Gas prices are really high. That means that oil prices are really high. I wish I could bottle up some of the sunshine this summer and keep it for winter, but unfortunately I don’t know how. Of course, property values are high, and that’s good, but only if you are planning on moving soon and can find a buyer. It costs a lot more to buy milk these days and if you like to buy organic vegetables, the price isn’t real low either. Of course, you can buy the cheap processed foods more often, but then you have to worry about trans fat, antibiotics and the obesity problem in America. You want to hang out more with your kids so they feel loved, but you have to work more hours so they feel full and warm. You know that bringing work home will stress out your family, but you know that bottling up your feelings is bad for your health. Oh yeah, and Jesus says, “Do not worry.”
Yeah right. How can’t we? Why wouldn’t we worry? We have every right to worry! Of course, everyone knows that they SHOULD not worry. Worrying hurts us physically as well as emotionally. Everyone knows this. I’ve heard Christians point to this section of the Bible and say, “Look! Look! The Bible is so amazing because it gives this helpful advice.” But this isn’t anything really new is it? Every psychologist could tell you the same thing, do not worry. Yeah, duh! So who cares! That’s nothing new. Why does Jesus say this at all? Is he just being a good psychologist?
Today’s passage begins with the following statement: no one can serve two masters. You see, everyone and everything is in service to something. For instance, Jesus proclaims that, life is more than food and the body is more than clothing. This is correct of course, because food serves life, it sustains our bodily functions, and clothing serves the body, it keeps it warm and protected. In the same way, Jesus tells us not to serve wealth but to be served by our wealth.
Life is more than the money and possessions we store away, but we can serve one another with our money and possessions to sustain life. In the musical, The Fiddler on the Roof, the leading role, Tevya says this to God, “I know it’s no shame to be poor, but it’s not an honor either.” In other words, God does not judge your life based on your wealth or lack of it. Wealth comes from God, so even wealth can serve God. Jesus points out that it is, at best, silly to worship money, and at worst idolatry. Why not worship the one who created it all instead?
So let me summarize this passage for you. Do not worry about how you are going to take care of the ordinary things in your life. Pay attention instead to who is giving you everything. When you know that you are not finally responsible for your life, your worries will be seen in a very different way.
You see, we usually think of worry as something that is simply bad for your health. I worry too much and so this causes stress on my body, my pulse increases, I have a higher risk for heart attacks and high blood pressure. Of course, then we just start worrying about being worried. It is a never ending cycle. Anxiety breeds anxiety. The same is true of depression. When you are depressed you can try and try to not be so blue, but, when you fail, it makes you feel that much more depressed.
I am a pastor, not a psychologist. Psychologists and psychiatrists are gifted by God in a particular way and with wonderful skills that can be very helpful for many people, but I am not a psychologist. I am a pastor. And the gospel text today is taken from the Bible, a book used to strengthen your faith. It is not from a research paper on anxiety, to strengthen your resolve. Therefore, while it is true that you should not worry and there might be many helpful techniques or even medicines to help you deal with the stress in your life, I am really not authorized to give you any advice in this area. Thankfully, this passage doesn’t point us in that direction for help.
“Do not worry,” Jesus says. “Do not worry about your life what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear.” You are not responsible for providing your food and clothing. God is. Therefore, worry is more than some unhelpful psychological response that is up to you to get under control. Worrying is finally a sin against God and his promise to provide for your daily needs and your eternal life. Worry is a trust problem sinners have with God. We do not trust him to do what he is responsible to do, namely, feed us, clothe us and sustain our lives.
When Jesus says that you cannot serve God and wealth, he is not asking you to make a decision. He knows that you have already made your choice to serve wealth. But this is difficult for us to imagine, that we have already made the choice. We like to imagine ourselves as manual transmission sports cars that are always idling in neutral until we decide to shift into first gear or back into reverse. When Jesus says, “Do not worry,” we imagine he’s asking us to make pull forward and make good choices rather than shift into reverse and make bad choices. But we are always going somewhere. We are always making choices. We are never in a neutral gear. Unless God chases us down, and points out what gear we are in, we will always choose to trust in our money to get us by, serving wealth above anything else and leaving God behind to eat our dust.
“Do not worry about your life,” Jesus says, “what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” Jesus isn’t saying that these things aren’t important, or aren’t worth worrying about. He is saying that, in fact, there are even more things you could worry about. There is even more to this life. He doesn’t just stop at food and clothing where we might stop. For us, here in Cornwall, Jesus is not just talking about gas, oil, high food prices, wars, earthquakes and cyclones. Jesus says, “Is not life more than these things?” Life is about these things and even about more than these things?
Jesus raises the bar higher, ”Do not worry about anything, not even eternal life. God is in control of all of these things.” “Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” In other words, Jesus is saying that we can trust God not just to provide for our daily meals, our oil bills, and a good government, but we can trust him with the real big stuff—even eternal life. It’s not just one or the other, it is everything. God is responsible for all of your life on earth and your eternal life—everything!
Let me put it this way, when Jesus says, “Do not worry” he is not giving you advice, he is pointing out your sin. And let me tell you, if you understand what that means it will give you a peace that passes all understanding. Why? Because when your anxiety is a sin and not just your personal personality defect, then Jesus has the cure and can break the cycle.
It is only in this situation, standing as a sinner amongst other sinners, that I am authorized to say anything about your anxiety and worries. In the name of Jesus Christ, I declare unto you the entire forgiveness of all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. I forgive you for not trusting God to provide for your daily needs. I forgive you for not trusting God with your plans and possibilities. I forgive you for not praying to God for relief at all times. I forgive you for relying on your own abilites rather than on God’s grace to see you through.
I forgive you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for serving wealth rather than serving God. For serving yourself rather than others. Trying to protect your life through obtaining wealth, rather than serving others and trusting God with your life. Despite what you have done, despite your constant worrying, God cries out with joy that you are pleasing in his sight.
I expect gas prices will be going up again next week. Six dollars by the end of summer some people say. This means that food prices will continue to go up and so will lots of other commodities. Your IRS stimulus check will probably be gone before you know it. And then, you may find yourself in this situation again, telling yourself not to worry. Being forgiven for worrying doesn’t mean you won’t do it again here on Earth. You also don’t have to start worrying about worrying even if it is a sin. It means that you can trust God himself to deal with your sins, with your worries, instead of relying on yourself to deal with them on your own.
So we pray to God to give us relief from these burdens of finances. We pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, to help us realize the abundance he has given us. We pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, to be showered with blessings so that we can be a blessing to others who may also be in need. And, when you find yourself buried again under the weight your worries, and you cannot find it within you to trust in God to actually do what he says he will do, just admit it. Confess your sins and find a preacher. Whether it is me or another of your Christians brothers and sisters.
When Jesus says, “Do not worry,” he is not giving you good advice, he is pointing out your trust problem so he can forgive it. And once your sins have been brought to light and forgiven, the words become a promise—good news. “Do not worry.” The creator of all life is responsible for you. “Do not worry.” He forgives you sins. “Do not worry.” He is responsible to love you, to feed you, to clothe you and to take care of you. You may put your trust in him. Do not worry. He is faithful and he will do it. Amen.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Sermon for May 18th
"To try to deny the Trinity endangers your salvation, to try to comprehend the Trinity endangers your sanity." Martin Luther.
"Bring me a worm that can comprehend a human being, and then I will show you a human being that can comprehend the Triune God!" John Wesley
Often we talk about the Trinity like it was something we are so smart about. We ridicule non-Christians who question it like they are some sort of imbeciles, when all they are doing is pointing out the math: How can one be equal to three? But the doctrine of the Holy Trinity was never meant to be a complicated philosophical formula. It was simply a confession of faith.
You see, back in the 4th century, there was no “Holy Trinity Sunday” like we are celebrating today. Instead, there were many questions and disagreements threatening to crack the foundations of the early Christian church. These questions were brought out, primarily, through the preaching of a man named Arius, a deacon, who had come into power in the Roman Catholic Church and had an extremely large following. The thing is, he didn’t believe that Jesus was God, not really. Sure Jesus was God-like, but he was just not quite God, according to Arius. He had this catchy little phrase that he often repeated, “There was when he was not. There was when he was not.” That is, “God was when Jesus was not.” That was his argument at least. And, you see, if God was when Jesus was not, then Jesus can’t be truly God. There were many dramatic debates in the early church trying to formulate a response to Arius and his supporting congregations. The big question: Was Jesus truly God?
I remember really worrying about these debates in my history class at seminary. At the beginning of my theological education, I was fearful that somewhere along the way, I was going to be forced to believe something that I didn’t want to believe and then it would be over. I’d have to find something else to do instead of being a pastor. So, I was nervous. I had heard somewhere that a long time ago the church had turned from God to politics where good logical ideas were thrown out the window and the political winners became saints while the losers became heretics. And I figured that this big debate about Jesus was probably when it happened. I don’t think I’m alone. That’s the big fear for a lot of you I bet. What if you are just following the preferences of 4th century political powerhouses rather than the true teachings of God?
On the other side of the debate, against Arius, was a small group of bishops led by a man named Athanasius. He argued that the Jesus was eternal, just like God, his Father, and not just a lesser God-like deity. Athanasius said that the Son and the Father were made up of the same stuff, the same substance. That they were the same “being”.
Athanasius and his arguments won the day. That’s why, in the Nicene Creed, we say that we believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ who is of one Being with the Father. He is of one substance with God. But years later, there were still many questions about how exactly to talk about Jesus as God. How, for instance, could Mary, the mother of Jesus, really have held God in his entirety in her womb? And since Jesus was both human and divine, was he more like a man/God milkshake or like two boards glued together?
When a decision was made as to what exactly to do with Jesus, rather than let one side win with their references to scripture, against the other sides’ references to scripture, the church confessed faithfulness to all of scripture. The Bible was confessed to be the final authority over and against the many other authorities in the church. However, this meant that the church was left in a precarious position: confessing that God was only one God, but known in three distinct ways: as a Father, as a Son and as a Holy Spirit. The foolish doctrine of the Holy Trinity. But, thankfully, I could leave my history classroom not trusting in a bunch of old, dead men and their doctrines, but in the authority of God’s Word revealed in the Bible.
How can you believe that God is both one and three. You can’t. You can’t find this faith inside you. It goes against everything you know. That is, until God happens to you. Not once Not twice. But in three particular ways.
Jesus’ disciples knew God first through the creation he had made. Then Jesus’ disciples heard Jesus’ words, they saw his deeds of power, healing and casting out demons. But when he died, they couldn’t have imagined that he was God. Not the God they knew. That would have been impossible and sacreligous. But when Jesus was resurrected from the dead and showed up in their upper room, suddenly, they had faith that God was there among them. Thomas, so famous for doubting, would now so famously confess this when he called Jesus both his Lord AND his God.
God had happened to them twice. Once as a Creator. Now again as a Savior. And then, as if having God happen to them twice wasn’t enough, Jesus breathed on them and gave them the Holy Spirit to share this faith with others. The disciples knew they only had one God, but now, God had happened to them three different ways. Believing that Jesus is God doesn’t create faith. Believing in the Trinity doesn’t create faith. You have to be given faith to believe in both.
Think about the many gods in Greek and Roman myths. They are always fighting or tricking each other. That’s how it is when you’ve got more than one all powerful being up there on Mount Olympus. They don’t like working together for long. Everyone wants the glory. But now think about God as you know him. Father, Son, Holy Spirit—they all do the same stuff! They do and say the same things. They are repetitious in their acts of mercy. Redundant in their words of love. They are all faithful to you. You see them each differently. They are revealed in different ways. But it is impossible to differentiate what they actually do. All three create. All three redeemer. All three sanctify. You can’t tell them apart.
This morning, we heard the creation story from the first chapter of Genesis. One of the points that this story makes is that God is the creator of all things and the author of life. Just like the author of a book creates a story or a character out of nothing, God authored the world and created you out of nothing.
And just as this world has an author and you have an author, your faith also has an author. Faith doesn’t just show up in a vacuum or through willpower. The Jews were given faith through people like Moses and the prophets. Moses didn’t convince the Israelites that they should follow this God. Instead, God made the decision “I am the Lord YOUR God.” He said. How could the Israelites argue with that?
Jesus maintained that there was only one God AND that he was one with that God. “No one has ever seen God.” He said, “It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.” The disciples didn’t choose to believe this. It is illogical, irrational. But when God raised Jesus from the dead and gave him all authority on heaven and on earth, there finally could be no other explanation.
Jesus loves you even though it is illogical and irrational for the Son of God to love a sinner. But his words of love create something in you when he speaks. Think about the word sugarplum. Now, what is a sugarplum exactly? No one knows. But if your beloved calls you a sugarplum, you will answer in a way that is both irrational and illogical considering their misuse of the English language. You might even confess your love back to them by calling them snookums or pooky.
The doctrine of the Trinity is definitely both irrational and illogical to the mind, to reason, to language, and to math; but to the mind of faith and to the eyes of love, it is the only way to properly confess who the author of your faith truly is. To confess your love for all the ways God comes to you. As God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Not three different gods, but one true God of Love, that keeps giving himself to you over and over and over again.
According to Marin Luther, “Sinners are attractive because they are loved; they are not loved because they are attractive. God’s love does not first discover, but creates what is pleasing to it.” God doesn’t love you because you believe in the Trinity. But I pray that as God continues to find you and love you and forgive you and create you again and again and again, you will find yourself happily confessing him as a God that loves you not just once, not just twice but in three amazing ways. Amen.
"Bring me a worm that can comprehend a human being, and then I will show you a human being that can comprehend the Triune God!" John Wesley
Often we talk about the Trinity like it was something we are so smart about. We ridicule non-Christians who question it like they are some sort of imbeciles, when all they are doing is pointing out the math: How can one be equal to three? But the doctrine of the Holy Trinity was never meant to be a complicated philosophical formula. It was simply a confession of faith.
You see, back in the 4th century, there was no “Holy Trinity Sunday” like we are celebrating today. Instead, there were many questions and disagreements threatening to crack the foundations of the early Christian church. These questions were brought out, primarily, through the preaching of a man named Arius, a deacon, who had come into power in the Roman Catholic Church and had an extremely large following. The thing is, he didn’t believe that Jesus was God, not really. Sure Jesus was God-like, but he was just not quite God, according to Arius. He had this catchy little phrase that he often repeated, “There was when he was not. There was when he was not.” That is, “God was when Jesus was not.” That was his argument at least. And, you see, if God was when Jesus was not, then Jesus can’t be truly God. There were many dramatic debates in the early church trying to formulate a response to Arius and his supporting congregations. The big question: Was Jesus truly God?
I remember really worrying about these debates in my history class at seminary. At the beginning of my theological education, I was fearful that somewhere along the way, I was going to be forced to believe something that I didn’t want to believe and then it would be over. I’d have to find something else to do instead of being a pastor. So, I was nervous. I had heard somewhere that a long time ago the church had turned from God to politics where good logical ideas were thrown out the window and the political winners became saints while the losers became heretics. And I figured that this big debate about Jesus was probably when it happened. I don’t think I’m alone. That’s the big fear for a lot of you I bet. What if you are just following the preferences of 4th century political powerhouses rather than the true teachings of God?
On the other side of the debate, against Arius, was a small group of bishops led by a man named Athanasius. He argued that the Jesus was eternal, just like God, his Father, and not just a lesser God-like deity. Athanasius said that the Son and the Father were made up of the same stuff, the same substance. That they were the same “being”.
Athanasius and his arguments won the day. That’s why, in the Nicene Creed, we say that we believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ who is of one Being with the Father. He is of one substance with God. But years later, there were still many questions about how exactly to talk about Jesus as God. How, for instance, could Mary, the mother of Jesus, really have held God in his entirety in her womb? And since Jesus was both human and divine, was he more like a man/God milkshake or like two boards glued together?
When a decision was made as to what exactly to do with Jesus, rather than let one side win with their references to scripture, against the other sides’ references to scripture, the church confessed faithfulness to all of scripture. The Bible was confessed to be the final authority over and against the many other authorities in the church. However, this meant that the church was left in a precarious position: confessing that God was only one God, but known in three distinct ways: as a Father, as a Son and as a Holy Spirit. The foolish doctrine of the Holy Trinity. But, thankfully, I could leave my history classroom not trusting in a bunch of old, dead men and their doctrines, but in the authority of God’s Word revealed in the Bible.
How can you believe that God is both one and three. You can’t. You can’t find this faith inside you. It goes against everything you know. That is, until God happens to you. Not once Not twice. But in three particular ways.
Jesus’ disciples knew God first through the creation he had made. Then Jesus’ disciples heard Jesus’ words, they saw his deeds of power, healing and casting out demons. But when he died, they couldn’t have imagined that he was God. Not the God they knew. That would have been impossible and sacreligous. But when Jesus was resurrected from the dead and showed up in their upper room, suddenly, they had faith that God was there among them. Thomas, so famous for doubting, would now so famously confess this when he called Jesus both his Lord AND his God.
God had happened to them twice. Once as a Creator. Now again as a Savior. And then, as if having God happen to them twice wasn’t enough, Jesus breathed on them and gave them the Holy Spirit to share this faith with others. The disciples knew they only had one God, but now, God had happened to them three different ways. Believing that Jesus is God doesn’t create faith. Believing in the Trinity doesn’t create faith. You have to be given faith to believe in both.
Think about the many gods in Greek and Roman myths. They are always fighting or tricking each other. That’s how it is when you’ve got more than one all powerful being up there on Mount Olympus. They don’t like working together for long. Everyone wants the glory. But now think about God as you know him. Father, Son, Holy Spirit—they all do the same stuff! They do and say the same things. They are repetitious in their acts of mercy. Redundant in their words of love. They are all faithful to you. You see them each differently. They are revealed in different ways. But it is impossible to differentiate what they actually do. All three create. All three redeemer. All three sanctify. You can’t tell them apart.
This morning, we heard the creation story from the first chapter of Genesis. One of the points that this story makes is that God is the creator of all things and the author of life. Just like the author of a book creates a story or a character out of nothing, God authored the world and created you out of nothing.
And just as this world has an author and you have an author, your faith also has an author. Faith doesn’t just show up in a vacuum or through willpower. The Jews were given faith through people like Moses and the prophets. Moses didn’t convince the Israelites that they should follow this God. Instead, God made the decision “I am the Lord YOUR God.” He said. How could the Israelites argue with that?
Jesus maintained that there was only one God AND that he was one with that God. “No one has ever seen God.” He said, “It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.” The disciples didn’t choose to believe this. It is illogical, irrational. But when God raised Jesus from the dead and gave him all authority on heaven and on earth, there finally could be no other explanation.
Jesus loves you even though it is illogical and irrational for the Son of God to love a sinner. But his words of love create something in you when he speaks. Think about the word sugarplum. Now, what is a sugarplum exactly? No one knows. But if your beloved calls you a sugarplum, you will answer in a way that is both irrational and illogical considering their misuse of the English language. You might even confess your love back to them by calling them snookums or pooky.
The doctrine of the Trinity is definitely both irrational and illogical to the mind, to reason, to language, and to math; but to the mind of faith and to the eyes of love, it is the only way to properly confess who the author of your faith truly is. To confess your love for all the ways God comes to you. As God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Not three different gods, but one true God of Love, that keeps giving himself to you over and over and over again.
According to Marin Luther, “Sinners are attractive because they are loved; they are not loved because they are attractive. God’s love does not first discover, but creates what is pleasing to it.” God doesn’t love you because you believe in the Trinity. But I pray that as God continues to find you and love you and forgive you and create you again and again and again, you will find yourself happily confessing him as a God that loves you not just once, not just twice but in three amazing ways. Amen.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Sermon for May 11th (Pentecost)
The Holy Spirit is often talked about as if it were the hippie flowerchild of the Trinity. You know what I mean, the child no one likes to talk about in respectable company. The one that goes to the beat of a different drummer. Floating here and there, where it wills. Blowing in and out like the wind. The Holy Spirit always sounds much more “spiritual” than to show up at church, especially at a Lutheran church. It always seems like it’s easier to be spiritual somewhere off in the mountains than sitting in a pew.
How many of you have gone in search of “the Spirit”? What did you find? Where did you go? Going in search of the Holy Spirit is like going on a snipe hunt, where everybody, but you, seems to know where to look and what is going on. So why then did Jesus make it so difficult to get the Holy Spirit, to find it and to keep it?
Well, he didn’t. He didn’t make it hard at all. The problem is not that the Holy Spirit is so hard to get, but that, in some ways, it is too darn predictable for us. We’d much rather go on a treasure hunt than to find it sitting in our laps one day apart from any effort of our own. The Holy Spirit in contemporary society appears to be the sexiest of the three parts of the Trinity, but it’s function, while quite wonderful, is often seen as, well, a little boring and domesticated. What does the Holy Spirit do? It creates faith. That’s it. The Holy Spirit creates faith. And by this faith alone, you are made righteous in God’s eyes.
Perhaps that doesn’t seem very spiritual at all to you. It certainly hasn’t made anybody stand up and say “Praise the Lord!” so far this morning. However, I maintain that being given faith is the most “spiritual” thing that could happen to you. Martin Luther said in the Small Catechism, “I believe that I cannot by my own understanding or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel.”
Remember bread makers? Maybe you still have one. Everybody seemed to want one years ago. But then, all of a sudden, they became quite boring. Why? Because all they did was make bread. Just bread. Big deal. My uncle had the same problem with a juicer he bought. He was so excited when he got it, telling us all about how wonderful it was and everything that it would do. But finally, he found that all it really did was make, well, juice. And it wasn’t even juice he could get out of the fridge, but he kept having to buy the fruit to make the juice. It never became anymore than a juicer.
The same holds true for the Holy Spirit. People often get kinda bored with it. Faith alone never seems like enough, so we try to spice it up a little bit. Having the Spirit starts to mean jumping up and down at church to the sounds of a contemporary rock band. Having the Spirit starts to mean doing something radical, different or spontaneous whether the Bible condones it or not. But the problem is that the Holy Spirit can’t be pimped like this. It never becomes more than a faith maker. It creates faith. That’s it.
The second reading from 1st Corinthians talks about the gifts that the Holy Spirit brings with it. The Holy Spirit creates your faith and then gives you gifts, so it can create faith in the hearts of others. Now gifts like healing, prophecy, speaking in tongues, even the gift of faith make it appear that Paul is trying to spice up the Holy Spirit or something, but all of these gifts are given by God for one reason and one reason only. For the sake of faith. To create faith in Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul makes it very clear that everything he does is for the sake of faith in Jesus Christ. “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” That means that the Holy Spirit doesn’t suddenly become more interesting, more necessary or more spiritual than Jesus. Everything Paul says about the Holy Spirit must be viewed in the shadow of the cross. Every gift the Holy Spirit gives finds its goal in service to faith in Jesus Christ.
The thing is that a lot of people see the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ as being very different. Often, Pentecost is seen as the “new age” of the Holy Spirit making a break with the “good old times” of Jesus. But Jesus says, “The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.” You see, the Holy Spirit doesn’t do or say anything different than what Jesus did and said.
Jesus said, “When the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.” The Holy Spirit is still speaking today, but this isn’t as novel as it might sound. It is only testifying again and again for you to what Jesus said before, “Repent of your sins, and believe in the good news of God.” And through this message spoken today, the Holy Spirit creates faith.
I have spent a great deal of time in conversation with God about the ministry at Saint Peters through prayer, reading the scriptures, hearing the spoken word and having conversations with others. What God keeps pointing me back to again and again is that whatever we do here must be for the sake of faith. To create faith in the hearts of each other and in those who have never believed in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
When I look at the communities we serve, I see people who are hungry, hurting, oppressed, depressed, abused and lonely, but I believe that God is not calling Saint Peters primarily to social work. How can this be you might ask? I believe that God is not calling us to social work but to faith work. When we are called to do anything, even something as important as feeding someone who is hungry, for instance, it must always be in service to that person’s faith. We cannot just give a person a fish and let them eat for a day. I believe that we are being called to give people faith so that they might live for eternal life.
At Pentecost, God poured out his Holy Spirit on Jesus’ disciples so that they might prophecy and speak in tongues for the sake of creating faith in their listeners. How do we know that this was the goal? Because by the end of the passage, scripture says that three thousand people repented of their sins and received forgiveness through baptism. Now that is quite wonderful; however, if giving faith is the goal, then that means that Pentecost isn’t really about one particular day or event at all. It is about something that God has promised to do again and again and again. God gives the Holy Spirit as a faithmaker whenever he gets us to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior for the sake of creating faith.
God gave the Holy Spirit to his disciples after his resurrection when he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any they are retained.” Where there is forgiveness of sins, you can be assured the Holy Spirit is there giving faith to believe in the promise. God gave you his Holy Spirit at your baptism when he washed you clean in the eyes of God and created faith in your heart. God gives you his Holy Spirit day after day when you repent of your sins and believe that your sins are forgiven on account of Jesus Christ alone.
Now, today, I will reenact Pentecost for you again. It might not be flashy, but I will show you exactly how the Holy Spirit comes so you know where to go looking if it is taken away from you. I announce to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. You may trust in these words as the truest vehicle the Holy Spirit rides upon to go into your ears, into your heart and out your mouth again in your confession of faith.
And as if this faith that makes you right with God was not enough, he gives you more stuff. The gifts I talked about before. Why? Because he wants more faith. Not more faith from you, he has given you what you need. He wants others brought to faith as well. So he has given you each gifts for the sake of faith. As the congregation of Saint Peters, I believe we are being called into service toward each other and toward our community. Each of us using our gifts not as an end to themselves, but as a vehicle for the Holy Spirit to create faith. Not to feed someone for a day, or entertain them for an afternoon, but to give them faith for eternal life.
What gifts has God given you? Is it wisdom, knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, working of miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, speaking in tongues or the interpretation of tongues? I mean, I don’t even know exactly what some of those look like really, but I bet some of you do amazingly enough. And so I’m just going to let you all know this right now: God is going to use you to create faith in the hearts of others. Not through your own choices, or abilities, but by the power of the Holy Spirit that God has given to you. Not just to feed someone a fish for a day, but to give someone faith for eternal life. The one who calls you into faith is faithful and he will do it.
How many of you have gone in search of “the Spirit”? What did you find? Where did you go? Going in search of the Holy Spirit is like going on a snipe hunt, where everybody, but you, seems to know where to look and what is going on. So why then did Jesus make it so difficult to get the Holy Spirit, to find it and to keep it?
Well, he didn’t. He didn’t make it hard at all. The problem is not that the Holy Spirit is so hard to get, but that, in some ways, it is too darn predictable for us. We’d much rather go on a treasure hunt than to find it sitting in our laps one day apart from any effort of our own. The Holy Spirit in contemporary society appears to be the sexiest of the three parts of the Trinity, but it’s function, while quite wonderful, is often seen as, well, a little boring and domesticated. What does the Holy Spirit do? It creates faith. That’s it. The Holy Spirit creates faith. And by this faith alone, you are made righteous in God’s eyes.
Perhaps that doesn’t seem very spiritual at all to you. It certainly hasn’t made anybody stand up and say “Praise the Lord!” so far this morning. However, I maintain that being given faith is the most “spiritual” thing that could happen to you. Martin Luther said in the Small Catechism, “I believe that I cannot by my own understanding or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel.”
Remember bread makers? Maybe you still have one. Everybody seemed to want one years ago. But then, all of a sudden, they became quite boring. Why? Because all they did was make bread. Just bread. Big deal. My uncle had the same problem with a juicer he bought. He was so excited when he got it, telling us all about how wonderful it was and everything that it would do. But finally, he found that all it really did was make, well, juice. And it wasn’t even juice he could get out of the fridge, but he kept having to buy the fruit to make the juice. It never became anymore than a juicer.
The same holds true for the Holy Spirit. People often get kinda bored with it. Faith alone never seems like enough, so we try to spice it up a little bit. Having the Spirit starts to mean jumping up and down at church to the sounds of a contemporary rock band. Having the Spirit starts to mean doing something radical, different or spontaneous whether the Bible condones it or not. But the problem is that the Holy Spirit can’t be pimped like this. It never becomes more than a faith maker. It creates faith. That’s it.
The second reading from 1st Corinthians talks about the gifts that the Holy Spirit brings with it. The Holy Spirit creates your faith and then gives you gifts, so it can create faith in the hearts of others. Now gifts like healing, prophecy, speaking in tongues, even the gift of faith make it appear that Paul is trying to spice up the Holy Spirit or something, but all of these gifts are given by God for one reason and one reason only. For the sake of faith. To create faith in Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul makes it very clear that everything he does is for the sake of faith in Jesus Christ. “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” That means that the Holy Spirit doesn’t suddenly become more interesting, more necessary or more spiritual than Jesus. Everything Paul says about the Holy Spirit must be viewed in the shadow of the cross. Every gift the Holy Spirit gives finds its goal in service to faith in Jesus Christ.
The thing is that a lot of people see the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ as being very different. Often, Pentecost is seen as the “new age” of the Holy Spirit making a break with the “good old times” of Jesus. But Jesus says, “The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.” You see, the Holy Spirit doesn’t do or say anything different than what Jesus did and said.
Jesus said, “When the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.” The Holy Spirit is still speaking today, but this isn’t as novel as it might sound. It is only testifying again and again for you to what Jesus said before, “Repent of your sins, and believe in the good news of God.” And through this message spoken today, the Holy Spirit creates faith.
I have spent a great deal of time in conversation with God about the ministry at Saint Peters through prayer, reading the scriptures, hearing the spoken word and having conversations with others. What God keeps pointing me back to again and again is that whatever we do here must be for the sake of faith. To create faith in the hearts of each other and in those who have never believed in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
When I look at the communities we serve, I see people who are hungry, hurting, oppressed, depressed, abused and lonely, but I believe that God is not calling Saint Peters primarily to social work. How can this be you might ask? I believe that God is not calling us to social work but to faith work. When we are called to do anything, even something as important as feeding someone who is hungry, for instance, it must always be in service to that person’s faith. We cannot just give a person a fish and let them eat for a day. I believe that we are being called to give people faith so that they might live for eternal life.
At Pentecost, God poured out his Holy Spirit on Jesus’ disciples so that they might prophecy and speak in tongues for the sake of creating faith in their listeners. How do we know that this was the goal? Because by the end of the passage, scripture says that three thousand people repented of their sins and received forgiveness through baptism. Now that is quite wonderful; however, if giving faith is the goal, then that means that Pentecost isn’t really about one particular day or event at all. It is about something that God has promised to do again and again and again. God gives the Holy Spirit as a faithmaker whenever he gets us to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior for the sake of creating faith.
God gave the Holy Spirit to his disciples after his resurrection when he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any they are retained.” Where there is forgiveness of sins, you can be assured the Holy Spirit is there giving faith to believe in the promise. God gave you his Holy Spirit at your baptism when he washed you clean in the eyes of God and created faith in your heart. God gives you his Holy Spirit day after day when you repent of your sins and believe that your sins are forgiven on account of Jesus Christ alone.
Now, today, I will reenact Pentecost for you again. It might not be flashy, but I will show you exactly how the Holy Spirit comes so you know where to go looking if it is taken away from you. I announce to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. You may trust in these words as the truest vehicle the Holy Spirit rides upon to go into your ears, into your heart and out your mouth again in your confession of faith.
And as if this faith that makes you right with God was not enough, he gives you more stuff. The gifts I talked about before. Why? Because he wants more faith. Not more faith from you, he has given you what you need. He wants others brought to faith as well. So he has given you each gifts for the sake of faith. As the congregation of Saint Peters, I believe we are being called into service toward each other and toward our community. Each of us using our gifts not as an end to themselves, but as a vehicle for the Holy Spirit to create faith. Not to feed someone for a day, or entertain them for an afternoon, but to give them faith for eternal life.
What gifts has God given you? Is it wisdom, knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, working of miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, speaking in tongues or the interpretation of tongues? I mean, I don’t even know exactly what some of those look like really, but I bet some of you do amazingly enough. And so I’m just going to let you all know this right now: God is going to use you to create faith in the hearts of others. Not through your own choices, or abilities, but by the power of the Holy Spirit that God has given to you. Not just to feed someone a fish for a day, but to give someone faith for eternal life. The one who calls you into faith is faithful and he will do it.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Sermon for May 4th
This last Thursday, May 1st, Christian churches around the world celebrated ascension day, a remembrance of the resurrected Jesus floating up into heaven right before his disciples’ eyes. This is one of the weirdest and most misunderstood events in Jesus’ life. I mean, really. As if Jesus’ resurrection wasn’t shocking enough for his disciples, imagine how they must have felt when Jesus just flew up into the clouds! Don’t ask me how this happened, how he did it, because I don’t have a clue. I do, however, believe I can give you some good news about why he did it?
Was the ascension necessary? Yes and no. He wouldn’t have had to I guess, but I’m sure glad he did for your sake. But, before I can tell you why Jesus ascended into heaven, it will be most helpful, I think, to go over a couple of misunderstandings first.
The first misunderstanding. Jesus was only raised as a spirit. That is, people often believe that Jesus ascended into heaven without a physical body. Like he was a phantom or a ghost or some kind of an ethereal person. How does this misunderstanding occur? Because there is a misunderstanding of Jesus’ resurrection.
Being raised from the dead isn’t a normal thing to happen. We can’t imagine somebody dying and then coming back to life . . . especially after three days of decomposition. Apart from science fiction or horror movies, this concept is beyond our understanding and, so, it is easier to think of it spiritually. If people even still believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it is often only because they imagine Jesus is just a spirit.
We aren’t the first people to come up with this idea . It was originally made famous by the philosopher Plato who argued that when a person died, their soul was released from their skin suit to live forever. He called this the “immortality of the soul”. The argument goes something like this: the body is bad, evil, dirty, sinful, perishable and can be killed, but the soul is good, clean, enlightened, and the true part of yourself that never dies. In other words, your body will die, but you’ll live forever as a soul.
A lot of Christians, including many of you perhaps, believe in something like this. There is even a Bible passage that is sometimes used to bolster this opinion. In the gospel of John, Jesus shows himself, resurrected, to the women at the tomb and tells them, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father.” This verse is taken to mean something like, “Don’t touch me or I’ll pop!” Or, “If you get me dirty, I’ll have to stay in my body foreverrrr!” The thing is, Jesus COULD have been held onto. Because he was raised IN HIS BODY! And touching him wasn’t going to like pop him like a bubble. Jesus tells these women not to hold onto him because there was more to come.
The thing is, the “immortality of the soul” is NOT where your hope lies in Jesus Christ. Jesus was not raised as a soul, but as a body AND soul together, a whole human person with wounds still visible on his hands and feet. Jesus died completely, body, soul, spirit and everything and was raised from the dead completely, body, soul, spirit and everything. Saint Paul puts it this way in the book of 1st Corinthians, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” But Christ was raised, and raised IN HIS BODY.
There is a poem, by John Updike, that I think really gets to this point. It applies just as well to Jesus’ ascension as to his resurrection.
“Seven Stanzas at Easter” from Telephone Poles and Other Poems by John Updike.
Make no mistake: if He rose at all
it was as His body;
if the cells' dissolution did not reverse, the molecules
reknit, the amino acids rekindle,
the Church will fall.
It was not as the flowers,
each soft Spring recurrent;
it was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled
eyes of the eleven apostles;
it was as His Flesh: ours.
The same hinged thumbs and toes,
the same valved heart
that — pierced — died, withered, paused, and then
regathered out of Enduring Night
new strength to enclose.
Let us not mock God with metaphor,
analogy, sidestepping transcendence;
making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the
faded credulity of earlier ages:
let us walk through the Door.
The stone is rolled back, not papier-mache,
not a stone in a story,
but the vast rock of materiality that in the slow
grinding of time will eclipse for each of us
the wide light of day.
And if we will have an angel at the tomb,
make it a real angel,
weighty with Max Planck's quanta, vivid with hair,
opaque in the dawn light, robed in real linen
spun on a definite loom.
Let us not seek to make it less monstrous,
for our own convenience, our own sense of beauty,
lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we are
embarrassed by the miracle,
and crushed by remonstrance.
Embarrassed by the miracle of a bodily resurrected Jesus. Crushed by remonstrance, the body of evidence that proves the just spiritual Jesus wrong. And make no mistake, if Jesus ascended at all, it was as His body as well just as he was resurrected. And if not, the church will fall.
Another misconception about Jesus’ ascension is this. That he left us to fend for ourselves and is watching us from his throne. This couldn’t be further from the truth, but I find this to be a trap that is easy to fall into. Here’s the problem in a nutshell. Jesus ascended into heaven. The disciples saw him and we heard about it in the reading today. We even say that he is seated at the right hand of God the Father. That seems to leave us with nothing but a spirit, albeit the Holy Spirit. The other two-thirds of the Trinity seem to be sitting on their thrones somewhere up in heaven watching us from far away.
A famous Swiss reformer named Albert Zwingli, the founder of the Reformed church, posed the issue in another way as it relates to the Lord’s Supper. Martin Luther argued that when Jesus distributed bread at the Last Supper to his would be betrayers, his very own disciples, he said, “This is my body,” and he meant it. The bread was still bread as well as the body of Jesus Christ. The wine was still wine as well as Jesus’ blood given for the forgiveness of sins.
Zwingli, on the other hand, argued that when Jesus handed out the bread and said “This is my body” he meant “This bread symbolizes my body.” The bread and wine at the Lord’s Supper couldn’t really be Jesus’ body and blood at the same time. Why? Because Jesus is sitting in heaven and he can’t be two places at once! Thus the problem of Jesus floating into heaven. How can he be up there and down here at the same time! Well, that, my friends, is the glorious promise of Jesus’ ascension.
If Jesus rose from the dead, then Jesus rose from the dead IN HIS BODY. If Jesus ascended into heaven, then Jesus ascended into heaven IN HIS BODY. If Jesus sits at the right hand of God, then Jesus sits at the right hand of God IN HIS BODY. And if Jesus is truly God, one and the same with God the Father and the Holy Spirit ,who is present everywhere at all times, then Jesus is also present everywhere at all times IN HIS BODY. You can see why it is easier just to call him a spirit. If Jesus always comes and goes IN HIS BODY, it suddenly feels very crowded in your pew.
Jesus was sent from heaven above to earth in his body. He died in his body. He rose from the dead in his body. He ascended into heaven in his body. He sits at the right hand of God the Father in his body and he is sitting right here, right now, with you in his body.
Of course, this can seem very excessive and it is. You’d rather have your space. Who gives Jesus the right to take up so much room. Your reason and intelligence, feeling suddenly squished and claustrophobic reminds you quickly that, well it can’t be! I don’t see anything. I can’t feel anything. And my question for you is this: Was it easier to believe in Jesus’ resurrection when he was just a spirit? A spirit that you couldn’t see or couldn’t feel?
Jesus is right here, right now, with you IN HIS BODY. This is the awesome promise of the ascension. You see, the question is, why did Jesus ascend into heaven? The answer is because you needed him to. Jesus ascended into heaven so you might believe that he is just as much your Savior today as he was the Savior of his disciples. So that you might believe that Jesus is just as much here now in Cornwall, as he was 2000 years ago in Jerusalem.
Perhaps it makes more sense to just say it this way. Jesus ascended into heaven so that he would never have to leave the Earth. He wasn’t trying to escape or abandon creation. Jesus did all of this for you. For the sake of your faith. So that you might believe that he will never leave you or forsake you. In the gospel of John, Jesus tells his disciples that he must leave them so that he can send the Holy Spirit. You see, only the Holy Spirit can give you the faith to believe in Jesus in the first place, and to believe that he will always be right here, right now, with you.
But there is one last thing: those two men in white robes that we assume were angels. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” For now, we believe that Jesus is here in a body that we cannot seem to see, or realize we are touching, or hearing, or smelling. We live by faith in Jesus Christ and know him only through the eyes of faith. There will come a day, when you will look up at Jesus and see him face to face. Him, resurrected in his body, coming down from heaven and you, resurrected in your body, called out of your grave, to the reality of eternal life with Jesus forever. Amen.
Was the ascension necessary? Yes and no. He wouldn’t have had to I guess, but I’m sure glad he did for your sake. But, before I can tell you why Jesus ascended into heaven, it will be most helpful, I think, to go over a couple of misunderstandings first.
The first misunderstanding. Jesus was only raised as a spirit. That is, people often believe that Jesus ascended into heaven without a physical body. Like he was a phantom or a ghost or some kind of an ethereal person. How does this misunderstanding occur? Because there is a misunderstanding of Jesus’ resurrection.
Being raised from the dead isn’t a normal thing to happen. We can’t imagine somebody dying and then coming back to life . . . especially after three days of decomposition. Apart from science fiction or horror movies, this concept is beyond our understanding and, so, it is easier to think of it spiritually. If people even still believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it is often only because they imagine Jesus is just a spirit.
We aren’t the first people to come up with this idea . It was originally made famous by the philosopher Plato who argued that when a person died, their soul was released from their skin suit to live forever. He called this the “immortality of the soul”. The argument goes something like this: the body is bad, evil, dirty, sinful, perishable and can be killed, but the soul is good, clean, enlightened, and the true part of yourself that never dies. In other words, your body will die, but you’ll live forever as a soul.
A lot of Christians, including many of you perhaps, believe in something like this. There is even a Bible passage that is sometimes used to bolster this opinion. In the gospel of John, Jesus shows himself, resurrected, to the women at the tomb and tells them, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father.” This verse is taken to mean something like, “Don’t touch me or I’ll pop!” Or, “If you get me dirty, I’ll have to stay in my body foreverrrr!” The thing is, Jesus COULD have been held onto. Because he was raised IN HIS BODY! And touching him wasn’t going to like pop him like a bubble. Jesus tells these women not to hold onto him because there was more to come.
The thing is, the “immortality of the soul” is NOT where your hope lies in Jesus Christ. Jesus was not raised as a soul, but as a body AND soul together, a whole human person with wounds still visible on his hands and feet. Jesus died completely, body, soul, spirit and everything and was raised from the dead completely, body, soul, spirit and everything. Saint Paul puts it this way in the book of 1st Corinthians, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” But Christ was raised, and raised IN HIS BODY.
There is a poem, by John Updike, that I think really gets to this point. It applies just as well to Jesus’ ascension as to his resurrection.
“Seven Stanzas at Easter” from Telephone Poles and Other Poems by John Updike.
Make no mistake: if He rose at all
it was as His body;
if the cells' dissolution did not reverse, the molecules
reknit, the amino acids rekindle,
the Church will fall.
It was not as the flowers,
each soft Spring recurrent;
it was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled
eyes of the eleven apostles;
it was as His Flesh: ours.
The same hinged thumbs and toes,
the same valved heart
that — pierced — died, withered, paused, and then
regathered out of Enduring Night
new strength to enclose.
Let us not mock God with metaphor,
analogy, sidestepping transcendence;
making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the
faded credulity of earlier ages:
let us walk through the Door.
The stone is rolled back, not papier-mache,
not a stone in a story,
but the vast rock of materiality that in the slow
grinding of time will eclipse for each of us
the wide light of day.
And if we will have an angel at the tomb,
make it a real angel,
weighty with Max Planck's quanta, vivid with hair,
opaque in the dawn light, robed in real linen
spun on a definite loom.
Let us not seek to make it less monstrous,
for our own convenience, our own sense of beauty,
lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we are
embarrassed by the miracle,
and crushed by remonstrance.
Embarrassed by the miracle of a bodily resurrected Jesus. Crushed by remonstrance, the body of evidence that proves the just spiritual Jesus wrong. And make no mistake, if Jesus ascended at all, it was as His body as well just as he was resurrected. And if not, the church will fall.
Another misconception about Jesus’ ascension is this. That he left us to fend for ourselves and is watching us from his throne. This couldn’t be further from the truth, but I find this to be a trap that is easy to fall into. Here’s the problem in a nutshell. Jesus ascended into heaven. The disciples saw him and we heard about it in the reading today. We even say that he is seated at the right hand of God the Father. That seems to leave us with nothing but a spirit, albeit the Holy Spirit. The other two-thirds of the Trinity seem to be sitting on their thrones somewhere up in heaven watching us from far away.
A famous Swiss reformer named Albert Zwingli, the founder of the Reformed church, posed the issue in another way as it relates to the Lord’s Supper. Martin Luther argued that when Jesus distributed bread at the Last Supper to his would be betrayers, his very own disciples, he said, “This is my body,” and he meant it. The bread was still bread as well as the body of Jesus Christ. The wine was still wine as well as Jesus’ blood given for the forgiveness of sins.
Zwingli, on the other hand, argued that when Jesus handed out the bread and said “This is my body” he meant “This bread symbolizes my body.” The bread and wine at the Lord’s Supper couldn’t really be Jesus’ body and blood at the same time. Why? Because Jesus is sitting in heaven and he can’t be two places at once! Thus the problem of Jesus floating into heaven. How can he be up there and down here at the same time! Well, that, my friends, is the glorious promise of Jesus’ ascension.
If Jesus rose from the dead, then Jesus rose from the dead IN HIS BODY. If Jesus ascended into heaven, then Jesus ascended into heaven IN HIS BODY. If Jesus sits at the right hand of God, then Jesus sits at the right hand of God IN HIS BODY. And if Jesus is truly God, one and the same with God the Father and the Holy Spirit ,who is present everywhere at all times, then Jesus is also present everywhere at all times IN HIS BODY. You can see why it is easier just to call him a spirit. If Jesus always comes and goes IN HIS BODY, it suddenly feels very crowded in your pew.
Jesus was sent from heaven above to earth in his body. He died in his body. He rose from the dead in his body. He ascended into heaven in his body. He sits at the right hand of God the Father in his body and he is sitting right here, right now, with you in his body.
Of course, this can seem very excessive and it is. You’d rather have your space. Who gives Jesus the right to take up so much room. Your reason and intelligence, feeling suddenly squished and claustrophobic reminds you quickly that, well it can’t be! I don’t see anything. I can’t feel anything. And my question for you is this: Was it easier to believe in Jesus’ resurrection when he was just a spirit? A spirit that you couldn’t see or couldn’t feel?
Jesus is right here, right now, with you IN HIS BODY. This is the awesome promise of the ascension. You see, the question is, why did Jesus ascend into heaven? The answer is because you needed him to. Jesus ascended into heaven so you might believe that he is just as much your Savior today as he was the Savior of his disciples. So that you might believe that Jesus is just as much here now in Cornwall, as he was 2000 years ago in Jerusalem.
Perhaps it makes more sense to just say it this way. Jesus ascended into heaven so that he would never have to leave the Earth. He wasn’t trying to escape or abandon creation. Jesus did all of this for you. For the sake of your faith. So that you might believe that he will never leave you or forsake you. In the gospel of John, Jesus tells his disciples that he must leave them so that he can send the Holy Spirit. You see, only the Holy Spirit can give you the faith to believe in Jesus in the first place, and to believe that he will always be right here, right now, with you.
But there is one last thing: those two men in white robes that we assume were angels. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” For now, we believe that Jesus is here in a body that we cannot seem to see, or realize we are touching, or hearing, or smelling. We live by faith in Jesus Christ and know him only through the eyes of faith. There will come a day, when you will look up at Jesus and see him face to face. Him, resurrected in his body, coming down from heaven and you, resurrected in your body, called out of your grave, to the reality of eternal life with Jesus forever. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)