Jesus Is Coming: Tell the Truth

We have been talking about how to celebrate a non-traditional, counter-cultural Advent through our study of The Advent Conspiracy and through a sermon series about what it really means that "Jesus Is Coming."
Last week we read Matthew 3:1-12, about John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness to "prepare the way of the Lord." We talked about how Jesus turns the world-as-we-know-it upside-down. And we talked about the epidemic of bullying today and in Jesus' day, and how Jesus came to stop the bullying.
This week our scripture is Matthew 11:2-11. It is again about Jesus and John the Baptist. John sends messengers to ask Jesus if he is indeed the Messiah. Jesus replies with the truth: "The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor." [TNIV] In other words, Jesus came for the last, the lost and the least. Jesus came to speak the truth to power, always a dangerous undertaking. John the Baptist spoke the truth to power and ended up with his head on a platter. Jesus spoke the truth to power and ended up on the cross - but then showed us that the cross was not the end.
Today's reading from the devotional book Jesus Calling by Sarah Young says this about taking risks with Jesus:
"Be willing to go out on a limb with Me...Your desire to live a risk-free life is a form of unbelief...In order to follow Me wholeheartedly, you must relinquish your tendency to play it safe...As long as you stay close to Me, My sovereign Presence protects you wherever you go."
Jesus Is Coming. Tell The Truth. No Matter The Cost. Do Not Be Afraid.

Losing Focus

Several of you have asked for the text of the YouTube video we watched in worship last Sunday. It was uploaded to YouTube by Lastrumpet 08. Here it is:
"My child you lost focus because you concentrate on your current situation, your circumstances that you are in. The things of this world are distracting you all the time.
Some are worried about the wrong things in life. I promised, seek first My kingdom and My righteousness then I will add all the other things unto you.
Do not lose focus but yield to My Spirit who will guide you every step of the way. If you focus on Me all the time you will walk in faith, not by sight because you will know I will not fail you. I will work all things out for good at My time. Trust Me.
My child, if you focus on the storms you will sink. Get your eyes off the storms and focus on Me. I will calm every storm. I am greater than the storms.
My child, do you understand your problem? You keep losing focus all the time.
You must practice, remind yourself all the time to stay focused on Me, not on the things of this world. It will sidetrack you.
Think about the things above, My everlasting Kingdom, not the things on this earth, it will vanish but the things above are of eternal value.
Focus on Jesus."

Stay Focused

The Gospel reading for the 1st Sunday of Advent is Matthew 24:36-44. In it, Jesus says, "If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."
So...how do you stay focused on Jesus in the midst of all the Thanksgiving and Christmas hullabaloo? I just learned that a member of my congregation arrived at church last Sunday morning, looked at the bulletin and saw that we were not singing any of the traditional Thanksgiving hymns, and walked out. I'm such a silly pastor...I thought it was more important to stay focused on the church holy day of Christ the King Sunday than on the secular holiday of Thanksgiving - the day before Black Friday, the kick-off of the Christmas shopping madness. And if this individual had only stayed long enough to hear the announcements, s/he'd have learned of the ecumenical Thanksgiving service to be held on the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving. That service includes the hymn "Come Ye Thankful People Come."
This is the problem in the USA today. People -even people who call themselves Christians - don't want Jesus. People want "the holiday season" with all the Hallmark trimmings. No matter that you post "Jesus is the reason for the season" on Facebook - if you spend all your time, energy and money on the trappings of the secular season, you're not getting it. Santa Claus has triumphed over the incarnation, and the Easter Bunny has triumphed over the resurrection.
What do you think would happen if all of us who call ourselves Christians forgot about our decorations and shopping and fancy meals and just focused on the birth of Jesus and how he taught us to live? Would this world look a whole lot more like the Kingdom of God?

"Sainthood for Dummies"

This week's scripture, Luke 6:20-31, is Luke's version of Matthew's "Sermon on the Mount." It is often called "The Sermon on the Plain" because it takes place after Jesus and the disciples have come down from the mountain on which Jesus has chosen the 12 apostles. The first part of the text, verses 20-26, the "blessings and woes" are addressed specifically to Jesus' disciples. The second part, verses 27-31, are addressed to all who are listening.
If you're familiar with the "...for Dummies" series of books, this reading could be called "Sainthood for Dummies." In the Protestant tradition we believe that all Christians are part of "the communion of saints" referred to in The Apostles' Creed. "Sainthood" is not for set-apart holy people, but for all believers. And The Sermon on the Plain is Jesus' summary of how "the saints" are called to live.
Questions for reflection: What do the "blessings and woes" mean to you? Is this the same or different from what they might have meant to Jesus' original listeners? Do you find them comforting or threatening? How about the instruction to "do good to those who hate you"? How hard - and how counter-cultural -- is that! Do we, individually and as a society and a nation, "do to others as you would have them to to you"? Or are we more likely to "do to others as they have done to us," or even "do to others before they have a chance to do to us"? How might the world be transformed if every Christian made the effort to live out The Golden Rule every day?

A Fresh Start

Today's scripture is from Luke 19:1-10. As Jesus continues on the road to Jerusalem, teaching and healing as he goes, he comes to Jericho. There a crowd gathers to see him. In that crowd is a man named Zacchaeus. The scripture says that Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector, and very wealthy. Zacchaeus was also short so, in order to see Jesus, he had to climb a tree. Jesus sees Zacchaeus sitting in the midst of the foliage and calls him out. Jesus tells him that he's coming over to Zacchaeus' house to spend the night. The crowd gets very upset because Zacchaeus made his living by cheating them, by collecting more taxes than the people really owed. They are angry that Jesus is spending his time with the likes of him. But Zacchaeus has a conversion experience due to his encounter with Jesus. He publicly promises to give half of what he owns to the poor, and to pay back 4 times as much to the people he's cheated.
So...who is Zacchaeus today? The bailed-out bankers? The Wall Street weasels? The ponzi-scheme practitioners? Do we think they deserve a fresh start? The crowds around Jesus didn't think Zacchaeus merited Jesus' attention, yet it was Jesus' attention that turned Zacchaeus' life around...and had great positive impact on the lives of those in his community.
The last verse of this scripture says, "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." Are there ways in which you are lost in your life? You may not be unscrupulously wealthy like Zacchaeus, but there are many other ways of being lost. The story of Zacchaeus tells us that, no matter how lost you are, or how you are lost, Jesus is looking for you. Jesus can find you even if you're hiding up in a tree, or down in your basement, or deep in a bottle. And Jesus offers what we all need most: a fresh start. A chance to wipe the slate clean, to make amends and to have all be forgiven, to go forward into a new life with Jesus as our guide. Will you take Jesus up on his offer? Will you welcome him into your home? Will you stop lying and cheating your way through life and get honest with yourself, with others, and with Jesus about what your true priorities are? Will you, like Zacchaeus, be willing to change your priorities? If the answer is "yes", then you have already received your fresh start. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory in Jesus Christ.

God's Pledge

This Sunday's scripture lesson will be from the prophet Jeremiah, chapter 31, verses 27-34. Jeremiah criticizes the Southern Kingdom of Judah and the city of Jerusalem for being unfaithful to God. He predicts that God will judge the people with a painful future. But once the people are suffering, Jeremiah speaks words of comfort, healing and restoration from God to the people of Judah. These verses from chapter 31, especially verses 31-34, are God's pledge to God's people. God pledges to make a new covenant with the people, a covenant in which God's law will be written in their hearts.
Questions for reflection: Have you ever experienced a time of "exile", a time in which you felt, and lived your life, far away from God, a time when you were unfaithful to God? What was that time like? What does it mean to have God's law written on your heart? How is this different from learning God's law by reading the Bible, going to church, discussing your faith with your Christian friends? Why does God pledge to write the law on our hearts? Is it possible to be unfaithful to what is in the very core of our hearts? What does it mean to you to return from exile, to "come home to the Lord"?

Through the Eyes of A Child

This Sunday will be our annual Children's Sunday. Karen Golden, our Director of Educational Ministries for Children and Youth, will be preaching. Her scripture text is: Mark 10:13-16: The Little Children and Jesus. Our children and youth will help to lead worship.
Questions for reflection: Do you remember what it was like to see life through the eyes of a child? How was it different from the way in which you see life now? What does it mean to have the faith of a child? What is the difference between a "childish" faith and a "childlike" faith? To which does Jesus call us in this scripture? Reflect and pray on this statement from Karen's message: "Whether we are children or were once children, we are all children of God."