Covenant Maker

 Forever and ever. Amen. 

How familiar are you with this word, covenant?
It is not a word that finds it's way into our everyday use.
It is a very spiritual and religiously used term.

The area where most people get to experience the idea of this term the most would be in the moment of ceremonial bliss. The joining together of two people in holy matrimony. Here is special place where two people have come together and have stated that they want to spend the rest of their lives together. They love each other so much that they can't imagine being without one another. When two people come together in such a way, vows are taken. Scripture is read and recited and repeated. Blessings are given upon the parties involved and upon their families. Such steps that are taken should be decided upon with the utmost thought and commitment. This is a decision for the rest of our lives upon this earth. Do you really see yourself with this person for all your days? Is this simply a means to an end? Is this joining together of two people simply a way to get some thing you want?

This time of year is perfect to think about covenant making and to use marriage as the stepping stone to get there. Many people have their wedding in June or early spring. It's a time of newness with life returning to the earth. Everything is green and lush and full of beauty. That's what we want ofr our lives. In the Old Testament, God wanted to be in covenant with his people, Israel, in order that they might have a deeply committed relationship with each other. God promises to watch over them, take care of them. In return he wants their complete devotion. In the New Testament, we find that those same words spoken nearly two thousand years prior are still at the forefront of their spiritual and religious lives. One person decided to question Jesus about those words.

Matthew 22:36-40

New International Version (NIV)

³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^{[a] 38} This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^{[b] 40} All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Are you a perfectionist?
Do you find yourself trying to get every little thing just right? If you're a teacher, maybe your perfectionism surfaces in the classroom, trying to make sure that every child does exactly what they are supposed to do and learn exactly what they need to learn in order to succeed in this word. If our a farmer, maybe your perfectionist mindset comes out in how you take care of your field and your animals. If you work in an office, the numbers and the paperwork have to be just right so that the ebb and flow of all things office related work and rhyme so that the people can get their jobs done.

If you've read anything from the gospels it should be easy to see that Jesus is dealing with a bunch of perfectionists. They have taken things to an extreme level in their spiritual lives, however. They have added their own explanation to how exactly the law is to be lived out. They have burdened the people and themselves down with unneeded weight of keeping this covenant with God just so. They have defined in strict regulations what "work" is how many hands it takes to do work and how often it can be done. They have regulated who they can associate with and whether or not it's proper to eat with this person or that. Regulations have been put in place to make sure that everybody does exactly what they need to do and how they need to do it in order that the relationship between God and man is at the correct ebb and flow for religious life to be at an all time high.

I remember my old Nazarene days very fondly. I recall old timers talking about all the regulations that had been put on the people back int he 60's and 70's. It had come down to how exactly we should express our Christian faith. How we should live our lives in this world while telling others about Jesus. Something as simple as drinking a can of pop should not be done in the front window of one's home because somebody driving by might look over and see you standing their drinking from said can and improperly think it was a beer can and that you, in turn, were drinking alcohol.

In our Gospel account on this day, Jesus comes along and shows the people that there is one issue they have over looked in this covenant. One word that should define all that the people do. Before we delve into that word, maybe it would help us to know exactly what a covenant is.

Definition of COVENANT

1:  a usually formal, solemn, and binding agreement :  compact

2 a :  a written agreement or promise usually under seal between two or more parties especially for the performance of some action

   b :  the common-law action to recover damages for breach of such a contract

You can see where someone might get a little off track. It's legal and binding.
If something was put into contract and stated formally for all to hear and see then maybe it's so important that we need to make sure it is never broken or changed.

Where else in the scriptures do we see covenants being made?
Maybe Genesis 15 would be a good place to look.

God comes down to speak with Abraham and to make a covenant with him.
The Lord has called Abraham "the father of many nations". The Almighty has tols him that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky or the sand on the shore. But, Abraham wants to know, for sure, how this will happen. How can he know that God will truly bring this into being?

The account at Genesis 15 is the only place we see something like this.
Now, sacrifices are made all through the Old Testament. Animals are slain and then offered up on an altar to remove sins and bring forgiveness. But, this sacrifice is strange. God asks for specific animals to be brought. He wants Abraham to find a place where to hills come together. Abraham sacrifices the animals by cutting them in two and places the halves on either side of the crevice so that the blood can run together, forming a stream and a path. Maybe you can see what is coming.

In Abraham's time, if two parties wanted to make a covenant with all the binding agreements, this was how it was done. Blood has always played a significant role in the covenant making process. We see throughout the discourse of scripture. When Adam and Eve sin, an animal is sacrificed and the skin of the animal is used to cover them. The entire religious system for Israel is built on the sacrificial blood of a lamb that would cover the sins of a family for the year. Bulls, rams, lambs are given in such a way as to say to the Lord that he matters more than all we have or want or need.

This covenant with Abraham is special because of what is done. In a normal covenant made of this kind both parties need to walk through the path of blood. In making this covenant, both parties are saying, "If I don't keep my end of the bargain, if i don't do what I say I'm going to do, then you can do this to me." The blood, the animals sacrificed here, is a gruesome image to bear. It is quite a sight to take in or even imagine. The strange thing here is that after Abraham does all the work of preparing this path of blood, the scripture says he "falls into a deep sleep". God causes his to be taken out of the equation here so that the Lord can do something special.

God walks the path.

1500 years before Christ comes, more than a thousand years before it becomes clear that Christ would come and give his life in the sacrificial act as the Lamb of God, God makes a covenant with Abraham that says exactly this, "If I fail to make this promise true, this promise that your descendants will be as many as the stars in the sky, If I fail to remember you and fulfill my promises, then you can do this to me." But, it goes deeper than that. Both parties are supposed to walk the path. Both parties are supposed to take this agreement upon themselves. Abraham fell asleep, remember? God is the only one who walks the path. SO, what is God is saying? "You can do this to me if I don't keep my end of the bargain here. AND, if your family and your descendants don't keep THEIR end of the agreement, someone will need to be punished. And, you can do this to me."

God agrees to take the punishment upon himself. To cover not just his end, but our end also.

Would the people keep their end the agreement? What is their end of the agreement?
If we are reading carefully, we see that there isn't much laid upon Abraham's shoulders here.
A promise is given. What Abraham and his descendants do with the promise? Believe in it.

In believing in it, they need to live their lives according to the promise.
In the days ahead, God would rescue the people from their bondage in a place called Egypt.
Would they listen? Not all the time. Would they continue to believe in the promise? Many fo them would complain and bicker and gripe. At one point, on one day, three thousand of them would be lost to their sins in the desert. A sign that God would not continue to put up with the sin and their disobedience. But, the course of history would show itself to be true. By the time we get to the Gospel account and this person questions Jesus about the greatest commandment, Jesus knows he will be heading to the cross for that sacrificial act. The people seem to have lost their way. They seem to have missed the central point of the covenant.

SO, Jesus shows them through the giving of his life.
He allows his life to given for the sins of the world, for not keeping their end of the covenant, for not believing and staying true to the promises given.

On this Pentecost day, we remember a great message given. Peter and the disciples standing on a balcony. They share the message of what Christ had done. The crowd that masses itself around is said to be around three thousand, that day. A covenant is made here.  Someone in the crowd asks, "What then shall we do?" And, Peter clearly states, "Repent and be baptized, everyone of you".

Join into covenant with God. Show God how much you love him. Put him first in your life.
Love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength. Give God everything you have.
And, love your neighbor as much as you love yourself. If God is first in your life, then it shows.

It shows up without all the need to make everything perfect.
Love is perfect. It is the defining characteristic that God wants to see in our lives.
God loved us so much that God gave all in the form of Jesus, the one and only son, the sacrificial lamb, so we could be forgiven.

How much do you love God today?

The Road Ahead

You have to look where you are going.

Luke 24:32

New International Version (NIV)

³² They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

Life is a road.
That seems very general and broad and it's meant to be.
The course of life is everything a road would be described as in it's proverbial sense.
The way of life can be described with every thing you think of concerning the kind of road in front us. The hard pavement. The dusty road. The gravel and stones.
The kind of people we meet and the items that intersect our paths make up much of the description for us as well. The angry motorist, cutting people off. The bugs on the windshield, mucking things up. The person in need of help, thumbing it for a ride or broken down and fixing a flat.
Life has so many descriptions it's hard to know what one piece of the travel calls us to understand our relationship with God in the best light.

Maybe we think of life in more of a description of where we have been and where we are going.
The road of life starts early for us. Our first steps. Our first bike we rode. Our first meaningful words.
There's much we hang on to as we cover this course of life. Things our parents told us. Classes our teachers taught us. The lessons that the cruel reality of life shares with us whether we like it or not.

There are milestones in the road. Places where we stop and hold on to some grand memory of an event or person we cherish and hold, near and dear. Moments we might wish we could forget. Times when a moment of instruction was seared into our memories and we cannot let go of it.

Just such a moment was it for two men walking down a road.

Are they looking where they are going? How many of us think we know where we are going when we leave the house? In the proverbial sense of hindsight, we wish we knew what was coming. After we have left the house and moved on down the road, then it becomes clear what we are getting ourselves into on this journey. These two men thought this walk to Emmaus was going to be a simple time of reliving painful memories of a terrible event gone by. How many of us feel as if we have lost something great? Our high school days. College times. A church that once stood proud and tall. Loved ones that are no longer with us. With these days behind us we think that our best days are over and all we are doing now is waiting out the inevitable. Death will consume us one day as well. Life will run its course. All we have left now is pain and suffering and misery.

High school was painful for me. I'm glad it's over.
But, the bi-product of my time in my hometown was that I began to feel an incredible sense of attachment. I never pictured myself ever leaving. I knew my lineage and family history in the area pretty well. I felt as if I owned the place. People knew my grandfather. Most people knew my dad. I was too naive to realize that might not be a good thing. Very first message I gave to you all when I came to Thornville was on "Introductions". I quoted the Rev Dr Randy Stearns who taught my class on evangelism @ MTSO. His words are forever seared into my mind. "Not everybody is going to like you." If you've never had to move or uproot yourself and go somewhere new, you might feel like you are well known. Everybody knows you and it's easy to feel that maybe everybody likes you. That's painful reality for this road of life. Not everyone is going to enjoy your point of view. Not everyone will be passionate about the same things you're passionate about. Not everybody is going to like you.

I wonder what these two guys on this Emmaus road are thinking.
They decided to take this walk after this moment of "graduation" from the dark terrors of losing someone near and dear to them. Maybe they think there is no hope. Maybe they think there is no direction for their lives now. The events they have just passed leaves them empty and longing. Like a kid without a graduation party. Like a girl not taken to prom. Like a church needing to restore itself.

The truth of the road of life is this. Once you've passed a place in the road, it's impossible to go back without causing a pile up of cars behind you. Jesus uttered some implausible words that are hard for us to wrap our hearts around.

Luke 9:62

New International Version (NIV)

⁶² Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

We can't go back. High school is over. College is done. The glory days we recall cannot be relived. But, were they are best days? Is there something better waiting for us? In the road of life, what causes us to stop and turn around thinking we missed something? There is nothing we can do about what happened back there and we cannot bring any of it along with us on our journey. It's just memories now. The idea is whether we sit here longing for those moments to come find us again or whether we trudge on ahead to find new items and new people to create something special.

For us Christians, the idea that Jesus walks with us is a treasure.
These two men walking their road of grief find someone else walking also.
They don't recognize him as someone familiar. They welcome his company and honor his presence.
As they walk and talk, they share what is on their hearts and minds. They give and they receive. However long this walk is there is enough time to delve into all the mysteries they don't understand. This 'new person' in their lives shares great truth with them and their hearts and minds are the better for it. They have a choice to make after receiving the knowledge they have partaken in. They could say, "You know, that all sounds nice and well, but I miss what was back there. I'm going to sit here and hope better days come around again."

Or, they could be transformed by what they experience.
What they see and witness when they enter that house in the village of Emmaus will cause them to get up out of their seats and run back to the people they know with enthusiasm and passion. They have something great to tell. They have something meaningful to share. Would have felt any of that of they would have just sat down at home and said a simple "Ho hum"? The world is brand new and life is worth living because of what they experienced. No sadness or sorrow can overcome that truth that God reveals to us. The only way we lose our enthusiasm is when we look back down the road.

And, so, the moment comes before us. What do we do now that we have reached this climactic moment. Do we gripe and complain? Do we begin some blame game, where all everything around us is wrong because we can't take responsibility for ourselves? It's your fault, mom and dad, for not giving me what I needed. It's your fault, teacher, for not telling em what I needed to know. It's your fault, pastor, for not sticking around longer and doing what we wanted you to do.

Nope. We don't get the luxury. Don't get me wrong here. You can do it if you want. Plenty of people do. Instead of venturing down the road of life and finding out what awaits them people will sit down and start their own complain and gripe fest to somehow satisfy their own selfish wants and cares. If we really want to be happy then we get up off the side of the road, we quit thinking about what was behind us, and we start venturing ahead.

Will we scrape our knees on the pavement? Maybe.
Will we fall down and hurt something? Maybe.
Will we need help because we don't where we are going or what we are doing? Most certainly.

The alternative is to sit here and go nowhere.

And, you can't get where you're going just sitting here.

When Mama Prayed

 It's an incredible load for one person to carry.

1 John 5:14

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

 Had a guy tell me a story one time about his mother.
It seems that in his early years of trying to figure out what to do with his life he came back home and ended up working in the family business. His dad could be a little rough and gruff. Sometimes they didn't see eye to eye on how things needed to be done. One day he and his dad got into it at the place of business and the boy had enough. He headed for the house, the place that he and wife now call home, and began to pack his bags. The end had come and he could take no more.

In the midst of packing his bags, his mother came to speak to him and asked what exactly he was doing. He told his mother that he had enough and was going to leave. Without saying much in return his mother left and continued to pack. As he got ready to head out the door his father entered. "Where you going?", his father asked gruffly. The boy said he was moving out and that was that. His father changed his tone a bit and calmed his boy down. After admitting that he had probably jumped to conclusions and spoke too harshly, he asked his boy to unpack and stay. Life would return to normal in this house. All would be right in the world once again.

Maybe you noticed something in this story. I said at the beginning that this story was about the guy's mother. However, I spent most of the time speaking about the boy and his father. Where was the mother, exactly? It is with this beginning that we will truly understand the role of a mother in our lives.

There is no other person on this earth that understands us quite like this special person we call mother. Even if you did not have a great relationship with your earthly, biological mother, I'm willing to bet that there was some woman out there who took you under their wing and cared for you. She wiped your tears, patched you with band-aids, gave you a Popsicle, took you to the pool or the library, cleaned up after your messes, made sure all your clothes fit, made sure your belly was full, made sure you had on clean underwear, made sure you got to bed on time or sat up waiting for you to get home. The list here is truly endless and does not do justice to what this special lady means to our lives. Someone who is referred to as mother does all these things because of one singular attribute.

Love.

What is special about the word love? Man, it is the one thing all of us want and at times have the hardest time finding it. Then we realize that there is this person who always has our back, always will listen to us, always will carry our burdens, because she cares beyond the limits of any other human being on this earth. What is it about the title of Mother that makes a person jump to the word love?

Well, I had to take a careful look at both words and put them side by side for a bit of a comparison.
I have to say, the dictionary does not do justice to the word. The third line of definition was the only line I cared to reproduce here.

Definition of MOTHER

3:  maternal tenderness or affection

If a mother is thought of as equal with the word love then I wonder if maybe we are putting too much on this woman who feels as if the whole world is resting on her shoulders. Look at the word love with me and see all that we think goes into that attribute.

Definition of LOVE

1a (1) :  strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties <maternal love for a child> (2) :  attraction based on sexual desire :  affection and tenderness felt by lovers  

(3) :  affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests <love for his old schoolmates>

 b :  an assurance of affection <give her my love>

2:  warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion <love of the sea>

3a :  the object of attachment, devotion, or admiration <baseball was his first love>

  b (1) :  a beloved person :  darling —often used as a term of endearment (2) British —used as an informal term of address

4a :  unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another

 

Whether it's intended directly or indirectly, a woman is asked to carry this whole load. She is asked to love and care for and give affection, and I can't help but wonder if it's all too much weight to carry. How can one person envelope all of this? It's true that our mother is just a human being, like any other human being on this earth. She will falter and fail at times. She will forget or misinterpret at times. Who fault is it? Ours, for putting to much on her? Or, hers for trying to carry to heavy a load? The objective is not assign blame, but to love her the way she loves us. Unconditionally. Unselfishly. This woman goes through pains no one could imagine just to allow this life, this child, to enter the world and then feels the pains all through this life watching the child grow and make errors in judgment and never asking for directions or help. It's all heavy with "attachment, devotion and admiration". You are her first love.

Love leads into another special attribute - prayer.
What happens when a mother prays? Carol Trimmer knows the answer to that question. As the mother of an autistic child she has watched as her son has struggled with the basic emotions and feelings that any socially adjusted person should exhibit. She has seen this in .her boy at his best and at his worst. Justin likes music, swimming, plays baseball. He is bright and excels in most of his school work. But, a brain disorder has left him in a place where, at times, he can be alot to handle. Sometimes, Justin can be hard to be around. 

At the time Carol would write the article for Guidepost magazine recalling her amazing answer to prayer. Justin was 11 years old. As the school bus pulls up to their home on this day, she wonders if he has had a good day or a bad one. There is a commotion on the bus as the doors open and Justin huffs it up the sidewalk and into the house. It was very easy for other kids at school to only see his differences. Social interaction was not something that came easy for him.

Three years earlier, Justin began at the school where he attended. His mother had been praying for a friend. Just one friend. Someone who could love him and accept him unconditionally. But, finding someone who could handle Justin with his emotional outbursts was an unimaginable task. If he struck out in baseball, he threw a fit. At recess, he was either picked on or ignored. Just one friend. That was all she was asking. In Carol's own words, "The worst thing about his autism was how it isolated him. A friend wasn’t just what I wanted for Justin. It was what he needed."

 

She prayed, "Lord, please, let there be someone else who understands my boy." 

 

As a Dublin, OH resident, they were frequenters of the Columbus Zoo.
With a family membership and a lifelong love for animals, they would bring squishy toys and other items to attract their attention as Justin walked around amazed by his surroundings. After an entrance into the house on this hapless day, a trip to the zoo was just what they needed to calm her son down. Still mad about his day, Justin did not immediately change his tune once he realized they were going to the zoo. He hollered and yelled as they entered the gate that afternoon. With his keen mind for remembering facts, Justin would act like a tour guide at times, reciting all the things he knew about the animals and their surroundings. On this day, however, Justin could not be consoled. Carol would take him to one of his favorite spots. The silverback gorilla's house. With many other kids around and lots of camera flashes going off, Justin would approach the glass and see a silverback known as Mumbah. The patriarch died in May of 2012 at the age of 47. Before he left this earth he would connect with a little boy in a special way only God could have orchestrated.

Mumbah was laying on his side, facing away from the glass. Justin stood there watching him. With all the rejection he had faced at school and with all the people around this day, Carol wondered if they should just go home. Then, Justin suddenly spoke to the gorilla. “This boy at school hit me, Mumbah,” he said. “He kicked me. I wish you had been there to protect me.” What happened next, no one could have predicted. Mumbah got up, came over to the glass, and locked eyes with Justin. Could he have heard the boy through the thick glass? Was there some way he understood what Justin was going through?

In an instant, Justin's shoulders relaxed. His stress left him and the world was calm again. Mumbah ignored the camera flashes and the other kids annoyingly tapping on the glass to get his attention. The only thing that mattered at that moment was Justin. A gorilla in an enclosed habitat and a boy enclosed in his autistic world connected in a moment of special fulfillment. From that point on, every time they would visit the zoo, Mumbah would come over, sit down by glass and focus on Justin. Carol would take a picture, take it home, pasting it on construction paper, having it laminated. Justin's therapists would say how this animal had become a point of serenity and peace for the boy. His mother knew better. Her prayers had been answered.

There is nobody in this world who could quietly stand behind the scenes and lift us up, in her love and prayers, quite like our mothers can. Whether you grow up, close to your family surroundings, close to the town and world you attached too, or whether you are detached from your world because of issues outside your control. There is one person who keeps us grounded and stable.

She loves us. She prays for us. She does it all. For us.

If Jesus takes the whole world upon his shoulders, at the cross, to save us from our sins, then there is only one person who has a chance at all to come close to understanding what carrying that load is like. We call her Mother. Mama. Grandma, GiGi. Grams. Mommaw. Aunt. Wife. Mother.

It is an incredible load for one person to carry. God must have known she could handle it.
Blessings to the special lady who does it all.

The Talk

Say what's on your mind.

This message should connect with the early risers.
For those of you who can't bear the sight of morning, like me, maybe a little more painful.

Prayer is a central focus as we begin our day and for all the day long.
In this year of discipleship we need to spend some time thinking about how we talk with God.
Whether you get up early and head to your favorite chair in the living room or if you save everything until it's time to lay down and sleep, there needs to be time to talk with God.

Jesus, we are told, started very early.

Mark 1:35

New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Prays in a Solitary Place

³⁵ Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Ok, Jesus doesn't head to a living room.
Remember, the son of man has no where to lay his head. He doesn't have an easy chair or a man cave.
He heads out to a solitary place the scriptures say. All by himself. Outdoors.
Hmm. Not ready to have the covers pulled off of me yet. Think I'll just pray right here between the warm sheets. But, lets not overlook the true emphasis here in this passage. If we could play a game of elimination and toss stuff to the side, what is it that really matter from this passage? Are we to model our prayer life exactly as Jesus did? Am I to get up in the morning and put some close on and head out behind Bob Love's house to a solitary place?

Some pray in the morning, some at night. Lets toss the time of day out.
Jesus got up. Some pray up, some while laying down. Lets toss position out.
Jesus left the house Mark's account says. Some pray in the house, some go to McDonald's.
Lets toss out the idea that prayer has to be done in a specific location.

It says here that Jesus went off to a solitary place. Hmm. That seems to be key.
Is your bedroom a solitary place in the morning or evening. If so, good for you. Pray there.
Whether you are upright or laying down, are in solitude? Are you by yourself?
Can you be by yourself, in solitary, at home or even at some restaurant?
The idea of being alone, by yourself, no distractions, no kids yelling or screaming, that is key.
No husband or wife demanding your time or attention. No telephone ringing in your ear.
The demands of life need to sit on the curb side for a moment as we seek to talk with the one who matter the most. He needs and deserves our attention.

But, what do you say once you're there?

Getting to a right place is important. Being alone with God is essential.
Now, what kind of conversation will we have? What will we talk about?
How will I speak to Him? How will he respond?
Should I say anything at all? Should I just sit and listen and wait for him to speak?

For the most part, many of us humans think our needs are minute, insignificant in the big picture of society and the world. God has more important issues to deal with than mine. And, then this scripture from Luke's gospel jumped off the page at me as I thought about the subject of prayer.

Luke 18:1

New International Version (NIV)

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

18 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

Jesus tells the story about a judge who neither cared for what God thought or what man thought either. Describes life pretty well here on planet earth. That dude on the other end of the line from the credit company really doesn't care about you. He just want to collect the funds. Some times, it seems like the doctor could care less. Write you a script. Send you on your way.

Life can be cruel.

This little old lady comes along and finally takes life by the horns and gets life's attention.
All because of one attribute. Persistence.
That's a word worth taking a deeper look at.

Definition of PERSISTENT

1:  existing for a long or longer than usual time or continuously: as

a :  retained beyond the usual period <a persistent leaf>

b :  continuing without change in function or structure <persistent gills>

c :  effective in the open for an appreciable time usually through slow volatilizing <mustard gas is persistent>

d :  degraded only slowly by the environment <persistent pesticides>

e :  remaining infective for a relatively long time in a vector after an initial period of incubation <persistent viruses>

2 a :  continuing or inclined to persist in a course(see persist)

b :  continuing to exist despite interference or treatment <a persistent cough> <has been in a persistent vegetative state for two years>

While reading the above definitions feel free to 'amen' when the description applies to you.
There are definitely some persistent people out there.
I know it personally. My wife will stand over me telling me to get up in the morning.
Usually, she gets the dog and the kids involved. Pulling covers off of me. Licking my face and scratching me. Persistence sums up my happy household in the morning.

Jesus says this mindset should be ours when approaching God.
Sometimes, talking to God might seem like we are dealing with cold and uncaring party, like the judge. We are to be like the old woman. Persistent until we can't stand it.

What we find is that God is listening.
God is not cold and uncaring like we thought. He is there and ready to answer.
The answer may not come right away.
Hang on to what we are asking for and keeping knocking at the door.

Say what's on your mind and keep it coming.
The answer is only a persistent knock away.

Resistance

 The challenge is to keep believing.

Last week we covered the subject of believing.
I asked many of you a very simple question. Several of you came forward and shook my hand.
I simply asked, "Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God?"
Those of you who came forward responded simply with a "Yes" or "I do".

So, you believe. In believing, we find new life in Jesus Christ.
But, are you ready for the next step? What is the next step?

Resistance.

Some of you found new life right at the beginning of this series on discipleship, back in January.

If you have been following Christ, you know that it's not always easy. There are distractions, within and without. We could talk about resistance from both sides of the fence. There are times when human beings resist God and demand their own way. That's another sermon for another day. The kind of resistance we will cover today comes from outside ourselves.

If we give into the temptations from the outside, then we begin to see resistance within ourselves. So, one step at a time. We will cover the outside problems first. In doing so, we need to see a very important verse to help us set a firm foundation in our hearts so the enemy doesn't come in and start making problems on the inside. The Psalmist would write...

Psalm 119:11

New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ I have hidden your word in my heart
    that I might not sin against you.

The word. The scriptures. These pages that talk about God and who He is are truly life for us.
These pages are authority because we give them authority. The church decreed ages ago through councils and meetings that these specific books are the ones that make up our sacred scriptures. The Bible. But, at the heart of it, behind all the men and meetings, is God. The author and authority is the one who gave inspiration to these words and this recorded history.

We will look at some very familiar scripture here. It is Jesus' temptation in the wilderness.
Last week was a new beginning for some. A clean slate. A new life. You say you believe. Jesus also knows what that moment is like, as he went through everything we have gone through. Baptism is one of those moments where new life begins. A starting point. We find joy and God shows us that we are his children. And, just as soon as the specialness of the moment has subsided, here comes our enemy to make things hard for us.

Jesus knows this all to well. He is baptized at the Jordan by John the Baptist in Matthew 3. We turn the page to Matthew 4 and Jesus is suddenly out in the wilderness. Have you been in a place where you feel all alone? Have you been in a spot where you feel like you have to answer the questions all by yourself, no one around to ask or help? Jesus knows what it's like as well. The wilderness is not a place we intentionally go to. It looks like Jesus may have done so. But, everything he did was for our benefit. We see what he endures so that we can learn to be strong and grow in our faith. Our own wilderness experiences stem from moments when we might feel we need to be alone. Or, we find moments when we really could use some company, but there is no one to respond to our phone call or text message. We find ourselves in a barren place. All we have in this spot in life is what we recall from the scriptures and whatever newness of life we can sap out of that baptismal experience.

It's been 40 days. The flood supposedly took that long, with all the raining and down pouring. Judgement is never an easy thing to endure. Neither is temptation. But, for Jesus, the 'fun' has not truly begun yet. It is when he is most hungry, at the point of true starvation, that the temptation comes. Our enemy is just about to enter and ask "Are we having fun yet?" in the form of a statement about bread.

 ³ The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

Bread. Part of our everyday lives and such a simple need. It's no big request. It doesn't seem like much resistance to our cause and direction. But, focusing on God is the mainstay here. For Jesus, he will not satisfy even the most basic of human needs until the time of wilderness is over.

Matthew 4:4

New International Version (NIV)

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’^[a]”

More than bread, more than basic human sustenance, the desire to follow God comes first.
Are we willing to follow the Lord and give up even the simplest things in life?
Resistance is cut down when the enemy knows that this area of life is of no use in his wiley schemes.

If the need to feed ourselves is not an ample way for our enemy to seek us out, then why not try to approach us on the grounds of saving grace? Satan takes Jesus to the top of the temple mount. The entire religious establishment can be seen from here. Figuring out why we are here on this earth can be a troublesome issue for the human being. Our enemy knows why we are here, and it troubles him. We seek purpose and a need to belong. We seek it out in the most desperate of places, sometimes. We put ourselves in harm's way, at times, in an unnecessary pursuit of fulfillment. Our enemy knows why Jesus is here. He knows the whole game plan, Or, at least he thinks he does.

The road ahead of Jesus will not be easy to endure. People will not listen. People will try to kill him. There is a temptation to see if God is truly there. We need to know that God is listening and will meet our needs. Why not just put ourselves out there and see if God is watching?

⁶ “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:“
‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    and they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’^[c]”

We are God's children. Won't God always help us, forgive us, clean up our messes for us? Should we go through life just doing whatever we want to do, saying whatever we want to say, acting however we want to act? God's loves us, right?

Matthew 4:7

New International Version (NIV)

⁷ Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’^[a]”

God's love is not to be tested. Have we forgotten the lessons laid before us in the Old Testament? When Israel did not listen, when they went astray and walk their own path, there were consequences to be dealt with. Testing God's love and patience is not a path we want to take. Think of your own children and how much you can take from their mouth and actions. Do you let your own children just do whatever they want, however they want to do it? Any good parent should be shaking their heads "NO". God is our parent. Somehow, we get things turned around when it comes to God. We think he should just cover us no matter what. He's God, isn't he?!?! God's love is unconditional. Yes, his love is. The Christian life comes with conditions to be met. And, one lesson we should learn, preferably very early, is not to put God to the test.

I've never really understood the last temptation.
Does our enemy seriously think he can tempt the Son of God, who is God, in the flesh, to actually worship him? It took some deeper study to understand what is going on here. History has come full circle. All three passages that Jesus quotes are from Deuteronomy. They are from moments when our enemy dealt with the nation of Israel in the past.

What did they do with the bread in the wilderness? They griped and complained. They wanted meat. They wanted things back that they had before, in Egypt, even if the life hey had before was hard. What they formerly had, in their minds, seems better than wandering in he desert. What they needed to do was follow the Lord and let him take them through this dry patch of life to a lusher, fuller way in the Promised land. Jesus makes it clear that the words and direction from God means more than bread itself.

The Israelite people griped and complained some more about God taking care of them. They seemed to think that if God was actually taking care of them then life shouldn't be so hard and rough. Listen to what the Lord was saying to his people.

Deuteronomy 6

New International Version (NIV)

Love the Lord Your God

6 These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, ² so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. ³ Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.

Seeing inside the mind of our enemy is a luxury we cannot obtain. Does this last temptation happen purely for history's sake or does he really think Jesus might bow? Is he purely pleading to Jesus' human nature in hopes that the Heavenly Creator might bow down and worship the creation? Why not? Human beings worship the creation all the time. The things we invent. The items that think we need so much in life. Does Satan really think he will win this battle? Maybe he is just that diluted.

⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹ “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

Our enemy knows not just why Jesus is here. He also knows what the battle is truly for. ALL OF THIS. Everything you can see. Who does it all belong to?  Our time. Our talents. Our energy. Our strength. Our families. Our jobs. Our money. Our church. Our cities and towns. Satan is willing to give it all up for just the simple bend of the knee.

The problem is...we don't actually gain anything and our enemy doesn't actually give anything up. All possessions stay with their rightful owners. Paul refers to Satan as the "god of this world". This system of sin we witness in the realm, this way of life, is controlled by this "god". Giving into temptation won't cause our enemy to give up any kind of strangle hold on this realm. It actually strengthens it. And, the process of resistance continues down a spiral path.

Jesus knows the history of his people. Jesus has seen enough. The people of Israel could not follow on these three points. Jesus has resolutely determined that he will. This battle royale has come to a conclusion.

Matthew 4:10

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’^[a]”

 Merriam-Webster would define resisitance as follows...

re·sis·tance

noun \ri-ˈzis-tən(t)s\

: refusal to accept something new or different
: effort made to stop or to fight against someone or something

: the ability to prevent something from having an effect

Well, bread certainly wasn't new or different. It was the path to obtain it that changed the game.
Going to the top of the temple proved to be a fight. The devil didn't win that one either.
The effect our enemy sought to have on this world, on us, on God himself, was put to an end when Jesus gave it all up for his creation. With arms wide open, the greatest worship mankind has ever witnessed  was performed on a hill called Calvary. A reading of Luke suggests that Satan would leave "until a more opportune time".

Too bad for Satan. That opportune moment turned out to be our victory.
And, I really don't feel too bad about it.

Life In His Name

Easter Sunday 2014

Do you believe?

John 20:30-31

New International Version (NIV)

The Purpose of John’s Gospel

³⁰ Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. ³¹ But these are written that you may believe^[a] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

 

Believing. Have we looked that word up before?

Definition of BELIEVE

intransitive verb

1 a :  to have a firm religious faith

   b :  to accept something as true, genuine, or real <ideals we believe in> <believes in ghosts>

2:  to have a firm conviction as to the goodness, efficacy, or ability of something <believe in exercise>

3:  to hold an opinion :  think <I believe so> 

 

transitive verb

1 a :  to consider to be true or honest <believe the reports> <you wouldn't believe how long it took>

   b :  to accept the word or evidence of <I believe you> <couldn't believe my ears>

2:  to hold as an opinion :  suppose <I believe it will rain soon>

— be·liev·er noun

— not believe

:  to be astounded at <I couldn't believe my luck>

 

At sunrise service I figured nobody would be up for an english lesson.
It's early. We're all just glad we made it church safely and without falling asleep.
You've had breakfast by now. Your brain is chugging along. Hopefully you're in learning mode.

What does it mean to believe?
I remember Easter Sunday as a teen. I had gone through church membership class. Several weeks that started back in winter time and brought us up to this moment at Easter. There was baptism. Each one of us got into a white robe. Walking down into a big baptismal tank, behind the pulpit and platform, each one of us came to the pastor who recited our proper name and sent us backwards into the water. 

"In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"

 
Later in the service we would all stand down front on the steps going up to the platform. The pastor would come and, one by one, he would ask us, "Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God?" I honestly remember not being sure about my answer. It's amazing how much information goes through your head in a split second. It's amazing how much we retain after so long. I remember looking up into the balcony. We had majestic stain glass windows in that old Disciples of Christ church. They all told a story.

Jesus kneeling in the garden, in the window on the west wall.
Jesus knocking at the door, in the balcony wall to the south.
The empty tomb with an angel and two women, in the balcony wall to the east.

The empty tomb scene was where I was looking, as the sun came streaming through that morning. 

The Rev C. Reid Miller came to me, shook my hand, and asked me the all important question.
I hesitated for a split second, as I looked up into that window and caught the scene.

"Yes", I replied. It was that simple.

A bible was given to each of us. I had a similar one from when I was around kindergarten age. Both of them gone to the wind now. The bindings haven fallen apart years ago. The scripture that was all important to me from both of those old books, an RSV and an NRSV, were as follows.

John 3:16

Revised Standard Version (RSV)

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 

John 3:16

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

John had to have been awake that night when Nicodemus drew near to speak with the Teacher.
Nicodemus comes at night when it would be less conspicuous. Less chance of anyone seeing or making a fuss. Jesus shares words that would go down in the annals of history. But, how is one to believe such astounding things as mentioned here in the scriptures? The blind given sight. The lame walking. Healing given to a woman who is bleeding inside. Water turned into wine. 

And, then there are the teachings.
"Do unto others as you would have then do unto you."
"If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also..."
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."
"If you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly father will forgive you."

Jesus didn't just say to do these things. He actually did them.
How much easier is it to believe when you see the teaching lived out in front of you?
Hanging on a cross put there, by the very people he is trying to save, he does not plead for his own release, but for forgiveness for those who need it the most.

And, he saved the best for last.

He dies, goes into the grave, a tomb. Wrapped up in cloths, with spices to preserve the body, Jesus is there for three days, the scriptures say. And, then suddenly he is not. John's account should be most trustworthy. He sees it with his own eyes. He touches it with his own hands. He beholds the glory of the one and only. He was there at the tomb. He saw the cloths and the stone rolled away.

All of the disciples ran away. None of them stuck by what they said they believed.
How many of us are guilty of doing just the same? It's hard to hang on to something we cannot see or put our hands on and say, "Hear it is!" Now, they are greeted by a risen Jesus, the one they forsook and given words of of comfort.

"Peace be with you."

He shows them his hands and side. He eats in their presence.
He comes to them when they feel they have no where to turn. 
In their darkest hour, the light turns on, filling the empty place in their hearts.

How many of us come like Nicodemus?
We come when it is dark. We try to inconspicuous. We don't want to draw a lot of attention to ourselves. And, yet, here you are, on this Easter Sunday. In this church, a place very familiar to your personal history and family make-up. Do you believe? Do you really? I'm not just asking if you believe that God exists. The letter of James, further back in the New Testament would state that "even the devil believes". We aren't doing much for ourselves if we simply believe in the existence of God. 

Do you believe? 
Do you do unto others, thinking of their needs first, putting other people first, because that's how you want to be treated? Or, do we read that verse only thinking about ourselves and making sure everyone is giving us what we want, the way we want it.

Has someone wronged you? Even slapped you in the face, actually or figuratively, and have you turned the other cheek? Are you a peacemaker or a war-bringer? Can you be referred to as a child of God, because people know that there is a peace within you?

Do you believe?
Faced with the most unfathomable story in all of mankind, 9 blue collar men, a tax collector and a soldier are a faced with the seemingly impossible task of having explain why it is they are hanging on to this idea that a dead-man could walk again after having gone through the most excruciating death recorded in history. And, you and I are faced with the same dilemma.

What do you say today when I approach you with the question, "Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God?"

We had this tradition in the Disciples of Christ church that if someone wanted to re-affirm their faith, restate it again, answer the question one more time, then you came down front at the end of the service and the pastor would ask you the question. It was an informal gesture that one could use to join the local church, this local body of believers. But, I always felt it had a deeper meaning. Some churches have a tradition of approaching the altar to pray and grovel before God. If that's your thing, go for it. Approach the altar and talk to God. I'm going to offer you a handshake and a question today. If you feel you need to state your answer again, solidify your feelings on the matter again, then come.

Believing is life.
God loves you so much that he sent his one and only Son.
He'd love to hear if you believe it or not.

Returning Light

Easter Sunrise 2014

The surprise is inside.

For many of us, this is way too early.

If you are a night owl like me, this sunrise stuff is for the birds.
The birds seems to be the only ones who truly enjoy this moment of the day.
My dog gets up way too early, also.
If the windows in the dining room are up a crack and he can hear the birds chirping, then my day starts way too early. "Brutus, hush it! It's just birds. Hush!"

Are the women heading to the tomb on that morning actually "morning people", or are they just weary with grief? There is nothing else to do. They didn't sleep well. Maybe they didn't sleep at all. It seems like they were just at the tomb, watching the stone being rolled into place and sealed with the dead inside. Scripture says they have arrived at the tomb early in the morning. Mark says just after sunrise. John says it was still dark outside. Either way, it's early. Mark's gospel says they are discussing amongst themselves about how they are going to or who is going to roll the stone away. They don't have much light. How will they see well enough to know what they are doing? Who is strong enough to move the gigantic stone? There is nothing to do at home. If they can't move the stone, see the dead, know he is there, then maybe just being at the tomb will be consolation enough. 

John's gospel says it is Mary, all by herself, coming early in the morning, before there is light. 

Well, she certainly couldn't have moved any large stone all by herself. So, why is she coming? The one thing that has brought her any joy and peace in this world has been stolen away. He has been laid in a tomb, dead now. When a light goes out in the world, a void is left to be filled. The only way Mary knows how to deal with it is come to the place where she has last seen him. The grave.

But, as she arrives, the grave is not as it should be.
The stone covering the entrance has been rolled away.
Who could have done this? Did some soldiers come and do this? Did they take the body somewhere else? As if actually seeing him die wasn't enough. Now, someone has taken his body away to who knows where.

That's all is takes to send Mary back home, running. 

What kind of thoughts would be going through your mind if the grave of a loved one had been violated, the body missing? Maybe there are no words or thoughts for that moment. Some atrocities leave us speechless. Mary's only thought is to go and get someone. She finds someone else near and dear to her Savior's heart.

We don't know what the disciples were doing that morning. Why didn't any of them rise early and make a pilgrimage to the tomb? Maybe the grief is too much. The memories too real. Some people have no problem paying their respects. Some were too close to the situation to bear the idea of coming any closer. For whatever reason, they are not present, and Mary has to find them.

The gospel account lays out for us several flash pan moments. The women go to the tomb. Mary runs back, makes an announcement. The disciples run to the tomb. I want to put it in respects of the morning routine. If you're an early riser, you've probably had your coffee. You're sitting at the table when the news comes and in an instant you drop everything to go and see what has happened. That fits the gospel narrative. The disciples had dropped everything once before in order to follow. If you're a night owl, the news comes and you shrug it away like the dog barking at the birds in the morning. "You're kidding right? We watched him be wrapped in cloths and put in a tomb. Go away. I'm not lifting my head off this pillow just because you're yapping about some crazy notion like my dog yaps at birds in the morning. Go back to bed!"

As a kid I couldn't wait to get up for the Easter Egg Hunt.
Next to Christmas there is no moment of sensation greater than getting a basket full of eggs which in turn are full of candy. In my adult years the glory of the moment has faded. There was one moment when I was 28. My first Easter with my girlfriend's family. My future mother-in-law goes and get me a tackle box. Upon opening the box I find that she has filled every compartment with candy of all sorts, kinds and colors. And, I do mean every single compartment, tray, nook and cranny had some sort of candy in it. It was a grand gesture from a woman who specialized in doing the amazing. For some reason I wasn't impressed. I was 28 and I had outgrown the candy craze of Easter. (Amazing what 14 years does to a person. Now, I can't stay out of my kids candy baskets.) I was in a drab and dreary place in my life. I had found the great girl, but I had recently moved in Southern Ohio. I was in unfamiliar surroundings. I didn't know anybody. I really didn't know these people very well. I was having trouble finding a job. I had no money. At that moment in my life I was in between denominations and I did not have a real place I could call home. The idea of a candy filled fishing tackle box did not immediately brighten my day.

Sometimes, the miracle of resurrection takes a while to burn through the darkness surrounding our lives. Upon entering the tomb, there is not immediate jubilation. There is amazement. That can be clearly seen. Some of the accounts say that angels are seen, outside or inside the tomb. John's account is firsthand. He saw it with his own eyes. Touched it with his own hands. He says nothing about angels. Just the emptiness and the wonder. An empty tomb where they laid their Messiah to rest. Cloths strewn across the slab. Jaws dropped in wonderment. Could it really be?

The disciples go home. Their heads are full and the hearts are wondering.
Mary, however, has not seen enough. She needs answers. She needs closure on the moment.
Her heart hurts and her head is aching. "What have they done with him?"

Some one who she assumes is a gardener appears.
"Tell me", she cries, "where have they taken him and I will get him."

Have you picked up the phone at home and not even needed the person on the other end to introduce themselves. In this day of caller ID, the surprise and joy is snuffed out a bit. The voice on the other end can still bring us happiness. I bit of joy in the midst of a day of sadness and gloom. I imagine that's what it might have been like for Mary. If your eyes have ever been full of tears, then seeing is not important. Dealing with the grief and pain is. For Mary, the only thing that does it, that cures the aching heart is the still small voice.

"Mary"

At that moment, the light returned.
How many of us just need a sign, a message, nothing big or monumental. Just a voice.
That would be enough. A bit of direction. A moment to know that it will be OK.

Again, she goes and tracks down the disciples.
Again, she has amazing news.
Everything is going to be alright. Jesus is alive.

It wasn't as bad as we first imagined. The outcome looked bleak. The road ahead was thought to be unbearable. The road ahead of me at 28, I thought I couldn't go on. But, I did. The next 14 years was a husk of corn that needed to be shelled one pull at time till all the silk was cleaned off and the road ahead was much clearer to see. Your springtime lies ahead of you. Seeds need to be planted. Ground needs to be tilled. What will it bring? What will you face? What will happen? Good? Bad?

You don't know till you open the egg and see what's inside.
Whatever it brings, listen. And, the joy comes in the morning.

Psalm 30:5

⁵ For his anger lasts only a moment,
    but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
    but joy comes in the morning.