From the Pastor |
Today… all around the world… Christians are celebrating the day we refer to as Palm Sunday. It is the day that with processions… palm branches and hymns like “Hosanna, Loud Hosanna” we remember how this most Holy of Weeks began… with Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Riding on… of all things… a donkey… while the people gathered… waving palm branches and crying out, "Hosanna, Hosanna!"
It is a truly exciting time… I mean… we are joining with millions of our brothers and sisters in Christ… in churches all around the world… giving honor and praise to Christ Jesus. Next Sunday… we will once again gather… to celebrate the greatest, most important festival of the Christian year (yes… this one is bigger than even Christmas)! Only this time our praises will be with shouts of "Hallelujah" instead of "Hosanna". Oddly enough… there is a big difference. For between the cries of Hosanna and the shouts of Halleluiah… in between Palm Sunday and Easter… there is the Passion. During this one short week… we remember the journey of Christ… the journey that took Jesus from that triumphant entry into Jerusalem… all the way to the cross. What a difference a week can make! It is the events of this week that show us that we need the path from hosanna to hallelujah. We have to recognize that we cannot get from Hosanna to Hallelujah without all that occurred in between. In order to recognize that fact though… we need to really understand what these words we shout with such abandon really mean. Growing up, I remember Palm Sunday well. The Sunday School children would parade down the center aisle of the church… waving our palm branches shouting “hosanna” all the way. It was a fun and cute parade, but it made me believe that “Hosanna” was like a cheer… Like crying out “hip, hip, hooray.” In Hebrew "Hosanna" means ‘save, we pray’… ‘help, we pray.’ Throughout the generations it developed into a cry that showed they believed salvation had come. Think about that for a moment… instead of simply yelling out cheers and greetings, they were calling out “Save us we pray! … Salvation has come.” They did not really know who Jesus was… they knew Jesus was a Holy man sent by God… they had hope that it was this man who would be their salvation… their Messiah… the long awaited King who would break the hold of tyranny that Rome had on them. Hosanna indeed!! Hallelujah… on the other hand… means “Praise the Lord!” Where Hosanna is the cry for salvation… Hallelujah is the praise to God for the joy of salvation. Changes things a bit, doesn't it? How do we go from Palm Sunday which begins with a plea "Save us" to Easter where we "Praise God!" for being saved… all in one short week. We are only able to do so because of the events of those 7 days… of what Jesus said and did and suffered. We truly cannot get to hallelujah without those occurrences. At the entrance of Jerusalem… a crowd of people cried out for help… they wanted liberation from the oppression of the Roman Empire… they longed for freedom. They were looking for a savior… the Messiah who would save them then and there. But, it didn't happen the way they wanted. Because by Friday, the one they called upon to save them, was hanging on a cross. They could not yet see the truth like we now can. Jesus, the Messiah… came to save more than just that crowd gathered so long ago. He came to save us all… and he did not do so by raising an army… he did it by being betrayed, arrested, beaten, tortured and crucified. They did not yet know… as they were crying out for salvation… that true salvation was only possible because (as Paul writes to the Church in Philippi): “he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” [Philippians 2: 7b-8] It is the events that occur between the cries of ‘Hosanna’ and shouts of ‘Hallelujah’ that we begin to understand the greater picture of salvation. That’s where we are… we have circled around to another Holy Week in the midst of a global pandemic. Churches around the world are retelling the greatest story ever told… while still facing disease and death… on top of that we have social unrest, racism and violence all around us… However… amid the trials of this world, the message of Holy Week remains… pointing to another reality… pointing us to salvation. The story we remember during Holy begins with the cries for salvation… and then takes the path of suffering and sacrifice, with sorrow, grief, and despair… but through the love and grace of God… the story does not end there. On Easter, we are able to joyfully shout our praises to God because salvation has come… Jesus rose from the dead… conquering the grave… offering salvation from the powers of sin, and death… opening the gates of everlasting life to all who will believe. There really is no way to go from ‘Hosanna’ to ‘Hallelujah’ without the Passion… without the cross. So even as we cry out to God to “save us,”… to “help us, Lord”… as we look around at the depths of sorrow and suffering… we know that salvation has come. We can sing our Hallelujahs boldly… with conviction because we know all that Christ has done. Besides… the story is still not over! Amen
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Numbers 21: 4-9 & John 3:14-21
Our gospel reading for this week is just a small part of a larger conversation that takes place late one night between Jesus and the Pharisee, Nicodemus. Jesus is explaining how… in order to enter the Kingdom of God… one MUST be born again. Now… Nicodemus just doesn’t understand how a person could possibly be born again… so Jesus tells him that being born again is not only possible but mandatory. To be born again is to be recreated in the spiritual sense through faith. Faith, after all, is what it is all about: But it is his illustration of this point in verses 14-15 that is really interesting: “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” This obscure reference might seem strange to us, but Nicodemus would have understood that Jesus was referring to the story from the Book of Numbers. And that backstory is crucial to understanding not only this one verse… but the whole idea behind what Jesus is telling Nicodemus… about how God deliver offers healing and new life through faith. The Israelites had been freed from Egypt and were now wondering through a desert where there is little or no food available. So God has provided… sending manna (what we refer to as bread from heaven) to sustain them through this journey. True to form… these people were complaining yet again… they grew impatient and spoke out against God and against Moses, “There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” [21: 5b] Needless to say… God was none too pleased by this so he sent a plague among the people… poisonous snakes… The very thought makes me shudder. Many died… many fell sick from the bites, and they realized they had messed up. The people went to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived. [21:7-9] It is an interesting story to say the least, but we have to look deeper into this to find the point that I believe Jesus was making. At first glance, this story might make us uncomfortable… especially after the whole “golden calf” fiasco… but when Moses made the bronze snake on a pole… it was not for the people to worship… it was a tool used to demonstrate the trust… the faith the people had in God. Think about it… there were thousands of Israelites there in the desert… THOUSANDS! They were not all lumped together in a tight cluster… they were spread out… in smaller groups… around numerous campfires. That snake Moses created would have had to have been massive for all the people to see. The group around Moses could have easily looked upon it and been healed, but everyone else? NO… several things had to happen before the healing could take place. First… the word had to go out among ALL the people. They had to be told to go to where Moses was… told to look upon the bronze snake on a pole because the Lord said that if they did so… they would be healed. Then… they had to believe… they had to put their trust in God’s word. You just know that as the story spread… there had to have been some who scoffed at ridiculousness of the very idea… probably some who were afraid… remembering God’s anger at the whole idol worship thing… afraid that maybe it was a test… or a trap. Finally… they had to… in faith and trusting in God… go to where they could actually look upon the bronze snake so that they could receive the healing God promised. It is the idea of acting in faith that Nicodemus would have understood from this story, and Jesus is telling… and us today… that it is this same faith that we must have in order to be born again so that we can truly be healed. “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” [3:14] Jesus… the Son of Man was indeed lifted up. He was lifted up on the cross for all to see. Just like when the Israelites looked at the bronze serpent and were healed, the cross has the power to heal and give life as well. The cross is not something that was created for us to worship… it, too, is a tool used to demonstrate the trust… the faith we have in God. For it is by gazing upon the cross in faith that we also find our healing, and the promise of life. Just as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on the pole in the desert It is by hearing the word of God… and then believing what you have heard… The Son of Man has been lifted up on the cross. The cross that was once a symbol of pain and death… has been remade into a symbol of forgiveness… healing and hope. The cross is now where we will find healing and wholeness… and through our faith we can be born again into a new and glorious life. Putting your faith and trust in the Lord is what this third chapter of John’s gospel is all about and is summed up in one of THE most famous verses: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [John 3:16] The awesome message John provides is that God offers love and grace to a world that really only deserves condemnation. That is still the message today. Undeserved grace that is received by faith is the foundation of our salvation. As Paul wrote “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God…” [Ephesians 2:8] Such extravagant grace calls for a radical response. We accept God’s gift of grace when we commit ourselves to follow Christ through faith. God calls to a sinful world. Our response echoes God’s call of love, devotion, and forgiveness. The motto “Jesus Saves” is not just a slogan; it is a life-transforming reality. To find healing the Israelites had to “look up” to the bronze snake. This was an act of repentance, turning their eyes from the living snakes that plagued them to God and the promise of God’s healing grace. We, also, are saved by grace, reborn by faith and called to a new life in Christ. All of this means we face a decision today: Where are we looking? Are we looking up… keeping our eyes on the one who was lifted up to bring us healing and new life? OR are we focused on the plagues… the trials and darkness of this world? Have we truly put our faith in God and allowed the Spirit to re-create us... changing our hearts and minds to be more like Christ? To change our lives so that we become followers of Christ who bring God’s grace to others through our words and deeds? Look away from the snakes around you and look to the cross in faith… let God’s Holy Spirit enter in and bring you new life as you are born again this day. Amen. Exodus 20: 1-17
When my daughter was a teenager, she would get upset with me because we had rules in our house. I expected to ALWAYS know where she was… she had a curfew… she needed permission to go places with her friends… and compared to some of her friends… I was pretty strict. To make matters worse… the few times she tried to rebel and skirt AROUND those rules… she was busted pretty easily. She hated it. There were times that she resented the fact that some of her friends didn’t have to suffer the same restrictions she did. They did not have a curfew… they could go wherever they pleased… do what they wanted. It wasn’t fair… or so I was told quite a few times. Now, don’t get me wrong. She and I had a good relationship… but sometimes she chafed at all the rules. One thing she struggled to understand is why one of her friends… on with a LOT of freedom… seemed to like to spend so much time at our house where the rules were enforced for everyone. You came to my house… you followed my rules. That’s how it was. Then one day she came home and actually hugged me and thanked me. “For what?” I asked… “For caring!” she replied. Apparently, she and this same friend had been talking. When she complained about all my ridiculous rules… her friend looked at her and said… “Well, at least your parents give a damn… At least you know they care about you.” Now, her friend’s parents were good people. I have no doubt they loved their daughter… but at the time… she actually envied MY daughter. She was able to see the rules we had at our house for what they were… acts of love… She understood that the rules we set in place were there because we loved and cared for our child. That is exactly what the commandments… the laws of God are all about. This morning we heard the section of Exodus that we refer to as the Ten Commandments. These were the first of the laws given by God to the people of Israel after God delivered them from their lives of slavery in Egypt. These Laws were not a means of salvation… They had already been saved. Their salvation happened long before their good works or their following of God’s commands. These laws, and the many that followed, were meant to govern the people and to distinguish them as a people set apart from other nations… different… righteous; making them God’s Chosen People. These commandments were given to Moses to share with the people as part of the covenant God offered to them. It was a covenant that the people were free to accept or reject. If they followed God’s commands, then God promised to be their God… to watch over and protect them and make them into a great nation. The choice was theirs. So, “When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.” Exodus 24:3 God’s laws were meant for the good of all the people… to teach them to not only love their God but to properly love and care for themselves, one another and others as well. These laws were meant to create a people with a deepened moral sensibility that rose out of their religious vitality. A people who placed a higher value on all human life than on material things… Unfortunately, like my own child… the people occasionally rebelled against the “rules” and got into trouble… And somewhere along the line… the laws lost the basis of love they were created in. They became oppressive and sometimes hurtful. For example the law about the Sabbath… The Sabbath… meant to be a day of rest, worship and rejoicing, but became a day of discipline and strict rules… in fact… by the time of Jesus there were over 1000 things a person was NOT allowed to on the Sabbath, including helping someone else if it violated ANY of the rules. But the truth remains… The laws of the Lord were a sign of the love God had for the people of Israel. So God sent Jesus into the world to a.) put the basis of love back into the laws and b.) to create a new covenant… opening it to all who would have faith and believe in him. Jesus put heart back into the Laws of God. He boldly challenged the religious leaders concerning their interpretation of those laws. When we look back to our example of the Sabbath… the Pharisees believed that offering medical attention to someone was prohibited on the Sabbath unless it was truly a matter of life and death. However, Jesus healed people on the Sabbath… a man with a shriveled hand… a woman crippled for 18 years are just two examples… And since healings had not involved a life-and-death situation, they accused Jesus had violated the Sabbath. But Jesus understood the true purpose of the Sabbath… he understood the heart of the law… and it angered him to see that they placed their own traditions and interpretations over that purpose. Jesus came to show that love is the most important thing and is the basis of EVERY law God has given… every law comes down to love… loving God… loving and caring for self and neighbor… Jesus himself even added another commandment to the list… “A new commandment I give to you -- that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples - if you have love for one another.” [John 13:34-35] If following the law does not reflect the love of God… something is wrong. The laws were given because of God’s love for us… love does not come from the law… however, this does not negate the laws. Jesus said “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished..” [Matthew 5:17-18] The laws of God are still in effect… anyone who enters into the new covenant that God has been offered through Christ… must realize that the laws of God have NOT been discarded, but they must always be interpreted through the eyes of love In fact, the Law of Love is far more demanding than the written letter of the law… The Ten Commandments outlaw adultery… Jesus outlaws even the thought of adultery. The Ten Commandments outlaw murder… Jesus forbids even the hateful intent. Jesus even goes so far as to demand that we love our enemy. The law was given to the people of Israel out of God’s great love. It has been extended to us as well for the same reason. It is meant for our well-being and the well-being of all those around us. It is designed to help us and guide us as we attempt to live in this world. The law is part of the covenant that God has made with us to be our God. This new covenant is not harsh… it is loving and merciful… it is not harmful… it is forgiving and kind… Through this covenant we have the promise that when we mess up… when we break God’s laws… if we repent and turn back to God… God will forgive us, and heal us, and welcome us home once again. God gives us laws… rules to follow… not to be mean, not to cause us despair or hardship… but to bring the light of love into our lives… to give us joy because the laws are the expression of God's love for us… just as much as Christ's death on the cross is. It is through love that the laws are given… it is that same love revealed through Christ that offers forgiveness and salvation… It is the love that embodies the fulfilment and completion of the law. The same love we are called to demonstrate one another… It is the wondrous love of God that is within every person who believes in him and seeks to follow Jesus. Walking as he walked, living as he lived… trusting in God and in God’s Holy Word. Listen to that love - listen to the Lord your God - and be faithful. Amen |
Yeon Shin
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