aSacredRebel

tended to

jesus-holding-lamb Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good tidings;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
See, the Lord GOD comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms,
and carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead the mother sheep.
(Isaiah 40:9-11, NRSV)

Have you ever needed something and it just showed up?

I remember when we were in seminary for the first semester. We had a little girl who was about 15 months old when we started seminary and we were expecting our second child during the first semester we were there.

And I remember as a father wondering how I would get Christmas presents for my children. I was already strapped for cash paying for my education, and we still owned a home many states away from where we were.

I remember about the middle of December hearing a knock on the door, and when I opened the door, there was a huge rubber made box with wheels. with a bow on it. When I opened the box it had presents inside for all of our family. The presents included presents for our husky!

Now Christmas presents may not seem like much, but I still have a piece of the paper the presents were wrapped in, because to this father, that was what I needed then. A community that saw my unspoken need and was there for that.

And that is exactly where God is, in the community of our gathered bodies, providing for our every need.

Allow God to be your shepherd and you will be tended to!

expectations…

When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.” Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, and he could not see well. So Joseph brought them near him; and he kissed them and embraced them. Israel said to Joseph, “I did not expect to see your face; and here God has let me see your children also.” Then Joseph removed them from his father’s knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right, and brought them near him. But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands, for Manasseh was the firstborn. He blessed Joseph, and said,“The God before whom my ancestors Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all harm, bless the boys; and in them let my name be perpetuated, and the name of my ancestors Abraham and Isaac;and let them grow into a multitude on the earth.” When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father! Since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” But his father refused, and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.” (Genesis 48:8-19, NRSV)

Notice there were 2 people whose expectations were not met in this reading.

Israel’s expectation of not seeing Joseph, and then he got to see his grandsons as well.

And Joseph expected Israel to bless the oldest son, and Israel blessed the younger.

Have you ever been disappointed because your expectations were not met?

If it only happens once a day, it is a wonderful day.

But here is the thing. We can expect whatever we want, but if we agree that God is our shepherd and He is leading us, then what we receive will ultimately be better than anything we could ever expect.

Stray

stray sheep ‘Twas a sheep not a lamb that went astray
In the parable Jesus told.
‘Twas a grown sheep that wandered away
From the ninety and nine in the fold.
And out on the hilltop, and out in the cold,
‘Twas a sheep the Good Shepherd sought.
Back to the fold and back to the flock,
‘Twas a sheep that the Good Shepherd brought.
Now, why should the sheep be so carefully fed
And cared for even to-day?
Because there is danger if they go wrong,
They will lead the lambs astray.
The lambs will follow the sheep, you know,
Where’er they wander–where’er they go.
If the sheep goes wrong, it will not be long
Till the lambs are as wrong as they.
So still with the sheep we must earnestly plead,
For the sake of the lambs to-day.
If the lambs are lost, what a terrible cost
The sheep will have to pay!
-C.C. Miller

not done yet

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.” (John 10:11-18, NRSV)

We hear this verse every year on week 3 after Easter.

We hear about the Good Shepherd.

But this time I was not drawn to the Good Shepherd or the hired hand.

I was drawn to what God is still up to.

Jesus tells the disciples and those listening here that He is going to lay His life down. So that is yet to come, but even more than His prediction of His death and resurrection here, we see something else God is up to.

There are other sheep that are not here yet. And Jesus must bring these sheep along with those who are here.

You see we are all not here yet, and so God is not done yet.

God is still working to make His flock complete, and He is using us to do that. He is working through us, in our every day lives to bring more sheep into the fold. We can help them hear His voice and know He is the Good Shepherd.

So know that God is not done yet, and He needs you to go and show His love, grace and mercy to all of the world!

Praise the Lord!

rainbow piano Praise the LORD!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty firmament!
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his surpassing greatness!
Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with clanging cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that breathes praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD!
(Psalm 150)

This is one of my favorite camp songs!

Praise the Lord with trumpet sound.

Trumpet Sound.

Alleluia alleluia alleluia Amen!

Praise the Lord with everything!

You see this psalm tells us that all of creation can be and should be used to praise God. We have no excuse not tot praise Him!

but speak

After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them, and they worked together—by trade they were tentmakers. Every sabbath he would argue in the synagogue and would try to convince Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with proclaiming the word, testifying to the Jews that the Messiah was Jesus. When they opposed and reviled him, in protest he shook the dust from his clothes and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” Then he left the synagogue and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God; his house was next door to the synagogue. Crispus, the official of the synagogue, became a believer in the Lord, together with all his household; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul became believers and were baptized. One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are many in this city who are my people.” He stayed there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. (Acts 18:1-11, NRSV)

Sometimes we have all the right things to say and people just don’t listen.

Sometimes we have an audience to listen and nothing to say.

God tells you, just as God told Paul, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are many in this city who are my people.”

You are God’s witness. And you need to speak for God.

Do bot be afraid, but speak!

set free

Let it be known to you therefore, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you; by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. (Acts 13:38-39, NRSV)

Through the name of Jesus, we who believe have been set free from our past.

Through the name of Jesus, we who believe have been set free from our sin.

Through the name of Jesus, we who believe are set from the law that condemns us.

Through the name of Jesus, we who believe are set free from others thoughts of us.

Through the name of Jesus, we who believe are set free!

We are free! Through the faith we have in the promises, that as He rose we too shall rise.

His name

Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:34-43, NRSV)

All are acceptable to Him.

We can have forgiveness of sins through His name. All the prophets testify about Him, and through Him we can be forgiven.

He died for our sins, and we are witnesses to this in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to all the corners of the world.

He died on the tree, so that we might be set free.

Be His witness, and know it is only in His name that we are redeemed.

witnesses

witness_rough Then the high priest took action; he and all who were with him (that is, the sect of the Sadducees), being filled with jealousy, arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, brought them out, and said, “Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this life.” When they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and went on with their teaching.
When the high priest and those with him arrived, they called together the council and the whole body of the elders of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the temple police went there, they did not find them in the prison; so they returned and reported, “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were perplexed about them, wondering what might be going on. Then someone arrived and announced, “Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!” Then the captain went with the temple police and brought them, but without violence, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, saying, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than any human authority. The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.” (Acts 5:17-32, NRSV)

When God calls you to do something you can’t not do it…

I remember when I was in college I first felt the call to seminary, and I thought, no I could never do that because I’m not good enough to be a pastor. I was judging myself based on what I thought others would think of me and my past. I did not hear the love of God ringing through in the call, knowing He would empower me to do His will.

So I didn’t follow.

Many years later that call rang true in me again, and this time I said yes. Now I am not a perfect pastor or person. But I have been empowered by God to be His witness just as you have. We are all empowered to speak His word boldly and without compromise to the world!

He will be with you. So go and speak his truth!

ripples

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:1-8, NRSV)

Jesus was dead, but then He rose and presented Himself in many ways over 40 days.

And He told His disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit, who would empower them to be His witnesses, in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth!

What does that mean?

Well you can see in the picture Jerusalem, and below and above Judea, and then Samaria, and the on to the rest of the world.

It is like a ripple in the pond when you drop the rock in.

Your actions of showing forth your life in Christ should cause the waters to move in all directions around. You are to take His message of Love. The love that He did on the cross for and send it rippling into the lives of those around you.

So go and be a witness for the grace and mercy of Jesus in all the world!