Greater Things ... Connected

One of the many things that gets lost in modern Christianity is a very real and expected connection to the supernatural world.  We sing about it (When We All Get To Heaven, I Want Jesus to Walk With Me, etc.) and we say we believe in it, but when it comes to daily life, we either 1) place it in the future, or 2) consider it an idea vs reality.  Jesus speaks to this early in His ministry as he calls the 1st disciples in John 1.  ""You will see greater things than that" and then added "Very truly I tell you, you will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man (John 1:50-51).""  This is a rather strange saying, that can be interpreted in many ways.  Today I am going to stick to just one.

The first thing Jesus addresses involves what was said earlier in John.  John is clear that the Word (Jesus) has become flesh and is physically present.  God, in the person of Jesus, is what He said He would be ... Emmanuel, God with us.  God has connected with people by coming in the womb of a virgin.  God has connected with us as He asks Jesus to live out a human life ... all of it!  This is a supernatural event so that God can connect directly to His creation for the purpose of redeeming it!

The second thing Jesus addresses is the connection between the Elohim (the created realm of angels and the divine counsel) and the Creation (the things spoken about in Genesis 1 and 2).  We ignore the Elohim, and consign it to movies and books.  Jesus tells us it is both real and connected to earth.

The third thing Jesus tells us is that what we see and experience in this realm isn't the be-all-end-all.  Jesus has greater things for us to see, and those things are closer than we think.  

Let's play out a few things that are evidence for what I said above.  How about our prayer ... "On earth as it is in heaven?"  Isn't that Jesus telling us these two things are both connected?  Heaven is not some land that is "over yonder" ... it is close.  In this statement from John 1, Jesus reminds us that both heaven and earth are close, and that He has the power to open heaven to us.  All of Biblical history tells us that these two realms intersect, overlap, and are connected.

On Sunday evening of next week, the second Annual Conference of the Alabama Emerald Coast Conference of the Global Methodist Church will begin.  The Conference theme is Greater Things.  So here is my challenge ... how will your service to Jesus "open the heavens" and allow God to show Greater Things through you and your church?  Do you want to read about angels, or do you want to invite them?  Do you believe what John the Baptist said ... "The Kingdom of Heaven is near?"  Do you believe in only what you see, or do you look past the seen and grasp the God that is over the seen, the unseen, and the entirety of creation?

Between the Waves

If you have been hanging out in the Methodist Church, you should know that there are seasons in the Church year.  Some of these are pretty obvious.  Christmas, Lent, and Easter should be very familiar to you.  Also, Pentecost should be an important day/time in your view of the Church.  But the season we are in, Eastertide, isn't talked about a lot.  Eastertide is the season between Easter and Pentecost.  It is a 40-day period that happens between two very important high points of our liturgical year.  Easter is an obvious peak, as we celebrate the risen Lord.  Pentecost celebrates the birth of the Church, recounted in Acts 2.  So Eastertide is a "between the waves" time.

When I was little, our family would travel to Myrtle Beach every summer.  Dad and I would fish, and Mom and the rest of the family would bask on the beach.  I wasn't much of a beach person, but when I went out on the beach, I would body surf (we couldn't afford a surfboard).  It was a lot of fun to ride those waves in on a windy day, and I was skinny and wiry (not like today) so I was pretty proficient at body surfing.  But in looking back on those days, there were moments of the "high" of riding the waves, and hours of swimming back out, fighting the waves, to get to the next euphoric wave.  Most of the beach time was spent trudging through the push of the waves and the pull of the backwash.

I think that is a bit like life!  We love the peaks.  Waves, vacations, Easter, Pentecost ... the high moments and mountaintops.  But a lot more time is spent in the work and life between the peaks of the waves.

11 disciples are between the waves.  They get glimpses of the glory of God, manifested in the resurrected Jesus.  But these glimpses are moments that happen amid a life that involves uncertainty, peril, persecution, and waiting.  For these 11 disciples, and numerous other followers,  life between the waves can be frustrating.  "When will we see Him again?" "What did He mean when He said He is sending the advocate (John 14:26)?"  "Is there a message embedded in His appearing to us on the seashore (John 21)?"

Between now and Pentecost we will examine life "Between the Waves."  We will look at how we can learn to enjoy, relish, and thrive in these times in the valley of life.  I hope we can learn together, and I hope we will come to find the hope and joy in doing life together ... "Between the Waves."

Where Did The Blood Go?

We, as Christians, and particularly Southern Christians, might be a little focused (maybe rabidly) on the blood of Jesus.  We sing Precious Blood, Nothing But The Blood, Oh The Blood ... you get the point.  Jesus' blood is precious, healing and cleansing.  I had a strange thought as I was reflecting on Easter, the Crucifixion and upon passages like Revelation 12:10-11 ... "And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now is come salvation and strength, and the Kingdom of our God, for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before God day and night.  And they overcame them by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives, unto the death."

Three things stand out from this apocalyptic passage from the middle of a great conflict in heaven and on earth.  The first is the term, "they."  Who are "they?"  My answer ... The Church! Jesus lived, loved, and poured Himself into this mission to save the world through His sacrifice, and the vehicle that He brings into existence, beginning with Matthew 16 is, the Church.  His blood flowed into the ground at the foot of the cross, but His lifeblood flowed into the Church.  And, in Matthew 16, Jesus said, "and the very gates of hell will not prevail against it (the Church)."  Jesus blood flowed into the Church, and they (the Church) overcame them (the minions of evil) "by the blood of the Lamb."

Jesus' blood also flowed into the words of faithful testimony.  Another component of the victory in Revelation 12 is the "testimony of the Saints."  This, to me, highlights the value of the parts of our worship where we share our "stories."  It is the very act of being "living stones" which are witnesses to what God has done.  In the words of Kim Hill, "When I remember what You've done, when I remember the shedding of Your blood, I can't help but worship you!"

She is witnessing to the truth of God's salvation through Jesus!

Finally, Revelation 12 reflects the need to love and live beyond our narcissistic tendencies.  If life or Church is about us, it is not about Jesus or the Bride of Christ.  We are constantly choosing the smallness of self and "ME" or the vastness of God's Kingdom.  The voice from heaven in Revelation 12 proclaims, "Now has come salvation and strength and the Kingdom of God."  Our salvation and the strength to do life, comes from Jesus and being "in the Kingdom."  The Church does life in the beauty and depth of the Kingdom of God (on earth as it is in heaven).  Jesus' blood flows through the river of His Kingdom.

David said, in Psalm 118 ... "The Lord is my strength and my salvation."  The Church of Revelation 12 accepts and applies this strength and salvation by being covered by the blood of the Lamb, by sharing their testimony about the goodness of God, and by living in His Kingdom amid a warring and troubled world.  I don't know about you, but I choose the blood of the Lamb that was slain ... the one who is salvation ... the one who takes away the sins of the world!  AMEN!

The Last Stone

During Lent, we (Wednesday and Sunday) immersed ourselves in the idea of building an altar.  We shared thoughts on God's desire to provide us space to encounter, embrace and worship Him.  It was a time of depth, self-searching and lots of "holy conversation" as we gathered for worship and Bible Study.  This week I want us to think about the last stone on the altar.  What will "top off" this season of reflection and send us off in our journey from Easter to Pentecost?

I had two thoughts about this idea of a final stone to express our love and devotion for Jesus, our Lord and savior.  The first thought is to look into what Jesus did as He also made the journey to the cross and beyond.  Jesus provided a beautiful example of being "all in" to life with His Church, His foot soldiers and His ambassadors.  Jesus laid Himself on the altar.  We heard about it during Holy Week as we remembered.  We cried on Good Friday, as we thought about Jesus carrying our sins and the weight of our transgressions to the cross.  We heard His voice as he cried, "It is finished!"  Jesus' final stone on the altar of total devotion to the Father was Himself!

The second thought (for those of us following "Wake-Up-Call") revolves around Paul's expression of God's love in Ephesians 3:14-21.  In this passage, Paul expresses his desire for the Church to "grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ."  Paul wants us to spend time investing in knowing this Jesus that loved us so much He laid His own body down in death to rescue and redeem us.  Paul considers this endeavor a life-long laying down of self so that he can become more and more rooted in Jesus.

While I don't particularly like the song, the first words of "Are Ye Able" capture Jesus' question to the disciples in Matthew 20.  The song says, "are ye able, said the Master, to be crucified with me?"  In Matthew 20:22, Jesus says, "Are ye able to drink of the cup I drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?"  I think Jesus is asking, "are you willing to get up on that altar with me, sacrifice self and become what I am making you?"  In doing this, we can become so rooted in Jesus that everything else becomes unimportant.  Everything else becomes secondary.  Everything else is placed in its proper priority, and Jesus takes the place He deserves ... first.  By placing yourself on the altar, and giving your will to Jesus, "the things of the earth become strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace."

We (I, me, self) are the last stone!  Randy  

A Long Run

When I was training to run a marathon, I had 2 young children (around 4 and 7).  This presented an obstacle.  We were living in Louisiana, and all of that running didn't always fit into our schedule.  So, I had to get creative.

To get in my training miles, I decided to do something pretty drastic.  I would go to work in the morning and would run home (a little over 10 miles) after work in the Louisiana heat.  It was oppressive and grueling, but it got the job done in the window of time I had available.  I ran and finished that marathon!

In Church work, when Easter is over, most of us take a deep breath and say, "That was wonderful, but I am glad that season is done!"  When I began ministry, the Methodist preachers even had an Easter Monday golf outing in Bonifay.  It was our expression of, "Whew, I'm glad that is done for another year!"

But the story of Jesus reminds us of something this "deep breath of relief" missed.  Easter is not an end ... it is a new beginning.  On Easter morning I preached about the response of 2 women (Matthew 28).  The women meet the resurrected Jesus and they 1) run to Him, 2) embrace Him and 3) worship Him.  This is the 1st of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances and it marks, for us, an example of our response to what Jesus has done.  For the race is long, and the road ahead is filled with the toil of that long journey ahead.  How will we handle that race?

I think we remember this response on Easter morning by 2 women.  In the book of Acts, there is a theme in Luke's writing.  The theme is "continuance."  The early Church doesn't just do one thing and then change to another thing.  They do things continually and repeatedly.  They continue to "run to Jesus" by meeting/worshipping together, studying the Apostle's teaching, and praying.  These are ways this church "startup" and 2 women "run to Jesus."

We run to Jesus ... and we embrace Jesus.  Tell me about the week you have planned.  Do you embrace Jesus with these activities?  If Jesus is "friend," "your solid rock," your "all in all,"  how are you showing that?  In the resurrection, Jesus embraces the whole world with the possibility of forgiveness and eternal life.  He asks for us to believe and embrace Him.

The 2 women worshipped Jesus.  I believe Jesus intends this as a primarily corporate endeavor.  In Acts, the Church is often shown in the context of being "together."  They were together in the Upper Room, awaiting the Holy Spirit.  They were together as they prayed for Peter's release from prison.  they were together when a blind Saul comes to receive sight and a new name, Paul.  We worship Him, and we share the context of fellowship as we share life, light and Jesus.

Life in Christ isn't an event where we make some statement and then go our independent way.  Life in Christ is a journey ... training ... a race.  The race is long and filled with obstacles.  But Jesus, and His Church share that race with you.  And remember, those women had a short-term and long-term destination.  They ran TO Jesus, then and there.  But Jesus was heading off to Galilee, to meet up with His disciples.  That was a destination too!  Then (Acts 1) the disciples are sent to wait together for the coming of the Holy Spirit.  When the Holy Spirit comes the early Church experiences joy, fellowship and a massive persecution ... no good deed goes unpunished, I guess!  But they keep on running the race, even when the course morphs into struggle.

I remember the words of an old Petra song ... "There is a way, that leads to life, the few that find it never die, past mountain peaks, graced white with snow, the way grows brighter as it goes, sometimes a shadow, dark and cold, lays like a mist upon the road, but be encouraged by the sight, where there's a shadow, there's a light."  We have an everyday destination ... Jesus.  We have an eternal destination ... eternity with Jesus.  Let's continue in the faith together!  AMEN