From Dancing in the Streets to the Road of Grief

We have just traveled with Jesus into Jerusalem as rode into that crowded city on the back of a small donkey. People laid their coats on the street and shouted “hosannas” as he came in with his band of followers.

The joyous mood quickly turned somber as they sat at the table to celebrate the Passover. Jesus took the cup and the bread, blessed them, and then instructed them to take these elements, eat and drink, and to remember him each and every time they did this. The full impact of Jesus’ words didn’t hit them until he came back to them from the grave.

I don’t think any of us here today can really understand the burden Jesus was carrying in his soul as he came into the city and then as he sat at the table with his apostles. All of us have had worries that weighed down upon us but nothing like the suffering and torment he was facing.

Try to imagine what it must have been like for Jesus to know that he was going to be betrayed by one of his chosen twelve. One of those sitting at the table celebrating the Passover with him was going to betray him with a kiss.

I wonder if he knew then just how much suffering and pain he was going to have to endure. If he did know exactly what his body and mind were going to go through it’s even more amazing that he went through clear to the end. Only because he was the Son of God was he able to endure the ridicule and abuse, the whipping and the beating, and the physical and mental torment. He did it all for you and me so that we could be forgiven.

Friends, none of us can go from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday without going through Good Friday. Jesus suffered just as the Prophet said he would. He stood there and took everything because we couldn’t. No way could any human have done what Jesus did for us through the power of the Holy Spirit.

As you walk with Jesus this week reread these chapters from Luke and reflect on what it was exactly that God did for us through Jesus’ sacrifice. And then we will all truly be ready to celebrate together on Easter Sunday.

Thanks be to God for his abundant grace. Amen.

What's God Doing Now?

If you knew that you only had a week to live where would you be and what would you be doing? Not many of us ever think about this; at least until we hear the words spoken loud enough that they get our attention.

In our gospel lesson from John Jesus is at dinner with his close friend Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha. It’s implied that other disciples are there too. So you know the house is bustling with activity. Martha and Mary and maybe some servants are working to get the meal prepared. The men are probably reclining on the floor around a table set up for the meal. We can assume that the house is filled with many different odors, some pleasant and some maybe not so.

What could be better for hungry appetites than the smell of roasting lamb, freshly baked bread, and new bottles of wine? And what could be worse than the body odors of people who had just come in from walking on hot, dusty Galilean roads, dirty feet and perspiring bodies?

And into all this walks Mary with an expensive bottle of fragrant perfume she had been saving, probably for her brother, Lazarus’ burial. She falls to the floor at Jesus’ feet; she deliberately breaks the bottle open and the contents flow all over his feet. The overpowering aroma of the most exotic, precious perfume soon fills the room.

Mary uses her long hair to wipe the oil all over Jesus’ feet. You just know that every eye in the room is focused on Mary and Jesus. Every one is questioning in their minds, “What’s she doing?” We might also have questions. Mine would be, “What’s God doing now!”

You can be sure that none of the people who were there in that room ever forgot what happened. Every time just a whiff of that smell touched their nostrils the memories of that day came flooding back. And they were reminded of the significance of Mary’s actions. As they reflected and remembered they understood a little better what God was doing at that particular moment.

Each of our senses trigger deep seated memories but none is more powerful than our olfactory sense. You guys may not remember the name of the perfume you wife was wearing on your first date or on the day you were married but your nose will never forget. Every time you encounter that scent you’re reminded of day in your life.

You know how it is when you walk into a home and you run square into the smell of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. You’re immediately transported back in time to another time in your life that was especially meaningful to you.

It’s entirely possible to experience the same transformation in worship. It might be the smell of candles, or burning incense, or fresh cut flowers that reminds of a certain worship experience or a special spiritual happening. The sensual memories are so strong that we’re flooded with remembering.

What Mary did with the perfume was considered extravagant. Judas thought it was wasteful. And he probably wasn’t alone in his opinion. But Jesus squelched all of that thinking in the bud when he said, “Leave her alone.”
Jesus knew what God’s plans for him were. He knew his death sentence was imminent so why not let Mary anoint his feet. Jesus knew what God was doing. We, on the other hand just like the disciples, aren’t always as intuitive. We often ask ourselves, “What’s God doing now?” Or we ask, “What’s God going to do now?”

The Prophet reminds us God’s doing a new thing. We’re told not to look back. Don’t think about the old days; they’re over and done with. God is doing a new thing. He has new plans and it’s nothing like he’s done before. So, what’s God doing now?

You know, that’s a really good question. What do you think God is doing now? The session has been reflecting on that question for three or four months now. It’s not always easy to know what God’s up to.

Our Old Testament lessons remind us that God does things way beyond anything we can ever imagine. The wilderness their ancestors lived in for 40 years was going to be transformed with water, rivers flowing through them. Whatever it is God does it’s always a surprise, way beyond our wildest dreams.

Everyday when I wake up and stumble out of bed I wonder, “What’s God going to do today?” Sometimes as the day progresses the question changes to, “What’s He doing now?”

Friends, Mary gave a very extravagant gift to her rabbi and her friend. I wonder what it felt like to give such a precious gift and pour it out on Jesus.

I asked the young folks to think about their most precious possessions now it’s our turn. What are our most precious possessions? What is God planning to do with them if we give them up to Him? Is it possible for us to let go of them and let Him have them?

If we did would we stop asking, “What’s God doing now?” I don’t know. Maybe we’d be filled with awesome wonder and unable to put our experiences into words. It might be that our senses would be better at remembering and knowing what our Creator is up to.

I was reminded as I read these passages that just as Jesus was journeying to the cross and his death so are we moving toward death. Every day brings us closer to that moment. Can we with Paul give it all to Jesus so that we can experience the resurrection? Is it possible for us to give Him our most precious and costly possessions trusting in God’s providence? That was Paul’s plan. Everything else he used to think had value was just rubbish now compared to what Christ offered. He wasn’t looking back. He wanted to be in on whatever God was doing at that moment without question.
The question for us today is, “Are we ready to give it all to Him who died so that we might be free?” Are we ready to join God in whatever he’s doing today, without question?

Our old sinful natures will call our decisions “rubbish” just like the Pharisees said about the things Jesus did, but not our Father. He will take the meager offerings of our lives and transform them into gems that are too precious to put a price to.

What’s God doing now? He doing wondrous, new things that we never imagined were possible. That’s what God’s doing now. And he ready to take our lives and change them too. Can we take the first step and commit our all to Him?

Friends, God loves you and is waiting for you to come to Him. Thanks be to God. Amen.

How Long Will He Wait?

The parable Jesus told about the youngest son who went to his father and asked for his inheritance before his father had died made me wonder, “How long will God wait for us?”

In the parable the father is “God”, the older son is the “religious of Jesus’ day, those who are judging everyone else and thinking they are better”, and the younger son is “everyone who becomes impatient and wants their reward now.” Some days I’m the older son and some days I’m the younger son. Which ever one I am I know that I’m a sinner. I’m not living the way God would have me live. And so I wonder how long will God wait for me to return to him.

There probably aren’t many people who haven’t wished for their inheritance when they were young and they could have used it to buy a house or a car or maybe start a business. But who among us would have had the nerve to go to our father and ask him for it before he died? I couldn’t have.

We all know people who have inherited great wealth in their youth and we have watched as quite a few of them didn’t’ manage their inheritance very well. Some may have lost everything and others may have come very close to losing it all. And we have all probably wondered why. We have probably thought it was ill advised to give such wealth to someone so young and so inexperienced.

We may have seen some like the “prodigal” who made terrible mistakes and realized that fact and were accepted back into the family circle, forgiven. It probably doesn’t happen very often.

All of us have watched these events unfold in the lives of people we know but we don’t often place ourselves in their shoes. The reason we don’t is because we’re not comfortable in someone else’s shoes. We’d like to think it’s because they don’t fit right but it might also be because we don’t want to admit that they fit us way to well.

Friends, we’ve heard this story many, many times before and we always tell ourselves that’s not me. I wouldn’t do that. The truth is every one of us does do that. At one time or another we have been either the younger son who asked for all or we were the older son who griped because our Father forgave someone of their wrongs and we didn’t believe they should have been forgiven. And we more than likely believe that the one asking for forgiveness isn’t truly sincere in their repentance.

Oh, but for the grace of God there goes you and me. In fact we have all been there. We know we have. We just don’t like to admit it. And we are amazed that God has waited this long for us. We can’t believe that he has forgiven us for those terrible things we’ve done. Or maybe we can’t believe that he will forgive us.

The truth is God will wait as long as it takes for us to come to our senses. Jesus is saying in this parable that God is just waiting for us to turn around and start walking back to him. He is listening as we are rehearsing our repentance speech. In fact he may be assisting us in our choice of words.

How long will God wait for us sinners to come back and repent? He will wait forever or at least until Jesus returns again.

The question we need to ask ourselves is, “How long are we going to wait until we come to him with our laundry list of sins and beg him to take us back?” How long are we going to wait before we admit that we have squandered the gifts he gave us?

How long will God wait? He’ll wait forever. How long will we wait? Only we can answer that question.

Friends, God loves his children. He has given us our inheritance. Even if we haven’t used it wisely God will forgive us and grant us a reprieve. He will take us back. It will be as if we never left.

Where are you today? Are you running away, running back rehearsing your speech, or griping at how God has forgiven someone else and you’re thinking they don’t’ deserve it? Ask yourself, “How long will God wait for me?”

If you’re at that point where you know where you’re at then why wait. Come to him today and run into his arms. He’s still waiting for you.

God loves you and always will. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Why?

Why not cut the fig tree down? It hasn’t produced any fruit for three years. How long should we wait anyhow? How much more time should we put into that tree and why?

What if, instead of a fig tree, it was me they were asking about, or you? Why not cut us down? Have we produced anything for the kingdom in a long time? How long does God have to wait? How much more time does God need to give us?

I read a blog this week that put it this way—Jesus said, “No!” What if we believed that every bad thing that ever happened to anyone was because they had done something wrong and God was punishing them? What if we said that what happened to them happened because they deserved it? What if we said that about those who live in Haiti or Chile, or Darfur, or Sudan? Would we dare speak those words out loud? What would God say then? What would God’s answer be? Pastor Roddy Hamilton said, “God would weep.”

Why do we think that way? What makes us think that our God would do that? The God I read about, the God I worship is a God who loves and cares for all his children. If God did punish us that way who would be left here to worship him on the Sabbath? I wouldn’t be here, I know that for certain.

But, and Jesus did put a but in there, if you and I don’t change, if we don’t repent of our sinful ways and thinking, then God will in fact cut us down and burn us up. If we keep on neglecting our neighbors who can’t pay their rent or clean their sidewalks or buy their groceries then our lives may lead to only one place and that’s death, not life. That sounds pretty harsh but that’s what Jesus is saying. Oh, he may have been speaking to those who were in power in his day but he was also talking to his disciples, and to us, and warning all of the dangers of thinking more highly of themselves than others. Friends, there, but for the grace of God, goes you and me.

I believe today’s lesson for all of us is really about patience. We know God is patient with us but have we learned to be patient with our neighbors? We’re none of us probably as patient as we should be.

Maybe that rose bush in my flower bed just needs a little more manure and a little more time. Maybe you and I need a little more “manure” and a little more time too.

The next time you ask yourself “why” don’t they do this or “why” didn’t they do that remember the fig tree and Jesus words after the parable. Remember Paul’s words to the Romans, There is no difference between us and them for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (3:23).

Friends, thanks be to God for his patient grace. Amen.

Stay

What do you do when you’re worried about the reliability of your car? You probably go looking for something to replace it. What do you do when you realize that your house is no longer ergonomically correct for you (you can’t navigate the stairs like you used to)? You go looking for a one story house with wider doors to accommodate a walker or a wheel chair. You don’t stay with the old car or the old house.

What do people do when they feel like their church isn’t meeting their needs? What do we do when we begin to feel like God is too distant from us? What do we do when worship doesn’t seem to meet our needs anymore? What do we do when our faith begins to wane? Do we stay or do we begin a search for something that will fill the void?

Abram began to wonder what was going to happen with his wealth if he died. He didn’t have any heirs so he was concerned that his chief administrator would be the one who would inherit his sheep and goats and cattle. And that’s not what he wanted. God had promised him and Sarai a huge family but they were getting on in years and it just didn’t seem likely that was going to happen. So did Abram stay with his God or did he go to find another? He stayed.

That’s not to say he didn’t have questions for God but he did have believe in God and that was enough. So he stayed.

The psalmist wanted nothing more than to be with God, to be in his house where it was quiet where he could contemplate God where he could get away from the noise of the world. He wanted to be sure that God could hear his prayers so he reminded him that he was shouting at the top of his lungs praying that God would hear his prayers and not hide himself from him. Even then he wanted nothing more than to be with God. He was going to stay with him even when all those around him doubted that he was real or that he could or would deliver on his promises. In fact he said that we should, “Stay with GOD! Take heart. Don't quit.”

Paul says about the same thing in his letter to the people of Philippi, “...keep focused on that goal… Now that we're on the right track, let's stay on it… Stick with me, friends. Keep track of those you see running this same course, headed for this same goal… Don't waver. Stay on track, steady in God.” Even when things don’t seem to be what we wished they were Paul reminds us who we should be looking to as an example, who we should keep our focus on, “the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He'll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him.” Paul tells us we should stay.

Notice friends the key word for us today is “stay.” Stay the course, stay with God, and stay focused. Don’t quit. Take heart. Believe!

When Jesus was warned by the Pharisees not to go to Jerusalem, they didn’t really care about his safety they just didn’t want him teaching there and causing people to question them, he was lamenting the fact that the city of Jerusalem, the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people, hadn’t stayed the course hadn’t listened to those whom God sent to warn them. In fact they abused, mistreated, and killed God’s prophets. And because of their actions God wasn’t going to stay with them, “…until the day you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of God.'"

As I said the key word that came to me this week was stay. Do we stay or do we go? You may be wondering “stay where” or “go where?” Friends it’s up to each one of us to answer these questions as they relate to each of us personally. Do we stay in this church? Do we continue to worship God? Or, do we find another church or another cause, or another God? Do we stay or do we go? Either way we are required to make a decision.

Jesus prayed his lament over the city of Jerusalem because they had made the choice not to stay. And so he said God was going to come back until they remembered and said the words from Psalm 118:26, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

God’s people had strayed away from him. They neglected to keep his commandments to love one another, to care for the poor and the widowed, and to care for the foreigner in their midst. Even the religious leaders of the day weren’t focused on God but more on what they could get financially or politically. They were more intent on getting the things the world offered than on what God had for them. They weren’t staying with God, so God wasn’t going to stay with them.

Oh, he never left them. In fact he was preparing to make the ultimate sacrifice just for them. He was going to die for them. But they couldn’t see that. Their ears were deaf, their eyes were blind, and their hearts were hardened. But Jesus was staying the course. He was continuing his journey toward Jerusalem. He stayed because he loved them.

The question for all of us today is are we staying or are we going? Is our faith as strong as Abram’s even when we are filled with dread? Will we stay? Even when everyone around us is going in different directions are we going to keep our focus on Jesus? Are we going to stay with him? Are we going to keep trying to live as God’s servants?

Stay or go that’s the question. Only you know how you will answer. God is counting on you. He hasn’t given up on you. He wants you to stay. He made the ultimate sacrifice for you. Please stay.

Thanks be to God for his saving grace. Amen.