pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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Wonderful Love

Reading: Luke 23:39-43

Luke 23:42 – “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

As we continue in the crucifixion scene, we read Jesus’ only real interaction with anyone since he spoke to the mourning women on the way to the cross. In our reading today one criminal joins in the mockery and adds a selfish request: “Save yourself and us!” It is then that another voice speaks, this time for Jesus. The second criminal asks the other, “Don’t you fear God?” This is a telling question. He recognizes that they’ll soon die and that he’ll soon stand before the next judge – the one who will pronounce a sentence of eternal light and love or one of eternal torment and darkness.

Turning to Jesus, the second criminal says, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He wants to go where Jesus, the innocent one, is going. Jesus offers him words of assurance, of welcome, of love. Yes, “today you will be with me in paradise.” This is so interesting to me. Jesus does not require a confession of sin first. He doesn’t quiz the man about his past life. Jesus doesn’t wait for a pledge of repentance or for a request to be baptized. The man just wants to be with Jesus for whatever is next. He longs for a reality-changing relationship with the Lord. Jesus welcomes the man in love.

This remains who God is. We don’t have to be perfect to present ourselves to God. In fact, God does some of God’s best work when we come broken or hurting or humbled or vulnerable. It us then that we are most malleable, most ready to be made new again. This is love. Thanks be to God!

Prayer: Lord God, it is reassuring to know that your love never changes. At our very best and at our very worst, your love is the same. It is a wonderful love. Lord, help us to have this kind of love. Amen.


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Today

Reading: Luke 23:32-43

Luke 23:41 – “But this man has done nothing wrong.”

Photo credit: Thanti Nguyen

Most of Luke’s account of Jesus’ crucifixion takes place in our reading for today. In some ways Jesus is treated like a common criminal. He is crucified between two. His charge is placed above his head: “This is the king of the Jews.” Like the crucifixion itself, the posting of the charge was also a deterrent.

Almost everyone present mocks or insults Jesus. The religious leaders mock the one who saved others. If he really was who he said he was then he’d save himself. The soldiers mock his kingship. If he really was a king, he’d surely be able to save himself. One of the criminals being crucified insults Jesus for not saving himself – and his fellow criminals. All of these people understand “save” in a different, more limited context. The immediate situation is all they are thinking about. Perhaps that is part of the reason Jesus prays at the outset, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.”

The second criminal sees beyond this moment on the cross. He rebukes the other criminal, admits that they are “tightly condemned,” and states, “But this man has done nothing wrong.” Grasping who Jesus truly is, this man asks Jesus to remember him “when you come into your kingdom.” This repentant man is told, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Today. Not some distant, future date. Today. The same is true for us. When we ask Jesus to remember us, he is present with us today. The kingdom of God is here and now. Jesus is with us here and now. Thanks be to God.

Prayer: Lord God, help us to see and to live into your kingdom here on earth. Open our hearts to feel your presence. Open our eyes to see you with and among us. And, Lord, use us to build your kingdom here on earth as we seek to be love and light to the world. Amen.


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Confessing Christ

Readings: Philippians 2:6-11 and Luke 23:39-43

Luke 23:42 – “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

In our Philippians passage Paul encourages us to adopt the attitude of Christ. This is what a disciple or follower of Jesus seeks to do. In this “Christ Hymn” we find three attitudes that we can emulate. These and other parts of the hymn point to a fourth attitude that we are called to practice. First, “he emptied himself.” Jesus was willing to become like us so that he could relate to us. Second, “he humbled himself” – becoming willing to fully associate with us. Third, Jesus was fully obedient to God. While we likely will not be pushed to the point of dying, we are to seek to obey God always. These three attitudes and the actions the hymns speaks of point to the fourth attitude: love. It was love that drove the other three, that arches over the emptying, the humility, the obedience.

Turning to our Luke 23 passage we see these four attitudes lived out. The religious leaders, the soldiers, the crowd – they all mocked and taunted Jesus. He hung on the cross, nearly spent, perhaps one foot already in heaven. It would’ve been easy to just shut out all the noise, to close the eyes, to slip quickly back into heaven. “Easy” is too often our path. But here in this moment Jesus encounters a seeker. This second criminal defends Jesus. So Jesus connects to this man, emptying himself a bit further. Jesus humbled himself even more, meeting this criminal where he was at. Jesus remained obedient to God’s big command. In love Jesus responded to the criminal’s request, telling him that today he’d see Jesus in paradise. The man’s tongue confessed that Jesus was Lord, to the glory of the Father. May it be so with our whole lives this day and every day.

Prayer: Lord God, lead and guide us today to hold fast to the attitude of Christ. Grant us the courage and the will to elevate the other over self and to strive to live out your love in all we do, say, and think. Amen.


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One Last Act of Love

Reading: Luke 23

Luke 23:34: “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.”

The trial, the false accusations, the giving in, the death and resurrection – it all feels so fast. It feels like Luke moves quickly through these events, his “carefully ordered account” presenting little more than the facts. Yet, as we read carefully, certain lines and actions stand out.

Both Pilate and Herod find no basis for legal action against Jesus. Pilate offers to whip Jesus, trying to placate the religious leaders and their crowd. The mob mentality that drives shouts of “Crucify!” finally forces Pilate to give in to their will. On the way to “The Skull,” Jesus pauses and addresses the grieving women, telling them not to cry for him but to cry for the days of suffering soon to come.

As he is being crucified between two criminals, Jesus prays, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.” Those there – the religious leaders and the soldiers – they mock Jesus. One criminal defends this innocent man. Jesus tells him, “I assure you that today you’ll be with me in paradise.” As Jesus dies, a centurion praises God, recognizing Jesus as “a righteous man.” The crowd goes home beating their chests. Luke notes, “Everyone who knew him… stood at a distance observing these things.”

Joseph of Arimathea acts, asking Pilate for Jesus’ body. He was a member of the Jewish council – one that “hadn’t agreed with the plan” that has just been accomplished. The women watch him hastily wrap and lay Jesus’ body in a new tomb. The women go home and prepare spices and oils to properly care for his body. They wait as the Sabbath passes. They wait to offer one last act of love.

Prayer: Lord God, through it all, Jesus does not change. Love, grace, forgiveness, commitment – they continue to flow out from Jesus. His steadfastness to you and to us does not waver a bit. Signs of his love for you and for us are sprinkled throughout this text. Thank you for the example Jesus set, right to the end. This too was one last act of love. Amen.


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What Great Love

Reading: Romans 5:6-8

Verse 8: “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

As we turn to Romans 5 again today we begin with the fact that Jesus “died for the ungodly.” It was “when we were still powerless.” We like to think that we’d die for our spouse or child, that we’d sacrifice ourselves for someone innocent or in the line of duty. While this is likely true for most of us, it is also highly unlikely that we’d die for an abuser or for a career criminal or for a person who has failed or wronged us again and again. Christ did both. He died for us, for his brothers and sisters in the faith. And he died for that other us – the one who abused his love and grace, the one who sins over and over, the one who fails to keep his commands again and again and again. “While we were still sinners…”

Perhaps even more amazing is the fact that God initiated this action. We were powerless to save ourselves. We still are. Usually one waits for the offensive or harmful behavior to change. Usually one waits for the other to come grovelling back. Have you ever offered forgiveness before the other changed their ways, before they could get “I’m sorry” out of their lips? God did this, modeling for us the power of unconditional love and undeserved reconciliation. And if that were not enough, consider this. God knew that Jesus’ death would not put an end to sinning. God sent Jesus to the cross anyway. God did so because in the death and resurrection we find the way to living in right relationship with God. What great love God has for you and for me.

Prayer: Lord God, when one considers the depth of your love for sinners like me, it is hard to fathom. Your love is so great and your sacrifice so selfless, it is difficult to grasp. I am left to offer a simple and humble thank you. Thank you. Amen.


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Questionable

Reading: 1st Corinthians 1: 18-25

Verse 23: “We preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles”.

Photo credit: Taylor Smith

Paul is writing in today’s passage to a church that needs some words of wisdom concerning the idea of a crucified Messiah. These last two words just don’t make sense, they just do not fit together in many people’s minds. For Paul this is the overall message of the cross: Jesus died for you and for me. To those who believe that Jesus loved us enough to die for us, the cross offers the power of salvation and of eternal life. But if you cannot wrap your head around that gift and what it means and gives to the believer, then placing one’s trust and life in Jesus’ hands makes no sense.

In verse 23 Paul writes, “We preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles”. The Jews, for the most part, saw Jesus as a good teacher, as one that inspired many people to a better life, as one who even did some amazing things (miracles). But Jesus was not the Messiah that they envisioned. A real Messiah would never allow himself to be crucified. A real king would not eat with sinners, heal on the Sabbath, regularly engage the outcasts and unclean… All of these things were stumbling blocks to most of the Jews. The Gentiles (read ‘Romans’ or ‘pagans’ here) worshiped many gods and saw the cross as the place of punishment for the worst criminals. To cast one’s life in with the lot of a mere human, one that died with such shame and so powerless – foolishness!

As Christians living in today’s world, sometimes we should be stumbling blocks to some, foolishness to others. For our Lenten series this year, we are calling this “living highly questionable lives”. Last week I read a story about a high school basketball player. During a game he noticed that a player on the other team was wearing shoes that were not suitable for basketball. After the game he took off his shoes and have them to this other player. To some this appeared as foolish. To others it may have been a stumbling block. But to those also touched by Jesus Christ that night, it was the love of God being lived out in a real way.

As we encounter those who see our faith as foolish or as a stumbling block to their preferred way of life, may the Spirit give us the words or actions that preaches the cross in a way that reveals the courage and strength of our faith in the Messiah.

Prayer: Loving God, use me today to reveal my faith in ways that draw others into conversation. Let me love so completely that the other is willing to look past what at first seems foolish or to step over what may initially feel like a stumbling block. May the power of the cross draw them in. May it be so. Amen.


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That Big a Love

Reading: Luke 23: 32-43

Verse 34: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”.

In today’s passage we turn to Jesus on the cross. It is a place none of us would want to be. But it exactly where Jesus needed to be and wanted to be. Over the course of the last two days we have looked at how God’s plan unfolded in the births of John the Baptist and Jesus and of how God calls us to repent of our sins so that he can guide our steps. Today those plans and steps meet at Golgatha, the Skull.

The cross was a necessary step for Jesus and for us. It was how he became the sacrifice or atonement for our sins. Jesus hung there between two others – criminals being justly executed for their crimes. These two represent us. None of us are without sin. All of us deserve punishment. Some of the time we are like the one who hurls insults at Jesus Christ. In pride we say we can do this on our own. In arrogance we say we are the one in control. If we remain this criminal, we receive the punishment due. We can also be the other criminal. We recognize that an innocent and blameless man took upon himself our sins and died for us. We realize our own guilt and we come and kneel at the cross, begging for mercy and grace and forgiveness. In love, Jesus offers all of these gifts to us.

The cross was once for all. Once because it was the final atonement for our sins. The price then and now and until he returns has been paid in full. For all because Jesus died for every one of us. I believe Jesus would have died for just one of us. That’s how great his love is for each of us. But Jesus did not just take upon himself the sins of one man or woman. On Jesus hung all the sins past, present, and future. His was a sacrificial love great enough to bear all of that. It is still that big a love.

Whether we are near or far, whether we have allowed sin to separate us for a long time or just a few minutes, all we need to do is confess and repent. In love our sins are no more. Made holy and right again, we live one more day closer to hearing, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise”. Thanks be to God.

Prayer: God of grace, today I think of what Jesus did for me, a sinner undeserving of grace. That I was undeserving did not matter to Jesus. Thank you for this love so great. Help me to cling to it again today. Amen.


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Even Me

Reading: Ephesians 3: 1-4

Verse 2: “Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given me for you”.

Paul experienced God’s hand in a powerful way. He had not always been Paul though. He was born Saul and was raised in the Jewish faith. Saul excelled at learning the Law and eventually became a Pharisee, one of their religious leaders. He was very devout and followed the Law inside out. When the Christians began to try and spread the good news of Jesus Christ, Saul made it his personal mission to persecute them, to stomp out this new religion. Saul was enemy #1 of the early church.

And then, one day as Saul traveled to Damascus to arrest and persecute the Christians there, he met Jesus. In a jarring encounter, Jesus changed Saul forever. The #1 enemy became the #1 evangelist, travelling all over the known world preaching about Jesus Christ and His love. Saul took on the name Paul, the Gentile version, and became the apostle to the Gentiles – all who were outside the Jewish faith. His conversion story is what Paul is writing about when he writes, “Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given me for you”. His name alone struck fear into Christians; now, by God’s grace, he was one of them!

As I think about and reflect on this mystery, I am convinced of the fact that God can and will use anyone for His glory. He chose Saul. That means that God can do anything with anyone. God can turn the hardest-hearted atheist into a preacher of the gospel. He can take the most vile criminal and turn them into a leader in a church. God can grab ahold of the one we least expect and use them in amazing ways.

Yes, we are all within reach of God’s grace. We are all available ammunition in God’s battle with the evil and darkness in our world. God desires to use us all for the building of His kingdom of love and grace. Thank you God for using even me.

Prayer: Lord, you call me by name. You ask that I lay down my selfish desires, that I take up my cross, and that I follow you. May it be so. Use me as you will, O God. Make me fully yours. Amen.