Two weeks ago you may remember that I talked about visiting an orphanage on the top floor of a hospital in Meknes. This is a very nice facility but it was very difficult to see so many children who are unable to receive the personal attention they need.
In particular I talked about one room where the children with physical handicaps are kept. On the cover of the bulletin that week I put a picture of a young man with cerebral palsy. There were children in the orphanage like this young man on the bulletin cover who have good minds but are imprisoned in a body that will not function properly.
I asked the question, in what way is the birth of Jesus good news of great joy, as the angels proclaimed when Jesus was born, to those who suffer physical handicaps?
That sermon focused on our longing for a world that is better than this one. I pointed out that the fact that we long for a better world is an indication that such a world exists. God has put in our hearts a longing for his kingdom. We are offended when we see injustice because in our hearts we know justice should prevail. We are hurt when we are not loved because we know that love is supposed to be our experience. We are disturbed by physical and mental handicaps because we know that is not how we will be in heaven.
Those who realize the kingdom of God awaits and who long for the peace, justice and love that comes with his kingdom are blessed. So I ended the sermon by saying:
Blessed are those with cerebral palsy because they will be liberated.
And blessed are you when you long for the soon return of Jesus because the kingdom of God will be yours.
Then last week I talked about how we wait for Jesus to return. This week I want to talk about how we work with Jesus while we wait for his return.
On the bulletin cover you will notice the same young man with cerebral palsy from two weeks ago, but now the picture has been expanded to show who the young man is smiling at. This woman, on her knees before this young man, is working with Jesus. The young man with cerebral palsy is smiling at Jesus.
The angels announced the birth of Jesus by saying (Luke 2:10)
Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
The good news that is of great joy to all the people is that Jesus brought with him the Kingdom of God to which we will be brought when we die our physical death. A better world, a perfect world awaits us.
The good news that is of great joy is also that while we live here on planet earth, we can experience in some measure the Kingdom of God. Until the end, there will continue to be suffering in this world but Jesus is at work redeeming our suffering as the Kingdom of God expands into our world.
Jesus brought with him the Kingdom of God and when Jesus walked the paths of Palestine, he gave sight to blind beggars. He raised from the dead the only son of a widow. He healed the skin disease of lepers who were ostracized from their communities and allowed them to enter back into society. He healed the woman whose bleeding kept her ritually unclean and separated her from her family and the community.
All these people experienced on earth what each of us will experience when we die our physical death and come into the Kingdom of God. We were created in the image of God and when we come into his kingdom, we will be healed and restored to be as we were meant to be.
Wherever Jesus walked he brought hope to those who suffered.
But then he died and was raised to new life and ascended. His brief time on earth was finished. Those who met Jesus in Palestine were the fortunate few who were able to hear him teach, who were able to be healed from their diseases, who were able to be delivered from demons. What a fortunate generation!
But the good news that is of great joy did not end with Jesus. Before he ascended he told his followers: (John 14:12-14)
I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
After Luke wrote his gospel, he continued with a history of the early church in a document that we call Acts. Whose acts does Luke refer to in this book he wrote? These are not the acts of the followers of Jesus, these are the continuing acts of Jesus. It was Peter and John who declared to the man born lame, sitting by the gate called Beautiful, that he could stand up and walk but it was in the name of Jesus that he was healed. The ministry of Jesus did not end in the Gospels but continued in the book of Acts and has continued throughout church history up to the present day.
After he ascended, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to indwell us and empower us to do the work he had been doing. So we are now the hands of Jesus that reach out and touch those who are unloved and unaccepted by society. We are the feet that bring food to the hungry. We are the voice of Jesus that proclaims that the Kingdom of God has come.
Jesus asks us to continue to do his work and he promises to work through us. When we care for the people Jesus cares about, we are Jesus to them. But at the same time, when we care for someone, we are caring for Jesus.
In the parable Jesus told about the judgement of the sheep and the goats, he said that whenever we feed someone who is hungry, give someone a drink when they are thirsty, invite someone in who is a stranger, give clothes to someone who does not have clothes, or visit someone who is sick or in prison, we do it to Jesus.
Jesus said,
I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.
You may remember the Tolstoy story about the shoemaker who after reading his Bible received a message in a dream that Jesus would visit him the next day. All that next day he looked eagerly out at the street from his basement window. He saw an old man shoveling snow and invited him in to have a cup of hot tea. He saw a poor woman and her young child and invited them in from the cold to have a meal and gave her a warm coat. He saw an old apple woman holding a struggling boy who was trying to steal an apple from her and managed to help her be merciful and the boy to help her carry her apples. That evening he was discouraged because Jesus had not appeared and he wondered what happened. How had he missed seeing Jesus that day? And then he heard the voice that had spoken to him the night before.
“Martin—ah, Martin! Did you not recognize me?”
And then the old man who had been shoveling appeared before his eyes and the poor woman and her child and the apple woman and the boy. Each of them spoke:
It is I
Avdeich’s soul rejoiced: he crossed himself, put on his eyeglasses, and began to read the Gospel where it happened to open. On the upper part of the page he read:
“For I was hungry, and you gave me food: I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in.”
And on the lower part of the page he read this:
“Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Matthew 25).
And Avdeich understood that his dream did not deceive him; that the Saviour really called upon him that day, and that he really received Him.
This is a wonderful story and I know that many of us, just like Avdeich the shoemaker, care for people in need every day.
I mentioned last week that my sister works as a physical therapist with severely handicapped people and some not so severely handicapped. In our congregation there are also those who work as therapists with handicapped people. There are some who work to bring wheelchairs and other equipment to help those in need. There are those who work in children’s homes with abandoned children. There are those who work to find employment for women who are driven to prostitution because they see no alternative. There are those helping sub-Saharan migrants who are here in Morocco illegally and caught up in thievery, drug trafficking and prostitution.
But the problem is that no matter how much we care, there are more needs than we are able to meet. The needs of the world are overwhelming.
There is a French film that was very popular in France, Amelie. It is a quirky film but very interesting. At one point Amelie, played by Audrey Tautou, is looking out over Marseilles and she counts the number of people experiencing great pleasure in that moment of time.
When I saw this, I thought about what it would be like to look out over even a small part of a city and to be intimately knowledgeable about the pain and suffering being experienced.
When we read the newspaper or watch the news on TV we hear about a family killed when a jet crashed into their house or about the people killed in Mumbai when terrorists set out to destroy as many people as they could or about a child killed when the car slipped out of gear and rolled back in the driveway.
We read this or hear about it and say, “Isn’t that terrible,” and then go on with our day. If we do talk about the tragedy, it is more of an intellectual discussion about what to do with terrorism or should the pilot of the plane have ejected from his aircraft as soon as he did.
But when the news comes closer to us it is less academic and more real. A couple years ago there was a bomb in a market area in Egypt and a young American, who earlier that year had worked here in Morocco, was killed. We talked more about this because we knew the person who was killed.
If the tragedy happens to someone in our church, it is even more real and the pain is greater. We grieve with the person who has lost someone they loved.
But the pain for the person who has lost their spouse or child is even greater.
The closer and more intimate the relationship, the greater the pain when evil or suffering takes place.
When it is your son or daughter, the suffering can shake your emotional and spiritual life to the core.
A man in Takkadoum is facing the prospect of losing his leg. His flesh is dying and the doctor has said he will have to amputate his leg. With no leg, he will no longer be able to work and bring home the little money his family has. He reacts with anger and drinks and then beats his wife and children in his drunken anger.
Jesus is intimate with this family and grieving with them: the father who fears and beats, the wife and children who suffer his abuse.
If I were able to look out over even a part of Rabat and have an intimate relationship with all the suffering that is taking place: abuse of women and children, rape and incest, depression, fear, illness and accidents, the powerful abusing and taking advantage of the less powerful, all the terrible things that take place in every city of the world. If I were able to be intimate with all that suffering it would crush me. Maybe I would have a nervous breakdown. But in some way the massive weight of all that evil and suffering would overpower and destroy me.
And yet Jesus asks us to care for the poor and needy. How can we do that without being crushed by the intensity of the needs?
Maybe we can be superficial in what we do. We can give some food but not get involved with the people we feed, but is that the way Jesus cared for people? Jesus met people and got down to the core of who they were. He did not simply treat the superficial needs of people. He told the rich young ruler to go sell all he had, give it to the poor and then come follow him. Jesus knew this righteous man was holding on too tightly to his wealth and dealt with him at this deep level of his need. Jesus was not content to simply exchange a cup of water with the woman at the well but got down to the depth of the needs in her life and offered her water that would satisfy her deepest thirst.
After church we pass through the gates and there are two women who beg each week. Some of us give them some coins but is that really the care they need?
There was an article in the Magharebia, an English online news source for Morocco, that talked about a study done on begging in Morocco. 62.4% of the 196,000 beggars in Morocco are professional beggars with bank accounts and real estate holdings.
The two women who beg in front of the church are professional beggars. I would love to pay a private detective (if they have those here in Morocco) and have the women followed to see how they really live. I know that one has a spot in Agdal where she begs during the week. My guess is that one of the women, who over the nine years has always been nursing a baby, rents the baby for her begging to help her earn more money. I know this is a standard practice for those who beg.
Giving to these women does not really help them. If Jesus met them, he would ignore their plea for money and deal with the much deeper needs in their lives.
But it is easier to drop a few coins in their hands than to take the time and energy to discover what is their real need.
How can we care for people without being crushed by their needs?
Not all of us are called to work with handicapped people. Not all of us are called to feed the poor or visit the sick in hospitals or prisoners in prison.
But all of us are called to take on the heart of Jesus for the world. Regardless of what it is we do, work in an office, study at school, or pastor a church, we are to make decisions that reflect the heart of Jesus for the world. Regardless of where we work, we are to care deeply about the things that are on the heart of Jesus.
How can we take on Jesus’s heart for the world, without becoming overwhelmed?
In 1989, Henri Nouwen gave three lectures on Christian leadership in the twenty-first century and put them into a short book titled, In the Name of Jesus.
This is one of the books that has affected me deeply, although when I reread the book this week, I realized there is much about Christian leadership that I have yet to deal with. It is a short book but very powerful.
The lectures were based on the accounts in Scripture of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness and the post-resurrection appearance of Jesus to Peter when he asked him, “Do you love me?” and then told him, “Feed my sheep.”
An important lesson I took from the book is that Jesus does not call us to be spectacular but to take on his heart for the world. The temptation is to turn stones into bread and jump off the tower of the temple without being hurt.
When someone suffers from an illness or disease, our temptation is to be spectacular, to lay on hands and pray for healing and see them be healed. We want to walk into a room of people with physical handicaps and touch them and see them healed, see their broken bodies be made whole. We want to make a dramatic impact on our world.
We want to pray that someone will receive their long-awaited ID card from the government and that day have the card given. We want to pray for money for a building for the church and that day receive a message with a pledge that all the money needed will be provided. We want to pray for a villa at a good price and that day find the perfect place, available at a good rate.
We seek the spectacular but Jesus calls us to take on his heart for the world. “Do you love me?” “Feed my sheep.”
We look at the dramatic and spectacular miracles of Jesus but we forget that when Jesus healed, often the account tells us it began with the heart of Jesus.
Matthew 9:36
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Matthew 14:14
When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
Matthew 15:32
Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”
Matthew 20:34
Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.
Mark 1:41
Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.
Dramatic miracles may follow the heart of Jesus but the spectacular, if it is from God, begins with the heart of God. Our focus needs to be on taking on the heart of Jesus for the world and then if spectacular miracles follow, so be it but what matters is that we have Jesus’ heart.
Having the heart of Jesus for the world is not insignificant. God is intimate with all the suffering and evil in every corner of the world. There is no one in any part of the world who suffers and Jesus is not present with them. How does it not overcome him?
If you add up all the suffering of the world, from all of time, this is an enormous weight. Why does it not crush God?
The love of God is far more powerful than all the suffering and evil in the world. The love of God absorbed and overcame the enormous pain and suffering and alienation of Jesus on the cross and God is able to soak up all the evil and suffering we in the world experience with his love and redeem it.
Those who take on the heart of Jesus for the world and care for the poor, the needy, the oppressed but do not have a love relationship with Jesus inevitably develop a hardened heart. On our own, our heart will break unless we shut it to the pain of the world and so the natural way to do this is to harden our heart.
There are some who work in social services who become angry and bitter at the injustice of the world. They continue to care for the poor and needy but they harden their heart against the world. Their care of those who suffer is affected and they are unable to come to the suffering with an open and vulnerable heart that suffers with their clients. They are professionals who do a job, can talk for hours about the injustice of the world’s system, but have difficulty weeping with the ones who suffer.
There are some who develop a cynicism in order to protect themselves from being repeatedly hurt. The world is a mess and people always lie to get what they want so these people do not trust anyone. They put emotional distance between those who suffer and themselves. They do their job and then go home and live their own life.
There are those who become indifferent. The problems of the poor and needy don’t go away so why bother to care about them?
Anger, cynicism and indifference are all ways to harden our hearts against the suffering of the world so we are protected from its pain. But when we protect our hearts, the pain of those who suffer is not alleviated.
What made Jesus so wonderful was that his heart was extended to those who came to him with their needs. He fed and healed with an open and vulnerable heart that was extended to those who came to him. The healing people experienced was more than receiving food or being healed of a disease or infirmity, the deeper healing was in being loved by the heart of Jesus.
When we walked through the orphanage in Meknes, the man who led us was a picture of Jesus as he walked among the children, smiling at them, putting his hand on them, praying for them. He has an NGO that works with this facility as well as others in Meknes and I so admired him for his ability to not be overcome by the sadness of what we saw.
People like this man in Meknes, my sister and many of you inspire me. I admire your ability to care about people without being overwhelmed.
The birth of Jesus is good news of great joy to all the people. Jesus brings people into his kingdom and allows them to work with him to (Luke 4:18)
to preach good news to the poor.
to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
And so my prayer is that you will grown in your understanding of how much you are loved by God. I pray that your love for Jesus will grow in response to being so wonderfully loved.
Then you will be able to be Jesus to people you meet. Then you will be able to care for people with an open and vulnerable heart that is more powerful than the suffering you will encounter.
Then you will be able to care for people as you would for Jesus.
***************************************************
Isaiah 30:18
Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
he rises to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!
-->
Matthew 25:31-46 Two weeks ago you may remember that I talked about visiting an orphanage on the top floor of a hospital in Meknes. This is a very nice facility but it was very difficult to see so many children who are unable to receive the personal attention they need. In particular I talked about [...]
Click here to read Working with Jesus.
Last week I talked about longing for Jesus and I asked, if you had the decision making power, when would you have Jesus return, right now or at some point in the future?
And then I said that if your answer was not right now, either you were too much in love with the world or your faith needed to grow.
I received a number of reactions after church as well as from people who read the sermon when it is sent out by email. In the sermon today and next week, I hope to address some of these responses.
Last week the emphasis was on longing for Jesus to return. Today we will talk about how to wait until Jesus returns and then next week we will talk about working with Jesus while we wait for him to return.
I seem to spend a lot of my time waiting here in Morocco for my turn to pay a bill or to get something notarized or make a deposit in the bank. I don’t like to wait.
There have been almost two thousand years of waiting for Jesus to come. Now that’s a lot of waiting!
At the end of his life when Peter wrote the letter we call II Peter, he talked about scoffers who did not believe Jesus would return.
(II Peter 3)
First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”
The last days began with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, so Peter was talking about those in his time who mocked the Christians who believed Jesus would return. Thirty some years had passed since Jesus had ascended and promised to return and in those years, many who had been with Jesus had died. Most of these had believed Jesus would return before they died, but that did not happen. Scoffers mocked the church that continued to believe Jesus would return.
If the scoffers in the time of Peter had reason to doubt that Jesus would not return, the reasonability of their doubt has only increased over the years.
It started with Jesus. Jesus himself expected his return would be within a generation. Paul expected Jesus to return within a generation. Peter expected Jesus to return within a generation.
The generation of the disciples of Jesus fully expected his return within their generation and when this did not happen, the early church had to address this failed expectation. The passage today from II Peter deals with this as does Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians.
Generation after generation, about 67 generations in all, have expected that Jesus would come and then been disappointed.
Saint Clement I in 90 AD predicted the world would end at any moment. The Montanist movement in the second century predicted that Jesus would return sometime during their lifetime and establish the New Jerusalem in the city of Pepuza in Asia Minor. In 365 AD a man by the name of Hilary of Poitiers announced that the end would happen that year. And so it went on.
Because we have a fascination with round numbers, the years, 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000 all have received special attention with a surge of predictions focusing on these dates. Some leaders who were disappointed that Jesus did not come back in 1000 AD added the 33 years of Jesus’ life to make the prediction that Jesus would return in 1033. But 1034 came and life went on.
I looked on the internet and discovered not much has changed in one thousand years. There are a number of predictions now focusing on 2033 because we are nine years past 2000 and still waiting for Jesus.
So the scoffers have lots to scoff about.
What will happen if Jesus does not return for another thousand years? What will people be saying then?
It is inconceivable to me that the world could go on another one thousand years, but then it must have been inconceivable to the early church that there would be two thousand years of church history and still Jesus had not returned.
What does the Bible teach about how to wait for Jesus to return?
Jesus taught his disciples: (Luke 12)
You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
And Peter wrote: (II Peter 3)
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.
It is clear that if Jesus will come when we do not expect him, anyone who tries to pick a date for his coming will be wrong. His coming will be a surprise.
But, you may ask, what about all the signs Jesus said would warn us his coming was approaching?
Matthew 24:4-14
“Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Wars, famines and earthquakes. There has not been a year in world history since the time of Christ when there has not been at least one war going on. There have been repeated famines in history. In 1005-1006 there was a terrible famine in Europe that made people believe this was going to be the time when Jesus would return. As the tectonic plates shift around under our feet, earthquakes have been a constant companion to civilizations.
Some people work hard to show that there is a recent increase in wars, famines and earthquakes to indicate that we are at the very end of our waiting, but this is not conclusive. The occurrence of wars, famines and earthquakes have been a constant in history and they serve not as markers to say that this is now the time but as reminders that we are steadily moving toward the end.
Jesus went on in his teaching to talk about persecution and the preaching of the gospel to all nations as preludes to his return.
The church has been persecuted from the beginning. Sometimes it has been the institutional church that has persecuted the church and others but up to today, the church is being persecuted. There have been spurts of missionary activity in the history of the church, but certainly in the last hundred years the gospel has moved out into most of the world. The Bible is steadily being translated into more and more of the languages of the world and the gospel is been taken out to new language groups at a rapidly increasing rate.
Then, Jesus said, the end will come. I hope it will be soon.
So when will Jesus return?
The answer is that we don’t know when Jesus will return. It is not that we are particularly dense, although that is often the case. No matter how smart we are, no matter how spiritually perceptive we are, no matter how well we know the Scriptures, we will not be able to discover when Jesus will come back.
Do we think that we are so clever that we can get God to tell us something he did not even tell Jesus when he was on earth?
Jesus said: Matthew 24:36
No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
Throughout history people have spent an enormous amount of time trying to figure out what Jesus clearly said they could not figure out. We are not supposed to set dates. Only the Father knows. Those who waste their time trying to figure out when Jesus will return need to read their Bible and begin to be obedient to the teaching of Jesus. We do not know and we will never know. His coming will be a surprise.
All we do know is that we are a lot closer to the end of earth history than were Peter or Paul or William Miller or any of the others who predicted when Jesus would return.
As I mentioned last week, Jesus could come back before I finish this sermon and that would be delightful.
We don’t know when but we do need to live in such a way that we are ready for Jesus whenever he returns.
The signs that make us think this might be the time are a great motivation for us to work hard at our Christian life so we are ready when he returns.
In addressing the scoffers who mocked the early church for believing Jesus would return, Peter reminded his readers why Jesus had not yet returned.
II Peter 3
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Last week a couple people came up to me after the sermon and said they wanted to wait until their family came to faith before Jesus returned. They said they had difficulty wanting Jesus to come right now because that would mean their family was not saved.
We need to realize three things. First of all, because life keeps on being created, there will never be a time when there are not people who need to be saved. At any point that Jesus returns, there will be people longing for their family members to come to Christ. This is not an insolvable problem for God.
Secondly, God is the one who saves, not us. It is not our responsibility to save anyone and even if we wanted to take on that responsibility it would fail because we are incapable of saving anyone. Only God saves people.
We love our family and others and want them to experience the love, peace and salvation of Jesus but it is God who works in their hearts.
Thirdly, God loves your family members more purely and deeply than you are capable of loving them. And because God loves the people you love more purely and deeply than you can, you can trust his love for your family and friends. As much as you are concerned for the salvation of your family and friends, God is more concerned.
He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
So, do what you are supposed to do: long for the soon return of Jesus and pray for your family. Because you are human you will inevitably make mistakes, lose your temper, fight for your rights and privileges. But when you do, forgive and ask for forgiveness. Let your heart for Jesus be open to your family. When you are mocked, forgive and go on loving. Find strength from God to be salt and light to your family. Do your job and then let God do his.
Trust in God who Peter said is patient for our salvation. As God was patient and persistent with us, so will he be patient and persistent with those we love. Neither of my parents died with any hope or assurance of salvation but I have not resigned myself to their eternal existence in hell. They are in the hands of God who loves them deeply and purely and I put my trust in God.
We are to expect the return of Jesus at any moment and allow that to motivate us to be ready for him. The signs around us encourage us to focus on our Christian faith and be ready.
Is it ok to enjoy the world while we are waiting?
In particular, with all the suffering in the world, is it ok to enjoy life in the world while others are suffering?
I received this email response to last week’s sermon
What does it say about my love that I can so easily enjoy my life and its goodies, instead of doing my part in making good news happen today for those who need it the most? Are we not constantly voting for Jesus to return later? Isn’t that the real problem?
With some strange feeling I will now go to the Chinese restaurant and have a meal for around one seventh of the monthly salary of the lady that will start working for me as a house cleaner and cook tomorrow.
This is the heart of the problem. Are we supposed to enjoy the delights of this world and if we are, how can we do that in the midst of all the suffering and injustice that surrounds us? How can we go out to eat a meal that costs the equivalent of a week’s wages for people walking outside the restaurant.
If we enjoy a good meal or buy a painting to hang on our walls instead of giving that money to someone who needs a meal, are we disappointing Jesus? Will he be upset with us when he returns because we had a nice home and car while others were starving?
Let’s look to Jesus. When he was on earth, how did he live? Did he deny himself earthly pleasures? Did he give away all he had and live like the poor?
Luke 7:34
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.”
Jesus was not a glutton and a drunkard, but he ate at banquets with tax collectors and other “sinners” and opened himself to the criticism of the Jewish religious leaders.
When Jesus called Matthew to leave his tax collecting business and follow him, he did not object when his newest follower threw a big party for him.
When a woman came to where Jesus was eating in Bethany and poured a jar of alabaster perfume over his head, a gift that cost the equivalent of a year’s wages, Jesus did not condemn her for her waste. There were others who were critical of this waste of money but Jesus said to them: (Mark 14:7)
The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.
Like wars, famines and earthquakes, poverty is another of the world’s constants, but this does not mean we are to ignore it.
Deuteronomy 15:11
There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.
Jesus had a heart that leaned toward the poor. As his followers we are to take on his heart and care for the poor. So what are we to do? How do we enjoy the good things in life and care for the poor at the same time?
In the year 1000 AD when there was a lot of excitement about the return of Jesus, some Christians gave their possessions to the church in anticipation of the return of Jesus in that year. When 1001 rolled around and this did not happen and the church refused to return their possessions, they were upset.
I thought about this. Why did these Christians give their possessions to the church? Because they wanted to earn favor with God? Because they thought this would give them special rights and privileges in heaven? And why, after Jesus did not return, did the church not return these possessions?
This all seems to me to be a very worldly affair with people trying to use their money to buy spiritual influence. I have a difficult time seeing in this account anywhere that people were following the heart of Jesus. What I see is a very worldly transaction taking place. People gave their possessions to earn spiritual favor and afterwards, the church took advantage of these gifts to increase its wealth. It seems to me that Jesus had very little to do with any of this.
The reason I mention this is because in the balancing act between enjoying life and caring for the poor, we need to be careful our actions are not determined by worldly, materialistic motives. We need to be sure we are not either compromising our faith or giving in to our fleshly desires.
It is not a question of dividing up what I have and giving so much to entertainment and so much to the poor. It is a matter of living with Jesus and responding to the call of his heart in each moment. We care for the poor and we celebrate the pleasures of the earth and it all flows because it is all part of the heart of God.
Our human nature demands that there be rules to follow about how much to spend and how much to give but life lived in its fullness does not conform to rules.
We are not supposed to be ascetics or gluttons. There are times when it is appropriate to fast and times when it is appropriate to feast.
God designed us to be sensual beings and he created a sensual world into which are to live. To not be appreciative of the taste of a crisp apple or ripe pear with a soft French cheese is to be ungrateful to God for his gifts.
We are meant to enjoy the good things of this world and to give God thanks for them.
We are also to take on the heart of Jesus for people and this means we cannot be indifferent to the needs of people in the world.
We live in a balancing act. We are supposed to enjoy the pleasures of this world without desiring them. We are supposed to care for the poor among us without cutting ourselves off from celebrations and feasts.
But all of this is done by living with Jesus and living in hope of his return.
In fact it is only by living in hope of the return of Jesus that this world makes any sense. I will talk more about this next week. If Jesus is not going to come back to redeem and transform the suffering of this world, then nothing in this world makes any sense.
My oldest sister is a physical therapist who works with handicapped people, many of them who are severely handicapped. I asked her what it was like for someone with a functioning mind to be imprisoned in a broken body. She sent me this story.
One child I think about I had many years ago. He was a 3rd grader and had “brittle bone” disease where his bones were extremely fragile and weak (due to low levels of collegen). I always saw him on a Tuesday when he was wearing his Cub Scout uniform. One day he came in with his arm in a sling. I said, “Oh Stevie, what happened?” He said, “I broke my clavicle.” I said, “How did that happen?” He said, “I sneezed.” On another day he was rather depressed. We talked awhile and because I knew his family went to church, I said, “You know, someday you will be able to run & jump and not have to worry about ever breaking another bone because you will be with Jesus.” He smiled and said, “I know.”
Jesus is coming back. In the mysteries of salvation God is being patient
not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
As we wait we are to live in the moment with Jesus, enjoying this world and caring for the poor in the name of Jesus. And so we wait. We wait with hope and expectation. We wait with longing for the suffering of this world to be redeemed. We wait with a longing that the return of Jesus will come soon.
Come Lord Jesus!
-->
II Peter 3:3-15 Last week I talked about longing for Jesus and I asked, if you had the decision making power, when would you have Jesus return, right now or at some point in the future? And then I said that if your answer was not right now, either you were too much in love [...]
Click here to read Waiting for Jesus.
Two weeks ago a team from an American church visited Morocco. The senior pastor led the installation service for Tracy that Sunday. And then the rest of that week I traveled with them exploring options for future humanitarian projects in Morocco. In addition to Rabat, we looked at projects in Casablanca, Fez, Ain Leuh and Meknes. We were in Meknes at the end of our trip and I want to talk to you about an orphanage we visited there.
The orphanage sits on the top floor of a hospital where about 75 babies a year are abandoned. Of these babies, almost all of the girls are adopted. Some go to homes where they are treated as daughters but, unfortunately, most of the girls go to homes where they are raised to be house maids. This results in 99% of the children in the orphanage being boys. This top floor of the hospital holds just the children five years or younger. Another facility was bought and fixed up to house the older children.
I need to say that the orphanage is in great condition. A wealthy Moroccan lady funds the orphanage and rooms are clean and brightly painted. There are lots of toys and stuffed animals, untouched and sitting on shelves beyond the reach of the children, but they are pretty to look at. The beds are in good condition with nice sheets and blankets. The children are well dressed. The staff seems kind and attentive. It is really a very good facility.
But as nice as it is, there are too many children to receive individual attention. As I walked into the first room for children about a year old, I saw eight or nine boys, some standing up in their crib looking at us and I had an immediate, powerful reaction. I saw my grandson and granddaughter but the difference is that my grandchildren are bathed in affection and this orphanage, even though it is well maintained, cannot give the individual attention the children need. As a consequence, when we went from room to room, one of the things that was so strange is that these children did not make noise.
When I talk with my daughters they tell me of all the noise their one child makes. In these rooms of ten to twenty children, from infancy to five, there was barely a peep. There was a room of three year olds, sitting at desks rolling clay. They sat there. No one tried to get out of his seat. They said nothing. It was so sad.
If you have a young child and complain because he or she cries a lot or makes a big fuss, be grateful, it is a sign of being properly stimulated and an indication that the mind of the child is exploring his or her world.
I looked at these children and thought about how they would be at the age of 25 or 30 when they would not be so cute. These children face a very difficult life. It was so sad. I stood there holding on to the hand of a one year old and said to him in English, “It’s not your fault.”
This was difficult enough, but then at the end we went into two rooms where the handicapped children spend their day. The first room was filled with mentally handicapped children. I spent a summer when I was in seminary working with severely and profoundly retarded people and know what this life is like. But then we went into a second room where the children who suffer from cerebral palsy are kept.
Cerebral palsy is a condition that results from damage to the brain and affects the ability to move or speak. The young man on the bulletin cover is a victim of cerebral palsy.
When we stepped into the room and saw these children lying on mats on the floor, I was completely overwhelmed and had to step outside. The children in the next room who are mentally retarded are oblivious to their situation. But the problem is that these children with cerebral palsy have good minds and know their condition.
I looked in their eyes and wondered what they were thinking. They are trapped in bodies that do not allow them to function in this world. They are prisoners in their bodies facing a difficult life sentence.
When we left the hospital and drove back to Rabat in the van we had rented, there was a lot of silence. Some in the group had done a much better job than I did in moving among the children, praying with them, touching them. But all of us were hit hard by the picture of suffering we had seen.
Today is the first Sunday in Advent, the period of four Sundays preceding Christmas. As I sat in the van on the return trip to Rabat, I knew I would begin preaching in Advent about the birth of Jesus and his promised return and as I thought about it, I knew I would have to talk about what I had just seen.
If Christmas has meaning for anyone, it must have meaning for these children lying on mats who suffer from cerebral palsy. So my question today and for the next two Sundays will be to try to understand how the birth of Jesus and the promise of his return is good news for children like the boy on the cover of the bulletin, as well as good news for us.
When the angels appeared to the shepherds living out in the fields near to Bethlehem,
Luke 2:9-11
An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
Good news of great joy, the angels said, but what was that good news? Israel understood the good news to be that the Messiah, the Christ, would kick out the Roman occupiers and restore Israel to the grandeur it had when David had been king. But the good news was a far deeper good news than just that.
Very often, US presidential candidates announce that they are running for the office of president from the area where they were raised and in a similar manner Jesus announced the beginning of his public ministry from the synagogue where he had been raised.
Luke 4:16
He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
If you want to know why Jesus was good news of great joy, you don’t have to look further than this text from Isaiah.
Jesus’ birth is good news for the poor, the prisoners, the blind and the oppressed.
Where do you find yourself in this list? Is the birth of Jesus good news for you?
There are some who say that becoming a Christian is very simple. You bow your head, pray a simple prayer and then you are a Christian. Is this true?
There are some Christians who share their faith story and tell of having lots of problems but then they gave their life to Jesus and now they have a nice house, a family, a good job and are looking forward to an exciting retirement. Is this the good news Jesus’ birth brings?
There are some who preach and teach that if you have enough faith, you will be healed of any disease and you will become prosperous. But is being healthy and wealthy the reason why Jesus’ birth is good news of great joy?
Do you seriously think that Jesus gave up his rights and privileges in heaven to be born as a man on earth just so you could live a more comfortable life?
Why do you think Jesus suffered and died? He was beaten and mocked. He was whipped with leather thongs with bits of bone at the ends so that his flesh was torn apart when they whipped him. His hands and feet were nailed to a wooden cross and he hung there dying a particularly painful death. Do you really think Jesus suffered in this way so you could drive a nice car or live in a nice house or have money in the bank or have some physical malady healed?
The gospel of health and wealth trivializes and mocks the suffering of Jesus. Our self-centered approach to Christian faith only skims over the surface of all that Jesus did for us.
Jesus lived and died on earth so we could be rescued from the suffering and meaninglessness of this world.
Jesus died to bring us into a better world. Jesus died to bring the poor, the prisoners, the blind and the oppressed into his eternal kingdom.
Let me remind you about his kingdom.
When the archangel, Gabriel, came to Mary to tell her she would bear a child, he talked about Jesus as a king. Gabriel said to her:
Luke 1
“Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
Gabriel knew Jesus as the king of the kingdom of God that had long been anticipated and as Jesus grew up, he became aware of who he was as well. In the course of his public ministry when Jesus described the reason for which he came, he used the phrase kingdom of God or in Matthew’s Gospel, the kingdom of heaven, over and over again. 36 times in Matthew’s Gospel, 14 in Mark’s and 32 times in Luke’s Gospel.
So if Jesus came as king, what does that kingdom look like? The apostle John, in exile on the Isle of Patmos, received a revelation from God and at the end of that revelation, he received this picture of what the kingdom of God will be like.
Revelation 21
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
What does the kingdom of God look like? The kingdom of God is the home of God among his people. As God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, so will God live with his people. There will be no more distance. God told Moses he could not see his face and live but we will see God face-to-face.
The kingdom of God has no more death, sorrow, crying or pain. Anything that caused sadness on earth will be gone. This will be a place of eternal and unimaginable joy that nothing will be able to cloud.
The kingdom of God is a place of perfection and all those who enter will be made perfect. We will receive new bodies. Those who were blind will see; those who were lame will leap for joy; those who were deaf and mute will sing and hear the songs of praise being lifted up to the throne.
The kingdom of God is a place of peace where all those who struggled with depression and anxiety will be freed to live without restraint.
The kingdom of God is a place of justice where all those who suffered from injustice will be delivered and set free from the injustice they experienced.
The kingdom of God is what we all long for. C.S. Lewis wrote about this. He says that evidence for the kingdom of God is that we have a longing for it. We are frustrated by injustice because we expect justice. We are frustrated by disease and death because we have some expectancy that this is not the way it should be. We long for a world where we will be loved and be able to love fully and so are hurt when we are unloved. We long for a world where peace reigns and beauty abounds and are pained by the ugliness and unrest in this world. What we long for is the kingdom of God and we know it is true because it is what we long for. God has put this longing for his kingdom in our hearts.
Why is the birth of Jesus good news of great joy? Because with the coming of Jesus he brought a better world to which we can go.
What do you think? Is the kingdom of God a better world than this one?
If so, are you longing to be in that world?
In the 1960s and 70s there was a Christian singer named Pat Terry and his most famous song was titled, “I can’t wait to see Jesus”. These are the lyrics:
I can’t wait to see Jesus
In His glory as he bursts from the sky
I can’t wait to be held in his arms,
and see the glimmer in his eye
Tell me how it’s gonna be,
read it from the Bible again
I can’t wait to see Jesus,
’cause Jesus is coming again
I can’t wait to hear trumpets
’cause I know what they mean when they sound
I can’t wait to cast off my burdens,
and feel my feet leave the ground
Tell me how it’s gonna be,
read it from the Bible again
I can’t wait to see Jesus,
’cause Jesus is coming again
I can’t wait to see heaven
and to walk those streets of gold
I can’t wait to check into my mansion,
and get my sleeping bag unrolled
Tell me how it’s gonna be,
read it from the Bible again
I can’t wait to see Jesus,
’cause Jesus is coming again
How eager are you to come into his kingdom?
If the decision was yours, if you could decide when Jesus would come back, what would you decide?
Would you say right now, or fifteen minutes from now, or next month, or next year, or ten years from now or twenty or thirty?
Why would you choose anything other than right now?
Maybe you think that there are some things you would like to do before leaving this world. Do you want to get married first and then have Jesus come back? Do you want to have a child and watch that child grow up first and then have Jesus come back? Or do you want to wait further until your child gets married, has children and then watch your grandchildren grow up and then Jesus can come back? Is there someplace you have always wanted to go and then after having a vacation then it would be good for Jesus to come back?
Let me give you a list of people who would choose to have Jesus return right now: the young man with cerebral palsy on the cover of the bulletin would choose right now. Young boys and girls caught up in sex trafficking would choose right now. People caught up in a war and living in refugee shelters would choose right now. Parents who live in areas of famine and watch as their children are starving and dying would choose right now. Women and children who are being abused would choose right now.
There are some churches where the second coming of Jesus is talked about a lot and some churches where it is hardly ever mentioned. Wealthy churches rarely talk about the second coming of Jesus. Is it any surprise that many of the songs in the US about the second coming of Jesus rose up out of the poor African-American churches?
For some Christians the return of Jesus will be a great inconvenience. For others it will be a great mercy.
What about you?
If you are not longing for the return of Jesus, if the return of Jesus does not give you great hope, if your vote for when Jesus would return is not right now, then you have a spiritual problem.
If you are not longing for Jesus to come back right now, you are either too much in love with this world or your faith needs to be strengthened.
Maybe it is the thought of death that makes you hold back. If so, then you need to meditate on Paul’s words in I Corinthians 15
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
Death for a Christian is not the end but a glorious beginning. Meditate on this so you will become able to look past death and see the glorious future that awaits you.
Is it too difficult for you to let go of the things in this world that you so much enjoy? Then meditate on the most famous part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes.
Luke 6
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when men hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil,
because of the Son of Man.
23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.
24 “But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.
25 Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.
26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you,
for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.
This teaching of Jesus does not mean we should set a goal to become poor, go around with sad faces and try to get people to persecute us. Suffering should never be our goal. But what Jesus taught was that those who are poor, who hunger, who weep, who are persecuted are blessed, not because of their suffering but because the kingdom of God offers such a better world.
The coming of Jesus and his return are good news of great joy to those who suffer because the kingdom of God is a better world into which they can enter.
Jesus went on to warn of the dangers of receiving the rewards of this world. It is not that money is evil or that being happy is bad or that it is evil when people say nice things about you, but the danger is that when the world rewards you, your longing for the kingdom of God becomes less intense.
It is good for us to appreciate the wonderful things God created in this world for us to enjoy but our desire and longing must be for the things to come in the kingdom of God. As soon as we begin to desire the things of this world, our longing for the kingdom of God diminishes and that is where the danger for us lies.
I struggle a lot because I take on my heart, at least in some measure, the suffering of those around me. I have a nice car, nice house, wonderful wife and children and sons-in-law and grandchildren, and money in the bank. From the world’s perspective I have it made. But I see children not receiving the care they deserve and my heart breaks. I see handicapped children and I grieve. I see those who are abused and degraded and I long for a better world for them and for me.
I want Jesus to come back right now. I want the suffering in this world to end. I wish Jesus would come back before the end of this sermon. It would be my favorite sermon for all of eternity if this would be the case.
But God has his purposes. He is moving steadily through time, waiting until his purposes are accomplished. He absorbs the suffering of this world with his love which is more powerful than all the suffering of the world. He gives the meaninglessness of this world meaning as he steadily draws men and women, boys and girls into his kingdom.
Jesus’ birth and the promise of his return is good news of great joy to people like the one on the cover of the bulletin. It is good news of great joy because the coming of Jesus means that this world will not last forever. Our suffering in this world will not last forever.
Peter wrote a letter to Christians who were being persecuted for their faith and began by giving praise to God for the salvation offered to us. And then he pointed out (I Peter 1:6)
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
The children with cerebral palsy lying on the mats will not be prisoners of their bodies forever. They will be liberated and set free.
And you too will be liberated from the suffering of this world.
In the great chapter of faith in Hebrews 11, great men of faith are lifted up: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and then the writer says about them:
Hebrews 11:16
they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Are you longing for a better country – a heavenly one? Let this be your focus this week as you read the Bible, journal and pray. If you have difficulty saying to God that it would be your vote to have Jesus come right now, then pray and ask God to work in your heart and mind to increase your faith and to long more intensely for the soon return of Jesus.
Blessed are those with cerebral palsy because they will be liberated.
And blessed are you when you long for the soon return of Jesus because the kingdom of God will be yours.
*********************************************
I Thessalonians 3:12-13
May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, ….. 13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.
-->
Luke 6:20-26 Two weeks ago a team from an American church visited Morocco. The senior pastor led the installation service for Tracy that Sunday. And then the rest of that week I traveled with them exploring options for future humanitarian projects in Morocco. In addition to Rabat, we looked at projects in Casablanca, Fez, Ain [...]
Click here to read Longing for Jesus.
Exodus 2 This morning is the second Sunday in Advent, the four week period before Christmas in which we focus on waiting for the celebration of the birth of Jesus and for the promised return of Jesus. Currently, my oldest daughter is waiting in Boston for a much anticipated birth at the end of January [...]
Click here to read Giving Birth in Desperate Times.
Genesis 18 We begin today the four Sundays of Advent. Very early in the history of the church there was a focus on the two big events in the life of Christ that were celebrated: his birth, and death and resurrection. By the fourth century, the church marked a period of time of preparation for [...]
Click here to read Sarah laughed.
