40 Days in the Gospels

Every year people create “resolutions” for themselves. Whether it is losing weight or exercising more or eating better or making time for family, each of these resolutions is thought to help us become healthier. One of the more common resolutions is to read through the entire Bible in the year. It sounds like a daunting pledge, but it’s one of the most gratifying things you can do to deepen your appreciation of the Word of God. It’s also easier than you might think!

If you want to get started in smaller bites, why not try reading through the Four Gospels during Lent? Simply go to the right column of my blog and click on the "subscribe" button. By subscribing you will receive email with each days Bible scripture reading broken down into short, manageable daily readings, taking you through the entire text of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John in the 40 days plus Sundays. You can also find these posted here on the blog each day.

Responding to Easter (Part 1 of 3)

This is the edited version of my sermon from this morning. May you be blessed and God be glorified.

“I want to share a true story with you about a nine-year-old boy who lived in a rural town in Tennessee. His house was in a poor area of the community. A church had a bus ministry that came knocking on his door one Saturday afternoon. The kid came to answer the door and greeted the bus pastor. The bus pastor asked if his parents were home and the small boy told him that his parents take off every weekend and leave him at home to take care of his little brother.

The bus pastor couldn’t believe what the kid said and asked him to repeat it. The youngster gave the same answer and the bus pastor asked to come in and talk with him. They went into the living room and sat down on an old couch with the foam and springs exposed.

The bus pastor asked the kid, “Where do you go to church?” The young boy surprised the visitor by replying, “I’ve never been to church in my whole life.” The bus pastor thought to himself about the fact that his church was less than three miles from the child’s house. “Are you sure you have never been to church?” He asked again. “I sure haven’t”, came his answer.

Then the bus pastor said, “Well, son, more important than going to church, have you ever heard the greatest love story ever told?” and then he proceeded to share the Gospel with this little nine year old boy. The young lad’s heart began to be tenderized and at the end of the bus pastor’s story the bus pastor asked if the boy wanted to receive this free gift from God. The youngster exclaimed, “You bet! The kid and the bus pastor got on their knees and the lad invited Jesus into his little heart and received the free gift of salvation.

When they both stood up the bus pastor asked if he could pick the kid up for church the next morning. “Sure,” the nine old replied. The bus pastor got to the house early the next morning and found the lights off. He let himself in and snaked his way through the house and found the little boy asleep in his bed. He woke up the little boy and his brother and helped get them dressed. They got on the bus and ate a donut for breakfast on their way to church. Keep in mind that this boy had never been to church before. The church was a real big one. The little kid just sat there, clueless of what was going on.

A few minutes into the service these tall unhappy guys walked down to the front and picked up some wooden plates. One of the men prayed and the kid with utter fascination watched them walk up and down the aisles. He still didn’t know what was going on.

All of a sudden like a bolt of lightning it hit the kid what was taking place. These people must be giving money to Jesus. He then reflected on the free gift of life that he had received just twenty-four hours earlier. He immediately searched his pockets, front and back, and couldn’t find a thing to give Jesus. By this time the offering plate was being passed down his aisle and with a broken heart he just grabbed the plate and held on to it. He finally let go and watched it pass on down the aisle. He turned around to see it passed down the aisle behind him. And then his eyes remained glued on the plate as it was passed back and forth, back and forth all the way to the rear of the sanctuary. Then he had an idea.

This little nine-year-old boy, in front of God and everybody, got up out of his seat. He walked about eight rows back, grabbed the usher by the coat and asked to hold the plate one more time. Then he did the most astounding thing I have ever heard of. He took the plate, sat it on the carpeted church floor and stepped into the center of it. As he stood there, he lifted his little head up and said, “Jesus, I don’t have anything to give you today, but just me. I give you me!”" – Author Unknown

What does Christ expect of us? To do what we can.

In today’s gospel reading, we encounter a similar kind of heart-filled response to God’s gift. It is one of the most beautiful gospel stories, full-to-overflowing with love and meaning. At the center of this story we find Mary and her extravagant gift of anointing Jesus’ feet.

This scripture reading comes right after Jesus raised Mary and Martha’s brother, Lazarus from the dead. Some of the religious leaders in Jerusalem were making plans to arrest Jesus and put him to death. Even with the knowledge that he was about to face his arrest, trial, sentence and death on the cross, Jesus made the trip to Bethany to be with his friends for this special dinner.

Everything changes when Mary enters the room with a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anoints Jesus’ feet, and wipes them with her hair. This was a surprising interruption to the evening. Mary’s action broke the traditions of the time. Women were not supposed to be the centre of attention in the presence of men, nor were women to touch a spiritual leader in public. Added to this response was the detail of Mary’s long hair being worn down. You see, it was customary for women to wear their long locks of hair up. For a woman to wear her hair down in public was a sign that she was not an honorable woman.

It seems that Mary’s act of extravagant giving was an unplanned, natural response of her love and gratitude to Jesus for what he has done for her and her family. Sometimes our hearts are in the right places and we do the right thing out of love, rather than hold back out of fear of what others might think. Like the little boy who stood in the offering plate.

One other point in this story I want to make is found in verse three. John tells us: “The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” John shares with us a symbol of an unselfishness, generous and loving act done purely as a natural response to the love that was given to Mary and her family. We can all be inspired by this detail to go and do likewise, following Mary’s faithful example. Our extravagant, loving acts as faithful followers of Jesus can add sweetness and quality to the lives of others.

I pray that as we move closer to Holy Week, we may each also move closer to the spirit of Mary’s extravagant, loving act of anointing Jesus. May we, like Mary live out our faith ever grateful for what Jesus has done for us on the cross, and act in ways that inspire others, that they too may come closer to Jesus and his all sufficient love for them.

“Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” – John 12: 1-3

To God be the Glory ... part 1

It’s not too often that I find a passage in the Old Testament that just jumps up and grabs me. The problem with only teaching from the New Testament for me is that it doesn’t remind us of God’s history with us in the same way that studying the Old Testament does. So, I decided to look at this particular passage and look at a bit of our history. Maybe you will also see something relevant for your life.

It’s interesting that this is the second time Moses had been up to the mountain to receive the commandments from God. If you remember a little of your Bible history, Moses had already been up on the mountaintop with God and had been given the law that the people were to live by. That first trip took Moses a few days longer than what the people expected and they became impatient. When they didn’t want to wait any longer, they put together their gold, melted it and built a golden calf to worship. As this was going on, God told Moses that the people were creating a false idol to worship and God would now destroy the Israelites. Moses intervened on behalf of the people and changed God’s mind towards the people. But Moses had a bit of a temper himself – when he saw – he already had heard about it – but now he saw the golden calf – when he saw what the people had done he threw the tablets at the foot of the mountain and shattered them! So, Moses has to go up the mountain – again – and bring two more tablets, and spend some more alone time with God.

I know this is a creative description of what might have happened when Moses received the tablets, but let’s remember – he was just another human being! A common guy that had his faults and problems, but one that God chose to use in a very powerful way.

So what happened after Moses came face to face with God. Twice Moses had been in the very presence of God to receive the commandments. In the first account there is no description of his face shining or any other difference noted about Moses. In fact, as I stated a minute ago, he was the same temperamental guy after he came down from the mountain the first time as he was when he was a young man. But the second time he went to the mountain of the Lord, something was different about him. His brother Aaron and all the Israelite's knew this the minute they looked at him because his face shone. Have you ever had something extraordinary happen and found yourself unable to fully comprehend what is going on, so you get stuck on the irrelevant details?

The story is told about a man took his new hunting dog on a trial hunt one day. After a while he managed to shoot a duck and it fell in the lake. The dog walked over the water, picked up the duck, and brought it to his master. The man was stunned. He didn't know what to think. He shot another duck and again, it fell into the lake and again the dog walked over the water and brought it back to his master. Hardly daring to believe his eyes, and not wanting to be thought a total fool, he told no-one about it - but the next day he called his neighbor to come shooting with him. As on the previous day he shot a duck and it fell into the lake. The dog walked over the water and got it. His neighbor didn't say a word. Several more ducks got shot that day - and each time the dog walked over the water to retrieve them - and each time the neighbor said nothing and neither did the owner of the dog. Finally - unable to contain himself any longer the owner asked his neighbor - "do you notice anything strange about my dog??"
Yes - replied the neighbor - rubbing his chin and thinking a bit - come to think of it I do - your dog doesn't know how to swim…"

I think the neighbor missed the point!

Why do we people have such a problem seeing God in the everyday moments of our lives?

"Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant* in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. Afterwards all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face; but whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining; and Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him." - Exodus 34:29-35

... we all fall down!

As I have been preparing for tonight’s Ash Wednesday service at the church I recalled this treasured nursery rhyme: Ring around the roses, pockets full of posies, ashes to ashes we all fall down! I remember my children holding hands and reaching out to anyone close enough to catch within their circle as they skipped and sang this song before tumbling to the ground into a laughing, giggling pile of joy. It did not matter what age you were, it seemed you were qualified to play this game. Next to “Hide and go seek” this was my children’s favorite game to play with every member of the family. Through the years I have always been surprised by how much I have learned from my children and this simple little game is another example.
There have been several lessons I learned from playing this game with my children and their friends. I learned that we have a lot more fun when we all play together. I learned that laughing at myself was more enjoyable than laughing at others. I also learned that the ground was just a little further to fall to for some of us and it hurt when I landed!

Isn’t that just like life? It seems the higher, the bigger, and the more important or more favored we think we are, life has a way of bringing us back to the basics. And sometimes it hurts when we land. Sometimes it’s our ego, sometimes it’s our pride, sometimes it’s our dignity, but it all hurts. I also learned that it was harder to get up after falling down for some of us and we need a helping hand or an encouraging word from our friends to help us get back into the game.

Today is Ash Wednesday in the Christian church. It is a time for each of us to participate in the call to repentance and reconciliation with God and with our neighbors. We use ashes as a physical sign of our own mortality and remorse for the things we’ve done that have hurt the people around us. Participation in a service of the Imposition of Ashes can be a powerful experience that allows us to reach for the hand of a friend whether it is for help in picking ourselves up or lifting someone else.

I recently read a comment that said “It's not how we fall but how we get up that matters most. I'm still working on the getting up part.” Can I give you a hand?