March 258 2021 Palm/Passion Sunday

Mark 11:1-11  (The Message)

1 When they were nearing Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany on Mount Olives, he sent off two of the disciples with instructions: 2 "Go to the village across from you. As soon as you enter, you'll find a colt tethered, one that has never yet been ridden. Untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone asks, 'What are you doing?' say, 'The Master needs him, and will return him right away.'" 4 They went and found a colt tied to a door at the street corner and untied it. 5 Some of those standing there said, "What are you doing untying that colt?" 6 The disciples replied exactly as Jesus had instructed them, and the people let them alone. 7 They brought the colt to Jesus, spread their coats on it, and he mounted. 8 The people gave him a wonderful welcome, some throwing their coats on the street, others spreading out rushes they had cut in the fields. 9 Running ahead and following after, they were calling out, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in God's name! 10 Blessed the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in highest heaven! 11 He entered Jerusalem, then entered the Temple. He looked around, taking it all in. But by now it was late, so he went back to Bethany with the Twelve.

 The Passion Story - Mark 14:1-15:47

“Not What Was Expected”

Jesus was not what was expected by the people of Israel who had waited so long for their promised Messiah so they crucified Him within the same week they hailed him as King.

They were looking at Him as their great political Messiah; he was coming as a King whose kingdom was not of this world.

In His kingdom peace (“would that you know the things which make for peace”)  comes not by being the most powerful but by loving enough to suffer for others.  (Phil 2:8)

It is to serve rather then be served and to give one’s life as a ransom for many.

The disciples (nor the crowd) didn’t understand that the Messiah must die.  The thought is both repulsive and enraging for them; this is not what they expected: a king riding into Jerusalem on a donkey!

God , the incomprehensible God, 

did things not necessary or expected of God.   He took exception to our way of doing things and sent his Son to be a servant

”to humble himself and become obedient 

unto death, even death on a cross.”  (Phil 2:8)                      

                                                                              

Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, may your passion make me passionate in serving

rather then being served.”

                                                                                       

March 21. 2021 Fifth Sunday of Lent

 Mark 10:42-45 (The Message)

42 Jesus called them (disciples) together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Being a servant is more in step with Jesus then being a mighty one.

Servant means lowly in our world.  In God’s Kingdom it is the highest office one can hold.

To be great in the Kingdom is to be a servant.

To be first is to be last.

To really live is to lose oneself in life in serving Jesus Christ.

Don’t ask what you can get, but what you can give.

Greatness, honor, deep meaning and fulfillment in life comes, in Jesus terms, ”...not in self-seeking, but in solidarity....not in accruing status, but in benefiting others…not in hoarding, but in giving...not in ruling, but in serving.” 

“A servant is one who        

“finds grace to help in

time of need.” 

           Hebrews 4:16

Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, keep me humble and use me as a 

servant.  Help me to help others.”

March 14, 2021 Fourth Sunday in Lent

John 3:14-17  (The Message)

¹⁴ Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵ that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹

Love is a universal theme of humanity.  It is something we all need - to love and be loved.

Love is also at the center of the Bible, which is a love letter from God.

God does not love only those who love God. God loves the world! Everyone!

Not even our rejection of God stops God from loving us.  As Luther said:

“Nobody is in this life nearer God than those who hate and blaspheme him. He has no more dear children then they.”

God’s grace is Gods love in action.   We can’t get out of being loved by God.  That is the bottom line!  It is at the core of all we believe.  We cannot manipulate God into loving us more then others or letting us decided who God loves and who we can condemn because God doesn’t love them.  That is not ours to do!

In fact, we are free to do as we please, as one who is loved by God.  God takes the risk that love will make a difference in our lives and in how we live.  

It is a big risk - as these words of John Lewis remind us:

“Know that the truth always leads to love and the perpetuation of peace. Its products are never bitterness and strife. Clothe yourself in the work of love, in the revolutionary work of nonviolent resistance against evil. Anchor the eternity of love in your own soul and embed this planet with goodness. Release the need to hate, to harbor division, and the enticement of revenge. Release all bitterness. Hold only love, only peace in your heart, knowing that the battle of good to overcome evil is already won.” 

^{“Clothe yourself in the work of love,}      

^{in the revolutionary work of nonviolent}

^{resistance against evil.”}

^{John Lewis}

^{Prayer thought for the week:  “God loves me!  And calls me to love as I have been loved.}

^{It is an awesome task!  I fail often!  Lord, forgive me so I can try again!”}

March 7, 2021 Third Sunday in Lent

John 2:13-17  (The Message)

¹³ When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. ¹⁵ So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶ To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” ¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

Jesus had two faces.  He was “meek and lowly in heart”;  and  “he looked at them with anger”.  (Mk 5:5)  He was gentle but not anemic,  as when he called Herod a “fool” or told Peter “Get behind me, Satan!”

Nor was He anemic when he cleansed the temple.  He was a violent intruder, disrupting their comfortable little set up.  It must have been a wild scene!  The disciples must have been stunned, even embarrassed.  The people likewise.  

Jesus was not always an easy person to be with.  For example, when he said:

“Leave the dead to bury their own dead; for as for you, go and proclaim the                kingdom of God.”  Lk. 9:60

“No own who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”  Lk. 9:62 

“He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not
worthy of me.”  Mt. 10:37, 38

This may sound harsh and in some ways it is.  It is also an expression of God’s awesome love which will not let us off easy, but expresses itself even in punishment for sin.  It is as Luther prayed, “Ah, God, punish us, we pray Thee...but be not silent...toward us.”

Jesus, would be an Intruder in our lives, harsh though it may seen, to awaken in us our need for a Savior, and then Jesus would be the  Savior we need.

“Ah, God, punish us, we pray Thee…

but be not silent...toward us.”

           Martin Luther

Prayer though for the week:  “Lord, open my heart to your ‘tough love’ and help me change who I am to who you would have me be.”