Alive!

I, John, your brother who shares with you in the hardship, kingdom, and endurance that we have in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and my witness about Jesus. I was in a Spirit-inspired trance on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice that sounded like a trumpet. It said, “Write down on a scroll whatever you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.” I turned to see who was speaking to me, and when I turned, I saw seven oil lamps burning on top of seven gold stands. In the middle of the lampstands I saw someone who looked like the Human One. He wore a robe that stretched down to his feet, and he had a gold sash around his chest. His head and hair were white as white wool—like snow—and his eyes were like a fiery flame. His feet were like fine brass that has been purified in a furnace, and his voice sounded like rushing water. He held seven stars in his right hand, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword. His appearance was like the sun shining with all its power. When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. But he put his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m the first and the last, and the living one. I was dead, but look! Now I’m alive forever and always. I have the keys of Death and the Grave. So write down what you have seen, both the scene now before you and the things that are about to unfold after this. As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands, here is what they mean: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. (Revelation 1:9-20, CEB)

The figure that greets John in the vision says he was dead but now is alive forever!

We have eternal life through Jesus, who came to show us how to love and how to live, and has made a place for us in all of eternity.

This vision is one of Hope, and the hope starts right here. Death is not the end; it is a step, for Jesus and for all of us.

Hope! Because he is alive, now and forever!

Loving People. Loving God.

disbelief!

It was still the first day of the week. That evening, while the disciples were behind closed doors because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities, Jesus came and stood among them. He said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with joy. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you don’t forgive them, they aren’t forgiven.” Thomas, the one called Didymus, one of the Twelve, wasn’t with the disciples when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We’ve seen the Lord!” But he replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my finger in the wounds left by the nails, and put my hand into his side, I won’t believe.” After eight days his disciples were again in a house and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus entered and stood among them. He said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here. Look at my hands. Put your hand into my side. No more disbelief. Believe!” Thomas responded to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus replied, “Do you believe because you see me? Happy are those who don’t see and yet believe.” Then Jesus did many other miraculous signs in his disciples’ presence, signs that aren’t recorded in this scroll. But these things are written so that you will believe that Jesus is the Christ, God’s Son, and that believing, you will have life in his name (John 20:19-31, CEB)

Finally, a translation that gets it closer to what the original language said. (Notice I didn’t say right, because we are still dealing with stories written a really long time ago in a language that is dead.)

This passage has been known as the doubting Thomas passage, which gives Thomas a bad rap. The passage usually has Jesus saying to Thomas, “Do not doubt but believe.” Theissues with this is the original langauage is ἄπιστος ἀλλὰ πιστός. In the original language, placing an α in front of a word was the same as in English putting an un in front of a word. And πιστός means faith, belief, trust. So if we say Jesus said, “Do not doubt, but believe.” We are saying doubt is the opposite of faith or belief. Which I do not think doubt is the opposite of faith, that is certainty. But the translation above says, “No more disbelief. Believe!”
Do not be unbelieving but believing!
Do not be untrusting but trusting!
Do not be unfaithful but faithful!

Believe in the promises. Jesus told us, God is faithful!

Loving People. Loving God.

Doubt

While they were saying these things, Jesus himself stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” They were terrified and afraid. They thought they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you startled? Why are doubts arising in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet. It’s really me! Touch me and see, for a ghost doesn’t have flesh and bones like you see I have.” As he said this, he showed them his hands and feet. (Luke 24:36-40, CEB)

Why do you think I may not be real is what Jesus said to them, which is translated, why are doubts arising in your hearts. The word there means “to think that something may not be true or certain — ‘to doubt, to be uncertain about, doubt.’”

Why do we doubt the promises God gives us? We can not see them or prove them, but isn’t that what faith is? Belief in something I can not prove is faith. And doubt is not the opposite of faith; certainty is.

Doubt pushes me to discover and learn. Certainty tells me what is true and not and leaves no room for faith.

The disciples were certain Jesus was dead and could not be standing in front of them, but faith said he was there.

Do not be certain, live in faith.

Loving People. Loving God.

How?

The high priest, together with his allies, the Sadducees, was overcome with jealousy. They seized the apostles and made a public show of putting them in prison. An angel from the Lord opened the prison doors during the night and led them out. The angel told them, “Go, take your place in the temple, and tell the people everything about this new life.” Early in the morning, they went into the temple as they had been told and began to teach. When the high priest and his colleagues gathered, they convened the Jerusalem Council, that is, the full assembly of Israel’s elders. They sent word to the prison to have the apostles brought before them. However, the guards didn’t find them in the prison. They returned and reported, “We found the prison locked and well-secured, with guards standing at the doors, but when we opened the doors we found no one inside!” When they received this news, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were baffled and wondered what might be happening. Just then, someone arrived and announced, “Look! The people you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!” Then the captain left with his guards and brought the apostles back. They didn’t use force because they were afraid the people would stone them. (Acts 5:17-26, CEB)

So the powers that be were jealous of the apostles and had them arrested and jailed. But God saw fit to make sure they were released and advised them to go to the temple to teach. And the next day when the powers wanted to speak with them they were not in jail but in the place they were trying to keep them from.

And the guards were afraid to use force because the people would revolt against them.

Power wants to maintain its power. And people can rise against that.

God’s will will be done through us or in spite of us. Choose to stand with God.

Loving People. Loving God.

healed

The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. They would come together regularly at Solomon’s Porch. No one from outside the church dared to join them, even though the people spoke highly of them. Indeed, more and more believers in the Lord, large numbers of both men and women, were added to the church. As a result, they would even bring the sick out into the main streets and lay them on cots and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow could fall on some of them as he passed by. Even large numbers of persons from towns around Jerusalem would gather, bringing the sick and those harassed by unclean spirits. Everyone was healed. (Acts 5:12-16, CEB)

People were healed by being in the presence of the disciples or having the shadow of one pass over them. Everyone was healed. Not just those who were a part of the gathering, but all people.

Everyone was healed, not those who believed or joined. Not those who lived as others thought they should. Everyone.

Why do we think we can be a doorkeeper for God’s house when plainly God loves all of creation and accepts all as they were made?

Loving People. Loving God.

who said what?

Very early in the morning on the first day of the week, the women went to the tomb, bringing the fragrant spices they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. They didn’t know what to make of this. Suddenly, two men were standing beside them in gleaming bright clothing. The women were frightened and bowed their faces toward the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He isn’t here, but has been raised. Remember what he told you while he was still in Galilee, that the Human One must be handed over to sinners, be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” Then they remembered his words. When they returned from the tomb, they reported all these things to the eleven and all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. Their words struck the apostles as nonsense, and they didn’t believe the women. But Peter ran to the tomb. When he bent over to look inside, he saw only the linen cloth. Then he returned home, wondering what had happened. (Luke 24:1-12, CEB)

Read that again. I’ll wait…

The women went to the tomb because of the Sabbath; they were unable to prepare the body for burial with spices. Jesus was never prepared to remain buried. And when they arrived, they found the stone rolled away and Jesus gone. Then they were told Jesus wasn’t there, remember he told YOU while you were in Galilee. He told the women, as they were there with the disciples, because they were and are disciples. They were told he would be handed over to sinners, be crucified, and on the third day rise again. Then they remembered and ran to tell the men, and the men thought it was nonsense and went to see. When they saw that Jesus was gone, they went home pondering what it meant.

The women told, the men were scared and told no one.

Women told us about the resurrection. Women were always there and disciples of Jesus.

Stop the nonsense that only men can be in leadership.

Listen to women. They will lead us to God.

Loving People. Loving God.

Hope

Then a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant, and she cried out because she was in labor, in pain from giving birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: it was a great fiery red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven royal crowns on his heads. His tail swept down a third of heaven’s stars and threw them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth so that when she gave birth, he might devour her child. She gave birth to a son, a male child who is to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was snatched up to God and his throne. Then the woman fled into the desert, where God has prepared a place for her. There she will be taken care of for one thousand two hundred sixty days. Then there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but they did not prevail, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. So the great dragon was thrown down. The old snake, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, was thrown down to the earth; and his angels were thrown down with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say,
“Now the salvation and power and kingdom of our God,
        and the authority of his Christ have come.
The accuser of our brothers and sisters,
        who accuses them day and night before our God,
        has been thrown down.
They gained the victory over him on account of the blood of the Lamb
        and the word of their witness.
Love for their own lives didn’t make them afraid to die.
Therefore, rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them.
But oh! The horror for the earth and sea!
        The devil has come down to you with great rage,
            for he knows that he only has a short time.” (Revelation 12:1-12, CEB)

Hope.

Where is the hope in the old snake and the dragon being thrown down to earth? Where they will rule and have power over the people and the land?

Hope.

Revelation is a book of hope. It tells a story of hope. Hope for a people being held down. Hope for a repressed nation, a nation unable to worship how they need or be who they are.

Hope.

For the great rage of the old snake will only last a short time and in that time God is always with us.

Hope.

In the promises of God and the understanding that we are never alone.

Hope.

Loving People. Loving God.

Ooze

Don’t you know that a tiny grain of yeast makes a whole batch of dough rise? Clean out the old yeast so you can be a new batch of dough, given that you’re supposed to be unleavened bread. Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed, so let’s celebrate the feast with the unleavened bread of honesty and truth, not with old yeast or with the yeast of evil and wickedness. (1 Corinthians 5:6b-8, CEB)

A tiny bit of evil will make everything evil.

We need to let Christ move in and through our lives to remove all the old yeast so our lives are so filled with God’s love that we ooze love and grace for all humanity.

Do you ooze Christ?

Loving People. Loving God.

Living

Very early in the morning on the first day of the week, the women went to the tomb, bringing the fragrant spices they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. They didn’t know what to make of this. Suddenly, two men were standing beside them in gleaming bright clothing. The women were frightened and bowed their faces toward the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He isn’t here, but has been raised. Remember what he told you while he was still in Galilee, that the Human One must be handed over to sinners, be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” Then they remembered his words. When they returned from the tomb, they reported all these things to the eleven and all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. Their words struck the apostles as nonsense, and they didn’t believe the women. But Peter ran to the tomb. When he bent over to look inside, he saw only the linen cloth. Then he returned home, wondering what had happened. (Luke 24:1-12, CEB)

Without women preachers, we would never have heard the good news.

The women told what they saw and heard, but the men didn’t believe them. Even after they saw the empty tomb, they went home and wondered what had happened.

We assume we know how things should happen. God has a different plan, usually.

Jesus was not in the tomb because the living would not be with the dead. Jesus told them this would happen, but they didn’t listen. Why would they listen to the women?

We need to stop thinking we know what is best and start following God.

Loving People. Loving God.

Name

Early in the morning of the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. She ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve put him.” Peter and the other disciple left to go to the tomb. They were running together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and was the first to arrive at the tomb. Bending down to take a look, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he didn’t go in. Following him, Simon Peter entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. He also saw the face cloth that had been on Jesus’ head. It wasn’t with the other clothes but was folded up in its own place. Then the other disciple, the one who arrived at the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. They didn’t yet understand the scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to the place where they were staying. Mary stood outside near the tomb, crying. As she cried, she bent down to look into the tomb. She saw two angels dressed in white, seated where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head and one at the foot. The angels asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” She replied, “They have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they’ve put him.” As soon as she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she didn’t know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabbouni” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold on to me, for I haven’t yet gone up to my Father. Go to my brothers and sisters and tell them, ‘I’m going up to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene left and announced to the disciples, “I’ve seen the Lord.” Then she told them what he said to her. (John 20:1-18, CEB)

When you hear your name called by the one you love, it is special. It is chilling. It is moving.

When you hear Jesus call you by name, you know you are loved.

Mary was distraught and thought she had lost Jesus. Seeing him was not what she needed for in seeing him in her pain and anguish she could not see him. But his voice. As the second verse of In The Garden, “He speaks and the sound of his voice. It is so sweet that the birds hush their singing. And the melody that he gave to me, within my heart is ringing.” The sound of his voice especially when he calls you name. Oh how sweet a sound, a sound like no other.

Wait for God to call you name.

Loving People. Loving God.