Sunday 02/24/13 RWJ/Pottersville UMC
Sermon: “It has begun”
Scripture Lesson: Psalm 27
Gospel Lesson: Luke 13:31-35
Good morning brothers and sisters! It is a great joy, as always to be
worshipping with you here this morning. On this morning, we continue to move
forward in this Lenten Season.
Last week, as we had just begun the
Lenten Season, I challenged us to consider what we could give up for Lent, or
more appropriately what we could give away for Lent. For in this time of the
Christian Calendar, Jesus moves closer and closer to dying for us all on the cross.
He moves closer to fulfilling all of the prophecies of old, so that we may have
eternal life.
Yesterday, I watched an excellent film
called “The Gospel of John”. In this movie, the entire Gospel according to John
was made into an almost 3-hour feature length film. In the film, it is amazing
to see how so many people judged Jesus, and how so many didn’t believe that he was
who he said he was. It was amazing that Jesus healed, that he performed many
other miracles, and raised the dead, and yet many still doubted him. He
commanded Lazarus back to life, and yet some still doubted him.
You see, while many flocked to this
Jesus of Nazareth, especially the poor, the sick, and the down trodden, the religious
leaders were very Leary of him. After all, weren’t they the ones who knew God
the best? Weren’t they the ones who had the answers regarding God, the
afterlife, and etc.? Further, the religious leaders of Jesus’ time lived good
lives, to say the least.
You see during this time, the average
person in Jerusalem didn’t eat meat everyday, like many of us having the luxury
of doing today. Most folks only ate meat during special feasts, weddings, or
other special festivals. The Pharisees, the high priests, and the other religious
leaders though, got to eat meat each and every day. This is because, according
to the “Old Law” or the “Law of Moses” in the Old Testament, people had to offer
animal sacrifices to God in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. The Old Testament or
Jewish Torah book of Leviticus, among other things, talked about how to butcher
an animal. We often know this today, as something being “Kosher”. Many of us
know that Jews cannot eat pork, and that “Kosher” meat products must be
butchered and prepared according to this “Old Law,” or the “Law of Moses”. We
can still see many products in the grocery store today in fact, that are “Kosher”
products.
So every
day, the wealthy religious leaders would sacrifice these animals according the “Old
Law,” and the folks who came to pay tribute to God, would also sometimes bring
money to give, bring food to give, and etc. The Pharisees, the high priests,
and the other religious leaders, would then often keep the rest of these
sacrificed and butchered animals. You see the religious leaders, lived good.
Jesus of Nazareth then enters the picture, comes to the temple and flips the
tables of the money changers selling animals at premium price, to be used as
sacrifices from the common folks of Jerusalem. Jesus said, "Get
these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!"
Well I might be young, and I might still be naïve to many of
the things of this world, but this I have learned, leaders and people in power
don’t like people who “upset the apple cart”. Leaders and people in power
generally want to maintain the status quo, and definitely don’t want some young
Nazarene named Jesus coming in and challenging there authority. While miracles
were performed, while Jesus proved he was who he said he was, this meant that the
“good life” could be over for the Pharisees. In fact, the Pharisees giving
30-pieces of silver to Judas Iscariot to sell out Jesus, was chump change to these
guys. They would do anything to maintain their power, anything. In fact,
quickly “It had begun,” the planning and the scheming, to kill Jesus.
In the scripture reading from this morning, Psalm 27 said that
“The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid”. I can
imagine Jesus saying to the Pharisees and the people at the temple the day he
turned over the tables, “Do you really think that these expensive animal
sacrifices will save you?” “Do you really think that just following the Law to
the “T” will be enough for almighty God?” I would imagine that Jesus would say,
“What about the internal change for God?” “You must follow me,” he said.
You see, Jesus came to change the social order, and
everything in it. Jesus said, have faith in him, not in animal sacrifices. Only
faith in him will get you to life eternal.
I
can imagine then, that the Pharisees thought, “Jesus was bad for business”. We
all know what often happens to things that are bad for business, don’t we. The
scripture from this morning ended by saying, “Wait for the LORD; be strong, and
let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!” trust in Jesus. “It has begun”.
They are planning to kill Jesus of Nazareth.
In the reading from the Gospel of
Luke from this morning, it read, “At that very hour some Pharisees came and
said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you”. Jesus then said
to those Pharisees, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting our
demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will finish
my work”. Jesus then left Jerusalem as he said that it is impossible for a prophet
to be killed outside of Jerusalem”. He will return on a donkey though, to the
shouts of Hosanna soon, a day very close to his death.
While Jesus knew long before the
crucifixion that he was coming to earth to die for the sins of the world, I
wonder that when Jesus heard that Herod wanted to kill him, if he said, “it has
begun”. The road to his death and burial has begun. I mean after all, he came
to heal, love, and forgive, and he was always right when the Pharisees debated
him. So he was amazing and was always right, and they want to kill him for this?
His crime, his only real crime I think, was that he was perfect.
Sometimes in my short life, I have
seen what companies and other employers have done to young, talented, and ambitious
people. Sometimes such people are seen as a threat, and sometimes they are marginalized
and ultimately fired, because they “caused waves”. Jesus caused waves. Jesus
challenged us to put our faith in him, and not just laws and rules alone.
For after all, as the song “You are I
am” by the Christian band “Mercy Me” says in reference to Jesus, “You're the
one who conquers giants, You're the one who calls out kings, You shut the
mouths of lions, You tell the dead to breathe, You're the one who walks through
fire, You take the orphan's hand, You are the one Messiah. You are I am. You
are I am.”
I would like to close this morning
with a story. This story is called “Come
as you are, no jacket required”. Here is how it goes: I shook my head in
disbelief, the man said. This couldn’t be the right place. After
all, I couldn’t possibly be welcome here. I had been given an invitation
several times, by several different people, and had finally decided to see
what this place was all about. But, this just couldn’t be the right place.
Quickly, I glanced down at the invitation that clutched in my hand. I
scanned past the words, “Come as you are. No jacket required,” and found
the location. Yes, I was at the right place. I peered through the window
again and saw a room of people whose faces seemed to glow with joy. All
were neatly dressed, adorned in fine garments and appeared strangely clean
as they dined at this exquisite restaurant. Ashamed, I looked down at my own
tattered and torn clothing, covered in stains. I was dirty, in fact, filthy. A
foul smell seemed to consume me and I couldn’t shake the grime that clung
to my body. As I turned around to leave, the words from the invitation
seemed to leap out at me, “Come as you are. No jacket required.”
I decided to give it a shot.
Mustering up every bit of courage I could find, I opened the door to this
restaurant and walked up to a man standing behind a podium. Your name,
sir?” he asked me with a smile. “Daniel F. Renken,” I mumbled without
looking up. I thrust my hands deep into my pockets, hoping to conceal
their stains. He didn’t seem to notice the filth that I was covered in and
he continued, “Very good, sir. A table is reserved in your name. Would you
like to be seated?” I couldn’t believe what I heard! A grin broke out on
my face and I said, “Yes, of course! “He led me to a table and, sure enough,
there was a placard with my name written on it in a deep, dark red. As I
browsed over a menu, I saw many delightful items listed. There were things
like, “peace,” “joy,” “blessings,” “confidence,” “assurance,” “hope,” “love,”
“faith,” and “mercy.” I realized that this was no
ordinary restaurant! I flipped the menu back to the front in order to
see where I was. “God’s Grace,” was the name of this place!
The man returned and said, “I
recommend the ‘Special of the Day’.” With it, you are entitled to heaping
portions of everything on this menu.” You’ve got to be kidding! I thought to
myself. You mean, I can have ALL of this! “What is the ‘Special of the Day,” I
asked with excitement ringing in my voice. “Salvation,” was his reply. “I’ll
take it,” I practically cried out. Then, as quickly as I made that
statement, the joy left my body. A sick, painful ache jerked through my
stomach and tears filled my eyes. Between my sobs I said, “Mister, look at me.
I’m dirty and nasty. I’m unclean and unworthy of such things. I’d love to
have all of this, but, I Just can’t afford it.” Undaunted, the man smiled
again. “Sir, your check has already been taken care of by that Gentleman over
there,” he said pointing to the front of the room. “His Name is Jesus.”
Turning, I saw a man whose
very presence seemed to light the room. He was almost too much to look at.
I found myself walking towards Him and in a shaking voice I whispered,
“Sir, I’ll wash the dishes or sweep the floors or take out the trash. I’ll
do anything I can do to repay you for all of this.” He opened His arms and
said with a smile, “Son, all of this is yours if you just come unto Me. Ask Me
to clean you up and I will. Ask Me to take away the stains and it is done.
Ask Me to allow you to feast at My table and you will eat. Remember, the
table is reserved in your name. All you must do is accept this gift
that I offer you.”
Astonished, I fell at His feet and
said, “Please, Jesus. Please clean up my life. Please change me and seat me at
Your table and give me this new life.” Immediately, I heard the words, “It is
finished.” I looked down and white robes adorned my squeaky clean body.
Something strange and wonderful had happened. I felt new, like a weight
had been lifted, and I found myself seated at His table.
“The ‘Special of the Day’ has been
served,” the Lord said to me. “Salvation is yours.” We sat and talked for
a great while and I so enjoyed the time that I spent with Him. He told me,
me of all people, that He would like me to come back as often as I
liked for another helping from God’s Grace. He made it clear that He wanted
me to spend as much time with Him as possible.
As it drew near time for me to
go back outside into the “real world,” He whispered to me softly,
“And Daniel, I am with you always.” And then, He said something to me that
I will never forget. He said, “My child, Do you see these empty tables
throughout this room?” “Yes, Lord. I see them. What do they mean?” I
replied. “These are reserved tables, but the individuals whose names are on
each placards have not accepted their invitations to dine. Would you be so
kind as to hand out these invitations to those who have not joined us
yet?” Jesus asked. “Of course,” I said with excitement as I picked up the
invitations. “Go ye therefore into all nations,” He said as I turned to leave.
I walked into God’s Grace dirty and hungry. Stained in sin. My
righteousness as filthy rags. And Jesus cleaned me up. I walked out a brand new
man . . . robed in white, His righteousness. And so, I’ll keep my promise
to my Lord. I’ll go. I’ll spread the Word. I’ll share the Gospel . . . I’ll
hand out the invitations.
And I’ll start with you. Have
you been to God’s Grace? There’s a table reserved in your name, and here’s
your invitation . . . “Come as you are. No jacket required.”
You see Jesus came to earth to love,
heal, and forgive. He upset the social order so much that religious leaders
were determined to kill him. “It has begun” Jesus might have though, as they
planned and schemed to kill the savior of the world. This week let us spread
the message of the salvation of Jesus Christ, who came to die for us all. Amen.
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