This is the holiest time of the year. The time when we remember the last supper of out Lord. The time he was handed over by Judas, because he was in charge. Jesus said at dinner one of you will betray me, or one of you will hand me over. He knew it all along, and who it was. Judas did his part. But we remember the meal, and the walk to the garden, and the praying and watching with Jesus, and the sweat running as blood, and asking for this cup to be removed. Jesus shows his humanness, and his wanting to not do things the way God wants them done. Do we ever do this? But Jesus says “not my will but yours be done.” This is a far cry from the Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani? My God, My God why have you forsaken me…. My God My God why have you left me here in this mess? Have we ever cried this out to God wondering how we got into the place we are? I wonder did God really forsake Jesus? Did he ever truly leave him? He could have at any point removed himself from the cross, right? He rose from the dead to give us life, and bring us all grace, so did God ever forake him?

I wonder this after a Maundy Thursday service which had too much mention of Easter for me. I am vert traditional when it comes tothe 3 days, and think there is a reason for the one service over 3 days model. Thursday starts, Friday picks up the middle, and Saturday night completes. Thursday is a celebration that ends up going bad. It is the party at your house and the cops are called because your friends are out on the lawn and disturbing the neighbors. Or the cake arrives from the bakers, and the name is spelled wrong and the guest of honor has a hissy fit…

I find it interesting that the title of the day Maundy Thursday is something of a command. “1440, from M.E. maunde “the Last Supper,” also “ceremony of washing the feet,” from O.Fr. mandé, from L. mandatum “commandment,” in reference to the opening words of the church service for this day, Mandatum novum do vobis “A new commandment I give unto you” (John xiii.34), words supposedly spoken by Jesus to the Apostles after washing their feet at the Last Supper.” (Taken from http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Maundy+Thursday).

Jesus commands us to love one another, this new commandment, but is it not interesting that very few celebrate this day? This is the day that Jesus gave us that very foretaste of the coming kingdom, yet we can pass over it like any other day. And tomorrow is much the same, in Good Friday. We go about out day not even thinking about it. We have church on Sunday, and we had Passion Sunday most places last week, and missed the triumphal entry of Jesus as king, and we skip over Palm Sunday because our lives are too hectic, and we can not possibly go to church more than 1 day a week. Do we remember what Jesus did for us? Do we remember what happened tomorrow as he was nailed to a tree? He died so that you might be free, and to repay him, we go about our day like nothing happened. We need to remember the walk. I received this from a friend. I thought it was a great look at what Jesus did and wants from us:

HE WALKED

He could hear the crowds screaming “crucify, crucify”.

He could hear the hatred in their voices, these were His chosen people. He loved them, and they were going to crucify Him. He was beaten, bleeding and weakened. His heart was broken, but still He walked.

He could see the crowd as He came from the palace. He knew each of the faces so well. He had created them. He knew every smile, laugh, and shed tear. But now they were contorted with rage and anger. His heart broken, but still He walked.

Was He scared? You and I would have been. So His humanness would have mandated that He was. He felt alone. His disciples had left, denied, and even betrayed Him. He searched the crowd for a loving face and He saw very few.

Then He turned His eyes to the only one that mattered. And He knew that He would never be alone.

He looked back at the crowd, at the people who were spitting at Him, throwing rocks at Him and mocking Him and He knew that because of Him, they would never be alone. So for them, He walked.

The sounds of the hammer striking the spikes echoed through the crowd. The sounds of His cries echoed even louder, the cheers of the crowd, as His hands and feet were nailed to the cross, intensified with each blow.

Loudest of all was the still small voice inside His heart that whispered “I am with you, my son”, and God’s heart broke.

He had let His son walk.

Jesus could have asked God to end His suffering, but instead He asked God to forgive. Not to forgive Him, but to forgive the ones who were persecuting Him.

As He hung on that cross, dying an unimaginable death, He looked out and saw, not only the faces in the crowd, but also, the face of every person yet to be, and His heart filled with love.

As His body was dying, His heart was alive.

Alive with the limitless, unconditional love He feels for each of us.

That is why He walked.

When I forget how much My God loves me, I remember His walk.

When I wonder if I can be forgiven, I remember His walk.

When I need reminded of how to live like Christ, I think of His walk.

And to show Him how much I love Him, I wake up each morning, turn my eyes to Him, and I walk.

— Author Unknown

Why is it seems we are walking a tight rope with out a net. We need to keep up with the Jones or the Smiths. We have to have the newest things…

But is that really where it is at? Here are some more thoughts on that, http://api.seesmic.com/#/video/eT3ZiHDC3q/watch

Reply there or reply here…

I found a new sight seesmic.com, and have tried to record a thought. I wonder if this might be something new and fresh for us to speak about theology, in a public forum.

So check out what I have to say, audio is funky for the first time, I promise it will be better…

http://seesmic.com/video/T9qmi9M61Z

Either reply there with video, or back here with text…

Do we think that Jesus is some sort of Super Hero that removes his outer robe and shows us his super J and then flies to the rescue of those in need. Well then we have not read or thought about the reading for this coming Sunday. Matthew 15:10-28. Jesus tells us it is not what goes in us, but comes out of us that defiles us. It is not the fact that we do not wash our hands before we eat (children you must always wash your hands before you eat!) that defiles us. It is not what we eat, it is what we say and think and how we act that defiles us. But then he goes on to Tyre and Sidon. Here he has gone to get away, but a Canaanite woman comes out and asks him to heal her daughter. Now Jesus does not act the way a superhero would does he? Read the passage. He actually calls this woman a dog. He reacts, much the way most of us do, when we have gone somewhere to get away. We put on the dark sunglasses, and the clothes we never wear around our hometown, and we put on that hat we never wear, and go to the town three towns away. Just to get away from everything, but then we are made. Someone sees us and knows who we are and we have to do what we always have to do. And when you are the Son of God that is healing the sick and casting out the demons. Maybe Jesus wanted to be left alone and that is why he went to Tyre and Sidon. He reacts, and the woman responds and says yes you are right, I am not one of you, but even the dogs get to eat from the masters scraps, shouldn’t I also receive a scrap of mercy? And Jesus is awakened with a comment that is not expected, and one that is something that helps him remember why it is he is walking on this ground in the first place. He is here to give us an example of how to live, how to love, how to treat each other. Even Jesus needed to be reminded of it.

This might seem like a stretch but this was a part of the discussion today at the text study I attended with several other pastors. Some of us thought that this could be an answer… we pondered the humanness of Jesus, and wondered about how we sometimes make Jesus out to be a superman, and know he will swoop in to save the day, and we believe he will always be there to give us a hand, but not to be a superhero to save us in our time of trials by taking care of the problems. He never promised us a rose garden, he said he would always be with us, and in last weeks reading the storm did not stop when Jesus pulls Peter out of the water, but when they step in the boat. Jesus and Peter talk in the wind and the waves, the storm raging around them.

What do you think? Is Jesus a superhero, or a human, who needs to be reminded who he is and why he is here? And think about Mother Teresa’s quote of Loving God like he has never been loved before, to remind him how he should be loved…

I have been pondering life a lot lately.

I wonder why things happen the way they do, and why events are taking place in my life. I have 3 wonderful children, and I sometimes wonder why I have been blessed with them. I feel like I am the worst parent on the faces of the earth. I feel like all I ever do is yell at them, and I think how much better my life would be with out them. I know this is not true, as I sit here and watch my 5 year old sleep on the loveseat as my 7 year old watches the Olympics, I savor every moment I get with them. They truly are the reason I do the things I do. So then why do I act to them like they can do nothing right? Why is it we treat the ones we love so badly? Even those of us who profess to be in love with God treat our loved ones like they do not deserve. I wonder why it is I do this, I try to change, and for a while it works, but then it seems like life gets a hold of the situation and the old ways start back up. I want to change and live life, in the light of God and show that love to everyone. I want to react in faith, knowing that no matter what comes my way that Christ is walking with me, knowing that if I start to sink as Peter did, that when I call on Jesus that he will immediately reach out his hand and pull me up, not take me out of the storm, but walk with me through it. I want to rely on God like my children rely on me, and I want to love my children the way that God loves me. I want to treat my children like God treats me. It is a wonderful thought that grace is not fair. I can picture my children jumping up and down and stomping their feet with a disgusted look on their faces when I tell them something they do not want to hear. They say thats not fair. And Grace is not fair. It is freely given to all, and I thank God that grace is not fair. If it was fair I would not get grace. I do not deserve grace, as I do not always treat people graciously. I do not deserve to be in God’s grace.

I sometimes wonder why it was that God called me to be a pastor, and I wonder what he was thinking, but God does not call us to do the things we know we can do. Where is faith in that. God calls us to do the impossible, like Jesus calls Peter out of the boat, to walk on water. God can help us to do the impossible, and through faith I know that God can and will help us all to walk on water, to quite doing the bad things we do, to treat people the way they need to be treated, to help our neighbors, and treat our family like the gifts they are.

I believe God can do the impossible and will help us if we only call on his name.

http://www.starbeacon.com/archivesearch/local_story_204194208.html
This is a link to the Star Beacon article on the storm we experienced while at family camp.

My wife and I climbed through trees in the rain, and standing water with downed power lines to reach our girls. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. I remember that God was with me. Not knowing if I would see my children, I thought I lost my wife. It was an adrenaline rush. As my wife and I climbed through the trees, I wondered a lot of things. As I looked at my van later that night with a tree on it, I wondered more about life, and why we had come to this place at this time. But through it all God was with me. God was with all of us.

It brings a whole new meaning for me to Philippians 4:11-13: I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

You can see more at Camp Luther’s Storm 2008 Page

Can we do anything to earn eternal life? What could one do to have eternal life. The only guarantee to life is death. All of us will die, but Christ has taken the sting of death away, because we believe it is not the end… Is eternal life a goal to obtain, or something we can earn or request, or do anything to get?

I have been thinking and working over the idea of decision theology. I was baptized in a Baptist church, after I chose Jesus to be my savior. I know now that Jesus chose me long before I made a profession of the faith I had received through grace. I decided to follow Jesus, and use the gift I was given. I made a decision to use the love I was given to help other see the love.

But I still have not answered the question if eternal life is something to be earned, or a goal as Paul tells us to press on towards the goal. In the Genesis reading form this coming weekend we see the story of Jacob with Laben. Laben tells Jacob for 7 years of service he will give Jacob his daughter Rachel in marriage. But after 7 years, Laben gives Leah, Rachel’s older sister. So Jacob works another 7 years for Rachel. And most of us think that is the end of the story. Jacob gave Laben 14 years of worl for the 2 daughters… but that is not it. Jacob works another 7 years for Laben. A total of 21 years, and why is that? Laben is faithful, and Jacob sees the father is faithful. It is not about earning what Jacob thinks he needs, but being with a father who is faithful to a promise. So is eternal life a goal to press on towards, to finish the race, and obtain in the sweet by and by?

Eternal life is here and now. In Christ death has no sting, while the physical body will die, we are a part of the promise, the inheritance, we have eternal life. The choice is not to get eternal life, the choice is to get the abundant life. To live in the light of Christ is to chose to live the abundant life. The life that is not always easy, and is not always what we want. It is the difference between getting what we want and getting what we need. It is not living the life of luxury, or having everything everyone else does, or keeping up with the Jones. It is living in the love that God has given us and being stewards of all creation and all we are given.

Chose to live in Christ and live the abundant life… Eternal life is the gift given to us…

What in the world does that mean? Am I a saint, how can I be a saint? Don’t you have to be dead to be a saint?

Well not really, a saint is someone who is sanctified by God, the communion of the saints, is when we who have been claimed and renamed by God in baptism. We are all saints. But the Bible tells us we are born totally sinful and that sin inhabits every part of us, so we are all sinners. Paul talks about this in Romans 7:15-23 “ I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.”

We are under the law of sin, yet at the same time we are under the forgiveness of Christ. We are simil iustis et peccator – simultaneously justified and sinner, we are at the same time saint and sinner. Paul continues in Romans 7:24-25 “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.”

So I am saint and sinner, I am at one time bad and good. I believe we can all see this, as Christ proclaims to us we are forgiven, yet then we think of something or do something we do not want to or know we should not do… Paul struggled with it, and we all struggle with it. Our flesh is weak, and our minds know what we must do. Ask God to help your faith become a well spring in you to strengthen you in your walk as a sinning saint!