Intended Consequences

The message given in the Sunday night service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on Sunday, February 28, 2021.  The Bible verses used are John 12:20-36.

            Are you familiar with the Law of Unintended Consequences?  You probably are.  Even if you were not aware that it was called that, you’ve probably seen it in operation.  Basically, the Law of Unintended Consequences says that whenever we make a decision or take an action, that decision or action will have consequences that we never intended.  And the more complex the situation is about which were making that decision or taking that action, the larger the unintended consequences are going to be.

            Now, of course, the Law of Unintended Consequences is a human thing.  For God, there are never any unintended consequences.  When God acts, God knows exactly what all of the consequences will be.  And we can see that in the life and death of Jesus.  

            In our reading for tonight, Jesus talks about his death.  He knows that he’s going to be betrayed.  The religious authorities are going to arrest him.  He’s going to be beaten and tortured.  He’s going to be sentenced to death.  And that sentence is going to be carried out.

            But listen to what Jesus has to say about that.  “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

            The religious leaders--the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the teachers of the law, all the rest--thought that the entire Christian movement rested on the life of Jesus.  And so, they assumed that once Jesus was out of the way, the movement would collapse.  If they could just get rid of Jesus, their problems would be over.

            But Jesus knew that his death would not be the end of the Christian movement.  It would just be the beginning.  Obviously, part of the reason is that Jesus is who he is--the divine Son of God.  But there were other, practical reasons why this was going to come about, too.

            Jesus knew that as long as he was there, the disciples, and everyone else, would look to him to be the leader.  And that was appropriate, of course.  Jesus was the leader.  But the thing is, as long as Jesus was there, the disciples would never take any initiative on their own.  They would always wait for Jesus to tell them what to do and where to go.  They would stick with Jesus, and follow Jesus.  But everything would depend on Jesus.  It would all revolve around him.  He would be the single seed that he talked about.

            But then, the authorities had Jesus killed.  And instead of the Christian movement dying with him, it was born!  In dying, Jesus produced many seeds!  And he still is, really.  But the disciples took over from Jesus.  They carried his ministry forward.  And because there were more of them, once they went off separately they could cover far more ground than Jesus ever could while he was on earth.  The disciples, and the others who heard about Jesus from them, spread the gospel all over the world.

            And the disciples going off separately was an unintended consequence of what the religious leaders did, too.  We did not read this tonight, but at first, the disciples stayed together.  They stayed around Jerusalem.  But then, the authorities started coming after them, threatening them with persecution and arrest.  And so, the disciples scattered.  They scattered for their own safety, but they took the gospel of Jesus Christ with them wherever they went.  And the gospel spread, and spread, and spread, all over the world.

            The religious authorities thought they could stop Christianity by killing Christ.  Instead, they made it grow.  The religious authorities thought they could stop the disciples from spreading Christianity by forcing them out of Jerusalem.  Instead, their actions made Christianity reach people all over the known world.

            Those were all unintended consequences for the religious authorities.  But they were all intended consequences for God.  And Jesus, by his words, shows that he knew it would happen.  

            But it’s not just that these things happened.  They happened to glorify God.  That’s referenced three times in Jesus’ statement.  He starts out by saying “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”  Later he says, “Father, glorify your name.”  And a voice comes from heaven, saying “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

            I want you to think about this.  This struck me as such an awesome thing for God to have done.  You know, we think of the Pharisees, and the Sadducees, and the rest, as the bad guys in the story of Jesus.  And they are, in a lot of ways.  But they were not trying to be the bad guys.  They thought they were doing what God wanted them to do.  They wanted God’s name to be glorified.

            And, as a result of their actions, it was.  Talk about an unintended consequence!  The actions of the Pharisees and the Sadducees resulted in God’s name being glorified, but in a way that never would have occurred to them.  A way they never would’ve dreamed of.  A way that never would have entered their thoughts in any way, shape or form.  The Pharisees and Sadducees had everything completely wrong, and yet God used what they did to bring about what they actually wanted--God’s name being glorified.  That’s a pretty amazing thing for God to do, don’t you think?

            I sometimes mention Romans Chapter Eight, Verse Twenty-eight, that God can use all things for the good of those who love Him.  But you know, when you think about it, when the Apostle Paul wrote that, he was really kind of underselling it.  It’s not just that God can use all things for the good of those who love Him.  God can use all things to bring about His purposes.  God can use all things to glorify His name.  God can take the actions of people whose goal is to stop Christianity, to shut it down, to do away with it, and use those actions to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and glorify the name of God.  It’s incredible.

            And it should give us a lot of hope.  You know, we look at the world, and we see a lot of things going wrong.  It’s not just the corona virus, although that’s obvious a major one.  It’s violence.  It’s lack of trust.  It’s economic problems.  It’s isolation and depression.  It’s failed relationships.  It’s loneliness.  We could go on and on about the problems of the world.

            And it seems like there are a lot of people opposed to Christianity right now, too.  We don’t feel that as much here, because of where we live, but we’d be foolish to think we’re immune from it.  Churches are forced to close.  Pastors are threatened with jail for continuing to preach to live audiences.  Things that have been basic tenets of Christianity for centuries are now called “offensive” and are censored.  Christians often censor themselves, and don’t want to talk about their faith, because they don’t want to upset anyone.  And in other countries it’s even worse.  There are places where people are literally killed for the Christian faith.

            When we think about these things, we can get depressed.  We wonder what the future holds.  But we don’t have to be depressed.  As the old hymn says, we may not know what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future.  We know that it’s all in God’s hands.  We know that God remains in control.  God always has been in control, and God always will be in control.  And God is going to work all these things to bring about God’s purposes.

Anyone who thinks they can stop Christianity is doomed to failure.  They are as doomed to failure as the Pharisees and the Sadducees were when they killed Jesus.  They may think they’re winning.  Everyone around may think they’re winning, too.  But they’re not.  They are going to see the Law of Unintended Consequences take effect, big time.  Or, another way to put it is that they are going to see the Law of God’s Intended Consequences take effect, big time. 

Christianity cannot be killed, just as Jesus could not be killed.  And anyone who tries is only going to see their actions result in Christianity growing all the more.  And they’re going to see God’s name glorified.  God has glorified His name, and He will glorify it again.

So, no matter what you see around you, do not give up hope.  Do not lose faith.  Know that God is still here.  God sees everything that’s happening.  And God is going to use it all.  God is using it all now, in ways that we do not know and cannot see.  We talk about God being all-powerful, and of course that’s true, but even though we say it I don’t know if we actually realize how true that statement is.  Even when we think of all the amazing things God has done, I don’t think we come anywhere close to realizing the incredible, awesome power God has.  We also don’t come anywhere close to realizing the incredible, awesome love God has for us, that God would use God’s power for our good.

God cannot be stopped.  God cannot even be slowed down.  Everything that’s happening now is being used by God.  The single seed is falling into the ground.  It is going to produce more seeds that we can ever imagine.  God’s name will be glorified.  That may be an unintended consequence of what humans do.  But it’s a consequence that’s fully intended by God.

 

That We May See

This is the message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday, February 28, 2021.  The Bible verses used are Mark 10:46-52.

            Most of us are basically what would be commonly thought of as good people.  We do our best.  We care about people.  We try to do what we can for them.  When we see someone who needs help, we try to give it to them.

            But the tricky bit about that is that phrase “when we see someone”.  Because too often, we don’t.  A lot of the time, we kind of go through life with blinders on.  We don’t see the people around us who need help, and so we don’t help them.  It’s not that we don’t want to help them.  It’s just that we did not see them.  We did not notice them.

            And that’s not because we’re intentionally being mean or selfish or anything.  It’s just that, well, we get involved in our own stuff.  Our work takes our time.  Our families take our time.  If we’re involved in the community, or in the church, that takes our time.  And then, too, we’ve all got concerns in our lives.  We’ve all got worries.  We’ve all got problems.  And so, it’s really easy for us to get completely wrapped up in all those things going on in our own lives.  Again, not because we want to be selfish--it can happen to us without us even realizing it.  And because we don’t realize it, we can walk right past someone who needs help, and not even see them.

            In our Bible reading for today, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem.  As we noted last week, this is the last trip of Jesus’ life.  He knows that when he gets to Jerusalem, Judas is going to betray him to the authorities.  He’s going to be arrested, he’s going to be beaten, and he’s going to be killed.

            Have you ever thought about what that was like for Jesus?  To walk along, knowing that every step he takes brings him closer to the end of his life on earth?  I would think there must have been a part of him that wanted to turn around, wanted to go back to Nazareth, or just go somewhere else, anywhere else.  Yes, Jesus knew this was how things were supposed to go.  He knew it was part of his destiny on earth to be crucified.  But still, Jesus was fully human as well as fully divine.  There had to be a part of him that did not want to go through with this.

            And you know, he could’ve justified it to himself.  He could’ve said, you know, if I just put this off a while, think of all the good I could do.  Think of all the people I could heal.  Think of all the people I could preach the good news to.  There’s a lot more I could do if I did not go to Jerusalem right now.  I’ll still do it--I know I’m supposed to die for the sins of human beings--but not just now.  Maybe next year.  Or the year after.  But not yet.  Not now.

            Jesus has all this to deal with as he’s walking along, walking toward Jerusalem.  If there was ever someone who had an excuse to not notice the needs of others, to get wrapped up in his own stuff, it would be Jesus at this point.  And yet, Jesus did not do that.  He did not walk along with blinders on.  Jesus saw the needs of others.  And he took the time to help them.

            Jesus is leaving a town called Jericho.  There’s a large crowd around him.  And any time there’s a large crowd, there’s lots of noise, lots of confusion.  But then, above the noise of the crowd, there’s a voice.  It’s a voice so loud that everyone hears it.  A man cries out, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!”

            Everyone’s kind of shocked.  The people around him try to shush him, but he pays no attention.  He cries out all the louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

            It would’ve been so easy for Jesus to just keep walking along.  Again, he was walking toward his death.  He’d already healed hundreds of people, probably thousands of people.  Maybe even tens of thousands of people, we don’t know.  He’d been there and done that.  Does he really have to deal with this guy now, when he’s in the last week of his life on earth, walking toward his death?  What was in it for Jesus, for him to do that?  Can this guy not just leave him alone?

            But Jesus did not think that way.  You or I might have, but Jesus did not.  Jesus stopped.  And he said of the man, whose name was Bartimaeus, “Call him.”

            They do.  And Bartimaeus comes to Jesus as fast as he can.  He even throws aside his cloak, which to a blind beggar might have been the most important thing he owned.  We don’t know if people had to lead him to Jesus, if he followed the voice, or what, but somehow Bartimaeus makes his way to Jesus.  And Jesus says, “What do you want me to do for you?”

            It seems like, when people came to Jesus to be healed, Jesus asked that question a lot.  I wonder why.  I mean, it seems obvious, right?  The guy’s blind.  He knows Jesus has healing powers.  What do you think he wants, tickets to the coliseum?  Of course, he wants to be healed.  He wants to see.  But for whatever reason, Jesus makes him say it.

            This is kind of an aside, but that’s a lesson for us, too.  Sometimes we wonder why, in our prayers, we need to tell God what’s going on and what we want.  After all, He’s God, right?  God knows everything.  God knows everything about us.  God knows everything we’re going through.  Why should we have to tell Him?  

            I don’t know why.  Maybe it’s because putting it into words clarifies things in our own minds.  Maybe God wants us to say it to Him so that we’ll know, when things get better, that it was God who did it.  There may be all kinds of reasons why God wants us to tell Him these things.  But a lot of times God does, just as Jesus wanted the people he healed to put into words what they wanted.

            So of course, Bartimaeus says he wants to see.  And Jesus gives him his sight, telling him, as he often did, “Your faith has healed you.”  And Bartimaeus then started following Jesus on the road to Jerusalem.

            Jesus had so much on his mind.  He had so much going on.  It would’ve been so easy for Jesus to just keep walking, to just ignore this blind beggar, to pretend he hadn’t even heard him over the buzz of the crowd.  No one would’ve thought less of him.  No one probably would’ve thought anything.  This story would never have appeared in the Bible.  No one would’ve ever heard of Bartimaeus.  No one would’ve known anything about it.

            But Jesus did not have blinders on.  He did not let his own stuff, his own worries, his own concerns, keep him from helping someone who needed him.  Jesus did not just walk past someone who needed help.  Jesus stopped, and Jesus helped him.

            There are a lot of times when life is not easy.  Now, I’m not saying we should sit around saying “poor little me”.  You and I have a lot advantages that many people in the world don’t.  Just living in the United States of America is a huge advantage.  We all have a place to sleep and food to eat and clothes to wear, and those are huge advantages.

            But even saying that, there are a lot of times when life is not easy.  We may not be worried about basic survival--although I don’t know that about everyone for sure--but we have other worries, other concerns.  There are plenty of people in our churches, and in our communities, who have health problems, or financial problems, or relationship problems, or problems at their jobs, or any number of other things.  I don’t know anyone who can say their life is easy, that they have nothing to worry about, that everything is lollipops and rainbows.  We all have plenty of stuff going on in our lives, and they can feel overwhelming to us.  Life is not easy.

            But what is easy, and happens far too often, is that we let that stuff take over our lives.  And I don’t mean this as an accusation.  I do it as much as anyone.  But when our own worries, our own concerns, take over our lives, that’s when we put the blinders on.  We probably don’t even realize that we’ve done it, but we do it.  And we miss chances to help people, because we simply don’t see them and don’t see their needs.

            This is the time of Lent.  This is the time we repent of our sins, ask for forgiveness, and ask God to change our lives.  Let’s ask God to change our lives in this way.  Let’s ask God to take off our blinders.  Let’s ask God to help us see the needs of the people around us, so we can do whatever we can to help them.

            We really want to be good people.  We really do care about people.  We really want to try to do what we can for them.  When we see someone who needs help, we really do want to try help them.  So let’s ask God to help us follow Jesus’ example.  No matter how much is going on in our lives, let’s not go through life with blinders on.  Let’s see the people around us.  And let’s help them.  That’s how we can show God’s love to people.  It’s what Jesus did.  It’s what Jesus wants us to do, too.

 

Show Us the Way

The message at the Wednesday night Lent service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on February 24, 2021.  The Bible verses used are John 14:1-14.

It’s the last night that Jesus will spend on earth.  Before long, he will go to the Garden of Gethsemane.  He will be arrested there.  He will then be tried, beaten, and sentenced to death.  The next day, he will be taken to Golgotha, will be hung on a cross, and will die.

            Jesus knows all this, of course.  He’s told the disciples about it several times.  Just before our reading tonight, he tells them again.  He tells them that it’s going to be one of them who betrays him and causes all this to happen.  

            With all this on his mind, it would be understandable if Jesus’ thoughts were on himself and what he was about to go through.  But that’s not how it was.  Jesus was not thinking about himself.  He was thinking about God the Father, and he was thinking about his ministry on earth.  He was thinking about the disciples, too.  Jesus knew this would be the last chance he would have to be with them.  Anything he had to tell them, he’d better tell them now.  Tomorrow it would be too late.

            Jesus makes a fairly long speech, at least as far as his recorded speeches go.  What we read tonight was just the start of it.  But it’s interesting, I think, that he started by giving words of comfort and reassurance and hope to the disciples.

            I don’t know if the disciples still really understood, at this point, just what was going to happen.  But they understood that Jesus was going to leave them, and that thought made them sad.  It also made them scared.  After all, Jesus was their leader.  More than that, he was the Son of God, the Messiah.  Without him, where would they go?  What would they do?  Who would be in charge?  Who would be the one who told them the mind of God?  They had been with Jesus for three years.  The thought that he would not be there, that somehow they would have to figure out a way to carry on without him, was a really scary thought to them.

            So Jesus tries to reassure them.  He says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  You believe in God; believe also in me.”

            What we usually hear in that--or at least what I usually hear in that--is Jesus telling them to accept him as the Savior.  And I think that’s part of it, but I think there’s more than that going on here.  As I think about this, I think what Jesus is saying is, “Trust me.  Trust me that things are going to be all right.  I know you don’t think so.  I know you don’t see how.  But trust me.  Trust me that things are all going to work out the way they’re supposed to.  Even when it looks like they’re not, even when it seems like nothing is going right, trust me that it is.  Trust me that this is all part of the plan, that all these things are happening because they need to happen.  Trust me that God’s glory is going to be revealed through all of this.”

            And if we stopped right there, we’d already have a good message.  Trust in the Lord.  Even when it seems like things are going wrong.  Even when we don’t see how they’re ever going to be right.  Do not let your heart be troubled.  Believe in God.  Trust in Jesus.  The Lord is still in control, and eventually the glory of the Lord is still going to be revealed.

            But of course, Jesus does not stop right there.  He says, “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going.”  And then, we’re told, Thomas asks, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

            And this is why I love Thomas so much.  He gets a bum rap.  He’s known as “the doubter”.  People look down on him.  But he’s the one, here and at other times, who’s willing to say what everyone else is thinking.  You know that the other disciples were having just as much trouble understanding Jesus as Thomas was.  But none of them had the guts to say so.  They just sat there, trying to act like they knew what Jesus was saying.  

            But not Thomas.  Thomas has the courage to speak up.  And he has the faith to speak up, too.  Thomas thinks, “I need to understand this, and I don’t, so I’m going to ask.  I don’t care if I look stupid.  I need to know what Jesus is talking about here, and I don’t, so I’m going to ask.”

            And Jesus answers with some of the most important words in the Bible.  Not that the Bible has unimportant words, but listen to what Jesus says here.  “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

            Jesus was going to God the Father.  He wants us to go to God the Father, too.  But the only way we can get there is through belief in Jesus.  Just belief in a generic “god” won’t do it.  Just trying to be a good person won’t do it.  Belief in Mother Earth won’t do it.  Belief in Allah or some other god won’t do it.  The only way to get to heaven is through belief in Jesus Christ.  Period.

            That’s not a popular thing to say.  We want to say that all roads lead to heaven, or that at least a lot of them do.  We want to say that everybody goes to heaven.  We want to say that, because God loves us, God would never let anyone go to hell.  That’s what we want to say.  Saying that there’s only one way to go to heaven, and that the one way is belief in Jesus Christ, just does not seem right.

            But then, the truth is often not popular.  But truth is not subject to a vote.  Truth does not care about our opinions or about our feelings.  Truth just is.  And that’s especially the case when it comes to God’s truth.  God’s truth is not up for a vote.  God’s truth is not interested in what the polls show.  God’s truth just is.  The truth that belief in Jesus is the only way to heaven just is.  Period.

            Jesus continues.  He says, “If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”  And then, in answer to a comment by Philip, Jesus says, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”

            We feel sometimes like it’s hard to really know or understand God.  And it is, sometimes.  But Jesus tells us that if we want to get to know God, if we want to understand God, the best way to do it is just to look at him.  

            Think about the awesome advantage that is.  Think of how privileged we are.  God would not have had to do that for us.  God could’ve been a distant, impersonal God.  God could’ve left us to guess at who He is.  God could’ve left us in doubt, in fear, doing things and just hoping and praying that those things would be what God wanted.  But God did not do that.  God gave us the chance to know.  All we need to do is look at Jesus.

            Want to know whether God loves you?  Look at how Jesus loved people.  Want to know the kind of power God has?  Look at the power Jesus had.  Want to know how God wants us to live?  Look at how Jesus said we should live.  Want to know how we should treat people?  Look at how Jesus treated people.  Want to know what God thinks about marriage, about money, about giving, about all kinds of things?  Just look at what Jesus said about all those things.  If we want to get to know God and understand God, all we need to do is look to Jesus.

            Our goal in this season of Lent is to repent of our sins, ask for forgiveness, and change our lives.  But it’s not enough to desire to change, even if we really mean it.  We need to know what we’re going to change into.  And because God loves us, God showed us what we should change into.  All we need to do is look to Jesus.

            If we look to Jesus, if we follow Jesus, if we live the way Jesus wants us to live, we will change our lives.  It won’t be easy.  We probably won’t do it perfectly.  But we can do it.  With God’s help, we can do it.  With God’s love, we can do it.  With God’s power, we can do it.

            Do not let your heart be troubled.  Trust in God and believe in Jesus.  Know God by looking to Jesus.  Jesus shows us the way, because Jesus is the way.

 

Doing Things for Jesus

This is the message given in the Sunday night service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on February 21, 2021.  The Bible verses used are John 12:1-11.

            In our Bible reading for tonight, Jesus is starting the last week of his life on earth.  He knows that.

            We’re not sure how many other people knew it.  The disciples should have known it.  Jesus told them several times.  But did they really know?  It’s hard to say.

            And maybe you say, well, if Jesus told them, they had to know.  They surely would not have thought Jesus was lying to them.  And no, I don’t think they thought Jesus was lying.  But you know, we all have a great capacity to believe what we want to believe, and to not believe what we don’t want to believe.  I could easily see the disciples thinking, well, Jesus cannot really mean that.  It’s probably just a figure of speech.  It’s like those parables he’s always telling us.  He does not mean it literally.  He’s just exaggerating to make a point or something.

            And you can understand why they might have thought that.  After all, Jesus did use figures of speech sometimes.  He did use parables.  Everything he said could not just be taken at face value.  So you can understand why the disciples would’ve thought that Jesus was not going to literally die.  He must have meant something else.

            And it would’ve been easy for them to convince themselves of that.  After all, Jesus was their leader.  More than that, he was their friend.  They did not want Jesus to die.  They did not want to believe he would die.  So again, they chose to believe that Jesus did not really mean what he said.

            Besides, what Jesus was saying seemed like it was impossible.  Jesus was the Messiah.  He was the divine Son of God.  He was the one who was going to restore Israel and bring the kingdom of God to earth.  How could the king, the Messiah, the divine Son of God, die?  It made no sense to them.  So they simply did not believe it.

            Martha is giving a party.  It’s a celebration, a tribute to Jesus.  Jesus has just raised Lazarus from the dead, and of course Lazarus is there, too.  And all at once Mary gets up.  Now, just to make sure you understand, this is not Mary the mother of Jesus.  This is Mary, the sister of Martha and of Lazarus.  A good friend of Jesus. 

Mary gets up, and she gets some expensive perfume.  The way the story is presented, she does not tell anyone what she’s about to do.  She just does it.  She takes the perfume and pours it over Jesus’ feet.  And then she wipes his feet with her hair.

            I suspect that at first there’s just kind of a stunned silence.  Then Judas speaks up.  He says that’s a misuse of this expensive perfume.  It could’ve been sold and the money given to the poor.

            Now, we’re told that Judas did not really care about the poor, but I suspect there were other people there who were thinking the same thing.  They thought this was incredibly wasteful, to use this expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet.  After all, Mary could’ve washed Jesus’ feet with water.  It would’ve worked just as well.  And then, yeah, the money from the perfume could’ve been used for all kinds of good things.  It just makes sense, right?

            But Jesus approves.  And he says this, “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.”

            Now, what Jesus was referring to was the tradition at the time.  When someone died, you took various perfumes and spices to prepare the body for burial.  That’s why the women went out to Jesus’ tomb on that first Easter morning, when they found out that Jesus had risen.  They were not going out there because they were expecting to find an empty grave.  They were expecting Jesus’ body to be there, and they were going to prepare it for burial.

            I wonder what Mary thought when she heard Jesus say that she had saved the perfume for the day of his burial.  I mean, she did not want Jesus to die, any more than anyone else did.  Jesus was her friend.  Besides, he had just raised her brother Lazarus from the dead.  Jesus was probably her hero at that point.  When she poured the perfume over Jesus’ feet, was there any thought in her mind that she was preparing his body for burial?  I doubt it.  I don’t think that thought even occurred to her.

            So why did Mary do this?  Because she wanted to do something for Jesus.  For lots of reasons, probably.  Because she was his friend.  Because he had just brought her brother back from death.  Because she believed he was the Messiah.  And probably some other reasons as well.

            We don’t know whether Mary planned this out ahead of time, or if it was a spur-of-the-moment thing.  But at some point, Mary must have thought, I want to do something for Jesus.  But what can I do?  What could I possibly do for Jesus?  She could not think of anything.  And then she remembered.  She had a pint of expensive perfume.  She could take that, and she could use it in a way that would honor Jesus.  And what more of an honor could she give him that to wash his feet with that expensive perfume, and to use her own hair to dry them?  It might be a small thing, but it was the biggest, most honoring thing she could do for him.

            That’s why she did it.  She wanted to do the most loving thing she could do for Jesus.  And when she thought of it, she did it.  No hesitancy.  No discussion.  No fanfare.  She just did it.  She did it out of love for Jesus and a desire to please Him and honor Him.

            And Jesus accepted that act of love.  You know, Jesus could’ve said, oh, no, Mary, don’t do that.  You don’t need to do that for me.  After all, Jesus was a humble man, and he talked about the value of humility.  Jesus could’ve said, Mary, look, I appreciate it and all, but it’s not necessary.  I’ll be okay.  Keep this perfume.  You need the money. 

            Jesus did not do that.  He accepted the tribute Mary gave him.  He accepted the love that Mary gave him.  Jesus knew this was an act of love, and to refuse it would’ve been to refuse love.  And not only did Jesus accept it, he turned it into something that had far more meaning than Mary ever intended.

            Last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday.  We moved into the season of Lent.  One of the traditions of Lent is that we give something up.  I’ve done that sometimes, and sometimes I have not.  But even when I have, it never felt like a big deal to me.  I mean, Jesus gives up his life for us, I give up Diet Coke?  I mean, there’s no comparison there.  How is that meaningful in any real way?

            But I think now that I’ve been looking at it the wrong way.  The point is not that we give up something that’s equivalent to what Jesus did for us.  We could not do that even if we wanted to.  Even if I did sacrifice my life for someone, I cannot give anyone salvation and eternal life like Jesus did.  It’s just not possible.

            What this story tells us is that we don’t have to do big things for Jesus.  We just need to do whatever we can.  If we can do big things for Jesus, we should do them.  But if we can only do small things for Jesus, we should do them, too.  What matters is not how big or small what we do for Jesus is.  What matters is that we do it out of love. 

Because, when we do what we can for Jesus, and when we do it out of love, Jesus will do what he did with what Mary did for him.  First, he’ll accept it with gratitude and love.  Then, he’ll take our small thing and make it into something bigger.  He’ll take our small thing and turn it into something that has far more meaning that we ever thought of. 

Now, when we do what we can for Jesus, even when we do it out of love, there will always be nay-sayers, right?  There will always be someone to play the role of Judas.  There will be somebody there to say, well, that was stupid.  That was wasteful.  You should not have done that.  There were all kinds of other things you could’ve done.  There were a lot better ways you could’ve spent your money, could’ve spent your time, could’ve used your abilities.  After all, the one thing that never seems to be in short supply in this world is critics.

But you and I don’t need to care what other people say.  Because we know Jesus will never say that.  When we do what we can for Jesus, and do it out of love, Jesus will never criticize us.  Jesus will never tell us we should not do it.  Jesus will never refuse our love.  Jesus will accept it gratefully, and Jesus will use it for something that will bring him glory, just as he did with what Mary did for him.

In this season of Lent, let’s think about what we can do for Jesus.  If you can do big things, do big things.  If you can do small things, do small things.  But whatever it is you do, do it out of love.  And when you do, keep your eyes open and pay attention.  Because I think we’ll be amazed at what Jesus will do with what we’ve done.

Greatness Through Service

This is the message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday, February 21, 2021.  The Bible verses used are Mark 10:32-45.

            Do you ever get confused about your faith?  I mean, not necessarily in the sense of doubting God or Jesus, although that can certainly happen to us, too.  What I mean is, getting confused about how it all works.  Why things are the way they are.  Why things in Jesus’ life happened the way they did.  Why things in our lives happen the way they do.  

            There can be a lot to process in regard to our faith.  The “why” questions can drive us crazy.  We know that we should trust.  We know we should have faith.  And we do, but still...it would be so nice if we could just understand more about it.  I always tell my confirmation students that I don’t just want them to believe, I want them to know why they believe what they believe.  I think that’s important for all of us.  And yet, sometimes it seems like the more we read, the more we study, the more confused we get.

            Well, if it makes you feel any better, know that the gospels are full of examples of the disciples not understanding and getting confused, too.  And the disciples had advantages we don’t have.  They were right there with Jesus.  They heard these things from his own lips.  They had the chance to ask Him questions, to get clarifications.  And yet, so many times, they did not even get the basic concepts of what Jesus was doing.

            We have an example of that in our reading for today.  Jesus and the disciples were going to Jerusalem.  This was the last trip Jesus would make to Jerusalem, the trip that would end in his death on a cross.  And as they go, Jesus tells the disciples what’s going to happen.  He tells them that he’s going to be delivered to the religious leaders.  They’re going to condemn him to death and give him to the Roman rulers to execute the sentence.  And he will be killed.  And then, in three days, he will rise.

            And the disciples listened.  And they probably nodded their heads.  Yes, we understand.  Jesus is going to be arrested and killed.  And then he’ll rise three days later.  

They heard it all.  They knew the facts.  But they had no clue what it actually meant.

You can tell that by the next thing that happens.  As soon as Jesus tells them all this, James and John come up to Jesus and ask Jesus to let them sit next to him, one at his right and one at his left, when Jesus comes into his glory.

Now, that’s obviously a pretty arrogant and selfish thing for them to ask.  To think that they deserve to sit next to Jesus in His glory.  We think sometimes about how they’re putting themselves ahead of the other disciples, but it’s more than just that.  They’re putting themselves ahead of Moses and Elijah and Isaiah and Joshua and every other great leader and prophet Israel ever had.  That’s quite the position they’re asking Jesus to put them in.  You’d have to have a pretty high opinion of yourself to ask for something like that.

But the thing is, you’d also have to have a basic misconception of what Jesus was talking about.  When Jesus said he was going to rise in three days, they must have thought that Jesus was going to take over at that point.  That Jesus was going to return to lead the nation of Israel back to its former glory, and even more.  They must have thought that Jesus was going to establish his kingdom on earth right then.  And they wanted to get in on the ground floor and have the top spots, to be Jesus’ number one and number two assistants when he became king of the world.

I would think Jesus must have been pretty disappointed when this happened.  After all he’d tried to teach the disciples about love and about humility.  After all the times he’d tried to show them that we need to put others ahead of ourselves.  After all the time they’d spent together.  And then they come to him with a request like this.  Jesus must have just shaken his head when he heard that.

But Jesus had incredible patience.  He used this as yet another learning opportunity.  He tells them, first, that it’s not up to him who will sit as his right and his left, that God has that all worked out already.  But then he says this:  “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.  Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

I suspect that the disciples still did not get it.  And I wonder how many of us get it now.  I wonder if I do.  The idea that whoever wants to become great must be a servant.  Whoever wants to be first must be a slave to all.  Even today, that idea really does not make a lot of sense to us.

Becoming a slave, or even a servant, is not exactly a popular lifestyle choice.  It’s not something very many people aspire to.  And yet, Jesus tells his disciples, and us, that becoming a servant and a slave is the path to greatness.

It’s confusing.  It certainly is not how most of us would define greatness.  I mean, we might praise it in theory.  We might admire someone like Mother Teresa, who spent her life helping the lowest of the low.  We admire people like that--but very few of us actually want to be like them.  People like that stand out precisely because there are so few of them.  

Now, don’t misunderstand.  I’m not saying that we’re all a bunch of selfish jerks who never think about anyone else.  I’m aware that there are people here who are very generous.  And not just with money, although some of you are generous with that.  But you’re also generous with your time, with your abilities, with your talents.  This church, and this community, would be much poorer if you were not that way.

But can we really say that we’re slaves of all, the way Jesus put it?  Can we really say that we’re even servants?  I mean, some of us are at times, but probably not all the time.  And yet, that’s how Jesus defines greatness.

It’s a tough standard.  And it’s not one that makes a lot of sense to us.  But Jesus said it.  And what’s more, Jesus lived it.  As he said, “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus would not have had to do that, you know.  I mean, he was Jesus.  He could’ve been the sort of king the disciples expected.  He could’ve taken power on earth.  He could’ve ruled the world.  He could’ve made everyone worship him.  He could’ve made them worship the disciples, too.  James and John probably would’ve loved it.  So would the other disciples.

And you know who else would’ve loved it?  Satan.  Because that’s exactly what Satan tried to get Jesus to do when he was tempting Jesus in the wilderness.  In Matthew Chapter Four, Satan offers Jesus all the kingdoms of the world.  And Jesus turns him down, because Jesus knows that’s not how it’s supposed to go.  Jesus knows he’s not supposed to seize power.  He’s supposed to be a servant, not a ruler.

But the thing is, there are times when Satan makes that same offer to you and me.  Not exactly, of course.  None of us is likely to be offered all the kingdoms of the world.  But we’re offered other things.  We’re offered money.  We’re offered an easier life.  We’re offered various pleasures.  If only we’ll just focus more on ourselves, and less on others.  If only we’ll stop thinking about being servants.  If only we’ll be a little more selfish.

But of course Satan does not want that word--selfish--to occur to us.  We know we’re not supposed to be selfish.  So we think of it as just getting what we deserve.  After all, we work hard.  We’re good people.  We deserve good things.  Other people have them, and they’re not as good as we are.  Why should we not have them, too?  It’s not selfish.  It just making things fair.  We’re not getting more than we should.  We’re just getting our fair share.

We’re in the period of Lent.  At the Ash Wednesday service, we talked about how this period of Lent is one in which we need to take an honest look at ourselves.  We need to see how far short we fall of who we should be.  We need to repent of our sins and ask God to help us make real changes in our lives.

This is one of the changes we need to make.  It’s one of the changes I need to make.  To put away our selfishness.  To truly become a servant of others, and by doing so be a servant to God.  

It won’t happen overnight.  But are we willing to try?  Are we willing to make this change in our lives?  Are we willing to put others ahead of ourselves, to become a servant to others?  Are we willing to serve God in that way?

It may not make sense to others.  It may not even make sense to us.  But Jesus said to do it.  And what’s more, Jesus did it.  By doing it, Jesus achieved greatness.  If you and I follow His example, that same greatness is available to us, too.

 

Resolving to Change

This is the message given in the Ash Wednesday services in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish.  The Bible verses used are Joel 2:1-2, 12-17.

            I told Wanda recently that I think our bathroom mirror is haunted.  Every time I look into it, I see an old man staring back at me.          

            We all have an image of ourselves, don’t we?  And that image is rarely a true one.  And I’m not just talking about our appearance here.  I’m talking about everything about us--our personality, our work ethic, our intelligence, everything.  We have an idea of what all of those things are, but quite often our idea is not very accurate.  We may see ourselves as better than we are, or we may see ourselves as worse than we are, but we rarely see ourselves as we really are.  The poet Robert Burns wrote over two hundred years ago about what a gift it would be to see ourselves as others see us.  It would be an even greater gift, of course, to see ourselves as God see us.  But it’s very difficult to do either one.

            But Lent is our invitation to try.  Lent is a time when we try to strip away our image of ourselves.  We try to strip away all the excuses we make for ourselves, all the justifications we make for our behavior.  We also try to strip away all the times we beat ourselves up and run ourselves down.  We try very hard to see ourselves as we truly are.

            It’s hard.  If you’ve ever tried to do it, you know it’s hard.  Because each one of us is such a unique mixture of good and bad.  We have times when we do something incredibly generous, when we give of ourselves with absolutely no thought that we will get anything in return and no thought that we even want anything in return.  And we have times when we can think of no one but ourselves, times when it’s all about us and no one else.  We have times when we show incredible, unqualified, unconditional love to someone.  And we have times when we turn our backs on someone and won’t give them the time of day.  We human beings do all of those things and more, every day.

            But even if we cannot see ourselves exactly as we are, most of us know that we’re not who we should be.  We know, as the Apostle Paul wrote, that we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  We know that, and yet--a lot of times, we don’t do much about it.  Oh, we might try to make improvements at the margins.  We might choose one or two things to work on.  But for the most part, we don’t make substantial changes in our lives.  And for the most part, we really don’t want to.  

            There are a lot of reasons for that.  One of them is complacency--we know we’re not perfect, but we don’t think we’re all that bad.  Another is laziness--it just seems like too much effort to change.  Another is fear--most of us kind of like our lives the way they are, and even if we don’t like them that much we’re used to them.  We’ve made peace with them.  If we make substantial changes to our lives, if we really decide to go wherever the Lord leads us, well, who knows where we might end up?  We may be led to go way out of comfort zones.  We might be led to do all kinds of things we never wanted to do, to go places we never wanted to go, and that scares us.

            But there’s one other big one, too, and it’s one we don’t talk about as much.  It’s procrastination.  We know we should change, but--well, we’ll get to that later.  We have plenty of time.  It’s been said that the biggest lie Satan tells us is that we have plenty of time to get right with God.  We’ll do it, yes we will, but--we don’t have to do it right now.  There’s no hurry.  We’ll get around to it.

            And maybe we do have time.  But there’s no guarantee of that.  The prophet Joel, in our reading for tonight, tells us, “Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming.  It is close at hand—a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness.  Like dawn spreading across the mountains, a large and mighty army comes, such as never was in ancient times nor ever will be in ages to come.”

            Joel says we don’t have time.  He says the day of the Lord is close at hand, and it’s going to be a pretty bad day.  But we hear that, and we think, well, he predicted that thousands of years ago.  And lots and lots of people have predicted the second coming of Christ, and it has not happened.  It’s not something I need to worry about.

            Well, maybe not.  I don’t truly expect Jesus to come back today or tomorrow.  But a couple of things about that.  One is that Jesus said he’s going to come back at a time we don’t expect.  So just because we don’t expect him to come back right now does not mean that he won’t.  It might be many, many years in the future, or it might be tonight.  We simply don’t know.

            But the other thing is that, even if Jesus does not come back for a long time, the time is going to come when we will go to Him.  And that day can come at any time.  We tend to assume, when we go to bed, that we’re going to wake up tomorrow, but we don’t actually know that we will.  We think we have plenty of time, but we might not.  And at some point, we definitely will not.  It will be too late.

            The time to repent of our sins is now.  The time to ask God for forgiveness is now.  The time to make changes in our lives is now.  Before it’s too late.  Joel quotes God as saying, “Even now, return to me with all your heart.”  Joel goes on to say, “Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.”

            And then, Joel says this.  And to me, this is the key to the whole thing.  If we return to God, if we repent and ask for forgiveness, Joel says, “Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing.”

            We sometimes take God’s forgiveness for granted.  We think that if we ask God for forgiveness, God has to give it to us.  And here’s the thing about that.  God is a very forgiving God.  If we ask for forgiveness sincerely and with a desire to change, God will forgive us.  But knowing that, we can sometimes start to feel as if God’s forgiveness is automatic, that God owes it to us to forgive us.

            Joel does not treat it that way at all.  Joel tells us to repent, to ask for forgiveness, to return to God.  But Joel does not tell us what the result will be.  Joel says, “Who knows?  He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing.”

            Who knows what God will do?  God may forgive.  God may leave behind a blessing.  Or God may not.  It’s up to God.

            Now again, I do believe that when we ask for forgiveness sincerely and with a desire to change, God will forgive us.  The point is, though, that you and I cannot manipulate God.  And we should not approach God in that way.  

            When we go to God, when we repent of our sins and ask for forgiveness, that should not be done with the desire to get God to do certain things or to act in a certain way.  We repent and ask for forgiveness because we have sinned against God.  We repent and ask for forgiveness because all of us have, at one time or another, treated the holy and perfect God shamefully.  We repent and ask God for forgiveness because God deserves our repentance.  God deserves an apology from us, and more than an apology.  God deserves our changed behavior, so that we start treating God with the love and respect God deserves.  We repent and ask for forgiveness because that is the right thing for us to do.

            God owes us nothing.  We owe God everything.  Our very existence is dependent on God.  Without God, we would be nothing.  Without God, we would not even be.

            So as we enter Lent, let’s take that good, hard look at ourselves.  Let’s do what we can to put away the image we have of ourselves, whether it’s good or bad.  Instead, let’s try to see ourselves as we truly are, the good and the bad.  Let’s resolve to make the important, substantial changes we need to make in our lives.  Let’s not put it off until some unknown date in the future.  Let’s do it now.  Today.

            And there’s one more thing we need to do today.  We need to ask God to help us do this.  Because that’s the only way it’s really going to happen--with God’s help.  If we try to do it on our own, will end up, at best, just making small improvements at the margins.  If we really want to change our lives, we need God to take control of our lives.  That means you and I need to give up control of our lives, and turn that control over to God.

            It’s not easy.  But it’s what we need to do.  And the time to do it is now.  Because the day of the Lord is coming.

 

Do We Love Him?

This is the message given in the Sunday night service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on February 14, 2021.  The Bible verses used are John 14:15-24.

             It’s Valentine’s Day.  A day of love.  And of course, in the context of Valentine’s Day, we usually think of love as being romantic love.

            Now, there’s nothing wrong with romantic love.  In fact, there’s a lot that’s right about it.  But it’s interesting how little the Bible has to say about romantic love.  The Bible does have things to say about marriage and sex and relationships.  But romance?  Not so much.

            The Bible does talk about love, of course.  But it talks about love in the context of the two things Jesus told us were most important:  love of God and love of others.

            In our reading for tonight, the word “love” shows up eight times in just ten verses.  Jesus is talking to the twelve disciples, the people closest to him.  He’s talking to them just before he goes to the garden of Gethsemane.  This is part of the last speech Jesus makes before he gets arrested and eventually killed.    

What does Jesus say?  He says, “If you love me, keep my commands.”  “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.  The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”  “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.  My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.  Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching.”  And then, just to make sure everyone knew Jesus meant it, he said, “These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.”

Jesus knows he’s about to be arrested and killed.  He knows that the only way the ministry he started on earth is going to continue is if the disciples carry it forward.  He also knows this is going to be his last chance to give instructions to those disciples.  And so, Jesus takes this chance to emphasize how important it is that the disciples do the things Jesus told them to do.  If Jesus’ ministry is going to continue, the disciples need to remember and follow all the things Jesus taught them.  The things about God, the things about faith, the things about trust, the things about spreading the word, everything.  Including, of course, the things Jesus taught them about love.

But in giving them these instructions, what does Jesus emphasize?  He does not say, “do what I taught you or you’ll go to hell.”  He does not say, “Do what I taught you because you owe it to me for all I’ve done for you.”  He does not say, “I’m giving my life for you so you need to do this for me.”

Instead, Jesus emphasizes love.  Jesus wants them to do what he’s taught them, not out of fear, not out of guilt, but out of love.  Jesus wants them to follow his commands, not because they’re afraid of what might happen to them if they don’t, but because they want to, out of love for Him.

This was really a remarkable change Jesus made in the way people looked at their religious faith.  In a lot of the Old Testament, the emphasis is on obedience to God.  It’s on the fear of God.  People were supposed to obey God in the hope of gaining God’s favor.  And if they could not gain God’s favor, maybe they’d at least not be the object of God’s anger.  It’s not that they’d have thought that loving God was wrong or anything.  It’s just that, well, loving God was not really part of the equation.  You did what God said because it was what God said.  What you thought about it, how you felt about it, well, none of that really mattered.  God said it, so you did it.  Or at least, you were supposed to.  And that’s all there was to it.

But Jesus changes all that.  Jesus says, I don’t want you to just obey blindly, because you’re afraid.  I don’t want you to feel like you have to do what I said because you feel guilty about what I went through.  I want you to love me.  I want you to do the things I’ve taught you willingly and gladly.  I want you to do the things I’ve taught you to do because you know that’s the best way you can show me you love me.

Jesus knew that love is an incredibly powerful motivator.  Love is more powerful than fear or guilt.  When we love someone, we’ll do all kinds of things for them, things that we would never do otherwise.  Before she met me, I don’t think Wanda had ever seen a sports event, other than a rodeo.  But because she loves me, she’ll sometimes go to games with me and even watched part of the Super Bowl with me.  I had no interest in crafts before I met Wanda.  But because I love her, I help her get the supplies she needs and even help her with a project if there’s some way I can.  These are just a couple of examples of the things we’ll do for people, things that we would never do normally, but that we will do for someone when we love them.

Do you think, before they met Jesus, that the disciples had any idea that they would become traveling evangelists, spreading the good news about the Savior?  It sure does not seem likely, does it?  Peter, James, and John were fishermen.  Levi was a tax collector.  And before they met Jesus, they probably thought those were the jobs they’d be doing the rest of their lives.  But out of love for Jesus, the disciples left their jobs and their businesses and even their families and helped Jesus spread the word of salvation and eternal life.

And of course, Jesus knew that.  He knew the disciples had left everything behind to follow Him.  And he knew they’d done it out of love.  But he also knew, as we said before, that he was about to leave them.  And he knew that, after he was gone, they might all go back and do what they’d done before.  In fact, after Jesus was killed, one of the first things Peter did was go fishing.  And a few of the other disciples went with Him.

Because Jesus knew they loved him, but because Jesus knew he was about to leave them, Jesus reminded them of their love for him.  And he told them, if you really want to show how much you love me, here’s what you do.  Keep my commands.  Do what I’ve told you to do.  If you do, I’ll know you love Me.  And not only that, the whole world will know you love Me, because the world will know you’re doing what I told you to do and are living like I told you to live.

Most of us, maybe all of us, would say that we love Jesus.  So, are we keeping Jesus’ commands?  Are we obeying Jesus’ teaching?  Or are we just doing pretty much whatever we feel like doing?  Are we just coming to church, or watching a livestreamed service, but not really letting our so-called love for Jesus change our lives in any significant way?

Because when we love someone, it should change our lives in a significant way.  Wanda has changed my life in many ways.  I’ve changed her life in many ways, too.  I mentioned one example earlier, but there are lots of ways in which I’ve changed because of Wanda.  I’ve become a more caring person.  I’ve become a more patient person.  I’ve become a more giving person.  Not that I’m perfect at any of those things, because I’m certainly not.  I’m very far from perfect.  Perfect and I are not even in the same area code.  But I’m better than I was before I met Wanda.  She’s changed me in significant and important ways.  

But here’s the thing.  Wanda never came to me and said, “You need to change.  You need to be a more caring, more patient, more giving person.”  I changed because I saw those things in her.  And because I love her, I wanted to be a better person for her.  Again, a very-far-from-perfect person, but a better person than I was before.

Again, most of us, maybe all of us, would say that we love Jesus.  So, do we love Jesus enough that we want to change our lives for Jesus?  And change them in a significant way?  Do we love Jesus enough to want to be better people for Jesus?  Do we love Jesus enough to want to show Jesus that we love him?  Do we love Jesus enough to keep His commands and obey His teaching?  Do we love Jesus enough that the whole world will know we love Him, because the world will see that we’re doing what Jesus told us to do and living the way Jesus told us to live?

I hope you won’t just slough those questions off.  I hope you’ll really think about them.  I hope you’ll take them to heart.  I hope you’ll pray about them.  How much do you really love Jesus?  How much do I really love Jesus?  Do we love Jesus enough to keep His commands and obey His teaching?  Even when we would not do so otherwise?  Even when it’s inconvenient?  Even when it might cause us problems?  Even when we just plain don’t feel like it?  Do we love Jesus enough for that love to overcome all of our excuses, all of our fears, all of our doubts, all the other things that keep us from keeping Jesus’ commands and obeying Jesus’ teaching the way we should?  Do we love Jesus that much?

Jesus said, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.”  Let’s show our love for Jesus, this day and every day.