The Day Grace Came

Luke 24:1-12
 

 “There’s a story of a little boy who was not happy about going to church on Easter Sunday. His shoes were too tight, his tie pinched his neck, and the weather was way too nice to be cooped up inside a church…. As he sulked in the back seat, his parents heard him mutter; “I don’t know why we have to go to church on Easter anyway, they keep telling the same old story and it always comes out the same in the end.”

Prayer:

Please watch this video by Skit Guys.

-       Mike is a recovering alcoholic and would often go into the worship space to pray and ask    
    God to forgive him. He once told me that he wonders if God could ever forgive him of all the
    bad things he's done.

-       Joann struggled at believing she was worth anything as a person… she was abused by her
     father as a child and as I listened to her she contemplates suicide. She wonders how God
     could love someone like her.

-       Chuck has a degenerative eye disease and has become blind. He struggles to find   
     self-worth. He says, “How can I live and work when I can’t see? One day he ran into another
     person and fell. The other person noticing he was blind and yelled at him saying, “you’re a
     worthless ________ and you shouldn’t be out by your-self.

-       A woman is angry that her young husband dies and leaves her alone. She is angry with
     doctors for not doing more and accused them of making mistakes. She asks God why he let
     this happen. God why would you do this to me? Why do you hate me?

-       Peter was standing by a fire pit and people were coming up to him asking if he belonged
     this guy named Jesus. Peter denied it over and over. Peter believed he didn’t deserve 
     forgiveness because what he did was unforgivable.

In all these stories we hear of struggle and doubt. Peter, Thomas… in fact all of Jesus’ friends struggled with the resurrection… We struggle with how God dispenses his forgiveness and grace. All of us have had regrettable experiences… all of us are broken and yet in our life stories it’s really not about us or them… But about Jesus’ love for us.

In all of these stories these people experienced God’s love and forgiveness and with God’s help are walking a path of redemption and resurrection. You see… It’s what Jesus did on Friday that TAKES the unforgivable and MAKES it forgivable. On Friday grace came and today Easter Sunday we celebrate that Grace and love are possible…. Forgiveness is possible.

Today is Easter and “You Are Loved”

 This is the story of Easter and Forgiveness and Grace…that God has come and love is made possible. Today is Easter and love is present. It is Easter and you are loved in an inconceivable, irrevocable, and uncanny way by a God who created you for His purpose. It is Easter and we are infected with the possibility to love… we are capable of love… we have the capacity to love… a pervasive desire to love. It might not be at the forefront of our psyche… It may not appear to be a driving force in our lives… But I’m here to tell you… IT IS THERE!!!

Love and Forgiveness is here!

It is Easter and you are forgiven and made to love… and my friends… You are good at it!

This is the message today… Easter Sunday… It’s Easter and you are loved and you are forgiven because today is the day that GRACE came.

See You Out On The Road

Heavenly Scent

March 16, 2013 
John 12:1-8

PRAYER:

Our lectionary takes an unexpected break from Luke’s gospel, and we hear from John a story that really has more questions about it than answers.

John’s story still follows the same trajectory of Jesus heading towards Jerusalem as does Luke, but here the deviation has Jesus bringing Lazarus back to life and his sister Mary washing Jesus’ feet with some expensive fragrance.

Then the questions arise.

The First Question: “Is Mary’s act an Act of Devotion or an Act of poor stewardship?

In many ways this act of Mary is a precursor to what Jesus will do in the next chapter… Jesus washes his friend’s feet. Interestingly, when Jesus does this, Judas does not object, Peter does. Ultimately… is Mary’s act an act of discipleship? In Luke 10:38… Jesus is at Mary & Martha’s home for dinner and Martha gets miffed at Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet… and once again Mary is admonished for doing the right thing. In John… Mary is again doing a sacrificial act of devotion. Is Mary demonstrating an unmerited act of love and service? We might do well to pay attention to Mary.

Th e 2^ndQuestion: “What was Mary Thinking?”

This perfume was very expensive and equivalent to about 1 year’s wages for person who did manual labor. It seems ridiculous maybe almost scandalous to waste this very expensive fragrance on some ones feet. These fragrances would have never been used outside of burial rites. So… you can emphasize with Judas who suggests selling it in order to help others. And, if we weren’t told of his motives, we wouldn’t object to this reasonable request. In fact… we often rationalize like this all the time… sit in on a council meeting. We’re not told of Mary’s motives either… is she doing this because she is thankful for Jesus saving her brother from death or an authentic act of devotion to Jesus being Lord and Savior?

The 3^rd Question: “What does Jesus Mean...? “You will always have the Poor?

John ends this story with Jesus saying, “You will always have the poor with you, but you won’t always have me.” Is Jesus dismissing the poor? Is Jesus telling us the poor don’t mean much? But one thing for sure… we’re uncomfortable when Jesus says things like this. Jesus tells us in Matt 5… the beatitudes… “Blessed are the poor, for they will inherit the kingdom of heaven.”

What are we to believe?

We know Jesus exaggerates… mostly with the Pharisee’s.

Judas seems to make an attempt to emphasize with the poor.

I’m wondering if the point Jesus is making isn’t about the poor, but of him-self. Jesus has proofed he loves the poor and as he prepares to enter the last week of his life he is pointing towards his death, and this death testifies to God’s abundant love for all, and  Mary picks up on it offering her love and devotion. Jesus’ saying of the poor is not about ones station or circumstance in life, but about his love for us no matter those situations.

I’m wondering if this story isn’t so much about the poor because as Jesus says, “They are always among us in a variety of ways.”

And… it’s not about Mary over against Judas as a moralistic endeavor of how we should be.

But about Jesus Himself in that Jesus needs to be the focus of our devotion, rather than the distractions around us.

  

In the end it’s about Jesus + Nothing

-       We don’t need to do anything.

-       We don’t have to do anything.

-       We just need to be devoted to Jesus.

We shouldn’t fear the questions here and fret why Jesus says what he says because Jesus has demonstrated his love for people both the poor and those with means.

John tends to use symbolic images and language to illustrate his point to his readers. John’s readers understood what Jesus meant.

And it’s OK that we are challenged by his words.

I believe it’s OK to live with the questions… perhaps the questions will elicit conversation throughout the week.   

See You Out on the Road