Love in Action is Evangelism

Revelation 21: 1-6
John 13: 31-35

How important is it to love each other? In the Gospel of John it is one of Jesus’ last commandments to his disciples. We are his disciples; therefore it is Jesus’ command to us. We have been exploring this theme quite a bit in the last couple weeks and last week I mentioned that how we show love is through our actions. Today we will talk about how love in action spreads the Gospel message without us even trying to convert people. How we spread the Gospel and share Jesus Christ is through loving the unlovable. We remind people that every single person is important to God no matter if we like them or not. Our actions are so very important.

It is said that 80% of what we say to people is conveyed through our body language. Our words are only 20% of what we tell people about ourselves and how we feel about them. You can tell someone you like them, but if you never go near them then it tells that person you don’t like them, and that is what they remember. When we pray for people, it is not just enough to mention praying, the image of a bowed head is a powerful one; holding their hands and saying the person’s name during your prayer lets them know that they are important to you and to God.

In the UCC daily devotions I have emailed to me, one of the writers told a story of standing in line with a man and while waiting, they began to talk to each other. She said she was surprised at how personal they got and by the end of the conversation she felt really close to a total stranger because of what they had shared. In the midst of that intimate moment, she impulsively told the man, “I’ll pray for you” and watched as he recoiled. He quickly tried to recover, but she could tell he had been dismayed by her words.

As she walked out of the store, she wondered if she should not have said that to him, considering from the turban on his head, and his reaction to her words she presumed he was not Christian. Her intention had been a good one; she wanted the man to know she wouldn’t forget him or what they had shared unexpectedly in the store that day. However, Christians have received a bad rap in some cultures and other religions. When we say things like, “I’ll pray for you” they think we are saying that so they will be converted from their religion to ours. We forget that every person is created by God, that every person deserves prayer not because they are or are not Christians, but because every person needs to be blessed by the Holy Spirit.

As this woman was wondering these things, all of a sudden the man came up to her, grabbed her hands and said, “Thank you for praying for me.” His first reaction had been horror because he thought she was trying to convert him, but her actions in the line told him she was not that way, and on second thought, he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. That is a powerful testament about how we act tells a person more about our Christian ways than what we say.

Jesus wants us to love people because everyone deserves respect, but the way we treat others is also a way to show them Jesus Christ. Jesus is the one that does the converting to Christianity. We don’t need to do anything but truly care about others. When people know you care, they are more willing to listen to you and your views. Through love we are able to break down the barriers such as stereotypes and misinformation about different cultures and different people.

I have a friend who whenever we are in the city, she refuses to play her country music loudly when going by a black neighborhood. She thinks it will offend all the black people because everyone knows that black people only listen to hip hop and gospel music. Except that is not true at all. My family thinks that living in the city means there are crimes happening on every street and the chance of getting shot is pretty good because everyone is a criminal there. It’s not true. I have friends from the city that think anyone who drives a truck, wears plaid, and is from the country is a stupid hillbilly. It’s not true. Some of the smartest people I’ve ever known didn’t graduate high school.

Our uneducated ideas about people are the biggest stumbling block in learning to love them. It is the biggest challenge we face in helping to spread Christianity to our neighbors and those who have not heard of Jesus Christ. Our inability to accept we may be wrong about our misconceptions prevents us from creating a safe place to talk about what we believe and why we believe it.

There was a young boy from Kitau who went to work for a nice Christian lady. After three months, he asked her for a letter of recommendation to go work for a Muslim man. The woman wanted the boy to stay and so she offered him more money, but he said that was not the reason he was leaving. He had spent three months with her learning how a Christian lives and now he wanted to spend three months seeing how a Muslim lives. Depending on what he saw, was how he was going to decide whether to be a Christian or a Muslim. The woman wrote later, “I can remember thinking I wish he had told me that had been his purpose from the beginning.”

Why do you think she thought that? With someone basing their religious choice on how she behaved, all of a sudden, it made her have regrets about how she had spent those three months. I think if we are all honest, we would have thought the same thing because the truth is that we do not often live like we are Christians. We do not always act with kindness; we do not always have patience and humility. We do not always show compassion and empathy for one another.

However, every person you meet looks to you to show them what it means to be a Christian. What are you telling them without even being aware of it? Take a moment to think about some of the things you said and did this week. If that young boy had been in your home – would he have become a Christian or would he have become a Muslim?

It’s something to think about that may help us to be more aware of how much our actions affect other people. What are you witnessing to when you say you are a Christian? Are your actions like Christ or are they far from the love Jesus showed the world?

As I was thinking about all of this, the song “Who are you when I’m not looking” by Blake Shelton came on. It made me think about how even when there is no one looking, we should still be Christ like. We tell children that if they find a bag of money with no name on it they should still turn it into the police. Just because no one would know that they stole the money, doesn’t mean they should do it. Just because we think no one is looking, just because no one else can hear our thoughts, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be kind and compassionate even in what we think about others.

When we begin to do things like this, even turning our thoughts into kind ones instead of mean thoughts about others, we begin to truly live a Christian life. Loving each other becomes easier when we make it a natural habit to respect one another. That is what Jesus wants from us. Respect and love one another in all we say, all we do, and all we think - for the Lord has loved and forgiven you, and he calls you to do the same. When we do that, we will convert people to Christianity because we will be showing them who Jesus is in the most powerful of ways – through our own transformed lives.

Amen.

Both Sinner and Saint

Acts 9: 36-43
John 10: 22-30

I have no idea what to type here. I feel completely lost and out of words. I do not feel like one of God’s sheep today, but instead I am a total outsider with my face pressed against the glass and there is no way inside without an invitation. Unfortunately, no one sees how lost I am, and so no one thinks to say, “Come in, you’re welcome here”.

Fortunately, I know that I am one of God’s sheep, and that the feeling will eventually go away. However, what about those that have never really known what it feels like to belong? How do we know who they are and how do we make them feel welcome inside of our church? Jesus tells us that those who recognize him as the Messiah have seen his good works in God’s name and they are his sheep. However, Jesus is no longer here performing miracles and telling us awesome parables on how we should live our life. How are the people that are outside these walls supposed to recognize Jesus as their Messiah two thousand years after he ascended into heaven?

In the Gospel of John, he makes it very clear that Jesus is the Good Shepherd. This is a powerful image because a shepherd’s flock of sheep does not know the shepherd because they were told that is their shepherd. They do not know he is their shepherd because they attended a class or an initiation ritual. How then do the sheep know that this is their shepherd? Because of the way he cares for them. Because of his actions.

Jesus tells the people that all who acknowledge him as their Messiah have seen his good works, they have seen the miracles he performs, and recognized that these are the actions of the one whose mind and heart are one with God’s. Therefore, they can see him as their Messiah. They see the shepherd and know him as shepherd partly because of the things he says, but mostly it is what he does that shows them the way.

Again, I ask you, how are the people outside these walls supposed to recognize the risen Christ and follow Him if he is in heaven?

Us. They will recognize Christ through us.  I’ve been telling you that for the last several weeks and now I need to share with you exactly what that means. HOW do we accomplish such a feat? How can we be the light that guides people into the safety of God’s arms? We can show them Jesus through things we already should be doing in our daily lives. It does not require you to perform miracles. It does not mean you need to be able to tell amazing stories in response to people’s questions. It does not mean you need to walk around the town proclaiming yourself to be a Christian, and that you are willing to heal anyone who comes to you.

No. The way people recognize Jesus Christ is in the way you treat them. Treat everyone as equals. Treat everyone with respect. Treat the criminal and the saint the same exact way because didn’t Jesus die for them both? I heard a joke once where someone said, “I treat everyone the same way. I hate them all equally.” I laughed at the unexpectedness of it, but immediately thought to myself, “We need to love everyone equally, not hate them equally.”

Disdain, disgust, dismissal are easy emotions. They require very little from us. 

Love is hard work. There are people out there that do things completely against your belief system like the two young men whom bombed the Boston Marathon this week. It’s hard to understand a leader who will threaten nuclear war against several countries just because he wants to prove he is a force to be reckoned with. It’s hard to understand a group of religious extremists who would picket funerals of soldiers and victims of bomb attacks and saying that this is God’s punishment for America’s sinfulness.

We are not ever going to understand such people. It doesn’t mean we aren’t called to love them. That’s the hardest part of Christianity for anyone to fully do. When I looked at pictures of people crying and screaming this week from the bombs in Boston, I wanted to hunt down the people that did this and shoot them myself. That was my very first reaction, I am ashamed to admit. I had to take a deep breath, and I began to pray because I knew that only God could help me through these feelings of hate and revenge.

My first reaction should have been, “How can I help these people?” followed closely by, “I need to pray for anyone who could do such a thing, and hope God helps them to see what they did was very wrong.” But it’s not easy to think that way. It’s not easy to show people the way Jesus’ mind works. Jesus is forgiveness and love without equal. We need to try to be the same way. If more of us prayed for the people who could do such things, maybe they wouldn’t do them in the first place. It won’t surprise me to find the two men that did this are psychologically disturbed because of the way people have treated them in their life.

Yes, there are people out there that just aren’t right, and no matter if they had a perfect childhood and great friends and support in their life, they would still be evil. But there are many people out there who were only looking for someone who would smile at them on a bad day. There are people out there who have been betrayed endlessly by those closest to them, and only look for one person they can trust unconditionally. There are people out there that are deeply hurt by everyone and feel abandoned by the rest of the world.

The other day there was a story about a teenager who committed suicide. He left a note that said, “If just one person will smile at me as I walk to the building and ride the elevator up, if just one will look at ME and smile, I will not kill myself because I know there is happiness in the world still. I will know there are people who care about someone other than themselves.” Obviously, not one person smiled at him because he was found dead with the note in his hand.

A simple smile can save a life. A kind word about how nice a person looks today can make their whole day. Noticing that someone hasn’t been to church or your club lately can make them feel missed and wanted. People need to feel important.

Jesus made people feel important. He made them feel loved and appreciated. Jesus gave to everyone he encountered, even the ones that were determined to destroy him. This is how we show others that they are not unwelcome in here. This is how we will share the Gospel with others. It is not just saying you are a Christian, it is not just wearing a cross; it is about how you treat others.

It is not enough that we know the scriptures and can tell people that God loves them. We need to show them that we have been transformed by the love of Jesus Christ, and we do that in how we treat everyone we come across. We should treat the criminal bombers with the same consideration that we treat the victims. It’s not easy, but both sides need prayers. Both sides need God rather desperately.

It does not mean we cannot be angry and hurt. It means that we do not let those emotions control our actions. We put our hurt and anger aside to take a moment to think about what could bring a person to such a dark place where they think that hurting others is right and justified. That person needs us to pray for them. That person needs God in his or her life just as much as we do.

Colossians 3:13 tells us, “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Today we need to pray not just for the victims of such horrific attacks, but for every person that would cause such harm to others.  

Amen. 

The Obedience of Ananias

Acts 9: 1-20
Revelation 5: 11-14

The passage in Acts begins rather ominously with talk of this man named Saul who is breathing out murderous threats against the people who were practicing Christianity. In this passage we come upon Saul as he is on his way to do more harm to these Christians in the name of God and his laws. Then a light appears on the road to Damascus and he hears a loud sound probably not unlike the thunder we had a couple nights ago. A voice comes down from heaven and speaks to Saul about Saul’s desire to persecute Jesus and his followers, and I can only imagine the terror that Saul felt, especially when he opened his eyes to find himself blinded.

Paul’s conversion is dramatic and forceful, and even a bit frightening, as well as awe-inspiring.  What I find interesting is it is not just Paul that is converted and changed during this experience. Too often we gloss over Ananias and his part in all of this. Ananias was a relatively new Christian whose belief in Jesus was strong and true, and he had heard about this man named Saul who had made it his mission to persecute Christians.

Everyone was afraid of Saul and his men. They were scared of what would happen if he caught them, but it didn’t stop them from believing in Jesus. It didn’t stop them from going to services to listen to the apostle’s messages to them. It didn’t stop them from spreading the good news to their neighbors and friends so that everyone could know the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

It may not have stopped them, but it didn’t mean they weren’t scared. It didn’t mean they weren’t well aware of what could happen if they were caught spreading Christianity to their friends and neighbors. They understood the danger they faced and they were smart. They didn’t hide who they were, but they didn’t walk around boldly proclaiming it to all and sundry either. They left that to the apostles to do.

So here is Ananias, warmed and emboldened by his new found faith in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. He hears a voice speaking to him and recognizes it as Jesus’ voice. He answers Jesus immediately and the words he hears from Jesus had to have chilled his very blood. “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”

I’ve never heard the Lord speak directly to me as if we were having a conversation. I can only imagine my euphoria and excitement if I ever do. However, I think I would also be secretly terrified because not only is my God and Savior speaking to little ole me, but I know from reading the bible that this usually means he’s about to ask me to do something I really do NOT want to do; something that may endanger my very life and cause me a lot of grief. When we put ourselves in Ananias’ place I think we can feel his mixture of emotions in that moment, especially when he hears the very thing he must not want to hear.

Ananias would have longed to fulfill what Jesus wanted him to do, but at the same time he must have dreaded the very idea of it. And so he protests, like that would do him any good at all – this is Jesus after all who is constantly telling us to face our fears and to remove the doubts from our hearts. “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.” Ananias exclaims.

These are legitimate concerns! Ananias has good reason to be scared! But Jesus has a job for him to do and he tells him to “Go! For this man is my chosen instrument to spread my message among the Gentiles. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”Ananias then goes and prays over Saul and restores his sight to him. From there, Saul is baptized and takes on the name Paul and begins to immediately proclaim Jesus as God’s Son and our Savior.

There are several things we need to pay attention to in this text. First of all, without Ananias, Paul would not have been converted. God called on Ananias and it was that man’s choice to listen or not. God is calling us to do things in His name all the time, we are the ones that decide whether to listen or disobey. How many times have we turned away from the Lord when he calls our name? What goes undone because we do not listen?

Paul ends up writing much of the New Testament as he starts churches and sends them letters. If Ananias would have disobeyed Jesus’ commands, would Paul have still been converted? Would we be here today? We’ll never know for sure, but I would think we wouldn’t be because Paul has influenced many, many people over the last two thousand years. Through Ananias’ obedience to what God had called him to do, Paul is able to move from “breathing murder and destruction” upon a people to bringing life and grace to all those he meets in his life.

Where are we on the road of destruction? What many people forget is that Saul was not actually a bad man. He was considered a hero by the Pharisees and Sadducees. He was doing what was right in many people’s eyes. However, he was on a road to destruction. Therefore, this text calls us to ask ourselves where WE are on that road. Where have we been lead astray from Jesus’ purpose in our lives?

 For example, what about the hard driving businesswoman who is so determined to get a promotion that she loses her marriage. Then there is the teenager, angry and hurt, who cannot forgive a parent’s mistakes. The man who is so locked up in his emotions that he cannot express his love for his spouse. The ever-pleasing wife who is so accommodating that she allows her husband’s alcoholism to destroy their children. The revengeful lover who would rather do harm than seek reconciliation. The employer whose cultural values prevent him from promoting women equally. The political leader who is incapable of compromise. The sports enthusiast who is incapable of sporting behavior. The hard, demanding parent who cannot give their child a break.

These are all paths that when we first begin them, we think we are doing what is right and good. We think we are surely following where God would have us to go. However, we have forgotten Jesus in all of these situations. If we want to be right with God, if we want to make sure we are answering Jesus’ call to us, then we need to keep Jesus’ words close to our hearts. We need to be willing to hear what Jesus is telling us even when it is something we do not want to hear.

If Ananias had ignored Jesus’ call to him, if he had tried to convince himself that there was no way he had heard Jesus correctly, then we would not be here today. It took a man willing to risk his life, to endanger his family to pray over a man that had sworn to persecute every single Christian he came across for us to be here today.

What is Jesus calling you to do? Make no mistake – Jesus is calling your name as well. Jesus has a job for you to do. None of us are too young or too old to be used by the Lord. That is the beautiful thing about being a Christian. God sees us all as useful. God has a purpose for each of us in our lives. Our job is to listen for his voice and to obey it. Even when it goes against our natural instinct of self-preservation. Even when it’s hard. We are called to follow Jesus wherever he may lead us.

Will you be like Ananias and obey Jesus’ instructions or will you pretend that you never heard Jesus calling your name?

Amen.

Living the Word

Acts 5: 27-32
Revelation 1: 4-8

What is the truth about why we are here today? There are less of us than there were the week before and part of that is because the family that has come to visit you for the holidays has left, but it is also because on Christmas and Easter, people we do not see for most of the year are suddenly walking through the church doors.

Why is that and why is it a week after Christmas and Easter those same people are nowhere to be found?

Now we all have theories about it, but the truth of the matter is we can never know the full reasoning behind it until we have experienced it ourselves. Each one of us has probably had a time in our lives when coming to church has taken a backseat to whatever else was going on in our lives. When we leave for college; when we have our first child who keeps us up at night with feedings and diaper changes every two hours; when we pray for a loved one not to die and they still do; when we lose our job or when something else traumatic happens; when we find that church no longer gives us peace and comfort.

You see, there’s a reason you’re here in this sanctuary today. The truth is that some of you want to be here and others are here out of obligation and still others would rather be sleeping in or eating brunch than be here. I know, because there are days when I wake up and think, “God, does today have to be Sunday because I need more sleep!?”

It is very easy to judge the people that only come once or twice a year if you come almost every Sunday. It is very easy to say there is something wrong with those people and nothing wrong with us. It is very easy to say if our pastor visited more, or if our committees offered more programs or if our greeters were more welcoming then this church would be packed. These are excuses that hold no water to the church we see depicted in the Book of Acts and of Revelation.

In these two passages we read today we are given a strong idea of what the growing church focused on in their work to bring people through the doors. They concentrated on Jesus. Jesus who is firstborn of the dead, Jesus who is God’s Son and was crucified for our sakes but did not stay dead. There are some that come on Easter to here the great, glorious news that Jesus Christ is Risen because we need to remember those promises, but then the church forgets to remember that Jesus is risen for the rest of the year too.

During Holy Week I was speaking to the other two pastors and I made the joking comment, “I need to go write the Easter sermon and make sure that Christ is raised!” and one of the pastors looked at me and said, “Remember, Jesus is risen already and your job is to make sure everyone knows it” which if you remember last week’s sermon you know directly influenced the message proclaimed.

What I’m trying to say is that if people are not coming to church every Sunday they have reasons, whether they are good or bad, but they are reasons. Some of those reasons have to do with what is going on in their own lives and some of those reasons are because the church, OUR church forgets too quickly the miraculous news that Jesus Christ is Risen and what that means for us. We move too quickly from Alleluias to “What time will we have summer service?” “Who will be at Grange Fair this year?” “What vacations do you plan on taking when the kids get out of school this year?”

Sometimes we just need to revel in the moment. We need to embrace the beauty and grace of the Lord; our God who loved us so much that he gave his only begotten Son so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. That is the Good News we too quickly brush aside for those “more important” matters. And yet, there is nothing more important than that we are forgiven because the blood of Christ has washed us clean. There is nothing more important than that because Jesus died and is Risen that we too will escape the punishment of death and know eternal life with God the Father, with Jesus Christ and with the Holy Spirit. There is nothing more important than those things.

The people that come a couple times of year have not heard this enough. Not from me and not from you. And it is not said just with words, but with the things we do in our lives. How we act and speak and treat others tells them everything they need to know about what it means to be a Christian. What we should be proclaiming with our actions is the joy we should surely be living with when we have such reassurances; the happiness that should shine out of our souls; the peace that should reflect in our eyes even in the greatest of trials; the love that should radiate out of us because we know we are loved and forgiven even though we are not perfect, and therefore we know how to love others in the same way.

Perhaps if we did those things a little more, perhaps if we acted more like the Christians we proclaim ourselves to be the people around us would be asking, “How do I get the peace you have when your life is so hard? How do I forgive people as easily as you seem to do? Why is it I never find you gossiping about people?” People SHOULD be asking us those things. They asked them about Jesus. The very same Jesus who as he lay gasping on the cross, bloody and in pain, found enough breath to breathe out a prayer asking God to forgive us for we have no idea what we are doing.

This year let us remember and proclaim the good news of the Gospel not just on Easter Sunday, but every day of our lives. Let us live the life of a Christian who knows that no matter what happens to this flesh and bone body, that our soul is saved because of Christ Jesus – the first born of the dead, who is the Alpha and the Omega, the one who is and who was and who is to come – our Salvation, Our Redeemer and Our Peace. Let us remember we are saved and live life like we are saved.

If we make this our goal for the year, I can promise new people in these pews come next Easter – ones that will stay because they are hearing what they need to hear. They will stay because they are seeing people live a saved life. They will come because they are witnessing the miracle that Jesus Christ is to a person’s life. YOU will bring them in by the life you live. When we start proclaiming the Gospel every day of our lives, the world will sit up and take notice. It happened when the church first began and it can happen now – 2000 years later.

Amen.

Sharing the Good News

Acts 10: 34-43
1 Cor 15:19-26

A few years ago, upon the recommendation of several friends I read the story Lamb by Christopher Moore which is the story of Jesus Christ told by his best friend Bif which is fib backwards. Now Christopher Moore is a funny guy and so I knew that this story would have a lot of irreverent humor in it and perhaps even seem blasphemous in some ways - which it definitely lives up to. It portrays Jesus as a human in ways that a pastor never would or could. While some parts of the book certainly shocked me in how far Chris Moore went to make the reader laugh, I also found myself captivated at the idea of being best friends with Jesus and knowing that his destiny was so much greater than Bif’s ever could have been.

Bif loved Jesus so much. We all know how the friendship had to end, with Jesus dead on the cross and Bif was devastated. In fact, he was so torn apart that he never lived to hear the Good News. And that’s what struck me the most. Bif was Jesus’ best friend and he died without ever hearing what we take for granted each Sunday. That Jesus Christ is NOT dead. That he did not STAY dead in that tomb. That death could NOT hold him. Jesus is alive. Jesus is here with us today. Jesus promises to be with us for all eternity. Bif never got to hear that good news.

How many other people have not heard the Good News that we proclaim today? How many people do we assume know the Good News of the Gospel, but don’t? Or if they know Jesus is Risen – do they know what that MEANS for us; what it means for ALL of humanity?! I was talking to several teachers and some of my students not too long ago and I was shocked at how each of them had a story to tell of a young person that did not know the story of Jesus Christ. In this tiny town and valley where there are tons of churches involved in the community – there are young children, there are young men and women that have grown up having no idea of what we take for granted that everyone must know.

Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. Jesus Christ came to earth as a baby to take on the world’s sins and die a horrific death on the cross, not because he was sinful but because WE are sinful. He took our punishment for himself so that when God the Father looks upon our upturned faces, that God would feel mercy and love for us despite our tendency to be sinful. We proclaim today that because Jesus was no mere man, but was also God’s Son - that death could not hold him. He was raised from the dead and he appears to the disciples and Mary before ascending into heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father. THAT is the good news we sing ALLELUIAS for today. That is the good news that Bif never gets to hear and so he dies mourning Jesus. That is the beautiful, miraculous news that some people, even our neighbors in this very town have NEVER HEARD.

We need to get the word out. We need to do a better job of proclaiming our beliefs.

A few weeks ago I preached during the Wednesday night services about the belief we proclaim in the Apostle’s Creed about the Resurrection from the dead. In Jesus Christ we are giving a miraculous gift. We are given the ability to be forgiven for every wrong we have committed in our lives so that we may come before God when we die with a clean heart. We will be unburdened with the wrongs we have committed because Jesus willingly took those sins upon himself. But that isn’t all he did.

When Jesus rose from the dead he defeated death. Death is a cold, silent place that scares many humans, but Jesus’ resurrection from the dead reminds us that death is not permanent. We do not stay dead! The reason we know that we are forgiven is that because Jesus died for us, he made us equals in God’s eyes. We are now children of God through the blood of Jesus Christ. Think about that for a moment. The blood Jesus shed on that cross not only wiped away our sins, but made us equals with him so that we too could be God’s children.

And all the parents out there know that no matter how much our children screw up, no matter how often they get on our nerves, we will always love them. We cannot help but love our children because they are part of us. That is what Jesus did. He made us a part of God forever. Now when God sees us, he sees his beautiful Son and he loves us very much, faults and all. Jesus tells us in the gospels that all the miracles he performs, all the amazing things he does we can do as well. We are all equal in God’s eyes. Jesus made us God’s children. Therefore, when Jesus was raised from the dead, we are given the promise that we too will be raised from the dead.

We will be given new bodies and dwell on this earth and in heaven with them. These are amazing things! These are miraculous gifts we are given! These are things that some people around us DO NOT KNOW, and this needs to change.

Jesus’ last words to the disciples were to spread the Gospel to all four corners of the world. They did their part admirably. It’s our turn now. We are called to spread the good news. Invite those friends and neighbors to church! Don’t be ashamed to state your views on God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit. But don’t just say the words; words are empty without actions to back them up. Proclaim them with all the things that you do. When you tell a person you are a Christian, the best thing they can respond with is, “I can tell because of the way you treat me”.

We are Jesus’ disciples now. We have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit to help us when we don’t know what to say or do. We have been given this church and all the people around us to help us figure out the problems we all face. Life is not easy. Life is dang hard, but we do not do this alone. Jesus is with us and the fact that some people out there do not know that is a shame. It’s our shame.

Today the whole world should be rejoicing that our Lord and Savior is raised from the dead and because he is, we too will be raised from the dead. The whole world needs to know that death is not the end, but it is a beginning to our journey with God. It’s the beginning. Proclaim this message to everyone. Not everyone is willing to listen, but you’ll never know until you take a moment and try. Take that moment and feel your own faith grow and change when you help another discover the blessing of God’s love in their life.

It’s life changing. It’s life changing to know there is such grace and forgiveness. It gives people hope, and we are a world that desperately needs hope. There has been enough judgment and hate. There has been enough despair and unkindness. Today we proclaim the greatest truth, the greatest blessing that is for every person. Jesus Christ is Risen! Jesus Christ has saved us all!

Praise be to God – Father, Son, and Spirit! Amen.

The Road to Jerusalem

Once there was a little boy named Johnny who was five years old. When it was Palm Sunday, he couldn't wait to go to church to find out what Palm Sunday was. But sadly, Johnny came down with the chickenpox. His parents hired a baby-sitter to take care of Johnny while they went to church. When they came home holding palm leaves, Johnny asked, "What are the palm tree leaves for Mom?" She replied, "When Jesus walked through the town, people waved palm leaves at him as he walked by.” Johnny looked upset and said, "Wouldn't ya know? The one Sunday I'm not in church, and he shows up!"

On Palm Sunday it is traditional to speak about the journey Jesus took from the Mount of Olives down into Jerusalem. We’re veering slightly from the traditional today. Instead, let us look not just at a familiar story, but let us go behind the scenes and understand what it is Jesus was thinking as he walked down that mountain, hosannas ringing in his ears, toward his own death.

We read these passages in the Bible every year and after awhile they seem to lose their ability to shock us. We expect Jesus to give up his life because that is the type of person he is – Jesus is always giving up his peace of mind and his food and even his friends as he goes about preaching God’s message. Jesus is a natural born martyr and we like that about him. We expect this of him. If he did anything else, we would be disappointed.

From the Mount of Olives you can see most of Jerusalem. The temple and courts are visible, the olive vineyards and the many homes and stores are all visible from the top. The path down is winding, made of limestone and there are limestone walls on either side of the path. It’s pretty steep in some places and you find yourself staring down at your feet, watching for loose stones or a brick that is uneven. Halfway down you think that you must be close to the bottom, but when you get around the bend and can see Jerusalem you realize there is a lot more to go.

Jesus rode this path on a donkey, his disciples shouting and singing praises in his ears. This was their Messiah! This was their King! Let every person hear, let every person know that the Lord has come!

Jesus was probably praying more than he was paying attention to the crowd of rejoicing people around him. He alone knew what was to come, but he rode down that long, winding path anyway. What does this teach us?

Paul tells us in Philippians to have the “same mindset as Christ”. The mindset of a man who continually humbled himself. The mind of a man who gave everything he had to give the world, even his life, in the most loving of ways. Jesus knew that all the parables and all the healings were important, but this final act was the true test of faith for him and for the disciples surrounding him.

Today we sing songs and wave our palm branches. We rejoice in our Lord and Savior, but there is a somber feeling at the end of every Palm Sunday. We know what is coming, just as Jesus knew what was next. We Christians are called to follow Christ, to have a Christ like mind. Such a thing means we are called to humble ourselves. We are asked to give everything we have, to empty ourselves of all ego and desire. We are called to replace our ego and desires with the will and love of Christ.

To be like the one who was without sin, but died for sinners. How might we be more like Jesus in our lives? What holds us back from giving all we have to God and to the world?

Each of us carries a stone around our necks, a personal albatross that weighs us down, and prevents us from fulfilling our Christian duty to its fullest. What is it that you cannot seem to let go of? What prevents your mind from being filled with the love of Jesus Christ?

Today we walk the same path Jesus did two thousand years ago. We wave our palms, we sing our songs, and we pray. We pray that God will help us to let go of these things that prevent us from being Christians in mind, heart, and soul. We take a hard look at who we are and who God wants us to be, and it is time to make the two sides match up.

As Jesus rode the donkey down to the bottom of the Mount of Olives, he had to let go of every desire and every wish that he might have had as a human being. There would be no wife or child. There would be no business with his name and his sons’ names on it. There would be no grandchildren or long vacations during retirement. Everything we are given was denied to Jesus. He willingly gave up those things to save us all. He rode to his death with people screaming his name in joy.

Today, we can do no differently than Jesus. We shall take the journey with Christ and let go of what has held us back for so long. Let go of the guilt. Let go of the pain. Let go of the worry. Let go of your fears. These things have no power compared to the Lord. Let your old self die, so that you may be made a new creation – God’s child forevermore.

Amen.