An Instrument of Hope and Light

S.B. John 4: 5 – 42

This particular passage happens to contain the longest discourse that Jesus has with anybody in the entire New Testament. I find it interesting to take note of the fact that the longest recorded conversation Jesus has with anyone in the Bible is not with one of his disciples, a member of the Sanhedrin or a political leader, but with a Samaritan Woman… someone who seems to be written off as a outcast, certainly someone on the fringe of the societal structure of the day.
Let us focus on the scene that is unfolding before us in this text. It is an ordinary day. Jesus is tired from his journey, and he stops by a well at noon. This well is known as Jacob’s Well, and while Jesus is resting by the well, a Samaritan woman comes to the well to get water. Unlike the other women who get their water in the cool of the morning, this woman comes alone in the heat of the day.
In order to understand this account, we need to answer a couple of questions. What do we know about Samaritans? Over many years of Sunday School and hearing teachings on the subject of who the Samaritans were, we would naturally arrive at the conclusion that the Samaritans were vastly different from the Jews, and that there was a natural enmity between these two peoples… but what most people tend to gloss over is the fact that centuries before, the Jews and the Samaritans were part of the children of Israel, but at a crucial moment, the group that eventually became the Samaritans rejected God’s leading.
The next question is “What do we know about the role of women in the time of Jesus?” In that day and culture, the woman’s role was subservient to the man. The woman in that culture was seen as little more than the property of a man…
So, from the beginning of this account, the primary character in the story being a Samaritan and a woman casts a very deep shadow on the character of the Woman at the Well.
To take this story to the next level, we need to tackle the question of “Why does this woman chose the noon hour for coming to the well, instead of gathering with the other women who go there in the cool of the morning?”
Let’s pause for a moment and see just how someone can reach a wrong conclusion based upon partial information and facts not in evidence. Let’s take a closer look at the story…
Jesus approaches the woman at the well, and asks her for a drink. Her first response is to point out the differences between them “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?"
The conversation between Jesus and the Woman at the Well has a similar pattern to his conversation with Nicodemus in the previous chapter. They are at a well, and they are talking about water… that makes perfect sense… the water is a common denominator and serves as an ice-breaker.
The conversation starts off at a comfort zone, and then Jesus shifts the conversation to a deeper theological level.
Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
The Samaritan Woman is a very intelligent person. She knows about the division between the Samaritans and the Jews, and she knows about the societal difference between men and women in that culture. She even knows about their ancestor, Jacob, who gave them that well, and she is not going to be taken in by this stranger at the well… He talks a great deal about water, but really now, where is his bucket?
Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
What happens next is amazing… Jesus has captured the woman’s curiosity. The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."
He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."
"I have no husband," she replied.
Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."
Now, here is where most people reach a faulty conclusion about this woman. Most people look at the way the evidence comes into play here, and reach the conclusion that this woman must have a less-than-stellar reputation. The fact that this woman has had five husbands, and the man she is living with is not her husband would, in today’s society, might well mark this woman as someone who has loose morals and is not to be trusted. There is a point of ancient Hebrew Culture that comes into play here. The fact that she has had five husbands points to the practice that if a woman married a man, and that man dies, she could marry that man’s brother… and so on. And the fact that she was living with a man who was not her husband was not that uncommon in Hebrew culture as well. If a woman was not financially surviving, she could give over her possessions to her nearest male relative, and he would take care of her. It was a matter of provision in that culture, rarely, if ever, having any sexual connotation. Yet in today’s culture, not knowing all of the facts surrounding that story and that culture, it would be an easy stretch to call that woman sexually promiscuous… and yet there is a very real possibility that we would be wrong in that assumption.
She is shocked at the intimate details of her life being known by this stranger, yet his words are not spoken in judgment and condemnation. His gift of salvation and eternal life transcends the actions of her past. The woman makes the connection between the words of this stranger and the anticipation of a coming Messiah. She abruptly leaves her water jar to go and tell others about this experience she has just had… The woman went back to the town and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?"
Jesus had a lengthy conversation with the woman at the well. Despite her history, her gender, and her Samaritan roots, Jesus took her seriously and taught her about living water and eternal life. Jesus gave her hope. Life did not have to be limited by her past, and by her reputation, but could be shaped by the Grace of God at work in her through Jesus Christ.
The message for today is simple… No matter who you are… no matter where you are in your journey of faith… Whatever trials you have gone through in your life… whatever pain, suffering and anguish you have gone through… Jesus bids you welcome… Jesus takes you seriously… Jesus loves you… and he calls you to live an authentic, balanced and centered life. Come, see a man who knows everything about you… who knows who you are, where you have come from, and where you are going… Come, See Jesus…. Are you thirsty? Come, drink the water that HE has to give… you will never thirst again, for out of you will flow rivers of living water.
Ask God to show you how you can be an instrument of Hope and Light.




Lord, make us instruments of your peace;
where there is hatred, let us sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

Lord Jesus,
grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.

I Bid You Peace,
Pastor Ken+

A Personal Letter for the Lenten Season

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ;

Grace to you, and peace from God our Father, through our Lord, Jesus Christ!

The Lenten Season is now in full swing, and very soon we will be celebrating the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday), followed by the triduum of Holy Week (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday), culminating with Resurrection Sunday. The Lenten Season is a very poignant time for the church because we commemorate the suffering and anguish that Jesus endured for us on his way to the cross.

Lent is not only an uncomfortable time as we read scriptures having to do with Jesus’ suffering and anguish, but it is also a time filled with hope and promise as we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the tomb!

Hardship comes in many forms. Some people endure financial hardships, while others have health-related challenges. Others still go through difficulties in relationships. The journey from Ash Wednesday to Calvary’s Cross and the Empty Tomb stands to remind us that we are most assuredly never alone in times of distress and hardship. We have the promise of our Heavenly Father who tells us “Fear Not, for I am with you… Do not be dismayed, for I am your God.” Not being dismayed means staying balanced.

At this time of the year, we need to look at Jesus and see him as the one who endured the punishment and hardship caused by our sins. One of my favorite hymns for Holy Week declares “Man of Sorrows, what a name/ For the Son of God who came/ ruined sinners to reclaim/ Hallelujah! What a Savior!// Bearing shame and scoffing rude/ In my place condemned He stood/ Sealed my pardon with HIS blood/ Hallelujah! What a Savior!”

During Holy Week we will gather to celebrate Maundy Thursday (commemorating Jesus’ washing the feet of his disciples), Good Friday (remembering HIS death, burial and resurrection), and Holy Saturday (a quiet service of contemplation and processing). I sincerely hope that you will mark your calendars and participate in these special services, as they lead up to the promise that dawned on that first Easter… Dying, HE destroyed death, and Rising Again HE gave us the victory over sin, death, hell and the grave.

I am very excited (can you tell?) to be sharing in this special time in the church year with each of you. The Promise of Easter is that we have the Blessed Hope of everlasting life with Christ Jesus.

I Bid You Peace,

Pastor Ken+

An Instrument of Pardon and Faith

John 3: 1 – 17
As we begin the second week of the Lenten season, I would like to ask us to entertain a very serious question: How might we, collectively and individually, be instruments of God’s pardon and faith? By this question, I mean to suggest that God is calling us to leave ourselves open to allow His grace and mercy to flow thru us in such a way that he can use us to be a blessing to those around us. One of God’s servants, a man named Francis of Assisi prayed these words, “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace… where there is injury, let me sow pardon… where there is doubt, let me sow faith.”
This morning I would like to have us look at the story of a Pharisee named Nicodemus, and his encounter with Jesus. In order to understand who Nicodemus was, we need to have a working knowledge of who he was and what he did. The Webster’s Dictionary defines a Pharisee as “a member of a Jewish sect of the intertestamental period noted for strict observation of rites and ceremonies of the written law and for insistence on the validity of their own oral traditions concerning the law.” In other words, a Pharisee was not just a legalist… a Pharisee was a legalist’s legalist. Not only did the Pharisee insist on strict observance of the written law, they were adamant that everyone around them also strictly observe the written law… and God help anyone who didn’t agree with them… God help anyone who either proposed, promoted, or recommended doing anything differently!
Nicodemus was a deeply conflicted man… He was a Pharisee, a religious leader and a teacher of the Law, but he was also a seeker of the truth. It was his desire to understand the things of the Kingdom of Heaven which brought him to Jesus. Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night, perhaps out of fear of being discovered as a seeker, or perhaps it to have sufficient time for his conversation and learning experience with Jesus.
Nicodemus begins the conversation with a statement of his belief in Jesus as a teacher who comes from God. He says to Jesus: “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."
To which Jesus responds by inviting Nicodemus to see God’s kingdom by being born from above… “Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
This is very confusing for Nicodemus, and we can see that he struggles with this particular teaching, and gets stuck in the literal image of being born a second time from a mother’s womb.
"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"
As is typical in the Gospel of John, the words in this passage are used on several different levels. Jesus is not talking about the physical birth process, but rather about the spiritual transformation of a person who is reborn because of the Holy Spirit’s work in his or her life. But Nicodemus still does not grasp the profound significance of what Jesus is saying here. “How can these things be?” Nicodemus asks… and this is a great question of faith asked by seekers young and old who desire greater understanding.
Have you ever taken a step back to ask a question about something that you just don’t understand? What if we did not ask questions? Does that mean we have full understanding of God and all that God is doing in this world? Have you ever prefaced a question with the words “I have a dumb question…” A very wise teacher and friend backed me down recently after I had begun a conversation with those words… her reply was “The only dumb question is the one you do not ask…”
There are some who might say that it is better not to ask questions of God. But it is hard to live life and not ask questions. Bad things happen to very good people… Promises made by humans get broken… life can be rough… We experience hurts, and we hurt others. Sometimes we hurt the people we love. We wonder… we doubt… we don’t quite “get it”… questions come…
Any teacher worth his or her salt will tell you that asking questions is an integral part of education… of discipleship… and Jesus himself encourages his disciples (and each of us) to take his yoke upon us, and learn of him…
Some might say “Don’t ask God a question unless you are willing to hear and deal with the answer!” God might just want to change you… It’s true… The Holy Spirit is persistent in stirring, nudging and drawing people closer to Christ Jesus. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to call, gather, and enlighten, helping people move from doubt to faith.
God, in his infinite, unending wisdom, chooses to be made known to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, who walks and relates to people on this earth on their terms… Sandy Patti writes that “He became like us, so that we could become like Him…” At the same time, Jesus invites us to think on God’s terms, and imagine heavenly things… like being born again. Jesus invites us to stretch and be stirred by the Holy Spirit of the Living God. Jesus invites us to ponder and believe in heavenly things…
Just as he invited a legalist like Nicodemus to look past the strict and unyielding nature of this world, and grasp the concept of God’s unmerited favor… “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son… that whosoever believes on him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
In verse 17 we see one more step to Jesus’ teaching on our relationship with God… “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
Jesus’ dialogue with Nicodemus includes these two wonderful and beloved verses. Here Jesus sums up the faith. God loved the world to such a degree that God would willingly and passionately give over Jesus, his own son, to suffer and to be killed so that eternal life might extend to those who believe in Jesus.
Remember two Presidents named Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford? After Nixon was impeached and had resigned as President of the United States, Gerald Ford was sworn in as the next President. One of the first things that Ford did as the new President was something that many people believe severely injured his political future… he gave Nixon a full Presidential Pardon. Ford went out on a limb and extended forgiveness to someone who had been caught doing something wrong.
God calls us to be instruments of pardon and faith. His word reminds us that, just as he accepted us among his beloved children. When one of us confesses our sins to Jesus, and asks for the Blood of Jesus to cleanse us from our sins, God takes that sin and plunges it deep into the Sea of Forgetfulness… That’s grace… that’s unmerited favor… and that’s just like our God.

I Bid You Peace...
Pastor Ken+

An Instrument of Peace and Love

S.B.: Matthew 4: 1 – 11

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished.”

Please take notice of the chain of events coming up to this part of the text… God’s spirit leads Jesus from the Baptismal Waters of the Jordan River to a time of testing by the devil. In similar fashion, have you ever noticed that when you have had a victory, or even a new beginning, that suddenly things don’t go as well as they used to?

Now let’s take notice of what God does, and what God does NOT do… God does not protect or hide Jesus from a confrontation with the devil… but the truth is that God does not abandon him either… God tells us that WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, HE WILL NEVER LEAVE US OR FORSAKE US… His word says “Fear Not, for I am with you!”
During his time in the wilderness, Jesus practices the spiritual discipline of FASTING… abstaining from eating foods for a period of time, in order to focus on prayer… in order to focus on what the Spirit of God is saying to you…

The scriptures point out many times over that there is power in fasting and praying. Some fasts last only from sunrise until sunset, but in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus’ fast is described as lasting day and night… for forty days… and by the end of this time, Jesus is understandably FAMISHED. This is beyond hunger… this is reaching deep into a basic human need…

And so it is just like the devil to tempt Jesus with the basic human desires that we see in our text this morning… Food, Power and Prestige.

In this text we see that Jesus is being confronted by the limits of his own humanity. During the Christmas Season we celebrated the birth of Jesus, the God-Man, and here we see the very human side of his being… He was hungry… powerfully hungry…
When his hunger, loneliness and human weakness became overwhelming, Jesus returns to God’s word again and again… The scripture says that “The word of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run into it, and they are saved.” WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE RIGHTEOUS RUN TO GOD’S WORD FOR REFUGE AND STRENGTH.

Let’s also take a look at how Jesus answers the temptations of hunger and security… Jesus answers by pointing straight to the written word…
IT IS WRITTEN… Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God!

The second test is actually a test of God’s protection… Does God actually care? Jump off a cliff and see if God protects you… The devil actually has the unmitigated gall of attempting to use the Word of God to trip up the Son of God! This is actually very funny if you take a step back and think about it for a moment… “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, “He shall give his angels charge over you, and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone…” Jesus counters this with the Word of God again… “It is written, DO NOT PUT GOD TO THE TEST!”

The third test challenges Jesus’ relationship with God the Father… The devil brings Jesus to a high mountain and shows him all the Kingdoms, Nations, and all the wealth of the world, and says “You can have all these things, all the kingdoms of the world… here’s the catch… all you have to do is bow down and worship me…”

Jesus counters again with the Word of God… “IT IS WRITTEN… Worship the Lord your God and serve him only…”

The Spirit of God leads Jesus to the wilderness for 40 days, and during these 40 days of fasting and praying, God shapes Jesus into an instrument of God, focused on God’s word, and FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT.

A lot can happen in 40 days… and it is the Holy Spirit which leads us into Lent. From his 40 days in the wilderness, Jesus was launched into his ministry. These 40 days of Lent can be a wonderful gift for anyone seeking spiritual growth. Take your calendars and set aside time during Lent for prayer, worship, bible study, and serving others. Take the time to participate in one of the many Lenten Series programs that are being offered by different church groups (including our own) for your spiritual enrichment.

Some disciples of Jesus set aside Lent by fasting from certain kinds of foods or activities. Giving up something for Lent is something that most of us see as a sacrifice, but I would encourage us to see it more as an act of worship.

My invitation to us is to take time to identify those activities or vices which draw us away from a close relationship with Jesus Christ, and ask ourselves “How might we fast from these activities during Lent?”

Ask yourself one other question: What does it mean for you to be an instrument of God’s peace and Love.

P.S. Prayer:
Lord, make us instruments of your peace;
where there is hatred, let us sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

Lord Jesus,
grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.

I Bid You Peace,
Pastor Ken+

Following God's Beloved

S.B. Matthew 17: 1 – 9

Focal Point: (v.5) “While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said ‘This is my son, the Beloved… with him I am well pleased… listen to him…”

The drama unfolds: Jesus takes his closest associates with him… Peter, James and John go up the mountain with him…

In the Old Testament, Mountains are the places where people encounter the presence of God. Sinai, for instance, is one such mountain, and on that mountain God gave Moses the 10 commandments.

Peter, James and John are eyewitnesses to Jesus’ transformation:
· His face shines like the sun…
· His clothes become white…
· They see Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus.

The Transfiguration of Christ is the first step along the road to the Cross of Calvary… Ash Wednesday may be the first milepost in the Lenten Season, but the Transfiguration is very important to the Message of Lent…

The Transfiguration is important because:
God Glorifies His Son: Peter, James and John are seeing things that challenge their senses… They see their teacher and friend undergoing a change… His face shines like the son… His clothes turn white as snow… They can hardly believe their eyes… suddenly they see Moses and Elijah having a conversation with Jesus… Peter can barely contain himself, he blurts out “Master... this is a great moment… Would it be alright if I were to build three tabernacles here… one for you… one for Moses… one for Elijah???” [Peter reacts the way that we would react… we see God’s hand moving, and we want t commemorate it by setting it in stone…] HERE WE SEE AN EXAMPLE OF GOD DECLARING HIS LOVE FOR HIS SON… God is giving his Son the strength and courage to endure the things that are coming up (Capture – Imprisonment – Trial – Betrayal – Scourging – Crucifixion – Death…)

Our Lives are Transfigured by Christ Jesus: Paul the Apostle writes that “If anyone is in Christ, that person is a new creation.”
Paul’s point is that our lives are radically changed when Jesus takes over our lives… Old things are just that… a thing of the past… our former life is passed away… and look…. Something brand-new is in its place…)

Life in the Church is Transfigured by Christ Jesus: There can be no more “business-as-usual” in the church… “Behold, I make all things new…” the voice of God tells us today… This is reflected in our very relationship with Christ Jesus… Not static… but growing every day… from Glory unto Glory…
We are being called upon to look outwardly instead of inwardly… The Temple was not the focal point of the Christian Community… Acts 2 reports that “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.” The fellowship started in corporate worship in the church, but it didn’t end there… It was taken to the streets… to the marketplace… to the place of business… it was taken to the home… Perhaps that is just what God is calling us to do today… Yes, start the process of fellowship right here in the church… Corporate worship is vitally important to the Body of Christ… but it doesn’t end there… Continue the fellowship in each other’s homes… gather together in our homes to Study the Bible… Break bread together… Call a few of our brothers and sisters together… even this afternoon to watch the Patriots trounce the Giants… Call a friend you haven’t talked to in a while and invite that person for coffee… or breakfast…
Challenge for Today: Find a way to show your love for God’s beloved, and find a way to show that love to those gathered around us.

I Bid You Peace...
Pastor Ken+