He is a Cross Maker, not just a carpenter. Voices seize his mind and he falls down with those seizures, but it is God talking to him. Judas is his pal, sent to kill him for traitor behavior but who comes along to check out what is going on.
Granted, there is a disclaimer that this Jesus story is not from the gospel, but based on a novel. And Willem Dafoe is not as good as I remember him from the last time I watched the movie.
The theology of the movie denies the diety of Christ. He is a man chosen, forced by God to preach. It doesn't end well.
Back in the day, it was the condemnation of the movie by Christian leaders that gave the movie greater press and publicity than I think it deserves.
I don't know, I just can't spend a lot of time on this one.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Good Friday: The Musical
"Jesus Christ Superstar", the 1973 version, not the remake of 2000. That one might be worthy of its own consideration. Judas Iscariot is an understandable figure. Jesus the man is growing in his own ego. His preaching and teaching are going to challenge the political order. Those teachings will bring on the wrath of the Romans. He must be stopped.
Jesus, preacher, teacher, frowning as he considers where the trail he leads must end. He is wrestling with the reality that he is going to become a political liability. Two scenes about him strike me. One is when the infirmed and the ill gather around him, all in rags, more like a zombie scene out of "Night of the Living Dead", surrounding Jesus, pressing in on him, until he disappears beneath their weight. Not the Jesus the Bible teaches me about.
The second is the endpoint. They crucify him, he dies, thus endeth the trouble. Judas kills himself out of guilt, Pilate has washed his hands of the matter-he was rather wimpy for the Roman governor of a troublesome province, Caiphas can mark off one more political reason for the Romans to crack down. It is like the ending of Mark without the verses 'added later'. It stops at Good Friday, it stops at the death of Jesus, then a shot of an empty cross...just in case we Christians got it right.
Then Mary Magdalene, falling into the prostitute tradition. She is not someone the 'movement' should be associated with according to Judas, bad PR. The girlfriend of, the lover of, comforter of Jesus, a foreshadowing of the married Jesus Dan Brown touts in The Da Vinci Code.
Then the disciples, bunch of dummies, "What's the buzz, tell me what's a happening..."
And yet I liked it. The music I grew up with-one of the few albums not classical in the house. It was a phenomenon in the Philippines, where I was living when it was released. Then again, every Good Friday is a phenomenon in the Philippines. It was like how I enjoyed the Da Vinci Code, a nice piece of fiction, divorced from my Lord of the Scriptures.
And they played it like that. At the opening, the bus pulls up, the actors and crew pile out, at the end, they strike the set and leave. It was just a story, not the Truth, not the witness, not the gospel.
Jesus, preacher, teacher, frowning as he considers where the trail he leads must end. He is wrestling with the reality that he is going to become a political liability. Two scenes about him strike me. One is when the infirmed and the ill gather around him, all in rags, more like a zombie scene out of "Night of the Living Dead", surrounding Jesus, pressing in on him, until he disappears beneath their weight. Not the Jesus the Bible teaches me about.
The second is the endpoint. They crucify him, he dies, thus endeth the trouble. Judas kills himself out of guilt, Pilate has washed his hands of the matter-he was rather wimpy for the Roman governor of a troublesome province, Caiphas can mark off one more political reason for the Romans to crack down. It is like the ending of Mark without the verses 'added later'. It stops at Good Friday, it stops at the death of Jesus, then a shot of an empty cross...just in case we Christians got it right.
Then Mary Magdalene, falling into the prostitute tradition. She is not someone the 'movement' should be associated with according to Judas, bad PR. The girlfriend of, the lover of, comforter of Jesus, a foreshadowing of the married Jesus Dan Brown touts in The Da Vinci Code.
Then the disciples, bunch of dummies, "What's the buzz, tell me what's a happening..."
And yet I liked it. The music I grew up with-one of the few albums not classical in the house. It was a phenomenon in the Philippines, where I was living when it was released. Then again, every Good Friday is a phenomenon in the Philippines. It was like how I enjoyed the Da Vinci Code, a nice piece of fiction, divorced from my Lord of the Scriptures.
And they played it like that. At the opening, the bus pulls up, the actors and crew pile out, at the end, they strike the set and leave. It was just a story, not the Truth, not the witness, not the gospel.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Movies about Holy Week: Easter as Epic
"The Greatest Story Ever Told" is representative of the epic bible movie. Charlton Heston seems to show up in every one, in this as John the Baptist-looking more like a wrestling star. We are looking at movies that depict the crucifixion of Jesus throughout this Lenten Season, asking several questions along the way.
First, how do these movies stack up against the biblical witness? Deriving from that, how does Hollywood, and by extension the culture surrounding it, consider the Easter message? Finally, we hope to look at where our faith may have been unduly influenced by the culture, and reground it in Scripture.
The Epic is the Big Show. Much of Scripture is used, the quotes tend to be generally accurate, there is a sense of grandeur to it all. The American Southwest is bigger and more majestic in scale than the Holy Land, adding to the bigness of the entire plot.
Stacked against the biblical witness, "The Greatest Story Ever Told" does pretty well, all things considered. Not too much is created out of nothing, there is not excessive character development-turning Judas into something Scripture does not give a foundation for. John the Baptist was a little more tough guy, but it is Charlton Heston.
It was released in 1965, during what might be called the "epic" period of the church. I think we were past the Golden Age of the 1950's. I think the death of JFK ended that Golden Age. While the death of Martin Luther King Jr. was several years in the future, and Woodstock after that, the movie was released barely a week before the assassination of Malcolm X. The Civil Rights movement was in full swing, President Johnson began full scale bombing of North Vietnam, we were in a dangerous time.
"The Greatest Story Ever Told" was from the end of the Golden Age, in the midst of new struggles that hadn't yet plunged America into deep crisis. The story of Jesus was still powerful-if overblown-in the minds and hearts of the popular culture.
First, how do these movies stack up against the biblical witness? Deriving from that, how does Hollywood, and by extension the culture surrounding it, consider the Easter message? Finally, we hope to look at where our faith may have been unduly influenced by the culture, and reground it in Scripture.
The Epic is the Big Show. Much of Scripture is used, the quotes tend to be generally accurate, there is a sense of grandeur to it all. The American Southwest is bigger and more majestic in scale than the Holy Land, adding to the bigness of the entire plot.
Stacked against the biblical witness, "The Greatest Story Ever Told" does pretty well, all things considered. Not too much is created out of nothing, there is not excessive character development-turning Judas into something Scripture does not give a foundation for. John the Baptist was a little more tough guy, but it is Charlton Heston.
It was released in 1965, during what might be called the "epic" period of the church. I think we were past the Golden Age of the 1950's. I think the death of JFK ended that Golden Age. While the death of Martin Luther King Jr. was several years in the future, and Woodstock after that, the movie was released barely a week before the assassination of Malcolm X. The Civil Rights movement was in full swing, President Johnson began full scale bombing of North Vietnam, we were in a dangerous time.
"The Greatest Story Ever Told" was from the end of the Golden Age, in the midst of new struggles that hadn't yet plunged America into deep crisis. The story of Jesus was still powerful-if overblown-in the minds and hearts of the popular culture.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
What is a blessing?
What is a blessing?
Parents have the unenviable task of shaping the lives of their children. It is a fine line to walk between equipping them with the tools they need to live effective, efficient, energetic, and rewarding lives and imposing on them our own unfulfilled needs, hopes, and dreams. We want them to be the best they can be. But they have to depend on us to get there.
God has the unenviable task of shaping the lives of His children. Thus far, only his oldest boy, a fine young man named Jesus, has met the challenge. The difference between God and earthly parents is that the will of God, what we might understand as hopes and dreams of the Christian faith, are what we need to live effective, efficient, energetic, and rewarding lives.
Without Jesus, left to our own devices, we are hellbound for destruction, carrying the weight of just punishment for our sins. Thank you Lord that we are with Jesus. Grace, love, mercy, forgiveness, these are the blessings we receive to shape our lives more fully into the life God wants us to lead.
That life is to glorify God. Salvation did not come as a nice thing to do for us humans, it came as a means for us to live out that work we have, glorifying the Almighty. I remember a theological discussion talking about how we are hard wired for that glory. We will worship, it is in our spiritual (and maybe physical DNA). If not God, then something else.
Which leads to my concern with Prosperity Theology. A business analyist at the beginning of our depression (not great thankfully) spoke of 'consumer confidence' as being the key indicator of economic health. Put another way, that is faith in the economic system-not faith in God or Christ, but in the economic system, the free market system, capitalism. And in this system, our worship is not measured by the sounds of our voices lifted in praise to God, but in the acquisition of the currency of the free market system, money.
The richest nation in the world has a terrible problem with money. It has replaced God as the means to our survival. Much Christian religious practice has re-developed itself around the almighty dollar, needing it, promoting it, seeking it, all in God's name of course, to provide a veneer of divine respectability.
Maybe poverty is a real blessing for us, stripping away that which replaces God and forcing us to acknowledge our dependance in real terms, not just the comfortable venacular of a Sunday worship service. Maybe pain and misery are blessings to us, make us identify with those for whom pain and misery is the lot of life. To be homeless is to understand their plight?
Unlike cigarettes or alcohol, our dependance on money cannot be cut off cold turkey. Such is the problem with food addictions, you have to eat. But maybe God is blessing us with hard times to remind us that He is in control. Maybe God is blessing us who have with those who have not so that we can exit the self-centered world of our own delight, and truly reach out as a sister or brother in the world.
What is a blessing? Who gets to name it?
Parents have the unenviable task of shaping the lives of their children. It is a fine line to walk between equipping them with the tools they need to live effective, efficient, energetic, and rewarding lives and imposing on them our own unfulfilled needs, hopes, and dreams. We want them to be the best they can be. But they have to depend on us to get there.
God has the unenviable task of shaping the lives of His children. Thus far, only his oldest boy, a fine young man named Jesus, has met the challenge. The difference between God and earthly parents is that the will of God, what we might understand as hopes and dreams of the Christian faith, are what we need to live effective, efficient, energetic, and rewarding lives.
Without Jesus, left to our own devices, we are hellbound for destruction, carrying the weight of just punishment for our sins. Thank you Lord that we are with Jesus. Grace, love, mercy, forgiveness, these are the blessings we receive to shape our lives more fully into the life God wants us to lead.
That life is to glorify God. Salvation did not come as a nice thing to do for us humans, it came as a means for us to live out that work we have, glorifying the Almighty. I remember a theological discussion talking about how we are hard wired for that glory. We will worship, it is in our spiritual (and maybe physical DNA). If not God, then something else.
Which leads to my concern with Prosperity Theology. A business analyist at the beginning of our depression (not great thankfully) spoke of 'consumer confidence' as being the key indicator of economic health. Put another way, that is faith in the economic system-not faith in God or Christ, but in the economic system, the free market system, capitalism. And in this system, our worship is not measured by the sounds of our voices lifted in praise to God, but in the acquisition of the currency of the free market system, money.
The richest nation in the world has a terrible problem with money. It has replaced God as the means to our survival. Much Christian religious practice has re-developed itself around the almighty dollar, needing it, promoting it, seeking it, all in God's name of course, to provide a veneer of divine respectability.
Maybe poverty is a real blessing for us, stripping away that which replaces God and forcing us to acknowledge our dependance in real terms, not just the comfortable venacular of a Sunday worship service. Maybe pain and misery are blessings to us, make us identify with those for whom pain and misery is the lot of life. To be homeless is to understand their plight?
Unlike cigarettes or alcohol, our dependance on money cannot be cut off cold turkey. Such is the problem with food addictions, you have to eat. But maybe God is blessing us with hard times to remind us that He is in control. Maybe God is blessing us who have with those who have not so that we can exit the self-centered world of our own delight, and truly reach out as a sister or brother in the world.
What is a blessing? Who gets to name it?
Monday, February 22, 2010
Give to get Given To?
Stewardship as a part of discipleship, it makes sense. Coming to church, reading Scripture, personal time of devotion, giving to the church, part of the Christian experience. But I get uncomfortable with the proclamation of tithing. Tithing is Scriptural, it is where I believe stewardship should aim, but . . . and this but is significant.
But, a number of discussions of tithing present with preaching that if we give and give generously to the church, we will in turn be blessed by God. There is a very fine line there. Yes, I believe that the Lord cares for His people. Yes, I believe that the Lord will help tithers 'figure out' their budgets. But to promise blessings in return for giving? The implication for me is financial blessings. That walks very close to, if not over the line of 'prosperity theology'.
Prosperity theology, as I understand it, is a promise that if you love and obey God, your divine reward will be financial prosperity, will be material satisfaction. The two go hand in hand to 'measure our faith'.
I am listening to church growth and leadership resources, looking for ways and means to grow church. These resources have come to the line of promising God's blessings for giving . . . and then what? When does an assurance of God's blessing become a promise of prosperity in return for faith? When do we depend on the Lord to help us support our church and when does it become a form of works righteousness? We work for God so God blesses us?
I struggle with that one.
But, a number of discussions of tithing present with preaching that if we give and give generously to the church, we will in turn be blessed by God. There is a very fine line there. Yes, I believe that the Lord cares for His people. Yes, I believe that the Lord will help tithers 'figure out' their budgets. But to promise blessings in return for giving? The implication for me is financial blessings. That walks very close to, if not over the line of 'prosperity theology'.
Prosperity theology, as I understand it, is a promise that if you love and obey God, your divine reward will be financial prosperity, will be material satisfaction. The two go hand in hand to 'measure our faith'.
I am listening to church growth and leadership resources, looking for ways and means to grow church. These resources have come to the line of promising God's blessings for giving . . . and then what? When does an assurance of God's blessing become a promise of prosperity in return for faith? When do we depend on the Lord to help us support our church and when does it become a form of works righteousness? We work for God so God blesses us?
I struggle with that one.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Do You Have A Testimony?
Sermon: October 18, 2009 John 9: 1-17
Consider a personal testimony as evangelism. It sounds simple enough. You find yourself in circumstances where someone wants to hear your story, wants to hear our story of what Jesus means to us. This is something that is best written down, so we have it. Some churches integrate the giving of personal testimony into the worship service. The idea is that in front of your own congregation, you will have love and support, that you know these people and will touch their lives through the Spirit.
That sounds scary as anything I can think of. I know, I am the preacher, and I love to preach. To delve into God’s word, to understand what is being said, to try and bring it to life, that is such a tremendous honor that I carry. But my testimony, my personal story of Jesus Christ, I don’t know . . .
The blind man in John 9 is cited as the example of giving one’s testimony. His story is simple and miraculous. The disciples see the blind man on the side of the road and they gossip about him. Did he sin? Did his parents sin? A handicap is a punishment in the eyes of the people of Jesus’ day. It’s a karma thing, what goes around comes around, doesn’t it?
Jesus’ answer is that no one sinned, but that man was blind so God’s power could be revealed, to show Jesus yet again as the light of the world. So with a nasty concoction of dirt and saliva, and a wash in the pool of Siloam, the man regained his sight. The consequences are immediate.
“Isn’t that the beggar, the blind guy? You know, down on the corner, always after the loose change?” Some didn’t believe it. Who do you call in a matter like this? The miraculous? You call your religious leader. They called the Pharisees, who immediately get hung up on the fact that this occurred on the Sabbath. They never seem to get that miracles should be a natural occurrence on the Lord’s Day. They question him, even call his parents to establish his identity, trying to get their minds around what has happened.
The healed man gives us the testimony. First, in verse 15, he is asked how he came by his sight. He says, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, now I see.” Then, asked to evaluate his healer, he says, “He is a prophet.”
What is a prophet? A prophet is one who carries the word of God.
The man’s entire testimony translates into sixteen words. It is in two parts, what Jesus did for him, and what he thinks of Jesus for doing it for him. And that is exactly how we can form our own testimony about Jesus Christ. What life changing event has occurred in our life because of Jesus? What does that say about Jesus to you? Another way to consider it is this, what event makes me take my faith seriously? What moved you to truly accept the grace of Christ? Can we articulate that event? That is what our testimony is supposed to entail.
Of course, that presupposes a couple of things. It presupposes that we, like the man formerly blind, have had a personal, life changing encounter with Jesus. For too many people, Jesus is something, at best, to aspire to, and at worst, is someone of importance we like to be around, you know, just in case.
But what is that personal encounter? What does that life changing event feel like? That is as individual as we are. For the blind man now healed, it was one moment. It could be a lightening flash, when something wonderful happened and life was never the same again. It could be a string of incremental changes, ending in something wonderful. When that story resonates in the life of another person, we have shared our testimony with them. At that moment, pray Jesus to take over and change a life.
What makes the center of real testimony is the personal encounter. Something, somewhere, someone, sometime, God came in loud and clear. You may not have realized it until after the fact, but right then and there, Jesus took hold. All that abstract stuff about the death and resurrection, the grace and forgiveness, the justification and salvation, that stuff came home to live in your heart with the Spirit.
If you haven’t had that moment, pray for it sisters and brothers. This could be the moment, the moment to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, not as the guy we talk about in church every week, but the man and the power and the miracle that caused a blind man to see and loves you like his own.
But if you have had that moment, that personal encounter, here is the challenge to you. How will you use it in God’s service, trusting that what God has done for you may be the spark for God’s work in someone else? And if you have had that moment, has it ever fallen out of memory? The things of life quickly raise the tide over the things of faith. Walk out of here and there are a dozen other things ready to take your time and energy.
Maybe the day of your conversion to the Christian faith is your moment of testimony. Maybe when the faith of your families, the faith you grew up in here at church, took root in your heart. Maybe it was the day when a miracle happened. Maybe recording that event somewhere, on a piece of paper tucked into your bible, maybe on the inside front page of the bible.
We have our story of us and Jesus Christ. We have our testimony. Will we dare to pray for the chance to share that testimony? Will we prepare to share it? Will we accept the fact that Jesus will give us opportunity to share it? Will we share it, will we evangelize when we are given the chance?
Let us pray. . .
Consider a personal testimony as evangelism. It sounds simple enough. You find yourself in circumstances where someone wants to hear your story, wants to hear our story of what Jesus means to us. This is something that is best written down, so we have it. Some churches integrate the giving of personal testimony into the worship service. The idea is that in front of your own congregation, you will have love and support, that you know these people and will touch their lives through the Spirit.
That sounds scary as anything I can think of. I know, I am the preacher, and I love to preach. To delve into God’s word, to understand what is being said, to try and bring it to life, that is such a tremendous honor that I carry. But my testimony, my personal story of Jesus Christ, I don’t know . . .
The blind man in John 9 is cited as the example of giving one’s testimony. His story is simple and miraculous. The disciples see the blind man on the side of the road and they gossip about him. Did he sin? Did his parents sin? A handicap is a punishment in the eyes of the people of Jesus’ day. It’s a karma thing, what goes around comes around, doesn’t it?
Jesus’ answer is that no one sinned, but that man was blind so God’s power could be revealed, to show Jesus yet again as the light of the world. So with a nasty concoction of dirt and saliva, and a wash in the pool of Siloam, the man regained his sight. The consequences are immediate.
“Isn’t that the beggar, the blind guy? You know, down on the corner, always after the loose change?” Some didn’t believe it. Who do you call in a matter like this? The miraculous? You call your religious leader. They called the Pharisees, who immediately get hung up on the fact that this occurred on the Sabbath. They never seem to get that miracles should be a natural occurrence on the Lord’s Day. They question him, even call his parents to establish his identity, trying to get their minds around what has happened.
The healed man gives us the testimony. First, in verse 15, he is asked how he came by his sight. He says, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, now I see.” Then, asked to evaluate his healer, he says, “He is a prophet.”
What is a prophet? A prophet is one who carries the word of God.
The man’s entire testimony translates into sixteen words. It is in two parts, what Jesus did for him, and what he thinks of Jesus for doing it for him. And that is exactly how we can form our own testimony about Jesus Christ. What life changing event has occurred in our life because of Jesus? What does that say about Jesus to you? Another way to consider it is this, what event makes me take my faith seriously? What moved you to truly accept the grace of Christ? Can we articulate that event? That is what our testimony is supposed to entail.
Of course, that presupposes a couple of things. It presupposes that we, like the man formerly blind, have had a personal, life changing encounter with Jesus. For too many people, Jesus is something, at best, to aspire to, and at worst, is someone of importance we like to be around, you know, just in case.
But what is that personal encounter? What does that life changing event feel like? That is as individual as we are. For the blind man now healed, it was one moment. It could be a lightening flash, when something wonderful happened and life was never the same again. It could be a string of incremental changes, ending in something wonderful. When that story resonates in the life of another person, we have shared our testimony with them. At that moment, pray Jesus to take over and change a life.
What makes the center of real testimony is the personal encounter. Something, somewhere, someone, sometime, God came in loud and clear. You may not have realized it until after the fact, but right then and there, Jesus took hold. All that abstract stuff about the death and resurrection, the grace and forgiveness, the justification and salvation, that stuff came home to live in your heart with the Spirit.
If you haven’t had that moment, pray for it sisters and brothers. This could be the moment, the moment to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, not as the guy we talk about in church every week, but the man and the power and the miracle that caused a blind man to see and loves you like his own.
But if you have had that moment, that personal encounter, here is the challenge to you. How will you use it in God’s service, trusting that what God has done for you may be the spark for God’s work in someone else? And if you have had that moment, has it ever fallen out of memory? The things of life quickly raise the tide over the things of faith. Walk out of here and there are a dozen other things ready to take your time and energy.
Maybe the day of your conversion to the Christian faith is your moment of testimony. Maybe when the faith of your families, the faith you grew up in here at church, took root in your heart. Maybe it was the day when a miracle happened. Maybe recording that event somewhere, on a piece of paper tucked into your bible, maybe on the inside front page of the bible.
We have our story of us and Jesus Christ. We have our testimony. Will we dare to pray for the chance to share that testimony? Will we prepare to share it? Will we accept the fact that Jesus will give us opportunity to share it? Will we share it, will we evangelize when we are given the chance?
Let us pray. . .
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Sermon, Sept. 13, 2009
Sermon: September 13, 2009 Luke 24: 36-53
We gather here today to worship the living God. We come with humble hearts to God’s Holy Word, seeking understanding, seeking guidance, seeking a word of comfort in our lives. For the last six weeks, we considered what disconnects us from our God. Now, consider what connects us.
These are the closing verses to the Gospel of Luke. Jesus appears bodily to his disciples, proving he is not a ghost by letting them touch his physical body, by eating some broiled fish. He was there for a reason, the final pep talk. For three years, the disciples were in the school of Jesus, living with him, watching him, listening to him, healing and preaching on his behalf, preparing for this day. On this day he gives them the gift that will carry them on in their ministry.
“Everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures . . .”
The whole bible was laid out for them, the bible they had, what we call the Old Testament. They’d lived it with Jesus, but now there was something special, something new, the application of God’s Spirit so that it all came together for them. All of it came together in the person and the ministry of Jesus, reflected in Holy Scripture, and they got it.
The purpose of this knowledge was to drive the disciples, the followers, to become apostles, servants. Their charge was to proclaim that the Messiah suffered, died, and rose on the third day, that event fulfilling the promise that they proclaim the repentance and forgiveness of sins, in Jesus name. This proclamation was to go to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem. They would carry out that proclamation with the gift that the Father promised for them, the gift they were to wait in Jerusalem for. That gift, we find out in the book of Acts, is the Holy Spirit.
So brothers and sisters, here we are. We’re back in the big room again, back at the normal time again. We’ve launched our Sunday School program, teaching our young ones about our faith. We will break bread after worship with our Presbyterian Women as they begin a new year of programming, mission, and support of the Gospel message. It is a new year, new possibilities lie before us. Are we ready for the challenge?
From our passage in Luke today, we have a message to carry forward our call to evangelize the world.
Repent, seek forgiveness from sins in the name of Jesus Christ. As Amos put it last week, turn away from the evil in life and embrace what is good. The divine power we can promise in that message comes from Jesus, from the Messiah. Proclaim that he suffered and died and was raised again from the dead. John the Baptist preached the first part of this message, Repent! But now the power of Jesus is infused into the message. He was the Messiah, he died for our sins, he was raised to new life to give us new life. The message of repentance is bound to the divine gift.
What does repent mean? It means to give it up. Whatever sin exists in your life you are called on to give it up. You drink? A glass of wine is relaxing. You drink too much? Repent, give it up. Paul says a little wine is good for the stomach. Proverbs says, “Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.” God give us wisdom to see where we are relative to those texts. You think ill of somebody? Somebody who really annoys you? Repent! The command of Jesus is to love our neighbor. The examples are endless.
What we then practice is what we can preach. What is the destructive behavior you see in the life of someone you are about? I am not talking about bashing them over the head like some doomsday prophet, proclaiming “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand?” But how about just being there? Not abandoning them? Being a friend in thick and thin.
The power of repentance is in its divine support. The death and resurrection of Jesus are intimately connected to the call to repentance. How do we know that repentance is for real? Because we have the guarantee of God’s power behind it, the power over life and death itself. Where do we learn about this message? From Holy Scripture. Jesus gave them the message to speak, after opening their minds to understand that this message is across the Old Testament. What he opened for them has been recorded, at least in part, for us in the New Testament.
Let’s come back to it. Who in your life could use a word of hope? Who has a life of sin that needs to be turned around? Who do you know that could use a little piece of what you have in Jesus Christ? Who needs a Lord and Savior because, when they tried to run their own lives, they messed it up completely?
I am assuming of course that we all have seized upon that gift of Jesus for ourselves, that we repent of our own sins, that we have given ourselves to Jesus as Lord and Savior, recognizing that he died and rose for us. We have promises of faith in Christ laid down in Scripture. Have you accepted them? If somebody here hasn’t, well, you have come to the right place. I would be glad to speak to you and pray with you after our service this morning.
Why is this so all fired important? Why am I pounding on the repentance message today? Because we are here to worship the living God. And to worship God requires that we have repented of our sins. Why am I pounding on the repentance message today? Because it is a new program year. Because big and powerful things are going to happen this year.
Next Sunday evening, the Portuguese fellowship we have planned for begins worshipping here in the evenings. In two weeks, we are playing host to the members of the Muslim Center of Middlesex County, Muslims who have trusted us enough to come and share worship with us. Pray hearts may be opened. We are going to drag out that musty, scary word ‘evangelism’. We are going to be the people that Jesus wants us to be and the church Christ leads us to be. Let all God’s people say together: Amen. Let us pray.
We gather here today to worship the living God. We come with humble hearts to God’s Holy Word, seeking understanding, seeking guidance, seeking a word of comfort in our lives. For the last six weeks, we considered what disconnects us from our God. Now, consider what connects us.
These are the closing verses to the Gospel of Luke. Jesus appears bodily to his disciples, proving he is not a ghost by letting them touch his physical body, by eating some broiled fish. He was there for a reason, the final pep talk. For three years, the disciples were in the school of Jesus, living with him, watching him, listening to him, healing and preaching on his behalf, preparing for this day. On this day he gives them the gift that will carry them on in their ministry.
“Everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures . . .”
The whole bible was laid out for them, the bible they had, what we call the Old Testament. They’d lived it with Jesus, but now there was something special, something new, the application of God’s Spirit so that it all came together for them. All of it came together in the person and the ministry of Jesus, reflected in Holy Scripture, and they got it.
The purpose of this knowledge was to drive the disciples, the followers, to become apostles, servants. Their charge was to proclaim that the Messiah suffered, died, and rose on the third day, that event fulfilling the promise that they proclaim the repentance and forgiveness of sins, in Jesus name. This proclamation was to go to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem. They would carry out that proclamation with the gift that the Father promised for them, the gift they were to wait in Jerusalem for. That gift, we find out in the book of Acts, is the Holy Spirit.
So brothers and sisters, here we are. We’re back in the big room again, back at the normal time again. We’ve launched our Sunday School program, teaching our young ones about our faith. We will break bread after worship with our Presbyterian Women as they begin a new year of programming, mission, and support of the Gospel message. It is a new year, new possibilities lie before us. Are we ready for the challenge?
From our passage in Luke today, we have a message to carry forward our call to evangelize the world.
Repent, seek forgiveness from sins in the name of Jesus Christ. As Amos put it last week, turn away from the evil in life and embrace what is good. The divine power we can promise in that message comes from Jesus, from the Messiah. Proclaim that he suffered and died and was raised again from the dead. John the Baptist preached the first part of this message, Repent! But now the power of Jesus is infused into the message. He was the Messiah, he died for our sins, he was raised to new life to give us new life. The message of repentance is bound to the divine gift.
What does repent mean? It means to give it up. Whatever sin exists in your life you are called on to give it up. You drink? A glass of wine is relaxing. You drink too much? Repent, give it up. Paul says a little wine is good for the stomach. Proverbs says, “Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.” God give us wisdom to see where we are relative to those texts. You think ill of somebody? Somebody who really annoys you? Repent! The command of Jesus is to love our neighbor. The examples are endless.
What we then practice is what we can preach. What is the destructive behavior you see in the life of someone you are about? I am not talking about bashing them over the head like some doomsday prophet, proclaiming “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand?” But how about just being there? Not abandoning them? Being a friend in thick and thin.
The power of repentance is in its divine support. The death and resurrection of Jesus are intimately connected to the call to repentance. How do we know that repentance is for real? Because we have the guarantee of God’s power behind it, the power over life and death itself. Where do we learn about this message? From Holy Scripture. Jesus gave them the message to speak, after opening their minds to understand that this message is across the Old Testament. What he opened for them has been recorded, at least in part, for us in the New Testament.
Let’s come back to it. Who in your life could use a word of hope? Who has a life of sin that needs to be turned around? Who do you know that could use a little piece of what you have in Jesus Christ? Who needs a Lord and Savior because, when they tried to run their own lives, they messed it up completely?
I am assuming of course that we all have seized upon that gift of Jesus for ourselves, that we repent of our own sins, that we have given ourselves to Jesus as Lord and Savior, recognizing that he died and rose for us. We have promises of faith in Christ laid down in Scripture. Have you accepted them? If somebody here hasn’t, well, you have come to the right place. I would be glad to speak to you and pray with you after our service this morning.
Why is this so all fired important? Why am I pounding on the repentance message today? Because we are here to worship the living God. And to worship God requires that we have repented of our sins. Why am I pounding on the repentance message today? Because it is a new program year. Because big and powerful things are going to happen this year.
Next Sunday evening, the Portuguese fellowship we have planned for begins worshipping here in the evenings. In two weeks, we are playing host to the members of the Muslim Center of Middlesex County, Muslims who have trusted us enough to come and share worship with us. Pray hearts may be opened. We are going to drag out that musty, scary word ‘evangelism’. We are going to be the people that Jesus wants us to be and the church Christ leads us to be. Let all God’s people say together: Amen. Let us pray.
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