SCRIPTURE: Acts 5:27-32
TEXT: 5:29 But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than any human authority. THEME: INTRODUCTION The Easter lectionary sermon series is on WDDTRM: What Difference Does the Resurrection Make? We begin by looking at what has happened to Peter and John. They began with a foot race to the empty tomb on Easter morning. I was getting props ready to tell the story of Jesus’ resurrection to the preschoolers. One of the props is at the bellows of the old pipe organ. I set the hatch opening ajar and descended stone steps leading down to a dark crypt like space. There I lay a cloth neatly folded as if removed from the body of Christ. The props were staged for telling the Easter story as Kauka Kanani walked by the opened hatch when two cats came bounding out of the opening. I named cats Peter and John, discovering the empty tomb Then running back to tell the others. SCRIPTURE Peter and John were witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. Then they were filled with the Holy Spirit (we’ll get to that story in a few weeks). And now Peter and John are found preaching, teaching and healing in the name of Jesus in the streets. They were warned to stop, were arrested, and miraculously escaped from prison. They were back on the streets, preaching, teaching and healing in Jesus’ name. And were arrested again and brought before the Sanhedrin. They were repeat offenders. They said, “We gave strict orders not to teach about Jesus and yet here you are.” They respond by saying, “What are we gonna do? Do we do what you say or do what God says?” Besides you didn’t like what God had to say, when Jesus was among us. You thought that you could silence the voice of God by murdering Jesus. You were wrong on both accounts. And now you want to silence us. Who are we going to obey, God or yourselves? We haven’t seen your miracles, healings, or miraculous escapes. But with God we have seen a resurrected Jesus and been filled with the Holy Spirit and prison doors opened and commanded to tell the message of Jesus. Who are we going to obey?” There were a lot of things that God had revealed to both the High Priest and the Apostles, but if our minds are not open, then we could miss what God is revealing to us. APPLICATION What difference does the Resurrection make in what we obey? When Jesus was resurrected in the tomb, he was alive, and did not stick around for people to come to see him. When we are alive, we are out in the world, on the move. As witnesses of the risen Jesus, as those who have had the Holy Spirit poured out in their lives, the Apostles are alive, out in the world. They are in the streets, teaching about Jesus with signs of the presence of God in caring and by having compassion for others. Those they reached were healed and released from the unclean spirits that possess them. In some regards the church has taken the strategy of the Temple, here we are come and see us in the tomb. But Jesus’ ministry, adopted by the Apostles, is taking the ministry of God to where the people are. This is riskier. Harder. We lose our home court advantage and have to think on our feet, be vulnerable to God, and adapt to whatever situation we find ourselves in. Using what we know about God in ways that can be helpful to draw us all nearer to God. The single thing that has drawn me into the crisis in Ukraine has been the photographs. Those pictures of the bombed-out buildings, the rubble neighborhoods, the bodies found in the trenches, the abandoned skeletal tanks, and the citizens fleeing for safety as new refugees, and immigrants. The sad goodbyes as abled bodied men bid farewell to their families to become soldiers with unknown fates, to defend the hope of their love ones’ futures. The ministry has taken to the streets, by welcoming refugees, sending aid to feed, clothe and shelter those fleeing to safety, prayers for all of this and peace. Russia has turned off their humanity to possess Ukraine. I heard an NPR report of a Ukrainian Library that proves that Ukraine was never a part of Russia. Proof doesn’t matter to a mad man. There is enough proof in the Ukrainian resistance that they don’t want to be Russian. And yet the lies continue, the false reports of victory, and the continued threats of more devastation. He is deluded as his mind is close to any other reality. This is what the mission field looks like in the streets of the Romain Empire, of Nazi Germany, of Ukraine, and in our United States and the streets of Maui when the Lord frees us from the safety of the prison door and leads us out to the streets to live our faith in Christ. See what is around you, the people, the hunger, the illness, the fear, and trying to get by, the injustice, the resistance to do things in a better way. Be compassionate instead of judgmental. That is what I like about the Food Pantry. The stories I hear from the people who distribute food is about helping, and caring for those who have become part of this community, dare I say ‘church’. Use our brain to think about what we could do to help. What resources do we already have? What agencies might we engage? How is the Lord leading us to engage with our world? CONCLUSION There is no King, no Pharaoh, No Emperor, No Queen, No Autocrat, no Czar no Empress who has died and risen from the dead, been resurrected with witnesses and sent an empowering spirit so followers may continue to serve others. Jesus is the only one. Jesus is unique. And proclamation worthy. Jesus’ resurrection shatters all other templates of salvation and forces us to rethink everything with a Loving God who creates, forgives, loves and adopts us as people in the family of God forever. This is worth talking about no matter what anybody says. In fact, this is exactly what the angel who opened the prison door tells the apostles to do, 20 “Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this life.” We have our orders.
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SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 15:19-26
TEXT: 15:20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. THEME: Resurrection is life with infinite possibilities with God. INTRODUCTION Jesus stopped the Roman Empire in this way. He went to a far remote country on the outskirts of its empire and began a movement centered around people, connecting people with God, teaching about how to care for each other and doing miracles that created wholeness and equity. He gains such huge popularity that he became un-touchable. There would be a revolt by the people if anything happened to Jesus. So, the government watched and hoped that this would burn itself out on its own. The Israelites had a reputation of being a scrappy bunch of fighters, anything that riled them up wasn’t worth the effort. But this movement of Jesus didn’t go away. Instead, it continued to grow with larger crowds and popular teaching about forgiveness, freedom, life with God and community. The religious leaders of the area were also agitated and felt helpless to control Jesus. He jeopardized their privileged status with the Empire. It felt that this was leading to a revolt. It was no secret that he would be in Jerusalem for the Passover festivities, a Jewish nationalistic holiday that celebrated their liberation out of slavey from the Egyptian superpower. The Roman Governor Pilate decided to be in Jerusalem. If Plate was going to be there then Herod the King of Judea was going to be there too, along with the High Priest of the temple, Caiaphas. Under the guise of night, Caiaphas had his temple guards arrest Jesus and used the Roman courts to execute a death sentence. Jesus was crucified on Friday and placed in a tomb as the Sabbath began. A stone was rolled in front of the entrance of the tomb. And they thought they could silence the voice of God and that, was that. SCRIPTURE When the Sabbath was over the women of the group discovered the open tomb, Jesus’ body was gone. On Easter, the image of the empty tomb means that Jesus is alive and on the move. Life does not stay still. Faith creates templates for us to understand what had happened at Easter. The Apostle Paul shares his template of the resurrection of Jesus with the church in Corinth. Paul sees Jesus as the first fruits of more to come. I have a banana tree that I have been watering in my yard. It shot out one of those flower pods and then purple fingerling flowers that turned into little green bananas. I was advised to keep on watering it, even when it rains to have big bananas. It’s been weeks now when all of a sudden two of the hands turned yellow. I cut them off the tree right away. They were small but sweet. I have one more hand that I am watching, On the bottom of the banana stalk, in the ground is a keiki that is establishing itself as a successor. There are more bananas to come. Paul says Jesus is the first Banana at the resurrection on Easter (my paraphrase). That makes all of us second bananas, with so much more to come; hands, bunches and fruit bearing trees in their season. Pastor Wayne Ibara from Makiki Christian Church sent me a video from the Bible Project on Eternal Life. A 5-minute cartoon explaining the concept of Eternal Life as “Life unto the Age”. I always like cartoons, but this one was by no means childish. I had to watch about 10 times. When we choose our own way, we live in the age unto ourselves. But God invites us to live a life of infinite potential as exemplified in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. But when our first parents decide to live a life on their own terms, rejecting the deeper kind of life God offers, they traded God’s ways for having “life unto the age of death”. Jesus bridges the life of infinite potential and the life of mortality. Being made of mortal flesh and blood and of infinite possibilities Jesus makes it possible for us to enter into a new life with God possible. This is experienced when the women discover Jesus’ tomb empty (except for a couple of angels) because Jesus is alive and on the move. This is Eternal Life that we may know God, the One True God and Jesus Christ whom God has sent (Jn17:3) That Whoever trusts in Jesus will not perish but may have Eternal life (Jn 3:16). And have Life unto the Age. Life with infinite possibilities with God. A deeper kind of Life. APPLICATION Christ makes resurrection possible for us (as second bananas). God’s power in resurrection is greater than any power over us. How do we live when every enemy has been destroyed, including death (verse 26)? The age of death may be destroyed with the resurrection, but we still have battles to wage. CBS Morning’s Anthony Mason, interview the Punk Rock girl band Linda Lindas. They have just dropped their first album. This band is made of up two sisters, and cousin and a friend. Their ages run from 11 to 17. Three of the girls are Chinese. So, when a boy went up to one of the girls and said, “My dad said I have to stay away from you because you brought the Corona virus” In response, they wrote the song “Racist Sexist Boy” not staying quiet, addressing that lie and went viral. They never expected their group to have the success that they are having today. So, when asked, “What are you planning to do with all of this attention?” They answered, “We will see if there is a way that we can use this for good” A lot of credit goes to their parents, professional sound producer, graphic designer, and their introduction to music at a young age. They are battling an enemy that seeks to destroy with a ‘ceasing life for themselves’ attitude. Linda Lindas is using their music to speak the truth. This is Life unto the age, Life with infinite possibilities with God. A deeper kind of life. This helps to give some meat to our understanding of what it means to have eternal life. It means to live our infinite possibilities with God, into a deeper kind of life. We will have to battle those, ‘ceasing life for ourselves’ attitudes, Racist, Sexist Boys, and others of the age of death, as part of our living unto the age. CONCLUSION We live theoretical lives. We speak about truth telling, infinite possibilities with God and a deeper way of living, while there is mass destruction in Ukraine. We are witnessing the devastation caused by Empire in our world today. If Russia is unable to conquer Ukraine, they are willing to destroy as much of it as they can, with no holds barred, killing men and women, children, young and old, soldiers and civilians, able bodied and infirm. Destroying buildings, littering the rubble with incendiary explosive devises, and blaming the Ukraine’s for their atrocities. There are rules for war but Russia is ignoring them and creating a false scenario about them. Focusing on the resurrection, we become a people who connect people with God, teaching about how to care for each other and do miracles that created wholeness and equity. Like the Linda Lindas we have to tell the truth about what is happening in Ukraine. The Russians only hear Putin’s version of the war. We may not have a punk rock band but we do have prayer. We can encourage our political leaders to move in ways to preserve lives and bring justice in this evil situation. We can find avenues of support to help these new refugees and their sponsors. We are second bananas of the resurrection. Christ has created a new reality for us and those after us. We live in the age where life with God is possible and the death’s reign is over. There are battles still to fight but the age of death is defeated and we have infinite possibilities with God. SCRIPTURE: Philippians 2:5-11
TEXT: 5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, THEME: Love finds its expression in helping others. INTRODUCTION What was Jesus thinking as the crowds lined the road going up to Jerusalem with shouts of ‘Hosanna’. “They see me as king, but not in the way that I really am. They want me to rule, but not just over their country but in their hearts. They want to be saved from the tyranny of Rome; the love of God will give them a liberation greater than any power on Earth. Jerusalem is the city of God. The Passover marks the anniversary of deliverance from slavery in Egypt. It will be good to worship in the Temple. The reign of God will be in every nation as long as there are persons who believe and have Christ in the temple of their hearts.” SCRIPTURE Paul opens this text with a provocative claim, in that; “We can have the same mind in us, that was in Christ Jesus.” This means that we have the capability of understating things the way Christ was thinking. Knowing God isn’t that hard, or hidden. Jesus reveals how we are loved by God and how to live. Figuring out what God wants us to do isn’t that hard. It is to love God and to treat others in loving ways. Jesus was willing to set aside everything and line his life up to be able to serve others with God. Entering Jerusalem for the last time he must have been thinking about the presence of the Roman Governor Pilate, the High Priest Caiaphas and the King of Judea Herod all converging in this holy city at the time of the anniversary of the Passover. This was no time to shy away from doing what God wants done but the opportunity to teach about God’s love and celebrate the liberating event that formed the nation of God. God’s loving us through Christ challenges the opposing forces to God’s will. What God is doing? This passage ties Christmas in with Easter. The eternal God veiled in flesh and blood, now vulnerable and helpless again in the hands of human beings. Yet this time, there is no need for escape but to meet power with love for the benefit of all, including Pilate, Caiaphas, and Herod. The events of Holy Week are like a synopsis of Jesus’ Ministry. Jesus goes to center himself with God for the next stage of his ministry and finds himself in the wilderness of the temple filled with animals, merchants and money changers. He recalls the liberating work of God and the formational work in the wilderness and calls his disciples to love and care for others as the next part of their formation as the People of God. And then he shows his love, not in self-seeking but by being willing to be arrested, falsely accused, beaten and killed because the injustice of political power and the self-serving trajectory of the religious powers that were threatened by Jesus’ love for us. Jesus shows us the limits of our physical bodies and dies on the cross, mortal. But what is it that the mind of Christ Jesus tells us? That we are not only mortal but have souls that live beyond our bodies’ death and find their life in the company of God. In one tradition, we want Jesus to be obedient following God’s letter to the Law to redeem us. But we can also see Jesus being obedient to the love of God and never wavering in loving us; through the death of our bodies and into creating a future in an immortal hope. We can stop living as if we are dying, and instead begin living because we are alive. Christ’s love for us is worth exaltation and praise. The Christ has become our Lord, not just our champion but also showing us the rule of love. APPLICATION We withhold love from others to have power over them. Jesus gives up all power to be all loving. Jesus was not dissuaded by the opposing forces against him. How is our direction changed because we have chosen to be loving instead of powerful, generous instead of profitable, dependent instead of rich, anonymous instead of famous, or counter cultural instead of popular? How can we live our lives differently because of being loved by God, accepted, forgiven, adopted and valued? Where can we apply love instead of power? The same mind in us that was in Christ Jesus is a shift in the way we think. To put others first even in Costco. You are going down an isle with your cart, and someone turns the corner and heads straight for you. They seem to except you to turn your entire cart out of their way so they can walk straight on by. Do we hold our ground or plow on through? The mind of Christ is a paradigm shift as we are willing to turn to the side to let them by. And by the way, what makes them think that they can squeeze on by you between the aisle and your cart? Graciousness, even when there is so much room on the other side? Mind of Christ, Mind of Christ. That is a good prayer for us to repeat over and over again in Costco. As we listened to the opposing remarks made to Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson at her Supreme Court Confirmation, we could see power trying to have its way to prevent having a Justice who looks like the majority of the people they make laws for; a person of color, a woman, a graduate from public school, and someone who has sat on the bench and has put these laws into practice. She comes to serve, not to be served. They tried to label her or create a portrait of her that was different from who she was, they tried to use one story to define who she was, but she did not get riled. With calm repose, she stated facts and responded intelligently even when the inquisitor answered for her or over talked her responses. From humble beginnings to Supreme Court Justice, she has a perspective that is grounded in real life. This is like the incarnation in reverse. Maybe this is what Palm Sunday is all about. Jesus loving us so much, that we, from the roadside can be incarnated to life in heaven. CONCLUSION What was Jesus thinking as his disciples followed his instructions and he mounted the colt and began to ascend into Jerusalem? When Pilate, Herod and Caiaphas make their presence known in Jerusalem and make a stance of power? Jesus comes with peace, incarnate, humble, serving all, the people who cheer as well as those who are not, that they can all be elevated to a place where they can find the peace that Jesus has with God, as their parent and known peace with their neighbor, not as someone who is trying to take something away from known them, but as one whom they can be generous with, protect, respect, listen to and depend upon. To form communities where we don’t have to be powerful, to control things, but where we enrich each other’s lives, and work together towards resolving the challenges of our world and create new and beautiful things. Could this be the mind of Christ as the cheers begin to fade entering the city gates, the players are all assembled and now the games begin. In the arena of the world, the mind of Christ, the Mind of love fires towards helping others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. To love and to help others. SCRIPTURE: Philippians 3:4b-14
TEXT: 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, THEME: A paradigm shift creates different actions. INTRODUCTION For Lent, I am taking verbs as titles of the sermons about Living what we believe: the first was beloving, then imitating, followed by imagining, creating and today Doing or Becoming. We don’t always do what we have discover as the best way to be. Will Smith seems to aspire to high standards, but at the Academy Awards, he fell short of being his best. To garner laughter, jokes can cross boundaries of truth and strike raw nerves at the expense of others. The difficulties the Smith family has been dealing with alopecia is a hurtful subject. Chris Rock’s words were hurtful, and Will Smith took his power, fame, position, to hurt back. Primal but not the best self he is trying to aspire to be. He took to violence instead of words. He crossed a line. He testified to violence and a righteous anger that upon reflection was vengeful, blind to the setting he was in, and displayed an example he wouldn’t want anyone to copy. He also poorly represented two of the most notable black actors in the worst possible light. After thinking about what he had done, he apologized to the Academy, the audience, and his fellow actors. It took a few more day before he apologized to Chris Rock. And now he has decided to resign as a member of the academy and is willing to accept any disciplinary action the academy might take. If he had thought about all of these things before, he acted, he would have chosen to do things differently. We know this, because we don’t always behave the way we wished we had. After we have had time to think about what we have done, the damage we have caused and how all of this could have been avoided if we had self-control and thought about how we chose to respond instead of reacting. The very simplest of Christian values to turn the other cheek and to forgive were buried deep instead of on the surface. We are all in process. SCRIPTURE This is what Paul seems to be addressing in this passage. For the first part of his life, he understood himself and God through the lens of his Heritage, ancestors, wrathful God and the Law. He became a Parasitic Lawyer. He took on the role of prosecutor, judge, jury, and sheriff against these proponents of a false Christ. Until he had a theological paradigm shift, the resurrected Jesus appeared to him, on his way to Damascus. Jesus’ resurrection is real. This made all of the other statements Jesus made true, including being the Christ, the son of God and the forgiveness of sin. Righteousness then is not self-achieved but given lovingly just by God loving us. And how do we win God’s love? We don’t, it is already freely given, as God values us and wants us to live in relationship with God as displayed in the loving act of having Jesus incarnate in flesh and blood. What Paul has learned about God through Jesus has shifted his paradigm. He used to think about a wrathful God who punished us when we broke the Law. But now he sees a God who takes on our good flesh and our good blood and shows us a righteousness that is found in a love that draws us into relationship with God’s self, where forgiveness is found. He used to think that we had to be good enough for God to accept us and so we had to earn God’s approval though acts of righteousness. Paul now sees through Jesus that righteousness is a gracious gift given so we can fellowship with God. Paul is in process contrary to the notion that one had to check all of the religious boxes to become good enough. Our relationships with God begin with faith and is a journey not a final destination. APPLICATION A relationship is not passive but is always moving. What do we do when how we act is not how we would like to be? The Bible is a really interesting book because, it is not a record of one success to accomplishment to victory to Nirvana. But it is more like the “I Love Lucy Show” where any possible mishap, misconception, embarrassment, under and over estimation could takes place, causing a strain on the Ricardo’s relationship, giving birth to live, laughter, joy and love. We the viewer are like the audience of the Bible, watching this wonderful creation live out their lives. We are invested emotionally and spiritually into the characters as we hope, dream and wish the best for them. Sometimes their ego, selfishness and poor communication skills get in the way. But somehow, they always work through their problems and come out on the other side with each other. Certainly, their relationship was in process. We begin with an inkling of faith that God or Jesus is real and this launches our relationship with God. We discover, learn, test, pray, worship and check and balance what rings true to our heart. We wrestle with God’s ways over our own. We try both and find wisdom and maturity in God’s ways. We want to be like Jesus but find it impossible to live like that all of the time, because our pride, hurt, ego, selfishness, fear and humanness get in the way. We are better at it now than when we first began but we are not done yet. Perfection is not a thing but living engaged with Jesus is. CONCLUSION I don’t condone Will Smith slapping Chris Rock for something he said about his wife at the Oscars. I think Chris Rock also took it too far for a joke. But just because we feel offended and hurt it doesn’t mean that we go out and hurt someone back. There have been times when I have felt so frustrated and angry at those who want to control and regulate a process instead of do what is right. I have not hit anyone, although I have felt like it. I realize I still have to work with these people, and not being able to be in the room as part of the decision-making process would be worst. We are all in process of becoming better version of ourselves with God, and there are times, for whatever reason when we are not at our best. All we can do is to admit our contribution to the problem. Ask for forgiveness for what we have done and take actions to correct the situation and change our behavior so we don’t find ourselves in that situation again. We may have to do this several times before we get it right. That is part of the process of how we can take what we know about God and be it, by doing. |
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