Easter Together, Day 23, The Last Journey by way of Samaria and Galilee

“On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.” Luke 17:11

We do not know how long Jesus remained in Ephraim with his disciples, nor may we pinpoint with certainty when he left for His final journey to Jerusalem, Passover and the cross, but we can trace some of His way, those he encountered and what He taught and to whom.  

Remember, as the journey began he healed the ten lepers (cf., my post from Wed. March 11), then Luke continues by reporting his teachings on the Kingdom of God; first to the Pharisees, regarding its nature (Vv. 20-21) and next to His disciples regarding their readiness for what was yet to be – both at the cross and in the final (or last days) when He was to come again (Vv. 22ff). All of this period is known as the Kingdom of God on Earth.  We are citizens of this Kingdom now - and the world, whether realizing it or not, exists within it, too.  God’s time clock regarding this Kingdom has begun. He has sent the World His Son. Redemption’s price has been met, and we (Christ’s bride) wait for His (Christ – the Bridegroom’s) final return. 

First… listen to what Jesus says to the Pharisees.

‘And being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.’ Luke 17:20-22

I suspect that the Pharisees thought Jesus was speaking in riddles – being intentionally unclear. However, Jesus was not being unclear. The ‘unobservable’ Kingdom (as far as the Pharisees were concerned) was so because of the hearts of these who were asking. Jesus answer was His indictment – and still they didn’t see it – even adding this… ‘Behold, the Kingdom of God is in the midst of you.’ The ‘unobservable’ was so – not because it could not be seen but because of these hearts that were cold and closed. Hearts bent the way of these Pharisees will be hearts bent never to see the Kingdom of God. It’s not an “I can’,” its an “I won’t.”

In living our days it can be tempting – even for those of us who are in Christ – to become despondent and negative. This happens, I think, because we are looking at life through the wrong lens – as citizens, not of God’s Kingdom, but of the world. But what would happen if we really lived everyday as citizens of God’s Kingdom? Seeing God on His throne and our selves as His subjects. Realizing life in this way would be to practice the presence of Christ, not as victims but victors. By remembering we serve a Risen Savior and Lord, One who is coming again, who has paid for our redemption and sealed our eternity with Him in heaven – and, One who, even now, is “right here in our midst,” we can then say with Paul, “Christ is in me, and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God.”

Yes, we should never forget that the Kingdom of God has come. For those of us who know it, it is time we started to live it.

Amen? Amen!

Pastor Sam

Easter Together, Day 24 - 'To Ephraim and More'

Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples. John 11:54

When Jesus left Bethany after raising Lazarus from the dead the time was likely only 60 - 90 days before the Feast of Passover AD29. In this year Passover fell on April 15. Of course scholars do not all agree on this date - as many have set it as late as AD 35 (with AD 33 and 34 the preferred - Sir Isaac Newton as example). But whatever the date, Christ was crucified in the spring (late March or early April) and Lazarus was raised the winter before (late December - January).

Beyond this, John tells us what we read above - that Jesus moves north to Ephraim, then skips in his next verse (paragraph in our translations) to narrative leading to Passover and Jesus' passion. As to the other gospels, they are silent about this period too, though each feature narrative regarding Jesus' 9th (or last) journey. To be specific, the gospel chapters dealing with this final journey are as follows - Matthew 19-26, Mark 10 and 14, Luke 17-22, and John 11 and 12. Beyond this, we piece together fragments that indicate his final route, and pick up events, stories and parables that give us final last glimpse of this 'teacher like no other'.

In reflecting upon the verse above this morning, I could not help but ask 'why.' Why did Jesus stop walking openly among his detractors? Plainly we can see that Christ was not afraid. Had this been so He would not have come back to Jerusalem to where they were later, and we know for a fact He did.

This makes me believe, first, that because the Jews wanted to kill Him – which He would later allow – it was just not yet His time. Simply put, Passover was the time meant for Christ's offering of Himself as a ransom for our sins. Secondly, I believe it might also lay in what was indicated by the last words from our verse 54… ‘and there he stayed with His disciples.’ For in those words much grace, teaching and love was yet to displayed and abound.

We should never forget that these disciples were disciples of Christ. To be a disciple means to follow – and the very best disciple will always be the one who spends quality time with their LORD. This is exactly what the disciples had opportunity to do. In this northward sojourn and the slow, final journey back, they sat at Christ feet and learned final lessons that might only be gotten this way.

As we reflect on these days before Easter, and as we ready ourselves to follow Him back to Jericho, Bethany, Jerusalem and the cross, may this be so of us. May we also take time to withdraw to ‘Ephraim’ – that place of just Christ and us – so that we might hear from Him once more. What does Christ say to us? What must we yet learn? Is it that He loves us? Is it that He expects more from us than an occasional glance and nod? Whatever it is, we will not know it till we follow Him there. For before Jerusalem comes Ephraim – and, as His disciples, we must be ready to go there too!

Pastor Sam

Easter Together - Day 25, 'The Lazarus Effect'

In preparing for Easter we will do well to reflect on the signature event in Jesus’ life that brought Him fame and fear – fame from those who would follow Him and fear from those who would oppose Him.

BIBLICAL BACKGROUND: Much of Jesus’ last nine months are recorded only in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 9-19). However, from John’s Gospel we may put one key piece together, as well. The raising of Lazarus occurred sometime between December and April of 28-29AD, and from John we read of Mary and Martha calling for Jesus to inform Him their brother Lazarus is ill (John 11:1). Not more than two months have passed since the Jews sought to stone Jesus at the Feast of Dedication (‘Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.” – John 10:22-31). Though Jesus has crossed over the Jordan, east into Perea (John 10:40) he is told by his disciples there that it is still dangerous to venture back to Bethany, which – though near Perea – is nearer still to Jerusalem (John 11:8 & 18). Yet, after two days pass, Jesus does so. (11:6)

BIBLICAL BACKGROUND, CONT. Upon coming to Bethany, Jesus sees that Lazarus has died and weeps over the death of this one He loves. In an amazing display of power Jesus next raises Lazarus from the dead and many believe on Him – even some 'Jews' (meaning the Scribes and Pharisees). Others depart from Bethany to report Jesus’ activity to Caiaphas and the ruling council. Enraged and threatened by Jesus’ display of power, the council collectively agrees that Jesus must be killed. “Then, from that day on, these plot to put Him to death. Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples” John 11: 53-54. Following this last display of power, Jesus’ Perean ministry ends - and He and his disciples travel privately to Ephraim, a city in northern Judea bordering Samaria. From this text we might surmise that Jesus travels one last time north to Galilee as well, perhaps to see His family one last time and travel with them to the Feast of the Passover. This would explain Luke’s description of Jesus passing along the border of Galilee and Samaria on His final journey to Jerusalem (Luke 17:11).

Now regarding the recently released movie, “The Lazarus Effect,” rottentomatoes.com gives it a poor, one star rating, and writes, “The Lazarus Effect has a talented cast and the glimmer of an interesting idea, but wastes it all on insipid characters and dull, recycled plot points. It has a great cast but falls short with a tired and worn out theme.” http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_lazarus_effect/

This said I can assure you that the real Lazarus effect, the one dating sometime between late December and early January of 28-29AD, garnered quite the opposite response. When Christ raised Lazarus from the dead everyone noticed! I’d say it was a Five Star rating – one of both joy and fury. Indeed, Caiaphas and the council were not concerned with its validity, just with the disruption of social order it brought, as well as the potential for political disorder it might soon bring. Surely we wonder at the rationale behind their attempting to ‘kill’ anyone with such power. Yet, they did - making a response that was anything but rational.

So what of the real Lazarus effect upon each of us today? Had we been there what might we have said, done or felt about Jesus of Nazareth who commanded even the dead to rise from their grave? Jesus spoke to Martha then prayed this prayer to God – “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” … … Then lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me." John 11:40-42

Yes, belief in Christ – that He is who says He is, has accomplished all the gospels say, and will do all He has promised to do – is to know with certainty both the hope of resurrection and Christ’s power for everyday life. It is to know that there is not anything beyond His concern nor His love and care! Jesus wept over Lazarus because He saw in what happened to him sin’s result – death. His tears were not tears of futility, they were tears of deep love. Jesus loved Lazarus  and raised him from the dead to show His power. Likewise, He will raise both Lazarus once more – and each of us – in the final day because He has absolutely won that battle and has that power! Jesus has defeated sin and the grave and nothing, absolutely NOTHING, can separate us from His love. This is the REAL Lazarus effect, one lasting into eternity and one with a true FIVE STAR rating after all.

Pastor Sam

Easter Together - Day 26

God delights in our praise of Him. As we do we are positioned in the right frame of mind from God’s perspective.  When we do not, well… we simply aren’t.  

Somewhere around this same time of year, in the year AD29, Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem for what would be His last visit before He was crucified and this is what happened: 

"On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” Luke 17: 11-19

Now this story is not unique to other stories of healing performed by Jesus. As is typical, Jesus encounters a need, performs a miracle, then offers a statement to the effect of, ‘your faith has made you well.’ In this case, however, there seems to be a greater point. Ten lepers were healed but the leper who returned was the one which seemed to get it.  In other words salvation, in this case, was not in the request for healing, nor in healing itself, but in what followed - the recognition and praise of the One who did so.  

In his commentary on this text, David Lose, President of Lutheran Seminary in Philadelphia, PA, writes this:

“Taken together, these details orient us to the possibility that Jesus instructs his followers — then and now — that faith is not a matter of believing only, but also of seeing. All the lepers were healed; one, however, saw, noticed, let what happened sink in…and it made all the difference.
*Because he sees what has happened, the leper recognizes Jesus, his reign and his power.
*Because he sees what has happened, the leper has something for which to be thankful, praising God with a loud voice.
*Because he sees what has happened, the leper changes direction, veering from his course toward a priest to first return to Jesus." https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=783

Whatever we may think today, God does delight in our praise.  When we accept Him as our Savior we have offered him our first form of praise,  When we thank Him for what He has done in our life, our praise continues. God requires little from us beyond faith, but He does delight and recognize us as we praise Him.    

As we move towards Easter Together, let's do so by offering Him all that we might - our own sacrifice of praise.  

Pastor Sam 

Celebrating 'Easter Together' - 2015

Including today there are 27 days until Easter Sunday 2015. And while most of us are familiar with the last days of Christ (Passion Week), we are less familiar with the chronology of Christ’s life otherwise. Many things we may date with some certainty – when Christ was born, what year he entered the temple as a young boy, the year He began His public ministry, and the dates of His crucifixion, resurrection and ascension - but from there we must be content with a more a general placement/dating of His public ministry. In other words, we know the ‘what’ and ‘where’ of His ministry but are less sure about the ‘when’ of many of these events.

Now what we can do by studying Christ’s life as revealed in the Gospel's is divide His public ministry into 9 journeys. The first 6 take place in Galilee, with Capernaum as home base, while the last 3 are in Judea. The last journeys show Christ traveling to Jerusalem 3 times, the final of which occurs during Passover, AD 29. In that year Passover (or, 14th day of Nissan) was on April 18th - and looking at this journey we may time its events with our modern calendar of between late February and mid April.

The following texts of Luke 17-22; Mark 10, 14; Matthew 19-26; and John 10-11 comprise our view, then, of Christ's last journey into Jerusalem:

Jesus travels from Ephraim northward through Samaria, then eastward along the border of Galilee into Peraea, then southward through Peraea, westward across the Jordan, through Jericho, Bethany on Mt. Olivet, Bethphage, and finally to Jerusalem. While in the most northern part of the journey, He cured ten lepers; a little later, He answered the questions raised by the Pharisees concerning the kingdom of God. Then He urged the need of incessant prayer by proposing the parable of the unjust judge; here too belong the parable of the Pharisee and Publican, the discourse on marriage, on the attitude of the Church towards the children, on the right use of riches as illustrated by the story of the rich young ruler, and the parable of the labourers in the vineyard. After beginning His route towards Jerusalem, He predicted His Passion for the third time; James and John betray their ambition, but they are taught the true standard of greatness in the Church. At Jericho Jesus heals two blind men, and receives the repentance of Zacheus the publican; here He proposed also the parable of the pounds entrusted to the servants by the master.  After this, comes the last 6 days, which finds Jesus traveling back to Bethany.

Starting tomorrow, then, we will look at some of the various texts and events above. As Jesus moved toward Jerusalem His passion and victory became our own - causing us to say with great praise today….

He Is Risen, indeed!

Pastor

Who, Whose and What - 1 Timothy 1: 12-18

This Sunday past it was my joy to bring a 'charge' to the new candidates being ordained into the deacon ministry of ParkwayHills. My text was not my usual one for such occasions, but it was nonetheless appropriate. I chose a passage from Paul's 1st letter to Timothy, as he wrote an encouraging word to this young pastor by testifying of things he had learned personally.

First, Paul wrote concerning who he was - saying he was a sinner saved by God's grace.  He wrote, 'even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. ...I received mercy.  And the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.' Paul made no bones about this. He was clear as to his former self, going on to say that 'Christ came to save sinners of whom I am foremost.'

Second, Paul wrote concerning whose He was - by adding, 'I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience.' Paul joyfully believed He was the possession of Christ. Though we might say I possess Christ, Paul would say, "Christ possesses me." (cf. Acts 17:28, 2 Cor. 6:16, 2 Cor, 13:5, Gal. 4 et.al, Eph. 3:17) And that he was no longer slave to the flesh, but a slave (bond-servant) of Christ - one given a new life, bought with a price and now to be borne with honor.

But finally, Paul wrote a word to remind Timothy (and us) of what we are to do - as any Christian being set apart to serve the task God has called us to. Paul shared that Christ had made him an example (v. 16) 'to those who would come to believe,' and charged Timothy to 'fight the good fight.' (v. 18) All of this reminded me on Sunday of who we are, whose we are and what we are called to do. With Paul I concur that we are sinners saved by grace, Christ's very possession bought with a price, and called to be an example by fighting the good fight - never giving up.

As I went home to turn on my TV, I saw that Russel Wilson, the quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, had thrown 4 interceptions to come to the 4th quarter facing a deficit of 12 points against the Green Bay Packers. Yet, with but 2 minutes left to play, his team tied the game and won the NFC championship in overtime. When interviewed, he was asked how this happened. His reply was, 'we never gave up - we just kept believing.'

Indeed, in Christ we need never give up! We've been assured victory by our Lord. Consequently, by remembering 'who' and 'whose' we are this enables us to live the 'what' of our Christ-life, too - one standing as an example to others.

Blessings,

Pastor Sam

MOM - One, Three, Thirty One

January 3, 1931 - 84 years ago today - was when my mother, Anna Beth Sellers, was born. She was the 2nd of four children born to her parents, Alvie and May Sellers; and was possessing of gangly stature, dish-water blond hair, sad, penetrating eyes, and a bright mind. In her early days her father farmed but later became an independent insurance agent. Her Mother was a homemaker - seeing daily to home, hearth and children - and, when the family was not serving at community events or with friends and family nearby, they were at church, where her Dad led the singing and served as Deacon Chair.

Mom lived her entire childhood in the same farm-house in a community called Pt. Enterprise, nestled quaintly - both then and now - between the Farm to Market Roads which ran east and south between Mexia and Teague, Texas. People there - if not employed as merchants, shop-owners or a professionals in the city - were either farmers, ranchers, workers in the oil fields or growers of peaches. She attended the Pt. Enterprise community grade-school, which had been built by her grandfather, Macon Thornton, and distinguished herself as top of her class. After the 8th grade she attended High School in nearby Mexia, graduating in the spring of 1948 as 'Blackcat.'

As a child Mom enjoyed her family, her favorites being her mother's sisters and best friend, Berniece - who still lives in Pt. Enterprise. However, come summer after High School, at just 17, she was ready to move on, and did, by striking out by bus for the big city to the north - Dallas, where a friend had offered a place to live and a job with a company called Dallas Linen.

Mom worked as a book-keeper at Dallas Linen and it was her duty to check the route-men in as they came in from their routes of delivering clean linen. On her first Friday the office was a-buzz with activity. Friday was a busy day for several reasons for, not only was it pay-day, it was the day when the 'out-of-town' routes came in - increasing the work of the office. On this first Friday, then, Mom was to have something happen that would change her life forever, for Delmer Dennis, a handsome young route man, with looks and a personality that was the envy of all, came into the plant to check in. As this happened, Mom along with her friend Lawana, had happened to come back by the plant on their way to a movie. Dad climbed out of his truck and walked up to the window, with Mom asking, "who is that man?"  Her friend replied, "that's Delmer Dennis."  To which Mom replied with a smile, "I'm going to marry him." Their first date was on July 5th and they were married on August 8 - in her Mom and Dad's home - 5 weeks after that.  So... Mom was right - and as long as I knew them they were this much in love, never tiring of one another, cherishing all of ife together.

Dad passed away in July of 1989, the year we planted ParkwayHills. The next year, PawPaw (Mom's Dad) passed. Ten years later - in 1999, Mama May (my Mom's mother) passed - but they all had been there at the first church service of ParkwayHills, the one held under the tent. I loved them all - and speak of them often, but it has been Mom who has remained to encourage me all these years since. As I think of how they lived and loved, the memory of those days provides a wonderful benchmark for my own life. Pictures remain, of course, but the truths learned from them are now lived in the generations that have followed. Faith, family and love - these are the greatest gifts of my life, and they were given by them. Mom is still living, and Dad lives on in my heart - and oh... how I do love them so!

Last night Mom spent the night with B and me here in Plano. B made her a chocolate cake, and we exchanged cards and quiet talk while watching Cannon, our grandson, crawl about on the floor.

It has been a good day.  

Happy Birthday, Mom

Sam