Do You Love Me?

Koenig, Peter. Breakfast on the Beach, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. Original source: https://www.pwkoenig.co.uk/.

 Worship with the Fellowship of Joy

May 1, 2022

Psalm 30

New International Version

 

A psalm. A song. For the dedication of the temple. Of David.

 

Listen and Read

I will exalt you, Lord,
    for you lifted me out of the depths
    and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
Lord my God, I called to you for help,
    and you healed me.
You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead;
    you spared me from going down to the pit.

Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people;
    praise his holy name.
For his anger lasts only a moment,
    but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
    but rejoicing comes in the morning.

When I felt secure, I said,
    “I will never be shaken.”
Lord, when you favored me,
    you made my royal mountain stand firm;
but when you hid your face,
    I was dismayed.

To you, Lord, I called;
    to the Lord I cried for mercy:
“What is gained if I am silenced,
    if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
    Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me;
    Lord, be my help.”

You turned my wailing into dancing;
    you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
    Lord my God, I will praise you forever.

Join us for the prayer our Lord taught us to pray

 

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come;

thy will be done;

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation;

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory,

for ever and ever.

Amen.

Children's Story

New Testament Lesson

 

Acts 9:1-6

New International Version

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

 

 

 

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 Revelation 5:11-14

New International Version

 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
    to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
    and honor and glory and praise!”

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
    be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”

The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

 

John 21:1-19

New International Version

 

Sermon

Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”

“No,” they answered.

He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.

Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

 

You may email Pastor Tom Sims at mailto:[email protected]

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From the Live Broadcast

So Send I You

Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi da, 1573-1610

Psalm 150
New International Version

Praise the Lord.

Praise God in his sanctuary;
    praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power;
    praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
    praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with timbrel and dancing,
    praise him with the strings and pipe,
praise him with the clash of cymbals,
    praise him with resounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord. 

 

New Testament Lesson

The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”

Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” - Acts 5:27-32, NIV

 

 Kings and Priests

“John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;  And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” - Revelation 1:4-6

There has been a societal emphasis on self-esteem and feeling good about ourselves. Children with a distorted concept of themselves grow into troubled adults. Without a sense of value and worth, people disrespect themselves and tend to disrespect others. Sometimes this disrespect leads to crime or anti-social behaviors. It is self-destructive and manifests itself in unhealthy families. It is visited upon children and children’s children.

But the remedy is not found in superficial affirmations of our essential worth or in the denial of sin and darkness. It is to be found in God and His esteem for us. He loves us because of His amazing grace, tender mercy, and sovereign choice. All of this was bestowed while we were yet sinners. He saw what we could be.

God has called us out of darkness.  He has freed us from sin by the blood of His Son so that every impediment to our becoming who we were intended to be, has been removed. 

The outcome is that God’s vision of us as His people is an elevated vision.  He does not look upon His children, who have received His grace, as miserable sinners.  He sees us as a kingdom of priests who serve and exalt Him.  That is who we are.  All other visions of self are false and fading.  It is by grace, and it is complete.  God’s glory is manifest in His loving esteem for us.  We are kingdom people, and we are priestly people with a high calling and a sanctified s us.

Alpha and Omega

“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. “- Revelation 1:8

Everything is wrapped up in the babe who was wrapped in swaddling clothes. In a tiny bundle of newborn humanity is the sum total of all truth and meaning. In that crude cradle of creation lay the Creator of the universe. His Incarnation condensed into one representative human life the start and finish of history and the cosmos. Though He presented Himself in time and space as a participant in our history, He is beyond history. He is the Lord of eternity, the Almighty. And we knew it not.

The grand spiritual, “Sweet Little Jesus Boy,” say it succinctly, “We didn’t know it was you.”

But it was Him and is Him and always will be Him? What child is this? Oh, so much more than we could ever imagine. He is Alpha and Omega, the A and the Z. He starts things and finishes them. He always was and yet, is present. And He always will be. Divine mystery is flesh. John wrote that we could touch Him, the Word of Truth.

“What wondrous love is this, that caused the Lord of bliss” to come and live among us? We didn’t know who He was and John, in the Revelation of Jesus Christ allows us to see what He saw, and He conveys to us His vision of the risen and exalted Christ, the Eternal One.

 

Intercessory Prayer

Reproduced from Revised Common Lectionary Prayers copyright © 2002

O God, your Son remained with his disciples after his resurrection,
teaching them to love all people as neighbors.
As his disciples in this age,
we offer our prayers on behalf of the universe
in which we are privileged to live
and our neighbors with whom we share it.

Prayers of the People, concluding with:

Open our hearts to your power moving
around us and between us and within us,
until your glory is revealed in our love of both friend and enemy,
in communities transformed by justice and compassion,
and in the healing of all that is broken. Amen.

 

The Gospel

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 

After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Again, Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 

And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. - John 20:19-31

The Sending

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”  -John 20:21

Peace settles things. 

It allows the right order and relationship and brings vision into focus. 

It is absolute well-being, and it is the gift of the Risen Christ. 

His peace does more than just calm the soul, however; it enlivens the spirit and prepares us for a calling.  In our vision of the resurrected Lord, is a clear and compelling message from God:

As the Father sent Jesus into the world, so we are being sent by Jesus. 

He came as a servant; we have been sent to serve. 

He came in the power of the Holy Spirit; we go forth in that same power. 

He came to do great works; we have been sent to do greater works because He indwells us. 

He came to die; we die to self that we may live to Him. 

This commission is neither symbolic nor optional. 

It is not an addition to His promise of peace; it a result of it and reason for it.  It cannot be realized by proxy. 

We have been commissioned. 

We are sent.

 

 

Death and Ritual - Holy and Mundane

Death and Taxes!

We all face both.

I have stood at the head of a casket and declared, more than once, "We have been here before and we will be here again."

I have waxed eloquent on our common search for life's meaning, on the comfort of love, on the peace that passes understanding, and the shortest verse in the Bible, "Jesus wept."

I have much to say about death, dying, and grieving having observed and participated in the process for decades. It would not be hard to stop writing about the insights, questions, and observations. More likely, it would be like opening a floodgate and would be difficult to stop.

Until I have time for that, I will share some passing thoughts from time to time.

Better still, I will let others, like Elizabeth Kubler Ross, from a phycological point of view, and a few of my favorite pastoral theologians carry the ball.

Beyond that, funeral directors have been among my teachers in the process, especially those who are very ethical and willing to meet families where they are. I am a big fan of Caitlin, but this is some of her best work.

Caitlin Doughty  is an author, advocate, and funeral director as well as founder of "The  Order of the Good Death." 

The New Yorker says that she, "Chronicles death practices with tenderheartedness, a technician’s fascination, and an unsentimental respect for grief." 

I discovered her on her YouTube channel, "Ask a Mortician,"  and have watched all her videos.

Her mini-documentary on the funeral and grief issues around the death of President John F. Kennedy brings many of the issues we deal with in death and dying and the practice of ritual mourning to the surface.

I am sharing it with you here as well as the comments I made.

You have outdone yourself with this work of scholarship and storytelling. This may be one of the best narratives of any element of the Kennedy assassination I have seen in terms of thorough, fair, and interesting reporting in a concise manner. I cannot imagine how much time you had to invest in this. Well done, Caitlin. I love all your work, but this really excels.

One more thing: I love the way you honored Jackie, one of the most graceful and dignified women America has known. She was such an icon in the 60s that even Republican women sought to dress like her. 

People of my generation were deeply impacted by JFK's death. We all remember the moments when we heard. I, for one, cannot be reminded of the time without a deeply emotional response. When I finally went to Dallas for a convention in the 70s, my pilgrimage to that site was a profoundly moving experience and your last scene captures my emotion of that time.""

Keep up the good work you do. As a pastor for over 45 years with over 3000 funerals I have officiated, I offer you my fullest support. Your thoughts resonate with mine.

My faith teaches that death does not get the last word. It also teaches that death is our last enemy and shall be destroyed. Because scripture presents paradoxical realities in expressing the breadth and depth of human and divine experience, it also calls death, "previous."

If  death is a precious enemy, there must be something holy about the experience while it is also both mundane and natural. The meaning is in the balances. Leaning into the experience, we fear no evil in the valley of shadows as we realize that we are shepherded by God and accompanied by fellow travelers.

 

Your Labor Is Not in Vain

 

This Photo by Nancy Hughes on Unsplash  alerts me to a juxtaposition of two realities. All is in vain and nothing is in vain.

The first reality is expressed by the "Preacher" in Ecclesiastes. "Vanity of vanities. All is vanity and a chasing of wind." 

The counter to that is the resurrection and overriding reality Paul expresses when he says, "Your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

All is in vain and nothing is in vain.

Take your pick by how you respond.

Keep On

People have differing views of work ranging from dread to excitement - but very view people relish working in vain. We want something to show for our efforts.

In the fifteenth chapter of his first letter to Corinth, the Apostle Paul admonishes his friends,

"Therefore my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

Perhaps the Corinthians suspected that it all might be for naught.

Everyone who uses a computer to communicate deeply felt convictions and intricate concepts has had the experience of seemingly working in vain. We have labored over thoughts and words for intense periods of time and have finally formulated those ideas into concrete sentences when the computer suddenly crashes, and all is lost.

All of that for nothing! But not really.

We have meditated, wrestled, and have been shaped by truth. We may have to step away, take a break, or lick our wounds. However, the next time we write the same thing, it comes out a bit differently, but it comes, nevertheless.

The process was about what was happening inside of us and not what was occurring on the screen or the page.

It is often that way.

The occasion for Paul's encouraging words was twofold. It came in recognition of the people's present concerns. All truth is wrapped in a veneer of present reality. We live in context and experience the full range of what it means to be human. We know pains and joys, satisfaction, and discouragement. It is all a part of life. Add to that the ever-present, looming threat of death that eventually will overtake us all and we may wonder, "What is it all about?"

The second occasion he addresses is the future conviction that people of faith are going somewhere, that the resurrection of Jesus Christ has something more than an historical significance to His followers. In the earlier verses of the chapter, he expresses the conviction that resurrection hope is shared among all who embrace Jesus and live in the power of His death and life.

Everything has meaning, even the mundane and tedious experiences of life.

What follows is a threefold admonition. The NIV uses the words, "Stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourself to the work of the Lord."

The first admonition is to STAND.

It is hard to stand when the ground is shaking. For that reason, people who intend to live forever must find deeper grounding for their lives. They (we) cannot be controlled by our circumstances or our emotions. These are a part of our reality; they are not the sum of it

"My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness."

Another way he could have said this might have been, "Don't lose your footing." Remember what you believe. Remember where you are going. remember why you are doing what you are doing. Reconnect with what stabilizes you in your resolve and commitment.

Someone has said that if you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything.

The second admonition is to WITHSTAND.

"Let nothing move you."

We have some choices to make about what we will allow to move us. I choose God and God alone.

It is easy to place one's life in neutral when bombarded by a cacophony of voices and a barrage of influences all vying for our attention and compliance. Everyone wants our ears and our acquiescence.

Political, social, peer, commercial, moral, and familial voices tantalize, rationalize, and intimidate us into uncertainty about our core values and commitments.

That is what Paul is saying when he encourages the folks not to be moved.

Of course, we need to challenge our presuppositions, prejudices, comfortable notions, and assumptions. He is not addressing these. He is talking about our life mission, or unchanging purpose for living, our devotion to God and His vision within us, and the work that we are called to do.

Keep on keeping on. Be not easily dissuaded from the cause. Persevere. Expect to be maligned, attacked, challenged, and inconvenienced, but stay with it.

The third admonition is to ABOUND.

He says we are to abound in the work of the Lord, always giving ourselves to it. The first admonition was abounded grounding; the second was about rebounding in the face of opposition. Now we are looking at the call to be abounding in work itself.

It is about full engagement, heart devotion, energy investment, and enthusiasm.

"Whatsoever your hand findeth to do, do it with thy might."

You can stand with deep conviction and withstand with stubborn tenacity, but it takes the power of the Holy Spirit within you to abound. You must rely on a strength greater than your own to fully engage.

The word "enthusiasm" means "God within."

The word "inspired" means "breathed upon," as though by the very breath of God.

"Motivated" really means "moved to action."

Abound. As you know in the physical world, the body requires rest, replenishment of energy through nutrition, and exercise to abound. The health system Kaiser calls it "thrive."

In the realm of work that has abiding significance and eternal implications, the same is true. We must nourish ourselves spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, and physically to abound in our work. Paul says that our labor is in the Lord which means that He supplies the tasks as well as the ability to do them.

Some of the tools we have for abounding are true for ministry, business, and social endeavors:

READ - For me, part of the diet, the biggest part, is the Bible, but I also read instructive, encouraging, motivating, and challenging books and articles from many sources.

PRAY - Engage in an honest, ongoing, satisfying, and open relationship with the Source of your life. "Pray without ceasing."

RELATE and PARTNER - In Christianity, we call this fellowship. In business and entrepreneurship, we call it networking. In any realm, it is the reality that we are not alone and the assurance that others are engaged in the mission that helps encourage us.

FOCUS -Christian words for this are obedience and faithfulness. We focus on what we are doing and let lesser things go. We keep eyes on the prize and invest our time, energy, and love in what produces lasting results and deep change.

Stand, withstand, and abound or, you could say, ground, rebound, and abound. That is the threefold admonition.

Finally, he gives a grand assurance -

Your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

God knows it is hard. You know it and God knows it. Sometimes you just don't want to get up and have no idea where the energy will come from or how to muster the will, but you do in faith and it comes.

God knows it is discouraging. You will not always be complemented, appreciated, or affirmed. Stay with it. It is not in vain. There will come a day. The story has been told so many times that no one really knows the source or whether it is fiction or history. It may not be true, but it is truth:

As she tells it, it is the story of missionary Samuel Morrison’s (or was he called, "Henry?") return to the United States, as told in Ann Graham Lotz’s book, The Vision of His Glory:

The story is told of an old missionary named Samuel Morrison who, after twenty-five years in Africa, was returning to the United States to die. As it so happened, he traveled home on the same ocean liner that brought President Teddy Roosevelt back from a hunting expedition. When the great ship pulled into the New York harbor, the dock where it was to tie up was jammed with what looked like the entire population of New York City! Bands were playing, banners were waving, choirs of children were singing, multicolored balloons were floating in the air, flashbulbs were popping, and newsreel cameras were poised to record the return of the president.
Mr. Roosevelt stepped down the gangplank to thunderous cheers and applause, showered with confetti and ticker tape. If the crowd had not been restrained by ropes and police, he would have been mobbed!

At the same time, Samuel Morrison quietly walked off the boat. No one was there to greet him. He slipped alone through the crowd. Because of the crush of people there to welcome the president, he couldn’t even find a cab. Inside his heart, he began to complain, “Lord, the president has been in Africa for three weeks, killing animals, and the whole world turns out to welcome him home! I’ve given twenty-five years of my life in Africa, serving You, and no one has greeted me or even knows I’m here!”

In the quietness of his heart, a gentle, loving voice whispered, “But my dear child, you are not home yet!”

That is because God knows the outcome. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard; neither hath it entered into the heart of man, the things that God hath prepared for them that love Him."

You are going somewhere, and your labor is not in vain.

Keep on keeping on.

 

 

One More:

I listened to 5 or 6 renditions of this and after I had shared another, I found this and was deeply moved.

What heart and love you brought to this! I had to come back and add it to my post!

Thank you.

- Tom

 

Run to God

Photo by Denny Müller on Unsplash

When the grain came to the temple as an offering, a tenth of it was burned on the altar as a memorial offering. The rest was consumed by the priests. This was a song to be sung for the memorial offering.

I am confused, I must say, not by the offering and not by the sentiments of the psalm, but by the point of connection.

Of these words and emotions, Matthew Henry comments, "Nothing will disquiet the heart of a good man so much as the sense of God's anger. The way to keep the heart quiet, is to keep ourselves in the love of God. But a sense of guilt is too heavy to bear; and would sink men into despair and ruin, unless removed by the pardoning mercy of God."

So, what is a good man or woman to do?

He or she runs to God in worship -- whatever outlet of worship is available and thrusts the guilt and all the accompanying insecurity, despair, depression, feelings and reality of persecutions, and anything connected or perceived to be connected to sin before God.

The direction of the psalmist's life was toward God. The path was crooked and broken, but the direction was consistent.

He dealt honestly with his failures and his guilt and never grew callous or insensitive toward his flaws. Nor did he take God's mercy for granted or ever think, for a moment, that he could live without it.

"O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger,
nor discipline me in your wrath!
For your arrows have sunk into me,
and your hand has come down on me."
"There is no soundness in my flesh
because of your indignation;
there is no health in my bones
because of my sin.
For my iniquities have gone over my head;
like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me."
"My wounds stink and fester
because of my foolishness,
I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;
all the day I go about mourning.
For my sides are filled with burning,
and there is no soundness in my flesh.
I am feeble and crushed;
I groan because of the tumult of my heart."
"O Lord, all my longing is before you;
my sighing is not hidden from you.
My heart throbs; my strength fails me,
and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.
My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague,
and my nearest kin stand far off."
Those who seek my life lay their snares;
those who seek my hurt speak of ruin
and meditate treachery all day long.
"But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear,
like a mute man who does not open his mouth.
I have become like a man who does not hear,
and in whose mouth are no rebukes."
But for you, O LORD, do I wait;
it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
For I said, “Only let them not rejoice over me,
who boast against me when my foot slips!”
" For I am ready to fall,
and my pain is ever before me.
I confess my iniquity;
I am sorry for my sin.
But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty,
and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
Those who render me evil for good
accuse me because I follow after good."
"Do not forsake me, O LORD!
O my God, be not far from me!
Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation!"
-Psalm 38 ESV

 

 

Two Big Questions

Here is an example:

So What?

 

So what if this was not in the earliest versions of Mark we have? Most scholars acknowledge that as a reality.

 

But as an attachment, it made it to the canon and we ask, "Why?"

 

We always ask two questions about scripture:

 

Why? - That alerts us to the message we are intended to receive.

 

So what? - That guides us to the actions we are intended to take.

 

There! That was your hermeneutics lesson for today. Now, the scripture:

 

Mark 16:9-20 NRSV

 

Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went out and told those who had been with him, while they were mourning and weeping. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.

 

After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.

 

Later he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table; and he upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."

 

So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.

A Conversational Chat with God

 

Psalm 25

New International Version

Of David.

 

In you, Lord my God,

I put my trust.

I trust in you;

do not let me be put to shame,

nor let my enemies triumph over me.

No one who hopes in you

will ever be put to shame,

but shame will come on those

who are treacherous without cause.

Show me your ways, Lord,

teach me your paths.

Guide me in your truth and teach me,

for you are God my Savior,

and my hope is in you all day long.

Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,

for they are from of old.

Do not remember the sins of my youth

and my rebellious ways;

according to your love remember me,

for you, Lord, are good.

Good and upright is the Lord;

therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.

He guides the humble in what is right

and teaches them his way.

All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful

toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.

For the sake of your name, Lord,

forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

Who, then, are those who fear the Lord?

He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.

They will spend their days in prosperity,

and their descendants will inherit the land.

The Lord confides in those who fear him;

he makes his covenant known to them.

My eyes are ever on the Lord,

for only he will release my feet from the snare.

Turn to me and be gracious to me,

for I am lonely and afflicted.

Relieve the troubles of my heart

and free me from my anguish.

Look on my affliction and my distress

and take away all my sins.

See how numerous are my enemies

and how fiercely they hate me!

Guard my life and rescue me;

do not let me be put to shame,

for I take refuge in you.

May integrity and uprightness protect me,

because my hope, Lord, is in you.

Deliver Israel, O God, from all their troubles!

Just Like a Good Dad

Tender Love - Reflections on Psalm 103: 1, 13, and 15

Blessing God

“Bless the Lord, O my soul … and all that is within me …” Psalms 103:1

Audacity and capacity are issues that are triggered by this prayer as it is suggested to us. It is audacious to think that we could somehow bless God. Yet, He has given us the capacity to be a blessing to His heart.

We bless God when we worship Him. He delights in our praises. He enjoys our singing and our words of adoration. He looks beyond the superficial and relishes our heart devotion as we come to Him.

He is blessed by our love response as we receive His love and return it to Him in obedience, faith, and love for our fellow human beings.

We can bless God with our words, deeds, and emotions, but God is most blessed when our lives are completely engaged in love for Him – loving Him with heart, soul, mind, and strength and our neighbor as ourselves. He is blessed when we remind ourselves to bless Him and when we follow through with everything that is within us.

What is within you today? Not all of it is positive, but when you offer it to God, He is blessed because He can take it and transform it for His own purposes. Nor is everything within you negative. You cannot be the judge of that. All you can do is commit everything within you to His glory and allow Him to sort I out. It is His holy Name that must be honored, and His holiness is all that can make our lives holy and acceptable as offerings of worship.

In the process, He is blessed. And that is what counts.

Tender Love

"Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him." - Psalm 103:13

The love of God is a tender love.

It is a father’s love.

It is a patient love, understanding, compassionate, forgiving, and gracious.

The love of God for His children moves Him to desire what is best for us, what brings us closer to Him, and what develops in us the character that is in Him.

God’s love for us as His children is consistent, persistent, and generous.

He never fails us. He is always present and always true.

Like any father, He wants His children to grow and mature. He wants us to make good and wise choices and honor our family name. He offers us His support, guidance, and correction to that end.
God’s love is real. For that reason, it is sometimes a tough love, a love that can say “no” and mean it, but a love that delights in every opportunity to say, “YES!”

God, our Father, rejoices with us, weeps with us, and loves us even when we are unlovable.
That is because we are never unlovable to Him.

Mostly, God, our tender, loving Father carries us on His shoulders and lifts us so that we might become more, through Him, than we could ever imagine on our own.

Days as Grass

“As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.” – Psalm 103:15

For our season, whatever it may be, we flourish. Then comes the wind and we are gone. Soon, the very memory of our lives fades from the consciousness of our successors and we are thought of no more.

Such a thought might be deemed depressing were it the whole story.

The rest of the story teaches us that from everlasting to everlasting, God’s love is a constant toward us. His covenant people are never forgotten.

It goes on to tell us that God’s throne is never abandoned and that He rules over all.

He it is, according to Psalm 103, who forgives all our sin.

It is He who heals our diseases. Not one of them disappears apart from His wise intervention or creative genius.

He redeems our lives, crowns us love and compassion, satisfies, renews, and administers justice.

How comfortable it would be for us to remain as a grassy flowering meadow, but that is not the way of life. We come and go. Soon we will fade.

Our privilege and responsibility is to bloom in every place we are planted for as long as it is springtime in our lives. It is to be as inwardly beautiful for God as we can be for as many days as we can and to move through the seasons of life with grace and trust.

We may not always be green, but we shall always be loved.

Note on art: his image was originally posted to Flickr by Internet Archive Book Images at https://flickr.com/photos/126377022@N07/14595509117. It was reviewed on 8 October 2015 by FlickreviewR and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the No known copyright restrictions.

He Told You

He Told You

And they remembered his words. -Luke 24:8

Have you ever experienced the exhilaration of everything becoming clear and connected?

The disciples did not need new information to understand the resurrection; they needed the illumination that comes when God suddenly turns on the lights in our personal experience of His grace. They needed to reflect upon what they had seen, heard, and experienced in the light of all Jesus has said. In short, they needed to remember in the afterglow of the empty tomb.

Before the resurrection, all that Jesus had said and done had consisted of delightful and sometimes confusing fragments in their minds. Now, everything was cohesive and clear.

Easter PowerPoint with Music and Readings:

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Now He Is Risen

“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.” – I Corinthians 15:20

Now is Christ risen.

“Death in vain forbids Him rise.”

Now He lives, awakened from the dead, leading the procession of those who have slept.

“Christ hath opened Paradise.”

Now is Christ risen and those who have died in Him are alive in Him.

It is the holy now, the sacred moment, the dynamic present where Christ Jesus is alive and where we live also in Him. It is the glorious culmination of His purpose, the verification of His assurances, and the proclamation of His power.

Coming out of the grave, He is the first. He is the firstfruits from among sleepers, not as the God He was and is, but as man, “For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” (I Corinthians 5:21-22

He is representative humanity, inseparable from His divinity, and incorruptible as our link to eternity.

As William Gaither penned, “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.”

More than that, because He lives, death is utterly frustrated and thoroughly devastated in its ability to render us helpless and hopeless. Only life bears any relevance to those who trust in Him. Eternal life is now.

Now is Christ risen!

 

 

 

 

 

A Prayer for the Day After Violent News

Photo by Max Kleinen on Unsplash

And for days to come.

Father, in the light of all that has happened and is happening, in our world I am at loss. I want to say that I am shocked, dismayed, disgusted, indignant, sorrowful, grieving, broken, and horrified. What bothers me most is that I am not, not the way I think is appropriate, not enough to keep me from going about my business or considering my own trivial concerns.

Oh, I am all those things, but not to the degree that I was at the first words of so many other tragedies, travesties, and unspeakable events.

Why not? Lord, do not let me lose my capacity to be shocked.

Lord, grant that I will not establish some new "norm:" in my heart where I begin to accept the unacceptable as normal.

We want to be unshakable people, Oh God who cannot be moved. We want to be a people, and may we be a people, God of Strength, who cannot be terrorized by terror and terrorists. That is your promise again and again.

But, oh God of Compassion, Justice, and Truth, whose heart can be broken, who chose to be vulnerable in Jesus, who offered Yourself and emptied Yourself to walk with us and wept over the city, may we not lose our ability to be there with our neighbors and be touched by their pain, outraged by atrocity, and stunned by violence.

Our neighbors around the world, Dear God, our neighbors in Europe, Israel, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, all over Africa, all over the world, our neighbors, are suffering violence, when that is too disturbing, we focus on the local and now, now, our local news is filled, daily with local violence.

And we come, Dear God, we come to a new equilibrium.

God, don't let us settle into such a pattern.

New York and Sacramento are our back yards. Ukraine is just down the street. The East is a short walk. Keep our emotions a bit fragile that we will have to cry out to You for peace. Keep us tender that we might always fall to our knees in prayer and hurt for those who are in pain and shock. Fill our hearts with love for our neighbors and love for our enemies so that we find it hard to imagine how a sweet little baby could be born into a world of wonder and grow into an instrument of violence.

We pray for those who might grow to accept such options as a means of redress of injustice perceived or real, or as a way of exorcising personal demons. We pray for divine and human intervention in their lives sufficient to turn around their thinking before it is too late. May we work to create just societies and peace on earth and may we never tolerate what is intolerable.

May we continue to reject violence in all forms and may we always hate, despise, and be adamantly opposed to the senseless taking of life.

Perplex us Oh God. Keep us perplexed because these things should not make sense and must not be accepted.

Why am I not more badly shaken and preoccupied? Why am I not desiring to be there in the thick of it bringing Your grace and love to the city?

Have I thrown up my hands in resignation?

No, but I am still bothered.

Why could I sleep so well? Well, maybe a few hours is not so well. Maybe I am shaken but a bit calloused. Maybe I am preoccupied.

Maybe this is just a new level of reception of such news the likes of which we keep hearing ... from schools and shopping centers and streets. Maybe we cannot live in a constant state of horror or indignation and maybe we are called to be present ... present to be, in whatever way we can be, part of the solution, part of the compassion, part of the intercession for our neighbors.

For our neighbors, I pray, Lord, God. Grant them shalom. Grant them shalom. Grant them shalom .... and healing and grace and mercy and perspective and courage and strength.

Thanks You for the helpers, for the brave and courageous helpers who arrived quickly and served when they did not know if the danger had passed.

Help folks to find some rest.

Shut us up when we start to pontificate and capitalize on these events, Father. Stop us from being "know-it-all"s. Dissolve our party lines. Fade our red-blue divides into obscurity. Fill us with Your love.

Let us be neither complacent nor terrorized.

Let us neither be settled nor disturbed.

Let us be neither indifferent nor obsessed.

Let us be neither detached nor co-dependent.

Let us neither be accepting of evil nor vengeful.

Let us not be tempted be consumed with anger nor overwhelmed by grief. We need the mind of Christ in these days. We need resolve and courage. We need wisdom. We need guidance.

We cannot fix everything or everybody and we cannot enact any policies or extract any justice that will make this right. Nothing can make this right, but You, Lord, can enter in and redirect the negative energies of those possessed by evil intentions to bring good and glory in some mysterious way, through some gentle touch, and with Your leading hand of grace.

I come to You, my Father, as a follower of Jesus, asking You for Your grace to follow Him into the dark places today with His mind in my mind, His heart in my heart, His Word on my lips, His love flowing through me, His tears in my eyes, His steadiness in my responses, His grace, Your grace, in everything I do or say. And I pray this for people everywhere who will meet hurting, broken, wounded, worried people and seek to bring them hope.

With much more on my heart to pray and continuing to pray, I pray these things in Jesus' Name. Amen.

 

 

 

River Walk

One day, in the spring or fall, I really can't remember which, I veered off the more traveled path and took a walk. I walked down the hill from pavement to gravel to dirt to grass until I came to water.

It would be good to know when it was. I have my photos and faded memories to remind me that it happened at all.

Would it really matter to know the details?

I had my camera to record my impressions.

It was a good day.

A pastoral, poetic day. It was a day to remember in a sea of forgetfulness.

I walked along the river that day. That much I know. That much I imprinted on my mind.

Of what did I think? I do not think I know but I think I thought. At least I thought that I was thinking and since I was, I must have been. "I think; therefor, I am" or "I thought; therefore I was," or both or and.

Such was and is my thinking about my thinking and walking and beholding that day.

I need more such days. Perhaps I shall take you along next time or you can take me and we can walk and talk along the river.

I do know where it was. I, at least remember that. I had been there before and I have been there since and I could get there again, even with you.

It is a good place to think as I recall and a better place to be.

It was in the city; it still is. And yet, it is aside from the city and removed from the noise, though some gets through.

It is out of the line of vision of the freeways and high rises, though they are very close and from them there are glimpses.

But is is nothing like the surprise of being there, up close, following the meandering path which traces the river's course without the delusion of human design.

The river insists on being wild no matter how hard we try, and we have tried, to tame it. It insists on flowing though it has been dammed. It has not been damned. Not, not, not. It flows still.

There is life in there. It is life that does not know the difference between urban and rural. It does not suspect that the asphalt world has encroached so profoundly upon its surroundings. The life of the river just lives, oblivious to the city.

For a moment, I was equally unaware and it was bliss.

It is good to go to the river and walk alongside it.

I walked and we kept each other company for a while, whatever season it was and whatever year.

 

 

 

 

My Righteousness? A Feeble Plea!

 

There are some prayers I am hesitant to pray.

 

"The LORD judges the peoples;

judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness

and according to the integrity that is in me." -Psalm 7:8 ESV

 

My righteousness?

 

That is a rather feeble plea.

 

Yes. I am hesitant to pray that one.

 

I am hesitant

until 

I remember that the righteous within me is not mine.

 

It is God's own righteousness in Jesus,

and that is enough.

 

Holy Week reminds me that I am not "all that."

 

Nor do I need to be

in order to be

beloved.

 

Decades ago, my wife and I attended a grand feast.

 

For us, it was cross cultural. We were the only folks there that looked like we looked. An innocent and sweet child looked at my wife. She was puzzled. In all her childlike innocence she inquired, "Were you invited?"

 

As a matter of fact we were!

 

More than that, by virtue of some underserved, honorific title I had, I was a bit of a VIP!

Imagine that. 

 

The invitation and the title have been conferred upon you. You are invited to pray and plead from a position of special privilege because

You Are Beloved!

Blessed Is the King!

 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his steadfast love endures forever!

Let Israel say,

“His steadfast love endures forever.”

- Psalm 118:1-2

Your goodness, God is revealed in Your love. And Your love is steadfast and eternal. We say, with all Israel all humanity, that your steadfast love endures forever. May the words of our mouths and the meditations of hearts be acceptable in Your sight, oh Lord, our strength, and our Redeemer. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

------------------------ 

 

You may listen as you read or just listen:

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Luke 19 says:

He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

 When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’” So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They said, “The Lord needs it.” Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying,

 “Blessed is the king

    who comes in the name of the Lord!

Peace in heaven,

    and glory in the highest heaven!”

 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

------------------------ 

Lord, what do you need from us today? Do you need a donkey upon which to ride? Do you need for us to carry palm branches and cry out for your salvation? Do you need for us to watch and consider? We are so absorbed with our needs, and indeed, you invite us to lay them at your feet. Yet, you have shone us the example of one who advanced to the house of torture in order that we might be redeemed. You placed our needs ahead of your own. Let this mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus, as Paul prayed with the Philippians,

Indeed …

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

 who, though he was in the form of God,

    did not regard equality with God

    as something to be exploited,

but emptied himself,

    taking the form of a slave,

    being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,

    he humbled himself

    and became obedient to the point of death—

    even death on a cross.

 Therefore God also highly exalted him

    and gave him the name

    that is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus

    every knee should bend,

    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue should confess

    that Jesus Christ is Lord,

    to the glory of God the Father.

It was a Sunday. The great city was preparing for a time of religious celebration and commemoration. But there were rumors that Jesus was on his way. Folks had heard the stories about him, his teachings, his deeds of kindness, his ruffling of the feather of power, and his miracles. Rumor had it, that he might be the Messiah. And so, they waited along the way to welcome him and shouted as he came:

 Blessed is the King who comes in the Name of the Lord!

Peace in heaven and glory in the highest (Luke 19:38)

Today, we join the eternal chorus of welcome as the Lord Jesus Christ enters our consciousness as the King who comes in the Name of the Lord.

He is the Prince of Peace and righteousness.

His Kingdom comes with glory and praise, but also with a cross of pain and disgrace.

Luke records but part of a stanza of the longer hymn, part of which says, from Psalm 118:

Open to me the gates of righteousness,

    that I may enter through them

    and give thanks to the Lord.

 This is the gate of the Lord;

    the righteous shall enter through it.

 I thank you that you have answered me

    and have become my salvation.

The stone that the builders rejected

    has become the chief cornerstone.

This is the Lord’s doing;

    it is marvelous in our eyes.

This is the day that the Lord has made;

    let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Save us, we beseech you, O Lord!

    O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!

 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.

    We bless you from the house of the Lord.

The Lord is God,

    and he has given us light.

Bind the festal procession with branches,

    up to the horns of the altar.

 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;

    you are my God, I will extol you.

 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

    for his steadfast love endures forever.

He willingly enters into the sphere of time, space, and judgment to face whatever stands between him and his mission to bring all who welcome him into eternal fellowship with the Father.

Let us lift our voices in worship as we worship Him.

Jesus implied endorsement of the praise of the people as something flowing from their deepest sense of divinity. It was emerging from their God-connection as people made in God’s image.

Even rocks have that, Jesus says.

Even the inanimate realm is tuned to ultimate reality for it cannot exist apart from that reality.

Stones will cry out if people do not.

Such is the joy of just a glimpse of the king coming to establish a kingdom of righteousness, grace, love, peace, joy, and justice. Such is the wonderful paradox of conqueror on a lowly pack animal. Such is the glimmer of light that shines from behind the veil revealing the unfolding of prophetic hope and apocalyptic celebration.

So, they met him with palms and shouts of victorious praise.

So, they welcomed him with sounds of song and movements of dance. As if choreographed for a Broadway finale, it was less than that, a penultimate preview of glory to come. The theme will become the overture.

It becomes the backdrop against which suffering, disgrace, and humiliation will be seen in perspective in the days to come.

Long, lonely, dark days and then …

New creation, indeed, the long anticipated eighth day of creation and hope.

Hope, it is, for those who walk, even now through valley of the shadow of death.

It is hope that triggers our thinking to know that the greater reality is unveiled and disclosed. That eternity has transcended modernity and life has already overcome death.

Peace in heaven means the possibility of peace on earth.

Glory in the highest predicts and displays glory among the lowliest.

The King has arrived at the earthly epicenter of God’s geographical work on earth, Jerusalem, where He is presumed to dwell among men, the Temple.

But it is the living temple who has come to the stone and mortar temple to declare that the Temple of God shall be in the hearts of men and women.

Therefore, we celebrate Palm Sunday.

It prepares us for a meeting in the Upper Room where Jesus will bless bread and wine as his own body and blood.

It gets us ready for the garden scene of prayer and betrayal and for the outer courtyard where, can be heard, the sounds of Jesus’ trial. It gets us ready to consider his floggings, his trek to Golgotha, his agonizing and sacrificial death, and his words.

The Seven Last Words which included, “Father, forgive them, “ “Why hast Thou forsaken me,” and “Into Thy hands, I commend my spirit.”

It points to a lonely tomb borrowed from a man who shared his earthly father’s name,

It anticipates the following Sunday when an event he predicted, but none comprehended, shakes time and space forever.

This coming week is a time for medication, reflection, and contemplation.

The Triumphal entry does not conclude with the disgraceful cross, but with the glorious resurrection.

Yet, today, we are transfixed by the image of his coming into the city. We are surrounded by palm and shouts of joy. We are enveloped by the music of the moment and the resounding “hosannas” that are on the lips of the young and the old.

We are dancing in the streets, waving the palms.

We are in the moment.

Every moment has its place, and each moment is a part of a larger moment within eternity.

We take them as they come, and we embrace each one for the meaning that they reveal.

 

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

 

You are here now, waving the branch and declaring his praise.

Where will you be in the dark of Thursday when ominous words are spoken and betrayal looms?

Where will you be on Friday when the world goes dark and he gives up his spirit?

Where will you be on Saturday when there is not a glimmer of hope?

Will you be prepared to come to the tomb with ointments and spice to anoint his body and receive the surprise off your life?

Declare now, your yes to his yes and allow it to be your “hosanna of the moment.”

Amen.

 

 

God bless you.

God keep you.

God make God’s face to shine upon you.

God lift up the very countenance of God upon you.

May God be gracious to you.

May God give you peace.

Through Jesus Christ, our LORD.

Amen again.

 

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Not So Among You

What about leadership?

Photo by Matteo Vistocco on Unsplash

It is about serving and laying down our lives for others as Jesus did.

It shall not be so among you that you will be in a state of constant competition with your brothers and sisters. It shall not be so among you that you will be vying for positions of importance and prestige and honor. It shall not be so among you though it be so among the many and among the masses.

Here is a conversation between Jesus and his disciples in Mark 10: 32 -45, on the road. That is where so many things happened. On the road was where so much teaching and so many teachable moments emerged in the life and ministry of Jesus.

“They were on the road going up to Jerusalem and Jesus was walking ahead of them they were amazed and those who followed were afraid he took the twelve aside began to tell them what was to happen to him. ‘We are going up to Jerusalem and the son of man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes is it and they will condemn him to death then they will hand him over to the Gentiles and they will mock him and spit upon him and flog him and kill him and after three days he will rise again.’”

Imagine listening, and you hear everything except the last clause. You hear about the spitting and mocking and you hear about the flogging.

This is your teacher, your leader, and your master. How can these things happen? What an insult to him , to God and us! We must prevent this. Human emotions on national entertainment and in local news. There is an epidemic of retaliation, a wrong but common attitude.

“James and John the son of Zebedee came forward and said, ‘Teacher we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’”

It seems like an inappropriate response to what Jesus just said. We want you to do whatever we ask.

“It’s all about me,” is a cry heard around the world.

“’Grant to us to sit one at your right hand one at your left and your glory.’”

“But Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism that I'm going to be baptized with?’”

“They replied, ‘We are able.’”

“Then Jesus said to them, The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant. But it's for those for whom it's been prepared’”

“When the ten heard this, they begin to be angry with James and John so Jesus called them and said to them … “

A teachable moment. We're so tone-deaf to what Jesus is saying most of the time even when we read back through the centuries, or through the paradigm of the big picture.

Jesus is saying?

• I'm going to be persecuted.
• I'm going to be killed.
• I'm going to be judged.
• I'm going to be mocked.

“Oh, Jesus, will you let us share in your honors?”

“Can you share in my suffering?”

“Oh yes.”

Not yet they couldn't but later they would. But honors? Is it for the esteem? Is it for the importance of it?

Everybody's upset now.

Here's the teachable moment.

“Jesus called them and said to them, ‘You know that among the Gentiles, those whom they recognized as their rulers lord it over them.’”

Would you have seen a gentile Roman Centurion leading like Jesus? He led by example and by being willing to be vulnerable.

“’They lord it over them and their great ones are tyrants over them, but it's not to be so among you.’”

“’Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.”

It’s all about the serving and the giving and Jesus gives us a lesson in discipleship and a lesson in leadership. The leader is one who is vulnerable a leader is one who allows the purposes of God to be worked out in his or her. A leader faces the danger. A leader receives the mocking without mocking back. A leader is not a tyrant and does not lord leadership over those whom he or she leads.

You are going to be different than those who lead that way and those who rule that way and those who compete that way.

And those who base their own self esteem on their importance are not leaders like me, Jesus teaches.

“’ But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’"

You take the last place. You will become the servant of all. You will serve and you will give your life including any hope of future recognition and praise in this life or the life to come.

It will not be your motive to gain recognition. You will do it for me and for others as a servant, a servant leader.

All of the examples of leadership that we see in the world who wield tyranny and manipulation, are false. Their power fades with these words:

It is not so among you.
It shall not be so among you.

 

 

 

Not So Among You

What about leadership?

Photo by Matteo Vistocco on Unsplash

It is about serving and laying down our lives for others as Jesus did.

It shall not be so among you that you will be in a state of constant competition with your brothers and sisters. It shall not be so among you that you will be vying for positions of importance and prestige and honor. It shall not be so among you though it be so among the many and among the masses.

Here is a conversation between Jesus and his disciples in Mark 10: 32 -45, on the road. That is where so many things happened. On the road was where so much teaching and so many teachable moments emerged in the life and ministry of Jesus.

“They were on the road going up to Jerusalem and Jesus was walking ahead of them they were amazed and those who followed were afraid he took the twelve aside began to tell them what was to happen to him. ‘We are going up to Jerusalem and the son of man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes is it and they will condemn him to death then they will hand him over to the Gentiles and they will mock him and spit upon him and flog him and kill him and after three days he will rise again.’”

Imagine listening, and you hear everything except the last clause. You hear about the spitting and mocking and you hear about the flogging.

This is your teacher, your leader, and your master. How can these things happen? What an insult to him , to God and us! We must prevent this. Human emotions on national entertainment and in local news. There is an epidemic of retaliation, a wrong but common attitude.

“James and John the son of Zebedee came forward and said, ‘Teacher we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’”

It seems like an inappropriate response to what Jesus just said. We want you to do whatever we ask.

“It’s all about me,” is a cry heard around the world.

“’Grant to us to sit one at your right hand one at your left and your glory.’”

“But Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism that I'm going to be baptized with?’”

“They replied, ‘We are able.’”

“Then Jesus said to them, The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant. But it's for those for whom it's been prepared’”

“When the ten heard this, they begin to be angry with James and John so Jesus called them and said to them … “

A teachable moment. We're so tone-deaf to what Jesus is saying most of the time even when we read back through the centuries, or through the paradigm of the big picture.

Jesus is saying?

• I'm going to be persecuted.
• I'm going to be killed.
• I'm going to be judged.
• I'm going to be mocked.

“Oh, Jesus, will you let us share in your honors?”

“Can you share in my suffering?”

“Oh yes.”

Not yet they couldn't but later they would. But honors? Is it for the esteem? Is it for the importance of it?

Everybody's upset now.

Here's the teachable moment.

“Jesus called them and said to them, ‘You know that among the Gentiles, those whom they recognized as their rulers lord it over them.’”

Would you have seen a gentile Roman Centurion leading like Jesus? He led by example and by being willing to be vulnerable.

“’They lord it over them and their great ones are tyrants over them, but it's not to be so among you.’”

“’Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.”

It’s all about the serving and the giving and Jesus gives us a lesson in discipleship and a lesson in leadership. The leader is one who is vulnerable a leader is one who allows the purposes of God to be worked out in his or her. A leader faces the danger. A leader receives the mocking without mocking back. A leader is not a tyrant and does not lord leadership over those whom he or she leads.

You are going to be different than those who lead that way and those who rule that way and those who compete that way.

And those who base their own self esteem on their importance are not leaders like me, Jesus teaches.

“’ But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’"

You take the last place. You will become the servant of all. You will serve and you will give your life including any hope of future recognition and praise in this life or the life to come.

It will not be your motive to gain recognition. You will do it for me and for others as a servant, a servant leader.

All of the examples of leadership that we see in the world who wield tyranny and manipulation, are false. Their power fades with these words:

It is not so among you.
It shall not be so among you.

 

 

 

Do Not Lose Heart

A Picture of Perseverance: 

Photo by Juanita Swart on Unsplash

 

LISTEN

 Do Not Lose Heart

 

II Corinthians 4:1-12 NRSV

 

Therefore, since it is by God's mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart.

 

We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God's word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.

 

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

 

For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake. For it is the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

 

But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.

 

For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh.

 

So death is at work in us, but life in you.

 

Keep Your Forks - Podcast

Listen To:

The Best Is Yet to Come

or at

Tumblr

 

Don't Blink

Do Not Blink - Mini Podcast

Don't Blink. Do not miss the moment.

Dream Factory Mini-Podcast

Photo by G N-28 on Unsplash

 

One Thing

Killing Birds

 

Let's start with this: I like birds and I don't want to kill them. So, "killing two birds with one stone" is a metaphor that is unfortunate, but descriptive.

 

I also like to multitask and I plan certain things in life to maximize effort by combining task and building multiple purposes into one activity.

 

Yet, it seems, without a primary focus, it is very easy to lose all sense of purpose and the activity itself becomes primary rather than what it is, a tool.

 

I can't find the word "focus" in the bible translations I normally use, but the word "seek" is very prominent.

 

So, I have spent some time seeking this morning. It may seem that I've been playing on Facebook and Twitter, but those activities have been peripheral to the primary focus. (I also PRAY on Facebook - I have found it a powerful too-l for intercessory ministry without getting in anyone's face about it).

 

I am seeking through the things I read, through prayer, through meditation, through what I write, and through thinking.

 

I woke up with all of this on my mind because there is so much to do and so little time. Because of the rush, I felt led and compelled to slow down and build this space into my day. I am expecting lots of birds to fall - poor little birds.

 

I am not sure we often have the luxury of doing one thing at as time with full concentration. When those times come, savor them and embrace them. In the meantime, we need to focus on the primary and include the peripheral. That is life.

 

Take comfort, birds, I am not going to kill you. It is just an unfortunate expression.

 

In the meantime, we have to find the One thing of the moment and let that be our compass.

 

What Is Your One Thing?

• • What gets you up with energy in the morning?

  • What puts you to sleep with a sense of fulfillment at night?

  • What makes you look forward to the future?

  • What gives you peace with the past?

  • What is set before you to think about and do today?

  • What is stopping you?

 

We NEED Each Other

It takes all of us to make a garden!

It is of vital importance that we learn the value of collaboration and networking when we are seeking to implement our dreams.

We need each other.

We need each others' nods.

By that, I mean their encouragement. We need to receive it and we need to give it. You cannot encourage another person without encouraging yourself.

We need each others' energy.

People energize each other by being present in each others' lives.

We need each others experience.

Someone has been where you are and someone is going where you have been. We can avoid mistakes and incorporate learning by sharing with each other.

In case you did not catch on, I am spelling NEED as in we need each other.

Now, we need a D. We need each others' dreams.

To dream is to visualize a future that does not yet exist and will not exist until we create it. To understand that the capacity to dream and strategize is a part of our gift of humanity reminds us that we are not alone and that we are part of a larger dream to make this world a better place.

We NEED each other. Network!

Become one of Tom's clients and join Tom's Round Table on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/399304841258835

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/tomsims/we-must-collaborate

 

Priority One

Source

FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT
April 3, 2022
Year C, Revised Common Lectionary

This is an expression of the church, the fellowship of believers in and seekers of Jesus. We meet online in an online community on Facebook. This feed is available to Pastor Tom's friends and followers, but also the general public. There are no restrictions. Welcome. Help us make this a REAL community of Joy and love.

 

Online friends are REAL friends!

 

Please leave your comments, questions, and prayer requests in the comments section

We meet online at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fellowshipofjoy

Blog: https://pastortomsims.typepad.com/the_fellowship_of_joy/

 

The Fellowship of Joy is building a team of technical advisors to assist with the delivery and expansion of this message. Respond in comments or PM.

 

Devotions are posted daily - http://facebook.com/pastortomsims

 

Join us for the prayer our Lord taught us to pray

 

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come;

thy will be done;

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation;

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory,

for ever and ever.

Amen.-

Isaiah 43:16-21

Thus says the LORD, who makes a
way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings
out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down,
they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a
wick: Do not remember the former things, or consider
the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it
springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way
in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild
animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for
I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to
give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I
formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.

Audio - Download Isaiah 43 16-21

Psalm 126
When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.

Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and
our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said
among the nations, "The LORD has done great
things for them."

The LORD has done great things for us, and we
rejoiced.

Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like the
watercourses in the Negeb.

May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of
joy.

Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.

AUDIO Download Psalm 126

Philippians 3:4b-14

If anyone else has reason to be
confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the
eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the
tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the
law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church;
as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet
whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as
loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard
everything as loss because of the surpassing value of
knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have
suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as
rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in
him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes
from the law, but one that comes through faith in
Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I
want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection
and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him
in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection
from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or
have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it
my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own;
but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and
straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward
the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in
Christ Jesus.

 John 12:1-8

Six days before the Passover Jesus came
to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised
from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him.
Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the
table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume
made of pure nard, anointed Jesus' feet, and wiped
them with her hair. The house was filled with the
fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his
disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said,
"Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred
denarii and the money given to the poor?" (He said this
not because he cared about the poor, but because he
was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to
steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, "Leave her alone.
She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of
my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you
do not always have me."

SERMON from Pastor Tom:

More love to Thee, O Christ,
More love to Thee!
Hear Thou the prayer I make
On bended knee;
This is my earnest plea:
More love, O Christ, to Thee,
More love to Thee,
More love to Thee!

Once earthly joy I craved,
Sought peace and rest;
Now Thee alone I seek,
Give what is best;
This all my prayer shall be:
More love, O Christ, to Thee,
More love to Thee,
More love to Thee!

Then shall my latest breath
Whisper Thy praise;
This be the parting cry
My heart shall raise;
This still its prayer shall be:
More love, O Christ, to Thee,
More love to Thee,
More love to Thee!

 

You may email Pastor Tom Sims at

mailto:[email protected]

 

If you wish to give to The Fellowship of Joy through our legal entity, Baptist Temple, you may use this link.

 

 

Hard Times

 

 

Photo by Kelli McClintock on Unsplash

 

Hard times are creeping all over.

Everyone looking for a four leafed clover.

Life as we know it isn't so easy.

Verses like this getting mighty cheesy,

Days are long. Rewards come slowly.

More time to waste, less time to be holy.

Everywhere I go, huddled masses huddling

Folks talking about hard times and muddling.

They're just trying to make it, fake it,

Shake it, bake it, and rake it in.

Preoccupation with lack of occupation

Lots of people on a forced vacation.

Where two are three assembled be

There's an "Ain't It Awful" assemble-ly.

(or a discussion of the economy

with a large dose of "woe-is-me")

Here's the challenge as I see it play out.

And you can either agree of call it way out.

When hard times come, we can let them define us ...

Or 

we can lean in, leap forward, and let them refine us.

Isaiah 48:10
"See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction."

 

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/tomsims

 

 

Non Compete Clause

Link

Sometimes I wonder if I need a non-compete clause in my contract with myself.

I try multiple platforms and resources to help my clients grow, market, and refine their businesses. 

Here is a new one. I have no intention of replacing this or any of my other blogs, but I do see value in this one:

-----------------------------------------

I am testing a new, free blogging platform for my clients who want to get started and raise money by blogging. This is my first test/post.

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/tomsims/learning-sharing

-----------------------------------------

Lessons I Hope to Learn

• What happens when you demonstrate self-promotion to teach others how to self-promote?
• Is it important to try it before you recommend it? I think the answer is obvious?
• Answers to the questions I posted in the secondary post.
• Is there really such a thing as too much exposure or competing with yourself?
• Will I get any coffee from this?

See you on the road to success!