The Scriptures that I use are from 2 Corinthians 4: 1-2 and 2 Timothy 3: 16-17…
Words!
Said Hamlet to Ophelia, I’ll draw a sketch of thee, What kind of pencil shall I use? 2B or not 2B?
That little bit of nonsense was written by a poet by the name of ‘Spike Milligan’… I first read that one while researching for this talk, but the next little ‘didy’ I learned as a kid in grade-school… I never did know, nor could learn, who the original author of it was, but it helps to make the point that even when words might be remarkably clear, they can Sometimes be used in ways that make no sense!
‘Twas midnight on the ocean, not a streetcar was in sight.
The sun was shining brightly for it was rained all day that night.
‘Twas a summer’s day in winter and snow was raining fast,
As a barefoot boy with shoes on stood sitting on the grass.
On the other hand, there are examples of words seeming to make no sense… unless you already know the meaning behind them, such as the song, ‘Mairzy Doats’. I Know I had heard Grandpa (and others…) sing it when I was a kid, but it wasn’t until I heard four of the Hee Haw gals do it in the late ‘70’s that I made a point to memorize it!
(Sing…) Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey. A kiddley divey too. Wooden shoe!”
It was probably at least a year later that my (then) wife said, in exasperation, “It’s, ‘Mares – Eat- Oats – and – Does – Eat – Oats…’!!”
(Me) Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy.. A kidd will eat ivy too… wouldn’t you? (Shaking head… J )
In the early ‘70’s, I was a member of the ‘Concert Chorale’ at SIUE, and one of our ‘projects’ was to perform the entire ‘Missa Secunda’, or, ‘Second Mass’, by ‘Hassler’, at the dedication ceremony of what was then called the ‘Religious Center’ on campus. Since the director knew that few of us knew Latin, he taught us to sing the words by rote! Hence, I can still say things like, “pater omnipotens laudamus te” fairly accurately, yet have only the barest conceptions of what they mean!
Words!
It seems we have an almost limitless number of ways that people can put a series of words together! But when doing so, one has to accept that there are, sometimes, an almost limitless number of ways that different people will hear… or interpret… the same words!!!
So, is it any surprise that so many people seem to see God’s Word in so many different ways? Frankly, it SHOULD be!!! Paul says, in 2 Cor 4:1-2, “Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” And in 2 Tim 3:16-17, he says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
That sounds pretty definitive to me!!! “All Scripture is God-Breathed!” Yet, when quoting it once during an online ‘discussion’, I had a DS… Yes! From Our conference!… try to tell me, in effect, that Paul’s writings were NOT a ‘valid’ source!!!!
Some time back I wrote a piece titled ‘Satan vs. the Bible’. I will include a link to it in the ‘printed’ portion of this message ( https://scluebbert.com/2021/03/18/satan-vs-the-bible/ ), or, you Should be able to do a ‘search’ for ‘scluebbert’ and add ‘Satan’ to find it… For now, though I’d like to read just a couple of excerpts from it……
“God has personally guided the Writers of His Word as well as those who worked to organize it! He chose a message to be presented that is as applicable to us today as it was 2000 years ago… AND as it will be 2000 years from Now!! To believe Anything else is to deny the Infallibility and Omnipotence of God!!
“If there is a God, there is a Satan”.
“If there is a God, the Bible is His Inspired Word”.
What do these two statements mean, and how do we apply them to our lives? Consider with me, for a moment… Who benefits from changing or modifying the message of God? NO ONE but Satan! When men try to take messages and words out of context and twist them to mean something other than what God had intended them to mean, who benefits? Again, NO ONE but Satan! ANY message that attempts to rewrite, modify, add to, or detract from the Message of God IS OF SATAN!!! No matter how ‘well-meaning’ it might appear, if it is Not the Word of God, it is of Satan!! It is Really just That Simple!!!
MY God is Not fallible! He asks us to love Him above All others, and to love our neighbors as ourselves… He also gives us some guidelines of things To do… AND some Definite things to Not do! However, MY God Is a Jealous God… He does not ask Much of us… But what He asks, He Demands!! It is NOT given to Any One of US to rewrite His Word on Any account… To do so is nothing short of the handy-work of Satan!”
Words!
How many times have you heard people say, ‘That’s YOUR interpretation!’ If they are talking about Scripture, my reply is Always, “NO! It is Not! Other than translating from one language to another, God’s Word does not Need to be ‘interpreted’! I Read it… and I accept what it says! Period!
This was given at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on June 5, 2005. The primary Scripture is from chapter 9 of the Gospel of Matthew, verses 9-13 and 18-26…
The family doctor that we chose when we moved to our farm in Edwardsville shared the building with an associate, and each covered for the other whenever one of them had to be absent for whatever reason. And so it was that on one occasion while in high school (after mom had instructed me to take my younger brother and get in to the doctor) that we chanced to see the associate.
He was somewhat older than our regular doctor (though not by much), and had a different way of approaching various situations. On this particular occasion, I had been sick with a sore throat and cough for about two weeks, if I remember right… and the last few days had been worse than the first. After checking me all over, looking down my throat, in my ears, and up my nose, he looks at me and pronounces… “Son, you’ve been sick!”
What I said was along the lines of, “Thanks! I didn’t know that!”… But what I was thinking was more like, “And this is what I came in to see and pay a doctor to tell me!” I might have quoted Jesus in this morning’s verses when he said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”
Our verses this morning start off with the story of Jesus having dinner at Matthew’s house, and how “many tax collectors and ‘sinners’ came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and “sinners”?’”
The Life Application Commentary tells us that… “The first part of Jesus’ answer was from a common proverb on the healthy and the sick. Those who are well do not seek out a physician; the physician’s waiting room is filled with those who are sick. They recognize their need and come to the one who can make them well. The physician, in turn, spends his time helping the sick get well.
Jesus then told these self-righteous Pharisees to go and learn what this means, implying that they did not understand their own Scriptures… The Pharisees thought they knew Scripture perfectly; Jesus told them to go back and study again the words of God spoken through the prophet Hosea, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice’. Hosea’s words were not a blanket condemnation of the sacrificial system…in effect at the time; rather, God was condemning a thoughtless, mechanical approach to sacrifice. A religious ritual helps when carried out with an attitude of love for God. If a person’s heart is far from God, ritual will become empty mockery. God did not want the Israelites’ rituals; he wanted their hearts. Jesus challenged the Pharisees to apply Hosea’s words to themselves. …the “worship” of the religious leaders had become an empty… sacrifice… given without thought of God. God wants a heart attitude that includes a right relationship with him and with others, an attitude that reaches out to those in physical and spiritual need.”
Let me see if I can demonstrate what I mean… I recall an unplanned stop (while driving the ‘big-truck’ many years ago…) I once had to make in Columbus. I was having a problem with the truck lights, it was dark and raining, and I was running way behind what I had wanted to be. During the course of all of this, a young man comes up to me out of the dark with some story about trying to get to his new job in Memphis but he needed some money to feed his wife on the way. I blew him off! I didn’t have time to mess with the likes of him and his unlikely story! But as I drove on, thoughts of him haunted me… shouldn’t I have at least taken the time to find out if what he was saying was true? Not a very Christian way to be!
On the way back, another guy walked up to me at a rest stop and told how he had run the batteries down on his truck and asked for a jump. I was still very late and really anxious to get back home to finish getting this message ready… But the incident of the other evening still bothered me. I mean, are our Christian ideals merely words… or are we truly supposed to believe in and respond to them? I backed up my truck and helped him get his started.
This is what Jesus is referring to when He quotes Hosea… is our righteousness based on high-sounding words and rituals… or on actions? Is our Christianity based on what our fellow Christians have always ‘believed’… or on what Christ has taught us?
In Genesis 12, verses 1-9, we read… “The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you,” and how, without hesitation, “Abram left, as the LORD had told him… Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran.”
And in Romans 4, verses 13-25, Paul says that, even “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him… Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead… and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”
Our verses from Matthew tell us the story of the ruler who had just lost his twelve-year-old daughter. The Gospel of Mark tells us that his name was Jairus, and that he was one of the lay-leaders of the local synagogue. This man believed in Jesus and the power of God! We also read how a woman in the crowd… “who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” This woman believed in the power of God!
The Life Application Commentary tells us that, “In these two stories we find two people who sought Jesus out — Jairus on behalf of his daughter, and this woman for her incurable disease. Both came in faith, knowing that Jesus could take care of their particular problem. Jairus had already petitioned Jesus, and Jesus was on his way. This woman had heard about Jesus’ miracle-working power (apparently for the first time) and had come to Capernaum to find him. She worked her way through the crowd and came up behind Jesus. She believed that she only had to touch the edge of his cloak and she would be healed.”
Now, this woman didn’t understand all that there was to know about Jesus… but she knew enough to believe that He had the power to heal her… and that belief is what Jesus felt… and acted on!
My Commentary notes that… “Lots of people were touching Jesus that day, bumping against him, reaching out to shake his hand (or the equivalent), moving alongside the crowd. But one person touched him in faith. That person discovered Jesus’ healing power.”
Mere curiosity, merely following the crowd, or casually brushing up against Jesus does not represent the faith Jesus looks for, the faith he responds to.”
And what of Jairus? We can imagine him standing there taking all of this in and thinking… “Why are we stopping… what are you doing? My daughter is dead! We must hurry!” But at the same time he must have thought… “He’s healed her! With just a touch, he’s healed her! I know He can help my daughter as well!”
There is a song titled “The Promise” (I recommend the version of it by the ‘Talley Trio’ on YouTube…) that tells of this story and declares how Jesus was the ‘promise coming down that dusty road!’ That promise was to Jairus and his daughter… it was to the scribes and Pharisees… indeed, it was a promise made to all peoples in all lands for all times! It was a promise that was made to you… and you… and you… and me!
It is a promise filled with hope and joy and goodwill for all… but it is a promise only offered to those who truly believe in Jesus as the Son of God… and who respond in that belief… not with empty sacrifices and repetitive, meaningless words and rituals… but in the loving, caring, and strengthening actions that reflect the love of Christ in each of us!
The Pharisees didn’t understand that. They wanted and were looking for a ruler… a king to lead them to victory… an earthly victory! Their faith was so small that they could only understand and believe in things that they could see and touch. The idea of the Messiah coming as a ‘doctor’ to heal and save sinners was just incomprehensible to them… because they were incapable of seeing themselves as such a sinner!
All of which leads us to this question… can a sinner be a Christian? I certainly hope so! ‘For all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God!’ Well, then, let me ask you this… can a Christian be a sinner? Not ‘Should he be…’ but, ‘can he be’? Can a healthy person get sick? And if it’s serious enough, can’t even that healthy person die of some disease or illness? That’s what we have doctors for… and that’s why Jesus is sometimes referred to as ‘The Great Physician’! And I promise you… He can heal anything that’s troubling you! All you have to do is consult Him… any time… any where… the ‘Doctor’ is always in!
The ‘original’ version of this was given at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on May 15, 2005. THIS has been rewritten a fair amount, but the basic ‘message’ has not changed!! The Scripture include…
John 7: 37-39, Acts 2: 1-21, and 1 Corinthians 12: 3-13…
In the very late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s Barbra Streisand was in her ‘rock-and-roll’ period and released at least two albums that were very much rhythm-and-blues-and-rock oriented… and it was during this time that she became one of my favorite performers. I have several of her albums, made eight-track and, later, cassette tapes of them over the years, and now have most of those same songs on CD. And one of my favorites has always been a song called ‘Space Captain’.
In it, she tells, to a hard, throbbing beat, how her spaceship once flew close to this planet and now they are all trapped here until they learn to live together in peace. In fact, the second verse goes… “Lost my memory of where I’ve been… we’ve all forgot that we could fly. Someday we’ll all change into peaceful men… then we’ll return into the sky… learning to live together… learning to live together…”… and so on…
I’ve often wondered just how someone could forget that they could fly!
In the third book of ‘The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy’, Life, The Universe, and Everything,’ author Douglas Adams gives us the Guide’s take on flying… “The ‘Guide’ says that there is an art to flying… or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss!” Later on in that same book we find our hero, Arthur Dent, trying to run down a mountain that is collapsing underneath of him.
We read… “He ran with the fear of death in him, under him, over him and grabbing hold of his hair.
And suddenly he tripped again and was hurled forward by his considerable momentum. But just at the moment he was about to hit the ground astoundingly hard he saw lying directly in front of him a small navy tote bag that he knew for a fact he had lost in the baggage retrieval system at the Athens airport some ten years previously in his personal time scale, and in his astonishment he missed the ground completely and bobbed off into the air with his brain singing.”
In other words, he forgot to fall!
“What he was doing was this: he was flying. He glanced around him in surprise, but there was no doubt that that was what he was doing. No part of him was touching the ground, and no part of him was even approaching it.”
Now, I’m not proposing that any of us here could fly around if we could just finagle a way to forget to fall after we tripped over something… in fact, most of us are at the point where much of our concentration is on NOT tripping or stumbling in the first place! What I am proposing, however, is that it is truly amazing what we DO manage to forget over the course of our lives!
I worked with a smart-mouthed ‘kid’ once who was telling about the older mechanic who had worked there when he started. They were having ‘words’ when the older guy said, “I’ve forgot more than you’ll ever know about Case tractors!” “That’s the problem,” retorted the youngster! “You’ve forgotten it!” Now, I grant you, when I first was told that some forty years ago, it was almost funny, but it has become decidedly less so over the years!!
Our minds tend to retain those things we find of particular interest and lose track of those things that are less so. Now, what those things might be are, generally, different from individual to individual… one of you might be especially good at keeping track of the bloodlines of your livestock or even pets, while I can tell you the torque specs and sequence for installing a head on a Case diesel engine. Some can recite the winners and scores of every baseball game played since ‘ought-8’ while someone else can list each of the ingredients for a pineapple-upside-down cake. Still others might rattle off names of movies and who starred in them while others can point to any automobile and tell you the make and model and the year it was built. And for each one of those things that I’ve mentioned, and countless other things that some people might remember, there are just as many others who wouldn’t have a clue… nor care… about any one of them! And each of our verses this morning address a subject that I think many, if not most, of us have forgotten… the Holy Spirit.
In the book, ‘Fahrenheit 451’, Ray Bradbury describes a world where books are not only forbidden, but it is the job of the firemen to find and burn them. One fireman, however, by the name of Montague, begins to question why and rebels against the system. One thing he learns is that it was not the government that banished the books and knowledge in the beginning… it was the apathy of the general public that made books and reading superfluous… nobody cared what was in them nor wanted to take the time to find out. It was only after books ‘fell-out-of-favor’ that the government saw and seized the opportunity to control what knowledge the public did learn. Enough fact was mixed in with the new ‘knowledge’ to make it all sound feasible, but no one remembered, anymore, what was or wasn’t fact, and so the proffered knowledge became their reality. For example, Ben Franklin was still listed in the history of the fireman as being the first fireman… but the brochure then went on about how firemen had always used special methods to safely use kerosene and other methods to destroy all manner of unacceptable reading materials. The inference was that Ben Franklin was the first to burn books… and no one knew enough to challenge that idea! And yes, the Bible was on that list. Oh, there was still a religious organization, but its purpose was to promote certain products and/or programs that ‘Jesus would support!’
People, we are not so far from that very thing happening in our world today! I once read an article about teaching Bible classes in our schools which included the following excerpt of a Gallup poll of scriptural knowledge among 1002 U.S. teens.
17% thought “the road to Damascus” was where Jesus was crucified.
22% thought Moses was either one of Jesus’ 12 apostles, Egypt’s pharaoh or an angel, rather than the man who led Israel out of bondage.
68% couldn’t identify who asked “am I my brother’s keeper?” (Cain, after he murdered Abel.)
28% didn’t realize that ‘do not divorce’ isn’t among the Ten Commandments.
53% couldn’t say what Biblical event occurred at Cana (Jesus turned water into wine.)
How did you do on those questions? And asking that question leads me back to what the over-riding common factor of all of today’s verses is and ask… what do you know about the Holy Spirit?
We have heard Jesus say, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” And that “By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.” We read how, “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” I also read that, “… to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.”
Each of these deal with the power of the Holy Spirit… and yet how many of us have just seemed to ‘forget’ that he’s about… we forget that the Trinity consists of God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost! Somewhere over the course of time, we have downplayed the importance of that third party… and so it is that we have also come to consider his importance less and less… we just plain forget! Don’t get me wrong, I’m just as guilty… I just don’t remember ever being taught very much about the Holy Ghost at any point of my growing up, or since, for that matter! And that is a real shame, for we are told over and over again that it is the Holy Spirit that gives each of us our gifts, just as he determines… we are told that, “…no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit”… and that, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.” We have forgotten all of these things!
We have forgotten many things over the centuries. Indeed, we have forgotten so much that we don’t even remember what we have forgotten!
I’ll tell you what else we have forgotten! We have forgotten about the young girl in town who’s struggling to raise a child all alone… we have forgotten about the family who has lost their income due to a mine closing or a plant moving out of state… we have forgotten about the orphans in Sarajevo, the tsunami victims, the starving in Africa, the poor in South America! They are not a part of our world, and so we don’t think about them… and if we don’t think about them, for us they don’t exist! We forget them!
And because we have forgotten about all of these people crying out in hunger and pain and grief, we have forgotten the importance of maintaining our support for them through our giving of our Time and Moneys!!!
We have forgotten that! We have forgotten that Jesus himself intended for all of us to be and act as one body… the Body of Christ… in all things!
And that is exactly what Paul is saying in these verses from 1 Corinthians this morning… “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free — and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”
So, let’s all read our Bibles. Let’s all rediscover who and what the Holy Spirit really is, and how he relates to us and our relationship with God. If we who profess to be Christian begin to study and learn and follow all that it means to be Christian… who knows… maybe someday we will discover we really can fly!
Given on May 8, 2005, at the Lynnville (IL) UMC. The ‘main’ Scripture is from the Book of Acts, chapter 1, verses 6-14.
“Twenty-thousand comedians out of work and you’re still trying to be one!” This was one of my friend Henry’s favorite retorts to someone trying to make a joke, and I seem to have adopted it as one of my own over the years. And he and I had one such comedian-wanna-be in our 8th-grade math class way back when.
Arthur was our ‘class clown’, and as such was always coming up with something that was almost guaranteed to get the teacher riled and the class laughing. On one day, in particular, I recall him staring fixedly at the ceiling tile. Soon, many of the rest of us were all staring up as well, wondering, of course, just what he was looking at. Finally, determined to put a stop to it, the teacher demanded, “Arthur! What are you looking at?!” Pointing up, he said, dead seriously, “There’s turtle tracks on the ceiling!”
As anyone who has been around me for more than a week-or-so will attest, that line has also been indelibly inscribed upon my memory!!!
And one of the pictures that came into my mind as I was reading these verses was this large group of men all standing and staring up into the sky at the point where Jesus disappeared, when these two men dressed in white suddenly appear and ask them, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky?” Can’t you just imagine one of them pointing up and saying, in deadpan seriousness, ‘There’s turtle tracks on that cloud!’
The Life Application Commentary reminds us that Jesus had just described… “the manner in which the gospel would spread geographically… It would begin with devout Jews in Jerusalem and Judea, spread to the mixed race in Samaria, and finally be offered to Gentiles in the uttermost parts of the earth.
After giving this important charge, Jesus was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. This cloud symbolized the glory of God. In the Old Testament, we read that a cloud led the Israelites through the wilderness and that God made his presence known to the people by appearing in a cloud. A cloud also enveloped Jesus and three of his disciples at the Transfiguration as a visible symbol of God’s presence. So when Jesus returned to glory, he returned in a cloud that took him “out of their sight.”
The disciples needed to see Jesus make this transition. The Ascension confirmed for them that Jesus truly was of God. In addition, they witnessed the fact that he had physically left earth and had returned to his heavenly home…”
(Still reading from The Life Application Commentary)
So, “After forty days with his disciples, Jesus returned to heaven. The two men dressed in white were angels who appeared to them in a humanlike form and proclaimed to the disciples that one day Jesus would return in the same way he had left — bodily and visibly.
History is not haphazard or cyclical; it moves continuouslytoward a specific point — the return of Jesus to judge and rule over the earth. We should be ready for his sudden return, not by standing around “staring at the sky” but by working hard to spread the Good News and help build Christ’s church so that others will be able to share in God’s great blessings, as well.”
“As you saw him go, he will return!”
I have probably told most of you at some point in time that I don’t think much of ‘televangelists. I’m sure that there are some who strive to be truly sincere to their beliefs, but most of the ones I have ever chanced to see have never struck me in that way, and when you combine that with the fact that I’m usually pretty busy, myself, on Sunday mornings, I seldom have an occasion to listen to any such nonsense. But on one Sunday that found me in in Branson, MO., I was killing time by flipping through channels and chanced to hear one of them saying something about… ‘These are not my words… this is Catholic Church prophecy’… or something to that effect. Knowing him to be far removed from anything Catholic, it caught my attention long enough for me to listen, briefly, to the point he was trying to make, and I have found some evidence on-line to back up at least some of his claims.
Sometime during the Middle Ages, (the man on TV said during the 1200’s) a certain St. Malachy made a startling prediction. I must note, here, that an article I found on the internet said to… “Keep in mind that the St. Malachy prophecies are steeped in controversy and many critics within the church claim the prophecies are mere forgeries because they were “lost” for 400 years and were unknown from inception until 400 years later. The prophecies, written by St. Malachy after having allegedly witnessed a vision were supposedly given to the reigning Pope, who apparently shelved them in a shroud of secrecy only to be uncovered 400 years later.”
According to this prophecy, there would be 112 future popes, and the person who became Pope after that number would actually be the antichrist and mark the beginning of the end of time on earth. The scary part was that according to how you count your Popes, this could have been Any of the last 3-or-4-or-so! Either way, to those taking note, it would seem the end of the world is at hand!
Poppycock!!!
I will grant you that there are many things going on in the world today that a person who knows his Bible prophecies could construe as signs that the ‘end is near’. But in these verses from Acts, Jesus says, very bluntly, that… “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.” Nobody but God knows which day and what time will mark the end for this world of ours… But we do know it’s coming! There is no disputing the promise — Jesus is coming back… The angels said to those watching, “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
No one here knows when that might be… but as I have said on numerous occasions before… it doesn’t matter! Any one of us might be ‘called home’ at any time… and that will mark the end of time on this earth for whomever that individual might be! And that is why we all need to be living every day as if that day is our last!
In the 17th chapter of John, verses 1-11, Jesus is praying to His Father when he says… “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.” He was… and is… praying, not just for the disciples that surrounded Him at that moment, but for you… and you… and you… and me… ALL of His followers!
And in various verses of chapters 4 & 5 of 1 Peter , we’re told to… “Humble ourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift us up in due time. We’re to Cast all of our anxiety on him because he cares for us.
We’re to Be self-controlled and alert…our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
Live the life that you know Jesus would have you live! Be the Christian that you know God wants you to be! Don’t let Satan distract you with worries and troubles that don’t mean a thing! Concentrate on living for God… today! Then, on whatever day God chooses to call you home, the words that Peter speaks (in verse 10 of chapter 5 of 1rst Peter), will truly apply to you…!
“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.”
Using verses 13-33 from the 3rd chapter of 1 Peter as the Scripture, this was first given at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on May 1, 2005, and again at the Hartford East Maple Street Chapel ((The former ‘Church of Christ’ that I grew-up in…) on February 24, 2008…
I learned very early on the joy of truly being clean! And I have to tell you a really dirty story to explain how and why!
If I’m counting right, it was July of 1974 when I first moved up north to run a ‘Cat’ earthmover for one of the large contractors up that way. I started out moving dirt to finish a bridge project near the little town of Hull, but two weeks later they sent the machine and me to the project near Jacksonville to work on digging out where what is now I72 goes under the old highway 36 and hauling it to where it goes over a set of railroad tracks and highway 104. As luck would have it, the truck driver who hauled the machine to Jacksonville had a trailer for rent in Bluffs, and I went that night to look at it… and wound up moving in right then and spending the night in it!
That interstate was an important project and was behind schedule, so when the weather held we were running 12 hours each week day and 10 hours on Saturdays. By the time I got home each night, all I really wanted to do was get a bath and go to bed… but first I had some chores to take care of. For one thing, to save time in the wee hours of the morning, I would go ahead and make my lunch up the evening before. But the main thing I had to do each night was my ‘laundry’!
You see, I had been married for less than a year, and as you might imagine, money was still tight. Still, when I was preparing to come up to this job I wanted to look ‘professional’. And so it was that I went up there with two brand-new chambray shirts and one new pair of blue jeans to get me through the week. Now, as you might imagine, riding one of those big machines is far from being very clean… in fact, you spent the entire day driving through and breathing dust and dirt and fumes and exhaust from all of the activities going on around the job-site. And by the time I got back to my trailer in Bluffs each night I was totally covered with a thick layer of dirt that had mixed with my sweat to form dry cakes of mud all over me and my clothes.
So, each night after my bath I would take that day’s shirt and wash it out by hand in the tiny bathroom sink and hang it up over the bathtub to dry. That next day I would wear the other shirt and repeat the process that night… by the next day, the first shirt was dry, and I would wear it… and so on and so on! But… I only had one pair of pants! By Friday, the legs wouldn’t even lay flat when I took them off… they would just hold their shape… I could almost stand them up on the floor… I used to tell people they could almost get up and walk around on their own!
Now after about two weeks of this, my then wife and I decided for her to move up there with me, and with the money I had made from working those kinds of hours I could afford to buy more clothes. But for those first two weeks, you might say I cohabitated with my one pair of pants! So, yes! I truly appreciate being and feeling clean today!
Isn’t water great? I mean, even aside from its live-giving properties… aside from being the only way to quench a really powerful thirst… even aside from the fact that something like 98% our physical body consists of nothing more than water… isn’t it great to just jump in to a cool pond or pool on a really hot August day? Or how about climbing into that tub full of hot water to relax… or if you prefer, a nice warm shower raining down and washing away all of the dirt and crud from the day’s activities? Water is great! It cools, it cleans, it refreshes… what more could a body ask for? What more could a body ask for?
Peter points out in these verses that only Noah and the seven members of his family were saved… in his words… ‘through water’ at the time of the great flood. And he says that this water symbolizes the baptism that saves each of us… “not through the removal of dirt from the body but through the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand — with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.”
The Life Application Commentary tells us that… “When dealing with symbols in the Bible, we must always ask, what is being symbolized? Otherwise, we lose ourselves in analysis. It was neither the ark nor the water that “saved” Noah, but the power of God conveyed in a promise… Baptism was both a sign and seal of salvation, and it was also a solemn oath made before God (thus it was a warning not to take baptism lightly). The Flood came as a judgment upon evil people, but for Noah it brought deliverance from their mockery and sin, ushering him into a new life. In baptism, believers identify with Jesus Christ, who separates us from the lost and gives us new life. Baptism is a sign of the new covenant, identifying the person baptized with the people of God, the Christian community. It is not the ceremony, the water, nor the removal of dirt from the body (referring not to physical cleansing but to a spiritual cleansing) that saves. The water of baptism does not “wash away sin” literally, although that picture is inviting. Instead, baptism is the outward symbol of the inner transformation that happens in the hearts of those who believe. Baptism does not save anyone, but the belief it represents results in salvation. Its efficacy comes from the power of Christ’s resurrection.
Peter explained that this “baptism that now saves you” results in a pledge of a good conscience toward God. This “pledge” (in Greek) is a technical word for the signing of a contract. The Holy Spirit convicts the person’s mind and heart of sin, calling for a response or pledge of faith. This pledge is confirmed outwardly and tangibly in baptism. This pledge toward God implies that baptism conveys a believers’ desire to please God and therefore asks God for help to live out the reality of that inner transformation… through repentance and forgiveness. By identifying themselves with Christ through baptism, Peter’s readers could resist turning back, even under the pressure of persecution. Public baptism would keep them from the temptation to renounce their faith.”
Now, what all of that is saying is that it is not the act of baptism that saves a person. A good soaking… whether dunked by a preacher, sprinkled from a baptismal font, or lowering yourself in to a tub of hot water… washes away only the dirt on the outside! The baptism is meant to be only an outward pledge of your commitment to God… but we are saved through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ!But if that baptism is a pledge, what do we then need to do to honor it?
In chapter 14 of the Gospel of John, in verses 15-21, we hear Jesus tell us … “If you love me, you will obey what I command…” He then promises, in those same verses, the power and protection of the Holy Sprit to all who believe in and follow Him, and then closes by saying… “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”
The Life Application Commentary says that… “We who love Jesus demonstrate our love by keeping Jesus’ commands. Love means more than words; it requires commitment and action. If we love Christ, then we must prove it by obeying what he says in his Word. In return, the Father and Jesus himself love us. Furthermore, Jesus reveals himself to those who love him. Since the Greek word translated “reveal” means “to appear,” it is likely that Jesus was speaking of his appearances to the disciples after his resurrection. But the statement extends beyond that special time to include believers of all time. To all those who love and obey him, he reveals himself as an invisible, spiritual presence.
Yet, how many times have each of us thought… “If only God would show me what to do! I wish God would reveal himself!” In personal experience, most Christians admit to wishing God would reveal himself more openly. We want God to show us exactly what he wants us to do. We may think we are asking God for clear directions so we can carry them out, but our practice shows that we want to know first what God wants us to do so we can decide if we want to obey.
Jesus listed obedience before revelation. He said, in effect, “Obey what you know and you will know more.” The Scriptures contain many clear instructions for obedience that are never out of season. If we truly love God, we not only hang on his every word, but we also take our duties seriously. When we feel confused or lack answers, we should ask how we can follow through on directions he has previously given.”
And Peter gives us one such instruction in his passage… “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.”
There are many in the world who cuss Christians and condemn Christianity! But what is really sad is that there are far too many people professing to be followers of Christ but not obeying His commands… thus giving some warrant to the abuse hurled at us all! Peter says that we are each to give answer to those who question why we believe and act as we do… but to make certain that whatever we are doing is a clear representation of the Living Lord! For it is through us… you and me… that many people will see Jesus for the very first time… and if they only see Him through you… what are they seeing?
Do they see us with the dirt and sins of the world thick upon us and hiding His face… or are we squeaky clean through daily prayer and repentance… washed in the blood of Jesus? Stronger than dirt!!!
Using the Old Testament Scripture from Psalm 116, verses 1-4 and 12-19, This is a VERY ‘sensitive’ subject… and I ‘allow’ some Very Sensitive things about myself during it! All I ask is that IF you seem, at first, to take offense to what is being said, PLEASE read/listen all of the way to the end before condemning me!!!
This was written for and given at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on April 10, 2005…
Some years ago, I received this ‘history test’ through my e-mail … let me read just a few of the ‘questions’ to you this morning and see if you know the answers…
HISTORY TEST Please pause a moment, reflect back, and take the following multiple choice test. The events are actual cuts from past history. They actually happened!!!
Do you remember…?
1. 1968 – Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed by a. Superman b. Jay Lenno c. Harry Potter d. a Muslim male extremist between the ages of 17 and 40
2. In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and massacred by a. Olga Corbett
b. Sitting Bull c. Arnold Schwarzenegger
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
3. In 1979, the US embassy in Iran was taken over by: a. Lost Norwegians
b. A tour bus full of 80-year-old women c. Elvis
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
4. During the 1980’s a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon by: a. John Dillinger b. The King of Sweden c. The Boy Scouts d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
5. In 1983, the US Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by: a. A pizza delivery boy b. Pee Wee Herman c. Geraldo Rivera d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
6. In 1985 the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70 year old American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard in his wheelchair by: a. The Smurfs b. Davy Jones c. The Little Mermaid d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
7. In 1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, and a US Navy diver trying to rescue passengers was murdered by: a. Captain Kidd b. Charles Lindberg c. Mother Teresa d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
8. In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by: a. Scooby Doo b. Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid c. The Tooth Fairy d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
9. In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by: a. Richard Simmons b. Grandma Moses c. Michael Jordan d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
10. In 1998, the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by: a. Mr. Rogers
b. Hillary Clinton, to distract attention from Wild Bill’s
women problems
c. The World Wrestling Federation
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
11. On 9/11/01, four airliners were hijacked; two were used as missiles to take out the World Trade Centers and of the remaining two, one crashed into the US Pentagon and the other was diverted and crashed by the passengers. Thousands of people were killed by: a. The Supreme Court of Florida
b. Bugs Bunny, Wiley E. Coyote, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd c. Mr. Bean
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
12. In 2002 the United States fought a war in Afghanistan against: a. Enron b. The Lutheran Church c. The NFL d. Muslim male extremists mostly between
the ages of 17 and 40
13. In 2002 reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by: a. Bonnie and Clyde b. Captain Kangaroo c. Billy Graham d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
(There are several others listed here, but) Nope, …..I really don’t see a pattern here to justify profiling, do you?
So, to ensure we Americans never offend anyone, particularly fanatics intent on killing us, airport security screeners will no longer be allowed to profile certain people. They must conduct random searches of 80-year-old women, little kids, airline pilots with proper identification, secret agents who are members of the President’s security detail, 85-year old Congressmen with metal hips, and Medal of Honor winning and former Governor Joe Foss, but leave Muslim Males between the ages 17 and 40 alone lest they be guilty of profiling.
This came to me under the file name, ‘Makes You Think!’, and I thought enough of it to forward it to everybody in my address book. And I would almost bet that most of you here are wishing that you had a copy of it as well so as to show other people! You know what? That labels each one of us as a racist!
Let me read what the District Superintendent I had at the time e-mailed back to me in response…
Steve: Part of me agrees totally with the sentiments conveyed in this little “test.”
However, another part of me says this kind of thinking is what gave some Americans permission to loot, kill, and otherwise abuse Muslim-Americans who call the U.S. home, are tax-paying U. S. citizens and deplore the kind of violence perpetrated in all the acts referred to by “Muslim male extremists between the ages of 17 and 40.” We must be honest enough to admit that not all Muslim males between 17 and 40 are extremists intent on killing U.S. citizens, Israelis, or anyone else. They, too, can be, and many are, peace-loving, law-abiding citizens of this country who deserve the same protection under the law that you and I enjoy.
Frankly, I think this little test serves to perpetuate prejudice and is antithetical to Jesus’ teaching and his rule of righteousness in human affairs.
Barnes’ Notes tell us that, “The author and date of Psalm 116, the verses that I read this morning, are unknown. It seems to be rather of a private than a public character, and there are expressions in it which must have been drawn from the personal experience of its writer. It is adapted to public use only because in all public assemblages there are those who would find their own experience represented by the language of the psalm. It may have been composed after the return from Babylon, but there is nothing in the psalm to limit it to that time, and the language is such that it may have been composed at any period after Jerusalem became the place of public worship…”
And the main thing I would like to pull from it this morning is the thought contained in verses 12 & 14… “How can I repay the LORD for all his goodness to me? I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.”
On this Sunday, as we do Every Sunday, we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ. And the verses in Luke 24: 13-35 tell the story of the men on the road to Emmaus meeting Jesus but not recognizing Him… obviously because he did not intend for them to! And after listening to them tell about all that had been going on and how they did not understand any of it, He said, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”
And it was only then that the men began to understand how everything that had happened had all been foretold! Later, Jesus revealed Himself to them, and we’re told that… “within the hour they were on their way back to Jerusalem, where the eleven disciples and the other followers of Jesus were gathered. When they arrived, they were greeted with the report, “The Lord has really risen! He appeared to Peter!”
Christ died on the cross for our sins! And through the power of God, His Father, He arose, and lives today! And all of this was done through the love that each have for you… and you… and, yes, me! So, “How can I repay the LORD for all his goodness to me? I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.” But that begs the question, ‘How do I do that?’
In the first chapter of 1 Peter, verses 17-24, Peter says…
“Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.”
I have to admit that I have not always been very good at ‘loving my brother’. Having grown-up in an all-white town in the 50’s and 60’s, I can’t say that I have ever fully learned to not be prejudiced against almost anybody who isn’t like me! If I see a black family in a really nice car, my first thought used to be to wonder where they got it! When I read about all of the Hispanics moving into the area, I worry about what influences they might have! When I see Orientals in positions of trust and power, I worry about conspiracies. All in all, I worry way too much!!! I know full well that there are many blacks far more intelligent and have better educations than I have… and most of them have had to work twice as hard to overcome similar prejudices to mine surrounding them in their daily lives!
I know that many of the jobs that the Hispanics are taking are those that most ‘white-folk’ just plain don’t want to do! And if they are willing to move from their homes to take jobs that can’t be filled in this country in order to build a better life for themselves and their families… then I must applaud and salute them! And if our education system is failing to educate our population in new technologies and ways of thinking, then we must expect those who are educated in those fields to hold those jobs, as well!
Listen, again, to what Peter is telling us… “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.” Loving our brothers… deeply… from the heart… is a part of our purifying ourselves and obeying the truth!!! It is a part of our ‘repaying the Lord for all His Goodness to me!
Let me read another story to you that came over the internet to me just yesterday… it is purported to be entirely true!
Where we live, on the Eastern shore of Maryland, the gentle waters run in and out like fingers slimming at the tips. They curl into the smaller creeks and coves like tender palms. The Canada geese know this place, as do the white swans and the ducks who ride an inch above the waves of Chesapeake Bay as they skim their way into harbor. In the autumn, by the thousands, they come home for the winter. The swans move toward the shores in a stately glide, their tall heads proud and unafraid. They lower their long necks deep into the water, where their strong beaks dig through the river bottoms for food. And there is, between the arrogant swans and the prolific geese, an indifference, almost a disdain.
Once or twice each year, snow and sleet move into the area. When this happens, if the river is at its narrowest, or the creek shallow, there is a freeze which hardens the water to ice. It was on such a morning, near Osford, Maryland, that a friend of mine sat at the breakfast table beside the huge window, which overlooked the TredAvon River. Across the river, beyond the dock, the snow laced the rim of the shore in white.
For a moment she stood quietly, looking at what the night’s storm had painted. Suddenly she leaned forward and peered close to the frosted window. “It really is,” she cried out loud, “there is a goose out there.” She reached to the bookcase and pulled out a pair of binoculars. Into their sights came the figure of a large Canada goose, very still, its wings folded tight to its sides, its feet frozen to the ice. Then from the dark skies, she saw a line of swans. They moved in their own singular formation, graceful, intrepid, and free. They crossed from the west of the broad creek high above the house, moving steadily to the east. As my friend watched, the leader swung to the right, then the white string of birds became a white circle. It floated from the top of the sky downward. At last, as easy as feathers coming to earth, the circle landed on the ice. My friend was on her feet now, with one unbelieving hand against her mouth. As the swans surrounded the frozen goose, she feared what life he still had might be pecked out by those great swan bills.
Instead, amazingly instead, those bills began to work on the ice. The long necks were lifted and curved down, again and again, it went on for a long time. At last, the goose was rimmed by a narrow margin of ice instead of the entire creek. The swans rose again, following the leader, and hovered in that circle, awaiting the results of their labors. The goose’s head lifted. Its body pulled. Then the goose was free and standing on the ice. He was moving his big webbed feet slowly. And the swans hovered in the air watching. Then, as if he had cried, “I cannot fly,” four of the swans came down around him. Their powerful beaks scraped the goose’s wings from top to bottom, scuttled under its wings and rode up its body, chipping off and melting the ice held in the feathers. Slowly, as if testing, the goose spread its wings as far as they would go, brought them together, accordion-like, and spread again. When at last the wings reached their fullest, the four swans took off and joined the hovering group. They resumed their eastward journey, in perfect formation, to their secret destination. Behind them, rising with incredible speed and joy, the goose moved into the sky. He followed them, flapping double time, until he caught up, until he joined the last end of the line, like a small child at the end of a crack-the-whip of older boys.
My friend watched them until they disappeared over the tips of the farthest trees. Only then, in the dusk, which was suddenly deep, did she realize that tears were running down her cheeks and had been for how long she didn’t know.
This is a true story. It happened. I do not try to interpret it. I just think of it in the bad moments, and from it comes only one hopeful question: “If so for birds, why not for man?”
We all know that the world we live in is growing more dangerous and complex everyday… and I think that we would all agree that solving security issues sometimes means giving up certain freedoms… putting bars and locks over all of your windows and doors may make you more secure, but the cost is the feel of living in a prison! And so, while I won’t pretend to deny that the situation that I addressed at the start of this sermon requires some kind of action and resolution, I also won’t pretend that I know what it should be! I only know that Jesus requires us to love all people!!! And maybe… that in itself would be the answer!
Given on March 20, 2005, Palm Sunday of that year… The main Scripture is from Matthew 21: 1-11, but also includes quotes from Isaiah 50: 4-9 and Philippians 2: 5-11
I am such a party animal!! Just as an example, a girl that I dated in college invited me to her house to celebrate New Year’s Eve with her family, and I accepted with my usual amount of enthusiasm… “OK… I guess.”
Now, you might recall that one of the main ‘things’ about the sixties and seventies was to be ‘cool’! Being ‘cool’ meant that absolutely nothing disturbed you… nothing surprised you, nothing upset you, and nothing excited you… you were just ‘cool’! If any of you ever watched I Spy, you remember that no matter what was going on around them, Bill Cosby and Robert Culp were never fazed, while on Burke’s Law, Gene Barry always nonchalantly dealt with every evil-doer that came his way. Even Mr. Spock, of Star Trek fame, was eternally ‘cool’ because, as a Vulcan, he never showed any emotion! ‘Cool’ was in!
So when midnight came on this particular New Year’s Eve, and this girl and all of her family grabbed pots and pans and anything else they could find and went around the house banging and raising all of the ruckus and noise that they could for ten minutes or so, I was ‘cool’ about the whole thing and sat undisturbed on the couch, just shaking my head at what I considered so much nonsense… I mean, it just wasn’t ‘cool’!
Afterwards, her grandmother came up to me and said… and not very kindly, I might add… that if I was going to go through life with that kind of attitude, I was going to have a rough way to go. And after forty-some years, I must reluctantly agree with her… at least partially!
The truth is, I have never been one to allow much deep emotion of any kind to show on the surface (except perhaps to my closest friends)… I’m just too ‘cool’ for that! Besides, if everybody believes that you have your feelings and emotions under control, then most think you really ‘have-it-together’… and it becomes really easy to hide all of the pain that life does dish out sometimes! The problem with that way of thinking is that it also prohibits you from enjoying all of the love and happiness that exists as well!
And so, as I try to picture myself as a part of the crowd shouting “Hosanna! Hosanna!”, I see myself as one who is watching all of this from the sidelines… acknowledging the entrance of ‘the King’, but silently keeping my excitement inside of myself… being oh, so ‘cool’!
I mean, Jesus seemed to be acting ‘cool’ about it! We can imagine how excited all of the Apostles and disciples might have felt, riding into Jerusalem to what amounted to a hero’s welcome! We can imagine them smiling and happy and proud and triumphant as they took in the crowds and the adoration and singing and shouting and so-on and so-on… this was undoubtedly the high point of Jesus’ ministry, and those who had followed Him from the beginning were willing and ready to ‘ride-the-wave’ to what they considered acceptance and success.
But Jesus was ‘cool’! He sat astride this little donkey colt, His feet most likely dragging the ground if He should forget to hold them up, and calmly rode into the political and religious center of all Israel… the seat and residence of all those who were opposed to Him… and He was ‘cool’! Nobody in this entire mass of humanity that surrounded Him, pressing against Him and cheering and shouting, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” knew what He knew… that He was riding to His death! But, Jesus was ‘cool’! And not just any death, but the most humiliating, cruel and painful death that was possible at that time… possibly of all time! But, Jesus was ‘cool’… or so it might have appeared to those present!
We can imagine Him maybe thinking these very words from Isaiah 50, verses 4-9… “Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near.
Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other! Who is my accuser? Let him confront me!
It is the Sovereign LORD who helps me. Who is he that will condemn me?”
“Who is he that will condemn me?” Jesus knew! Even as His entourage rode triumphantly through the gates and streets of the capitol city to shouts of “Hosanna to the Son of David! Hosanna in the highest,” Jesus knew that in a few short days, many of those same masses would be shouting, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”
Yet, Jesus was ‘cool’!
And in the 2nd chapter of Philippians, verses 5-11, Paul says, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
I confess that I have often envied those who are so full of the love and joy of Christ that they can shout and sing and jump and dance and truly become ‘fools for Christ’… a proud title to have, by the way! And yet, if I take these words of Paul telling me that my attitude should be the same as Christ’s, then isn’t my ‘coolness’ more on par with how He rode into Jerusalem?
But wait… what about that one verse we read last week? When Lazarus died, Jesus wept! That wouldn’t be considered ‘cool’! How about when he overturned the tables of the money-changers and threw them all out of the temple? That wasn’t a ‘cool’ reaction to solving a problem! The fact is, there are many instances where we learn that Jesus was a loving and compassionate man… indeed, His entire ministry was based on that very love and compassion! And if He seemed ‘cool, calm and collected’ as he rode through this procession, it is only because He does love… He loves all of us so compassionately that he was willing to calmly ride towards His death of crucifixion as a sacrifice for each of us!
The Life Application Commentary tells us that there are, “Two plotlines that fill the world with stories. The first tells of bottom-up progress: pauper to magnate, scavenger to CEO, log cabin to White House. In the Bible, the stories of Joseph, Ruth, and David provide exciting examples of how people held in low esteem rose to power and blessing.
Another plotline tells of top-to-bottom change: height to depth, glory to shame, power to weakness, monarch to slave. One Bible person really fits this story line, and he urges all who follow him to consider its meaning for them. He is the living Christ, God incarnate, who died as a criminal on a Roman cross for you. He laid aside his rights as son of God to enter our world to find us.
Our life stories should parallel his. “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” We must become servants (slaves) of God for a needy world…”
Yet, how often do we “excuse selfishness, pride, or evil by claiming them as our right? We think, “I can cheat on this test; after all, I deserve to pass this class,” or “I can spend all this money on myself — I worked hard for it,” or “I can get an abortion; I have a right to control my own body.” Obedience, submission, and sacrifice are not popular qualities for humans, and society has little respect for those who practice them. But believers should have a different attitude, one that enables us to lay aside our ‘rights’ in order to serve others. If we say we follow Christ, we must also say that we want to live as he lived. We should develop his attitude of humility as we serve, even when we are not likely to get recognition for our efforts. Jesus was willing to wait until after his death to receive his glory…”
So, it would seem to me that there is room… and indeed a need!… for both ‘types’ of people… those who cheer and shout as Jesus rides through their lives… and those of us who try to stay ‘cool’ and let our excitement for Him show only in all that we do and say in His name! So, shout Hosanna! And if you can shout it out with true gusto and emotion, good for you! But even if you’re like me and have to force it out from between your lips… shout it out anyway… just because it feels good! Are you ready? The words are in the bulletin… let’s shout them out together!
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
Given on March 13, 2005 at the Lynnville (IL) UMC, the primary Scriptures are from the 11th chapter of the Gospel of John, verses 1-45, but also include verses from Ezekiel 37: 1-14, and Romans 8: 6-11…
The Life Application Commentary notes that, “Up to this point in John’s Gospel, Jesus has presented himself as the giver of life to various people:
to Nicodemus, he offered eternal life
to the Samaritan woman, the water of life
to the official’s son and the lame man, the restoring of life
to the hungry multitude, the bread of life
to the blind man, the light of life
to the sheep who followed him, the abundant life
In chapter 11, Jesus is “life” in its ultimate expression — he is “the resurrection and the life” — life after death. To the dead man, Lazarus, he offered resurrection life.”
Now, Time Magazine has always had a reputation for printing striking photographs on the front of each issue… indeed, they have photographers and photo-journalists who cover the globe in search of just-the-right illustration for each week’s main headline. But I was told of one issue, when I was at a youth-meeting in St. Louis during the late ‘60’s, that did not! The editors, file clerks, photographers and research people had all searched high and low to find a picture that would illustrate that issue’s main story, but none could be found! And so, the cover of the April 8, 1966 issue of Times magazine appeared with just these three words emblazoned across it… “IS GOD DEAD?” No one could come up with any kind of picture or illustration for that concept… and I must say, I’m not surprised!
And as I read these verses about Lazarus early in the week, I found myself thinking along the same lines. You all know how I strive to come up with some sort of personal story to lead off with each week that I then use to make a point about that week’s verses. But as I considered this telling of the story of Lazarus, I came to realize that no tale of mine would do it justice… it must needs stand on its own!
Even the various commentaries that I read tried to make a number of different points about all of this… some talk of how God once again used the pain and anguish of others… The Life Application Commentary says that, “Jesus loved this family and often stayed with them. He knew their pain but did not respond immediately. His delay had a specific purpose.”
Some commentaries talk about how God answers some prayers immediately while others seem to take forever… but all are answered… in His time! They tell of how trials can strengthen our Christian character and draw us closer to God as we recognize our own frailties and weaknesses. They talk of Thomas’ courage as he says, “to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
These verses also show us just how truly human Jesus was in expressing His love and compassion for His friends… shown most poignantly in what every school child should recognize as ‘the shortest verse in the Bible’… “Jesus wept!” And all of these are very valid and important points to draw upon! But on this 5th Sunday of Lent, there is one over-powering message that I would like for all of us to get this morning!
In Ezekiel 37, verses 1-14,, the Lord shows Ezekiel a valley of dry bones and says… “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.'”
So Ezekiel prophesied as commanded, and as he did so, “there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. (He) looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
Then God said to him, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.'” So Ezekiel prophesied as he had been commanded, “and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet — a vast army.
Then God said to say to them: “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; … Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live… Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.'”
“The Gospels tell us,” says The Life Application Commentary, “that Jesus raised others besides Lazarus from the dead, including Jairus’s daughter and a widow’s son. These people represent a cross section of ages and social backgrounds to whom Jesus gave back human life. Lazarus’s story stands out because John used it as a sign of Jesus’ ultimate life-giving power and a picture of his own coming resurrection.”
And that, to me, is the strongest message contained in today’s verses… that God truly does have the ultimate power of life and death over all of us… and that He used that power through his Son, Jesus… and that he demonstrated that fact yet again when Jesus Himself rose from the dead! The only difference is this… all of them, including Lazarus, who were raised eventually died again… except Jesus! Jesus… the very same Jesus who walked the roads of ancient Jerusalem healing the sick, raising the dead, and teaching us how to love one another… the very same Jesus who was sacrificed on a cross and died for our sins… is alive and well and waiting for us in His Father’s house today!
And when the time is right… when God’s time is right… each and every one of us will be made whole and brought before Him and judged. Are you ready today?
Romans 8, verses 6 – 11 says, “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.”
Jesus said to Mary, in verse 25… and to all of us today… “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Based on the entire 9th Chapter of the Gospel of John, this was given at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on March 6, 2005, and again on March 15, 2009, at the Hartford (IL) East Maple Street Chapel.
As I note in the video, this message includes some difficult concepts, and so I quoted quite-a-bit from a commentary that I felt did a good job explaining it…
The Webster Collegiate Dictionary defines ‘torque’ as, “a force that produces or tends to produce rotation or torsion”. You might say, in other words, that ‘torque’ is the energy that’s required to make another object turn or twist. An example of this is the torque produced by the engine in an automobile that is applied through the driveshaft to cause the wheels to turn. Now, one of Newton’s Laws states that ‘a body at rest tends to stay at rest’. So any torque that is applied to an object must be more than enough to overcome that object’s tendency to not move! If it’s not, then one of two things will happen… either the source of the torque will not be able to turn… that is, stall or stop… or, depending on the weight of the object, the source of the torque will begin to circle the object it is trying to turn. Let me see if I can demonstrate this a little more clearly…
If a kid on a bicycle can pedal hard enough… that’s the torque… the front wheel of the bike will come off of the ground and try to go around the back wheel! Now, if he’s good, he can then control the amount of torque he is applying and maintain the front wheel at a given distance from the ground… if he’s not, the whole thing will continue all the way over until he falls off! A drag racer is designed to apply a huge amount of torque to the wheels in a very short period of time, and so is very prone to this twisting over the tires, but most have special ‘wheelie bars’ built on the rear to prevent them from going all the way over. And by their very nature, farm tractors have a very real problem with all of this… their drive wheels are weighted and ballasted to give them the necessary traction needed to pull an implement through the field, while the engine horsepower has increased dramatically over the years to further enhance that ability. And as horsepower has increased, it has become necessary to add more and more weight to the front of the tractor to hold it down!
Now, a four-wheel drive tractor has a different kind of problem… due to the dynamics of the direction that the torque is applied, the rear axle is still trying to lift the front of the tractor up while the front axle is trying to push down on the rear! That’s why they are generally built to be so much heavier in the front to begin with! In fact, back when Case was still building the solid-frame four-wheel drives, the set-up and owner’s manuals both called for ballasting, or adding weight, to position 60% of the tractor’s static, or non-moving, weight on the front axle and only 40% on the rear. Then, when the tractor is pulling through the field, the weight transfer that occurs due to the torque forces applied to each axle will even out that difference and each axle will be carrying and sharing an equal amount of work!
Once, while working at the dealer in Springfield, many years ago, one of their regular customers brought in an older Case four-wheel-drive that they had purchased there new and had had for some years. I was not the one working on it, but I couldn’t help but notice that the rear tires were worn down to nothing while the front tires still looked almost new. The tractor was in for work on the rear drive train, and when I asked, was told that it had been there a number of times for the same problem… and yes, it had ballast added to the rear tires, not the front! The problem, to me, was obvious… the tractor was weighted wrong, and the rear axle was doing most of the work, while the front one was just ‘going along for the ride’! When I pointed that out to them I was told, “Tractors have always had fluid added to the rear wheels… that’s just the way it is, and that’s how we want it! Period!”
These people had been taught that there was one particular way to do something, and no amount of talking or explaining on my part would convince anyone that that was not always the case… not even me showing them in the book how it was supposed to be done! They were blind to everything but what they wanted to believe… which was the same problem facing Jesus in these verses from John!
Let’s start, though, by asking this question… “Why was this man born blind? Why the hurt?”
The Life Application Commentary notes that… “In Jewish culture, many believed that all calamities and suffering resulted from sin. The disciples believed, then, based at least partly on Old Testament texts, that a disability such as this man’s blindness was such a punishment… Many people around the world today still believe that suffering results from sin. People tend to believe that displeasing God leads to punishment; therefore, they assume that whenever a person seems to be undergoing punishment, there is reason to suspect wrongdoing. This assumption, for example, drove Job’s friends to treat him with heavy-handed judgment.
But this man suffered so that God could be glorified. We live in a fallen world where good behavior is not always rewarded and bad behavior not always punished; therefore, innocent people sometimes suffer. If God removed suffering whenever we asked, we would follow him for comfort and convenience, not out of love and devotion. Regardless of the reasons for our suffering, Jesus has the power to help us deal with it. When we suffer from a disease, tragedy, or disability, we should not ask, Why did this happen to me? or What did I do wrong? Instead, we should ask God to give us strength for the trial and a clearer perspective on what is happening.
While the disciples were thinking about what caused the blindness. Jesus shifted their attention away from the cause to the purpose. Jesus demonstrated God’s power by healing the man. Instead of worrying about the cause of our problems, we should instead find out how God could use our problem to demonstrate his power. Jesus explained that the man’s blindness had nothing to do with his sin or his parents’ sin: “But this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” These words do not mean that God heartlessly inflicted blindness on this man at birth, but simply that he allowed nature to run its course so that the victim would ultimately bring glory to God through the reception of both physical and spiritual sight.
How can God be at work in a desperate situation? There may be times when we have done everything possible to solve a problem. After we have explored the options, exhausted our resources, probed our motives, asked for advice, and done what was suggested, we may have found that nothing seems to have changed. We may have persisted in prayer and asked others to pray for us, and yet perceive no answer. The truth is, the solution, resolution, or answer may not ever come in this life. But it is also true that regardless of our difficulty and whether or not our burden is removed, God is still at work.
God may use our experience to help advise and encourage others who pass through the same trials.
God may use our suffering to break through the hardness of another person and bring about change in them.
God may use our unresolved need to motivate others to keep searching for a solution from which others will benefit.
God may use our endurance in suffering rather than the suffering itself to be an encouraging example to other believers.
Indeed, there are as many ways that God might make use of our sufferings as there are ways to suffer… and all will bring glory to God, if we just follow His leadings in their use! But, as useful and important as all of this is to our daily lives, it is not the main point of our story!
The Life Application Commentary tells us that… “Thus far, Jesus has explained his identity in many ways to his listeners. Often he would use a physical object, person, or setting to depict a certain spiritual aspect of his life and purpose. For example:
While sitting by Jacob’s well and talking to the Samaritan woman, Jesus explained that he could give her “living water”.
After feeding over 5,000 people with two small loaves of bread, Jesus explained that he was “the bread of life”.
At the Feast of Tabernacles, where a symbolic act took place commemorating the time when Moses struck the rock in the wilderness and it brought forth water for the parched Israelites, Jesus told all the people, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink”.
Again at the Feast of Tabernacles, another symbolic act took place commemorating the pillar of fire that guided the Israelites on their wilderness journey. Jesus told all the people, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life”.
All of Jesus’ miracles also pointed to who he was. John follows Jesus’ discourse about being “the light of the world” with this account of Jesus restoring sight to a man born blind. The story illustrates the spiritual truth of Christ being the Light of the World…”
Now, “because the people in our story today discovered both a miracle and a mystery surrounding the healing of the blind man, they took him to what they considered the most dependable place for exploring such matters… the Pharisees…who quickly concluded that whatever else the healer might be, he certainly wasn’t from God… for otherwise he ‘would not work on the Sabbath.’ In their quest for “truth,” these Pharisees tried a number of explanations to invalidate the miracle: (1) perhaps the blind man had not been blind from birth or had not been totally blind; (2) perhaps God did this miracle directly (but they would recognize no human agent).
And when the formerly blind man pointed out the obvious answers that they had been so studiously avoiding, they responded by viciously berating him and expelling him from their presence.
The astonishing fact of the man’s newly given vision eluded this group as if they were blind. Later Jesus pointed this out as their problem… over their strenuous objections.”
The first chapter of 1 Samuel tells us how Eli sees Hannah moving her lips as she prayed silently, and assumed she was drunk. But he was letting his eyes deceive him… or, more correctly, he was letting his brain misinterpret what his eyes were seeing! And that is exactly what the owners of that Case tractor back then and the Pharisees in our story today were doing! Their eyes were seeing the truth of the matter… but their brain refused to accept it as such! They would only see and accept what they wanted to believe!
And there-in lies one of the fundamental problems with Christianity today… People will only allow themselves to see what they want to believe! Especially in this country, people have grown to be so independent and ‘free-thinking’ that many refuse to accept the Word of God at face value anymore, but continually strive to modify its content and meanings to be more in-line with those they want it to be! I don’t have to give examples, I’m sure most of you can come up with your own… and I’m equally sure that, like me, you can come up with some that you have been guilty of yourself!
The Pharisees declared, “We are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”
And the former blind man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
And yet, the Pharisees refused to believe… as do far too many others today!
Are you living in darkness… are you blind to the truth… or can you see ‘the light of the world? Ephesians 5, verses 8-14 tell us, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
The ‘Treasury of Bible Illustrations’ tells of, “A young girl who once consulted with her minister… “I cannot stick it out any longer,” she said. “I am the only Christian in the factory where I work. I get nothing but taunts and sneers. It is more than I can stand. I am going to resign.”
“The minister asked her, “Where are lights placed?”
“What has that to do with it?” the young Christian asked him rather bluntly.
“Never mind,” the minister replied. “Answer my question: ‘Where are lights placed?’ “
“I suppose in dark places,” she replied.
“Yes, and that is why you have been put in that factory where there is such spiritual darkness and where there is no other Christian to shine for the Lord.”
The young Christian realized for the first time the opportunity that was hers. She felt she could not fail God by allowing her light to go out. She went back to the factory with renewed determination to let her light shine in that dark corner. Before long, she was the means of leading nine other girls to the Light.”
Let the light of Jesus shine through you everyday! Let His Words flow through you… let His Message become a beacon that lights up, not only your life, but all of the world around you!
Reading, primarily, from the Book of Acts, chapter 2, verses 14a and 22-32, this was given at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on April 3, 2005…
“You’re going to have to slow down… you’re making me look bad!” I had been at the Case dealer in Springfield for about two months when the kid who considered himself lead mechanic at that time came from the office and accosted me with these words! And the fact was, I could split one of the big 1370’s, remove, rebuild and replace the power-shift assembly, then slide the whole thing back together and be driving it around the lot in about three working days… and that was almost half the time it took him to do the same thing!
I did know my way around a Case tractor back then! To this day, I think I could draw you a picture of most of what one looked like on the inside from the front weights to the three-point hitch. But all of that knowledge and ability that I had up to that time was from practical learning… that is, from actually doing! It wasn’t until I worked for the dealer in Auburn some years later that I got to go to school on those tractors and learn the theory and science behind why all of it worked… or didn’t work… the way it did! And it was that knowledge that led me to become one of the best troubleshooters in the area! For Many years after my self-imposed retirement, there are still people who’d wish I would come out of it to figure out some odd-ball problem they might be having with one of those older tractors.
Now, as you might expect, when I completed each one of those schools I went to over the years, I received a nice, handsome piece of parchment, suitable for framing, that stated that I had completed the course and was certified to work on that particular brand or type of equipment. In fact, I used to have a whole box of such certificates from Buick, American Motors, J. I. Case, Briggs & Stratton, Kubota… well, you get the picture. Yet, as I’ve already said, many of those things I already knew before I went… but, just as the scarecrow in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ felt that the diploma given him by the wizard certified he had a brain, many people were more impressed by seeing the certificates on the wall than they were by my actual abilities.
Indeed, one employer hired me to become his shop foreman on the basis of all of those diplomas… which I would have been very capable of handling… but without asking, instead put me to actually working on small engines and lawn mowers. And while it is true that I had needed to go to all of those schools for various reasons and had the certificates to prove that I had, my actual work experience had almost always been on larger equipment! Hence, neither of us were very satisfied with the resulting situation, and I soon left! So, it would seem that just having that accreditation doesn’t always mean what you think it might… I’m sure that most of you have heard the phrase about being ‘book smart and dirt dumb’, or something very similar… but in general, I have always prided myself on being dirt-smart about many things long before I ever got to be book-smart about them!
And yet, when Peter talks about Jesus of Nazareth being accredited, I have to believe he means in every way… because He was accredited by God! So… what did he mean by that? Well, Webster’s Dictionary describes ‘accredit’ as meaning to give credence to… in fact, the first two definitions are…
1 : to give official authorization to or approval of:
a : to provide with credentials; esp : to send (an envoy) with letters of authorization
Let’s listen again to what Peter said… “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.” These people knew the man, Jesus of Nazareth… many of them were eye-witnesses to His miracles and ‘wonders’ and so forth… but most still considered Him as just a remarkable man! Peter is telling them that this man they knew as Jesus was, in fact, the promised Messiah! He quotes David, from Psalm 16, as saying… “‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.’”
Then Peter says, “Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact.”
Verses 19-31 in the 20th chapter of John tell us the story of how Thomas, not having been present when Jesus first appeared to them, said, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Thomas doubted! Can you really blame him? After all, to any normal person, this had to seem like an incredible story! And yet, Jesus not only appeared to all of them again, He took Thomas’ words and threw them back to him… “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side.” And that is why Peter says with such authority… “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact.”
Jesus was NOT just a man from Nazareth… He was accredited by God to be the Christ… the Messiah… the promised one! In fact, God acknowledged Him as His Son! And many, many witnesses have testified that He did, indeed, rise from the dead… He conquered death!! Our Saviour lives today!!!
And so it is that when Peter wrote his first letter to all believers, what we call 1 Peter, he says, in chapter 1, verses 3 – 9… “All honor to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is by his boundless mercy that God has given us the privilege of being born again. Now we live with a wonderful expectation because Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. For God has reserved a priceless inheritance for his children. It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And God, in his mighty power, will protect you until you receive this salvation, because you are trusting him. It will be revealed on the last day for all to see. So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while.
These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold — and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him, you trust him; and even now you are happy with a glorious, inexpressible joy. Your reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.”
scluebbert 