Rejecting the Prophets; Rejecting Jesus

Matthew 21:33-46 KJV; 19th Sunday after Pentecost; As the prophets were rejected before Him; so was Jesus rejected. 

God's Peace

Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.

O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea."

                                  (Isaiah 48:17-18 KJV)

Indeed! The Lord does know what is best for us. But, we often think we know better than God. We often choose the wrong paths and find ourselves in chaotic messes trying to figure out what went wrong and how in the world we're going to find some semblance of peace. What went wrong sometimes happens to be is that we rejected the Word of the Lord; we have rejected those things that our Father in heaven has sought to teach us. We have rejected the good gifts that He desires us to have and have chosen to follow in the ways of the world and we ultimately find ourselves wallowing in the depths of despair.

The world is a mess. We've helped to make it that way. But, no matter what kind of mess we find ourselves in we can know peace. It is the peace that only God can give to us. In the midst of the storms, we can know peace that flows forever like a river. We can know peace as refreshing as the cool waters of a gently flowing river.

Do not fear! Do not despair! God is with you. Listen to Him and know the peace that only He can give.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Peace As A River

Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.

O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:
                                                                                   (Isaiah 48:17-18 NIV)

Indeed! The Lord knows what is best for us. But, we often think we know better than God. We often choose the wrong paths and find ourselves in chaotic messes trying to figure out what went wrong and how in the world we're going to find some semblance of peace. What went wrong sometimes just happens to be is that we rejected the Word of the Lord. We have rejected those things that our Father in heaven has sought to teach us. We have rejected the good gifts that He desires us to have and have chosen to follow in the ways of the world. Ultimately, we find ourselves wallowing in the depths of despair.

No matter what kind of mess we may find yourselves in we can know peace. It is the peace that only God can give to us. In the midst of the storms, we can know peace that flows forever like a river. We can know peace as refreshing as the cool waters of a gently flowing river.

Do not fear! Do not despair! God is with you. Listen to Him and know the peace that only He can give. 

God's Peace - Pr. J

Were You There: Are You There?

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

                                                                                     (Isaiah 53:3-8 KJV)

Who was there? Were you there when they crucified our Lord? Who had the courage to witness the crucifixion of Jesus? The two criminals who were crucified with Jesus were with him. The soldiers who nailed him to the cross were there. Many of the Jews may witnessed his crucifixion, from a distance, as Golgotha was not too far from the city. Were they were able to read the sign? Did they read the words "JESUS OF NAZARETH. THE KING OF THE JEWS" as he struggled to carry his cross to his death?

The three Mary's were there to witness his death; Jesus' mother, Mary, and her sister Mary and Mary Magdalene were there. Where were the close disciples whom he had called? Was Peter there or was he still in hiding? But, John was there. John, the disciple who loved Jesus, was there.

As Jesus was being tried and brutalized and killed, he was pretty much alone. The majority of his flock had deserted him to protect themselves. In these days when the majority of the country has been told to shelter in place; I wonder if we are there, if we are even able to be there for those who are suffering and dying.

Just a reminder on this Good Friday of something that Jesus told us: 

"Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me."

                                                                                           (Matt 25:41-45)

On this Good Friday as we recall that the sheep deserted the shepherd when he was put to death for the very sake of the sheep, let us consider if we are truly there for Christ in our fellowman today? Do we continue to desert him?

God's Peace - Pr. J

Accepted or Rejected

And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard: but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him.

And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together: and when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.

Who, when they had examined me, would have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me.

But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar; not that I had ought to accuse my nation of.

For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.

And they said unto him, We neither received letters out of Judaea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came shewed or spake any harm of thee.

But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken against.

                                                                                Acts 28:16-22 KJV

There were always be those who support the servants of God and there will also always be those who will do anything and everything to subvert the message brought by God's servants.

Paul had finally made it to Rome under guard. The believers from the area went to meet him when they heard that he was there. The local Jewish leaders also wanted to hear from him. But, they wanted to hear because they have heard only bad things about this Christian sect. Whether it is accepted or rejected; Paul, the prisoner, was still provided opportunities by God to proclaim the message of the Kingdom through Jesus Christ to many people.

Sometimes, we will share the Good News with people whom we think might be open to it. At other times, we will keep our lips closed for fear that the message (and we) will be rejected. This was not the way that Paul followed. It was definitely not The Way of Jesus. The Good News is for all people. Do not be afraid to share it.

We are called and sent to share the message of forgiveness and reconciliation in the Kingdom through the sacrifice of Jesus. Maybe we should ask ourselves what news it is that we share most often with others. Is that message about our favorite sports team or politician or maybe television star or musician? 

Hmmm... We humans tend to place a lot of emphasis on false gods. What about sharing the message of peace; the peace that is received in the knowledge of what Christ has done for us? For the Christian, there can be no greater focus than on sharing the message of salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord with those who do not know him. Do not be afraid to do that! Whether the message is accepted or rejected, it is still the message that saves lives. Give them a chance to know it and to know Him!

God's Peace - Pr. J

If The World Hates You

 

"If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world—therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘Servants are not greater than their master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me." (John 15:18-21 NRSV)

Being hated or persecuted when you have done nothing wrong can be very tiring. But, there is a consolation in it. We are hated because we belong to the Kingdom of God and not the world. The world rejects Jesus. Those who follow in worldly ways have rejected "The Way" that Jesus would have us go. The world has rejected our Father in heaven. The world will persecute; the world hate the followers of Jesus. That is just the way it is. That may be hurtful at times. But, it is also a reason to rejoice for we know that the world hated Jesus first.

It we are to be hated; then let us rejoice that the reason we are despised (even feared) is on account of the name of Jesus.  Let us rejoice; also, that there are multitudes of brothers and sisters in Christ who do not reject or hate us because they do, in fact, love Jesus. They do not reject the Good News that we would share with others. They do not reject our word; because our word is the Word given to us, Jesus Christ our Lord.

God's Peace - Pr. J

The Son

He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, and leased it to tenants, and went to another country for a long time. When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants in order that they might give him his share of the produce of the vineyard; but the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Next he sent another slave; that one also they beat and insulted and sent away empty-handed. And he sent still a third; this one also they wounded and threw out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ But when the tenants saw him, they discussed it among themselves and said, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance may be ours.’ So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Heaven forbid!”
                                                                        Luke 20:9-16 NRSV

The tenants refused to give a portion of their harvest to the landlord to pay the rent. They assaulted the collection agents, so the landlord sent his son thinking they might respect his son. Yeah, right! They rejected the son, too. They killed the son! They killed him thinking that they would then receive the land as their inheritance. It just doesn't work that way.

God sent many prophets to help guide the people in loving and serving the Lord. They didn't want to hear it. They wanted what they wanted. They killed the prophets. God sent his only begotten Son. We killed him, too. Rejecting the Son doesn't get us what we want. It doesn't earn us any inheritance. In the end, anyone who rejects the Son will be crushed.

There is only one way to the Kingdom of God, into the inheritance promised by the Father through the Son and that is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

God's Peace - Pr. J 

For The Sake Of Others

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." John 15:12-13 NRSV

Jesus lay down his life not just for his friends. He did not have to sacrifice his life for us. He chose to. He chose to lay down his life for those who loved him as well as those rejected him and refused to live in the truth.

Today is Armistice Day. Armistice with Germany went into effect on the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. Today, we remember all Veterans of the many wars that this country has been involved in since our inception. It is for freedom's sake that our armed services generally find themselves in armed conflicts or war. It is not for their own sakes that they fight; but, for the sake of loved ones; friends; even enemies; for the sake of the whole they are willing to lay down their lives.

Today we give thanks for all who are willing to lay down their lives that others might live and lively freely.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Peace Like A River

This is what the Lord says—
    your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
    who teaches you what is best for you,
    who directs you in the way you should go.
If only you had paid attention to my commands,
    your peace would have been like a river,
    your well-being like the waves of the sea.

                                    (Isaiah 48:17-18 NIV)

 

Indeed, the Lord does know what is best for us! But, we often think that we know better than God. We often choose the wrong paths and find ourselves in chaotic messes trying to figure out what went wrong and how in the world we are going to find some semblance of peace. What went wrong sometimes just happens to be is that we rejected the Word of the Lord; we have rejected those things that our Father in heaven has sought to teach us. We have rejected the good gifts that He desires us to have. We have chosen to follow in the ways of the world and we ultimately find ourselves wallowing in the depths of despair.

 

The world is a mess. We have helped to make it that way. But, no matter what kind of mess we find ourselves in we can know peace. We can know the peace that only God can give to us. In the midst of the storms, we can know peace that flows forever like a river. We can know peace as refreshing as the cool waters of a gently flowing river.

 

Do not fear! Do not despair! God is with you. Listen to Him and know the peace that only He can give. 

 

God's Peace - Pr. J

Storms With Jesus

Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” Matt 8:23-25

We all have weathered a storm or two or many more. There is a theology running rampant out in the world that tells us that if we are really Christians life will go smoothly; we will have everything that we want; all will go well for those who love Jesus.

The truth is: the followers of Jesus will encounter many storms. In fact, once you begin to truly follow him, you may find yourself  in more storms than you thought was possible and you will live and your faith will be strengthened, through them all.

Following Jesus, means being willing to love and serve God above all things; as well as, loving and serving our neighbors. That's not always looked upon kindly in a world that is all about "me, me, me..." No one likes to be reminded that there is more to life than looking out for "number one" all of the time. No one likes to be reminded that sin abounds in the world and that one might be assisting in the propagation of sin by those who deny the authority and the love of God. And... so there will be storms where the Christian walks. There will be storms around us; because, even as Jesus was rejected so shall the faithful follower of Jesus be.

If you're going to follow Jesus onto the seas, you should take stock and know that storms will surely arise. But, God, in Christ Jesus, will be with you in that boat.

Be not afraid for God is with you through the storms that you encounter for following Jesus.

God's Peace - Pr. J