Power, Life and Grace

Please listen to/download our Easter service from this morning. On this page, go to sermon audio and click on Power, Life and Grace. The message was from Isaiah 25 and Mark 16. The Lord be with you…

http://www.firstgrandville.org/content.cfm?id=213

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The Ugliest Day

Mark 15:25-32

The Ugliest Day  

“25 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him… 29 Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 save yourself and come down from the cross!”…“He saved others; he cannot save himself… Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.”

 

            Good Friday.

 

            One thing about Good Friday is what it reveals about us humans. You know it is the day Jesus died for our sins; He atones for our sins and takes the punishment so that we can be reconciled with God. You know that part…

 

            But there is another part of this that may often be missed.

           

            This is such an ugly scene. We have seen some very terrible things in our lifetimes – wars, murder, terrorism, September 11^th, all of these are/were awful in their own ways. And all of those were perpetrated by…other humans. 

 

            When you read the above passage we see many of the same things, directed of course at one person. And this is the crucial part of the magnitude of this. The victim or target here is Jesus Christ, the only Son of God. Here is a sample of how He was treated: Put on the cross; He was innocent but was put in the same place as criminals; humiliated and put down; and taunted by officials and the criminals. This is how we treated God then; this is how we often treat God now.

 

            Good Friday is a naked revelation of how awful and ugly the human heart can be. It is a revelation of how far away the human heart can stray from God’s Word and ways. It is a revelation of the hatred and violence and disregard the human heart is capable. It shows how easy it is to be blinded by fear and hatred to “eliminate the problem.” And before you say, “That was then and this is now,” is it really? Don’t we do these things in little ways in our lives? And while we were not there physically that day, as the old hymn asks, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” – Yes we were. The character of humanity, in which we share, was there and at its worst.

 

            And while all of this ugliness is on display, it is called “good.” Why? How?

 

            Because even for all of what happened on that day, and all the minor ways we today mirror the hatred, violence and disregard; all of the culmination of sins in which we live and are drenched in – even with all that – and really, thanks only to Jesus going to the cross and taking all of this on, there still is an Easter morning, the resurrection and the possibility of new and eternal life.

           

            And for us, as much as we hate; as much as we kill; as much as we disregard God and others – thanks to Jesus, the door is open to acknowledge that in all that we need a savior to redeem us from all that we have done. And by acknowledging Him as our savior and repenting of our sins – we will die and be raised by, through and be with Him forever. There is this great quote by a church father named Gregory of Nyssa, “What is not assumed, is not healed.” This is a good explanation of why Good Friday had to be so bad. While on the cross, Jesus assumed the sin of the world, this fallen heart and character of humanity, so that it could be healed. So yes, was it ugly and terrible? But, it had to be to make our redemption possible.

 

            You see, we will never begin to fully understand God’s grace and love in Jesus Christ until we start to see from where it comes – from the depths and horror of sin and darkness and suffering and isolation of the cross. It wouldn’t be God’s awesome, life-giving, liberating and eternal grace, if it didn’t require a savior, a savior named Jesus…

 

            Later this week, on Good Friday, please take time to reflect on what the “good” means to you.

 

            Amen.  

 

Discussion Questions

1. Prior to reading this what were you thoughts about Good Friday?
2. What are some of your thoughts on sin after thinking about Good Friday in the above way?
3. What are some ways we can personally reflect/acknowledge Good Friday in light of this Scripture?
4. Think of some adjectives to describe the events described in the above passage.

 

 

Rev. Christopher B. Wolf

Isaiah 42:7

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Christopher-B-Wolf/17378287393

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The Table

NOTE: You can listen to our Palm Sunday and Easter Services on our website, www.firstgrandville.org; go to Resources – Downloads – Sermons. Our Maundy Thursday service is available on CD. Please call or email if you would like a copy.  

Matthew 26:26-29

The Table (Remix of Maundy Thursday message) 

“While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will never drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.” Matthew 26:26-29   

Growing up, we didn’t have a lot of money. But when some special occasion came up, we would do our best to celebrate. Once in a while, we would go out to brunch at this place in Totowa, New Jersey called the Bethwood. Still to this day, it remains in my heart and mind a very special place. The Bethwood was not Friday’s, or some ordinary place like that. We went to the Bethwood only for very special occasions. 

At the time, the Bethwood brunch seemed to be the closest thing to Heaven. Surrounded by loved ones and feasting on what appeared to be an endless supply of food. Often, looking around the table, I could see my parents, my brother Ryan, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. It was joyous time. You could forget whatever was going on and just be there. And the food! The carving stations, the waffle and omelet stations, the seafood, muffins, salads, breads, petit forts, fruit and more! It was truly a feast.  

There was another kind of feast many, many years ago. It didn’t have the same food, but it had some other very important ingredients in abundance. When Jesus gathered his disciples around an ordinary table for the last time for supper, it was a feast of love, grace and promise. Let me show you… 

It was a feast of love, because when Jesus, “took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is my body,” he was talking about how he loved his disciples and all those who would come to believe Him so much that he would offer his body – broken on the cross. The kind of love that says, “I am going to love you even when it costs me everything – my body, my life.” No greater love than this (John 15:13)… 

It was also a feast of grace because when Jesus, “took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins,” he was talking about how far he would go to secure forgiveness for us even when we don’t deserve it. He would literally pour out his blood for our sake on the cross. Covenant in real life means “I forgive you no matter what and I stay in this relationship no matter what.”  

And think of this. Jesus talks about love, grace and covenant while sitting with people he knows will scatter and forsake him just a few hours from then. Remember Psalm 23: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” Here he is sitting with people who would resemble enemies and yet he still has grace for them. How do you turn an enemy into friend? There is just one way. You can’t force enemies into being friends; it never works. The one way to make enemies into friends is grace; a second chance. 

Speaking of second chances, the table at which Jesus sat and we return to sacramentally, is a table of promise. Jesus says, “I tell you, I will never drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.” Even with their forsaking him, even with his death and resurrection, Jesus promises they will be reunited at another feast, with new wine, in the Father’s Kingdom, which will have no end.         

If I were to make a reservation at the Bethwood for brunch this Sunday, and go there, very few of the people I originally went there with would be able to make it. Because of death and because of distance, it wouldn’t and couldn’t be the same. The food I am sure would be wonderful. But as I looked around the table there would be many empty seats.  

But in this season, I remember that thanks to Jesus’ love, grace and promise, there will be another feast, worlds better than the Bethwood – an eternal, joyous celebration with Jesus at the head of the table and surrounded again by those familiar faces I so miss as well as many more. 

The miracle of the Lord’s table each time we return to it, is that a piece of wood and some bread and some wine or juice can, by the power of the Holy Spirit, “strengthen and feed us unto life eternal,” turn people into brothers and sisters, turn enemies into friends, project the present into the future, offer a foretaste of life in God’s Kingdom, and take seemingly and often invisible things like love, grace and promise of Jesus Christ, and make them wondrously visible.   

Amen.   

Discussion Questions

1. What are some of your thoughts about communion?
2. What would it have been like to have been at the first Lord’s Supper?
3.  What about the love, grace and promise of the table? Which of those do you connect with most?
4. How can we return and approach the table in new ways, appreciating and mindful of all the above?

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Out of the Darkness and Gloom

Psalm 107:10-16

Out of the Darkness and Gloom  

10 “Some sat in darkness and in gloom, prisoners in misery and irons, 11 for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High. 12 Their hearts were bowed down with hard labor; they fell down, with no one to help. 13 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them for their distress; 14 he brought them out of darkness and gloom, and broke their bonds asunder. 15 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind. 16 For he shatters the doors of bronze, and cuts in two the bars on iron.”             

I often think of ministry as sitting outside prison cells, listening, encouraging through the Word and reaching my hand into prison cells to hold the hand of prisoners for a while. And don’t think that I don’t have my shackles too. They are clanking behind me as I come by…              

I think a lot about prisoners – I always have. Ones in actual jails and the ones in other kinds – mental, spiritual, relational and circumstance prisons.            

I have to think that a lot prisons don’t look like prisons at first. The new jobs, the marriage, the new responsibilities all look wonderful and exciting at first. Not as wonderful, but there are also those things we have done because at the time we needed to – again jobs and relationships come to mind. And then many of us don’t even see or realize the formation of the bars and walls. They appear slowly and stealthily. Stuck. And then it is too late…or is it?           

The voice of Psalm 107 tells us exactly how the “misery and irons” were attached. They had “rebelled against the words of God and spurned the counsel of the Most High (11).” Translation: they didn’t listen to or apply God’s Word in life and didn’t listen to Him in prayer and thought.           

The results according to Psalm 107 are “darkness and gloom (meaning is very close to “shadow of death from Psalm 23),” misery and heavy hearts and burdened with hard labor. Not fun. But you have to realize that this is where a lot of people, too many people are – varying degrees.            

The point here being that God’s Word is freedom, it is salvation in the eternal sense and in the living of life way. I ask you to think about the worst times of your lives – the prison sentences – that happened because of decisions. Review in your mind how you came to those decisions. Was God, through His Word or prayer, a part of them?            

A prison, literal or figurative, is not a natural thing. In the same way an imprisoned spiritual life is not natural either. Prisons of misunderstanding or of some doctrines or of guilt or of some traditions are not what God intended either. And yet the bars are still locked…           

But the one thing that a prison of whatever kind or material cannot hold or contain is prayer – prayer in the form of cries for help. “Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble… (13).” He can hear you through the walls, through the sorrow, through the responsibilities, through the burdens, through the guilt, through the addiction, through the unawareness, through the darkness and gloom.           

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens (falling down with heavy hearts and hard labor (12), and I will give you rest,” Jesus says in Matthew 11:28.  

Could it be enough to “cry out to the Lord” or “come to Jesus.”? Yes. Does it mean that the prison doors burst open right away? No, but…             

“…and he saved them for their distress; he brought them out of darkness and gloom, and broke their bonds asunder…for he shatters the doors of bronze, and cuts in two the bars on iron (14, 16).”            

I can’t tell you what it will look like. I don’t know the timing – “how long O Lord (Psalm 13:1)?” But I do know this – He is the only one who can do these things – save us and bring us out of darkness and gloom.            

There was once a prison and place of darkness and gloom. It was the tomb into which Jesus was placed after dying on the cross. And while on the cross (another prison) He cried out to the Lord, His Father. Now He didn’t get there because He ignored God’s Word – just the opposite. And just like everyone else who died before Him, it was a dead end, literally. And He went into that place of darkness and gloom, shed His blood and died for us and entered into death – the author of life!            

On the third day, that prison of death and sin was a prison no more. The doors of bronze were shattered, the bars of iron cut in two (16) forever!            

And this is the sadness of all of us living in our chains and prisons. Here is the life in which we have been invited to share, “ he brought them out of darkness and gloom, and broke their bonds asunder. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind (15).” This is the accomplishment of the cross and resurrection – bonds broken asunder and the invitation to a life of giving thanks in everything we do to the Lord for his steadfast love and his wonderful works – a “Thanksliving.”           

One of my first jobs after college was a temp job, something I needed to do. It was a prison, in part because of my attitude, and because of my own decisions. And I worked with a woman named Donna. And I remember Donna looking at me a couple of times in desperation and saying, “Chris, there has to be a better way!” What she meant that working at that place was not so great or not so great for her and she hoped there was something else.            

I have always remembered that. I don’t know where Donna is today. I don’t know if she has found the better way. I hope so. I know that many of you are hoping for a better way too. The cruel irony of being in a prison is that you often have a lot of time to think and to dream; but often no way of doing anything about it. There is a better way…           

Whatever makes your prison – fear, perfectionism, guilt, past sins and decisions, destructive desires – all connected to ignoring God’s Word – today, “cry out to the Lord (13)” in your distress from your prison. He can hear you! By His Word and promise today, it will begin the process of cutting the bars and of breaking the doors.            

It might even start with someone, a fellow prisoner coming by your cell, encouraging you with “God’s words” and reaching his hand in to hold your hand to comfort you and to give you hope.           

Amen.  

Discussion Questions

1. Are you prisoner? Of what? Why?
2. Have you tried a “prison break” on your own (without the Lord)? What happened?
3. What are some potential prisons coming down the road in your life? What can you do about them right now?
4. Do you believe that the Lord can save you from your sins and from your distress? Why or why not?
5. If you were going to or need to “cry out to the Lord,” what would you say? How about now….

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