Making Jesus Known!

 

^4th Sunday of Easter!

Prayer

                                                                  Luke 24:13-35

First Movement:                               

            I can remember when I was a kid our main outreach each year was a Revival.  We would get a guest speaker and/or special singers and schedule a week of meetings to invite people to.  We were encouraged to invite folks.  We hung flyers around town.  We put it on the radio that so and so church was having a Revival all are invited.  Then the week would come; our evangelist was usually literally preaching to the choir.  It would turn out to be pretty much of a disappointment and the evangelist would have to shift into either encouraging us for working so hard and telling us the important thing was we were there or sometimes they might brow beat us because we had not worked hard enough.  Either way, the Revival didn’t usually do what we hoped it would.

 

            Later, I can remember different programs we would try.  One I can remember was “Friend Day.”  We bought this packet of stuff that had posters and radio advertisements that we were having friend day.  It gave you an outline of what you were to do and when.  I can remember that during the weeks ahead the pastor would announce that he/she was bringing a friend and it was to be some known city official and would have them visit that Sunday.  I’ve brought my friend, now who will you bring etc.  On Friend Day, we were suppose to have a big Sunday where we brought our friends.  Afterward, it had a programmed way to follow up.  Friend Day was somewhat successful.  We did have a lot of people there that Sunday, but follow-up was hard, and we didn’t really see lasting benefits.  A lot of the friends were people who went to church somewhere else.

 

            There always seems to be a new program to have a special Sunday or special service to get people here.  These things can be effective, but they will not always be effective.  We had a Conference Lay Leader a few years back that was always noted as saying “We have to keep the main thing the main thing!”  I would add to that, we will only be successful when the church keeps the main thing the main thing!  The main thing isn’t just getting people here for a certain meeting or group of meetings!  It is about touching them with the love of God that keeps them coming back!  (more later)

 

Second Movement:

             Our story today is from the gospel of Luke, and it happens at the end of Resurrection Day or Easter evening!  Luke says that two disciples were walking on the road to Emmaus.  One of the disciples is named Cleopas.  He is not one of the twelve and we encounter him nowhere else in the Bible, and the other disciple is unnamed.  They are just followers of Jesus that are walking along to Emmaus.  We haven’t even been able to identify with any certainty where Emmaus was!  These things are not significant to the story.

 

            They are walking along and Jesus joins them.  They do not recognize him; this seems to be a continuing theme, people not recognizing Jesus when he first appears to them.  For Luke, Jesus or God is only recognized by divine revelation!  Jesus asks them what they are talking about, and they respond to him like, “Where have you been the last couple days?  Haven’t you heard what all things have happened the last few days?”  Jesus says, “What things?” 

 

            They proceeded to tell Jesus about Jesus of Nazareth who was a great prophet and teacher  and how the chief priests and leaders had handed him over to be crucified!  They told how they thought he was the Messiah and then this happened!  Now, besides all this, now the third day since all this happened some of the women in our group astounded us by going to the tomb this morning and finding his body is not there!  They came back and told us how they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive!

 

            Jesus then picks up the conversation with, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe.”  He explains that all of this is what the prophets declared would happen.  He tells them it was necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into glory!  He begins with Moses and all the prophets and interprets the things about himself in all the scriptures.

 

            As they come to Emmaus, Jesus acts like he is going on, but they invite him to stay with them.  When they are setting down to a meal, Jesus takes the bread breaks it, blesses it, and gives it to them.  Then their eyes are opened, they recognize him and he vanishes from among them.  Then they said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?”  Then they went forth and told how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread!

 

Third Movement:  

            It is likely that Luke intended this story for and that it has been used as a model for encountering and worshiping the risen savior! 

 

First, Christ is known by revelation.  Paul has put it to us another way.  We can sow the seeds, others may water the seeds, but only God gives the increase!  People will not get it until God moves on their hearts.  This doesn’t mean that we don’t sow the seeds!  This doesn’t mean that we don’t water, but it is only God who can make Godself known to people through God’s prevenient grace!  It is only God who reveals Christ to us!

 

Secondly, our hearts burn within us at the spoken word!  This sets up the spoken message and word as a priority in our worship of God.  How can people know unless someone tells them? The spoken word should reveal Christ as the promised Messiah who is making all things right!  The spoken word should reveal Christ as the Messiah we all need!  The spoken word should give us guidance for life!  The spoken word should show us that, as our hearts burn within us and we encounter Christ, we should go tell others! 

 

Thirdly, Christ is made known to us as we encounter Him at the table.  Wesley talked to us about the means of grace.  Means of grace being things through which God’s grace comes to us.  Reading the word and hearing the word are means of grace.  We’ve already talked about the spoken word, but it is a way that God reveals Godself to us!  Other means of grace are prayer, singing, service, and deeds of kindness, but Wesley saw the sacrament of Holy Communion as a special means of grace.  That is inline with what Luke is saying here.

 

We believe that Holy Communion is a special encounter with the risen Christ.  As we take of the physical elements, we believe that spiritually we can encounter Jesus at the table.  We believe that someone can come to faith by accepting Christ at the table.  We believe Christ can give all of us what we need at the table.  We believe communion is a special encounter with Christ!  We believe Jesus is made known to us in the breaking of the bread and taking of the cup!

 

Fourthly, but not least, go forth and tell about our encounter with the risen Christ!  This is the way the gospel spreads!  It is not through some special program, but only, as we go forth and tell about our encounter with Christ.  Yes, programs work sometimes.  Picnics work sometimes!  Activities work in that they get Christian people to brush shoulders with folks who are on the outside so we can tell of our encounter with the risen Christ!  They will only work when we keep the main thing the main thing and tell what Jesus has done for us!  We can keep the main thing the main thing even without the programs!  The main thing is we encounter Christ, let Christ change us, and go and tell!

 

Forth Movement:

            If we do this, we are keeping the main thing the main thing!  If we do this, we will be successful and we will see the church grow.  It won’t matter so much what magic programs we try!  This is the plan in which we can find success!  First, Christ is known by revelation; Second, our hearts burn within us at the spoken word; Thirdly, Christ is made know as we encounter Christ at the table; and fourthly, go forth and tell of our encounter with Christ!  

 

Luke outlines it for us here in his gospel!  We will see others come to Christ!  We will see other believers come to join us because they will want to be a part of a church who is positively offering Christ, and we will grow like we never believed we could!  You want to be a part of a positive church who is growing in Christ?  Have you had your sadness and despair turned to joy, hope, and excitement because of what God has done for you?  Go tell what Christ has done for you so that those you know can have their hopelessness turned to joy!  Do your part in making Jesus known to your relatives and friends!  Share the love of God!  Offer them Christ! Thanks be to God!

 

Prayer of Confession

Service of Communion

Do You Love Me More Than These?

 2^nd Sunday of Easter!                                       

                                                              John 21:1-19

 

Focus Statement:             In this scripture, the Lord appears again to the disciples, Peter has gone back to doing what he did before, and Jesus reinstates him.

 

Function Statement:       As a result of this message, the congregation will examine their priorities and dedication to Christ and make a deeper commitment to their risen Lord.

 

Movement 1:

One of my favorite Disney movies is Lion King; there is so much that this little movie says about life.  At the beginning of the movie, Simba is born and goes through this ritual not too unlike baptism.  As Simba grows, his father, Mufasa, spends time teaching him in preparation of him being King some day: he teaches him to hunt and pounce his prey, he tells him one time as they look at the stars that other Kings who have gone on before are looking down upon him, he teaches him the need for service, and he tries to teach him how to be safe.  The tragity of the movie is that one day his uncle Scar arranges for Mufasa to be killed and tells Simba it is his fault.  Simba flees for his own life, thinking the others will hate him for it.  Scar becomes King since the others think Simba has also been killed, and the kingdom literally goes to the dogs (the hienas who serve Scar).  The kingdom is plundered and everyone about starves.  Meanwhile, while Simba grieves for his father and runs from the responsibility of going back and telling his family he didn=t kill his dad and taking up the responsibilities of being king, Simba finds companionship with a couple other characters and lives a rather carefree life.  This goes fine until Simba runs into a lioness who was special to him in his youth, Nala, and a monkey priest who confronts him with his past and tells him he has become less than he was meant to be and that because he won=t go back and assume his role of King others are suffering.  This causes Simba to look at his priorities and he goes back, reclaims the kingdom, and sets things right. 

Recap: Simba is born.  He is discipled in becoming king.  The King is killed.  Simba flees scared and becomes less than he was meant to be.  Simba is reinstated and takes up his job that the King meant for him to do in serving the kingdom.

 

Movement 2:

This little story is not too unlike our scripture for today!  Jesus is born to be our King.  He makes disciples.  He spends time teaching them how to serve in the kingdom.  The King is killed!  The disciples, including Peter, flee for fear and because they are confused about all that has happened.  Peter probably felt some guilt because of his denial and not doing anything about it.  They have gone back to what they knew before Jesus.  They have gone back to the life they loved before Jesus: to a simpler and more carefree life!  They are fishing.  This day, they aren=t catching anything.  Someone appears to them on the shore and asks them how they are doing; they tell we aren=t doing too good.  This person tells them to cast their nets on the other side; they do, and they catch so many fish they almost can=t bring it in.  They realize then that it is Jesus.  This is one of John’s accounts of the appearance of Jesus after his resurrection!  Peter puts on his clothes and jumps in the water and swims back to shore!  The others come back by boat.  Jesus cooks them breakfast of fish and bread.  After the meal, Jesus looks directly at Peter and says, ASimon son of John, do you love me more than these (as Jesus probably gestured toward the others and toward the lake that Peter loved)?@ He said to him, AYes, Lord; you know that I love you.@ Jesus said to him, AFeed my lambs.@  (Reminds me of the movie: Do what you were meant to do: you have become less that I meant for you to be!)  16  A second time he said to him, ASimon son of John, do you love me?@ He said to him, AYes, Lord; you know that I love you.@ Jesus said to him, ATend my sheep.@  17  He said to him the third time, ASimon son of John, do you love me?@ Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, ADo you love me?@ And he said to him, ALord, you know everything; you know that I love you.@ Jesus said to him, AFeed my sheep.

Peter gets up from this encounter with the Lord and takes up his job that he was prepared for.  We said last week that we have no evidence at the tomb that Peter saw and believed; well, here, Peter sees and believes!  He has looked at his priorites and decides that he wants to serve the Lord and do what Christ called him to do, AFeed his sheep.@   He becomes one of the leaders of the early church; he becomes a fisher of people.  Tradition has it that he became the first Bishop of the church.

 

3^rd Movement:

The Lord used this scripture where Jesus reinstates Peter to call me into the ministry.  The Lord kept asking over a period of time, AMike, do you love me more than anything else?@  Then feed my people!  Do you love me more than this?  (Perhaps, my rental property!)  Do you love me more than that? (Perhaps, my plans for the future.)  I kept saying, AYes Lord, I love you more than anything else!@  Then you know what you must do.  Finally, one day with tears in my eyes I acknowledged God=s call on my life and answered the call into the ministry!  

We all have things we plan to do!  We all have things we like to do!  We all have things that we were meant to be (God=s call on our lives and God=s gifts).  We can be the happiest in God; that has been my experience!  God=s ways are best, but sometimes it is hard to see that and to resign to that.  God=s ways are best for the others we love (Remember Simba), but sometimes that is also hard to see!   In the midst of all of this, today Christ asks for complete surrender, ADo you love me more than these? (Perhaps, it is that thing you love to do the most.)  ADo you love me more than this?  (Perhaps, it is our plans for the future.)  ADo you love me more than these?@ (Perhaps, it is our friends and other people; what will they think?)   ADo you love me more than these?@  Have you fell away from God’s call in your life because something happened that threw you a curve?  Have you become less than God called you to be? Are you a fully committed Christian?  Is God calling you to something you have not yet answered to?  What is God calling you to this morning?  Individually and as a Church?  Answer the call this morning as we encounter Christ at the table!

 

Prayer of Confession

Service of Communion

                                                                             

Do Not Hold to Me!

Easter Sunday!

Prayer

John 20:1-18

First Movement:                               

            Most of us do not like change, if it is change from something we like.  I hate the way apps and programs update and change.  I can understand the need to update for security reasons, but some of the changes don’t seem necessary to me; moving where you go on the menu to do certain things doesn’t seem necessary.  About the time you get used to it, they change it.  One of the hardest things for me as a pastor has been the realization that I have to move from time to time.  Moving usually means learning a new set of 100 – 200 people and their stories; it means getting new doctors; it means finding new places whom you can trust to work on your cars or get them inspected.  It means learning where everything is, at the new place.  It is a very high stress year for a parsonage family as they say goodbye to the old and are introduced to the new. 

 

            One of the most appealing things to me about retirement is buying a home and being able to stay there as long as I am able.  You have given me a head start on that since you have a housing allowance instead of a parsonage; we plan on this being our final home.  Even growing up, the longest I have lived in any one house has been 9 1/2 years.  I envy, in some ways, people who have lived in one place for a long time, because change is hard, but sometimes it is needed.  Sometimes, change can be good.  Change has given me the opportunity to learn things and people I would not have known if I had not experienced the change! It has given me a chance to learn and be exposed to different ways and to accept for my own those I believe to be right!

 

 

Second Movement:

            Our resurrection story this morning is from John’s gospel.  It is significantly different than some of the other gospel accounts.  Here Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb and sees that the stone has been rolled away.  First difference is that John only records Mary Magdalene.  Some of the other gospels record two women or two Marys.  There is really no satisfactory account for why John only records the one, other than she was the one significant to  the point he wanted to make. 

 

            Mary runs to tell Peter and the disciple Jesus loved, which we believe to be John himself.  John never refers to himself as John but only by the distinction of the disciple Jesus loved.  They come running to see.  Peter enters first, but there is no mention of him seeing and believing.  We know he came to believe.  Our 1^st scripture from Acts 10:34-43 tells us what he had to say later, but for now, there is no mention of him seeing and believing. The mention of the linen cloths is significant!  Someone who might have robbed the grave or took Jesus would not have taken off the linen cloths, and they would not have taken the time to roll up the one from his head.  Some sources say that it was a Jewish tradition that when you left the table and folded your napkin it meant I will be back; they believe this was a hidden message here, that Jesus was saying, “I’ll be back!” Peter doesn’t seem to pick up on any of this. The disciple whom Jesus loves enters, sees, and believes.  He picks up on all of this. John, the one who stood by Jesus’ mother at the crucifiction, is the first one to see and believe after the resurrection, according to John’s gospel. 

 

            Then, we come to what I really want to talk about this morning.  Mary stands weeping outside the tomb.  She looks in and sees two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been.  They say to her “Woman why are you weeping?”  She says, “They have taken my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”  Mary then turns to Jesus.  Mary’s address as Jesus as Lord.  This may be John’s first hint to Jesus being the risen one!  She sees him, but does not “see” him.  She sees him with her eyes, but she does not see him with her faith until he speaks to her.  Then, she really sees him and calls him “teacher.”  This could be closer translated as , “My great one!”   She apparently grabs him when she sees him because Jesus does not say, “Don’t touch me.”  He instead says, “Do not hold to me.”  Or this could also be translated, “Let go of me because I have not yet ascended to my father and your father!” 

 

Third Movement:  

            This brings us to the point I want to make today.  When Mary recognized who Jesus was, she clung to him because she wanted to hold onto what had been.  She wanted things to return to the way they had been.  She wasn’t ready for a change; she was so excited that things did not have to change as she thought they had.  She liked things like they were!  She thought now Jesus could set up his earthly Kingdom. He would reign on earth!  He would set up an Earthly Kingdom and right the wrongs they were experiencing, but John wants us to know there are bigger and better things to come.  This was a change that needed to happen!  Jesus was saying, Don’t hold to me, let the change come!

 

            The next  big event for John’s gospel are not all the appearances of Jesus after his crucifixion, but it is the ascension to Heaven to take His place beside the Father as our intercessor and King, to his Father and our Father!  The ascension stories confirm his Messiahship, but it is after the ascension that Jesus sets up his Kingdom, not before.  It is after the ascension that he reigns in a Kingdom where his followers and the Kingdom people are those who receive what he has done on their behalf on the cross!  It is in this Kingdom that his followers strive to let his “Kingdom come on Earth as it is in Heaven,” as we pray in the Lord’s prayer.  It is in this Kingdom that Jesus’ followers strive to love others and make things right, to let Jesus love through them!  It is in this Kingdom that things are finally made right, beginning now and consummated in eternity!

 

Forth Movement:

            Jesus has lived before us and showed us how to live!  Jesus was crucified and died for our sins on Good Friday!  He arose on that first Easter morning!  We celebrate it on Easter Sunday!  We, the church, celebrates it each Sunday; that is why we worship on Sunday and not Saturday.  Sundays are little celebrations of the resurrection!  Christians began to worship on Sunday, because of the resurrection!  He made many appearances after his resurrection, but we can only see him through the eyes of faith!  He has ascended to our Father God where he reigns forever!  Do you see him through the eyes of faith?  Do you want to be a part of his Kingdom this morning?  Come speak to him this morning and believe as we encounter the risen Christ at the table this morning!  (If you make a first time commitment, please let me know so I can help you with your new walk in Christ!)  As you look at the cross this morning, he is not here, he has risen!

 

Prayer of Confession

Service of Communion