Tag Archives: our Lord Jesus

Remember Jesus

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“Remember Jesus”

communion line drawing

1 Corinthians 11:23-27 – March 30, 2018

One Sunday in another church, one of the bible reading was from the second chapter of Ruth. In the middle of the reading were the words, “The Lord be with you” (Ruth 2:4). The congregation, trained as they were in liturgical language, immediately interrupted the reading with the unison, “And also with you.” The congregation had only ever heard the words, “The Lord be with you,” as a liturgical call that demanded a response, which they provided. [1]

This leads me to ask, how often can “church” get in the way of worship? Here we are at Good Friday, one of the most holy and most devastating days of the church year. And, we can hide in our “churchiness.” Have you pulled the bedcovers of church tradition and church practice over your head, and hidden away from the sadness, shock and devastation of Good Friday?

The words of our New Testament reading for this evening include the words of institution for the Communion service. These are the words I will say later in this service as we remember our Lord at dinner with His friends. The apostle Paul “had learned these words from Christians before him (who had received them ultimately from the Lord) and was in turn passing them on to the Corinthian believers.” [2] These words which our Lord Jesus spoke at that Passover seder were already well known in the Christian community, just a few years afterwards.

Amazing, how significant and meaningful certain meals can be. I suspect you all can remember a particular meal you shared with someone. Was it grandparents? Children? Good friends? We remember meals, and deep conversations, and meaningful interactions. We remember the weather, the situation, where we were. All of this we remember.

All bound up in our Communion service is the recollection of where Communion came from. Whether we call it Holy Communion, or the Eucharist, or the Lord’s Supper, we remember this night when it all started. We remember what our Lord Jesus said and did; we remember what happened after that dinner, on that night two thousand years ago.  

A problem showed up by the time Jesus’s followers were familiar with this remembrance meal,. Paul highlighted this problem in his letter to the believers in Corinth. People of higher or lower social status commonly received different amounts and better or worse qualities of food and drink at their church potlucks in Corinth. That was just the way it was: widespread, almost universal social custom and it could not be changed.

Paul wanted the Corinthian believers—and us, too—to know that “the Lord’s Supper was intended to demonstrate the unity of the church in the mutual dependence on the grace of God shown in the death and resurrection of Jesus.” [3]

Do we hear? Do we understand? Jesus wanted us to know that God’s grace is poured out on all of us, whether we live on the right side or the wrong side of the tracks, whether we are born into wealth or into poverty. No matter our country of origin, or place of citizenship, we all have citizenship in heaven if we believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Remember, Jesus set aside all pretensions and false importance. He did not puff Himself up, or claim undue privilege. As the Gospel of John tells us, our Lord Jesus took the place of a servant and washed His disciples’ feet when they were arguing among themselves, when each considered himself too important to wash the others’ feet. Can our “churchiness” get in the way of our worship? Our reverence? Our remembering?

Rev. Janet Hunt reflects on special times in her family, from her cousin, She remembers, ““I don’t really want a Shamrock Shake. I just want the feeling I had: 7 years old and my mom bought me one after the parade.”

“My cousin Greg posted this on Facebook a few weeks back.  His status update touched me so that first I found myself laughing and then tearing up remembering his mother, my Aunt Jane.  We exchanged a few private messages after that where he recalled with me that this was common practice for his mom, one passed on, evidently, by our grandmother — that of special treats communicating something about love.  That shamrock shake, in fact, was his mother’s way of saying, “I love you and you’re special to me.”

“Meals and memory do get all tied up together, don’t they?” [4]

Whether it’s a memory of our own meals, or a remembering of a meal shared in the Bible—like the meal of Abraham and his three heavenly Guests by the oaks of Mamre, or our Lord Jesus sharing loaves and fishes with a huge crowd, or the great welcome party when the Prodigal came home—we remember certain meals. We share together this special meal, this sharing of bread and passing the cup. We remember deep emotion and feelings, and sometimes we are struck to the heart.

We remember that Our Lord Jesus wanted us to know His message: “I love you, and you’re special to me.” As often as we eat this bread and share this cup, we remember. On this very special night, we remember. Amen.

[1] http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=279  Commentary, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, Dwight Peterson, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2009.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] http://words.dancingwiththeword.com/2012/03/on-meals-and-memories-some-thoughts-for.html

“On Meals and Memories,” Janet H. Hunt, Dancing with the Word, 2012.

Follow Jesus in Service

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“Follow Jesus in Service”

John 12-26 serves, follow me

John 12:20-33 (12:26) – March 18, 2018

Following a leader can be a challenge. People follow all kinds of leaders, leaders in serious and not-so serious areas. People flock after leaders and trend-setters in fashion, certainly, purchasing the latest styles or shoes, or the newest fabrics and colors of the season. People follow charismatic leaders who convince their followers to diet or exercise or vote or meditate or do some other worthy cause.

But, what about here? What about now, in today’s Gospel reading from John? Our Lord Jesus says some pretty amazing things. Jesus wants us to follow Him with our actions. (Just as He said in weeks past. We are to follow Jesus.)

Let us take a step back. Where are we in the Gospel of John? The chapter before, chapter 11, concerns the raising of Lazarus in the town of Bethany, a suburb of Jerusalem. Immediately after that comes the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. We know that well from our celebration next week, on Palm Sunday. This reading from John 12 comes right after that.

Remember, Jerusalem is jam-packed with observant Jews from all over the known world, coming to worship at this special time of Passover. Not only from all over Palestine, but from Egypt, parts of Asia, and Europe. Maybe even further away than that. Some Greek-speaking Jews who must have heard about this Rabbi Jesus want to see Jesus and talk with Him. Perhaps, they even would like to consider following Him.

This is exactly what Jesus has wanted from people all along. At the very beginning of His preaching and teaching ministry, Jesus said, “Follow Me!” At various times throughout His journey up and down the country, and as He turned His face toward Jerusalem, Jesus repeated His call to follow. “Follow Me!” And, during this final week, this Passion week, just days before He went to the Cross, Jesus again says “Follow Me!” But, follow, how? In what way?

John calls these people “Greeks,” but he is not specific. They could be Greek proselytes, or they could be Greek-speaking Jews from far away. Whichever it was, they were more comfortable speaking Greek, which was the international language of trade and commerce, and the dominant international culture of the time. As one of my commentators said, “These foreigners wanted to investigate the possibility of becoming disciples. They had heard about Jesus (i.e., His reputation or ‘glory’) and wanted to ‘see’ if they could follow Him.” [1]

When the disciples bring these Greeks to Jesus, He responds with what seems to be an analogy, only sort of connected to becoming disciples. Listen to Jesus’s words: “23 Jesus answered the disciples, “The hour has now come for the Son of Man to receive great glory. 24 I am telling you the truth: a grain of wheat remains no more than a single grain unless it is dropped into the ground and dies. If it does die, then it produces many grains. 25 Those who love their own life will lose it; those who hate their own life in this world will keep it for life eternal.”

Come on now, Jesus! How did Jesus get from becoming disciples to talking about grains of wheat? And then, wheat being planted and dying in the ground? Okay, I can see what Jesus meant about a single grain growing into one stalk of wheat which can produce many grains of wheat. But, does that really connect to becoming disciples?

My commentator Larry Broding is helpful here. “Those who gave their lives to others would die, but see others live and would enjoy eternal life. They would bear ‘much fruit.’ Notice those who gave up their lives unselfishly followed Jesus to his death.” [2] That is one way of seeing discipleship. Following Jesus, in a challenging, unselfish and giving way.

What a way to demonstrate becoming disciples of Jesus!

Sometimes you and I have a problem. Sometimes, we cannot accept what Jesus sets in front of us. Sometimes, we are unwilling to follow the guidelines and rules God places before us. On occasion, some of us are too stubborn to do what God wants us to do. Even though we might know what God wants, and how to follow, sometimes—we do not.

The Rev. Janet Hunt relates something that happened about a month ago at her Lutheran church in De Kalb. Let’s see whether this helps us to understand Jesus’s words better.

“A few weeks back [in February], 93-year-old Vivian suffered a brain bleed. The damage was great and irreparable and her family opted to bring her home on hospice care. For the next almost two weeks, her 94-year-old husband sat by her bed, held her hand, and prayed and prayed and prayed. He was utterly heartbroken. From the start, I knew that they were just shy of their 70th wedding anniversary. Over the course of the last few weeks, I learned that they had been together much longer than that. For Bob actually held Vivian’s hand as he walked her to kindergarten 88 years ago.

“As the vigil neared its end, Bob became ill as well and was taken to the hospital with a severe case of pneumonia. A day later, his family talked his doctor into letting him go home, for they knew he had to be there when she died. And so he was. A day later he was back in the hospital once more. And a day after that, with a full heart and clear eyes, he declined all invasive treatment. He told me he was tired. He told me he only wanted to go to Vivian. I will not ever forget standing with him and with his family, praying for their hope and trust in God. His eyes were open and comprehending the whole time. Moments later, his nurse turned down the oxygen. After saying good-bye to his children, a few hours later he died, three days after his wife had breathed her last.

“Yes, he was 94. And yes, his health had been poor for some time. And no, he could not imagine a life without his beloved Vivian. And so, in a world where our medical system is set up to sustain ‘life’ at all costs, Bob faced it down and chose something other, something more. I cannot help but believe that while he surely did it for himself, he also did it for her. For while there was nothing more he could do for her, nor nothing more he needed to do for her, Bob was imagining heaven as a place where he could still be and do for his beloved. Even as he had always done. And he was willing to die to be able to do just that.” [3]

Do you understand? Do you see? Jesus was willing to serve and to die, for each of us. He wants us to be ready to serve and to die, for each other.

That is where our reading from Jeremiah comes in. God doesn’t have the rule book on stone tablets any more, like the Ten Commandments that Moses brought down from the mountain top. No, the prophet Jeremiah tells us that the Lord will write God’s laws upon our hearts. We do not have to blindly follow rules, but instead enter into a relationship. A real, loving relationship with Someone who loves us more than anyone on earth possibly could. God writes guidelines of love, service and relationship inside each of us, on our hearts.

God loves us so much that God sent the man Jesus into this world, to communicate that wondrous love to humanity. Jesus is communicating that wondrous love and generous service to each of us, today.

Are you ready to follow Jesus? Let us follow Jesus in love, and follow Jesus in service. Who can you serve today?

[1] http://www.word-sunday.com/Files/b/5Lent-b/A-5Lent-b.html   “The Glory of the Cross,” Lent 5B, Larry Broding’s Word-Sunday.Com: A Catholic Resource for This Sunday’s Gospel.

[2] Ibid.

[3] http://dancingwiththeword.com/a-single-grain-dying-for-the-sake-of-life/ Rev. Janet Hunt, Dancing with the Word

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my regular blog for 2018: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and my other blog,  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!)

Thread of Covenant Love

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“Thread of Covenant Love”

covenant love heart

February 28, 2016 – Isaiah 55:3-7

King David. Remember him? There’s lots to remember! Youngest of his family, anointed king by the prophet Samuel, killed the Philistine giant Goliath, ran away from King Saul, hid out in the wilderness for years, developed into a guerilla leader of men, finally became king after years of running in the desert. That King David. The David who became one of the greatest leaders of the nation of Israel ever in biblical history. That King David.

Throughout history, there have been many great kings, many decisive leaders of their nations. However, few have had the explicit blessing of God. What’s more, King David is called “a man after God’s own heart.” Pretty high praise for some petty king of a medium-sized tribe, somewhere in the Middle East. God even makes a covenant with David, showing him covenant love and promise.

God loved humanity. From the very beginning, when God created heaven and earth, we can see how much God cared about the creation, everything that was made. Especially humans. As the book of Genesis narrows its focus, God chooses one person in particular to bless. Abraham. God even makes a covenant with Abraham! Showing him covenant love.

We can follow God’s covenant promise. God’s covenant love through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Keep following the thread of covenant love through Joseph and the descendants of Abraham to Moses. God makes another covenant at Mount Sinai. The Ten Commandments! And, we still follow that thread of covenant love, all the way through the next generations.

Follow that love to David. Remember King David? The youngest of his family. The most unlikely to succeed, if you asked his older brothers. But God saw something there. Something inside of David. God was aware of what—of who David was, on the inside.

Let’s read the verse we’re highlighting today again, to refresh our memories. The prophet says, “3 Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.”

What is a covenant? That is one of those bible words tossed around by ministers who do not always take the time to make certain their congregations know what they are talking about.ent

Here I’ve been talking about “covenant” for the past couple of minutes. For those who know what a covenant is, wonderful! So glad you do! For the rest of us who are not sure, I’ll tell us. To reassure all of us, and remind us again of what the topic for the morning is.

Webster’s Dictionary says a covenant is “an agreement between persons.” This is amplified by the theological definition: “the promises of God as revealed in the Scriptures.” I hope that was helpful for all of us. Helpful for our understanding of “covenant love.”

God loved David very much. God even said to David (through the prophet Nathan, recorded in 2 Samuel 7), “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’” Here is one of the statements that we can trace through the Old Testament. This promise of covenant love is passed down through the prophets, in the book of Psalms, even in several places in the New Testament. And—we can draw a picture of God’s love towards us from the image of God’s love to David.

Take God’s love: a voluntary impulse, for sure! God did not have to love David at all. But—God did! God was kind, merciful, and loving toward David.

Question: is God’s love toward us today a voluntary impulse? I think, yes. God did not have to love any of us, at all. But—God did! In the same way, God is kind, merciful and loving toward us, as well!

            As we follow the thread of covenant love through King David’s life, we see that David does some bad stuff. God said that covenant love would not be taken away from David, true. Despite the sins David had committed, God’s good pleasure continued to rest on David. Moreover, God’s everlasting covenant continued to rest on David, undeserving as he was. Simply because God said so.

How does that compare to us, to the situation we are in? Do we deserve God’s covenant love? Do we earn God’s good pleasure? Sure, we sin, too. (Just like King David.) Yet, God embraces us, just as God embraced David.

Just as David sinned, so did David’s descendants. For instance, the later kings of Israel started to worship other gods—in addition to the God who gave them the land of Israel to dwell in. The later kings and many of the people of Israel started to cheat and defraud their neighbors—which goes against the Law of Moses. The later kings stopped following the Lord who made heaven and earth, and started to promote sacrifices to other gods. The Lord tries to get the people of Israel to return to the worship of the Lord God alone, but the people end up scattered far and wide over the next centuries. Until—until the birth of Jesus, fulfilling prophecy. Jesus fulfilled the promise of covenant love.

Again, from Psalm 89:35-36. “Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness—and I will not lie to David—36 that his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun;”

This reminds me of the promise received in the New Testament. As we trace this thread of God’s covenant love through the centuries and through the pages of the Bible, listen again to Isaiah 55:3—“Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.”
I want to show everyone these several passages of Scripture to let all of us know that God extends covenant love to Jesus, God’s incarnate Son.

We see that same self-sacrificing love in Jesus’ willingness to go to the cross that our sins might be forgiven.

Just as David did not deserve the abundant, abiding, covenant love of God, so neither do we deserve that love. That kindness, grace and mercy. God is so loving and patient.

We know that before David ruled as king, he ran away from King Saul, hiding in the wilderness for years. I am sure he refined his loving relationship with God then. However, what about us, today? How can we develop our relationship with the Lord? Often times it seems that we turn to the Lord when there is nowhere else to go. God could turn God’s back upon us. That is true. But, no! God extends God’s covenant love towards us, too!

It is not for us, to stand idly by on the sidelines. No!

Are we sharing God’s covenant love with those who need to hear? Many are hiding in loneliness and desperation thinking that no one loves them. We can introduce them to our Lord Jesus. We can tell them of the love of God that we have received through Christ. With our Lord Jesus we can find acceptance and security, and most importantly, love. The thread of covenant love, traced down to today.

God is offering that love to us, today. Can you feel it?

May it be so! Amen.

@chaplaineliza

Suggestion: visit me at my sometimes-blog: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers– where I am doing a Lenten journey.  #PursuePEACE – And my other blog,  A Year of Being Kind -Thanks!

An Instrument of Peace

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“An Instrument of Peace”

instrument of Your peace, round

John 14:27 – February 17, 2016

This evening, we are going to consider pursuing peace within ourselves. Tonight we consider two things: a verse and a prayer. Both have a great deal to say about peace. And both are examples for us and our daily lives.

First, the verse. Giving you some context, this verse comes from the final night our Lord Jesus spent on earth. Jesus was at a Passover dinner, or seder, with His friends. The Gospel of John gives us an extended look at this evening, and devotes several chapters to this time. Jesus discusses some things and gives His disciples some last instructions.

Now, the verse, John 14:27. “27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

These familiar words of Jesus we’ve just read can sound far away and distant. Perhaps we remember this verse from a funeral, or quoted by a chaplain at a hospital or care center. It seems that almost every week we are surrounded by evidence of upset, catastrophe, and trauma. Many people today are searching for peace in an anxious, unpeaceful world.

Remember the political situation Jesus was operating under! Israel was an occupied country. Politically, the situation was not good. Personally, in the life of Jesus, this was not a peaceful time, either. Remember where Jesus was, here in John 14. This was the Passion Week of our Lord, hours before His arrest. Imagine what Jesus was preparing Himself to go through, in the next hours. Yet, we hear Jesus talk about peace. His peace. He wants to share His peace with all those who are listening. Amazing. Astounding. Almost inconceivable.

Suppose we catch on, and suppose a light bulb goes off in our heads, and we say to ourselves, “Maybe what I’ve been hearing in church on Sundays and in services on Wednesdays is worthwhile, after all! Maybe God really does want to give me peace. Maybe God wants me to focus on peace on the inside. Internally.”

So, some people turn around and concentrate on the inside! To be more specific, on their insides. The internal person. But there’s a danger here, too. If we’re not careful, worry and anxiety can sneak into the picture. Worry and anxiety can push away peace. Worry and anxiety can gnaw away on the insides, as well as our relationships with God and with others around us.

Has anyone here had any experience with termites? I never have, thank God, but I understand that termites can go through large amounts wood over an extended period of time. If we allow worry and anxiety to eat away at our peace with God and with others, it’s like termites eating away at a wooden front porch. After a period of time, even though the porch looks stable, and seems like it can hold weight, it collapses.

It’s the same way with us, when we lose peace. When we allow worry and anxiety to get the better of us and take control of our insides. This refers to the second part of verse 14:27, “Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” This is Jesus giving advice to us! He is helping us hang onto the peace He’s just given us, just as He told the disciples so long ago. This is an exhortation, not a suggestion.

The second half of this meditation tonight lifts up a prayer. It is a really good prayer: arguably the most famous prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi. There is no direct link to St. Francis, but one of his companions, the Blessed Giles of Assisi, wrote a short synopsis of this prayer. The prayer could very well have been enlarged and written from those words.

The first line of this prayer runs as follows: “Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.” I am assuming we all want the peace that Jesus so freely gives away. Jesus gives it away to anyone. I mean, anyone. Step right up, and Jesus will lovingly give you peace. His peace.

This wonderful prayer lets us know some of the outgrowths of the peace of Christ. For example, using God’s peace, we can sow love, pardon, faith, hope, light, and joy.

St. Francis and St. Giles knew very well that they were both imperfect people. Yet, this meaningful prayer was an expression of everything they strove to do and everything they tried to live by. We, too, are imperfect people. Anxious, fearful, sometimes even angry and sinful people. Yet, we can be instruments of God’s peace, too.

This night was the most event-filled night of our Lord Jesus’ life. He knew what was coming. Yet—He makes the statement, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you.” He gave His disciples the gift of His peace.

Jesus gives us the same gift, today, too. His peace. It isn’t peace like the world would expect. It isn’t always external peace (although it can very well be that, too!), but it is peace on the inside. Peace where it counts, as far as Jesus is concerned. We have His word on it. He promises to give us peace in our interior selves. So that, imperfect as we all are, we can be instruments of God’s peace to our brothers and sisters, and to the world.

Amen.