Monday of Holy Week

Six days before Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, home of Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Lazarus and his sisters hosted a dinner for him. Martha served and Lazarus was among those who joined him at the table. Then Mary took an extraordinary amount, almost three-quarters of a pound, of very expensive perfume made of pure nard. She anointed Jesus’ feet with it, then wiped his feet dry with her hair. The house was filled with the aroma of the perfume. Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), complained, “This perfume was worth a year’s wages! Why wasn’t it sold and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He carried the money bag and would take what was in it.) Then Jesus said, “Leave her alone. This perfume was to be used in preparation for my burial, and this is how she has used it. You will always have the poor among you, but you won’t always have me.” Many Jews learned that he was there. They came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. The chief priests decided that they would kill Lazarus too. It was because of Lazarus that many of the Jews had deserted them and come to believe in Jesus. (John 12:1-11, CEB)

Judas is said to have been stealing from the purse because he held the money for the group. I have never seen any other evidence of this and we believe it because it is written here. The author of John or maybe a scribe at some point said Judas was a thief. And no one has questioned this.

Ok yes, there are other big things in this passage we should look at, the perfume, the fact they are with Lazarus after he was dead, Jesus saying there will always be poor and that he will not always be with us.

There is a lot here to chew on. And this is a big week to do it in.

Jesus won’t always be with us. In 3.5 days we will prepare for his lynching.

How can we change the way we look at others, to show love and maybe take care of the poor? How can we bring more of the love of God into the world by the actions we seek to do daily?

How can you be an agent of God’s love for the betterment of the world?

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Palm Sunday

When Jesus and his followers approached Jerusalem, they came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives. Jesus gave two disciples a task, saying to them, “Go into the village over there. As soon as you enter it, you will find tied up there a colt that no one has ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘Its master needs it, and he will send it back right away.’” They went and found a colt tied to a gate outside on the street, and they untied it. Some people standing around said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” They told them just what Jesus said, and they left them alone. They brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes upon it, and he sat on it. Many people spread out their clothes on the road while others spread branches cut from the fields. Those in front of him and those following were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessings on the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest!” Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. After he looked around at everything, because it was already late in the evening, he returned to Bethany with the Twelve. (Mark 11:1-11, CEB)

Its master needs it…

You know in all of the recorded things we have Jesus saying he only says he needs one thing. A donkey.

He needs a donkey to fulfill a prophecy about the Messiah riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. That is what he needs. Knowing that in less than a week he will be murdered/lynched. He needs a donkey to fulfill a prophecy.

What do you need?

Loving People. Loving God.

Your faith has healed you…

Jesus and his disciples were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, with Jesus in the lead. The disciples were amazed while the others following behind were afraid. Taking the Twelve aside again, he told them what was about to happen to him. “Look!” he said. “We’re going up to Jerusalem. The Human One will be handed over to the chief priests and the legal experts. They will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles. They will ridicule him, spit on him, torture him, and kill him. After three days, he will rise up.”
Jesus and his followers came into Jericho. As Jesus was leaving Jericho, together with his disciples and a sizable crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, Timaeus’ son, was sitting beside the road. When he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was there, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, show me mercy!” Many scolded him, telling him to be quiet, but he shouted even louder, “Son of David, show me mercy!” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him forward.” They called the blind man, “Be encouraged! Get up! He’s calling you.” Throwing his coat to the side, he jumped up and came to Jesus. Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said, “Teacher, I want to see.” Jesus said, “Go, your faith has healed you.” At once he was able to see, and he began to follow Jesus on the way. (Mark 10:32-34, 46-52, CEB)

Ok, so why hasn’t my faith healed me?

Why do I get sick?

Why do the people I love die?

All of these are valid questions from this passage.

And I have to say I do not know. We die because we are human and eternal life does not mean no death.

But I can not answer those questions. It isn’t because you don’t have faith, don’t believe the right way, or because you are sinning.

That is life. Jesus never said life would be perfect, God promised to always be with us and we would always be with God. That doesn’t mean we will get what we want, or be healed the way we think we should be. Sometimes healing comes in ways we don’t want or expect it to.

Know that your faith is good enough and so are you.

God is always with you.

Loving People. Loving God.

Do everything

Therefore, my loved ones, just as you always obey me, not just when I am present but now even more while I am away, carry out your own salvation with fear and trembling. God is the one who enables you both to want and to actually live out his good purposes. Do everything without grumbling and arguing so that you may be blameless and pure, innocent children of God surrounded by people who are crooked and corrupt. Among these people you shine like stars in the world because you hold on to the word of life. This will allow me to say on the day of Christ that I haven’t run for nothing or worked for nothing. But even if I am poured out like a drink offering upon the altar of service for your faith, I am glad. I’m glad with all of you. You should be glad about this in the same way. Be glad with me! (Philippians 2:12-18, CEB)

Do everything without grumbling and arguing so that you may be blameless and pure, innocent children of God surrounded by people who are crooked and corrupt.

Do not grumble or argue. Treat people as God treats you, with love even when you don’t deserve it. The day I wrote this devotion, I also shared a image on Facebook and this passage and verse reminded me of that picture.

If you ever get the chance to treat them the way they treated you, I hope you choose to walk away and do better. Walk away and do not return evil for evil.

The other day at a local congregation I was at someone commented on my beard and the color it was and the comment was Southern nice. The person said it in a way that was a jab at me, I simply replied thank you and walked away. I could have said, “I didn’t color it for you.” But I didn’t. I don’t say this to make me look good. trust me when I say I do enough to not look good every day. But at that moment I was the bigger person. May we all have those moments, and make the world a little bit better place.

Love like Jesus. Which sometimes means, we just walk away.

Loving People. Loving God.

Empty

Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort in love, any sharing in the Spirit, any sympathy, complete my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, being united, and agreeing with each other. Don’t do anything for selfish purposes, but with humility think of others as better than yourselves. Instead of each person watching out for their own good, watch out for what is better for others. Adopt the attitude that was in Christ Jesus:
Though he was in the form of God,
        he did not consider being equal with God something to exploit.
But he emptied himself
        by taking the form of a slave
        and by becoming like human beings.
When he found himself in the form of a human,
        he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,
        even death on a cross.
Therefore, God highly honored him
        and gave him a name above all names,
    so that at the name of Jesus everyone
        in heaven, on earth, and under the earth might bow
        and every tongue confess
            that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
(Philippians 2:1-11, CEB)

We can not be full of ourselves.

This early hymn used by Paul here shows that even Jesus gave up being full of himself. Jesus humbled himself and asks us to do the same.

Be humble. Know though in your humility you are loved.

Love like Jesus.

Lovign People. Loving God.

Glory vs praise

The crowd responded, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Human One must be lifted up? Who is this Human One?” Jesus replied, “The light is with you for only a little while. Walk while you have the light so that darkness doesn’t overtake you. Those who walk in the darkness don’t know where they are going. As long as you have the light, believe in the light so that you might become people whose lives are determined by the light.” After Jesus said these things, he went away and hid from them. Jesus had done many miraculous signs before the people, but they didn’t believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of the prophet Isaiah:
Lord, who has believed through our message?
    To whom is the arm of the Lord fully revealed?
Isaiah explains why they couldn’t believe:
He made their eyes blind
        and closed their minds
    so that they might not see with their eyes,
        understand with their minds,
        and turn their lives around—
    and I would heal them.
Isaiah said these things because he saw Jesus’ glory; he spoke about Jesus. Even so, many leaders believed in him, but they wouldn’t acknowledge their faith because they feared that the Pharisees would expel them from the synagogue. They believed, but they loved human praise more than God’s glory. Jesus shouted, “Whoever believes in me doesn’t believe in me but in the one who sent me. Whoever sees me sees the one who sent me. I have come as a light into the world so that everyone who believes in me won’t live in darkness. If people hear my words and don’t keep them, I don’t judge them. I didn’t come to judge the world but to save it. Whoever rejects me and doesn’t receive my words will be judged at the last day by the word I have spoken. I don’t speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me regarding what I should speak and say. I know that his commandment is eternal life. Therefore, whatever I say is just as the Father has said to me.” (John 12:34-50, CEB)

Why do you do the things you do?

I was at a meeting the day I wrote this and someone asked me when I started wearing rainbow gauges and painting my nails. They were wondering if this was part of my call to campus ministry. And while I could say yes, the answer is no. Yes it is a part of my call because no it is just who I am. I do not put on a mask for any one. I do the things I do because I believe this is the way God made me. I hid part of that on calls in the past and that didn’t help me or the congregation I was serving.

We can not hide who we are. the reading said they believed but they loved human praise more than God’s glory. If you look for the praise of men, it won’t work out.

Be who God created you to be, and know that God has a plan.

Look to share God’s love and not to get the praise of humans.

Loving People. Loving God.

Not drunk!

Peter stood with the other eleven apostles. He raised his voice and declared, “Judeans and everyone living in Jerusalem! Know this! Listen carefully to my words! These people aren’t drunk, as you suspect; after all, it’s only nine o’clock in the morning! Rather, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
    Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
    Your young will see visions.
    Your elders will dream dreams.
    Even upon my servants, men and women,
        I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
        and they will prophesy.
I will cause wonders to occur in the heavens above
    and signs on the earth below,
        blood and fire and a cloud of smoke.
The sun will be changed into darkness,
    and the moon will be changed into blood,
        before the great and spectacular day of the Lord comes.
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
“Fellow Israelites, listen to these words! Jesus the Nazarene was a man whose credentials God proved to you through miracles, wonders, and signs, which God performed through him among you. You yourselves know this. In accordance with God’s established plan and foreknowledge, he was betrayed. You, with the help of wicked men, had Jesus killed by nailing him to a cross. God raised him up! God freed him from death’s dreadful grip, since it was impossible for death to hang on to him. (Acts 2:14-24, CEB)

Peter stood and told the crowd, did you not understand the words of scripture? Things are going to happen through the people who follow God that we do not understand. Dreamers will dream and their dreams will come true. People will speak in ways they have never spoken. God will do things we do not understand. That doesn’t mean you’re drunk or we’re drunk. It means God works the way God wants to work and we won’t get it.

We will put people to death because it seems like they have gone astray from what God wants when they are actually doing the will of God. We won’t get it because it doesn’t fit in our box and it isn’t the way we think God should work.

Know God works in mysterious ways.

Love like Jesus. Knowing you won’t always understand.

Loving People. Loving God.

qualified

This is the confidence that we have through Christ in the presence of God. It isn’t that we ourselves are qualified to claim that anything came from us. No, our qualification is from God. He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not based on what is written but on the Spirit, because what is written kills, but the Spirit gives life. The ministry that brought death was carved in letters on stone tablets. It came with such glory that the Israelites couldn’t look for long at Moses’ face because his face was shining with glory, even though it was a fading glory. Won’t the ministry of the Spirit be much more glorious? If the ministry that brought condemnation has glory, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness? In fact, what was glorious isn’t glorious now, because of the glory that is brighter. If the glory that fades away was glorious, how much more glorious is the one that lasts! (2 Corinthians 3:4-11, CEB)

We are qualified for ministry because God gave us the qualifications to do what needed to be done. It is not our own doing, and God gets all the credit.

And because of this, it is something that will last for all time. The Holy Spirit will work in and through us to do the will of God in this place and time.

We get the honor of tagging along for the ride and seeing what happens through us.

Enjoy the ride, and know it will be memorable.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

See Jesus

Some Greeks were among those who had come up to worship at the festival. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and made a request: “Sir, we want to see Jesus.” Philip told Andrew, and Andrew and Philip told Jesus. Jesus replied, “The time has come for the Human One to be glorified. I assure you that unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it can only be a single seed. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their lives will lose them, and those who hate their lives in this world will keep them forever. Whoever serves me must follow me. Wherever I am, there my servant will also be. My Father will honor whoever serves me. “Now I am deeply troubled. What should I say? ‘Father, save me from this time’? No, for this is the reason I have come to this time. Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard and said, “It’s thunder.” Others said, “An angel spoke to him.” Jesus replied, “This voice wasn’t for my benefit but for yours. Now is the time for judgment of this world. Now this world’s ruler will be thrown out. When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to me.” (He said this to show how he was going to die.) (John 12:20-33, CEB)

We want to see Jesus…

Would you like to see Jesus? Most days I think I’m ready, but some days I don’t think I want to yet. But why does Jesus go into this long answer that has nothing to do with some Greeks wanting to see Jesus, or does it…

The Greeks were not part of the Jewish religion and yet Jesus was becoming known across the known world so people who were not a part of the Jewish religion were taking note of Jesus and wanting to know who he was.

So Jesus answer to wanting to be seen was saying that people get it, so now is the time the world will know.

Jesus came for all. Not just Jewish, not just people who believe, all. And so these outsiders want to know more, so now is the time.

How can we show those the church sees as outsiders that they are also part of all, regardless of what they see insiders saying? How can we show the world, and the church, that all means all, and only God gets to decide who isn’t all.

Love like Jesus and include all!

Loving People. Loving God.

Nard…

Six days before Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, home of Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Lazarus and his sisters hosted a dinner for him. Martha served and Lazarus was among those who joined him at the table. Then Mary took an extraordinary amount, almost three-quarters of a pound, of very expensive perfume made of pure nard. She anointed Jesus’ feet with it, then wiped his feet dry with her hair. The house was filled with the aroma of the perfume. Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), complained, “This perfume was worth a year’s wages! Why wasn’t it sold and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He carried the money bag and would take what was in it.) Then Jesus said, “Leave her alone. This perfume was to be used in preparation for my burial, and this is how she has used it. You will always have the poor among you, but you won’t always have me.” Many Jews learned that he was there. They came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. The chief priests decided that they would kill Lazarus too. It was because of Lazarus that many of the Jews had deserted them and come to believe in Jesus. (John 12:1-11, CEB)

Pure Nard. Very Expensive…

Judas gets called out in the gospel of John for being a thief, but there isn’t any evidence of this beyond this passage that I know about. So was Judas a thief? Or was he looking out for the poor? Or does either of those matter?

Maybe the disciples didn’t get this because someone just put a year’s salary worth of perfume on Jesus. And this wasn’t done to the living. This should have been done to Lazarus before Jesus brought him back to life.

Being under the influence of God makes us do things that sometimes we do not understand. I recall a line from a sermon I heard recently on John 3:14-21 and the line started out as, “just when you think things can’t get any better, God says…” And my mind went to “hold my beer…” or you could easily say, “you just wait.”

When God is in control we will not always understand, but it is not really our place to understand, it is our place to follow and do what God is leading us to do. Understanding will come later.

Follow and love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.