Mass Prep Sunday June 2nd 2019 7th Sunday of Easter (Cycle C)

Sunday June 2nd 2019 7th Sunday of Easter (Cycle C)

Dinner with Saul *

The tie in between today’s readings: Are you in the faith?

Psalm 97:1-9, Acts 7:55-60, Revelation 22:12-20 John 17:20-26

SETTING: Saul’s mother’s house in Jerusalem. He has dinner with her this day every week following his fasting ritual. She is getting worried. It’s after dark and he’s never been this late before. Saul enters with a self satisfied look on his face.

Mom:     “Oh! You’re home late, Saul. Sit down; dinner’s getting cold. So how was your day?”

Saul:      “Such a day you wouldn’t believe. It started out normal. Prayers at the Temple with my                mentor, Gamaliel. Gave alms and another offering after my fast. Then such a commotion like I never heard.”

Mom:      “A commotion?”

Saul:       “Yes, at the Synagogue of the Freedman...you know those foreign Jews. We heard some men arguing about how the veil guarding the Holy of Holies could have ever been split? A big shouting match, you would think the whole world needed to know, and in the middle of it all was that apostate, Stephen. He joined that new ‘The Way’ cult. It’s what those fishermen and that tax collector who started it call themselves.”

Mom:      “Stephen? Isn’t he the one who helps feed the widows in the city? I heard he even      healed cousin Miriam’s friend who almost died from a fever.”

Saul:        “Really, my dear? It was more likely the chicken soup.”

Mom:       “How did such a nice boy get mixed up in such a ruckus?”

Saul:        “Nice boy?! He probably started it with all that slander his people are saying about the high priest and the crucifixion of that blasphemer, Jesus! You know that his people even accuse our most revered and trusted elders of having the Romans kill that pretender! Our Sanhedrin! Jehovah’s rulers! Can you believe it? That Jesus had his trial just like his boy Stephen did!”

Mom:        “A trial? I have to sit down! Over an argument? What happened?”

Saul:         “Yes, a trial and about time, too! These Lamb of God zealots are full of contempt for our Temple, Moses, and our Law. They have to answer for it. Praise God we Pharisees are here to defend the faith of our fathers! And after today, you know, I’ve never been prouder to be a Jew. Our whole community: the elders, teachers of the law, and the good people of our city dragged that Nazarene lover before the Sanhedrin and gave testimony about your nice boy’s blasphemies.”

Mom:      “Oy! I never would have believed it!”

Saul:      “Believe it! And then out of his own mouth he accuses the entire Sanhedrin of being the sons of prophet killers, lawbreakers, and murderers of the Messiah!”

Mom:      “What happened then?”

Saul:       “What else? He was plainly guilty. We dragged him outside the city and stoned him!”

Mom:      “Stoned him!”

Saul:       “Yes, of course, stoned him. It had to be done. Such an honor they gave me that I should watch their coats as they carried out the Lord’s justice. You should have seen him, dying with that deceiver Jesus’ words on his lips that Jehovah should forgive us. FORGIVE US! Pathetic! I hope he’s with him right now. Good riddance!”

Mom:       “It sounds so horrible.”

Saul:        “Horrible, yes, it was horrible...gloriously horrible. Sometimes you have to do the terrible to preserve the beautiful. The Temple, the Law of Moses, our heritage in Abraham, our traditions, these things are beautiful. Every fiber in me will fight to keep them from being destroyed by that carpenter’s corruption!”

Mom:        “Calm down, Saul!”

Saul:         “Calm? How can I be calm when there’s more of them every day? No! No more! I swear that I’ll devote the rest of my life to crushing out this heresy.”

Mom:       “Where are you going?”

Saul:        “To the High Priest. We have to get organized. First, we’ll purge Jerusalem of these swine. Once that’s done, I hear there is a cell of them forming in Damascus. I’ll head there next. There’s no way, ‘The Way’ is getting away and if I don’t hear the name of Jesus again I’ll die a happy man!”

 

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     We know that everything changed for Saul on that road to Damascus where Jesus in His glory knocked Saul off his horse and asked, “Why are you persecuting Me?” Our Lord’s question shows His intimacy with His body, the Church as described in our gospel reading John 17:20-26. It also shows that no one is beyond the grace of God and the reach of Jesus to turn an enemy like Saul into Paul, one of the greatest Apostle and son of God every recorded. So, let us keep praying for our loved ones, who as of yet do not know Christ as their Savior and Lord. Don’t lose heart. At the same time, we need to look deep an examine ourselves to make sure that we truly are in the faith and not deluded like Saul (2 Peter 1:10-11, 2 Corinthians 13:5). There is a lot riding on it.

     Our last two readings: Psalm 97: 1-7 and in Revelation 22:12-20 bring the consequences of being on the wrong side of the Jesus question to light. Both refer to the judgment of God on the wicked, even the morally religious wicked, trying to earn their way to heaven. So the important thing is not whether you think that you are on God side like Saul, but whether you are in Christ like Paul. I’ll finish by letting the Apostle tell you in his own words in Philippians 3:1:14.

Philippians 3 New International Version (NIV)

No Confidence in the Flesh

If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

●     Not historically accurate

Mass Prep Sunday May 26th 6th Sunday of Easter (Cycle C)

Sunday May 26th 2019 6th Sunday of Easter (Cycle C)

Reaching Out

The tie in between today’s readings: Keeping unity

Psalm 67, Acts 15:1-2;22-29, Revelation 21:10-14;22-23, John 14:23-29

     It all started out so great with a guy and a gal in a garden. Then, everything went to hell in a hand basket. Starting with eating the forbidden fruit and paradise lost, which lead to murder and evil, then more and more evil, until finally, the whole earth had to be wiped clean with a flood in a divine restart. The Tower of Babel rebellion pushed God to fragment the human race by language and send them to the four winds. What’s a heavenly Father supposed to do with a bunch of kids that won’t listen? You pick a favorite. It could have been anybody, but God chose to work through Abram (Abraham) to begin His process to bless His human family and bring it back to Him (Gen 12:3,18:18, 22:18). By the time of the Psalms and King David, the plan was well under way. Psalm 67 looks forward to God completing His salvage operation where the nations come back together to praise the Almighty and live under His guidance. The trick is once you gather them, how are you going to overcome sin’s separating influence and keep everyone together?

     Jesus is the lynchpin of the whole strategy. During the Last Supper portion of our gospel reading in John 14, He lays out a blueprint for the church to stay unified as they bring the world back to the Father through the gospel. It’s a unity that springs from a personal relationship with the Trinity.

          First, Jesus says, love Me and keep My commandments (John 14: 23). This is not a legalistic list of rules of do’s and don’ts to follow. That would be coercion, not love. Love makes its own rules.  Reread it as: Fall in love with Me, as I am already in love with you, then you will want to be like Me...Please Me...Follow Me. Jesus is aiming at freedom here. It’s the cause and effect relationship captured by Augustine, “Love God and do whatever you want.” If each person in the Church determines to love the Lord with all their heart, then they will be choosing to live for God. When people live for a common purpose bigger than themselves; unity follows.

          Second, God will live in you with an infinite abiding presence (John 14:23). Your body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit (John 14:26). Through prayer and scripture He will help you learn all that you’ll need to know and recall it at the right time. All believers receive a common celestial GPS that will give guidance into the Father’s will. God’s mind will develop in you. Philippians 2:5-8 says that this will lead to humility and the unity of the church will be its fruit.  

          Third, you will have peace (John 14:27). You will have a special peace with God through Jesus. You will know peace and forgiveness within yourself. It is the peace of Christ which surpasses all understanding and guards your heart and mind (Philippians 4:7). It’s a courageous peace that allows the vulnerability you’ll need to forgive others as well as giving the strength to face the uncertainty of that necessary reconciliation. In the peace of Christ, we can all hold hands.

 

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Tying love to obedience, abiding with guidance, and peace with courage, the Apostles will be ready to spread the gospel and fulfill the Great Commission to make disciples of all men, as will all of us. God’s family, the Church, will reach the ends of the earth. His children have everything they need to hold the family together if they let themselves be led by their Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

     It was never going to be an easy endeavor. There were a lot of foundational questions to be sorted out as Jews and Gentiles with their clashing cultural and religious backgrounds try to meld together into this new belief called “The Way” (Christianity). An early point of contention pops up in Acts 15:1-2 with the Judaizers. They held that since salvation was from a Jewish Messiah, the Gentiles needed to convert to Judaism by circumcision first before becoming Christian. Paul and Barnabas passionately disagreed. Because this issue was so vital, the Church met at Jerusalem for a council. They concluded that the Gentiles believed and received the Holy Spirit just as they did. Circumcision was not needed. The Old Testament was still God’s eternal word, however, and so the Gentiles were to abstain from pagan practices such as: things sacrificed to idols, drinking blood, eating things strangled, and fornication (Leviticus 17 & 18). Here’s our John 14:23-29 reading in action, where obedience to Christ, guided by the Holy Spirit led to a peaceful outcome...for a time.

     From Pentecost to now and until the Second Coming, it has and will always be a challenge for our family to “be of one mind” as people join her from varied backgrounds, points of view, and visions for the Church. We know that sparks will fly! Let’s keep John 14 at the forefront of our thinking and hold it together when things get hot because we, the Church are loved by God. Not only loved, but Revelation 21 illustrates her glory built upon these principles. If you are out of fellowship with God or other believers, know this: the Father wants you back. He wants to have a gloriously intimate relationship with you. He wants you for everyone's sake to seek forgiveness and for you to also forgive others seven times seventy. Togetherness and harmony are near and dear to the heart of Jesus. His Spirit calls to you. Come back. Be part of the Father’s plan.

Mass Prep Sunday May 19th 2019 5th Sunday of Easter (Cycle C)

Sunday May 19th 2019   5th Sunday of Easter (Cycle C)

Agape

The tie in between today’s readings: The Glory of Love

Psalm 145:8-13,Acts 14:21-27, Revelation 21:1-5, John 13:31-35

     If I had to explain glory, I would say it is the possession of something that’s worthwhile. Glory comes in many forms. We can see it in beauty. We find it in a person’s noble character. We celebrate it in top athletics or great achievements in fields of endeavor. In this world, we recognize glory with awards, crowns, and power. We are so enamored with glory we will pay scads of money for a famous artifact or stop and beg to be able to take a selfie with a star. Love in a way, is a connection to glory. Be it looks, likes, or loot, we join to another because we see something valuable in them. It is even more so with the love we have for our children because, in them, we see ourselves. That’s why it’s so hard to love the unfortunate of face or function among us...no glory. So glory attracts love; human love that is. Who do you love when you are God and your glory fills the universe? There’s no one that impresses you and there’s nothing you need. Where does your love and glory plug in? Apparently, when you’re God, you do the totally unheard of thing and love the unlovely. You love your enemies, even a fallen mankind. It’s a special love only the Almighty has. It’s called agape love and God offers it to us.

     In today’s gospel reading, John 12:31-35, it’s the Last Supper and Jesus is starting the final push in operation, “For God So Loved the World”. He talks about the Son and the Father glorifying each other by His crucifixion. Then He bewilders the disciples even more when out of the blue He throws a “new” commandment at them: “Love one another as I have loved you.” The command to love your neighbor is not new (Leviticus 19:18). What makes it new is how we are to love: as Jesus loves. It’s a new application of the glory-love connection. We are to love the unlovable as God in Jesus loves us. When we become born again, God fills us with His Holy Spirit of love just as a hand fills a glove. The glove is the covering. The strength is in the hand. This new commandment is a genuine manifestation of God’s love through our lives, not a man’s weak compliance to a divine directive as in the Old Testament. God in us can show His love through us and people around us will glorify God by us. Let your light shine before men so that they can see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven (Matthew 5:16). In God’s case, then love generates glory. This agape love from another dimension is beyond new. It’s revolutionary! It can be ours by faith in Christ.

 

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     Where does this new agape love take you? Well, if you’re Paul and Barnabas in Act 14:21-27, it takes you to cities along the eastern Mediterranean Sea to spread the gospel. What do you get for this agape love? Tribulations! Hardly sounds fair, but that’s what loving your enemies is all about isn’t it? Paul told it straight to the newly formed churches in Asia Minor: ”Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). You have to see tribulations as the fire that tempers the steel of your character. By it, you grow the fruit of God’s Spirit in your life and become more like Jesus. Love made Jesus take up His cross. Let us not neglect ours, because looking forward in faith, we can see that after the cross there is glory.

     Psalm 145 and Revelation 21, our last two readings, show us the love-glory dynamic. Psalm 145 starts with God’s love toward us by acknowledging His grace, mercy goodness, and loving kindness. We accept God’s love proposal and take Jesus as our Lord and Savior. In doing that, we take the new nature of God in our lives. We love as Jesus loves and endure the trials that the church, the bride of Christ, must face. We can do this because in Revelation 21 God wipes away every tear, ends death, stops crying, banishes pain, and turns mourning into gladness. We become inhabitants of the eternal new heaven and new earth. Where we, as the sons of God, will shine like the stars forever (Daniel 12:3). That’s glory my friend.

Mass Prep Sunday May 12th 2019 4th Sunday of Easter (Cycle C)

Sunday May 12th 2019 4th Sunday of Easter (Cycle C)

The Shepherding Lamb

The tie in between today’s readings: No sheepish sheep

Psalm 100:1-3;5, Acts 13:14;43-52, Revelation 7:9;14-17, John 10:27-30

     Every church goer is familiar with the wonderfully comforting idea of the Lord being their shepherd. Who doesn’t love the image of us sheep grazing on a beautiful hillside lying down in green pastures, drinking from still waters? Our Lord, Jesus watches over us and tends to the whole flock. All the while, He is caring for each of us individually as well, even to the point of leaving the ninety and nine in order to retrieve the lost one. He reassures us with the promise in John 10 that no one could ever snatch us away from Him or the Father. We feel peace and security from a loving God who laid His life down for His sheep. But you can’t graze the hillside forever, No! Our Good Shepherd also sends us through the dark valleys, where we are sheep among wolves. We go because there are others of His/our fold to reach. Let’s look at our reading in Acts 13, for example.

     Paul and Barnabas are in Pisidian Antioch (not Syrian Antioch in Acts 11). It’s their second Sabbath at the synagogue. Like the Blues Brothers, they were on a mission from God to get the band back together, only this band was the whole Jewish and Gentile world! Not two weeks there and almost the whole city came out this day to hear them. Things were going good for the gospel messengers...too good. They aroused the ire and jealousy of the synagogue shepherds: the hirelings, thieves and robbers that were afraid of losing their flock. Our faithful witnesses could handle the heckling and contradictions, but when the Jews ramped it up to blasphemy, Paul and Barnabas cut it off. With a strong rebuke, they left the synagogue and focused their message to the Gentiles. Those among them that were appointed to eternal life, that is the true sheep of the Lord’s flock, believed and were saved. In the days to follow, the gospel spread throughout the whole region. Enough! Using their political muscle the Jews persecuted and expelled Paul and Barnabas! The brothers moved on, but not before establishing Pisidian Antioch as the first fully Gentile Christian church. They went to Iconium, where they were driven out again and then to Lystra where they almost died. In spite of hardships, they kept on going to other cities.  Apparently, there was nothing sheepish about these missionary sheep.

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     Let’s not forget, one of the reasons for maintaining a flock is the killing of the animals. We serve His purposes. The sheep, if needs be, will be slaughtered. We’ve seen martyrdom throughout history and even more in our world today. The blood of the martyrs is still the seed of the church. In our reading in Revelation 7, multitudes that were killed in the great tribulation stand and worship before the throne of Jesus, the Lamb who shed His blood for them. This scene in heaven loops back where we started today, only better. Jesus, our shepherd is on His throne forever. We will never hunger or thirst again, and God, Himself, will wipe away every tear from our eyes. Will you be ready to die for Christ if the time comes? It’s hard to say, isn’t it? We believe that to live is Christ and to die is gain (Philippians 1:21). We pray that God will give us the strength for that hour. The thing is, would we dare die for our shepherd at that time, if we are reluctant to live for Him now?  Maybe we need to examine ourselves at this point first.

     Our reading in Psalm 100 ends everything on a high note.

1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

2  Worship the Lord with gladness;

    come before him with joyful songs.

3 Know that the Lord is God.

    It is he who made us, and we are his;

    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving

    and his courts with praise;

    give thanks to him and praise his name.

5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;

    his faithfulness continues through all generations.

     You can be one of the sheep of his pasture. Receive Jesus as the Lamb of God who can take away your sins and be your Savior. He has left the other ninety-nine. He is looking for you and calling to you. Answer Him. He accepts everyone into the fold who comes to Him. No one will be chased out. No one will be lost. Be in that number when we enter his gates with thanksgiving as the saints goes marching in.

Mass Prep Sunday May 5th 2019 3rd Sunday of Easter (Cycle C)

Sunday May 5th 2019    3rd Sunday of Easter (Cycle C)

What Do You Say?

The tie in between today’s readings: Out of the Heart the Mouth Speaks (Matthew 12:34)

Psalm 30:2 ;4-6; 11-12b, Acts 5:27-32; 40-41, Revelation 5:11-14, John 21:1-19

     What do you say when everything is going right? In Psalm 30, after the Lord had rescued him from narrow escapes, put down all his enemies, and established his throne, King David responds in pride. In verse six he basically says, “I’ve made it to the top and I’m here to stay!” God didn’t like that. He unfriends David from His face book account. Here is an important insight into David’s saintly character: he could have chosen to go on living proud in his own power, without any further help from the Almighty, but instead, he calls God up to mend fences. On the first phone call (verse 9), with his pride still going strong, David leaves a message telling God that He would only be hurting Himself by breaking off their relationship. The Lord, who needs no one, doesn’t even return the call. In verse 10, a humbler David calls back and they make up. An overjoyed king learned his lesson. Prosperity can foster pride. Watch out! God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (Proverbs 3:34).

     Speaking of pride...what do you say when, after boasting that you would never forsake the Lord and then you do it hours later...three times? Not to mention, that in a few days, on Easter Sunday, Jesus rises from the dead and comes to pay you and your friends a visit? Can you say awkward? Peter is so guilt ridden that the third time they all encounter Jesus, in John 21:1-19, he is patently overcompensating like a husband who forgot the anniversary. They see Jesus on shore from their boat. Peter can’t wait to row into shore with the others. No, he has to dive in and swim to Jesus! Then, everybody out of the way! Good ‘ol reliable Pete has to be the one to drag the big heavy net with the big catch of fish over to the fire! OK, there’s a six hundred pound gorilla in the room that Jesus needs to deal with. “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Jesus asks Peter three times and three times He gets a humble, yes. The Lord doesn’t berate, ask for an apology, or demands a promise to do better. Jesus knows that Peter loves Him, loves Him so much that, in restoring their relationship, the Lord tells Peter that he will be martyred for his testimony. That is because perfect love dispels all fear (1 John 4:18). And now, Peter is fearless.

 

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     What do you say when Peter the Deny-er become Peter the Defy-er? That’s the situation the high priest and the Council faced in Acts 5:27-41. They hauled Peter and the apostles in for a “We thought we told you guys before” session over their preaching of Christ’s resurrection. They all got a straight back at you answer with an “in your face” testimony: “You killed the Messiah. He rose again and sits at the right hand of God. You can still come to Him for the forgiveness of your sins. We are His witnesses and if you don’t like it, too bad! We work for God!” Incensed, the Council intended to kill our bearers of the Good News before they could get a chance to reach Acts Chapter 6. But a cooler head prevailed. Gamaliel, a respected Pharisee, says, “Look, we’re not so sure what we're dealing with here. Guys like these come and go for the most part. Let’s take the P.R. hit for now and wait until it all blows over. Who would remember? But, if these apostles are the real deal, then our arm’s too short to box with God.” So the Council warned, whipped, and released the apostles. Down the street, you could hear them praising God that they were considered worthy to suffer for Jesus, all the while comparing floggings to see which one gets the “biggest beating” bragging rights. “Fanatics,” someone murmured.

     What do you say when you’re confronted with the truth of Christ, real and raw? The answer is found in Revelation 5:11-14. Draw back the celestial curtains and you’ll hear the countless numbers of heavenly creatures loudly proclaim, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing” (Rev 5:12). Then, to add to all those “ands”, EVERY created thing on the earth, under the earth, and in the sea join in: “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever” (Rev 5:13). That pretty much covers the waterfront, don’t you think? To sum up, as the Bible says: “Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the praise and glory of God” (Philippians 2:10-11). It is clear that you will confess Jesus as Lord, willingly or unwillingly. So don’t be proud like David. Don’t be stubbornly in denial like the Pharisees. Don’t live in guilt like Peter. Humble yourself and confess your sins to Jesus. He will forgive you and in His love, perhaps you will even become fearless. What do you say?

Mass Prep Sunday April 28th 2019 2nd Sunday of Easter Cycle C

Sunday April 28th 2019 2nd Sunday of Easter (Cycle C)

Two Sides of Jesus

The tie in between today’s readings: Fear and Love

Psalm 118:2-4;13-15;22-24, Acts 5:12-16, Revelation 1:9-11a;12-13;17-19, John 20:19-31

     Today’s readings show two different sides of Jesus. It demonstrates the healthy tension that we need in approaching our God. He loves us and we love Him. This close relationship makes it easy to slip too far into the familiar when we approach our Father. From there, we think that He is just like us and we proceed to remake Him in our Mr. Rogers’ image. Contempt creeps in and discipline from the Lord follows to remind us that He is God, not our Bud. On the other hand, how can I even relate to a Being that is so totally other? He doesn’t think like me. I don’t act like Him. He searches all thoughts and judges with consequences. I ask myself, “Who is this Person that I am commanded to fear and draw close to at the same time?" I think that C.S.Lewis had it right in the Chronicle of Narnia, where Aslan represents Jesus.

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“Aslan is a lion- the Lion, the great Lion." "Ooh" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion"..."Safe?" said Mr Beaver ..."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

     In John 20:19-31, the disciples are hunkered down, afraid for their collective lives, and confused about all the fantastic happenings of this first Resurrection Sunday. Then, through the door-yes, through the door-comes Easter Jesus, the comfortably mysterious Messiah they’ve all come to know and love. For their fear, Jesus gives them His peace. For doubt, He offers them proof. He commissions them to go out into the world with the gospel’s sin remedy message and gives them the Holy Spirit’s power. His patience shines through when He comes back eight days later to prove Himself to Thomas, who apparently was picking up the pizzas the time before and missed out. And what happened?

     In Acts 5:12-16, they are out preaching the gospel and establishing their street creds. Peter had just finished his apostolic prerogative of retaining sin with a drop dead judgment of Ananias and Sapphira. As a result the Bible records, “So great fear fell upon the church and all who heard it” (Acts 5:11). Do you think? The Apostles healed so many people so dramatically that just having Peter’s shadow fall on them was enough! Unclean spirits were exorcised. Their reputation was spreading throughout the area and multitudes were being saved. Churches were being established and there was a whole lotta love! Aaah, the good old days!

     The Apostle John was a young man then. Now he is old and exiled on the Island of Patmos by the decree of Rome for of all things: atheism. It has been a long hard road of perseverance and tribulation since the Acts Chapter Five days. He had poured out his life testifying and preaching God’s word around the Mediterranean region. Tired and ready to meet his Maker, he is surprised when Jesus pays him a visit. But it’s not Last Supper Jesus, the guy who let him lay on His bosom (John 13:23). It’s Glorified God Jesus...Scary Jesus! It’s the Lord, the operations manager of His churches  (Revelations Chapters 2 & 3). He is the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man, in orhter words: God Almighty. He wears the white priestly robe of righteousness. His all seeing eyes scrutinize everything. Nothing escapes His gaze. His powerful voice speaks the sword sharp words of God, cutting though soul and spirit as well as thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). His face radiates with the glory that cannot be contained. Scared out of his mind, the apostle couldn’t hit the deck fast enough; he falls at His feet like a dead man. What does Jesus say?  “Don’t be afraid. I Am the first and the last, the One who has the keys to death and Hades, I’m the One who died and Am alive forevermore...and because I live you will live also.” Beloved, John, I have a job for you.

     As believers, we need to keep the balance between God our Father and God our Master. The Lord is both kind and severe (Romans 11:22, Psalm 118).Yes, He loves us. At the Last Supper, Jesus became the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He died for us on Good Friday and rose again on Easter Sunday, so that we may become children of God in Him by faith. That’s not the end of it. God expects you to grow up and reflect who He is in this world. He wants you to be like a little Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. This takes: discipline, prayer, perseverance, faith, and yes, suffering. Take up your cross. Let God your Master produce a return on His investment in you, for the praise and glory of His name.

     If you are not a believer, if you don’t know Last Supper and Easter Jesus, if you have never come to Christ by faith for forgiveness of your sins, then now is the time. The love of God is offered to you today, through the sacrifice of Christ. Come now. Confess and be forgiven. Otherwise, your sins will keep you marked as an enemy of God. That only leaves you with Scary Jesus. Don’t go there!

Mass Prep Sunday April 21st 2019 Easter Sunday

April 21st 2019     Easter Sunday (Cycle C)

Believing unto Salvation

The tie in between today’s readings: Examining Faith

Psalm 118:1-2;16-17;22-23, Acts 10:34-43, Colossians 3:1-4, John 20:1-9

     The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes (Psalm 118:22-23). The despised, rejected, and crucified Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead and now is exalted and glorified by God the Father. What a difference the few days from Good Friday to Easter Sunday make! Surprisingly, even after Jesus repeatedly told His disciples that He must rise from the dead, they still did not understand the scriptures (John 20:9). In time, though, they did catch on and turned the world upside down. They and those that followed after them fanned out to the four corners of the earth to spread the good news that anyone who believes in the name of Jesus receives forgiveness of sins (Acts 10:43). But what does it mean to believe in Jesus and why is faith so vital?

     First, faith must launch off a solid base of facts. The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ is the most historically scrutinized and vindicated event in history. The authenticity of His resurrection validates everything that Jesus said about His deity and His mission. It establishes Christianity uniqueness among the world religions because its Founder transcends death and offers eternal life to all who will follow Him. One of the very reasons to trust the Bible at all is because Jesus is alive. From this body of truth the church developed creeds of beliefs, which church members confess and adhere to as fact. Believing in a creed, as truthful and necessary as it might be, however, is not saving faith. It is only the first step on the way. Your factual faith has to reach out and go beyond to achieve saving faith.

     In order to better understand what I mean by reaching out in saving faith, I want to introduce an underlying principle found in the Bible. It’s the concept of becoming united with whatever or whomever you touch. There are several accounts of this in the Old Testament. You could become unclean, for example, if you came in contact with something that was also considered unclean such as a dead body, unclean animals, or a disease like leprosy (Numbers 5, Leviticus chapters 11-21).  One the other hand, you could be made holy if you were touched by something that was holy, as seen in Isaiah 6. A clear example in the New Testament is the unclean woman with the bloody discharge who received healing power by touching Jesus’ hem (Mark 5:25-34 and Luke 8:43-48). Marriage and sex contains this idea of the two becoming one also. There are more examples, but the Bible’s greatest application of union by touch is seen in the Incarnation, when God became man.

     There were incidents in the Old Testament where God appeared in human form. These are called Theophanies. In fact, if the Lord had just wanted to give us an example of how to live, Jesus could have spent His life with us on earth as a Theophany and that would have been good enough. The Incarnation goes way beyond God as teacher and takes us to height of relationships: God as Lover. Christianity is much more a relationship than a religion. God, who is Spirit, touches physical man in Jesus. It was absolutely necessary for the Almighty to humble Himself and become one of us in order to unite with a fallen human race. In this condition, Jesus, the God-man, can be our sin bearing Savior. On the cross, Our Lord and Lover, Jesus Christ died for our sins. Now this is where saving faith comes in.

     Think of faith as the physical touching the spiritual. It is one of the few God given attribute available to us that transcends space and time. By faith, we can imagine the future and act in anticipation of it. We can also, by faith, travel back in time to a cross on Calvary’s hill and touch our God. Jesus Christ physically died on the cross. Faith puts us on the cross with Him spiritually at the same time. At the cross, the Eternal and Spiritual through the Incarnation meets up with the physical and finite through faith and the two of us become one. It is here that,”He who knew no sin became sin for us that we may become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). And we DIE together with Christ! As the Apostle Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20a). When Jesus was laid in the tomb, we were laid in the tomb as well, but that’s not the end. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him (Romans 6:8).

     Jesus is alive! He rose from the grave on Easter Sunday and by faith, we did as well. We are born again to a new life in Christ. A life with our Lord that is so real and so intimate that we can move away from the abstract idea of loving God and actually be in love with Him. For His part, our Father could not get any closer to us than what He has done by placing His Holy Spirit in us. This relationship comes with a new focus. Our reading in Colossians directs us in our new life priority:

     “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory “(Colossians 3:1-4).

     Can you picture a new church experience? If our lives are hidden in Christ, then in our worship we transcend the centuries and unite ourselves by faith with the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior. The tangible bread and wine brings His sacrifice to us in our time. In the Lord Supper, we have a common connection of grace and love with all believers living close by or around the world and even with those that have passed on. We are all Christ’s Body! It's a living, timeless, family dynamic. Our Father wants us to spread His gospel to others who do not yet know Him, so more sons and daughters can be added to His family. If your time in church has been dull, dry, and dead end, perhaps you’ve been stuck on the creed level in your faith journey. If that’s the case I urge you to reach out in faith to the cross for the forgiveness of your sins and establish a living relationship with the God who loves you. Look to Jesus with new eyes of faith and believe. Happy Easter!