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To Tell The Truth

2/25/2018

Genesis 17: 1-7; Romans 4: 13-25; Mark 8: 31-38
February 25, 2018

How many of you remember the TV game show, To Tell the Truth? It is a game where three panelists all pretend to be the same person, a person with an unusual job or skill. One of them actually is that person, the other two lie as best they can to convince the judges that they are indeed who they claim to be. The judges seek to determine who is really who they are claiming to be by asking pertinent questions. I was reminded of this by the exchange between Pilate and Jesus on the day of his crucifixion. As you may recall, my Lenten series is about people and events from the last week in Jesus' life. Pilate is a man we don't hear many sermon's about but who is the only person other than the mother of Jesus mentioned in the Apostle's creed. “Suffered under Pontius Pilate, crucified, dead and buried.” Let's start with a brief examination of what life would have been like for this governor of the Roman Province of Israel. Then we'll look with more detail at his interaction with Jesus.

When I try to delve into the backgrounds of the biblical characters, it means a bit of study and research along with some imagination, intuition and logic. There was no facebook for them to tweet their thoughts and actions, no news channel keeping record of the daily news in Jerusalem. So we have four gospel accounts and a few secular writers, notably Josephus, who give us the bare bones of the times. For Pilate, history confirms that he was assigned governor of Jerusalem in 26 AD. Before we meet him in the gospels, there are some events recorded by Josephus that may be helpful in understanding the man. Pilate originally entered the city with the Roman standards bearing the image of Caesar, the “divine” ruler. This blasphemy didn't sit well with the Jews. Another time he raided the temple treasury to build an aqueduct in the city. His greatest error in dealing with Jerusalem, he placed golden shields in the city with inscriptions of various gods. Josephus writes about that incident, “Immediately multitudes of excited Jews hastened to... petition him for the removal of the obnoxious ensigns. For five days he refused to hear them, but on the sixth he took his place on the judgment seat, and when the Jews were admitted he had them surrounded with soldiers and threatened them with instant death unless they ceased to trouble him with the matter. The Jews thereupon flung themselves on the ground and bared their necks, declaring that they preferred death to the violation of their laws. Pilate, unwilling to slay so many, yielded the point and removed the ensigns."
(The Standards- Josephus, War 2.169-174, Antiq 18.55-59)
Pilate had what could be called an uneasy truce with the leaders of Jerusalem. He had made his mistakes, but he also gave them some freedom in their governance and worship. Here's a little intuitive thought I'd add here; don't you suppose the Jewish leaders had some leverage over Pilate? If he slipped up again, these reports would be forwarded and maybe Pilate's term be abruptly ended? We can't romanticize the era. Politics played a key role at every level. Even the priests weren't above using whatever leverage they had to promote their positions.
With these mistakes in mind, they came to Pilate from a position, not of power, but not of weakness either. Pilate had plenty of political interest in keeping the Jewish leaders happy.
And so we look at Good Friday. The leaders have had Jesus arrested, tried by the Sanhedrin, sentenced to death. But, Roman law prohibited them from carrying out the death penalty. They needed the governor to condemn the prisoner. The gospels have multiple pages about the events of that day. I chose a very few verses to share to give us an outline of what happened that day, and you may notice the hints of To Tell the Truth here.
Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king (or not?)?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all.
After having Jesus flogged, Pilate sought to release him but the leaders insisted on a crucifixion.
So Pilate again said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?” Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”
From then on Pilate sought to release Him. But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!” Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led Him away.
It is quite a story; an innocent man, a judge knowing he is innocent, a mob forcing the death penalty. The idea of truth is mighty important in determining guilt or innocence, but is ignored here. We promise “to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” But truth, that idea of facts and nothing but the facts, that temporal truth-telling is not what Jesus means by truth. Oh, we understand that the gospel includes being honest; the ten commandments have the not-lying clause, number 9 “Thou shall not bear false witness...” This is not truth Jesus is speaking of when he told Pilate, “Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Let me try to explain what this use of truth means. Pastor Truman and I are sharing a reading exercise for Lent, we are reading the same two books as a discipline. One is Walk With Jesus by Henri Nouwen. As I read my section for Monday, I ran across this paragraph. Listen as he explains truth as Jesus used it, “The truth of which Jesus speaks is not a thesis, or a doctrine, or an intellectual explanation of reality. It is the very relationship, the life-giving intimacy between himself and the Father of which he wants us to partake. Pilate could not hear that nor can anyone who is not connected to Jesus. Anyone, however, who enters into communion with Jesus will receive the Spirit of truth-the Spirit who frees us from the compulsions and obsessions of our contemporary society, who makes us belong to God's own inner life, and allows us to live in the world with open hearts and attentive minds... Jesus' death, instead of being the execution of a death sentence, became the way to the full truth, leading to full freedom.”
Truth is about relationship; communion with Jesus. I left this banner up because it is all about relationship. The way is Jesus. The Truth is Jesus. Life is through Jesus. Pilate was in the presence of Jesus and missed this particular truth. Oh, his curiosity was piqued. He was kind of like the judges on To Tell the Truth. But his questions did nothing to find the deeper truth. “Do I look like a Jew? Your people turned you over, what did you do? “Are you a king or not?” “Won't you answer me? Don't you know I have the authority to pardon you or crucify you?” Pilate was looking for intellectual truth; Jesus was offering life-giving truth.
Pilate then was faced with a choice. Do what is right or do what is expedient. Another venture into what might have been but is not recorded. Pilate had probably heard of Jesus. I am using Max Lucado's And the Angel's Were Silent to help my imagination of the events. He writes, “Pilate reflects on (what he'd heard). 'The strange story of the man over in Bethany. Dead for, what was it? Three, no four days. This is the rube they said called him up from the grave. And that gathering in Bethsaida. Numbered up to several thousand...they wanted to make him a king. Oh, yes, he fed the crowd. We could use a king...a king who make sense out of this mess.'”
He was interested. But not interested enough to truly discover who Jesus was. Pilate was faced with two decisions that day. One, would he stand up for what is right and release Jesus despite the great pressure to crucify him? We know he caved on that one. Second, what would he do with this man who claimed to be an other-worldly king? “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus. Pilate was a man with authority, but he recognized a different sort of authority in Jesus. “Don't you know I have the authority to pardon you?” And the response of Jesus, “You would have no authority over me unless it had been given you from above.” That seemed to reach Pilate as John says, “From then on, Pilate tried to release him.” Tried to release him. But he caved in to the pressure of the crowd, who were pressured by the leaders to get rid of this troublemaker once and for all.
There were other interesting tidbits we don't have time to get into, but are worth mentioning. Pilate's wife, generally called Claudia in accounts of this day but her name is never given, she tried to persuade Pilate to let Jesus go because of a dream she'd had. Pilate sent Jesus to the puppet king, King Herod, ruler over Galilee. He hoped that Herod would handle this affair. But Herod simply questioned Jesus, hoping to see some miracles, then sent him back to Pilate. Finally, Pilate dredged up an old custom of releasing a prisoner at Passover. He offered the choice to between releasing Jesus or an insurrectionist and murderer named Barabbas...Barabbas was chosen. In the end, Pilate did get a jab in at the Jewish leaders by posting a sign on the cross, “The King of the Jews”.
So he came close to getting the choices right. He tried to release Jesus. He gave Jesus the title of King. But he never was able to answer for himself the question he asked the Jewish leaders, “What will I do with this man, Jesus?”
That is the question we are all called on to answer, “What will I do with Jesus?” We have many of the same choices that Pilate faced. We can wash our hands of him and go on with our lives as though we have no responsibility and no call to relationship with God. We can keep asking questions...and never listen to the answers; our relationship never goes beyond the “Who are you” stage. We can try to make our answer yes by working hard in our church activities...and keep Jesus at arm's length. We can say the right words, proclaim Jesus as King and fail to ever know Jesus.
Our truth is that Jesus is King; that he does have authority over the things of this world, and that we live under that authority. Jesus said in today's gospel, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” Living in the truth of Christ means sacrifice, it means serving others. But it also means living as a child of God; the brother or sister of Jesus by faith!
Pontius Pilate was in the very room with the savior. He was able to ask all the questions he wanted; but he rejected Jesus as a Jewish religious king. Four times he tried to release Jesus, instead, four times he listened to the voice of the world. The voice of compromise for the sake of peace. The voice of expediency instead of doing what is right. The voice of politics in order to advance his own career. The voice of conscience was drowned out by all the other voices.
But we don't get into that room with Jesus. We build our faith on the words of others. And as Paul wrote in today's Romans passage, “For this reason it (righteousness) depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace.” I haven't used that word yet today. Grace is what Jesus offers as King of the Jews, our savior and king.
Our choice is made by faith. Reason figures in as well; it has to make sense. Pilate had to make his choice. He climbed on the fence and waffled. Then he chose to wash his hands of the case. He chose to send Jesus away. He chose to listen to the voice of the people rather than to the voice of Jesus. Today, listen to the voice of the Sprit calling you into relationship with Jesus!
The best record we have of what happened to Pilate comes again from the writing of the historian Josephus who wrote, “It is worthy of note that Pilate himself, who was governor in the time of our Savior, is reported to have fallen into such misfortunes under Caius, (an man who became emperor after Pilate's time in Judea)... that he was forced to become his own murderer and executioner; and thus divine vengeance, as it seems, was not long in overtaking him.” (Flavius Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews 18.4.2.)
There is the legend that Claudia became a Christian. And that legend says that Pilate's eternal home is a mountain lake where he daily surfaces, still plunging his hands into the water...trying to wash away his guilt...not for the evil he did but for the kindness he didn't do.
Let us learn the lesson from Pilate that there is a choice to be made and the right choice is to trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord. We know the truth...Jesus is Lord and Savior, and that truth is life; a Spirit-lead life right now and life in the presence of God forever and ever. Amen.
He Never Said a Mumblin' Word 95 PH

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What Wondrous Love

2/18/2018

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Genesis 9:8-17; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:9-15
February 18, 2018
Can you believe we are already into another season of Lent? The years just keep going faster and faster; just like my mama said. When I was a kid, Lent meant giving up something we liked. It was more of a Catholic thing but has picked up some steam in Protestant circles too. It draws its inspiration from the forty days of temptation in the wilderness that Jesus went through right after his baptism. Our reading in Mark gave it just one sentence, “He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.” Luke on the other hand gives much more detail with 13 verses about the specific temptations. Lent was a time to consider how we handle temptations that come our way. Giving up something we like forced us to battle temptation.
Now, I think Lent should be more about what we do, not what we don't do or eat. And what we are to do is to focus even more on Jesus. If giving up something for Lent helps you focus, by all means do it. I am trying to add a focus on scripture, and so my sermons in Lent this year will focus on certain events recorded in the gospels occurring in the last week in the life of Jesus.

Each Sunday a different event or person that was a part of those last 7 days in the life of Jesus will be the main subject.
Today we look at the anointing of Jesus. We are told in John that this took place 6 days before the Passover. Mark and Matthew also have accounts of this event. Listen to the event as Mark tells it in his 14th chapter: 3 While Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head. 4 But some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the ointment wasted in this way? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her. 6 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”
Let's start at the beginning, who is Simon the Leper? We aren't really told and this is the only time he is named in the gospels. But I think we can make some logical inferences. For one thing, he is most certainly no longer a leper. Anyone with that contagious disease could not even associate with people yet alone host a dinner party. And if he is no longer a leper, and he has invited Jesus to supper, can't we conclude that Jesus healed him? We have several accounts of Jesus healing men infected with leprosy. Could Simon be the one leper out of ten who returned to thank Jesus for healing him? Jesus healed a leper after coming down from his sermon on the mount, could this be him? Or was he just one of the faceless, nameless people Jesus healed in his time on earth? We don't know. But we know he invited Jesus and his disciples for dinner. And we can be sure that Simon was showing his gratefulness for what Jesus had done for him. More than healing his body, he gave him his life back. His daughter could once again walk with her daddy, hand in hand. His wife could give and receive a kiss. And rather than spending lonely hours exiled from the world, Simon could host a dinner party for his friends, and his Savior.
John, in his account, tells us specifically that this was also the city where Lazarus lived. Its not much of a stretch to imagine that Lazarus was there; and that his type A sister Martha would have been busy helping in the kitchen while Mary hung out in the dining room. Allow me to share the way Bishop Fulton Sheen describes the table in his book, Life of Christ; “Recumbant at table, the Master sat among his Apostles and a number of others: John and James who had but recently sought first places (in the kingdom), Peter the Rock, who would have a Divine, but not a suffering Christ... Judas, the treasurer of apostolic funds.... Lazarus, so recently risen from the dead by the power of him who called himself 'the Resurrection'; Martha, still serving and bent on hospitable cares, and Mary, the repentant sinner.”
Simon, the let's say ex-leper, opened his home to these people. He provided them with a good meal, which they didn't get every day. And perhaps the remembrance of this meal and fellowship was a source of comfort and strength when, a week later, Jesus carried his own cross up the hill to be crucified. This act of love from Simon was a gift to Jesus; small in comparison to what Jesus had given him—but isn't that true of every gift we give to God. What is there that compares to the gift of life that we have through faith? We give our offerings—truly a pittance in comparison to what Jesus has done. We serve the church, but never to the degree that Jesus served. And yet, we give and we serve with the same hope that we see in this meal at an ex-leper's house; that our small gift can be a source of encouragement. Not for just Jesus, but for those Jesus loves... For each other here this morning. For those who don't know the fellowship we know yet. For those who are in great need that we can help. Some theologians tell us that God doesn't have emotions like we have, God isn't pleased or displeased with our actions. I don't believe that. We are created in God's image. When we complete an act of service, give a gift of love, when we do it from a heart motivated like Simon's, motivated by love and thankfulness—I believe God is pleased. As I believe Jesus was pleased to receive that meal and fellowship in the house of Simon.
But there was another gift given that evening. A gift that, while given out of pure love, brought division into that gathering. Mary. Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha. Imagine the joy in her heart. Max Lucado wrote of this in And the Angels Were Silent, again I quote, “When she saw the three together, she couldn't resist. Simon, the healed leper, head thrown back in laughter. Lazarus, the resurrected corpse, leaning in to see what Jesus has said. And Jesus, the source of life for both. 'Now is the right time' she told herself. It wasn't an act of impulse. She'd carried the large vial of perfume from her house to Simon's. It wasn't a spontaneous gesture. But it was an extravagant one. The perfume was worth a year's wages. It wasn't the logical thing to do, but since when has love been lead by logic?”

I often think of this act as spur of the moment. It wasn't, but she did look for a moment that was right for her and Jesus. It was a beautiful act. A generous act. A loving act. And a big waste of money! That was the reaction she got from her friends gathered around the table. Mark says, “ But some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the ointment wasted in this way? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her.” John tells us that it was Judas who first accused her of waste. But it is clear that the room had turned against her.
How would you feel about this? I am a practical man. I am prudent with my money. I like to say I am judicious with how money is used. Yes, some might even call me cheap. But if I had been at that supper, I am quite sure I would have been with Judas on this one. Probably not a good thing for a pastor to say. But I am not one to go for extravagant, expensive, transient gifts. Just ask Julie!
But what did Jesus do? Immediately...Mark's favorite time frame though he doesn't use the term here. But Jesus immediately comes to Mary's defense. “6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.” (NIV) Jesus tells those guests, and by inference tells us...tells me, there is a time for extravagant acts of love. Acts of love for family, for the church, for neighbors, for strangers. There is a time to act; and it is best to not put it off. Mary saw the time and seized the opportunity. And as Jesus pointed out, it was more than a gift of thanks, it was anointing his body for burial. There wouldn't be time on Good Friday to anoint his body. Mary, unknowingly, anointed him for burial in advance. But there was another gift in this act. Consider the scent of that expensive perfume. It flowed over his shoulders, down his back, she spread it on his feet according to John. He writes, “The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” It filled the room with its scent and it soaked the cloak of Jesus. And we can well imagine that on Good Friday, that wonderful scent was still lingered in his clothing, reminding Jesus of that gift of love, and perhaps strengthening him on his journey to Golgotha.
Now consider if Mary would have waited for a time when there wouldn't have been such a fuss, a place where prying eyes would not have seen and judged her. It most likely would never have happened. Jesus only had 6 days left in this world. As she was being chastised, she may have regretted her actions for a moment. But we can be sure she lived the rest of her life happy that she didn't wait.
A young husband is packing his wife's belongings. His task is solemn. His heart heavy. He never dreamed she would die so young. But the cancer came so sure, so quickly. At the bottom of the drawer he finds a box, a negligee. Unworn. Still wrapped in paper. “She was always waiting for a special occasion,” he says to himself, “Always waiting.”
As a wife looks at the jewelry case, she rationalizes, “Sure, he would love this watch, but it's too expensive. He's a practical man, he'll understand. I'll just get a tie clip today. I'll buy that watch someday.”
Someday I will take her on that cruise. Some day I will have time to call and chat. Someday the children will understand why I was so busy. The price of practicality is sometimes higher than its cost.1
Our first lesson for this morning is that it is worth it to make the extra effort, take the time, write the letter, apologize, purchase the gift. Do it, whatever it is that shows your love to the people in your life; the co-worker, the customer, the stranger. And remember, love is action, not just a feeling. Take the opportunity to show love; the opportunity taken can bring joy; not taken...too often regret. I don't believe for a minute that Simon or Mary regretted their offerings that evening for Jesus. I'm sure they never forgot that evening in the company of Jesus and those who loved him.
And Mary, too extravagant, but then so was her love for her Savior. It was an act of love that will never be forgotten, 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”
Don't miss the opportunity to tell or to show your love for someone, do it now while you are thinking of it, now while there is still time. Too often, “some day” never comes. So, we can't throw a dinner party for Jesus. We can't give him a gift of nard, or myrrh or frankincense. When we gift a gift of love for others, we show love for Jesus. John writes in his epistle, “We love because he first loved us. Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.”
The second lesson for us is the reminder of what we owe Jesus. Simon, Mary, Lazarus...people for whom the touch of Jesus meant a restored life. When we have Jesus as part of our life, our life is restored. Jesus brings us a life of joy, of fellowship, of hope, of peace that passeth understanding, of love that knows no measure! We tend to sit in our pews on Sunday morning and say our prayers and sing our songs and give our offerings... and it is too easy to just leave Jesus out of the whole thing. We need to consciously focus on his extravagant, wondrous love; Jesus went to the cross for you. For you, for me. We need to personalize the love Jesus showed in his sacrifice. It is said, if you were the only person in the world, Jesus would still go to the cross for you—that's how much he loves you! Take a moment and get your mind around that... Jesus loves you beyond measure. And all he asks...all he asks is that you include him in your life. The rest will follow; desire to live right, the hope for eternity, the Agape love for others, the peace that Jesus brings, they all grow out of knowing Jesus. Seek Jesus every day, know Jesus better. The second verse in our next hymn says it like this, “Once I craved earthly joy, peace and rest, now thee alone I seek.” The wondrous love of Jesus starts everything. Now it is up to you to respond. Let this be our prayer, “more love to thee O Christ, more love to thee”. Amen.

More Love to Thee O Christ 359 PH

1Lucado, Max The Angels Were Silent page 50-51

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Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

2/11/2018

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2 Kings 2:1-12; 2 Corinthians 4:3-6; Mark 9:2-9
February 11, 2018
Back in 1971 David Bowie had a signature song, Changes. “I watch the ripples change their size, but never leave the stream...of warm impermanence and so the days float through my eyes. Ch-ch-ch-changes.... Pretty soon you may get older....Time may change me, but I can't trace time.” Black Sabbath a year later had a minor hit also named Changes; a song of regret. “Wish I could go back and change [those] years.” Bob Dylan, “The times they are a changin'”. Year after year, songs about the changes we see in our lives or in our world. Taylor Swift and Christina Aquilara each had a song named Change. Modern artists recognize that change is inevitable.
Our Scripture lessons have changes.

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Have You Not Heard?

2/4/2018

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Isaiah 40: 21-31; 1 Corinthians 9: 16-23; Mark 1: 29-39
February 4, 2018

When Julie and I moved to town 3½ years ago now, I had to eliminate a lot of stuff I'd accumulated living on the farm. We threw away a lot of useless junk I thought I might need “someday”. And I gave away a lot of tools to the boys, and one thing I gave away was my mounted grinder. That turns out to have been significant because my tools were no longer getting sharpened; my hoe, my hatchet, but especially my ax. Oh, I still used it to cut out shrubs and such...but as time passed, it seemed that either I was getting a lot weaker or the ax was getting a lot duller. One Saturday last fall, I took a bunch of tools over to Barb's and used Roger's grinder to sharpen them. Went home and cut out the stump of a bush. Turns out I wasn't getting weaker, my ax was definitely too dull. Sharpening changed the job immensely.
Now if you have read my article in this month's newsletter, you probably recognize where I am going. If our axes grow dull, we chop less wood. If our spiritual lives grow dull, we drift away from God. How do we keep our spiritual life sharp? By being intentional about spending time with God; being with God in prayer and in study.

Our desire, our goal in life should be to know God better so that our relationship with him in Christ is continually growing. And we know God better only by spending time with him.
Our Old Testament lesson this morning has some familiar verses in it. The message Isaiah is giving is not about bible reading or prayer, but it is about knowing God. “Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth.” This is God Isaiah is talking about. Have you not known; have you not heard? Paul in Romans tells us the critical nature of hearing God's word, “faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.” We are called to know the living God and we know God by the hearing of God's word. Of course, not just hearing, but reading God's word. It may be that our Christianity in this country has become so easy, so comfortable, so safe, that we aren't aware of the great gift we have here. Most every household has a bible. That's not to say it is read in every household. I have lots of bibles, a quick look around my office I count 8 bibles. I have at least three more at home. I really only read one of them though, and much of my work on sermons is done using an on-line bible resource. In lands where the Christian faith is not so free and safe, there is danger in even owning a single bible. And so its' importance is magnified. The persecuted, the secret Christian, the one without God's word in their hand, has a much higher desire for the bible than we seem to have here.
I want to share a story I heard from Ravi Zacharias, a Christian apologist who travels the world sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. In his travels, he has spent a lot of time in countries that are hostile to his message. While working in Vietnam, he and his interpreter Hien Pham became good friends. Zacharias returned to his home in Canada, wondering if their paths would ever cross again. He tells us, “Seventeen years later, I received a telephone call. 'Brother Ravi?' the man asked. “Immediately I recognized Hien's voice, and he told me his story.”
Hien was put in prison after the fall of South Vietnam--for helping the Americans. His jailers worked to change his views on democracy and Christianity. His reading was restricted to communist propaganda papers written in French or Vietnamese. After some time, they began to make him question his faith. “Maybe,” he thought, “I have been lied to. Maybe God does not exist. Maybe the West has deceived me.” One lonely night, he determined that he would not pray anymore.
The very next morning, he was assigned the dreaded chore of cleaning the prison latrines. As he cleaned out a tin can overflowing with toilet paper, his eye caught what seemed to be English printed on one piece of paper. He hurriedly grabbed it, washed it, and read the words, “Romans Chapter 8”. Trembling now, he read on, “It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Hien broke down in tears. He knew his bible well enough to recognize this passage as a central message for one on the verge of losing his faith. He cried out to God, asking forgiveness for giving up. He discovered that God had other plans for him.
Imagine that, what his jailers were using for toilet paper was treasured by Hien. And so the next day he volunteered to clean the latrines every day. Each day he picked up portions of scripture and added them to his collection.
What measures would you be willing to take to spend time reading God's word? Risk your home and possessions to read it? Cross through enemy fire? Clean a latrine? How about crossing your living room, finding your bible, and opening it up? That is the sacrifice we need to make to read God's word. And we don't do it. Hien discovered how important God's word was when it was no longer available. And Hien learned that without that constant good news, the doubts grow and the Lord seems less real and our faith can be lost. Wow, it shames me to think that I take God's word so for granted. We are blessed to have the freedoms we have, but if those freedoms make us lazy, if we lose our desire to seek after God actively, then that freedom is making us slaves to apathy.
So I ask you to examine where God's word is in your priority list? My stated goal this year is to get us all more involved in God's word. Why? What does reading God's word teach us? First, it teaches us about God...and God's son Jesus Christ who we have declared our Savior and Lord. It gives us guidance in how we ought to live. It teaches us the path to salvation. It is the life story of Jesus. It gives us words to praise God. It draws us nearer to God.
If you haven't read the bible for yourselves before, I would definitely recommend that you focus on the Gospels to start. Pray for guidance as you read. And join us in a bible study. But just making God's word a priority allows the Holy Spirit to work more strongly in your life. And you cannot help but to learn more about your Savior when you read his life story in the gospels. And that is to be the priority in your life. To know and to grow in relationship and in love with Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In our gospel reading today, Jesus left the village to go to other small towns to, as he explained, “to spread the Good News... This is why I have come.” He came to spread the good news, we have it readily available...read it and learn why Jesus came.
I want to get back to our reading from Isaiah. It is kind of unique in that it is not a story, but a lesson about God. It seems the people of Isaiah's time needed a reminder of just how important God was in their lives. They been told many times, but it seems they hadn't really heard.
Isaiah asks them, “To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?” They have not known the true nature of God. Then Isaiah teaches them; teaches us. “The Holy one says, “Lift up your eyes on high and see. Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary.” God is creator. God does not have any equal in heaven or on earth. God is all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present... and that can be overwhelming to us mere mortals. This is from the Old Covenant, but Jesus demonstrated for us what Isaiah taught, “He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” You see, the scriptures also have many promises for believers to claim. We miss out on blessings that can be ours because we are just not making ourselves available. We are too busy with other things to connect with God.
Spending time with God is how we keep our axes sharp. Spending time in God's word and prayer helps us sharpen our senses for recognizing the things of God, for recognizing God's hand in our lives. My metaphor for the year is hungering for God. From David Jeremiah: “Spiritual hunger works the exact opposite of physical hunger. With physical hunger, you get hungry when you don't eat. With spiritual hunger, the more you eat, the hungrier you get.” If you are not pursuing things of the spirit, your spiritual growth will cease. We need spiritual food to grow spiritually. If you are not investing in time with God, you are dying in your Christian growth.
I am making another assignment for this week. Once again it is to read a chapter from your bible. I know I suggested the gospels, but read those on your own. Psalm 119 is a psalm that speaks to the importance and power of God's word for us and to us. A couple verses, and please note that it is God's word the psalmist writes of “I treasure your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against you.” “Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes.” “Open my eyes, so that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Almost every verse in Psalm 119 includes an allusion to God's word. If you peek at your bulletin, I've listed the more common terms in the Psalm that refer to scripture. A note here, Psalm 119 is the longest book of the bible! But I'm not asking you to memorize it, read it with an eye for what God's word brings to us. Our assignment is to sharpen the understanding of the importance of God's word by reading what the psalmist shares. And our desire for the thing of God will grow when we spend special time with God. And then our appetite for the things of God will grow and grow and grow. Amen.

Standing on the Promises 225 HLC

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