Light in the Darkness

The message given in the Sunday night service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church April 11, 2021.  The Bible verses used are Luke 11:33-36.

            How is it with you tonight?  Does it feel like your body is full of light?  Or does it feel like your body is full of darkness?

            Now, when we talk about your body, we’re really talking about your mind and your heart, right?  I mean, your left big toe is not going to be full of darkness, unless you smacked it against the furniture or something.  When we talk about the body being full of light or darkness, what we’re really saying is, how are you feeling?  Are you happy or sad?  Do you feel joy or sorrow?  Are you feeling good about how your life is going?  Or do you feel stuck, like your life is at a standstill or even going backward?  Another way to put it is to ask the question John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, used to ask:  How is it with your soul today?

            We’d all like to be happy, of course.  I don’t know anyone whose goal is to go through life being sad.  On the other hand, we know that no one is happy all the time.  We know, as it says in the third chapter of Ecclesiastes, that there is a time for sadness and grief, just as there is a time for joy and happiness.  Even Jesus was not happy all the time, so we certainly should not expect to be.

            And really, when we talk about happiness in the context of being full of light, the way Jesus talked about it, we need to define our terms.  Because the kind of happiness that fills us with light is more than just a momentary thing.  I mean, I’m happy when I eat ice cream or when I watch a funny TV show or when the Twins win a ball game, but it’s not like any of those things are going to change my life in any significant way.  Those things might make us happy for a moment, but that’s all. 

Now, that’s not unimportant--sometimes, when we have a lot of stuff to deal with, just having a moment’s break, a chance to think about something besides our problems for a few minutes, is exactly what we need.  But even so, it’s still a temporary thing.  If our soul is dark, something like that is like striking a match.  It provides a bit of light, for a little while, but before long the darkness comes back again.  What we’re talking about is a happiness that stays with us, regardless of the circumstances.

Jesus said that the eye is the lamp of the body.  If your eyes are healthy, if they’re letting in light, then your body will be full of light.  If your eyes are not healthy, if they don’t let in light, then your body will stay dark.

In other words, the question we need to ask is, what are we seeing?  What is it that’s in our field of vision?  When we look out at the world, what are we focusing on?

It is very easy, right now, to focus on the darkness.  We’re still dealing with the coronavirus, and even though things are opening up around here, there are still a lot of places where things are locked down.  There have been a lot of economic effects of the lockdowns, too.  We got a little rain this past week, but we’re going to need a lot more if we’re going to have good crops.  There’s all sorts of political turmoil going on around just about any issue you can name.  Even just in the United Methodist church, there are arguments going on and there’s a very good chance the denomination might split.  And I’m sure you can think of a whole lot of other areas in which we see darkness.  It’s easy to do.

But then, Jesus never said being a Christian would be easy.  In fact, he said just the opposite.  He warned his followers that following him would cause them all kinds of problems.  He said they would be hated for following him.  He said they would suffer because they were following him.  But he also told them not to worry about it.

And we hear that, and we say, “What?  Don’t worry about it?  I’m going to suffer, and everybody’s going to hate me, and you say don’t worry about it?”  If that’s not worth worrying about, what is?

Well, Jesus actually answered that question.  In Matthew Chapter Ten, Verse Twenty-eight, Jesus says the only thing we should worry about is “The one who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”  That’s what Jesus says is worth worrying about.  Not what happens to us on earth.

But Jesus did not just leave it at that.  As we said a couple of weeks ago, Jesus recognized that our human concerns are important.  That’s why he healed people and fed people and such.  He told his followers that God’s Holy Spirit would be with them.  And he told them, in Luke Chapter Twelve, Verse Twelve, that when they got into trouble, the Holy Spirit would tell them what to say.

That’s how we can change our focus.  That’s how we can shift our focus from the darkness to the light.  By trusting God’s Holy Spirit.  By focusing on God’s Holy Spirit.

Does that sound simplistic?  Maybe it does.  Maybe that just sounds like a pastor thing to say.  Sort of like saying that “Jesus” or “prayer” is the answer to everything.  It’s easy to say “trust God’s Holy Spirit” or “focus on God’s Holy Spirit.”  But how does that take care of the problems we have right now?

Well, it doesn’t.  Not directly, anyway.  But if we truly trust God’s Holy Spirit, it will change our perspective on those problems.  Trusting God’s Holy Spirit gives us confidence that things can get better.  In fact, it gives us confidence that things will get better.  We may not know how.  We may not know when.  But they will.  Trusting God’s Holy Spirit helps us realize that the darkness will not last forever, and it will not win.  God wins.  God will always win.

Trusting God’s Holy Spirit means that we trust that God is all-powerful.  We trust that nothing happens that God does not allow to happen.  We don’t always understand why God allows some things to happen, but we also trust that God is all-knowing and all-wise.  And so, when God allows things to happen, God must have good reasons for doing so.  As God says, speaking through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah Chapter Fifty-five, Verses eight and nine, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.  As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Trusting God’s Holy Spirit reminds us of that.  It reminds us that God is under no obligation to explain things to us or to do things that meet with our approval.  God has plans and purposes that we know nothing about.  And the chances are that we would not understand them if God tried to explain them to us.  

Our human perspective is always so limited.  We think of a hundred years as a long time.  And it is, to us.  But not to God.  God sees hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of years into the future if the world is going to last that long.  And God is going to use all the things that are happening now to accomplish His plans and His purposes.  If we trust God’s Holy Spirit, we’ll trust that.  And we’ll remember what it says in Romans Chapter Eight, Twenty-eight, that God can use all things for the good of those who love him.

There may be a lot of darkness now.  But there have been lots of times of darkness in the world.  And yet, somehow, the light always comes through, and the light always wins.  And we can be confident of that because of Jesus.  After all, as Jesus said in John Chapter Eight, Verse Twelve, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

I’ve quoted a lot of different Bible verses tonight.  That just shows that God, speaking through the authors of the Bible, made this same point over and over again.  No matter how dark in may seem, the darkness is not going to win.  The darkness cannot defeat the light.  The light will always come shining through.  The light of Jesus, the light that shines through God’s Holy Spirit, will always be there.  It cannot be extinguished.  It cannot even be dimmed.  It is always there, for everyone who is willing to look for it and see it.

God’s light is not hidden.  It is not placed under a bowl, where no one can see it.  It is on the stand, shining brightly, just waiting for us to look and see it.  Just waiting for us to be guided by it.  Just waiting for us to allow it to light our way.

Until the day Jesus comes again, the darkness will always be there.  But so will the light.  Do not let your eyes focus on the darkness.  Do not let your eyes fill your heart and soul with darkness.  Instead, focus on the light, the light of the Lord.  Let your eyes fill your heart and soul with light.  

The true light that gives light to everyone has come into the world.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  And it never will.

 

Jesus Explains It All

The message given Easter Sunday evening, April 4, 2021, in the Gettysburg United Methodist church.  The Bible verses used are Luke 24:13-49.

            It’s the first Easter Sunday evening.  They did not call it that, of course.  They did not call it anything, really.  The women had gone into the tomb in the morning, and found it empty.  They had been told that Jesus had risen.  But--what did that mean, really?  

Had Jesus really risen from the dead?  Was he really alive?  Was it possible?  Yes, he had said he’d be able to do this, but--could it actually be true?  Or was this some sort of a trick on the part of the Romans, or the Pharisees?  Were they just trying to fool Jesus’ followers into thinking Jesus was alive, so they’d come out of hiding and the soldiers could arrest them, just like they’d arrested Jesus?

            And if Jesus was alive, well, what did that mean?  Was Jesus going to resume his ministry?  Were they going to start traveling with him again?  Was he going to go back to healing people and driving out demons and doing all that stuff he had done before?  Or this time, having conquered death, would he raise an army and battle the Romans and restore the nation of Israel to its former glory?  Was this going to be the kingdom of Israel reborn?

            Everybody was in a state of confusion.  Nobody knew what was going to happen.  For that matter, nobody really even knew what had happened.  

            Luke has just told us about the discovery of the empty tomb.  Now, the scene shifts.  It’s later in the day.  Two guys are walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus, which we’re told was seven miles away.  That sounds like a long walk to us, but of course people were used to walking everywhere back then.  It was probably no big deal to them.

            These two guys are walking along, talking about what happened.  We’re told that one of them was named Cleopas.  We don’t know anything about him, other than his name.  But that’s better than his friend, because we’re not even told the other guy’s name.  He’s simply “Not Cleopas”, I guess.

            They were not among the Twelve Disciples, the inner circle, but they apparently were followers of Jesus and were acquainted with the disciples.  They refer to Jesus as “a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.”  And they refer to the disciples who went to see the empty tomb as “our companions”.  They’re also described as being downcast about Jesus’ death.  

            Jesus shows up, but they don’t know it’s Jesus.  They tell Jesus what’s happened, not knowing that he obviously knew all about it.  And then Jesus starts explaining it all to them.  It says, “Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”

            When Jesus leaves, they realize who this was they’d been talking to.  They go find the remaining eleven disciples, minus Judas of course, and tell them about it.

            And Jesus shows up again!  And we’re told, “He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.”

            You know, recently one of my confirmation students asked why Jesus does not explain things more.  So many times he spoke in parables or in figures of speech.  He’d answer questions with questions.  Why did Jesus not just come out and say what he meant?  Why did Jesus not just say what he had to say and make everything clear to us?

            It’s a good question.  It’s one that a lot of us have probably wondered about at one time or another.  We assume Jesus had reasons for the way he did things, and we assume they were good reasons.  

            We could speculate about it.  Maybe Jesus did not explain things because we would not understand them.  I mean, think of all the times Jesus did try to explain things to the disciples and they did not understand.  And in fact, in John Sixteen, Twelve, just before Jesus is going to the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus says that he has more to say the disciples, but they would not be able to handle it.  So maybe that’s why Jesus did not explain things--he knew it would do no good anyway.

            Or, maybe Jesus did not explain things because he knew we would not accept them.  There were times that happened with the disciples, too.  In Matthew Sixteen, Jesus tells the disciples he’s going to be killed, and Peter says no, that’s not going to happen.  Think how that must have made Jesus feel--I’m the divine Son of God, I’m telling you what’s going to happen, and you’re arguing with me?  So maybe Jesus decided there was no point explaining things if people were going to argue with him about it.

            But whatever the reason is, there are times Jesus did not explain.  But here, he did.  He explained it all.  He explained it to Cleopas and Not Cleopas.  He explained it to the eleven disciples.  All of it.  He started with all the great prophets going back to Moses.  He explained how all this stuff that had happened hundreds of years ago was pointing to him.  And he opened their minds, so that they could understand everything he was saying to them.

            That would be such an awesome thing.  To have Jesus explain everything to you.  And to be able to understand it all.  Maybe that’s one of the things that happens in heaven.  Maybe in heaven you have everything explained to you, and you have all your questions answered, and it all suddenly makes sense.  Or maybe, in heaven, you feel such joy and peace in the presence of God that none of it matters anymore.  I don’t know.  But still, it would be an awesome thing to have Jesus himself answer all your questions and making everything about life clear to you.  I think that’s something we’d all love.

            But you know, there’s another way to look at this.  There’s a quote attributed to Mark Twain that goes, “It’s not the parts of the Bible I don’t understand that bother me.  It’s the parts that I do understand.”

            We have a lot of questions about the Bible, and that’s fine.  There’s nothing wrong with asking questions.  It’s natural to want to know more and to understand more.  But at the same time, nowhere in the Bible does the Lord say, “You must understand everything.”  What we’re told, over and over again, is that we should trust.  That we should have faith.  That we should believe.

            When it came to telling us how we should live, Jesus made it simple.  Love one another.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.  Love your neighbor as yourself.  Love even your enemies.  Pray for those who persecute you.  

There’s nothing complicated about that.  What happens is that we complicate it.  We complicated because, while those things are simple, they can be really hard for us to do.  We don’t want to do them.  And so we make excuses.  We claim we don’t understand, to avoid having to do what Jesus said.  And we look for loopholes, to avoid obeying Jesus’ commands.        Too often, we’re like the expert in the law who Jesus talked to.  When Jesus said love your neighbor, he said, “Well, who is my neighbor?”  He wanted an excuse.  He did not really want to have to love his neighbor, and so he was looking for a way to narrow things down.  He was looking for a loophole.  And too many times, so do we.

There may be parts of the Bible we don’t understand, but there are plenty of parts we do.  There are plenty of things that Jesus made simple.  So let’s stop complicating them.  So, on this Easter Sunday night, let’s stop making excuses.  And let’s stop looking for loopholes.  Let’s not worry so much about the parts of the Bible we don’t understand.  Instead, let’s focus on obeying the parts of the Bible we do understand.  And let’s start by doing the simple things Jesus told us to do.  Let’s love God and love our neighbor.  Let’s love even our enemies.  Let’s simply, as Jesus said, love one another.

            It would be awesome to have Jesus sit down and explain all the scriptures to us.  It would be awesome to have Jesus open our minds, so that we could understand it all.  Maybe that will happen someday.  But unless and until it does, I think Jesus would like us to focus on the things Jesus said that we do understand.  Live according to those things.  Trust God.  Be faithful to God.  Serve God.  Love God.  Love one another.  Feel that love and show that love with all of our heart.  With all of our mind.  With all of our soul.  With all of our strength.  And don’t just do that once in a while.  Do it all the time.  Every day.  Day after day after day.

            If we do those things, we just might find that our faith is not all that hard to understand after all.

 

The Unfinished Story

The message given on Easter Sunday morning, April 4, 2021, in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish.  The Bible verses used are Mark 15:42--16:8.

            It’s the first Easter morning.  Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, all go out to Jesus’ tomb.   

They knew where Jesus had been placed.  They had watched when Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus’ body and put it in the tomb.  They go out with various spices to anoint Jesus’ body.  This was considered a necessity in the Jewish religion.  It was a way of preparing a body for burial.

            The women knew that a stone had been rolled against the entrance of the tomb.  And yet, the way this is written, it never occurred to them ahead of time that this could cause a problem for them.  They’re on their way to the tomb, just after sunrise, and on their way there, all of a sudden they start asking, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

            Now, this is described as a large stone.  We’re not told how large in the Bible, but from what I’ve read, it could have weighed a ton or more.  Obviously, these women are not going to be able to move a one-ton stone by themselves.

            But they don’t go back and ask for help or anything.  They keep going out to the tomb.  They get there, and they discover that the stone has already been rolled away.

            I wonder what they thought, when they saw that.  Were they relieved, grateful that they were not going to have to go get help?  Or were they scared, thinking that someone must have moved Jesus’ body?  John tells us that was Mary Magdalene’s assumption.  But at any rate, they go into the tomb.  And they see someone, described as a young man dressed in white.  And at that point, we’re told that they were scared.

            But the man tells them not to be scared.  He tells them Jesus has risen!  And he tells them to tell Peter and the other disciples what has happened.  But despite what he says, we’re told that, “Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled the tomb.  They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.”  And that’s where Mark leaves the story.  The gospel of Mark ends on that note.

            Now, if you’ve read the gospel of Mark, your Bible may have more verses.  There are many Bibles that do.  But those extra verses do not appear in the earliest versions of Mark’s gospel that we have.  It’s thought that people were uncomfortable with the gospel of Mark ending this way.  It felt unfinished.  So it’s thought that those verses were added later, to bring the gospel to what was considered a more “proper” ending.

            But on that first Easter morning, the story was unfinished.  No one understood what had happened.  Jesus was not in the tomb, that much was certain.  But--had he really risen from the dead?  Was he really alive?  Was it possible?  Yes, he had said he’d be able to do this, but--could it actually be true?  Or was this some sort of a trick on the part of the Romans, or the Pharisees?  Were they just trying to fool Jesus’ followers into thinking Jesus was alive, so they’d come out of hiding and the soldiers could arrest them, just like they’d arrested Jesus?

            And if Jesus was alive, well, what did that mean?  Was Jesus going to resume his ministry?  Were they going to start traveling with him again?  Was he going to go back to healing people and driving out demons and doing all that stuff he had done before?  Or this time, having conquered death, would he raise an army and battle the Romans and restore the nation of Israel to its former glory?  Was this going to be the kingdom of Israel reborn?

            So many questions, and no real answers.  The man at the tomb had said that Jesus would meet the disciples in Galilee.  So, there was really nothing to do but go to Galilee.  Maybe they’d get some answers there.  But for now, all they really had was questions.

            We think of Easter as a celebration.  And it is!  And it should be!  The tomb is empty!  He is risen!  Jesus has conquered death!  And he did not just conquer it for himself.  He conquered it for us!  For you, and for me, and for everyone who believes in Jesus as the Savior!

            But Easter is a celebration because we know what comes next.  We know the answers to those questions.  The disciples, the women, none of them knew the answers.  They were waiting.  For them, the story was still unfinished.

            But when you think about it, the story is still unfinished.  Jesus rose from the dead.  He came back and appeared to the disciples.  He appeared several times, in fact.  But then, he went back up to heaven.  And the disciples were still on earth.  And it was up to them to continue Jesus’ ministry.  It was up to them to go and spread the gospel to all nations, so that as many people as possible would come to accept Jesus as the Savior.

            And they did.  But of course, the disciples all passed on, too.  And so did the people they talked to.  And so did many other generations of Christians.  After all, it’s been nearly two thousand years since the time of Jesus.  

            It has been the responsibility of all those generations to continue Jesus’ ministry.  It has been their responsibility to go and spread the gospel to all nations.  And they have.  And now, it’s up to this generation.  It’s up to us.  To you, and to me.

            Not by ourselves, of course.  We do this with all the other Christians all over the world.  But still, each of us needs to do our part.  You do, and I do.  It is the responsibility of every Christian, everywhere, to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

            How do you feel about that?  And how are you doing with it?  Are you happy, eager to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ?  Or do you feel more like the women as they left the tomb?  Trembling, and afraid to say anything to anyone?

            If it’s the latter, Jesus understands.  Jesus knows he left us with a tough job.  Jesus knows how hard it can be to spread the gospel.  He knows that better than anyone.  After all, he did it, and look what happened to him.  He was killed.  So Jesus knows this is not an easy job he has given us.

            And Jesus understands why we’re scared of doing it.  There are all kinds of reasons.  Sometimes we don’t feel confident enough in our own faith.  We think, I have all kinds of questions myself.  How can I spread the gospel to others?  

            Sometimes we’re afraid of how people will react.  We think, I don’t want people to think I’m some kind of religious nut.  I’ll just turn them off.  Besides, the people I know probably believe already.  I don’t really need to say anything.

            Sometimes we just don’t want to stand out.  We think, no one else I know talks about the gospel.  If I talk about it, people will think I’m strange.  They might start avoiding me.  I could lose friends.  I don’t want that to happen.

            Jesus understands those reasons and all kinds of others.  But here’s the thing.  Jesus understands them--but Jesus does not accept them.  Jesus does not allow us to make excuses.  Jesus did not say “Go and spread the gospel unless you have some questions.”  Jesus did not say, “Go and spread the gospel unless you’re afraid of turning people off.”  Jesus did not say, “Go and spread the gospel as long as you feel comfortable doing it.”  Jesus just said, “Go and spread the gospel.”  Period.  

            We don’t always feel comfortable doing it.  I don’t always feel comfortable doing it, either.  But that’s not an excuse.  We need to face our excuses, face our fears, and go and spread the gospel anyway.

            Because here’s the thing.  Easter is a celebration.  But it’s only a celebration for people who believe in Jesus Christ.  Because belief in Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven.  Not because I say so, but because Jesus said so.  If you and I don’t go and spread the gospel, there are people who won’t believe who might have, if only we’d tried to reach them.  There will be people who are not saved who might have been, if we had only tried to tell them about Jesus.  There will be people who miss out on salvation and eternal life who might have had it, if only we had told them about the good news of Jesus Christ.

            I understand why we hesitate.  I feel all those same things.  And sometimes I give in to those feelings.  I have missed many, many chances to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to people.  Probably a lot of us have.  And it’s too bad.

            But we cannot go back and change the past.  What we can do is move forward.  What we can do is start now, today.  What we can do is overcome our fears and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

            The women left the tomb trembling and afraid.  They did not know what the empty tomb meant.  You and I do.  So let’s stop trembling.  Let’s stop being afraid.  Let’s go and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Then, next year, even more people can celebrate the glory of Easter!

 

Following God's Will

This is the message given in the Good Friday services in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on April 2, 2021.  The Bible verses used are Mark 15:1-47.

            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.  But he did not.  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 the 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.  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.

 

Incredible Love

The message given at the Maundy Thursday service in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish.  The Bible verses used are Mark 14:12-50.

            I would think that the events we read about tonight were the saddest time of Jesus’ life on earth.

            Maybe you disagree.  Maybe you think that the beatings and mockery were worse.  Maybe you think his actual death on the cross was worse.  And you could be right--we have no way to know.  

            But to me, this would be the worst.  To be betrayed by one of his closest friends, someone who had been traveling with him for three years or so.  Someone who’d heard all that Jesus had to say about loving our neighbors, loving even our enemies.  Someone who’d seen Jesus heal people, feel people, drive out demons, even raise someone from the dead.  Someone who’d been put in a position of trust.  To be betrayed by someone like that--well, that’s a very tough thing.  It’s a very sad thing.

            But that’s not all.  On that night, all of Jesus’ friends abandoned him.  They said they would not.  They swore they would not.  But they did.  He told them to keep watch, and they fell asleep.  And then, when Jesus was arrested, they scattered, making sure they would not be arrested, too.  At the lowest point of Jesus’ life on earth, at the point when Jesus needed his friends most, they all abandoned him.  Not one was faithful.  That had to be incredible sad for Jesus.

            None of this came as a surprise to Jesus, of course.  He knew it was going to happen.  He told the disciples it was going to happen.  They did not want to hear it, of course.  They claimed Jesus was wrong.  But of course, he was not.  Jesus knew.  Jesus knew what was going to happen.

            I wonder at what point he knew.  Did he know it from the start of his ministry?  Did Jesus know, when he started his ministry, that he would be crucified?  Did he know that it would happen because one of his disciples would betray him?  Did Jesus know, when he called Judas to be his disciple, that Judas would be the one who would betray him?  Did he know, when he called all the other disciples, that they would all abandon him?  Did he know that, in the end, he would be left alone?

            He certainly could have.  He is Jesus, after all.  The divine Son of God.  It may have been exactly that way--that at the time he started his ministry, he knew exactly what would happen and exactly how it would all end.  That he knew who would be responsible for its ending and when it would all happen.  Jesus may have known exactly how it would all happen all along.

If so, think about what that would mean.  It would mean that Jesus invited Judas to be part of his inner circle, his closest friends, knowing that Judas would betray him.  It would mean that Jesus allowed Judas to be put in a position of trust--in charge of the group’s money--knowing Judas would betray him.  It would mean that Jesus allowed Judas to take part in everything the disciples did--traveling with them, sharing their meals, hearing him preach, being part of the miracles, everything--knowing Judas would betray him.  

            But it’s more than just Judas.  It would mean that, at the time Jesus invited each and every one of the disciples to become part of his inner circle, Jesus knew they would abandon him.  It would mean that Jesus allowed himself to become close to, and even love, people he knew were going to abandon him in the end.  It would mean that, knowing exactly how unworthy and untrustworthy these people were, Jesus took them in and loved them anyway.

            That’s a pretty incredible love.  If that’s really how it happened, that Jesus knew exactly how these people were going to treat him, and yet he did all this for them and with them anyway, that would be an amazing love.  That would probably the greatest love the world has ever known.  

            But we don’t know that it happened that way.  Jesus makes no reference to his death and resurrection during the early days of his ministry.  Now, that may have simply been a choice on Jesus’ part.  He might have thought the disciples were not yet ready to hear about that, or that they might choose not to follow him if they knew what was coming.  There could’ve been any number of reasons why Jesus would choose not to tell the disciples what was coming right away.  

            But it also could be that God the Father chose not to reveal everything to God the Son right away.  The Bible does give examples of things God the Son does not know, the most notable being the time he will come again.  It could be that Jesus himself did not know how or when it would end when he started his ministry.  It could be that God the Father revealed these things to him gradually, that first he was told he would be crucified, then he was told that he would be betrayed, then he was told who it was that would betray him, then he was told when it would happen, and then he was told that all the other disciples would abandon him, too.

            If so, think about how Jesus would have felt, when he found these things out.  Learning that he would be crucified would be bad enough.  But then, to find out that he was going to be betrayed by one of his closest friends.  And then, to find out which one it would be.  And then, to be told that it would not be too long before it happened.  And then, to find out that all of his closest friends would abandon him.

            Think about what that would mean.  Think about the love that would show.  Because the thing is, as Jesus was learning all this, nothing ever changed about the way he treated the disciples.  We’re never told that Jesus distanced himself from the disciples when he found out one of them would betray him.  We’re never told that Jesus treated Judas any differently, when he learned that Judas would be the one to betray him.  We’re never told that Jesus’ love for any of his disciples ever lessened, even when he found out they would all abandon him.  In fact, it seems like Jesus got even closer to them, and loved them all the more.

            Jesus told us to do a lot of hard things.  To love our enemies, to go the extra mile for them, to forgive completely and totally no matter what, to treat others with love and respect even when they treat us like dirt.  But the thing is, that was not just talk.  Jesus did all those things.  Jesus lived them out.  Jesus never asked us to do anything that he would not do himself.  And Jesus paid the price for doing them.  In fact, he paid the ultimate price, being killed on a cross.

            Those were hard things for Jesus to do, too.  As fully human as well as fully divine, there had to be at least a part of him that did not want to do them.  There had to be part of him that wanted to exclude Judas, that wanted to distance himself from the disciples.  After all, while a betrayal always hurts, it hurts even more if it comes from someone you’re close to.  If he’d distanced himself from them, the hurt would’ve been less.  

            But Jesus did not do that.  Knowing exactly what Judas would do to him, knowing exactly what all the disciples would do to him, Jesus continued to love them.  Jesus continued to open himself up to them.  Jesus continued to go the extra mile for them.  And he never stopped doing that, even knowing that it would lead to his death on a cross.

            How many times have you and I betrayed Jesus?  Not in the same way, of course.  But how many times have we not done what Jesus told us to do?  How many times have we failed to show love to our neighbor?  How many times have we failed to forgive someone?  How many times have we failed to treat others with love and respect, no matter what?  How many times have we refused to go the extra mile for someone?  How many times have we even failed to go the first mile, for that matter?  If you and I say we love Jesus, if you and I say we believe Jesus is the Savior, the divine Son of God, then we should be doing what Jesus told us to do.  We should be living the way Jesus told us to live.  Every time we don’t, we betray Jesus.  Every time.

            But here’s the good news.  Every time we betray Jesus, Jesus continues to love us.  Every time we fail Jesus, Jesus stays close to us.  Every time we distance ourselves from Jesus, Jesus forgives us and calls us back to him.  Every time.

            On the saddest night of Jesus’ life, when Jesus was betrayed and abandoned by the people closest to him, Jesus continued to love them.  His love for them was so strong that he died for them in an incredibly painful way.  He did that so that their sins could be forgiven.  He did that so that our sins could be forgiven.  He did that so that they, and we, could join him in heaven, through our faith in him as the Savior and through God’s love and grace and mercy.

            This was the saddest night of Jesus’ life.  But by his love, he turned it into what eventually became the greatest day of our lives.  On this night, let’s try to fully appreciate the incredible love Jesus has for us.  Let’s stop betraying Jesus.  If we do, we’ll make this a great day for Jesus, too.

 

Jesus' Farewell Address

This is the message given in the Wednesday night Lent service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on March 31, 2021.  The Bible verses used are John 14-17.

            We’re not going to have a very long message tonight.  Instead, what I’m going to do is let Jesus 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’ve looked at various parts of that during these Wednesday night Lent services, and that’s been good.  But when the disciples first heard this, they did not get it a bit at a time.  They did not get a week 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.