To Be Persecuted And Die

And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him,

Saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles:

And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again.

                                                                                   (Mark 10:32-34 KJV)

They knew that going into Jerusalem could be dangerous. Jesus let them know that where they were going would lead to his persecution and death. They were afraid; but, they followed him anyway.

They followed him to Jerusalem; but, when it came to his arrest some fled, some kept their distance in order not to be arrested themselves. 

On this sixth Sunday in Lent we are reminded that following Jesus to the cross can be a fearful thing. Those who follow him will be persecuted. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke we hear Jesus telling us that to follow him we must deny ourselves and take up our cross. In order to save our lives we must lose it. 

"And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.

But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. 

                                                                                       (Mark 8:31-35)

Peter objected to the very thought that Jesus would die. He loved Jesus. In return for wanting Jesus to continue to live in this world and to save this world according to Peter's will, Jesus called him Satan. Whenever I hear or read that verse, I cannot help but smile when I consider what the reaction would be if I called someone Satan when they reject the will of God. I do not think it would be good! 

Even as Jesus was persecuted, his followers will be persecuted. In order to follow Jesus he tells us that we must take up our cross, deny our own will, and follow in his footsteps.

May God grant us the wisdom and courage to follow in his way.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

The LIght Of Life

And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,

They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.

Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.

So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?

She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. 

                                                                 

                                                                               (John 8:3-12 KJV)

Advent; a season to prepare for the coming of the Lord. How shall we prepare? We began the season of Advent with John the Baptist calling people to "repent for the kingdom of God is at hand." (Matt 3:1-2) 

When the scribes and Pharisees were about to stone the woman accused of adultery, Jesus shines the light on the sins of those who are about to stone her by telling them that the person without sin ought to be the first to cast a stone against her and then stoops down to write something in the dirt. He looks up and her accusers are gone. They have been confronted with the truth and the truth is that we are all sinners living in darkness and need the light of life.

After her accusers depart he tells the woman that neither does he condemn her and that she should go and sin no more. She too has been reminded of the darkness of sin that dwells within her. 

That marvelous light, that light of life, does not shine so that we can see the sins of others around us. It shines for each of us so that we can see the darkness within ourselves. That light shines on and in us so that each of us can recognize our need for repentance; for a change; for a change of direction. It shines on us so that as individuals we can step out of the darkness to follow Jesus who is the light of life. 

Advent can be a very dark season for many of us. Not only are the hours of daylight shortened, it is a season when the world around us expects us to be celebrating; but, many are not. Many are grieving. Many are hurting. Many are hungry and homeless. Many feel less than because they do not live up to what they think the expectations of the world around them. Are we even supposed to live up to the world's expectations? Did John the Baptist live like the status quo? Did Jesus?

We cannot shine the light of Christ unto the world if we ourselves do not walk in the light. Jesus is the light of life! Live in that light and follow him! Be a light to the world.

God's Peace - Pr. J. 

Less Is Often Best

...and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” (Matt 2:4-6 NRSV)

I come from the country and I love the country. I enjoy small towns where everyone knows everyone and where just about everyone cares for their neighbors.  There are also those who love the hubbub of busy city life. They enjoy the seemingly unending activities that can be found in the city. One is not better than the other. For me less is usually better. Less crowds, less noise, less traffic; less is better. 

Jesus came from what many would consider less.  He was born to a very young woman (a teen-ager) with no real social standing. He was born in a barn. He was born in Bethlehem, which at the time was nothing more than a small village. Out of the least of these places came the shepherd who would rule God's people. 

The least is often times the best of things to be. 

God's Peace - Pr. J

What To Wear?

“Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 'Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.'”  (Matt 15:1-2 NRSV)

Over the years I have heard a whisper or two about how someone dresses "for church" or how a child misbehaves in the church. Tradition has taught us that there are certain ways we should dress and act in "church." These are traditions that have come down through the generations. I'm thinking Jesus probably did not change clothes to go to the temple or to preach as he was traveling from city to city. During the time Jesus ministered, here on earth, one of the big "no, no's" was to not wash before you eat. There were whole rituals set up to ensure that hands were washed; rituals that were not to be broken.

We have the religious and we have the faithful. The religious might also be faithful; but, there are also those religious persons who will remind us of the Pharisees and scribes who faithfully accused and persecuted Jesus. The man-made laws and traditions certainly set them apart from other people; but, did they set them apart because of their faith in God or because of the faithfulness to man-made traditions and laws?

I remember, years ago at one of the congregations I was serving, one of the members dropped off her child for Worship. I invited the adult to join us; but, she said she couldn't come in because she was wearing a pair of those pants that sort of look like pajamas. Consider this, who exactly are you dressing for? Who are you afraid of offending? Man or God? Do you not pray at home, in the shower, in your pajamas, in the garden, in your running clothes, at work? Do you change clothes before you go before God to speak with Him, in prayer, on all of these occasions? Personally, I don't think God cares what we're wearing. Although, I really appreciate it when the congregation dresses for worship not quite as casually as they normally would; I am not so sure that God cares. 

It does seem that He did care about what those who were serving at his altar wore though. The description of the clothing to be worn by those who were ministering at the altar can be found in Exodus, chapters 28 through 39. 

I must admit that I have not always dressed for worship as others might wish. During, the winter that I was a snow-mobile trail boss in the U.P. of Michigan, I often went to Worship Services in my snow-mobile suit, simply because I did not have time to change and had to get back out on the trails immediately after worship. It was either not change or not Worship. (I was not serving in any capacity at the altar) Which would you choose? Would God prefer I not gather to worship Him with the local community of saints until I have the time to change my attire?

Consider Adam and Eve in that garden, naked. They were in that garden, naked.  God didn't care that they were naked. (Please, don't show up to worship naked.) After they ate of the tree of knowledge, it was they who cared, not God. Since they were ashamed, God made them clothes to cover themselves with and then closed the garden off to them so that they might not eat of the tree of life and live forever.

I like tradition almost as much as the next person; however, let us be mindful that sometimes these traditions separate us from God rather than bring us (and others) closer to him. It is faith in the One who shed His blood for us and not what we wear that reconciles us to God, our Father, in His eternal kingdom.

"This people honors me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,

    teaching human precepts as doctrines." (Matt 15:8-9)

God's Peace - Pr. J

Beware Of Those Who Devour Others

"Then He said to them in His teaching, “Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces,  the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts,  who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.” Mark 12:38-40

Beware of the scribes; beware of anyone who would place themselves before and above others. They are not there to help others; but, to help themselves under the pretense of helping others.

Beware of the pretentious. Those long prayers and speeches of the pretentious are there to sway you to their way of thinking and not necessarily God's way or will. Beware, that their smooth words are not swaying you to follow in a way that you should not be going in.

We are inundated with political speeches. We are inundated with biased media. What a circus it has become! Listen carefully and beware of those who place themselves before others; who think more highly of themselves than they ought. With their smooth tongues they can make what is good look like sin and what is sin look like it is a good thing. Beware of those who claim to want to help the poor and needy and; yet, get richer while the poor get poorer.

Beware of the false prophets. We have a God who will guide us in all things. Listen to Him!

God's Peace - Pr. J