"The Tightening Noose around the Neck of Freedom" - An Independence Day message on Sunday, June 30, 2013

Galatians 5:1, 13-25 and Luke 9:51-62

"For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." (Galatians 5:1)

(Sermon preached by Rev. Larry A. Langer, First Presbyterian Church, Jasper, IN, June 30, 2013)

The other evening, Peter and I were going someplace together, and he made some little innocuous comment, to which I made some smart remark. Peter came back with the phrase, "you should not judge" or "do not judge me" or "my friends do not judge each other," or some such thing.

Of course, I then took the opportunity to turn the conversation from bantering to a serious consideration of the word "judging" along with the word "discerning." What I said to Peter simply boil down to the necessity of being able to discern things that are "right" from things that are "wrong” and saying so, but not necessarily condemning someone-our friends, for example-for their choices. At least Peter did not have a come back for that one! Peter does discern right and wrong things and mostly tries to live accordingly.

These considerations, though, bring us to discerning-not judging-what our Scriptures say to the actions of The United States Supreme Court decisions this past week, and as we will celebrate Independence Day this coming Thursday.

This next week we will be repeating the phrase, "One nation under God" more than usual. This past week, we heard and saw headlines like, "The Supreme Court "Guts” the Voting Rights Act," and "Court Hands Down Nuanced Decision" and on the Affirmative Action Program that Colleges and Universities have had to follow in their student enrollment policies, and the big one, "Supreme court negates proposition eight in California and guts the Definition of Marriage Act"

So, the Supreme Court has issued its opinions that affect all of our lives. Do we get the option with these opinions to follow them or not? Can we as individual citizens decide that we disagree with one decision-or just a part of the decision-and decide to live, that part on and in our own way? Would we agree that, as citizens, we cannot decide on our own which laws and rulings we are and are not going to obey? Do not we agree that, as citizens, we have the obligation to obey the laws of the land, but the privilege to challenge them if we feel they are unfair, but we may not disobey them, because to do so is a crime and leads to anarchy and the failure of the country? We are only a "free people" when we agree upon the bonds that hold us together as a country. In the great hymn-prayer, "America the Beautiful," we can sing,

Oh beautiful for heroes proved.

In liberating strife,

Who more than self their country loved

And mercy more than life!

America! America! May God thy gold refine.

Till all success be nobleness,

And every gain divine.

The line on-point is, "Who more than self their country loved." I believe more and more that we are a country that now loves "self" more than "country," my friends. I am seeing so much selfishness, so much more seeking one's own "rights” and so much more civil disobedience these days than ever before.

Whereas we can remember this week the times our country has pulled together-in world wars, and pretty much being against the Vietnam War, so much so that we did not recognize our veterans well at all, to the Nixon Watergate debacle-to the times now when we are seeing a noose tightening around the neck of freedom. We are a citizenry that is once again "submitting to a yoke of slavery," to quote our text for today.

Way back to when our Scriptures were written, Paul said in Galatians 5:1, “For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” As we know, Paul is not speaking here of the personal servitude, when the Israelites were physically slaves to the Egyptians, although this image would be in the back of the minds of the ones to whom Paul was speaking.

But the slavery to which Paul is speaking is slavery to sin, only Paul uses the word "self-indulgence," "Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self indulgence."

In today's language we would say, "Do not use your freedom in the United States to do your own thing… Do not use your freedom for self-indulgence." Rather, says Paul, “Through love, voluntarily become slaves to one another, living the Commandments, "you shall love your neighbor as yourself."”

Applied on our national scale, President Kennedy said it best: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but rather ask what you can do for your country." We in this country, indeed in the world, are sorely lacking this principle. We are asking, yea demanding, that our country "do for us," and in many ways, we are getting or being given what we are asking for. The noose is tightening around the neck of freedom.

Let us be specific. First, the word of God says, "Live by the Spirit." This is the Holy Spirit. Originally, many if not most of the laws of the land were God-breathed. Our founding ancestors based our Constitution, how we live, how we treat each other, how we help each other and what our personal responsibilities are, on biblical principles, including not being a slave to the state religion, because they had been slaves to the Church of England. So, they wrote into the Constitution and Bill of Rights, the freedom to worship whom and the way we wanted-or not to worship at all.

The thing is, this principle has been taken to the extreme to say that if one person objects to an expression of a religion on public property, no expression of religion on public property can be allowed.

Someone said to me once, "Well, if we allow Christians to put their symbols on public property, then we would have to allow the Muslims, Hindus, new agers, etc., to put up their symbolism, also, and we would not want that! My response? And what would be wrong with that, under both laws-- the Constitution and the Christian faith? We are free under the Constitution to pick and choose, and we are free under God to pick and choose, so what is wrong with putting the choices out there? I am confident enough in my Christian faith that I am not worried about being polluted or swayed by any other; besides, my Christian commandment says to "love my neighbor as I love myself." I try to live by the Holy Spirit.

Second, when we live by the Holy Spirit, there are certain things that demonstrate whether we are not and certain things that demonstrate that we are. Here is where the tightening noose gets tighter around the neck of freedom. Here is where folks really have divergent opinions. Here is where people will say, "You should not judge."

Almost all of our arguments today are about the issues that the Bible says are not of the Spirit of God, and are called, "works of the flesh." Not only this, but of these things. Scripture says they are “obvious."

Paul writes,

Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, (this means sex outside of marriage and marriage is defined as the union of one man and one woman-and as far as Scripture is concerned, this is the way it has been and will be).

Now I am going to use The Message translation:

It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex, a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied, joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cut throat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied once; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go one, says Paul.

Yet, the freedom we have where we live to do all of these things is part of what we so value as a country. We consider ourselves free because we can choose to live these things out. The Supreme Court has said we are free to live these things out; I do not disagree with these freedoms as a human being.

But these are not the things that will make me a healthy, wonderful, great person. These are not the things that, with everybody living these things, will make our country great. Oh, yes, living these things out will prove how free we have it to do our own thing, but they will not provide for a strong, healthy future that can sustain a nation. The noose is almost at a stranglehold now.

Our only hope to survive the judgment of God upon ourselves and upon this country is to repent of the works of the flesh and live according to the Holy Spirit. The Revised Standard Version says, "By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Paul even boldly and tersely asserts, "There is no law against such things."

The Message translation suggests this:

But what happens when we live God's way? God brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard-things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop the willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way of life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way.

God will not be mocked my friends. No amount of law-making or law-breaking will change God's principles. No amount of independence gained from interpretation will change God's principles based on dependence gained from Scripture.

I am not encouraged about where we are faith-wise this Fourth of July. I could say that I value my freedom so highly in these United States that I can appreciate what the Supreme Court did and the way things are going--from the secular perspective. We are free to make our own choices.

But there are godly principles by which to live if we want to be healthy and strong in mind, body, and spirit and as a country. The ways we are living are not these.

What can we do about it? As much as it depends on us, try to live by the fruits of the Spirit and quit living by any work of the flesh, before we stand before the judgment of God. None of us will escape this, either.

Nationally, oh, my! About all that is left before the noose is fully tightened and the trap door is sprung is to have an extended national time of repentance and prayer, based on second Chronicles 7:14, "If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (Now paraphrasing) Then my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this country.”

Only then will the noose loosened from around the neck of the freedoms we so enjoy. Amen.

A Sunday Message for April 15, 2012

“Some Marks of Blessedness”        

John 20:19-31 and Acts 4:32-35

“Jesus said to Thomas, ‘Have you believed because you have seen? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’” (John 20:29)

(Sermon preached by Rev. Larry A. Langer, First Presbyterian Church, Jasper, IN, April 15, 2012)

The score was ten to one. The home team was winning. The players had been doing everything their coach had told them to do. All things were working out very well as the coach stood in the middle of them, ready to give the after-the-game locker room talk. He had no criticisms of them; in fact, he had only four words for them. Coach Jesus Christ said, “Peace be with you.” And, the team of ten rejoiced.

Then the Coach reminded them that there were other games to play: “Remember,” Coach Jesus Christ said, “as the owner of the team has sent me, so I send you to go out to play the next game. Peace be with you, and may the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit be with you.”

However, there was one player, Thomas, who hadn’t been in that locker room that day; he had been out on some personal business. So, when he showed up, he couldn’t believe what his teammates told him about what Coach Jesus Christ had said. You see, Thomas never seemed to have a good game. Even when he was at his best, didn’t do anything wrong, even when he was complimented, he doubted his abilities, his worthiness, and even what Coach Christ said.

So, in usual fashion, Thomas told his teammates that he needed to hear the compliments for himself, or he wouldn’t believe that there had been no criticism, only blessings. Thus it was that Coach Jesus Christ came and stood among them again – this time all eleven – and said only, “Peace by with you.” Then, specifically to Thomas he offered, “Do you want me to put it into writing for you? Do not doubt, Thomas. Even you are loved and appreciated. What must I do to convince you of that?”

And Thomas replied, “Oh, Jesus Christ, you are my Coach, even my Lord and my God.”

Then, looking at Thomas, but really speaking to the entire team, Coach Jesus Christ said, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Here’s where we come in. Up until now, Coach Christ has just been talking with his team of eleven; now he has opened the locker room door to us, the reporters and the fans. The first microphones get shoved into his face and the comments and questions come, with the one everyone was curious about: “Coach, we didn’t think you could do it. How did you win the game and do you think you will win it all?”

Coach Jesus Christ simply said then and says to this day, “Peace be with you. Blessed are you have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Coach Christ is talking about and to us. We are the ones who have not seen Coach Christ in the flesh; we haven’t seen his nail-pierced hands, nor have we seen his sword-pierced side. Yet, we believe in Coach Christ and we are blessed because of it.

So, what of our being “blessed” when we believe in Coach Jesus Christ?

The first thing we can know is the purpose for which we are blessed as believing people. Our scripture from John goes on to say of the whole book of John’s Gospel, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing, you may have life in his name.”

Now, how many of you, like I have often done, put the emphasis on the word “life,” as if it means “being always up,” or living “the good life,” or living a life “never having to say you’re sorry,” or even never having to experience sadness or pain”? So many people believe falsely, that when they say ‘yes’ to Coach Christ, they will never experience another sorrow or anymore tough times or never contract a problem disease or never be sad.

In fact, the word “life" in this verse seems to pertain to just being alive, taking our breaths, eating, sleeping and going about our daily tasks. It seems to be the word for life that means we “exist.” Although even merely existing can be viewed as something miraculous, this word for life does seem to mean our mere existence, an existence that everyone who has been born and who isn’t dead experiences day in and day out.

My concordance has words for “life” that would indicate “breath,” “Spirit,” “the soul,” and “vitality,” but this word seems to indicate “life” as “existence.”

The emphasis that the Gospel of John places is on having life in “Jesus’ name.” John says, “through believing, you may have life in Jesus’ name.” What does this life look like? For one thing, it certainly means more then merely existing, more than just breathing in and breathing out, more than just eating, sleeping and doing it all again for days on end until the end of our days. What are some of the marks of being blessed and thus, having life in Jesus’ name”?

One of the marks is that we have more peace about our entire life than we have un-peace. We are calmer in the storms of life than we are scared. We are more apt to take life as it comes because we believe and even know that God is in control. Because we truly believe this, we don’t mis-direct our hurt, anger, disappointments, losses and lacks to those around us. We direct them to God.

As we have heard many, many times, God has very broad shoulders and can take anything and everything we want to heap on God. I mean, we just celebrated the day that God let Jesus let the sins of the whole entire world be heaped on his body as it hung on the cross. And, we don’t think God can take our criticisms?

If I had one desire, after my desire that all would come to a saving relationship with Coach Jesus Christ, it would be that all who have come to Christ would take all of their joys and concerns, all of their anger and their happiness, all of their blessings and banes, and heap it on to our Father God in Jesus’ name! When we have faith, we do this; when we have more faith, we do this all the more; when we will have the most faith we will see God face-to-face. Golly, I desire that we wouldn’t misplace our angst, but face it, and give it to God! We would certainly, then, know and have so much more joy and peace!

Another of the marks of being blessed because of belief in Jesus’ name is that along with great joy and peace, comes great power and great grace. Our reading from Acts points this out. Acts 4:32 and 33 points out, “Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and great grace was upon them all.” Great power, great grace, and great collaboration.

One of the biggest errors apostles of Jesus Christ have made – and, know here I am speaking of preachers today – is that we have forgotten where our true power and thus the world’s true power comes from. In the church, true power comes from testifying to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and saying that we believe it! The true power that comes from any pulpit comes from reading, studying, believing and sharing about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and what this means for believers, yes, but what this means for unbelievers, also! This means not only to preach about the love of God but also the wrath of God. We absolutely cannot know how much God loves our soul until we know how much God hates our sin!

In my first church was a long-time Presbyterian elder, only he had come out of the much-more conservative Orthodox Presbyterian Church denomination. Darold Wallace, or “Wally,” was his name. Wally, after hearing me preach for quite awhile said, “Larry, what you say is good, but it is all about “love.” We need to hear a little more “fire and brimstone.” You need to tell us how the cow ate the cabbage.” I happened to agree with him, but this wasn’t the way I was taught to preach or any of us were taught to preach for that matter, for this day and time. We have been taught that there really isn’t anything such as sin. Life is just about people being themselves, people just being whom and what God created them to be, and who are we to judge, anyway?

Yet, I still hear it in Session meetings as I do Committee on Ministry work: “We wish our preacher would preach more hell, fire, and brimstone and less of the latest secular hot buttons, even less love.”

I do believe that when the apostles “gave their testimony about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus ‘with great power,’” the testimony also included why Jesus was crucified in the first place: It was for all the sin, ugliness, meanness, hate, discrimination, unbelief, idol worship, blasphemy and rejection (just to name a few) of God Almighty in life. Take it or leave it, we are only convicted when we are convinced.

And we are convinced when the Holy Spirit comes upon us and is active. The Holy Spirit is God’s power on earth and in us. The word is dunamis, literally “dynamite.” We can always tell when we are living and worshipping in the power of the Holy Spirit: “Things happen for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purposes.” Whole groups of people, groups of those who believe, are of one heart and soul. No one person claims to have special rights, special knowledge, special privileges, or special gifts or even special needs to be used just for themselves. “No one claimed private ownership of and possessions, but everything they owned was held in common,” says Acts.

In other words, the great grace of God is manifest by people laboring together in Jesus’ name, by people deferring to each other out of grace, care and love, by people genuinely feeling that all others are better then one’s self, by truly believing that “there but for the grace of God go I,” by truly believing that God is in control, so I don’t have to be nor could I be even if I wanted to be!”

Three quick things:

First, our passage from Acts has a Levite selling one of his own fields and giving “the proceeds to the apostles.” He was still a Jew, yet he gave to the work of Christ. This is by the great grace of God.

Second, we have a hallway full of books that various people have brought for the Henryville area. I have no idea if all the givers were believers or not. They have given to the work of Christ. This is by the great grace of God.

Third, the Psalmist is absolutely right as he says, “How very good and pleasant it is when people get along! It is like the dew on Mont Hermon flowing down the slopes of Zion. Yes, that’s where God commands the blessing, ordains eternal life. How wonderful, how beautiful, when brothers and sisters get along!” This is by the great grace of God.

Yes, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe! This is, also, by the great grace of God. Amen.

A Resurrection Day Message for April 8, 2012

“Going Places with Jesus for Life”

Mark 16:1-8 and Psalm 145

“For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures…” (I Corinthians 15:3-4)

(Sermon preached by Rev. Larry A. Langer, First Presbyterian Church, Jasper, IN, April 8, 2012)

In this day and time, we usually don’t like to leave things “up in the air.” We are now people that want an explanation for everything.

We have had “The Undersea World of Jacque Cousteau” to help us discover and understand the things of the deep blue sea. We have the likes of “Star Trek” to discover “Space, the Final Frontier.” We have modern medicine, nuclear research laboratories and the American Psychiatric Association, all trying to discover what makes us tick “up here.” And, we have all sorts of faith organizations trying to discover what makes us tick “in here.”

The atheists think they have it figured out: We are a human machine and when we run out of power, this is all there is. The agnostics think they have it figured out:  They just don’t know, and know they don’t know.

Then there is us. We have it figured out: We are more than just a human machine. We have it figured out: But we still believe there are mysteries in life. We have it figured out: But our answers are based mostly on faith. We would rather have the assurance of the “sure thing,” but in matters of faith, it is a matter of faith.

Along these lines of wanting answers and explanations, those who have put together our Bibles have wanted nice, neat packages. But it seems that the more Biblical scholarship we have, the more we leave to mystery. The case in point today is our reading from the Gospel of Mark.

It is suggested in these latter days of scholarship that Mark’s Gospel may have ended in several ways after with Mark 16:8, when the women who had gone to the tomb encountered “a young man” where Jesus was supposed to be, and “they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”

The two possibilities are the short version where the women told Peter everything and then “Jesus himself sent out, through them, from east and west, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.”

The longer ending tells about Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene, the two disciples, the eleven disciples and commissioning them, and then Jesus ascending.

These appearances are recounted in the other Gospels in more detail. In Mark, they do seem to be “add-ons” because we don’t like to be left with a mystery. Even with faith, which is really based on accepting or not accepting “mystery,” we don’t like to be left “amazed.”

Yet, this is the “Day of Amazement” for us. This Day of Resurrection is the lynch-pin of our faith. We sing it:

Up from the grace He arose,

With a mighty triumph o’er His foes.

He arose the Victor from the dark domain,

And He lives forever with His saints to reign.

He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!

This truly is the lynch-pin of our faith. This is our new beginning with Jesus for life. This is where it all starts for believers. The question is what will we do with it? Will we do as our bulletin cover suggests: “To God be the Glory” because of the great things he has done, and will we be part of it?

We sing this in the song, “I Know Whom I have believed”:

I know not why God’s wondrous love

To me He hath bestowed;

Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love

Redeemed me for His own.

But I know whom I have believed

And am persuaded that He is able

To keep that which I’ve committed

Unto Him against that day.

Here are five things that we can commit ourselves to do, and they come from Psalm 145.

First, we will bless God forever. Let’s make this our own and say together, “I will bless God forever.” Let’s say it: “I will bless God forever.”

Blessing God forever begins with blessing God every day. We do this by telling God of God’s great things. We can see how many minute things we can think of that go into making God’s great things, like rather than just telling God “thanks” for the beautiful flowers, we can list for God all of the parts of the flowers, all of the different kinds of flowers and all of the different, wonderful things we can do with flowers.

We can also tell God that God is so great – “unsearchable” in the psalm – that we are humbled and will never be able to know all there is to know about God. Even so, we will still bless God forever.

Second, we will tell others about God. Let’s make this our own promise and say together, “I will tell others about God.” Let’s say it, “I will tell others about God.”

The Psalmist has made this promise on our behalf already: “One generation shall laud your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts”; particularly, “They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness, and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.”

This is what we do in corporate worship, my friends. We celebrate God’s goodness, God’s righteousness, by telling others about it, by singing of it, and by celebrating with each other in the midst of it.

You know, as the worship leader of this congregation, I have made some observations that cheer my heart. The first is, since we have been putting the words to the songs on the screen, I believe we are singing better. Now, I may be just hearing you better because your faces are up-turned, but it sure seems we are signing better!

The second thing is that when I see us on the video passing the peace, there is a lot of hugging, a lot of smiles, and a lot of joy with each other. We may think that we are just doing these things as acts of friendship, but I believe that we are truly enacting the peace that Christ brings to people.

The third thing is that when we “circle up” at the end, I see the smiles again, but they are different kinds of smiles. They are serious smiles, if you will. We have serious smiles because it is a very serious matter to offer to others “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, Amen.” This is very serious, powerful stuff, and we do want it for each other. This is one way, in fact these are three ways, that we tell others about God.

Third main point, we can tell others about God’s compassion. Let’s say this one, beginning with “I will”: “I will tell others about God’s compassion.”

The Psalmist says, “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.”

We are going to go ahead with the Fourth point, then take three and four together. The fourth thing we can commit ourselves to doing is, “tell others about God’s blessings. Let’s say this one, beginning with “I will”: “I will tell others about God’s blessings.”

So, we are telling about God’s compassion and blessings.

The story is told of a little boy who wanted to meet God. So, he packed his backpack with a bag of potato chips and a pack of root beer, and left home.

After going about three whole blocks, he came to the park and decided to rest. He sat on a park bench, next to an old man just staring at the pigeons that were around them scrounging.

The boy was hungry, so he opened his backpack and took out the chips and a root beer. (He’d been on a long trip, you know!) He was about to take a drink from the can, when he remembered his manners and offered the man some chips, which the man accepted because he was hungry, also. The man gave the boy a big smile.

The boy thought the smile was so nice that he offered the man a root beer, for which the man gave another, grateful smile.

As evening was setting in, the boy got up to go, but before he left he gave the old man a big hug, for which the man gave the biggest smile ever.

Since it was late, the boy decided to go on home this time. When he got home, his mother saw the look of joy on his face and asked, “What made you so happy?” He replied, “I found God today and had lunch with him, and God has the greatest smile I’ve ever seen!”

Meanwhile, the old man had gotten back to his son’s house, and the man also had the look of joy on his face. His son asked, “What made you so happy?” He replied, “I ate potato ships and drank root beer in the park with God today. But, he’s much younger than I expected.”

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, a small act of caring. All of these have the potential to turn a life around. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. It is God’s reason because of God’s compassion and God’s blessing.

Fifth, we can commit our ways to God. Will say with me, and mean, “I commit my way to God”? “I commit my way to God.”

Taking the first and last parts of the last part of the Psalm, we can hear, “The Lord is faithful in all his words and gracious in all his deeds…My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.”

“The Lord is faithful…my mouth will speak the praise of the Lord.” This is all that is left for us to do. God has done the hard work: “God so loved us that he gave us his one and only Son, that whosoever of us believes in him, our soul shall not perish but our soul shall have eternal life.” Additionally, scripture promises that if we are in Christ, we shall also be raised with Christ.

This is why we celebrate Resurrection day, my friends. It is to bring the story of God’s gift of salvation home to us once again to remind us of who we are and whose we are…and what we should do with it.

We ought to promise five things; repeat after me:

I will bless God forever.

I will tell others about God.

I will show God’s compassion.

I will show God’s blessings.

I will praise the Lord.

Thanks be to God for his unsearchable greatness and everlasting love. Amen!

A Sunday Message for April 1, 2011

“The Grand Entrance”

(Pt. 6 of “Going Places with Jesus for Lent”)  

Mark 11:1-11, John 12:16-19, Psalm 118:19-29

“Then they brought the colt to Jesus and he sat on it…Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!’” (Mark 11:7, 9, 10)

(Sermon preached by Rev. Larry A. Langer, First Presbyterian Church, Jasper, IN, April 1, 2012)

Consider this idea with me:

For most of us, for most of our lives, life is a matter of attempting to swim with the current. We labor to get in step with the beat of the music, to dance to the tune that most people seem to be following. And we might have been able to keep it up – to go with the flow – if we had not been met by Jesus. Jesus moves us against the stream. He seems determined to lure us onto a different path.

What do we think? Do we feel Jesus luring us onto a different path? I know that with my own walk with the Lord, there are still plenty of steps I need to take to keep up with Jesus. And this is what I am trying to do. However, I also know that the devil is doing his best to lure me away from Jesus’ path, and his lure is also mighty strong.

Of course, we are told by God’s word, “Greater is Jesus who is in you than the devil that is in the world.” This fact of faith is what keeps me – and many others – resisting the lure of the devil and trying to follow the lure of Jesus.

What about us and the lure of Jesus on our lives? Is it easy or hard for us to follow his lure? For many of us, there may never have been a time when we have struggled with really tough lures of the devil. Perhaps our hearts and minds are so pure, so fixed on the lure of the Lord, that we have really never had to struggle with the wiles of the devil.

For others of us, there may have been periods in our life that we were far from walking with the Lord. There may have been a time that the lure of the devil was stronger than the lure of Jesus, and we went with the unholy ways of the crowd.

The Good News is, though, our lives can be led by the lure of the Lord, no matter what the lure might be in the future. When we are lured to and choose to follow Jesus, he will guide us on the path that is best for our spiritual health. And, I dare say, when our spiritual health is in a healthy state, our mental and physical health follow and are also in a healthier state.

So, the question before us today, as it is before us especially every Sunday but also every waking moment of our lives is, to which path will we be lured? Will we always just “go with the flow”? Or will we let Jesus lure us onto a different path, his path, especially when it is different from the crowd? Where would we have been when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on that donkey with those people shouting “hosanna” that day? Where would we have been?

Let’s take the position of one of his disciples today and where they were. What might they have thought and seen?

What they and we notice is that we really are going into the capital city, Jerusalem. According to Mark’s gospel form which we read today, nearly all of Jesus’ ministry and thus that disciples’ ministry has taken place outside of Jerusalem, outside the city, out in the hinterlands, in Galilee. Jesus has told us over the past several weeks, especially, that he has his face set for Jerusalem. But today we realize that we truly are going there.

Because of this, we begin thinking in earnest about what we are going to find there. Will we find complete, joyous celebration, much the same as we have at a Strassenfest Parade? Will we find a loud crowd with different agendas, much the same as was on the steps of the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C. this week as the Health Care Law was being considered by the Justices? Will we find and be part of a parade that is part protest and part in silent solidarity, in much the same way as the marches have been of late regarding the murder of the young man in Florida? These parades have even been in Evansville, Muncie, at Purdue, and in other places around us.

What do we expect to find?

One theologian believes that “we should consider Palm Sunday as one of the most “political” Sundays of the year.” I want us to try to think about Palm Sunday as that day when Jesus enters Jerusalem and walks a perilous walk, enacting an in-your-face public protest before the powers that be.”

Two other theologians and writers argue that the procession Christians celebrate on Palm Sunday was most likely a “protest march.” On that day there was a “peasant procession” led by Jesus as he entered Jerusalem from the east. At the same time there could have easily been a full-fledged “imperial procession” led by Pontius Pilate and his Roman soldiers who entered from the west.

(We do need to remember that security would have been very high for this festival time, the festival of the Jewish Feast of the Passover. Just think about the extra security we have at Strassenfest time – and Strassenfest is a fun, light-hearted celebration!)

The two writers go on to say, “Jesus’ procession deliberately countered what was happening on the other side of the city. Pilate’s procession embodied the power, glory, and violence of the empire that ruled the world. Jesus’ procession embodied an alternative vision, the kingdom of God.”

The way that Jesus is walking this day is a way that is decidedly counter to the way that the world walks. Are we really going to follow him into Jerusalem? And the way that Jesus walks and the way that Jesus talks might be limited to Jews only had not Jesus commanded us also to walk and talk the Jesus way. Do we really walk and talk the Jesus way? Earlier along this journey to Jerusalem Jesus clearly said that not only would he go to the cross but that we should go to the cross, as well. “Take up your cross daily and follow me,” he said. Are we willing to do this daily, seven days a week, or just for one or two hours on Sunday morning?

Here’s what we learn that will help us follow Jesus daily.

First, Jesus knew exactly where he was going and what he was going to do. He had the confidence that, yes, the plan would be carried out.

As Jesus’ disciples, do we know where we are going, what we are going to do, and have the confidence to do it with our faith? I don’t think we can sugar-coat what it means to follow Jesus these days. It is tough to live in this life and follow Jesus 24/7.

“No, Larry, you’re wrong. It is easy for me. All I do is go along to get along, trying not to make waves, trying to be a good person and trying to help my friends.”

“Commendable,” is my response. But what about those who need our help who aren’t our friends? What about when someone tells us about what someone else did or did not do in a gossiping sort of way?

I was speaking with someone the other day about a person that someone was helping. That someone later said, “I suppose we were gossiping earlier.” My thoughts were, (a) we were speaking the truth about a person’s situation; (b) we were continuing to help that person’s situation; and (c) we weren’t speaking maliciously, negatively, or meanly. There is a huge difference between malicious gossip and a real attempt at ministering in the name of Jesus.

Second, Jesus tells us exactly what he needs us to do. He told the disciples that day to (a) go into town; (b) untie the colt you find; (c) bring it to me; (d) if you are questioned say, “The Lord needs it and will send it right back.”

From the very beginning of the Bible, we can know what to do. From the very beginning of the Bible, we have been able to do it sometimes and fail miserably at it at other times. The good news is that the Lord knew this was going to happen. The good news also is that we have the way out of our failures. The good news is that this way is Jesus. The good news is that Jesus’ way gives us the right priorities for life, and they are very clear.

(a)        Jesus affirmed the Ten Commandments;

(b)        Jesus not only affirmed them, but he completed the. Just as one example, the commandment says, “Do not kill.” Okay, so we don’t kill physically, but we kill with what we say. Jesus completed this commandment by telling us to give life to people. Rather than killing with our words, for example, we can give life with our words.

(c)        Jesus said, “Go.” He affirmed what the Prophet Micah said, “What does the Lord require? Only this, do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.” James said, “Faith without works is dead.” This doesn’t mean that everyone has to go on a mission trip! But it could mean to be part of groups that seek to bring about positive change in the community. It could mean to keep in touch with a young person and encourage them, even just by greeting them, complimenting them, helping them and using them when we can.

(d)        Jesus said, “Bring the colt back to me.” After we have been out in life, would we bring our work back to Jesus? We will have this opportunity in the long run; in fact, Jesus will bring our work back to us! One day, we will stand before Jesus and his Father God and we will see our entire life again. What will we see?

I believe this will be the moment of judgment, only it won’t be Jesus judging us; it will be our own completed vision judging us. We will be seeing each success, each failure, each loving act, each ugly act, and we will know that the only way these will ever balance out is if Jesus tilts the scale. And, we believe he will; we trust that he will.

Third, Jesus shows us what he is. He shows us that he will do all this and more. You know, there is no doubt that Jesus entered Jerusalem, that he went ahead with what we call “Holy Week.” The only think that is in doubt is whether or not we believe Jesus was resurrected, whether or not Jesus is our Savior.

You know, we don’t re-report about Palm Sunday and the rest of Holy Week every single year just to sit back, like we would at a movie, and watch a rerun! No, we renew this every year to be reminded where we belong – in the parade, not on the sidelines. We are reminded that we may be asked to go into town and get the colt. We are reminded that we may have to defend our actions by saying that the Lord has a need. We are reminded that there is so very much more to following Jesus than just knowing the stories and being a good person. We may have to walk with Jesus all the way and hang on the cross with him! All of thee reminders of Holy Week are necessary to keep us going with Jesus in our faith.

May God give us a much deeper understanding of these things and the great desire to walk today where Jesus walked. Amen.