aSacredRebel

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

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.

Pierced

Look, my servant will succeed.
    He will be exalted and lifted very high.
Just as many were appalled by you,
    he too appeared disfigured, inhuman,
    his appearance unlike that of mortals.
But he will astonish many nations.
    Kings will be silenced because of him,
    because they will see what they haven’t seen before;
    what they haven’t heard before, they will ponder.
Who can believe what we have heard,
    and for whose sake has the Lord’s arm been revealed?
He grew up like a young plant before us,
    like a root from dry ground.
He possessed no splendid form for us to see,
    no desirable appearance.
He was despised and avoided by others;
    a man who suffered, who knew sickness well.
Like someone from whom people hid their faces,
    he was despised, and we didn’t think about him.
It was certainly our sickness that he carried,
    and our sufferings that he bore,
    but we thought him afflicted,
    struck down by God and tormented.
He was pierced because of our rebellions
    and crushed because of our crimes.
    He bore the punishment that made us whole;
    by his wounds we are healed.
Like sheep we had all wandered away,
    each going its own way,
    but the Lord let fall on him all our crimes.
He was oppressed and tormented,
    but didn’t open his mouth.
Like a lamb being brought to slaughter,
    like a ewe silent before her shearers,
    he didn’t open his mouth.
Due to an unjust ruling he was taken away,
    and his fate—who will think about it?
He was eliminated from the land of the living,
    struck dead because of my people’s rebellion.
His grave was among the wicked,
    his tomb with evildoers,
    though he had done no violence,
    and had spoken nothing false.
But the Lord wanted to crush him
    and to make him suffer.
If his life is offered as restitution,
    he will see his offspring; he will enjoy long life.
    The Lord’s plans will come to fruition through him.
After his deep anguish he will see light, and he will be satisfied.
Through his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant,
    will make many righteous,
    and will bear their guilt.
Therefore, I will give him a share with the great,
    and he will divide the spoil with the strong,
    in return for exposing his life to death
    and being numbered with rebels,
    though he carried the sin of many
    and pleaded on behalf of those who rebelled.
(Isaiah 52:13—53:12, CEB)

He bore the punishment that made us whole; by his wounds we are healed.

He bore our sin and by his wounds we are given a place with God.

His death was due to power. Power that was going to be lost. He was not a substitute for us. He was killed by religious power to maintain power.

His wounds healed us, but not as a substitute. As love.

Love for a fallen and broken world that loved the idea of the world it had more than the one the creator wanted them to see.

Love for a fallen and broken people that loved themselves and sought their own desire over that of the people created by God and what God desired.

Love of a God who died to show love.

Loving People. Loving God.

Command

Before the Festival of Passover, Jesus knew that his time had come to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them fully. Jesus and his disciples were sharing the evening meal. The devil had already provoked Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew the Father had given everything into his hands and that he had come from God and was returning to God. So he got up from the table and took off his robes. Picking up a linen towel, he tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he was wearing. When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You don’t understand what I’m doing now, but you will understand later.” “No!” Peter said. “You will never wash my feet!” Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t have a place with me.” Simon Peter said, “Lord, not only my feet but also my hands and my head!” Jesus responded, “Those who have bathed need only to have their feet washed, because they are completely clean. You disciples are clean, but not every one of you.” He knew who would betray him. That’s why he said, “Not every one of you is clean.” After he washed the disciples’ feet, he put on his robes and returned to his place at the table. He said to them, “Do you know what I’ve done for you? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you speak correctly, because I am. If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you too must wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example: Just as I have done, you also must do. I assure you, servants aren’t greater than their master, nor are those who are sent greater than the one who sent them. Since you know these things, you will be happy if you do them. When Judas was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Human One has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify the Human One in himself and will glorify him immediately. Little children, I’m with you for a little while longer. You will look for me—but, just as I told the Jewish leaders, I also tell you now—‘Where I’m going, you can’t come.’ “I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other. This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other.” (John 13:1-17, 31b-35, CEB)

A new command I give you. Maundatum means command. Maundy Thursday is command Thursday. And Jesus gives the disciples a new command. To love one another as I have loved you. And how did Jesus show this love?

He showed the disciples love by washing their feet. Taking on the role of a servant. And reread the story to see that Jesus washed all disciples feet, including Judas.

Love knows no limit and is freely available to all. Love all people, even when they don’t fit your box, or you know they are going to turn on you. We do not choose who we love, as Jesus showed love to all.

Love like Jesus.

Love one another as I have loved you. As I have loved the one who hands me over.

Loving People. Loving God.

Disturbed

After he said these things, Jesus was deeply disturbed and testified, “I assure you, one of you will betray me.” His disciples looked at each other, confused about which of them he was talking about. One of the disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was at Jesus’ side. Simon Peter nodded at him to get him to ask Jesus who he was talking about. Leaning back toward Jesus, this disciple asked, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It’s the one to whom I will give this piece of bread once I have dipped into the bowl.”Then he dipped the piece of bread and gave it to Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son. After Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” No one sitting at the table understood why Jesus said this to him. Some thought that, since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus told him, “Go, buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. So when Judas took the bread, he left immediately. And it was night. When Judas was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Human One has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify the Human One in himself and will glorify him immediately. (John 13:21-32, CEB)

Jesus was disturbed for who knew what was going to happen. But when Judas left, Jesus was glorified!

Jesus shows us his humanity in his state of being knowing what is about to happen and the processes set in motion by Judas leaving to do what he must.

Jesus shows us he gets our anxiety and worry.

Jesus knows your struggle.

Jesus loves you beyond measure and understands your struggle.

Loving People. Loving God.