The Gospel According to Mark 1:1-8 [NLTse]

This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. It began ² just as the prophet Isaiah had written:
“Look, I am sending My messenger ahead of You, and He will prepare Your way. ³ He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! Clear the road for Him!’”
⁴ This messenger was John the Baptist. He was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. ⁵ All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. ⁶ His clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey.
⁷ John announced: “Someone is coming soon Who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of His sandals. ⁸ I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!”

Sermon
You would’ve thought people would have avoided John the Baptist with his message about “sin separating us from God” and the need for everyone to repent. But they flocked to him. Why?

Perhaps they were desperate to hear from God and John clearly seemed to be a prophet. Perhaps because he spoke so openly about sin and forgiveness people experienced him addressing the real things going on in the deep places of their hearts. I’ve come to believe, however, in addition to all these reasons, that crowds flocked to John the Baptist because through confessing and repenting of their sins John promised them the Spirit-filled life Isaiah had foretold.

The Prophet Isaiah 32:15-20 [NLTse]
Look, a righteous King is coming! And honest princes will rule under Him. ² Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a parched land.
³ Then everyone who has eyes will be able to see the truth, and everyone who has ears will be able to hear it. ⁴ Even the hotheads will be full of sense and understanding. Those who stammer will speak out plainly. ⁵ In that day ungodly fools will not be heroes. Scoundrels will not be respected. ⁶ For fools speak foolishness and make evil plans. They practice ungodliness and spread false teachings about the Lord. They deprive the hungry of food and give no water to the thirsty. ⁷ The smooth tricks of scoundrels are evil. They plot crooked schemes. They lie to convict the poor, even when the cause of the poor is just. ⁸ But generous people plan to do what is generous, and they stand firm in their generosity.
⁹ Listen, you women who lie around in ease. Listen to Me, you who are so smug. ¹⁰ In a short time—just a little more than a year—you care[free] ones will suddenly begin to care. For your fruit crops will fail, and the harvest will never take place. ¹¹ Tremble, you women of ease; throw off your complacency. Strip off your pretty clothes, and put on burlap to show your grief. ¹² Beat your breasts in sorrow for your bountiful farms and your fruitful grapevines. ¹³ For your land will be overgrown with thorns and briers. Your joyful homes and happy towns will be gone. ¹⁴ The palace and the city will be deserted, and busy towns will be empty. Wild donkeys will frolic and flocks will graze in the empty forts and watchtowers ¹⁵ until at last the Spirit is poured out on us from Heaven. Then the wilderness will become a fertile field, and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops.
¹⁶ Justice will rule in the wilderness and righteousness in the fertile field. ¹⁷ And this righteousness will bring peace. Yes, it will bring quietness and confidence forever. ¹⁸ My people will live in safety, quietly at home. They will be at rest. ¹⁹ Even if the forest should be destroyed and the city torn down, ²⁰ the Lord will greatly bless His people. Wherever they plant seed, bountiful crops will spring up. Their cattle and donkeys will graze freely.

Sermon
John’s message must have been, “Yes, you are a sinner! Yes, you must repent of your sins! But don’t do it just to ease your conscience. Don’t do it just to get “right” with God. Do it because the Messiah’s coming, and with Him a new day’s coming! He is God’s righteous king, and He’s bringing with Him a day of absolute transformation – making all things new! The sin and the death and the selfishness and the uncertainty that have marked every person, every society, and the whole creation is going to begin unravelling with His coming. He will come pouring-out the Holy Spirit!
“Come! Don’t miss it! Be a part of it!” John must have preached. “But only God is bringing it, and the path to God is by confessing and repenting of your sins and trusting in Him. He alone the way to this new life.”

In Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ movie the Lord Jesus is carrying the cross through the streets of Jerusalem. His mother, Mary, cuts through an alley to get ahead of the crowd that is keeping her from Him and reaches Him just as He falls under the burden. Exhausted under the crushing load, the Lord looks up and sees her. Beaten and bloodied and through broken teeth He proclaims, “Behold, I make everything new!”

Isn’t that why Jesus came? I mean, do we all really need more rules? Did the angels and the shepherds and a young girl’s shameful pregnancy all come about just so people could be moral? Yes, Jesus would be the King, of course, and that would be great because Jesus is great, but doesn’t that fall a little flat? Think of the wise men and king Herod slaughtering all the babies Jesus’ age in an attempt to kill Him, and the devil getting personally involved desperately seeking to tempt Him astray… Doesn’t it all seem to be leading to so much more than just attending church, trying to be nice and helping those around you as you have the time, and looking forward to a peaceful and placid “Heaven” some day? I mean, if that’s all its leading up to, don’t you kind of want your ticket price back?

Hallelujah! that what Jesus has started is not simply a cleaned up version of the same old thing. No, He says, “What no eye has ever seen, what no ear has ever heard, what no mind has ever begun to imagine, what God has prepared for those who love Him!

What Jesus has begun, pouring out the Holy Spirit, is a new creation: The heavens will disappear like a computer screen losing power, and the continents will be rocked like dice in a cup. It’s going to all be gone! in order to make room for something new!

That’s why you read your Bibles, isn’t it? In the hopes of something new? That you’ll be transformed? That this life you know will be gone and a new life will begin?

It’s working! It has started, my friends!

Don’t you pray hoping for communion? Hoping for a closeness and a meeting, to get run-over by God? Keep it up, He’s coming!

At Christmastime this Scripture is often read: “The nations shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” (2:4) Isaiah is describing the Spirit-filled life! “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.” (Isaiah 11:6) “The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing.” (Isaiah 35:1) It’s all the Spirit-filled life!

This is what Jesus has brought. This is what the Spirit-poured-out produces! Our wild, uncultivated lives will become like gardens, and our garden-like lives will become like forests-of-every-good-thing! Yes, seek justice, fairness, and to live righteously day by day. But do so knowing that God’s Spirit within you produces these things as you seek to make Christ and His Kingdom your number one aim. “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things – whatever you might be striving and longing for – will be supplied to you!”

Has your life been a desert? As you pursue the King He will pour out His Holy Spirit upon you, and by His grace and in His strength, as you confess your sins and repent, just watch His fruitfulness and abundance transform your desert into blossoms and rejoicing!

Have you been looking out for number one? “Every man (and woman) for themselves?” Has “do it to them before they do it to you” been your motto? As you love your neighbor as you love yourself, as you “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”, as you ask and seek Jesus to drench you and keep you soaked with His Spirit, you will watch the Lord transform those whom you used to see as “competition” or “prey” into your community and your partners, and transform your stinginess and self-preservation into self-giving and life.

Does war and anger and revenge and unforgiveness govern your heart? As you receive the Holy Spirit from Christ our King His love and acceptance will make you new so that you can recognize your faults and leave behind those ways that keep you from the Savior. As His Spirit transforms you you just watch your best weapons for protecting yourself and getting your way be transformed into His best tools for building others up, forgiving them, and caring and sharing this new life with them! Can you imagine those you’ve treated as enemies being transformed into friends that stick closer than a brother (or sister)? That’s the work of His life in us!

But maybe you are the only Christian in your family or among your friends or where you work, and you wonder what you can do to against your folks or your spouse or your kids and others. How can “just you” make a difference?

But it’s not your words you speak nor your compassion you show or your righteousness you are living. No, in this new life all this comes from Jesus with the Holy Spirit poured out. Ours is simply the activity and the doing: Sharing His new life with the poor and those far from God; offering comfort to the brokenhearted; speaking release and freedom to those captive and imprisoned; telling those who are in mourning that God’s favor has come! As we seek Him and offer ourselves to Him as vessels of His grace, it’s the Holy Spirit Who actually comforts and sets free and gives hope and makes new!
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It is your work, but as you do it it is God working in you, giving you the desire and the power to accomplish what pleases Him. (Philippians 2:12-13)

According to Matthew 25:14-30 [NLTse]
¹⁴ “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone.¹⁵ He gave five bags of silver^[b] to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.
¹⁶ “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. ¹⁷ The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more.¹⁸ But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.
¹⁹ “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. ²⁰ The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’
²¹ “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!^[c]’
²² “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’
²³ “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’
²⁴ “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. ²⁵ I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’
²⁶ “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, ²⁷ why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’
²⁸ “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. ²⁹ To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. ³⁰ Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The owner had divided his wealth amongst his slaves to manage for him while he was away. A talent was a coin used in Old and New Testament times. The New Nave’s Topical Bible says that someone with five talents would have been considered a multimillionaire in their day. Two of the slaves invested and managed well what had been entrusted to them, but the third did not. He accused the owner of being hard and seeking to benefit from the work of others without having to work himself. The slave was afraid of making a mistake and losing his master’s money so he hid the money in a safe place and gave the full, original amount back to his master when the master returned. In v. 26 the master replies “you know I’m someone who harvests crops I didn’t plant and gathers crops I didn’t cultivate.” So the master acknowledges that he does indeed seek to benefit from the work of others, and yet the owner calls the third slave “wicked” and “lazy”, saying that he at least could have put the money in a bank to receive a little interest. And then the master punished him.
What is Jesus seeking to teach us here?

The context of the parable comes in the midst of several other teachings of Jesus. He preaches “seven woes” against the religious leaders of His day in Chapter 23 contrasting the scribes’ and Pharisees’ attitudes and behaviors with that which Jesus is calling His followers to; He describes End Times events in the beginning of Chapter 24; at the end of 24 He makes absolutely clear that no one would be able to predict or even anticipate His return, so that Christians should always be “ready”; and the Ten Virgins parable at the beginning of Chapter 25 illustrates that: Always being ready. Then He shares this Talents’ parable. And Chapter 25 ends with the parable-picture of Judgment Day and the rewards and punishments given according to believers’ deeds. So Jesus is focusing His followers on the End Times in these passages, clearly wanting those who love Him to get His message: “Be ready;” “be about My Father’s business,” “keep actively using the gifts I’ve given you to win people to faith until I return,” “there will be distractions;” “there will be rewards;” “be ready!”
So with the end of all things and His imminent return in mind, what is Jesus saying to us today? Let’s look back at the parable.

In the giving out of the talents Jesus seems to be referring to Himself as He gets ready to go away – going to the cross and then ascending into Heaven. He is giving all that He has – the riches of Heaven, our inheritance, the power of God available to us for the work of sharing the gospel and spreading Jesus’ Kingdom. So the “talents” He distributes are God’s spiritual gifts and graces given to His servants – believers – but the talents may also include our natural and learned abilities, the money and possessions we have and gain, our personal influence, including the influence we have through the influence of others we influence.

In the parable we see two Christians of differing abilities using all they have and all they are to grow Jesus’ Kingdom, and we see them rewarded because they worked with what they were given. Notice that although the one was given more and so produced more that the two were rewarded the same, that is, the master said to both: “‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’”

So the rewards Jesus has for us are not based upon how gifted we are (that might affect what we’re able to do for the Lord). No, our rewards will be based on our faithfulness: Did we use the gifts and talents and abilities we’ve been given for the Lord or not? And we see a third so-called Christian who, for some reason looked upon Jesus as harsh and scary, and upon God as unfairly working through people and benefiting from our work. His refusal to put his gifts and talents and abilities to work for the Lord seemed to show that his faith was not true (whether he called himself a Christian or not) and we see him cast out from the Lord into the picture Jesus often gives of Hell: Outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Maybe the third Christian was jealous of those around him or her that were more gifted or wealthy or famous than they. Perhaps that Christian represents believers who feel judged and belittled and worthless as they compare themselves with other Christians around them? Regardless of why, Jesus makes clear in v. 15 that the master gave to each one “according to their abilities”, so we know that regardless of the slave’s feelings, and regardless of our own feelings, that the Holy Spirit divvies out gifts and abilities and wealth and influence according to who we are and what we’re capable of.

The Lord calls us to trust Him, and that includes trusting Him in what we have and have been given as well as with what we don’t have and have not been given, He has equipped each of us differently and set us in different homes and communities and schools and workplaces so that we would do good for God and do good for those around us in whatever great or small ways we can. And like a parent who sees their children not living up to their potential, God clearly gets mad at us when we think less of ourselves than He’s revealed to us we are and so produce less for Him and for others than He’s set us in the world to do.

So how does all this hit you? Jesus is telling us that He is coming back when we least expect it. The signs of the End Times have been fulfilled almost since Jesus first ascended and went on His “journey” to the Father. Even so, we’ve been able to see other fulfillments, even recently. He could come at any moment: No warning; no way to expect it. Are we ready? Are you using the gifts and talents and abilities God has entrusted to you to love God and those around you and to help those around you come to trust in Christ?

We don’t have time to get ourselves into the spiritual condition we believe we should be in first, or to get our families in the spiritual condition we believe they should be in first, or whatever other excuses we might be giving for our delay. Jesus is clearly calling us to invest ourselves now, today! Are you loving others and drawing them to Christ? Are you serving and helping and blessing others and drawing them to Christ?

Of course, Jesus makes clear that we dare not judge ourselves unfit or unworthy either. We don’t fit ourselves for ministry nor are we worthy because of anything we have done, so if we judge ourselves unfit or unworthy in reality we are condemning God and telling Him that His work on the cross, His gifts to us of His Spirit, and His overall work on us altogether is just not good enough! Don’t believe it. Don’t believe it about yourself. Don’t believe it about Him.

This Thanksgiving thank God our Father the way He wants you to thank Him: Invest yourself in a Sunday School class or Bible Study to grow in Him (and start a Study yourself if He’s given you an abundance of gifts and talents); and invest yourself in a ministry (though again, plug into several if He’s given you an abundance).
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He’s not looking at how we used to be invested and all that we did with and for Him “in the day”. He’s looking at us now. On our dying day, or when He returns, don’t we all want to see Him approaching with His arms wide and a great big ear-to-ear grin saying, Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling these relatively small things. Now I will give you so much more. Let’s celebrate together!”

Introduction
In geology, scientists are divided into two groups: Uniformitarianists and Catastrophists.

The word uniformitarian is derived from the assumption that uniform environmental conditions have worked together to affect Earth’s environment in predictable ways over time. The key phrase of uniformitarianists is “The Present is the Key to the Past,” that is, what can be observed today tells us what happened before. For example, if they measure the amount of growth on a stalactite in one year, they can then divide the stalactite’s height by that number to find an approximate age for the formation. Along the same line, if a river cuts an inch into a canyon in one year, they can conclude that a 2,000 foot canyon took 24,000 years to produce. Uniformitarianism has been the basic teaching of historical geology since the early eighteen hundreds.

But before that, Catastrophism was universally accepted as the explanation of geologic formations. The word catastrophism comes from the same root as the word cataclysm. A modern dictionary defines it saying: To inundate, to wash, flood, deluge, catastrophe.

Back in the 1600’s Nicholas Steno, now known as the Father of Stratigraphy (the branch of geology which studies rock layers and layering), developed his ideas with a firm belief in the Bible as the authoritative Word of God. With this understanding, Steno reasoned that the worldwide flood of Noah’s day would have had a tremendous impact on the land surface. In fact, if the flood described in Genesis 6 actually occurred, he said, “the science of stratigraphy would demand the formation of stratified rock layers all over the earth filled with the fossilized remains of the plants and animals that lived in the [pre-Flood] world.” (As creationist Ken Ham puts it, “If Noah’s flood were true you would expect to find millions of dead things buried in rock layers laid down by water all over the earth, and what do we actually see in the fossil record? Millions of dead things buried in rock layers laid down by water all over the earth!”) (Catastrophism tends to align itself with Creationism, while Uniformitarianism is a part of the teaching of evolution.)

The geologic evidence for Catastrophism is so overwhelming that Uniformitarianists have adopted many catastrophist arguments, interspersing various catastrophic events into their great spans of geologic time, in order to have their theories match the evidence around us. [See http://www.creation studies.org/Education/education-flood.html.])

At the heart of Catastrophism for most adherents is belief that Noah’s Flood was an historical event. But could the entire Earth really have been flooded with water? Seventy-one percent of the earth’s surface today is water, and the oceans average to be almost 2.5 miles deep. That leaves only 29% as land, with the average elevation being not even half a mile. So if all the continents and land masses were leveled into the sea using a giant bulldozer, nearly two miles of water would cover our entire earth! So, although many do not believe that Noah’s Flood was a global event, it easily could have been. And the original unified supercontinent that many call Pangaea would have been split apart as the pressures upon the earth’s crust shifted tectonic plates and volcanic craters were pushed up whose eruptions would have resulted in new geologic formations as well as transforming the makeup of our atmosphere. Everything would have been changed. Noah and his family would have exited the ark to an environment significantly foreign to them.
But why are we talking about these things?

1 Peter 3:13-22 [NLTse]
¹³ Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? ¹⁴ But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. ¹⁵ Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. ¹⁶ But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.¹⁷ Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong!
¹⁸ Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but He was raised to life in the Spirit.
¹⁹ So He went and preached to the spirits in prison— ²⁰ those who disobeyed God long ago when God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat. Only eight people were saved from drowning in that terrible flood. ²¹ And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
²² Now Christ has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and all the angels and authorities and powers accept His authority.

Sermon
As fearsome and catastrophic as the Flood must have been in “cleansing” and reshaping the Earth – breaking up the continents, carving the likes of the Grand Canyon, pushing up mountains and ranges like Everest, the apostle Peter writes that the Flood was just “a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” (V. 21) As awe-inspiring as the effects and after-effects of the world-wide Flood were, they are all just a picture to us of what Almighty God has accomplished in the soul of a person who trusts Christ’s death on the cross.

Paul writes to the Ephesians that, just like all the rest of humanity, “You were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. (He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.)” Paul writes, “All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.” (2:1-3) Just like in the days of Noah when evil and wickedness were such that “everything [people] thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.” (Genesis 6:5)

At that time God sent the Flood to cleanse and remake the earth, but even such total destruction and re-creation could not cleanse or remake peoples’ sinful nature, so an even greater catastrophe had to happen: The loving, innocent, sinless Son of God laid down His life to be murdered by wicked men on a cross. But God made His death to be a sacrifice to cleanse and wash away the sins of all who would believe it, with the after-effects of His sacrifice removing all the guilt and shame that sin so often leaves behind.

What seismic changes occurred as the result of such a catastrophe? Men and women and boys and girls ever since have been remade: Those who had been dead, living in sin, obeying the devil have been broken apart from the rest of humanity, had a new life carved out for them, lives of love and righteousness pushed up, surrendered to the Holy Spirit, trusting and obeying God.

Now, we talk a lot here at First Presbyterian about Jesus dying to free us from sin’s power, and about Jesus’ death freeing us from the guilt and shame that our sins so often leave behind. But too often, I think, we sing our songs about God’s forgiveness and join in prayers thanking Him for making us new and we nod our heads at sermons talking about being washed and cleansed but I think many of us do not let these truths penetrate our hearts and minds to truly believe that Jesus has done all of that for us! From the conversations I have with many of you, I believe many Christians know that Jesus saves, but have not experienced Jesus saving them. No, for some reason many have come to believe that their sins are special: Jesus can and does forgive everyone, but not you. You’ve sinned too often, or you’ve had to ask His forgiveness about the same thing over and over and over again, and it’s still going on in your lives. You know that nothing is impossible with God, but your struggles are different. Things with you can’t change.

Well, let’s get down to it here. The Bible says that God created the world in six days. The more I read and study about the science of origins (as it is called) the more I discover that believing that – as fantastic as it sounds! – addresses the cosmic evidence around us as well, and oftentimes better, than the more popular uniformitarian-evolutionary teaching that so pervades our culture. Likewise, the Bible says that there was no death in all that God originally established. Evolution is based upon death – millions and millions of years of death. But the Bible says there was no death: The creatures and human beings were vegetarian and were intended to live forever. And as I’ve studied the science behind these seeming too-good-to-be-true wonders, I’ve found that although not every creature could exist on meat that all creatures could – and many do (even so-called carnivores) – exist on plants alone. The Bible tells us that a worldwide flood killed every creature the Lord God had made on the face of the earth except those creatures and people that were with Noah on his boat! And the Bible tells us that all of that is why Jesus came and died.

The Bible does not paint for us a picture of Jesus – the Son of God – dying as a sacrifice for sin just so that you and I could be forgiven our sins. No, it is not just about us: Jesus is making everything new! He’s reestablishing righteousness. He is overturning death. By the catastrophe of the cross, Jesus Christ is remaking and reshaping all Creation including the entire Earth and all of humanity and, yes, beloved of God, you and me!

That’s why we baptize: A new Creation. That’s what we’ve been baptized into: A new Creation. That’s what we’re reaffirming with Joe McNeely today: Jesus Christ overcoming evil and undoing death and washing sin away through the cataclysm of His sacrifice. And there is nothing you have ever done, and there is nothing you might ever do, that can’t be undone by the fearsome majesty of Jesus’ death on the cross.

Let the reality of it, let the majesty of it, let the upheaval and undoing and remaking of it pierce the lies you’ve believed about what’s possible and impossible in your own life.

What is your sin? Call it to mind. Think on it right now… What is your guilt? Your shame? Your regrets… Hold it in your mind, hold it in your hands before the Lord this morning.

And as we refresh Joe McNeely’s baptism today, be washed, be undone, be remade! And know it is true by faith…
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Worship Team, would you come forward as we pray…

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, our Savior: The sun went dark and earthquakes shook the land as You hung on the cross beginning the undoing to make all things new. Such a horror. Such a wonder! To re-create for Yourself and us a world where righteousness is at home and the Way of the land… As we splash the waters of baptism this morning, wash away our doubts and fears to trust Your Word and Your new-creation work in us and all things. For Your glory in Jesus Christ, we pray…

Mark 10:17-31 [NLTse]

¹⁷ As Jesus was starting out on His way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to Him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁸ “Why do you call Me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. ¹⁹ But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’”

²⁰ “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.”

²¹ Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” He told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

²² At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

²³ Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!” ²⁴ This amazed them. But Jesus said again, “Dear children, it is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God. ²⁵ In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”

²⁶ The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked.

²⁷ Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.”

²⁸ Then Peter began to speak up. “We’ve given up everything to follow You,” he said.

²⁹ “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for My sake and for the Good News, ³⁰ will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life. ³¹ But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.”

Sermon

I’ve been preaching through the Gospel of John where last week we came to the occasion of the Lord’s last supper and our Savior washing the disciples’ feet. After modeling servant hood to them, followed by a brief teaching about servant hood, God the Son finished His lesson saying, “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” (13:17)

“If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” So God blesses His servants not for what we know but for how we respond to what we know. A Christian’s happiness (“blessed are you,” says Jesus) comes through obedient service (“if you do them”, these things Jesus commanded). Our Bible study, our Scripture memorization, our doctrinal purity, etc… are all helpful, but they are only truly helpful if they lead us to a faithful and obedient living-out of “the things” Jesus has commanded. It is that two-sided coin of faith and works that James speaks so succinctly about when he writes: “What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? … faith without good deeds is useless.” (2:14, 20) Yes, Jesus says, “it is important to know these things. But the blessing comes, not in the knowing, but in the doing.” Enter the rich, young ruler…

This religious leader comes to Jesus asking what he needs to do so that God will grant him eternal life. As I read this encounter I get two very different pictures of the young synagogue ruler: Either he is proud of himself and his lifestyle and looking to Jesus for affirmation of his own self-righteousness or he is insecure in his relationship with God so that, even having lived such a righteous life, he still is burdened by questions about his salvation. The Lord’s parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector illustrates the two possibilities I see.

“Two men went to the Temple to pray,” Jesus said. “One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank You, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’

“But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to Heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’” (Luke 18:10-13)

That’s how I see the synagogue ruler, either like the Pharisee or like the Tax Collector: Either his question of Jesus is genuine and he is truly uncertain of his salvation or his question is for show and he’s asking to merely puff himself up even more.

I think it is revealing that Jesus’ first response seeks to probe the man’s understanding of Him. Jesus asks him, “Why do you call Me ‘good’? Only God is truly good.” The Lord is asking, “Has the Father revealed to you that I and He are one?” I picture the Lord studying the man intently, looking for any evidence of saving faith. Because at the heart of God’s gift of eternal life is faith and trust in God Himself. And because Jesus is God, faith in Jesus and seeing the Father in the Son and recognizing the Son because of knowing the Father are fundamental to salvation. But Jesus goes on.

“If you want to receive eternal life then live the way the Father has told you to live: Don’t end a human life; don’t take what’s not yours; don’t have sex if you’re not married; don’t say anything less than what you know to be true; don’t be dishonest in order to get something you want; treat your mother and father honorably and with respect; …” To which the man responds, either arrogantly, “Teacher, I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young,” or imploringly, “Teacher, I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.” Either way, Mark says, “Jesus felt genuine love for him.” And so, loving him, Jesus said, “There is still one thing you haven’t done. Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven. Then come, follow Me.” And either shocked and angry or dejected and afraid he went away sad because he had many possessions.

I used to think this was a universal teaching about money, and that a person couldn’t be a Christian who hadn’t first given away all of their money and possessions. And although I still think that money gets in-between many people and their faith in God, I’ve come to see that the Lord is talking to all of us in this passage, though not necessarily about giving away everything we own to benefit the poor.

I’ve come to see in this encounter Jesus’ love in revealing to the young synagogue leader what in his life is separating him from God, and separating him from the confidence and assurance and closeness the young ruler wanted to enjoy with God and which God wants us to enjoy with Him.

Which brings this all back to you and me: What would you say is your attitude towards your relationship with God? Would you say you are more like the Pharisee or are do you think yourself more like the Tax Collector? And what do you think Jesus would say to you if you asked Him what might be keeping you from inheriting eternal life?

I ask the question because of that cutesy but cutting little comment that people make sometimes about how surprised we might be as to who we see in Heaven and who we do not. I ask the question because the rich, young ruler either thought he loved God or wanted to love God, but out of love for the rich, young ruler, the Lord revealed to him that the man really loved his money instead. Might there be something in our lives that we love more than God but – on account of spiritual pride or on account of blinding insecurity – we don’t recognize? Or perhaps it’s not an idol at all but simply something in our lives that is keeping us from receiving Christ as fully and living by faith in Him as consistently and surrendering to His Spirit as completely as we would like and as He made us to?

I believe the Lord Jesus is standing right in front of us all this morning reminding us that it’s not just knowing the Way, the Truth, and the Life, but that blessing comes with living the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And I believe Jesus wants to tell us what we need to do to inherit eternal life.

Of course, if you have not yet come to trust that Jesus is God, that He and the Father are one, then that’s the first step: Believe that today; put your trust in Jesus today! (Pray: “Father, we are sinners separated from You because we want to believe what makes sense to us and do what we want to do, and what others around us in the world have taught us and are doing. We repent of putting others before You and trusting and following others instead of You. What You say is making sense to us and what we see in the lives of Christians around us, well, what we see of their lives is not perfect but we want it, even as we see You working in their lives we want You to work in our lives. We believe that You sent Jesus of Nazareth, that You came among us – God the Son – to show us Yourself, to teach us Yourself, and to pay the penalty Yourself for our sins, and to break the power that sin and the devil have had over our lives. Since we believe You have done this we now believe that You have removed the power of sin and its guilt and shame over us: Our old self is gone! A new self is here! Fill us with Your Holy Spirit! Come, live within us and through us Father, Son, through Your Spirit. Bind us together with Your church – the Body of Christ here on the earth. You have saved us and we promise to trust You in all things and to follow You wherever You may lead us and do whatever You would have us do. May our lives – our words and our deeds and all we come to stand for – draw peoples’ attention, not to us but, to You, bringing glory to You through Your Son. It is in His name we pray. Amen?”)

Okay, so now we can call the Lord Jesus “good” because we know He is God and because God alone is good. And now we can hear from Him what may be keeping us from inheriting eternal life here and now. What in our lives may be keeping us from abundant life. What in our lives may be separating us from that deep communion, koinonia, more blessed fellowship we were made for and long for…

So would you close your eyes with me and know – as we are gathered here in Jesus’ name – that we are here in God’s presence together. If we’ve had any doubts about His presence as we’ve been worshiping Him – in the name of Jesus – may those doubts be driven from us. We are here in God’s presence together! Let’s know Jesus standing before us…

And let’s ask Him: Lord, what must we do to inherit eternal life?

Is food keeping us from You? Is it our possessions? Do we prize our reputation too much? Do we think of ourselves as being too much of a disappointment? Or is it the weight of others disappointing us? Is unforgiveness separating us from You? Or is it our unwillingness to ask others’ forgiveness? Is it drugs? Is it alcohol? Is it lust? Is it wanting things our way? Is greed getting in our way? Or laziness? Is it arrogance and pride and superiority? Is it anger or our demand for vengeance? Lord what may be getting between us and eternal life? What must we do to inherit eternal life from God?

We’re going to sing “Open the Eyes of My Heart.” Let’s remain seated as we pray this song…

If the Lord in His love has not revealed to you what may be keeping you from saving faith and/or knowing more and more of His fullness in your life ask someone close to you, or perhaps even several people close to you – your spouse, your kids or your parents, some close friends – if they would love you enough to tell you what they see in your life that they think Jesus might not want to see there. (It might be especially insightful if we all asked one or several unbelievers around us what they think Jesus might not like seeing in our lives…)

Don’t ignore this. God’s blessing is not in our knowing the good news and His commandments but by living showing that we believe the good news and living out His commandments. And He loves us enough to show us and let us know what to do so we can fully enjoy Him forever!

According to John 13:1-17 [NLTse]
Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that His hour had come to leave this world and return to His Father. He had loved His disciples during His ministry on earth, and now He loved them to the very end. ² It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. ³ Jesus knew that the Father had given Him authority over everything and that He had come from God and would return to God. ⁴ So He got up from the table, took off His robe, wrapped a towel around His waist, ⁵ and poured water into a basin. Then He began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel He had around Him.
⁶ When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to Him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
⁷ Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”
⁸ “No,” Peter protested, “You will never ever wash my feet!”
Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to Me.”
⁹ Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!”
¹⁰ Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.” ¹¹ For Jesus knew who would betray Him. That is what He meant when He said, “Not all of you are clean.”
¹² After washing their feet, He put on His robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? ¹³ You call Me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. ¹⁴ And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. ¹⁵ I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. ¹⁶ I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. ¹⁷ Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.

Sermon
Do you see the powerplay going on here? No. It goes on quietly, unaddressed, like so many powerplays do. But you know how it goes: The place is a mess, but everyone pretends they don’t notice so that somebody else will have to do something about it, but not them. There’s work to do but everyone says, “It’s not my job,” to keep themselves off the hook…

In a culture where walking was the predominant mode of transportation and an environment where the air was dry and the streets were dirt or dirty, footwashing was a basic part of hospitality. But for feet that had walked through dirt and mud as well as sometimes the piles that horses, donkeys, cattle, and sheep left behind, yuck to the person who had to do the washing!

So that Passover night, as each of the disciples entered the upper room, I imagine they must have pretended that they didn’t need their feet washed. As they shook the dust off their robes and out of their hair and tunics, they must have simply ignored what each other was tracking in across the floor. I see Judas (not Iscariot but Judas the son of James), I see him going over to the table and making a big deal to Philip about the table settings. Andrew and James wander towards the windows to admire the view. Simon Peter and John rush over to the table to reserve places on either side of Jesus. (The others can’t believe they didn’t think about that.) Judas Iscariot, Bartholemew, and the other James (John’s brother) are overly involved in some inflated debate about Pilate and Caiaphas. Matthew – always by himself because the other disciples have never taken much of a liking to the tax-collector – he’s spending extra time brushing out and rearranging his nice clothing. And Thomas and the other Simon enter as though they didn’t have a care or thought in the world… If anyone had asked any one of them about the footwashing, each in his own way would have replied, “Footwashing? What footwashing? We don’t need that here.”

It’s a powerplay. It happens every day. Think about the lengths to which many go each day to get out of doing work around the house or around their workplace; how clever many have become in getting out of doing homework and all the unpleasant and sacrificial jobs that are a part of being Christ’s church.

Jesus, the Son of God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the darling of Heaven, the bright morning star! He tells us: Do you want to win the powerplay? Do you want to live so that no one around you ever has any power over you again? Be a servant.

When some big bully comes up and slaps you across the face and smirks down at you, you want to keep him from having power over you? Offer him the other cheek, as well. When some tough guy throws his backpack at you and tells you to carry it to his locker for him, do you want to keep him from having any power over you? Tell him you can carry it to his next class for him, as well.

“You want to win the powerplay in any room?” Jesus asks. Take the seat farthest from the head of the table. Be the first to bring the sponge or the mop. Let the people around you promote you, “No, Jesus! You are not going to wash my feet!” Let the host or hostess reach out to you, “Rich, don’t sit down there, come up here closer to me.” “No, Ben, thanks for getting the mop but I’ll take care of the spill, thank you very much.”
Do you want to be first in the Kingdom of Heaven? Then be content at being last and the most servant-minded here. People line up to do the tasks that are considered important, glamorous, or respected. But Jesus showed humility and true love by doing the task that no one else wanted to do. He washed the disciples’ feet – one of the dirtiest of jobs usually performed by the lowest ranking person in the room. And yet was Jesus the lowest ranking person? No. He was the Lord, the Rabbi, and the Teacher. And He knew He would soon be at the Father’s side in Heaven. Did He think it was too lowly a task for Him to do? No. Are there tasks that we won’t do because they are lowly? Because they are dirty? Because they are unpleasant or hard? And yet, aren’t those the jobs that most need to be done? And won’t God reward those who do His work? We need to be willing to do whatever is needed. Jesus was not only willing, He prepared Himself to do this service. He set His mind to it. Have we made plans, have we set ourselves, to serve others? People can’t make you serve them if you are always choosing to love and serve them first.

Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-27)

Do you want to be great in the Kingdom of God? “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had: Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.”

And what was the result of His servant-mindedness? “Therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honor and gave Him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in Heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-12)
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The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is not looking for those who are great to follow Him. He is looking for servants and those willing to serve to make great as He empowers their service and joins them in their acts of love.

THE BIBLE IS OUR SPIRITUAL COMPASS

Need: A compass

Scripture: “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” (Psalm 119:105) “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)

I got a new app for my phone last night. It’s a compass. Have all of you have seen a compass? A compass is used to find the right direction to get you to where you want to go. The compass has four main directions: North, South, East, and West. To have a compass work it’s important to keep the needle of the compass always pointing North. If the needle is pointing in that direction (point to the North) and I want to go South, I would go that direction (point in the opposite direction from what the needle is pointing.) With the needle pointing North, if I wanted to go East, I would go in that direction (point to the East.)

What would it be like if the needle sometimes pointed North but at other times it pointed to the South, East, or West? I would never be able to use the compass to find my way. I would wander around, hopelessly lost. The compass must always point in the right direction if it is going to help guide us.

When we are trying to find our way through life, God has given us a compass to guide us along the Way, as well. Does anyone know what that is? That compass is the Bible: God’s Holy Word. The truth that we find in the Bible never changes. It will always point us in God’s direction. It will always point us to Jesus.

Some people use their feelings to help them to decide what they should do. That’s no good. Our feelings change from day to day and they cannot be trusted. Besides that, just because we feel good about something doesn’t mean that it is the right thing to do.

Some people choose what they will do by what’s popular. That is no good either. Just because everyone else is doing it doesn’t mean that it is the right thing to do, does it? Tomorrow everyone might be doing something else.

There is only one thing that we can trust to always point us in the right direction, and that is the Bible. It will always point to Jesus and Jesus said ” I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.”

[Give out Bibles to 3^rd Graders…]

Father, we thank you for giving us the Bible to be our guide through life. Help us to remember that we can always depend on the Bible to point us in the right direction. Amen.

The Gospel According to John 12:20-36 [NLTse]
²⁰ Some Greeks who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration ²¹ paid a visit to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee. They said, “Sir, we want to meet Jesus.” ²² Philip told Andrew about it, and they went together to ask Jesus.
²³ Jesus replied, “Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory. ²⁴ I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. ²⁵ Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. ²⁶ Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me.
²⁷ “Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But this is the very reason I came! ²⁸ Father, bring glory to your name.”
Then a voice spoke from heaven, saying, “I have already brought glory to my name, and I will do so again.” ²⁹ When the crowd heard the voice, some thought it was thunder, while others declared an angel had spoken to him.
³⁰ Then Jesus told them, “The voice was for your benefit, not mine. ³¹ The time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out. ³² And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” ³³ He said this to indicate how he was going to die.
³⁴ The crowd responded, “We understood from Scripture that the Messiah would live forever. How can you say the Son of Man will die? Just who is this Son of Man, anyway?”
³⁵ Jesus replied, “My light will shine for you just a little longer. Walk in the light while you can, so the darkness will not overtake you. Those who walk in the darkness cannot see where they are going. ³⁶ Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light.”
After saying these things, Jesus went away and was hidden from them.

Sermon
I’ve been trying to think about what I want written on my gravestone. Here are some of my options so far:

Benjamin Park Willis – He was a successful pastor

Benjamin Park Willis – He accumulated great wealth and possessions

Benjamin Park Willis – He knew how to party and have a good time

Benjamin Park Willis – He was a great philanthropist

Benjamin Park Willis – He was a selfless humanitarian

Benjamin Park Willis – He paid his bills, provided for his family, and stayed out of jail…

As our reading begins Jewish pilgrims from all over the Roman Empire and surrounding lands have begun arriving in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. Among them would have been “God-fearing Gentiles”, as they were called, who, although not having converted to Judaism, regularly attended such festivals to worship the God of Israel. As Neil just read, among these “God-fearers” were some Greeks who had heard about Jesus’ raising Lazarus from the dead and who were looking to meet Him, and to meet Lazarus.

These Gentiles seeking Him seems to be a signal to Jesus from the Father that the time had finally arrived for Him to be glorified, and in doing so to glorify the Father: That is, for Jesus to draw peoples’ attention to Himself, and by doing so, to draw their attention to the Father!

Of course, He knew this would result ultimately in His death – that His death would create such a spectacle that He would have the undivided attention of each and every one of the thousands who had traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover Celebration! (His resurrection would be a part of His being glorified and drawing attention to Himself and onto the Father, and His ascending to Heaven would be a part of His being glorified and drawing attention to Himself and onto the Father, too, but at the heart of Jesus’ glorification was the cross…)

Likewise, in his first letter to the Corinthians the apostle Paul writes, “Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, Who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must [glorify] God with your body.” (6:19-20) And summarizing the whole testimony of Scripture in response to the love God has shown us in Jesus, The Westminster Shorter Catechism states that “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” That is, that humanity’s primary purpose for existing is to draw one anothers’ attention to God, and to enjoy God forever.”

That’s why you exist; that’s why I exist: To draw peoples’ attention to God and enjoy Him always.

Preacher, philosopher, and theologian Jonathan Edwards, widely acknowledged to be America’s most important and original philosophical theologians and one of our nation’s greatest intellectuals, took this business of glorifying God very seriously. Here are several resolutions Edwards put forward as to how he would live for God’s glory:

“1. Resolved, Never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God, nor be, nor suffer it, if I can possibly avoid it.” So he resolved to never do anything that didn’t direct others’ attention to God in a way that made God look good. Like Thumper’s mother who said, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all,” Edwards resolved that if what he needed to do couldn’t glorify, or if he couldn’t do it in a way that brought God fame, then he wouldn’t do it at all.

“2. Resolved, Frequently to take some deliberate action, which seems most unlikely to be done, for the glory of God.” Jonathan Edwards looked for crazy ways to draw peoples’ attention to God. Picking up all the trash around some store or business, putting all the carts away at the grocery store, asking if he could mow his neighbor’s lawn or shovel his driveway without being asked first, etc… He looked around him for opportunities to be merciful or gracious that nobody considered to be in their right mind would do, and then gave God credit for it when people asked why.

“3. Resolved, That no other end but religion have any influence at all on any of my actions.” That is, everything he did he was going to do for God.

“4. Resolved, To strive every week to be brought higher in religion, and to a higher exercise of grace, than I was the week before.” To not be content to remain at the same level of intimacy with Christ and the same level of zeal to those around him, but to grow more and more gracious week by week, more and more loving, more self-sacrificing, more obedient to God’s Spirit: To grow!

“5. Resolved, Never to do anything but my duty, and then, according to Eph. vi. 6-8 to do it willingly and cheerfully, as unto the Lord, and not to man: knowing that whatever good thing any man doth, the same shall he receive of the Lord.” So, not just to do everything for God but to do everything as though doing it to God: Working for our employer as though he or she was God; doing our schoolwork as though our teacher were God; living together around our homes as though our parents or our children or our husbands or our wives were the Lord God Himself, and not some human whom we could treat in lesser ways.

“6. Resolved, That I will live so, as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.” Each decision made, each action taken, from the perspective of what he might have wished to have done as he was dying.
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“7. Resolved, To live with all my might, while I do live.” To live abundantly and to Christ’s fullest!

The Westminster Shorter Catechism states that “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” So I guess I could add to my list:
Benjamin Park Willis – He glorified God, and always enjoyed Him…
I don’t know about all of you but I think I’m going to hope for that one.

The Gospel According To John 12:1-11 [NLTse]

Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. ² A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him. ³ Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.

⁴ But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, ⁵ “That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” ⁶ Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.

⁷ Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. ⁸ You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

⁹ When all the people heard of Jesus’ arrival, they flocked to see him and also to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too, ¹¹ for it was because of him that many of the people had deserted them and believed in Jesus.

Sermon

[Move Collection plates from the Table to the Pulpit shelf, if needed.]

Judas complains that the perfume was worth a year’s wages. Who’s year’s wages? How much was the perfume worth?

Most literally, Judas says that the perfume was worth 300 denarii. A denarius was a day’s wage for a common laborer. So to translate such things for us today, let’s say $10/hour for 8 hours, and you get $80/day. Multiply that by 300 – because he said it was worth 300 denarii – and that gives you $24,000.00.

Can you imagine giving $24,000 to the Lord? Maybe over several years some of us have, so maybe we can. Except that when we give we’re giving toward a stained glass window or a new roof or to fund a missionary or a Pastor or to buy supplies for this or that work or to help feed, clothe, or house those in need, all that our tithes and offerings go towards. But can you imagine giving $24,000.00 and having the pastor shred it?

[Shred part of the Collection.]

That’s the context here. [Keep shredding.] That’s the source of Judas’ grumbling. [More.] “Is that what I think it is, Mary? Is that nard? You’re pouring nard on His feet? [More shredding.] Do you know what that’s worth? Do you know how many mouths you can feed with 24 grand, Jesus? [More, but not all of it.] She’s pouring it down the drain!”

Jesus knows that Judas didn’t care about the poor, so let’s not give Judas’ concern too much sympathy or credit. But think on Jesus’ response: “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for My burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have Me.” Jesus – Who does care about the poor – He says that her wastefulness was a good thing. In the Gospel of Mark’s account, Mark adds that Jesus also said, “I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.” (14:9) It was a good thing. It was a great thing. It was a lavish thing. It anointed Him for burial…

Let’s put this into the context of the rest of John’s Gospel. Jesus has just brought Lazarus back from the dead. Lazarus was dead for four days, and Jesus brought him to life again. As a result, many put their trust in Jesus and became His followers, His disciples. But others who had been offended by some of Jesus’ teachings and miracles sought to kill Him instead.

So Jesus and his followers went into hiding for a few months, to a wilderness area named after Joseph’s son, Ephraim.

But Passover is beginning – one of the required feasts of the Jews, and so Jesus, despite the threats and warrants out for His arrest, is back in Bethany, a suburb on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

This was likely a “thank You” banquet given in Jesus’ honor after raising Lazarus from the dead. We know that Lazarus was at the table with Jesus. Martha is saying “thank You” in her own way by offering her gift of hospitality. And here is Mary, lavishly wasting the rarest of perfumes to anoint His feet.

For the super-wealthy they say that it’s not the gifts that cost a lot of money that are truly valued, but the gifts that are one of a kind and irreplaceable. Lazarus, Martha, and Mary may have been in that class of folks, and anointing Jesus’ feet – which would have already been washed by a slave or servant upon His arrival and needing no further care – anointing His feet with oil may have been that kind of a gift of gratitude – a precious, priceless, excessive thanks offering – from Mary to the Man Who brought her brother and provider and guardian back to her from the dead.

I think about such lavish wastefulness from this grateful woman and it makes me wonder, “How grateful am I? How thankful are we?”

Jesus may not have brought our brother or provider or guardian back from the dead. But He’s brought us back from the dead. Once we’ve trusted in Christ we are born again! New creations! Everything that we’ve ever done, dead and gone. Everything that’s ever been done to us, dead and gone. “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) And so believers in Christ are children of God and children of Light! “For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night.” (1 Thessalonians 5:5) Yes, “I will be your Father, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty.” (2 Samuel 7:14 and 2 Corinthians 6:18) And our sins have been absolutely forgiven, when we belong to Jesus. He sees us as absolutely holy and righteous when He looks at and thinks of us. For, “You were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11) And it is all God’s work from start to finish. Yes, “God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” (Ephesians 2:8)

This is what faith and trust in Christ has done in our lives: Everything’s new! In addition I know He’s brought some of us through cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. He’s brought different ones of us through hard times with our parents or our kids, through challenging trials with our husbands or our wives. He’s carried us through job losses and the deaths of loved ones and our own addictions and the addictions of those close to us… And so much more!

Has it been adequate to leave it all at, “Thank You, Lord”? Has that been enough?

Maybe you never thought about it before. Think about it now. Is that a good enough “thank you” for all the Lord has done for us in this life? Is it a good enough “thank you” for all the Lord has done for us and promised us in the life to come? No. I don’t think so. We ought to be more lavish. Truth be told, we need to be excessive! [Shred some more of the offering.]

Here are some lavish ways we can thank God day by day by day:

1) We can repent of our sins and put our trust in Jesus Christ. As Doug and Sue Ann Jacobs and Neil and Heidi Frazer and I were reminded again and again across the presbytery meeting we attended together, the Lord Jesus’ Great Commission to us has not been to “Go and make disciples… baptizing them… and teaching [them] all Jesus’ commands,” but to “Go and make disciples… baptizing them… and teaching [them] to obey all Jesus’ commands.” (See Matthew 28:19-20) The Bible tells us that the message of the gospel is “repent and believe”, not just “believe”. And Jesus tells His disciples that it is “Those who accept My commandments and obey them are the ones who love Me.” (John 14:21)

So if you’re doing something or involved in anything that God has said hurts Him or hurts others or hurts yourself – anything the Bible calls sin, thank Him lavishly for His great salvation and repent! Leave such dark and death-bringing behaviors behind you and exercise the grace God has shown us in Christ.

2) Spend time reading the Bible every day and praying. Reading the Bible is God talking to you. Praying is you talking to God. If you are truly grateful, show it by spending time with Him!

Worship is a part of that, too. That’s 3) Don’t miss Worship. Protestantism knows Worship to be the gift and blessing from God that the Bible says it is. And yet that has led many in our day to then see Worship as optional. Now, maybe I’m preaching to the choir, so to speak, because we’re all here together in Worship, but I know that many modern Christians make it to Worship when they can, as long as they don’t have something more important. But what could be more important than worshiping God? Did we make ourselves, or did something “more important” make us? Have we created our own food, or did something “more important” make our food for us? That we are have the parents we do helping make us who we are, or if we’ve been able to have kids, or are able to walk and talk when so many others cannot, did we do these things for ourselves, or did something “more important” do these things for us? No. God alone did all these wonders and more! Wherever you are, thank Him by never missing Worship, and spend time talking to Him and hearing from Him in the Word and prayer every day.

4) Tithe. It may not be $24,000.00. (Of course, if God’s been generous to you it may be much, much more!) The tithe is a practice God instituted in the Old Testament and that continued in the New, so that His people could openly declare their recognition that everything they were and everything they had came from God and would be used for His purposes. The first 10% of their income – whether that was grain or wine or goat milk or meat-from-their-slaughtered-animals or money given for rents or purchases or other payments – the first 10% of their income – not the last 10% (if there was enough left over) or even some 10% given after the big bills had been paid – no, 10% off the top of their income was to be given to the Sanctuary, whether the Tabernacle or the Temple or the synagogue or the apostles or the church as evidence that they recognized it all comes from Him, and as a commitment that they would spend the remaining 90% as He would have them spend it, as well. Let’s us thank Him that way, as well.

5) Of course, we can thank God Who has given and given and given so lavishly to us by serving and sharing with those in need around us. That may be buying food and dropping it off to neighbors in need or into the Food Pantry barrel outside of Fellowship Hall; that may be offering rides to those who can’t drive themselves to the store or to the doctors or to Bible studies or to Worship; that may be offering to babysit for a young couple who can’t afford it; it can include serving God and our community through ministries here: There are so many needs around the church just waiting for you to offer yourselves, whatever your gifts, abilities, availability, and callings!

6) Raise your hands when you praise Him at home or in Worship. Or you can get down on your knees. (Don’t do this alone if you need someone’s help to get you back up. J) Have you ever laid down flat on your face in honor of our Father’s greatness? This isn’t a Traditional-thing or a Contemporary-thing. These are thanksgiving things! Do it at home if you don’t want to do it here. But thank the Lord by praising Him with your whole body! And one more, (though there are many, many, many)

7) Don’t keep your stories of God’s goodness to yourself. Make your love and thanks more public by telling everyone about Him at church, and to your neighbors and friends at school, and with your co-workers… See it as introducing Jesus around to those you know, the same way you would introduce your earthly parents or earthly family members or friends. If you are living out your gratitude to God lavishly and excessively people around you will notice. Telling them about the Lord just makes clear to them why you do what you do.

Teacher, preacher, theologian, pastor, and author H. A. Ironside is said to have had this experience in a crowded restaurant. There were few tables open and just as Ironside was about to begin his meal, a man approached and asked if he could join him. Ironside invited his to have a seat. Then, as was his custom, Ironside bowed his head in prayer. When he opened his eyes, the other man asked, “Do you have a headache?” Ironside replied, “No, I don’t.” The other man asked, “Well, is there something wrong with your food?” Ironside replied, “No, I was simply thanking God as I always do before I eat.”

The man said, “Oh, you’re one of those, are you? Well, I want you to know I never give thanks. I earn my money by the sweat of my brow and I don’t have to give thanks to anybody when I eat. I just start right in!” Ironside said, “Yes, you’re just like my dog. That’s what he does, too!”

ELDER: According to John 11:1-6 [NLTse]

A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. ² This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. ³ So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.”

⁴ But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” ⁵ So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, ⁶ he stayed where he was for the next two days.

Sermon, Part 1

How would you feel if your best friend didn’t come when you needed him or her most? I can imagine that’s how Lazarus, Martha, and Mary must have felt when Jesus delayed after they sent word to Him.

Notice the details that set up the dynamics of the passage: That is, verse 6 says that Jesus delayed two days before leaving for Mary and Martha’s home in Bethany; and verse 17 – that we’ll get to in a moment – makes clear that by the time Jesus arrived that Lazarus had already been dead for four days. So, even if Jesus had left immediately Lazarus would have been dead by the time He got there. Now, Jesus did delay. But even if He hadn’t there was no way Jesus could have prevented Lazarus from dying.

So what Martha and Mary and the mourners are upset with Him about is not that His delay kept Him from saving Lazarus, but the fact that He delayed! “Why didn’t You come right away, Lord? Don’t you love me? Don’t You love us? If you truly loved us and Lazarus, Lord, wouldn’t you have come right away?”

But let’s hear Martha and Mary’s actual questions, and from them themselves. Our reading continues from verses 17-32…

ELDER: ¹⁷ When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. ¹⁸ Bethany was only a few miles down the road from Jerusalem, ¹⁹ and many of the people had come to console Martha and Mary in their loss. ²⁰ When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house ²¹ Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.”

²³ Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.”

²⁴ “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.”

²⁵ Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. ²⁶ Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”

²⁷ “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.” ²⁸ Then she returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see you.” ²⁹ So Mary immediately went to him.

³⁰ Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him. ³¹ When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there. ³² When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Sermon, Part 2

Let’s begin with Martha’s confession of faith in verse 27: “Yes, Lord,” she told Him, “I have always believed You are the Messiah, the Son of God, the One Who has come into the world from God.” Martha knows Who Jesus is. So her questions for Jesus are not just for Jesus, are they? Since there’s no way He could have made it to Bethany in time to save Lazarus Martha’s questions are clearly for God, too. “God, if Jesus had been able to be here in time, my brother would not have died. He did delay, Father. Yet even if He’d left right away He wouldn’t have been able to make it. Why? Why did Jesus have to be so far away? Why did Lazarus have to die so quickly? Don’t You love me, Lord? Don’t You love us, Lord? Why?”

Sound familiar? Has God ever been too late, as far as you’re concerned? You or your loved one has already received the bad news, or the situation’s already dead and in the grave? Or maybe it seems that our Father’s dragging His feet right now with something you or a loved one is waiting for?

Why the delay, Lord? Why are you making us wait?

Sometimes God makes us wait to increase our faith. Turn with me to Matthew 8:26-27…

A heavy storm has come up as the disciples’ are crossing the Sea of Galilee. Their boat is being swamped and they are sure they are done for, but Jesus is asleep in the back. The cry out, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” And He replies, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” And then He gets up and rebukes the winds and the waves. And it is completely calm…

The disciples were amazed and they asked each other, “Who is this man? Even the winds and waves obey Him!”

This happened immediately after they’ve seen Jesus heal leprosy, heal Peter’s mother-in-law, cast out demons, and now quiet a violent storm! Let’s face it, big, razzle-dazzle miracles don’t build our faith. No, it tends to be that time in-between – when we’ve sent word to Jesus but He hasn’t arrived yet – when our faith grows.

A couple chapters later in Matthew 14 we see this played out. The disciples are in a boat again. And there’s another storm. But this time Jesus is not with them, but is walking towards them over top of the storm-swells and crashing waves!

At Jesus’ invitation, Peter has climbed over the side and walked a bit on the waves himself! But he’s only been able to do so by keeping his focus on Jesus, and suddenly he loses his focus. Perhaps it was a big wave or some other reason. But now Peter’s gone under and trying to catch a breath and keep afloat in the midst of the crashing sea. And he cries out, “Save me, Lord!” And, of course, Jesus does, and gets Peter back into the boat. And once Jesus has gotten into the boat Himself, Matthew tells us that all of the disciples worshiped Him, saying, “You are the Son of God!”

Notice the difference! No longer are they asking, “Who is this man?” No. As they’ve watched Him and lived with Him and waited and waited and waited for Him, their faith has grown. Now they know, “You are the Son of God!”

The blind see; the dead are brought to life again; what couldn’t or shouldn’t be able to happen happens! Sometimes God delays and makes us wait in order to increase our faith… He also will sometimes delay and make us wait in order to develop our relationship with Him.

Across the revelation of the Bible, but especially in the Gospels and the New Testament, God is described as a heavenly father, not a vending machine into which we put a prayer and our answer or whatever we wanted comes out. And like every good parent, He doesn’t give His children everything we want when we want it.

It’s helped my relationship with God to refer to Him as Father rather than Lord because the title “Lord” nurtures in me the sense that He is in control (which, of course, He is) and, can and should do anything I ask. But calling Him “Father” reminds me that although He can do anything I ask, that He also knows best what I and His other children need…

So, God sometimes uses our times of waiting to grow our relationship with Him. He also sometimes makes us wait to give us more stories to tell.

The story of Daniel’s three friends in the fiery furnace probably wouldn’t have made it into the Scriptures if Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego simply overpowered the guards and high-jacked a chariot. And somehow, “Daniel and the Long, Drawn-Out Court Battle” or “Daniel In the City Jail” just doesn’t have the same impact as “Daniel in the Lions’ Den”!

I don’t know about you but I’m not impressed with the TV evangelists and their guests who talk about their health and wealth: “God loves you and has a wonderful Porsche for your life.” I’m impressed with testimonies of believers going through absolute defeat and yet coming out with victory! (Maybe not with health and wealth, but coming out with the assurance of Jesus’ presence every step of the way. To me, that’s a testimony of resurrection power!)

Sometimes God ignores our human deadlines to give us opportunities to experience Him in ways we never would otherwise, and so that we can have stories of His faithfulness to share with others in their times of waiting, as well…

Psalm 27 ends singing, “Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.” And Psalm 37:7 calls us to, “Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.” James 5:7-8 say, “Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near.” Micah 7:7 says, “As for me, I look to the Lord for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me.” And Lamentations 3:25-26, which says, “The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.”

Let your waiting increase your faith. Let your waiting grow your relationship with our Father. Let your waiting provide opportunities to experience the Lord in unique ways that you can in turn share with others. Wait, and don’t give up waiting, upon the LORD…

According to John 10:1-16 [NLTse]

“I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! ² But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. ⁵ They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”

⁶ Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, ⁷ so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸ All who came before me^[a] were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.^[b] They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. ¹⁰ The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. ¹² A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. ¹³ The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.

¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, ¹⁵ just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.

Sermon

Amy and I will have been married 24 years this October. Like all good friends and married couples, we’ve grown close and gotten to know each other by spending time together, sharing our lives together, and finding out about one another, like what hurts the other and what each other likes, and committing to do the likes and trying to avoid that which hurts. We try to do what each other asks us to do, responding to one another’s calls for help and calls telling us we love each other, calls sharing fears and upsets… We’ve grown close by sharing our strengths and our weaknesses with one another, and by partnering in each others’ callings and causes.

The same is true with us and God.

The Lord Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me… So I sacrifice my life for the sheep.” The word to know in Greek is ginosko. Ginosko is a verb that speaks of the action – the activity – of observing or listening to or touching, smelling, tasting: It describes the actions involved in knowing someone or something. So the knowledge Jesus seems to be enjoying with His followers – His sheep – seems to be the active action of getting to know and continuing to get to grow closer and becoming more and more intimate. Hear in this “knowing” the idea of ongoing relationship while seeking to deepen that relationship. It’s not a growing in the possession of intellectual facts. I know Amy’s birthday and her favorite color and who her parents are and all manner of other details about her. But that is only knowing about Amy. No. Ginosko is the word that gets used to speak of being sexual with one’s wife or one’s husband. It is that type of knowledge Jesus is speaking of: Intimate, personal, and relational. Ginosko includes the motivation behind the activities of getting to know – the desire for relationship that lead us to observing, listening to, touching, smelling, tasting –all focused upon growing closer, growing to be better friends, more intimate, increasingly one…

Sir G. A. Smith in his Historical Geography of Palestine gives this illustration of shepherding-life in Israel: “Sometimes we enjoyed our noonday rest beside one of these Judean wells, to which three or four shepherds come down with their flocks. The flocks mixed with each other, and we wondered how each shepherd would get his own again. But after the watering and playing were over, the shepherds one by one went up different sides of the valley, and each called out his peculiar call, and the sheep of each drew out of the crowd to their own shepherd, and the flocks passed away as orderly as they came.”

There’s another story of a Scottish traveler who changed clothes with a Jerusalem shepherd and tried to lead the sheep; but the sheep didn’t follow him. They didn’t follow the shepherd’s clothes, they followed their shepherd’s voice.

With the repeated mention and focus that Jesus makes of the sheep knowing their shepherd’s voice, His point is that people come to God and come to know God because He calls them, and because they respond and follow. People grow close to God when we respond to His call; getting to know Him as we find out what He likes and acting on it. Making ourselves available so that when He needs us we’re ready. It’s a covenant life God calls us to, like that of husband and wife.

And like that first husband and wife – Adam and Eve – God has work for us. Our Father is not passive here in the world. He’s on the move winning a people back to Himself. I love the way Mark portrays Jesus in his Gospel. It’s always, “And immediately Jesus did this,” “and immediately Jesus did that.” Jesus is on the move. There’s no time to waste. He’s advancing God’s Kingdom. He’s taking enemy territory one disciple at a time. And our good shepherd is calling us to follow and join with Him in it! To be about advancing the Kingdom of Heaven until all the world knows.

Many people want to know God, but don’t want to exercise the work and the obedience of getting to know Him. We will never get to know God living in a one-sided relationship with Him. We can’t always be looking for God to care for us, provide for us, always looking to Him to make things work together for our good, without offering ourselves to Him for His work, for His desires, for His heart. No. Covenants go both ways.

Jesus is calling us to join Him in God’s work. He’s called us out of our old sheep pens of pride and anger and lust. He’s called and calling us out of excess and envy. Out of greed and lazy living and all our related busy-ness. And as we make ourselves available, and as we do as He calls, and as we follow where He leads, we experience His care for us. We experience His provision. We see our needs met. We see guidance given. We see enemies dealt with. We see ourselves growing in grace. We see ourselves growing in intimate knowledge and relationship with Him as we trust and follow and obey. We see ourselves getting to truly know Him (in the full, biblical sense of the word). We see ourselves as we were made to be. We see ourselves doing what we were made to do. And it’s a full and satisfying life! Not the sheep being used by and providing for the shepherd, but the good shepherd laying His life down for the sheep. And our living in trust and security, our lives to His hands, as we join Him in spreading such good news…

Are you growing to know Jesus better and better? Are you following Him – making yourself available to Him and responding when He calls? They are the same question.

Jesus’ sheep hear His voice and they follow Him, and as they do so they know Him and continue seeking to get to know Him better and better. And in that way, with that focus, and through that relationship, there will be one flock, and there will be one shepherd, and there will be one table…