Who Knows What Will Happen

 

It's Easter Sunday and we know what happened. 

We've heard all about the Resurrection. How Jesus rose from the dead. How people came to the tomb and found nothing there but linens and wraps. But, what if you didn't know what was going to happen? Us in the 21st Century have a tendency to become complacent in our faith because we think we understand it all. We think we know what we need and that's all we need to know. We read text off a page. We see what we are told to see. We believe what we have been told to believe. It all becomes so mechanical. This tendency to simply do what we have always done. It becomes ritual. It becomes tradition. It's how we create legacy. It's how history is carried on. Doing the same thing over and over again. 

There's nothing wrong with that. We need repetition. It is how we learn. By doing a thing over and over we create a pattern. Muscle memory. Even habitual memory. The drive this morning is that we create a new appreciation for what happened today by putting ourselves in the shoes of those who had no idea what was going to happen. Oh, they had been told again and again. But, as we should know all to well about our human condition; we don't always get it right the first time. (Or, the twentieth time for that matter.) Sometimes it takes more than a ritual telling of the story for it to sink in. 

Might seem like a silly illustration to use on such a momentous occasion as Easter. But, entertain me for a moment. I am taken back to an interesting film from 1997 called "Men In Black". James Darrell Edwards III is an NYPD cop who has the haphazard chance of chasing an actual alien from another planet, on foot, through the streets of New York City. This encounter brings him into a world of people who have been protecting the planet for some time against threats and beings from other planets. In an offer to join the Men in Black group and become an agent, he is confronted with a mountain of knowledge and information that challenges what he thought he has always known. Agent K, a long time veteran in the organization, has one final talk with James before he makes up his mind about whether he actually wants to step in this world he has discovered. The next day his life is changed. Forever. 

What I want to do this morning is take things from the standpoint of a person who has no idea what is going to happen. A person who thinks he has all the answers and is convinced that things are going to happen a certain way. Even for the Christian who believes in Jesus and has heard the Resurrection story a million times, there are situations in life where the reality that God has everything under his hand and his control needs to become true. The scripture from the Gospel of John says that "the disciple whom Jesus loved" made it to the tomb first. It says that Peter went in first and then John came in after that. The report says that John "saw and believed". The scripture also goes on to share that they still did not understand that Jesus had to rise from the dead. We can believe in Jesus and still not know what we are supposed to know. We can believe that Jesus is Lord and Messiah and not know that fully in our own hearts. There are issues and matters that lie within our blind spots in life. Issues that we are not aware of and matters that we either are not ready to confront or willing to deal with at the moment. 

Driving a car is one of those situation in life that one of the parents in the house is going to have to come to terms with if the child who is of age is going to learn how to do it. More often that not, good ol' dad is the person who gets to be the one that handles the learning and teaching part. Mom, stereo-typically, gets the be the joy-riding person that the child gets to have fun with once they have learned some of the essentials and has a bit of confidence behind the wheel. According to the National Safety Council, one of the hardest concepts for a new driver to embrace is that of the blind spot. Just knowing that we should look back over our shoulder and then applying the concept and actually doing it is something that is difficult for a person to accept. The difficulty might come from the fact that we deal with what we can see. The old adage is "out of sight, out of mind". Everything in our blind spot is out of our sight. Who knows what will happen back there. Most of the time we don't see it so we don't even know what is going on. 

The Christian singer/songwriter Larry Norman knew how to deal with just such an issue. Many times people get distracted by everything going on around them. It's not that they have a blind spot to deal with, it is that they are distracted by everything going on around them. What they need is to come back to the central focus of what Jesus has done. Larry was avid about singing in bars. He would witness to people right there in their own comfortable surroundings. A beer in hand or a drink of some kind did not stop him from sharing what needed to be said. However, in the midst of a conversation about Jesus, when the truth about the Savior was bringing their head to turn to that place and see what they needed to see, the person he was witnessing to might ask something along the lines of, "Yea, well what about UFOs?" It's a question that really doesn't have anything to do with what was being discussed. It's a distraction question, meant to do exactly that, and keep a person from having to focus on that glaring item sitting in the blind spot. Well, Larry went and penned a song that addressed that very problem and brought the focus back to a center on Jesus himself.. 

Larry Norman - "U.F.O." (1972)

So many of us think we know what is going to happen next. Yet, there are so many situations where we still don't understand. Just like the people Jesus speaks with after his resurrection, we find ourselves in mourning and grieving. We think this is the end and this how the story goes. Then we come across information that can transform our outlook. Do we take it seriously? Do want the answer? How many times do we have to hear it before we actually look into that blind spot and acknowledge the truth? Scripture suggests that Jesus appeared more than 10 times to his disciples in his resurrected body. Imagine being Thomas. He wasn't there when Jesus first appeared to ten of the disciples. How many of us have looked up at heaven, demanding a sign, and wanting an answer? I'm pushing the envelope beyond the simple matter of just believing in the Resurrection this morning, and I hope you see that. I hope you know that. Because many of us say we believe in the Resurrection, but we don't live like it. How many of us love to tell others what they should do and how they should do it, but can't follow our own advice? How many of us want to be strong, act like we are strong, but when it comes down to it we truly, really don't have the wherewithal to hold our head up when things get hard?

Peter. John. Mary. They have no idea what's going to happen. Some followers come to the tomb early. They report back that the place where his body was laid is wide open. The two guys who were closest to this Jesus are the ones who take off running. They get to the tomb, find it just as was told them. They see. They believe. But, they don't understand. For now, that's ok. But we know there's more. If you believe at all this morning, then believe this. You don't understand it all. You don't know it all. You don't have an answer for everything.What you have is an empty tomb, a risen Savior. 

And, that's enough. Understanding comes to those who are patient and wait. 

Just like Jesus taught. Seek. Ask. Find. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow.

Follow The Broken Heart

 

We call it Palm Sunday. The Triumphal Entry. 

Jesus comes to Jerusalem and the people want him to be King. The street is lined with palms as the people see Jesus riding in a colt, a young donkey. They want him to be king. They want him to be the "fixer". The person who makes all their problems go away. The person who rescues them in their hour of distress. But, what does Jesus want? What is it that God wants the people to see and understand? 

We have been covering the subject and doctrine of salvation through this Lenten season. We are almost at the end of that stretch as we come into Palm Sunday focusing on the tears that the Savior shed over a city who missed the point. Last week we were in Bethany seeing Jesus weep with a sister who had lost her brother. Now we see him crying as he looks over this great city of Jerusalem. When you spend all of your time walking through an area or country and become attached to the people it is natural to feel some remorse and discomfort when you know your time in that place is drawing to an end. Jesus knows. He knows that the end is coming and so is the cross. We will see later in the week the great drops of sweat and blood and tears he gives as he cries over the moment that will transpire. Jesus will give his life for our salvation. It is the only sacrifice that will suffice. It is the only proper means of covering our sins and putting things right with the Almighty. 

Jesus is the the bridge. If we thought of God and man being separated by a wide valley or gulf with no way to cross the expanse to the other side, Jesus would be the means to get there. If we are in touch with the moment here in Luke 19, I can't help but be impressed with the notion that Jesus must be feeling the weight of being that bridge. I see his tears as not having the bear the weight of the bridge, but knowing how few have actually take the trek across the expanse. "If you, even you, had known on this day what would bring you peace..." Jesus is bearing the weight of using all his energy and time to speak to a people that refuse to listen. Even the ones in his care as disciples don't fully understand what is about to transpire. It won't be until some time after the event of the next weekend that their eyes will be opened to what has happened. Only then will they see and hear and remember what Jesus has done for them. The washing of feet. The shedding of blood. All the lessons and teaching and scripture shared will come back tot hem in a flood. But, only after. 

Too often we find ourselves in a place of bearing the afterthought. "Hide-sight is 20/20" is the old adage. For many of us, we either can't see what is in our blind spot to acknowledge it and do something about it -or- we simply refuse to do anything about it. Then the moment comes upon us in a sweeping rush of regret and angst. We want to apologize, but it's too late. We want to make changes, but things have already changed and maybe not in a way that is good for anyone. Jesus knows that all of this could be avoided as he stands on the hill looking over Jerusalem. The religious hierarchy will explode with arrogance and pride. The Romans will eventually come and knock down the Temple. Many of the Israelites will be killed or drug away in slavery and servitude. The country will never be the same. The thought of being an independent state standing on its own two feet, governing itself, will be a pipe dream. "As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it"

There are so many shoes to put ourselves into as we reach through this stretch of scripture. For starters, we want to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. We want to be like him. We want to share in the saving of our world. We want to share the load of giving peace and forgiveness to a world that need to hear the message and understand what it means to know God. Too often, we find ourselves sharing the burden of the prophet Isaiah. 

All too often we find ourselves slipping into the shoes of the people. The ones who didn't listen in the first place. The ones who should have known better. The ones who find their land "utterly forsaken". The ones who should have apologized before all of the bad stuff transpired. The ones who should done what was right from the start instead waiting to give some lame apology after the moment has passed. God can see what is going on in our hearts. He knows all. He sees all. There is no escaping that. And, we wait too long, there might not be any way to correct the wrongs we have committed. 

To have eyes like Jesus.
To have a heart like Jesus.
To see what he sees. To know what he knows. 

To be like him. That is our Goal.
To bring salvation to a lost and hurting world.
 

Whether they will listen or not.

The Arc Of Salvation

 

As we draw closer to Easter and the end of Lent, we continue on with our look at Salvation as one of the central doctrines in our United Methodist system of beliefs. We have tied in with the subject many other issues such as Grace and Faith and Sacrifice. This morning, we look right at the doctrine itself and see it from the perspective of Wesley as we take a look into John 11; this familiar passage when Lazarus is raised from the dead and Jesus has some interaction with two sisters who approach him with different attitudes and words. 

Wesleyans and Methodists are not the only ones who seek to make some sense of our salvation through means of an "arc" nature. If you do a Google search with jut the words "salvation - sanctification - glorification" you will comes up with many diagrams and pictures as we will find Baptists and Lutherans and even Presbyterians seeking to explain what God has done for us in the incredible offering of Jesus on the Cross. (The pictures here might seem small but you should be able to click on them to enlarge.)

This "arc" I am referring to usually includes at least three major points on the road.
Our Justification - I usually like to use a reference here to one of my favorite TV shows. Timothy Olyphant plays Kentucky State marshall Raylan Givens who leads with his attitude and gun. After shooting a drug dealer in Florida which winds up sending him back to home state of Kentucky as punishment, he says that the shooting was "justified". The drug dealer pulled first. Givens shot him. In the matter of our salvation, are we justified at all on our own merits to approach God? No we are not. Christ makes it possible. In this case, God pulled first. He sends his one and only son into our world to save us. We need to believe and trust and it is on that basis we find any communion with God at all. 

Our Sanctification - You will hear in some Wesleyan circle of belief an explanation of "two means of grace" or two things that happen to us. We are "saved and sanctified" as some older folks might recal hearing from a testimony or two on a Sunday morning. I can still recall some senior Nazarene ladies who would wave the white hankey while crying and sharing about what God had done for them. There is a moment when we find forgiveness and there is a moment where we find separation from sin. It is a moment that deserves deeper explanation and I hope to give it between here and Pentecost. 

Our Glorification - It is finally over. We fins ourselves in the arms of Jesus. We stand before God and hear words like, "Well done, good and faithful servant." We want to be there and see God with a good standing . Our names written in the Lamb's book of Life. There is no more crying or hurting or pain. It is the culmination of our Salvation. 

The whole thing is Salvation. From the beginning where God starts speaking to our hearts. To the moment he begins to draw us in. Till we find forgiveness for our sins. The moment when we surrender and let him be in control. We start to work out all the areas where Jesus needs to lead the way. The three step idea is truly an oversimplification of the process. There is much more that goes into it. In John Wesley's sermons, he would go into much more detail about the process of salvation. Wesley would explain every steps through a series of sermons. If you can get your hands of Wesley 52 standard sermons, it is worth a read through. While diagrams don't necessarily do it justice, this is one of the best I have found. It is from the Taylor County Campmeeting in Butler, GA. 

What I want to do this morning is take a look at John 11 and try to see where we find the sisters, Mary and Martha, in this process. Maybe we can do a little introspection on ourselves and determine where we find own souls on this journey to glorification. 

Of course, Lazarus has died. Jesus seems to stay where he is in a nearby village for an extra two days before making the walk to Bethany, to the home of Mary and Martha. We see both sister coming out to meet Jesus on his way in. Both sister speak to him, but with much different tones. 

Many people believe in Jesus. How they carry out that belief and the internal struggle with the matters going on in the world around them can be a tricky road to navigate. A personal loss like a family member can be one of the hardest areas to overcome. From reading the scripture we can see that there was a closeness between all three members of Lazarus' family and Jesus. The sisters believe that he is the Messiah and Martha clearly states her belief. The picture that has been painted of Martha over the centuries is a gruff one. It is easy to picture her arms crossed, speaking to Jesus in rough tones. "If you have been here, my brother would not have died." Grace is a central element to our salvation as we see the word laid out in the diagram above. God reaches out to us. We, in turn, reach out to him. Often we don't reach out with the same grace that is extended to us. We reach out with shouts and anger and pleas. We demand and makes out wills be known. How we are approaching Christ is ultimately important to our salvation and it is something we learn how to do as we go along. 

As we look at Mary, we see someone who approaches Jesus with their tears instead of the gruff and rough. The scripture suggest that she runs to where Jesus is. The Savior is approaching Bethany but Mary cannot wait. Martha didn't wait either. They both go where he is at that moment. They just approach him with different emotional standings. Mary comes with her heart on her sleeve instead of her arms crossed. On this Arc of Salvation, where do we see ourselves? If we put ourselves in the shoes of these two sisters, would we say we are experiencing grace? Is there need for repentance? Would we find ourselves at a place where we should surrender all to the hands of Jesus? There are many things that go into that arc from the beginning of our journey until we finally arrive in front of God.

What Would You Give?

 

We are taking a closer look at the subject of Salvation as we approach this 4th Sunday in Lent. 

Today, we tie in with the subject of Sacrifice as part of what our Salvation in Jesus means to our faith.

We touched on a bit of the sacrificial system of atoning for ones sins as we covered Israel's history last week while we were "Learning From The Past". We want to think deeper about what it is that we can give up during this season of Lent. If you ask any good Christina person on the street what they gave up for Lent this year, you might get a variety of responses. "Ha Ha, no i didn't give up anything." to "What in the world are you talking about?" Some folks have never heard of such ridiculous behavior before and would scoff at the idea. 

Some might ask if Christians should observe Lent; especially those in a Protestant tradition. The means and practice of Lent truly come from our Catholic background. This time of the year is a special means of trying to draw closer to the Lord through means of sacrificing something that is near and dear to us; something we could go without. Some from the Protestant tradition would see the ritual as a means of control put upon the people by the hierarchy in the Church, and maybe that is true. However, the scriptural presentation of Jesus calling the disciples and asking them to drop what was in their hands and follow Him is a powerful display of what is means to follow in the footsteps of our Savior. This Christian faith is about following Christ and allowing God to make us into people who resemble the same dedication that His Son put into following the Father. So, maybe, we should take this Lenten tradition a bit more serious as we think about what this season culminates in - the death of Jesus on the cross. The ultimate sacrifice as a sign of Love being shared with all of mankind. 

What would you give up is asked to do so in order to be closer to God?

If you had a chance to lay something down that would take a weight off your shoulders and lessen the burden of this life, what would it be? I'm going throw three ideas at you this morning. They are not three suggestions of things you give up. They are three simple ideas to think about as you continue this thought in your prayer and devotional life. Whatever you give up is between you and the Lord. 

The first bit of inspiration comes from Matthew 6. I am not suggesting that you fast. I am saying that if you choose to give something up, this bit of scripture might be a good way to approach it. In our world today, with talk shows allowing people to put their face and emotions on display, it is more common place than ever to flaunt and throw our discontent around. Giving up something is never easy and I truly believe our Lord understands the human way more than we know. Change is never easy and for many the subject of giving something up and sacrificing is a huge difference from what we were raised to believe about life. American life can be a big blessing to unfold. Yet, there are those who go without on a daily basis. Without food, or home or family to help and sustain them. it can be a tremendous way to carry on in this world. What could we learn from the life of Jesus about leaving all we knew behind and venturing forward, just clinging to faith and trust in the Father? It is a powerful image that deserve more of our attention.

Much if the Psalms is either King David or another writer sharing their heart over what is going on in their world on a personal level. It truly is a person sharing their full self with God over whatever is going on in front of them at the moment. Whatever we choose let go of and follow God on should be done with a "broken and contrite heart". In fact, the Psalmist here says that is exactly the sacrifice he is making. His own heart. He puts it all in the Lord's hands and say "Here I am". And, God does not despise that offering. That is exactly the offering God is looking for. He wants us. All of us. All of you. Everything that makes up YOU, God wants it in his hands. There are many situations in life where we hang on to issues, people, hardships, control and we keep it in our own hands instead letting God take it all away. How heavy does the load need to become before we find out we cannot carry it by ourselves, or even at all? "Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest." God doesn't want us to be burdened with the cares of this life. He wants us to walk in the joy and grace of Jesus. There is no better way to carry on in this world. 

Do you want to be a follower of Jesus? There is no doubt that many people believe in Jesus. They believe he exists. They believe in the name of Jesus. The believe the bible and what it presents. They believe the history and authenticity of the scriptures. Do you believe to give up what you have in front of you and follow Jesus with all your heart? John Wesley covered our salvation through a series of steps moments. Wesley would preach a sermon on sacrifice. He would bring a message on repentance. Wesley would talk in another about seeking forgiveness. All seperate items and ideas that needed to be addressed and presented. In all, he covered more than 30 topics in a series of messages all having to do with our salvation. This subject of sacrifice is simply a part of our salvation. Some might look on it as a journey. A journey into a deeper commitment and fulfillment of what it means to become like Jesus. 

What will you give up for Lent? 

God loves you so much that he gave his One and Only Son so that you might know what life is like with God, forever.

Learning From The Past

 

fns360.com - FNS Traning Center

The past is an area that sometimes lacks the proper way to define it.
Our pasts can make us or break us. Our choices have a way of sticking around and affecting the outcome of the future. We are looking at our salvation right now as part of our United Methodist beliefs and we find ourselves in Romans 10 as the Apostle Paul uses Israel's history as part of the his explanation of what Salvation in Jesus means to their faith. It is a natural part of reading the scriptures to try and find some sort of correlation to our own lives as we seek to make sense of what we are reading. What does it mean to us? How does it apply to us? Lets begin by looking at Romans 10.

 Concerning the past, Jesus would say, "Whoever puts his hand to the plow and looks back is unfit for the kingdom of heaven." There is the matter of context to take into account. Sometimes things get lost in translation. Our English language is so definite sometimes and yet so vague at other points. Jesus wants his hearers to leave behind their old lives and follow the Lord. To go back and get wrapped up in ones old sins while trying to forge ahead toward the Kingdom is going to leave the person with a back and forth looking neck that would be comparable to spiritual whiplash. We do need to keep our focus on what is ahead. Then, there is the need to study and learn for the past in order to know what we are dealing with in the future. You've probably heard the old adage, "History has a tendency to repeat itself." We can develop a fear of the past because we are so intent on the idea that we will just repeat all our old mistakes. We need not be afraid. Jesus has us in his hands. There is much he wants to teach us and that includes how to overcome our mishaps and errors. That requires taking a look back at what we have done in order to learn how to do it right the next time. The Apostle Paul isn't afraid to site and quote Israel's history in order to help them understand where they are now in the person of Jesus Christ. 

History. The past. It's where we are today as we think about what salvation in Jesus means for us.

The word, past, is multi faceted. You should be able to click on any of the pictures in my blog page today and take a look at the meanings behind how the word is used in our English language. What I found more intriguing as I prepared for this message is how the word was used and not so much how it is defined. It's used an adjective, primarily. Meaning its a description word for the most part. Our past sins are things people might remember about us. A preposition is a word we use when we want to modify a noun and change it's outlook or meaning. "We drove past the house." Meaning, we were planning to go to that house but instead we changed what we were going to do. Noun should be self explanatory. It's possessive. It's my past. It's your past. We own it. And, lastly, it's used as an adverb. An adverb is a connector word. These kinds of words bring two things together. We want to take where we have been and connect it to where we are now.

 

  The past gives us history if we have been in one place long enough. Just this morning as I picked up the church mail for our PO Box in Glenford ( a weekly, Sunday morning ritual for me as I come out the Hopewell church early) there was a letter with the return address for Don Wineman. How long has Don been living in this area? Long enough that all he had to do was write the word "OFFERING" on his envelope and get it stuck into our PO Box. There was no address for the church on the envelope. There was no stamp either. But, there it was in the box today as it got right where it needed to be. He might have walked in and asked them to place it in the PO Box for him.And, they did it for him. I know I tried to get that done once when we lived over in Baltimore. I was told I needed to purchase a stamp. "You mean to tell me that this envelope has to go all the way to Columbus to be processed and then sent back out here, with a stamp on it, just so you can walk it over there and put it in this lady's PO Box?" Yep. I'm not Don Wineman. I'm not well known. I can't make that request. I had no past or history with the post office clerk. She wasn't going to help me with that thing.

 

learningfromthepast.net
 

Our past can come into play when it comes to our salvation, as it is described here in Romans 10 by the Apostle Paul. What do we know about the Israelites? Paul makes it clear that they were very in tune with what the law was all about. They sought into it to find the means to be righteous - i.e. be in a right standing or right relationship with God. So much so, that they missed the coming of the Messiah that they knew was going to come and bring them salvation. For us, in modern America, the past may have taught us that being here in this sanctuary is the right thing to do. We are supposed to get up and go to church. That's what we have been taught to do. Where is the connection Jesus? It is a name we have heard over and over. But, do we know Him? Have we given our hearts and lives to Him? Paul is encouraging his audience to not just listen to the past and follow the law, but to actually call upon his name. "Whoever calls upon the name of Jesus will be saved." 

Have you called upon Him? Do you know Him?
Do you know what forgiveness means? Have you confessed your sins and surrendered your past?

It is something to consider as we travel through Lent. 

What will you give up for Lent?
Lets start with giving our hearts to Jesus.

Done Deal

 

Salvation is the deal. 

As we head toward Easter it will be what we are focusing on as we cover our United Methodist beliefs. This should an especially important topic to us as we think about confirmation in this time of the year. Our confirmation class is on its 4th week today. We are following a study by a Nazarene pastor and theologian, Charles "Chic" Shaver, who put together a series of Basic Bible Studies (now known as "The Journey"). Our confirmation group are asked to fill in the blanks with this study as they answer questions while looking up scripture references that correlate to the numbered format. 

One of the scripture we have touched on comes from Hebrews 10. In the midst of our Lenten season and here in the middle of our confirmation time, we are looking at the matter of our salvation as a done deal. It has been covered, taken care of, forever, in the hands of Jesus Christ. Lets look at what the writer of Hebrews has to say on the subject. 

Maybe we can work with that "fill in the blank" format as we look at the scriptures this morning. If you are following along at home, then it should be easy to see where your answers come from and should go. I'll make it as simple as possible. We are going to have a nice three-point message today. 

Sacrifices

For the entirety of the Old Testament, minus some moments when the Israelites did not have their Temple to worship in, the need for a sacrifice was all important to their religious experience. Every year, a lamb was to be brought to the Temple and offered to the priest who cut it open and give it to the altar and the fire. The smoke of that sacrifice would go up, as symbol of our prayers going up to God. The blood from the lamb would be sprinkled over the altar, a sign of the blood covering and marking us. What the writer of Hebrews notes for us is that law was simply a shadow of what was to come. We need to see the illustration in the moment of sacrifice and put the necessary correlation into the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus was to be the sacrifice for our sins. Refereed to as "The Lamb of God", our Savior took our sins on his shoulders just as the blood from the lamb was supposed to cover a families sins for the coming year. Jesus takes our sins and covered them in such a way that the old system is no longer necessary. There is no need to keep repeating that old system over and over again. It means nothing now. It was simply a sign of what was to come. And, now it has. And, Salvation is open to everyone. 

In verses 2 and 10 from Hebrews chap 10, it has a particular three word phrases that need to stick with us. It is the "meat and potatoes" of this passage. 

² Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed _________________, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.

¹⁰ And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ __________________.

What Christ does for us is done for all time. It need not be repeated annually. It is over and done. The Lamb was sacrificed for our sins and the matter is closed. 

Priest

 Because of what Jesus has done for us, power and control has been established and founded in His name for all time. When a sacrifice was brought to the Temple it was given to the priest. This is one of the moments where we see Jesus being our All in All. He takes on many roles in our lives and sometimes he wears different hats. I could bring to the surface an illustration of multi-tasking. Anybody here actually good at doing multiple things at the same time. We aren't supposed to text and drive, but some people do it amazingly well. Some folks can't handle chewing gum and walking at the same time. It's even harder to carry on a conversation and watch your favorite television program. We are finite beings and we cannot fathom the ability to handle more than one thing at time. Maybe two or three things can be rolling around in our noggins. How does God do all that he does for us? In the matter of our salvation, he is the sacrifice and he is the priest - at the same time. Lets look closer at verses 11 thru 13. 

¹¹ Day after day every ______ stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ¹² But when this ______ had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the _____________, ¹³ and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.

Covenant

It is important to bring to light what we are doing with God. We are in a relationship with him. We are in a covenant with him. That's a word we aren't very familiar with in our lexicon. We've heard references to marriage vows. We are used to thinking about friendships and close personal relationships with others. What exactly does a covenant mean for us in this religious context?

 

The noun really is what you expect with some legal jargon in just the right places. "a usual formal, solemn agreement." Sometimes written, Sometimes simply verbal between parties. A handshake might ensue. Prayers might be given. 

The verb side does give us some interesting things to think about.
It's one of those words that can go both transitive and intransitive at the same time. Makes me think about how God can be all things to us. If two or parties are involved in this covenant matter, then we can "pledge" to be there for each other. We can lean on each other and find the help we need in the moment we need it. It always go the other way. When we "enter into" it might feel like we are being handed a contract. The contract states that we have certain criteria that we are to uphold. There might be specific things that we have to do in order the covenant to be in effect. If anything get broken or does not get done by us, then we owe something in return. When was the last time you stayed at a hotel? There is usually a contract of some kind hanging on the door inside your room stating what you will charged if anything get broken. If you don't leave the premises by check out time, then you will get billed for another day for the time you spent there. 

The nice thing about our contract is that Jesus paid it all.

¹⁴ For by one sacrifice he has ___________________ those who are being made holy.

The subject here should translate to the matter of us following Christ and not doing anything that would run the bill up higher. Not only is Christ putting our sins behind us, he wants us to have a complete change of heart as to how we approach life.  We need to walk with him and be amazed at what has done for us and continues to do for us. The hymn writer, Charles Wesley, put it in his own words.

"And can it be that I should gain
an interest in the Savior's blood!
Died he for me? who caused his pain!
For me? who him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be
that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be
that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?"

Be Amazed. Walk with Jesus and know what he has done for you. 

Dynamic Duo

 

as we continue with

Grace & Faith

In February, We got some help from our lay speakers, Ray Higdon and Mike Porter as we covered the topics of Faith and Grace. Today, I want to look at them together and see the inter-connectedness of these major tenets of the faith. We find ourselves looking at Ephesians chapter 2 in a very well known passage where the Apostle Paul speaks to our salvation and bring these two word into the center.

 

Paul says it twice in the course of this passage. "it is by grace you have been saved" I'm not sure I fully grasped the intensity with which those words are meant to be delivered with, and so, I wanted to understand what grace really is for us. It's one thing to see the definition of a word. It's something else to see it with our own eyes.  

There's a woman who frequents the pantry at Hopewell. She and her sister are a couple of characters who make the trek out to the church every month with either the help of a transit bus or with someone else's vehicle. It has been described that if the chance were given to them that they would clean out the pantry in one haul. Someone has to walk with them (which is standard procedure for anyone visiting the pantry) and keep an eye on what they are putting in their cart to make sure they don't clean us out of house and home. Sometimes both sisters come and many times just one of them does the shopping for both of the sister's families. I recall last year when i first began to be integrated into the system at the pantry that I was given the task of working with them as they sat on the bus waiting for their order to be filled. We had the task last year of doing the shopping for all of the pantry visitors. No one was allowed to come inside during the stretch of the pandemic. So, our helpers would go out to the waiting cars and trucks that had lined up with clip boards and papers to walk people through what was waiting downstairs and then we would bring the list inside and go through to get them their items. After bagging it all up, we would bring it out to their vehicle and send them on their way. I got the sisters who just happened to be on a Perry County transit bus that day and it was my first time walking anybody through the 4 pages of items that listed all the food in the pantry. I didn't understand what exactly we were supposed to offer them and I think the sisters knew that. With every section we went through in the paper work, they gladly accepted everything that was offered to them. I marked up the papers thoroughly and brought them down stairs to them team that was waiting to do their shopping for them. A few minutes later, our director spoke up and said I had done the list wrong and I needed to go back out and rework the papers with the sisters. We only offer a few items out of each section and not everything on every line of the paperwork. So, I had go back out and explain that to two grinning sisters in their 60's from rural Perry County that they couldn't have all these items. Grace goes both ways in this instance. From the ones taking advantage of the system and the one who didn't understand how to offer it properly.

God offers his hands and hearts to us even though we don't necessarily get what the proper procedure is for approaching him. And, in matters where it seems like our carnal nature wants to take it all fro granted, God still offers his love to us. We don't deserve it. We can earn it. He just does. The sisters have never been turned down or told to go away. The door is always open for them to return next month. And, there is always plenty of food to share with them. God wants us to draw close to him. His arms are always open for us to receive. What we need to learn is dependence on Him. In drawing close to God we learn that the ways we have been handling things can stop dominating our lives. We are used to taking matters into our own hands in order to get what we want the way we want it. God wants something different. His Grace is the way into a life that is drastically unlike what we know. His ways are not our ways. His Grace is not what we are used to. Maybe it's why change takes so long in our world and when it finally does come to a place where what we need can actually be, we fight it and squabble and holler about it instead of simply letting God lead the way. It's never easy to let God be God. Yet, his arms are still open to us; drawing us closer to where he is at the heart of love. 

Now what about faith?

This morning at church was an eventful day, but the thing that grabbed my attention was a competition that had ensued between some of our Sunday School kids. (My son was included in this.) The story of Moses lifting his arms up in the air in the battle with the Amalekites from Exodus 17. As long as Moses kept his arms up, the Israelites were prevailing. But, if his arms came down the Amalekites were winning. The challenege at church today became one of who could keep their arms up above their heads longer.

And, the battle kept up the entire service.

Even after the service, we began refreshment time downstairs in the fellowship hall. The kids still had their arms above their heads. In Moses' story, it took the combined efforts of his brother Aaron and another man named Hur to hold up Moses' arms when they got tired. They also provided a place for Moses to sit down. There is so much grace and faith in the passage that it boggles the mind. Take a moment to read it and see just what we are talking about. Chapter 17 begins with a bunch of grumbling by the Israelites about having water to drink and whether the Lord is actually taking care of them at all. God still does take care of them and go before them into battle. He rescues them, provides for them, and makes a way even though the probably don't deserve any of it. God drawing close to us even though we do not appreciate or understand what He is doing is much of what Grace is all about. Faith is what we need to draw close to God and many time we lack the required need. Still, God is there. And, if that is what is needed for salvation, then how do we make that happens.

We do not. God does. 

And, that's why Grace and faith are so important.
Draw close to God and he will draw close to you.
Have Faith in God, and you will begin to see exactly what it's about.