resurrection Sightings” of Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, we read that there were over 500 disciples who saw the living Christ in the days following his resurrection. And admittedly, to only look at 3 of those appearances may seem grossly inadequate, but the truth is that most, if not all of them, have at least two similar characteristics – mainly, that at first, no one recognized him as being the Savior, and second, that the Lord, in every case, offered proof of his identity, which opened the people’s eyes to the truth of his Life.

Jesus was never one to leave faith to chance. Faith is a gift from God – it never comes from us, and never can. It only comes to us. Faith is a blessing – it renews us, it changes us, it opens our lives to the truth of Jesus Christ. Faith initiates, and then continues to strengthen our relationship with the Lord – it empowers us and calls us to be all that we can be in and through the working of the Holy Spirit. Every time Jesus revealed himself to one of his followers, he was proving and encouraging and sustaining their faith. And in our text today, we learn that whenever we meet Jesus in a new way, we discover that he will also be challenging us to be more in faith.

Today, we see the effect of his revealing to 7 of his disciples who had decided to go fishing.

Read John 21:4-6

Even after all the times that these men had seen the Risen Christ, they still couldn’t recognize him. In Luke 11:34-35, Jesus teaches that we are to “See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.” The point of this is that if we are filled with the true light of Christ, we will have the vision and heart to know his will and way. But if our “light” is dimmed for some reason, the darkness will prevail, and our “sight”, our understanding, our commitment will only be half-hearted, and giving “half” to Jesus is never enough.

In John’s gospel (John 8:12) Jesus assures us that he is ”… the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” His light will always make us complete. And the light of Christ, the power of the Spirit, had yet to fill these early followers, and while their vision was getting better, it wasn’t quite there yet.

And Jesus asks about food again (Luke 24:40-42), but this time, he shows the fishermen where to do the fishing. It didn’t seem to make much sense, though – after all, why would there be fish on one side of the boat, and not on the other? But they do as they are told just the same, and the catch exceeds all expectations. Maybe there was a glimmer of light in their spirits after all, for they were listening, and when they did, Jesus’ miracle for them was realized.

Remember “Follow me… and I will make you fishers of men.”? (Matthew 4:18-22) I’m sure that the fishermen wondered what Jesus was talking about that day, but this should have helped to reassure them that just as Jesus had made the results of this fishing unbelievable, that their fishing for lost souls would be even more abundant. Whenever Jesus spoke, there were two levels of truth – that which was immediately evident – a surface truth - and that which stretched you to the full depth of God’s truth. This day, they were about to understand that depth.

Read John 21:7-9

“It is the Lord!” Even though Jesus’ physical appearance was unfamiliar to them, there was no question as to who this man really was. I think the lesson here can be expressed in the question “How do we see our Living Lord”? Do we always recognize the opportunities that he brings to our lives? Do we realize that it is our Lord who is calling us into his service?

Maybe it all comes down to the fact of how much does it take for us to see Jesus in our lives! We have already seen Jesus at work in the lives of his followers, and we know that he will go to any extent to work in and through each of us. The point, though, is that as our faith increases in depth, we will hear the Lord’s call quicker, and see his presence in that call clearer, and will trust that it isn’t some fluke that he wants us for a particular task.

John recognized Jesus and announced it to the others; Peter heard and responded in his normal, impulsive way; and the others never hesitated in bringing the harvest of fish into shore and to the Lord’s presence. Which leads us to the next question – do we, as the Church, work together, unselfishly, to accomplish all that the Lord has in store for us?

Read John 21:10-14

This passage, for generations, has been a topic of discussion that scholars have poured over – and the issue for them is in the number 153. Augustine discovered that the number is actually the summation of all integers from 1 to 17, and he felt that it represents the “completeness” that comes from following Jesus’ call. Others believe that the number represents the totality of the Church – its completeness, if you will. And others believe is that 153 represents the Trinity, although I never quite understood that one.

But I’m not sure that the mystery of this passage lies specifically in the number – that it is more correctly in the translation of the Greek word for “drag” as in “dragged the net to shore”. This is the same word that is translated “draw” in John 12:32 – “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will DRAW all men to myself.” Perhaps this large catch of fish does represent the Church Universal after all – the many who are and will be drawn to the Lord, and who will never be lost (“… the net was not torn!”).

And as we read further in this section, we discover that while the disciples still don’t recognize Jesus by his physical appearance, there is no doubt that this man is their Lord and Savior. And he not only welcomes them to the beach for fellowship and assurance, but he feeds them as well. And that is his offer to the Church – fellowship with him and with each other, and in that, the gift of nourishment and strength for our service in his name.

And that is his call on each one of us individually.

Read John 21:15-19

The meal is over, the group fellowship has turned into a one-on-one, and Jesus begins to challenge Peter. The disciple’s life had gone through a tremendous change during the previous 3 years. From a fisherman, to a follower of Jesus, to a student of God’s truth, to one who proclaimed the truth of Christ, to denying that same truth, and now, to be the one who is on the verge of following his Lord in a new way – as an evangelist.

But Jesus had one more task to care for with Peter – to prepare him for what was coming. And as the Lord asks the disciple about the depth of his love, we read two words in the Greek, both of which are translated as love. There is no way that we know if Jesus’ intent was that there should be two aspects of love implied in his conversation as he would have spoken Aramaic and not Greek, but they are here nonetheless. And the two words – “agapa” and “philei” offer two different aspects and understandings to the love that Peter must accept and give.
The first – agapa – implies sacrificial love. This is the love that took Jesus to the cross, and is the love that is implied in Ephesians 5:25, where husbands are called to “love” their wives as Christ loved the church.
The second – philei – is the fellowship that comes from a life in Christ. Jesus is telling us that we need this love in order to “love our neighbor as ourself”. (Matthew 22:34-40) We are to never become selective in who we offer the love of Christ to – everyone is deserving of Christ’s grace, and of our fellowship.

And Peter was a little upset when he was asked about his love, not once, but three times! But then it had only been a few weeks since he had denied even knowing Jesus, not once, but three times! And Peter was about to understand where ministry in the name of his Lord was about to take him.

He would discover that it wasn’t only Israel who needed to hear the message of Jesus, but that the people of other nations needed to hear it, too. And he would discover that while some would accept the offer to know and follow the Lord Jesus, others would not, and his ministry and the persecution that it brought would come hand in hand.

“Follow me, Peter, and I will go with you. Follow me, people of my church, and we will love and serve the people together.”

Can Peter’s call be any different than ours is? Never. We are to go, celebrate, accept, and love, and when we do, the harvest will exceed every expectation that any of us can ever dream of.

“Resurrection Sightings – Thomas”

Scripture: John 20:19-31

Today, we continue to consider the ways people experienced Jesus in the days following his resurrection, as well as the ways they reacted to this incredible revelation. Last week, we saw how the disciples reacted to Jesus’ appearance in the locked upper room – they thought they were seeing a ghost, but Jesus turned their minds from unbelief to belief. And in our text for today, we meet another disciple who was absent during that first encounter - Thomas. For two millennia, Thomas has been labeled with the demeaning title of “Doubter”.

But is it fair that he alone has been saddled with this mark? If you think about last week’s text, you’ll remember that all of those who saw Jesus doubted initially! (Luke 24:37-38) And why not? If you and I had been walking in their sandals that day, we would have been just as scared and just as uncertain!

So, how great was Thomas’ doubt, and what did he do about it? Let’s see.

Read John 20:19-23

John’s treatment of the disciples’ first encounter with the risen Jesus is a little different than Luke’s version. First, it is greatly abbreviated and has nowhere near the detail that the other gospel contains. The other interesting thing about John is that his offering of “Peace be with you” can be referenced to a passage earlier in his text. In John 14:27 we read “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” This verse is contained in a 5 chapter section that is known as the Farewell Discourse. It occurred at the Last Supper, and would be Jesus’ single largest recorded teaching in all of the gospels. In the previous verse, the Lord tells his followers that the Holy Spirit will soon be coming to them to teach them all things, and to remind them of all that he had taught.

And the Lord breathes his Spirit into the lives of the believers, as an introduction to what the Father is sending to them. They are beginning to be reminded of the words of Jesus, and their doubt is gone. And Jesus will never leave us in our fear and doubt either, and these first are but a very few who will, one day, know his Spirit. For those gathered in this room, and for all who are willing to trade their doubt for faith, he offers his peace, and then shows proof of who he truly is. His hands and side still contained the gaping wounds from his crucifixion, and this, along with memories of his offer of peace, convince them. The truth of Christ’s resurrection removes their fear and doubt, and replaces it with overwhelming joy.

Isn’t that just Jesus’ way? He tells us that he is real, he tells us not to doubt his love or his word, and he will even go to great lengths to prove the truth of both to us. The Lord wants us all to trust him and to believe in all he is and all that he taught, and the presence of the Holy Spirit is the evidence that he wants us to receive, to know, that he is who he is for our benefit.

Read John 20:24-25

But just because we believe and trust in Jesus, that doesn’t mean that others will. And sometimes we are the ones who are to be their first step in faith. And on that day, those who now knew that Jesus was truly risen from the dead, tried to witness to Thomas, who had been absent on that first day of “New Life”. But did he believe what they told him? Hardly! “I won’t believe unless I get the same proof that you got!”

Almost sounds like sour grapes, doesn’t it! “Why didn’t Jesus find me and show me like he did for them. Who am I – chopped liver?”
Aren’t we all at least a little bit like Thomas? We want to receive the same blessings that others get, when the truth is that God has unique plans and gifts for each of us. And if we demand that those plans fit our own expectations and desires, we can so easily miss out on the glories that the Lord has for each of us! But if we consider Thomas’ case, Jesus wasn’t about to let him miss out, and so he shows him the marks of proof that he thinks he needs. And the Lord will do whatever it takes to show us too, as soon as we acknowledge our need to know.

Should we continue to see Thomas as the one who doubts, or might there be another term that suits him better? I might offer a different thought – everyone who met Jesus during those 40 days missed out on who it was that they were talking to, including Thomas. But in his case, it wasn’t his doubting that should have been so memorable – I believe that it was his “self-pity”! Thomas was crushed that he hadn’t received what the others had, but in God’s perfect plan, he was about to be offered even more.

Read John 20:26-28

Jesus returns for another visit, and this time, Thomas is there. The Lord offers his divine peace again, and before Thomas can say anything – not amazement, not his notorious question, and not an immediate recognition of who this was – and actually none was necessary – Jesus already knew the man’s heart. But instead of just showing Thomas the wounds as he had done a week previous, he tells Thomas to see and touch the nail holes, and to put his hand into the spear wound. This is what he had asked for, and Jesus accommodated him.

What is it that each of us needed, in order to finally accept Jesus as our Lord? Maybe we didn’t actually know what we wanted at first, or thought that we needed something different than what the truth of our own “doubt” was based in. I think that most of you know my story – for years I had been asking the Lord to show me what he wanted me to do. I was thinking that it might be to go on a mission trip, to become a lay speaker, or to become involved with some other aspect of ministry. Of course, becoming a pastor was the last thing in my mind, and the truth is that none of this was what the Lord knew I needed.
On the evening of May 15, 1993, after going through quite a spiritual struggle for nearly an hour, I received the offer. The main thing that Jesus wanted me to do was to Trust Him! In my case, I had always trusted in my own abilities, and now the Lord wanted me to set all that I had known and trusted in aside, and to just look to him, to only trust him for guidance.

Thomas needed to lose his self-pity before he could believe; I needed to reorient my trust before I could follow; you will, in all probability, need to let something else go, but every one of us has some issue in our lives that are keeping us from depending totally on Jesus for fulfillment in this life. And when we are finally open to hearing that truth, Jesus will speak his word loud and clear, and it is then that we, too, will, for the first time in our life, proclaim as Thomas did “My Lord and my God!”

Read John 20:29-31

But what about our proof? Why don’t we get physical evidence of Jesus? What did Jesus say to Thomas? “Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed”! That doesn’t mean that the Lord won’t speak to us, that he won’t let us know what he wants us to do. But I think that the physical evidence that we all think we need comes from the personal witness of other people. The point of it all, though, is that a change – some change – is necessary for us to believe.

The Pharisee Nicodemus was told that he had to be “born again” (John 3:1-21), that his first birth and his own intelligence weren’t enough. The disciples had to let go of the fears and doubts that were keeping them from believing. Thomas had to let his desire for honor vanish from his life, to acknowledge that “self-pity” will never make it with Jesus. Bill Prentice had to stop trusting in his own personal abilities and understanding, and place his trust in the divine ways of Almighty God.

Each of us has been called to not only let our lives be changed, but to begin living the life that Jesus has taught. Nicodemus would wind up helping at the cross of Calvary (John 19:38-42), the disciples would soon begin sharing the message of Jesus Christ to peoples of many, if not all, nations. And Bill Prentice? Nothing quite so grand, but I have been on mission trips, and I was a lay speaker, and now as a pastor, I believe that I’m walking in the Lord’s will and way, or at least I’m trying my best to do that. And maybe this sermon blog is part of that? Sometimes, we never know!

And how about you? Where is the Lord calling the “new”, the changed, the freed, the Spirit filled “you” to serve? “Blessed are those who have not seen, yet believe”. Be blessed today.

“Resurrection Sightings – the Disciples”

Scripture: Luke 24:36-49

On Easter morning, people began to realize that Jesus was no longer “tomb-bound”. And in this new, glorious life, he was not going to let any of his followers believe the rumors that had begun circulating – that his body had been stolen, that thieves had broken in to rob his body, that the Roman guards had been bribed to run away, and many other worldly explanations as to what had actually happened in that dark, foreboding place of death. But as he began appearing to the believers, each one would react to his truth in unique and different ways.

Mary Magdalene would be confused, Cleopas and his friend would feel their hearts burning, and Thomas would, at first, refuse to believe, but the one common thread in each encounter was that Jesus was never recognized until he did one thing to help them to “see” him – he spoke Mary’s name, he broke the bread at the meal with Cleopas, he invited Thomas to touch him. Each and every action on his part was meant to reinforce the relationship that had existed, but now was in question.

For the next three weeks, we will be looking at the how’s and why’s of the opened eyes, and the relationships that grew far beyond what had even been before. Today we begin with the disciples who had been hiding behind the locked door of their upper room.

Read Luke 24:36-39

Jesus appears to these believers, even while they remain behind locked doors. Cleopas and his friend had returned to Jerusalem from their encounter with the Living Jesus, and had told their friends all about it – that they had met this stranger as they walked along the road to Emmaus, how he had opened the scriptures to them, and when they stopped for dinner that night, he broke the bread, and they immediately knew who he was (Luke 24:13-35). The others found the story a little hard to believe, except that Mary had come to them with an equally implausible story early that morning.

And as they remembered the events of this day of strange happenings, their Lord Jesus suddenly appears right beside them – inside a locked room, without ever opening the door.

Is it any wonder that they were shocked and scared? Who was this? What was going to happen now? It must be some kind of apparition, but why, what does it mean? And then this unknown entity speaks and offers them “Peace”. But before they can react, he begins to teach them, calming their fears and bringing reassurance of the Truth that was now standing beside them.

But the disciples are still speechless, so Jesus cuts right to the heart of the matter – “Why does doubt still flood your soul? Didn’t I tell you that this would happen? Over and over again, didn’t I tell you?” (Matthew 20:17-19) But doubt is a tough thing to overcome, so Jesus takes the next step, and offers them a view of the damage that is still evident on his hands and feet, and even tells them that if their doubt persists, that they can actually touch him, if that is what it takes to convince them that he is real and alive.

Think about it - if Jesus will go through all of this to convince the 11, those who knew him so well, how far was he willing to go to convince you and me? And how much further is he willing to go to convince other doubters?

Read Luke 24:40-43

The Lord intentionally put his hands and feet in front of the believers, and even though they are still a bit leary of what this situation means for them, their doubts are no longer based in unbelief – it is simply because they are so overwhelmed with all that is beginning to seep into their conscious heart. And just in case a misgiving or two still linger, he asks for a piece of fish to eat.

And why would he ask for food? A ghost, a spirit, even an angel would have no need for sustenance, and may not even be able to eat! It is meant to be one more testimony that this is a living, breathing, physical body that stands with them, and not their imagination. Just believe!

Throughout the gospels, Jesus taught that faith and trust was all that was needed to become part with him. Mark 16:15-16 – “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved”. Mark 5:36 – “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” Mark 11:24 – “... whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received, and it will be yours.” And John 10:37-38 – “…even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” It all begins by believing – whether believing in Christ directly, believing in all that he taught, believing in all of the works that he accomplished, believing in the ways he has touched and worked through others – this is what he was trying to tell the 11 that night. Don’t doubt, don’t fear, don’t hesitate, don’t pull away – just believe that what you see and feel and hear and know - believe that what is in your heart is true!

The disciples were beginning to understand that this vision was not a ghost, was not a spirit, was not simply a vision – this is the Risen and Living Jesus Christ! The doubts were fading but the amazement remained. And this is how our life in Christ must also develop – lose the doubts and apprehensions, and let the amazement grow!
A life in Christ will always be filled with surprises, but that doesn’t mean that we should ever become complacent in our faith. We should be expectant that the Holy Spirit will work wonders for and through us; we should expect that, by faith, we can be conduits for the Lord’s blessings and power, that it might flow to the people of earth; we must never doubt that Jesus is risen, and living, and real for all who will only believe.

Read Luke 24:44-49

And now that Jesus has their attention, he begins preparing them for what will be coming next. And it’s important that we all realize that accepting the Lord for all that he is for our lives, is only the first step! He is anything but selective when it comes to ministry – everyone is useful and important when it comes to spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. And if you don’t quite believe that God can use you, just consider the people who were standing around in that room the night when Jesus came “and stood among them.” Smelly fishermen, a despised tax collector, old men, young ones, doubters, women - and all of them, every one of them, a sinner. And what did Jesus have in store for this unique – well maybe not so unique, and maybe more like us than we think! - set of believers?

They were to begin ministry at home, and one day, would be spreading the word of Christ “to all nations”. They would be telling about God’s forgiveness, offered to all, when we acknowledge our sinfulness and turn back to the Lord’s way. But they are cautioned to wait until all is ready for them to begin their journey – that they must first receive a gift from God.

We can’t be sure that they fully understood what that gift would entail though, and the statement that the gift would clothe them in power probably went right over their heads. But in John 14:26, we read that this gift, the Holy Spirit, will come directly from the Father, that he will teach them everything that they will ever need to know, and will constantly be reminding them of all that Jesus ever said to them. Now that is a power unlike any other - as long as they stay true to the power.

And that is the issue for the entire Church. The power of God is never forced upon us. We – believers in Jesus Christ – have to choose to stay close to Jesus’ way and to allow Godly power, that which comes through the Holy Spirit, to work within us. Jesus had been filled with the Holy Spirit following his baptism (Luke 4:1-2), and he still had to choose to travel the full distance from the Jordan River to his appointed time on Calvary’s Cross. The disciples would also know the power of the Holy Spirit, and each would have to choose to follow his leading them from Pentecost through their own persecution by unbelievers. Through the ages, the Church has also had to choose to discover this same glory, to receive the same call, to allow the same power to work through them, and to decide to follow, regardless of where the Lord Spirit led them.

And if the faithful of the past 2,000 years have had to make a decision daily to follow God’s plan, so will we. It won’t always be an easy or pleasant choice to make, and it will definitely have all the ups and downs of a “roller coaster” life, but it will be a glorious one, and our lives will become as amazing and surprising as those the disciples would soon be living.

Are you prepared for glory? Are you willing to let the Spirit of our Almighty God teach you and remind you of all that Jesus ever said, and to empower you for ministry in the name of the Living Jesus? Are you committed to say “Yes” to Jesus every day of the rest of your life?

May the eyes of your heart be opened to the presence and truth of Christ, and may the power of the Spirit fill you with the grace of God every moment of every day for eternity. Amen.

“The Good News Lives!”

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

The 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians is very possibly Paul’s greatest dissertation on resurrection. In it, he addresses the reasons why we must believe, not only that Jesus has been raised from the dead, but why we, by faith in the Risen Lord, must also trust that we, too, will know resurrected life.

Resurrection is a one-time thing that is effective forever. It is the transition from mortal death into spiritual and eternal life. Resurrection is not by anything that we have done – not in our good works, not in our love for neighbor, not in our missional outreach, not in anything other than our true and faithful love for Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And once received, resurrection is a certainty for all time.

There is an old saying that “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.” That saying is about resurrection – that it comes to those who give up dependence on their earthly life, which they can never keep, to gain eternal life in Christ, which they will never lose. And, in honor of today also being April Fool’s Day, the “fool” is the one who thinks he can make it work the other way around – that he can keep the temporary things of earth, and has no need of the things of heaven!

Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-2

“… hold firmly to the word”, or your faith is “in vain”. Salvation, Paul is telling us, is in our claiming and keeping the gospel message close to our hearts. And when he says “hold firmly”, he is reminding us all that a half-hearted faith, that a half-lived faith, is no faith at all. And if we don’t hold firmly? All that we believe in and trust in, will bring absolutely no benefit to us – it will be worthless.

Paul wants the Church to know that faith is not one of those things that we can take for granted. When I counsel couples regarding their upcoming wedding, I nearly always tell them that marriage requires a lot of work. And while nearly all of them agree with me, I expect that very few of them have actually believed me!
But our faith walk with Jesus is, in all actuality, a relationship that is no different - at least in the effort that it requires - than the one we call marriage. They both require commitment; they demand trust; they involve surrender to a new understanding of what “life” is all about – that it is no longer about me – it’s about “you” and “us”. Ephesians 5 tells us that we must submit to Christ and his ways, and that we are to love him intently because of all that he has given and does on our behalf. (Ephesians 5:22-33) We submit to the Lord in love, giving ourselves completely to him and his word, and in return, resurrected life will be ours!

Salvation, and the subsequent eternal life that it brings, is based in our surrender, our submission, and our total love of the Lord Jesus.

Read 1 Corinthians 15:3-8

Paul tells the Corinthians that everything he has told them had come from God first – and that is a very important distinction to make. All too often, when we are asked questions by our un-churched friends, especially questions that we don’t have a good answer for, we have the tendency to “wing it”. The last thing we want to do is to seem ignorant of the faith we are sharing with them. But the truth is that we are far better off by simply admitting that we aren’t sure of the answer, but that we will do some research and will let them know. We must never start making up answers that we think will set well with others, in the hopes that they will trust us and will start believing on their own.

But think of the consequences – they will be believing in a false faith, an untruth that is based on our lie! And that is far worse than confessing that they have asked a great question, but that we don’t have the answer right now! In the long run, this new approach will have a much better chance of making new disciples for Jesus Christ, than in creating your own answer.

And then the apostle cuts right to the chase, and reiterates the number one issue in Christianity – that Jesus, the Son of God, came, and died, was buried, and rose to live forever! In the early days of the church, there was a lot of discussion over whether Jesus was God who looked like a man, or a man who acted like God, or even if he actually died on Calvary – after all, his life among us was anything BUT a routine occurrence!
In response to these errors in thought, John writes in his gospel of the divine nature of Christ, (John 1:1-14) – that he was truly both the Son of God AND the Son of Man, and later regarding the crucifixion, about the spear that pierced the Lord’s side, and how water and blood poured out of his body (John 19:32-34). And now Paul is also affirming the fact that the Lord’s life, death and entombment were real, but were all overcome through his resurrection into new life.

And further evidence of his resurrection is in the many people who saw him post-Easter. He appeared to his closest followers, as well as to hundreds of other believers who trusted in his word, and he even appeared to the scoundrel Saul of Tarsus, with the singular purpose of calling him into ministry as one of the Christ’s most powerful apostles.

Talk about a great crowd of witnesses to the truth of the Lord’s presence and life and resurrection!

Read 1 Corinthians 15:9-11

And Paul readily confesses that all he has received, and all that he has shared, and all that he may have done in the name of Jesus Christ, has little, if anything, to do with his abilities or desires – he attributes it all to God’s grace that is working in and through him for the good of those who hear and come to believe. It doesn’t matter how hard he has had to work, or how much he has had to suffer for the gospel – none of it gives him any concern. He, and we, become who and what we are, simply by the grace of Almighty God, and for his glory.

And the grace of God doesn’t stop with Paul – it abounds in and for all who seek salvation and the resurrected life by faith in Jesus. And at the heart of all that we are called to be and do, lies the fact that faith in Christ – in all that he taught about our relationship with the Father, and in all that he did that we might know the life and glory that is so prevalent in him – we, too, can be made whole and complete and righteous and forgiven in that faith.

But without Calvary, without his blood sacrifice, without his mortal death, without his resurrection, without the sending of the Holy Spirit to sustain and enable all who believe, there is no ministry, there is no heaven, there is no hope, and there is no eternal life. Some believe that the tomb and everything that came after, is nothing more than an afterthought. They believe that the blood of Calvary is the atonement, the forgiveness for our sins, and rightly so, but that nothing else is important. The truth is though, that God leaves nothing to chance, and that includes life that is neverending.

If Jesus had remained locked within that tomb of death, or even if he had just vanished from the face of earth on that Sunday morning, where would our faith be? No relocated stone, no folded linens, no appearing to so many of the faithful, no certainty that he was even alive, no proof that life beyond this life even existed - nothing would be shown to the world to demonstrate, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that Jesus could not be controlled by the hatred and disbelief and sinfulness and death that this world is known for.

And without the evidence that Jesus lived on, where would our hope be? The good news of Jesus Christ would be nothing more than a vast and vain hope, and the Lord’s mission to earth would become a senseless waste.

The resurrection of Easter is God’s punctuation mark on the life and ministry that Jesus brought to this desolate plane. Mary Magdalene met the Living Christ outside the tomb, and she couldn’t hold the news back – she had to tell all the followers. John and Peter ran to the empty tomb, and discovered the truth of Jesus, and they would soon be completed witnesses to the Living Lord. Cleopas and his friend, who were fleeing for their lives on that Easter morning, met the Living Christ on the Road to Emmaus, and their lives would never the same again! The persecutor Saul, while on the road to Damascus, the next town where he would ravage the Christian population, met the Living Lord, and was not only changed in mind and heart, but received a new name for the ministry that Christ had for him.

And each one of us, by faith in the Living Jesus, and by responding to Christ’s call on our lives, and by living a life in Christian Community, and by accepting the urging and enabling of the Holy Spirit, we, too, will be a living testimony to God’s grace at work in the lowest and least of his apostles.

And we may be the only proof of the resurrection that some will ever know.
Are any of us willing to let that opportunity pass us by?