“When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. ² And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. ³ They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” ⁴ When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. ⁵ As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. ⁶ But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. ⁷ But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” ⁸ So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”

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Easter, April 8, 2012
Mark 16:1-8, Telling the Easter Story
Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church

Telling the Easter Story from BBC Staff on Vimeo.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 21:43 — 19.9MB)

The message of Easter doesn’t change from year to year. When this morning comes around we remember again, regardless of what is happening in the world that might tempt us to believe otherwise, that God is able to bring hope where there is despair, joy where there is grief, love where there is indifference, trust where there is fear, new life where there is death.

The women who come to the tomb in Mark 16 are not only grieving as some of us are today who have lost a loved one, but they are in the shock that comes in the first days of grief and loss because a relatively young person they love was killed in an act of violence. Today there are too many grieving people who find themselves in a similar place as these women. All throughout our nation and indeed the world – families of little children, teenagers, and adults are mourning the loss of loved ones who were killed by acts of violence. The women we meet that first Easter morning can relate to those who are grieving such losses.

While some of their names are probably unfamiliar to us, what do we know about these grieving women who came to the tomb – Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and Salome?

In Mark 15:40 we see that they are present at a distance when Jesus is dying on the cross which tells us they have the courage to risk being publicly associated with Christ. Do we have similar courage to be publicly associated with Jesus in our time?

In Mark 15:41 we learn that the women, followed Jesus and provided for his needs when he was in Galilee. They have not just been casual observers in the crowd. They have committed themselves to following Jesus, serving him, and providing resources to support his ministry. Have we committed ourselves to following Jesus, seeking to serve him and sharing our resources to support the Lord’s work today?

In Mark 15:47 we discover they stayed long enough after Jesus died to see Joseph of Arimathea take down Christ’s body and they went to see the tomb where Joseph placed the remains. They care enough to stay to the end. Sometimes it isn’t possible for us to do that after someone has died, but I know how much it means to families when people come to a service and stay to go to a reception to greet the family and share their love and support. These women stay.

And in this morning’s scripture in Mark 16:1-2 the women are portrayed as going to the tomb at the first possible moment on Sunday morning to anoint Jesus’ body. In all these snapshots we see the women are examples of a desperately needed virtue in our world today – compassion.

Sharing God’s compassion and love is the primary way of living out our faith. As the women went to Jesus’ tomb early in the morning on the first day of the week, the question foremost in their minds was who would roll away the large stone blocking the entrance to the tomb so they could anoint Jesus’ dead body. They are worrying about who will roll away the stone for them because that obstacle is too large for them to move on their own, but when they arrive God has already taken care of it. Often times in life we spend many wasted hours worrying about things that never take place or that we never have to face. God has gone before us and cleared the path, made a way, or rolled away the stone.  This is a lesson of Easter morning that is often overlooked in the amazing news of Jesus’ resurrection, but it is a very important thing to remember. Rather than worrying about how we will roll away stones that are so large and heavy and seemingly immovable and getting all stressed out about it and putting pressure on ourselves to figure it out, we’re invited to learn from the women’s experience to trust God for our future.

Hannah Whitall Smith author of The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, wrote, “Most Christians are like a man who was toiling along the road, bending under a heavy burden, when a wagon overtook him, and the driver kindly offered to help him on his journey. He joyfully accepted the offer, but when seated, continued to bend beneath his burden, which he still kept on his shoulders. “Why do you not lay down your burden?” asked the kind-hearted driver. “Oh!” replied the man, “I feel that it is almost too much to ask you to carry me, and I could not think of letting you carry my burden too.” And so Christians, who have given themselves into the care and keeping of the Lord Jesus, still continue to bend beneath the weight of their burden, and often go weary and heavy-laden throughout the whole length of their journey.”

The women are acting in love and devotion in going to the tomb, but they are burdened with worry about the stone blocking their path. Yet God has already gone ahead of them, even as God goes ahead of us to prepare the way for us when are seeking to live in faith and obedience. If you have a stone you’re worried about rolling away this morning, I encourage you to release your burden to God and trust the Mighty One to roll it away for you.

The women are shocked not only that the stone has been rolled away but also to discover a young man robed in white who tells them not to be alarmed and then shares the unbelievable news about Jesus of Nazareth, “He has been raised; he is not here.”  The women are charged to tell the other disciples that Jesus will meet them in Galilee, just as he told them. This reminder from the messenger is meant to assure the women that Jesus had already told them what was to happen before he was crucified. Verse 8 records their response to this incomprehensible experience, “So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”

We can understand being afraid, I’d be pretty shook up meeting a divine messenger in the early morning light of a cemetery where my loved one was supposed to be buried, wouldn’t you? The late Dr. Ken McFarland told the story of a man who worked on the 4:00 p.m. to midnight shift at a factory, and he always walked home after work. One night the moon was shining so bright, like it was the last few nights, he decided to take a shortcut through the cemetery, which would save him a half-mile walk. It went smoothly so he began to make the shortcut through the cemetery his regular route. One night he was strolling through the cemetery, unaware that during the day a grave had been dug in the center of his path. He stepped right into the grave and immediately started desperately trying to get out. His best efforts failed him, and after a few minutes, he decided to relax and wait until morning when someone would help him out.

He sat down in the corner and was half asleep when a drunken man stumbled into the same grave. His arrival woke up the shift worker since the drunk was desperately trying to climb out of the dark grave, clawing at its sides. The worker reached out his hand to calm the frightened man. Touching him on the leg he said, “Friend, you can’t get out of here…” but he did! It is amazing what we can do when we’re motivated.

I imagine the women fleeing from the tomb with the same speed as the drunken man in that story. Give the women credit. They are the last at the cross, the first at the tomb, and they are still looking for ways to serve Jesus. They are not portrayed as hiding in a room or going fishing to forget their troubles like some other disciples we could name. The women had the courage to go to the tomb but they fled in trembling fear and ecstasy.

There is something about Mark’s resurrection story that distinguishes it from our memories of Easter and from the other gospels. I’ll give you a hint, someone is missing and it isn’t the Easter Bunny. No Jesus!  In Matthew, Luke, and John, Jesus appears to the women or the other disciples to take away their fear and doubt and to give final instructions.  But Mark ends literally almost in mid-sentence and there is no appearance of the risen Jesus following the report of the young man that Jesus has been raised. A good study Bible will make plain in its notes that Mark’s gospel ended at verse 8. The verses that come after are a later addition. Mark ends like an interactive, unfinished story and we are invited to write the next chapter.

We are invited and challenged to become part of God’s plan to tell others the Easter story. The messenger told the women, “go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee, there you will see him, just as he told you.”  The message for them and for us is this: Jesus goes before us, just as he told us. Jesus goes ahead and to see him we need to keep trusting his word and keep moving forward in life. In the command of the messenger lies the promise of forgiveness, hope, and new life.

The promise of forgiveness is that Jesus doesn’t give up on us when we fail. That is why Peter is specifically mentioned. He was the leader among the disciples and the one who denied Jesus three times. Yet Jesus is looking forward to seeing him in Galilee as well. Peter will be forgiven. Forgiveness gives people second chances.  Even when we have failed Jesus, he still goes on before us telling us what to do next on our journey of life and faith, if we’re ready to resume following him with all our heart.  Part of the hope of Easter is a fresh start and renewed purpose for disciples who have denied and betrayed Jesus. We can betray our friend Jesus in many ways: when we give in to the pressures of temptations and trials, when we have spoken words or made decisions that contradict who God calls us to be; when we have forsaken our commitments, neglected the poor, ignored the lost, or failed to devote our time and resources to matters of eternal consequence.

Jesus knows how his disciples fail him then and now, yet he still goes before us, inviting us to meet him and to resume the journey together. The messenger knows who the women are looking for – they are looking for Jesus.  Who or what are you looking for today?  Where are you looking for answers to life’s most important questions? A man went to a fortuneteller, hoping that she would be able to look into her crystal ball and make some stock market or lottery predictions.  “My fee,” said the fortuneteller, “is $100. For that amount you may ask two questions.”  The client winced and said, “Wow, isn’t that a lot of money for just two questions?”  “Yes,” the fortuneteller replied.  “What’s your second question?” 

This is a year when many of us have questions about the meaning and purpose of life. We need to hear the Easter message that God can bring resurrection out of crucifixion, hope out of hopelessness, joy out of sorrow, purpose out of a lack of direction. For Mark, the joy of Easter, comes when we share the good news of the resurrection. God can use anybody – frightened women fleeing an empty tomb or even you and me. We can be scared and still act with compassion, faith, and courage.  Courage is doing the right thing in spite of our fear. God can use us regardless of our fears, weaknesses and faults.

We are blessed to know how the story ends for Jesus, He has been raised, and he is exalted.

How will it end for us and for others God wants us to tell?  “He has been raised; he is not here,” is the message from the angel that gives new hope to all of us.  Even and especially to those who are grieving.

Like the women, may we have courage to risk being publicly associated with Christ.

Like them may we commit our selves to following Jesus, serving him, and providing resources to support his ministry.

Like the women may we experience God moving away stones that we’re worried about so that they are no longer barriers or obstacles for God’s future for us.

May God grant us faith to continue our life following Jesus as we tell others the good news that Christ is risen.

Prayer (adapted from a prayer by Joyce Rupp)

Risen One,
Come, meet us
In the garden of our lives.

Lure us into elation.
Revive our silent hope.
Coax our dormant dreams.
Raise up our neglected gratitude.
Entice our tired enthusiasm.
Give life to our faltering relationships.
Roll back the stone of our indifference.
Unwrap the deadness in our spiritual lives.
Risen One, Send us forth as disciples of your unwavering love,
messengers of your unlimited joy.

Resurrected One, May we become Ever more convinced
That your presence lives on, And on, and on.  Amen

Blessing:

Go now as God’s chosen witnesses to testify that Christ has been raised and that we are raised with him.

Do not look for him among the dead, but be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

And may God raise you from all that would entomb and bury you;

May Christ call you by name and go ahead of you;

And may the Holy Spirit empower you for all that is good.

Let us depart in peace and joy to love and serve the Lord.

In the name of Christ, Amen.

One thing that is not new to the human experience is suffering; it has always been a part of life. Suffering, hardship, pain, grief, and the sometimes unspeakable things that human beings do to other people, have always been part of human history. They have also been part of causing people to question or doubt the existence or God or led some people who had faith to stop trusting in and believing in God.

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April 1, 2012
Isaiah 50:4-10, Mark 11:1-11, Relying on God
Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church

Relying on God from BBC Staff on Vimeo.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 22:04 — 20.2MB)

Teresa of Ávila, the sixteenth century mystical writer, knew about suffering. In a particularly difficult moment of her life she was forced to cross a river while sick with fever. She raised her voice of complaint heavenward, “Lord, amid so many ills this comes on top of all the rest!” A voiced responded, “This is how I treat my friends.” “Ah, my God!” Teresa retorted, “That is why you have so few of them!”[1] Some may feel it is in the fine print of the Christian contract, but following Jesus is anything but safe. In C.S. Lewis’s story The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, there is a description of Aslan, the lion, who is the Christ figure in the story. Mr. Beaver says, “Safe? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” Jesus is good but he is also one who suffers, which means even if following him at times isn’t safe, we can trust him and rely on him.

A prophecy of Isaiah puts a sharp question to those who hear it, “Will you identify yourself with the suffering One?” For some of us who have not had to suffer at all in our lives that question may cause some hesitation. For others, who have endured suffering, the idea that in our suffering we can better identify with Jesus and what he went through can help us grow closer to him and to those who are suffering. “Will you identify yourself with the suffering One?” This is the driving question of the fiftieth chapter of Isaiah. Listen to Isaiah 50:4-10,

“The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens— wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. 5 The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward. 6 I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting.

7 The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced;

therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; 8 he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me.

9 It is the Lord God who helps me; who will declare me guilty?

All of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.

10 Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant,

who walks in darkness and has no light,

yet trusts in the name of the Lord and relies upon his God?”

Today’s scripture, on this Palm Sunday, prepares us for the torturous and difficult journey that Jesus will take and that we are about to take with him as we begin Holy Week. Like the disciples, our senses and hopes are disoriented. The Messiah we expected, triumphant and glorious, displays his triumph and glory in the paradox of suffering. Is this our Savior? Is this the one we expected to redeem Zion? Who wants to suffer, not anyone I know. It will take time to reorient ourselves toward God’s redemptive plan. It will take Easter for us to see that God fulfills his promises in the ways the Mighty One wants. But we are not there yet. Our text for the day from Isaiah, bring us to the third of what are called the “servant songs.”

In Isaiah 50 we see for the first time the depiction of the servant’s suffering and affliction. It is important to note that the Lord God or the Sovereign Lord has been with the servant through it all; he has taught him, sustained him, opened his ears to hear and understand. Note the things the Lord God has done for the servant: “The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.” Jesus spoke with authority. People enjoyed listening to him. His mind was submitted to the Lord God so that He could learn His Word and His will (50:4). Luke (2:52) tells us Jesus grew in wisdom and John says that everything Jesus said and did was taught to Him by His Father (John 5:19, 30; 6:38; 8:28). He prayed to the Father for guidance (John 11:42; Mark 1:35) and meditated on the Word. What God taught the Servant, the Servant shared with those who needed encouragement and help. The Servant sets a good example here for all who know the importance of a daily “quiet time” with the Lord. Jesus frequently took time alone to pray – sometimes early in the morning, sometimes late at night, occasionally by the shore, other times in the mountains. He tried to hear and follow God’s will all the way to the Garden of Gethsemane.

The Lord God “has opened my ear” and the servant listens as those who are taught. The Servant’s will was yielded to the Lord God. An “opened ear” is one that hears and obeys the voice of the master. The people to whom Isaiah ministered were neither “willing” nor “obedient” (Isaiah 1:19), but the Servant gladly did the will of the Lord God. For Jesus this was not easy, it meant yielding His body to wicked men who mocked Him, whipped Him, spat on Him, and then nailed Him to a cross (Matt. 26:67; 27:26, 30).

Twice, the servant in Isaiah states, “The Lord helps me.” He says, I’ve not been disgraced and no one will declare him guilty. The Servant did all of this by faith in the Lord God (Isa. 50:7–11). Jesus was determined to do God’s will even if it meant going to a cross (Luke 9:51; John 18:1–11). He knew that the Lord God would help him. The Servant was falsely accused, but He knew that God would vindicate Him and eventually put His enemies to shame. Keep in mind that when Jesus Christ was ministering here on earth, He had to live by faith even as we must today. He did not use His divine powers selfishly for Himself but trusted God and depended on the power of the Spirit. Verses 10–11 of Isaiah 50 are addressed especially to the Jewish remnant, but they have an application to us today. God’s faithful ones were perplexed at what the Lord God was doing, but He assured them that their faith would not go unrewarded. It’s been said, “Never doubt in the dark what God has told you in the light.”

The servant is prepared for what comes by the hand of God. Because of this, he turns his face like a flint to his tormenters, just as Jesus turned his face to go to Jerusalem. While Judah in Isaiah is defined by rebellion (see Isaiah 1), the servant is defined by his obedience. He did not turn backward. He moved forward in the confidence of God, his sustainer and teacher. Like Teresa, however, the servant was not spared suffering in this moment. He is no Daniel sleeping comfortably on a lion’s mane. The servant enters deeply into the river of suffering.

The servant does this because of his confidence in the vindication of God. Accusers and tormenters may abound. Nevertheless, the servant places his hopes and trust in God alone. Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning. “Good” is still the right modifier for Good Friday because of the redemptive hopes attached to Jesus’ suffering and death. Friday, yes, but the clarifying word of Easter is coming.

The picture of Jesus in John’s gospel reflects the force of this third servant song. Jesus moves to the cross in the confident assurance of his Father. The Father’s teaching has instructed and sustained Jesus as we hear in John 12:27-28,  “And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.”. The final moments on the cross witness to Jesus’ confidence. When Jesus knew that all had been accomplished, he cried out, “It is finished” and bowed his head and gave up his spirit (John 19:30). The picture is of Jesus, God’s servant, confident in the will and ways of his Father for the redemption of the world and in the hope of his vindication.

Isaiah 50 ends with a pointed question: “Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant?” Many of us are familiar with the images of this third servant song and how it sounds like the experience of Jesus. But the final question is a difficult one. Who will obey and identify themselves with this suffering figure? That requires some serious thinking and reflection. Paul wrote of his goal in life; “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”  (Philippians 3:10-11). What about us?

During this Palm Sunday we are invited once again to reconsider and reorient the way we think about our own humanity. How do I define myself as a person? During this Holy Week, Isaiah the prophet, encourages us to identify with Jesus Christ, the suffering servant savior. Paul tells us our true self is the one that is in union with Jesus (Galatians 2:20), and during this Holy Week we are called once again to walk into the realization of that union by identifying ourselves in obedience with One who is, was, and is to come.

Following Jesus isn’t safe. But we can be assured the one we follow is worthy and we can trust and rely on him, even when life is at its most challenging. A friend of mine wrote the following about trusting God in life’s toughest moments:

“Trusting God… is sometimes walking in the dark or even being still in the dark… when it feels like hope is distant. Dark is loud and holds us tightly… trusting God is doing what we can to take care of ourselves even when we don’t care… and we are too tired. Trusting God is opening our hand just enough that God can take hold, like a child would when afraid and not letting go. Trusting God is taking a risk and sharing our pain with someone… letting it out. Trusting God is seeking his presence every day, whether the darkness seems to get brighter , or not. Trusting God is gratitude for the rain. Trusting God is saying aloud, “He is with me”. Trusting God is opening up the blinds or shades and letting the day begin. Trusting God is trusting your caretakers, doctors, therapists, trusting God is taking action steps when you want to throw the blankets over your head and stay in bed. Trusting God is taking a risk… and allowing yourself to feel. God can help you with all of those feelings. Trusting God is looking for colors… when it feels black and dark. Trusting God is a daily choice.”

In his wonderful book, The Gift of Peace, the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin reflected on his life goal, which was a prayer to God– “to let go of self and trust in you.”  This is precisely what Jesus did and what we are supposed to do.  The central event that creates, nourishes, and matures our community of faith is an act of humble, obedient service by Jesus. God sent Jesus, the gift of love, to earth in a lowly and humble way when he was born in a manger and grew up like every child.

Mark says on that first Palm Sunday, Jesus the Messiah came silently, humbly, and courageously into Jerusalem on a colt, willing to suffer and rely on and trust in the Lord God, offering to those who would receive him:

Love that is stronger than death,

Forgiveness greater than all our sin, and

Joy in the midst of our stress and strain, and grief and pain.

Let us pray that through this week we may share in Christ’s suffering, dying and rising.

Prayer

Almighty God, in your tender love towards us you sent your Son to take our nature upon him, and to suffer death upon the cross; grant that we may follow the example of his great humility and share in his glorious resurrection:
through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and for ever. Amen.

Many people enjoy following the men’s college basketball tournament that continues this weekend. Amazingly approximately $6 billion dollars is wagered on March Madness. If you watch the players closely, many of them talk a lot on the court. There is a lot of trash talking and boasting that goes on. This type of behavior is nothing new, in fact, there are dozens and dozens of verses in the Bible about boasting, David and Goliath’s exchange perhaps setting the standard for biblical boasting and trash talking but it’s hardly the only one.

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March 25, 2012
Jeremiah 9:23-24, Delighting God
Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church

Delighting God from BBC Staff on Vimeo.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:43 — 19.0MB)

In 1 Kings 20, King Ben-hadad of Aram was threatening Israel and making all kinds of demands for plunder and treasure including the fairest wives and children belonging to King Ahab of Israel. As many people still do today, Ben-hadad really began to boast and get himself in trouble when he was drunk. Ahab’s reply is a classic (1 Kings 20:11), “Tell him: One who puts on armor should not brag like one who takes it off.”  In other words, don’t boast about what you’re going to do, wait until you’ve actually done it.

The prophet Jeremiah is not known for his boasting – a brief look at his background helps us understand why. Jeremiah was born 645 years before Christ and became involved in public life at the age of twenty-two. His ministry and teaching reflect the influence of the prophets Hosea, Isaiah, and Amos.  Forbidden by God to marry or have children, his truth-telling made him enemies and he had only a few loyal friends. He spent more than a decade of his life in prison, and he died in exile in Egypt at the age of sixty. In just the first three verses of the Book of Jeremiah we learn a lot about him. Jeremiah was the “son of Hilkiiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin.” Elie Wiesel explains what is revealed in these brief words about Jeremiah’s family background. “Poverty and sadness dominate the homes of Benjamin, whose tribe fared the worst of all the twelve tribes during the partitioning of the land under Joshua. Their territory was narrow and long and dry; no fields, no trees, no fruit. Nothing but desert winds and heat waves.  Even worse was the lot of those who dwelt in the village of Anathoth, some four miles outside of Jerusalem. Its inhabitants were priests of a special kind, notorious for the curse that lay upon them for some four hundred years: they were not allowed to officiate in the Temple. Without knowing why, they were forbidden to discharge their hereditary duties. Thus Jeremiah was a victim of injustice by virtue of his origin. He remained a victim. In fact, he became everybody’s favorite victim: God’s, Israel’s, Babylon’s – and Egypt’s as well. There was no joy in his life, ever. No pleasant surprises, no warmth, no smiles, nothing but sorrow, anguish, and tears. Words of woe and anger – words he was made to speak against his will.”^[1]

Jeremiah was better known for his crying than boasting. At one point he said, “Oh, that my head were water, my eyes a fountain of tears, then I would weep day and night for the slain of my poor people.”  Jeremiah was called and compelled to speak God’s truth in a time of falsehood and that is a difficult job. The word “falsehood” appears 72 times in the Bible, half of them in the Book of Jeremiah. The Book of Jeremiah begins with the prophet in Jerusalem proclaiming God’s unwavering faithfulness and the people’s unfaithfulness. From the least to the greatest, everyone was greedy for unjust gain, seeking to climb the economic ladder even if it meant lying, cheating, being unjust and taking advantage of the poor. All of those things are still issues today. Religious and political leaders declared it was a time of peace and prosperity, when the nation was in fact, in grave danger. Jeremiah said that the unwillingness of the leaders to face the truth of their nation’s situation would be devastating. Sadly, their failure led to a destructive invasion that saw the city of Jerusalem and the temple left a pile of smoky ruins. God’s description of the unrepentant people uninterested in a relationship with their Creator is summed up in Jeremiah 4:22,

“For my people are foolish, they do not know me;

they are stupid children, they have no understanding.

They are skilled in doing evil, but do not know how to do good.”

I doubt any of us would want God to describe us as foolish, not knowing the Lord, stupid, without understanding, skilled at evil, but ignorant of how to do good.  Actually, we wouldn’t want anyone describing us that way! Sadly, though, that is how a lot of people today would be described, just as in Jeremiah’s day. God provides people with a different option, an option that is desperately needed, an option described in today’s scripture,

“Thus says the Lord: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; but let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the Lord; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth for in these things I delight.”

The Lord contrasts boasting in wisdom, might, or riches with boasting in understanding and knowing the Lord and the love, justice, and righteousness that delight God. The roar of wisdom, might, and riches can easily drown out the softer tones of love, justice, and righteousness. This is especially true when wars are raging or violence is spreading.

If ever there was a time to remember that our ultimate security lies not in wisdom, might, or wealth, but in knowing the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, it is now. In the news this week there has been one tragedy after another. On Monday in Toulouse, France a gunmen killed a young rabbi and three children outside a school. In Syria there is continued bloodshed in the fighting between the government and their own people. On Friday, a U.S. Army sergeant was formally charged with 17 counts of murder for killing eight adults and nine children in a pre-dawn shooting rampage in Afghanistan. In situations like these we need to ask what is going on that causes people to do things that are so incomprehensible. Each week brings more stories of violence, heartache, and death because human beings are not acting with the steadfast love, justice, and righteousness that delight God.

In the Gospel of Matthew at two of the saddest and most anguished moments at the beginning and the end of Jesus’ life (see Matthew 27:3-4), the Gospel writer turns to the words of Jeremiah, the prophet who was so well acquainted with heartache and tragedy. In Matthew 2:17, after King Herod ordered the death of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, the execution of that terrible order left many families in the depths of grief that only those who have lost a young child can understand.  Matthew wrote, “Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:  “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning,

Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted,

Because they are no more” (Jeremiah 31:15).

I have to confess that I have been disturbed not only by the tragedies I mentioned a moment ago, but also by the story of the death of 17-year-old Travon Martin in Sanford, Florida that has come into the national spotlight this week. I try to imagine how I would feel if my teenage son, walking in one of his hooded sweatshirts, minding his own business, had been followed and shot dead and his killer was known and not even arrested or charged. I would probably be weeping like Jeremiah and Rachel. It must be excruciating for Travon’s family. I also try to imagine how the family of the man who killed Trayvon, George Zimmerman, is coping with what has happened. I think about the seminar we had just two weeks ago about being peacemakers and drying the tears of Jesus. I’ve thought about what our response would be if either family was a part of our church or our community.

In times like these, we need to humbly seek the Lord. Sadly, the people of Jeremiah’s time would not follow his advice and they paid dearly for taking the wrong path. A week from today is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. There is more than a little resemblance between the life of Jeremiah and the life of Jesus. Matthew reports that some people even thought Jesus was Jeremiah come to life again (Matthew 16:14). God’s grace is so great that even when we are disobedient, God keeps trying to speak to us and direct us on the right path. As I shared last week, when God’s people failed to listen, God ultimately sent Jesus to make the way plain. Jesus called people who didn’t follow God’s good path “lost.” Jesus came to seek and to save the lost.  He came to help us find and stay on God’s path – the way of understanding and knowing the Lord who delights in steadfast love, justice, and righteousness. The challenge for Christians and the church in these days is significant. There is a great need for women and men who are dedicated to delighting God by living lives marked by steadfast love, justice, and righteousness. Such lives are not easy as Jeremiah and Jesus and so many other people have experienced, but the witness, power, and difference that such lives can make is immeasurable.

I pray that we can be people like that. While like Jeremiah and Jesus we hurt and weep with the grief and pain we witness in the world, let us also like them be committed to the Lord and being children of God who strive for steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in our lives.

Blessing:  Psalm 44:8, “In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever.” 

Over the last decade as American men and women have been serving and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan some of their funerals here in the United States have been protested by a small group of misguided people who are largely from one family. The fact that the leader of the group calls himself a pastor and his group a Baptist church saddens me because their message is one of hate. The word “hate” is even in their website address. To protest at a funeral is about the lowest and most insensitive thing I can imagine. Among the many lies and distortions this man has spoken, one of the worst is, “That God only loves those who repent from their sin.” This is totally false. The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 5:8, “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.”

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March 18, 2012
John 3:14-17, The Gospel in Miniature
Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church

The Gospel in Miniature from BBC Staff on Vimeo.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:43 — 18.1MB)

The words of John 3:16 are even more familiar to most of us than Romans. John 3:16 represents as Martin Luther, the spark of the Protestant Reformation said, “the gospel in miniature.” So many people have been exposed to harsh, judgmental, and false teaching in Jesus’ name that they have completely tuned out God, Christ, and the way of Jesus. So today I want to sum up the most important message in the Bible in a clear way so we all can understand it. This is a day when you may find it helpful to take a few notes to keep the key points in mind. Listen to John 3:14-17,  “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. ¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. ¹⁷ “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

If you’re going to write things down on the back of your bulletin begin with this: The Story of Love. The Bible is the story of God’s love for all creation.

Love Expressed in creation and in our creation. Love is experienced through relationships and God offers us relationship. In the Book of Genesis we learn humanity is made in the image of God that includes the fact that we’re made to be in relationship with God and with one another. Last Sunday we had a rose on the communion table to celebrate the birth of Ruth Ross’s first great-grandchild, Jacoby. We do that when a new life has come to a family in our church. Each new life is an expression of the Creator’s love and every life is offered the opportunity to know, love, and serve God. Though God always takes the initiative to express love to us, many of us don’t embrace that love when we first learn about it.

 

Love Rejected. Many of us reject and resist the love of our Creator. We resist accountability to God. We try to control our own lives and destinies, we reject relationship with God. This rejection is called sin. One of the saddest parts of the story of Adam and Eve is the Creator having to call after those who were created, asking, “Where are you?” The question lingers waiting for an answer for each individual, “Where are you?” God has made us, given us life, and offers us relationship, but we flee in pursuit of our own selfish ends and reject the love and longing for relationship that God expressed. The great Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky wrote in The Brothers Karamazov, “At some thoughts one stands perplexed, above all at the sight of human sin, and wonders whether to combat it by force or by humble love. Always decide ‘I will combat it by humble love.’ If you resolve on that once and for all, you can conquer the whole world. Loving humility is a terrible force: it is the strongest of all things, and there is nothing else like it.” This is what God set about to do – to combat human sin by humble love.

 

Love Restated Our rejection doesn’t stop God’s love. God’s love was restated in a completely new way in Jesus. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, it is now possible for all people to love God and others in restored relationships. This is what John’s Gospel is trying to make clear. John 3:16 represents The Greatest Love – For God so loved the world

The Greatest Gift – that he gave his only Son,

The Greatest Offer – So that everyone who believes in him

The Greatest Promise – May not perish but may have eternal life.

The gospel or good news is the story of a Creator’s love. It’s a story that began with the expression and rejection of God’s love. So God sent Jesus to represent divine love on earth, as Paul writes in Galatians 4:4-5, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children.”  Jesus did not come to condemn the world but to save the world. Jesus was willing to surrender his life in order that others might live, bear his name and carry on his work. Have you ever noticed that every time there is a significant earthquake in the world, stories of survival, sacrifice, and courage always emerge? In the town of Stepanavan, Armenia, there is a woman known as “Palasan’s wife.” She had her own name, of course, but townspeople called her by her husband’s name to show her great honor. In 1988 when a devastating earthquake struck Armenia, it was nearly noon, and Palasan was at work. He rushed to the elementary school where his son was a student. The facade was already crumbling, but he entered the building and began pushing children outside to safety. After Palasan had managed to help 28 children out, an after shock hit that completely collapsed the school building and killed him. So the people of Stepanavan honored his memory and his widow by calling her Palasan’s wife. Sometimes a person’s greatest honor is not who they are, but to whom they are related. The highest honor of any Christian is to be called a disciple of Jesus who laid down his life for all people. God’s love is expressed, rejected, and then restated in Jesus.

Love Accepted We can choose to give our lives to God’s love and direction. We can accept God’s offer of love and believe in and trust Jesus. When we acknowledge Jesus as our Savior and the Leader of our life, our past rejection is forgiven and we are set free to become who God created us to be. The offer is extended, but we still have to claim it. We have to believe and accept it. During the presidency of Andrew Jackson, George Wilson, a postal clerk, robbed a federal payroll from a train and in the process killed a guard. The court convicted him and sentenced him to hang. Because of public sentiment against capital punishment, however, a movement began to secure a presidential pardon for Wilson because it was his first offense, and eventually President Jackson intervened with a pardon. Amazingly, Wilson refused it. Since this had never happened before, the Supreme Court was asked to rule on whether someone could indeed refuse a presidential pardon. Chief Justice John Marshall handed down the court’s decision: “A pardon is a parchment whose only value must be determined by the receiver of the pardon. It has no value apart from that which the receiver gives to it. George Wilson has refused to accept the pardon. We cannot conceive why he would do so, but he has. Therefore, George Wilson must die.” George Wilson, as punishment for his crime, was hanged. Pardon, declared the Supreme Court, must not only be granted, it must be accepted. The same is true with God’s love for us – it is expressed and restated, but only we decide whether or not to accept the offer.

 

Love Empowered When we accept the offer of God’s love in Christ, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Through the Spirit we are included in the family of believers, enabled to produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, and we’re equipped with gifts to use in ministry and service. Believing in Jesus, empowered by the Spirit we live for God as children of the light and do deeds worthy of God. We no longer fear condemnation and even when we die we may do so with trust if we’ve accepted God’s love in Christ and live for Jesus. Steve Winger from Lubbock, Texas wrote about his last college test – a final in a logic class known for its difficult exams. “To help us on our test, the professor told us we could bring as much information as could fit on a piece of notebook paper. Most students crammed as many facts as possible on their 8 ½ x 11 inch sheet of paper. But one student walked into class, put a piece of notebook paper on the floor, and had an advanced logic student stand on the paper. The advanced logic student told him everything he needed to know. He was the only student to receive an “A.”

The ultimate final exam will come when we stand before the Almighty and our Creator asks, “Why should I let you in?” On our own we can’t pass that exam. Our attempts to earn eternal life fall far short. But we have someone who will “stand in” for us. Having accepted the offer of God’s love and believed in Jesus we can live with hope and confidence.

 

Love Obeyed We live as God’s children by worshipping with others in a local church, reading the Bible and praying, participating in a small group, being in a relationship of encouragement and accountability with another person, and by sharing God’s love with others through faithful and generous service to the world.

We need one another to truly know and experience the loving touch of God.

In the prologue to his book Leadership Jazz, Max DePree shares this story:

“Esther, my wife, and I have a granddaughter named Zoe, the Greek word for life. She was born prematurely and weighed one pound, seven ounces, so small that my wedding ring could slide up her arm to her shoulder. The neonatologist who examined her told us that she had a 5-10% chance of living three days. When Esther and I scrubbed up for our first visit and saw Zoe in her isolette in the neonatal intensive care unit, she two IVs in her navel, one in her foot, a monitor on each side of her chest, and a respirator tube and a feeding tube in her mouth.

To complicate matter, Zoe’s biological father had jumped ship the month before Zoe was born. Realizing this, a wise nurse named Ruth gave me my instructions. “For the next several months, at least, you’re the surrogate father. I want you to come to the hospital every day to visit Zoe, and when you come, I want you to rub her body and her legs and arms with the tip of your finger. While you’re caressing her, you should tell her over and over how much you love her, because she has to be able to connect your voice to your touch.”

Our Creator knew that we also needed both God’s voice and touch. So we were given not only the Word but the Son. God’s voice and touch say to us all how much we are loved. The world became estranged from its Creator and God sent the Son into the world to save it. Jesus is our link between heaven and earth. The death of Jesus reveals the fullness of God’s love for the world, the love that delivers people from death by bringing us into that relationship with God that is eternal life. Each of us has to decide what we’re going to do with Jesus.

Love Expressed, Love Rejected, Love Restated, Love Accepted, Love Empowered, Love Obeyed.

The Greatest Love – For God so loved the world

Gift – that he gave his only Son,

Offer – So that everyone who believes in him

Promise – May not perish but may have eternal life.

This is the story of God’s love for you. It is a serious offer of love. Don’t let it slip away.

Prayer by Saint Patrick

May the Strength of God guide us.
May the Power of God preserve us.
May the Wisdom of God instruct us.
May the Hand of God protect us.
May the Way of God direct us.
May the Shield of God defend us.
May the Angels of God guard us.
- Against the snares of the evil one.

May Christ be with us! May Christ be before us! May Christ be in us,
Christ be over all! May Thy (Love and) Grace, Lord, Always be ours,
This day, O Lord, and forevermore. Amen.

 

Irish Blessing

May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind always be at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

and rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Mark records fewer words of Jesus than any of the other Gospels. The first half of Mark (1:1-8:26) is about the person of Christ. Jesus moves through Galilee with power and compassion. He is almost constantly active and his growing popularity is met by growing opposition. Jesus is frequently telling people he has healed or helped to keep his identity hidden or secret (see Mark 1:34, 43; 3:12; 4:11; 5:43; 7:24, 36; 8:26, 30).

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March 4, 2012
Mark 8:31-38, Losing Your Life Before You Die
Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 23:15 — 21.3MB)

Then at Mark 8:31 where the Gospel for today begins, Mark commences the second half of his gospel which is about the purpose of Christ. We learn that the reason Jesus has been urging silence is because only he understands his destiny as a suffering servant who conquers through death. He will explain this to his disciples three times (8:27-33; 9:30-32; 10:32-45), but they will not understand fully until after the resurrection. Today’s passage includes the first prediction of Jesus’ passion – meaning his suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection. This passage is at the very heart and center of Mark’s gospel.

“Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³² He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³ But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”  ³⁴ He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

³⁵ For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.

³⁶ For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? ³⁷ Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? ³⁸ Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

The ancient tradition is that Mark’s gospel reflects the “memoirs” of Peter (who is mentioned 17 times) and that it appeared shortly after his martyrdom, at a time of great suffering among the Christians in Rome where the first great persecution of Christians had taken place in 64 A.D. under Emperor Nero. Mark appears to be written for a community that feels profoundly threatened and increasingly helpless. Mark doesn’t include any of Jesus’ teaching on discipleship until after this first explanation of his own suffering. The implication is the signs of genuine discipleship are the path of servanthood, suffering, and the cross that Jesus experienced. In Mark 8 Jesus gives the first of three predictions of his passion. All three of these passion predictions are misunderstood by the disciples. Their lack of comprehension gives Jesus the opportunity to teach them and us about the nature of discipleship.

Upon hearing Jesus talk openly about what was going to happen to him in Jerusalem, “Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.” The language here is like that of a parent taking a child who has misbehaved and of a superior correcting an inferior. Jesus looked at the other disciples and was concerned about their reaction to Peter’s words so he rebukes Peter in the strongest possible terms, ““Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Jesus says this because it is a temptation of the Adversary to take a path that doesn’t include suffering. Jesus says that Peter’s rejection of the path God has laid out is based on thinking about life from a human point of view rather than from God’s perspective. Mark wants to fix our attention squarely on the importance of Jesus’ death on the cross. Jesus doesn’t preach a prosperity gospel; he preaches a gospel of self-denial, service, and suffering.

Jesus is the model of God’s power, of compassion for the needy and penitent, and of faithfulness to death. Jesus says to the crowd that is around him as well as to his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵ For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”

Denying ourselves is not something that is advocated a lot in our culture, there seem to be far more fans of self-indulgence than self-denial. How many commercials can you think of that feature self-denial? This can be as true inside the church as outside the church. What are some ways you practice self-denial in your life? Can you identify one or two ways?

Jesus says we can lose our life before we die. As someone observed, none of us wants to spend our life climbing what we think is a ladder to success only to find when we reach the top that it was leaning against the wrong wall the whole time. Many people lose or squander their lives on things that are of little or no eternal consequence. It is not fun or enjoyable to lose something; whether keys, a note, or more valuable things like a purse or wallet. The more valuable something is, like time, the more it hurts to lose it. Nothing is more valuable than one’s life. These words of Jesus are a challenge to us all to be ready to face even our death and still stay loyal and close to Christ.

The paradox is that the true way to self-fulfillment is the way of self-denial. The Apostle Paul understood this and wrote to the Galatians (2:19b-20), “I have been crucified with Christ; ²⁰ and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Reformation leader John Calvin understood losing our life for Christ’s sake and wrote,

“We are not our own; therefore neither our reason nor our will should predominate in our deliberations and actions.

We are not our own; therefore let us not propose it as our end, to seek what may be expedient for us according to the flesh.

We are not our own; therefore let us, as far as possible, forget ourselves and all things that are ours.

On the contrary, we are God’s; to him, therefore, let us live and die.

We are God’s; therefore let his wisdom and will preside in all our actions.

We are God’s; towards him, therefore, as our only legitimate end, let every part of our lives be directed. (Institututes III, 7.)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer grasped what Jesus was saying in these key verses and that is why he wrote, “When Jesus calls a man, he bids him come and die”[1] Jesus was on a journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, it was a dangerous trip, and he invited his friends to travel with him. It was a trip that Jesus took in the company of his disciples and even though they didn’t understand at the moment, I’m sure he appreciated having their companionship.

How much better it is for us to have the option of traveling the road of life with Jesus. The ancient Greek philosopher Epictetus wrote, “When a traveler starts on a trip along a road which is under the threat of robbers, he does not go alone. He waits for a friend, someone to be his escort, and then he follows him and so is protected from robbers. A wise man lives his life the same way. But there are so many troubles in this world. How can we stand all of them? What kind of friend or escort will we find on our way, so that we may pass through life without fear? Where should we turn? There is only one answer, only one real friend. That is God. If you follow God everywhere, you will steer clear of trouble. To follow God is to want what He wants, and not to want what He does not want. How to achieve this? You have to understand and follow his laws.” After Epictetus

As Christians we are to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus in our time and place. Choosing to be a disciple on Jesus’ terms is something we all have to decide for ourselves. One of the big stories in the sports world over the last few weeks has been that of Jeremy Lin, a three time All-Ivy League point guard for Harvard, who was cut by two NBA teams and almost released by a third. Now he’s on the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated. Jeremy Lin whose parents are from Taiwan, is an Asian-American and a Christian, a rare combination in the NBA. A recent CNN story (February 21, 2012 by Steve Almasy) described how when Jeremy Lin was a sophomore at Harvard, he was struggling emotionally. A good guard on an awful basketball team – the Crimson finished the season with an 8-22 record – he needed something more than hoops. Lin, who had been baptized in an evangelical Chinese church near San Francisco in ninth grade and had come to value Christian fellowship through his youth group, was part of the Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Christian Fellowship group, regularly attending Bible study. But most of his life was spent with his basketball teammates and other athletes, he later told the Student Soul, a website of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. “It’s a tough environment and if you don’t have appropriate boundaries, you’ll compromise your faith,”  So, during his sophomore year, Lin stepped up his involvement in the Asian-American Christian group, gaining a sense of community that had eluded him. Lin led a small group devoted to Bible study and praying for others.

Interestingly, despite being a superstar in high school, Lin received no scholarship offers to college. And despite being a high-scoring player by his senior year in college, he didn’t get drafted by the NBA. Lin signed a free agent contract with the Golden State Warriors and seemed to get in the game only when his team was way ahead or far behind. The Warriors sent him down to a developmental league, where he fought emotional battles while on long, late-night bus rides. Lin, who until January was sitting on his third bench in his short pro career, was given a chance to play when some fellow New York Knicks were injured. He responded with a record-setting stretch of games in which he scored more points in his first five starts than stars like Michael Jordan or Allen Iverson had over a similar number of games.

Lin, who has said he may become a pastor someday, credits his rise as a professional athlete to understanding the way God was working in his life and developing a trust in God’s plan. “I’ve surrendered that to God. I’m not in a battle with what everybody else thinks anymore.” When he was sent down to the minor league the first time, Lin turned to his pastor, Stephen Chen, at the Church in Christ in Mountain View, California. Chen told him to spend an hour a day with God. Lin memorized a few Bible verses, including a passage from Romans 5 that reads in part: “We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

Pastor Chen said, “It’s true hard things may come and you’re not guaranteed an outcome but through it all, there’ll be joy because you’re walking with the Lord.”  Lin concluded by saying, “There is so much temptation to hold on to my career even more now, to try to micromanage and dictate every little aspect. But that’s not how I want to do things. I’m thinking about how can I trust God more? How can I surrender more? It’s a fight, but it’s one I’m going to keep fighting.”

In our own lives those are good questions for us to ask ourselves, “How can I trust God more? How can I surrender more? It’s a fight, but we can choose to keep fighting to keep the faith.”

Leo Tolstoy wrote, “The right path in life is very narrow, but it is important to find it. You can understand it, as well as we can understand it, as a walkway of wood built across a swamp; if you step off it, you will plunge into a swamp of misunderstanding and evil. A wise man returns to the true path at once, but a weak man plunges further and further into the swamp, and it becomes more and more difficult for him to get out.”

The walkway of wood built across the swamp of life is the way of the cross, and it is one we all choose whether or not we will follow.

 

Reflection questions:

Why do you think Peter began to rebuke Jesus when he spoke of undergoing great suffering, rejection, and being killed?

Why do you think Jesus rebuked Peter and responded so strongly?

What do you think Jesus means when he says to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”  

How can we or do we set our mind on human things rather than divine things?

What are some ways you practice self-denial?

What does this saying of Jesus mean to you? Does it shape your life in anyway?  “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”

 

Point to Ponder: Discipleship is the active taking up of what could be avoided for the sake of Jesus and the gospel.