"A Good Teacher"

When you hear the word greatness what comes to mind for you? 

When you hear the word spiritually poor what comes to mind for you?

When you hear the words “a road of broken dreams” what comes to mind for you?

April 30, 2017  Readings:  1 Peter on 17-23 Psalm 116, Luke 24: 13-35

I have a story to tell you about a Kingdom and its King.  The king decided to set aside a special day to honor his greatest subject.   When the big day arrived, there was a large gathering in the palace courtyard.   Four finalists were brought forward, and from these four, the king would select the winner.  

The first person presented was a wealthy businessman.   The king was told that this man was highly deserving of the honor because of his humanitarian efforts.  He had given much of his wealth to the poor and underprivileged.
The second person was a celebrated physician.  The king was told that this doctor was highly deserving of the honor because he had rendered faithful his gifts, dedicating much of his service to the poor and the critically ill for many years.
The third person was a distinguished judge.  The king was told that the judge was worthy because he was noted for his kind hearted wisdom, his fairness, and his brilliant decisions.
The fourth person presented, was an elderly woman.   Everyone was quite surprised to see her there, because her manner was quite humble, as was her dress.  She hardly looked the part of someone who would be honored as the greatest subject in the kingdom.  What chance could she possibly have many though, when compared to the other three, who had accomplished so much in life?   Even so, there was something about her, her soft gentle smile beamed of joy and love, there seemed to be  understanding of contentment in her eyes reveling her quiet confidence.  
The king was intrigued, to say the least, and somewhat puzzled by her presence.  He asked his queen who was seated next to him, “who is this woman and why is she here?”  the queen replied: "You see the wise and wealthy businessman, the compassionate doctor, and the judge with a heart full of wise discernment?  Well, she was their teacher!"
The woman had no wealth, no fortune, and no title, but she had dedicated her life to producing great students.  Is that not what Jesus has done for you and I.  Is he not the humble teacher who has dedicated his life to producing great people?  Not all of us are meant to be a great teacher, business person, or community leader but we are all meant for good.  Not just to be good but to teach good by example.   This is a teaching that seems to have slipped through the cracks of society today.  Especially if we look at what society holds up to us as greatness and great persons today.  I wonder how Jesus would see the example being set by the leaders of our worldly kingdom, or  by the sport and music celebrities of our day. 

Jesus gave up his life through example so you and I might have and everlasting life in exchange for that which is not so good.  Look to Him, committee yourself to Him and allow yourself you see the great potential God has gifted you with.  We were not meant for bad, we were only meant for good.  I think it would surprise us to know how often we miss the example and presence of Christ in the people we meet, Cleopas missed the significance of the stranger on the road to Emmaus.   Jesus’ example and presence can be found in what many of us would probably call strange places, let alone see him in a strangers face.  Let us note from the passage today that Jesus apparently in disguise, joins them on their journey, as they walk a road of broken dreams.   Encountering Jesus rarely happens during the good or smooth sailing times in our lives.  On the contrary, it usually happens for most of us during the times when we are on our road of broken dreams, or when we are in crisis.  Jesus comes to the seeker in times of spiritual poverty, when faith seems distance and unbelievable.   He teaches us that if we remain in pain, or hand pain out, it bigot’s more of the same: if we remain in sadness, sadness bigots more sadness.  It works the same for angry, anger bigot’s more anger. unforgiveness bigots more unforgiveness and the list of negative emotions goes on and on.  So if the principal is true then Jesus also teaches us by example that gratitude bigots more gratitude.  In fact even better, Jesus teaches us that gratitude bigots grace for the one who would follow his example .    Grace bigots, humility or humbleness, and humbleness bigots contentment, contentment bigots joy, and joy bigots faith, and faith bigots a teacher who teaches others by their good example.   Isn’t that amazing!! 

 We all have a hole in our souls, a longing and the only thing that can fill that hole is a relationship with God.  For the Christian that relationship cannot be complete until we have come to know His only begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ.   Folks many of us think we can skip over Christ and get directly in relationship with God.  No so for the Christian.  We have a savior, we have a resurrection, and we have a life to come it begins in the here and now.   Blessed be the name of the Lord, now and forever more.   

 

Easter Message "Victory Over Death"

April 16 2017 Readings   Matthew 28:

Where the gospel according to Matthew ends, the Christian faith begins - in the resurrection of our Lord.

The resurrection exhausts our capacity to imagine and it pushes our reasoning ability to the breaking point.  However we don't have to explain the resurrection.  Rather it explains us, it establishes who we are and why we are here today.  Because Easter happened, because the resurrection happened, the church happened.

The story of Easter is so familiar that we sometimes fail to hear some of the details of the account.  Today I want us to look at three of those details as they are found in Matthew's account of the first Easter morning.

First, the stone was rolled away - not to let Jesus out - but to let us in.

I say this because the idea that God rolled the stone away from the door to let Jesus escape is inconsistent with the resurrection appearances of Jesus recorded elsewhere in the scriptures. - appearances in which he suddenly appeared in the midst of the disciples, even when they were behind closed doors.  Closed doors, a metaphor for exclusivity, never kept Jesus in or out of people’s lives.   Let us never forget that  religion, including Christianity can never keep him in or out either folks.   

Matthew makes this clear in today's reading.  In his account of the resurrection it was after Mary Magdalene and the other Mary had come to the tomb that "there was a great earthquake, and an angel of the Lord rolled away the stone and sat upon it."

For centuries the curious have always wanted to look into the dark depths of death, but the tomb has been sealed with unknowing.  In this sense, the tomb has always mocked us.  It has always stood as the "dead end" of all our efforts to peer beyond this life into the life to come

The angel tells the two women on the first Easter morning to look inside the tomb, saying to them: "do not be afraid, I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here; for he has been raised – just as he said he would.  Come, see the place where he lay."

Easter rolls the stone door of the tomb away for us so that we might penetrate the mystery of death.  It makes of the tomb a tunnel - a tunnel into the heart of the eternal and shows us that the holy heart of God is love and life.  God rolls the door of the

Tomb away not to let Jesus out - but to let us in - to allow us to see that Christ's promises are true, that death does not have the last word folks.

Second - the tomb is not completely empty - Christ's body is not there, but the place is filled with the words of the angel, the words we just heard, the words that say, "Look, he is not here, he is risen."  The words that continue on saying:

"Come, see the place where he lay.  Then go quickly and tell his disciples - he has been raised from the dead and is going ahead of you to Galilee, and there you will see him."

If the women on that first Easter morning had looked into an empty and silent tomb, then our resurrection faith would be belief based on human speculation, an assumption of the moment, an argument based on negative evidence. 

But no!  Our faith is based on a word spoken to us by God.  It is based on God's holy promise, spoken by Jesus before he died, and upon God's holy assurance - spoken by the angel on the first Easter Sunday.

That same word that echoed and re-echoed in that Easter tomb still fills the emptiness of world today.  "He is risen"!!  The tomb has become a trumpet proclaiming the victory of life over death, and the continuation of Christ's presence and mission in this world. 

First in Galilee, and ultimately to the ends of the earth.

The third detail is this - because of Easter we can turn our backs on the grave.

Matthew tells us that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, having heard the angelic assurance, "He is risen", turned their backs on the grave and ran "with great joy" to tell the disciples.

Joy is the key word here.  Christ was buried, but he wouldn't stay dead.  The tomb could not hold him - and because of him - the tomb cannot hold us either.

This indeed is what Jesus promised to us before he died, a promise that seemed at the time totally incredible, an exaggerated statement that was not to be taken literally, but because of the first Easter morning, we now know it to be a matter of fact and substance.

The stone was rolled away from the tomb, not to let Jesus out, but to let us in, to show us that death is not the end - but rather a womb of new birth a new beginning.

A beginning that proclaims the victory of life over death, and which allows us to turn our backs on the grave and face our future with faith and hope, confident that all of God's promises will indeed bear fruit.