A Fine Line

   If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one there to hear it, does it really make a noise?

   If I write a blog post, and there is no one reading it, is it worthwhile? Or, in other words, why do it?

   Now, I go back to my original intent of this whole exercise, namely a written record of my attempts to draw closer to God, and to see how He is working in my life. It was to be between God and I, but then I thought that someone else might benefit from my struggles in this area and be encouraged to know that they were not alone in this.

   Every once in a while, not a regular occurrence for sure, someone will make a comment on a particular post, or simply click on the "like" button on the facebook page, and I admit that I do like to know someone is out there, but is that a sufficient reason to write?

   Today, I read in The Message, the passage in Matthew 6 where Jesus is teaching the crowds on the mountainside like this:

   "Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don't make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won't be applauding. ^2-4"When you do something for someone else, don't call attention to yourself. You've seen them in action, I'm sure—'playactors' I call them— treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that's all they get. When you help someone out, don't think about how it looks. Just do it—quietly and unobtrusively."

   And again, later in the same passage:

   ⁵"And when you come before God, don't turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?

 ⁶"Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace."

   I believe that my motives for all of this are right, most of the time, but it is very easy to slip over the line into pride when some human praise comes around. When I read, at the end of this same passage:

   "God doesn't require attention-getting devices."

   I pray that this effort in writing does not classify as one of these.

Today Has Never Happened Before

   How easy is it to fall into a pattern, no matter how good it looks, but fail to see or hear what is right before our eyes and falls on our ears. I can even confess, and rightly so, "This is the Day that the Lord has made" and go about my routine without anticipation of what might be in store.

   The narrative recorded in Luke 4 has Jesus going to the synagogue on the Sabbath, as was His custom, but my mind this morning seemed to focus in on the other people of the town of Nazareth who also did what they always did on that day of the week, they went to the synagogue. Why?

   As I sit here at this early hour, with my day stretching before me, with the activities already sketched out in my mind, what is my perspective? Do I see a purpose in what I do, or do I just do it because I always have, or even because it is the right thing to do?

   Here is my proposed schedule for the day in brief:

   Get up and read the Scripture and write my blog.
   Go to our church service, which is in the Park at the pier this morning.
   Come home and spend the afternoon.
   Go to a home group and lead a session on the Truth Project.
   Go to bed.

   Just like the people of Nazareth, my day is filled with good things, things that are right to do, but what is the object of this activity?

   The people of that Jewish town got to hear Jesus at their synagogue that morning. They marveled that a man that had grown up in their midst was so eloquent a speaker, but, by the time He finished, they were ready to kill Him. I'm sure they sure did not anticipate what would happen in their lives when they left home to worship that morning.

   What do I anticipate this day? Will I be any different when I lay down to sleep tonight than I am right now? Will I just say, "same old, same old", or open my eyes and ears to hear and see, really hear and see, from God today?

   This particular Sunday has never happened before. It is not just another day!

My Rights

   Yesterday, as my golf partner and I were riding back home from our regular Friday outing, we were discussing our country's growing financial problems. It was easy to cast the blame on government or some others who don't seem to see the principles this great land was founded upon, but I talked about my personal responsibility yesterday morning, so I can't do that again. Where we landed in our talks was the rights of individual Americans. Not those given by God, or even in the Bill of Rights, but those things that we feel we have a right to have in our lives, just because we live here. I guess the word is "entitlements".


   Rights or entitlements permeate our culture and our own individual lives. I have the right to be happy, to have the best of everything, to be healthy, to be first, to be the best. The key word is "I". Where is the thought of others, or the idea of personal responsibility in the whole scenario? It is very easy to get caught up in this idea of "me first", and I fall into that trap as easily as anyone. I want what I want and when I want it.


   How different that is from what Jesus taught in Matthew 5 as I read this morning in The Message:


   "Here's another old saying that deserves a second look: 'Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.' Is that going to get us anywhere? Here's what I propose: 'Don't hit back at all.' If someone strikes you, stand there and take it. If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously."


   Or, reading this again in a more familiar version, the American Standard:


   “You have heard that it was said, ‘AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.’ ³⁹ But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. ⁴⁰ If anyone wants to sue you and take your ^[a]shirt, let him have your ^[b]coat also. ⁴¹ Whoever^[c]forces you to go one mile, go with him two. ⁴² Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you."


   Is it actually possible to live in that way, to not insist on my rights, but being subservient to the needs and desires of others? 


   What would happen if a whole nation lived that way? How about just those who claim to follow Jesus? 


   How about just me?

The Problem With America Today

   I have written before of the Truth Project series that Mayre and I have been leading in home groups over the past few years. It is a series put out by Focus on the Family that looks to portray the truth claims of God over against what the world may tell us. What does God say in His Word as being true contrasts with our culture and the belief system of an increasingly secular world view.


   The last lesson was on the American Experiment and the system of government designed by those who founded America over 200 years ago. One of the major themes in this segment was how our country and its leaders have strayed from those founding principles and the resultant mess that we find ourselves in today.


   Then I found discovered a book entitled The 5,000 Year Leap, which is also about the principles that the founders held in common that allowed them to write the Constitution of the United States the way that they did. I am not that far into the book, but I am struck by the way that this diverse group of men came together to put this document together. 


   Were they saints and superhuman men? No, they were flawed just as men are today, but they were able to fashion a document and a system of government that has allowed America to be the light of the world. With God's help, they created a system of individual freedoms combined into a union of states that has been the envy of people around the world.


   But the farther out from those days of the founding that we get, the more these freedoms seem to be under attack and the notions that guided these men are trampled under foot. It does not matter whether the party in power is Democrat or Republican, we seem to be going further away from what has made America great. Our trust is in ourselves and the power of our government and not in the God that allowed us to live here. We seem to be throwing away our heritage that men and women have fought and died for over these past 200 plus years.


   So what is to be done? 


   "and my people, my God-defined people, respond by humbling themselves, praying, seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives, I'll be there ready for you: I'll listen from heaven, forgive their sins, and restore their land to health."


   Perhaps I am the problem.

Problem for an Ex-Con

   There is a letter sitting on my desk, one that I received a few days ago. It is from a former inmate at Ware State Prison, a man that had come to Christ on a Kairos walk a couple of years back. I had corresponded with him over these years as an encouragement to him, to keep the faith he had embraced and to live for God in that hostile environment.


   Now he has been released after serving his sentence, and he writes of the struggles he is having as he tries to find a job and begin to get his life back in order again. It is hard for a man with a record to find a job in good times, but, in this uncertain economic condition, it is doubly hard. He says that he is living in a homeless shelter and cannot find anyone that will even talk to him about employment. He wants to do right and become a productive member of society, but no one will take a chance on him because of his past.


  So what do I do? How do I respond? What would God have me do? Instead of handing him a fish to eat, how can I teach him to fish? How do I boost his self respect when no one will talk to him about work?


   A passage from James 2 came to my mind as I thought on this:

   "Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?"

   I sure don't want my words to him be outrageous nonsense, so how do I respond to his plea?


   First of all, I ask God to direct my words and actions, then I act on what I hear and sense. I will give him some Biblical encouragement and tell him that I will pray for him and his situation, and I will also try to send along some practical advice that might help. Is that enough?


   No, I think not, so what? 


   I have a couple of ideas to work on today. Let's see how they turn out, and pray that God will be in it all.

Thank God For Grace

   Here in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus lays out the requirement to be able to enter into heaven. In Mark 5, He says:

   "Unless you are more righteous than the Pharisees, you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven."

   The same verse as translated in the Message: "Unless you do far better than the Pharisees in the matters of right living, you won't know the first thing about entering the kingdom."


   Right living and right standing before a Holy God, how can I accomplish that? I can never do it on my own. It is only when God sees me, standing before Him, covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, that I am able to enter. When God sees me in that way, He actually sees Christ, the One who took all my sins, past present and future, with Him to the cross and paid the price to take them away from me.


   The Pharisees obeyed all the law, at least the letter of that Old Testament law, even down to the tithing of the mint leaves that the people brought to them for their own use, but their hearts were not right.


   Where is my heart today? If I had to depend on what I could, or would do, I would be in trouble. I know my heart. I will never be perfect, and that is what God requires. There is no one righteous, or perfect, no not one.


   Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift, Grace is mine when I accepted it.

Intruders or Persons?

   The reading for today is a continuation of the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5. It is the last part of the Beatitudes and contains these words of Jesus as translated in The Message:


   "Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven."


   The last part of this passage talks about others that come into our lives, and two of the possible reasons that God puts them there. They could be there so that they could bring a word of God to us, to bless or instruct us, or they might be there so that our light could shine in their lives.


   Either way, those individuals, whose lives intersect with ours at a given time, are not just intruders on our time and activities. No, they are there because God willed them there. I might be tempted to dismiss them as external to the purposes of God, but they are not. I may treat them as an interruption and fail to see the hand of God in their coming, but perhaps I had better look again.


   Andy Andrews has written a book entitled The Noticer. The main character, a man named simply Jones, is asked by another how he can know all he does about the people he talks with. His answer is that he just pays attention to what they say and do. In short, he notices them. They are not just fleeting shadows, flitting through his life, they are real people, people with needs, desires, and potential. They are people that he can help.


   God, please help me to notice others that pass through my life today. They may enter for just a few seconds or longer, but You care about them. Help me to care also.


   

Considerations

   I often say that there is no such thing as a coincidence in life. Everything happens for a reason and there is a purpose for the things that come into my life. So I consider the readings for today:

   The reading from Psalms states: 41:1 "Blessed is the one who considers the poor!"


   The reading from the Gospel contains: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."


   Then there is the message from one of our pastors yesterday that, in part, asked the question: "How much is enough?"


   Do I sense a trend here? Is my attitude toward the poor important? The poor in material things as well as the poor in spiritual things? 


   So, how do I consider the poor? Do I just think about any that fall into this category, and then say I have done my duty? What constitutes consideration? Is this consideration purely academic, or does it also involve an action on my part?


   I am certain that this whole process requires some doing on my part, from examining my attitudes to a parting of resources in this direction, but I also sense that it needs to be more than a one-time thing. Consideration needs to be a lifestyle, but, I confess, I don't know what it looks like.


   God, help me to listen to You in this area and see others in Your light. Also help me to not only listen and see, but to follow through on what You reveal. Make me willing to consider.

Mundane or Purposeful?

   Jesus is walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee one day and sees some men working at their fishing chores. They were getting their equipment ready to ply their trade. Now the Gospel of Matthew, in chapter 4, says that Jesus called them to "Follow me" and they did. He did not ask them to think about doing this if they had time for it, He just said "do it". He did not ask them to consider the consequences, just to follow. I believe that there was a sense of urgency in Jesus' voice, and these future disciples responded.

   Later on in the same story, Jesus is healing many people around the area, and the momentum of His ministry was growing, so much so that people were coming from everywhere as His fame spread. I can see, in my mind's eye, a man who had been healed finding a friend that needed Jesus' intervention in his life, and urging him to come with him to see this miracle worker. "Do it now", would be his plea. 

   The time frame of Jesus' walking among men on this earth was fixed, and in His divinity, He knew it. From what I can see in the Gospels, everything that Jesus did had a purpose. Even His times of rest, or fellowship, or maybe even play, were leading to a desired end. He knew where He was going and His life continued to point that way.  It would seem that underlying this sense of purpose was a sense of urgency.

   Then I have to ask myself, do I see any sense of either purpose or urgency in my life? Is it just business as usual every day without a thought of tomorrow or of the people around me? If God woke me up this morning to come in here and spend some time praying or thinking, what is the result? Will this make any difference in the great scheme of things?

   I believe that God responds to all of this with a word to "look around you, see where I have placed you and actually see the people that are in your life. There is a purpose for all of this, it is not just happenstance. Don't just sit and wait for some great job to do, but live your faith out every day in all the normal areas of your life. Open your eyes and truly see."

Repent 2.0

   Here is the scene: John the Baptist has been arrested and put in prison. His voice is stilled by Herod, but then here comes Jesus, preaching the same message, "Repent for the Kingdom of God is a hand". (from Matt. 4:12-17)

   Jesus took up the same message that had characterized the preaching of John, Repent, repent, and that is still the same message that we need to hear in our day. I know, deep down, that my life is full of sin, and I know that I cannot stand before a Holy God in that condition. I need the blood of Christ to cover up all this so that God only sees Jesus and not me standing there. I acknowledge my failures and accept the sacrifice of Jesus on my behalf, so that I can be justified forever.

   Repent, what does that mean? It is a willingness to see myself as God sees me. It is more than a quick "I'm sorry", it is a true conviction that I have done wrong, and I regret it deeply that I have gone against the standards of God.

   Repent, it is not a one-time thing either. Even if I have done it in deep contrition once before, long ago,  when I asked Jesus to make me a new person, I need it every day. My life did not all at once become a perfect one. My old nature still sins, and I am in need of a new cleansing each and every day. What kind of things characterize my life still?

   Well there is always that self pride, that assurance that I can do it on my own. There is that sense of selfishness that says it is all about me. It is putting my will ahead of God's. The list could go on and on.

   God, help me to continue to see my life as You do, and help me to listen to Your voice as You again call me to "Repent".

Rest Is Not Only Sleeping

   Mayre Lou and I watched a replay last night of our pastor's sermon from Sunday. We had been on the road on that day, coming back from Blacksburg, and missed church completely. One of the points that he stressed was the need for a break from the routine daily affairs of life, a time to contemplate life, not just try to survive it.

   The Scripture from Matthew 4 this morning was the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, right after the baptism by John the Baptist. The Bible says He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness and for 40 days he fasted. After that comes the 3 temptations by Satan, but I was drawn to the fact that Jesus was led into the wilderness, a place of little or no distractions, and there to prepare for His ministry that was to follow.

   I have found over the past months, that the days I take the time to set aside my daily activities seem to go a little better than when I rush around. It is true that I have the time to do all of that since my calendar and schedule is usually pretty clear and I do have a lot of discretionary time, but I think the principle is still the same for all of us. It becomes a matter of priority and what I see as important.

   David, my pastor, also mentioned three times that would help in keeping my focus on the right actions and motives in my life. He put it this way:

   Divert Daily...even if it is for only 15 minutes or so
   Withdraw Weekly...even if it is only the hour on Sunday morning, truly withdraw
   Abandon Annually...get away from everything for a period of time

   If Jesus needed the 40 days to prepare for His life and ministry, how much more do I need it? Maybe not the 40 days all at one time, but at least the time to seek God and His will for my life, that day, that week, that year, or that coming lifetime.

   Praying, seeking, listening and maybe even fasting, can I follow this example of a Life in tune with the Will of God?


  

The "Right" of Obedience

   The Scripture for today comes from Matthew 3, where Jesus comes and is baptized by John the Baptist. John does not see the need for this and tells Jesus that it is he, John, that needs to be baptized by Jesus. After all, John knows that Jesus is the righteous one and he, John, is the one that needs to be forgiven. Jesus then tells John that it is right that He is baptized, and John goes ahead and completes the act.

   Now Jesus was the sinless One. The baptism that John performed in the Jordan was for people who wanted to repent of their sins and prepare for the coming of the Messiah. From John's standpoint there was no need for this on the part of Jesus, there was nothing to repent of. 

   Maybe Jesus, in his "man-ness" did not need this, but He sensed or knew that the Father wanted this done. So, He did it. He was obedient to the wishes of the One who sent Him. In that there is a message for me also.

   There are a lot of reasons for me to be obedient to some authority, and a lot of these stem from a fear of punishment, or of someone not being proud of me, or because it might lead to a failure of some kind. 

   Sometimes I need to be obedient because it is just the right thing to do. Jesus says in John 14, “If you love me, you will obey my commandments."

   Obedience out of an attitude of love, the best reason of all.

A Parent's Desire

   A question was put to me yesterday by one who read what I had to say about the family tree. "What I would want my kids to look like and pass on to their own kids?" I had given some general ideas, but he wanted specifics, so I spent some minutes thinking about this and came up with a couple of thoughts.

   Two attributes that Christian parents want to see in the lives of those closest to them, in this case my kids, would be Love and Service, and I would prioritize them in this order:

   Love and Serve God
   Love and Serve their family
   Love and Serve others

   Getting these things right is the key to a successful life, and it keeps a person away from a selfish lifestyle. Treating God, family, and others as more important than self is major.

   Another area would be to live life doing your best in everything that you undertake. That is the surest way to avoid a feeling of regret later on, and the resultant question "What if I had only done....?"

   One more thing would be to look to God for the confirmation of effort and not be satisfied with the judgment of other people. Doing things for the praise of men is not a lasting motive or reward and can lead to half hearted efforts, being satisfied just to look good.

   When I look back at what I have written, I know how much I have failed in these areas. Sure, I have done some things right, but there have been a lot of times my motives and efforts have been far less than spectacular. My children have done a better job in a lot of these areas than I did at their ages.

   Thanks be to God who gives me Grace and hides my sins.

   Too soon old and too late smart,,,,FOR SURE

 

The Family Apple Tree

   What do apples have to do with a response to today's reading? Let's see if I might put this in perspective.

   The reading this morning is from Matthew 1:1-17 and concerns the genealogy of Jesus from the male side of the family. Each of the fathers had a role in the life of Joseph, the one that God chose to be the husband of Mary. Of course, Joseph was not the real father of Jesus, but only the step father, as His mother Mary was a virgin when Jesus was born.

   What was the role of each of the men listed in this chapter? They could not look forward through the centuries and see the result of their influence in the lives of their children, but it was there nonetheless. They had an importance that they could not know, for good or bad. Sometimes the children succeeded with the help of their fathers and sometimes in spite of their lineage.

   The other day I wrote about our son's 50th birthday and I praised him for the things he had accomplished in his life. He put a comment on the blog site that said "the apple never falls far from the tree". Now I know that he meant this as a compliment, that the good that he had been able to do was a result of the way he was raised and the things that he had seen his father do, but I know there is a flip side to that as well.

   What if I see things that any of my kids are doing that I think may be off the mark? Do I take credit for those as well? Can these be the same apples? There are a lot of things that I have done in my life, attitudes that I have shown, and actions that have not been right, that I do not want to see being passed down. I only want the good and the honorable to characterize my children.

   Since that is true, the good and honorable part, how do I define a life that I would like to pass down? One that is characterized by God following, not an earthly following one. One that takes the good from my life and leaves the bad behind.

   Maybe they will all just do what I say and not what I do.

   God, please give them the wisdom to realize the difference.

Remembrance

   In John 16, Jesus is talking to His disciples. It is the day before the crucifixion, and He is preparing them for the events to come. He is trying to lay the groundwork so that they will be able to get through the days immediately before them, days that will shake their faith in their leader, and, indeed shake the world. He tells them:

   "In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I've conquered the world."

   We are up in Blacksburg, VA, as I sit and write this blog this morning. The date is April 14 and our son, who teaches at Virginia Tech, and his son who is 11, will run in a race on the campus of this university, a race that has as its theme the remembrance of events that happened 5 years ago on April 16, 2007. On that day 32 students and faculty were shot down and killed, and the world of a lot of folks was shaken.

   Mayre Lou and I were living in that small university town in those days, and, although we were not there when those events happened, I can remember the concern for our family and friends there and our shock that something like that could happen in such a peaceful place. Although we could not go back home for a few days, we felt as if we should be there as the whole town grieved. It was a time of great trouble, and, as we watched with the rest of the world, the aftermath of that day, we were reminded again of Jesus' words quoted above.

   We live in a fallen world, and there will be trouble, but the story of the resurrection is that Jesus has conquered all of that, and we can have hope because of what He has done.

   I remember driving through a rural section of Georgia, maybe 6 months after all the events of that VA tragedy, and seeing a church sign that read "Today we are all Hokies". Yes, we are all affected by events like these, but our lives are also profoundly influenced by what Jesus did for us.

  Thank you Jesus for the hope and life that You bring to us, even in the midst of suffering. Help us to live in remembrance.

Living Without Fully Understanding

   I confess that I do not understand about the Holy Spirit. I can read what the Bible says about this third person of the Trinity, but most of the time it is just words on the page. I can read what Jesus says in John 16 about this Spirit's work and catch a glimpse of the meaning, but it is hard to feel that He is active in my life.

   Looking at what Jesus tells His disciples about the Spirit and His role, I read in verse 13, "He will guide you into all truth" and in verse 15, "He will take what is mine (Jesus') and declare it unto you".

   From these two verses, I understand that this same Spirit will guide my thoughts into what is really true, and that I will understand the words of Jesus, because He will take them and make them plain to me. It is this same person who has preserved the words of Jesus so that these same words could be written down by the Gospel writers, and brought them to their minds at the time they wrote their accounts.

   I believe that the words that we have written down in the Bible are true, that they have been preserved over the centuries so that they can speak to me today just as they spoke to the believers in the first century church, as well as to the subsequent generations of Christ followers in the years between.

   I also believe that this same Spirit does more than just authenticate the words of Jesus, but works in my life to help me apply them to my particular situation. I believe it, but I do not understand it.

   But it is more than just right knowledge that I need, it is also the application of that in my life at the proper time and with the right attitude. The ESV version of I Corinthians 13:2 reads: "And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing."

   I can acknowledge the work of the Holy Spirit in my life, even if I do not understand all about it, but even this has to be tempered with the realization that everything that He lets me know is to be used to bless others, by the way that I live it out in my life on a daily basis.

   Today even?

Get Up and Let's Go

   Jesus has washed the disciples feet. He has talked with them on this Passover night and given them the Last Supper to remember. They don't fully understand what is going on, but they listen and participate in Jesus last hours.

   At the end of the meal, after Jesus has talked with them about keeping the commandments that He had given them so as to show their love for Him and His Father, He tells them to "Get up, let's get out of here". (John 14:31). So, they leave and go toward Gethsemane, toward the betrayal, toward His death and toward Easter.

   All they knew when they responded to Jesus and left that upper room, was that He wanted them to leave. They did not have any idea of what was waiting out in the night. If they had, they might have held back and tried to stay in the relative safety of the place, but they obeyed and went. They did not know how their world was about to change and how their emotions would run the gamut from fear to despair to joy in the space of a few hours. They only knew to go.

   As I sit here this morning, and the world outside is dark and still, I see the words written down for me by John in his gospel, "Get up and let's go". Questions may arise as to where and why and how, but these are not answered in the moment. The simple command is to get up and go.

   But the key to the whole process is to look at the words of Jesus closely and notice that He says "let us go". Not just you get up and get out of here, but that we are going together from this place and from this time. If I am obedient to His command, He goes with me, and that makes all the difference.

   God, help me to get up out of my rut and move out with You.

Mondays are Important

   First there were the emotional events of Thursday, including the last supper and the trip to Gethsemane, and ending with Jesus' betrayal by Judas and his being hauled away to the High Priest.

   Then there was Friday with its awful crucifixion and the burial of Jesus in the borrowed tomb.

   Then comes the silence of Saturday, with the whole world of His followers being held in suspension as the observance of the Sabbath day unfolded.

   Then Sunday, with the news that He has risen, His appearance to Mary Magdalene and also to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and, as John reports in his gospel, Jesus appearance to the ten disciples that same evening.

   After the emotional roller coaster of the previous four days, the disciples had to wake up Monday wondering what in the world would happen now. Not only that question but also the one that asks, "What do we do now?"

   That seems to be the same one I need to ask on this day after the Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday observances have passed.

   Could it be to serve with a new sense of purpose because of all that has been given to me?

   Mondays are important. They are to be lived with the same joy and devotion as those Sundays that precede them.

Easter on Cardboard

   A great Easter service (actually two) in our church this morning. It is great to hear the Easter music, sing along, and worship the risen Christ on this special Sunday.

   One part of the service was especially moving to me today. We had done this in the past, but today was just special. The object is to show, visually, how Jesus has changed lives, and this is accomplished by having men and women come to center stage with a large piece of cardboard. As they turn and face the audience the words appear stating how they were before Jesus changed them, then they flip the board over and the words are shown as to how they are today. Lives with problems, additions, conflicts and hurts are all represented on the front side, then the results of an encounter with the Risen Savior on the back.

   Now our church is pretty large, and I do not know a lot of the congregation at all, so I began to think, as the people came to the front and went and stood in a long line facing us, that this was a good representation of the many ills that beset all of us on our way. It was a good way to categorize the various problems that are out there that can be overcome with Jesus' help. I might have seen the faces of the people before, but I sure did not know their life stories.

   Then I saw a man that I knew come out from the side and walk to the center, turn around and show his cardboard. I knew his problems and realized that he was truly holding "his" life in his hands. He was admitting to his need and telling the world that Jesus had done a special work in his life. As I continued to view others as they came, acknowledging what their life had been and now was, my heart was truly stirred.

   Changed Lives was not just an idle phrase, it was sitting right on my row.

   Thank God for Easter

The Silence of Saturday

   All of the Easter accounts in the Gospels leave off on Friday and pick up again on Sunday morning. Saturday is a silent day, at least as far as the narrative is concerned.  What was going on? Nothing much, it was the Sabbath and the Jewish law would cause the whole country to shut down, at least as far as the locals were concerned.

   But what was going on in the minds of the people, especially the disciples? What were their emotions on this "silent" day? No doubt they were in seclusion, hiding out from the authorities, lest they be caught up in any net they spread for His followers. But, what about their mental state after the heartbreak of the crucifixion?

   There may have been a sense of loss of purpose, after all, the One they had counted on to be the Messiah, was gone, killed and buried. They may have felt duped, after all, they had faithfully followed this Man for three years, and everyone knew that fact. Now they could become outcasts, or, at the very least, the laughing stock of the community.

   They knew He was a man sent from God. They had witnessed the miracles and heard the words. They believed. What had gone wrong? Saturday must have seemed a very long day. Their world had stopped, and God was silent also.

   Looking back from our time advantage, it seems like the whole earth was in a holding pattern, waiting for Sunday. Friday was in the past, with all its horror, Saturday was sleeping, but Sunday was coming.

  What a day it would be!

  

It is Friday

   Thursday's agony is over

   Jesus has been betrayed by Judas

   Peter has denied his Lord

   The crowd has turned, yelling out Crucify Him

   Pilate has washed his hands

   The soldiers have mocked

   The disciples are stunned

   The cross has been prepared

   The nails have been used to pin Him to that cross

   The tomb is ready

   "It is finished"

   But Sunday is coming

   Alleluia

Serve and Remember

  Today is Maundy Thursday in the Christian Calendar. It is celebrated as the day before the crucifixion of Jesus. It is the day and evening that Jesus washed the feet of the 12 disciples and instituted the Last Supper with those men.

   The word maundy refers to a command or a mandate. In this case it would be something that Jesus commanded his men to observe. Some churches practice foot washing and most all observe the practice of the Lord's Supper on a regular basis, but the mandate seems to go much farther than just the observance of an act.

   The foot washing in Jesus time was a menial job, done by a servant for the comfort of the guests in the home. It was a thankless job, and the person who performed the act was not looked up to by any means. It seems what Jesus was teaching his disciples with His act of washing their feet was that their service for Him should be that of a servant, looking to the benefit of others without regard of their standing or position. No one was too good for lowly work.

   The other command had to do with remembering. Jesus told them to remember what was happening in that moment and what would happen over the next 3 days. Even though they did not comprehend all that He talked about, He commanded them to remember. Observance of the Lord's Supper is an act of remembrance. When we give out the wafer or bread, we use the words " this is the body of Christ, broken for you". Likewise with the cup we say, "this is the blood of Christ, shed for you", making it personal for the communicant, "It was for you".

   So, I take all that Jesus has done for me, remembering the events and the conclusion, and carry all that with me as I serve others in His Name.

  

Do Not Be Afraid

   The words "Do not be afraid" appear twice in the narrative in Matthew 28. Once when the women come to the tomb and see the stone rolled away, and once when they meet Jesus as they leave that same area.

   Are those words for me today?

   Who would not be scared if they came upon an angel or one came upon them? Surprised, awed and scared would be the emotions that I would feel, I know. But how about being afraid of Jesus? I thought He was supposed to be meek and mild, full of grace and love. What is there to be afraid of here?

   When Jesus met the women returning from the tomb, I'm pretty sure that He wanted to reassure them that it was indeed He, that He was not a ghost, and that they were not just dreaming all this up. I would want this calm assurance also.

   What if Jesus was to call me into His presence today? Would I have some fear? Are there commandments that I have not kept? Are there words of His that have not guided my life? Has my time been well spent? Would I be fearful that I would not hear His words, "Well done good and faithful servant"?

   Perhaps fear is too strong a word to be used in this instance. Maybe I should use embarassment, or shame or extreme discomfort.

   True fear would be meeting Jesus one day and realizing that I had slandered His name and not accepted His sacrifice for my sins.

   Do not be afraid.....Trust Me

Really Listen

   When Mary Magdalene comes back to the disciples with the word that she has seen Him on that resurrection Sunday, Mark in chapter 16 says "they would not believe it."

   In the same chapter, when Mark relates the experience of the two men on the road to Emmaus and their return to Jerusalem to tell the other disciples, he writes, "but they (the other disciples) did not believe them."

   Belief in the experience of others is hard. It is so easy to be skeptical and to explain it away with a shrug and a hand wave. What does it take to truly believe?

   I believed what the Bible said about Jesus and about God's love and grace and mercy, but until I actually felt like He was calling me, my belief was shallow and not worth very much at all. Most of the time it was like the man who answered Jesus' question about his belief and stated "Lord, I believe, help me in my unbelief".

   Until God calls me in some way, all of the experiences of others may ring true, but are not transferable to my own life and situation. The disciples believed in Jesus, but at that moment of despair in their lives, it was not enough. Only after they had experienced Him personally, did they truly believe.

   So what is my responsibility in all of this belief stuff? After I have accepted what the Bible states is true, and after I have accepted the testimony of others about God and Jesus, what do I need to do?

   In my experience, I believe that I need to keep putting myself in places where I can hear God speak to me in some way. Maybe physical places, maybe situational places and maybe just in the attitude of wanting to hear and trying to listen.

   Easter is a great time to hear what God is saying to me (and you). I will hear words in song, words from the pulpit, words from the Bible and words from other believers. All of these words can be true, but not enough. I need for God to make it personally true for me. I need to put myself in a place where He can get my attention and speak those words into my life.

   God, help me to get out of myself, my intellect, my abilities and my self justification. Help me to listen as You call.

   Really Listen....

The Challenge of Easter

   How many times have I been through an Easter season? How many times have I read, or listened to, or watched the events of Easter as they took place 2,000 years ago? How many times have I stood in church and sang "Christ the Lord is Risen Today, Alleluia"?

   Will it be any different this time around? Will I really grasp how all of this plays out in my own life? Will this day make any difference in the way I live and respond to God? Will I hear the angel in the tomb say to me "Don't be afraid, go back out into your world and live like this really matters"?

   The Scripture for this morning was in Mark 16, concerning the women coming to the tomb on Easter morning and their reaction to the angel. It is a story that I have read many times. I've heard it preached and sung, but has it really sunk in?

   The narrative is old, but the message needs to be new every day. I tend to treat it like an old shirt, just put it on this week and be comfortable, it won't upset your plans. You have a lot of things on your calendar, and this series of days will just fit right in, as usual. You can pay lip service to an extraordinary series of events without letting them change your life in any way. I can easily do that.

   But I am challenged this morning to do it differently this time around, to make Easter, not just another Sunday on the calendar in 2012, but to make it mine, really make it mine. I am not even sure what that all means, but God knows, and I want to.

   Today is Monday, but Sunday is coming. Get ready......

The Tension of Holy Week

   Once upon a time, many, many years ago, there was a Passion Play put on in the Memorial Auditorium in Chattanooga. It may have been sponsored by the Kiwanis Club because, somehow, my brother and I had a part to play. My Dad was active in that club and the whole family participated in the various activities. I remember Christmas programs for needy kids, horse shows to raise money for various projects, and who knows what else our family helped in.

   Regardless, I was part of the crowd scenes in this play, two in particular. One was the Palm Sunday entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. We all had palm branches (or something) and our line was one word, over and over and loudly; Hosanna, Hosanna..... It was a joyous crowd, and we got to run around the stage, following the route Jesus took.

   The other scene was in front of Pilate as Jesus was tried on the Friday morning. Again the line was repetitive and this time two words; Crucify Him, Crucify Him. Again we were loud, but this time there was no joy, only anger as the religious leaders walked through the crowd, stirring the people to do their bidding.

   It is strange, perhaps, that the last crowd scene is the one that I remember the best. I really felt bad that I had to yell out "Crucify Him" and to turn against Jesus, when I knew deep down that He was innocent, and had come down to earth to do us good and not harm. I did not fully understood why it had to be that way, only that it made me feel like a traitor to play that part.

   I wish I could say that I have always tried to play the part in my life of that Palm Sunday crowd, with joy, and giving God the glory for what He had brought down to man, but I'm afraid a lot of the time I have been willing to crucify Christ again and again by my denial of His salvation in my life. I don't have to yell it out, just live as though it did not matter what He did for me.

   As in that crowd around Pilate, I feel ashamed for what my life says sometimes, and I want to turn back the clock, to be proud of what I thought about Jesus then.

   Thank God for Grace and Forgiveness.