Easter day is always a great day of celebration for Christians around the world.
I’m going to take a leaf out of the page of the Pope’s book today and publish part of my Easter morning sermon.
So here is a part of my sermon:
And what does it mean to us that Jesus is now risen from the dead?
Where do I begin? You could come to church every week for the rest of your life and only begin to hear a little of it.
But among so many other things it means: the promise of eternal life; it means the start of a new relationship with God; it means in the midst of darkness there is always a light; that when all seems lost there is hope; that when we feel we can’t take another step we can find the strength to step forwards; that when we are afraid we can face that fear and carry on; it means that when life is getting the better of us we know God has got the better of life.
It means that today we can start to celebrate and nothing – absolutely nothing – can stop us.
Jesus, Thoughts
Trying to work out what actually happened on the cross is difficult. There are all kinds of theories – some of them so extreme that they sound like Jesus has to fight the Father to save us – others so weak that it sounds like nothing really happened and the disiciples just cheared up a bit after a few days.
One of the hardest of the new testament images to work out is the idea of Jesus’ death being a sacrifice. It’s hard because in our world we think of sacrifice as something done by very primitive peoples in an attempt to buy a god off. Our idea of sacrifice has perhaps more to do with lucky charms and killing children than with sacrifice as it was practised by the people of Israel in Jesus’ day.
If we want to understand what the new testament means by sacrifice we need to move our minds away from our ignorant view and try to understand what they thought they were doing in the Temple at the time of Jesus.
The sacrifices made under the old covenant (e.g. as described in the old testament) were to do with the cost of sin (for ever action there is a consequence) and the covering of sin (letting it go and not doing it again – sort of). The blood shed offers a covering for the sin and is not a payment to God so that God would forgive. The cost is the cost of the sacrificed animal and not the purchase of forgiveness from God.
It is clear that the people of Israel always believed that God forgave sin, even without a sacrifice.
The truth is that the cross represents God’s chosen way of showing the cost of sin and covering sin. There are also many other things going on through which Christ achieves the victory he declares.
As always language is defeating me. Trying to put this into words always seems inadequate and trying to write it in a short hand way is even more inadequate.
There is an interesting article on all this on Huffington Post here. He puts it better than I can.
God does get angry but it isn’t with Jesus. Jesus is after all God himself. God gets angry at sin and so he deals with it himself on the cross. Part revelation, part mystery but a moment that changes everything.
Jesus, Thoughts
And he (Jesus) appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.
(Mark 3:14-15 ESV)
What a job description this turned out to be: to hang around Jesus – presumably to learn some stuff; preach; have authority over demons.
This would be a good job description for any church leader.
To spend time with Jesus (prayer and study). To preach. Have authority over those who serve evil.
It’s perhaps interesting what isn’t there. To be an administrator (in my experience this is a major part of any church leaders job. To visit the sick (I can see that this is important but its not just the job of the leader – and in Acts helping others becomes a distraction they appoint other people to take over this task). And so I could go on.
How many church leaders neglect prayer? How many church leaders never give enough of themselves to preaching? How many church leaders ever exert authority over those who serve evil?
It’s a complicated calling but I can’t help but wonder if more gave themselves to the core responsibilities we might have a better church all around.
Jesus, Thoughts
Peter is forever putting his foot in it in the gospels. In Marks gospel (chapter 8: 32 – “Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him”) Peter has a go at changing Jesus’ mind about his mission. In effect Peter wants to make up his own religion.
If – like me – you are searching after truth then you can’t go making it all up for yourself. Jesus tells Peter off and tells him that he must choose to suffer just like Jesus will to be a true follower.
To follow Christ means being willing to accept Jesus’ way even when it isn’t our own. It is not up to us to make up how we follow Jesus it is simply our way to follow.
If you choose to believe in Jesus then you must also choose to accept Jesus’ way even if it gets unpleasant for a time.
Christian living, Jesus, Thoughts
And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
(Mark 2:27 ESV)
Do you ever have any of those I wish I’d said that moments. One of those times when something that is deeply profound but perhaps obvious – with a little thought – is said and you think that is just what I was trying to say.
The statement of Jesus that we have today is deeply profound, it turns the whole realm of religion on its head. The rules that God makes in a religion are not made as a way to catch us out so we can be punished but as a way of releasing us. Of course some rules go beyond religion and are about the basics of right and wrong – but the rules that come with a religion should be releasing and helping and not restricting and soul destroying.
Many Christians say that Christianity is not a religion and in a sense they are right because Jesus did not teach us a set of mindless rules to follow in the hopes by doing so we can persuade god to do something for us; but instead he taught a way of life and relating to God that release us into a relationship.
The Sabbath laws were never meant as a way of restricting people but as a way of enabling people to spend time with God and time refreshing their souls.
Christian living, Jesus, Thoughts Jesus, jesus christ, religion, rules, sabbath
Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’?
(Mark 2:9 ESV)
First off, what is sin?
Tricky question to answer but here goes anyway. Sin is what you do something that is not perfect. Sin against God would be to say, do, think, etc something that was not perfect to God. We mortals can deal with this stuff easily because we think to ourselves – I sin all the time so I’m not going to worry about the person who does. But is this always true? Don’t we get really upset about some sins – rape for instance or child abuse, etc. We may not be perfect but we know that some things are harder to forgive than others. So then think about the perfection of God. How can God, who is perfect, simply forgive sins? Not so easy as it is for us. So how are they dealt with? Well that’s a bit much for my simple blog post today but lets just say that God has a way and it involves God taking the blame for everything.
So back to our bible reading.
What is easier to say is not always the easiest to say. Surely, it’s easier to say something that no one can disprove. Politicians of course get elected on these very grounds – you can’t prove that they won’t do what they promise – although one of the first things they all say is “it is worse than we thought” which of course means they will not keep the promise they made.
So it is far easier for Jesus to say “your sins are forgiven” than to say to someone who is crippled – walk! Who can check to see if the sins have been forgiven and yet its obvious if someone can walk or not.
So what makes sense to me is to say that although it is actually harder to forgive sins – only God can do that – it is actually harder to SAY to someone: “pick up your bed and walk”. In this way Jesus proves that what he says is actually true.
So is it then possible to know that your sins are forgiven? Well as a good Methodist I believe in the gift of assurance and so do believe that you can know that your sins are forgiven. I believe I have felt this myself.
I guess the bottom line is that Jesus can forgive sins – what a guy!
Jesus, Thoughts
And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
(Mark 1:34-35 ESV)
If you had the power to heal any illness and you were a very caring person wouldn’t you want to heal as many people as you could?
Jesus had the same problem. He had the power to heal anyone but he also had a mission which didn’t involve healing everyone. Jesus had such compassion for people that in this part of Marks Gospel its easy to see that Jesus was tempted to give his life up to healing and forget about his preaching ministry.
He goes away to pray about it all and finds a new strength to carry on with what his Father God wanted him to do.
Some times its important to get away from things and get your mind and heart back on track with what God wants you to be doing in life.
Jesus, Thoughts
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
(Mark 1:14-15 ESV)
I’ve heard many people try to claim all sorts of stuff about Jesus, people are always trying to make out that Jesus is just like them. Perhaps John the baptist could make that claim because when John is arrested Jesus just carries on with the same old stuff that John already said.
Today this message is still important but it has become a very unpopular message. We live in a time where people want to claim that no one ever makes a mistake or is wrong – after all to tell someone they are wrong is putting them down. Claiming that you know a truth that others don’t is also frowned upon – unless you are an atheist scientist of course.
Jesus says in this simple message that we are all doing something wrong – deep down we know this is true despite what others say – deep down we all know that there are things about our life that are not in accord with the way God wants us to live.
But Jesus doesn’t say this to make us feel bad – far from it – instead he wants to expose what is wrong so we can know God’s forgiveness. Repent and believe the Gospel is all about turning your back on the old wrong ways and choosing God’s loving forgiveness.
Jesus, Thoughts
There always seems to me to be two stories going on at the same time in the nativity story. There is the one where lots of spectacular things happen – angels appearing and wise men following stars and prophecies being fulfilled etc.
But then there is the simple ordinary story that no one would bother with normally. The story of a young woman from nowhere who is pregnant before she gets married (big deal); travelling to a place for registration because the government wants to tax them (that’s a new story, a government wanting to tax people – boring); she then has her child in a stable (slightly more interesting but not much (how many funny stories are there of children born in strange places – I heard of a better one the other day with a baby born in a toilet!).
Yet, its the thing that brings these two stories together that counts. The baby.
The baby is the one who the angels sing about and prophets write about and yet its the baby who is born in a very boring way. It’s this baby who comes to change the dull and ordinary into something wonderful and meaningful.
So although we may be very ordinary people with nothing remarkable in our own story that doesn’t matter because God is born into just the kind of life that we live. No great armies or palaces or record deals or Simon Cowel, etc just ordinary parents in a boring place. Yet this is the same one that the angels sing about. This is the life that changes the world.
I am grateful every day that it was into a life just like mine that God chose to be born into. This is what makes it the greatest story ever told.
Thoughts Christmas, Jesus, jesus christ
Oh dear (yet again). It’s time to pack away the emergency rations and un-board the house. It’s time to say sorry to the boss for the things that were said on the understanding that we wouldn’t be coming in to work on Monday. Only kidding of course. But I’m sure like many people you were not surprised when the predicted end of the world never came.
Now, I’m all for the end of the world myself and one day it will surely come but God didn’t write the date for it into the sub-text of the Bible. Sadly too many Christians (past and present) have been sucked in to believing that there is something hidden in the text of the Bible that just needs a little calculation and all will be revealed. In some ways it would be good if this were true but in my experience and from what I know of the Bible it isn’t.
If the people who ‘found’ these secrets just let us all know they had and then we all ignored it things would be fine. Unfortunately, there are many people who get sucked in by the charisma or seeming authority of the people in question and then the trouble starts. Of course this isn’t something that is limited to religion and there are plenty of times in history that people have supported political nutters. In fact I have to say that in every election I’ve witnessed countless people get suckered by the politicians on offer (quite often these politicians get elected in this way) – but that is a subject for a different kind of blog I think (I’m not anti-politics by the way, just anti political salesmanship).
You will not find any predictions of the end of the world on this web site. I’m afraid Jesus just never told us when the world would end and so we are stuck having to live each day as if Jesus were going to return tomorrow – not a bad way to live anyway.
Thoughts armegedon, end of the world, jesus returns
Easter day is always a great day of celebration for Christians around the world.
