Apr 15

The Story That Sounds Like a Dream

Luke 24:1-12

But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. (24:11)

One of my favorite scholars made an interesting observation about the Resurrection Accounts in the Gospels.  “They are told in whispers,” he observed.  He meant that these stories are told as if the witnesses thought they could not be true, or it was too good to be true.

God’s working, God’s deliverance leaves us humans “gobsmacked.”  The Psalmist uses this same idea in describing the restoration of Israel after the Babylonian Captivity.

“When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion,
We were like those who dream.”  (Psalms 126:1)

When God works in human existence, it is like a dream that is too good to be true.  The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, when encountered by his followers, to use a modern phrase, “it blew their minds.”  But for us, being raised with these stories, having them told over and over again, this good news can become common place, almost mundane or ho-hum.  Maybe that is why it seems the power of the resurrection is not at work in the world today.  We have reduced the story from “too good to be true,” to a Golden Book children’s story.

But the whisper of the resurrected Christ in just three hundred years will have conquered the Roman Empire, and has become the cornerstone of Western Civilization.  Maybe when we hear, “ALLELUIA!  CHRIST IS RISEN” we should be gobsmacked, as we respond to the news that is too good to be true “ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN INDEED!  ALLELUIA!”

Blessed Easter to Al.

Pastor Greg

Apr 10

LET’S CELEBRATE!

Exaltation, Jubilation, Anticipation, Celebration, Expectation—these would be words that characterize the people surrounding Jesus as he makes his “Triumphal Entry” into Jerusalem.  And if the people did not celebrate, Jesus said the rocks would’ve cried out.

It is great to approach something with anticipation.  Like a child for Christmas, or a family with the arrival of a new baby.  So were those around Jesus anticipating God doing something fantastic.

And God was doing something amazing, for in one week from that day, Jesus rose from the dead!   That may not have been the expectation of the crowds that day, but it was the wonderful work of God.  God is the God of the rejected, disappointed, disillusioned, and downtrodden.  Jesus quotes Psalms 118 about what God is doing in this Holy Week:

The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
    it is marvelous in our eyes.

It is great to have an expectant view of tomorrow, but we have to allow God to be the God of the rejected to truly see the marvelous things God is doing.

Pastor Greg

Apr 02

Something I’ve Always Wondered About

Luke 18:31-19:10

Each of the first three Gospels have the account of Jesus healing blind man or men at Jericho.  Mark even names the man, Bartimaeus.  Here in Luke Jesus meets another man in Jericho, Zacchaeus (this will be the sermon Sunday.) 

Bartimaeus’ story is told in contrast the “Rich Ruler” just a few verses before.  The ruler called Jesus “good teacher;” while Bartimaeus called Jesus “the Son of David” (the Messiah.)  The ruler hoped that Jesus would give him what he wanted; Bartimaeus was desperate for Jesus to give him what he needed.  The ruler walks away from Jesus at the end; Bartimaeus follows Jesus after he is healed. 

What I have been impressed with this story, is the urgency of the blink man.  After the people around him sternly ordered him to be quiet, he shouted even louder.  Urgency is the undertone of Jesus’ two encounters at Jericho, Bartimaeus shouting and Zacchaeus climbing the tree.  The thing that I always wonder about here is “what would I have done?”  Maybe I would’ve been embarrassed at disturbing my neighbors with my loud shouts, or afraid of getting into trouble with my bold, but not popular identification of Jesus as the Son of David.  Or maybe I would’ve just thought I can wait for a more convenient time for all, then Jesus will heal me.

Jesus never came that way again.  He goes up to Jerusalem and the Cross, and the urgency of Bartimaeus is what Luke wants us to hear.  Jesus states about Zacchaeus, “Today salvation has come to this house.”  Today, the rich ruler walked away, maybe for a time he could work out things in his life.  Today, Bartimaeus would not take no for an answer when Jesus was passing by.  Today in the Bible is the Day of Salvation.  Today, salvation came to Zaccheus.

I have always supposed that Fanny Crosby was meditating on this story when she wrote here gospel song, “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior.” 

Pass me not, O gentle Savior,
Hear my humble cry,
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.

Jesus is passing by, never to be back in Jericho again.  Today is the day of Salvation, today is the day to call upon the Lord.  As the Psalmist says in Psalm 55, “But I call upon God, and the Lord will save me.

Pastor Greg

Mar 25

Two Parables to the “Lovers of Money’

Luke 16

Our text this week is the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31.)  But instead of simply approaching this as a stand-alone parable, let us consider the greater context.  The first parable, the Dishonest Manager concludes, “You cannot serve God and wealth. (v 13.)”  So, the Pharisees are sneering at Jesus’ call to be generous and responsible stewards of the resources God gives.  It is obvious in Luke’s comment about their motivation, that the Pharisees think that our possessions or wealth are not a stewardship from God, but something they must protect and use for themselves. 

We should realize in Jesus’s words on the nature of God’s kingdom should influence our values.  Kingdom causes call us to renounce divided loyalties (vv. 10-13), to have idolatries revealed, since God hates them (vv. 14-15) and to raise standards of obedience to reflect total integrity (v. 18). Verses 16-17 make up the hinge, suggesting that the kingdom’s arrival means that Jesus’ preaching comes with authority. His way will fulfill what the law and the promise anticipated. The passage ends up being yet another rebuke of the Pharisees. Their way is not the way to God. It is kingdom preaching that transforms people, not the way of these leaders.

When one’s fulfillment in life is wealth, our attention is drawn away from what is important, and we often overlook what is right before us (or at our gate.)  Desire for wealth is all consuming, it causes us to ignore the fact that tomorrow may not be like today.  This is true for the rich man.  When he wakes on tomorrow, he is in hades suffering in torment.  He has ignored Moses and the prophets; he has not prepared for that day.

How easy it is for us to substitute today’s concerns, goals, plans, and pleasures for the space God’s word needs to occupy.  Jesus does not say wealth is bad, nor enjoying life if bad, but he does say ignoring God and his Kingdom does have consequences.  In Lent, let us make sure we are establishing daily time to our responsibilities to the Kingdom of God.

Pastor Greg