Sunday, April 14

Three Times

John 21: 1-19 http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=232936286
 

Join us in worship today as we Hear the story of Jesus’ third appearance to his disciples after his death. Listen as the story focuses on the one who denied Jesus three times, as Jesus asks the question three times, “Do you love me?” And as Jesus gives specific instruction, three times, on what we are to do, how we are to live, as followers of Christ, as an Easter people...

 

What do we do when our world falls apart, when we lose a loved one, a relationship, a job? When the disciples' world fell apart they were not sure what to do next. Jesus had appeared to them, they knew the Resurrected Christ had changed forever the world. Yet, they struggled with what to do next.

 

It seems they returned to what they knew best...at least a few of them, they went fishing. It is on the shore of the Sea of Galilee that Jesus makes things perfectly clear: "If you love me, feed my lambs. If you love me, tend my sheep. If you love me, feed my sheep."

Friday, April 5, 2013

Doubting...with Thomas
 
John 20:19-29
¹⁹When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.²¹Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”²²When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.²³If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”²⁴But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.²⁵So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”²⁶A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”²⁷Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.”²⁸Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”²⁹Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

   This week in worship, we'll be focusing on this story from John: Jesus appearing in the Upper Room (even though the doors were locked!) with the disciples.
 
   Poor Thomas! For whatever reason, he was not present on that first Easter evening. All the others disciples (except for Judas of course) got to see and experience Jesus Resurrected. But not Thomas. And so...for all these years we have branded Thomas as "Doubting" in story and reflection.
 
   I remember my Sunday School teacher telling us, "Don't be like Thomas, BELIEVE." The problem...I'm alot like Thomas! It's not that I don't believe or don't want to believe, it's just that I need to chew on things for a while before I'm willing to say, "I believe."
 
   I grew up in a church that was pretty conservative. Lots of folks said they believed. They told us we should believe, ...without questioning. So I didn't question much, at least not aloud or in public. But, I questioned, earnestly and often. Not because I wanted to, but more because it was hard not to. I knew there was more out there and my heart and soul have always longed for that more.
 
  Do you ever doubt or have doubts? Each year in confirmation classes, we begin by inviting our confirmands to ask deep and wide questions. We tell them right up front, It's okay to doubt, to not understand, to have a hard time believing this or that, even to say, "I'm just not able to say, I believe, yet." We understand confirmation to be about making the faith their own. I don't know about you, but that is not always an easy process for me.
 
   Sometimes I wonder and have doubts about the theology that has been handed down to us. Sometimes I wonder about the wisdom and motives of those who have come before us. Sometimes I have to wonder if that is what a particular Scripture really means? Sometimes I even why God does things the way God does things? 
 
   Join us for worship this Sunday as we dig into "Doubting." As methodical Methodists (ha!) I'm thinking we ought to have some rules for doubting...maybe: Doubt-Nice, Doubt-Well, Doubt-Prayerful? But doubting we should.

Lord, we give you all of ourselves...even those places where hurts, doubts and misgivings still linger. Take our doubts, we pray--bless them, break them, heal and make them...whole and holy  for you. It is in the name of the Resurrected Christ that we pray, Amen!

Blessings!

Rich Greenway   


    

Friday, April 5, 2013

AN INVITATION TO EASTER!

Yesterday's devotional was the last in the Adam Hamilton series for Lent/Easter, The Way. I hope you enjoyed and were blessed by Rev. Hamilton's insights and the wonderful way he makes the stories of Scripture come to life for us.

We will not be sharing a daily devotional through the remainder of the Easter Season. I do hope, however, to share thoughts and aha! moments several times a week. And so, I'm asking for your help.

Were there particular devotions in "The Way" series that you liked and would like to take deeper? Were there questions raised in your own heart and mind that you would like us to address together? Do you have questions about Easter, the meaning of Easter and what it means to live as an Easter people?

For the past several years, we've been using, "I wonder..." questions to help us peel back the layers of meaning and detail in stories. It's a rather easy exercise. Read a story and then just begin to ask the "I wonder" questions about the characters, the details, the truths you hear lifted in the story, the way the story might have been different if things had gone in a different direction.

On Maudy Thursday, Pastor Laura, invited us to "wonder" about those moments when Jesus was washing the feet of the disciples: I wonder how the disciples felt as Jesus kneeled before them, took their dirty feet in his hands and washed them clean? I wonder if sometimes it's easier to serve others than it is to receive the gift of service? I wonder how Judas felt as Jesus looked him in the eyes? I wonder why Judas betrayed? I wonder if he had doubts about his betrayal?  ...even, I wonder if the water was cold? (ha!)

Rev. Hamilton's devotional from a few days ago, wondered how different the story would have been if, instead of killing himself immediately in despair, Judas had waited long enough to witness the Resurrection? Now, that could have been some story of reconciliation and healing!

What has touched you during this season of Lent/Easter? What is it that you "wonder" about?

You can share your thoughts by responding on the blog or if you would prefer by emailing me at rogreen@bellsouth.net. If you do not want your thoughts/questions shared, please let me know that in your email.

I invite you to Easter!

Blessings.

Rich Greenway

Thursday, April 4, 2013

THE GREAT COMMISSION

Matthew 28:18-20

¹⁸And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,²⁰and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

   Anglican scholar, pastor, and writer R. T. France, in commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, notes that its final verses, often called the Great Commission, are the climax and fulfillment of the entire Gospel.
 
   At the beginning of the Gospel Jesus is referred to as "Immanuel," God with us; at the end of the Gospel Jesus promises to be with us always, to the end of the age. At Jesus' birth the wise men, Gentiles, come to pay homage; after his resurrection Jesus sends his disciples into all the nations. During Jesus' temptation the devil offers him the kingdoms of the world--not just their wealth, but by implication their power; at the end he declares that all authority has been given to him on earth and in heaven (Matthew 28:18). At the beginning of his ministry he invites twelve disciples to follow him; now he sends them out to the whole world to invite others to follow him. Throughout the Gospel Jesus has taught his followers about the kingdom, particularly in the Sermon on the Mount; now they must teach others to obey everything he has told them.
 
   Jesus' Great Commission calls all who follow Jesus to invite others to do the same. But if we are honest, most of us are a little nervous about talking to others about Jesus. We love the quote, often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, that we should preach the gospel at all times and when necessary  use words. We're happy to show the gospel to others, but often we pray that we won't have to "use words."
 
   Yet the Kingdom of God on earth expands as people who are Christ followers--people like you and me--share their story with others.
 
   I became a Christ follower at age fourteen because a man named Harold Thorson was going door-to-door inviting people to church. I became a Christ follower, because a girl named LaVon invited me to youth group and Sunday School. I became a Christ follower, because a pastor and a youth pastor told me what Jesus had taught his disciples and invited me to obey. All these people showed me the gospel, and they knew they also had to use words.
 
   There are some people in your life who are not yet Christ followers. Some would consider the Christian faith if you were to tell them what your faith in Jesus means to you. Make a list of people God may be calling you to share your faith with. Pray for them. Invited them to worship with you. Over a cup of coffee, tell them the story of how you came to faith, or the difference Christ has made in your daily life.
 
   Last week a woman came to me after worship, saying it was her first Sunday at our church. She had felt lost for some time. Some good friends had loved her, and listened to her, and gently shared with her the difference Christ had made in their lives. The friends had described how they had found him at our church. And they had encouraged her, not just once but multiple times, to visit the church.
 
   The woman looked at me and said, "Today I feel that I've finally found what I've been looking for. I'm so grateful to my friends who encouraged me to visit the church!" Her friends were fulfilling the Great Commission, and in the process they were being used by God to change his woman's life.
 
   Who are the people God wants you to reach out to in his name?

Lord, I wish to be your disciple. Help me to follow you faithfully. Use me, I pray, to share with my friend your story, and to invite and encourage him/her to join me as I follow you. Amen.

Adam Hamilton, The Way:40 Days of Reflection

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS

Read Luke 24: 13-35  http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=231935252

   It was an Easter afternoon. The disciples were still reeling, having learned that Jesus' tomb had apparently been desecrated and his body taken. There were women who had reported he had been raised from the dead, but as yet the disciples did not believe them. Two disciples, a man named Cleopas and another unnamed disciple, left Jerusalem for Emmaus, about a two-hour walk from the Holy City. William Barclay's translation of Luke 24: 17b notes that "their faces were twisted with grief." They were on a journey filled with sorrow.
 
   We've all walked on the road to Emmaus. Our road may have led to the unemployment line or to the hospital, to the courtroom or cemetery. One way or another, we've all walked on a journey where our hopes and dreams have been crushed, and sorrow seems to be our only friend.
 
   Jesus came as a stranger to Cleopas and his friend. He listened as they told him, not realizing who he was, about the events surrounding the Crucifixion. When he began to speak, he offered them a different perspective on the events that had occurred. Then that evening, as he gave thanks for their meal and broke the bread, they saw that this stranger was Jesus.
 
   Today, Jesus routinely sends us to be his representatives, as strangers on someone else's road to Emmaus. And sometimes he sends others to us on our own road to Emmaus. Whatever our role, the key is to pay attention.
 
   A man I know was checking into a hotel when a woman entered the lobby, upset and clearly struggling. She needed a place to stay for the night but had no way of paying and could only promise that she was being wired money the next day. She ran out to her car to get proof for the manager that she would be able to repay him the next day. While she was gone, my friend paid for the woman's room and quickly scratched a note to her: "I felt God wanted me to pay for your lodging tonight. I believe he wants you to know that he has not forgotten you." My friend became the woman's stranger on the road to Emmaus.
 
   A woman I know stopped in a church restroom during worship, only to find another woman there in tears. The two of them had never met before, but the other woman's face was "twisted with grief." My friend could tell that the woman needed someone to care for her, and she paused to minister to the woman. This was the road to Emmaus, and she would be the presence of Christ for this sorrowful woman.
 
   As a follower of Christ, you have the opportunity to represent him. Pay attention to the strangers you meet. It may be that the Lord wants to use you to offer comfort and hope to those in need as they travel along the road to Emmaus.

   Lord, teach me to pay attention to the strangers around me. Use me to encourage, comfort and care for the stranger in need. Amen.

Adam Hamilton, The Way: 40 Days of Reflection: Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

SOME DOUBTED

John 20: 24-25
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

   MICHAEL WAS A GUIDE ON MY FIRST trip to Israel. He was Jewish, but it was obvious he knew more about Jesus than the average Christian. As Michael described the various places we went, he assumed more New Testament knowledge than some of our people had, and I would have to stop and explain what he had just said. Michael was more like a professor of New Testament than a Holy Land guide.

   At one point, away from the rest of my group, I asked him, “Michael, you genuinely seem to love Jesus, yet you are not a Christian. Tell me about this.” He said, “I do love him. I love what he taught. I love what he did. I love the way he cared for the sick and the broken. I grieve the tragedy of his death and believe he gave his life to demonstrate the path of love, and to show God’s love.” I said, “Michael, it sounds like you are a Christ-follower.” He responded, “My only problem is that I can’t find the faith to believe in the Resurrection.”

   Michael was not the first to struggle with the concept of Jesus’ resurrection. In Luke’s gospel, the women were the first to meet the risen Christ, but when they told the disciples that he was risen, “these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them” (Luke 24: 11 NRSV). When Jesus finally appeared to the disciples, Thomas was not with them, so he did not believe. In fact, ten disciples told him they had seen Christ risen, and still he refused to believe. His skepticism earned him the nickname “Doubting Thomas.” Matthew, in his account, depicts the disciples seeing the resurrected Christ for the first time in Galilee when he gave the great commission. Matthew notes, “When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted” (Matthew 28: 17 NRSV).

   I think Jesus had great empathy for doubters. He knew the Resurrection would be hard to believe, which is why, after appearing to Thomas he said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed” (John 20: 29 NIV).

   The first time I read Matthew and Mark’s Gospels I was not yet a Christian. I, too, found the Resurrection difficult to believe. Finally, as I read Luke’s account, it began to make sense. I asked myself, “What would be different if the Resurrection had not occurred?” Jesus would have died on the cross, just the same. But this death would be a defeat, not the prelude to a victory. Evil would have won. Hate, fear, and bigotry would have been the victors. The apostles would have returned to fishing. Paul would never have met the risen Christ. The Great Commission would never have been given. The great message of redemption, forgiveness, and hope would not be known throughout the world.

   It finally hit me that the story had to end with the Resurrection if in fact it was God’s story. Evil could not have the last word. Death could not have the final say. I came to trust that God, who called forth the universe through his creative power, also had the power to bring about Christ’s resurrection from the grave. Realizing this, I came to trust that the tomb was empty and that the women, the disciples, and Paul had in fact seen the risen Christ.

   God raised his son from the dead. I not only believe this, I’m counting on it. But I still have empathy for those, such as Michael, who struggle with doubt. I assured Michael that he was in good company— that the earliest disciples of Jesus struggled with the Resurrection, too. I invited him to keep following Jesus’ way and to continue pondering the meaning of the Resurrection. I suggested that one day he, too, might come to see the logic, and power, of the Resurrection.

"Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief."  Thank you for your patience with doubters such as Thomas. Help me to trust in the Easter Story and to that because you live I will live also. Amen.

Monday, April 1, 2013

THE GARDENER

John 20: 11, 14-16
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb.  .  .  .   She turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher).

   JOHN’S EASTER STORY IS MOVING and profound. In his gospel, he intends to do more than tell us what happened. His stories and their details are meant to show us what the story means.

   Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. The stone had been rolled away. Jesus’ body was not there. She did not yet understand. To her grief had been added the painful thought that someone had taken Jesus’ body from the tomb to further humiliate him.

   Composer C. Austin Miles penned his well-loved hymn “In the Garden” after reading John’s account of the Resurrection. It is sung in Mary’s voice: “I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses.” Suddenly Jesus appears next to Mary, but she doesn’t recognize him. Since the tomb was located in a garden, Mary thought at first that Jesus was the gardener.

   This mention of the garden, with Jesus seeming to be the gardener, only appears in John’s gospel. John wants the reader to connect the dots between this garden and the Garden of Eden. Remember, John begins his gospel pointing back to the Garden of Eden by echoing the opening words of Genesis: “In the beginning  .  .  .” (John 1: 1). John wants us to see that what happened in Eden— the loss of paradise— was being reversed in Jesus’ death and resurrection. In Genesis, God had said, “In the day you eat of the forbidden fruit you will die.” The archetypal story of Adam and Eve in that first garden point to the pain and death that come when we turn from God’s way. But in this garden— where Jesus is crucified, is buried, and then emerges from the tomb— he takes away the sting of our sin, and he conquers human mortality.

   When I wrote the companion book to this devotional, I described a woman named Joyce and her cancer diagnosis. In the month between the writing of that book and this one, Joyce died. A day or so before her passing, I stood by her bedside at the Hospice House. Her family was there. One of our worship leaders sang some of her favorite songs. Joyce faced her death with confidence and hope, and she instilled these in her husband, children, and grandchildren. She found hope in the story of Christ’s resurrection. And with C. Austin Miles she would sing, “And He walks with me, and He talks with me, / And He tells me I am His own; / And the joy we share as we tarry there, / None other has ever known.”

Lord, help me to trust in the hope of Easter— that you live and walk with me, and that you have conquered death. I believe that because you live, I shall live also. I entrust my life to you. Amen.

Adam Hamilton, The Way: 40 Days of Reflection: Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus