Offered to Everyone

The message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Maundy Thursday, April 14, 2022.  The Bible verses used are Matthew 26:17-30.

            One of the problems with hearing Bible stories that we’ve heard several times before is that, eventually, that’s what they become.  Stories.  Like a mystery novel or a romance story.  Something that’s interesting, but something that does not actually seem real to us.  But they were real.  They happened to real people in a real place.  In this case, they happened to Jesus in Jerusalem.

            The events we’ve heard about tonight happened on Jesus’ last full day of life on earth.  Think about what this day was like for Jesus.  He wakes up, knowing what the day is going to bring.  Maybe he did not sleep very well, thinking about it.  He knew things had to happen this way–he said so himself, many times.  But it’s one thing to think about something that’s going to happen at some point in the future.  It’s another thing to be face-to-face with the reality of it.  

            He had determined to go through with it, of course.  But that did not make it any more pleasant.  He knew what was going to happen–the betrayal, the arrest, the abandonment, all of it.  It would not be an easy thing to face, even for Jesus.

            The disciples came to Jesus, asking him what he wanted them to do to prepare to eat the Passover meal.  Jesus tells them what to do, and they do it.  And the next thing we’re told, it’s evening.  

What do you suppose Jesus did during the day that day, his last day of life on earth?  What would you do, if you knew it was your last day of life on earth?  

Did he spend some time with Mary, his earthly mother?  We’re told that Mary was there at his crucifixion, so she must have been in Jerusalem.  He almost certainly spent some time in prayer, talking to God the Father.  Did he think about what he might say to the disciples, to prepare them for what was going to happen?  Last night we read what we called Jesus’ Farewell Address to his disciples, which covers about four chapters of the gospel of John.  Maybe he was planning that out.  Maybe he was thinking about how he was going to tell the disciples that one of them would betray him.  Maybe he wandered around Jerusalem, taking one last look at everything.

Whatever he did, eventually evening came.  And Jesus tells the disciples straight out, “one of you will betray me.”

We’re told that the disciples were very sad when they heard that.  I don’t know that I ever thought about that before, but does that not seem like kind of a strange reaction to you?  I mean, I’d have thought that they’d be shocked.  Or outraged.  Or angry.  But no, they’re simply very sad.

That tells me that the disciples maybe had more of an inkling of what was going on than we sometimes think.  They knew the authorities were after them.  They knew things were coming to a head very soon.  And now, they knew how it was going to happen.  It was going to happen because one of them would betray Jesus.  Of all the ways for things to end.  To have it end that way, with one of them betraying Jesus.  It was, indeed, a very sad thing.

And it’s also interesting how the disciples respond next.  Each of them asks Jesus, “Surely you don’t mean me?”

That tells me a couple of things.  One of them is that they did not know, at this point, that Judas would be the one to betray them.  They don’t even appear to have suspected him.  Because no one says, “Is it Judas?”  They don’t ask, “Is it Andrew?” or “Is it Philip” either.  They simply ask, “Surely you don’t mean me?”

What that tells me is that each of them thought, deep down, that there was a chance that it might be them.  None of the disciples, not James, not John, not even Peter, was a hundred percent sure that they would not be the one to betray Jesus.  Which raises the question:  had Judas not betrayed Jesus, would one of the others had done so?  We don’t know, obviously.  But none of them was sure it would not be them, so we cannot be sure about it, either.

And when you think about it, in a way, it was every one of them.  We did not read this far, but when Jesus was arrested, all the disciples ran away.  None of them stood by Jesus.  None of them was willing to be arrested with Jesus.  Everyone deserted him.  They all betrayed Jesus to one extent or another.

It’s something for us to think about.  Because, you know, none of us likes to think of ourselves as Judas.  We all want to think, if we had been there, that we would never have betrayed Jesus.  But they all did.  Even Peter, who swore that even if everyone else fell away, he would not, did.  So if all of them did, there’s probably a good chance that you and I would have, too.

But here’s the thing.  After Jesus tells them one of them will betray him, and knowing that all of them will desert him, Jesus then goes on to offer them what we now call Holy Communion.  He says words that are very similar to what we will say when we share in Holy Communion in a little while.  We’re told that, “Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’   Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you.  This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’”

Jesus offered that bread, and that cup, to everyone.  He offered his body, and his blood, for everyone.  He offered the forgiveness of sins to everyone.

And that “everyone” includes Judas.  After all, there is no indication that Judas had left.  It certainly appears that he was still there.  Jesus offered the forgiveness of his body, and his blood, to Judas.  Knowing exactly what Judas was going to do, knowing exactly when and how and why he was going to do it, Jesus still offered the forgiveness of his body and his blood to Judas.  Jesus offered salvation and eternal life to Judas.  And he offered it to all the other disciples, the ones who would abandon him, as well.

Does that mean Judas went to heaven?  Well, I don’t know about that.  Jesus said, in our reading for tonight, “woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”  That certainly does not sound promising for Judas.  On the other hand, we’re told that our salvation is not dependent on our goodness, but on our faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior.  Jesus even said to one of the men who was crucified with him “Today you will be with me in paradise.”  Is it possible that, before he killed himself, Judas repented of his sins, asked for forgiveness, and proclaimed his faith in Jesus?  The Bible does not tell us that, but it does not specifically tell us that he did not.  Ultimately, of course, what I think about this does not matter–this is a decision for God, not for me.  But I do think it’s possible.

 But what that should do for us is give us hope.  Because, as we said a couple of weeks ago, we all have a little bit of Judas in us.  We all betray Jesus on occasion.  Not in the way Judas did, obviously.  But have you ever been a little disappointed in God?  Have you ever been upset with God?  Have you ever felt like God let you down?  Have you ever failed to trust God as much as you should?  Have you ever tried to tell God what to do, and then questioned or doubted God when God did not do it?  I suspect most of us, maybe all of us, have done at least one of those things, maybe more.  And when we have, we’ve betrayed Jesus.

But even so, Jesus still offers us Holy Communion.  Now don’t get me wrong, taking communion does not guarantee that we have salvation and eternal life.  It’s not a get out of jail free card.  But it is one of God’s means of grace.  It is one of the ways God’s Holy Spirit comes into our hearts.

Just as he did with the disciples, Jesus offers the bread, and the cup, to everyone.  Jesus offers his body, and his blood, to everyone.  Jesus offers forgiveness to everyone.  Jesus offers salvation and eternal life to everyone.  Including Judas.  Including Peter.  Including you.  And including me.

As we move into our time of sharing in Holy Communion, let’s think about all this.  Let’s think about the fact that Jesus offers salvation and eternal life to everyone.  Even to those who betray Him.  As long as we are alive, it is never too late to repent of our sins, to ask for forgiveness, and to receive salvation and eternal life.  Jesus offers his body and his blood, to allow us to be saved.  Let’s accept His offer.  Let’s truly accept Jesus Christ as the Savior.

 

Jesus' Farewell Address

The message given in the Wednesday night Lent service on April 12, 2022.  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 as we’ve done the last few years in this last Wednesday night Lent service, 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 look at various parts of that at this time of year, 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 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.

 

The Best and the Worst We Can Be

The message given in the Sunday night worship service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on April 10, 2022.  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!

 

Are You Hot?

The message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday morning, April 10, 2022.  The Bible verses used are Mark 11:1-11.

            Have you ever thought about what it would be like to know the future?  Probably all of us have.  In fact, I’m sure all of us have had times when we wished we did know the future.  Countless books and TV shows and movies have been made on that subject, and they always seem to go the same way.  At first it seems wonderful to be able to see the future, but eventually it seems more like a curse, and the person who can see the future wishes he could not.

I wonder if, on that Palm Sunday that we celebrate today, Jesus wished he did not know the future.  Because here he is, riding into town in triumph, to the cheering of the crowds.  People are going nuts over him.  They’re spreading cloaks and palm branches in front of him, laying out the red carpet.  And yet, Jesus really cannot enjoy any of it.  Because Jesus knows none of it means anything.  He knows that some of these same people who are in the crowd shouting “Hosanna” today, will be in another crowd a few days later, shouting “crucify”.

            So how do you think Jesus felt as he came into Jerusalem?  We’re not told.  As often happens in the Bible, all we’re told is what happened.  We’re not told how people felt about it.

            My guess is that Jesus did not feel much of anything, really.  For one thing, Jesus knew that this was how things had to happen.  He had told people this was how things had to happen.  The fact is that, really, everyone was just doing what Jesus expected them to do.

            But I think there’s another reason that Jesus might not have felt much of anything.  Because he knew that it was not just the shouts of “hosanna” that did not mean anything.  The shouts of “crucify” a few days later would not mean anything, either.

            Jesus knew that most of the people in the crowd were not really in favor of him or opposed to him.  Most of the people in the crowd did not particularly care about Jesus one way or another.  Some of them did, certainly.  His disciples and other close friends were there, and they cared   And of course, the Pharisees and the other Jewish authorities cared.  They were not on Jesus’ side, but at least they cared.  But most people probably did not.  They were just going along with the crowd.

            But think about what that says.  After all the things Jesus had said, after all the things Jesus had done, after all the miracles and everything else, the majority of people still did not care much about him one way or the other.  I would think that would have been the most frustrating thing of all for Jesus.  Here he’d been doing all this stuff for human beings, and most human beings really could not have cared less.  They did not even care enough to actively oppose him.  Again, they were just going along with the crowd.

            It reminds me of the words in Revelation that the Apostle John was told to write to the church at Laodicea.  “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!  So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”  That pretty much sums up most of the people in Jerusalem.  They were not fired up in favor of Jesus, and they were not fired up against him.  They were lukewarm.  Neither cold nor hot.

            And it seems to me that that’s still the situation a lot of us have in our faith.  We’re lukewarm.  We’re neither cold nor hot.  We’re not actively opposed to Jesus.  In fact, we kind of like him.  We say we believe in him as our Savior.  But how many of us have let Jesus change our life?  How many of us are really fired up to follow Jesus, no matter where the road leads?

            The comedian George Carlin used to have a line about work.  He said, “Most of us work just hard enough not to get fired and get paid just enough not to quit.”  Now that’s a good line, but think about what it says.  It says that most of us really are not interested enough in our work to really do our jobs well.  We’re going to do what we think is the bare minimum of work necessary to get by.  We’ll do what we think is enough, but we’re not going to do any more.

            I wonder if, without really thinking about it this way, we sometimes look at our faith that way.  We’ll have just enough faith to get to heaven and repent just enough not to go to hell.  We’re not really interested enough in our faith to really follow Jesus wherever he leads us.  We’re going to have what we think is the bare minimum of faith necessary to get by.  We’ll have what we think is enough faith, but we’re not going to have any more.  Not enough to really change our lives in a significant way.

            And please, do not think that I’m pointing a finger at anyone here.  If I’m pointing a finger at anyone, it’s at me.  I’m guilty of this all the time.  And I try to justify it to myself all the time, too.  I say, “But look at all the stuff I’m doing.”  And Jesus says, “I did not tell you to do a bunch of stuff.  I told you to go and make disciples.”  I say, “But look at all the things I’m involved in.”  And Jesus says, “I did not tell you to be involved in things.  I told you to love your neighbor.”  I say, “But I’m a good person, really.”  And Jesus says, “I did not tell you to be a good person.  I told you to follow me.”

            That’s where I am, a lot of the time.  Maybe it’s where you are, too.  Maybe not--again, it’s not my purpose to point fingers here.  It’s not my job to judge you.  It’s for you to decide whether you think any of this describes you.  I just know that, quite often, it describes me.

            So for those of us who think it does describe us, at least part of the time, that brings up the question:  What do we do about it?  How do we go from being lukewarm to being hot?  How do we go from “being a good person” to actually following Jesus wherever he leads us?

            Well, I don’t have a nice, simple, easy answer.  If I did I’d be doing it.  I think it includes some of the things we’ve talked about before.  Trusting God.  Opening our hearts to God.  Asking God to lead us and asking God for the courage to follow where God leads us.  It’s easy to say all that.  It’s not so easy to do it.  But we need to try.  We also need to ask for God’s help, because we cannot do this by ourselves.  But we need to do our part.

            But here’s something that might help.  A lot of us have talked about how concerned we are about some of the things that are happening in our country.  We’ve talked about how Christianity seems to be declining.  We’ve talked about how attendance at churches--not just ours, but a lot of churches all over the country--is going down.  We’ve talked about how the number of people who list their religion as “none” is going up.  And we wonder if anything can be done to change this, or if Christianity in the United States is on a permanent downward course and there’s nothing that can be done about it.

I don’t know the answer to that.  But here’s what I do know.  If these things are going to change, if we’re going to see Christianity grow in the United States again, it’s not going to be caused by people who are lukewarm.  It’s not going to happen because of Christians who have the bare minimum faith necessary to get by.  It’s not going to happen because of people who are neither cold nor hot.  

If Christianity is going to grow in the United States, and in fact, if it’s going to grow in the Wheatland Parish, it’s going to grow because of people who trust in the Lord.  It’s going to grow because of people who have complete faith.  It’s going to grow because of people who are not willing to settle for just “doing stuff and being involved in things”, but who are willing to do whatever it takes to love their neighbor and to go and make disciples.  It’s going to grow because of people who are not willing to settle for just “being a good person”, but who are willing to follow Jesus Christ wherever he leads us.  Who are willing to follow Jesus Christ even when he takes us out of our comfort zone.  Who are willing to follow Jesus Christ even when he calls us to do things we don’t want to do.  Who are willing to follow Jesus Christ even when he leads us to places that scare us, places that we don’t want to go.

            If Christianity is going to grow again in the United States, and if it’s going to grow again in the Wheatland Parish, those are the people, with the help of God, who are going to make it happen.  May God help all of us be those people.

 

Lessons from a Tax Collector

The Sunday night message given in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on Sunday, April 3, 2022.  The Bible verses used are Matthew 9:9-13.

            One of the things we need to deal with, when we read the Bible, is that the things that interest us are not always the things that interest God and vice versa.  There are times when the Bible goes into great detail about things, and we wonder, what’s the point of that?  And there are other times when something seems really interesting to us, and yet the Bible deals with it very quickly, with no details at all.  The Bible tells us all the things we need to know, but quite often it does not tell us all the things we’d like to know.

            In our reading for tonight, Jesus is walking along, and he sees Matthew at his tax collector booth.  He says to Matthew “follow me”.  And Matthew gets up and follows him.

            Well, there are all kinds of things I’d like to know about that.  Did Jesus know who Matthew was?  Had he met him before?  Did Jesus know Matthew would be there, sitting at his tax collector booth at that time?  Did Jesus deliberately seek out Matthew?  Or was this just a coincidence?  Did Matthew just happen to be in the right place at the right time?  If Matthew had not been there, would Jesus have gone to look for him?  Or would Jesus have chosen someone else to be his disciple?  

            And what about looking at it from Matthew’s point of view?  Matthew was a tax collector.  Tax collectors were considered the lowest of the low by the common people.  I mean, yes, they were usually wealthy and powerful, so people had to treat them with a certain amount of respect.  But the reason they were wealthy is because they cheated people.  They were able to do that because they had the force of the Roman government behind them.  A tax collector could take whatever he wanted from the people, and as long as Rome got its cut the tax collector could keep the rest.

So, while tax collectors had money and power, no one liked them.  The reason we hear the phrase “tax collectors and sinners” in the Bible so much is that tax collectors were considered lower than ordinary sinners.  And yet, one of these tax collectors, Matthew, is one of the people Jesus chose to be one of his disciples.

What do you suppose Matthew thought?  It seems likely he knew who Jesus was.  After all, in the gospel account, Jesus had already healed people and worked some miracles by this point.  Did he recognize Jesus, as he approached?  Did he wonder what Jesus would want with him?  Or did he not even realize that Jesus was coming to see him?  Did he think Jesus was just walking along, and it was not until Jesus spoke to him that he realized Jesus was coming for him?

And according to the gospel account, Jesus just says two words to him.  “Follow me.”  And amazingly, Matthew, this lowlife, this tax collector, gets up and follows Jesus.

Why would he do that?  What was going through Matthew’s mind at that point, do you think?  Had he ever considered following Jesus before?  Was there at least a part of him that wanted to?  Did he think Jesus could never be interested in someone like him?  Was he amazed, even stunned, when Jesus said those words to him?  Did he jump up eagerly, thankfully, when Jesus gave him the chance to follow?  

We’re told that Jesus then went to Matthew’s house for dinner.  As a tax collector, Matthew probably had servants and plenty of good food.  And we’re told lots of other “tax collectors and sinners” came to eat, too.  And of course, the Pharisees could not understand this.  They would not have been caught dead among such undesirable company.  

So they asked why Jesus was willing to eat with such people.  They did not ask Jesus himself–they asked the disciples.  But Jesus heard them, and he answered.  He said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick…I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

So, I’ll ask the questions I’ve asked many times before.  Why is this story in the Bible?  What are we supposed to learn from it?

Several things, I think.  One is that God does not see people the way human beings see them.  Most people looked at this tax collector and saw one of the most despicable people they’d ever known.  Someone who was out to cheat them.  Someone who had grown wealthy on the backs of other people’s hard work.  Jesus looked at him and saw the good in him.  Jesus looked at him and saw a man who could be a valuable disciple, someone who could help spread the good news of salvation and eternal life.

That’s important in two ways.  One is that, when we see someone, it’s easy for us to make a snap judgment about them.  Especially if they’re someone society would look down on.  We need to learn to see past appearances and see the good that may lie under the surface.  

Because there’s one more thing Jesus saw that society did not see.  Jesus saw someone who wanted to change his life.  After all, there had to be other tax collectors around, right?  And most of them probably were happy being tax collectors.  They did not care what they were doing to other people, as long as they took care of themselves.  But this tax collector, Matthew, was not happy being a tax collector.  Somewhere, deep down, he knew that what he was doing was not right.  He probably wanted to change, but he had no idea how to do that.  Who would trust him?  Who would give him a chance?  

Jesus would.  Jesus trusted him.  Jesus gave him a chance.  And sometimes we need to give people a chance, too.  Because if someone does not get the chance to change, they probably never will.  If Jesus had not gone to Matthew, Matthew would probably have gone on being a tax collector.  He never would’ve been saved.  If we don’t go to people, people society may look down on, and give them a chance to change, they probably won’t.  And they won’t be saved.

But sometimes, in this scenario, we’re Matthew.  We’re the one who is looked down on.  We’re the one who needs to change.  We’re the one, maybe, who wants to change, but we don’t think anyone will give us a chance.  If you’re in that situation, remember this:  Jesus will give you that chance.  Jesus is always ready to call us to follow.  Jesus will always give us the chance to follow.  

But we need to be ready to say yes when the chance comes.  If Matthew had hesitated, if Matthew had said, “well, I’m not sure”, if Matthew had said, let me get back to you on that, his chance might never have come again.  We don’t know–maybe Jesus would’ve come back to him, but maybe Jesus would not have.  Maybe Jesus would’ve gone on to someone else.  You know, when you think about it, we don’t know that the twelve people Jesus chose as his disciples were the first twelve he asked.  Maybe he asked some other people, and they said no.  Or maybe they hesitated, and Jesus moved on.  The Bible does not say that happened, but it does not specifically say that it did not happen, either.  When we get the chance to follow Jesus, we need to be ready to take it.  When Jesus says “follow me”, we need to do what Matthew did.  We need to immediately get up and follow.

There’s one more thing we need to be willing to do, too.  We need to be willing to actually change our lives.

Jesus compared himself to a doctor.  When a doctor encounters a sick person, what does the doctor do?  The doctor does not just let them continue to be sick.  The doctor heals them, to the extent he or she can.  And of course, Jesus, as the great healer, can heal anyone.

But in order to get well, a patient needs to follow the doctor’s orders.  And in order to be healed by Jesus, we need to do what Jesus tells us to do.  Think about this:  if Matthew had eaten with Jesus, and then gone to be and the next morning gone right back to his tax collector booth, would he have been saved?  Would we even have ever heard of him?  It was only because Matthew was willing to follow the doctor’s orders, was willing to truly follow Jesus right away, and follow him wherever the road might lead, that Matthew was able to become a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Jesus sees things in people that no one else sees.  We need to do that, too.  And Jesus sees things in us that no one else sees.  When he does, we need to be ready to follow wherever he leads us.  And we need to be ready to follow now.

Jesus is our doctor.  Let’s follow and be healed.  And let’s do what we can to help others follow, so they can be healed, too.

 

Why Not Judge?

The message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday morning, April 3, 2022.  The Bible verses used are Matthew 7:1-5.

            “Do not judge, or you, too, will be judged.”  It’s probably one of the most famous verses in the Bible.  But a lot of people have a lot of different reactions to it.  And sometimes we, ourselves, have different reactions to it, depending on what’s going on at the time.

            There are times when we love this verse.  When we get criticism that we don’t want to hear, when someone tries to tell us that what we want to do is wrong, we love to pull this verse out.  “Who are you to judge me?  Jesus told us not to judge people.  You can’t tell me what to do.”

            But on the other hand, when other people are doing things we don’t want them to do, and especially when those things affect us, we don’t like this verse at all.  We feel like we should have every right to judge people.  “How dare you do that to me.  Who do you think you are?  You can’t do that to me.”

            So what did Jesus actually mean by this verse?  What was he actually talking about?

            Well, first, let’s look at the context of what he said.  Right before this, Jesus talked about how we should not worry.  Don’t worry about what you eat or drink.  Don’t worry about what you will wear.  Don’t worry about tomorrow.  Instead, Jesus said, seek God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness.  If we do that, God will take care of all these other things, so we don’t need to worry about them.

            And right after this verse, as we read today, Jesus talks about seeing a speck of sawdust in someone else’s eye and not seeing the plank in our own.  He tells us to first take the plank out of our own eye, and then we’ll be able to see the speck in someone else’s eye.

            But before that, Jesus said one other thing.  Jesus said that if we judge others, we’ll be held to the same standards that we use in judging them.

            So, where does that leave us?  Well, let’s add one other thing to the mix.  Two of the things Jesus spoke against most often were self-righteousness and arrogance.  In fact, if we go back even farther in Matthew, right before telling us not to worry, Jesus criticized people who make a big fanfare about giving to the poor, or who give long, flowery public prayers to impress people, or who fast in a way that they make sure everyone knows they’re fasting.  And of course, Jesus’ biggest criticisms of the Pharisees were that they were always trying to make sure everyone knew how righteous they were.

            So, putting all that together, I think what Jesus was telling us is that our focus should not be on the behavior of others.  Our focus should be on ourselves and on God.  And when I say “our focus should be on ourselves”, I don’t mean that in a selfish or self-centered way.  I mean that we need to focus on our own behavior, on our own thoughts, on our own words.  And we need to focus on the kingdom of God.  We need to do all we can to make sure our own behavior, our own thoughts, and our own words are pleasing to God.  We need to make sure those things honor God and glorify God.  We need to make sure those things are things that are worthy of God, to the extent it’s possible for humans to do things that are worthy of God.

            And really, when you think about it, that’s a big enough job right there, right?  If you’ve tried to do that–if you’ve tried to improve yourself in that way–you know how hard it is.  We work on things, we try to live our lives in ways that are pleasing to God.  And sometimes, we feel like we’re making a little progress.  But then, the next thing we know, something happens, and we slip right back to where we were.  

            So think of it this way:  if it’s that hard for us to change ourselves, what makes us think we can change someone else?  And if we cannot change someone else, why are we judging them?  What good does it do?  

            Now that does not mean we have to approve of everything other people say or do.  Of course not.  Jesus never set forth an “anything goes” philosophy.  Jesus was quite clear that certain things are right and certain things are wrong.  In fact, Jesus said that certain things are good and certain things are evil.  And it’s okay for us to say that, too, as long as the things we say are right and wrong are the same things that Jesus said are right and wrong.  But the point is that our focus should not be on other people.  Our focus should be on living our own lives in as Godly a way as possible.  And the best way we can do that is to keep our focus on God and on God’s kingdom.

            I think that’s something we don’t do enough.  I don’t, anyway.  We focus so much on the things of the world.  On “earthly concerns”, as Jesus told Peter he was doing.  We don’t focus enough on “heavenly concerns”.  We don’t focus enough on God and God’s kingdom.

            That’s not to say that we don’t pray–I’m sure most of us, maybe all of us, do.  It’s not to say that we don’t love God, either–again, I’m sure most of us, maybe all of us, do.  And it’s not even to say that we do not believe in Jesus as the Savior–I’m sure most of us, maybe all of us, do that, too.

            What I’m saying is that we don’t think enough about who God really is.  Now, I realize I should not make that as a blanket statement.  Maybe you think about who God is a lot, I don’t know.  If so, then just know that this part of the message does not apply to you.  

            But I think what can happen is that we take God for granted.  And we take prayer for granted.  It’s easy for us to forget what an honor it is to be allowed to pray to God.  It’s easy to forget what a privilege it is to be allowed to pray to God.  We start to think God owes it to us to listen to our prayers, when in fact God does not owe us anything at all.

            Think of it this way.  Imagine that you were God.  I mean, it’s not easy to do, but try.  Imagine you were an all-powerful being.  You could do anything you wanted and you could create anything you wanted.  You could be at all places and at all times in the universe at once, because you’re eternal and you created it all.  And not only are you all-powerful, but you are also completely holy, completely righteous, and completely good.

            If that was you, would you want to hear from human beings?  These small, whiny, sinful, imperfect little creatures?  These people who, as Isaiah said, are like grasshoppers compared to you, and yet they have the nerve to complain to you and try to tell you what to do?  These people for whom you’ve done everything, for whom you’ve given life itself, for whom you even sent your son to die for their salvation, and yet most of the time they don’t even seem to appreciate any of it?  If you were God, would you want to hear from people like that?  I don’t think I would.

            And yet, God does.  God does want to hear from us.  For all that God is, and for all that we are, God wants to hear from us.  In fact, God is eager to hear from us.  God is interested in us.  God wants to hear everything we have to say–the good, the bad, the ups, and the downs.  Anything we want to say to God, God is willing to listen to.  God loves us that much.  God loves you, and God loves me, so much that God wants us to go to Him with everything.  There’s nothing too big and nothing too small for us to go to God with.

            Before we start to pray, we should think about that.  We should think about who God is.  We should think about what an honor and a privilege it is to be allowed to pray to God.  I think doing that will help us put our focus on God, and on God’s kingdom.  And it will make us want to change our behavior, our thoughts, and our words, so that they are pleasing to God.  We’ll want to live lives that honor and glorify God.  We’ll want to live lives that are worthy of God, again to the extent it’s possible for us to do that.

If we do all that, I don’t think we’ll even want to judge others anymore.  In fact, we really won’t even have time to judge others anymore.  We won’t be interested in that speck in someone else’s eye.  We’ll be too busy trying to get the plank out of our own eye.  We’ll be trying to whittle it down, make it smaller, and then smaller still, and then smaller still.  We’ll probably never completely get rid of it.  But we’ll be trying, and we can keep trying.  And with God’s help, we will make that plank smaller.  We will get closer to living lives that please God, lives that honor and glorify God, lives that are worthy of God.

            Jesus’ statement that we should not judge others is not a “get out of jail free” card that allows people to do anything they want.  It’s a reminder to us that we need to clean up our own lives.  So let’s focus on that.  That’s probably enough of a job for most of us.  In fact, it’s probably a job that will last a lifetime.