John 5:1-15 [NLTse]

Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. ² Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. ³ Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. ⁵ One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, He asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

⁷ “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”

⁸ Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

⁹ Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, ¹⁰ so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The Law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!”

¹¹ But he replied, “The Man Who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

¹² “Who said such a thing as that?” they demanded.

¹³ The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. ¹⁴ But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.” ¹⁵ Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus Who had healed him.

Sermon

This is a map of Jerusalem in Jesus’ day. You can see the Temple here… And the Roman Fortress Antonia here… Here’s where archaeologists believe the Lord Jesus celebrated that last Passover supper with His disciples… And where they’ve found the high priest’s residence… Here, near the Temple compound, is the Sheep Gate John speaks of… And here, the Pool of Bethesda… As you can see here, there are really two pools of Bethesda: One next to each other. And you can see the covered porches – porticoes, they were called – where John says that crowds of those who were blind, lame, and paralyzed lay waiting for the pools’ water to bubble, indicating that the healing angel’s power was in the water to heal them.

Healing shrines were common throughout the ancient world, especially for the worship of deities known for their healing powers. Most shrines had pools or fountains nearby, and those seeking healing were required to dip themselves in the water to be made whole.

Many have questioned whether or not the Lord would have ever truly stirred the waters in this way to actually heal those who washed when the waters bubbled, but something extraordinary must have kept these crowds of people at the pool waiting their chance to be made well.

In other places across John’s gospel he mentions the nature of the festival going on which brought Jesus to Jerusalem at different times. It is conspicuous that he does not at this time. What seems to be important is not which festival is being celebrated but that Jesus works this sign of the Kingdom on a Sabbath day…

As I read this passage so many questions come to my mind. John tells us the place was crowded with sick people: What would such a place smell like, crowded with the sick and blind and lame and paralyzed? What would such a place sound like, filled with those suffering and struggling and ready to compete with those around them for the miracle that would heal them?

Greater than those questions for me, though, is why, with so many hurting and suffering and in need, why did Jesus come to this man? “Do you want to get well?” He asked him. Why did the Lord only heal this man and leave all the others in their infirmities? There’s no evidence that the man ever puts his trust in Jesus. There is a sense, when Jesus says, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you,” there’s a sense there that the man’s troubles had been the result of his own sinful actions or choices. And yet there’s no evidence that the Lord ever forgives him his sins. So, why him?

Of course, the gospels are filled with such pictures of God’s grace, His goodness and kindness to the undeserving. Yes, sometimes we read of Jesus healing people who were powerful and prestigious and people who had great faith. But just as often we read of Jesus healing nobodies, ne’er-do-wells, outcasts, and even “bad” guys. There seems no rhyme nor reason. He healed people who came to Him themselves and healed people who were brought to Him by others. He healed Jews, He healed Gentiles. He healed by touching, He healed by speaking. There were times when God’s healing power was upon Him for great works to even raise the dead! As well as times when He was only able to do a few miracles because of peoples’ unbelief. (Matthew 13:58)

But if there’s one thing the Bible makes very clear is that Jesus healed. And if there is a second thing that the Bible makes very clear is that Jesus expected His disciples to go out and heal, as well.

There’s a couple of accounts in the Bible that make this so very clear to me. One is found in Matthew 17… Why don’t we open up our Bibles there… to verse 14…

The Lord’s just come down from what’s come to be called the Mount of Transfiguration, and he finds a dad who’s brought to Jesus his son who’s become demonized in the hopes that Jesus would set his son free. While the Lord was on the mountain His disciples try to cast the demon out of the boy but cannot. And I think Jesus’ response to their inability is helpful and hopeful to us. In v. 19 the disciples ask, “Why couldn’t we cast out that demon?” And Jesus told them they didn’t trust Him enough, and in the footnote you can see that He might have also added that they needed to have a better discipline of fasting and praying to be able to cast this kind out.

Did you notice that Jesus didn’t say, “You can’t heal. You can’t cast out demons. Who do you think you are?” No. They ask why they couldn’t do it and He tells them so that they would be able to do it next time!

Of course, we see the apostles going out and healing people after Jesus was raised from the dead and after He’d given them the Holy Spirit. uuu Acts 5:14-16 records that the Holy Spirit had so filled Simon Peter to heal that “sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across some of them as he went by. Crowds came from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil spirits, and they were all healed.”

And then, with us in mind, the apostle Paul writes to the Corinthians, uuu “To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing…” He’s given us gifts, by the Holy Spirit, power so that together our church would not be lacking to accomplish any good thing. And Paul tells us that the grace to heal is one of those gifts to accomplish good things that He’s given us.

Who here has ever prayed for someone and then that person had been healed? [Ask those who raise their hands what had been healed through their prayers.] [Let people know about the two women I’ve prayed for, the one who had a large mass that disappeared after praying for her, and the other, a young mother of two young children, who was cured of cancer.]

Has anybody here never prayed for someone who was sick or an invalid? … Please do; we must not hold ourselves back. The Lord may want us to play an important part in showing the people around us His love for the world in Jesus Christ!

We want to be keeping track of what gifts the Lord has given different ones of us so that we can get each other involved in ministry where the Lord has empowered us all to best fit. Those of you who’ve prayed for people who’d then been healed, when you write your name in the Red Books this morning, write “healer” next to your name. When people come to the church in need of healing, we want to make sure that you’re a part of the team of folks we’d have lay hands on them and anoint them and pray for them. So that Jesus’ name might be praised! And so that our neighbors and friends might glorify our Father in Heaven!

1 Corinthians 11:17-32 [NLTse]

¹⁷ But in the following instructions, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together. ¹⁸ First, I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church, and to some extent I believe it. ¹⁹ But, of course, there must be divisions among you so that you who have God’s approval will be recognized!

²⁰ When you meet together, you are not really interested in the Lord’s Supper. ²¹ For some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with others. As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk. ²² What? Don’t you have your own homes for eating and drinking? Or do you really want to disgrace God’s church and shame the poor? What am I supposed to say? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly will not praise you for this!

²³ For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord Himself. On the night when He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread ²⁴ and gave thanks to God for it. Then He broke it in pieces and said, “This is My body, which is given for you. Do this to remember Me.” ²⁵ In the same way, He took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and His people—an agreement confirmed with My blood. Do this to remember Me as often as you drink it.” ²⁶ For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until He comes again.

²⁷ So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸ That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. ²⁹ For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself. ³⁰ That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died.

³¹ But if we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way. ³² Yet when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned along with the world.

The well-to-do in first-century Greco-Roman cities like Corinth lived in dwellings architecturally known as domas. A domus included multiple rooms, indoor courtyards, gardens, and beautifully painted walls that were elaborately laid out. The vestibulum (entrance hall) led into a large central hall called the atrium, which was the focal point of the domus and contained a statue of an altar to the household gods. Leading off the atrium were cubicula (bedrooms), a dining room (called a triclinium) where guests could recline on couches and eat dinner whilst reclining, a tablinum (the living room or study) and tabernae (that is, the owners shops on the exterior that faced the street).

During dinner parties, festivals, and religious banquets in Greco-Roman society, hosts often reserved the limited seating in the triclinium (which means “three couches”) for members of their own social class. (Nine persons could be seated in a typical triclinium, reclining three to a couch.) Then, as many as forty others could be served in the adjoining atrium-courtyard. At such gatherings the guests in the atrium would often be served inferior food and inferior drink, and often complained about it.

The churches in first-century Corinth met in the homes of the well-to-do among their congregations, and it seems that this societal pattern of preferring some over others had spilled over into the church.

At different times across 1 Corinthians Paul addresses the divisions the Corinthian church had become known for: Some follow Paul; others follow Cephas (that is, Simon Peter); others follow Apollos; and others even seemed to be so arrogant as to make clear that they followed Christ! Paul highlights their arrogance here, sarcastically, saying, “Of course, there must be divisions among you so that you who have God’s approval will be recognized!” For many of these Corinthians it’s become all about being known for Christ, being recognized as a part of the “right church”. But Paul isn’t pleased: Their divisions “disgrace God’s church and shame the poor,” he says.

In the first-century church, when the Lord’s Supper was celebrated it included a fellowship mean that ended with Communion. (Like the Seder meal we celebrate each Maundy Thursday downstairs in Fellowship Hall.) It seems that in Corinth the fellowship meal had become a time when some ate and drank excessively while others went hungry and without. There was little sharing or caring. And this certainly did not demonstrate the unity and love that should characterize Christ’s church, nor was it good preparation for Communion.

The Corinthians seemed to have lost sight of the sacredness of the Passover celebration the Lord’s Supper was based upon: When the Lord was preparing Israel for the exodus from Egypt and the body of the sacrificed Passover Lamb was eaten and its blood was painted on the doorposts of the Israelite homes; and every house marked with the Lamb’s blood was “passed over” when the Destroyer came to slay the firstborn of family and flock dwelling the land of Egypt. Likewise, Jesus took the bread and said, “This is My body,” and we eat it, and He said of the cup, “This is My blood,” and as we drink we paint it on our hearts so that the Destroyer passes over us when the time for the “second death” comes. (The Revelation speaking of the “first death” as the death we die here in this life, but the “second death” being that condemnation to the Lake of Fire when Jesus comes again to judge the living and the dead once and for all time.)

And so Paul warns them not to eat the bread or take the cup unworthily: Because how can someone take lightly or jokingly the saving gift of Jesus’ body and blood offered to us in the bread and the cup? The Lord’s Supper is a visible representation showing the death of Christ for our sins. It reminds us of Christ’s death, and it reminds us of the glorious hope of His return! When we participate our faith is strengthened through fellowship with Christ, and our faith is strengthened through fellowship with other believers. And just as Peter warned the husbands reading his first letter how dishonoring their wives inhibited their prayers, likewise, participating in the Lord’s Supper while dishonoring others in the Body of Christ is eating and drinking unworthily: And many among the Corinthian Christians were sick and dying – not receiving the healing God had for them – because they weren’t treating each other as they should. (And because they weren’t treating as holy, wondrous, and awe-filled the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb Who has set us free.)

Do we have any elementary-aged kids in the congregation this morning? [Raise hands.] Any teenagers? [Raise hands.] “Does it matter to you that Jesus died on the cross for you? That He loves you that much? That He wants to be with you so much that He would go to such lengths to draw you near, through His death?” Anybody here single? [Raise hands.] Or newly married? [Raise hands.] Any widows or widowers? [Raise hands.] Or anyone married for 50 years or more? [Raise hands.] “Does it matter to you that your sins have been forgiven?  Does it matter that in giving you the Holy Spirit He’s given you power to change things here on the Earth as you pray?  Does it matter to you that He grants you grace to stand against every temptation and guidance to know the ways you are to go here in this world? “Anybody going away to college soon? [Raise hands.] Anybody going away to war? [Raise hands.] Anybody here grieving? [Raise hands.] Anybody here considering leaving your marriage? Or looking for work? Or hating your work? [Raise hands.]” Does it matter to you that, with everybody so afraid of death that, for you, death is just that last leg of the journey home to Paradise with God? Does it matter that Christ has completely taken the punishment for your sin, that you are unpunishable here in this world? Does it matter to you that, no matter what life throws your way that nothing can ever separate you from the love of God He’s shown you in Christ Jesus our Lord? Because all that is what we celebrate and all that is what we look forward to every time we eat this bread and drink this cup and keep on proclaiming His saving death until He comes again!

I began preaching through the Gospel of John at New Years. Since then we’ve had many wonderful distractions from John with Lent and Holy Week and Easter. And then the Lord lead us to spend some time focusing on “honor” and growing more honoring and honorable. So here it is, the end of May, and we’re only beginning John, chapter 4! J

John 4:1-30 [NLTse]

Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that He was baptizing and making more disciples than John ² (though Jesus Himself didn’t baptize them—His disciples did). ³ So He left Judea and returned to Galilee.

⁴ He had to go through Samaria on the way. ⁵ Eventually He came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. ⁶ Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. ⁷ Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give Me a drink.” ⁸ He was alone at the time because His disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.

⁹ The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are You asking me for a drink?”

¹⁰ Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and Who you are speaking to, you would ask Me, and I would give you living water.”

¹¹ “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would You get this living water? ¹² And besides, do You think You’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can You offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?”

¹³ Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. ¹⁴ But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

¹⁵ “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”

¹⁶ “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her.

¹⁷ “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied.

Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband— ¹⁸ for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!”

¹⁹ “Sir,” the woman said, “You must be a prophet. ²⁰ So tell me, why is it that You Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?”

²¹ Jesus replied, “Believe Me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. ²² You Samaritans know very little about the One you worship, while We Jews know all about Him, for salvation comes through the Jews. ²³ But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship Him that way. ²⁴ For God is Spirit, so those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

²⁵ The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one Who is called Christ. When He comes, He will explain everything to us.”

²⁶ Then Jesus told her, “I Am the Messiah!”

²⁷ Just then His disciples came back. They were shocked to find Him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do You want with her?” or “Why are You talking to her?” ²⁸ The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, ²⁹ “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could He possibly be the Messiah?” ³⁰ So the people came streaming from the village to see Him…

³⁹ Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!” ⁴⁰ When they came out to see Him, they begged Him to stay in their village. So He stayed for two days, ⁴¹ long enough for many more to hear His message and believe. ⁴² Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard Him ourselves. Now we know that He is indeed the Savior of the world.”

The Lord is on the outskirts of the Samaritan village of Sychar, located at the base of Mt. Gerazim: Mt. Gerazim being where the Samaritans believed Moses was told to build God’s Temple, not Jerusalem. It’s about noontime – the sixth hour (most always counted from 6am in the morning or 6pm at night). And He’s waiting beside the well famously dug by the patriarch, Jacob: Waiting for His disciples to return with lunch.

While He waits a woman from Sychar comes for water, carrying her water jar the easiest way to carry a heavy, awkward item: On her head. And the Lord Jesus asks if she would draw Him some water.

Now, the rabbi’s said, “It is better that the words of the Law be burned than be delivered to a woman!” And they said, “He that eats the bread of the Samaritan is like the one that eats the flesh of swine.” But the Lord ignores such racial and gender barriers: He’s on a mission from God!

The woman, also, knows of the hatred between Jews and Samaritans (being a Samaritan she likely shared it!), so she’s amazed by His request and asks Him, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are You asking me for a drink?” But Jesus doesn’t answer her. Instead He says, “If you knew how good God is and Who I am, you, dear lady, would be asking Me for water, and I would give you living water.”

His statement confuses her. You see, “living water” to her was simply running water: Fresh water, flowing water, like that from a river or stream; “living water” was in contrast with “dead water”, stagnant water, like that sitting in a well, basin, or pool. And she seems to hear in His words an insult against the patriarch, Jacob, who’d dug the well. But Jesus doesn’t let up, He says that the “living water” He’s talking about will be like a spring of water inside of her always gushing up to eternal life!

Now, the woman does ask the Lord Jesus to give her this water, but it seems clear that she’s only thinking they’re talking about water. Of course, we’ve read the whole account, so we know He’s truly talking about believing in Him, and all the gifts of the Holy Spirit that keep on springing up inside of us once we’ve come to believe!

So Jesus tells her to go and get her husband, because, although she seems fully engaged by their conversation, there can be no conversion without conviction: Talking about water and thirst and about living water and never being thirsty again had clearly aroused her mind and stirred her emotions, but the Lord knew He needed to touch her conscience, as well, and that meant bringing up her sin.

The woman responds the same way many do when the Lord addresses our sin: She tries to distract Him, in her case, with a question about religious practices. (It is much more comfortable to debate religion than to face our sins!)

The perfect evangelist, the Lord Jesus responds to her question, but in a way that draws her to begin seeing Him as the fulfillment of all her hopes and dreams and the desires of her heart. Basically He said, “No, not all religions are equally acceptable before God; yes, there are many zealous and well-meaning worshipers out there, but many are acting in ignorance and wrong-belief. The only faith that God accepts is that which He entrusted to the Jews: The Bible is Jewish in origin; the Savior God has provided is Jewish by birth; and, the very first to be a part of God’s Kingdom will be exclusively Jews! But true worship is far above the competing claims of Samaritans and Jews others.” Jesus says, “I have come to usher in a new age, the Kingdom of God! And only those with the Holy Spirit living within them, and only those who obey God’s truth, only those worship God acceptably.

I don’t know if you see it, but I find the woman’s response kind of comical, almost like she’s saying, “Yeah. Um, wow! That’s good… I’m not exactly sure what You’re talking about. But I do know that the Messiah – the Christ – is coming and that He’ll explain everything to us.” And then Jesus says, “I Am.” And know that in such a response that He is calling Himself by God’s Own name, “Yahweh; I am that I am”. Claiming to be that One: The Messiah; the Christ.

And (I love it) the Bible tells us that then, she just left: She just left Jesus sitting there by the well; she left her water jar behind; she just left and went to tell all her neighbors in Sychar what the Lord Jesus had done for her…

And it blows me away that the Bible tells us, “Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!” Not because she presented some well-thought out theological, but simply because she told them what He’d done for her.

So, I ask you, What has Jesus done for you? … Tell me, short and sweet, what has Jesus done for you? … [Ask several folks from around the congregation: What has Jesus done for you? What has Jesus done for you? What has Jesus done for you?]

Are you willing to tell others? Go tell others…

Exodus 20:1-17 [NLTse]

Then God gave the people all these instructions:

² “I am the Lord your God, Who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.

³ “You must not have any other god but Me.

⁴ “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. ⁵ You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God Who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject Me. ⁶ But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love Me and obey My commands.

⁷ “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse His name.

⁸ “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹ You have six days each week for your ordinary work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day He rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

¹² “Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

¹³ “You must not murder.

¹⁴ “You must not commit adultery.

¹⁵ “You must not steal.

¹⁶ “You must not testify falsely against your neighbor.

¹⁷ “You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.”

When I was growing up we were made to stand when a woman entered the room where we were sitting, or when a woman who was sitting among us got up. We were made to give our seat to my mother or aunt or grandmother, if they needed one, or to any visitor or adult who came into the room if we had a better seat or a seat that was more convenient for them than was available. We were made to hold open doors for women and the elderly. We were not allowed to talk back to adults, even if they were rude to us. (We were told to always be honest and respectful, and if adults were rude towards us or treating us badly, to excuse ourselves and simply walk away.)

During those years I saw all of these things as rules I had to obey, things I had to do or I would get into trouble. But I’ve grown to see them as ways I can demonstrate honor towards others. (I’m sure when I was growing up someone told me that all these deeds were ways to show honor to those in authority or older than me, but I don’t remember it.)

Even today when I get together with my folks, I hold the chair for my mom when she sits down at the dinner table. (Or at least I try to remember to.) And my mother gets to take the first bite when we’re all at meals together. Or, if she’s not at the table, my wife, Amy, does. And we’re working on establishing this around my home more and more, as well: To show those around us that we honor them; and to actively keep the idea of honoring others in the forefront of our minds, even though these acts can seem a little excessive and awkward sometimes.

Do you remember when we used to honor the Lord by not even coming up onto the Chancel unless we absolutely had to, and even then, so careful not to touch anything unless we had to? (I can remember looking for excuses to get up into the Chancel where I grew up whenever I could. And I would take my time, and look around, and see what was behind all the furniture that we could only see the front of…) You would never put anything on the Table, never put anything on the Pulpit or baptismal Font. Never! The whole area was to be treated reverently, holy to the Lord! We dressed up for church to honor God. We took off our hats when we came into the church building to honor God…

But, like for me with all the do’s and don’t’s I grew up with, it seems that the idea of “honoring God” through these actions fell away and behaviors simply became “what you do when you’re in church”! It all became “the right way to behave”! And our expressions of honor became rigid laws. And since we Christians know that we’ve died to the law many of us rebelled against these laws, too. And we set ourselves and our children free from them all and treated the building and the Sanctuary and the Chancel and the Table and the Font and the Pulpit like anywhere else, and treated each other like anyone else…

We’ve been talking about honor off and on this past month or so because I believe the Lord is calling His Church to re-establish a “culture of honor”, and calling us to do so here at First Presbyterian Church. I don’t want us to create rules. I don’t want to hear us talking about how “you just don’t do that here” or how “that’s wrong to do that in church”. I don’t want us to demand for others around us to “Give me your seat. You’re supposed to honor me, remember.” I hope to be a part of and to overhear conversations where we’re encouraging each other to consider doing this or that in order to honor God, or in order to show honor to this or that person around us. Fighting the human temptation to make everything into laws to control each other and have things be our way, I want to invite us to actively honor Christ, and each other, and all those Christ calls among us here.

There are evangelistic reasons for honoring the Lord and those around us, because it’s so rare for people to behave these ways towards others anymore. When a kid holds the door for an older person it gets their attention. When you go out of your way to say an encouraging word, ask another’s forgiveness for even a minor infraction, do an intentional act of kindness, you stand out. And then after a while people might want to find out why we treat them and those around us as though they were so special. And if we’re ready to share Christ with them, telling them how He made all human beings in His image, which makes every person worthy of honor, because Jesus died in the hopes of reconciling each of us to God, then they might give themselves to loving and following Him, too.

Some of you may think that I’m overstating things. Do all of these little deeds and actions really make such a big difference? Well, I think the reality of it all reveals the truth of it. Because some of you have commented to me when I still do some of these things – opening the car door to let you in or let you out, holding your chair to seat you, standing when you stand, picking up things you’ve dropped – and you’ve mentioned to me how special these awkward, extravagant little acts to honor you make you feel. And I can tell you today how very honorable I feel when I do them. So it works both ways!

And yet, it’s not just for evangelism or to feel good or even have others feel good. It’s really about the abundant life Jesus came to give us. In the Ten Commandments our Father has promised us that honoring our parents influences the length and quality of our lives. A “long” life comes from honoring our parents. A “full” life comes from honoring our moms and our dads.

And the apostle Peter writes: “You husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.” (1 Peter 3:7) Honoring our folks affects the length and quality of our lives, and honoring our wives (men) keeps our prayers from being hindered: Either God doesn’t respond to our prayers when we don’t honor our wives, or dishonoring our wives puts us in a place where we can’t pray rightly. Whichever is at the heart of what Peter is teaching, a significant part of keeping our relationship with God open and healthy is honoring our wives!

And if set ourselves to honor the Lord’s house and Sanctuary in these ways and others, and to honor the family of God, and to honor all people in these and other ways, perhaps we’ll grow in honoring Him and one another and others better and with greater integrity in our hearts, and honor them with our thoughts and with what we say to and say about them, too.

Honoring the Lord and honoring each other and others is a part of readying Christ’s Church for the revival He longs to bring. If you look up the word honor in a Thesaurus you will find it to be one of the most often-used words in the Bible. The Lord is very concerned about His Own honor, and He is very concerned that we are honorable, act honorably, and treat others with honor. Honoring Him and those around us, even in ways that might seem awkward or excessive, is an important part of preparing ourselves and inviting Him to be among us with the revival that only He can bring.

“Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends. Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the Lord, and keep their promises even when it hurts. Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever.” (Psalm 15:3-5)

Paul’s Letter To the Ephesians 2:11-22 [NLTse]

¹¹ Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. ¹² In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. ¹³ But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to Him through the blood of Christ.

¹⁴ For Christ Himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in His Own body on the cross, He broke down the wall of hostility that separated us ¹⁵ that had been brought about by the law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in Himself one new people from the two groups. ¹⁶ Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of His death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

¹⁷ He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from Him, and peace to the Jews who were near. ¹⁸ Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

¹⁹ So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. ²⁰ Together, we are His House, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus Himself. ²¹ We are carefully joined together in Him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. ²² Through Him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by His Spirit.

It is unfortunate, this human desire to be in control. It seemed to have caused Eve to believe the Serpent’s trickery (way back in the Garden), and to have led Adam to choose to eat the fruit after her. It caused the Israelite priesthood to make a priority of their self-made rules and commandments over God’s rules and commandments. It caused First Century Christian Jews to try to control those early Gentile Christians, and has caused Gentile Christians to try to control Christian Jews and so many other converts to Christianity ever since.

(Does everybody know that the Old Testament divided all the peoples of the Earth into only two different groups: You were either a Jew or you were not, which made you a Gentile. Having God’s Law and seeking to live by God’s Law made you a Jew; not having God’s Law and living by any other standard made you a Gentile. So…)

Here in his letter to the Ephesians Paul is writing to a congregation of Gentiles who have put their trust in Christ. And Paul is writing to assure these Gentile Christians that they were fully God’s people: Because of their faith in Christ and His finished work on the cross no barrier existed between them and Jews who had put their trust in Christ. Being Gentiles didn’t make them second-class citizens of the Kingdom. They were not a sub-strata of the Commonwealth of Israel. They were not step-children in the Household of God. Being Gentile Christians, they were just as much Christians as their fellow Jewish Christians.

Here in our day you can hear people debating whether or not Jewish people can be Christians, and which of the customs and practices of Judaism do they have to leave behind. But in Paul’s day the concern was whether or not non-Jewish people could be Christians, or if you had to become a Jew first! Finally a meeting that’s come to be called the Jerusalem Council – an assembly of the apostles, Jewish Elders who’d become Christians, Simon Peter, Paul, Barnabas, Jesus’ half-brother, James, and others – decided that since the Father gave the Holy Spirit to Gentiles when they put their trust in Christ the same way He’d given the Holy Spirit to Jews when they believed, that if God made no distinction between Jew and Gentile that the Church shouldn’t either: Whether Jew or Gentile, faith and trust in Christ tears down any barrier caused by Jewish pride, Gentile envy or resentment, and any possible dislike of the other’s customs. As Paul wrote to the Christians in Galatia: “There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28) And as he wrote to those in Rome: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13) Equally saved.

There’s no longer Jew or Gentile. Not here. Not in these walls. Not in this place. Never when we’re together. We’re all one in Christ. There’s no longer male or female. No patriarchal hierarchy, domination, or subjugation here. Not in Christ’s Church. There’s no preference of boss or employee. There’s no superiority of rich over poor. Out there you might have people treat you one way if you’re black and another way if you’re white. But not here. Not in God’s House. We’re all one in Christ. You might be popular out there or you might be unpopular. The world might herd you into techie and gamester or jocks and geeks, but in here we’re a part of each other: One body, needing each other, interdependent, with Christ alone as our head. Educated or illiterate, sophisticated or simple, upper/middle/lower class, in-Christ-a-long-time or brand-new-to-the-faith: Christ has offered us all the same peace with God because we’ve all had the same need for peace with God. And in receiving that peace He’s made us all one new people, one new creation.

It’s OK to cross ourselves, or not; it’s OK to kneel at your pew, or sit; it’s OK to wear a prayer shawl, or not; it’s OK to raise our hands, or not; it’s OK to let an organ lead music, or a Worship Team; it’s OK to stay in our seats to receive the Lord’s Supper, or to come forward; it’s OK to worship on Saturdays, or on Sundays, or on other days; etc. Jesus has earned us the freedom to do all the things we do very differently, if that’s how we do them, as long as we are coming to the same Father through the same Holy Spirit because of the same finished work that the one and only crucified, risen, and coming again Jesus Christ has done for us!

He’s made us all one in Him!

Philippians 2:1-11 [NLTse]

Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from His love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? 2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.

3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

6 Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, 8 He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

9 Therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honor and gave Him the name above all other names, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in Heaven and on Earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

America has gone through many changes since September 11^th, 2001: Bombings, shootings, poisonings, and threats of more; and, to make it all worse, a news industry that brings it all into our living rooms with constant replays and endless commentaries!

If you are struggling with fear right now, it is important to keep a sense of perspective. When things like this happen and every news program is rolling the footage again and again and again we can be tempted to believe that such events are more prevalent and more threatening than they truly are. The fact is, in the real world there is not a bomb on every corner. Thousands of planes take off and land safely every day.

We Christians talk much about the “special grace” God has shown those of us who have been saved through Jesus Christ, but all people – saved and unsaved alike – receive countless blessings from God: The sun rises every day, rain waters the earth and brings forth the crops we eat, children get on buses and go to school and return home at the end of the day, bankers and teachers and check-out clerks and computer technicians go to work every normal day. Kids play ball outside and the worst thing that happens is a scraped knee. Such universal, daily blessings are what’s called the “common grace” of God.

The events of this past week draw our attention and can make us more sensitive to the realities of death and darkness around us, but God’s common grace continues: It drives people to a sense of right and wrong and a need for truth; it provides material blessings to many; it restrains the power and effect of sin in the world… God’s common grace…

With the events of this past week in mind, however, the apostle Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians reminds us that “we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” (6:12) And these spiritual enemies, along with their physical counterparts, seem to intend for their random acts of violence to not only frighten us, but to harden us and bring us back from life here in God’s Kingdom to their dark domain. So not only must we refuse to give in to fear, but we must refuse to let our hearts be hardened, and we must refuse to respond to these kinds of happenings the way those in the world around us would have us to.

The Lord Jesus told a parable about a Pharisee and a Tax-Collector who went one day to the Temple to pray. In Jesus’ parable, the Pharisee prayed, “I thank you, God, that I am not a fanatic or a terrorist. For I don’t plant bombs, I don’t shoot people, and I don’t send dangerous letters around. I’m certainly not like those Russians!” But Jesus taught that God didn’t listen to that man’s prayers. But that the Tax-Collector went away forgiven by God, because he prayed, “O God, be merciful to me, for like all people, I, too, am a sinner.” (See Luke 18:9-14)

We need to keep praying humbly for forgiveness to keep our hearts soft-enough for the Holy Spirit to continue shaping us, to keep us from bitterness, to keep us from vengeance, and to keep us from self-righteousness in the face of other people’s sins.

As far as not responding to such things as the world would have us respond, I think about the “honor” we spoke about last week, and how events like this – but even things far more mundane – can change the ways we interact with our neighbors – those around us – each day:  People are disrespectful towards us, so we’re disrespectful towards them; those around us don’t honor us so we don’t honor them; others prove themselves untrustworthy and so we close ourselves off from them; they don’t love us so we don’t love them.

But, you know, Jesus was Jesus everywhere He went, with whomever He was with: He was the same with Judas when Judas was skimming out of the disciples’ treasury; He was the same when He was before Herod and Pilate when they were telling Him how much power they had; He was the same with sinners and tax-collectors… He was always Who He was. The sinful behaviors of others didn’t change Him.

So we must be respectful towards others no matter how disrespectful they have been towards us! We must honor all people, no matter how dishonorable they are or how dishonorably they treat us. We are going to love our neighbors – all those who come into our sphere of influence – no matter how unloving or how unlovely they are. We are going to be trustworthy, open, and honest no matter how untrustworthy those around are seeming to be. Are you an Elder? Are you a child? Are you a fanatic or a terrorist? I’m going to treat you the way a son of Light, the way a child of the Most High God, the way an ambassador of righteousness, the way the Light of the World would treat you: No matter who you are; no matter how you treat me!

Mother Teresa is reputed to have put it this way:

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

Because in the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

My brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ: Let us not be overcome by evil but overcome evil by doing good!

The Gospel According to John 3:22-36 [NLTse]

²² Then Jesus and His disciples left Jerusalem and went into the Judean countryside. Jesus spent some time with them there, baptizing people.

²³ At this time John the Baptist was baptizing at Aenon, near Salim, because there was plenty of water there; and people kept coming to him for baptism. ²⁴ (This was before John was thrown into prison.) ²⁵ A debate broke out between John’s disciples and a certain Jew over ceremonial cleansing.²⁶ So John’s disciples came to him and said, “Rabbi, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going to Him instead of coming to us.”

²⁷ John replied, “No one can receive anything unless God gives it from Heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves know how plainly I told you, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for Him.’ ²⁹ It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the best man is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at His success. ³⁰ He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.

³¹ “He has come from above and is greater than anyone else. We are of the earth, and we speak of earthly things, but He has come from Heaven and is greater than anyone else. ³² He testifies about what He has seen and heard, but how few believe what He tells them! ³³ Anyone who accepts His testimony can affirm that God is true. ³⁴ For He is sent by God. He speaks God’s words, for God gives Him the Spirit without limit. ³⁵ The Father loves His Son and has put everything into His hands. ³⁶ And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.”

Our reading begins with John the Baptist baptizing at Aenon. Aenon is a Greek word coming from the Hebrew term “ay-yin”. It means “spring” or “natural fountain”, and was identified as a place near Salem. Its probable location was near the Jordan River in the Wadi Far’ah valley, an area full of springs. ( You can see its likely location here, down the Jordan Rift Valley from Capernaum, and about 20 miles down the Jezreel Valley from Nazareth. Jerusalem would be just a bit off our map to the southwest, here.)

The Gospel makes clear that (of course) this all took place before John was thrown into prison by Herod Antipas. (uuu Not Herod the Great who ruled over all of Judea, but his son, who only ruled over Galilee and the area east of the Jordan, here, called Perea.)

Some of John’s followers have come to him on account of a debate they were having with some religious folks. The discussion has left them concerned that people are leaving John to begin following Jesus. (Whom John himself had baptized, and whom John had plainly proclaimed as being the long-awaited Messiah.)

John replies talking about his relationship with Jesus using a marriage metaphor. “I’m just the best man,” John says, “Jesus the Messiah is the groom. I’m just glad to get to stand near Him and hear what He says. But the great Wedding is all about Him. I need to be seen less and less.”

John goes on to say how, as God’s Son, Jesus has come from Heaven, and so He can speak of heavenly things first-hand! And John ends pointing his followers to go follow Jesus, telling them – and telling us – that only after you have accepted the things that Jesus says, only then will you know that what He’s saying is true. I’ve heard it paraphrased this way: That sometimes you have to first believe to then be able to see.

I am struck, in this passage, by John’s humility and the way in which he honors the Lord Jesus, here. Now you may say, “Duh! Of course John is going to honor Jesus. He’s Jesus!” But faithful people don’t always do the faithful thing. It is extraordinary, I think, that John so boldly puts himself in second place to the Lord, even when he knows that doing so will start losing him his followers and, in losing his followers, lose him his source of support and income.

I think it is so beautiful that John knows who he is and seems so content with that, and that he knows the role he has been called to: The grandeur and greatness of it! (After all, the Lord Jesus Himself said of John, “I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist.”) And yet John also seems to have embraced the limitations of his role, too, because Jesus also went on to say, “Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than [John]!” (Matthew 11:11)

Have you ever considered that: You and I are greater than the great John the Baptist! The gifts God has given us by the Holy Spirit, the glory and honor He lavishes on us in Christ: All greater than John the Baptist! And here we see John greatly honoring the Lord Jesus! How well do we – great ones that we are! – how do we honor Jesus? (And while we’re at it, what does it even mean to “honor” someone, anyway?)

In the Old Testament “honor” is translated from the figurative use of the word kavod, which most literally means to be heavy or weighty, but, again, only figuratively, such as a weighty person in society; someone who is honorable, noteworthy, impressive, worthy of respect; a person of high social position or wealth, perhaps; those in positions of responsibility and authority, definitely; one might be “honored” for heroic feats of courage, faithfulness, or other ways of having made a name for themselves. And giving honor to such a one would be to show that person respect, attention, perhaps even obedience. (And I mention obedience because the prophets again and again lament how Israel “honored” God with their words, but how their actions too often showed they truly believed Him to be worthless.)

Which leads us to the New Testament word for “honor”, timeo. And timeo means to price something; to set the value of something. (So the degree to which we honor someone simply shows their value to us: Perhaps we show them they are precious to us; perhaps we show them we find them worthless.)

So, in all of our greatness how well do we honor Jesus? Do our thoughts and our words, does the language we use and the actions we take, do our activities and attitudes show Him and others around us that He is truly weighty to us? That we truly value Him?

1 John 4 says, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, Whom we cannot see?” (v. 20) Which gets me wondering, can we know how well we truly honor Jesus by looking at the ways we honor those who make up His body, our fellow Christians? How is the honor we hold for the Lord Jesus shown in the ways we honor one another?

And I look around this Sanctuary and I see those of you who are very different from me in your abilities and temperaments, and I see people whom I’ve disagreed with, and I see people who hold different beliefs about some of the non-essentials of our faith than I do, and I see those of you who are different parts in Christ’s body than I am, etc. And if honoring Christ means honoring you then that means I have to figure out ways to honor all those differences, and more: Different ways of doing things; different things that you think should be done from what I think should be done; different ways of expressing our faith, of worshiping, of raising our kids…

“How do I honor you so I can show my Savior that I honor Him?” Even as I ask that questions, the Word God brings to my mind is Philippians 2:3-4, “Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.”

“Be humble”, the Holy Spirit tells me. C.S. Lewis said that humility was not thinking less of ourselves but thinking of ourselves less. So I can humble myself and honor others even by simply setting my mind on their troubles instead of my own, and thinking about what they want instead of just thinking about what I want.

The Holy Spirit tells me, “Think of others as being better than you, Ben.” So even though I think I’m right and you’re wrong, and even though as pastor I probably can get my own way every single time, if I wanted, I might do things your way instead, to honor you and honor Christ. And even if I don’t like you all that much, I might give you a lot more attention and even serve you in ways I might not serve others whom I like more, simply in order to honor you and honor Christ.

Let’s pause for a moment to just look around us here. It can be easy to hear and talk about things like this in abstract terms: Honor people; honor people; honor people; mwah-mwah, mwah-mwah wah… But we’re not just talking about honoring others: We’re talking about honoring those we’re looking at right now as we look around the room; “How can I honor him? How can I honor her?” …

The American dream and American values tend to promote independence: “I’m my own man (or woman),” we’re taught to say. And the American church has bought into that in many ways: “I’m not responsible to anybody; I don’t need to confess my sins to anybody; I don’t even need to go to church; just me and God, that’s all that matters!” But those are all lies.

We’ll honor each other and others more if we’ll acknowledge how much we need each other. After all, the faith we practice today has been built on the lives and study and sacrifices of generations past. Nor are we independent from our fellow Christians, even those that live nations away! We are one inter-dependent Body, and, as Paul says, “The eye can never say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you.’” We need each other. And recognizing that can lead me to honor you, if I will let it, even if I only humble myself and consider you better than me for our Father’s sake Who, just as He’s chosen and adopted me, has chosen and adopted you, to be His very Own…

John said to his disciples that day so long ago: “Anyone who accepts [Jesus’] testimony can affirm that God is true.” (v. 33) Let us accept these things. Let us put them into practice in your lives. Let us honor one another and in doing so honor Christ. And so experience for yourself more and more that God is true.

“Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the One sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.” (Revelation 5:13)

ELDER: Pastor Ben had begun preaching through the Gospel of John prior to these past Lenten and Easter Sundays. So we are picking up where he left off, reading from

John 3:13-21 [NLTse]

¹³ No one has ever gone to Heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from Heaven. ¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵ so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.

¹⁶ “For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him.

¹⁸ “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in Him. But anyone who does not believe in Him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹ And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s Light came into the world, but people loved the Darkness more than the Light, for their actions were evil. ²⁰ All who do evil hate the Light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. ²¹ But those who do what is right come to the Light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”

As many of you know, my mother and her sisters own a summer house on a little island off the coast of Maine. There’s an interesting mixture of cultures up in that part of the world with those who live in absolute poverty living right alongside the mega-rich. My family and I ride the public ferry to get back and forth between the mainland and the island, wheel-barrowing our luggage and groceries the mile-or-so between the public dock and our house (because there are no cars allowed on the island), but our neighbors have several boats of their own, and a butler and a boat captain who coordinate all of their travels and belongings for them. It’s an interesting place to have grown up vacationing and to be now taking my family vacationing there, as well!

Several years ago I was in a little town called Somesville to buy a book at a local bookseller. The person ahead of me had a nice little pile of books in their hands, and when they got to the register they told the clerk to charge it to their mother’s (or perhaps it was their grandmother’s) account, I forget which. (That’s a pretty common practice you can see happening in all manner of long-standing stores and shops up there.) I remember thinking, “Wouldn’t that be nice to just be able to live off of another person’s wealth.” (Of course, practically speaking, I realize that’s exactly what I’m doing when I go up there, too. After all, it’s not my house where I’m staying, but is my mom’s and her sister’s.)

But the memory got me thinking that in a grander, more ultimate, way that’s how every Christian person lives: We live off of another person’s wealth: Because the entire debt of our sins has been charged to Christ’s account; and His unimaginable riches in righteousness have been credited to ours!

Let’s look at this together. Would you turn to Romans 3:23… ²³ For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. ²⁴ Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins. ²⁵ For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding His blood.”

Notice there the double-switch that happens when we put our trust in Jesus Christ: First, we’re freed from the just and right penalty we deserve because of our sins on account of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross; and then, second, when we believe, we’re made right with God, and are declared righteous, “Not guilty!” by Him.

This is called Justification By Faith. It is the instantaneous, legal act of God whereby, in response to our faith, God (1) declares our sins as having been forgiven – once and for all time – and (2) declares Christ’s righteousness as belonging to us, declaring us to be righteous in His sight on account of our faith.

This is the good news of the gospel. Would you turn to Romans 3:28 with me? It says it this way, “²⁸ We are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.”

Some of you may be wondering about all the good things we do and that all those Christians around the world do: “Doesn’t it matter that I’m a good person and that I’m trying so hard to be a good person?” Of course it matters! But it doesn’t make us right with God.

The Lord Jesus’ half-brother, James (who ended up leading the church in Jerusalem after the apostles all went out preaching and setting up churches), wrote about this same thing. Let’s turn to his letter – James – 2:14… He writes, “¹⁴ What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? ¹⁵ Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, ¹⁶ and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

“¹⁷ So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

“¹⁸ Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”

“¹⁹ You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. ²⁰ How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?

“… ²⁶ Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.”

So, you see, the good things we do and our acts of kindness and forgiving others are important, but they are important because they show those around us that we are Christians – men and women, boys and girls of faith. In addition, our good works are important because they show God’s character to those around us, as well – that is, people come to know that God is loving, that He is joyful, that He is peaceful, that He is patient, kind, good, faithful, ²³ gentle, and self-controlled because they see those characteristics in us, His people of faith.

But none of these wonderful things we say or do make us right with God. Galatians 2:16 puts it this way, “¹⁶ We know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”

I’ve quoted a variety of Scripture, but perhaps, even so, you refuse to believe this is justification by faith thing is true, because if it is then anybody could just believe and then be forgiven, even the most horrible of people! Right? And, of course, yes, that is true; that is the gospel: Anyone can be forgiven – even you – anyone can be forgiven and be made right with God if they actively trust in what God the Father has told us through the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ has done. Otherwise, if our good deeds and kind words and forgiving and gracious ways – if all these things saved us and made us to be righteous, then we could all brag about it, couldn’t we? and say we’d all earned our salvation. And then we could point everyone around us to ourselves and say, “Look at me! Look at me! Be like me! Be like me!” But that’s not God’s way.

God’s way no one gets to take credit. Would you turn with me to Ephesians 2:8-9… “⁸ God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” You see, because our salvation is something that only God has done, and God alone, now we must point everyone to Him, saying, “Look at God! Look at what He’s done! Look what He does! He’s done it for me! He’ll do it for you!” As Philippians 3:9 says, “I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with Himself depends on faith.”

What all this justification by faith stuff practically means is that anybody can be made right with God. And that being made right with God is not based upon whether we’re a good person or not, and it doesn’t matter whether we feel like we’re right with God or not. It is a work that God does all by Himself, when we trust Him and live trusting Him. Anyone can be made right with God by trusting what God has done for us in Jesus Christ, and then doing the good works God then leads us to do.

[Ask someone:] Who can be made right with God? [The correct answer: “Anyone.”]

[Ask someone else:] And how is a person made right with God? [The correct answer is: “By trusting what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.”]

[Ask someone else:] And what else is important to make sure that our faith is real and alive? [The correct answer is: “By doing the good works God leads us to do once we’ve believed.”]

[Ask someone else:] Do those good things make us right with God? [The correct answer is: “No, we are made right with God according to our faith and trust in Christ.”]

Maybe you’ve decided that God could never love you… Not if He really knew who you were and all you’d done. You’ve tried being good, you’ve tried being good but you can’t! At least not good enough.

Well, believe the good news of justification by faith! Believe the good news of the gospel: According to your trust in Jesus Christ God declares you “not guilty” of sin, and instead declares you righteous and right with Him!

Believe that. Trust that. Live that! And live!

The Gospel According to Matthew 28:1-9 [NLTse]

Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb.

² Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from Heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. ³ His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. ⁴ The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint.

⁵ Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, Who was crucified. ⁶ He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as He said would happen. Come, see where His body was lying. ⁷ And now, go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead, and He is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see Him there. Remember what I have told you.”

⁸ The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel’s message. ⁹ And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they ran to Him, grasped His feet, and worshiped Him…

If you type into your internet Browser: “10 Reasons To Believe Christ Rose From The Dead” you’ll get a variety of hits from a variety of different websites. This is a fairly typical list that I found on Radio Bible Class’ website at rbc.org:

10 Reasons To Believe Christ Rose From The Dead

1. A pubic execution assured His death.
2. In spite of guards, the grave was found empty.
3. Many people claimed to have seen Him alive.

• (By the time he wrote 1 Corinthians – about AD55 – the Apostle Paul claims that more than 500 different people had seen the Lord Jesus raised from the dead; 15:5-8 )

1. A high official secured the gravesite.
2. His apostles were dramatically changed.
3. Witnesses were willing to die for their claims.
4. Jewish believers changed their day of worship.
5. Although it was unexpected, it was clearly predicted.
6. It was a fitting climax to a miraculous life.

10.It fits the experience of those who trust Him.

There is probably no event across human history that has been more challenged, researched, debated, and proven than Jesus of Nazareth’s being raised from the dead. And yet many continue to not believe and doubt. I think people reject the facts because if Jesus was raised from the dead then He truly is all that He claimed to be. And if Jesus is truly all that He claimed to be, then all human beings are indeed subject to an almighty Creator, Lover, and Judge; and, that all human beings are indeed sinners deserving of punishment and judgment for our sins. Of course, if Jesus is truly all that He claimed to be, then it’s also true that God is for us and not against us (as some would slander); that Jesus has come and served the death-penalty for our sins; and, that, since He’s saved us in these ways that, He’s set us free to live not in fear or needing to control but at peace with Him, with the Holy Spirit living within us and giving us the power and ability when we need it, to accomplish His good works here on the Earth until Jesus returns to judge and make all things new!

This Resurrection-Easter morning I’d like us to focus on this last “evidence” for believing that Jesus is indeed alive: “That it fits the experience of those who trust Him.” And I’d like to invite Elder NAME to come forward to the Pulpit…

T: Geoffrey; Steve; Doug; Neil

C: Marilyn N.; Donna; Marilyn Y.; Joe

God’s highest purpose for the cross was not merely to forgive us of sin. It was so that, by forgiving us on the basis of Christ’s sacrifice, He could invite us back into an intimate, loving relationship with Him, our heavenly Father.

That Jesus Christ is alive is mind-boggling. But we must not be content to read the Scriptures and hear others’ stories and be awed by them. The Scriptures prophesy and these Elders testify to the reality of the close, on-going relationship that God the Father desires to have with us all by His Son, through His Spirit! A relationship He desires for us to pursue and enjoy our whole lives long.

John 1:12 says, “…to all who believed Him and accepted Him, [Jesus] gave the right to become children of God.” Do you believe that? Do you accept that? Do you believe Him? Do you accept Him?

The Book of Joshua 1:1-9 [NLTse]

After the death of Moses the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said, ² “Moses My servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. ³ I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you— ⁴ from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.’ ⁵ No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.

⁶ “Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. ⁷ Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. ⁸ Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. ⁹ This is My command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

As the Book of Joshua opens the Israelites are uuu camped along the east bank of the Jordan River, at the very edge of the Promised Land, and they are completing the mourning period for Moses who has just died.

Before his death, the Lord commissioned Moses’ assistant, Joshua, to lead Israel in Moses’ place. Joshua was one of only two living eyewitnesses to the Egyptian plagues and the Exodus from Egypt, and not only had he served as Moses’ assistant, but he had served as the commander of Israel’s armies during their wilderness wanderings.

The Lord promises Joshua what He had promised Moses, and what He had first promised Abraham (recorded back in Genesis 15): That all the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites would be Israel’s; from the Negev wildlands in the south to the Lebanon Mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean coast on the west.

The Lord God Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth, tells Joshua this first day of his “new job”, “No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live.” (v. 5a) Why? Because Joshua was so great? Or because Israel had developed into such a formidable force? No. No one would be able to stand against Joshua as long as he lived, God says, because “I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you!” (v. 5b)

The Lord God commands Joshua, “Be strong and courageous!” (v. 6a) Why? God says, because “you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them.” (6b) Moses didn’t appoint Joshua; and, Joshua wasn’t Israel’s choice: God picked him; Joshua was the one God had chosen to lead Israel to receive all God’s promises.

The Lord commands, “Be strong and very courageous,” but He also commands Joshua to “be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them…” (v. 7a-c) Why? Because “then you will be successful in everything you do.” (v. 7d)

To attain success humanity has always worked to make sure they had enough money, worked to make sure they had the right training, worked to make sure they had the proper people. And all of this may be wise and wisdom. But the Sovereign Lord makes absolutely clear, “Do you want to be successful? Then obey My Word; trust Me explicitly.” He says, “It will require strength of character and great courage because I uuu use “things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And [I use] things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. [I use] things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and use them to bring to nothing what the world considers important.” (1 Corinthians 1:27-28) You need to be strong and courageous because you won’t always look like you’re going to succeed – it may never seem to you like you’re going to succeed – but that’s because I’m going to make sure that I get the glory, not you,” says the Lord.

“If you want to be truly successful, successful here and now and forever with a success no one can ever take away from you, you need to be strong and courageous and do what I tell you to do when I tell you to do it. For I am with you, and I will always be with you,” says the Lord.

What’s Joshua’s part? The Lord tells him: “Study this Book of Instruction continually” (v. 8a) The NIV translation reads, “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth,” and most literally it says, “Do not let this Book of the Law be removed from your mouth.” So the idea is, always keep it in your mouth, that is, be talking about it all the time: Ask questions about it, remind those around you of it, keep it as a part of your everyday conversation, etc… Of course, the New Living Translation we use says, “study”, because in a culture that did not yet have books or printing presses and where writings were rare and scarce, a person studied by talking about things with the wise, the elderly, those with more years and more experience, debating, saying, “Yeah, but,” “yeah, but,” and “what if…?” and “what if…?”

The Lord also tells Joshua, “Meditate on it day and night…” (v. 8b) We talked about Christian meditation last week: How in Christian meditation we repeat God’s truths to ourselves in order to take them into ourselves to replace the lies, deceptions, and half-truths we’ve often come to believe across the years before we became Christians. Why does the Lord want Joshua to meditate on His Word, on the truth? “So you will be sure to obey everything written in it,” God says.

Life in Christ is about believing the right things, but it is not just about believing. Paul uuu writes to the Ephesians, “God saved you by His grace when you believed… Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” (2:8-9) But Jesus’ half-brother, James, also made uuu clear: But “do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says!” (1:22) Through the faith that has saved us the Holy Spirit seeks to transform each of us – heart, mind, words, and deeds – into the likeness of Christ!

“Be strong… Be courageous… Obey Me… Study My Word… Meditate on My Truth… Only then will you prosper and succeed in everything you do.” (v. 8) Joshua’s success was not guaranteed unconditionally. For the very same reasons, neither is ours…

Surely our beloved Jesus had to live-out these commands given to Joshua to “Be strong and courageous!” because the Lord Jesus is the ultimate example of God’s using “things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise; using things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful; using things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, to bring to nothing what the world considers important.” After all, yes, He was hailed as king by His people that first Palm Sunday, but within the week those same crowds were yelling, “Crucify Him!” And they did. And He let them.

He stepped up to the plate, expected by His followers and all those watching Him to hit a grand slam home run! But He intentionally struck out, instead! How strong, how courageous one needs to be to look the fool, to seem the weakling to all those whom You created in the first place! (And so many of the world religions deny Jesus was the Son of God today just for that reason, saying that God would never allow Himself to be so mocked and so abused, no matter what.)

How strong and courageous our God! To pay the price of the sins of His creatures at the hands of His creatures! And then to still offer them – us – saving grace..!

“Be strong and courageous!” the Father commanded Him, “because it’s going to seem like You’re losing. But Your victory, My Son, will  be the greatest victory the world has ever known; the victory the world’s been waiting for ever since Adam and Eve believed that Serpent instead of Me!”

“Jesus, meek and mild,” I hear people say. I tell you, there is indomitable strength in His meekness – in true meekness; and there is courage in His mild-manner – in true mild-manneredness!

My friends, be strong, be courageous: Let us not ever be afraid or discouraged. For Emmanuel, the Lord our God, is with us wherever we go!

Hosanna in the highest Heaven! Save us, Lord! Thank You for saving us, Lord!