aSacredRebel

Cornerstone…

While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came to them, much annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead. So they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who heard the word believed; and they numbered about five thousand. The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. This Jesus is ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.’ There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:1-12, NRSV)

A house can not stand with out a cornerstone. It would crumble. And if the cornerstone is not a good stone and it crumbles the house will fall.

Peter and John and all of the disciples were able to do what they did because of the fact their lives are built on Jesus the cornerstone. A strong foundation.

So have your life filled with the Holy Spirit and live in the light of the love of God and do what Jesus is leading you to do.

Where is God?

Then Jesus said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.’ Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’ Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and make it eighty.’ And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes. “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” (Luke 16:1-13, NRSV)

The Gospel of our Lord!

If you are like me you had to read this passage more than once and you are still scratching your head trying to make heads or tails on what it means.

Jesus is praising a dishonest manager who throws himself on the mercy of his boss. By being shrewd he manages to secure his future in his unemployment by befriending those whom he had before cheated to make more money…

So where is God?

What do you have to do thus coming week?

If money did not matter and you didn’t have to be a taxi service what would you have on your to do list?

You see monks are taught to find God in the mundane tasks of life, in gardening and sweeping. Is God in your mundane tasks?

When you made your to do list, where was God?

Was He a part of the list?

You see that is what Jesus was trying to tell His disciples. That we have to be shrewd in coming up with ways to be with God. We have to make Him a priority and have Him a part of our life.

Eternity is not something we wait for it is something that starts right now. We need to rely on and throw ourselves on the mercy of God.

So I ask you to think about your to do list again, and to ponder just where is God…

All she had

And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:41-44 ESV)

We have heard this story many times. How Jesus lifts up this woman for giving her last 2 coins to the temple offering.

We have heard how she trusted God enough to give everything she had to God.

And is this wrong? No. But is there something more?

You see everyone had to contribute. This woman has no choice, and the system made her give all she had. Yet even when our human systems fail us God never will.

You see we have to give all we have, because it was first given to us, to manage, to steward. We have to rightly manage what God has given to us to manage.

What can separate…

What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-39, NRSV)

How many things get in the way of you going about your daily routine?

Changes in the kids schedule.

Road work. Accidents.

Your usual machine at the gym being used or broken.

Someone stopping to talk to you as you get ready to work out.

The usual clerk at the coffee shop not being there and having to explain your drink.

Seems petty when we read it this way, but not when we experience it. If you are a schedule person and something throws that schedule off it gets in the way of your life.

But Paul tells us and the Romans that nothing can get in the way of our relationship with God. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Not life or death.

Not rulers or angels.

Not things to come or things present.

Not depths or heights.

Not powers.

Not anything .

Wether you are alive or dead, God will be with you.

Neither a ruler or a messenger can keep you from God.

Nothing to come or that is already here can keep you from God.

No matter how far you think you are from God, He is right there.

No power good or evil can keep you from the love that God has for you.

Not anything can keep God’s love from you. Nothing can separate you from Him!

Good from evil?

Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much, in every way. For in the first place the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Will their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Although everyone is a liar, let God be proved true, as it is written, “So that you may be justified in your words, and prevail in your judging.” But if our injustice serves to confirm the justice of God, what should we say? That God is unjust to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) By no means! For then how could God judge the world? But if through my falsehood God’s truthfulness abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not say (as some people slander us by saying that we say), “Let us do evil so that good may come”? Their condemnation is deserved! (Romans 3:1-8, NRSV)

Is it ok for the children of light to deal falsely in things that are not related to the church?

What about business dealings where it is not really hurting the other party, but is allowing your company to make a little more profit?

Can you charge one customer more and another less and just call it shrewd business practice?

Any of the above dealings in business are things that should not happen with a follower of Christ. We are to be above reproach and treat everyone fairly and equally. Now yes you may work a deal with someone for a bulk buying option, but should you not then offer that same deal to everyone?

You see in our world as sons and daughters of God there is nothing that is not church related or connected to God. Everything you do shows the world who God is and how He deals with people.

So think about everything you do everyday and wonder if this is how God would want you as His steward to manage His kingdom, and then go and be Jesus to the world!

Good company

“Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” And he said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death!” Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance. When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. Then a servant girl, seeing him in the firelight, stared at him and said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” A little later someone else, on seeing him, said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” Then about an hour later still another kept insisting, “Surely this man also was with him; for he is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about!” At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly. (Luke 22:31-33, 54-62, NRSV)

Have you ever had a moment where you felt like you were on top of the world and you would be able to do anything? That is where Peter is at the beginning of the reading. He tells Jesus he is ready to go to prison and to death with Him. And yet just a little while later his preservation kicks in and he denies knowing Jesus. He looks out for himself rather than leaning on the faith he has in Jesus.

Have you ever done that? Let a religious tainted joke go by without a comment? Or let someone make a remark about another group of people without standing up for them? Maybe you’ve even told a religious slanted joke…

Peter, the rock, denied he knew Jesus. He was ready to die for what they were doing, yet he slipped. You my friend are in good company when you fall back into your human ways. That doesn’t mean we would not react as Peter did and weep over our sin, but even in our weeping God sees us, and had compassion for us. And just as Jesus restored Peter, He will restore you if you only turn and ask Him to forgive you.

Big

The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. Human beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.” When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it. (Jonah 3:1-10, NRSV)

Jonah went to Nineveh because he was sure God was going to destroy the city. He did not like the Ninevites or what they were known for. He would have been happy if God would have wiped them off of the face of the earth. But God had other plans…

You see when we turn to God, no matter how far away everyone says we are, God is there to accept us back. So when the Ninevites turned form their evil ways and started to do what was right, God was there to welcome them home. Just like all of us!

So delight in those whom God has chosen to include, because we don’t get to choose because God’s grace is too big for us to understand!

near God

Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek. They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind. Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment. Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies. They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression. They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth. Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them. And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?” Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning. If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed the generation of your children. But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms. When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you. Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works. (Psalm 73:1-28 ESV)

Do not look upon others and judge where they are at with God, because a simple glance does not tell you the story. Can you know the depth of a book by reading the cover, or the back? We can glimpse at what it is, but not know he true depth of passion it possess if we do not dwell in the pages…

How then can we know others with a glance, or a simple small talk exchange?

Or even better how do you say you know God when you do not read His word or spend time with Him in conversation? We glimpse only the surface and Make judgements on who we assume He is and we make Him to be who we want Him to be.

In order for us to know God we must be near to Him, and spend time wi Him in His word and at His feet. Join Him for a cup of coffee, or tea and chat about His dreams for your life, and tell Him all about your days and draw near to Him.

You will never be the same!

lost things…

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “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? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And 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.’ Just 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. “Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:1-10, NRSV)

This chapter of Luke is one of my favorite set of verses in the bible!

I love the story most know as the Prodigal Son. I refer to it as the story of the loving father.

But I had a revelation this morning as I sat in the sanctuary of the congregation I am supplying for and I sent this tweet:

As I sat in the pew and prayed my mind went with lost things and then went to Disney…

I am a bit of a Disney freak and look for examples to use in sermons to help illustrate texts. And I really can’t believe that I did not see this connection before this morning. But the text this week is about lost things, specifically in Luke chapter 15, a lost sheep, a lost coin and 2 lost sons… And I connected this morning with Tinker Bell and one of her discoveries upon her arrival in Neverland, lost things!

You see in Tinker Bell lost things are items that come from the main land and wash up on Neverland. They include buttons, and springs, and the one item that Tinker Bell finds and fixes is Wendy’s music box. Lost things actually help to save spring and help Tinker Bell realize the gifts she has and how she is called to be the best tinker there is. But that is not where it ends…

You see in the 4th movie in the Tinker Bell series is The Secret of the Wings. In this movie Tinker Bell meets her sister Periwinkle. And at one point in the movie Periwinkle and Tinker Ball are going through their similarities, and they both look for and use lost things, only difference is Periwinkle does not call them lost things, she calls them found things…

And it hit me there in the pew, that is really what these readings are about. They are not about lost sheep, lost coins, or lost sons, they are about found sheep, coins, and sons and the length to which the Father and savior will go to have them be found things. You see all of us can be lost, even when we are righteous and not in need of repentance, we can still be lost, but thankfully God looks upon us as Periwinkle does the things that come to Neverland, not as lost, but as found.

Thanks be to God that He has found us and if we wander away, He will go to great lengths to find us and bring us back to the party!

hired hand

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing 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. And I have other sheep that are not of 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 that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” (John 10:11-18 ESV)

They always say you can tell who your true friends are because they are there for you through the hard times. People can be fair weather friends, and we have a tendency to treat things that we are caring for that are not ours differently than our own.

We run away for trouble, and the wolves because they are not are and they are not worth our lives. But Jesus will never run away. He will and has laid down His life for you.

Follow His voice and know that He is not a fair weather friend.