Mark 11:1-11 tells the story of Jesus' entry into the holy city of Jerusalem. Most of the text, however, relates to the arrangements for this hugely political event. 7 verses are spent on arranging the right transportation (a colt) in to the city while 4 deal with his entry.
It is made clear that Jesus planned the entire occasion advance. He has arranged for the colt, and even the signals for the disciples to use with those who were watching the colt. So Jesus did this, knowing exactly what he was doing.
And what did he do? He rode into the most important city of his day, on a colt.
The surprising juxtaposition of humility, represented by the colt, and power, represented by the shouts of the people, dominate this text. Jesus wore no crowns or jewels, and he did not enter this holy city with an entourage of supporters. He met those who supported him there as they shouted "Hosanna, Hosanna!"
Jesus began his journey into the holy city at the Mount of Olives, the location where many thought the final battle for Jerusalem's liberation would begin. But he did not make provisions for battle, but for a journey into the city; he did not order the weapons of war, but a colt for riding on.
If we want to approach something holy, we better do it intentionally, and humbly. To approach God must be to embrace humility. That is where our abilities come from; that is how we can follow Jesus; that is what means to be a child of God.
The entry into Jerusalem may be seen as a sort of political jest in which Jesus denies domination and embraces humility. He is not going there, after all, to be exalted among the powerful, but to die on a cross for sinners...
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Monday, March 16, 2015
3/22/15---We're on a Journey...With a Promise
So....we are smack dab in our journey of Lent together. Right now, you may be feeling the difficulty that this season can bring. You may be feeling accomplished because you have kept your goals, and are growing in your commitment to what God has led you to do for these 40 days. Perhaps you are feeling like you can't keep up with the promise you made to God, or you are struggling to keep it.
Wherever you are, let the words of Jeremiah 31:33 comfort you and bring you hope:
"I will put my Instructions within them and engrave them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people."
God has made us this promise. And it's a big one. God has promised to be our God, and to have us as the people of God. We are God's, and God is ours.
Notice the first part of the verse, too. God's instructions are to be engraved on our hearts, as opposed to stone tablets, which are subject to deterioration. God is putting God's instructions within us, because we are permanent. We have eternal life if we are truly the people of God, so these instructions are put in a place that lives on. These instructions are put in a place where they have life. They are put within us.
But if we wish to be the people of God and inherit eternal life, we must lose our current, temporary life:
Those who love their lives will lose them, and those who hate their lives in this world will keep them forever.
John 12:25 reminds us that we have a choice to make. "Hate," here, does not mean that we are not grateful for what we have in this world. This is a question about what we will follow after. Will we pursue recognition, congratulations, money, popularity, favor, and comfort? Or will we pursue Jesus? Will we pursue the way that God has illuminated for us in Jesus? Are we willing to lose our life to save it?
God's ways are in our hearts. Christ showed us the way. The Holy Spirit guides, protects, and can inspire us to follow it. Will we follow the promise?
Wherever you are, let the words of Jeremiah 31:33 comfort you and bring you hope:
"I will put my Instructions within them and engrave them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people."
God has made us this promise. And it's a big one. God has promised to be our God, and to have us as the people of God. We are God's, and God is ours.
Notice the first part of the verse, too. God's instructions are to be engraved on our hearts, as opposed to stone tablets, which are subject to deterioration. God is putting God's instructions within us, because we are permanent. We have eternal life if we are truly the people of God, so these instructions are put in a place that lives on. These instructions are put in a place where they have life. They are put within us.
But if we wish to be the people of God and inherit eternal life, we must lose our current, temporary life:
Those who love their lives will lose them, and those who hate their lives in this world will keep them forever.
John 12:25 reminds us that we have a choice to make. "Hate," here, does not mean that we are not grateful for what we have in this world. This is a question about what we will follow after. Will we pursue recognition, congratulations, money, popularity, favor, and comfort? Or will we pursue Jesus? Will we pursue the way that God has illuminated for us in Jesus? Are we willing to lose our life to save it?
God's ways are in our hearts. Christ showed us the way. The Holy Spirit guides, protects, and can inspire us to follow it. Will we follow the promise?
Monday, March 9, 2015
3/15/15----We're on a Journey...By Grace
The following pieces of Scripture are probably familiar:
Ephesians 2:8-10
You are saved by God’s grace because of your faith. This salvation is God’s gift. It’s not something you possessed. It’s not something you did that you can be proud of. Instead, we are God’s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives.
John 3:16-17
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. God didn't send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
The connection between these passages is that this life we have, this journey we're on, the salvation offered us by God through Jesus Christ, is all a gift. It's all grace.
What would it look like if we treated everything we have, every opportunity we have, every place we go, every person we meet...as a gift for us from God?
In John 3, we see Nicodemus wanting Jesus to give him a sign in order to provide him with faith (don't we do this???). Jesus responds to him, a Pharisee, that he must be born again. This confuses Nicodemus, and so Jesus explains what that means to him. Faith is not easy, folks, but it provides a way for us to be transformed by the grace of God into people of God. It is not based on signs, but a relationship with God that transforms us.
Paul explains to the church in Ephesus that this faith, by God's grace, actually has the power to save you. A true faith that changes the way we live, saves us. In giving we shall receive eternal life; by faith we may always have that relationship with God.
See you on Sunday!
Monday, March 2, 2015
3/8/15---We're on a Journey...Committed to God
This Sunday's Scriptures include the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20: 1-17) and Jesus in the temple (John 2: 13-22) where he drives the money changers out and turned the tables.
Both of these texts make me feel a bit queasy. Do I follow all of these commandments? Am I more like the money changers? Am I truly committed to God's ways?
I know that these texts invite me to a deep relationship to God and those around me. The texts place the ways and will of God over and above the world's ways. We are given direction to be in the world but not of the world; to live differently...
...but the world's ways are everywhere, difficult to overcome. The Ten Commandments are given to a nation who needed specific direction on their journey to becoming people of God, and they are given to us for the same reason. Jesus' actions in the Temple make it plain to us that the world will try and taint God's holy place; God' world.
The Ten Commandments were given so that the Israelites may become people of God, who are committed to God's ways over and above the world's ways. Jesus' actions in the temple signal a new age: one where the world's ways are denounced and literally overturned, in favor of God's new reign. The temple is replaced by the temple of Jesus' body, which is a foreshadowing of his death and resurrection and its embodiment in the celebration of Holy Communion.
Lent calls for a time of repentance. We are called to turn back to God, who called the Israelites and us to a covenant relationship with God and each other. God is no longer worshiped in one central location, the temple, but everywhere, through Christ's dwelling in each of us.
This is why things change in the church: because the church is always being led by a God who never stands still. This is comforting to me, as I embrace changes in my own life. This comforts me, who will probably see things change in church, in our denomination, and in our Church universal a time or two.
Although these texts make me queasy, they ultimately point me to a God who is committed to me, to the church, to the Church, and to you. God gave us ways to commit to God, through law, through Christ, and through Church. God keeps up the promises God made and is making to us. But that doesn't include standing still.
See you Sunday!
Both of these texts make me feel a bit queasy. Do I follow all of these commandments? Am I more like the money changers? Am I truly committed to God's ways?
I know that these texts invite me to a deep relationship to God and those around me. The texts place the ways and will of God over and above the world's ways. We are given direction to be in the world but not of the world; to live differently...
...but the world's ways are everywhere, difficult to overcome. The Ten Commandments are given to a nation who needed specific direction on their journey to becoming people of God, and they are given to us for the same reason. Jesus' actions in the Temple make it plain to us that the world will try and taint God's holy place; God' world.
The Ten Commandments were given so that the Israelites may become people of God, who are committed to God's ways over and above the world's ways. Jesus' actions in the temple signal a new age: one where the world's ways are denounced and literally overturned, in favor of God's new reign. The temple is replaced by the temple of Jesus' body, which is a foreshadowing of his death and resurrection and its embodiment in the celebration of Holy Communion.
Lent calls for a time of repentance. We are called to turn back to God, who called the Israelites and us to a covenant relationship with God and each other. God is no longer worshiped in one central location, the temple, but everywhere, through Christ's dwelling in each of us.
This is why things change in the church: because the church is always being led by a God who never stands still. This is comforting to me, as I embrace changes in my own life. This comforts me, who will probably see things change in church, in our denomination, and in our Church universal a time or two.
Although these texts make me queasy, they ultimately point me to a God who is committed to me, to the church, to the Church, and to you. God gave us ways to commit to God, through law, through Christ, and through Church. God keeps up the promises God made and is making to us. But that doesn't include standing still.
See you Sunday!
Monday, February 23, 2015
3/1/15---We're on a Journey...Following Christ
This past Sunday I asked the congregation to reflect on 3 questions in light of Mark 1:15:
What is God's Kingdom?
What is Repentance?
What is the good news?
These questions are very layered; they are surrounded by a multitude of other questions, if you really begin to reflect and dive deep into them.
Understanding each of these things is very difficult, in part because we all have different experiences, different backgrounds, different stories, and different journeys.
A few of the most powerful questions underlying these, for me, are "how do I know?" and "what does it mean that I know?" I believe that any knowledge of what these terms mean come directly from God. So we praise God and ask God for more. I believe that because God has shown us these things, that they have power. Repentance, for example, is powerful because it returns us to God.
So, I challenge you to reflect on these terms, how God has shown you what they mean, and what difference it makes for you.
Lent is a season that begs the question: "what does it mean to be a Christian?"
The easy answer to this question is "someone who follows Jesus." We have pondered this before; we know that following Jesus entails the willingness to take up our crosses.
During the 40 days spent in the wilderness, Jesus most likely thought about what it meant to be Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. Oddly enough, he knew that it would entail shame and suffering.
So, this week I ask the question: "What does it mean for Jesus to be Messiah (the anointed savior?" and "What does it mean to be a faithful disciple of Jesus (a Christian)?"
See you Sunday!
What is God's Kingdom?
What is Repentance?
What is the good news?
These questions are very layered; they are surrounded by a multitude of other questions, if you really begin to reflect and dive deep into them.
Understanding each of these things is very difficult, in part because we all have different experiences, different backgrounds, different stories, and different journeys.
A few of the most powerful questions underlying these, for me, are "how do I know?" and "what does it mean that I know?" I believe that any knowledge of what these terms mean come directly from God. So we praise God and ask God for more. I believe that because God has shown us these things, that they have power. Repentance, for example, is powerful because it returns us to God.
So, I challenge you to reflect on these terms, how God has shown you what they mean, and what difference it makes for you.
Lent is a season that begs the question: "what does it mean to be a Christian?"
The easy answer to this question is "someone who follows Jesus." We have pondered this before; we know that following Jesus entails the willingness to take up our crosses.
During the 40 days spent in the wilderness, Jesus most likely thought about what it meant to be Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. Oddly enough, he knew that it would entail shame and suffering.
So, this week I ask the question: "What does it mean for Jesus to be Messiah (the anointed savior?" and "What does it mean to be a faithful disciple of Jesus (a Christian)?"
See you Sunday!
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
2/15/15---Love God: Listen to God
Growing up, I did not learn so quickly that listening to someone often meant putting into practice what they said. "Clean your room" really meant keep your clean; don't just wait until I tell you to do it. "Be nice to your brother" meant to get along with him, share with him, care about him. "Turn the TV down" meant pay attention to how what you are doing might affect others.
Listening goes beyond hearing. Listening is embracing what someone is telling you, allowing their words to shape you as well as inform you. At the mountain top where some disciples saw Jesus in a new and bright way (Jesus' transfiguration), God's voice speaks to them saying, “This is my Son, whom I dearly love. Listen to him!”And Jesus told them that he would rise from the dead, but first "suffer many things and be rejected."
Jesus was not just telling them what would happen to him. He was not simply informing them, he was telling them what it meant to be a disciple. Following Christ, indeed, is more than listening to him for information. It is more than knowing what Jesus did, it is embracing what Jesus did so that it may transform us and make us new.
For the disciples, this was a theophany: a visible manifestation of God. It occurred on a mountain top, thus, Christians have coined the phrase "mountaintop experience." But the disciples did not stay on that mountain, they had to travel back down to the valley, to the reality of human life. So did Jesus, who knew that he must face his impending rejection unto death. Jesus travels with us down into the valley, always. He will never leave us. What a Christ to listen to and follow.
See you Sunday!
Listening goes beyond hearing. Listening is embracing what someone is telling you, allowing their words to shape you as well as inform you. At the mountain top where some disciples saw Jesus in a new and bright way (Jesus' transfiguration), God's voice speaks to them saying, “This is my Son, whom I dearly love. Listen to him!”And Jesus told them that he would rise from the dead, but first "suffer many things and be rejected."
Jesus was not just telling them what would happen to him. He was not simply informing them, he was telling them what it meant to be a disciple. Following Christ, indeed, is more than listening to him for information. It is more than knowing what Jesus did, it is embracing what Jesus did so that it may transform us and make us new.
For the disciples, this was a theophany: a visible manifestation of God. It occurred on a mountain top, thus, Christians have coined the phrase "mountaintop experience." But the disciples did not stay on that mountain, they had to travel back down to the valley, to the reality of human life. So did Jesus, who knew that he must face his impending rejection unto death. Jesus travels with us down into the valley, always. He will never leave us. What a Christ to listen to and follow.
See you Sunday!
Monday, February 2, 2015
2/8/15----Love God: Know and Hear God
The connection between science and faith is fascinating. There are scientists, people who study the depths of the universe and the intricacies of this world, who conclude that there is a God who makes this all possible. There must be a God who sets all in motion. It is a miracle that there is life on this planet, and it is no coincidence. The fact their is enough sun light, enough water, enough land, and the right air all is a miracle.
Isaiah 40: 21-31 imagines knowing the God that sets things in motion. "It is He who sits above the earth;" "lift up your eyes and see: who created these?" "have you not known? have you not heard? the Lord is the everlasting God." And this is the same God who "gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless."
Even some of the brightest scientists of our day cannot explain how life on earth is possible without God. This same God that makes life possible, that molds the universe, is the Lord of you and I.
We are so insignificant when you really think about how much God is the Lord over. God has created so much; we are mere specs on God's canvas. But we are so significant that God loves, lives in us, and sent Christ to die for us.
As we approach Lent, the season in which we zoom in on Jesus' teaching and healing ministry which led to his death and resurrection, I challenge us to see, know, and hear God in the world. May we see that God is all around us, may we hear the good news of God, and know that God has made a way for us.
See you Sunday!
Isaiah 40: 21-31 imagines knowing the God that sets things in motion. "It is He who sits above the earth;" "lift up your eyes and see: who created these?" "have you not known? have you not heard? the Lord is the everlasting God." And this is the same God who "gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless."
Even some of the brightest scientists of our day cannot explain how life on earth is possible without God. This same God that makes life possible, that molds the universe, is the Lord of you and I.
We are so insignificant when you really think about how much God is the Lord over. God has created so much; we are mere specs on God's canvas. But we are so significant that God loves, lives in us, and sent Christ to die for us.
As we approach Lent, the season in which we zoom in on Jesus' teaching and healing ministry which led to his death and resurrection, I challenge us to see, know, and hear God in the world. May we see that God is all around us, may we hear the good news of God, and know that God has made a way for us.
See you Sunday!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)