I have had the opportunity to attend the local Lenten breakfast with my grandma for the past several weeks. Not only has it been a great time to connect with people interested in my mission work, I have also enjoyed it as it is a great gathering of believers from all denominations but with the common foundation in our faith in Jesus Christ. Today was the final one in the Easter season. One of the local pastors, Pastor Skip Robertson, shared this morning. I thought it was worth sharing so I asked him to send me his notes so I could share it here on my blog. I hope you are blessed by it as I was.
First he started out by reading I Corinthians 15:12-32 which isn't in his notes:
12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
20 But Christ has indeed been raised
from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For
since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes
also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so
in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in
turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong
to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands
over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion,
authority and power. 25 For he must reign until
he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The
last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For he “has
put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything”
has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who
put everything under Christ. 28 When he has done
this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under
him, so that God may be all in all.
29 Now if there is no resurrection,
what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at
all, why are people baptized for them? 30 And as
for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? 31 I
face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus
our Lord. 32 If I fought wild beasts in
Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are
not raised,
“Let us eat and drink,for tomorrow we die.”
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In one of his first public statements, Pope Francis said, “If
we do not confess Christ what would we be? What would happen would
be like when children make sand castles and then it all falls down.
“I would like all of us… to have the courage to walk in
the presence of God. Let us never give in to the pessimism, to that
bitterness, which the devil places before us every day. Let us not
give into pessimism and discouragement.
“When we walk without the cross, when we build without
the cross, when we proclaim Christ without the cross, we are not disciples of
the Lord. We are worldly. . . . we are not disciples of
the Lord if we don’t follow Jesus.
“I say this humbly, the strongest message of the Lord is
mercy. The Lord never gets tired of forgiving. Today amid
so much darkness we need to see the light of hope and to be men and women who
bring hope to others. To protect creation, to protect every man and
every woman, to look upon them with tenderness and love, is to open up a
horizon of hope, it is to let a shaft of light break through the heavy clouds.”
That is a summary of what he said but they are words that
compel all of us. Easter is here. Today is Maundy
Thursday. Maundy comes from a Latin word that means
“command.” At that last supper with his disciples, Jesus gave some
commands:
· He
told them to wash each other’s feet. We are his disciples. Do
we wash each other’s feet? Not literally, of course, but
symbolically. Are we willing to help one another in whatever manner
is needed?
· He
told them to love one another. Again I ask, “Do we?” Do
we offer to help before being asked or do we avoid the chance that our neighbor
might need us by making excuses?
· He
told them to share his body and his blood every time we gather for a
meal. We do that by asking a blessing and inviting him to join
us. We really would do well to use the grace that so many of us
taught our children, “Come Lord Jesus. Be our guest . . . “ (Have
them finish - “Let these gifts to us be blessed.”) Is he the
guest at every meal or do we forget to ask his blessing when we are at another
person’s home or a restaurant?
On this Maundy Thursday we are once again confronted with
the reality of Christ’s passion, his death and resurrection. As I
mentioned, just as we have shared our meal this morning, Jesus also shared a
meal with his closest friends and family on that long-ago night. Several
things took place that evening:
· He
washed the feet of his followers in a profound act of humility. What
act of humility have we performed lately?
· He
told his friends that one of them would betray him and it happened. Have
we betrayed anyone? Did we go to that person, confess, and ask
forgiveness?
· He
broke bread and shared it, telling his friends that the bread symbolized his
body which was broken for them. Then he shared a cup of wine,
telling his friends that the wine symbolized his blood which was shed for
them. What gift of love have we shared with our closest friends?
· He
was betrayed as he was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. How
often have we betrayed and denied him?
All these things happened two thousand years ago and yet,
those events are fresh to us today. They are fresh because they are
current. They are current because human nature has not changed in two
thousand years.
In a few days it will be Easter. We have gathered
here each Thursday morning for seven weeks. After today, it will be
a long time before the next gathering but Easter lives in us every day if we
let it. We are Christians and that makes us Easter people - people
who believe in the resurrection and in salvation through the shed blood of the
Risen Christ.
Whether we are Lutheran, Catholic, Methodist, Baptist,
non-denominational, or any other denomination, we share several things in
common:
First, we know that Jesus said that we should be baptized in
the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Some of us we
were baptized symbolically as babies and then confirmed in our faith as
teens. Others of us were baptized in full knowledge of the decision
to know Jesus as adults. Whichever circumstance is ours, we share
the baptism that Jesus commanded.
Although some people challenge the validity of baptism, we
cannot ignore or overlook the example that Jesus set. He was
baptized as an adult but he told his followers to let the children come to him
and forsake them not. Any baptism is as valid as the person and his
or her family who is being baptized. Anyone who says that any
baptism is not valid says that God made a mistake by allowing the person to be
baptized. The God I worship does not make mistakes.
The second thing we have in common is the sacrament of Holy
Communion. If a Christian from the year 100 were to be brought into
any of our churches for Holy Communion, even not knowing the language, that
person would fully understand what is going on. The manner in which
we proclaim the sacrament is essentially the same as it has been for almost two
thousand years.
I believe that the sacrament of Holy Communion binds all of
Christ’s followers more than any other act. I also believe that it
is a shame for any church to deny the sacrament to any believer. Jesus
said to share it often and freely.
The third thing we have in common is God’s Holy Word. We
accept the Bible as the inspired Word of almighty God and we do so through
faith. There are those who would have us believe that scripture is
just the work of humans and that it is filled with human mistakes and
inaccuracies. They are wrong. We must have faith that the
Bible is the inspired Word or else we are all fools. Hebrews 11:1
tells us that, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of
things not seen.” That faith applies to the written Word as well as
too our belief in Christ and the resurrection.
The fourth thing we have in common is the kinship in Christ
and in the friendship which we share well in fellowship settings such as these
breakfasts. Our friendship extends beyond church affiliations. I
do not know all of you here by name but I know many of you - some of you well -
and I know most of you by face.
Now we have come to the end of Lent and the end of our
breakfasts for this year. For me, there is both joy and sadness to
the end of Lent - especially this year. Although we are aware of the
reasons for Christ’s suffering and death, we prefer the happy parts of Easter.
Jesus encouraged his followers to gather for worship and
fellowship. We are here, enjoying both. Let us always
remember his words. More than anything else, let us recall the words of
John three, verses sixteen through eighteen, “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. For God
did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the
world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but
whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not
believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
That man, the Son of God, is the reason we gather. He
is the reason we baptize. He is the reason we share Communion. He
is the reason we seek out fellowship such as we are sharing here today.
Paul told a Roman jailer, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and you will be saved.” That is all that is needed. Believe
and be saved. There is someone here today who has known of Jesus, possibly
for all of his or her life, but has never asked him in. The day will
come for all of us when we must face the judgment. That day there
will be no wishing. That day we will have to confess Jesus Christ as
Savior. Don’t wait.
On a personal note, I will especially miss these
breakfasts. As most of you know, I am retiring at the end of June
and after today, I will not have a part in these breakfasts. It has
been an honor to know and serve all of you here. It has been a great
honor to work with the men who provide us with these opportunities for
fellowship.
May the Lord always hold you dear.
Let us pray:
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Thank you Pastor Skip!!
This really struck me because in my travels to Guatemala I have seen secular organizations doing good works void of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It truly is pointless and empty. The people may have more food on the table or clothes on their back, but they lack HOPE. The hope found in salvation through Jesus Christ.
Even though I will be working with projects revolving around livestock and ethno-veterinary medicine research in Uganda- all of that work revolves around the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a door to be able to enter through to share the Good News. It is a way to help the physical needs so our Karamojong brothers and sisters can focus on their spiritual needs.
For the past several weeks my grandma has thought nothing of throwing $3 in the basket for the freewill offering for my meal. That is $12 in this past month. How many of you would have been willing to do that? How many still are? Would you be willing to take me to a weekly Lenten Breakfast by becoming a monthly financial partner in this ministry to share the Gospel in Uganda through the skills God has given me?
How sad it is that there are people in this world that haven't even been introduced to the hope found in Jesus Christ. I can only do my part of obeying the Great Commission to go when others do their part by providing a way for me to go through financial support. This ministry partnership already involves almost 50 people who have provided slightly more than 50% the needed funds to live and work in Karamoja. So will you be part of the next 40-50 supporters?!
God Bless you and Happy Easter!!
God Bless you and Happy Easter!!
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