Mark11:1 When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’” 4 They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, 5 some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. 7 Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. 9 Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,“Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” 11 Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
Let us pray. Lord, may the words of my mouth and meditations of all our hearts be pleasing in your sight. O Lord, you are our rock and redeemer (Psalm 19:14), Amen. In college, I was a psychology major. Now Psychology, as with any other field of study, has its own collection of subfields; there’s Clinical Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Educational Psychology, Health Psychology; the list could go on and on! My favorite of the psychology classes that I took was Social Psychology; the study of how people’s thoughts, feelings, and actions are influenced by the presence of others. It was my junior year when I took the introductory Social Psychology class. It was there that I learned about the theory called “cognitive dissonance.” This theory quickly became a favorite of mine because, once I understood what it was, I realized that I could see it everywhere in my own life and the lives of others. I admit that my understanding of cognitive dissonance is limited because I only studied it in that one introductory course but, if I may explain what it is, cognitive dissonance is a feeling of contradiction; an inconsistency between our beliefs and our actions. For example, cognitive dissonance might feel like a situation where you want to change your career, but can’t afford the necessary education or time off to make it happen. There is an inconsistency between what you want and what you can and cannot actually do. It can be said that a depressed person experiences cognitive dissonance: you want to be a cheerful person, but you’re just too depressed. It is an inconsistency between how you want to be and how you are. Another example would be when you really want to turn down an invitation, but you feel too guilty to do so. This would be an inconsistency between what you want to do and what you should so. Are you getting the ideas of what cognitive dissonance means? Let’s talk about a few more examples now in a church setting. You want to give more time to church, but you’re just too busy. You want to help serving, but you feel you do not have anything good to offer. Or maybe you want to fast in order to grow closer with God, but boy you are just TOO hungry! As you might guess, I went through that a little bit back in January when I was fasting! Anyways, my point is that we experience these kinds of inconsistencies, this cognitive dissonance, a lot in our daily lives. We encounter contradictions between “want” and “should,” inconsistencies between our expectations and the realities we find everywhere in our lives. We can also see this in our faith journey, our spiritual lives. Today is Palm Sunday. It is the day when Jesus entered Jerusalem toward the end of his ministry. This was truly a remarkable day for those who followed Jesus. It meant a celebration of Jesus who had come to enter the capital of Israel as a King. People waved palm branches, put their cloaks on the ground along his path. These were the things that people did when they recognized the presence of a king. By doing these things, people were acknowledging that Jesus was their king, not the king who actually ruled over them at the time. People were excited. People had certain expectations for Jesus. People thought Jesus was the great successor to King David. People thought that now the world was finally going to change because of the appearance and presence of Jesus in the capital….Well people’s guesses were right, but not in the way they expected.... People had their own particular beliefs about who they wanted Jesus to be. They expected Jesus to be a savior who is also king, someone who came to rule in power and exercise political dominion; They expected Jesus to become a strong military leader who could fight back against, and eventually overthrow the oppressive Roman government and set them, God’s people, free once more. The time is around CE 30 and God’s people in Israel have been living under Roman occupation for quite some time now. They weren’t living as slaves, as they had in Egypt during the time before the Exodus about 1500 years earlier, but their religion now was subject to governance and control by the pagan Roman government, who worshipped multiple Gods, to which they were forced to obey and pay taxes. In terms of location, they were fortunate this time in that they remained in their homeland, rather than having been taken away into exile, a foreign land like their ancestors were; they had their own temple left intact, and were free to go to worship as they pleased, and make sacrifices to their God. But in the truest sense, in their hearts and in their lives, they were not free because they weren’t independent. The way they could worship, the way they worked, the way they paid taxes, the way they could be part of the society were controlled by a foreign military and government. So they wished, desired to be their own people again, having their own independent nation and having their own king who can rule over, guide and protect them. And as their model of a great and perfect king, they held up the “good old days” of King David. The story of the first King of Israel, David, has been passed down from generation to generation. Everyone knew the story of this great, strong, king David who could defeat the giant tall Goliath, united the Northern and Southern Kingdoms of Israel, settled the Ark of the Covenant that contained two stone tablets of ten commandments, and established Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. During his kingship, David had conducted great military campaigns, using his army to beat back the locals, fight off the terribly strong Philistines, and to establish a secure, independent kingdom for his people. David, who succeeded at all those things, was praised, hailed as a great and conquering king by his people. And this great memory of King David is what drove the expectations of the people, who believed that another like King David had finally come! In today’s passage, when Jesus enters Jerusalem, he’s entering into a crowd of people who have heard of the wonderful deeds he has done in Galilee and beyond; the healing of the blind and the lame, the feeding of the 5000, even the raising of the dead. The rumors about Jesus have been spreading for a long while. The expectations of the people have been climbing higher and higher. They were holding out great hope that this man, Jesus of Nazareth, might be the one they would have waited all along. The Messiah; the Savior. They were expecting that this man, Jesus of Nazareth, could well be the successor to great King David . They thought that this man, Jesus, like David, might be that leader who brings everyone together as one united nation, free from the restrictions and control of the oppressive Roman government. In the number of miracles Jesus performed, they saw power and authority of God living in him which could be turned to conquest against the Roman soldiers and government, and to set the people free at last again. These were the sort of expectations people had for Jesus while waving palms and putting their cloak on the road; this is why the people were cheering wildly as Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a colt, the child of a donkey. How did his followers respond to him entering Jerusalem as king? Well, the response at the time was overwhelmingly positive; they fanatically welcomed him. They welcomed him as they would welcome a great warrior king; like they would welcome King David himself. And in that time and place, laying cloaks and palm branches on the ground before a person was a gesture used to welcome a warrior king such as this; someone who could lead the nation to success and conquest. People were ecstatic; they were shouting! They were shouting, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” (Mark 11:9) This is a quote from Psalm 118:26. People were shouting this line intentionally knowing that historically this line was used when a king conquers and wins the battle with a military might. “Hosanna”(Mark 11:9), they cried out; a word which means “Save now!” “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!” (Mark 11:9-10) You can imagine these people thinking to themselves, “Finally, a king has come who can rebuild our great kingdom! He can make our kingdom great again, just as our ancestor David did!” This is what the people expected; they wanted Jesus, their desired king, to step in and save them now, in exactly the way they wanted from their past memories. Right now with force; immediately. They’ve seen and heard that Jesus has the power to work miracles with the wave of his hand, with just a touch of his garment even. So they knew Jesus could do it. They wanted to see the miracle done to save them, and they wanted to see it now! Well is that what happened? Let’s hear what happens. Godfread reads for us. Second Scripture Reading Mark 11:15 Then they (Jesus and disciples) came to Jerusalem. And he(Jesus) entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves; 16 and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 He was teaching and saying, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching. 19 And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples[a] went out of the city. This is Jesus' response to the people crying out Hosanna, “save now. ” Instead of going to confront the Roman authorities, to boldly proclaim the judgement of the Lord against the oppressors, Jesus turns his attention directly to the temple itself where he teaches and preaches; to the house where the people had gathered together to worship God. And with the same boldness and strength by which he drove out demons earlier in his ministry, he begins here to drive out the people who were doing their regular day-to-day work in the courtyard of the temple. He channeled the force of his displeasure into the very people who had gathered to worship God, that is. his own people! This is total cognitive dissonance! It’s a complete disconnect between what the people expect and want for Jesus and what Jesus actually does. This long-expected and awaited king, the descendent of King David himself, starts from a place of anger not at the oppressors and enemies, but at his own people! In Mark 11:16, we see Jesus overturn the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. Kicked them right over! Why was he so upset? What made Jesus do all these things? Well...he’s got good reason. Back then, people who came to the temple were expected to give animal sacrifices in order to be forgiven their sins; usually doves, or other similar items. And, because this was the time of passover, the great celebration of the Exodus from Egypt, people from all the neighboring regions had gathered together to worship at the temple in Jerusalem. Some of them needed to exchange money, so they would have the right local currency to buy the necessary sacrifices sold at the temple. And, because of how busy it was, these sacrifices were being sold at a raised price. What’s more, the sacrifices were also being taxed on top of that as well, to make sure that both the Temple and the Roman King Herod could get a cut too. When this all added up, the cost of a single sacrifice could go well beyond the reasonable fee, exceeding easily an entire day or two days’wage and more. And all of this was happening in an area called “the court of the Gentiles;” a place exclusively for non-Jewish believers. This meant that the place of worship specifically for the many from outside who came to God, had become a means of profit for those few on the inside. This upset Jesus. Jesus said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”? But you have made it a den of robbers. “ (Mark 11:17) The very place that was set aside for all people of all nations, had been turned into a marketplace. Moreover, the business in that marketplace was being done in such a way that the temple could profit at the expense of those who had come to worship. People lifted their praise to Jesus as he entered Jerusalem, hoping and expecting that he would deliver them then and there by the sheer force of God’s divine might and military power. Instead, Jesus directed that might inward, coming to cleanse his own people and their religious practices. Jesus brought to the light cognitive dissonance of his people. Jesus brought to the light the cognitive dissonance of their faith. They pretend their house of worship is for all people, but their practices did not reflect that. Despite the fact that the temple ought to have been a house of prayer for all nations, the people behaved in such a way where it couldn’t be called that at all. Instead, it had become a place where only the temple leadership, and those who worked for the temple building, benefited. It didn’t seek to help those who came seeking closeness to and connection with God; rather, it took something, stole something important from them instead, a purified, sacred place of worship. Often in his ministry, Jesus made a point of calling out these moments of cognitive dissonance in our lives; the inconsistencies between God’s ideal, God’s will, and our own wants, beliefs, or actions. Jesus called for the poor to be cared for and the rich to sell all they have; he called for those in power to lay it down, and for the voiceless to be given voice instead; he called for the first to be last and the last to be first. In psychological terms we call this cognitive dissonance; the inconsistency between idea and reality. But in our community of faith we can call this by a different name, when we see an inconsistency between what God says and what we actually do: Sin. The word Sin in Greek means that something is not...on target. That there is a disconnect between the reality of our actions and God’s call on us; God’s will. When our actions are not responding to what God asks of us, we commit sin. And because those of us who believe in Christ do not remain forever in the darkness, those sins are confronted, revealed and exposed through God’s light that searches our hearts. One of my own, big, cut-to-the-heart moments of realization came when I was confronted with my own sin as I struggled to forgive someone who had hurt me. I had all the “good” reasons not to like this person, because they had deeply hurt me. I was bitter, and always found reasons to blame them for things, feeling justified because I was the victim of their behavior. I reached out to God, asking for help, calling out Hosannah, asking God to “save me now” many times. But the answer I got wasn’t a sudden and dramatic change, but the continual reminder that I needed to repent for myself, and apologize to this person for holding onto my bitter attitude. Over the last few years, as I have come to realize the role Christianity plays in the world, in particular the role it plays in America, I began to realize that not speaking up, not taking action, can actually contribute to the growth of sin in the world. Allowing racist, sexist, and discriminatory remarks to go unchallenged is just as bad as the disciples standing idly by, refusing to take a side as Jesus stormed into the temple and started overturning tables. Our God is a God of Justice, and when sin remains God does not remain silent. God brings all things to light. The second Scripture we read today shows us that there are two ways we can respond when sin is exposed. We can be like the priests and scribes and temple leadership, getting offended not at the injustice, but at the person who exposed things, and grow bitter in our hatred of them. (Mark 11:18) Or we can be like the disciples; bystanders who do nothing at all about the sins before them. Sure, they’re not active participants, but by letting it go unchallenged, they’re still part of the situation, contributing to the sin with their silence. When your sin, our sins are exposed, how do we respond? Do we respond like the gaslighting priests, blaming others for exposing our sins, or like the silent disciples, quietly waiting for someone to do justice without them? Or is there another way we can respond instead? Yes, there is another way, and thankfully we can also see this other way at work described rather in details in the Scripture. Today’s story doesn’t end at the place where we stopped reading. The sin of being an unjust and discriminatory house of worship was taken up to the cross, and new life came as a result. Do you know what happened? A transformation was brought about that was only possible through Jesus’ blood and the power of his resurrection. The disciples, living into repentance for what their temple lives had been, set out to make life and ministry anew. If you want to really see how this played out, I would suggest reading through the book of Acts. The disciples broke down the walls that divided men from women, jews from gentiles; the “haves” from the “have nots.” They came together as one people, breaking bread and praying regardless of their backgrounds. They sold their possessions and shared everything among themselves, according to the needs of the people. (Acts 2:44-47) This was the birth of the Christian church, and this new way of being together brought new converts to the church, and it began to grow (Acts 2:47). And this was only possible because they took Jesus' confrontation with the temple to heart. They examined their hearts. To be a Christian means to be open to the unexpected ways in which God shows up in our lives and speaks to us. We shout giving praises saying, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord,” only for Jesus to show up in a time and place that we don’t expect, ready to confront the sinful beliefs and practices that are not on target of God’s kingdom that we have been a part of. Sometimes, God flips the tables on the things we have done. Other times, God kicks over the tables of the unrighteous things that we have been a part of, but have taken no action to stop or speak against. Looking at these things in ourselves is certainly not fun. It isn’t glamorous, or uplifting, and it’s certainly not something to which we want to testify out loud. But look at the disciples of Jesus. The growth of their new community, that first community which we now know was the beginning of the Christian church, came as a response to Jesus challenging them on the way their house of worship had been run before. Jesus might not have been kicking over the tables at them, but they saw what Jesus did, listened, understood it, and took it to heart. They might never have said the right words of repentance for what they had been a part of before this day, but their actions after that day spoke louder than any words could. And this radical change in the way they did church, the change that came about after the Holy Spirit descended; They went from a temple of divided walls and limited access to a house of prayer for all nations, very literally. God’s cleansing the temple led them to examine their hearts, and assess their actions or lack thereof. They took what Jesus did to heart, and they changed direction. Changing directions...that is what repentance literally means in Greek. And the disciples were able to do that, to change direction, because Jesus had gone before them and shown what it means to do that. We enter Holy Week, going into this time where we examine what things within us are responsible for placing our sinless Lord and Savor up on that cross. I pray that we might have the courage to look inward, to examine the ways in which we practice, believe, and dream into being growth for our community. May we have the courage and the strength to change direction when God calls us out for the inconsistencies, for the dissonance, between our practices and God’s perfect will. Have mercy on us O Lord as we are sinners this day and forevermore who needs your cleansing, Amen.
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Passage:
2 Corinthians 5:17 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life]. -------------- Hey guys, this is pastor Chuck from Long Beach, and I am happy to be included in the youth service this morning. In 2012 I went to India for the first time and to make things more fun I decided to have one phrase I would memorize and use everywhere in the local language of Hindi- I usually do this when I’m in a new country. So, my phrase for India in Hindi was: "I'm not who you think I am" So, I got someone to teach me how to say it right and then- everywhere I went- I used my phrase: "I'm not who you think I am" and I might wink or smile as though this were a secret or a sudden realization or whisper like it was a secret. It really made the week there way more fun! In the taxi, at the store, while standing at a streetlight- I used it literally every chance I got - just to be friendly and have fun- and the reactions were totally worth it! I had so much fun that when I came back to the US, I had T-shirts made and this is one- and it's fun to wear and get reactions! Here is my question for you this morning: "Do you know who you are?" This month is Lent, and we are reflecting on Jesus in the wilderness and his temptations which I think PC and Akiko both mentioned and it’s interesting to see that, primarily, Satan was questioning who Jesus was- if you really are who you say you are...Jesus knew who he was and batted back each attempt to confuse him and was able to clarify things with scripture but his identity was what Satan attacked. Do you know who you are? As I have said many times before- in our counseling and work with various people- there are major patterns we see, and one is the issue of identity, lies and truth- knowing who you really are- knowing who God says you are and not letting the enemy mislead and confuse you. In Romans 8:15 it says: For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading again to fear [of God’s judgment], but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons [the Spirit producing sonship] by which we [joyfully] cry, “Abba! Father!” We get to call the God of the universe …Dad! The Message Bible says: This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. Especially with kids one of the things we see so often is the tragic results of believing lies. Believing lies even after they have become a Christian! It is usually the main reason they are not seeing their lives change like they could or should- what they believe! They are confused about who they are and believe lies others have said or usually what they have quietly thought and said about themselves instead of what God says about them. The Bible tells us what the truth is - and this is what God says: John 1:12 says You are a child of God John 15:15 says Jesus now calls you a friend and not a servant Kelly and I call this truth therapy- God’s truth is the real truth and is a transforming truth- if you knew who you were it would change everything- who are you? God says: in Galatians 4;5-7 You are no longer a slave but a son or daughter of God. in Romans 8:17 You are a joint heir of God because you are a child of God One of our foster daughters was told she was a mistake- the result of a one-night stand and never even met her father- I think this greatly affected her sense of value- for her to know who she was in Christ was like night and day and she needed continually reminding- we all do! Just after I had decided- felt led actually in what I would share today - one of my biological daughters heard I would speak today and said- you should share how important it is to ask God directly "who am I to you?" And Paul sent me an email which was the first I read that same day and said,” Really interested to hear more about identity. When you spoke about it last Sunday, what you said made sense, but it was too fast for me to fully absorb.”…I 'd be interested in hearing more. So this message is from God and I’m just passing it on! I feel it! So my daughter sent me her personal notes of her own experience of this question and her struggle to hear what God was saying to her and how it changed her which was moving to read. She said she knew she was a sister and a friend and other things, but it was not enough, and she felt a little lost- she worried she was not a Christian like others- that she was not really a Christian and I felt bad to read about the pain of these thoughts- she was feeling lost and she got a little lost Then she went to Costa Rica for a gap year and did a program with YWAM- Youth with a mission and one of their main things is to make you ask God a lot of questions directly - less teaching and more helping people talk with God directly. During that stay she started to hear God say things like: You are unique and beautiful You are talented and smart You are forgiven At one point she realized that Satan is called the father of lies for a reason and that even though no one may have actually had said these things to her she had believed them- When she realized what the lies were and what the truth was - she started to realize who she really was and how that ...changed everything. Finally let me say this- if a person were to ask me what the most important key points are in the whole Bible, I would say these two things stand out above all else: 1. Love- Love is #1 2. What you believe matters more than anything else. What you believe matters. If you want to please God...believe him. It's called faith or trust or believing- and NOT believing God on the other hand cost his people more than anything else! What the people in the Bible believed was the most significant thing they could do- their most significant DOING was actually BELIEVING A woman believed that touching Jesus’s clothes would heal her - and it did! Without Jesus even knowing till it had happened! In Jesus' hometown it says, “he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them.” In this case what they believed cost those people. A non-Jewish /non-Christian occupation soldier is commended by Jesus just for what he believed- This is a whole bunch of lessons and one of my favorite topics but here is the point: Who are you? Who does God say you are? IF you will believe what God says - it can change your life- I challenge you to not only take these passages which I will give you but literally read then aloud- I have rewritten them so you can read them as is OR read them personally such as: I have direct access to God through the Holy Spirit Ephesians 2:18 Good news translation " It is through Christ that all of us, Jews and Gentiles, are able to come in the one Spirit into the presence of the Father." I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13 I am destined to do greater works than Jesus did! John 14:12 I assure you and most solemnly say to you, anyone who believes in Me [as Savior] will also do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these [in extent and outreach], because I am going to the Father. Okay- so here is your homework over spring break - students and parents and whoever is listening to this! Get this list- email me chuckgrafft at gmail or check the Kobe Union Church website on the top far right where it says “more”- I will make - actually Liew will make - a page- of "Who does God say I am?" get it, read it, believe it! Remember it! and become who God says you are! Be transformed by the renewing of your mind! Ok- lets pray. Passages:
Galatians 6:1 (amplified) Brothers, if anyone is caught in any sin, you who are spiritual [that is, you who are responsive to the guidance of the Spirit] are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness [not with a sense of superiority or self-righteousness], keeping a watchful eye on yourself, so that you are not tempted as well. James 5:19-20 (amplified) My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you strays from the truth and falls into error and [another] one turns him back [to God], 20 let the [latter] one know that the one who has turned a sinner from the error of his way will save that one’s soul from death and cover a multitude of sins [that is, obtain the pardon of the many sins committed by the one who has been restored]. Good morning KUC friends and friends of KUC! Recently people have been emailing me who are in the US and other places which is fun and why not- I am very much hoping to continue doing these live stream services even after covid and keep an option for those who are not nearby or cannot get to our church in Kobe Ok, so once again I am wearing my doctor's outfit- less impressive sitting and without the stethoscope but...these are real doctor scrubs I got when daughter #2 was at UC San Diego. And, what I hope you take away with this visual is this- We are NOT supposed to be policemen we're supposed to be doctors and nurses- we are First Responders So today is just a couple of days after the ten-year anniversary of the triple disaster which hit Northern Japan in 2011, I was in Kobe with Kristin and Madi. When it hit Madi came into my office at FBC and said I feel a little dizzy and sick- I was like wow that's weird me too! We had felt the shaking- 500 miles or 600 kilometers away. wow. And we have lots of stories from those first few days and weeks. Many of us who had lived through the Great Hanshin quake felt differently about it- it felt a bit more real and urgent. We - meaning FBC my company- became a key connection for overseas relief shipments and helped ship or clear customs for many shipments and we shipped items ourselves for people and companies and organizations- A world vet organization, Samaritan's purse, dozens of groups and even companies like Ace hardware whom we partnered with for a large shipment with some of the execs going with us on one trip. it was busy for weeks and months after. My best story - sorry that sounds bad- it was terrible beyond belief, but this little part is also funny- I had volunteered to do anything I could for many orgs, and one called me and asked - hey we have a truck in Osaka can you go get it and drive to a place in the middle of japan pick up rice and then drive it to the zone- so, I said sure and talked a buddy of nine into going- would be a 3-day adventure- up and back-- so we get to the trucking company who had donated use of one of their trucks- but it was a semi- a serious truck- a big, big truck- whoa- I had never driven a real truck! But I felt God would somehow protect and guide us and our hearts were in the right place-yes, it was foolish! So I worked out how to shift the gears and where the fuel went and off we went - it took about 12 hours to get to the rice place and then our fully loaded truck went the second part in about another 12 hours- we drove past the power plants- yes, it was before they closed all those roads- and we arrived in the heart of the worst of it- and delivered the rice to Samaritan's purse and hung out another 24 hours or so before dropping off the track ...in Ginza- no kidding Ginza- man- it was a small miracle we did not crash into anyone or mess up. And it was extremely moving and upsetting- I never imagined what we saw- and yet I can say- I had felt the same as when the earthquake had hit in 1995.... What can we do? I have always felt we are first responders- we carry the presence of God- when a crisis hits, we are God's representatives - we are the field doctors and nurses and do the best we can to bring comfort, healing and peace. And I never asked a question some did and do- "why us or how could God let this happen?" To me this is just how it is! This is earth not heaven! It's funny but I live life as though I am a foreigner in a foreign land- well I guess we are and were! But here is what I mean- I have just always felt we are God's people, but this is not our place- we are God's people, but this is not our home country we are in enemy territory and it's tough. This month is lent and our theme for March is a "How to handle the wilderness"- when times are tough- and the tsunami was one of the many ways it's tough to be here on earth - bad things do happen all the time. Scott Peck who wrote one of my fav books "The road less traveled" - the longest non -fiction book to stay on the NYT best seller list - over ten years - starts like this: Life is difficult. IF you want more on this question of why bad things happen - let me point you towards our sermon archives- I spoke about this a couple of times and ways - first in August about spiritual warfare and in September I asked if God is really in control- email me if you want those messages and can't find them on our website. So bad stuff like tsunamis happen as does bad stuff people do. Let me ask you this? Can a good person do a bad thing? Can a Christian sin? How about this- have you in the last 30 days done or said or thought something you wish you hadn't? I could give you tons of stories of good people messing up. For years we were "safe people" to talk to- we still are- but in the 80's and 90's many people- missionaries and pastor types would come to us for a chat- counseling one might say but really it was for confession and to get sorted out a little - or a lot. Our lives seem to have attracted people like this for all our married lives. I would say that everyone who came to me or us was a "good person" not bad- but they had done some things that were bad, and they felt stuck. Some came early on and some later. I can honestly say I was never mad or mean and they knew I would help them sort it out and get back on track. I was a first responder- When we had foster kids we had to be "doctors" and then they brought their friends and you know the more people we met the more messes we would hear about and we would listen and pray and help set a new path and remind them that God loved them, that everyone messes up but God says he is faithful to forgive as we have the blood of Jesus and God more than forgives- he also offers the candlesticks and gives us not what deserved but gives us what we don't deserve! Meaning good not penalty - what people call grace- so we would watch people go from guilt to grace to gratitude and be restored. A couple of people have asked about a recent event here at KUC and a brother who messed up. He hurt people and that was really bad, and he got caught and now we are working on a process just like hundreds of brothers before him. God is the same. Good. Generous, forgiving kind and like any good parent is disciplining him as well and there are still consequences which are being faced. But he can give his testimony at some point because that will be his story. But I promised some dirt on me, so I am happy to share that. In 1994 I had a worker who really looked up to me. Those were some of our best days at FBC and we were in the news and on CNN and in the Wall street journal- wow- very exciting and we had fans... and I had some fans ...and she was one of them. Long story short- she liked me a lot but probably like fans - she liked what she thought she saw AND she was a Christian- her dad a pastor! She was so excited for me to talk with him on the phone one time. She was an expat with a busy expat husband and 2 kids- here is the bad part she liked ME too much and I liked her liking me! Kelly warned me and told me- no.no this is no good. She asked me to please not spend so much time with her- lunches and such. I brushed it off- she was a key worker, and it was natural she would look up to me- wow- so messed up. Now here is what I thought- IF we never had a physical relationship it was ok- and well, I was wrong- it was NOT okay, and Kelly was really hurt, and I look back now and think- what the heck was I thinking!? My answer- I wasn't! - I was not thinking! I almost crashed- wow- so horrible and almost really, really horrible. Luckily the family moved, and my eyes were opened but here is my point- I was a good Christian! Ever since we came to Japan in 1985, we have been church leaders in one form or another and usually had our own church or home church and attended at least 1-2 others. At the exact same time of this emotional affair as I will call it- we were praying for people and seeing miracles, the business was doing great, I prayed and read my Bible but...I still messed up. Right now, most of us are messing up in some way at some level- and here is another thing- usually its starts as a seed but it grows-- most people gradually slip and stumble and then they fall In 1 John 9 It says If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say we have not sinned; we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us. Good news bad news- you will- we all will- mess up BUT God is faithful to forgive us Where are you? Where am I at that moment? Where are the first responders? Jesus said in John 13:34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. Wow that is some kind of love! As He has loved me?! That's a high standard. In the last ten years our journey got better and better - spiritually - never mind the cancer and bankruptcy and losing the businesses- the good stuff has been our ministry to the homeless and prison ministry and honestly all the people we met at our church who needed a brother and sister to listen and not freak out about what they had done or were doing or thinking. There is a brother I will call Matthew whom we met in prison - we prayed with him and I would say his life changed. He is a legit gang banger gang member from south central and has a tattoo tear mark under one eye- a sign he killed someone. He calls me from prison about once a month - to pray for me- to pray for me- this is one saved and sanctified dude, but he did some really bad stuff, but he is not bad- he got messed up and now does all he can to represent God in prison- Now he is a first responder The Bible tells us in Galatians 6:1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any sin, you who are spiritual [that is, you who are responsive to the guidance of the Spirit] are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness [not with a sense of superiority or self-righteousness], keeping a watchful eye on yourself, so that you are not tempted as well. Let me bold the words I want us to focus on you who are responsive to the guidance of the Spirit- God shows me what to focus on or bring attention to- it's not my agenda but God's which is often not what I would choose but God has His own priorities for each person and the HS whispers this restore- our job is to heal and restore not arrest and punish - Jesus brought many new ways to his people who were under the law and OT ways and the NT is mainly about love and grace and forgiveness and becoming who God made you to really be- to be restored. gentleness - yea, have you ever been gently prompted to see a sin or a way where you might be messing up? Or have you felt beat up? Caught and convicted! Ugh - gentleness- huge eye on yourself, as many of you know I am a big fan of the 12 steps and meetings - I love many parts of the program but one of the best is the fundamental humility of everyone at a meeting knowing YOU ARE HERE because you messed up or are still messing up but you are here to get free- to stop that messed up stuff and find God's way that will change a life you want to change- there is a humility in the room that matches one of their phrases- "there but by the grace of God go I" This is a big subject and many points- so let me try to recap what I feel God wants us to take and apply and live and model and spread 1. Life is difficult- in the sermon on the mount Jesus says "the rain falls on the good evil alike" we all face a lot of evil and trouble in this world BUT 2. WE are the carriers of the light in the darkness! We are the first responders! We carry the HS in us and a message of hope and healing! Like it or not YOU may be the only neighbor who can pray for someone! You may be the only lantern in a very dark room! We must- Be the church! 3. Most sin starts as a seed- when you see a sprout in your own life or a friend- don't let it grow- don't let it go. " don't let it grow- don't let it go" -cool- that sounds like a T-shirt! Who in your circle needs a first responder-? Be the doctor not the policeman- and realize - messed up stuff usually grows- nip it in the bud as they say. We need work out buddies so we get to the gym and so we really work out and if you lift- you need a spotter -someone who spots you pushes you to do your best and is ready to help and catch the bar when it gets too tough. We need to be brave and bold and gentle and be there for each other. Finally, let me exhort you- vent a little- BE the church- if not you then who?! Before we had foster kids, I thought there were people and places for those kids and then I realized - oh man, yes and no- the system sucks and often those people and places- often, often make things worse- and doctors and counselors? I don't want to say too much that is negative but You my friend - if you have the HS- you are the solution- you carry God's Presence- don't wait for the real doctor- step up and step in- be gentle and bring the light you have- and if you worry that you are not well enough trained then come on! - ok- let's do that- let's get you trained - the world needs you- God needs you- YOU are God's representative to the circle of people you know- right here. Ok- lets pray. 4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; 9 and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ 11 Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
Let me begin this sermon with saying some words and see what images come up in your mind. Wilderness. What did you think of? Alone? Isolated? Rocks? Wild animals? Desert. What did you think of? Dry? Lots of sand? Barren? Dangerous? When I think of the desert I think of Arizona. My dad was born in 1914, in Arizona, in a mining camp, in the desert. He said the desert was very dry, dotted with cacti (that’s the plural of cactuses) and you had to watch out for rattlesnakes. Why did I bring these words up? You can guess by today’s scriptures because Jesus right after being baptized by John the Baptist was sent or called into the desert or wilderness. Different Bibles use different translations – so take your pick – wilderness or desert. SLIDE OF DESERT Scholars say where Jesus went for 40 days was to the Judaean Desert. The Judaean Desert - Jeshimmon – means "The Desolation" and that is where he was tempted by the devil for 40 days and nights. This desert is between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea and even today remains rather desolate. 40 days Jesus spent in the desert and this is connected to Lent. I sent out an email last Saturday (February 27) about Lent to all of our church members and friends who are on our mailing list and I hope you read it. (If not, go back and look at it. Also. if you did not get it and want to be on our church mailing list, let us know.) My article about Lent gives a bit of history and also there was a story and has recipe for Lenten pretzels in it as well as a cute photos of five year old Natie praying Lenten pretzel style. (SLIDE OF NATIE PRAYING and maybe of a PRETZEL.) Now early Christians did not know what Lent was so did not observe Lent. The custom of spending 40 days in repentance, prayer, alms-giving, renewal and self-denial before Easter did not come until the 4th century. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends approximately six weeks later, the night before Easter Sunday. Lent in Latin was originally called Quadragesima. Quadragesima means 'Fortieth' and Lent was a solemn religious observance. Lent is an old English word “lencten” meaning "spring season’ and tied in with ‘lengthen' since the days get longer in springtime. It is a time of renewal and maybe for some, a spring- cleaning time for the soul. In the ancient church, Lent was also a time for new converts to be instructed for baptism and for believers caught in sin to focus on repentance. Lent is a time to ask, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” (Psalm 51). Some people give up stuff for Lent like chocolate or wine or Facebook or some other things. But you can also add something to your life like coming to one of our many online classes or prayer groups or maybe take a daily a prayer walk or taking more time to read the Bible each day or even doing some sort of volunteer work – maybe for the church or an NPO. If you need ideas go back and read the Lent letter I sent out or contact one of the pastors. Another thing you can learn to do during Lent is to be giving. Giving of your time, your finances, and yourself to God and your community. The temptation of Christ in the desert is read every year for Lent. Only two of the four gospels give the long version of Jesus' temptation in the Judaean Desert. John doesn’t mention it and Mark's gospel covers the whole thing in two sentences: “…the Spirit brought Jesus into the wilderness (desert), he was there forty days, Satan tempted him, the wild animals kept him company, and angels took care of him.” (Mark 1:12-13) Matthew and Luke give more details about what the devil said and what Jesus said back. All of Jesus' replies to the devil come from Deuteronomy 6-8 and each temptation is a temptation to sin against the great commandment in Deuteronomy 6:5, to love God "with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." The devil knows the Bible. He knows exactly where to find the Bible verse he needs to put Jesus to the test, but Jesus knows more than what the Bible says. Jesus knows how to do what the Bible says. Every time the devil offered him something-- bread, power, protection—Jesus turned him down. No to the bread, Jesus says, no to the kingdoms, no to the angelic bodyguards. Matthew doesn’t mention this but Luke says “When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.” (Luke 4:13) which suggests that Jesus may have faced similar temptations throughout his ministry. (So I guess we can never rest easy and let down our guard either.) As followers of Jesus, we have to decide whether we will listen to the voice of the world or listen to the voice of God. Jesus said, "Away with you Satan! For it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only God.'"(Matthew 4:10). Jesus will serve God and only God. Then the tempter left him, and will leave us, too, if we stand our ground passing with Jesus through the wilderness. I doubt I could make it in fasting in the desert for 40 days. How would I hold out if tempted especially if it were Belgian chocolate put in front of me? I am not sure how Jesus lasted in the desert other than the fact that God was with him the whole time. Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber, a Lutheran pastor in Colorado, said in one of her sermons for Lent that, “…maybe the temptation wasn't to eat when he (Jesus) was supposed to be fasting…but it was to believe his identity in and relationship to God was something that could so easily be thrown into question. Because the most dangerous word in the Devil’s mouth is and has always been the word ‘If.’ The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” (Matthew 4:3). “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down… (Matthew 4:6). We could say; If people really loved you, then you wouldn't feel so lonely. If God really loved you, then life wouldn't be so painful. So these are lies we tell ourselves or we let others tell us. Pastor Nadia says; “Satan just throws the destabilizing word “if” out there and lets us come to our own false conclusions.” This is why we need God and even in doubt, God is there and has never left us alone. However, the wilderness of the spiritual journey happens when we are not prepared. For some, it is simply a sense that everything has gone very dry. Maybe there was a time in your life where you really wanted a word from God and heard nothing. A time when a crisis hit perhaps. In the wilderness and feeling the wilderness in your soul within may mean we feel dry, filled with doubts, isolated, depressed, and away from God. From at least the time of the letter to the Hebrews, the wilderness has been used in Christian writing as an image for the dark side of the spiritual journey. The wilderness within, or the wilderness we find ourselves in is difficult. We may be led quite involuntarily into the wilderness – and not just during Lent. It can happen anytime. We may cry out, "where is God?" in the face of random or meaningless suffering, immense stress, depression, illness, debilitating grief, war, and tragic death. Wildernesses come in so many ways and in so many shapes and sizes, just as the deserts of Judaea and Sinai are different. (Dry lands cover about one-third of the earth's land surfaces, but in the Middle East they make up 99 percent.) There are lots of deserts in the Holy Land. More than 60 percent of Israel is desert. The desert from Jordan to Jerusalem is a long one and walk just a little off the road and you could get lost quite easily. We look around and feel we are in a desert - we may feel lost. We may feel alone. In the desert, we may feel dry and thirsty and only see sand. ( I am not prone to depression but I have felt great sadness with the deaths of people I loved, disappointments in people, changes in my life that were good and some not expected.) The wilderness of the spiritual journey can be tough. Needless to say, we may not want to go to the wilderness or the desert. We would avoid if we could but we may end up there when we least expect it. We most likely would avoid it if we could. But, once there, God will be with us. Sometimes the wilderness can be one of the most spirit-filled and life-changing places a person can be. Some people may feel they somehow need to be in the desert and others feel the need to get out of the desert as fast as possible. I remember back in my seminary, a very long time ago, being taught at a seminary in San Francisco by the theologian, Walter Wink He shared how some people are in the desert and maybe are in the desert numerous times as part of their spiritual journey but some people do not experience the desert their whole lives. We cannot criticize another person’s spiritual journey – it is between that person and God. Who goes to the desert? Well, you may not have expected to have a death in the family or a serious illness or to have lost your job or even to have had an attack by something evil or Satan, but you survive and sometimes something unexpected or even positive comes out of it. Can we trust God’s Holy Spirit to sustain us while we are in the desert? Yes. Can we trust the Spirit to lead us out of the desert? Yes. Can we trust God never to leave us? Yes, we can and we must. God’s love is constant and endless. Some people have said to me that this pandemic has been like an entire year of Lent. I feel that could be true since because it was last March here in Kobe when the pandemic became quite serious, COVID cases increased and Japan declared a state-of-emergency. We stopped meeting at Kobe Union Church and started doing services on-line. Indeed it has been like a time of wilderness for so many of us and for people who have lost their jobs, or couldn’t travel, or who couldn’t meet other people, or who have had to learn how to do teaching through ZOOM, or whatever was taken away or any difficult challenges you may have had. We have given up a lot of things during COVID 19. It is like being in the wilderness. It has changed us and has changed how we relate to one another. One thing, though, is that we have learned to connect in new ways. Our online classes are going really well as is our ZOOM mid-week worship. ZOOM has become second-nature for us. We ZOOM a lot or I know I do- for meetings, conferences, prayers, worship, etc. etc. Some of us may have ZOOM-fatigue or feel “ZOOMed out” but it has allowed us to still meet and stay connected. We do not know when the pandemic will end. But we do know we have God to get us through it. God has named us as God’s own, therefore we can survive this time of being in our own wilderness. This desert can be a time where we learn to grow and trust in God. Please remember, we are never alone. Thanks be to God. Amen. |
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