Pentecost Sunday

God Does Not Dwell in Chaos: Gen. 11:1-9; Acts 2: 1-21

            A couple of years ago, I had a friend getting ready to marry a guy she had fallen head over heels in love with. They had dated for a bit, and now they believed it was time to tie the knot. She loved him dearly. I thought he was a tool. I was tasked with marrying them, and I assumed their marriage would have all the lasting power of a generic brand Glade plug-in. I would like to tell you that I was completely wrong and there was a story of a happily ever after, but unfortunately, I was quite prophetic. A year into the marriage, she called me to talk and said, “It’s awful. Every single day is like living in a world of confusion and chaos.” And so, the truth came out.

            We are all going to live with and project difficulties and struggles. The trick is to know the difference between people and situations which need a little extra help but have God’s love and the Holy Spirit working in and through them versus people and situations who bring a toxic chaos into our lives. This sermon doesn’t apply to people who have medical conditions and personal struggles. It does apply to those who take a sense of glee in causing pain and suffering to other people. God is the master of peace, the Creator who put the whole world in order, the one who created a plan of redemption and reconciliation, and the one who gives us the Spirit to guide us. God is not the author of a toxic level of chaos and confusion.

            Now, when we read together this scripture on the Tower of Babel, it is easy to look at this and think that God actually is the author of confusion. After all, isn’t God the one who confused their languages and ruined their project to build a great, unified city? The answer is no. God is not the author of their confusion. God had created and designed the people in all ways to be unified, together, and of one mind, spirit, and voice. But they were disobedient and created chaos with God’s authority. They wanted to build this Tower to compete in prestige and might with God. They did not want to follow God’s command to go and live throughout the world. They did not want to follow and listen to God. They craved power and might, and in doing so, they forgot their relationship with the Holy One. They embraced toxic beliefs in power which in turn brought them to chaos and confusion.

            We read in the Acts that God brings hope and unity of mind and spirit. As the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples, they found a new sense of strength and purpose in God’s will. They spoke the Gospel so that all could understand, and they overcame this reigning power of confusion and chaos throughout the whole world. God made a way for this message of hope and redemption to spread throughout the whole world, to every language, every people, and bring grace in Christ to all. At the Tower of Babel, the people wanted power in order to spite or compete with God. In Acts 2, the disciples received power through God, and they were emboldened to use this power for good and for God’s will.

            That is because the Spirit of God speaks above the noise of this life. All throughout life there are instances and people who bring us chaos and confusion. I remember a friend whose boss at work was horrible. Over and over again the boss took great delight in creating confusion, impossible situations, belittling them, and making it impossible for them to grow and develop as a skilled worker. Don’t stay in friendships, relationships, jobs, groups where the very Spirit of God and the love of Christ is drained right out of your heart and soul, and where people take joy in causing you harm.

            This mindset even creeps into our houses of worship. There are folks who have no qualms about creating and sustaining conflict and chaos in the church and robbing it of that holy presence of God. Send them on their way. There was a prominent prosperity gospel televangelist the other day, who I listened to for a minute or two on the computer. He said, “I really believe Jesus hasn’t come because people are not giving the way they ought to.” He meant specifically giving to him and his ministry. That was followed up with him talking about getting criticism for being a millionaire. He replied, “That’s not true!” I’m a multi-millionaire. Get it right. God does not dwell in chaos, confusion, and manipulation of what is meant to be holy. Anyone who believes that they should get rich quick from preaching the Gospel must not have actually read the Gospel. You do not need a $2 million jet to tell of Christ’s love.

            I Corinthians 14:33 tells us, “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the meetings of God’s holy people.” God’s call for us is to be kind, tenderhearted, loving, encouraging, and united in God’s work and mission. Pentecost is often considered the birthday of the church. It was a joint venture between us and God with God providing the Holy Spirit, the grace, and guidance. Our job was to do the work of God’s kingdom here on earth as God leads us by the Holy Spirit. Those who take delight in creating chaos, confusion, disorder, and a toxic presence allegedly in the name of God should be loved and prayed for, but from a safe distance. It’s like having a carton of strawberries and one at the bottom has grown rotten and moldy. It doesn’t take long before your whole carton of strawberries is spoiled because the rottenness of one was not addressed.

            We are told in the scripture about the peace of God which passes all understanding here on Earth. Our God is a God of peace, hope, and a simple mission to share the good news while lifting others up. As people of God, we should flee from situations, people, and houses of worship which seek to ruin us, cause suffering, chaos, and pain in our lives, for that is not of God. Instead, we must embrace God through our faith in Christ, help those in need, love those who are hurting, and make peace in a troubled world. Surround yourself with God’s presence and Spirit as well as those who seek to encourage you to grow in your relationship to God and walk of faith. God does not dwell in chaos, but God does live in us and works through us to bring hope into this often-chaotic world.

Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/523379722783739

Fruits of the Spirit Final: Faithfulness

FOTS 6: Faithfulness—Lamentations 3: 19-25; II Thess. 3: 1-5

            I had planned a pretty robust and fun sermon on faithfulness for this week. But as we look at this final fruit of the spirit in our series today, faithfulness, perhaps a more somber tone is appropriate. This week, just like last week, and so many other weeks before, we watched the horror of a mass shooting unfold. Last week it was a white supremacist at a grocery store in Buffalo. This week it’s an 18-year-old who bought two guns on the same day, went into an elementary school and murdered 19 children and two teachers. It is impossible to describe how horrific this is. And we’ve now offered our thoughts and prayers for over 200 mass shootings in 2022 alone. I think the writer of Lamentations captures the mood perfectly with the phrase, “I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss,” only for us, it’s all our loss.

            Lamentations is a complex book of poetry. Preachers rarely touch on it, and the title should tell you why. Lamentations 3 is particularly difficult because the theology of it sets us a bit on edge, and it leaves us a bit perplexed. In verse 1 of this chapter, the writer says, “I am the one who has seen the afflictions that come from the rod of the Lord’s anger. He has led me into darkness, shutting out all light. He has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long.” For the entire first 18 verses of this chapter, the writer describes unmeasurable cruelty and affliction, which has left him broken, suffering, and bitter in heart and soul.

            But where we all take a collective gasp is when he calls out the name of Yahweh, God, as his abuser and tormentor. It’s shocking to us as a people who would never in a million years look at the evil and suffering around us and call out God as the author of the evil and the torment. Yet the writer of Lamentations goes there. It is this retelling of the horrors he has faced which keep them alive in his mind and heart. Even if all becomes well, it’s important to him to remember what has been overcome in his life.

            But we also see him suddenly snap out of it. Even as he grieves, he writes, “Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends; his mercies never cease.” It’s almost as if he has a choice of two paths: to continue in the remembering of the suffering, the evil, and the affliction he has faced, or to live in this knowledge and understanding of God’s faithfulness, called hesed in Hebrew, which to us means God’s steadfast love. When facing affliction, we have this same dilemma as the writer of Lamentations: to live in the reminder of “I will never forget this awful time,” or to live in the knowledge that “the Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him.”

            How does the writer of Lamentations overcome this belief that God has tormented him and come to this place of saying, “The faithful love of the Lord never ends?” It is his confidence in the mutual relationship between him in hope and God in faithfulness, and you can see that develop through the rest of the book. II Thessalonians gets even more to the heart of this by adding that not only do we live in this relationship with God, we live in mutuality with one another.

            As we see evil, violence, and selfishness arise in our communities and society, we seem to have forgotten this idea that we live together in this world. It’s not just me and the planet; there’s a few billion people here with me as well. We read the prayerful hope, “May the Lod lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God.” We are called to love in the way that God loves. We are called to show concern for each other even as God has demonstrated that love and concern to the church by sharing gifts with the church.

            This whole part of II Thessalonians is one big call to prayer, but it’s not prayer meant to be alone. All of the whole group is asked to pray for these things: for the spreading of the Lord’s message, for deliverance from the evil in this world, and for the expression of God’s love to be shown. One of the commentaries I read talked about this great problem of our current society and world—this insistence on selfish pursuit or this myth of rugged individualism. The Gospel and the creation of Christ’s church is a call to mutuality and community. For it is in the work with each other that we find the faithfulness of God flowing out from us.  

            When you see people in the world who have lost their way, given themselves over to evil desires, who exploit and harm others like these gunmen, you tend to find one common thread—a lifelong isolation and separation from community. Faith and goodness cannot be sustained in isolation, not because God is unfaithful, but because being constantly alone makes the fire of our God’s spirit in us dull, dark, and cold. Ruth Graham, the wife of Billy Graham, said it best, “We are made for community.”

            God’s faithfulness sustains us because we feel the power of it in a community that prays for us, cares for us, welcomes us when others won’t, helps us when we are down and struggling, calls us when we feel sad and troubled, writes cards and letters to remind us that there is a place of love and welcome. We can find that confidence in mutual relationship. We can find growth and strength, and can be sustained, in our faith community together. That’s why the early church was made up of people who sold everything and joined to be with one another all the time, sharing and providing for whatever one another needed.

            We may find hope on our own, but living in hope is a collective pursuit, and it cannot be done by ourselves. The coldest, darkest, angriest heart cans till melt with hope and love in the power of God’s faithfulness. And that almost always happens when someone who is broken and hurting finds a faith community that loves them, prays for them, and speaks the power of God’s grace into their life.

            I know that the days still, even now, seem dark for us. It reminds me of the old hymn which says, “Trials dark on every hand, and we cannot understand.” We may be overwhelmed by personal struggles and opposition, the violence and suffering we see in our world, or anything else. We may even stand at the crossroads, facing a choice like the writer of Lamentations, between the affliction we feel sure is God harming us and this place of knowing the faithful love of the Lord never ends. But one thing is certain, that the writer says clearly, “Great is [God’s] faithfulness; [God’s] mercies begin afresh each morning.” May we find our hearts rooted in God’s community of faith, and may we remember the words that great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.

Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/1044140849846753

Fruits of the Spirit 5: Self-Control

FOTS 5: Self Control—Numbers 20: 1-12; I Peter 1:13-17, 21-22

            This week we consider the spiritual fruit known as self-control. We all smile and enjoy love, joy, peace, goodness. We frown a bit at patience. But nothing is as perilous to a pastor as standing up and preaching on self-control to a congregation. It treads so, so closely to the realm of “do as I say and not as I do.” Let me give you an example. With having COVID, I lost my sense of taste and smell. Completely. I could have bit into a raw red onion like an apple and gotten nothing.

            Unfortunately, when I ordered and picked up my groceries, they accidentally included a bag of chocolate chip cookies. I assumed this was safe, after all, I can’t taste anything, right? I have learned a very important spiritual lesson from this. I ate every single one of those cookies in two sittings. I literally could not taste anything, but did that stop me from gobbling every single one of them down? Nope, it didn’t at all. I had a complete lack of self-control in those moments, and I had to pray, “Lord, forgive me, for I know exactly what I’m do.”

            We all have that bit of struggle with self-control. I Peter 1 warns us accordingly, “So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come.” There are three main reasons we struggle with self-control: fixing problems, hiding trauma. and moderating anger,

            Sometimes we lack self-control when we try to fix our problems. I remember years ago a friend who was having a rough patch was talking about an upcoming vacation and said to me, “Our family needs this right now.” I smiled and said, “I’m sure.” But the truth is they were dealing with debt, child behavior problems, and marital issues. What I wanted to say was that a vacation was not going to fix their issues. The only thing that fixes the issues of life is working through those issues with God’s strength and help. I Peter says, “Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.” It also goes on to say, “Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires.” It concludes with the instruction to be holy just as God who loves and cares for you is holy.

            Deflecting the problems in life with self-indulgent behavior will not help you. It will actually make things worse. Take my friend who said their family needed that vacation. Imagine if they had used the five thousand dollars of vacation money to pay on the debt, hire a therapist, and work on being at peace in life. Self-control teaches us that we can’t avoid things until they go away. We must face the struggles of life head on with hope to find a solution.

            Very similar to this ignoring life’s problems, self-control teaches that we cannot hide trauma in life. Many people in this world experience trauma as children and as adults. As a pastor and a prosecutor, I see more people living with traumas that I ever thought possible in this world. Sometimes trauma dwells with people for generations. Sometimes it takes people to the point they don’t care. They will engage in whatever behavior they choose because they no longer care for themselves and believe no one cares about them either. Unresolved trauma in life is destructive and damaging if we leave it alone and let it work its way with us.

            I Peter says, “You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love deeply with all your heart.” Sincere love of the heart, from God to us, and from us to one another is a reminder that, whatever painful things of life you face, they do not get to have the last word. It’s a vicious cycle where the trauma robs a person of self-control because they no longer care, and then society judges them for a lack of self-control. The truth is self-control is not always so easy to control. But for those living with trauma, hear those words: verse 15 that God chose you, verse 17 that God has no preferences or favorites, and verse 22 saying that you were cleansed and loved by God, and God wants all the good in the world for you.

            Nowhere is the struggle for self-control more evident than when we are angry. We say exactly what we think. We may shake with fury. We may cry and shout. But ultimately, an anger that boils over always leads to unfortunate actions. Moses was so angry at the Israelite people for their complaining and forgetting God’s blessings that, instead of following God’s instructions to speak to the rock for water, Moses struck the rock in anger while yelling at the people. Not only did Moses not follow God’s commands, he demonstrated a sinful anger at the people instead of God’s goodness and holiness. It cost him the Promised Land.

            We see the consequences of anger and hatred mixed with a lack of self-control in the shooting in Buffalo, New York. A young man polluted by the sins of hatred and racism took a weapon and killed people of another race. Even if he is filled with the evil of racism, even if he is filled with an evil anger, even if he has learned these things fluently in our broken society, he still had no self-control to stop and consider the consequences and inhumanity of his action. And that is a consequence of our “say and do whatever you want” society. Anger and a lack of self-control will mix to unleash horrific consequences on the world.

            That is why I Peter begins here with the words, “So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control.” The epistle goes on to warn that they should not slip back into old ways but continue to live in this trust and obedience to the God who chose them, loves them, and has given them grace and glory. The same is true for us. The same God who chose, called, and love the people of the first century, loves each one of us to this day.

            We are called to live in a way of self-control, not just because it’s expected, but because not doing so is dangerous to us and others. In his anger, Moses could have turned the people even further against God. Behavior and actions lacking self-control will lead us down ever worsening paths which create suffering and trauma for us. Trauma, life’s struggles, and everything else that contribute to this sense of “who cares” and abandonment must be dealt with and worked through in the light of God love and never-ending desire for us to be in a good relationship with our Savior and Redeemer. Lean into that love of God and know that there is help to find a place of rest and fulfillment again in this life. As my friend says, God loves you, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/523639226061157

Fruits of the Spirit 4: Patience and Goodness

FOTS: Patience and Goodness—Isaiah 40: 27-31; Jas. 1: 19-27

            Having tested positive this week for COVID, has left me a complete bundle of nerves. All the fears and dread of the past two years have come washing back over me. I was incredibly terrified and guilty to have been in public while potentially sick, even though there were no early warning symptoms. And there’s also the mindless hours of waiting, shut up at home, unable to go out and go about life. It's funny now, but I nearly rolled out the seat of the doctor’s office when my doctor left and came back in the room with multiple masks, goggles, and a face shield after testing me for flu and COVID.

            In the midst of all this fear, worry, irritation, and general bad attitude, there was this sermon needing to be written—two fruits of the spirit to be considered: patience and the goodness. Both are hard lessons. Both are fruits of the spirit that show up when you’re going through a hard time. And both are powerful reminders of how God is present and working through our lives in both good and bad. Let us look at both fruits of God’s spirit: patience and goodness.

            For years we have probably heard the old saying, “Patience is a virtue.” The Bible is filled with references to waiting and patience from the Psalms to the stories, to the gospel lessons and parables. All throughout the Bible, people have been instructed to wait patiently for God. Patience may be a great virtue, but it’s also super annoying. James tells us to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Isaiah also talks about patience in a roundabout way, calling on Israel to trust in God (or wait up on the Lod) to find strength and soar like eagles. We are told that God never grows weak or weary. But here’s the problem: I do, and I know so do you at times.

            Wait for the surgery to happen. Wait to hear on the test or diagnosis. Wait to hear from the wayward loved one who lives a troubled life. Wait on that promotion. Wait on relief from financial troubles. Wait on that school acceptance letter. Wait, wait, wait. Patience is a virtue. God may never grow weak and weary, but we do, and whether we admit it or not, it tests our faith to wait on God. One of you told me years ago, “Never pray for patience, because God will surely teach it to you.”

            Why is patience so virtuous? The truth is that patience and waiting are a reminder that God is in control of the worst situations. There may not be a good reason, but there is a holy God, always with us, who oversees the problem. Pastor Paul Tripp writes, “God’s often-repeated declaration [not to] leave us sits on the pages of [the] Word like a protection against the lies to which suffering makes us susceptible.” Patience reminds us that we have a God who has the power to deliver now as well as the power to deliver into forever and all of time.

            What is on the other side of all that patience and all that waiting for the Lord that we do? The goodness of God that is waiting there is a bit harder to define. It is found in God’s mercy. It is found to be unfailing. It is found in God forgetting our wrongs, providing us refuge, and guiding to a safe resting place. A powerful Old Testament example is God liberating the Israelite people from slavery and making an everlasting covenant with them wherein God says in Numbers 10 that good is promised to Israel. This goodness of God promised in an everlasting covenant.

            The power of this goodness is found in the story of the three Hebrew children in the furnace who defy the wicked intentions of the king saying that even if God does not save them and they are destroyed in the fire, they will never forsake God and worship the king’s idols. The goodness of God is seen in the example of Paul, who wrote in Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” This goodness of God works for us.

            In James, we see a glimpse of God’s goodness in verse 27, “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for the orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” It’s the words of “I Must Tell Jesus” where we her the cry, “In my distress he kindly will help me. He ever loves and cares for his own.” But James goes a step further. Even as God hears us and shares that work of goodness, so must we listen and do. If you only listen to God, you forget. If you do what God says, it sticks with you.

            What good is a covenant with Israel if it doesn’t transform them into the people God meant for them to be? What good does it do us to study God’s word if we never put it to practice? You see if God’s goodness was just a theory, it wouldn’t be any good at all. One of my readings on goodness took me to the writings of Kasey Hitt who blends Christian faith and meditation into a form of prayer. She writes that every morning she says the same personal covenant into the mirror: “I have the mind of Christ. My mind is full of goodness. I choose goodness today in my thoughts, words, decisions, and actions.” Speak words that produce this fruit.

            Patience and goodness. Both are tough fruits of the spirit. Patience calls upon us to live in both uncertainty and trust at the same time—not knowing the future but believing in a God who holds the future in the palm of the hand. Goodness often is layered into patience requiring us to ever be mindful that in the dire situations God works for our good. It was a covenant with God’s people in the ancient times, and it is a covenant with us sealed upon a cross and proven by an empty tomb.

            So, how do we live in patience and remain convinced and assured of God’s goodness? Listen to God, live God’s Word, and always be in prayer to draw upon God’s strength. As the hymn says, “Some through the water, some through a flood, some through the fire, but all through the blood. Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song, in the night season and all the day long.” Goodness may come in a card, a bowl of soup, loving texts, emails, and words of encouragement. Sometimes it comes as we go through the flood and fire. But in the end as we wait and live in patience, God’s goodness will be there. God’s goodness never fails, delivered to us on the cross as a promise for all of eternity.

 Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/398346805508952

Fruits of the Spirit 3: Kindness and Gentleness

FOTS 3: Kindness & Gentleness—Proverbs 31: 10-31; John 8: 1-11

            On this Mothers’ Day, we hear those words from Proverbs 31, “She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.” It’s a very powerful and aspirational phrase for women and mothers. A friend of mine who has two rather energetic kids, a busy social life, work, and a husband who travels with his job, recently posted a framed sign about this Proverbs 31 statement in her house. It said, “She is clothed in leggings and oversized t-shirts, and she eats ice cream without fear of the future. Probably Me 24:7.” 

            Today we look at two more fruits of the spirit: kindness and gentleness.  From the outset, it may seem as though they are the same thing, perhaps even synonymous with one another. But that’s not exactly the case. In many ways, kindness is a different virtue from gentleness. Kindness is more of a gracious act to others, whereas gentleness is finding a sense of grace and redemption in an unpleasant truth. For this Mother’s Day, let’s turn both of them into real characters and look at how scripture describes and gives personality to each fruit of the spirit. 

            Kindness is beautiful in her service and care. She gives generously of her heart and resources to nurture, to love, and to support others in need. Proverbs 31 talks about all the ways Kindness shows her care. In verse 15, she sacrifices her sleep and time to serve food to those in the house, so that from her time and labor, they are not hungry. In verse 20, Kindness is seen helping the poor and opening her arms to the needy in welcome. Kindness does not turn others away, but instead she prepares a large table and invites them to find food and rest. 

            Kindness is also quite literally nice. Proverbs 31:26 says that the words she speaks are wise and her instructions are given nicely (or with kindness). Most importantly, Kindness has a strongly developed faith in God. Proverbs goes on to say that she should be rewarded for all that she has done. Mothers’ Day is often a hard Sunday for many. We place a lot of expectations on women yet deny them many things as well. Far too long we’ve judged women by the standard of motherhood, homemaking, or their ability to play second fiddle to a husband. The truth is that any woman, any man, all people created by God are defined and measured solely and completely by their relationship to God, and not any other burdens society creates. 

            Proverbs 31 provides a much more expansive role for women: wife, clothing maker, cook, organizational planner, energetic worker, property developer, vineyard manager (and by default I’m guessing winemaker), businesswoman, volunteer, quilter, jewelry maker, and above all, child of God. All of these come from the list of things women can do in Proverbs 31. The common thread through all, however, is that anything she does is done with kindness. 

            Likewise, we read about another strong woman in the Gospel named Gentleness. When we meet her, Gentleness is in some trouble. She is accused of the sin of adultery, for which the law said she should be stoned. It was the black and white words on paper, the letter of the law, her sin demanded that she be stoned to death immediately. She was caught in the act, so there’s no question of her guilt. (Please notice that they did not bring a man out to stone alongside her, but I digress.)

            But Jesus deals with her differently. He understands Gentleness and cares for her despite her fault. Gentleness is defined by words of truth without any harshness or judgement attached. Jesus asks at the end of the story where her accusers are. She responds that no one is left to accuse her. Jesus responds with, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” The truth of what she did wrong was spoken, not ignored, and not swept away as insignificant. But even when that truth was spoken, it was followed by redemptive solutions instead of condemnation. 

            Gentleness often gets punished because our society loves condemnation but is slow to care about redemption. She sinned, for goodness’ sake! She was caught in the act of adultery, guilty, guilty! But Jesus does not condemn her and sends her on with the instruction to go and sin no more. I remember once when I was in school, I got in trouble because a teacher overheard me calling her hateful or mean or snarky or something else like that. I was sent into the hallway as punishment. I was sure the teacher would call my mother and big, big trouble was on the way. Day after day I waited for that call to my mom. Finally, overcome with guilt one night, I confessed everything right at bedtime with this great whoosh of emotion and anguish coming out. I’m pretty sure I confessed to things I hadn’t even done yet. My mom very kindly and gently hugged me and said about my name calling episode, “Well, son, it might be true, but it wasn’t very nice. Go and sin no more.” 

            Both kindness and gentleness are found when we abide in God and let God abide in us. In Proverbs 31 we read of the talent, the strength, and wisdom of women, but the final two verses close out with the importance of that relationship, living or abiding in God. In the Gospel, we see a woman who finds redemption and a new hope for life simply because she was brought to Jesus and stayed close to him. Condemnation, punishment, and guilt were expected, yet in Jesus, she found mercy, redemption, and grace.  

            On this Mothers’ Day, we celebrate and honor the nurturing, loving presence which comes from those who practice kindness and gentleness in life. Kindness works for others, deals in niceness with those whom she encounters, and has a strong, developed faith. In turn her work should be rewarded first and foremost with our trust.

Likewise, Gentleness seeks to live in truth without harshness, judgment, or condemnation. She seeks the redemption and mercy which is found in knowing and drawing close to Jesus, who delivers from all accusers. We give thanks for all the mothers, those who have provided a mothering presence, and those women who have loved and cared for us in some way. May their wisdom, strength, and grace remind us of the power and the rest which comes when we abide in God and God abides in us. 

            Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/506187784568057

Fruits of the Spirit 2: Peace

FOTS 2: Peace—Ecclesiastes 1: 1-11; Philippians 4: 1-3, 6-7

            I was watching a video someone sent me the other day. There was a lady with a strong accent talking about the power of words. She said basically that if you are insulted in another language, you don’t know it. Even if they start screaming at you in another language, you may only laugh at the silliness of someone hollering words you don’t understand and which mean nothing to you. That is because we give words their power in our perceptions, our understandings, and our processing. The lady wrapped it up by saying, whatever words of insult, anger, and cruelty are hurled at you, don’t give them power in your life, and you will have peace. 

            As we continue our series on the fruits of the spirit from Galatians 3:23, we come today to this fruit of peace—so desired, yet just simply out of reach so many times. How do we live at peace in our own minds and bodies as well as peace with others? The scriptures for today tell us some of the ways we can have peace within ourselves and peace outside of ourselves. 

            We must work to find peace within ourselves. The Epistle lesson from Philippians contains one of the greatest statements on peace found anywhere in the Bible. We are first told to not worry about anything and instead pray about everything. There are so many things which can rob us of our peace each day: fear, worry and doubt, anger and stress, all of these things chip away at the peace we have within ourselves. We try to find our peace in life and circumstances around us—if it’s an easy day, if things go the right way, if stress would leave me alone, if people weren’t so people-y, it might be a better day, and I’ll finally have peace. 

            Sadly, it doesn’t work that way. Philippians tells us to give thanks, ask for what we need, and trust that we will then have God’s peace which exceeds everything we can understand. That peace is found guarding our hearts and minds. It doesn’t guard life, circumstances, or the troubles around us—it guards our hearts and minds. Marvin Gaye and Pinterest said, “If you cannot find peace within yourself, you will never find it anywhere else.” God’s peace is found within us, and it is our choice each day whether we will live in this peace which guards our hearts and minds from living in Christ Jesus. It is a tough process, but it offers guaranteed results every time. 

            Paul pushes in Philippians for people to find peace within and live at peace with others. He writes specifically to two people in the church to settle their dispute. In essence, he’s writing the polite version of “everybody sit down and hush up.” He appeals to Euodia and Syntyche to settle their disagreement. He also asks others in the church to work toward this resolution with them. Paul wants them to live in peace and at peace. 

            Good people can find themselves in the midst of a dispute. Disagreement is not a mark of someone who is bad. Both of these women were prominent preachers of the Gospel in Philippi. Paul lists their accomplishments: true partners to him, hard workers, and workers with him in telling the Good News. They have even apparently lived at peace in the past. But now they found themselves embroiled in a dispute, and if Paul is addressing this, it is safe to assume that their disagreement was affecting the life and health of the church they helped to lead. 

Grudges, disagreements, and unresolved anger enter your life and soul like a burglar breaks into a house, and they steal all of your peace in life. To the person you hold that anger and grudge against, it means nothing. It’s like hearing insults in a foreign language. The only peace stolen by a grudges and anger is your own. That’s why Paul is warning Euodia and Syntyche. They have hearts for the gospel, but hearts also filled with disagreements and disputes will soon become cold and bitter, a place where no peace can be found. 

            Instead of a grudge, what we seek is justice. In many of the protests from the 1960s to the present, those marching would say, “No justice, no peace,” and there is a strong kernel of truth in this. The Teacher in Ecclesiastes cries that everything is meaningless, and history repeats itself. He is, as we would say in older generations, what is known as blasé. In more modern philosophy, we might call him existential. Both find a root in the Teacher having no love or enjoyment in life because of his disinterest and unease about all things. His phrase  that history repeats itself has echoed down the centuries and in many instances proven itself true. 

            The word “justice” is used 328 times in the Bible. By comparison, the word “grace” is used 138 times. Our God is a God of justice, and through justice being done, we can find peace. We must find peace within, but we must also work to make a world where there is peace around us as well. Where we see things which are unjust, cruel, and harmful to others or God’s work, we must speak words of peace and advocate for what is right and just. Peace will never be found in the world in which we live if there are still people who feel like they have been treated unjustly, unfairly, and un-Christian-ly. 

            Paul understood this clearly in his writing to Philippi. He told them that God’s peace would guard their hearts and minds as they live in Christ Jesus. He didn’t stop at just the guarding of minds—it came with the push that this peace goes with them as they live in Christ. If we work for true justice and peace in this world, then we will be able to undo the predictions of the Teacher who said everything is meaningless and history (specifically a history of contentiousness and injustice) repeats itself. 

            Peace, then, is found in two places—within us as we work on our faith, and around us as we work for God’s justice in the world. We don’t know the outcome of the quarrel between Euodia and Syntyche. Paul never follows up. But I can guarantee that an unresolved grudge and dispute ruined their faith and destroyed the ministry of that church at Philippi. We must work in ourselves to not let words and acts of unkindness rob us of our own peace. And as we live in peace within, we must work peace in our world. We hear the words in “Just As I Am,” which say, “Fighting and fears within, without, O Lamb of God, I come. I come.” May we come to Christ and know his peace today. 

Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/542183720591029

Fruits of the Spirit 1: Love & Joy

FOTS 1—Love & Joy: Psalm 145: 14-21; John 21: 14-19

            We begin a new series this week to take us through the Easter season. We will explore each of the fruits of the spirit and how they impact our lives. Where do these “fruits of the spirit” come from? We read about them in Galatians 5: 22-23, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” They are listed in the middle of Paul’s writings on living under law versus living under God’s Holy Spirit. I’ll never forget being in Sunday School and one of the other students listened intently to all fruits named, then got really indignant because he expected apples, grapes, and oranges. But that was not what he got. It probably did feel like a bait and switch when you expect an apple or grapes and instead get a lesson on patience and self-control.

            Our first two fruits of the spirit are love and joy. The scripture for today is quite perfect for these two fruits of the spirit because it talks about food. And nothing can bring joy and love to one’s life like good food. We learn earlier in John 21 that Jesus had cooked breakfast for the disciples while they were fishing. Roasted fish and bread are not exactly what I would want for breakfast, but I’m pretty sure if Jesus was cooking for me, I would eat whatever he put on my plate…and like it. After Jesus had given them a miraculous abundance of fish, and fed them breakfast, he has a curious exchange with Peter. 

            Three times he asks Peter if Peter loves him. With each yes from the disciple, Jesus responds with: “Feed my lambs, take care of my sheep, [and] feed my sheep.” Jesus has a powerful way here of infusing love and joy into the plain and ordinary. For Jesus, love was shown on a cross with suffering and death. But the work of love doesn’t necessarily have to nail us to the cross. Love is found in the ordinary things of life: sharing food, cooking for someone, fishing and daily work, and the simple words of telling someone that you love them. 

            Jesus showed the disciples that he went to the cross for the ultimate act of love, so that they could live the miraculous in their ordinary lives. Think of how moving and powerful it is when someone asks how you are, how your family is doing, brings you food, or just hangs out and goes fishing or spends some time with you. Love is found in these simple gifts and acts. 

            I have a friend who shows love with a simple recipe for cheese biscuits. I know when I visit home I can count on my mother’s meatloaf. And I know when I visit one long-time friend, she will show love by NOT cooking anything. Sometimes we get so caught up in life, in busy-ness, in our troubles and struggles that we forget to take time to stop and consider the small and ordinary ways that others show us God’s love for us—in blessings and care. 

            But Jesus’s act also brought joy to Peter. This was shortly after Peter had denied Jesus three different times which was a cowardly betrayal after having professed to believe in Jesus as the Son of God. No wonder Jesus so often said, “Ye of little faith” to them. But here we see a reversal from bitter tears to grace and restoration. Three times he proclaims his love of Christ. Three times he undoes those words of denial and betrayal. And three times he is called to God’s work. 

            Earlier in chapter 21, when the disciples see Jesus, Peter jumps out of the boat and thrashes through the water to get to Jesus. It’s a chance…an opportunity he can’t miss to restore the love and relationship he felt was broken. It was also an opportunity to find joy in Jesus’s forgiveness and restoring grace. Psalm 145: 14 says, “The Lord helps the fallen, and lifts those bent beneath their loads.” Peter was bent beneath the load of his guilt over his denails. We can see this in the fact that he was unable to even wait for the boat to near the shore. He jumped in the water to get back to Jesus. 

            The Psalm goes on to say, “You give them their food as they need it, [and] You satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing.” This love and care from God are as ordinary as simply giving someone a meal, but it’s also so extraordinary as we read that Christ is the bread of life and the living water. Food is very powerful way of showing love. Jesus fed the disciples on the beach. Jesus is the bread of life. Jesus is the living water which will quench all thirst. 

            We even see it in the Communion table. Of all the ways Jesus could have symbolized his greatest act of love for us, he chose food: broken bread and cup of salvation. Food brings life, and it is in this love of Christ that we find life. Bread and cup are so ordinary, so simple and plain, but when see the love found in these symbols, they become something miraculous and extraordinary. 

            That day on the beach, Jesus showed love in the most ordinary of ways—conversation, cooking breakfast, helping them fish with a bit of a miracle, and simply being with those who followed him, and those with whom he had developed a relationship. These ordinary things showed extraordinary love. A simple conversation with Peter wiped away his guilt and replaced it with joy and a purpose—to feed the sheep. Peter was called to lead and pastor the church, to share the Good News and encourage the growth of faith and love in others. 

Jesus finished his time with Peter with one simple request. Follow me. He didn’t call on them to follow at the foot of the cross. He didn’t call on them to follow when leaving the tomb. It was in the ordinary—the service, the acts of love—that Jesus called on Peter to follow him. The pathway to love and joy is clear. It’s food. I bet you thought I’d say it’s Jesus, didn’t’ you? The answer is food, but it’s not really in the cooked fish. Instead, in bread and cup, we see love and joy, a table which welcomes all to remember God’s grace for all time. But Jesus didn’t give Peter a free breakfast, for it came with a call. In the love, the grace, and the joyful restoration of a broken relationship, Jesus said to Peter, “Follow me.” May God give us strength to do the same. 

Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/520348966427326

Easter Sunday 2022

“Why?” Easter 2022: Isaiah 65: 17-25; John 20: 1-18

            So, in confession, there was more to the title of this sermon than just “why?” However, as I was typing for the bulletins, I got distracted and forgot to add the rest of the title. Then I forgot what the rest of the title was actually supposed to be. And now, here we are. Why? To some degree, it’s a bit of a fair question these days. Why this journey, why this experience, why am I sitting here? Most of the unanswered questions in our lives involve…why? Most of the time we ask these questions about where the future will lead, and what the journey will be like. Sometimes we ask why we so often feel like we journey alone in this life. I’m sure many of us feel have those moments when we feel misunderstood, unseen, and alone. 

            The band Green Day, which half of you can’t believe I’m referencing and the other half of you probably don’t know and definitely wouldn’t like, has a song titled “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” A line from it says, “I walk a lonely road, the only one that I’ve ever known. Don’t know where it goes, but it’s home to me, and I walk alone.” Laying aside that it’s angsty millennial rock music, those words, I think speak to us, this feeling that we are often alone on life’s journey. 

            Many of us feel alone in life even if we have friends or a network of people. We call it feeling unseen in the midst of a crowd. We may have hit the age where there are too many funerals. We may have found many folks we thought were our friends were users and not companions. We may have life changes and developments which seem a very personal to our journey and others simply don’t get it. Or we may actually be very much alone in life. 

            It’s a familiar and often stress-filled and painful place for many. I remember counseling someone who had lost their spouse. They told me that they would wander the aisles of the Wal-Mart and Target to avoid going home to an empty house, all alone. We heard that hymn on Good Friday, “Jesus walked this lonesome valley. He had to walk it by himself; O nobody else could walk it for him. He had to walk it by himself.” A friend of mine recently posted an article on Facebook which said that the church’s response to the pandemic and social upheaval of the past few years make her feel like she’s lost her faith, the church, and religion she called home. We are no strangers to loneliness and walking a lonely road in life. 

            Good Friday was a time where fear, sadness, and loneliness came and dwelt with Jesus and the disciples. Jesus walked to Calvary by himself, abandoned and betrayed. The disciples locked themselves into a room in fear and feeling alone without Jesus to lead them. Why? They didn’t really understand that the suffering, the anguish they felt in their soles was temporary, but the hope Christ gives us is never-ending. Jesus had the power over death. Jesus had the power to appear in the upper room with the disciples. And Jesus gave them the Spirit to ensure they would never, ever be alone in this life. 

            The journey for Jesus was lonely, but we are promised that we are never alone when we have faith in God. When the followers fell asleep as Jesus prayed earnestly in the garden, he still prayed with them. When Jesus was betrayed, he was calm and gentle with all of them, loving and forgiving. When they abandoned Jesus, denied him, cowered in fear lacking all faith to believe his Word and his promises, he still loved them and gave everything he had to bring them closer to him and love them more and more. As the hymn says, “And he walks with me, and he talks with me, and he tells me I am his own.” The days may seem dark, and we may feel alone, but through it all and in it all God still walks with us and never leaves us. As a pastor friend said, “If God cared enough to create us, then God loves us enough to see us through.” 

            Isaiah’s prophetic words speak to this promise, saying in verse 19, “I will rejoice over Jerusalem and delight in my people. And the sound of weeping and crying will be heard in it no more. You see, God has promised, in the miracle of resurrection that hope outweighs the suffering of this life. It’s hard to see when you’re going through the suffering, but that doesn’t take away from how grand and glorious that hope from God truly is. That hope is two-fold. It is the hope that reminds us that death is swallowed up in the victory of life in the God who loves us. But it is also the hope that in every moment of life, and in every moment of toil and struggle we face, God is with us every single moment—loving us, strengthening us, and reminding us of that unbelievable presence that walks with us. 

            When you look at the Gospel, you can feel just how alone and frightened the disciples were. Mary cries out to Jesus, whom she mistakes for the gardener, asking where they have taken him. Peter and the disciple Jesus loved run to the tomb when they hear the news. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, there’s an angel to announce the resurrection of Jesus. Here that doesn’t happen. Mary, this disciple, and Peter are left with only that stark emptiness of the tomb—this startling reality that Jesus is not only dead, he is gone. 

            But something powerful happens, something that can only come from faith. When the disciple Jesus loved arrives at the tomb, he’s hesitant to go in and encounter those empty burial linens and folded head wrapping. But then, the Gospel tells us that this disciple “went in, and he saw and believed.” The words about hope, life, and resurrection—they all made sense. This wasn’t the death, burial, and end of everything Jesus had said and taught. 

            Instead, this was a new beginning. Jesus was back to end our walk on a lonely road with a promise to be with us. And indeed, in just a short verse or two later, Jesus appears to the disciples and assures them that hope is the final word over pain, over suffering, over fear and loneliness in this life. Hope, life, and God’s love have the final word, end of story. 

            We may face days and pathways that feel lonely. With the loss of loved ones, with journeys and places in life we must face on our own, with the uncertainty we must sometimes live with, we may be facing lonely roads ahead. But though the way may seem weary and lonely, it’s not. As we begin or continue our faithful journey and those times of fear and doubt creep in, we will find Jesus, our constant companion, Savior, and friend. Then, like Mary, we can proclaim boldly, “I have seen the Lord.” 

Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/354734936610570

Palm Sunday 2022

Facing Reality: Isaiah 50: 4-9a; Luke 19: 18-40

            As the hymn says, “Ride on, ride on in majesty, in lowly pomp, ride on to die.” This road from triumphant entry to the suffering of the cross is one we’ve journeyed together for many years. However, now, more than ever this journey speaks to us as both a warning and a symbol of hope for a world that can yet still find itself in the power of and seeking the will of a loving Savior. 

How does this happen. Let me start with a story. I was meeting with a fellow pastor the other day for some advice. After listening to my weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, he said to me, “Will, you just need to stop overthinking it.” Okay. I smiled and pretended to be thankful. What I wanted to say is, “Ya know, if I could turn the overthinking off like water from a faucet, I wouldn’t exactly be here seeking advice, dude.” But I held my tongue, and he then offered this great bit of wisdom. He said, “Lord, deliver us from ourselves.” That one thought took deep root in my soul. Lord, deliver us from ourselves. 

In our Gospel, we see the old and familiar story of Jesus riding from the towns of Bethany and Bethphage, the home of Lazarus and a place where Jesus was loved, to Jerusalem where prophetic voices like Jesus were silenced and often with death. Jerusalem was a powder keg of power struggles, ethnic conflict between Roman, Jewish, and others who lived there, a place of oppression with a deep undercurrent of political strife, injustice, and barely controlled anger. And I know none of that seems at all relevant in this day and time. Jerusalem was only 30 years away from a full-blown conflict with Rome. 

            Into this volatile situation, Jesus rode in on the back of a donkey, hailed as the King of Kings. The people there wanted a savior, a deliverer, and a mighty king. This is what they hoped for in Jesus, but their understanding was misplaced. They wanted an earthly king, who would lead a revolt, overthrow Rome, and reestablish David’s throne and the purity of Solomon’s temple. They wanted a new King David who would smash the Roman Goliath in a miraculous way. Instead, they got this poor, humble guy on the back of a donkey, who preached about love, laying down one’s life, and a heavenly kingdom. 

Jesus came to Jerusalem not to bring down Pilate, or topple Caesar’s power, or restore the temple religion and recreate a Judean kingdom. Even Jesus’s preaching was not so fiery and tough as what you could possibly hear in the temple and Sanhedrin. Blessed are the peacemakers, love your enemy, love your neighbor, be born again of God and not of worldly things—all of this was a far cry from expectation. But it all has a common theme: O Lord, deliver us from ourselves. 

These past couple of years we’ve lost our time, our freedom, our sense of security, too many friends and family to even name, and it could be that hope seems a bit dim while grief weighs heavy. We too want Jesus to ride into our lives and suddenly make all things better, which is certainly possible, but it cannot be done when our faith is clouded by anger, grief, confusion, and the love of doubt. 

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the people shouted, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.” But Jesus didn’t come to save Jerusalem from Rome. He came to save humanity, to deliver us from ourselves and from those doubts, the negativity, and those struggles which keep us in a worldly mindset instead of focusing on the hope and redemption that is Christ’s work.

I had someone ask me recently why we have to suffer so much in this world. They were struggling with the loss of a loved one and their own physical illness as well. I could sense the struggle and pain they were feeling. The truth is that there is no good answer. The best I can offer is that the faith I have meets with the faith you have, and together, God’s presence in both of us will see us through. As Isaiah 50 says, “The Sovereign Lord has given me his words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the weary. Morning by morning he wakens me and opens my understanding to his will. Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced…and I know that I will not be put to shame.” 

It begins when we pray, Lord, deliver us from ourselves. In the triumphant entry, Jesus comes into the city with great fanfare and celebration. The people of Bethany and Bethphage travelled with Jesus and the disciples into the heart of Jerusalem. The people of Jerusalem were overcome and ecstatic. Here was their king and deliverer. But just a few days later, they named him a fraud and called for him to be crucified with murderous rage before Pilate. 

Jesus did not come to fix the earthly existence of Jerusalem. He came to restore a broken relationship and give them the hope of eternal life with him. He came to bring faith, not a kingdom; justice, not civil war with Rome; a relationship and not a temple faith. His kingdom was not of this world and Jesus did not come to fix the political mess of Jerusalem. He came to bring life and hope and the Holy Spirit which would equip the people to fix Jerusalem, if they followed him. He came to deliver them from themselves and unto a relationship with a God who loved them and created them. 

As the hymn says, “Lord, you have come to the lakeshore, looking neither for wealthy nor wise ones. You only asked me to follow humbly.” Jesus is still calling to this day to follow humbly. It may not fix all your problems here on earth. Jesus didn’t come to make things perfect. He came to deliver us from our worldly lives and return us to God. It is a tough journey from the palms to the cross. In a world that seems to be growing in cruelty, anger, and strife, that journey to the cross seems harder and harder every year—facing that pain and that suffering. But one thing never changes. One the other side of that cross is hope and eternal life. And so, each day, I pray, “Lord, deliver us from ourselves.” Amen. 

Service Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/687550229059830

Facing Life's Worst Battles: Lent 5

Facing Hypocrisy—Isaiah 43: 16-21; John 12: 1-8

            I was talking with a new, young pastor a year or so ago. Apparently, I’ve been doing this long enough to reach the “old enough to go to for wisdom” stage. He asked me my best advice on pastoring. I VERY jokingly said, “Don’t preach against sins you frequently like to commit.” I thought it was a joke, but there was silence. I glanced at him, and with a perplexed look he said, “Then what am I supposed to preach about?” I guess there’s something to be said about honesty. Today, in our Lenten series, we look at how to face hypocrisy. 

            It’s a word that’s really overused these days. Anytime someone tells a white lie, we yell, “Hypocrite!” It is so bad that if you even forget what you said or forget to do something, you’re in danger of being labelled a hypocrite. But in its truest sense, hypocrisy is the practice of claiming to have, or imposing on others, moral standards or beliefs which you do not actually follow. Perhaps a clearer definition is a person who preaches loudly and angry about sins and behaviors they secretly love to do. Here's an example: a person who preaches with gusto against the evils of gluttony, then goes and utterly wipes out the Sunday brunch buffet. I joke. Somewhat. 

            Many have alleged that Judas’s great sin was betrayal, greed, or something else, but the truth is, hypocrisy was his undoing. At the dinner setting of today’s Gospel, we see Martha serving Jesus and the disciples while Mary anoints Jesus with an expensive perfume, and if ever you are asked in trivia, the perfume is called spikenard. Judas then takes Mary to task on the pouring out of the perfume telling her the money it brought in could be used for the poor. 

            Judas, though, is a hypocrite. He cares nothing for the poor. He cares nothing for Jesus, for Mary, or for any of these people. The man literally saw Jesus call Lazarus back from the dead shortly before this, and it has not softened the frosty callousness of his heart, not even one tiny bit. A thief and a cheat, he still talked the right disciple talk for following Jesus, even though his life and his actions spoke otherwise. 

            Hall of Fame football coach, Wes Fesler, said, “Hypocrisy is the audacity to preach integrity from a den of corruption.” This was Judas. He had heard all the right words of Jesus and learned all the right things. He knew exactly what he needed to say in the right situation. But his life never reflected the holiness and faith found in the empty words he spoke. Likely Judas wanted the perfume sold and the money added to the change purse for the disciples, so that he could steal it. It was this conniving, cunning, and hypocritic spirit which would be his undoing. 

            Hypocrites are often found near to the brokenhearted and the vulnerable because hypocrisy loves to take advantage of brokenness and vulnerability. Look where you find hypocrisy the most: religion and/or politics—both places where one tends to find brokenness and vulnerability. 

            In 2006 an Evangelical megachurch pastor, who had viciously preached against LGBT community and against drugs, was outed by the man whom he was paying for sex and drugs, specifically meth. The man who exposed him said he had to stop the hypocrisy. I need not give you the dozens, if not hundreds, of examples of hypocrisy that exist in the world of politics. It reminds me of the old saying, “If you talk the talk, then walk the walk.” We will all do wrong and behave badly from time to time, but we can be honest, open, and repentant and not live our lives like a confederacy of Judases. 

            We also see Jesus’s pointed response. He tells Judas to leave Mary alone. She was vulnerable in this moment. She had just experienced the death of her brother Lazarus only to be astounded by the miracle of Jesus raising him from the dead. I am sure both she and Martha were still delirious from all the events. Then here comes Judas trying to manipulate and take advantage of the situation by getting money out of Mary instead of seeing her faithful and holy intent. Jesus says, “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” Don’t try too hard to figure this out. He’s talking to Judas. Soon Judas would betray Jesus, and he would no longer have Jesus with him, at all. 

            Hypocrisy demands that we give up pieces of faith and our relationship with Jesus until it is gone. It chips away at the foundation of faith we have built. Hypocrisy is one of the most difficult sins to overcome because any note of repentance rings hollow. No matter what one does, those watching will lack the trust to believe that a true change has happened. It is exactly this exploitation of vulnerability and trust which makes hypocrisy so dangerous. 

            What can we do? Isaiah 43 is a wise response. God has to completely make something new and different. Verse 19 says, “I am about to do something new,” pathways through the wilderness, rivers in the dry wasteland, something to refresh the people completely and fully. Unlike other struggles, which can be overcome, hypocrisy lacks in trust, in truth, and in hope. Too often the hypocrite will minimize or justify bad behavior over and over even after saying he or she is spiritually healed. Hypocrisy and betrayal brought Judas to his death, which was lonely, painful, and filled with suffering. 

            But we must also remember that hypocrisy killed Jesus. Not Jesus’s of course, but the hypocrisy of the people who praised him then called for his crucifixion shortly thereafter. Unlike Judas, whose hypocrisy led to a miserable death, the hypocrisy which killed Jesus on a cross was followed with resurrection and new life. God has done something new, as Isaiah says, in this resurrection. 

Hypocrisy is alive and well these days in our churches, in families, and in always in our politics. It’s a road that leads to pain, suffering, and death, for hypocrisy of some kind killed both Judas and Jesus. The question the is this: will we let our own hypocrisy or the hypocrites in our lives be the death of us, or will we find hope and resurrection despite the struggles? The answer is found in Christ and the hope of new life: as the hymn says, “My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art thou. If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.” 

Online Service: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/549236389799541