Our 2015 emphasis in simply one word.
Join us as we seek to follow Christ.
Our journey will take us to the Cross and to the Resurrection.
Join us as we seek to follow Christ.
Our journey will take us to the Cross and to the Resurrection.
If you love somebody, set them free.
22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life[a] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.
28 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
The 1980's were full of good music laced with eternal truth.
When I read the scripture we are covering today the first song that came to mind was an old one by a guy named Sting. He and two other guys formed a group called The Police. Sting would venture out on his own for a very successful solo career. One of his solo songs is what came to mind upon reading the discourse here in Chapter 16 of Matthew. "If you love somebody, set them free."
Setting things free to go their own course. The problem with doing so is that we have to allow freedom to run it's course. The other problem is that we too often try to predict the future. Sometimes we think we have a good idea where a certain path might lead. We don't like the results. We don't appreciate the direction. We would like for things to work out in a different way. So, we fight. We struggle. We pull. We tug. We squabble with the other person. We create discontent because we don't think they are doing the thing that we think they should be doing. And so it goes. (Billy Joel reference)
In today's scripture, Jesus is beginning to share the direction that things must go from here forth. He is very frank that the end of this path will bring him to the door step of the religious leaders in the Jewish community. The disciples already have witnessed several times how these leaders have reacted to Jesus, his teachings, his ministry, his life and practices. His healing have caused small tremors of discontent within the Temple. No small thanks to Jesus rolling through and turning over table and setting lots of animals free. It didn't help when he told a man to get up, take his mat he had been lying on, and go home. Oh and one other thing, his sins were forgiven. "Who is this that he even forgives sins?" Yes, Jesus knows where this path is heading. And, conveying that truth to his disciples is what is truly important from here forth.
The problem with sharing what we feel God has laid upon our hearts with other people is that almost always some other person who feel as if they know what we truly should be doing. There is usually that one person who just can't see what the Lord has put on our hearts to do. If you're married, maybe that other person is your spouse. They don't share your enthusiasm to follow the Lord with same intensity that you do. If you're on the job, your boss just doesn't get why you need that week off to go on some mission trip. If it's within your circle of friends or family, someone just doesn't get why you think God, Jesus or church is such a big deal. And, then, you go and share some insight or truth you have discovered. God wants you to pursue some idea. God wants you to go into the ministry. God wants you to write a book. God wants you to go next door and take your neighbor a casserole and simply show them some Love. You've seen "The Look". usually accompanied with wrinkled eyebrows and a deep look of "you have absolutely lost it"written on their eyeballs.
What you were hoping for was some much needed support. Instead what you got was a good chewing out or a simple scoff of ridiculousness that leaves you feeling empty. I can only imagine what Jesus must have felt as he is sharing the direction this ministry would be going. How many of these disciples were looking at him with those eyebrows? That look? What he talking about? It sounds like he's saying he is going to die or something? Is he for real? Oh yes he is. And, for one of these disciples he cannot bear to hear it. This one disciple takes what he hears as honest truth. When Jesus would ask "Who do men say that I am?" this one disciple is the one to answer affirmatively that Jesus is Messiah. The One who came to save the people. Maybe Peter understand more than he lets on. And, in his understanding, he cannot stay quiet and just watch his friend go off and die.
22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
Weeks ago, I felt as if the Lord gave me these specific scriptures to cover as we progress through Lent. Who knew what we would be seeing in the news on an international level. Missionaries being abducted and even killed. Coptic Christians being lined up and executed publicly. News & Media figures detained and some being killed, simply because of their nationality. One of the most disturbing was that of Kayla Mueller. Friends and family said the 26 year old was walking the path she felt God wanted her to be on. Mueller was taken hostage in Syria where was working to provide humanitarian aid. Mueller started working in southern Turkey in December 2012, where she was assisting Syrian refugees. On August 3, 2013, she drove to the northern Syrian city of Aleppo with a coworker/friend who was traveling to the Spanish Doctors Without Borders hospital in Aleppo to work for a day.[7] She worked with international aid agency Support to Life.[8][9] On her departure from Aleppo to return to Turkey, militants abducted her. (details via Wikipedia page).
I imagine Kayla's conversation with family and friends prior to leaving for this part of the world to work and do ministry. What is ministry? Meeting people's needs. Or, as the Rev. Stan Ling would state - ministry is simple "meeting people". Kayla took off to go have way around the world just to "meet people". What did her friends and family think about that? Did anybody try to talk her out of it? How much resolve did Kayla have to muster to convince herself, and others, that this was what God had set before her to do? In the last couple of days we have heard about Free Methodist missionary Phyllis Sortor. She has been kidnapped in Nigeria. While ISIS is the problem in parts of the Middle East, the group known as the Boko Haram is the general nuisance in parts of Africa. This group has been at the work of abducting women and children. Knowing that such things might happen when they head out into other parts of the world, does this keep people from wanting to become missionaries or humanitarian workers? When God has put such a focus on the life of such a person, the result is one that permeates the realm of fear and causes the one involved to follow indiscriminately. Leaders in the Free Methodist Church would speak of Sortor in words the suggest her selflessness. “[She is] one of the most compassionate, hard-driving, let’s-get-it-done women I know.... Nothing is about her. She’s really a giving person.”(quotes from the LA Times)
When we choose to follow Jesus we are following to our death.
That death might work itself out in a physical way. The Lord knows many of our brothers and sisters in the faith have found that out in centuries gone by. There are people in this world who do not like the message of Christ. When Jesus says, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father except by me." what else is he suggesting but that this Christian faith is exclusive to salvation. There is no other way. There is no other Savior. When we acknowledge such an admission we are saying that a part of us has died. In order to say that Jesus is our Lord, we must give up the idea that we can save ourselves. We must give up our sin. We must turn away from it. We must embrace forgiveness and mercy and acknowledge that we need something bigger and greater than ourselves. Have you done that? Have you given up all that you have and all that you are in order to lock arms in a bear hug around the Truth? I need this. There is nothing else I need more. For many who call themselves Christian, it is all about us. We say we believe in Jesus while heading out the door to go back to doing whatever we want to do however we want to do it.
After dealing with Peter, Jesus would then speak to the group.
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
Three things. Good things come in threes, or so I've been told.
Deny yourself. When was the last time you denied yourself something? As we began this Lenten season, the question was put in front of us as to what we would give up. many people give up something for these 40 days. In denying ourselves we pick something else up. Jesus would call it a cross. Something heavy. Something awkward and hard to carry. Jesus would soon carry a cross. A burden. Something majestic and messy all at the same time. And, while carrying that messiness we are charged to follow.
I have had a few conversations with well meaning Christian folks over the years who would speak about the entire cross event as too messy. Too gory. It's filled with too much grief and anguish. I can't bear to look at it or even think about it. I don't understand why we need to even think about all that death and pain. Hmmm. Well, as I have cautioned many a well meaning person, this one thing I would state. Without all that grief and pain and death, we wouldn't have any salvation. Jesus' death on the cross is what makes all this possible. Without it, we have nothing.
And so it goes. "Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single seed. But, if it dies, it produces and many seeds." (John 12.24) Phyllis Sortor has given her life again and again so that others could have enough to be clothed and fed. Recently she helped raise enough resources to build and open a school in January 2015. Kayla Mueller knew what it meant to give it all. She picked up that cross and followed knowing all too well where it might lead. And, I have no doubt she has heard the words, "Well done good and faithful servant".
What kind of words are we going to hear when we leave this world?
Have we done anything worthwhile with our lives? Our time? Our resources?
Or, are we content to sit back and watch the world go by?
Allowing someone else to deal with all that stuff. We have more important things to do.
Or, maybe we have all the answers to the world's problems. Just ask. You'll get a long explanation of what everybody else is doing wrong and what they need to do to correct it. Hmmmm. Doesn't sound like there's much denying ones' self in those empty words. Doesn't sound like there's any cross bearing. Certainly doesn't sound like there's any following.
Back in the 80's alot of those well meaning songwriters had actually grown up in Christian or Catholic homes. I've read the back stories of many of the artist who wrote and sang those songs. There was a notion of social concern for the issues of the day. Or, even in the realm of a love song you might find words that could be taken either way. Maybe the words suggest a human kind of love. But, upon further analysis, you might just want to focus those words on Someone else.
Take this song for instance. After I became a Christian I looked back on this song with a new found fondness. Following Jesus means looking him in the eyes and finding all the love you need.
It's love that will lead you to your death.
In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel
love I get so lost, sometimes
days pass and this emptiness fills my heart
when I want to run away
I drive off in my car
but whichever way I go
I come back to the place you are
all my instincts, they return
and the grand facade, so soon will burn
without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside
in your eyes
the light the heat
in your eyes
I am complete
in your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
in your eyes
the resolution of all the fruitless searches
in your eyes
I see the light and the heat
in your eyes
oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light
the heat I see in your eyes
love, I don't like to see so much pain
so much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away
I get so tired of working so hard for our survival
I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive
and all my instincts, they return
and the grand facade, so soon will burn
without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside
in your eyes
the light the heat
in your eyes
I am complete
in your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
in your eyes
the resolution of all the fruitless searches
in your eyes
I see the light and the heat
in your eyes
oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light,
the heat I see in your eyes
in your eyes in your eyes
in your eyes in your eyes
in your eyes in your eyes
Matthew 16:21-28
New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Predicts His Death
21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life[a] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.
28 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
The 1980's were full of good music laced with eternal truth.
When I read the scripture we are covering today the first song that came to mind was an old one by a guy named Sting. He and two other guys formed a group called The Police. Sting would venture out on his own for a very successful solo career. One of his solo songs is what came to mind upon reading the discourse here in Chapter 16 of Matthew. "If you love somebody, set them free."
Setting things free to go their own course. The problem with doing so is that we have to allow freedom to run it's course. The other problem is that we too often try to predict the future. Sometimes we think we have a good idea where a certain path might lead. We don't like the results. We don't appreciate the direction. We would like for things to work out in a different way. So, we fight. We struggle. We pull. We tug. We squabble with the other person. We create discontent because we don't think they are doing the thing that we think they should be doing. And so it goes. (Billy Joel reference)
In today's scripture, Jesus is beginning to share the direction that things must go from here forth. He is very frank that the end of this path will bring him to the door step of the religious leaders in the Jewish community. The disciples already have witnessed several times how these leaders have reacted to Jesus, his teachings, his ministry, his life and practices. His healing have caused small tremors of discontent within the Temple. No small thanks to Jesus rolling through and turning over table and setting lots of animals free. It didn't help when he told a man to get up, take his mat he had been lying on, and go home. Oh and one other thing, his sins were forgiven. "Who is this that he even forgives sins?" Yes, Jesus knows where this path is heading. And, conveying that truth to his disciples is what is truly important from here forth.
The problem with sharing what we feel God has laid upon our hearts with other people is that almost always some other person who feel as if they know what we truly should be doing. There is usually that one person who just can't see what the Lord has put on our hearts to do. If you're married, maybe that other person is your spouse. They don't share your enthusiasm to follow the Lord with same intensity that you do. If you're on the job, your boss just doesn't get why you need that week off to go on some mission trip. If it's within your circle of friends or family, someone just doesn't get why you think God, Jesus or church is such a big deal. And, then, you go and share some insight or truth you have discovered. God wants you to pursue some idea. God wants you to go into the ministry. God wants you to write a book. God wants you to go next door and take your neighbor a casserole and simply show them some Love. You've seen "The Look". usually accompanied with wrinkled eyebrows and a deep look of "you have absolutely lost it"written on their eyeballs.
What you were hoping for was some much needed support. Instead what you got was a good chewing out or a simple scoff of ridiculousness that leaves you feeling empty. I can only imagine what Jesus must have felt as he is sharing the direction this ministry would be going. How many of these disciples were looking at him with those eyebrows? That look? What he talking about? It sounds like he's saying he is going to die or something? Is he for real? Oh yes he is. And, for one of these disciples he cannot bear to hear it. This one disciple takes what he hears as honest truth. When Jesus would ask "Who do men say that I am?" this one disciple is the one to answer affirmatively that Jesus is Messiah. The One who came to save the people. Maybe Peter understand more than he lets on. And, in his understanding, he cannot stay quiet and just watch his friend go off and die.
22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
Weeks ago, I felt as if the Lord gave me these specific scriptures to cover as we progress through Lent. Who knew what we would be seeing in the news on an international level. Missionaries being abducted and even killed. Coptic Christians being lined up and executed publicly. News & Media figures detained and some being killed, simply because of their nationality. One of the most disturbing was that of Kayla Mueller. Friends and family said the 26 year old was walking the path she felt God wanted her to be on. Mueller was taken hostage in Syria where was working to provide humanitarian aid. Mueller started working in southern Turkey in December 2012, where she was assisting Syrian refugees. On August 3, 2013, she drove to the northern Syrian city of Aleppo with a coworker/friend who was traveling to the Spanish Doctors Without Borders hospital in Aleppo to work for a day.[7] She worked with international aid agency Support to Life.[8][9] On her departure from Aleppo to return to Turkey, militants abducted her. (details via Wikipedia page).
I imagine Kayla's conversation with family and friends prior to leaving for this part of the world to work and do ministry. What is ministry? Meeting people's needs. Or, as the Rev. Stan Ling would state - ministry is simple "meeting people". Kayla took off to go have way around the world just to "meet people". What did her friends and family think about that? Did anybody try to talk her out of it? How much resolve did Kayla have to muster to convince herself, and others, that this was what God had set before her to do? In the last couple of days we have heard about Free Methodist missionary Phyllis Sortor. She has been kidnapped in Nigeria. While ISIS is the problem in parts of the Middle East, the group known as the Boko Haram is the general nuisance in parts of Africa. This group has been at the work of abducting women and children. Knowing that such things might happen when they head out into other parts of the world, does this keep people from wanting to become missionaries or humanitarian workers? When God has put such a focus on the life of such a person, the result is one that permeates the realm of fear and causes the one involved to follow indiscriminately. Leaders in the Free Methodist Church would speak of Sortor in words the suggest her selflessness. “[She is] one of the most compassionate, hard-driving, let’s-get-it-done women I know.... Nothing is about her. She’s really a giving person.”(quotes from the LA Times)
When we choose to follow Jesus we are following to our death.
That death might work itself out in a physical way. The Lord knows many of our brothers and sisters in the faith have found that out in centuries gone by. There are people in this world who do not like the message of Christ. When Jesus says, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father except by me." what else is he suggesting but that this Christian faith is exclusive to salvation. There is no other way. There is no other Savior. When we acknowledge such an admission we are saying that a part of us has died. In order to say that Jesus is our Lord, we must give up the idea that we can save ourselves. We must give up our sin. We must turn away from it. We must embrace forgiveness and mercy and acknowledge that we need something bigger and greater than ourselves. Have you done that? Have you given up all that you have and all that you are in order to lock arms in a bear hug around the Truth? I need this. There is nothing else I need more. For many who call themselves Christian, it is all about us. We say we believe in Jesus while heading out the door to go back to doing whatever we want to do however we want to do it.
After dealing with Peter, Jesus would then speak to the group.
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
Three things. Good things come in threes, or so I've been told.
Deny yourself. When was the last time you denied yourself something? As we began this Lenten season, the question was put in front of us as to what we would give up. many people give up something for these 40 days. In denying ourselves we pick something else up. Jesus would call it a cross. Something heavy. Something awkward and hard to carry. Jesus would soon carry a cross. A burden. Something majestic and messy all at the same time. And, while carrying that messiness we are charged to follow.
I have had a few conversations with well meaning Christian folks over the years who would speak about the entire cross event as too messy. Too gory. It's filled with too much grief and anguish. I can't bear to look at it or even think about it. I don't understand why we need to even think about all that death and pain. Hmmm. Well, as I have cautioned many a well meaning person, this one thing I would state. Without all that grief and pain and death, we wouldn't have any salvation. Jesus' death on the cross is what makes all this possible. Without it, we have nothing.
And so it goes. "Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single seed. But, if it dies, it produces and many seeds." (John 12.24) Phyllis Sortor has given her life again and again so that others could have enough to be clothed and fed. Recently she helped raise enough resources to build and open a school in January 2015. Kayla Mueller knew what it meant to give it all. She picked up that cross and followed knowing all too well where it might lead. And, I have no doubt she has heard the words, "Well done good and faithful servant".
What kind of words are we going to hear when we leave this world?
Have we done anything worthwhile with our lives? Our time? Our resources?
Or, are we content to sit back and watch the world go by?
Allowing someone else to deal with all that stuff. We have more important things to do.
Or, maybe we have all the answers to the world's problems. Just ask. You'll get a long explanation of what everybody else is doing wrong and what they need to do to correct it. Hmmmm. Doesn't sound like there's much denying ones' self in those empty words. Doesn't sound like there's any cross bearing. Certainly doesn't sound like there's any following.
Back in the 80's alot of those well meaning songwriters had actually grown up in Christian or Catholic homes. I've read the back stories of many of the artist who wrote and sang those songs. There was a notion of social concern for the issues of the day. Or, even in the realm of a love song you might find words that could be taken either way. Maybe the words suggest a human kind of love. But, upon further analysis, you might just want to focus those words on Someone else.
Take this song for instance. After I became a Christian I looked back on this song with a new found fondness. Following Jesus means looking him in the eyes and finding all the love you need.
It's love that will lead you to your death.
In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel
love I get so lost, sometimes
days pass and this emptiness fills my heart
when I want to run away
I drive off in my car
but whichever way I go
I come back to the place you are
all my instincts, they return
and the grand facade, so soon will burn
without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside
in your eyes
the light the heat
in your eyes
I am complete
in your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
in your eyes
the resolution of all the fruitless searches
in your eyes
I see the light and the heat
in your eyes
oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light
the heat I see in your eyes
love, I don't like to see so much pain
so much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away
I get so tired of working so hard for our survival
I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive
and all my instincts, they return
and the grand facade, so soon will burn
without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside
in your eyes
the light the heat
in your eyes
I am complete
in your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
in your eyes
the resolution of all the fruitless searches
in your eyes
I see the light and the heat
in your eyes
oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light,
the heat I see in your eyes
in your eyes in your eyes
in your eyes in your eyes
in your eyes in your eyes
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