Not Your Typical Roadmap

• Fourth Sunday of Easter

Matthew 24:1-14, Jesus speaks of the destruction of the Temple

and Ephesians 4:1-16, God gives gifts to people.

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• Matthew 24. New chapter. We are rapidly approaching the end of Jesus’ time with the disciples, now’s time for his last words with them. People get ready.
The institution you see (the bricks and mortar you trust in, even institutions of people) is not eternal but temporal.

A few months ago my second church closed.
There were warning signs for 20 years at least.
Who knows how long this building will stand,
or how long this congregation?

The institution you see is not eternal but temporal.
Put your faith in the eternal, not in the temporal.

• Therefore I don’t view Jesus’ words as a checklist (temporal).
Maybe as a roadmap but look at how distorted ancient maps are…
Maybe as a roadsign like “Buckle Up”
but not “42 miles to Charleston.”
“Bridge Ices Before Road” warns you of possible conditions.
Be prepared.

Not a checklist or roadmap
but How will you conduct your life now?
How will you conduct your life
when the things you love and are accustomed to
are no more?

And we’ve been rehearsing kingdom values:
Fear not. Live generously, attractively, simply, selflessly, sacrificially, and with heart (with courage & compassion).
Stand against injustice & oppression,
care for disadvantaged.
Fear, love, & honor God.

• People get ready.
Wedding season is coming up.
I have 3 weddings in the next 9 weeks.
One of my goals: to help couples prepare for the marriage as well as the wedding.

Likewise, Jesus’ goal to invest in people over buildings.
Sadly too many invest too much too often in bricks & mortar.
A dying church is inward focused.

• Therefore our outward focus is vital.
Pray for earthquake victims, yes, and give missionally,
and LIVE missionally.

• Also Ephesians 4: God gives the intangible…
God gives gifts / talents / occupations / callings
to the body of the church
for the building up of the church the people,
so be aware, be wise.

And live lives worthy of the calling you’ve received.

And be thankful.

• Hymn 147 All Things Bright and Beautiful

Matthew 24:1-14       (CEB)

24 Now Jesus left the temple and was going away. His disciples came to point out to him the temple buildings. ² He responded, “Do you see all these things? I assure that no stone will be left on another. Everything will be demolished.”

³ Now while Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?”

⁴ Jesus replied, “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁵ Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I’m the Christ.’ They will deceive many people. ⁶ You will hear about wars and reports of wars. Don’t be alarmed. These things must happen, but this isn’t the end yet. ⁷ Nations and kingdoms will fight against each other, and there will be famines and earthquakes in all sorts of places. ⁸ But all these things are just the beginning of the sufferings associated with the end. ⁹ They will arrest you, abuse you, and they will kill you. All nations will hate you on account of my name. ¹⁰ At that time many will fall away. They will betray each other and hate each other. ¹¹ Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. ¹² Because disobedience will expand, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³ But the one who endures to the end will be delivered. ¹⁴ This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world as a testimony to all the nations. Then the end will come.

Ephesians 4:1-16       (CEB)

4 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, ² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³ making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

⁷ But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸ Therefore it is said,

“When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive;
    he gave gifts to his people.”

⁹ (When it says, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.) ¹¹ The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,¹³ until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. ¹⁴ We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. ¹⁵ But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

Be a Solid Chocolate Bunny

• Third Sunday of Easter

Matthew 23:13-39

With John 17

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In the Gospel of Matthew there is so much on discipleship!
Like God planting a garden and cultivating disciples.
(for fun, take a look at the titles of today’s music selections: We Are God’s People, Many and Great O God. He Grew the Tree. You Are the Seed. In the Garden. Victory in Jesus!)

Nice thing about a garden is you know what you’re going to get
(Check out the song Plant A Radish, 1960 Fantasticks)
Not a guarantee with children, with people, or with disciples.

• Discipleship gone right is integrity.
Picture a solid chocolate Easter bunny, compared to a hollow one.

Consider Jesus’ prayer in John 17, “that they may be one with you.” (17:11)

Unity with the Father.
“Make them holy in the truth. Your word is truth.” (17:17)

“…so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (17:21)

Discipleship gone right is a perfect completion of God’s plan,
mature fruit which goes forth to produce more mature fruit.        

• But if discipleship gone right is integrity, discipleship gone wrong is what Jesus’ “woes” (or maybe “how terribles”) in Matthew 23 are. Jesus’ diatribe exposes hypocrisy, insincerity, a horrible mismatch between faith and action. Should-be disciples abusing the system for personal gain at best or to bring others down.
Petty micromanagement while neglecting truly spiritual matters. Seeking attention for looking good on the outside but actually being rotten on the inside.

If John 17 points to perfect completion of God’s plan,
Matthew 23 points to perfect rejection of Jesus:
from A to Z you have destroyed what God has sent (see verse 35).

• Recall that though we are three Sundays after Easter, this passage is still in early Holy week… It is Jesus’ last interaction with the crowd until Pilate brings him out on Good Friday.

Notice Jesus’ words that ‘they’ will kill and crucify those that God has sent, that the blood of the righteous will be on their hands, and that “I assure you these things will come upon this generation.”

The next interaction with the crowd? The crowd calls for Jesus’ crucifixion (chapter 27) and even says “his blood be on us and on our children”. (27:25)

• We have in the Gospel of Matthew Jesus’ recipe for discipleship,
and this example of antidiscipleship, if you will.

We have a warning, or a challenge, or an antidote,
or all of the above:
To be a disciple requires connection. Connection with Word and with other disciples. Connection with God. Laying aside of ego (antidiscipleship) and “let go, let God.”

• Hymn 583 You Are the Seed

Matthew 23:13-19        (CEB)        Easter 3  04/10/16

¹³ “How terrible it will be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You shut people out of the kingdom of heaven. You don’t enter yourselves, and you won’t allow those who want to enter to do so.

¹⁵ “How terrible it will be for you, legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You travel over sea and land to make one convert. But when they’ve been converted, they become twice the child of hell you are.

¹⁶ “How terrible it will be for you blind guides who say, ‘If people swear by the temple, it’s nothing. But if people swear by the gold in the temple, they are obligated to do what they swore.’ ¹⁷ You foolish and blind people! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold holy? ¹⁸ You say, ‘If people swear by the altar, it’s nothing. But if they swear by the gift on the altar, they are obligated to do what they swore.’ ¹⁹ You blind people! Which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy? ²⁰ Therefore, those who swear by the altar swear by it and by everything that’s on it. ²¹ Those who swear by the temple swear by it and by everything that’s part of it. ²² Those who swear by heaven swear by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.

²³ “How terrible it will be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You give to God a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, but you forget about the more important matters of the Law: justice, peace, and faith. You ought to give a tenth but without forgetting about those more important matters. ²⁴ You blind guides! You filter out an ant but swallow a camel.

²⁵ “How terrible it will be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and plate, but inside they are full of violence and pleasure seeking. ²⁶ Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup so that the outside of the cup will be clean too.

²⁷ “How terrible it will be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs. They look beautiful on the outside. But inside they are full of dead bones and all kinds of filth. ²⁸ In the same way you look righteous to people. But inside you are full of pretense and rebellion.

²⁹ “How terrible it will be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. ³⁰ You say, ‘If we had lived in our ancestors’ days, we wouldn’t have joined them in killing the prophets.’ ³¹ You testify against yourselves that you are children of those who murdered the prophets.³² Go ahead, complete what your ancestors did. ³³ You snakes! You children of snakes! How will you be able to escape the judgment of hell? ³⁴ Therefore, look, I’m sending you prophets, wise people, and legal experts. Some of them you will kill and crucify. And some you will beat in your synagogues and chase from city to city. ³⁵ Therefore, upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been poured out on the earth, from the blood of that righteous man Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the temple and the altar. ³⁶ I assure you that all these things will come upon this generation.

³⁷ “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You who kill the prophets and stone those who were sent to you. How often I wanted to gather your people together, just as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you didn’t want that. ³⁸ Look, your house is left to you deserted. ³⁹ I tell you, you won’t see me until you say, Blessings on the one who comes in the Lord’s name.”^{[Psalm 118:26]}

Emmaus Walk: A Monologue

A monologue from the point of view of Cleopas
written by Jim Hatherly
accessed at www.dramatix.org.nz
The author may be contacted at jamhat@mts.net
Used at Bville First UMC 4/3/2016

It's a short journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus. 
But for me it was the journey of a lifetime. 
A couple hours walk, at most, in real time. 

But it was enough for the Spirit to work on us.  In us. 
To move us, teach us,
reveal to us what we should have seen with our own eyes,
and believe with our own ears.

We had been told by the women.  

The three Marys who had been there, at the tomb? 
But you know how it is with us men, sometimes. 
We don't believe what we're told half the time. 
Especially by women who seem all pumped up and excited. 
I know they were the first witnesses. 
The first evangelists, I guess you could say. 
But we called their story an idle tale,
and went back to our card games and drinks. 

To tell the truth, we didn't know what to do,
or what to believe any more. 
Everything we had hoped for had been lost. 
Our leader, and, with him, our dreams,
nailed to a cross.  Buried in a tomb. 
The crowds that had followed him, listened to his teachings, brought their children for blessing, their sick for healing, 

where had they gone? 

The religious authorities, who ought to have listened, if not understood, had instead been jealous of his popularity, felt threatened by his mass appeal. 

The Romans thought he was about to amass a rebellion. 

It had all gone so wrong.  So terribly wrong. 

The last few days were a nightmare for us. 
Terrifying. 
Jesus betrayed by one of our own. 
Turned on by the mob. 
Tried.  Whipped until he bled. 

And then - I can still hear the nails being driven into his wrists.  

The thud of hammers. 
The taunts of the soldiers. 
The cry of abandonment from Jesus' own throat.

I'm sorry.  I must not talk of those things again. 
Or perhaps I must, at some later time.

The story needs to be told. 

But the story I just shared is not the end of it. 
We thought it was.  But there is more.

As I said, after the crucifixion,
we were confused. 
Frightened for our own lives.  Leaderless. 
Even we felt betrayed.  By Jesus himself. 
Would we go back to our villages, to our fishing and tax collecting and carpentry.  As if nothing had happened to us for three years?! 

We sat and talked, in hiding most of the time…
the rest of Friday. Saturday. Sunday. 
Discussing the movement.  Leadership. 
Vision for the group. 

Disband or re-group? 
No one wanted to actually say it, 

but it was on all of our tongues, unspoken. 

Jesus was a deluded prophet. 
And we had all fallen for his line.

And then the women came back,
full of this improbable story. 
That Jesus had risen from the dead. 

We were not quick to fall for this line, too.

Peter, however, wondered about the story. 
He at least gave some credence to the women. 
The benefit of the doubt. 

He finished his hand of poker 

and went to the tomb where the body had been buried. 
Where the women had supposedly seen
the angels.  Where they heard the news. 
"He is not here, but has risen."

"No point arguing about it, angels or not," Peter grumped, 

"Let's go see for ourselves." 

And off he went,
leaving the rest of us to stay for another hand. 
Yet another conversation about our future.

Peter came back a short time later. 
He confirmed what the women had said. 

Empty tomb.  No body. 
But what did that mean? 
Only that the body was gone. 
Stolen by the guards, as a joke to throw us off? 

It was something to go on, but not enough. 

And by this time, we were so skeptical that nothing short 

of the risen Christ himself would convince us. 

Not angels.  Not hopeful women. 
Not even an empty tomb.

John had things to do in Emmaus. 
"Come with me, Cleopas," he said. 
So off we went.  Talking as we walked,
pondering, again, the events of the last days.

The road to Emmaus is well-travelled. 
Dozens of people are back and forth,
walking to work, coming back from the market
in Jerusalem.  It was late afternoon by the time we got going. 
Plenty of time to get there before dusk.

As we walked, a stranger came beside us.  

Friendly enough fellow.  

We chatted about the weather for a while, 

then he asked, 

matter-of-fact, what we were talking about as we walked.  

Seems he had overheard some of our conversation 

as he caught up to us.

John and I looked at each other.  We stopped. 

A feeling of sadness came over us. 

I could see it in John's eyes, and feel it in my heart. 

Here it was.  The public moment.
Here with this stranger,
we might pour out our pain, sorrow, loss. 

How much would we say? 

I suspected, somehow, 

that the man was quite unaware of our story. 

So I tested him out.  "Are you the only one in Jerusalem 

who does not know the things that happened there in these days?" 

To confirm my suspicions, he said, "What things?"

I looked at the stranger again. 

He knew nothing. 
Nothing about our lives. 
Nothing about Jesus. 
Or the community we had joined, the movement, the dream, 

the teachings, the miracles. 
The cross. 

Have you ever had that experience? 

A time when someone asks you, "What's wrong?"  

And you realize that, short of saying, "I'm sad," or "I'm afraid," 

there is nothing to do but tell the whole complex, sordid, 

painful story of how you got to that feeling? 

I took a deep breath and poured out the story.  

All of it.  

Including his words and actions, his passion and compassion.  

His betrayal and death.  Even the deep sense of disappointment we had, that we thought he would be the one to redeem Israel. 

I ended with the story the women had shared, 

and that Peter had confirmed. 
The empty tomb.   And our still empty lives.

The stranger shook his head. 
At first I thought he felt sorry for us,
that he empathized with our loss. 

But his head was shaking in disappointment. 

"How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe!" 

John and I looked at each other. 
"How could this man say these things to us? 

Has he no feelings?  Who is he to judge us like that?"

But the stranger went on,
and as he talked we listened. 

We heard him tell stories we had learned from childhood.  

Bible stories.  From the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zephaniah, to Moses, and back again.  Familiar prophecies, all put together, splendidly knit into a fabric of hope. 

All to do with the Messiah, with God's promises, with deliverance.  

The servant, whose suffering brings redemption to the people, 

and glory to the servant. 

And as he talked, we marveled. 

Our spirits were lifted. 
We remembered the power of the story to inspire, 

to touch the heart with hope. 

At the end of the journey we were tired,
but the man seemed eager to continue his walk. 

"It is dusk," I said.  "Stay with us. 
Let's share a room.  We can talk some more."  

The stranger agreed, we set up for the evening, 

and ordered some food. 

What happened next I can scarcely put into words.  

We asked the stranger to offer the blessing for our meal. 

He took the bread then, blessed and broke it, 

and then gave it to us. 

It was him!  In the flesh! 

Memories of his last meal flooded back. 

An upper room.  Broken bread.  For you. 
Bread of life.  Body of Christ. 

He left at that point – we were reeling with the realization that Jesus was with us and he left, gone. Though others saw him later. 

Many others.

Jesus appeared many times,
to many people, in many places. 

But at that time.  In that place. 
To the two of us, it was as if time stood still. 
As if a curtain had been lifted from our eyes.

It was on a road that we met him,

and in a room where we broke bread
and discovered hope.  

But let me tell you this…

All the roads you walk on
are paths where Jesus may meet you. 

And all the times and places where you break bread with a friend or a stranger may be sacred times and holy places.

Keep your eyes open,

and your hearts willing to listen. 

Christ will find you.  Enjoy his company. 

..................................................

(c) Copyright Jim Hatherly, all rights reserved.

This play is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share-Alike license. Some rights are reserved. For the full license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ca/. A donation of equivalent to $10.00 Cdn. to the United Church of Canada Mission and Service Fund for use of this work is suggested. Please visit www.united-church.ca/msfund
The author may be contacted at jamhat@mts.net

Here We Go Again

• Resurrection Sunday

With Matthew 28:1-10

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• Christ is risen, He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Welcome! I’m glad you’re here! Some folks are here because this is their home. They come for spiritual nourishment and fellowship, for a place to give and receive, a place to belong. Some are returning or visiting. There are a host of reasons and motivations. Glad you’re here. Whether this is your familiar place or it’s your first time or something in between, I hope you’ll give us the chance to be your family. Come back next week!

• Some may be thinking Here We Go Again. Same hymns as last time you were here, same crowd. Same story, for sure. 

The resurrection story is foundational to Christianity, even more than Pilgrims to Thanksgiving or “I cannot tell a lie” to George Washington.

Here we go again (HWGA): Jesus in the flesh again.
HWGA: disciples after 3 years, another opportunity to misunderstand.

• I’m not going to go verse by verse through the scripture today (though I do that sometimes)… I’m not going to offer proofs of resurrection or ask you to come forward in an altar call and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, although I do believe in resurrection and it is certainly my hope that you know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior as I do…

In fact hear this: I believe Jesus is Lord, that in him is life and love and hope and forgiveness, that somehow he was fully God and fully human, that somehow in his life and death and resurrection salvation is made possible and offered to all.

But today I briefly want to share reflection on something I read on facebook.

A quote from Gus Speth, an internationally known environmental lawyer, worked many years with the govt in DC and held office in UN:

• I used to think the top environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and climate change. I thought that with thirty years of good science we could address those problems. 

But I was wrong. The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy… and to deal with those we need a spiritual and cultural transformation. And we scientists don’t know how to do that.
– Gus Speth (James Gustave Speth)

• According to a renowned scientist, the world needs spiritual guidance.
The world needs both science and religion, both play important roles in the world.

Jesus came that we might have life abundant, to reconnect us to original selves as caretakers of planet and stewards of love. 

Where there is brokenness in the human condition, 

Jesus came to address exactly that. 

And that is exactly what the world needs.

• Quote 2: The advancing climate crisis cannot be addressed as long as we remain fixated on endless growth and consumption, corporate profits, increasing the incomes of the well-to-do, neglecting those just getting by, and helping abroad only modestly.

What the world needs is lives guided by and transformed by Jesus Christ,
who lived his life for humankind, and gave his life for humankind, whom God honored by raising from the dead. He goes before us in life, in death, and in new life. Goes before us and within us today. Live by him. Choose him. Follow him.

• Celebration of Holy Communion

Matthew 28:1-10  (CEB)   Resurrection Sunday  03/27/16

28 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the tomb. ² And there was a great earthquake, for an angel from the Lord came down from heaven. Coming to the stone, he rolled it away and sat on it. ³ Now his face was like lightning and his clothes as white as snow. ⁴ The guards were so terrified of him that they shook with fear and became like dead men. ⁵ But the angel said to the women, “Don’t be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. ⁶ He isn’t here, because he’s been raised from the dead, just as he said. Come, see the place where they laid him. ⁷ Now hurry, go and tell his disciples, ‘He’s been raised from the dead. He’s going on ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there.’ I’ve given the message to you.”

⁸ With great fear and excitement, they hurried away from the tomb and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ But Jesus met them and greeted them. They came and grabbed his feet and worshipped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Go and tell my brothers that I am going into Galilee. They will see me there.”

Tell the story. Dance.

• Palm Sunday

Matthew 21:1-11
with Psalm 118:19-29

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• Everybody loves a parade, amiright? Palm Sunday is a parade.

Psalm 118 is a parade.
(Open the gates, I will enter & will praise the God of my salvation! The rejected cornerstone made by God… Rejoice! Hosanna! Lord, save! Bless and celebrate! Hooray! Grant your people success! Bless the Lord! The Lord is God! You are my God, Lord, and I will give you thanks!”

• If only we had ticker tape… (First ticker tape parade was the dedication of Statue of Liberty, 10/28/1886. Notable ticker tape parades have celebrated generals like Eisenhower or MacArthur.)

We DO have a local war hero, Woody Williams, who earned the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions in Iwo Jima, 71 years ago last month.
Do you know about his foundation and the Gold Star Families monuments they seek to build? To honor those who died in service – Woody’s heroes – not just soldiers but their families. Each monument is built in negative space: the stone has the outline of a soldier who is not there anymore. Keep telling the story.

• Something of a story in negative space in today’s triumphant entry reading. People are getting ready to celebrate Passover, remembering release from captivity, even while they are in a kind of captivity. Jesus comes in, a king foretold and hoped for, and yet on a donkey, not a warhorse.

I say it’s a story in negative space because remember what Jesus said in this reading? Not a word. I think he knows what he’s headed for. Sure the crowds are singing praises right now but the passion is coming soon. This parade is going to end in pain. In less than a week the praising crowd will be the stirred up mob seeking Jesus’ death.

We knew it was coming. Matthew reminds us in verse ten hearkening back to Jesus’ birth and Herod and Jerusalem (2:3).
The crowd is right in recognizing Jesus as king,
but wrong in what they do with that information.

• And Jesus enters anyway. In silence. In a parade that will end in his pain.

• In the praises, tell the story celebrating Jesus.
In the suffering, tell the story of Jesus who knows suffering.
Though the march be to death, be the voice of hope, even if it means you going silently into chaos. Go into the chaos. Tell the story.

• Hymn 261 Lord of the Dance tells the story. 1962 Londoner Sydney Carter invites not just to hear the story but to dance, to participate.

Matthew 21:1-11  (CEB) Palm Sunday 03/20/16

21 When they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus gave two disciples a task. ² He said to them, “Go into the village over there. As soon as you enter, you will find a donkey tied up and a colt with it. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anybody says anything to you, say that the Lord needs it.” He sent them off right away. 

⁴ Now this happened to fulfill what the prophet said,
⁵ Say to Daughter Zion, “Look, your king is coming to you, humble and riding on a donkey, and on a colt the donkey’s offspring.”^{[Isa 62:11 and Zech 9:9]}

⁶ The disciples went and did just as Jesus had ordered them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt and laid their clothes on them. Then he sat on them.

⁸ Now a large crowd spread their clothes on the road. Others cut palm branches off the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ The crowds in front of him and behind him shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” ^{[Ps 118:26] 10} And when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up. “Who is this?” they asked. ¹¹ The crowds answered, “It’s the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Matthew 26:1-5, 14-16 (CEB) Passion Sunday 03/20/16

26 When Jesus finished speaking all these words, he said to his disciples, ² “You know that the Passover is two days from now. And the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

³ Then the chief priests and elders of the people gathered in the courtyard of Caiaphas the high priest. ⁴ They were plotting to arrest Jesus by cunning tricks and to kill him. ⁵ But they agreed that it shouldn’t happen during the feast so there wouldn’t be an uproar among the people.

¹⁴ Then one of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests ¹⁵ and said, “What will you give me if I turn Jesus over to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver. ¹⁶ From that time on he was looking for an opportunity to turn him in.

Doing Good For Others

• Fifth Sunday of Lent

Matthew 23:1-12

With Galatians 6:1-10

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• What is the purpose of the church?
First UMC Bville:
to share the love of God with people in a hurting world.

The UMC,
to make disciples of Jesus Christ
for the transformation of the world.

These should be foundational to what we do as a body of believers.

• Okay, Why? Or rather, what happens when we share the love…
What happens in others? What happens in us?

What happens when we make disciples? In others? In us?

An aspect of discipleship, a purpose of the church is to build others up.
And is that not what Jesus lived?

• Jesus speaks ill of Pharisees, church leaders, for their motives. (Matt 23:5 “Everything they do, they do to be noticed by others.”

We had a spring cleaning day yesterday at church. I could give you a long list of how different people worked, that would be fine. But it’d be odd or uncomfortable at best if I gave them reserved seating in the sanctuary because of that. That’s the sort of things Jesus is speaking against.

He speaks against the inwardly focused church leaders
and speaks directly to you: how are YOU going to handle yourselves?
Eight times in four verses, the you. Talking to YOU.

• Story of a time a church member called me by my first name.
I didn’t like that it sounded odd to my ear not to be called “pastor”.
I changed.

• Galatians 6:9 Let us not tire in doing good.

• Hebrews 10:24 Outdo one another in showing honor.

• Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from selfish ambition but value others higher.

• John 13:34 Love one another
(a new command – a mandate à “Maundy” Thursday 3/24)

• 1 Corinthians 2:16 Have the mind of Christ

• Hymn 581 Lord Whose Love Through Humble Service

Matthew 23:1-12     (Common English Bible)

23 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and his disciples, 2 “The legal experts and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat. 3 Therefore, you must take care to do everything they say. But don’t do what they do, 4 for they tie together heavy packs that are impossible to carry: they put them on the shoulders of others, but are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. 5 Everything they do, they do to be noticed by others. They make extra-wide prayer bands for their arms and long tassels for their clothes. 6 They love to sit in places of honor at banquets and in the synagogues. 7 They love to be greeted with honor in the markets and to be addressed as ‘Rabbi.’

8 “But you shouldn’t be called Rabbi, because you have one teacher, and all of you are brothers and sisters. 9 Don’t call anybody on earth your father, because you have one Father, who is heavenly. 10 Don’t be called teacher, because Christ is your one teacher. 11 But the one who is greatest among you will be your servant. 12 All who lift themselves up will be brought low. But all who make themselves low will be lifted up.

Galatians 6:1-10     (Common English Bible)

6 Brothers and sisters, if a person is caught doing something wrong, you who are spiritual should restore someone like this with a spirit of gentleness. Watch out for yourselves so you won’t be tempted too. 2 Carry each other’s burdens and so you will fulfill the law of Christ.

3 If anyone thinks they are important when they aren’t, they’re fooling themselves. 4 Each person should test their own work and be happy with doing a good job and not compare themselves with others. 5 Each person will have to carry their own load.

6 Those who are taught the word should share all good things with their teacher. 7 Make no mistake, God is not mocked. A person will harvest what they plant. 8 Those who plant only for their own benefit will harvest devastation from their selfishness, but those who plant for the benefit of the Spirit will harvest eternal life from the Spirit. 9 Let’s not get tired of doing good, because in time we’ll have a harvest if we don’t give up. 10 So then, let’s work for the good of all whenever we have an opportunity, and especially for those in the household of faith.

Q & A

• Fourth Sunday of Lent

Matthew 22:23-33

With 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

FirstChurchBville@gmail.com  @FirstUMCBville   @kerrfunk

• I knew a guy once who said he couldn’t have faith because of Enoch.
Remember Enoch? Genesis 5:24, 4^th great-grandson of Adam.
Enoch lived 365 years. He walked with God, and then he was no more, because God took him away. My friend didn’t understand this, and he allowed a question to stop him in his tracks.

• In Matthew 22 the Sadducees ask Jesus a question about marriage and resurrection. I’ve entertained a similar question, since my first wife died after 3 years of marriage. I didn’t understand, but unlike my friend, I did not allow the question to stop me in my tracks.

Instead, I came to believe a few things about questions and God,
and that if I’d embrace humility, serenity would follow.

I came to accept that the answer: “I don’t know” is acceptable.
I came to accept that my answer may change (look at the source of my answer: a young man!). 
I learned / decided to trust in God (look at THAT source!)

•The Sadducees don’t seem humble, genuine.
(confession: it’s tough to maintain humility when you know you’re right.)

Also, Sadducees don’t like change; want to maintain status quo (of power and inequality) (and Jesus threatens power and status quo and pride (opp of humility)

•Jesus’ reply:
You don’t know scriptures, and you don’t know power of God.
Scriptures are living. God is living.  You treat them as inanimate.

EB White (Charlotte’s Web) wrotee of humor, saying
Humor can be dissected, as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the purely scientific mind. 

So also the Sadducees, who demanded cut and dried answer,
rather than organic messy answer.

•From 2 Corinthians 5: IF anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation.

God doesn’t leave us powerless

but meets us, reconciles us, empowers us, sends us.

• into Communion liturgy

Matthew 22:23-33  (Common English Bible)

23 That same day Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Jesus. 24 They asked, “Teacher, Moses said, If a man who doesn’t have children dies, his brother must marry his wife and produce children for his brother.[Deut 25:5]  25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married, then died. Because he had no children he left his widow to his brother. 26 The same thing happened with the second brother and the third, and in fact with all seven brothers. 27 Finally, the woman died. 28 At the resurrection, which of the seven brothers will be her husband? They were all married to her.”

29 Jesus responded, “You are wrong because you don’t know either the scriptures or God’s power. 30 At the resurrection people won’t marry nor will they be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like angels from God. 31 As for the resurrection of the dead, haven’t you read what God told you, 32 I’m the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?[Ex 3:6] He isn’t the God of the dead but of the living.” 33 Now when the crowd heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21 (Common English Bible)

16 So then, from this point on we won’t recognize people by human standards. Even though we used to know Christ by human standards, that isn’t how we know him now. 17 So then, if anyone is in Christ, that person is part of the new creation. The old things have gone away, and look, new things have arrived!

18 All of these new things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and who gave us the ministry of reconciliation. 19 In other words, God was reconciling the world to himself through Christ, by not counting people’s sins against them. He has trusted us with this message of reconciliation.

20 So we are ambassadors who represent Christ. God is negotiating with you through us. We beg you as Christ’s representatives, “Be reconciled to God!” 21 God caused the one who didn’t know sin to be sin for our sake so that through him we could become the righteousness of God.