I will not leave you orphaned......

John 14.15-21  NRSV   courtesy of http://www.biblestudytools.com/

15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. 18 "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them."

This passage is helpful as we prepare for On the Road with Jesus...but I'll get to that at the end.

First some details.  The Gospel of John does not have a "Last Supper" scene.  That is, there is no institution of communion as there is in the synoptic gospels.  Rather, John gives us a powerful scene of Jesus bending down to wash the feet of his disciples.  From this starting point, Jesus then holds a long 'conversation' with the disciples as he prepares them for his imminent death.

This Sunday's gospel lesson is a part of that conversation.  (I wrote 'conversation' because Jesus does almost all the talking!) 

John gives us single sentences from which large lessons can be learned.  "If you love me, you will keep my commandments"  Does this return us to a precise keeping of Torah law?  Is Jesus talking about the much more comprehensive law of love:  love God, love your neighbor?  When we fail, which we will certainly do, does that mean we love Jesus less?  less perfectly? 

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

These verses talk about the gift of the Holy Spirit and the power and purpose of the Spirit in this world and therefore in our lives.  First we are comforted to know that although Jesus will no longer be seen in the flesh, the Spirit/ Advocate will always/forever be with us.  But the task here goes beyond comfort because this Spirit is the spirit of Truth - and although the scripture tells us 'you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free' (here Jesus was speaking of himself as Truth)  but we all know that the truth usually makes us angry/embarrased/hurt first before it sets us free.

Jesus points to this Truth Spirit as a wonderful gift - and if we think about how Truth keeps us honest and on the right track we too can see it as a gift.  Furthermore, the Spirit is the Spirit of the living Jesus moving among, through and with us today.

18 "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

I will not leave you orphaned....because I live, you also will live.  These are powerful words that can not only bring us comfort, but also provide a purpose and focus to our every day.  We are not alone, and life is an abundant gift that Jesus has set aside for us.  This is the Gospel - the good news of Jesus Christ - in a simple sentence.  If living with Jesus is where we want to be, then we will allow Jesus to live in us....all of this leads to following the commandment of love.

Thinking about On the Road with Jesus....what if we take that simple message to those we are serving?  I will not leave you orphaned...because I live, you also will live.  Here I am, the one Jesus sent to be your companion, to be sure you are not alone, to help you cling to Jesus' promises of life.

Sounds a lot more important than clipping hedges, sewing dresses, cleaning out a garage.  Yet this is the way we live out these verses for the sake of others.

Have a great day!

"I can see you are a religious people..."

Acts 17.22-31    NRSV     courtesy of http://www.biblestudytools.com/
22 Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, "Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. 23 For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, "To an unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. 26 From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, 27 so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. 28 For "In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "For we too are his offspring.' 29 Since we are God's offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. 30 While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."

Paul is clearly the kind of fellow that can take any situation and make a sermon out of it!  And that is not necessarily an insult!  An effective preacher is able to stand in the middle of your context - in this case, in the middle of the Areopagus - and find a connection between your life and the message of Jesus. 

Not because the preacher is so clever, but because the very message of an incarnate god: Jesus (incarnate meaning 'having flesh') is that God is able to be present in any situation.  Furthermore, having made himself present, Jesus would have something to say to this and any people about their relationship with the creator and redeeming God.

Even to the Greeks who had more gods than they had names for them.  That isn't exactly true, I"m sure they could have thought up a name.  The reason 'an unknown god' has its own statue is rooted in the Greek desire to ensure that they haven't caused insult to a god by overlooking it.  Gods were not particularly happy, friendly, loving spirits according to Greek understanding.  The battles and jealousies of the gods led to most of the heartbreak and turmoil on earth according to their beliefs.  A reasonable person would keep her/his head down so that the gods would not take notice of them....and make their lives even more miserable.

Some starting point for a preacher!  Our picture and understanding of God - YHWH - Jesus' heavenly Father - is quite different.  Where the Greeks might begin with vindictive, jealous, unpredictable the believers in YHWH would start with creative, powerful, and faithful.  Remember the core relationship between God and Israel:  You will be my people and I will be your God.  And although we can't ignore the potential threat in those words, we also recognize the powerful words of belonging and cherishing.

My point for today:  where you begin when you start talking about 'god' has a lot to do with where you end up!  Have you ever had a conversation with someone whose entire emphasis is on God's judgment and demands of the people?  It is very hard to paint any kind of picture about a loving, sacrificial god under those circumstances.

Paul uses his opportunity to talk about God who created all and in whom we 'can live and have our being' (a probable quote from a Greek poem known at the time).  So put away all your ivory, silver and gold.  This God is a god of life, given as a gift and not to be shaped or manipulated by human hands.  The life force of this God is so powerful, it even raised Jesus from the dead. 

And we are God's offspring!  We are family to this God. 

Never once does Paul denigrate their beliefs - he simply expands them beyond what they knew to show them what they hadn't discovered yet.  That sounds like a pretty good sermon to me!

Now tomorrow's question is:  what are the gods we have lined up along our Aeropagus, taking the place of the one, true God?    Peace.

Do not let your hearts be troubled

  John 14. 1-14        NIV

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going."

Jesus the Way to the Father

5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" 6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." 8 Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." 9 Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10 Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.


"Do not let your hearts be troubled....."   This text is frequently used at funerals, and we can understand why.  What other occasion causes such turmoil within us as the moment when we say final goodbyes to a beloved? 

Let's look at that word:  troubled.  Do not let your hearts be......Stirred up?  Crushed?  Anxious? 
In the gospel story, this passage comes before Jesus has entered Jerusalem.  He has just washed the disciples' feet (13.1) and then told his disciples that he will be betrayed (13.21) and that Peter will deny knowing him (13.36).   Opening with 'Do not let your hearts be troubled...." now makes perfect sense.

Because they were troubled.  Who wouldn't be?  Knowing what will happen in the future is rarely a reassuring experience because all our lives have great highs and great lows.  To know the future ahead of time is to take on the burden of those great sorrows before their time.  This is what is happening to the disciples; their grief is already opening up for them.  But a troubled heart can be a weak heart, a lost heart, a heart open to the whispers of other leaders.

So Jesus also gives them a picture of what grace lies in wait for them:  "In my Father's house there are many dwelling places."  Jesus reassures the disciples that there is plenty of room in his Father's tent to receive each and every one of them.  Think about the comfort that comes when a parent reassures a departing college student:  don't worry, there will always be a place here for you.  (That comfort disappears when the student realizes that 'their' room has now become the library or such!)

Jesus goes beyond this:  "If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you,  I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also."  He is saying, 'It's you and me.   BFF."

None of this eliminates the truth of danger and sorrow and suffering that will come - for Jesus and for the disciples.  Jesus' promise of a heavenly home does not erase the reality of living in this world in this time.  It gives us, however, a bigger picture and the larger meaning of love that carries beyond the grave.

"And you know the way."  I often think Jesus expected too much of the disciples; they didn't know the way.  They often had no idea what Jesus was talking about - and Thomas, in his boldness, says just that,  "Lord we don't know where you are going, how can we know the way?"  I have a warm place in my heart for Thomas - every teacher needs a Thomas to keep us all honest and on the right track. 

Thomas is clearly eager to know, but confused and willing to say so.  Too often in today's church, folks are simply unwilling to admit that they are in the dark.  Most pastors will tell you that folks will say they want to study the Bible but no one will come to a Bible class because they don't know enough to begin with!  It's the ultimate Catch 22. 

Not Thomas.  He's right up front (and on other occasions within John as well).  We don't know the way.  Jesus says, "I am the way."

Jesus is our divine GPS.  Follow Jesus and know God.  Now and forever.  It won't eliminate suffering or the moment of death, but it does open to us a vista of God's glory.  Follow Jesus.  So simple, yet so difficult. 

But at least we got some directions.  In combination with the Peter text on holy living, we now have a glimpse of the life of faith.

You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.....

1 Peter 2.4-10   NRSV       courtesy of http://www.biblestudytools/. com

The Living Stone and a Chosen People

4 As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him-- 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone, " 8 and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message--which is also what they were destined for. 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

As rare as it is, I expect to be preaching on the1 Peter text this Sunday, May 22nd.  There is something powerful about these words of Peter

 "9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. "

Peter is writing to believers who are under persecution.  Of course, most of the believers were under persecution during the years that our scriptures were written, but it is too easy to forget this very important context.  There is an enormous difference between living in comfort and relative safety (as we do in America) and living at a time when your beliefs could land you in front of a judge who had little to restrain his response. Believing was very much a life and death situation for these people.

And therefore, what they needed to hear was a word about the power of God and the everlasting love of God.  As any good preacher would do, Peter looks at their sorrows and brokenness, their fear and confusion and speaks a work that will help them cling to Jesus and give purpose to their lives.  Peter calls them to live holy lives as they await Jesus' return.

Perhaps we are too distant from the original message to fully comprehend the expectation of Jesus' imminent return and the confusion that must have been present when persecution rained down on believers' heads.  Certainly we face difficulties, but not the constant threat of discovery and imprisonment for professing our beliefs.  Our context is very different.

But Peter's words regarding holy living are critical to us as well.  In America we face the hostility of tolerance, apathy, and hedonism.  Instead of people who are expending all their energy to simply keep alive, we encounter folks who expend all their energy trying to make their lives mean something more than just today's events.  We live among people who equate sacrifice, generosity, simply living, reconciliation and forgiveness as the marks of fanatics.  So it becomes easy for us to attempt to blend in with our neighbors by blurring the edges of who we are.

Which brings me back to Peter's wonderful words, based on promises that date back to Moses,  'you are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people.'  This is who we are and what we are called to do and be.  We are not to use these words to exclude those we have deemed 'other' for God will call whomever God wills into this 'people.'  We are to use these words to guide our living.

You may have just read a synopsis of Sunday's sermon, but such powerful words can always be repeated. 
Have a blessed day.

I know my own....my own know me

Sorry for the week of silence.  Certainly not because there was little to say about the lovely texts for last week which is known as Good Shepherd Sunday.  If you are familiar with the John 10 text, it is easy to understand how this Sunday got its name.

I'll begin this week with a quick re-cap of Sunday, May 15's lesson and message, and then I'll add some info on the coming lessons later.

Jesus uses two metaphors to describe his relationship with his disciples.  At first he is the shepherd and in the second (starting at verse 7) he is the gate to the sheephold.

Unlike cattle, sheep are not branded, and so it is important that a shepherd be able to recognize his sheep whenever flocks from different owners are combined, like in a communal sheephold.  Picture several shepherds working out in the hills.  They create a sheephold out of thorn bushes which will keep the sheep in and the predators out (most of the time).  At night, all the sheep can lay down in safety and comfort and then in the morning, the Shepherd opens the gate and calls for his sheep.  the sheep know his voice and follow.  They will not follow a strange voice.

This is such an intimate picture of knowing and responding to one another.  And the purpose of this intimate relationship is so that the sheep may know life - life abundant.  At first, the sheep stay within the comfort of the sheepfold, resting in its safety.  However, they cannot stay there indefinitely.  They will thirst and eventually eat all the available grass.  The sheep must leave the comfort zone to follow the shepherd or their comfort zone will become a death trap.

It takes confidence to step out of that safety zone - confidence in the person of the shepherd and the intentions of the shepherd.  The word confidence means 'with faith'.  One needs to move with faith in the shepherd so he  can lead you to a place of green pasture and still water to drink. 

Yet in the Easter season, Jesus calls us to move beyond blind following to a place of boldness - where we are confident that the shepherd is near by even when we cannot see him.  We are are tune our ears to his voice so that when all the storms are raging in our lives, we have the power of the shepherd's voice sustaining us.  We are bold in our witness to this shepherd, and the shepherd's love makes us bold in our lives.

That's a re-cap of the sermon.  Tomorrow, we'll look at the next Sunday's text, John 14.
Peace