Born From Above

Text: John 3:1-15

Focus: Salvation

Function: The gospel, and invite to Christ.

Form: Story telling.

Intro:

Born again.

Born again Christian.

Those words have a lot of meaning, both good and bad. If you hear that phrase on TV, in a television show, or in the news about a politician, it communicates a whole lot of meaning.

To most skeptics, its meaning has become pretty negative.

To many Christians, it means that we belong to a specific tribe, a specific group within Christianity, and it means something good.

To many other Christians, it may imply a group of people who have left behind NT Christianity in exchange for a sort of political/religious organization and philosophy.

What does it mean to you?

Does the sound of it communicate something positive or something negative?

We are a family here. We are a body here. We are a group who have made a promise, and have kept that promise, that we will love and care for each other in spite of each other.

Our membership promise is a promise to God that in spite of each other's failures, weaknesses and even sins, we will love and care for each other. We will hold those who abuse the trust accountable, while offering the same grace and forgiveness that we also need.

I asked a devout leader in another church just exactly what that covenant within a local church means. He said, “it means we exhort each other and hold them accountable.”

He asked me what I thought, and I said: “it means that encourage enable each other.”

Both of us were saying the same thing, from a different perspective.

But, if we want to be forgiven, then we need to forgive.

Right now, that is being tested.

And in this group, I surmise that there are people who are like-minded on very many issues, but would disagree was to whether or not they take that term “born again” to be positive or negative.

In 1985, Lea Iaccoca took over the Chrysler Motor Company. He brought the company back from disaster.

I remember a commercial the next year. There was a group of enthusiastic people singing the Hallelujah Chorus and they kept the religious image up by declaring that Chrysler Motor Company was indeed: “Born again.”

It bothered me that these words of Jesus were used by a manufactuary to market a product.

I thought to myself, “they have just cheapened my faith.”

But then, the phrase got tossed around so much after that, its meaning was lost and it was used by some to describe a hypocrite.

Secularists blasted the whole idea of forgiveness, grace and “do overs” as an excuse for people to forsake responsibility for their own despicable actions.

So, with mixed feelings, I use that term “born again” because I do not know how the person I am speaking to will receive it. It has been used in derision so much, that it seems as if we have to find another way.

But listen, these are the words of Jesus Himself.

Actually, it is the King James Version that uses that specific phrase “Born Again.”

The Greek word “anothen” literally means from above. That is why our reading this morning reflects the more accurate translation.

Born from Above.

Born from a Higher place.

Born from God.

That doesn't mean the idea “Born again” is wrong.

It certainly is consistent with the way Nicodemus understood it.

He said, “How can I be born a second time? I am too big to enter my mother again!”

I can picture him saying: “Jesus, the physics just will not work!”

And Jesus launches into the teaching about the mechanics of being born by God, born from above.

What does it mean to be born again?

I remember a very inquisitive young man coming to me over 30 years ago and asking me the same question: “What do you mean when you say that you are born again?”

Later on, I'll tell you the gist of what I answered the young man. But when I was finished giving him my description he said: “I have asked 3 other Christians that I know, and every one of them has given me a different answer.”

How do you answer that question? (ASK)

In the text, there are two clues given:

He gives one clue, and then Jesus is fairly critical of this man who claims to know so much about God's word, but has a hard time believing in the mystery of God.

And after Jesus spends time, sort of chastising Nicodemus for his arrogance, Jesus gives the second clue.

The First clue:

Born of water and Spirit.

I think God's heart is grieved over all the argument as to what it means.

In context, the water birth is the physical birth that every experiences on their own birthday.

The Spirit, is the Spiritual Birth that God supernaturally does in their lives.

Some have said that water birth is “water baptism.” Others have argued that after the water birth, there is the sign of spiritual birth, the sign of speaking in tongues.

I believe it grieves God's heart when the argument happens because the point of being born from above is that we are indeed born by God and God dwells in mystery.

That is indeed what Jesus tries to tell Nicodemus. He says, The Holy Spirit, just like the wind, cannot be controlled, it cannot be timed, it cannot be created, it cannot be managed. It (He) is not subject to human law or even human science. God moves the wind wherever God chooses and to accomplish whatever God's purposes are.

The Holy Spirit works with the same mystery.

And the point is that God is entirely un-predictable.

This is hard for this religious leader. You didn't get to be a Pharisee without incredible intelligence and education. Most of these men memorized the entire OT and then the Talmud, which was another 13,000 commands given to sort out the meaning of the first 1,300 commands.

There is something about learning as much as we can about a subject. The more we learn, the less surprise we have.

The more we learn, the more we feel in control.

Or, the more we realize we do not know. It can be one way or the other.

And there was this pride among his kind that their knowledge made them in control and above the rest of the population.

And Jesus' stern statements humble him.

Nicodemus indeed becomes a believer. He is one of the few from the Pharisees who spoke in Jesus defense, helped and sheltered the Church when it began, and believed in Jesus.

But it wasn't until Jesus gives to him first this simple command: “Stop being so proud of what you know and follow God.”

Do you remember a few weeks ago how Peter, who wasn't so well educated, and sometimes by the way he over reacted, wasn't so intelligent either, how Peter was rebuked for trying to be one step ahead of God, instead of one step behind Jesus?

I am sure that you know what I am saying. Have you ever met a person who didn't really listen to you, but instead they were forming their answer while you were speaking and in the process they were showing off what they knew instead of either helping you think through a problem, or humbling themselves enough to learn?

Have you ever did the same thing to someone else?

Yes is probably the honest answer.

So here is Jesus, with this brilliant man, and Jesus message, about being born from above is almost this: “stop being clever, or being in control long enough to see what God is doing.”

And I learn this about being born from above, it means the we have indeed given our lives to God. We have surrendered the control of our lives to God.

My niece is in boot camp with the US Air Force. She is Kathy's sister's only daughter and Kathy's sister is taking it hard.

My niece went from only child, to boot camp.

She went from top of the pecking order to “fresh meat.”

She actually got away long enough to log onto her facebook account and cry out for everyone to pray that somehow God would deliver her from boot camp.

She was in misery because the control of her life was taken away from her and given to someone else.

We as Christians, when we become believers dot he same thing. But we do it for an eternal kingdom.

We, in baptism, symbolize that we have died to ourselves and from this day on, our lives belong to God. Paul said it like this: “I have been crucified with Christ, yet I live. It isn't me alive anymore, but Christ Jesus inside me.” Galatians 2:20

Jesus goes about the same discussion with Nicodemus, but just as Jesus told the rich young ruler that the way to salvation was to give all of his riches to poor people, gain reward in heaven and then follow Jesus, Jesus makes the same complete and total surrender demand to Nicodemus. The one thing that Nicodemus felt like he had control in was his knowledge of everything that he thought God would do. His knowledge almost made it seem like God had to ask him permission.

Jesus called Nicodemus to give up that control. For the rich young ruler, he felt secure because he had control of his wealth.

But when Jesus essentially says: “you will belong to God from now on, and God's Spirit is wild, God does as God pleases, without asking our advice” Nicodemus believed and accepted those terms.

Do you see the difficulty?

Remember the young man who was asking all the Christians he knew about what being born again meant?

I remember that my answer was something like that: “we give our lives over to Jesus. We have died to ourselves. Our lives belong to God from now on. So, in a very real sense, we have a new life.”

The young man was actually shocked. He said, “no one else said it like that.” “no one else included this element of dying to self in order.”

I think that it is important that Jesus' answers varied according to the person he was talking to. But all of them included the fact that there can be no other god in their lives but Him.

If their god was money, give it up. If there god was their own accomplishments, then God wasn't going to be able to use them. For Peter, it was his competitive nature, even among the fellow apostles that Jesus was constantly bringing into question.

But the main point about being born from above is that it is entirely up to God. And God dwells in mystery. He cannot be controlled. But, God has made it simple.

Jesus' second clue comes after the rebuke of Nicodemus. Jesus gives to the man, a very simple form of salvation.

Jesus said, “When I am lifted up on the cross, look at me and you will live.”

Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.

This is an interesting story. The Children of Israel were constantly rebelling against God and God's appointed leader, Moses.

So one time, in order for God to prove that Moses was the leader, God sent a plague of serpents into the camp.

The serpents were deadly and thousands of the people, who had been bitten were dying.

So Moses prayed for God to forgive them, in spite of the fact that they were complaining against Moses. And God told Moses to fashion a brass serpent on a brass cross and lift the cross/serpent combination up high.

Do you know the symbol for medical establishments? A serpent on a cross. It comes from this story that Jesus refers to.

And here is the thing, the people only had to do one thing in order to be healed from the plague of fiery serpents.

All they had to do to get better was to look at this symbol.

It wasn't an idol. It wasn't a graven image.

It was a symbol. And the very simple and easy task of looking at it would save them.

But Jesus' statement about the salvation that He is to provide to the entire world comes from this story in the Old Testament from Numbers 21.

So here is Jesus telling this Pharisee how easy it is to be reconciled back into God's family.

Look to Jesus and live.

Now, it is not an easy image. The cross, the crucifix, is a bloody image. But the faith is simple. Very simple. Look at it.

We might want to make it hard and say, well we have to look and understand that it was our sin, our own sin that put Him there.

And that is certainly a biblical truth.

We may say, well only the look, IN FAITH is going to save the person.

And I believe that is true, but that is for God to decide, not me.

Jesus said that it takes the Holy Spirit to create faith in Him. (Matthew 16).

So this look is a faithful look.

But it is soooo simple! And that is the point that Jesus is making.

So, we surrender to God.

But first, we look to Him and we live.

Have you looked at Jesus?

Do you look to Him?

The Snake in the Desert

Text: Matthew 4:1-11

Focus: Trials

Function: To help people see the purpose in trials

Form: Bible study

Intro:

For the fun of it, I have a test for you. I am using a huge amount of cross reference scriptures this morning. So, if you can, see if you can count how many scriptures other than the ones in Matthew 4:1-11 that I referenced during this sermon.

This is the beginning of Jesus trials and temptations.

There is a lot to be preached on in this passage. The story is filled with several meaning for several different occasions.

So today, I am going to share what God is leading me to at this time.

This first thing I want us to notice is that Matthew tells the story of Jesus' temptation as part of the story of Jesus' baptism.

There were no chapters and verses placed in the text when it was first written.

So the break between Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 is merely a convenience. 1

That is why verse 1 states “then.”

Immediately after Baptism there is a trial, a testing.

It is actually a fairly common thing in the lives of believers.

It is probably there that Satan tries his hardest to distract a new believer from his or her faith.

I remember a tragedy happened to a young man and he was killed. The family had no church home. Someone who knew someone else who knew me asked me to help out.

Soon after the funeral, the young man's wife, mother, father, cousin and cousin's in-laws started attending pretty regular.

The wife, the cousin, and her in-laws were all baptized.

I was amazed, it was like the whole family came to the Lord.

But then the cousins in-laws bought a camper and after a summer camping, didn't come back.

That time of testing occurred. And they didn't do as well as Jesus.

We can expect trials and tribulations in our faith.

Even Jesus went through this massive trial.

The second thing, in the introduction is that Jesus is lead by God into the dessert to be tempted by the Devil.

God permitted this as a necessary part of His preparation.

I don't understand all the theology behind this. Did God use the Devil? James 1:13 2 states that God doesn't use evil, but we do know He permits it.

And we learn this, as powerful as evil can become, God is still greater.

And the most important part about the introduction to this is what happens to Jesus physically.

Jesus fasted for 40 days in the desert before the test. Jesus needed spiritual strength.

We learn that in order to become strong spiritually, Jesus became weak physically.

What does that mean?

It means this: The battles that we have belong to God, not ourselves. Success isn't up to us. When we are the weakest, God is the strongest. (2 Corinthians 12:10-11) 3

Remember we keep talking about an upside down kingdom?

We keep talking about how God does things backwards compared to human plans.

God works well with those who are not the strong and powerful.

For example, Jesus said: Powerful people exercise their authority and lord their power over others, but the greatest among us is to become the servant of all. (Luke 22:25-26) 4

Having said that, let us look at the 3 tests:

1^st test, vs 3,4. Starting in verse 2, Jesus was hungry. I imagine that if one hasn't eaten for 40 days, Hungry doesn't begin to describe it.

The devil says: “If you are the son of God...”

And the answer to the test comes from this: Man lives by Spiritual things, the Word of God.

Here is the question in the test: Where is the source of our life? Is it in physical things, or is it in Spiritual things?

We live in a materialistic society. It seems as if the more stuff we have, the better our lives are. As Christians, we reject this concept, but it still underlies how we live in many ways. The concept: “The person who dies with the most toys wins.”

We know better in our minds, but we are constantly bombarded with the idea that in order to be happy, we need more. In order to be secure, we need more. In order to be loved, we need more. In order to be respected, we need more.

And Jesus answers with a completely different perspective. Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from God.

Jesus tells the devil. Life isn't things, it is a relationship with God. It is being part of His family.

Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy 8:3: 5 “I humbled you by making you hungry, and I fed you this strange food, Manna, in order that you may know that man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

Jesus has just experienced this physical substainance from the mouth of God.

At times, God certainly permits us to be hungry, in order to see if we will still trust in Him.

Are you hungry right now? Do you wonder if tomorrow God will provide the daily bread?

Trust in God.

2^nd test: Prove yourself. “If you are the Son of God...” Vs 5-7. Jesus is taken to the top of the Temple building, a tall structure and the Devil wants Him to throw Himself off the building, trust God to have angels catch Him and this prove that He is the Son of God.

Here is the problem: for the Messiah to rest on signs and wonders is to doubt that God's way to glory through suffering is somehow flawed.

Remember Jesus is suffering in the wilderness as a test from God. Hebrews 5:8 6 states that Jesus learned obedience through the things He suffered.

Why did Jesus need to learn to obey?

I don't know. But we do know this: God's way to glory is through suffering.

So here is the question. I read this from Rev. Brian Findlayson:

Is the Lord's mission self-authenticating, or does it need promoting? Other than Christ, Moses was probably the greatest of the Lord's men, but even Moses felt the need to authenticate both God's plan and his place in it. The sign of water from the rock was his downfall. Jesus faced a similar test, but did not fail. (Numbers 20:10-12) 7

The need to authenticate the church is with us today, as it was all those years ago. There are those who look to miraculous signs and there are those who look to a more subtle authentication - large successful congregations, social justice, spirituality, relevance..... We put the Lord to the test when we forget that his program is self-authenticating.

Ouch.

I used to think it was miraculous signs that would authenticate the church.

But then, I saw those ministries on TV claiming to have faith and begging for more and more money and realized that wasn't it.

Then there is the gimmick of using fear and pointing out the sins of others that seems to build a church. Again, preachers garner a following by creating fear of Muslims, fear of people with different sexual orientations, fear of other races, fear of other economic classes, fear of undocumented residents... And I see that in all of that fear, there is little faith, and more importantly, there is little mercy. I can't picture Jesus making us afraid of others.

I saw and thought, we need to do the opposite in order to be honest.

So for me, social justice, genuine spirituality, and relevance are my mechanisms for authenticating the church.

And Brother Brian says that this too, can be a gimmick.

Here is the thing that was brought out in this test of Jesus by Satan. The Kingdom of God is self-authenticating. It doesn't need tricks or devices to prove it. In this temptation, Jesus is tempted with doing something to prove Himself and if He had, then God would not be the one who gets the glory for His success.

So Jesus answers the Devil simply this: Don't put God to the test. I have nothing to prove to you, Devil. I will trust God to do it in His time.

3^rd Test, the easy way out.

Verses 8-10. The Devil shows Him all the kingdoms of the World and offers them to Jesus for the easy task of bowing down to Satan.

This test, after the 40 days of preparation, in the desert, is just the beginning of Jesus' trials. Trials and temptations are the proving ground of life.

Jesus knows what is in store for Him. He knows that He will come to His own race, the Jewish people, the people of God, and they will reject Him. (John 1:11) 8

He knows that at one point, even His brothers are not going to believe in Him. (John 7:5) 9

He knows that His childhood friend and cousin, John the Baptist, the man who has just baptized Him will be killed. He knows that in the grief of the moment, as He goes alone to pray, the crowd will follow Him still and He will not get the personal time He needs. (Matthew 14:11-13) 10

He knows the persecution against Him will get progressively worse.

He knows that He will be run out of town. He knows that on more than one occasion, He will have to supernaturally pass through an angry mob that is intent on killing Him. (Luke 4:29) 11

He knows that eventually He is going to a Roman cross to suffer and die.

So, when Satan offers all this to Jesus, Jesus knows what it will cost Him personally to inherit these Kingdoms.

The snake in the Dessert offers it to Him almost free of charge. Just bow down to me and I will make it easy for you.

Jesus fasted 40 days, the Israelites spent 40 years in the desert.

They too were tempted. And when Moses was on the mountain for 40 days, the people blew the same test that Jesus just passed.

Although they saw the 10 plagues against Egypt, although their children didn't die in the last plague, although they saw the Red Sea first open up for them, and then swallow the Egyptian army, although they had this pillar for fire and smoke still with them, in 40 days time, they gave up on Moses and asked Aaron to make an golden calf idol for them. (The beginning of the book of Exodus) 12

Aaron gave into their demands. They convinced Aaron to build a golden calf, the symbol of the nation that they just got free from and they choose to worship it. (Exodus 32:1-5)

There was this time when God didn't seem close to them, and quickly they abandoned Him for something else.

Have you had those times? Have you had times when it seems that it would just be easier to do it your way than to trust God?

Job suffered terribly. His wife, who lost her children, who lost her wealth, who lost her security, who lost her prestige, standing by her husband who is covered with sores looks at him and says “Curse God and die.” (Job 2:9) 13

She failed the test that Job succeeded in.

It happens to us as well. The young woman who gives in too much thinking that is the only way to keep the boy she loves. The man who fudges numbers on his income tax thinking that God cannot provide. The person who is wronged and takes revenge into their own hands. All of these are the easy way out.

Jesus is offered the same temptation, the temptation to take the easy way out and resists it, even though it cost Him a terrible painful death on the cross.

I wonder if this wilderness experience, this victory here. This victory won in human frailty after 40 days without food did indeed provide Jesus with the spiritual strength to endure the cross.

But here is the thing, we are not Jesus.

Job's wife failed the test, but she gave birth to 10 more children and Job's wealth and fame made it all the way into the bible. (Job 42:10-15) 14

Moses got mad and decided to prove himself by striking a rock for water to come out of it. The miracle happened, but because of that, he wasn't able to enter the promised land. (Numbers 20:10-12) doesn't count because it has already been used

However, as we saw last week, even though he failed, he was chosen to appear in a dazzling white aura with Elijah and Jesus in the transfiguration. (Matthew 17:3) 15

CONCL:

Jesus won the victory because we cannot. 1) But understand that the spiritual is indeed more important than the physical, 2). God's plan does prove itself in the end and we need to trust God to make it happen and 3). taking the easy way out prolongs our troubles, it never reduces them.

6 Days Later

Text: Matthew 17:1-13

Focus: Faith for the future

Function: To help people release the burden of the past.

Form: Bible Study

Intro:

This morning's sermon is a teaching about the power and authority of the Church.

In C.S. Lewis' book: The Screwtape Letters, the author imagines a tactic that Satan uses to distract believers from their real purpose.

The book is fiction, written during WWII and it is a supposed series of correspondences between a sub-demon and his boss. The sub-demon's task is to dismantle the faith of a brand new Christian. His boss is giving him ideas as to how to distract this man.

One trick almost succeeds. He tries to confuse the man's passion for his faith with the man's passion for his politics.

We feel strongly about both, and since we feel this way, we can easily forget that they are two different subjects.

Misplaced passion, in one sense, is what is happening here in this passage. Instead of following Jesus, Peter wants to get religiouis.

Peter, James and John are singled out for a special revelation of Jesus' glory.

They are alone with Jesus when suddenly Jesus starts shining in brilliant white light.

And then while He is shining, Moses and Elijah also appear with Jesus, shining brightly as well. And the three get into a deep conversation before these three apostles.

And Peter realizes that this is a significant moment. So when it is over, he comes up with an idea, They should build three booths, monuments, to commemorate the event.

I can't blame Peter. He realizes that this must be a sacred sight. But, should the place itself should be worshiped?

The lesson here is that only God, expressed in the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit be is to be worshiped. We are not to worship places or objects. That, is the theme of our music this morning.

During the Middle Ages, great cathedrals were built around relics. Relics were objects from the ancient church, the bones of the apostles, the shroud of Turin, a waterfall where someone received a healing, or had a vision of Jesus or some saint.

In hindsight, we doubt whether or not the money and expense behind that was what Jesus really intended.

But the thing is, in some places, real miracles did indeed happen. Other things were false, but some were indeed true.

And it didn't seem right to just ignore the miracle as if it was an every day occurrence. That attitude seems to cheapen the grace that God showed, or the power that God has.

When God does great things, it is important to remember it. It builds our faith.

Christians have debated about what that means about a Church building. Is this place right here a sacred place? Is it more special than other places?

I know this, when my soul is deeply troubled, or I am especially moved by the Holy Spirit about something, this sanctuary, and the sanctuary of every Church I have ever pastored has indeed become a sacred place for me to pray.

For some reason, it helps me connect better.

But, is it really a sin if a child runs in this room, or someone drinks a cup of coffee here?

And we all have preferences about that. I don't think they are worth fighting over, but I do want to look at the Spirit behind this passage, because the principle about building man made monuments was important enough to take up a significant portion of the story of Jesus in His Holy Scripture.

So to understand it better, let's look at the context of these verses. In Chapter 16, several important things happen about the foundation of the Church.

The Church is established when Peter gives the “Great Confession”

^{Matthew 16:13}Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. ¹⁸And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. ¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” ²⁰Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

The Great Confession: Jesus is the Savior, the Anointed One!

On that confession, “we need a Savior and Jesus is it!” God builds His Church.

The Church is built on the doctrine: God, save us!” It is a great confession and it is humble because it specifically states that we need God.

The Church, with all of its problems is established as God's mechanism for bringing God's good news to humanity. Praise the Lord.

Some say, the Church is an human institution. And they are correct, but God is the one who appointed it, and therefore, it has a divine mandate.

The importance of the human/divine partnership isn't lost in our account this morning. Here is Jesus, the creator of humanity, having a deep conversation? Or was it a consultation? With Moses and Elijah.

The Church is given divine authority. Verse 19: What we bind, will be bound, what we loose will be loosened.

Does anybody really know what that means?

It means one thing that is very important: God indeed listens to us. God partners with us. God expects us to speak, pray and do something with this faith of ours.

What do we bind and loose? Vs. 19

There are times, when I feel that I am facing genuine evil, and I pray a prayer, sometimes under my breath binding powers of darkness.

There are times, when I get it wrong, and I continue to live without forgiving and I too get all bound up inside.

What are we to loose? That is much clearer to me: We loose grace and mercy. That much is evident in so many ways in what Jesus did while walking on earthy.

What else do we bind? We bind up oppression and injustice. He left us here to transform the world through faith in Him.

Jesus spent 3 years teaching us what is important to Him.

And then, He charged the Church with continuing the same action.

Luke 4:18-19: Jesus came to set the captive free. Make sure we are focusing on that same action.

So Imagine how the disciples reacted to this statement by Jesus about Peter. In the rest of the chapter, it seems that this discussion about the power and authority of the Church prompted more confusion among the disciples.

And Jesus kind of lets them sit in their confusion for a while.

Because then, He starts telling them that the next few weeks are going to be a real trial.

By this time in His ministry, the religious leaders have him under the ban.

They have outlawed anyone publicly declaring that He is the Messiah.

They have said that anyone who follows Him will be thrown out of their form of Church.

The disciples clearly didn't understand the nature of the power and authority Jesus gave them.

They didn't understand how Jesus' very lifestyle confronted the power structures of His day.

Shaine Claybourne said this: Charity wins awards and applause, but joining the poor gets you killed. People do not get crucified for charity. People are crucified for living out a love that disrupts the social order, that calls forth a new world. People are not crucified for helping poor people. People are crucified for joining them.

He was talking about what happened to us when we follow the principles that directed Jesus' life.

Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins, but Jesus was killed, not for preaching charity, but for joining the poor. When He joined the poor, He condemned their materialistic lifestyle.

I worked with Ephrata Area Social Services. It was an agency put together in cooperation by all the churches in town.

It was effective and the program worked well.

Every year, the president of Ephrata National Bank and other business leaders rented the luxurious banquet hall in Ephrata, put on a big show, wined and dined the rich of the town and raised over $100,000 for the charity.

These guys knew how to do it. And those who were giving were in a safe environment. They didn't have to come into contact with the poor. It was the social gathering of the year for the entire town and everybody that was anybody was there. And I am grateful for what they did.

But Jesus didn't just give to the poor, He became one of them. And others could not accept it.

And Peter, who was just promised leadership in the Church was not getting what Jesus kingdom looked like.

So Jesus, who joined the poor begins to tell the disciples that He is going to Jerusalem and they will crucify Him and He will rise from death three days later.

What was Peter's response to Jesus saying: “I am going to Jerusalem and they will crucify me there? (YOU KNOW)

Right, Peter said: Never Lord!

And what specific phrase did Jesus use to rebuke him?

(YOU KNOW) Right, Get behind me Satan, you are setting your mind on human things instead of divine things.

So Peter, who was promised this incredible position soon after gets rebuked as the mouthpiece of Satan himself.

Peter wasn't getting it.

Then Jesus makes the most difficult statement in all of scripture about the cost of discipleship:

would somebody read 16:24-26?

²⁴Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ²⁵For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. ²⁶For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?

If Jesus were at some big stadium or a guest on the 700 club today He might say those same words like this: Following me isn't about chasing the American dream, its about taking up your own cross to follow Me.

I am not going to add or take away from that statement except to remind you that Jesus actually said this. It isn't my words.

And then, the actual introduction to today's passage: Would someone read verses 16:27-17:1?

²⁷“For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done.

²⁸Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

^17:1Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves.

Six days later. There are people who have said “well, the Bible can't be true because all of those people died and Jesus still hasn't returned.”

Listen, the prophecy was fulfilled 6 days later.

And again, Peter didn't get it.

In Chapter 16, He confesses the great confession. Then, he contradicts Jesus and Jesus rebukes him as Satan's own mouthpiece.

And here, he decides to commemorate this Holy place with three booths.

By so doing, he takes the focus off of Jesus and the future of Jesus' continuing mission and places it on the past.

We learn this: Don't worship the past.

God wants to be with us in the future.

So how does God answer Peter's idea to ritualize tradition instead of continuing the work of Jesus? (repeat)

From heaven itself this time, God rebukes Peter and we hear the voice of God speak to Peter, James and John: “Look at Jesus, Listen to Him.”

This is a loving answer by God to Peter.

STOP, a moment, Peter! Look at Jesus! LOOK AT HIM. You cannot add to Him. And then, after you have stopped, looked and listened, I will be in you and you will do more than you ever imagined.

What I hear in all this is a reminder to Peter to let God be God and to be silent before Him.

It is so easy for us to spiritualize, all from a good heart, all from zeal to God and entirely miss what God is actually doing.

At this time, the entire culmination of Jesus' teaching is coming together for the apostles.

And the message is, don't focus on the past, but have faith for the future.

Think about that.

That doesn't mean the past isn't important, but keep it in perspective.

You, I, and everyone you know has past memories that are incredible. Instead of being the end of success, they are proof that God is still going to be there in the future.

I can think of incredible miracles, but God doesn't want me building monuments to them. God wants us to look at what He can STILL DO in us today.

At the same time: You, I and everyone we know has past problems, past pains, past failures and past abuses against us, but that is not the future that God has for us.

Freely, without judgment, God has chosen to forgive us. We too, get to forgive others and move ahead.

You all know Jeremiah 29:11, For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you... ...God plans to give us a future and a hope.

This is God's word as well.

So have faith. This is a gentle reminder to look forward, not back and partner with God for His future for you, for us, for this Church and for the Church as an whole.

God is doing great things.