Truth

The message given on Good Friday in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on April 7, 2023.  The Bible verses used are John 18:33--19:42.

What is truth?

That’s the question Pilate famously asked Jesus.  Jesus, as far as we can tell, did not reply.   

It could be that Jesus believed He’d said all He had to say on the subject.  It could be that Pilate did not give Jesus a chance to reply.   After all, the Bible says, “With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there.”  It could be that, as soon as he asked the question, Pilate turned on his heel and left, not caring what Jesus’ answer might be.

The question, what is truth, is relevant for us today.  In fact, it may be more relevant than ever.  The dictionary says truth is “that which is in accordance with fact or reality”, but these days we don’t use dictionary definitions of words very much.  We’re in a world where, as Humpty Dumpty said to Alice in Wonderland, “When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.”

And so, we live in a world in which “truth” means whatever someone chooses it to mean.  A world in which there is no such thing as objective truth.  A world in which each of us has our own personal truth.  You have your truth, and I have my truth.  And regardless of what “my truth” happens to be, you have no right to tell me it’s wrong, because it’s “my truth”.

Is it any wonder, in a world where truth is subjective, that it’s hard to get people to believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior?  Because Jesus said He is the truth.  He is not a truth.  He is not one of many truths.  He is the truth.  And, as He told Pilate, the reason He was born and came into this world is to testify to the truth.

But Jesus’ truth was not a truth a lot of people wanted to hear.  I mean, they loved Jesus when they had a sick relative or friend they wanted Him to heal.  They loved Him when He fed them.  But Jesus’ truth could not compete with the so-called truths of the world.  

For Pilate, “truth” was just whatever would help him have an easier, peaceful life.  He did not care about Jesus.  If Jesus was the king of the Jews, well, what did that matter to him?  Pilate was not a Jew.  As long as Jesus did not cause Pilate or the Roman Empire any trouble, He could be king of the Jews.  Or not.  Who cared?

Pilate knew there was no reason to have Jesus killed.  He knew there was no reason to punish Jesus in any way.  But when the crowd demanded it, he gave in.  To let Jesus go might lead to a riot.  And not that Pilate cared much about that, either, but if word got back to Rome, Pilate could be in trouble.  He could lose the governorship.  So, he ordered that Jesus be killed.  He did not care about Jesus’ truth.  The only truth he cared about was whatever served his own selfish interests.

For the Jewish leaders, “truth” was what they had been taught.  They had been taught that the Savior would, indeed, be the king of the Jews, but not the kind of king that Jesus was.  The king of the Jews was supposed to re-establish the kingdom of Israel.  The king of the Jews was supposed to make Israel a great and mighty and powerful nation.  And the king of the Jews was supposed to follow all the religious laws to the letter.  This wanderer from Nazareth, this guy who broke the Sabbath law, this guy who re-interpreted the Scriptures in a different way from the way they had learned them, this guy who said the most powerful people should be servants, this guy could not possibly be the king of the Jews.

And so, according to the Jewish leaders, the “truth” was that Jesus was a blasphemer.  His claim to be the divine son of God, to be the king of the Jews, could not possibly be true.  The idea that Jesus might actually be who He claimed to be, that Jesus might actually be the king of the Jews, that maybe their idea of the king of the Jews was not the correct one–that idea never occurred to them.  Their “truth” would not allow for that.  Jesus had to be a false prophet, a false Messiah.  And so, He had to be killed.

For the crowd, the “truth” was just whatever was popular at the time.  A few days earlier, on the first Palm Sunday, there was a crowd that had hailed Jesus as the King and the Savior.  Now, there was a crowd–probably including some of the same people who were in that earlier crowd–who were demanding His death.  In fact, most of the crowd probably did not really care much about Jesus either way.  They were just, literally, “going along with the crowd”.  “Truth” had no real meaning for them.

And for the soldiers?  Well, they were just doing their job.  For them, “truth” was just doing whatever their superiors told them to do.  Take Jesus and some other criminals to the place for crucifixion.  Nail them to the cross.  Divide up their clothes.  Wait around until they died.  Crucifixion was not a terribly uncommon thing back then.  I mean, it did not happen every day, but it was not all that unusual, either.  The soldiers had probably seen it before, maybe lots of times.  They really did not think about whether it was right or wrong.  For them, “truth” was just following orders.

When you think about it, how many of us look at truth in one of those ways?  I mean, we’d never say so.  We’d never admit it, probably not even to ourselves.

But think about those kinds of “truth”.  How many of us just go along with whatever will help us have an easier, peaceful life, the way Pilate did?  How many of us will take a stand for “the truth”, when doing so will get people mad at us and cause us problems?  How many of us will just go along with whatever serves our self-interest, regardless of whether it’s actually true?

And how many of us think of “truth” as whatever we’ve learned, however we’ve learned it, the way the Jewish leaders did?  How many of us have a hard time considering that our long-established opinions and feelings might be wrong?  How many of us have a hard time opening our minds to another point of view, a way of looking at things that may not fit with what we’ve been taught and what we’ve believed?

And how many times are we tempted to just go along with the crowd?  How many times is “truth” just whatever popular opinion is?  How many times do we not even really think for ourselves, how many times do we not care much about the truth either way, but just agree with whatever most people around us are saying?  

And how many of us just go through life doing our jobs?  Doing whatever we’re supposed to do?  Not even thinking about whether it’s right or wrong?  

All those things are tempting to us.  And I suspect at least some of us have given into that temptation at times.  I know I have.  It’s so tempting to let “truth” be whatever we want it to be, whatever makes things easier for us, whatever keeps us out of trouble and lets us be comfortable with our lives.

But the thing is, there is a real answer to Pilate’s question.  What is truth?  Truth is Jesus Christ.

Jesus Himself said so.  He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”  Jesus Christ is the truth.

The truth, the most important truth there could ever be, is that God offered us a chance for salvation and eternal life.  We do not deserve that.  We deserve condemnation, because of our sins.  Jesus said that, too.  But God, in His great love and mercy, offers us a way to avoid that condemnation.  Jesus Christ is that way.  If we acknowledge, if we accept, if we believe the truth, that Jesus is the divine Son of God, that He is the Savior, that He is the Messiah, then we get eternal life.  If we don’t, then we have failed to take advantage of the way God offers us.  And we receive the condemnation that we deserve.

That’s the truth.  It’s not a popular truth, these days.  People think it sounds exclusionary.  People think it sounds arrogant, for Christians to say that faith in Jesus is the only way to eternal life.  But the thing is, “Christians” are not the ones saying it.  Jesus Christ is the one who said it.  We’re just quoting Him.  We quote Him because we believe that what He said is true.  And we believe what He said is true because we believe that Jesus Christ is the truth.

Truth is not whatever we say it is.  There is not “my truth”.  In the final analysis, there is only God’s truth.  And God’s truth came to us in the form of Jesus Christ as the Savior.  

We can believe it, or we can not believe it.  That’s our choice.  But our choice does not determine whether it’s true.  God’s truth remains true, whether we believe it or not.  It is “that which is in accordance with fact and reality.”

What is truth?  Jesus Christ.  May we believe in Him, and have salvation and eternal life.

 

Jesus Knew

The message given in the Maundy Thursday worship service in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on April 6, 2023.  The Bible verses used are John 13:18-30.

            Last night we read Jesus’ Farewell Address to His disciples.  What we read tonight comes right before that.  And as with last night, I’d like to put yourself into the story.  I’d like you to imagine yourself there, as one of the disciples, in the upper room with Jesus.

            You are sharing a meal.  Jesus has just washed everyone’s feet.  Such a special thing.  Such a startling thing, that Jesus–the divine Son of God–would take on the role of the lowest servant, washing everyone’s feet.  He has told you that this is an example to you, showing you how you should serve each other.

            That was strange enough.  But then, Jesus says some more strange things.  He quotes Psalm Forty-one, and says, “He who has shared my bread has turned against me.”  And then He makes it even more plain.  He says, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray Me.”

            The disciples don’t really understand what Jesus means.  Then comes something that I think I’ve noticed before, but I’ve never really thought about it much.  Peter says to John, ask Jesus which one He means.  John does so, and Jesus says, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.”  Jesus then takes the piece of bread, dips it in the dish, and gives it to Judas.

            The Bible then goes on to tell us about Judas, but here’s the thing.  John had to see that, right?  And I would assume he told Peter, too, since Peter was the one who wanted John to ask in the first place.  And yet, neither John, nor Peter, nor anyone else, seemed to do anything about it.  In fact, we’re told that none of the disciples even understood what was going on.

            What was there to understand?  I mean, it seems really clear to me.  Jesus says the one who’s going to betray him will be the one He gives a piece of bread to, and He gives the piece of bread to Judas.  That’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?  Does that not seem like Jesus was letting John know that Judas would be the one to betray Him?  How could John and Peter not understand that?

            There are some possibilities, of course.  It could be that they understood Judas was the one to betray Jesus, but they did not understand what that betrayal would mean.  Maybe they thought it just meant that Judas was going to abandon them.  And of course, Judas did leave immediately after receiving the bread from Jesus.  So maybe that’s all they thought that the “betrayal” was going to amount to.

            And then, too, it’s possible that Jesus told Peter and John not to do anything about it.  We’re not told that, but the Bible does not tell us every conversation between Jesus and the disciples.  It could be that when Judas got up and left, Jesus told them to let him go.  After all, Jesus told Judas, “What you are about to do, do quickly.”  So it may be that Peter and John understood that they were not supposed to do anything about this.

            But whatever John and Peter may or may not have understood, there’s one thing we know for sure.  Jesus understood.  Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen.  Jesus knew who was going to betray Him, He knew when they were going to betray Him, and He knew how they were going to betray Him.  Jesus knew what would happen.  And Jesus allowed it to happen.

            As we’ve said before, Jesus could’ve stopped it in any number of ways.  He could’ve used His divine power, of course, but He would not have had to.  All He’d have had to do, really, is say to John or Peter, or any of the disciples, really, “Hey, Judas is about to betray Me.  Stop him.”  And I’ll guarantee they’d have stopped him.  Judas would not have had a chance.

            But Jesus did not do that.  Jesus allowed it to happen.  He allowed Judas to betray Him.

            But that’s not all Jesus did.  Knowing that Judas was about to betray Him, Jesus did not treat Judas any differently than He ever did.  He did not treat Him any differently from the way He treated any of the other disciples, either.

            Look at what Jesus did.  Knowing what Judas was about to do, Jesus still allowed Judas to share the Passover meal with Him.  This would be Jesus’ last meal before He was killed–that’s why we call it the Last Supper, obviously–and Jesus chose to share that meal with the one who would betray Him.

            And even that’s not all Jesus did.  Right before the passage we read tonight is the famous passage in which Jesus gets up from the meal and starts washing everyone’s feet.  One of the lowest, dirtiest jobs there was.  One of the most extreme acts of servanthood there could be.  And of course, Judas was there.  That means that Jesus, knowing that Judas was going to betray Him, washed Judas’ feet.  Jesus took the role of a servant even for Judas.

            We talk sometimes about loving our enemies, and how hard that is for us to do.  The next time we think about it, let’s remember this.  This is extreme loving your enemies.  Washing the feet of the person who is going to kill you.  Not personally, maybe, but who will knowingly and deliberately do something that directly leads to you being killed.

            There are not very many of us who will have enemies like that.  And yet, Jesus loved Judas.  If Jesus can do that, so can we.  It may not be easy.  I suspect it was not easy for Jesus.  Yet He still did it.  

            And thinking about how we struggle to love our enemies, the natural question to ask is:  how did Jesus do it?  How could Jesus love His enemies?  And is there something we can find in that to help us love our enemies, too?

            You could, of course, say, well, Jesus could do that because He’s Jesus.  He’s the divine Son of God.  And of course, that’s true.  But as we’ve said before, Jesus was fully human as well as fully divine.  That means Jesus had all the same feelings and emotions we do.  It had to be tempting for Jesus to stop Judas, or even to take revenge on him.  But He did not do that.  Again, how did Jesus do it?

            And we could also say, well, Jesus could do it because He knew the future.  Yes, He knew He was going to go through some misery, but He also knew it would be over soon.  And then, He would come to life again.  So He knew this death Judas had planned for Him was not permanent, anyway.

            And that’s true, too.  But you know what?  You and I know that, too.  As Christians, we know that, for us, death is not permanent.  We know we will come to life again, too.  We know that, if we have faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior, we will have eternal life in heaven;

            We know that, and we believe it.  And I’m serious about that–I’m not questioning anybody’s faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior.  It’s just that–well, sometimes we forget.  And sometimes we doubt.  You know, faith and doubt can exist together.  That’s what the guy meant when he said to Jesus in Mark Chapter Nine, Verse Twenty-four, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.”  

            We know we have eternal life with the Lord in heaven.  It’s just that–we cannot picture it.  We don’t know what it’s going to be like.  And so there’s an extent to which it seems not quite real to us.  This life on earth is real.  We know what it’s like.  And so it’s important to us.  We cling to it.  And when it does not go the way we want it to go, we get upset.  And when people don’t treat us the way we think they should, we get angry with them.  We want to get back at them.  And we most definitely don’t feel like loving them.

            Jesus knew His life on earth was temporary.  Jesus knew He would return to heaven to be with God the Father.  And that helped Him love His enemies while He was on earth.

            You and I know our life on earth is temporary, too.  You and I, by our faith in Jesus Christ and by God’s love and grace and mercy, will go to heaven to be with God the Father, just like Jesus did.

            Maybe knowing that, and believing that, and remembering that, is the key to loving our enemies the way Jesus did.  Remembering that our lives on earth are temporary.  Remembering that, as the old hymn says, this world is not our home. Maybe looking ahead to that eternal life with God the Father in heaven will help us love our enemies in this life on earth.

            John and Peter may not have understood what Judas was going to do.  But Jesus did.  And Jesus loved Him anyway.  He loved Judas so much that He washed Judas’ feet.  He loved Judas so much that He allowed Judas to be part of His last meal before His death.

            Jesus loved His enemies to the end.  May we find inspiration in that, and find ways to love our enemies, too. 

 

Jesus' Farewell Address

The message given in the Wednesday night Lent service on April 5, 2023 in the Gettysburg United Methodist church.  The Bible verses used are John 14-17.

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

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

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

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

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

            “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.  My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

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

            “Come now; let us leave.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

What Are We Celebrating

The message given in the Sunday night worship service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church.  The Bible verses used are Matthew 21:1-11.

            Today is Palm Sunday.  Over the next week, we’ll have Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday.  It’s a busy time, and quite possibly the most important time in the church calendar.

            We usually look at Palm Sunday as a celebration.  We have the kids come up with the palm branches.  Sometimes we have adults waving palm branches, too.  We sing the traditional Palm Sunday hymns, like “Hosanna, Loud Hosanna” and “Tell Me the Stories of Jesus”.  A lot of us look forward to celebrating Palm Sunday in this way.

            And in fact, the first Palm Sunday was a celebration.  You heard the description in the Bible.  Jesus is riding into Jerusalem in triumph.  People are spreading cloaks on the road in front of him.  They’re laying palm branches in front of him, too.  It’s sort of like laying out the red carpet today.  And of course, the crowd is cheering for Jesus at the top of their lungs.  They’re shouting “Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

            I always wonder how Jesus felt when all this was going on.  We’re not told.  Maybe he felt really good.  I would, probably.  I mean, it would be so cool if we could all have a day like this just once in our lives.  To be the head of parade, riding in triumph through town.  To have everyone in town cheering you on, singing your praises.  That would be one awesome day.  I’d probably remember it the rest of my life.

            But the thing is, we’re talking about Jesus.  The Messiah.  The divine Son of God who knew the future.  Who knew he was going to be killed and knew how and why he was going to be killed.

            Think about this.  Have you ever had someone in your life who pretended to like you?  Who pretended to be your best friend, who maybe even pretended to love you?  And then, eventually, you found out at some point that it was all meaningless?  That they never really cared about you at all, that none of the things they said or did actually meant anything?

            That’s a pretty lousy feeling, right?  It’s one of the worst feelings ever.  You feel betrayed.  You feel used.  You feel stupid, maybe, for ever having believed that person in the first place.  You feel angry and upset and sad and all kinds of other things all at once.  It’s a terrible feeling.

            Now, come back to Jesus.  Jesus hears the cheering of the crowd.  But Jesus knows that, less than a week later, he’s going to be betrayed.  He’s going to be arrested and beaten.  The Roman governor is going to try to set him free, but the crowd--some of this same crowd that’s cheering him on now--is not going to stand for it.  They’re not going to allow Jesus to be set free.  They’re not even going to allow Jesus to be held in jail.  They want, they demand, they will accept nothing less than to have Jesus be killed, slowly and painfully, on a cross.

            Jesus knows all of this while he’s riding into Jerusalem.  Jesus knows all of this while he’s hearing the cheers of the crowd, while he’s watching them throw cloaks and palm branches in front of him.  Jesus knows that everything he’s hearing and seeing is meaningless.  He knows that it’s all a lie.

            When you think about it that way, what is it that we’re actually celebrating on Palm Sunday?  The people who were waving those palm branches on the first Palm Sunday were a bunch of hypocrites, were they not?  If I was Jesus, seeing and hearing all this, knowing what was going to happen next, I think I’d want to call them out on it.  I’d want to stand up and yell, “You jerks!  You lying jerks!  You don’t care about me.  You don’t mean any of this.  You’re just a bunch of hypocrites.  Why should I die for you, you self-serving, spineless jerks?”

            But of course, Jesus did not say that.  Jesus did not say anything like that at all.  In fact, Jesus did not say anything at all, or if he did, Matthew does not record it.  And of course, Jesus did go ahead and die for us.  Even after the way he was treated, Jesus went ahead and died for us.

            And that, I think, is what we celebrate on Palm Sunday.  Not the waving of the palm branches.  Not the shouts of “Hosanna!”  Not the meaningless cheers of the crowd.  What we celebrate on Palm Sunday is the fact that, knowing everything that was going to happen, Jesus did not turn on us.  Jesus did not get angry with us.  Jesus went ahead and did what he was sent here to do.  Knowing exactly who we are and what we are, Jesus went through with it anyway.  Despite the way we treated him, Jesus went ahead and allowed himself to be arrested, and tortured, and killed, so that our sins would be forgiven.

            And I’m using that word “we” on purpose.  There’s no real reason to think that, if you or I had been in Jerusalem during the original Holy Week, we would not have acted exactly the way the people who were there did.  We’d like to think we would not have, but we probably would have.

            Because you see, those people in the crowd that day were ordinary people.  They were not people who were poorly thought of.  They were common, everyday people.  Some of them were travelers, in town for the Passover.  Some of them were people who lived in Jerusalem, who had jobs or owned businesses or grew crops or raised animals or did whatever they needed to do to make a living.  The people in the crowd were just people.  People like you and me.  And they behaved, in all likelihood, the way you and I would’ve behaved if we’d been there when Jesus came into Jerusalem.

            What we celebrate is not what the crowd did.  What we celebrate is what Jesus did.  What we celebrate is that Jesus knew these cheers were meaningless, and yet he did not get angry.  Jesus knew this was all a lie, and yet he did not get upset.  Jesus knew he would be betrayed, and yet he did not feel betrayed.  Jesus knew he was being used, and yet he did not feel used.  He may, perhaps, have felt sad, but not sad because of what was going to happen to him.  If Jesus felt sad, it was sadness because all these people simply did not understand.  They did not understand who he was or why he was there.  They did not know what they were doing or what they were going to do.  And Jesus knew he was not going to have time to make them understand.  If Jesus felt sadness, it was not for himself.  It was for us.

            What we celebrate is that, despite everything, Jesus did not feel any of the things you or I would probably have felt if we were in Jesus’ place.  Despite everything, Jesus continued to feel nothing but love for us.  Jesus felt so much love for us that, despite the way he was treated, he was willing to go ahead and die on a cross for us.  For you and for me.

            We’ll be going through the events of Holy Week in our special services this week.  We’ll have our Wednesday Lent service and our Maundy Thursday service in Gettysburg.  We’ll have our Good Friday service.  We’ll have our Easter Sunday service.  We’ll talk about all the events we commemorate during this coming week, events that may have made this the most important and most memorable week in human history.

            But Jesus knew all these events ahead of time.  He knew what was going to happen, how it was going to happen, when it was going to happen, and who was going to make it happen.  Jesus knew all that, and he went through with it anyway.  He did that for the forgiveness of our sins, yours and mine.

            The next time you ask God for forgiveness--and the next time I ask God for forgiveness--let’s think of how we got that forgiveness.  Let’s think of all that Jesus did for the forgiveness of our sins.  Let’s think about all he went through.  Let’s think not just about the physical pain, although it’s important that we think about that, too.  But let’s also think about all the emotional pain.  Let’s think about how Jesus was betrayed, not just by Judas, but by all of us.

            And then, let’s think about how amazing it is that, despite it all, Jesus still loves us.  Let’s think about how, despite it all, the Lord does forgive our sins.  Let’s think about how the Lord loves us so much that nothing we’ve done and nothing we ever will do can keep the Lord from loving us and from forgiving our sins, as long as we sincerely ask for that forgiveness.

            What we celebrate on Palm Sunday is Jesus’ love.  What we celebrate on Palm Sunday is the forgiveness of our sins.  We should never take that forgiveness for granted.  We should always be grateful for what Jesus did for us.

            Have a wonderful and blessed Palm Sunday.

 

The Time Is Coming

The message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday morning, April 2, 2023.  The Bible verses used are Matthew 21:1-17.

            One of the things about reading the Bible is that most of it is written in a very matter-of-fact tone.  We’re told what people did, and we’re told what people said.  But we’re very rarely told what people thought or how they felt.

            And with Jesus, that’s especially true.  The Bible tells us what Jesus did.  It tells us what Jesus said.  It tells us where Jesus went.  But it does not ever tell us what Jesus thought or how Jesus felt.  He obviously had thoughts and feelings, but what they were, we’re not told.  All we can do is try to infer it from the context of what happens.

            Our reading for today is one of the traditional Palm Sunday readings.  Jesus riding into Jerusalem in triumph on a donkey.  People spreading cloaks and palm branches on the road in front of Jesus, rolling out the red carpet in front of him.  A reading that many of us have heard many times before.

            But the amazing thing about it is why Jesus did this.  Listen again to verses four and five of our reading:  “This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:  ‘Say to daughter Zion, See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

            The prophet there is Zechariah, one of the Old Testament prophets.  This was part of the Jewish Bible.  Everyone would’ve known about it.  So, when Jesus told the disciples to get a donkey for Him to ride into Jerusalem on, Jesus was making the claim that He was the king.  Jesus knew that, and everyone in the crowd knew it, too.

            The reason I say that’s amazing is that most of the time, in the gospels, Jesus did not make the claim that He was the king or the Messiah.  He never denied it, obviously, because it was true.  But He never went out of His way to make the claim.  Jesus just did what He did and left it for other people to figure out that He was the Savior.  In fact, quite often, when someone said that about Jesus, He would tell them not to tell anyone else.  But now, on that first Palm Sunday, Jesus openly makes the claim.  He is the king.  He is the Messiah.  He is the Savior.  And He doesn’t care who knows it.

            It’s clear that Jesus had decided it was time.  He had told the disciples what was going to happen to Him–that He would be betrayed, He would be arrested, He would be killed, and He would rise again on the third day.  He had done as much as He could do to get the disciples ready for what was going to happen.  He had healed people.  He had given sight to the blind.  He had raised someone from the dead.  He had preached the good news.  He had done all the things the prophecies required Him to do.

            And people were choosing sides.  The crowds were flocking to Him.  The Pharisees and the other religious leaders were stepping up their efforts against Him.  They were meeting, plotting, trying to figure out how to stop Him.  People were going to have to decide, one way or another.  Either they were going to be with Jesus, or they were going to be with the Pharisees.  There was no longer a middle ground.

            And so, Jesus decides, it’s time.  It’s time for Me to actually show people who I am.  So He rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, openly claiming the titles of King and Messiah and Savior.

            But that’s not all Jesus did on that first Palm Sunday.  We tend to drop the story there, but Jesus did more than just claim the titles.  He acted on them.  Jesus acted like the King and Messiah would act.  He went into the temple courts, and He threw out all the moneychangers and all the people who were selling doves to be sacrificed.  Then He sat down in the temple court and healed the blind and the lame.  Children were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David.”  And when the Pharisees challenged Jesus about that, He quoted a psalm to again make His claim as Messiah and King.  He said, “Have you never read, ‘from the lips of children and infants, you, Lord, have called forth Your praise.’?”

            Jesus knew the time had come.  He could no longer leave any doubt about who He was.  It was time to proclaim it openly.  People would believe it or they would not, but Jesus was stating who He was in no uncertain terms.  He was the Messiah.  He was the King.  He was the Savior.  He was the Lord.

            Every year, we celebrate Palm Sunday.  We have the kids parade around.  We wave the palm branches.  We sing “Hosanna, Loud Hosanna”.  And that’s all fine.  There’s nothing at all wrong with it.  I’m not being critical of any of that in any way.

            But in that celebration, we need to remember how serious this really was.  This was the event that set in motion, finally and irretrievably, the events that we’ll commemorate later in the week.  The Last Supper.  Jesus’ betrayal by Judas.  Jesus’ arrest.  Jesus being beaten and whipped and mocked.  Jesus being hung on a cross to die.  And of course, Jesus rising from the tomb on the third day.

            When Jesus decided the time had come, He did not just decide that for Himself.  He decided it for all the people.  And He decided it for each one of us, too.  When Jesus decided to set these events in motion, on that first Palm Sunday, He did not just decide that the time was coming for Jesus to proclaim who He was.  He also decided that the time was coming for you and me to proclaim who Jesus is, too.

            Or not.  But the time is coming when we cannot hide what we believe about Jesus Christ.  The time is coming when we cannot be “sort of” Christians.  The time is coming when we will have to openly proclaim that Jesus Christ is the Savior, the Messiah, the Lord, the King.  Or, deny that He is.  But the time is coming when we will no longer be able to sit on the fence.  We will have to make a choice.  One way or the other.

            Now, you may think I’m talking about the country or the world with that statement, and it could certainly be interpreted that way.  Look at recent news headlines.  People have gotten into legal trouble by holding worship services that did not meet with the approval of the authorities.  A woman in London was arrested for praying silently in public.  Basic traditional Christian principles are sometimes deemed “hate speech” and censored on social media.  When we look at society, it’s not hard to see that the time is coming when we will either have to openly proclaim our belief in Jesus Christ as the Savior or deny that He is.  There will be no middle ground.

            But if you don’t have to look at the country or the world to see that the time is coming.  Because if it does not come that way, it will come for each of us in another way:  at our death.  Each of us is going to die, and each of us is going to be judged based on our faith in Jesus Christ.

            Jesus said, “Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when He comes in His glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”  So, the question will be, are we ashamed of Jesus and His words?  Are we willing to proclaim openly our belief in Jesus Christ as the Savior?  Or are we going to try to hide our faith, or maybe deny it entirely, just to stay out of trouble on earth?

            Here’s the thing.  It’s easy–or at least easier–for us to openly proclaim our faith in Jesus here.  It’s easy to do it in church on Sunday morning.  The question is, do we proclaim it at other times, and in other places?  Do we openly proclaim our faith in Jesus at the convenience store?  Do we openly proclaim our faith in Jesus at the cafe?  Do we openly proclaim our faith in Jesus at the ball game?  Do we openly proclaim our faith in Jesus in the things we do as part of our everyday lives?

            Now, don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying that we all have to talk about Jesus twenty-four/seven.  I’m not saying our every word in every place should be proclaiming Jesus Christ as the Savior.  I don’t do that, as you know.  I don’t expect you to do it.  I don’t think God expects us to do it, either.

            But I do think we need to talk about Jesus more than just in church on Sunday morning.  I do think we need to find ways to proclaim our faith in Jesus Christ at other times, and in other places.  We need to find ways to let people know we believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior.  We can do it in person, on social media, whatever.  But we need to do it.  And we need to do it openly, in a way that shows we are not ashamed of our faith.

            In the early part of His ministry, Jesus did not proclaim who He was openly.  But eventually, the time came when He had to.  The time is coming when we will have to proclaim our faith openly, too.  And there’s no reason we should not get started now.  What better time could there be than right before Easter to proclaim our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior?  

            We have the divine Son of God as our Savior.  Let’s not be ashamed of that.  Let’s find ways to let people know that we believe that Jesus is Lord.

 

The Words of Eternal Life

The message given in the Sunday night worship service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on March 26, 2023.  The Bible verses used are John 6:60-71.

            When Jesus was on earth, he said a lot of things.  He said a lot of things we like, but he said a lot of things we don’t like.  Sometimes they’re things we don’t understand.  Sometimes they’re things that seem, well, un-Jesus-like.  Sometimes they’re things we know are right, things we know we should do, but we just would rather not have to do them.  It’s not always easy to be a follower of Jesus.

            Just to give a few examples:  “Love your enemies”.  Do we do that?  Do we even want to?  I mean, seriously.  Think of someone you would consider to be your enemy.  If there’s no one in your personal life who you think of as an enemy, then think of terrorists or murderers or people bringing fentanyl across the border or whatever.  Do you love people like that?  Do we even want to love someone like that?

            “Do good to those who hate you.”  Do we do that?  Do we even want to?  I mean, there are times when I don’t even want to do good for people I like.  Now I’m supposed to good to people who hate me?  

            “If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also.”  Does that even make sense?  That if someone hits us once, we should invite them to hit us again?  I mean, I could kind of understand Jesus saying don’t fight back, but don’t even do anything to protect ourselves?  Not only allow them to hit us again, but give them a target?  Why would we do that?

            And we could go on and on and on.  We say we believe in Jesus, and we do, but it’s hard to put all these things into practice.  It’s hard to actually live by the things Jesus said.  These teachings of Jesus are hard teachings.  They’re hard for us to accept.

            The thing is, that’s always been the case.  It was the case when Jesus as alive.  In our reading for tonight, Jesus has just given the crowd some hard teachings.  The crowd had a hard time accepting them.  Some of them did not accept them.  And because they could not accept Jesus’ teachings, they could not accept Jesus.  And we’re told, “Many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him.”

            Jesus understood why.  He knew these were hard teachings.  He knew they were hard for people to accept.  So He turns to His best friends, the twelve disciples, and asks, “You do not want to leave, too, do you?”

            I wonder if, when Jesus asked the question, He knew the answer.  He could have–after all, Jesus is Jesus.  He’s the divine Son of God.  He may well have known what the disciples would say.

            But the way this is written, it sounds to me like Jesus did not know.  Like Jesus thought maybe the disciples would leave Him.  After all, He knew He was going to be betrayed at some point.  He knew that, at some point, they were all going to leave Him.  Maybe He wondered if it would happen now.  Maybe He thought, this could be it.  This could be the time when I’m left all alone.

            I wonder if the disciples, themselves, considered leaving.  After all, everyone else was.  It’s always tempting to join the crowd.  And not only was Jesus giving them hard teachings, following Him was a pretty hard life, really.  Some of the disciples had been making a pretty good living before they started following Jesus.  Maybe they were tempted to go back to that life.  

            But Simon Peter stepped up.  And he made the famous statement:  “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  We have come to believe and to know that You are the Holy One of God.”

            The decision the disciples had to make, the decision the crowd had to make, is the same decision you and I have to make.  Jesus gives us hard teachings.  Sometimes they’re hard for us to accept.  So, what are we going to do?  Are we going to leave?  Or are we going to stay with Jesus?

            Simon Peter asked “to whom shall we go?”  I wonder, to whom did the crowd go?  They left Jesus.  They had to go somewhere.  Where did they go?

            Some of them may have gone to the Pharisees, to the Rabbis, to the teachers of the law.  Some of them may have gone after false messiahs–they were some of those around back then.

            But I suspect most of them simply went back to their old lives.  They went back to what they had done before.  They went back home.  They went back to their jobs.  They went back to their families.  They did whatever they had done before they met Jesus.  

Basically, they went on with their lives as if nothing had happened.  And for them, nothing really had.  Maybe they thought about their time following Jesus once in a while.  Maybe they even had happy memories of it.  But it had not changed them in any way.  Following Jesus had made no impact on their lives whatsoever.

Essentially, those are the options we have, too.  We can find someone else to follow.  Or, we can just go about our business.  We can move along with our lives.  Maybe we think about Jesus once in a while.  Maybe we even come to church sometimes.  Maybe thinking of Jesus even gives us happy feelings.  But we don’t really allow Jesus to make any impact on our lives.

That’s a tempting choice.  It’s a choice a lot of people make.  But if we make that choice, we forget about the next thing Simon Peter said.  He said of Jesus, “You have the words of eternal life.”

Jesus has the words of eternal life.  No one else does.  We cannot find eternal life anywhere else.  We cannot find eternal life by following someone else.  We cannot find eternal life by just moving along with our lives.  We cannot find eternal life at home, or at our job.  We cannot find eternal life with our families.  That’s not to say that there’s anything wrong with doing our jobs or loving our families–we should do that.  But doing that is not going to give us eternal life.  We can only find eternal life through following Jesus.

The crowd made the easy choice.  Simon Peter and the other disciples made the hard choice.  How did they do it?  How did they manage to make the hard choice to follow Jesus, rather than the easy choice of just going back home?

Because they truly believed what Simon Peter said.  “We have come to believe and to know that You are the Holy One of God.”

If we truly believe that Jesus is the Holy One of God, then we can make the hard choice to follow Jesus.  Because we know that it’s really not that hard of a choice.  It may be a hard choice in the short term.  It may require us to do things we’d rather not do in the short term.  But ultimately, it’s going to all be worth it.  

If we truly believe that Jesus is the Holy One of God, then we know He has the words of eternal life.  And if we truly believe that Jesus has the words of eternal life, then there’s nothing more important that hearing those words and following those words.  If we truly want eternal life, there is nowhere else to go but to Jesus.

In turning away, the crowd gave up their chance for eternal life.  That’s a sad thing to think about.  The chance for eternal life was right there, in front of them.  And they turned away from it.

That’s why Jesus says, so many times, that we need to hold firm to our faith until the end.  The crowd was following Jesus.  They thought they had faith.  But when it got hard, they turned away.  Their faith was not strong enough to keep them following Jesus when the choice got hard.  They had some faith, but they could not hold firm to their faith to the end.

What will our choice be?  Will we follow the crowd?  Will we follow Jesus for a while, thinking we have faith, but turn away when things get hard?  Or will we be like the disciples?  Will we trust that Jesus has the words of eternal life?  Will we believe and know that Jesus is the Holy One of God?  Will we hold firm to our faith until the end?

Jesus wants us to follow.  But He will let us go, if we choose to leave.  I’m sure Jesus was very sad when He saw the crowds leaving, turning away.  After all, Jesus knew, better than anyone, what the crowds were giving up.  He knew they were turning down their chance for eternal life.  

I wonder if He was tempted to do something to try to bring them back.  He may have even been tempted to soften His message somehow, to make it easier to accept.  But He knew He could not.  It would not work, anyway.  If He changed His words in any way, they would no longer be the words of eternal life.  And there would be no reason for people to follow Him.

Following Jesus is often not easy.  But if we want eternal life, we have nowhere else to go.  Let’s hold firm to our faith until the end.  Let’s believe, and know, that Jesus is the Holy One of God.  And let’s listen to, and live by, His words of eternal life.