Doubt and Belief

The Sunday night message given in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on March 31, 2024.  The Bible verses used are John 20:19-29.

            The phrase “Doubting Thomas” is part of our culture.  Even people who have no idea who Thomas was and have no idea where the phrase comes from are still familiar with it.  If someone is a skeptic, if they never want to believe anything, if they always demand more proof, we refer to them as a Doubting Thomas.

            When I read our Bible verses for tonight, though, it always seems to me that Thomas has gotten a bum rap.  Yes, he had doubts, but no more doubts than any of the other disciples.  And yet, we’ve come to read this story as Jesus criticizing Thomas for his lack of faith.  I think when we read the story that way, not only are we unfair to poor Thomas, but we miss a valuable lesson that comes from that story.

            These Bible verses take place on the night of the first Easter Sunday.  In the morning, Jesus had appeared to Mary Magdalene.  She then told the disciples that she had seen the Lord.

            Now, it’s evening.  The disciples are in a locked room, out of fear of being arrested.  Jesus appears to them, says peace be with you, shows them his hands where the nails had been pounded through and his side that was pierced by a sword, the disciples are overjoyed.  Jesus breathes on them and says “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

            So all the disciples believe Jesus is alive.  Except Thomas.  He was not there when Jesus came.  We don’t know why not, but he was not there.  The disciples tell him about Jesus being alive, but he says “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

            A week passes.  The disciples are all back in the same locked room.  This time Thomas is there.  Jesus again appears to them, says peace be with you, shows Thomas his hands where the nails had been pounded through and his side that was pierced by a sword.  And Thomas is overjoyed.  

            Do you see why I say Thomas got a bum rap?  What Jesus showed Thomas was exactly the same thing he had shown the other disciples a week earlier.  When Thomas was not there, Jesus had shown the other disciples his hands where the nails had been and his side that was pierced.  None of them believed he was alive before they saw that.  Thomas did not ask for any more proof than any of the others had, and he did not get any more proof than any of the others got.  

And yet, poor old Thomas is the one who gets criticized.  Thomas is the one whose faith is said to be weaker than the others.  Thomas is the one who for two thousand years has been called the doubter, whose very name has been turned into a negative.  It just does not seem fair.

But of course, you know why we look at it that way.  It’s because of what Jesus said.  After Jesus shows Thomas his hands and his side, Jesus says to Thomas, “Stop doubting and believe.”  And then he says, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”  It seems like Jesus himself singled Thomas out for criticism.

            But I was thinking about this.  That first time, when Jesus appeared to the other disciples without Thomas--why do you suppose Jesus did that?  I mean, I assume Jesus would’ve known that Thomas was not there.  Why would Jesus choose to appear then?  I would think that there surely must’ve been some other time Jesus could’ve appeared to the disciples, sometime when they’d all be there.  It’s almost like, that first time, Jesus deliberately excluded Thomas.  Why would Jesus do that?

            It could’ve been a coincidence, I suppose.  Maybe this was simply the time Jesus needed to appear to the disciples, and whoever was there was there and whoever was not was not.  I doubt that, though.  It’s possible, but it’s just hard for me to believe that Jesus would leave something like this to chance.  It seems like there must’ve been some reason why Jesus appeared to the others without Thomas being there.

            I wonder if, perhaps, Jesus thought Thomas might have enough faith to not need to see for himself.  I wonder if, maybe, the reason Jesus appeared to the disciples without Thomas there is that Jesus thought that, out of all the disciples, Thomas might be the only one who had enough faith to not need to see for himself.  Out of all the disciples, Thomas might be the one who could believe without seeing.  When we look at it that way, it looks like Jesus thought Thomas was the disciple who had the most faith, not the least.  And Jesus’ words to Thomas are not so much a criticism as they are an expression of disappointment.  Not that it was wrong for Thomas to want to see for himself, really.  It was just that Jesus was hoping Thomas had enough faith to not need to.

            But here’s what I think is the real point.  Jesus appears to the disciples without Thomas.  They all believe.  Thomas does not.  So what does Jesus do?  Jesus comes back.  He comes back specifically for Thomas.  Jesus comes back specifically so that Thomas can see and believe.

            Think about that.  The twelve disciples were down to eleven, of course, because Judas had betrayed Jesus.  Ten out of the eleven believed.  That’s ninety-one percent.  Pretty good.  But Jesus was not going to settle for that.  Jesus wanted each and every one of his disciples to believe.  He was not going to give up until each and every one of his disciples believed.  As long as there was even one who did not, he was going to do whatever it took to make that one believe.  Each and every one of his disciples was that important to Jesus.

            And each and every one of us is that important to Jesus, too.  Because most of us have doubts at one time or another.  We may try to hide them from others, we may try not to think about them ourselves.  But we still have them.  It may seem like everyone around us believes, and we’re the only one who doubts.  But we still have those doubts.  We might wish we did not have them--for all we know, Thomas may have wished he did not have them.  But the doubts are still there.

            Jesus does not want us to go on with our doubts.  Jesus wants us to believe.  And Jesus is not going to give up until we do.  It does not matter if everyone around us believes and we’re the only one who has doubts.  Even if we were the only person on earth who had doubts, that would not matter to Jesus.  As long as there’s just one of us who does not believe, Jesus is going to do whatever it takes to make that one believe.  Each and every one of us is that important to Jesus.

But the thing is, you’re not the only one who has doubts.  Lots of us do.  Some of the greatest Christians in the world have confessed to having doubts at one time or another.  Mother Teresa said she had doubts.  Billy Graham said he had doubts.  A lot of us are in the position of the man Jesus talked to in Mark Chapter Nine.  A man asked Jesus if he could heal his son.  Jesus says what do you mean, if I can?  He says, “Everything is possible for one who believes.”  And the man responds, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

            We believe, and yet we don’t.  We believe, and yet we have doubts.  And Jesus understands that.  He understood the disciples’ unbelief.  He understood Thomas’ doubts.  But Jesus did not want them to stay in unbelief and doubt.  Jesus wanted them to believe.  And Jesus did everything he could to help them believe.

            It would be nice if Jesus would appear right before us, just as he did with Thomas and the other disciples.  And of course, Jesus could do that.  But for most of us, it probably won’t happen.  That does not mean, though, that the Lord has abandoned us.  If we look around us, we can see God at work in all kinds of ways.  And if we look at our own lives, we can see God at work in all kinds of ways, too.

            I don’t know what those ways are for you.  Here are just a few of them for me.  God was at work when, coming out of law school, I took a job in Pierre rather than one in Laurens, Iowa.  God was at work when, without us even knowing each other, Wanda took an apartment directly across from mine.  God was at work when, out of the blue, we got a call offering us the chance to move to Wessington Springs.  God was at work when, through a series of events that would take too long to go into now, we felt God calling us into the ministry.  And I believe that God was at work when the Dakotas Conference sent Wanda and me to this parish.

            If you think about your life, I suspect you can think of those moments, too.  Those moments when God was at work in your life.  Those “coincidences” that just all lined up perfectly for things to happen the way they did.  That’s God at work.  That’s Jesus doing whatever it takes to make each one of us believe.  That’s Jesus saying to us what he said to Thomas.  “Stop doubting, and believe.”

            So, it’s okay if we have doubts.  But let’s not stay stuck in our doubts.  Let’s look for all the times in our lives when God has shown up.  Let’s look for the times when God is showing up now, leading us and guiding us.  Let’s look for all the ways Jesus is saying to us “Stop doubting, and believe.”

            Our doubts are real.  But God is more real.  If we trust God, and if we look for the ways that God is at work. God will give us the faith to overcome our doubts.

Believing Without Understanding

The Sunday morning message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on March 31, 2024.  The Bible verses used are John 20:1-18.

On Friday, Jesus died.  There was no question about it.  Everyone saw him die.  They even stabbed his side with a spear to make sure.  Jesus had a good run—he’d healed people, he’d fed people, he’d attracted a following.  But it was all over now.  Jesus was dead.  Period.  It had been quite a run, but now it was over.  The end.

            Jesus had told the disciples what was going to happen next.  He told them he was going to overcome death and rise on the third day.  But they either did not understand what he meant or did not believe it.  I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that everyone who knew what had happened thought Jesus’ life was over when he died on the cross.

            Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb.  She’s going there to anoint Jesus’ body, as part of the Jewish burial ritual.  She sees the tomb empty, but does not know what’s happened.  She assumes someone has moved Jesus’ body.

          She goes back and tells Peter and John.  They go running out to the tomb.  Peter goes into the tomb first, and sure enough it’s empty.  He sees the strips of linen that had been wrapped around Jesus’ body and the cloth that had been wrapped around his head.  Then John goes in.  And then the Bible says this:  “He saw and believed.  (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead).”

            We’ll come back to that.  But then Peter and John leave.  And apparently, the way the story is written, they don’t say a word to Mary Magdalene.  They just walk away and leave Mary outside the tomb.  Crying.  Still thinking Jesus’ body has been moved someplace, and not having any idea where.

           Mary sees two angels.  They ask her why she’s crying, and again she tells them someone has taken Jesus’ body.  She sees Jesus himself, but of course does not recognize him.  She again wants to know where Jesus’ body was taken.  Then, Jesus says her name and she recognizes him.  That was probably the last thing Mary expected.  And of course, she’s overjoyed.  Jesus tells her to go and tell the others that he is ascending to God the Father, and of course she does that.

            I’ve said before that when we read about Biblical events, we need to try to imagine ourselves there.  Try to imagine ourselves as one of the people in the story.  Try to imagine what they were thinking or feeling.  I think when we do that here, what we realize is how important it is to believe even when we don’t understand.

           Look at John.  Remember what it said about John?  We’re told that he went into the tomb, and “he saw and believed”.  But then, in the next sentence, we’re told that neither he nor Peter understood from scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.

So John believed.  But what, exactly, did he believe?  He believed that the tomb was empty, but he could see that.  That did not take any belief--any fool could see the tomb was empty.  Did he believe Jesus had risen from the dead?  Maybe.  But even if he did, neither he nor Peter understood what that meant.  Again, they “did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.”  They may have understood that this was a miracle, but what it meant--what it meant for them and for everyone else--they don’t appear to have had a clue.

            Mary Magdalene still thinks someone has moved the body.  Jesus rising from the dead does not even seem to have occurred to her.  She does not seem to even consider the possibility of it.  She knows Jesus is dead.  She just wants to know where the body is, so she can do what her faith requires her to do and so that she can mourn properly.

            And yet.  Through all this, Mary continues to refer to Jesus as “Lord”.  Not by name.  Not as just a man.  As “Lord”.  She tells Peter and John, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb.”  She tells the angels “They have taken my Lord away.”  Even though Mary Magdalene believes Jesus is dead--actually more than believes, Mary knows it as a fact--despite that, she continues to refer to Jesus as “Lord.”  

Think about that.  “Lord”.  That’s not a title Mary would use for a man.  That’s a title Mary would only have used for the divine Son of God.  Somehow, in some way, even though she’s convinced Jesus is dead, she continues to believe in him as the Lord.  She probably would not have been able to explain that.  She might not have even understood it herself.  But somehow, in some way, even though she did not understand, she continued to believe.  And, of course, her belief is rewarded.  Jesus says her name, she turns and sees him, the last person she expected to see there, and she is overjoyed that Jesus is alive.

            Belief without understanding.  That’s one of the definitions of faith, really--when we continue to believe even when we don’t understand.  

As we look around us, we see a lot of things we don’t understand.  There are natural disasters, of course:  blizzards, floods, fires, earthquakes.  And we hear about unnatural disasters, too.  Terrorist attacks.  Murders.  Wars.  Riots.  And of course, there are the things that hit closer to home.  Cancer and other diseases.  Heart attacks.  Motor vehicle accidents.  And we could go on and on and on with all kinds of other things that are happening in the world.

            We don’t understand these things.  We don’t understand why they happen.  We don’t understand why God allows them to happen.  Some of them we can explain away by saying that God allows us to make choices and sometimes we make bad ones.  And of course, those bad choices we make affect a lot of people other than just ourselves.  And that explains some of the things that happen, but not all of them.  

            We say that God is good.  In fact, that’s one of the most basic articles of our faith as Christians--that God is good.  And yet, we struggle to understand why this good God would allow the world to be the way it is.  Even if we say that God did not cause it to be the way it is, we know God could do something about it.  God can do anything--that’s a basic part of being God.  But God clearly is not doing anything about it.  

Well, that may not be true.  After all, God does all sorts of things that we don’t see and maybe never will see.  God may be working right now, pulling everything together in ways we have no idea about.  But it appears to us, at least, that God is permitting things to be the way they are, at least for now.  This good God, this perfect God, is allowing the world to be anything but perfect.  This good God is allowing a lot of misery and sadness to go on in the world.  And we don’t understand why.

            But the question is not “Do we understand?”  Don’t get me wrong, it’s okay to try.  It’s okay to ask questions and try to understand.  But the question is not “Do we understand?”  The question is “Do we believe?”  

Are we able to believe, even though we don’t understand?  Are we able to believe, despite everything we see around us, that God is still good?  Are we able to believe, no matter how things look to us right now, that God has reasons for allowing things to be the way they are?  Are we able to believe, no matter what’s happening and no matter what does happen, that somehow God is going to make everything work out all right in the end?  And in fact, are we able to believe that not only is everything going to work out all right in the end, but that somehow, in some way that we don’t understand and never will understand while we’re on earth, all these things are part of God’s plan and that all these things are necessary to bring about the fulfillment of God’s plan?

            When you put it that way, it kind of seems like it’s asking a lot.  Believing those things when we don’t understand them is not easy.  But on the other hand, Jesus never promised that faith would be easy.  

It was not easy for Peter and John.  It was not easy for Mary Magdalene.  Think of the position they were in at this point.  They believed Jesus was alive, but they did not understand any of it.  They did not understand what had happened.  They did not understand how it had happened.  They did not understand why it had happened--I mean, they knew it had to do with Jesus being the Son of God, but again, we’re told that they “did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.”  They did not understand what it meant, for them or anyone else.  They did not understand what was going to happen next or how it was going to affect them.  They believed, but they did not understand anything about it at all.

            So that’s the challenge.  Can we believe, even though we don’t understand?  Can we continue to have faith in God, even though we don’t know why things are the way they are?  Can we continue to believe that God is good when it seems like so many things happening in the world are bad?  Can we continue to believe God loves us when it seems like our lives are being turned upside down, especially when it seems like they’re being turned upside down through no fault of our own?  Can we continue to believe?  Can we continue to have faith?

            Peter and John believed Jesus was alive, even though they did understand how or why.  Mary Magdalene believed Jesus was Lord, even though she did not understand how or why.  They believed, even though they did not understand.  And because they believed, Jesus was with them, even though when they were not aware of it.  And he made himself known to them, even when they did not expect it.  

Can we believe, even though we don’t understand?  If we can, if we keep believing, Jesus will be with us, even when we’re not aware of it.  And even though we don’t expect it, Jesus will make himself known to us, too.

 

Following God's Will

The print version of the Good Friday message given in the Gettysburg United Methodist church.  The Bible verses used are Mark 15:1-42.

            Jesus is arrested.  He is accused.  He is flogged.  He is mocked.  He is beaten.  He is spat upon.  

            Finally, Jesus is led out to Golgotha.  The place of the skull.  He is nailed to a cross.  The mockery continues.  And finally, Jesus dies.

            There are all kinds of things a person could emphasize in regard to this story.  But as I was reading it again this week, something struck me.  I’d known it, of course, but I’d never really thought about it.  What struck me was that, while all this was going on, while all these things were happening to Jesus, Jesus said nearly nothing.  He simply accepted what was happening to him.

            Eight words are all that are attributed to Jesus.  The first four are when Pilate asks Jesus if he’s the king of the Jews.  Jesus responds, “You have said so.”  The last four are while Jesus is hanging on the cross.  Jesus says, “Eloi, eloi, lama, sabachthani.”  We’re told that means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

            And that’s it.  Jesus says no more.  And a little while later, we’re told, “Jesus breathed his last.”

            There were so many things he could have said.  He could have defended himself.  He could have thrown the accusations right back at his accusers, the chief priests and the teachers of the law and the rest.  He could have justified the things he had done.  He could have shown how false the accusations against him were.

            He could have done that, but he did not.  He stayed silent.  Jesus allowed himself to be killed without even trying to mount a defense for himself.  And he could have easily defended himself, because there really was no basis for the charges against him.  

            So why didn’t he?  Why did Jesus not say anything?  Why did he not even try to defend himself from these baseless charges?

            Because Jesus knew he was following the will of God the Father.  Jesus knew this was why he had been sent to earth.  Jesus was in fact, the Savior.  He was sent here to save us from the consequences of our sins.  And the way he was to do that was to accept those consequences himself.  You and I are the ones who deserve death.  But Jesus died in our place, so we can have eternal life.

            Jesus could have avoided this at any number of times, in any number of ways.  He could, of course, have simply not started his ministry in the first place.  He could have recognized the authority and status of the religious leaders, the Pharisees and others, and subordinated himself to them.  He could have just not gone to Jerusalem at all, avoiding the issue.  He could have raised an army and defeated his enemies.  And, of course, he could have used his divine power to destroy all opposition and establish himself as the ultimate authority on earth.

            Jesus could have done any of those things.  He could’ve done other things, too.  But he did not do any of them.  Jesus was obedient to God the Father.

            It had to be tempting.  After all, Jesus did not want to go through all this.  Who would?  

            In John Twelve, shortly after Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday, Jesus acknowledges how hard this is for him.  He tells the disciples, “My soul is troubled.”  Jesus knew how hard it was going to be to go through this.  But he goes on to say, “What shall I say?  ‘Father, save me from this hour?’  No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.”

In Matthew Twenty-six, we’re told about Jesus going to Gethsemane.  He goes off by himself and prays.  He prays that, if there’s any other way for God the Father to give salvation to human beings, for God to use that other way instead.  He prays that three times.  But each time, after he prays that, he says, “May your will be done.”

Jesus knew how hard this was going to be.  He did not want to do it.  But he knew that what he wanted was not important.  What was important was what God the Father wanted.  What was important was that God’s will be done.  He knew that it was God’s will that he be killed on a cross.  He knew he could not bring salvation and eternal life to humans if he did not go through with God’s will.  And so he did.  Jesus followed the will of God the Father, regardless of the consequences.  Even when the consequence was death on a cross.

So how about you?  And how about me?  Are we able to do what Jesus did?  Are we willing to follow the will of God, regardless of what the consequences of that might be?

That’s not an easy question to answer.  It’s not easy for a few reasons.   One of the biggest of those reasons, though, is that, so much of the time, we don’t even think about it.  We don’t spend much time even thinking about what God’s will for our life is, much less whether we’re following God’s will.  And if we don’t even think about what God’s will for our life is, we cannot possibly say whether we’d follow it to the point of death.

Now, I may be painting with too broad a brush here.  Maybe you do think about what God’s will for your life is.  Maybe you’re consciously following it.  I hope so.  That’s awesome if you are.

But I think a lot of us don’t really think about it that much.  We just kind of do what we do, you know?  We go about our lives, day after day after day.  We get up, we work at our jobs, we go home.  Maybe we go to a basketball game or something.  Then we go back home and go to bed.  

And I’m not saying that’s sinful or anything.  But is it really the way God wants us to live?  Is that really God’s will for our lives?

Maybe it is.  Maybe you are perfectly following God’s will for your life.  But maybe not.  And the thing is, if we never think about what God’s will for our lives is, how will we know? 

It’s important that we know.  Jesus knew, and it sustained him through all the hard things he had to do.  It sustained him even through his death on a cross.  We need to know, too, if we’re going to withstand all the things life can throw at us.

How can we know?  Well, I think the first thing we should do is pray.  And you’re thinking, well, typical pastor response.  Pray.  That’s his answer to everything.

Well, not quite everything.  I mean, it’s not the answer to what’s two plus two.  But it is the answer to a lot of things.  Or, more accurately, it’s the start of the answer to a lot of things.  Praying is not the only thing we should do.  But it is, quite often, the first thing we should do.

Pray.  Ask God what His will for your life is.  Ask God if you’re following it right now.  Maybe you are.  But ask.  

If the answer is yes, then fine.  But ask again at some point, because God’s will for our life may change as we go through life.  I don’t mean that God changes His mind.  But as we grow, as we develop, as we gain new skills, as we become better able to handle things, God can use us in different ways.  It happened to me.  I think it was always God’s will that I eventually become a pastor.  But it was not God’s will that I become a pastor right out of college, because I could not have done a good job of it then.  God had to lead me through some intermediate steps, so I could get to the point where I could be a pastor.

But on the other hand, the answer may be no, that you’re not following God’s will for your life.  If it is, ask God what you need to change.  Ask God what it is that God wants you to do.  And then, ask God for the courage to do it.  Because it can be scary to ask God what His will is for your life.  God may lead you in a direction you never thought of.  

Now, God won’t lead us to do something we’re not capable of doing.  God was not going to lead me to play basketball for the Boston Celtics.  But God has led me to do some things I never would have thought I could do.  Because if it’s God’s will that we do something, God will make sure we have the ability to do it, with God’s help.

It can be scary to ask God what His will is for our lives.  But the rewards are incredible.  Because there is no greater feeling in the world than knowing that you are where God wants you to be and that you are doing what God wants you to do.  The feeling of God’s presence in your life, when that happens, is the most awesome feeling in the world.

It’s that feeling that sustained Jesus through his last day of life on earth.  He was going through terrible torture.  But he was able to endure it because he knew he was where God wanted him to be and he knew we was doing what God wanted him to do.  And he felt the reward that comes from that.

That feeling will sustain us, too.  So ask God what His will is for your life.  And follow it.  It may be hard.  It may be very hard.  But when we’re following God’s will, we can handle it.  And the reward will be incredible, on earth and in heaven.

 

He Will Always Love You

The Maundy Thursday message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on March 28, 2024.  The Bible verses used are John 13:1-30.

            What would you do tonight if you knew you were going to die tomorrow?

            It’s a pretty sobering question, right?  I mean, we all know that we’re going to die sometime.  But we try not to think about it too much.  We know it’s true, but it’s not the main focus of our lives or anything.  And it should not be.  God does not want us to live in fear that we might die tomorrow.  God wants us to live our lives.  God wants us to go out and do things that serve God and that show love to people.  God wants us to do the things that God put us here to do in the first place.

            And yet, we know that there are people who are going to die tomorrow.  In some cases it’s expected, but in some cases it’s not.  And while I certainly hope that it’s not anybody who’s here tonight, or anybody who’s watching the livestream right now, there’s no guarantee that it will not be.  There’s no guarantee that it will not be me.  Our life on earth does not come with guarantees.  It never has.

            So, think about it.  What would you do tonight if you knew you were going to die tomorrow?

            Well, let’s look at what Jesus did.  Because, at the time of our Bible reading for tonight, Jesus did know that he was going to die tomorrow.  He knew everything that was going to happen to him.  So, what did he do?

            Well, first, he gathered his closest friends around him.  You might think he’d have wanted to be with his family--I’m sure at least some of us would want that.  But as we read the gospels, we really get the impression that Jesus was closer to his friends, the disciples, than he was to his family, with the possible exception of Mary.  And knowing what was going to happen to him, he would not have wanted Mary to have to be there and see all that.  He’d have wanted to spare his mother.

            So, Jesus gathers his closest friends.  They’re all together, just them, in the upper room.  We don’t know how big that room was--probably not very big, really.  And Jesus does two things for his disciples.  And both of those things are designed to show Jesus’ disciples how much he loved them.

            First, they have a meal together.  The last meal Jesus would have on earth.  This really was, in a sense, the condemned man having his last meal.  And we sometimes don’t think about this, but in that society, the act of sharing a meal had tremendous significance.  It was a symbol of caring, a symbol of love.  Just sharing a meal, any meal, with the disciples, in and of itself, would’ve shown Jesus’ disciples that he loved them.

But of course, this was not just any meal.  This was the Passover Seder.  It was a very special meal, full of religious significance.  The Passover was and still is a very special time for Jewish people, which of course Jesus and his disciples were.  All the disciples would’ve been aware of that significance, and of course Jesus himself was, too.

And then, we come to verses three through five.  Jesus gets up from the table.  He takes off his outer clothing.  He wraps a towel around his waist.  He pours water into a basin.  As far as we know, Jesus does not say a word.  He just gets up and does these things.

And the disciples are watching this.  Maybe, at first, they did not notice.  They could’ve been visiting with each other, or busy eating, or whatever.  But when Jesus starts taking off his clothes, they notice.  Those who notice first start elbowing the others, making sure they see what’s going on.  Again, as far as we know, nobody’s saying anything.  The disciples are just watching, wondering what Jesus is going to do next.

Jesus takes the basin, and goes around and starts washing the feet of the disciples.  And I’ve mentioned this before, but washing someone’s feet was one of the dirtiest jobs there was back then.  Think about it.  Nobody wore shoes the way we think of them.  Nobody even wore socks.  At best you might have some sandals, or you might be barefoot.  And you were mostly walking on dirt.  Even some of the houses had dirt floors.  And what was not dirt was rocks.  And there were lots of animals around, so you needed to watch where you stepped, if you know what I mean.  So feet were in pretty bad shape.  They’d be dirty, they’d be calloused, sometimes they’d be a little misshapen.  To have to wash someone’s feet was a really lousy job.  It was not a pleasant job at all.

And Jesus did that for his disciples.  Jesus goes around, washing everybody’s feet.  Probably by the time he got to the end, that water was getting pretty dirty.  Maybe he dumped out the water and got some fresh at some point, we don’t know.  And other than Peter, the disciples just sit there silently, watching this, allowing Jesus to do what he’s doing.

We speak of this, quite often, as an act of servanthood.  We say that Jesus was showing them that they were to serve each other.  And of course, he was doing that.  Jesus told the disciples that he was setting an example for them, and that they should do for each other what he was doing for them.  But what Jesus did was more than just an act of servanthood.  It was an act of love.  Jesus was not just telling the disciples that they should serve each other.  He was telling them that they should love each other.

            Jesus shared a meal with the disciples and washed their feet because he loved them.  And on this last night, the night before he was going to die, he wanted to show them how much he loved them.  And he wanted to show them in a way that would ensure that they would never forget how much he loved them.

            But here’s the thing.  And we know this, but we just don’t think about it very often.  

            Who was there with Jesus?  It was the twelve disciples, right?  It was Peter, James, and John.  It was Nathanael and Philip and Andrew.  It was Bartholomew and Matthew and another James.  It was Thaddeus and Simon the Zealot.  And--it was Judas Iscariot.

             Judas.  The man who would betray Jesus.  The man Jesus knew was going to betray him.  The man to whom, later in the evening, Jesus tells to go ahead and do what he’s going to do, letting Judas know that he knows what Judas is going to do.  

            Judas was there.  Judas shared that last meal with Jesus.  Jesus washed Judas’ feet.  Jesus, the night before he died, showed love to the man he knew was going to betray him.  

            You think that was easy for Jesus?  I don’t.  Yes, Jesus was the fully divine Son of God, but Jesus was also fully human.  That means Jesus felt all the same things you and I would feel in this situation.  

            Could you do it?  Could you share a meal with someone who you knew was going to betray you?  Could you wash the feet of someone who you knew was going to betray you?  Could you show love to someone whose betrayal was going to lead to your death in a very painful and humiliating way?  I don’t know that I could.  In fact, I very much doubt it.  Even if I knew that it had to be that way, even if I could be obedient enough to God to let it happen--and I don’t know that I could do that, either, but even if I could--I don’t think I could’ve shown love to Judas the way Jesus did.

            Jesus told us to love our enemies.  It’s one of the hardest things Jesus told us to do.  We don’t want to do it.  I don’t want to do it.  But Jesus did not ask us to do anything that he did not do himself.

            When you think about it, the love Jesus showed to Judas was incredible.  He would not have had to.  Jesus could have stopped Judas from doing what he did, of course.  But even without doing that, even with Jesus having made up his mind to be faithful to God the Father and go through with dying on a cross, Jesus would not have had to show love to Judas in this way.  I mean, Jesus could’ve just pulled Judas aside before they started the meal and said to him what he ultimately did say, “What you are about to do, do quickly.”  I know what you’re going to do, so just go do it.  Don’t go through this charade of eating the Passover meal with me.  Don’t pretend you’re still one of us.  Just go do it now.  Get out of here and get it over with.

            Jesus did not do that.  Jesus allowed Judas to be part of his last night on earth.  And Jesus showed love to Judas, even knowing what Judas was going to do.

            Maybe, tonight, there is someone here tonight, or someone watching the livestream, who feels unlovable.  I don’t know why--it could be for a lot of reasons.  But I suspect a lot of us have felt unlovable at some point in our lives.  We’ve done things that we’re ashamed of.  We’ve done things we regret.  Maybe it was a long time ago, maybe it was recent.  Maybe it’s something going on right now.  Maybe we’ve tried to forget it and ignore it, and maybe we’ve found out that we cannot do that.  But many of us have something, either in our past or our present, that makes us feel unlovable.

            We’re not.  There is nothing any of us can have done that makes us unlovable.  Not to God.  Jesus loved even the man who was going to betray him.  Jesus loved him enough that he would wash that man’s feet.  Jesus loved him enough to do something most people would not do even for their good friends.  If Jesus could love Judas that much, Jesus can love you, too.

            Jesus loves you.  Jesus has loved you all your life.  And Jesus will continue to love you.  No matter what you say.  No matter what you do.  The Apostle Paul told us that nothing, not even death, can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ.  That’s true, and it always will be true.

            Knowing that he was going to die tomorrow, Jesus showed love.  He showed love even to the person who was going to betray him.  And Jesus wants to show that same love for you.  Jesus loves you.  He always has.  And he always will.

 

Jesus' Farewell Address

The message given in the Wednesday night Lent service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on March 27, 2024.  The Bible verses used are John 14-17.

            I’m not going to give the message tonight.  Instead, what I’m going to do is what we’ve done the last few years in this last Wednesday night Lent service.  I’m going let Jesus Christ Himself give the message.

            What I mean by that is that in John chapters fourteen through seventeen, Jesus gives what could be called His farewell address to His disciples.  We look at various parts of that at various times, and that’s good.  But when the disciples first heard this, they did not get it a bit at a time.  They did not get time in-between the parts to think about it and digest it.  They heard it all at once. 

So that’s how we’re going to hear it tonight.  We’re going to hear Jesus’ farewell address, and then I’ll make a couple of comments afterward.  I’m not going to use the screen—after all, Jesus did not have a screen.  What I want you to do is imagine you are in the story.  Imagine you are one of the disciples, listening to Jesus.

            This comes after the last supper.  It comes after Judas has left them to go and let the Jewish authorities know where Jesus was.  It comes after Jesus has told Simon Peter that, before morning, Simon Peter will three times deny knowing Jesus.

            The disciples don’t know what’s coming next.  But they know they’re in a dangerous situation.  They know something’s about to happen, even if they don’t know what it is.  So, Jesus starts talking to them.  Here’s what he says:

            “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.  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.”

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?  Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 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.”

Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jesus replied, “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. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 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.

“You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.

            “Come now; let us leave.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.  They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’

“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

“All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”

At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”

Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

“Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”

“Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

           “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

           “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

That was the end of Jesus’ farewell address.  After that, he went out to the Garden of Gethsemane, where he would be arrested.

Did you put yourself into the story?  Did you imagine yourself as one of Jesus’ disciples, listening to all this?  How did you feel?  What did you think?

I doubt if the disciples really understood everything that Jesus was telling them.  After all, as we’ve seen before, the disciples hardly ever really understood what Jesus was telling them.  But they knew Jesus was leaving.  They did not know how that was going to happen, but they knew he was leaving.  And they knew the one thing they were supposed to do:  love each other.  That was it, really.  Obey Jesus’ teaching and love each other.  And don’t worry about the consequences.  Jesus said, people may hate you, but that’s okay.  People hate Me, too.  Don’t worry about it.  The Holy Spirit will be here to protect you.  You don’t know what the Holy Spirit is, but just know that the Holy Spirit is from God.  So you don’t have to be afraid. 

And that’s really the lesson for tonight.  So let’s do it.  Let’s obey Jesus' teaching, love each other, and not worry about the consequences.  The Holy Spirit is here, and the Holy Spirit is from God.  We don’t have to be afraid.

 

 

The Best and the Worst We Can Be

The Sunday night message given in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on March 24, 2024.  The Bible verses used are Matthew 21:1-11.

            It’s Palm Sunday.  We had the kids here in the morning service, walking around the sanctuary, waving palm branches.  We have some palm branches down here tonight, too.  It’s something we look forward to every year.  Every year, at this time, we celebrate Palm Sunday.

            But when you think about it, why do we celebrate Palm Sunday?  I mean, think about it.  What are we really celebrating?  Yes, we’re celebrating Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  And I’m sure that was really cool at the time it happened.  But the thing is, we know all the things that happened next.  We know that before the week was out, really in just a few days, Jesus would be arrested.  And some of these same people who were shouting “Hosanna” to Jesus as he entered Jerusalem would be shouting “Crucify”.

            So what, really, are we celebrating?  Why is Palm Sunday such a big day to us?  It’s got to be more than because it’s a cute spectacle for the little kids.  So what is it?

            Well, let’s look at it.  Jesus comes into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey colt.  We’re told that this was to fulfill what a prophet had said.  That prophet was Zechariah, who had said the king would come into Jerusalem in this way.  And most of the people who saw Jesus riding into Jerusalem in this way would’ve known what that meant.  They would’ve known that by coming into Jerusalem in this way, Jesus was claiming to be the king.

            And they got excited.  They believed, at least in that moment, that Jesus truly was the king.  And again, they were shouting “Hosanna”, which is a word that means save.  It was also used as an exclamation of praise.  So the people were praising Jesus and proclaiming that he was going to save them.  For that one day, at least, they were absolutely convinced of who Jesus was.  They know, without a shadow of a doubt, the Jesus was, in fact, the Messiah, the Savior, the divine Son of God.

            And maybe that’s what we’re celebrating on Palm Sunday.  The fact that, for one day, we all got it right.  For one day, everybody around knew who Jesus was.  For one day, everybody who was there accepted Jesus as the Savior.  Yes, it did not last.  Yes, some of them turned on him later.  But at last for one day, for one moment, everyone agreed on the divine Sonship of Jesus Christ.

            What we got, for that one day, for that one moment, was a glimpse of the world as it should be.  We got a glimpse, perhaps, of the new earth that we’re promised in the book of Revelation.  Jesus Christ, being honored.  Jesus Christ, being worshiped.  Jesus Christ, given the honor and glory he deserves.  Jesus Christ, being given the honor and glory that he always receives in heaven.  For that one day, for that one moment, he received it on earth.  

            You know, I’ve wondered sometimes what Jesus felt when he was riding into Jerusalem that day.  Jesus, of course, knew what was going to happen.  He’d told the disciples about it.  He knew that he would be dead before the week was out.  He knew some of these same people who were cheering him would be demanding that he be crucified.  So how did he feel?  How would you feel, if you were Jesus?  How would you feel, if you heard a big crowd cheering you on, and you knew it was all meaningless?

            I’ve thought in the past that maybe Jesus did not feel much of anything.  Knowing that it was meaningless, maybe he was just doing what he knew the scriptures required, what he needed to do to make the Old Testament prophecies come true.  And maybe he was doing it part of it, but I don’t think Jesus was doing it just for that reason.  I think Jesus truly appreciated the cheers of the crowd.  I think Jesus was actually pleased about the reception he got.

            Jesus was not fooled by it, obviously.  But I think Jesus knew that what he was seeing was the best of what human beings can be.  He was seeing humanity being what it can be.  He was seeing human beings truly knowing the greatness and the holiness of God and of His Divine Son.  He was seeing human beings truly showing faith.  And I think Jesus was happy to see that.

            And I think you and I should be happy about that, too.  I think that is something to celebrate.  Because you and I are not very different from those people who were cheering Jesus on when he came into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday.

            Sometimes we say that as a bad thing.  Sometimes we focus on the end of the week, when the people were shouting crucify, and we say that we probably would have done the same thing.  And maybe we would have.  But we also would have done the same thing as the crowd on the first Palm Sunday.  We would have been cheering for Jesus.  We would have been proclaiming Jesus to be the Savior, the Messiah, the Christ.  We would have been shouting “Hosanna” right with the rest of the crowd.  And that’s a good thing.

            You see, sometimes we talk about faith as if it was a constant thing and an all-or-nothing thing.  If you have faith, then you always have faith, and you have one hundred percent faith.  And if you don’t have faith, then you never have faith, and you have zero percent faith.

            But for most of us, that’s not how it is.  We have faith, but we also have doubts.  We have times when our faith is really strong, when we are completely confident that God is there, that God is going to act, and that everything’s going to go the way it’s supposed to.  And we have other times when our faith is weak, when we wonder where God is, when we wonder if God is doing anything, when we wonder if God is ever going to do anything.  And in fact a lot of us, if we’re really honest, have times when we wonder if God really exists at all.  We may not talk about it.  We may try to not even think about it.  But in the back of our minds, buried deep down, that thought is there.

            And Jesus knows that, of course.  Jesus knew it then.  Jesus knows it now.  Jesus knows how our faith goes through ups and downs.  And Jesus knows that there are other forces at work, too.  In Jesus’ day, it was the Pharisees who were trying to turn people against him.  In today’s world, there are all kinds of forces in society who try to turn people against him.  And of course, Jesus knows Satan’s role in all this, too.  Jesus knew that Satan was active when he was on earth.  And, even though we may not talk about it much, Jesus knows that Satan is still active today, too.  Satan has not gone away, much as we might wish that was the case.  And Satan is still working to turn us away from Jesus, just like Satan was working when Jesus was on earth.

            And Jesus understands.  That’s the thing to remember--Jesus understands.  Jesus understands how hard it can be sometimes for us to keep our faith strong.  Especially in times when it seems like the whole world has gone sideways and things are falling apart, Jesus understands why we have a hard time continuing to believe.  Jesus understands it all.

            And Jesus forgives.  That’s the most awesome thing of all--Jesus forgives.  Jesus forgave the crowd for shouting “crucify”.  Jesus forgave Pilate.  Jesus even forgave the chief priests and the Pharisees.  Even while he was in miserable pain, dying in agony on the cross, Jesus asked God the Father to forgive the people who were killing him.  Jesus knew, in his own words, that the people who were killing him did not know what they were doing.  Jesus was seeing human beings at their absolute worst.  And he still understood, and he still forgave.

            But on Palm Sunday, Jesus saw human beings at their best.  Jesus saw human beings worshiping him as they should.  Jesus saw human beings at our best.  Jesus saw human beings as we can be, as we should be.  Jesus saw human beings recognizing that they needed salvation.  And Jesus saw human beings recognizing who the Savior was.  Jesus saw human beings humbling themselves before the divine Son, crying out to him for salvation, and rejoicing in the knowledge that they could receiving that salvation.  Jesus saw human beings showing complete faith in God and accepting him as the Savior.

            Jesus has seen human beings at our best.  And Jesus has seen human beings at our worst.  He saw it during the last week of his life, and he continues to see it today.  And Jesus loves us just as much in both cases.  Jesus loves us at our best, and Jesus loves us at our worst.  It’s such an amazing thing.  But it’s true.

            As we experience Palm Sunday, and as we experience the days to come--Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday--may we remember that.  May we remember that Jesus loves us just as much when we’re at our worst as when we’re at our best.  On this Palm Sunday, that truly is something we can celebrate!