Acts 17:22-31; Psalm 66:8-20; 1
Peter 3:13-22; John 14:15-21
There comes a time when we move on from one place in our lives to another place in our lives. We put away our toys. We leave home taking our books and pencils, our clothing, and our food, our mothers cry, we meet new people, we make new friends, we leave behind pets, our fathers give us words of advice and we walk out that front door into a new world. I speak, of course, of the end of childhood and the beginning of kindergarten or pre-school.
And the same thing happens when we graduate from high school and again when we graduate from college. A chapter in the book of our life closes, our mothers’ cry, our fathers give us words of advice, and we move onto a new life.
Graduation day.
Jesus’ disciples had a graduation day.
It was Thursday evening of Passover Week in Jerusalem. The disciples had assembled in a large upper room in a wealthy person’s home – whose home it was remains a mystery. It was like a private dining room, the lamb had been roasted, flat, unleavened bread was baked, red wine was ready, and perhaps some other foods were present – bitter herbs, brown roasted eggs, green herbs, an charoset, a mixture of fruit and nuts and honey that looked like mortar and tasted wonderful.
Jesus started the evening differently, for He took off his outer garments and then washed his disciples feet of the dust and dried animal dung that accumulated on feet walking in Jerusalem in those days, when donkeys and sheep and goats and dogs walked through the streets in a world before cars and trucks. Jesus washed his students feet of all that grime that evening, for He had a key lesson He still needed to teach, the lesson that the disciples should act as the lowliest servants for each other. If Jesus, the teacher, would stoop so low as to act like the lowliest slave for the sake of his students, perhaps they would also remember and do the same for each other – and their students someday.
They gathered around a table for dinner, not seated as we do these days, but lying on low couches and blankets spread on the floor. And they began the ceremony, speaking of the food that was present and remembering the ancient meaning, but when they got to the bread, Jesus changed things.
He said, “This is my body which is broken for you. Eat this. Every time you eat bread, remember me.”
And then, when the third cup came, the cup of Redemption, he passed the cup and said, “This my blood which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, remember me.”
And the disciples must have looked at him as though he had grown a second head on his shoulders, right there beside his existing head. But they remembered…
And Jesus pointed out that one of them would betray him and soon Judas left the table in haste. Jesus pointed out that Peter would deny even knowing him that very night and Peter protested. But Jesus insisted that Peter would fail him, and before morning the disciples understood.
That evening, that dinner, was the disciple’s graduation donner. Jesus said many things to them that evening. Our John reading is just a portion of what they heard. Let’s look at it, for it gives us good advice whenever we move from one place in our lives to another place.
Jesus is speaking, beginning in John 14, verse 15:
“If you love me, keep my commands."
Where ever we are in this life, whether at home, at college, or in the workforce staring our own family, if you love Jesus, keep His commands. In this place you have learned about Jesus, you have learned many of His commands. Hopefully, we have all learned to love Jesus at least a little bit. Perhaps the hardest part of graduating is when we leave a place and have to recognize that even though we are not in this place, we still should follow the commands of Jesus, for if we love Jesus, we will show this by keeping His commands.
But why should we love Jesus?
In our world, for most of us, it is much easier to live properly when we are at home. At home, there are many people and forces operating upon us to keep us heading in the right direction. Mom and Dad are there with advice; they are also there with disapproval and perhaps punishment if we do stupid things that will harm us in the long term. More than anyone else, our family sets for us what our path in life will be – those who study such things tell us the best predictor of whether or not we will smoke is whether our parents smoke, the best predictor of whether or not we will drink or do drugs is whether our parents drink or do drugs, the best predictor of whether we will finish college is whether our parents finished college, the best predictor of our lifetime income is our parents’ income, the best predictor of our mental health is our parents’ mental health. And the list goes on and on and on. Those we love are the ones whose ways we will follow.
The Bible also talks of generational sin – sin that goes onward four or five generations. A family of murderers murder, a family of thieves steal, a family of abusers abuse. And so on. And there is one key way to stop generational sin: to follow Jesus, to love Jesus more than the ways of our family, to follow Jesus rather than those members of the family that are trapped by that generational sin. Jesus can break the bonds of that sin, He can set us free from the demons of our family, He will give us a clean break – if we will love Him and follow His commands. He will set us free.
But it is not enough to be set free. Once we are free from our slavery, we must know which way to turn on a daily basis. And so Jesus gives us help…
He says:
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
As the disciples moved onto a new life without the physical presence of Jesus, they learned to listen to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit walked with them… and if you’ve been baptized, the Holy Spirit walks with you, as a counselor, an adviser, a teacher who will never lead you down the wrong path.
You may have noticed that we always repeat the same prayer here before we begin our scripture readings.
Holy Father, This is Your Word for my life at this time and in this
place. Today I am a new creation in Christ, and I believe that He has a Purpose
for my life. Open my heart to the working of Your Word and Your Holy Spirit,
that I may be transformed into Your new creation. Amen
That prayer is largely drawn from The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren. Part of that prayer is a request that our hearts be open to the working of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit. We would all do well to remember this prayer and repeat it whenever we open our Bibles, whenever we prepare to listen to scripture, whenever we jump on biblegateway.com – which has many different Bible translations and can bring the Word of God immediately into your presence if you have your computer or smartphone with you.
For we want to be changed for the better by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We naturally make mistakes, walk down blind alleys, meet up with the wrong friends, and generally fall off the path to holiness. The Word of God and the Holy Spirit lead us back to the path of Holiness – if we remain open to their working and guidance.
St Augustine, perhaps the wisest of the church fathers, said he thought of sin as "wandering far from home". If you want to avoid sin, if you want an abundant and joyful life, if you want eternal life, follow the Word of God and the Holy Spirit back to home. Even though you may be on the other side of the planet, even though you may be in the most terrible trouble, even though you may have fallen into the most horrible sin, the Word and the Spirit can always lead you home.
Never believe that Jesus has left you or given up on you. That is one of Satan's favorite lies. Jesus said:
"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
We all go to places where we feel we are alone – at least at first glance. We all feel alone when we sit down at a test, we all feel alone when we go for an interview, we all feel alone when we are facing death - our's or a loved one's. Yet Christ is there with us, the Holy Spirit walks beside us, and the Word of God is in our head in a Universe which has been made by God the Father, who loves us. No matter how far we wander from home, the Three–in-One God is there. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.
Because they loved Jesus and followed His commands, the disciples have changed the world through the power of the Holy Spirit. Our world is much better than the world of the Roman Empire, the world which crucified the early Christians and fed them to lions, a world without hospitals, a world without surgeons, a world without food pantries and clothes closets and orphanages and many other forms of charity. But there are many problems still remaining in this world…drug addiction, hopelessness, violence, greed. Sin is still present…but now we have hope, for each of us who believes in Christ, who loves Jesus, who follows His commands …including the command to make more disciples and baptize them…is blessed. We shall live eternally, free from the shackles of sin, led by our great teacher, Jesus Christ, into a new way of living.
But we have to graduate. Someday, we have to graduate.
Eleven of the twelve disciples graduated. One did not. Judas did not love Jesus but only saw the worldly benefits of following Jesus….for a while, then Judas chose thirty pieces of silver over Jesus. And then, Judas betrayed Him. And so Judas failed.
The other eleven graduated between that evening, that Last Supper, and the Ascension that came a month later. They stopped being disciples, which means students – and became apostles, which means “Those who go out and proclaim.” After three years, they graduated.
Most of us have been listening to men and women teach about Christ for many years – many years more than three. I’ve been teaching you for almost four years.
When will you graduate?
When will you begin to bring the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ to other people?
I know a man who studied history for six years in college. He works as a waiter. Although he put in the time to earn two degrees in his subject area – and knows much about world history – he does not do anything with his knowledge of history. No one is made the better for his knowledge, no one gains anything, the world is not improved by his knowledge, for he does not share it with anyone.
It reminds me of a story I once heard about the Amish farmers. The Amish operate their farms the old-fashioned way – they have both animals and plants on their farms. The plants feed the animals and the people, while the animals have a product that fertilizes the land for the plants. We call it manure.
It seems there was a farmer who collected manure. He had many animals who made the manure and the farmer made a huge manure pile. He was constantly talking about how large his pile of manure was, and it continued to grow, because he did not spread his manure pile over the rest of his land, he did not spread it to fertilize the land for his crops. And so after a couple of years, his crops began to do poorly even as his manure pile continued to grow. His land grew unproductive, rundown, and dying. Eventually, he went bankrupt, for he had no crops to sell – but he had the largest pile of manure in the county.
Knowledge – particularly the knowledge of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit – is like manure. It does little good when it is kept in a pile. The man or woman who spreads the Word of God throughout their neighborhood fertilizes their neighborhood with goodness, with niceness, with joy. The ones who hoard the Word, like the farmer who hoarded manure, eventually find their neighborhood to be rundown, unproductive, and dying.
Graduate, my friends! Graduate from disciple to apostle!
Here’s something that might show us what graduation can mean…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B6K-TIoYqk
That is one way a group of people can graduate from disciples to apostles. You know, it is very difficult to be an apostle and remain inside a church building.
Take the Word of God, take what you have learned and become apostles. There are churches suffering around the state because there are not enough pastors. Two-thirds of the people in this county do not have a home church. There are thousands of children and youth in this county that have no idea who Jesus Christ is. Ask them and see the vague answers you get. You can teach them and proclaim the Gospel and the Word of God!
The entire world is suffering for lack of the fertilizer that is the Word of God.
Today, I’d like to ask you to speak with God. I’d like you to ask God to show you what you should do with your knowledge from years in church, your wisdom learned over the decades, your understanding of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit that has been hard-won. I’d like you to ask God how you and some friends could make a real difference in this world.
And then, contact me, visit me, or see me or your pastor to discuss how you, with God’s help, can accomplish the ministry that God has asked you to accomplish.
Would you pray today and ask the Lord of Creation to give you a vision for what you are to do?
For we want to be changed for the better by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We naturally make mistakes, walk down blind alleys, meet up with the wrong friends, and generally fall off the path to holiness. The Word of God and the Holy Spirit lead us back to the path of Holiness – if we remain open to their working and guidance.
St Augustine, perhaps the wisest of the church fathers, said he thought of sin as "wandering far from home". If you want to avoid sin, if you want an abundant and joyful life, if you want eternal life, follow the Word of God and the Holy Spirit back to home. Even though you may be on the other side of the planet, even though you may be in the most terrible trouble, even though you may have fallen into the most horrible sin, the Word and the Spirit can always lead you home.
Never believe that Jesus has left you or given up on you. That is one of Satan's favorite lies. Jesus said:
"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
We all go to places where we feel we are alone – at least at first glance. We all feel alone when we sit down at a test, we all feel alone when we go for an interview, we all feel alone when we are facing death - our's or a loved one's. Yet Christ is there with us, the Holy Spirit walks beside us, and the Word of God is in our head in a Universe which has been made by God the Father, who loves us. No matter how far we wander from home, the Three–in-One God is there. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.
Because they loved Jesus and followed His commands, the disciples have changed the world through the power of the Holy Spirit. Our world is much better than the world of the Roman Empire, the world which crucified the early Christians and fed them to lions, a world without hospitals, a world without surgeons, a world without food pantries and clothes closets and orphanages and many other forms of charity. But there are many problems still remaining in this world…drug addiction, hopelessness, violence, greed. Sin is still present…but now we have hope, for each of us who believes in Christ, who loves Jesus, who follows His commands …including the command to make more disciples and baptize them…is blessed. We shall live eternally, free from the shackles of sin, led by our great teacher, Jesus Christ, into a new way of living.
But we have to graduate. Someday, we have to graduate.
Eleven of the twelve disciples graduated. One did not. Judas did not love Jesus but only saw the worldly benefits of following Jesus….for a while, then Judas chose thirty pieces of silver over Jesus. And then, Judas betrayed Him. And so Judas failed.
The other eleven graduated between that evening, that Last Supper, and the Ascension that came a month later. They stopped being disciples, which means students – and became apostles, which means “Those who go out and proclaim.” After three years, they graduated.
Most of us have been listening to men and women teach about Christ for many years – many years more than three. I’ve been teaching you for almost four years.
When will you graduate?
When will you begin to bring the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ to other people?
I know a man who studied history for six years in college. He works as a waiter. Although he put in the time to earn two degrees in his subject area – and knows much about world history – he does not do anything with his knowledge of history. No one is made the better for his knowledge, no one gains anything, the world is not improved by his knowledge, for he does not share it with anyone.
It reminds me of a story I once heard about the Amish farmers. The Amish operate their farms the old-fashioned way – they have both animals and plants on their farms. The plants feed the animals and the people, while the animals have a product that fertilizes the land for the plants. We call it manure.
It seems there was a farmer who collected manure. He had many animals who made the manure and the farmer made a huge manure pile. He was constantly talking about how large his pile of manure was, and it continued to grow, because he did not spread his manure pile over the rest of his land, he did not spread it to fertilize the land for his crops. And so after a couple of years, his crops began to do poorly even as his manure pile continued to grow. His land grew unproductive, rundown, and dying. Eventually, he went bankrupt, for he had no crops to sell – but he had the largest pile of manure in the county.
Knowledge – particularly the knowledge of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit – is like manure. It does little good when it is kept in a pile. The man or woman who spreads the Word of God throughout their neighborhood fertilizes their neighborhood with goodness, with niceness, with joy. The ones who hoard the Word, like the farmer who hoarded manure, eventually find their neighborhood to be rundown, unproductive, and dying.
Graduate, my friends! Graduate from disciple to apostle!
Here’s something that might show us what graduation can mean…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B6K-TIoYqk
That is one way a group of people can graduate from disciples to apostles. You know, it is very difficult to be an apostle and remain inside a church building.
Take the Word of God, take what you have learned and become apostles. There are churches suffering around the state because there are not enough pastors. Two-thirds of the people in this county do not have a home church. There are thousands of children and youth in this county that have no idea who Jesus Christ is. Ask them and see the vague answers you get. You can teach them and proclaim the Gospel and the Word of God!
The entire world is suffering for lack of the fertilizer that is the Word of God.
Today, I’d like to ask you to speak with God. I’d like you to ask God to show you what you should do with your knowledge from years in church, your wisdom learned over the decades, your understanding of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit that has been hard-won. I’d like you to ask God how you and some friends could make a real difference in this world.
And then, contact me, visit me, or see me or your pastor to discuss how you, with God’s help, can accomplish the ministry that God has asked you to accomplish.
Would you pray today and ask the Lord of Creation to give you a vision for what you are to do?
No comments:
Post a Comment