Holy Trinity (Year A - Lutheran Service Book Readings)
Saturday, June 18, and Sunday, June 19, 2011
This sermon is inspired by D. Brent Laytham's article, "The Narrative Shape of Scriptural Authority: Plotting Pentecost," where he says, "Peter's speech reads Israel's Scriptures as 'a story in search of a conclusion,' and reads Jesus' story as that story's searched-for conclusion."
The car screeched to a halt on the boulevard leading away from the lake. Marty stepped out of his car, looked back at the now-defunct power plant, shook his head, and pounded his fist on the roof of the car.
Let’s play a little game that we’ll call “Search for the Conclusion.” You’ve heard the beginning of a paragraph of a story about Marty. Now let’s see if we can find the conclusion to the paragraph. We’ll search for the conclusion.
Let me read the start of the story again, and then I’m going to ask you to pull a possible conclusion out of this basket. We’ll decide if those conclusions seem appropriate.
The car screeched to a halt on the boulevard leading away from the lake. Marty stepped out of his car, looked back at the now-defunct power plant, shook his head, and pounded his fist on the roof of the car.
(Hold out basket with possible conclusions in it, ask people to pull out one slip of paper and read them to see if they fit as the conclusion).
o He then jumped into a speedboat and got away from the gangsters.
o He then walked off into the sunset, enjoying every moment of retirement.
o He was so happy that he pulled out his guitar and sang a tune right there in the street.
o Suddenly two large vultures came, plucked him off the ground, and carried him off to a distant land.
o Then his phone rang.
o He dented the roof, so he quickly took out some tools from the trunk, hammered the roof back into shape, repainted the roof with black and flames because that’s who he felt, and meanwhile, the whole town came out to watch him.
o He knew work was over, but his family—and his severance pay—were waiting for him at home. So he got back in the car, slammed it into gear, and left the plant behind.
Why play a game of “Search for the Conclusion”? Because at the time of Jesus, even on the day of Pentecost, the day that Peter said the words recorded in Acts 2, the reading for today, even on that day, the Jews were searching for the conclusion, searching for the conclusion to the Prophets and the Scriptures, searching for the conclusion to all of God’s promises. They were searching for the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Savior who would rescue God’s people.
They were searching for the conclusion, and so far, they had come up with a lot of conclusions that didn’t work, Messiahs who turned out not to be Messiahs, Saviors who were only pretenders. They were searching for the Messiah, and yet, they had rejected the true Messiah, they had rejected Jesus, they had rejected Him and killed Him on the cross.
So on the day of Pentecost, Peter stands up among the Jews, stands up, filled with the Holy Spirit, stands up and proclaims to them that Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus is the One they had been waiting for, Jesus is the searched-for conclusion.
Peter explains this by going back to the Psalms, quoting the psalms, talking about how David wrote the psalms but wasn’t just writing about himself, that David was a prophet writing about the Messiah to come, writing about Jesus, writing about how Jesus would conquer death and rise from the dead.
Peter shows that based on the Psalms that Jesus is the One who fulfills Scripture, Jesus is the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Savior of God’s people. Israel’s Scriptures are a story in search of a conclusion, and Peter shows that Jesus is that searched-for conclusion.
This is great stuff, to explore how the Psalms point to Jesus, to explore how Jesus fulfills the Old Testament, this is great stuff, the stuff that I love studying, I love preaching about, the stuff I’ll be teaching our 7th and 8th graders in Confirmation starting this fall, this is great stuff, the connection between the Old Testament and Jesus, this is great stuff—unless you’re not searching for the conclusion to the Old Testament, unless you’re not even asking whether Jesus is the Messiah, unless you’re not asking if Jesus is the Messiah because you’re not even sure what a Messiah, a Savior is, you’re not even sure why God needs to come and save us.
In other words, exploring the connection between the Old Testament and Jesus is great stuff if you’ve already started to step inside the faith, are already inside this ballpark, already believing that Jesus might be the One, the One to give you hope, and now you’re wanting to learn more, wanting to learn how all of this fits together, wanting to learn how the Old Testament connects with the New Testament. This is great stuff if you’re already there—which we are, we are there, we do study this stuff, we do learn and grow from seeing how Jesus fulfills the Old Testament, but this week I started seeing this from the perspective of people outside the Church, outside the ballpark, outside this discussion, I started wondering what we can learn from this section of Acts chapter 2, what we can learn to apply to the ways in which we reach out to the people outside the faith.
And here’s what I realized: just because people aren’t asking whether Jesus fulfills the Old Testament, just because people outside the faith aren’t necessarily looking for a Messiah, just because they wouldn’t be convinced that Jesus is the Savior if we use the Psalms to make our point, just because they’re not asking those kind of questions doesn’t mean they’re not searching for a conclusion. People outside of the faith are searching for a conclusion, they’re searching for a conclusion to the story that they’re in, searching for a conclusion to the life they’re living, a conclusion that brings everything together, brings everything together into a beautiful, hopeful conclusion. They may not think that Jesus is that conclusion, but that doesn’t mean they’re not searching. People around us who don’t believe in Jesus are still seeking answers.
One of my professors at the Seminary, Dr. Kolb, always talks about this search as the search for identity, security, and meaning. Identity, security, and meaning. That's what people are searching for. They may not say they're looking for a Savior, definitely won't be talking about needing a Messiah, but they may want to know if God could give them identity, security and meaning. They want to know who they are, who they really are. They want to know their future is secure, including any kind of life after death, they want that to be secure too. And they want to know the meaning of their life, does it have more meaning than day-to-day existence?
What makes this difficult at first is that they’re not asking questions about Jesus, they're not like the Jews on Pentecost who had the Prophets and needed to know that Jesus fulfills those words from God. The people today, the people searching today aren’t in that same spot, which at first glance means it seems tougher. We’re not going to be quoting the Psalms to prove that Jesus is the Messiah because people aren’t even sure there are Scriptures. So at first glance it seems tough, like something we’re unprepared for.
But if you think about it, we’re really primed for these conversations. We didn’t necessarily come to faith in Jesus through the Old Testament prophets either. Now that we believe we can see the connections, but our growth in faith has probably happened through someone explaining how Jesus answers our deep needs, questions, searchings. The truth is, we, too, know that search for identity, security, and meaning. We, too, have that search going on inside of us, a search that by God’s grace has led us to Jesus, but a search that didn’t necessarily start with the Old Testament. It was a search, a growth in our faith that happened when we realized that Jesus gives us identity, security, and meaning.
In fact, that’s what happened for me. I grew up going to church, I grew up in Sunday School, I got confirmed, I was in youth group, and I suppose along the way I learned about how the Old Testament points to Jesus, but a big step in my faith, a big growth in my faith happened in college—and it had everything to do with my search for identity, security, and meaning in life.
Jesus took on more significance for me when I saw that he was the answer for my identity, security, and meaning.
I came back to my dorm room from marching band practice. It was one of the first weeks of my freshman year, and I had completely forgotten that my roommate had said he invited a Bible study leader over that afternoon. I walked in, mistook the Bible study leader for another student, and I said to my roommate, “Where’d you find this guy?” kind of joking about how my roommate was quickly finding friends. Then as my roommate explained who this guy was, I realized I had completely forgotten about the appointment.
A bit embarrassed, I introduced myself and asked if I could sit down and talk too. As Mark, the Bible study leader, told us about what he did on campus, the Bible study of freshman guys he was gathered, as Mark talked about the Christian faith and asked us questions about our faith, I realized through his words that Jesus gave me the security of life after death, a very sure security based on what Jesus did and not on what I did. I believed in Jesus before that, but that conversation showed me that Jesus is the searched-for conclusion to the deep questions I had. All of my searching to make my life real and safe and meaningful, all of my searching for my life to be a lived out experience of joy and grace, all of that searching led right back to the Jesus I had always known, to the Jesus I had known but had never realized how much He gave me identity, security, and meaning, how much Jesus gave me hope for everyday and hope for life after death. That conversation that day in my dorm room with a Bible study leader I had just met, well, that conversation led me to know Jesus in a deeper way. It wasn’t a conversation based on proving that Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament; there’d be time for those conversations and study later. That day the conversation was all about how Jesus—His love, His grace, His forgiveness, His way of doing all the work of saving me—Jesus was my searched-for conclusion, the conclusion I needed to the questions of identity, security, and meaning swirling inside my head and my heart. Jesus had been crucified for my sins, crucified for the sins and the guilt that plagued me, and Jesus had been raised from the dead, been raised as Lord and Messiah, as a Savior for the things that kept me from having true identity, true security, and true meaning. I was searching, searching for what would give my life meaning and direction, searching for what would lift me up and give me confidence and help me to believe that I was loved by God. Mark helped me to see that Jesus gives me this identity, security, and meaning.
That conversation with Mark in my dorm room was a completely different kind of conversation than the one Peter had with the Jews on the day of Pentecost, but the conclusion was very, very similar: “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” I grew in my faith that day, grew in faith because I saw that Jesus could answer all of the questions, all of the needs inside of me, that Jesus is the searched-for conclusion for my life.
That’s the kind of conversation we’re going to need to have with people outside of the faith, people who don’t believe in Jesus, people who aren’t sure about Jesus. It’ll be a conversation that helps them to see that Jesus gives them identity, security, and meaning. It’ll be a conversation that helps them know that they have an identity in Jesus, that they are children of God. It’ll be a conversation that helps them to know they have security in Jesus, that they are secure in God’s love, that their lives are secure for eternity. It’ll be a conversation that helps them to know they have meaning in Jesus, that their lives mean something because God has created them, God has made them to be unique individuals, God has made them to be His people to serve Him and serve others. It’ll be a conversation that leads to the same conclusion as Peter’s sermon on Pentecost: “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” God has made this Jesus—crucified for our sins—God has made this Jesus to be Lord and Messiah, Lord over our lives and Savior of our lives. God has made this Jesus to be the searched-for conclusion. God has made this Jesus to be the One who gives us identity, security, and meaning.
So as we engage others in conversation about spiritual things, remember that we’re playing a game called “Search for the Conclusion,” we’re in a conversation with people who are searching for a conclusion in their lives, searching for identity, security, and meaning. If you want to practice this, go back to the short little story we had about Marty in our “Search for the Conclusion” game. We learned that he was just let go from the closing power plant, was without a job, seemed upset about that, but that he was finding hope in his severance pay and his family. Marty is on a search for identity, security, and meaning. Today try imagining what you would say to Marty to help him find that identity, security, and meaning in Jesus.
Those conversations won’t always sound like Peter on Pentecost, but they’ll lead to the same conclusion: Jesus is Lord and Messiah. How we lead others to that conclusion might not be through using all of the Psalms and explaining that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament, that conversation might come later. What we can do at the beginning, though, is share our story. Just like I did today with telling you about my Bible study leader, Mark, you can share a time in your life when your faith grew because you saw that Jesus gives you identity, security, and meaning, that Jesus is your searched-for conclusion. And through your story, like Peter, you will proclaim that Jesus is Lord and Messiah.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Numbers 11:24-30 - “You Are Prophets”
Pentecost (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)
Saturday, June 11, and Sunday, June 12, 2011
Wear a reflective vest.
This is a picture of what a prophet does. A prophet directs people to the truth of God’s Word.
I’m a prophet—not in the sense that I can foretell the future, but in the sense of the Old Testament prophets who were forthtellers, they spoke for God, called people to God, linked right worship with right living, linked faith with action.
In that sense, I am a prophet, I am here to direct people to the truth of God’s Word, I am here to point out your sin, and I am here to proclaim the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the forgiveness for your sins.
But boy, it can seem lonely being a prophet. To stand up here and proclaim God’s Word can seem very lonely, like I’m out here on my own, pointing to God’s Word, not sure if anyone is listening, not sure if anyone else is paying attention. And beyond today, during the week, the day-to-day things of the church, well, it can seem very lonely. Even with the great team we have here of Chris Drager, our youth and family minister, and Heidi Hunter, our church secretary, and Carol Cook, our parish coordinator, and Karen Kozlik, our preschool director, plus the teachers, Mrs. Boardman, Mrs. Stutzmann, Mrs. Kaufmann, even with that great team, still it’s a lonely business being a prophet, lonely for all of us to be the ones directing people to the truth of God’s Word.
Lately it’s seemed especially lonely as the congregation faces financial stress, using up our savings, facing the very real possibility that we’re going to have to cut back on staff by the end of the summer unless something changes. That’s a lonely feeling to be standing here, wondering how to keep directing people to God’s Word. I can’t do this alone.
That’s what I find myself talking to God about: I can’t do this alone, Lord. I can’t keep speaking Your Word by myself. Even with our small team, it still feels lonely, Lord. Lord, what are you going to do? How are we going to move forward?
Maybe I was feeling that way this week even more because I was studying today’s Old Testament reading from Numbers, a reading where Moses was feeling lonely, too, feeling like he was very alone speaking God’s Word, feeling like no one was listening, everyone was complaining, and no one wanted to join him in staying with God’s Word. That’s how Moses was feeling. . .and God did something about it. God showed Moses that he wasn’t alone.
God gathered 70 elders and poured out His Spirit on them, gathered 70 elders who would also be prophetic voices, gathered 70 elders who would also direct the people to God’s truth. On top of that, God even poured out His Spirit on two men who weren’t in the gathering of elders, Eldad and Medad, poured out His Spirit on them, and they were prophesying in the camp. It wasn’t just the official people who were going to speak God’s Word, it wasn’t just the officially licensed people who were joining Moses.
When Joshua tries to put a stop to Eldad and Medad prophesying, we see the heart of Moses, and really the heart of God, when Moses says, “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets.” In other words, I wish all of God’s people would receive the Spirit, that all of God’s people would speak and direct others to the truth of God’s Word.
Through all of that, through this “little Pentecost,” God was showing Moses that there were going to be many prophets, many people who were there to direct others to the truth, and Moses was far from alone.
So could it be that God is also showing me that I am not alone? Could it be that the staff is not alone in directing people to God’s Word? Could it be that we have a lot of prophets in our midst?
If a prophet is someone that directs people to the truth of God’s Word, if a prophet is someone who calls people to right worship and right living, if a prophet is someone who has received the Spirit of the Lord, could it be that we have more prophets in our midst? Could it be that you are all prophets?
Get volunteers to also wear reflective vests.
Would that I had reflective vests for everyone to wear.
Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets.
And you are, you are all prophets, you all have the Word of Christ, you have the Holy Spirit, you have a way of directing people to the truth of God’s Word.
That’s what we see in the little Pentecost that happens in the book of Numbers, there were more prophets, more people with the Spirit than expected.
And that’s what has happened for us because of Pentecost.
The Holy Spirit has been poured out on God’s people, poured out on the Church on the day of Pentecost, and continues to be poured out on God’s people right up unto today. God has given you the Holy Spirit so that you can wear the reflective vest, so that you can direct people to His truth. The Church has a prophetic voice, a voice that points out sin and how our sin condemns us to eternal death. The Church has a prophetic voice, a voice that offers the hope of the Gospel, the hope of forgiveness, the hope of eternal life.
This prophetic voice, this prophetic voice of the Church, well, it’s not like it sits somewhere else, it doesn’t just sit with other churches, and it doesn’t just sit with me and the staff, that prophetic voice sits with the Church, the people, you, you are prophets, you all can wear the reflective vest, you all have ways to direct people to the truth of God’s Word, through your words and through your actions, you are directing people to find the truth in what God has to say.
Would that I had a reflective vest for everyone to wear, because you are all prophets, you all have a prophetic Word to share with the community around you, to share with your family and friends, to share with everyone you meet. Your actions, your words, they’re directing people to God. I am not alone.
I don’t mean that you all necessarily have the spiritual gift of prophecy; that may not be your spiritual tendency. What I mean, though, is that we do teach and confess that all believers have received the Spirit of the Lord, and all believers speak and show the Word of the Lord. That Word that we have, that Word is a prophetic word; it’s a powerful Word that goes against what is heard in this world. Even by saying that Jesus is Lord, that’s uttering a prophetic word, a word that speaks the truth in a powerful way against the theories of this world, a word that speaks a hope that the world desperately needs.
So you are all prophets, you all could wear a reflective vest, you all by faith in Jesus have a prophetic voice through your words and your actions.
Will you pray for your friends and family and community that they would know that Jesus is Lord? That’s being a prophet—speaking to God on behalf of others. Will you speak about your faith that Jesus is Lord? That’s being a prophet—speaking the radical truth even if you’re using unradical words. Will you show your faith through actions that are different than the world expects? That’s being a prophet—directing people to the truth of God’s Word by your actions.
So what’s God going to do through you?
What’s God going to do through all of His prophets here at Bethel?
What’s God going to do through you despite our financial stress?
What’s God going to do through Bethel if we remain focused on His mission, if we remain focused on directing people to God’s Word?
Moses prayed that all the Lord’s people would be prophets, and that prayer’s been answered. Through the power of the Holy Spirit working in you, you are all prophets, you all have a prophetic voice, you all have a prophetic word to share with this generation.
So what’s God going to do through you?
God pulled many of you together to proclaim hope for the Silasiri family this weekend, raising over $12,000 for the family, as little Micah battles leukemia. God pulled you together to proclaim hope for Micah and speak a prophetic word in our community, a word that says we care about people because God cares about people, a word that says we serve others because God first served us. It was a spaghetti dinner, but it was a prophetic action, a prophetic word, a word that speaks of a greater hope than the world can offer.
If God can do that through Bethel, if God can do that this weekend, what else is He going to do through you? How else is God going to use you? How else will be you be God’s prophets, directing people to the truth of God’s Word?
Dream and imagine and dream and imagine what God could do, because He can do it. This financial stress that we’re in, do we really think that’s going to stop what God’s doing in this place? Do we really think that we’re going to stop doing the mission of God in this place? Isn’t God bigger than that? Aren’t our dreams and imaginations for God bigger than that? Isn’t God’s dream and imagination for Bethel bigger than that?
I think it is; I think it’s bigger than what we can see. I think there’s a way that we can pool our resources, a way to pool our time, talents, and treasures to do something incredible for God’s mission, to do something to reach this community with a prophetic voice, a word of hope and grace and love and mercy. I believe that God can do incredible things here through us. . .through the prophets in this place.
Now I guess there’s a chance we don’t believe this, there’s a chance we might walk away from this opportunity, there’s a chance we don’t think that God could really use us, little ol’ Bethel Lutheran Church; there’s a chance we don’t think we have a prophetic voice, a voice that can share God’s Word with others.
But the truth of Pentecost is, the truth of today is: God has sent His Spirit on us, God has poured out His Spirit on the Church, God has given you a prophetic voice, God has given you an orange vest to wear, God has made it so that by your words and your actions you can direct people to the powerful truth of God’s Word.
Which means that God has a great big imagination, a great big dream of what He’s going to do in this place, a great big dream about how He’s going to use this fellowship of believers, a great big imagination about how our community will hear about the love of Jesus, the salvation through Jesus, the forgiveness through Jesus. And God’s going to do that through the orange vested people of Bethel, the prophets in this place, the people directing others to the truth of God’s Word.
Saturday, June 11, and Sunday, June 12, 2011
Wear a reflective vest. This is a picture of what a prophet does. A prophet directs people to the truth of God’s Word.
I’m a prophet—not in the sense that I can foretell the future, but in the sense of the Old Testament prophets who were forthtellers, they spoke for God, called people to God, linked right worship with right living, linked faith with action.
In that sense, I am a prophet, I am here to direct people to the truth of God’s Word, I am here to point out your sin, and I am here to proclaim the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the forgiveness for your sins.
But boy, it can seem lonely being a prophet. To stand up here and proclaim God’s Word can seem very lonely, like I’m out here on my own, pointing to God’s Word, not sure if anyone is listening, not sure if anyone else is paying attention. And beyond today, during the week, the day-to-day things of the church, well, it can seem very lonely. Even with the great team we have here of Chris Drager, our youth and family minister, and Heidi Hunter, our church secretary, and Carol Cook, our parish coordinator, and Karen Kozlik, our preschool director, plus the teachers, Mrs. Boardman, Mrs. Stutzmann, Mrs. Kaufmann, even with that great team, still it’s a lonely business being a prophet, lonely for all of us to be the ones directing people to the truth of God’s Word.
Lately it’s seemed especially lonely as the congregation faces financial stress, using up our savings, facing the very real possibility that we’re going to have to cut back on staff by the end of the summer unless something changes. That’s a lonely feeling to be standing here, wondering how to keep directing people to God’s Word. I can’t do this alone.
That’s what I find myself talking to God about: I can’t do this alone, Lord. I can’t keep speaking Your Word by myself. Even with our small team, it still feels lonely, Lord. Lord, what are you going to do? How are we going to move forward?
Maybe I was feeling that way this week even more because I was studying today’s Old Testament reading from Numbers, a reading where Moses was feeling lonely, too, feeling like he was very alone speaking God’s Word, feeling like no one was listening, everyone was complaining, and no one wanted to join him in staying with God’s Word. That’s how Moses was feeling. . .and God did something about it. God showed Moses that he wasn’t alone.
God gathered 70 elders and poured out His Spirit on them, gathered 70 elders who would also be prophetic voices, gathered 70 elders who would also direct the people to God’s truth. On top of that, God even poured out His Spirit on two men who weren’t in the gathering of elders, Eldad and Medad, poured out His Spirit on them, and they were prophesying in the camp. It wasn’t just the official people who were going to speak God’s Word, it wasn’t just the officially licensed people who were joining Moses.
When Joshua tries to put a stop to Eldad and Medad prophesying, we see the heart of Moses, and really the heart of God, when Moses says, “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets.” In other words, I wish all of God’s people would receive the Spirit, that all of God’s people would speak and direct others to the truth of God’s Word.
Through all of that, through this “little Pentecost,” God was showing Moses that there were going to be many prophets, many people who were there to direct others to the truth, and Moses was far from alone.
So could it be that God is also showing me that I am not alone? Could it be that the staff is not alone in directing people to God’s Word? Could it be that we have a lot of prophets in our midst?
If a prophet is someone that directs people to the truth of God’s Word, if a prophet is someone who calls people to right worship and right living, if a prophet is someone who has received the Spirit of the Lord, could it be that we have more prophets in our midst? Could it be that you are all prophets?
Get volunteers to also wear reflective vests.
Would that I had reflective vests for everyone to wear.
Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets.
And you are, you are all prophets, you all have the Word of Christ, you have the Holy Spirit, you have a way of directing people to the truth of God’s Word.
That’s what we see in the little Pentecost that happens in the book of Numbers, there were more prophets, more people with the Spirit than expected.
And that’s what has happened for us because of Pentecost.
The Holy Spirit has been poured out on God’s people, poured out on the Church on the day of Pentecost, and continues to be poured out on God’s people right up unto today. God has given you the Holy Spirit so that you can wear the reflective vest, so that you can direct people to His truth. The Church has a prophetic voice, a voice that points out sin and how our sin condemns us to eternal death. The Church has a prophetic voice, a voice that offers the hope of the Gospel, the hope of forgiveness, the hope of eternal life.
This prophetic voice, this prophetic voice of the Church, well, it’s not like it sits somewhere else, it doesn’t just sit with other churches, and it doesn’t just sit with me and the staff, that prophetic voice sits with the Church, the people, you, you are prophets, you all can wear the reflective vest, you all have ways to direct people to the truth of God’s Word, through your words and through your actions, you are directing people to find the truth in what God has to say.
Would that I had a reflective vest for everyone to wear, because you are all prophets, you all have a prophetic Word to share with the community around you, to share with your family and friends, to share with everyone you meet. Your actions, your words, they’re directing people to God. I am not alone.
I don’t mean that you all necessarily have the spiritual gift of prophecy; that may not be your spiritual tendency. What I mean, though, is that we do teach and confess that all believers have received the Spirit of the Lord, and all believers speak and show the Word of the Lord. That Word that we have, that Word is a prophetic word; it’s a powerful Word that goes against what is heard in this world. Even by saying that Jesus is Lord, that’s uttering a prophetic word, a word that speaks the truth in a powerful way against the theories of this world, a word that speaks a hope that the world desperately needs.
So you are all prophets, you all could wear a reflective vest, you all by faith in Jesus have a prophetic voice through your words and your actions.
Will you pray for your friends and family and community that they would know that Jesus is Lord? That’s being a prophet—speaking to God on behalf of others. Will you speak about your faith that Jesus is Lord? That’s being a prophet—speaking the radical truth even if you’re using unradical words. Will you show your faith through actions that are different than the world expects? That’s being a prophet—directing people to the truth of God’s Word by your actions.
So what’s God going to do through you?
What’s God going to do through all of His prophets here at Bethel?
What’s God going to do through you despite our financial stress?
What’s God going to do through Bethel if we remain focused on His mission, if we remain focused on directing people to God’s Word?
Moses prayed that all the Lord’s people would be prophets, and that prayer’s been answered. Through the power of the Holy Spirit working in you, you are all prophets, you all have a prophetic voice, you all have a prophetic word to share with this generation.
So what’s God going to do through you?
God pulled many of you together to proclaim hope for the Silasiri family this weekend, raising over $12,000 for the family, as little Micah battles leukemia. God pulled you together to proclaim hope for Micah and speak a prophetic word in our community, a word that says we care about people because God cares about people, a word that says we serve others because God first served us. It was a spaghetti dinner, but it was a prophetic action, a prophetic word, a word that speaks of a greater hope than the world can offer.
If God can do that through Bethel, if God can do that this weekend, what else is He going to do through you? How else is God going to use you? How else will be you be God’s prophets, directing people to the truth of God’s Word?
Dream and imagine and dream and imagine what God could do, because He can do it. This financial stress that we’re in, do we really think that’s going to stop what God’s doing in this place? Do we really think that we’re going to stop doing the mission of God in this place? Isn’t God bigger than that? Aren’t our dreams and imaginations for God bigger than that? Isn’t God’s dream and imagination for Bethel bigger than that?
I think it is; I think it’s bigger than what we can see. I think there’s a way that we can pool our resources, a way to pool our time, talents, and treasures to do something incredible for God’s mission, to do something to reach this community with a prophetic voice, a word of hope and grace and love and mercy. I believe that God can do incredible things here through us. . .through the prophets in this place.
Now I guess there’s a chance we don’t believe this, there’s a chance we might walk away from this opportunity, there’s a chance we don’t think that God could really use us, little ol’ Bethel Lutheran Church; there’s a chance we don’t think we have a prophetic voice, a voice that can share God’s Word with others.
But the truth of Pentecost is, the truth of today is: God has sent His Spirit on us, God has poured out His Spirit on the Church, God has given you a prophetic voice, God has given you an orange vest to wear, God has made it so that by your words and your actions you can direct people to the powerful truth of God’s Word.
Which means that God has a great big imagination, a great big dream of what He’s going to do in this place, a great big dream about how He’s going to use this fellowship of believers, a great big imagination about how our community will hear about the love of Jesus, the salvation through Jesus, the forgiveness through Jesus. And God’s going to do that through the orange vested people of Bethel, the prophets in this place, the people directing others to the truth of God’s Word.
Sunday, June 05, 2011
John 17:1-11 - “Jesus Was Praying for Us”
7th Sunday of Easter (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)
Saturday, June 4, and Sunday, June 5, 2011
Jesus was praying for us. He’s still praying for us, pleading to the Father on our behalf. But today as we consider the passage from John 17, the thing to know is that Jesus was praying for us. What an incredibly uplifting idea to think that our Savior was praying for us 2000 years ago, to think that Jesus had us in mind that night, the night He was betrayed, the night He was about to go and be arrested and put to death the next day, that night when He prayed, He was praying for us.
Now, in the verses we have today are the beginning of the prayer, and really it is later in the prayer that Jesus prays for those who will believe in Him through the message of the apostles, so really, I suppose, in the verses we have today, Jesus isn’t praying for us. . .unless we realize that a prayer for the apostles is really a prayer for us. That’s right, when Jesus prayed for the apostles, He was praying for us.
What I mean is that by praying for the apostles, praying that the Father would protect the apostles and send them out with the faith intact, Jesus is really praying for us. The Father would protect the apostles, so that they could pass on the faith to others, so that that faith could be passed on from generation to generation, so that faith could be passed to us, so that eternal life could be handed onto us.
Jesus revealed God the Father to the apostles (hold up and turn on a red flashlight). Jesus revealed God the Father through His Words, through the way He taught the Scriptures, through the miracles, through who He was, all of that pointed to who the Father is.
Jesus revealed the Father to the apostles, so that they could know the true God. Let’s say that ___________ (someone in the front pew) represents the apostles (hand flashlight to person). So Jesus revealed the Father to the apostles so that they could know the Father.
And Jesus doesn’t just mean that they had intellectual knowledge of the Father, that the apostles had memorized the right answers, that the apostles were just book smart. When Jesus says that He has revealed the Father to them so that they could know the Father, He means know deeply, know spiritually, know to the core of their being, know in the sense of have a relationship with the Father. Because that’s what this is all about—having a relationship with God again, bringing God’s people back into relationship with the Father, that’s what will bring glory to the Son, that’s why the Son will be celebrated and praising and honored, it’s because Jesus did what was necessary to bring us back into relationship with God the Father.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. For now, what Jesus has prayed, what Jesus is praising God for, is that the apostles have received the true faith, have received the true knowledge of the Father, have come to be in a right relationship with the Father. So the knowledge of the Father, the revelation of the Father has been passed on from Jesus to the apostles.
Here’s where the prayer starts to involve us—even though Jesus goes on to keep talking in these verses about the apostles. The prayer starts to be ultimately about us, because He prays that the apostles will hold onto that faith, that they’ll be protected, “protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one.”
Why does Jesus want the Father to protect them? Because they are the ones who have the revelation, they are the ones who have received the true knowledge of the Father, they are the ones who will pass on that knowledge to others. So when Jesus asks the Father to protect them, when Jesus asks that the apostles will remain faithful, He’s not just praying for the apostles—He’s praying for all those who will become believers through their message. He’s praying for all of them that will receive the light of the Word through their message.
Because that’s what the apostles did, they remained faithful to the Father, and they passed on the knowledge of the Father to others. So pass on the light, pass the light to others, pass the light to everyone in the room. (encourage people to pass the flashlight) Because Jesus was praying that you would also receive the faith, was praying that you would also know the Father, know Him, be in a relationship with the Father, know Him in your bones, in your spirit, in your soul. So pass on the light to everyone, pass on the light to everyone in the room, because Jesus has prayed that you would all know the Father, really know the Father, really have faith in the Father who has given you life and salvation, has given you forgiveness for your sins, given you the promise of eternal life.
So Jesus was praying for you, even as He was praying for the apostles, He was praying for you, you who would benefit from the message of the apostles, benefit from the faith being passed down through the generations beginning with the apostles. So Jesus was praying for you to have eternal life.
And that’s the other amazing thing about these verses from John 17, that’s the other amazing thing about this prayer of Jesus. When Jesus says that He prays for them (and us) to have eternal life, He defines eternal life in a way we might not expect. He defines eternal life as the knowledge of God the Father and Jesus Christ. To know God the Father, to know Jesus Christ the Son, that’s eternal life.
Like I said, to know the Father, that’s more than book knowledge, it’s more than an intellectual knowledge, it’s knowing Him in your spirit, in your soul, it’s having a relationship with the Father.
But still we usually think of eternal life as what we will have when we die, and when Jesus returns to raise us from the dead, when Jesus brings us to life forever with Him on the new earth, that’s eternal life, that’s life after death, that’s life that lasts forever.
What Jesus is saying is that eternal life starts now.
Eternal life starts now.
Eternal life starts now with knowing the Father. Eternal life starts now with knowing the Father through knowing the Son, knowing the Father through how Jesus revealed the Father, knowing the Father through the Word and deeds of Jesus, knowing the Father through the cross and resurrection. Eternal life starts now, because you have received the faith, you have been given the most holy faith, you have been given the right knowledge of the true God, you have been called into a relationship with the Father, because of that, your eternal life starts now.
Oh, I know, you’re not sure that this seems like what you’ve come think about eternal life. I mean, there are things about this life that we certainly don’t want to continue forever—the sin in us, the sin in others, the brokenness in the world around us; it’s certainly hard sometimes to see God working in this world, so how can we say that we have eternal life now?
Besides, it’s pretty clear when we see sickness and death all around us that this isn’t a life that lasts forever. So what can Jesus mean by saying that we have eternal life now through faith in the Father?
Well, an interesting thing is that in Hebrew thought, in the way that John the Gospel writer thought, in the way that Jesus taught as a rabbi, eternal life doesn’t just mean quantity, it doesn’t just refer to the length of days, to the forever quantity of days. Eternal life doesn’t just mean endless.
Eternal also refers to the quality of life. It refers to the kind of life that we have, and in that is eternal life. We have a different quality of life because we know the Father. We have a different quality of life because are in a right relationship with the Father. We have an incredibly better quality of life, because we have hope beyond death, we have light in the darkness, we have forgiveness in the midst of sin, we have victory in the middle of defeat, we have this faith to hold onto even when there seems very little to hold onto.
You have eternal life now, you have a quality of life now that only comes through the knowledge of the Father, you have a hope and a peace and a comfort that the world cannot give you, you have a quality of life that goes beyond this world, a quality of life that is eternal, spiritual, supernatural, beyond anything this world can offer.
You have eternal life now, and even though you will still experience heartache and heartbreak and heart disease and heart stoppage, still in your heart, you know the Father, and through knowing Him, you have eternal life now, you have quality of life now, you have a right relationship with the Father now, you are His child forever now.
Jesus prayed for you when He prayed for the apostles. Jesus prayed for you when He asked the Father to protect the apostles so that they could pass on the faith to you. Jesus prayed for you so that you could know the Father, so that you can have eternal life.
Has everyone in the room gotten the light? Has everyone received the knowledge of the Lord? (if someone didn’t get the flashlight, pass it to them). I suppose another way of asking that is: has everyone in the room seen the Father revealed in the Son today? Has everyone seen that Jesus died and rose again for you? Has everyone seen that Jesus has given you the most holy faith so that you can have right relationship with the Father? Has everyone in the room seen that Jesus comes to us through the Word and through the Lord’s Supper, has everyone seen that the Father comes to us through our baptisms? Has everyone in the room seen that you have been given eternal life today, eternal life now?
Jesus prayed for you—and still prays for you. Jesus prayed for you, and you’re here now, you’re here and He is revealing the Father to you, revealing the knowledge of the Father, revealing that you have eternal life now, revealing that you have hope and comfort and peace and forgiveness and love now.
I’m going to pass the flashlight around again during the last hymn. As it goes around, I want you to remember that you have eternal life now through the knowledge of the Father, through knowing the Father in your bones, in your soul, in your spirit. You have a different quality of life, because you have hope and peace and comfort in knowing the Father, through being in a relationship with the Father. Your life has changed eternally, spiritually, supernaturally, because Jesus prayed for you.
Saturday, June 4, and Sunday, June 5, 2011
Jesus was praying for us. He’s still praying for us, pleading to the Father on our behalf. But today as we consider the passage from John 17, the thing to know is that Jesus was praying for us. What an incredibly uplifting idea to think that our Savior was praying for us 2000 years ago, to think that Jesus had us in mind that night, the night He was betrayed, the night He was about to go and be arrested and put to death the next day, that night when He prayed, He was praying for us.
Now, in the verses we have today are the beginning of the prayer, and really it is later in the prayer that Jesus prays for those who will believe in Him through the message of the apostles, so really, I suppose, in the verses we have today, Jesus isn’t praying for us. . .unless we realize that a prayer for the apostles is really a prayer for us. That’s right, when Jesus prayed for the apostles, He was praying for us.
What I mean is that by praying for the apostles, praying that the Father would protect the apostles and send them out with the faith intact, Jesus is really praying for us. The Father would protect the apostles, so that they could pass on the faith to others, so that that faith could be passed on from generation to generation, so that faith could be passed to us, so that eternal life could be handed onto us.
Jesus revealed God the Father to the apostles (hold up and turn on a red flashlight). Jesus revealed God the Father through His Words, through the way He taught the Scriptures, through the miracles, through who He was, all of that pointed to who the Father is.
Jesus revealed the Father to the apostles, so that they could know the true God. Let’s say that ___________ (someone in the front pew) represents the apostles (hand flashlight to person). So Jesus revealed the Father to the apostles so that they could know the Father.
And Jesus doesn’t just mean that they had intellectual knowledge of the Father, that the apostles had memorized the right answers, that the apostles were just book smart. When Jesus says that He has revealed the Father to them so that they could know the Father, He means know deeply, know spiritually, know to the core of their being, know in the sense of have a relationship with the Father. Because that’s what this is all about—having a relationship with God again, bringing God’s people back into relationship with the Father, that’s what will bring glory to the Son, that’s why the Son will be celebrated and praising and honored, it’s because Jesus did what was necessary to bring us back into relationship with God the Father.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. For now, what Jesus has prayed, what Jesus is praising God for, is that the apostles have received the true faith, have received the true knowledge of the Father, have come to be in a right relationship with the Father. So the knowledge of the Father, the revelation of the Father has been passed on from Jesus to the apostles.
Here’s where the prayer starts to involve us—even though Jesus goes on to keep talking in these verses about the apostles. The prayer starts to be ultimately about us, because He prays that the apostles will hold onto that faith, that they’ll be protected, “protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one.”
Why does Jesus want the Father to protect them? Because they are the ones who have the revelation, they are the ones who have received the true knowledge of the Father, they are the ones who will pass on that knowledge to others. So when Jesus asks the Father to protect them, when Jesus asks that the apostles will remain faithful, He’s not just praying for the apostles—He’s praying for all those who will become believers through their message. He’s praying for all of them that will receive the light of the Word through their message.
Because that’s what the apostles did, they remained faithful to the Father, and they passed on the knowledge of the Father to others. So pass on the light, pass the light to others, pass the light to everyone in the room. (encourage people to pass the flashlight) Because Jesus was praying that you would also receive the faith, was praying that you would also know the Father, know Him, be in a relationship with the Father, know Him in your bones, in your spirit, in your soul. So pass on the light to everyone, pass on the light to everyone in the room, because Jesus has prayed that you would all know the Father, really know the Father, really have faith in the Father who has given you life and salvation, has given you forgiveness for your sins, given you the promise of eternal life.
So Jesus was praying for you, even as He was praying for the apostles, He was praying for you, you who would benefit from the message of the apostles, benefit from the faith being passed down through the generations beginning with the apostles. So Jesus was praying for you to have eternal life.
And that’s the other amazing thing about these verses from John 17, that’s the other amazing thing about this prayer of Jesus. When Jesus says that He prays for them (and us) to have eternal life, He defines eternal life in a way we might not expect. He defines eternal life as the knowledge of God the Father and Jesus Christ. To know God the Father, to know Jesus Christ the Son, that’s eternal life.
Like I said, to know the Father, that’s more than book knowledge, it’s more than an intellectual knowledge, it’s knowing Him in your spirit, in your soul, it’s having a relationship with the Father.
But still we usually think of eternal life as what we will have when we die, and when Jesus returns to raise us from the dead, when Jesus brings us to life forever with Him on the new earth, that’s eternal life, that’s life after death, that’s life that lasts forever.
What Jesus is saying is that eternal life starts now.
Eternal life starts now.
Eternal life starts now with knowing the Father. Eternal life starts now with knowing the Father through knowing the Son, knowing the Father through how Jesus revealed the Father, knowing the Father through the Word and deeds of Jesus, knowing the Father through the cross and resurrection. Eternal life starts now, because you have received the faith, you have been given the most holy faith, you have been given the right knowledge of the true God, you have been called into a relationship with the Father, because of that, your eternal life starts now.
Oh, I know, you’re not sure that this seems like what you’ve come think about eternal life. I mean, there are things about this life that we certainly don’t want to continue forever—the sin in us, the sin in others, the brokenness in the world around us; it’s certainly hard sometimes to see God working in this world, so how can we say that we have eternal life now?
Besides, it’s pretty clear when we see sickness and death all around us that this isn’t a life that lasts forever. So what can Jesus mean by saying that we have eternal life now through faith in the Father?
Well, an interesting thing is that in Hebrew thought, in the way that John the Gospel writer thought, in the way that Jesus taught as a rabbi, eternal life doesn’t just mean quantity, it doesn’t just refer to the length of days, to the forever quantity of days. Eternal life doesn’t just mean endless.
Eternal also refers to the quality of life. It refers to the kind of life that we have, and in that is eternal life. We have a different quality of life because we know the Father. We have a different quality of life because are in a right relationship with the Father. We have an incredibly better quality of life, because we have hope beyond death, we have light in the darkness, we have forgiveness in the midst of sin, we have victory in the middle of defeat, we have this faith to hold onto even when there seems very little to hold onto.
You have eternal life now, you have a quality of life now that only comes through the knowledge of the Father, you have a hope and a peace and a comfort that the world cannot give you, you have a quality of life that goes beyond this world, a quality of life that is eternal, spiritual, supernatural, beyond anything this world can offer.
You have eternal life now, and even though you will still experience heartache and heartbreak and heart disease and heart stoppage, still in your heart, you know the Father, and through knowing Him, you have eternal life now, you have quality of life now, you have a right relationship with the Father now, you are His child forever now.
Jesus prayed for you when He prayed for the apostles. Jesus prayed for you when He asked the Father to protect the apostles so that they could pass on the faith to you. Jesus prayed for you so that you could know the Father, so that you can have eternal life.
Has everyone in the room gotten the light? Has everyone received the knowledge of the Lord? (if someone didn’t get the flashlight, pass it to them). I suppose another way of asking that is: has everyone in the room seen the Father revealed in the Son today? Has everyone seen that Jesus died and rose again for you? Has everyone seen that Jesus has given you the most holy faith so that you can have right relationship with the Father? Has everyone in the room seen that Jesus comes to us through the Word and through the Lord’s Supper, has everyone seen that the Father comes to us through our baptisms? Has everyone in the room seen that you have been given eternal life today, eternal life now?
Jesus prayed for you—and still prays for you. Jesus prayed for you, and you’re here now, you’re here and He is revealing the Father to you, revealing the knowledge of the Father, revealing that you have eternal life now, revealing that you have hope and comfort and peace and forgiveness and love now.
I’m going to pass the flashlight around again during the last hymn. As it goes around, I want you to remember that you have eternal life now through the knowledge of the Father, through knowing the Father in your bones, in your soul, in your spirit. You have a different quality of life, because you have hope and peace and comfort in knowing the Father, through being in a relationship with the Father. Your life has changed eternally, spiritually, supernaturally, because Jesus prayed for you.
Thursday, June 02, 2011
Psalm 47 - “Clap Your Hands Say Yeah”
Ascension (Year A - Lutheran Service Book readings)
Thursday, June 2, 2011
There’s a rock band called Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Kind of an odd name for a band, but there are plenty of odd names out there. Rumor has it that Clap Your Hand Say Yeah got their name from some graffiti that they saw—graffiti scrawled out on the side of a building that said, “Clap your hands say yeah.” As far as I know, no one tracked down the graffiti artist to ask about what they meant, why they were encouraging people to clap their hands, but I kind of wonder if they weren’t inspired by Psalm 47, the psalm for tonight, the psalm that starts off by saying, “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.”
“Clap your hands say yeah” sounds like a way to sum up what Psalm 47 is all about, a psalm that’s calling on us to celebrate and praise the Lord, praise Him as the King over all kings, the Ruler over all people. Psalm 47 is a call to worship, a worldwide call to all people to worship the Lord. Like painting it on the side of a building for all people to see, Psalm 47 paints this huge picture, this picture of every nation praising the Lord.
And that’s a beautiful picture, this worldwide call for people to praise the true and living Lord, for people all over the world to worship God. It’s like that old Coca-Cola commercial, where there’s all of these people from all over the world, all kinds of people, and they’re drinking Coke of course, but they’re also singing, I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony. Well, Psalm 47 is kind of like that. I’d like to teach the world sing and praise the Lord above. It’s a psalm that calls us, all of us, it’s a worldwide call for us to praise the Lord.
But why Psalm 47 today? Why Psalm 47 on Ascension, the day we celebrate that Jesus ascended into heaven? Probably the tradition of using Psalm 47 on this day came from one verse, one line in the middle of the psalm, verse 5: “God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets.” It’s a tremendous little verse for describing the glorious event that occurred this day—40 days after Easter. It’s a tremendous picture for the glory of the Ascension, the victory and celebration that marks this occasion, that marks Jesus returning to the Father.
Looking back now we can certainly see that Jesus ascending into heaven is an occasion for worship, praise, and clapping your hands. We can look back and see this. Jesus ascended into heaven which means He would be sending the Holy Spirit, which means He is with the Father, which means He is praying for us, pleading to the Father for us, which means He is at the right hand of God the Father, the position of honor, power, and authority, Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth, authority to watch over and save us, authority that He will use for our good. Looking back, we can see that Jesus ascending into heaven is a wonderful thing, a thing like the Psalm talks about, a thing for rejoicing and shouting and trumpets. Clap your hands say yeah.
But when those disciples stared up into the sky, they probably weren’t clapping their hands. They weren’t tuning up their trumpets. They probably weren’t filled with joy and worship. They stood there staring into the sky wondering just what this mean, just what it meant that their Lord, their Savior had been taken away from them—again. First, Jesus dies, and they figured it was all over. But then He came back, they started to understand, they started to see that there was hope, there was victory, there was something more than death.
But then Jesus ascends into the sky, goes up to heaven, goes out of their sight, and so here they are once again wondering what they’ll do, wondering what it means that Jesus came to save His people but now He’s gone.
Clap your hands say yeah? I don’t think so.
The disciples went and huddled up again in Jerusalem, huddled up and wondered what was going to happen, huddled up and locked the doors for fear of the Jews and kept their mouths shut. For 10 days, the 10 days between now and Pentecost, Pentecost the day that Jesus sent the Holy Spirit on the disciples, for 10 days, I doubt there was much clapping hands and saying yeah.
And who can blame the disciples, because really are we that much different. I mean, when you’re overcome by what’s happening in your life, when you really realize how much suffering there is around us, when you look for spiritual answers and can’t seem to find them, when you need Jesus and He doesn’t seem to be there, when you find yourself staring up into the sky and wondering where God is, well, then you’re probably not in the mood to clap your hands say yeah.
If you recognize that feeling, well, then maybe we can start to understand why the disciples weren’t probably singing Psalm 47 as they watched Jesus ascend into heaven. They were probably confused, scared, lonely, wondering just what they were going to do.
And if we’re honest with ourselves, there’s many times when we’re confused, scared, lonely, wondering just we’re going to do.
Then along comes an evening of celebration, an evening like tonight, an evening meant to annually remind us of the glory and victory of Jesus, the truth about who Jesus is, the truth about His ascending into heaven, the truth that He is more than just in heaven but that He’s with us everywhere, the truth that He has all power and authority in heaven and on earth, the truth that He promised to come back for us again, the truth that He will come to take us to be with Him forever. Tonight is about celebrating all of these truths, celebrating, clap your hands say yeah. Tonight is about recognizing that there’s something bigger happening, something beyond what we can see, something beyond the mystery of the clouds as we stare at the sky, something beyond the confusion, fear, loneliness, and wondering, something that’s incredible, glorious, victorious, something that really does cause you to clap your hands say yeah.
And really that’s the ache inside us, the ache to believe in something bigger than us, something beyond what we know in this world. There’s an ache to believe in something bigger, and that ache goes back to when this psalm was written. It wasn’t written because the people of Israel had experienced everything about God. It was written in response to a glimmer of that hope, a glimpse of the reality that goes beyond what they could see. Psalm 47 was written to be used in the Temple as the Ark of the Covenant, the box that carries the tablets of the Law of God, as that Ark was carried into the Holy of Holies, the innermost part of the Temple. It was a moment that signified God’s presence coming into the Temple, God’s presence to come and be among the people, God coming to bring them forgiveness, hope, and salvation. So Psalm 47 celebrates God coming into His Temple. Clap your hands say yeah. “God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets.” Clap your hands say yeah.
And bringing the Ark of the Covenant into the Temple, seeing God ascend to the Holy of Holies, seeing God’s presence, well, that was just a foretaste of what the disciples would experience in Jesus, a foretaste of experiencing God’s presence in the person of Jesus. The disciples had experienced God’s grace, love, and forgiveness in Jesus. He had taught them, led them, showed them incredible miracles, called them to be His servants on a mission. Jesus had lived among them and showed them that He and the Father are One.
And yet, that still was just another foretaste, a foretaste of the victory and hope they would experience after Jesus rose from the dead. What they experienced before Jesus died on the cross, well, that just pointed to the resurrection reality they would experience after Easter. Jesus would come and stand among them despite locked doors. Jesus would show them His hands and His side. Jesus would call them into service on His mission once again. Jesus would point to the greater reality going on, the reality that is bigger than earthly death, the reality that death is conquered and life has victory in Him.
But then today we see that the Easter reality was still just another foretaste, that the Easter reality wasn’t the ultimate hope, that Jesus ascended into heaven saying that He’d be back, that He’d come back to bring about a final reality, a great reality, a wonderful, eternal, lasting, loving, ultimate reality. The Easter reality isn’t the whole story; there’s another day coming, there’s a day coming with eternal life, a new world, a new life, a life forever with our God.
So it makes sense that we’d be staring into the sky today, that you’d hesitate before you clap your hands say yeah, that you’d be confused about what’s going on, because we’re standing here staring into the sky wondering when that ultimate reality will come. It makes sense that we’re staring into the sky, because we’re still waiting for the ultimate reality. God in the Temple was just a foretaste. Jesus on the Earth was just a foretaste. Jesus rising from the dead was just a foretaste. All of those things were very, very, very important foretastes, hints of what is yet to come, but none of them are what we’re really waiting for. What we’re really waiting for is for Jesus to return again. We’re waiting for Him to return and bring us to eternal life. And when we see Him return, there’ll be no question about it. You’ll definitely clap your hands say yeah.
But until that day, until that day, how are you going to live your life? How are you going to live your life now? Sure, there’s times when we’re overwhelmed by the tragedies of life, the sorrows that surround us, there’s plenty of times when we catch ourselves staring into the sky.
But then what did the angels say to the disciples as they stared up into the sky, what did the angels say? “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Jesus will come back, so go, live your life; go, follow His mission; go, wait for the Holy Spirit; go, serve God and serve others; go, live your life as God’s chosen people; go, clap your hands say yeah.
So today if you find yourself staring into the sky, wondering what God is going to do with your life, instead of standing here staring into the sky, go, life your life; go, celebrate God with the way you live; celebrate God with the way you serve other people; go, follow Jesus with your life; go in the confidence of the forgiveness, hope, and salvation in Jesus Christ; go, knowing that He will come back for you; go, confident that He remains with you as you go; go, live your life; go, clap your hands say yeah; go, praise God with your life; go, call all people to praise God; go, you are His children forever.
He has given you a foretaste of the things to come, He has pointed to the reality of His love and forgiveness, He has told you there’s an ultimate reality coming for you, so go, step off the curb, step off the mountain, go back to the city, go back to your daily life, go back to where you’re from; go, celebrate God with your daily lives; go, clap your hands say yeah.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
There’s a rock band called Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Kind of an odd name for a band, but there are plenty of odd names out there. Rumor has it that Clap Your Hand Say Yeah got their name from some graffiti that they saw—graffiti scrawled out on the side of a building that said, “Clap your hands say yeah.” As far as I know, no one tracked down the graffiti artist to ask about what they meant, why they were encouraging people to clap their hands, but I kind of wonder if they weren’t inspired by Psalm 47, the psalm for tonight, the psalm that starts off by saying, “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.” “Clap your hands say yeah” sounds like a way to sum up what Psalm 47 is all about, a psalm that’s calling on us to celebrate and praise the Lord, praise Him as the King over all kings, the Ruler over all people. Psalm 47 is a call to worship, a worldwide call to all people to worship the Lord. Like painting it on the side of a building for all people to see, Psalm 47 paints this huge picture, this picture of every nation praising the Lord.
And that’s a beautiful picture, this worldwide call for people to praise the true and living Lord, for people all over the world to worship God. It’s like that old Coca-Cola commercial, where there’s all of these people from all over the world, all kinds of people, and they’re drinking Coke of course, but they’re also singing, I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony. Well, Psalm 47 is kind of like that. I’d like to teach the world sing and praise the Lord above. It’s a psalm that calls us, all of us, it’s a worldwide call for us to praise the Lord.
But why Psalm 47 today? Why Psalm 47 on Ascension, the day we celebrate that Jesus ascended into heaven? Probably the tradition of using Psalm 47 on this day came from one verse, one line in the middle of the psalm, verse 5: “God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets.” It’s a tremendous little verse for describing the glorious event that occurred this day—40 days after Easter. It’s a tremendous picture for the glory of the Ascension, the victory and celebration that marks this occasion, that marks Jesus returning to the Father.
Looking back now we can certainly see that Jesus ascending into heaven is an occasion for worship, praise, and clapping your hands. We can look back and see this. Jesus ascended into heaven which means He would be sending the Holy Spirit, which means He is with the Father, which means He is praying for us, pleading to the Father for us, which means He is at the right hand of God the Father, the position of honor, power, and authority, Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth, authority to watch over and save us, authority that He will use for our good. Looking back, we can see that Jesus ascending into heaven is a wonderful thing, a thing like the Psalm talks about, a thing for rejoicing and shouting and trumpets. Clap your hands say yeah.
But when those disciples stared up into the sky, they probably weren’t clapping their hands. They weren’t tuning up their trumpets. They probably weren’t filled with joy and worship. They stood there staring into the sky wondering just what this mean, just what it meant that their Lord, their Savior had been taken away from them—again. First, Jesus dies, and they figured it was all over. But then He came back, they started to understand, they started to see that there was hope, there was victory, there was something more than death.
But then Jesus ascends into the sky, goes up to heaven, goes out of their sight, and so here they are once again wondering what they’ll do, wondering what it means that Jesus came to save His people but now He’s gone.
Clap your hands say yeah? I don’t think so.
The disciples went and huddled up again in Jerusalem, huddled up and wondered what was going to happen, huddled up and locked the doors for fear of the Jews and kept their mouths shut. For 10 days, the 10 days between now and Pentecost, Pentecost the day that Jesus sent the Holy Spirit on the disciples, for 10 days, I doubt there was much clapping hands and saying yeah.
And who can blame the disciples, because really are we that much different. I mean, when you’re overcome by what’s happening in your life, when you really realize how much suffering there is around us, when you look for spiritual answers and can’t seem to find them, when you need Jesus and He doesn’t seem to be there, when you find yourself staring up into the sky and wondering where God is, well, then you’re probably not in the mood to clap your hands say yeah.
If you recognize that feeling, well, then maybe we can start to understand why the disciples weren’t probably singing Psalm 47 as they watched Jesus ascend into heaven. They were probably confused, scared, lonely, wondering just what they were going to do.
And if we’re honest with ourselves, there’s many times when we’re confused, scared, lonely, wondering just we’re going to do.
Then along comes an evening of celebration, an evening like tonight, an evening meant to annually remind us of the glory and victory of Jesus, the truth about who Jesus is, the truth about His ascending into heaven, the truth that He is more than just in heaven but that He’s with us everywhere, the truth that He has all power and authority in heaven and on earth, the truth that He promised to come back for us again, the truth that He will come to take us to be with Him forever. Tonight is about celebrating all of these truths, celebrating, clap your hands say yeah. Tonight is about recognizing that there’s something bigger happening, something beyond what we can see, something beyond the mystery of the clouds as we stare at the sky, something beyond the confusion, fear, loneliness, and wondering, something that’s incredible, glorious, victorious, something that really does cause you to clap your hands say yeah.
And really that’s the ache inside us, the ache to believe in something bigger than us, something beyond what we know in this world. There’s an ache to believe in something bigger, and that ache goes back to when this psalm was written. It wasn’t written because the people of Israel had experienced everything about God. It was written in response to a glimmer of that hope, a glimpse of the reality that goes beyond what they could see. Psalm 47 was written to be used in the Temple as the Ark of the Covenant, the box that carries the tablets of the Law of God, as that Ark was carried into the Holy of Holies, the innermost part of the Temple. It was a moment that signified God’s presence coming into the Temple, God’s presence to come and be among the people, God coming to bring them forgiveness, hope, and salvation. So Psalm 47 celebrates God coming into His Temple. Clap your hands say yeah. “God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets.” Clap your hands say yeah.
And bringing the Ark of the Covenant into the Temple, seeing God ascend to the Holy of Holies, seeing God’s presence, well, that was just a foretaste of what the disciples would experience in Jesus, a foretaste of experiencing God’s presence in the person of Jesus. The disciples had experienced God’s grace, love, and forgiveness in Jesus. He had taught them, led them, showed them incredible miracles, called them to be His servants on a mission. Jesus had lived among them and showed them that He and the Father are One.
And yet, that still was just another foretaste, a foretaste of the victory and hope they would experience after Jesus rose from the dead. What they experienced before Jesus died on the cross, well, that just pointed to the resurrection reality they would experience after Easter. Jesus would come and stand among them despite locked doors. Jesus would show them His hands and His side. Jesus would call them into service on His mission once again. Jesus would point to the greater reality going on, the reality that is bigger than earthly death, the reality that death is conquered and life has victory in Him.
But then today we see that the Easter reality was still just another foretaste, that the Easter reality wasn’t the ultimate hope, that Jesus ascended into heaven saying that He’d be back, that He’d come back to bring about a final reality, a great reality, a wonderful, eternal, lasting, loving, ultimate reality. The Easter reality isn’t the whole story; there’s another day coming, there’s a day coming with eternal life, a new world, a new life, a life forever with our God.
So it makes sense that we’d be staring into the sky today, that you’d hesitate before you clap your hands say yeah, that you’d be confused about what’s going on, because we’re standing here staring into the sky wondering when that ultimate reality will come. It makes sense that we’re staring into the sky, because we’re still waiting for the ultimate reality. God in the Temple was just a foretaste. Jesus on the Earth was just a foretaste. Jesus rising from the dead was just a foretaste. All of those things were very, very, very important foretastes, hints of what is yet to come, but none of them are what we’re really waiting for. What we’re really waiting for is for Jesus to return again. We’re waiting for Him to return and bring us to eternal life. And when we see Him return, there’ll be no question about it. You’ll definitely clap your hands say yeah.
But until that day, until that day, how are you going to live your life? How are you going to live your life now? Sure, there’s times when we’re overwhelmed by the tragedies of life, the sorrows that surround us, there’s plenty of times when we catch ourselves staring into the sky.
But then what did the angels say to the disciples as they stared up into the sky, what did the angels say? “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Jesus will come back, so go, live your life; go, follow His mission; go, wait for the Holy Spirit; go, serve God and serve others; go, live your life as God’s chosen people; go, clap your hands say yeah.
So today if you find yourself staring into the sky, wondering what God is going to do with your life, instead of standing here staring into the sky, go, life your life; go, celebrate God with the way you live; celebrate God with the way you serve other people; go, follow Jesus with your life; go in the confidence of the forgiveness, hope, and salvation in Jesus Christ; go, knowing that He will come back for you; go, confident that He remains with you as you go; go, live your life; go, clap your hands say yeah; go, praise God with your life; go, call all people to praise God; go, you are His children forever.
He has given you a foretaste of the things to come, He has pointed to the reality of His love and forgiveness, He has told you there’s an ultimate reality coming for you, so go, step off the curb, step off the mountain, go back to the city, go back to your daily life, go back to where you’re from; go, celebrate God with your daily lives; go, clap your hands say yeah.
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