Never see death

48The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and he is the judge. 51Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” 52The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’ 53Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?” 54Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, ‘He is our God,’ 55though you do not know him. But I know him; if I would say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word. 56Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.” 57Then the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. (John 8:48-59, NRSV)

There is a line in this reading that troubles me a little…

‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’ So then how do we keep Jesus’ word? because I know some people who have followed after Him who have physically died.

But physical death is not the end it is merely a step in our time with God.

So because of all of this, they tried to stone Jesus to death.

What do we do to Jesus when we don’t understand Him?

How does our confusion get in the way of us actually following Him?

His story

Then the high priest asked him, “Are these things so?” 2And Stephen replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our ancestor Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3and said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you.’ 4Then he left the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, God had him move from there to this country in which you are now living. 5He did not give him any of it as a heritage, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as his possession and to his descendants after him, even though he had no child. 6And God spoke in these terms, that his descendants would be resident aliens in a country belonging to others, who would enslave them and mistreat them during four hundred years. 7‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ 8Then he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. 9“The patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him, 10and rescued him from all his afflictions, and enabled him to win favor and to show wisdom when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 11Now there came a famine throughout Egypt and Canaan, and great suffering, and our ancestors could find no food. 12But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there on their first visit. 13On the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14Then Joseph sent and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five in all; 15so Jacob went down to Egypt. He himself died there as well as our ancestors, 16and their bodies were brought back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. (Acts 7:1-16, NRSV)

Stephen was giving an account of Jesus to those who were questioning him.

You see Jesus’ story doesn’t start with His birth, we believe that He was with God at creation and therefore all of the Hebrew Scripture tells about Jesus.

And it tells about you. Your story is a part of that.

This is our story, of our family, and our creation.

How can we live this story out?

 

Speak out

8Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. 9Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and others of those from Cilicia and Asia, stood up and argued with Stephen. 10But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. 11Then they secretly instigated some men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12They stirred up the people as well as the elders and the scribes; then they suddenly confronted him, seized him, and brought him before the council. 13They set up false witnesses who said, “This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law; 14for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses handed on to us.” 15And all who sat in the council looked intently at him, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel. (Acts 6:8-15, NRSV)

When people’s way of easiness is challenged they will do what ever they can to make sure that the stats quo doesn’t change.

People will go to great lengths, lying and telling untrue stories to turn people against others if they feel their lives are going to have to change. We would rather stay in a rut and not grow than to be uncomfortable and have God move us and change us.

What have you fought against in your journey with God?

Do you know what you are asking?

17While Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and said to them on the way, 18“See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death; 19then they will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified; and on the third day he will be raised.” 20Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favor of him. 21And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” 22But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23He said to them, “You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” 24When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers. 25But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 26It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; 28just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:17-28, NRSV)

Do we always know what we are really asking for?

If we did we would probably stop and think about things a lot harder than we do. And work through all of the possible outcomes before we take that first step and ask for things.

We rush into things with out working through all the possible outcomes.  We think the outcome we have thought about it is the only one that will happen. But that isn’t the case.

We need to be patient and allow God to work in and through our lives and bring us the outcome that God has for us.

complete

20Now may the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21make you complete in everything good so that you may do his will, working among us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21, NRSV)

How many of us have peace right now? The world is in turmoil, and we have been in shelter in place for a while now. Some states just recently opened up on a partial basis, and we are going stir crazy.

I have friends who are tattoo artists and hairdressers who are itching to get back to work. People are craving to be in the company of other people.

But God who brought back Jesus from the dead gives us God’s peace so our lives may be complete. You see we don’t need anything but what God gives us in God’s peace.

So rest in God’s peace and be complete.

care for the flock

Now as an elder myself and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory to be revealed, I exhort the elders among you 2to tend the flock of God that is in your charge, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion but willingly, as God would have you do it—not for sordid gain but eagerly. 3Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock. 4And when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades away. 5In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:1-5, NRSV)

Why do you do what you do for God?

Do we serve others for the gain it gets us?

Do we serve because God served us?

We should give to the people of God as God gave to each and every one of us, freely and without us deserving it.

Care for those around you because God cares for you.

gate

“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. 7So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:1-10, NRSV)

Thankfully for all of us, the way to God is through Jesus. And Jesus is the gate.

It is interesting to note that in Jesus’ day and when he told this that shepherds would find places that needed someone to block off the way in or out. Literally, the shepherd would be the gate to protect the sheep.

Jesus is our way in and the protector of us from the wolves.

Rest in Jesus being the gate and letting us in and keeping us safe.

lost sheep

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3So he told them this parable: 4“Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? 5When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. 6And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. (Luke 15:1-7, NRSV)

How many of us if we had 100 sheep and discovered that 1 of them was missing would leave the 99 in search of the 1?

Maybe if they were in a barn or a pen, then yes, but if they are in the wilderness and not protected then probably not. But here the shepherd leaves the 99 in the wilderness and go after the 1 to find it. That is how extravagant the love of God is for you.

God loves you so much that God leaves the community to watch each other as God finds those who are lost.

This is not about the sheep repenting and returning it is about the love of God who goes searching.

free under authority

13For the Lord’s sake accept the authority of every human institution, whether of the emperor as supreme, 14or of governors, as sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right. 15For it is God’s will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish. 16As servants of God, live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil. 17Honor everyone. Love the family of believers. Fear God. Honor the emperor. (1 Peter 2:13-17, NRSV)

Governments are put in place to help us and to govern us. Laws are there for good civil order and to help us live together as a society.

But in this there is freedom. Freedom to be who God created us to be.

So live under the civil authority and live under God.