No stone will be left unturned Mark 13:1-8

There's an apocalyptic tone to Jesus' teachings in the Gospels that's hard to miss. As we read the scriptures it's clear that Jesus didn't come to just rubber stamp the status quo. Jesus' words prophesying disorder and reordering ring out clearly in Mark 13. His friend, looking at the temple, commented on how big the stones were. Jesus responded by predicting that the walls would come down and no stones would be left standing.

• Some will argue that he was speaking prophetically but that he wasn't speaking about the temple itself; instead he was speaking about himself dying on that coming Friday and rising to life again on Sunday.
• Other's will point to the seige and fall of Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans in 70 AD saying that Jesus foresaw the destruction of the Herod's Temple and the rest of the city.

Jesus words weren't words of immediate comfort. But as John Petty at Progressive Involvement wisely notes they are Good News. They were prophetic words of destruction that meant something new and better would be coming.

Jesus' words predicted an overturning that should not be overlooked. We need a total overturning by God in order to be made right with God. Jesus didn't come to offer comfort to every person in Judea and accept them as they were; he came to announce that the kingdom of God is coming near. We will obviously find discomfort with the idea of the world being turned over; but it's Good News because in the end but all the things we cling to beyond Jesus will have to fall away like the stones of the temple in order that faith in Christ might lead us to life everlasting.

What God sees matters for us Mark 12:38-44; Hebrews 9:24-28

The words that we read, both in Hebrews and Mark, this week let us glimpse things, not as we see them, but as God sees them. The writer of Hebrews shared a vision of what happened when Jesus came into the fullness of his glory,

Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Hebrews 9:24 NRSV

Our outlook these days, as people, is shaped by an all to common perception of scarcity and loss. Sure scripture tells us that God's up to something big in our lives. Sure we can hear a hundred times that Jesus has died once and for all. But we still live in fear and loss.

The writer of Hebrews wrote.

...he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, 28so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. Hebrews 9:26-28 NRSV

Jesus died and rose and in his dying and resurrection we have hope.

Jesus' blood overcomes all our sins and shames not because of what we've done but because of our faith in what he's done for us. We have a promise that in faith our griefs and losses will not be our end. Even with the promise fresh in our ears its hard not to see the world through our own eyes of personal history and experience. And what we see isn't always encouraging.

We look at our circumstances one way but God sees things in another way. We too often see only the limits of our power and strength. God sees the whole universe, and all of us in it, with heaven's eyes.

We look at our family budgets and our church budgets and boom we hit the limits. The creator of all things sees our place here on this earth; but we aren't all God sees. We look at our troubles and limits; but now we have to ask ourselves a very hopeful question: are these God's limits too?

Jesus and his friends were in the temple watching the people make their offerings.

Many rich people put in large sums. 42A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. 43Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 44For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” Mark 12:41-44

Jesus saw the whole world as it really was and he sees it as it is today.

2000 years ago Jesus saw poverty and abundance in the temple. Today, the same Jesus sees us as we really are too. He knows all about those of us who are blessed with over abundance. He knows those of us who face stacks of credit card bills. He's well aware of the guilt that some many of us have because of our overspending. He knows those among us who live with deep fears of scarcity. He knows those among us who spend on things they want but don't need and can't afford.

Jesus, Son of the Living God, knows those who walk right now in faith and hope not knowing when they'll find work again. God knows all of that. And he asks us to trust Him both in our abundance and in our scarcity. He asks us to give from what we have not for our own glory but for the glory of God and for the good of our neighbors. He asks us to do it all in faith.

Jesus wept, do you understand? John 11:32-42

Jesus wept: do you understand?

A wise man in our church told me that he's ready to preach a sermon if I ever ask him. He said the text for his sermon would be two words from John 11:35 “Jesus wept.” He said his sermon would be two words long too, “I understand.”

Reading this week's gospel reveals something very human about Jesus meeting with Martha. Jesus' friends knew that he would have had the power to keep Lazarus alive. Still with all that power over death Jesus came to the family of his friend Lazarus he wept.

Maybe there are days when you understand why God in flesh with all power in his hands would weep. Yes Jesus had the ultimate power and as people of faith we know it's true; but death has some power too before Jesus calls for a resurrection to new life. Yes Jesus could overcome it; but he knew the sorrow of the situation just the same. Our faith doesn't take away the grief; but it gives us hope that in Jesus all who believe will rise again.

Totally Free John 8:31-36

Reformation Sunday 2009

You're free right now because of all that God has done.

You're free to go right now ... or to stay. I hope you'll stay and keep reading; but if you don't want to you are free to go. You are free because of what Jesus has done for you and me and the whole world by dying and rising.

Jesus came to set us free; radically and totally free. Free from sin, free from death, free from the Devil.

Most people don't believe that they need to be set free. Jesus came and died in order that we might be free, completely and totally free, forever. He didn't come to set you free by giving you a weekend pass. He came to get you and me ought of the jaws of sin, death, and the devil. Many people hear these words about true Christian freedom and they scoff. Its been that way when the truth has been spoken for 2000 years. John writes that,

Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?”

For 2000 years Jesus has been setting people free. In Jesus own day the people who heard him speak told him that they didn't need freedom. In our day its the same. We think we are free and we tell God just as much. God isn't a fool. 2000 years ago Jesus turned to the scoffers,

34Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. 36So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:31-36 NRSV

Jesus came to set us free from darkness and bring us into the light. What's in the darkness is often hidden and take's the most help from God to overcome
... isolation ... loneliness ... temptation ...
these things often aren't seen, but they are very real and the evil one works in them.

Jesus comes to set you free to live and to have a full life. He comes not because you are perfect but because he is in the process of remaking imperfect people in God's image. Maybe you think that you need to have it all together to be free in Christ. Jesus didn't come for the people who knew everything or who could do everything on their own. He didn't come for the perfect. He came for the imperfect. He came to help and you qualify.
AMEN

Who did it? He has... Isaiah 53:4-12

"He did it." "Did not, she did it."

Parents witness their shifting blame and passing accountability. One kid blames another. One hits another. The cycle keeps rolling.

Yesterday morning, the children's choir lined up to sing. Right in front of the Altar Rail our twin 6 year old girls started pushing and shoving. I sat 15 feet away (in that uncomfortable cushy throne-like-chair reserved pastors) and watched them tussle. They faught over who could stand next to another girl. Pushing and shoving ensued, one fell to the ground. Whining and crocodile tears flowed. I stepped over, trying to be a dad, and asked them to stop. The choir director chimed in, mom came up with the baby in her arms, and sat down next to me.

The girls wanted us to be referees. The wanted to tell us just who did what to who. Neither one wanted any accountability. We just wanted them to sing about God's love and mercy.

God knows that the real hurts we cause in the world. God knows we shift blame pointing to another's sin and culpability rather our own. Isaiah responded, on God's behalf, to the nation of Israel that in it's troubles started to take account for it's wrongs. He told them of the one to come who would be accountable. Isaiah didn't argue to get out of trouble or get another into trouble. He's told Israel God's plan of one who will come to take on all sin.

We want to justify ourselves. We are still the same kids even as adults. We conservatives act like our belief in God's revelation makes us good enough to earn the price of eternity, Jesus' life poured out. We liberals like to act like our love for our neighbors makes us good enough to earn Jesus' life poured out for our passage into heaven. Read Isaiah 53. Come to terms with who did what for who.

"...he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." Who did this? Jesus did. Thanks be to God.

For God this is possible Mark 10:17-31

This Sunday's Gospel reading has me wondering about the rich and their place in the Kingdom of God. God's kingdom, Luther says, comes on its own, but we pray "Thy kingdom come" in hopes that it comes into being among us. God alone knows the needs of the world today. God alone sees the desperation

It's been trendy, this past month, to make observations about the super rich and their role in our current culture. Michael Moore released a new film and Ralph Nader published his first novel and each of these two appear to be pointing, in their own way, to the unique place that wealthy individuals have in our economic world.

The rich have been present as long as the church has existed. In Jesus days wealth and poverty coexisted, just the same as they do in our days. Questions of God's blessing, human sin, justice, and fairness have been with us all along. A man with many possessions wanted to get into heaven. He came to Jesus and asked what he had to do to get into the kingdom. Jesus response was deceptively simple. Sell everything, give away all the money to the poor, the come and follow. The man went away devestated. Jesus was simply answering the man's question.

The people were stunned. This "good man" was told he had to be even better. Then Jesus told them that relying on human strength alone won't get this man to heaven. "For mortals this is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible." This is the gospel plain as it gets. This is hope for the hopeless. This is where turning to God and God's strength matters.

thanks

john

Where do you see God? Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12 Mark 10:2-16

God wants to be seen by us.
The God who made heaven and earth wants to be seen and to be known. In nature God wants to be seen. In the law and the words of believers God wants to be made known.

An old Scholastic Theologian I met (but never took a class from when I was at Saint Mary's)used to tell his students that if they looked at the Book of Nature they could see God at work. Look around, he advised, God wants to be found. When nature alone wasn't enough to show human beings God's will and God's presence the Creator called on prophets. God chose to send witness to tell the world about God's law, God's concern for the earth and humanity, and God's will. God wants to be known and to know us. The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews understood God's desire to be known and to be revealed in our lives. He wrote about Jesus as a the culmination of God's desire to be known on earth,

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, ²but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. ³He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. Hebrews 1:1-3 NRSV

Jesus came as the clearest revelation that the world has known of God's love for all of us. He came not as people expected. He came teaching, as we hear in Mark 10, about a kingdom that would grow not through strength but through humulity. Jesus came welcoming all people recieve God's kingdom as children and warning them not to block any child or anyone with a childlike faith from coming into his presence. When we seek evidence of mature faith in people's lives Jesus invites us to see God like a child; with hope and wonder.