Would you ever make a decision that would cause you to have to leave your home and lose the love, honor, and respect of your parents?

Would you ever make a decision that would cause you to have to walk away from your job?

Would you ever make a decision that that would cause you to have to go to the people that have wronged you and tell them that you forgive them even though you knew that they were going to make fun of you and shame you for being weak?

Would you ever make a decision that would cause you to have to give freely of your time, and energy, and money in order to support an important cause?

Would you ever make a decision that would cause you to have to stand strong in what you believed to be true rather than change your mind to be accepted by the people around you?

Would you ever make a decision that would cause you to have to  spend time in jail or prison?

Would you ever make a decision that would cause you to have to face the death penalty?

Asian Access (or A2), a Christian missions agency in South Asia, listed a series of questions that some church planters have been asking new believers who are considering baptism. (Due to safety concerns, Asian Access does not mention the country’s name.) 

The country is predominantly Hindu, but over the past few decades Christianity has grown in popularity—especially among poor and tribal peoples. The following seven questions serve as a reality check for what new followers of Jesus might experience if they decide to “go public” with their decision to follow Christ:

1. Are you willing to leave home and lose the blessing of your father?

2. Are you willing to lose your job?

3. Are you willing to go to the village and those who persecute you, forgive them, and share the love of Christ with them?

4. Are you willing to give an offering to the Lord?

5. Are you willing to be beaten rather than deny your faith?

6. Are you willing to go to prison?

7. Are you willing to die for Jesus?

The seven questions serve as a sobering reminder for all Christians from every continent of what it might cost us to follow Jesus.¹

In this morning’s Biblical text from Matthew’s biography of Jesus, we are going to hear about the importance of faith and baptism for Jesus’ disciples during the 1st Century A.D. and for you and me today.

Matthew 28:16–20 tells us this:

[16] Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. [17] And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. [18] And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (ESV)

Let’s put these words of Jesus into their context.

Jesus is speaking this words to his disciples after his resurrection and prior to his ascension back to Heaven.

As Jesus was traveling and revealing himself as alive and well after he was publicly crucified and buried, he asked his disciples to go to Galilee and wait for him.

And, so they did.

(I don’t know about you, but if someone came back to life, after I saw him killed and buried, I would do whatever he said!)

In this morning’s text, we have Jesus, once again, fulfilling a promise to those that have faith in him and follow him.  Jesus rose from the dead, to defeat the power of sin and death, and meets his friends where he said he would meet them.

And, in his final words to them, he leaves them with a command.  

To follow this command doesn’t leave them oppressed and enslaved to rules and judgment, instead to follow this command leads them to rest, peace, and hope, as they share the rest, peace, and hope that comes from being loved by the Creator and Redeemer of the universe. 

In this command, known by the Christian Church as The Great Commission, Jesus asks his disciples to go out into their homes, their work places, their birthday parties with friends and family, their schools, and the surrounding counties and countries always sharing the good news that God brought to them, which is recorded in a succinct statement in words that are the most famous of all Bible words.

Those words are also words of Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, and are found in the disciple John’s biography of Jesus.

John 3.16-17 says this:

[16] “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (ESV)

And, the command of Jesus in this morning’s text from Matthew’s biography of Jesus, adds that when people find themselves rejoicing and believing in God’s gifts of the forgiveness of sin, a record of perfection, or, righteousness, when measured up against God’s standards for life and love, reconciliation with God the Father, or, in other words, an eternally fixed relationship with God, and eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven where there will be no more pain, tears, sorrow, or suffering, all through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the disciples are to baptize them and continue teaching them them from the riches of God’s Word, the Bible.

Now, here is the question that we end up asking:

“Why do we need to be baptized?”

Well, baptism is a means of grace.

What that means is that baptism is commanded by Jesus as a way that we are guaranteed to come into direct contact with God’s grace and mercy as he does what he promises to do—wash us clean from the sin that keeps us separated from him and bring us into new life where we are forgiven and eternally connected to our Creator becoming a recipient of his protection and provision from that day forward.

Baptism brings us into the family of God.  

Being in the family of God is a big deal for you and me because it is a place where we once did not belong because of the sin that is attached to us and overflows from us since the moment of conception.

But, God being gracious and merciful, desiring to have you as a son or daughter forever and ever, poured out his great love on you in the person and work of Jesus Christ.  In Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, your connection back to God was priority #1.

So, to sum this all up Biblically, you are in need of baptism for two reasons.

The first reason is that all are born into sin.

In his letter to the Christians gathering in Rome during the 1st Century A.D., the apostle Paul lays it out on the line when he says,

[23] for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3.23, ESV)

You may be sitting here this morning thinking, “I am not that bad.  Most of the time I am a descent person.”

Well, that is not a true picture of your humanity.

According to God’s estimation, you are included in the “all” of this statement.

Blase Pascal, the 17th Century mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and theologian, wrote this about the human condition:

“What sort of freak then is man?  How novel, how monstrous, how chaotic, how paradoxical,, how prodigious!  Judge of all things, feeble earthworm, repository of truth, sink of doubt and error, glory and refuse of the universe.  Who will unravel such a tangle?…Man transcends man…Know then, proud man, what a paradox you are to yourself.”²

Regardless of how hard you try to do what is right and be a good person, you still fall very, very, very, short of God’s perfect standards for life and love.

And, that leads to the second reason you need to have faith that leads to cleansing and new life of baptism.

In that same letter to the Christians gathered in the city of Rome, the apostle Paul goes on to say that because of sin you are guilty of turning your back on God and are deserving of the punishment that is condemnation, judgment, and death (which is the eternal separation from God your Father in Heaven).

In Romans 5.12, the apostle Paul says,

[12] Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— (Romans 5.12, ESV)

But, Biblically, we know that God does not desire this end for you.  

God wants the exact opposite for you.

So, God does so much for you in baptism.

Let’s hear what God does for you in baptism.

Through faith and baptism, God provides you with the new birth/new life and regeneration you need know Him and His commands for life and love.

John 3.5 and Titus 3.5 tells us this respectively when we hear:

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit…

Through faith and baptism, God provides you with the forgiveness of sins that you can have a clean record of all rights and no wrongs before the throne of God.

Acts 2.38 and Acts 22.16 tells us this when they say,

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’

Through faith and baptism, God provides you with the sanctification you need to be acceptable to God the Father.  

Sanctification is a just a big fancy word that means “made holy,” or “set apart.”  That means God does the work for you that you cannot do and makes you holy and sets you apart for his Heavenly home.

Ephesians 5.25-26 tells us this truth about God’s grace towards us when it says,

that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.  (Ephesians 5.25-26, ESV)

Through faith and baptism God also bestows upon you the benefits of Jesus Christ’s death, clothes you in righteousness, or, in other words, perfection, and unites you with Jesus’ burial and resurrection.

Romans 6.3, Galatians 3.27, and Colossians 2.12 tell us these good things when we hear,

“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” (Romans 6.3, ESV)

And,

“For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Galatians 3.27, ESV)

And,

having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. (Colossians 2.12, ESV)

Finally, if all of that good stuff that God does for you in faith and baptism isn’t enough, God also provides you with salvation and makes you a part of His family in Heaven and on earth—the part of the family that is called the Church in which Jesus is it’s head.

1 Peter 3.21 and 1 Corinthians 12.13 tell us these truths when we are told:

Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ…

For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

In 2019, Christianity Today shared this story:

It was one of the worst days of 23-year-old Brenton Winn’s life. But it paved the way for one of the best. He was angry at God after he relapsed from an addiction to methamphetamines. Winn knew nothing about Central Baptist Church of Conway, Arkansas, when he broke in that evening. High on drugs, Winn went on a rampage and destroyed $100,000 of church property.

Six months later Winn was baptized at Central Baptist. He said, “As I’m starting to understand how God works, I’ve realized I didn’t pick the church that night. God picked me. If it had been any other church, I think I’d be sitting in prison right now.”

Winn’s journey from a jail cell in February to a baptismal pool in September began when Central Baptist senior pastor, Don Chandler, talked to the prosecutor. Chandler knew the godly response to Winn would be to offer forgiveness rather than judgment.

Chandler said, “You can’t preach grace for 50 years without practicing it, especially in front of your whole church …This was a young man who had made some mistakes. He was on drugs and alcohol when he did what he did. But he was redeemable.”

Chandler told the prosecutor that the church would like to see Winn get help with Renewal Ranch, a faith-based residential recovery ministry. 

The judge, who at the time had been a board member of Renewal Ranch, gave Winn the option. He could either go to jail, potentially for 20 years, or he could voluntarily choose to go to Renewal Ranch. Winn chose Renewal Ranch.

Winn eventually found himself believing in Christ as his Savior after one of the Bible studies at Renewal Ranch. Winn and other ranch residents now attend church at Central Baptist on Wednesday evenings. 

Winn chose to be baptized at the church on one of those Wednesday nights.

Winn said. “I gave my heart to Christ. I used to think it was a coincidence [that I chose to break into the church], but now I call it confirmation that God is real, and he answers prayers. I needed a relationship with Jesus Christ.”³

In an issue of Leadership magazine from a few years ago, one of the articles contained this statement:

“In baptism we are initiated, crowned, chosen, embraced, washed, adopted, gifted, reborn, killed, and thereby sent forth and redeemed. We are identified as one of God’s own, then assigned our place and our job within the kingdom of God.”⁴

In his newest book, author Os Guiness, says this:

“Forgiveness is linked inseparably to freedom, and…together they open up a future that can be different from the past.”⁵

Through faith and baptism you are forgiven and set free.  You are set free from your insanity and anxiety that is always at work in the background of your thinking, and sometimes in the foreground of your thinking and speaking, that makes you feel like you need to work as hard as you can to be the best person that you can so that at some point, you will feel good enough to be accepted by God in the end.

When Jesus died on the cross, he looked at you and said, “It is finished!” In those words, he was letting you know that he has done everything needed to make you loved and accepted by God.  Nothing is left to do for you.  Jesus has done it all for you.

Through faith and baptism, in Jesus’ name, you are strengthen by God and free to live and love as God first lived and loved you—with grace and mercy that leads to rest, peace, and hope.

So, I do what is appropriate and I leave you only with the command of Jesus today:

Go, [this week], and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Pastor Fred Scragg

June 4, 2023

FootNotes

¹“South Asian Nation Struggles to Shape Itself,” Mission Network News (1-17-12)

²Blase Pascal, Pensees, 215.

³Tobin Perry, “He Got High and Broke Into a Church. Months Later, He Was Baptized There, Christianity Today online (10-11-19)

 ⁴Leadership, Vol. 11, no. 4.

⁵Os Guinness, The Magna Carta of Humanity: Sinai’s Revolutionary Faith and The Future of Freedom (Downers Grove: Inter Varsity Press, 2021), 54.

When you pray, what do you pray for?

Do you pray that you would get a “good night’s sleep?”

Do you pray that you would pass your upcoming school exams?

Do you pray that the guy or girl that you really like would ask you out on a date?

Do you pray that if he likes it, he will put a ring on it?

Do you pray that you would get a call back from the job you interviewed for?

Do you pray that you would have the money to pay the rent this month?

Do you pray that a rebellious child would turn around and come home?

Do you pray for reconciliation in our currently divided and hostile nation?

Do you pray that a sickness or disease would be healed?

Do you pray that the addiction of a loved one would be broken? 

Or, do you pray that a personal addiction that you are enslaved by would be broken?

In the early 2000s, eight-year-old Jonathan played on a hockey team. One day his coach announced a contest. The winner would receive two tickets for a Colorado Avalanche National Hockey League game. 

Jonathan competed hard, but the tickets went to another boy.

On the drive home with his mother, there were tears of disappointment.

His mother said, “If the desire of your heart is to go to an Avalanche game, you should pray about it.”

She discussed that God was not a Santa Claus, who gave us everything we wanted, but that we should tell him our desires and leave them in his hands. At bedtime that night Jonathan made his requests known to God.

“God, this is Jonathan. I’d like to go to an Avalanche game. I know you are busy with a lot of other things, but I’d really like that.”

Jonathan’s father didn’t know about his son’s prayer. 

The next day he came home from work and announced that a friend had given him tickets to watch the Avalanche practice. It wasn’t a game, but Jonathan was excited.

The practice was held at the Pepsi Center in downtown Denver. Their seats were only eight rows up from the glass surrounding the ice, right above the players bench. 

Seeing that some boys were standing by the glass, Jonathan went down and joined them. Thrilled to be so close, he watched his favorite player, legendary goalie Patrick Roy, at work.

Suddenly, Patrick Roy skated over to the bench. He had broken the blade on his hockey stick. As the trainer handed him a new stick, Roy looked at Jonathan and pointed. The trainer took the broken stick and handed it over the glass to Jonathan.

Jonathan held the stick above his head as if he had won the Stanley Cup. His smile could have powered the entire stadium.

Patrick Roy’s stick now hangs on his wall, but it is more than just a precious souvenir. It reminds Jonathan of God’s goodness. 

God always has our best and his glory in mind, and he is able to answer our prayers with more than we could ask or imagine.

Prayer happens in a variety of ways for a variety of reasons.

Sometimes we pray with other people in church using guided words on a screen.

Sometimes we pray in our car during our lunch break using our own words.

Sometimes we pray because we are thankful.

And, sometimes we pray because we are desperate.

We all pray.  

But, the questions that come with our prayer habits are:

“Who do you pray to?”

“What drives you to pray?”

And, “What do you pray for?”

In this morning’s text from the Gospel of John, or, in other words, John the disciple’s biography of Jesus, we are going to hear who Jesus prays to, what drives Jesus to prayer, and what Jesus prays for.  

In John 17:1–11, we hear this:

[1] When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, [2] since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. [3] And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. [4] I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. [5] And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

[6] “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. [7] Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. [8] For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. [9] I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. [10] All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. [11] And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. (ESV)

This morning, we once again return to the room and table where Jesus is eating The Last Supper with his disciples.  This is the night that Jesus will be betrayed, arrested, and set up for the death penalty.

As we have heard over the past three weeks, Jesus’ disciples were troubled at the news of Jesus no longer being physically with them on a daily basis.  They had many questions about who would lead them, guide them, teach them, protect them, defend them, and strengthen them for the hardships associated with everyday life.

They were filled with fear, anxiety, confusion, doubt, and were experiencing an existential crisis that demonstrated a great need for help.

In the texts leading up to this morning’s pericope, Jesus addressed their concerns and gave them confidence through assuring them that He would fulfill his promise to them—the promise to be with them always (see Matthew 28.20)—by living with them and in them through the third person of the trinity known as the Holy Spirit.  In His presence with them, in the person of the Holy Spirit, Jesus would do everything He did for them while present with them in the flesh and bones of Jesus Christ.  He would continue to strengthen them to know the truth of God when confronted with the lies for the world and He would strengthen them to be obedient to God’s commands for life and love while always providing forgiveness when they stumbled.

After speaking with the disciples about what life will be like once He was gone from the earth, but present with them in the Holy Spirit, Jesus turns his attention to pray.

Just as we mentioned a few minutes ago, prayer begs three questions whenever we do it.

The first question is, “Who do you pray to?”

Why is this an important question?

This is an important question because there is only One person you can pray to that is alive and powerful and can therefore hear you and respond.

And, this One person is the exact person that Jesus prays to.

In verse 1 of our text, Jesus begins His prayer by acknowledging that He is asking God, the Father in Heaven, for His help.

In 1 Peter 5.6-7, we have this directive:

[6] Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, [7] casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (ESV)

And, in Proverbs 15.29, we are told:

[29] The LORD is far from the wicked,

but he hears the prayer of the righteous. (ESV)

God cares for us and wants us to speak with Him about EVERYTHING,  He wants to know when we are content, happy, and thankful.  But, He also wants to know when we are in despair, dealing with depression, and have questions about His love for us.

We also have a warning about addressing our prayers to the wrong people and places in Psalm 115:1–13 when we hear the song writer say this:

[1] Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory,

for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

[2] Why should the nations say,

“Where is their God?”

[3] Our God is in the heavens;

he does all that he pleases.

[4] Their idols [the false gods that they pray to] 

are silver and gold,

the work of human hands.

[5] They have mouths, but do not speak;

eyes, but do not see.

[6] They have ears, but do not hear;

noses, but do not smell.

[7] They have hands, but do not feel;

feet, but do not walk;

and they do not make a sound in their throat.

[8] Those who make them become like them;

so do all who trust in them.

[9] O Israel, trust in the LORD!

He is their help and their shield.

[10] O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD!

He is their help and their shield.

[11] You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD!

He is their help and their shield.

[12] The LORD has remembered us; he will bless us;

he will bless the house of Israel;

he will bless the house of Aaron;

[13] he will bless those who fear the LORD,

both the small and the great. (ESV)

This Biblical text is saying that

You cannot pray to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and expect results.  

You cannot pray to man-created “saints” and expect results.

You cannot pray to your ancestors—your mother, your grandfather—and expect results.

All of those examples of people that are prayed to are just plain humans, like you and me, who have passed on from this life.

You cannot pray to Allah or Mohammed and expect results.

You cannot pray to Mother Nature, the god of your understanding, or ask the Universe for help and expect results.

All of those examples are just man-made fictitious gods and prophets who have no divine power.

Regardless of what other people or places tell you about who to address your prayers to, you should always be wise and go back to the Bible to find the truth about who is listening and wants to respond to you.

Jesus knew the truth that God, the Father in Heaven, the Creator and Redeemer of all things, was the One and Only true God who is eternally alive and active.  

So, Jesus’ prayer aligned with the truth that would later be recorded by the disciple John in his first letter to the Christian Church in which he states:

[14] And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. [15] And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. (1 John 5:13–15, ESV)

The second question that has to be asked when we pray is, “What is driving us to prayer?”

Well, for Jesus, we see and hear that Jesus is driven to prayer because He knows God is good and He wants the world to know that God is good by having him provide for the needs of His friends.

Jesus asks over and over again in prayer for God to be glorified.

What does this mean?

For God to be glorified means for God to receive the recognition and honor and praise and thanks that He deserves for being good and gracious and merciful to the world.

We actually ask the same thing when we pray the Lord’s prayer.

When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, we open in a similar way to the way that Jesus opens his prayer during this Last Supper conversation.

We say, “Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be your name.”

When we ask, “Hallowed be Your name,” we are asking God to let His name be known everywhere by every person so that He receives the recognition and honor and praise and thanks that He deserves for being good and gracious to the world.

So, Jesus is driven to prayer so that God can act graciously and mercifully and be known by more people in more places by His miraculous answers to prayer.  Jesus is praying for people to be saved.  He is king for people to recognize God and their need for forgiveness and eternal life.

And, finally, the third question that has to be asked when we pray is, “What do we pray for?”

Well, in Jesus’ prayer this morning, he asks for two things.

The first thing we just discussed, Jesus asks that God would be glorified as people believe in Him as Lord and Savior.
The second thing that Jesus prays for is unity among all who follow him.

Jesus knows that the Church is made up of people from different ethnicities, different socio-economic status’, different upbringings, and so on.  

And, on top of all of those differences, the Church is made up of individuals corrupted by sin who are all self-centered, self-seeking, and self-preserving.  The Church is made up of changed and transformed individuals who will continue to struggle with the temptation to sin by always seeking their own good above the good of others.

But, Jesus knows what God reveals as truth—when humans find themselves believing in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and they are strengthened by the Holy Sprit to love one another and put the needs of others above their own, the love of God is shown to the world because they are demonstrating that this is the way that God loves humanity—He puts the needs of others, meaning you, above His own.

Through the unity of Christian brothers and sisters, the love that God has for you, the love that God demonstrated to you by giving Himself over to death on the cross in the person and work of Jesus Christ for you—to forgive your messed up prayer life and your part in the disunity of the Church—God points us back to what the song writer says in Psalm 133.1-3 when he tells us this truth:

[1] Behold, how good and pleasant it is

when brothers dwell in unity!

[2] It is like the precious oil on the head,

running down on the beard,

on the beard of Aaron,

running down on the collar of his robes!

[3] It is like the dew of Hermon,

which falls on the mountains of Zion!

For there the LORD has commanded the blessing,

life forevermore. (ESV)

Tim Keller, reflecting on the passage, “Don’t be anxious but make requests to God with thanksgiving”, writes that, “We would expect Paul to say first you make your requests to God and then, you thank him for the answers. But that is not what Paul says.” Keller then illustrates his point with a story from his early twenties:

I prayed for an entire year about a girl I was dating and wanted to marry, but she wanted out of the relationship. All year I prayed, “Lord, don’t let her break up with me.” Of course, in hindsight, it was the wrong girl. I actually did what I could to help God with the prayer, because one summer, near the end of the relationship, I got in a location that made it easier to see her. I was saying, “Lord, I am making this as easy as possible for you. I have asked you for this, and I have even taken the geographical distance away.” But as I look back, God was saying, “Son, when a child of mine makes a request, I always give that person what he or she would have asked for if they knew everything I know”¹

Jesus, being God in the flesh, knew everything that God, the Father, knew.  Therefore, when he prayed, he prayed for the exact things that He needed and that those He was praying for needed.

In this morning’s text, Jesus prayed that God would be glorified in all things done by Him and in all things done by those that had faith in Him as Lord and Savior.  Jesus prayed for the disciples at the table during The Last Supper, and Jesus prays for you.

I will say that last part again…

Jesus is always praying for you!

You are on Jesus’ prayer list!

That means the God that created and sustains the universe knows your name, knows your troubles, and knows your needs, and has you on His prayer list every second of every day.

So, with the good news of Jesus’ prayers for you, 

Go this week and pray only to God the Father in Heaven.

Go this week, let the love that God has for you in the person and work of Jesus Christ—the love that leads to your forgiveness, your reconciliation, your righteousness, and your eternal life—lead you into moments of prayer.

And, go this week pray that God would be glorified in your thoughts, words, and actions, and that God would allow you, and the Christians in your Church, and in the world around you, to be unified so that that people are drawn to the cross of Christ where there is rest, peace, encouragement, support, help, and hope.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Pastor Fred Scragg

May 28, 2023

Footnotes

¹Tim Keller, Walking With God Through Pain and Suffering (Dutton, 2013), pp. 301-302.

Do you ever feel like John, Paul, Ringo, and George, also known as the Rock ’N’ Roll band, The Beatles, who sing,

“Help, you know I need someone, help;” 

Help me if you can, I’m feeling down;

Help me get my feet back on the ground;

Won’t you please, please help me.”

I know you often feel like this.

So, what do you need help with right now?

Maybe you need help because you feel stuck in your life.

Maybe you need help because you don’t know how to get out of  the place that you find yourself currently.

In Five Finger Death Punch’s song, The Wrong Side of Hell, they sing of needing the help of direction for their life when they passionately call out,

“Arms wide open; I stand alone;

I’m no hero; and I’m not made of stone;

Right or wrong; I can hardly tell;

I’m on the wrong side of Heaven; and the righteous side of Hell.”

Do you ever feel like that?  Like you don’t know where you belong? Like you feel out of place?  Like you just need someone to help you by telling you where you fit in?

We all make our way through life whispering under our breath, or calling out in our head, “Lord, Help Me!” 

For people of faith, this is a sign that they believe God in Heaven is alive and active, listening to their pleas for help and is always ready to swoop in and come to their aid in their moment of need.

The interesting thing is that many who do not have faith in God will also often be heard using the phrase, “Lord, Help Me!,” as well.

Whenever this phrase, “Lord, Help Me!,” is uttered, it is a confession that life is hard and we can’t get through our day in our own strength.

On May 27th, 2021, Timothy Harrison arrived at the local Waffle House to start another shift. But at some point, his routine was punctured by a pointed question from a coworker: “Why are you here today?”

It was common knowledge that Harrison’s school Woodlawn High was holding its commencement ceremony at a location across town. Manager Cedric Hampton chimed in, “That’s when I said why aren’t you going to graduation?” And he said ‘I don’t want to miss work.’ So, I was like, you’re going!”

Harrison eventually admitted that he showed up for work as usual because he didn’t have a ride. By that point, the Waffle House team was ready to spring into action. Co-worker Shantana Blevins asked, “What do we need to do?”

As it turns out, there was plenty to do, but they all banded together to get it done. Members of the team assisted in buying Harrison appropriate dress clothes, procuring the cap and gown, and transporting him to the ceremony. Hampton said his assistant manager even came in on her day off to mind the store, just so the rest of the crew could help their newest 18-year-old employee on his big day. His co-worker said they made it to the venue just in time for Harrison to participate.

The new graduate reflected on the experience, “I had people want to see me succeed, so it kind made me excited. When I put on clothes, that was a different feeling … I don’t even know the words. A million dollars? It was the best feeling.” And if that weren’t enough, once news of his big day spread, he was met with a full scholarship to Lawson State Community College.

After being part of Harrison’s story, co-worker Shantana Blevins reflected on her role in the rescue effort. “You never know who you can touch or who you can influence with one simple gesture.”¹

Left alone, Timothy, the Waffle House employee, could not move forward in his life.  With his limited resources, he could not get to his own High School graduation, never mind having the funds to purchase appropriate clothing which also included his cap and gown for his walk across the stage to accept his diploma.  If transportation and clothing wasn’t within his monetary means, attending college sure wasn’t on the radar for Timothy.

But, one simple gesture changed this student’s life and set him up for future success.  

The help that was provided by Timothy’s co-workers opened up a whole new world of possibilities for him. 

In this morning’s text, Jesus recognizes that his disciples, those that follow him and will keep sharing the good news of God’s grace after He is gone, need help.

Let’s hear about the one gesture of help that Jesus recognizes his followers will need to change their life and set them up for future success.

In John 14:15–21, the disciple John, who wrote this biography of Jesus, records this piece of a conversation for us:

Jesus says:

[15] “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. [16] And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, [17] even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

[18] “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. [19] Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. [20] In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. [21] Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” (ESV)

This morning, we enter back into the conversation that we heard part of last week.

We enter back into the conversation that is being had around the dinner table during The Last Supper.

It is in this conversation that Jesus has been addressing the worries and concerns that the disciples began to have after hearing from Jesus’ own mouth that in a short period of time, he would no longer be with them.  Jesus directly told them that one of them there that evening would sell him out to the Roman government who would arrest him and lock him away.  Jesus also indirectly told them that the result of that betrayal, arrest, and imprisonment would be his death.  

So, when all is said and done, Jesus would no longer be physically present with them any longer.

This caused fear, anxiety, worry, and concern, or, trouble, as Jesus called it last week, for the men sitting at the table with him who have followed him, lived with him, worked with him, and learned about God’s grace, mercy, and love from him.

What would they now do with their lives?  Who was going to lead them and guide them from that day forward?  All that they found comfort in was going to be stripped away from them.

In this morning’s text, we see and hear Jesus telling his disciples that he knows their concerns, their worries, their problems, their troubles, and their weaknesses.

And, after recognizing those things, Jesus acts in pure grace, as He always does, and promises to help them to sort out those things so that they can have the knowledge, wisdom, peace and strength that they need to get through every single day of their lives.

So, what help do the disciples need?

Well, according to Jesus’ trustworthy assessment of the situation, the disciples had many needs focused around their faith and future.

The disciples need help loving Jesus;

The disciples need help keeping God’s commandments, or, in other words, God’s standards for life and love;

The disciples need help discerning the truth of God from lies of the world;

The disciples need help knowing God the Father in Heaven and seeing him at work in their lives and in the world around them;

The disciples need help becoming a member of God’s eternal family in His Kingdom of Heaven;

And, the disciples need help in order to be loved by God and reconciled to Him today, tomorrow, and forever.

Well, as Jesus always does, He speaks good news to the disciples that evening.

Jesus tells the disciples that even though He wouldn’t be present with them physically any longer, He would still be with them, every single day of their lives, or, to use Jesus’ own word, He would be with them forever.

How would Jesus be with forever?

Jesus would be living with them forever by coming to them and living with them and in them in the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.

This is how Jesus fulfills his promise in Matthew 28.20,

“I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Martin Luther referred to the Holy Spirit as the alter christus. 

Alter Christus means “another Christ.”

So, you don’t have some sort of subpar helper to go with you on your life’s journey, you actually have Jesus Christ himself, God the Son, living with you and traveling with you and helping you wherever you go.

Jesus tells them that he would fulfill his promise to them by being with them spiritually.

And, what would Jesus do for them?

Jesus would do the same exact thing that He did for them while He was physically present with them—Jesus would always lead them to The Truth.

Jesus, in the person of the Holy Spirit, would teach them and guide them and reveal to them that they are great sinners but God is an even greater Savior.  

Jesus, in the person of the Spirit would reveal to them their disobedience to God’s commandments and Jesus would strengthen them to live their lives in obedience to God’s commandments.

We know that this is the ultimate good news that Jesus wanted to live his followers with in this morning’s text because it books ends this part of their conversation.

At the beginning Jesus says,

[15] “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

And, at the end Jesus says,

[21] Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me.

However, Jesus knows that the human heart, when left alone, is incapable of both knowing the commandments of God and following the commandments of God.

Jesus notes this in The Gospel of Mark when He recognizes that:

[20] … “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. [21] For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, [22] coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. [23] All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (Mark 7:20–23, ESV)

But, this corrupted and incapacitated human heart isn’t a new story, God, the Father in Heaven, makes the inability to do what is right, according to His standards for life and love, clear from the moment of humanity’s Fall.

In Genesis 6:5, we hear:

[5] The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (ESV)

And, in Genesis 8:21, God points out that:

“…for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” (ESV)

As Josh White, musician and author, writes in his newest book, Stumbling Toward Eternity: Losing & Finding Ourselves in the Cross of Jesus, 

“The challenge before us is the fact that the default setting of the human heart is to push back agains anything that threatens our autonomy.”²

And, God’s commandments threaten our autonomy because in the commandments, God is telling us what we can and cannot do.

So, corrupted by sin since from the moment of conception, we are unable to follow God’s commandments because we will always default to disobedience to God in favor of thinking we know a better way.

But, God, in His great love for you and for me, does not let our sin stop us from loving him and listening to Him.

God comes to you in the person of Jesus Christ to forgive your self-centered sin through Jesus death, and to give you the righteousness you need by crediting Jesus’ perfect life to account so that you can be reconciled to God in Heaven forever.

And, then, God gives you Jesus to stay with you and live with you, through His Holy Spirit, to empower you and strengthen you to love Him and listen to Him and do what He commands every single second of every single day.

You don’t have to climb the proverbial ladder to God (which even if you wanted to, you couldn’t because of sin). God comes to you in the persons of Jesus and the Holy Spirit to carry you up that ladder to Himself, strengthening you every second to face the challenges of your day that attempt to pull you off the path that leads eternal life in God’s Kingdom.

Throughout the Bible, we are told over and over again that “the Spirit is…the means by which God empowers individuals to do his will.”³

We have many examples of God, by His Spirit, living with and empowering people to do His will.

One of those examples is in Isaiah 61:1 which tells of how God works by His Spirit to lead, guide, and work through those who have faith in him.

In this text, we hear:

[1] The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,

because the LORD has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor;

he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 

The Good News Network, which began in 1997 as an antidote to the barrage of negativity experienced in the main stream media and is still active today online, reported the following story in January of 2022:

A 71-year-old Swedish man was in his driveway shoveling snow in the Swedish city of Trollhättan, when he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. Normally, you have about ten minutes to get help in such a situation and ambulance response times are often too long to save the life of the patient. Typically, only ten percent of people survive sudden cardiac arrest.

Luckily, a telephone call was immediately placed requesting emergency services and the man lived in a region that had partnered with Everdrone’s innovative life-saving program. Everdrones deliver an automated external defibrillator (AED) to the scene. The amount of time from the alarm until the AED was safely delivered at the doorstep of the incident address was just over three minutes.

Even more fortuitous, a doctor happened to be driving by and stopped to see if he could help. Dr. Mustafa Ali said, “I was on my way to work at the local hospital when I looked out the car window and saw a man collapsed in his driveway and I immediately rushed to help. The man had no pulse, so I started doing CPR while asking another bystander to call the Swedish emergency number. Just minutes later, I saw something flying above my head. It was a drone with a defibrillator!”

After the initial treatment on site, the ambulance arrived, the patient was rushed to the hospital. “This is a truly revolutionary technology that needs to be implemented all over,” said the patient who now has made a full recovery and returned home. “If it wasn’t for the drone I probably wouldn’t be here.”

The company behind the drone pilot project says it’s the first time in medical history that a drone has played a crucial part in saving a life during a cardiac arrest. The drone carries an ultralight defibrillator, which can be used by any bystander.

Life is hard, especially when you are trying to be obedient to God’s standards for life and love, or, in other words, think, speak, and act, exactly like God.

You quickly come to the conclusion, when hearing God’s commands, that you cannot ever do this by your own strength.

You need help loving Jesus;

You need help keeping God’s commandments, or, in other words, God’s standards for life and love;

You need help discerning the truth of God from lies of the world;

You need help knowing God the Father in Heaven and seeing him at work in your life and in the world around you;

You need help becoming a member of God’s eternal family in His Kingdom of Heaven;

And, you need help in order to be loved by God and reconciled to Him today, tomorrow, and forever.

Jesus comes down from Heaven, in the person of the Holy Spirit, to provide you with the life saving help that you need—the strength to follow God’s commands, and the forgiveness you need when you stumble and mess up, so that you can be loved by God the Father in Heaven because you are credited with loving Jesus the Son perfectly in every way.

You belong in God’s arms in His place, the Kingdom of Heaven.

And, Jesus comes to tell you that’s where you fit in because He has done all of the work needed to get you there.

Through the one gesture of giving you the gift of the Holy Spirit, Jesus sets you up for future success with the strength to know the truth, follow His commands, and find yourself loved by God the Father eternally.

I leave you with this exhortation from the apostle Paul written to the 1st Century Christian Church gathered in the city of Galatia:

[16] But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. [17] For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. [18] But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. [19] Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, [20] idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, [21] envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. [22] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. [24] And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

[25] If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:16–25,ESV)

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Pastor Fred Scragg

May 21, 2023

Footnotes

¹Ronnie Koenig and Janhvi Bhojwani, “Waffle House employees band together to help co-worker attend his graduation,” Yahoo News (6-6-21)

²Josh White, Stumbling Toward Eternity: Losing & Finding Ourselves in the Cross of Jesus (Colorado Springs: Multomah, 2023), 29.

³Josh White, Stumbling Toward Eternity: Losing & Finding Ourselves in the Cross of Jesus (Colorado Springs: Multomah, 2023).

What troubles you today?

As you were going about your week, since we last met, what events, news, and experiences have caused concern and worry in you?

Are you troubled by the ever-increasing list of school shootings?

Are you troubled by the latest images of a natural disaster?

Are you troubled by the collapsing and failed banks?

Are you troubled by the price of living due to inflation?

Are you troubled by tension in you marriage or in a certain relationship?

Are you troubled by a rebellious child?

Are you troubled by a career decision or job instability?

Are you troubled by health issues?

Are you troubled by ever-present anxiety or the darkness of depression?

Are you troubled by broken dreams or unfulfilled promises?

Are you troubled by weight gain?

Are you troubled by the fear and burden of addiction?

When thinking about the troubles we have had, have now, and will have in the future, we come to quickly understand that we live in a world that doesn’t contain enough ink and paper to record all of the troubles we experience.

As we come to this morning’s Biblical text from the Gospel of John, or to put it another way, John’s biography of Jesus, we enter into a moment in which Jesus is talking to his disciples about their current overwhelming concerns and worries, their troubled hearts and minds.  In the text, Jesus acknowledges the suffering that they are experiencing and tells them how to deal with trouble when it comes their way.

Let’s hear from God’s Word, the Holy Scriptures, the Bible, now.

John 14:1–14 records this conversation for us:

[1] “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. [2] In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? [3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. [4] And you know the way to where I am going.” [5] Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” [6] Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. [7] If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

[8] Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” [9] Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? [10] Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. [11] Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

[12] “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. [13] Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. [14] If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. (ESV)

As we enter into this conversation between Jesus and His disciples this morning, it seems to start rather abruptly with Jesus stating, “Let not your hearts be troubled.”

This seems like a strange start to a conversation.  It actually seems more like the middle of a conversation after some sort of personal struggles were being discussed.

Well, to find out what is going on, we have to do what any good reader would do, we have to back up to see what came earlier in the text that led to such a bold and strong proclamation by Jesus.

When we do this, we come to find out that the conversation that unfold in this morning’s Biblical text from John 14 is actually part of the conversation that Jesus has with his disciples at the table during the last supper.

Jesus has just washed His disciples’ feet and commanded them to go out into the world and take gentle and intimate care of all of those around them because that is the nature of God’s love for them.

Jesus has also informed them that one of them will betray Him, selling him out to the Roman government, leading to His death which means He will be leaving them after spending three years living with them, traveling with them, teaching them to be Godly leaders in the world, and sharing God’s Word and miracles with them.

In this conversation, mostly found in the previous chapter of John 13, the disciples voice concern and fear of not having Jesus physically present with them any more.

This is the anxiety and inner turmoil, or trouble, that they are currently experiencing and that Jesus is addressing in our Biblical text this morning.

In our text, Jesus acknowledges their confused, concerned, and troubled hearts, and gives them the good news of how and wh yabout why they can have peace.

Jesus tells the disciples four (4) specific ways that they can find peace when they feel troubled.

First, Jesus tells them to believe in God in order to find peace when they are troubled.

In his 2nd letter to the Christian Church in the city of Corinth during the first century A.D. (or C.E.), the apostle Paul tells us this about God:

[3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, [4] who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (2 Corinthians 1:3–4, ESV)

What does this text say?

This text says that when we are experiencing trouble and we choose to focus on God, our Father in Heaven, He will bring comfort and peace into our lives by reminding us that He loves us and is for us.

Second, Jesus tells them to believe in Him in order to find peace when they feel troubled.

Later on in John’s biography of Jesus, specifically at John 16:33, Jesus is recorded as saying this to the disciples:

[33] I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16.33, ESV)

There is a common misconception promoted by pastors, churches, and Christians.

That common misconception is the lie that if you believe in Jesus, the result will be a trouble-free life.

This lie that is told inside and outside of churches all around the world does nothing but harm people of faith. The harm comes because the truth is that Jesus does not promise trouble-free lives so when we experience trouble, we doubt both God’s love for us and the efficacy of our faith.

Jesus clearly lets you know that even if you believe in God and you believe in Him, your life will not be trouble-free because you still live in a flesh and bones body corrupted by sin and you live in that sin corrupted body in a sin corrupted world.  

So, you will have trouble.

BUT, in the midst of the trouble you feel and experience, you can have confidence and peace with the knowledge that God is real, that God is active, and that God always has your best interests at heart.  The main way you see those truths is by seeing God working in and through the person and work of Jesus Christ for you.

In Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, Jesus has overcome the power of the world, the power of sin and death, which actively works against you to take you away from God and out of the equation.

With faith in Jesus, the words of 2 Corinthians 4:8–10 ring true our lives.

[8] We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; [9] persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; [10] always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. (ESV)

And, this is true because of who Jesus is.  

A great description of who Jesus is and what Jesus does for us is found in the apostle Paul’s letter to the Christian Church in the city of Colossae. Paul describes Jesus and His work for us with these words:

[15] He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. [16] For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. [17] And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. [18] And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. [19] For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, [20] and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

[21] And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, [22] he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, [23] if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. (Colossians 1:15–23, ESV)

Next, or third, Jesus tells them that they can have peace when they feel troubled in this world because He is currently preparing a place, a room in God’s house in Heaven, for them right now at this very moment.

And, fourth, Jesus tells them that they can have peace when they feel troubled in this world because regardless of what has happened to them, regardless of what is happening to them now, and regardless of what will happen to them tomorrow, He is coming to get them and take them to their Heavenly home that God has made possible for them through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

To support Jesus’ words and promises in points 3 and 4 above, God gives the disciple John a vision of Heaven later on in his life, when John is exiled away on an island by himself as a punishment for his faith in Jesus.

So, even though John had this trouble in his life, God brought him comfort and peace in this hour of need.

John says this:

[1] Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. [2] And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. [3] And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. [4] He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

[5] And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” [6] And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. [7] The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. [8] But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21.1-8, ESV)

We talk about this hope we have every single Sunday when we gather at the table of Communion to celebrate the Eucharist when we hear and agree with the words that say,

“For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes [again].” (1 Corinthians 11.26)

In a book that I read to our student at Bethel Kids this past Friday night, the following paragraph was repeated over and over again:

“They told about Jesus, who died so we can be forgiven, who came back from the dead so we can live forever, and who sent his Holy Spirit so we can follow him as our King.”¹

In February of this year, the LA Times reported this story:

When Gustavo Alvarez lost his home in Los Angeles, there was a bitter irony that added insult to his travail. The fire that consumed his home started in a homeless encampment behind his home. Initially, insurance payments made it possible for Alvarez to move his family into an apartment while the home could be rebuilt. But the temporary housing benefits only lasted six months, which left Alvarez with nowhere near enough time or money to complete his home renovation.

Alvarez told The Los Angeles Times, “We are saving up to fix the house. But the $1,400 of rent for our temporary home has been an added expense. My wife is working at a clothing store to make up for some of it … You work day and night for years to build something and it is gone in a matter of hours.”

When Jessica Lawson read Alvarez’ newspaper story, she was moved to act. Lawson is a disaster recovery program manager for Habitat for Humanity in the greater LA area, so she reached out. Lawson said, “I knew we had the power to help. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could actually help the family?”

And help they did. Because of Lawson’s intervention, Habitat was able to offer Alvarez a loan with highly favorable terms that would help him finish his home. After reviewing damage estimates from a general contractor, the work was done quickly, enabling Alvarez to move back in a few months’ time.²

The fire of sin that burns deeply inside of you from the moment of conception leaves you homeless as it separates you from God, your Father in Heaven.  And, the strength you have within yourself, which is always corrupted by sin, makes it impossible for you to work hard enough and long enough to rebuild the bridge to God which takes you to your heavenly home.

However, the good news you have this morning is that God knows your story and has chosen to work a disaster recovery program for you.

God reaches out to you in the person and work of Jesus Christ every second of your life with the power to help you.

With Jesus’ intervention in living a perfect life when measured up against God’s standards, in dying on the cross as the innocent and sinless Lamb of God to provide you with the forgiveness of sin and righteousness, and in rising from the grave (moving from death to life), you find yourself with a reconciled relationship with God and an eternal home in Heaven.

With faith in Jesus, you find yourself always going home to Heaven, as you walk the ONLY way to God the Father who has created that place for you.

Take the third stanza of O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing with you this week and sing:

“Jesus the name that charms our fears

That bids our sorrows cease

’Tis music in the sinner’s ears

’Tis life and health and peace”

And, take Jesus words with you this week as well.

[33] I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16.33, ESV)

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Pastor Fred Scragg

May 7, 2023

Footnotes

¹Bob Hartman, The Prisoners, The Earthquake, and the Midnight Song: A True Story About How God Uses People to Save People (UK: The Good Book Company, 2020).

²Doug Smith, “A Watts family gets a helping hand after a house fire pushed them toward homelessness,” LA Times (2-11-23)

Did you ever feel like you would be happier if you didn’t know certain things?

Maybe you would be happier if you didn’t know your ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend had a new good looking partner.

Maybe you would be happier if you didn’t know that some of your friends went out for dinner and drinks without you.

Maybe you would be happier if you didn’t know that your child wasn’t invited to a birthday party with their peers.

Studies have shown that social media leads us to greater depths of sadness and depression because we see what everyone else is doing, or, at least choosing to show us that they are doing, and we compare and contrast our lives to those of our virtual friends.

We see their vacations, their work promotions, their college acceptances, their prom-posals, their weight loss, their weddings, and their child births, just to name a few of the good things that happen to those around us.

In our online voyeurism, we even get to see those who have hurt us and turned their back on us moving on with what seems to be little to no consequences and tons of what we could consider blessings.

All of this leads us to believe the cliche that says, “Ignorance is bliss!”

However, as history has proven over and over again ignorance isn’t always bliss.

In fact, ignorance, or a lack of information or knowledge, of the truth, can often be physically, mentally, intellectually, and spiritually harmful to our well being.

Here are some examples:

• When tobacco was first introduced, it was marketed as a safe and healthy way to have a good time. 

• Slavery was based on the false belief that race and ethnicity defined human value.

• In the 1960s people believed that Paul McCartney from The Beatles was dead and was replaced with someone who looked like him.

• At one time pregnant women thought that if they broke their nose and it ended up crooked the their child would be born with a crooked nose.

• Old wives tales talk about ways to tell if the baby is a boy or girl, like if you crave sweets or carry your baby low, it is a girl and if you crave meat and cheese and carry high and in front, it’s a boy. 

• At one time, some people thought that if you ate Chinese food, you would begin to look like Chinese people. 

• Before the mid-1800s, society was ignorant of germs, so there were many unsanitary practices, like operating on multiple people without sterilizing the instruments.

In November of 2020, the New York Times reported the following story:

When a group of friends and families decided to hike to Shoshone Geyser Basin in Yellowstone, they tried to come prepared for the unexpected. But what they didn’t prepare for? Fines, probation, and a temporary ban from the park. Three of them pleaded guilty to the minor offense of “foot travel in a thermal area,” after being discovered by park rangers trying to cook their food in the park’s hot springs.

Park representative Linda Veress said, “A ranger responded and found two whole chickens in a burlap sack in a hot spring.” The ranger found the group and questioned them about their behavior before issuing citations. According to Veress, the laws in place that prohibit access beyond designated trails are there to protect not only the park itself, but the public as well. Hot spring waters can exceed 400 degrees Fahrenheit, with the potential to cause “severe or fatal burns.” Such was the case earlier [that] year, when a 3-year-old girl suffered second-degree burns after falling into a hydrothermal area. The same thing happened in 2016, but the 23-year-old died from his burns.

Eric Romriell says that he and his friends did their best to be careful, double-packing the chickens inside a roasting bag and a burlap sack to avoid contaminating the waters. He said, “The way I interpreted it was don’t be destructive, and I didn’t feel like I was.” Dallas Roberts, another member of the group, says he saw some signage indicating they were in a closed area, but didn’t think the signs applied to the hot springs themselves. He agreed that the group wasn’t doing any damage, but added, “I can see that we should not have done that.”

There are countless examples every day as to why we shouldn’t want ignorance to be our new best friend, regardless of how confusing and wild things seem to be around us.

As we have heard for the past couple of weeks,

Easter was confusing;

Easter was wild;

But, Easter was also glorious.

Because of the last fact, the fact that Jesus’s death and resurrection was a glorious event, we are going to see and hear in this morning’s Biblical text that ignorance is NOT bliss.

Just like two Sundays ago, we are once again going to enter into an event that happened on the first Easter Sunday.

This time, we are going to see and hear what happened in the early afternoon following Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.

In his biography of Jesus, the doctor and theologian Luke, records a post-resurrection encounter with Jesus for us.

Luke 24.13-35 tells us this:

[13] That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, [14] and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. [15] While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. [16] But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. [17] And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. [18] Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” [19] And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, [20] and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. [21] But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. [22] Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, [23] and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. [24] Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” [25] And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! [26] Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” [27] And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

[28] So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, [29] but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. [30] When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. [31] And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. [32] They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” [33] And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, [34] saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” [35] Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. (ESV)

It has been said that tragedy is often like a giant eraser, cleaning our mental tapes of preceding data. 

Luke tells of two followers walking hurriedly away from Jerusalem, hoping to hit Emmaus by nightfall. Their journey was fueled by the adrenaline that one possesses when life crumbles and survival is the order of the day. They are together, yet alone. We feel the poignancy of their comment when they meet the stranger and tell of their troubles.

“We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel,” they say. … The stranger–the yet unrecognized Jesus–does not respond by peppering them with homey advice (“It’s always darkest before the dawn.”); nor does he indulge their self-pity (“Here, here, tell me all about it.”). Instead he draws them back to what they know, the Scriptures, and teaches them again the things that drew them to follow him in the first place.

The grace of God here is this—Jesus didn’t go to the man and woman on that road with judgment, condemnation, wrath, and punishment. No, he went to them with the answers to their questions and a desire to sit down with them and share a meal—signs of friendship and intimacy.

Jesus desired to correct their confusion and give them confidence in God’s love, grace, and mercy toward them.

A piece of the Good News that we receive in this morning’s text is the truth that the Word of God, the Bible, is living and active, and therefore able to speak into our hearts and minds, at every and any point in our lives, restoring us back to the objective truth of God’s love, God’s grace, God’s mercy, God’s forgiveness, and God’s abundant and eternal life, delivered to us in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, His Son.

The author to the Biblical book of Hebrews, reminds us of this in 4.12-13 when he says:

[12] For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. [13] And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (ESV)

John Wesley, the 18th Century English theologian and evangelist, credited with establishing the Methodist Church, found his ‘Emmaus road’ in London, on May 24, 1738. ‘In the evening,’ he tells us in his personal journal, ‘I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate street, where one was reading Martin Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans.  About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed.  I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.’ 

That evening it was William Holland’s reading of Luther’s commentary on Paul’s epistle, but even as the Word of God was being shared from man to man, Wesley heard the voice of the living Christ and found in it salvation.

When Jesus enters into the life of these two disciples, who were not part of the original 12, their ignorance is extinguished and they end up enlightened.

On this afternoon of the first Easter, the day that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead, these two individuals were out for a walk discussing the recent events and news reports surrounding this man named Jesus. 

They had many of the facts, but they didn’t know the meaning of all that happened.

During their discussion, it was clear that they saw the crucifixion but they did not understand the cross.

They knew that Jesus was punished by the Roman government and hung out to die for all to see.  But they did not yet know that this was God’s gift to them for the forgiveness of sin, the imputation of righteousness, reconciliation with God the Father in Heaven, and eternal life in His Kingdom.

However, Jesus comes to them for the very purpose of opening their eyes fully to what has happened and what it means for them.

Jesus showed them that everything written in God’s Word from the beginning to the end is all about Him.  It is about Him working  throughout the history of the world for their good in their salvation. 

Verse 27 of today’s text tells us this good news when it says:

[27] And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

The entire Bible reveals to us God’s great love for us in God’s great grace towards us as God actively chases after us and saves us through the person and work of Jesus Christ.  

Other Scriptures point us to the same good news that Jesus shares with those in today’s text that were walking away from Jerusalem.

Earlier in Jesus’ ministry, when talking to the Jewish population that was questioning his authority as the Son of God, the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Savior, he said to them:

[39] You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, (John 5:39, ESV)

In his biography of Jesus, the disciple John tells us why he shares Jesus’ story with us when he says:

[30] Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; [31] but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30–31, ESV)

And, later on in one of his letters to the Christian Church, he also reminded them of the purpose of his writing when he said:

[13] I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:13, ESV)

The apostle Paul even gets in on this train of thought when he writes to the Christians gathered in the city of Rome during the 1st Century A.D. when he tells them:

[4] For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. [5] May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, [6] that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:4–6, ESV)

After coming into contact with Jesus, the disciples were made wise for salvation and were therefore reconciled to God their Father in Heaven through their faith driven relationship with Jesus Christ, God’s son.

What Jesus made clear to the worried, burden, and confused was that all roads DO NOT lead to God in Heaven.

Therefore, ignorance of who he is, is NOT blissful.

Once again from John’s biography of Jesus, Jesus makes the truth unquestionably clear when he says:

[6] … “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. [7] If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:6–7, ESV)

When Jesus enters your life, as He is doing right now, several things happen for you, just as they did on the first Easter when Jesus appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. 

When Jesus enters your life, your ignorance is extinguished, and you end up enlightened.

And, when Jesus enters your life, God crushes your confusion and gives you confidence in the fact that you are forgiven of sin, credited with a full God-pleasing righteousness, reconciles you to himself today, tomorrow, and forever, and welcomes you with arms wide open into his eternal Kingdom of Heaven.

Easter was confusing;

Easter was wild;

But, Easter was also glorious.

Jesus comes to you in your initial ignorance of who He is and what He has done for you, or your moments of ignorance later on in your faith journey, not with judgment, condemnation, wrath, and punishment. 

No, Jesus comes to you with the answers to your questions and a desire to sit down with you and share a meal with you—a sign of friendship and intimacy. 

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Pastor Fred Scragg

April 30, 2023

Do you ever think that God might not be real? 

Do you ever think that God doesn’t love you?

Do you ever think that God could never love you because of your past?

Do you ever think that you may be wasting your time on Sunday morning’s with a child’s fairytale?

What doubts about life and the universe do you currently struggle with?

In an article describing some of the history of The New York Public Library, the author shared this amusing story:

Before there was the Internet and Google, the only way to find answers to a pressing question was to visit the local library and ask the all-knowing Librarian. A few years ago, the staff at the New York Public Library discovered a box of cards containing questions posed to the librarian by members of the public. The telephone “Ask A Librarian” service was set up in 1967 and operates to this day. And surprisingly, despite people having information at their fingertips these days, the New York Public Library receives roughly 30,000 calls per year.

Help line manager Rosa Caballero-Li said, “People have been reaching out to librarians for as long as there have been libraries. Often time people do not have access to the technology at home, and I think some just want somebody to talk to.”

Some of the questions discovered were:

“What does it mean when you dream you’re being chased by an elephant?”

“Why do 18th Century English paintings have so many squirrels in them?”

“If a poisonous snake bites itself, will it die?”

Somebody in 1962 was looking for “Charles Darwin’s book. Oranges & peaches.” The librarian politely directed the person to On the Origin of Species.

One person just wanted to know how to put up wallpaper. “I have the paper; I have the paste. What do I do next? Does the paste go on the wall or the paper? I’ve tried both and it doesn’t seem to work.”

“There are no stupid questions,” Caballero-Li said. ”Everything is a teachable moment. We don’t embarrass people; we try to answer any questions they have with honesty and we try to refer them to appropriate resources that they might find useful.”

If God had an, “Ask the Creator,” hotline, what would call up and ask?

What are you confused about?

What doubts do you have?

Last weekend, we celebrated both Good Friday and Easter.

Good Friday and Easter were confusing.

Good Friday and Easter were wild.

But, Good Friday and Easter were glorious.

We are entering back into the Biblical narrative this morning with a text from John’s biography of Jesus that was chosen for us by the lectionary.

This morning’s text tells us what happened on Easter night, and then 8 days after Easter, with Jesus’ disciples who were still feeling the effect of the confusion, the wildness, and the glory of Good Friday and Easter.  

Let’s hear together what happened immediately following Jesus’ resurrection.

John 20:19–31 tells us this:

[19] On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” [20] When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. [21] Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” [22] And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. [23] If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

[24] Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. [25] So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

[26] Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” [27] Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” [28] Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” [29] Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

[30] Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; [31] but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (ESV)

In the early 1950s teenage Lyle Dorsett and his family moved to Birmingham from Kansas City, Missouri. They were outsiders, often labeled Yankees by peers. But one summer evening in 1953, Dorsett was walking to his house after work and decided to take a shortcut through the campus of then-Howard College (now Samford University).

He was immediately intrigued by the sight he saw: a large tent on the football field featuring a magnetic preacher. As Dorsett drew near, he could hear evangelist Eddie Martin preaching on the parable of the prodigal son, calling other prodigals to come home. Dorsett said, “I knew I was the prodigal and … needed to come home.”

Martin asked those in attendance to return the next evening. Dorsett came early, and this time was seated near the front. When the call came, “the evangelist led me through a sinner’s prayer. I confessed my need for forgiveness. While being led in prayer, I strongly felt the presence of Jesus Christ. I sensed his love and forgiveness as well as his call to preach the gospel.”

Shortly thereafter, Dorsett and his parents joined a local Baptist church. However, 18 months later, Dorsett’s family moved back to Kansas City. On his return, gradually he drifted. During his time in college, he embraced a materialistic worldview. He received a Ph.D. in history but despite professional success, he began to drink heavily and became an alcoholic. His wife, Mary, who became a Christian after their marriage, began to pray.

One evening, he stormed out of the house after Mary asked him not to drink around the children. He found a bar and drank until closing. While driving up a winding mountain road, he stopped at an overlook and blacked out. The next morning, he woke up on a dirt road at the bottom of a mountain next to a cemetery not having any memory of the drive.

Dorsett cried out to God, “Lord, if you are there, please help me.” 

At that moment, he recognized that the same presence he had met in Birmingham was with him in the car and loved him. The prodigal son had finally, truly come home. He said, “Although I made countless mistakes, the Lord never gave up on me.”

God then called Dorsett to full-time ministry, ordination in the Anglican Church, and eventually to the Billy Graham Chair of Evangelism at Beeson Divinity School, Samford University, where he had first heard God’s call to preach.

He concludes,

“Over the years God has proved to be a gentle Comforter—like when my wife underwent massive surgery for cancer, and when our 10-year-old daughter died unexpectedly. Certainly, the most humbling and reassuring lesson is his persistence in drawing me to himself. And it was he who pursued me and sustained the relationship when I strayed in ignorant sheeplike fashion, doubted his existence, and then like the Prodigal Son deliberately moved to the far country. And it is all grace—unearned, undeserved, unrepayable grace.”

In the final chapter of his newest book, Post-Traumatic Jesus: A Healing Gospel for the Wounded, David W. Peters says,

“…our wounds are our calling cards for inclusion, not marks of estrangement and alienation.”

I share this quote with you because it points us to the universal truth of our humanity the very thing that connects us.  That connecting point is our internal and external brokenness caused by the corruption of sin that poisons our thinking and understanding.

All of our hearts and minds are broken and corrupted by sin. 

Therefore, we all doubt. 

We doubt, like Thomas, if God is real.  

We doubt, like Thomas, if God loves us. 

We doubt, like Thomas, if Jesus is who he says he is—God in the flesh.

We doubt, like Thomas, if Jesus death on the cross can actually forgive our sin.

And, we doubt, like Thomas, if resurrection from the dead is possible.

Now, you may have been spiritually abused, as I was, by churches, pastors, and/or Christians, along the way.  You may have been told the lie that Christians NEVER doubt God’s existence or power or His Word, the Bible.  You may have been told that you don’t really have faith or trust in God because you raise questions about some of the facts found in the Bible and find yourself confused from time to time, or most of the time. 

If you have ever found yourself crushed in spirit by these false teachings and have been hurt, traumatized, or pushed away from Jesus by these wolves in sheep’s clothing, these minions of Satan playing dress-up as the holy and righteous, I am truly sorry.  I know that kind of pain and suffering is very hard to walk away from and get out from under. 

But, you are in a safe place now, gathered together under one roof, just like the disciples, including Thomas on that second night, where God comes to you in the person and work of Jesus Christ to answer your questions and provide you with the proof you need to have peace today and peace forever.

Here is the beautiful thing that is shared with us in this morning’s text:

The peace that Jesus brings to the disciples, with a special focus on Thomas, around the Easter event, is both imminent and transcendent. To say it another way, the peace that Jesus brings surrounding the Easter event is both for the here-and-now and for the eternal. It is a peace for today.  It is a peace for tomorrow. And, it is peace forever. 

The peace that Jesus brings to you is the peace that comes from knowing that Jesus is who he says he is. He is God wrapped in the flesh. He is the fulfillment of every last thing that is spoken about in the Holy Scriptures. And, He is able to do more than you can ask or imagine. 

Jesus’ care and concern for His followers is incredibly grace filled. He knew every last fear that was causing anxiety for the disciples.  He knew every last question and point of confusion in Thomas’ mind. And in all of that, he went to meet them where they were.  He was persistent and pursued them out of love for them. They did not have to find Jesus. Jesus found them afraid, doubting, and hopeless and he gave them exactly what they needed to see, hear, and believe and in turn receive both the forgiveness for their sin and eternal life—Jesus gave them the holes in his hand and the hole in his side from crucifixion, and he gave them his physical presence after death, where he ate a piece of fish from their dinner plate to demonstrate his full bodily resurrection. 

In the room, the night of Easter, and in the room 8 days later with Thomas, Heaven met Earth for the disciples and they repented, believed, and shared the good news of Jesus Christ alive, dead, and resurrected with the world around them so that others could receive the peace that Jesus offers through faith in Him.

Jesus’ care and concern for you this morning is incredibly grace filled. He knows every last fear that is causing anxiety for you.  He knows every last question and point of confusion in your mind. And in all of that, he comes to meet you where you are. Jesus is persistent and pursues you out of love for you. You do not have to find Jesus. Jesus find you. And, sometimes like the disciples in our text, Jesus finds you doubting, and hopeless and he gives you exactly what you need to see, hear, and believe and in turn receive both forgiveness for your sin and eternal life. In the Gospel, the Good News, the Word of God, the Bible, Jesus gives you the holes in his hand and the hole in his side from crucifixion, and he gives you his physical presence after death, to demonstrate his full bodily resurrection. 

Yes, Good Friday and Easter were confusing.

Yes, Good Friday and Easter were wild.

But, Good Friday and Easter were also glorious.

In this morning’s text Jesus gives the disciples meaning and purpose for their lives when he says to them:

“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

Jesus also gives you this same meaning and purpose right now.

Jude, the writer of one of the letters in the New Testament part of the Bible, understands this all very well when he wrote this exhortation to the Christian Church during the 1st Century A.D. (or C.E. for you scholars out there):

[17] But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. [18] They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” [19] It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. [20] But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, [21] keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. [22] And have mercy on those who doubt; [23] save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. (Jude 17-23, ESV)

Let’s leave this room today, where God has gathered us, after the crucifixion and resurrection, so that Jesus can give us peace, with both Jesus’ words and the words to The House that Doubt Built by A Day to Remember reverberating in our hearts and minds:

Jesus says to you:

“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

And, then A Day to Remember Sings:

“Let’s believe that if we all stand together;

We’re a force that could shake the whole world”

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace and Peace of God for you today.

Amen.

Pastor Fred Scragg

April 16, 2023

We can see Skull Hill now, a gruesome and horrifying place if there ever was one. It was called Golgotha, Aramaic for “skull.” In Greek it is Kraníon—“cranium,” in our modern anatomy class. With the Romans we call it Calvary, for it is like the dome of bone on a human head. 

The Jolly Roger pirate flag, the Punisher sticker on a pickup truck window, Dan Aykroyd’s personal vodka brand—all skulls. The Totenkopf (literally, “dead’s head”) was the last thing that Jews, crowded into the gas chamber, saw on the collar of the SS guard as they peered through the dirty glass. You will find skulls on countless military unit insignias all over the world, as well as on bottles of poisonous liquids. Shakespeare’s Hamlet holds up a skull and says, “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him,” and the despair and sadness of death is visible. 

Skulls remind us of our impending death. As we look into the hollow eye sockets of a skull, they look into us. 

And so Skull Hill is a fitting place for a Roman crucifixion. A plaque written in Aramaic, Greek, and Latin is nailed to the top of the middle cross. It proclaims, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” And beneath that multilingual sign hangs a crucified man. 

His body is nailed to the wooden beams of the Roman torture device. His eyelids are swollen nearly shut from being beaten about the head. There is a crust of dried blood on his skin, and new blood oozes with each fainting heartbeat. He is alive in excruciating pain, crucifixion being at the root of this word for unbearable pain. 

Beneath his cross the soldiers who did the actual work of crucifixion are rolling dice, made out of bone, for his cloak. They are drinking cheap wine, soldier wine, to take the edge off. They have gotten drunk in many lands and far-off territories of their empire. With every sip, every buzz, every loud war story, they numb all feeling and sympathy for what they do. They take another drink, in hopes this drunk will touch the sadness down below the cruelty. They jokingly offer some to the man on the cross. How could they not have heard that his first miracle was turning water to fine wine at a wedding? 

Others insult the crucified man, taunting him with his powerlessness over what is happening to him. Some spit, others stare. Some women are there, his mother and some others. From the nails of the cross, the crucified man speaks through his pain, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple John, “Here is your mother” (John 19:26–27). He is asking his friend to watch over her, she who birthed him into the world and gave him his first bath. She says nothing. What could she say in the trauma of the moment? Her silence is our silence tonight in the face of horror. He is powerless. She is powerless. It is hard to tell who is in the most pain. 

His dehydrated mouth mumbles words, and the crowd cannot understand him. Eventually they hear, “I thirst,” and someone runs and gets a sponge. The sponge, a carcass of a sea creature who is rooted to one place for life, only to be plucked up by divers and used to clean, is that day dipped in the soldier wine and mixed with a bitter substance that may numb his pain a bit. The act of mercy is a double-edged sword, as the crucified man never knows if it will relieve pain or prolong pain. 

There is a loud cry, and he dies. Six hours is short for the torture of the cross. It seems too short, too good to be true for the leaders of the day who want all the bodies down from the cross before the approaching festival. They cannot take down live bodies, for then the victims would not have died by crucifixion. Their sentence of death by torture must be carried out in all its details. The morality of torture is rigid, exacting, precise, and completely devoid of human love. A spear is rammed into his side by a soldier to confirm his death. The fluids that gush forth from his body cavity confirm his clinical death in their death-filled minds. 

The trauma of Jesus, often called his passion—these gruesome six traumatic hours on a Friday afternoon on Skull Hill—are reenacted, rehearsed, recited, and remembered by over a billion people during Holy Week every year. A mother writes a note to her son’s principal excusing him from class so he can walk the stations of the cross with his youth group. A grandfather kneels in an empty church thumbing a rosary with a crucifix at its center. A construction worker cuts 4x4s in his garage with a circular saw to shape into a cross and put on the lawn of his church. 

Add to these billion all those who have meditated on this story in the two thousand years before us—refugees, soldiers, kings, peasants. This symbol of a crucified man is placed above the cradles of babies and on coffins, on Affliction T-shirts, as well as tattooed on human skin. The cross is the symbol that the burning Joan of Arc begged to be placed before her as she died in the fire. The cross is the symbol that an ICU nurse prays before in the hospital chapel while she confesses she has always planned her own suicide so she will not have to die with a tube jammed down her throat. 

The cross speaks to our human condition better than most other symbols. A helpless victim, an unjust trial, cruelty performed with a smile and a laugh, a silent god—these are not only what happened at the crucifixion; they are the marks of traumatic experiences that most humans experience in our short lives. 

While the teachings of Jesus about not worrying and about being kind, and the actions of Jesus such as turning water into wine are wholesome and encouraging, these stories of his life and teachings recorded in the four Gospels were written through the post-traumatic lens of his crucifixion. The Gospel writers knew how the story ends. One of Christianity’s earliest theologians, St. Paul, preached very little about Jesus’ parables and life events. He had one central message, “We proclaim Christ crucified” (1 Cor. 1:23). While this message was offensive and foolish to many who heard it, it drew a dedicated band of followers from enslaved people and the lowest classes of society, all of whom would have had significant trauma from living on the bottom rungs of the Roman social ladder. 

As Mary Beard writes in her monumental work SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome, the Roman world was terrifyingly vicious and is alien to us: “That means not just the slavery, the filth (there was hardly any such thing as refuse collection in ancient Rome), the human slaughter in the arena, and the death from illnesses whose cures we now take for granted; but also the newborn babies thrown away on rubbish heaps, the child brides and the flamboyant eunuch priests.”

We cannot underestimate how traumatizing this reality was for people living in the world of Jesus. The loss of their political autonomy and judicial recourse, the violent moods of occupying soldiers, and the inability to get ahead because of the tax burden are just a few ways the Romans traumatized the people in Jesus’ world. This traumatized world was where the stories of Jesus first circulated, offering a compelling alternative to Rome’s violent, traumatizing presence.

And, tonight, Jesus offers you an alternative to the violence and trauma that often define the world that you live in.

That alternative is Jesus opening his arms wide on the cross to give you forgiveness and life.

In His death on the cross, Jesus offers you healing and hope.

Healing from your sin that keeps you separated from God.

Healing from the guilt, shame, and embarrassment that you have been carrying around.

Healing from the pressing burdens that you cannot lift off of yourself.

Jesus calls to you and says to you, “Come to me you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.”

Jesus calls to you and says to you, “Lay your burdens down on me. Let me carry them for you.”

That is what we are going to do now—listen to Jesus’ gracious and merciful voice and lay our sin, guilt, and shame on Him and His cross so we can leave here knowing that God has done for us what He promised He will do—take our sin and give us Jesus’ record of perfection.

We call today Good Friday because in the person and work of Jesus Christ, crucified on the cross, God has acted for our ultimate good by providing us with the forgiveness of sin, reconciliation with God, and eternal life with Him in Heaven.

Come to the cross now and lay your sins and burdens upon Jesus who has died for your good.

Amen.

Pastor Fred Scragg

April 7, 2023 

Where is God when bad things happens?

Where is God when I am hurting?

Where is God when I am in pain and I am suffering?

Where is God when my dreams get shattered?

Have you ever asked that question? Or, similar questions?

Maybe you asked similar questions this week after hearing some of the top news stories.

Maybe you asked, “Where was God when that student in Colorado shot two school administrators and then killed himself?”

Maybe you asked, “Where was God when that woman in Nashville killed 3 students and 3 teachers in that church’s school?”

Maybe you asked, “Where is God as China and Russia make a pact to initiate a new world era, one that, in their words, ‘exists to do things that haven’t been seen in 100 years?’”

Maybe you asked, “Where was God when that shoplifter in Virginia was being chased down and ended up shot and killed?”

Maybe you asked, “Where is God while North Korea continues to test long range weapons and is now talking about detonating an underwater explosion that will result in a radioactive wave barreling towards the shores of its enemies?”

Maybe you have asked, “Where is God when the statistics show that the numbers of people burdened with feelings of sadness, helplessness, and hopelessness are ever increasing?”

When life is interrupted by events that cause pain and suffering, both Christians and non-Christians often ask the same questions—

“Where was God?,”  

“How come He didn’t stop this from happening?,” and

“If God is all-powerful and sovereign over all things, why would He let this tragedy unfold?”

In this morning’s text from John’s biography of Jesus, chosen for us by the lectionary, we encounter a situation in which similar questions were asked about God’s whereabouts when bad things were happening.

Let’s here from John 11.1-45 together now.

John 11:1–45 tells us this:

[1] Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. [2] It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. [3] So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” [4] But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

[5] Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. [6] So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. [7] Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” [8] The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” [9] Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. [10] But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” [11] After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” [12] The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” [13] Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. [14] Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, [15] and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” [16] So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

[17] Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. [18] Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, [19] and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. [20] So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. [21] Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. [22] But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” [23] Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” [24] Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” [25] Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, [26] and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” [27] She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

[28] When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” [29] And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. [30] Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. [31] When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. [32] Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” [33] When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. [34] And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” [35] Jesus wept. [36] So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” [37] But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

[38] Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. [39] Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” [40] Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” [41] So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. [42] I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” [43] When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” [44] The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

[45] Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, (ESV)

About 2000 years ago, when Jesus’ close friend Lazarus passes away, we see the question, “Where was God?,” being asked not once, not twice, but three times by three different people.

First Martha, who runs to find Jesus when tragedy strikes, approaches Jesus on the road and says: “Lord, if you would have been here, my brother would not have died!”

Secondly, Mary, who stays behind to mourn, weep, and grieve, says to Jesus when He calls her to come to him:  “Lord, if you would have been here my brother would not have died.”

And thirdly, some of the Jews who were present and watching the tragic situation unfold, asked: “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”  

As Lazarus was sick, dying, and then dead, questions arose about God’s love, God’s goodness, God’s care, and God’s concern for those He claimed to love—

the questions being,

“Where was God when I was anxious and worried watching my brother get progressively sicker?,”

“Where was God when my brother died at a young age?,” and

“Where was God as I was forced to deal with grief and loss of a loved one?”

In all three statements we see Jesus being accused of not being present when tragedy struck.  And in the same vein, of not caring about those whom He loved and who loved Him in return.  

In this text from John 11.1-45, Jesus answers the question, “Where is God when we are suffering and hurting because bad things happened?”

But, Jesus answers the question of God’s presence in suffering differently than humanity ever could or would.  

Because of sin, when we don’t get a perfect life with all of our desires, wants, and wishes perfectly met by the “Genie-in-a-Bottle” god, we say that God is no longer there or has left us when we needed Him most.

But, Jesus’ answer to the question of God’s whereabouts in tragedy, suffering, and pain, points us to the truth and good news that He is most present with you at those times.

Psalm 34:15–18 says this:

[15] The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous

and his ears toward their cry.

[16] The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,

to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

[17] When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears

and delivers them out of all their troubles.

[18] The LORD is near to the brokenhearted

and saves the crushed in spirit. (ESV)

Jesus is there with you, speaking loudly to you in the most difficult moments of life.  

That may seem like an odd statement because when we think about God, we want to think “happy” thoughts like joy, peace, rest, and heaven.  We don’t want to hear or think that God comes closest in the hardest and most painful moments of life. We want God to eradicate pain and suffering instead.

But this is the truth of scripture.  It is only when sin shows its full power—to kill, destroy, damage, and hurt—that we are able to understand the predicament of humanity.  It is in suffering that we see the brokenness that needs to be fixed.  It is in pain that we realize our imperfection.  And it is in those moments that we recognize our need for a fixer, a healer, a rescuer, and a giver of perfect and unending life.

David Kinnaman, president of The Barna Group points out that 

“National and global events can get our attention for minutes and weeks, but personal crises—divorce, losing your job, death, and economic instability—really can recalibrate spiritual priorities.”

Jesus begins, before Lazarus passes away, by telling His disciples that Lazarus’ sickness was for the purpose of ensuring that they and others would believe that He was in fact the Son of God sent to save men and women from their sin.

And, to show them the hope that they had during this time of loss, Jesus demonstrates His power, right there, on the scene, in the very moment, to turn mourning into dancing, to bring life out of death, by raising Lazarus from the dead so that God our Father in Heaven would be glorified and people would come to faith through repentance of sin and belief in God’s Savior.

Jesus, God in flesh, simply calls Lazarus’ name and he comes walking out of the tomb, raised back to life, for all to see and hear about.

You can even imagine that as Lazarus is making his entrance back into the world of the living, House of Pain’s Back From the Dead is playing as the soundtrack with the lyrics:

“Erase my name from off the tombstones

Alive and kickin’, breathing the air

Call out my name…and I’ll be there

…’Cause I’m back from the dead.”

The historian Paul Veyne calls himself an “unbeliever,” and yet he extols the message of human dignity that we find in the sacrificial love and death of Jesus. Veyne writes:

“[In the gospel, a person’s life] suddenly acquired an eternal significance within a cosmic plan, something that no philosophy or paganism could confer … The pagan gods lived for themselves. In contrast, Christ, the Man-God sacrificed himself for his [people] … Christianity owed its success to a collective invention of genius … namely, the infinite mercy of a God passionate about the fate of the human race, indeed about the fate of each and every individual soul, including mine and yours, and not just those of the kingdoms, empires and the human race in general.”

For Martha and Mary, Jesus was present in their suffering, pain, grieving, and mourning.  He was with them, listening, comforting, and healing.  The text says that “when Jesus saw [Mary] weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.”  And when He visited the place of burial with the family members, “Jesus wept.”

In their moments of sorrow Jesus was there.  

In their moments of questioning the pains of life Jesus was there.  

In their moments of weeping Jesus was there weeping with them.  

He was troubled by the brokenness of life because of the effects of sin on humanity and Jesus stood by those suffering to have compassion on them, comfort them and provide hope that this is not over, this is not how life will end.  

And, the same is true for you!

In the threat of radioactive waves there is always the promise of resurrection and eternal life.

This life, often defined by death and destruction is not all that there is.

With Jesus, we are not nihilists.

With Jesus, we are awaiting our resurrection and Heavenly home where we are promised that there will be no more pain, no more sorrow, no more suffering, and no more tears.

In your moments of sorrow Jesus is there.  

In your moments of questioning the pains of life Jesus is there.  

In your moments of weeping Jesus is there weeping with you.  

He is always troubled by the brokenness of life because of the effects of sin on humanity and Jesus stands by you to have compassion on you, comfort you and provide hope that this is not over, this is not how life will end for you who have faith.  There is meaning and purpose in everything that happens even when you don’t understand.

Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Believe in him and even though you die, you shall live.

The is the Word of God for you.

This is the Grace of God for you.

Amen.

Pastor Fred Scragg

March 26, 2023

Have you ever been accused of being a bad person or of doing or being evil because of the way you think, speak, or act?

In a humorous article that Buzzfeed posted a few years back, they listed what they consider to be “26 Everyday Habits That Make You An Evil Human Being.”

Topping that list was:

• Leaving clothes in a dressing room after you are finished trying things on.

• Pretending to text so you don’t have to awkwardly start a conversation.

• Secretly getting joy out of cutting someone off.

• Letting clothes fall off hangers, then proceeding to leave them on the ground.

• Becoming frustrated with slow-walking old people.

• Screening calls from your parents.

• Using all the toilet paper, and leaving the empty roll for someone else to take care of.

• And, not returning your shopping cart to the cart corral in the parking lot.

By these definitions of evil, each one of us here, now, is a wicked, wicked human being.

According to these definitions of evil, we are all someone’s villain or monster.

Beginning a few years ago, we began hearing a lot about a movement called “cancel culture.”

Those behind cancel culture are the people who try to eliminate, block out, and boycott people and organizations who have done wrong or failed according to their understanding of the culture’s values.

Simply put, many in today’s society think that they are the judge, jury, and executioner, always working to label those that don’t think, speak, and act exactly like them as “evil.”

Everyday that I peruse the news and my social media sites, I hear about another politician, celebrity, local teacher…you name it…being canceled or living in fear of being canceled.

In our text this morning, we are going to hear that both Jesus’ family and the Jewish scribes wanted to cancel Jesus by calling his words and actions evil.

Let’s hear about this attempt to cancel Jesus found in Mark 3:20–35.

The text reads:

[20] Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. [21] And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”

[22] And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” [23] And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? [24] If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. [25] And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. [26] And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. [27] But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.

[28] “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, [29] but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—[30] for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

[31] And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. [32] And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” [33] And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” [34] And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! [35] For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” (ESV)

This text contains the passage that I can say is the most frequently asked question from young adults and teenagers during my 20+ years of ministry.

Verses 28-30 contain what is often referred to as, “The Unforgivable Sin.” 

Verse 29 says, 

[29] but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—

The confusion is that this verse seems to go against everything else we know about God—we know that God forgives sin through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

But, here it is saying that there is an unforgivable sin–something God won’t forgive.

And, the questions arise…

What is this unforgivable sin?

And, if there is an unforgivable sin, have I committed it?

I have to say that this week, after spending several days with this passage, God opened my eyes to something that I have never seen or put together in this text.

Let me take you through this.

The first thing we have to notice is that Jesus’ family wants to remove him from the public eye because they think he is crazy, out of his mind, and a danger to others.

The second thing we have to notice is that the Jewish scribes want to remove Jesus from the public eye because they think he is crazy, out of his mind, and a danger to others.  

The difference is that we are told the Jewish scribes go as far to call Jesus evil.  They do that by accusing him of being one of Satan’s helpers or minions.

After those two pieces of information and the confrontation recorded in this text, Jesus responds with information about what is called, “The Unforgivable Sin.”

When we take, “The Unforgivable Sin,” in the context that is was originally presented, we see that, “The Unforgivable Sin,” is simply not having faith in Jesus’ words and work.  Not having faith in Jesus is not believing that Jesus is God in the flesh here to save us from our sins and give us eternal life.  What that denial of Jesus says is that you believe he is wrong, crazy, out of his mind, a danger to others, and therefore, evil.

So, those who live their entire lives and die not having faith in Jesus as the Savior have committed the unforgivable sin.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise because elsewhere we hear things like last week’s text which says:

[16] “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. [18] Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (John 3.16-18, ESV)

The Word of God, the Bible, is living and active.  

What that means is that it causes us to look into the mirror and see who we truly are.

When we read this morning’s text, we are forced to look into the mirror and ask the question, “Am I like Jesus? Or, am I like Jesus’ family and the Jewish scribes who through Jesus was crazy, wrong, and evil?”

If we answer the question honestly, there are many points in our life where we are like Jesus’ family and the Jewish scribe who thought Jesus was crazy, wrong, and evil.

PBS’ The Great American Read is an eight-part series that explores America’s 100 best-loved novels. Some of the episodes explore specific trends. One of which is that “Americans can’t seem to get enough of novels with notorious villains and monsters. 

Why are we drawn to these stories about evil-doers? What do they reveal about our own dark impulses?”

Just think of the villains in these novels: Frankenstein, Crime and Punishment, The Godfather, Stephen King’s The Stand, Game of Thrones, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Harry Potter.

Various literary critics made the following comments on why they’re drawn to evil characters: 

-“There are villains in literature because there are villains in life. They allow us to see a little bit of what it might be like go beyond the edges of accepted society.”

-“The monster is very human. You can almost sympathize with the monster.”

-“We identify with the villain. You can understand a little bit about what has made them and what has shaped them. Their monstrosity doesn’t seem foreign.”

We are a bit obsessed with villains and monsters in literature and on film because:

There are villains in real life.

We sympathize with the villains and monsters.

We identify with the villains and monsters.

And, their evil and monstrosity doesn’t seem foreign.

As much as we may like to characterize Jesus’ family and the Jewish scribes in this morning’s text as the bad guys, the villains, the monsters, the presence of evil in the world, we have to realize that there have been times in our lives and will continue to be times in our lives that we are the bad guys, the villains, the monsters, the very presence of evil in the world.

And, “Why is that?,” you ask?

It is because of the sin that dwells down deep inside of us.

It is because of the rebellion against God that we are born into and continue in as we struggle with the broken and corrupt flesh that we are tied to in this world.

Walt Whitman, one of the greatest American poets, who grew up right here in Huntington Station, writes in “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” of his capacity for evil:

I am he who knew what it was to be evil,

I too knitted the old knot of contrariety,

Blabb’d, blush’d, resented, lied, stole, grudg’d,

Had guile, anger, lust, hot wishes I dared not speak,

Was wayward, vain, greedy, shallow, sly, cowardly, malignant,

The wolf, the snake, the hog, not wanting in me,

The cheating look, the frivolous word, the adulterous wish, not wanting [in me],

Refusals, hates, postponements, meanness, laziness, none of these wanting [in me]….

What the world with its “cancel culture” doesn’t offer is grace or forgiveness. And, that is because many in today’s society don’t look in the mirror and see their own need for grace and forgiveness.

However, what Jesus always offers you is grace and forgiveness.

When you look in the mirror and see that you have been like Jesus’ family and the Jewish scribes in this morning’s text, Jesus does not come in with a judgment that says you are guilty and condemned to be separated from God forever.

No, Jesus comes with the judgement that says, “you are guilty and deserve to be condemned and separated from God forever, but I took the punishment on the cross that your sin deserves and I exchanged it with my perfection and righteous for you.

I take your evil and give you my good.

Believe in me, become part of God’s eternal family in Heaven, and be saved!”

So, I bring you to Psalm 1 and encourage you to pray to God asking him to give you faith and to strengthen your faith so that you are always included as the blessed man or woman who thrives and lives.

[1] Blessed is the man

who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

[2] but his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

[3] He is like a tree

planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

[4] The wicked are not so,

but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

[5] Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

[6] for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish. (ESV)

And, I leave you with the exhortation from Hebrews 3:12–14:

[12] Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. [13] But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. [14] For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. (ESV)

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Pastor Fred Scragg

March 12, 2023

Have you ever been misunderstood?

Has anyone ever questioned your thoughts, words, or actions?

Has anyone ever questioned your motives and morals?

Has your quietness been misunderstood as weakness?  When, in actuality, your quietness is just your way of listening and thinking through things so that you can be stronger and more confident when you speak and act.

Has your friendliness been misunderstood by the opposite sex as an unwanted relational advance?  When, in fact, you are just genuinely concerned for everyone’s happiness and comfort.

Has your spouse or significant other ever misunderstood your mood, tone, or inflection?

Have your parents ever misunderstood your mood, tone, or inflection?

Misunderstandings happen all of the time.

And, misunderstandings often lead to strained or broken relationships.

A few years ago, Garth Brooks hit the stage in Detroit wearing the jersey of retired Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders. 

However, the photo he posted backstage confused some of his fans. Because of the name “Sanders” and the jersey number 20, they thought the shirt was meant to convey support for Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, who at the time was embroiled in a race with former Vice President Joe Biden for the right to run against President Trump as a Democratic challenger for that year’s presidential election.

“Good grief,” responded one Instagram user. “Can’t you just do what you get paid to do? Why, why does it have to involve politics!!! So sad. We don’t pay good money for anything other than to watch you perform. Thought you were different.”

While there were plenty Garth Brooks fans online to correct the mistaken assumption, there were also more than a few Bernie Sanders supporters happy to play along:

“Welp. Looks like @garthbrooks just became my favorite country singer!” wrote one user, concluding, “#FeelTheBern2020.”

Even Barry Sanders himself got in on the fun. “Hey @garthbrooks you wanna be my VP? #Number20for2020.”

I am not sharing this story to make any kind of political point.

I am sharing this story to make the point that everyone is misunderstood at one point and everyone misunderstands at some point.

In this morning’s text we are going to listen in on a conversation where misunderstanding led to a strained, tense, and even broken relationship.

Our text this morning, from the lectionary is John 3.1-17.  Let’s listen in on this conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus now.

[1] Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. [2] This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” [3] Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” [4] Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” [5] Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. [6] That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. [7] Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ [8] The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

[9] Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” [10] Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? [11] Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. [12] If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? [13] No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. [14] And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, [15] that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

For God So Loved the World

[16] “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (ESV)

In this back and forth exchange between Nicodemus and Jesus, we see that Nicodemus was misunderstanding Jesus on many levels.

First, Nicodemus misunderstood who Jesus was.

We see in this in the way he addresses Jesus. Nicodemus calls Jesus, “teacher.” Nicodemus lumps Jesus in with all of the other Jewish scholars around him. 

Nicodemus doesn’t recognize Jesus as God’s Messiah, the Anointed One, the Savior.

Second, Nicodemus misunderstood the things Jesus did.  

At the point of this meet up, Jesus had been traveling for some time, speaking about the Kingdom of God and doing miracles.  Nicodemus witnessed some of the unbelievable things Jesus was able to do and he certainly heard about most of the others.

Jesus was baptized in the Jordan river by the seemingly crazy homeless man John the Baptist with the voice of God speaking audibly afterwards for all to hear.

Jesus was getting successful businessmen, fishermen to be exact, to walk away from their means of income in the blink of an eye to follow him from town to town as he taught and healed people.

Jesus turned water into wine for all of the hosts and guests at a big blowout wedding party.

Nicodemus knows these events are out of the ordinary but has no reasonable explanation for how they could happen.

Third, Nicodemus misunderstood how a person enters the Kingdom of God.

When Jesus mentions being “born again” Nicodemus was confused.

Nicodemus was under the impression that a person entered the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, through hard work, perseverance, and doing the things God’s Law commanded a person to do.

In all of this, Jesus doesn’t leave Nicodemus lost in his misunderstanding of who He is and what He is on earth to do. 

Jesus doesn’t walk away from Nicodemus saying, “I am sorry, you are too stupid to figure it out right now. But, if and when you put the clues together and figure out the riddle, then you can come and see me and then God’s love will be yours.”

In an act of complete grace, Jesus cancels Nicodemus’ misunderstanding.

Jesus lays it all out on the line so that Nicodemus can understand, believe, have faith, and enter into God’s eternal Kingdom.

Jesus explicitly reveals who he is first through saying that he is the Son of Man.  

The Son of Man is an Old Testament name for God’s Son who would save people from their sin through kingship and conflict.

When Jesus used this term in his conversation with Nicodemus, Nicodemus, being well versed in the Old Testament theology, would know right away that Jesus was referring to Himself as God’s Savior.

Jesus next explicitly reveals what He is going to go through in order to make God’s promise to humanity a reality.

Jesus says that He will be lifted up on a cross and all that have faith in his death for them will be forgiven of sin and granted eternal life.

And, then, Jesus sums up who he is and what he is going to do and what it is going to accomplish with what I would say are the most famous words in the Bible.

Jesus says to Nicodemus:

[16] “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3.16-17, ESV)

In late October of 2022, Erin Hatzi reported to police that her red Subaru Impreza had been stolen out of her driveway—according to her surveillance footage, “a woman [had] calmly enter[ed] her car and [drove] away” with it. Calmly, indeed: In fact, the woman had sat in the car for a couple minutes. “We were really confused because it didn’t seem like the normal actions of a car thief,” said Hatzi.

The next day, “[p]olice stopped a woman attempting to return the car outside of Hatzi’s home.” The driver offered up this explanation: The night before, “she had been sent to the neighborhood to pick up her friend’s car and accidentally took Hatzi’s vehicle instead.” The friend did not see the car until that morning, and upon realizing the mix-up, left a note and gas money inside the car and sent it back to its rightful owner.

So what happened? According to police, “older Subaru keys are interchangeable and can occasionally be used to open different cars.”

Because of sin which corrupts our thinking and understanding, many people in our world misunderstand God’s forgiving love and replace God’s forgiving love with the idea that you can live anyway in this world that you want while believing whatever you want about who God is and how God acts.     

The common belief is that all roads lead to Heaven.

However, that very way of thinking and living causes you to get into the wrong car which will only take you to a place of trouble and imprisonment.  

Believing the wrong thing about who Jesus is and what Jesus has done leads you away from God’s forgiveness and love.

When Jesus met Nicodemus, Nicodemus misunderstood Jesus and was in the wrong car, headed for the trouble of being separated from God forever.

However, Jesus, through the grace of God that chases after and rescues those headed in the wrong direction—the direction that takes one away from the Kingdom of Heaven, clearly points Nicodemus to the right car that will take him down the road, the narrow path, that leads to God, his forgiveness of sin, and his eternal love.

Jesus does the same for you!

Jesus doesn’t want you to misunderstand him and the thing He has done for you.

Jesus lived for you. 

Jesus died on the cross for you—to forgive you of your sin—the sin that often causes you to misunderstand him.

Jesus rose from the grave for you.

If you ever find yourself confused and misunderstanding who God is and what God has done for you in the person and work of Jesus, return to Jesus’ words that make everything clear for you which are found in John 14:1–6.

Jesus says to you:

[1] “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. [2] In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? [3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. [4] And you know the way to where I am going.” … [6] Jesus [says to you], “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (ESV)

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Pastor Fred Scragg 

March 5, 2023