Love or hate…

So what does it mean to love another believer? How do we love someone we do not agree with?

You see not all believers agree. And this is really nothing new, we see disagreements in Acts. The early church has issues with each other and who could be a christian, and wether you needed to be circumcised before you can be a follower of Christ…

Today we disagree over age of baptism, age of communion, frequency of communion. We disagree about what the Bible says about alot of topics. Some we stick hard to what the Bible says while some we let slide what the Bible says. For instance according to the Hebrew scriptures we are not to eat shrimp or bacon, but I love bacon and shrimp and especially bacon wrapped shrimp. So we are not that keen on keeping these things not allowed by the Bible, but homosexuality is right out because the Bible says it is wrong….

How can we love a brother/sister in Christ if we hate who they are? The sin committed is not the person is what some will say. We can hate the sin and love the sinner. But what if the sin being committed have no choice to do what they do? How do you hate the sin and love the sinner when they are linked and can not be separated?

1 John 2:3-11 tells us if we say we are light but hate our brother we are not light but darkness, and are leading people astray. We can no come down on someone for who they are or what they do and follow after Christ. Even Jesus Himself said that He did not come to judge, but to love. People would be judged by wether they followed what He taught or not, but He did not come to judge, He came to give us an example.

So live like Jesus and love everyone and show them how much God loves them.

Doubting who?

Today is low Sunday in the church, or the lowest attended Sunday in worship…

Why? I heard an excellent message this morning in worship that touched on this. Pastor Amy Danchik this morning said people come to worship on Christmas and Easter because they know they are going to hear the good news of Jesus and how we all are accepted and we all can have grace, and we all can get mercy, and everything is wonderful because of Jesus. But then on this Sunday, the Sunday that somewhere along the way got named Doubting Thomas Sunday we will hear that we are not good enough and our sin is over whelming and  we just aren’t good enough. She continued that none of us are ever good enough and if it was contingent on us having it all together before we came to church the building would be empty including the pulpit! It was a powerful message of the understanding of who we are and why Jesus came to earth. It was the “necessity of the incarnation” she said and told us that we all are loved by God just the way we are.

There were many things in Pastor Amy’s message that resonated with me. And she made me feel loved by God and acceptable to be used in mission with Him in the world.

You see today has been dubbed Doubting Thomas Sunday which is sad.  First of all doubting does not appear in the original language of John 20:19-31. And this dubious name has setup doubting to be the opposite of faith and that is simply not true.

Plus a close look at the text shows us that Thomas asked for no more than the disciples themselves got. Jesus appeared to them in the locked room and said “Peace be with you” and what happened? The disciples looked at Him in awe and were dumb founded, or they gasped, or they looked on in unbelief, or what? Obviously Jesus knew something was up, because the next thing John writes is and He showed them His hands and His side, and then they rejoiced. The disciples didn’t believe it until they saw what Thomas asked to see! And we say that  Thomas was doubting! The disciples saw Jesus standing among them in a room where the door was locked and they do not know who it is?

Plus there is the issue of the wording….

The NRSV has Jesus saying to Thomas ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ Do not doubt but believe! This is not what the original Greek says.  Now it is true that one could possibly rend this statement this way. I personally believe though that this causes undue stress on doubt and sets all of us up for making ourselves crazy over doubting too much. The actual sentence is  καὶ μὴ γίνου ἄπιστος ἀλλὰ πιστός  The word there that is translated doubt is apistos which is the opposite of pistos.  The sentence in a strict translation is ‘and not become you unbelieving but believing’, or ‘and not become you unfaithful but faithful’, or ‘and not become you untrusting but trusting’. It is not doubt vs belief. Doubt is not the opposite of belief. Doubt in my mind makes my belief, my faith, my trust stronger. Doubt allows me to question and seek our answers to my faith issues, problems are solved by the doubt that arises, and I am drawn closer to God in my doubt.

Thomas asked for nothing more than the disciples got, and we all want, so who needs to be questioned, or called out. And notice, Jesus did not reprimand Thomas, He gave him what he sought. And told him to trust, have faith, and believe.

So don’t get caught up in your doubt. Have it push you closer to Jesus, and trust, have faith and believe!

Jesus was a puppet…

Are you a puppet? Of course we do not want to think that we are a puppet, we have free will, and decide our own future, our own actions. We are not controlled by anyone or anything!

I am my own person and that is that! No one tell me what to do or how to do it.

Well last night a read a book about how free will is an illusion and we are all actually making decisions based on our genes, our upbringing, our life to this point, so therefore we are really not in control of our actions. Not sure I believe everything I read but the author made nice logical arguments. But am I really in control of my life? Of my decisions?

One could say yes, you are in control, and you can decide what to do. But I want us to think about how nice it is to be a puppet, as long as we are controlled by the right source…

You see in John 12:44-50 Jesus talks about how the things He says are not His own, and whoever who sees Him sees not Him but thee one who sent Him, and He is a light that points to something greater. He is the light to illume this dark world, because He does not do anything but what He is told to do. Jesus is was a puppet, under the control of the Father. Now do not crucify me for saying Jesus was a puppet. He did what the Father wanted Him to do even when He may not have wanted to, remember the garden where He asked the Father to remove the cup from Him? He may not have wanted to do all that He was told to do (this ring true with me too!!!), but He knew that what the Father wanted was the best. So He did not question, and did as He was told, or knew He had to.

So take control of your life by handing the strings over to your creator and let Him guide you and control you through life. Doing what He leads you to, as you know that it is the best thing to do and be a puppet like Jesus.

together in unity…

Psalm 133 tells us “How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!”

How true that is! Aren’t things more pleasant when everyone is getting along? Ever been to a family gathering where everyone knew there was a huge pink elephant in the room no one was willing to mention? Everyone tip toed around the issue and never brought it up, because it would make the gathering unpleasant.

On the other hand though have you ever been in a gathering where that same huge pink elephant was there, and people were willing and able to talk about it. Not that they agreed on how to handle or deal with the elephant, but were united in understanding and handling the elephant.  You see the thing the psalmist says is things are pleasant and good when people are united. Unity and agreement are not the same thing! We do not have to completely agree with each other to live in unity. This is something we forget, or completely over look. We think if someone disagrees with us we can not live in unity with them. We do not agree so there is no unity. No that is not true. We are unified in the cross of Christ. Even if we can not agree on whether it is right to eat shrimp, or pork, or catfish, or crab. Personally I think it is a sin to not eat bacon wrapped shrimp, or bacon wrapped anything for that matter. And what if we don’t agree on sexuality, we are still united in the cross of Christ. We do not have to agree on everything. We need to live in unity, not always agree.

How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!

To what are you devoted?

What is it that keeps you going?

What is the center of your life?

What is the thing that is the focus of your life?

I love this passage of scripture from Acts 2:42-47. There are many congregations that claim to be an Acts 2:42 congregation.  They devote themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer…  This is a wonderful thing to devote yourself to…

Verse 42 tells us to what the early gathering of believers was devoted to, and verses 43-47 tell us what happened because of the devotion of verse 42. The early gathering was devoted to the teaching of the apostles, to being together in fellowship, to breaking bread (eating together and celebrating communion) and to prayer, and because of this awe filled them. All gave what they had and everything was held in common by the apostles. No one horded their belongings they gave them up! And anyone who was in need was taken care of because there was no selfishness or hording of what is mine. They spent time together in temple and ate together and was joyous about it all. And God added to their numbers daily!

I love that last line. You see, we can not bring anyone to God. We can only live the way God and Jesus have asked us to live. We need to be a disciple of Jesus, and live together will all people in fellowship, and give to them as God gave to us and break bread together, worship together, and pray together.  When we do these things God will add to our numbers.  We can not have great programs and wow factor and bring people to God.  It won’t happen. Acts 2:47 is clear that God does the addition! God brings the people, through them seeing how we live.

So to what are you devoted? And what does you life point people to?

Go tell…

Today’s reading is the same reading we had for the gospel on Easter morning, the true ending to the gospel of Mark 16:1-8.

The women approach the tomb, and are wondering who will move the stone back for them, and when they get there it is already rolled away. The angel tells them that Jesus is not here that He has risen, just like He said He would and He will meet y’all in Galilee. This is all the story we know, and we have heard, but what about the details we miss?

First off, as the women approach the tomb, it is Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. I have a problem with this reference. Isn’t Mary the mother of James the mother of Jesus? So why is she not refereed to as Mary the mother of Jesus? Why is Mark not speaking to this?

And later when the angel tells these women to go and tell he says, “But go, tell His disciples and Peter…” Is Peter not a disciple? I mean he did just deny Christ 3 times, so maybe he isn’t a disciple. That worries me though because how many times have I denied Christ? So can I be a disciple?

The best part of this reading is the ending, they ran away in fear! Just like we would have! And the truly best part is this end is not an end, but a step in the story that is the Beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

You and I my friend are living out the Gospel of Jesus Christ everyday and adding o the story that Mark began in writing to show forth the love of God. The world will kill us on a cross, but God will raise us to new life, so go and tell of the wonderful mercy and grace waiting for those who will come.

Labor not in vain…

Have you ever done something and had it completely fall apart around you? Started a project that just crumbled around you as you tried to carry it out? Had a wonderful idea that once you started to put it in motion you realized that it was not going to succeed?

What is success? We each measure our own success differently. It is the amount of money we make? The number of people we get to come to something we do? The number of people that tell us how good we are? The number of people touched by our lives and the way we do something?

I do not believe our thoughts on what success is is really what success is.  Jesus has an idea of what our actions should produce, and this is not what we want. Paul tells the Corinthians “Therefore, my beloved,* be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.” Anything we do that we do in the mission of the Lord is not done in vain, even if we do not get the results we want. But be careful… This does not mean if you do something and say you are doing it for God that it is in the mission of God, or it is something that Jesus really wants you to do. Labor for the Lord is done in His mission for His glory, not for the glory of those doing the action. God is in control, this much is true, but I have seen and heard this phrase used by those that may not have been doing what is God’s mission to get their own desires, and fulfilling their own needs. Labor in the Lord requires time of prayer and discernment. It requires time of worship and time spent with Jesus to hear Him and understand what He is calling you to do.

So hold tight to Jesus, giving your life to Him and living in His love and mercy, following the path He has set before you, and then you can be sure that your labor will not be in vain.

Give Thanks!

What a wonderful gift we have all received! Chocolate! No no no, not chocolate. Now don’t get me wrong chocolate is ok, while I’m not a big fan of chocolate, my kids and wife are so it is a good thing. I do have to say that my weakness this time of year are the Reese white chocolate eggs.  I love the white chocolate eggs… And yes I got some yesterday, but that is not the wonderful gift I and all of us received.

Today though (before I get to the gift) the Psalmist tells us “O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever!” Give thanks to the Lord for He is good and His love endures forever, and that my friends is a wonderful gift. The most wonderful gift any of us could ever receive! Chocolate and candy, bunnys, and everything else aside… Yesterday we received the Risen Savior, the Son of God whom the grave could not hold! This is a reason to give thanks to the Lord for the grace and mercy we have all received.

So live this day in the light of the resurrection, knowing you are forgiven, and freed to be His hands and feet to help everyone experience His grace and mercy that flowed out of the tomb with Him as the glory of God showed in the life over death through Jesus our Lord!

Seized by fear…

Mark tells us the woman came to the tomb this morning and were prepared to find the body and to finish the prep that was not done because of the Sabbath. But they did not find Him…

The tomb was empty except for the man in dazzling white to proclaim that Jesus was not here. As if they should be surprised. Didn’t Jesus tell them that He wouldn’t be there? Did He not make it clear that He was going to die and then He would rise from the grave? He told those following Him over and over again, but they missed it. The women get to the tomb, hear the wonderful news that everything He told us the last 3 years is true, but they do not run away and tell anyone. Instead they run away in fear…

How many of us have ever heard the best news of our life and we are seized with fear that we can not share it? I honestly can not remember getting the best news of my life and running away in fear and not tell anyone. I am ready to shout it from the roof tops, and make sure everybody knows, not just those I care about but everyone! But these women hear that Jesus is not dead, He is alive and has gone ahead of them to Jerusalem, and they go away like they don’t believe it.

But how many of us are ready to tell of Jesus, even to those who know we love Him and try to follow Him? Jesus is not something we shout about from the roof tops… He is not the topic of usual conversation for us, and many of us probably shy away from talking about church, worship, Jesus, God… anything that might cause others to not agree with us. We are seized with fear the moment Jesus comes up. We can understand how these women react, and why, because we do it all the time.

But the truth of the matter is, that is not where the story ends. We are continuing this story that began at Mark 1:1 The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ… And just as the passage that ends Mark, but not the story tells us, everything that Jesus told us, and every promise God has made to us, is true and He is good to His word!

Called by name…

Could you image what the disciples felt like on the Saturday after the day Jesus was killed?

They all ran away and hide. They all deserted Jesus. They said they wouldn’t do that they would stick by Him and never turn. But they ran and hid, as the scripture says when the leader is struck they flee…

I can’t image what they must have felt and were thinking at this moment.

But then there is Mary… she is lost and went to the tomb… she found His body gone. She is wondering where they took Him. She even encounters Jesus and doesn’t know that it is Him. How many times have we encountered Jesus and missed that it was Him because we were distraught or caught up in our lives…

She did not know what to think or what to do, she just wanted to find Him and take care of Him. She hears His voice ask who she is looking for, but her mind is so clouded, but then she hears it, her name!

Oh the sweet sound of your name spoken by someone you love and loves you. Can you image hearing the voice of a loved one you thought was dead? Someone who was missing? Oh the sweet sound of your name on the lips of the creator of the universe! Listen and hear Him call your name…