Pilate's Proposal

In Mark 15:1-15 we see Jesus on trial before Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, which is the southern part of Israel. Pilate does not really seem that interested in having Jesus crucified, so he offers a choice to the crowd that has gathered. He offers to free Jesus or Barabbas.
We believe Jesus to be a kind and loving person. He was a man who healed the sick and lame. He challenged people to not just be good, but to be compassionate.
Then on the other side is Barabbas. From what we are told he is part of a rebellion against Rome. To the people of Israel this is not a bad thing because he was fighting for their freedom. He was also a murderer. He had killed at least one person in this pursuit of freeing Israel.
If you watch the Passion of Christ movie by Mel Gibson, you will see his idea of Barabbas is this gross barbarian. One person described him as an animal. I think Mel was emphasizing the fact that it seemed Pilate wanted to put someone next to Jesus that was the opposite. He wanted someone next to Jesus who had never done anything right compared to Jesus who always did the right thing. Pilate was trying to make the choice easy for the crowd.
However, they called for Barabbas to be freed. Again in the movie, as the crowd calls for Barabbas it looks like the whole crowd is calling for him. Everyone except two figures in the middle of the screen. You only see them for a few seconds, but it is the disciple John and Jesus' mother Mary. Both are standing silent.
What would you have done in the midst of that crowd?
I would like to think I could have yelled my vote for Jesus to be released over Barabbas. I would have gone along with Pilate's proposal. He wanted to free Jesus and I would have agreed. But I wonder if my voice would have been heard. Would it have been drowned out by the rest of the crowd? Would I have stopped yelling when it was obvious my voice was not making a difference?
Sometimes in life we will see obvious choices and yet others will not want that choice. Will we continue to cry out or will we be silent?

The Denial of Peter

As we continue through the final 24 hours of Jesus' life we are in the wee hours of Friday morning. Jesus was arrested between 1 and 3 in the morning. He was taken to a cell at the house of the high priest and held there until the council of religious leaders could be assembled. Once they were assembled they tried Jesus for blasphemy and found him guilty and sentenced him to death.
While this was going on inside the house of the high priest, Peter is warming himself by a fire in the courtyard. He is trying to see what is happening to his teacher. However, he is also trying not to draw attention to himself. He wants to blend into the crowd so not to be noticed and connected to Jesus for fear he will be arrested too.
If you know the rest of the story you know that Peter was not able to stay in the background. A servant girl first recognized him and he denied knowing Jesus. Two more times people asked if he was a friend of Jesus and two more times he denied it even calling curses on himself if he was lying. Then a rooster crowed and Peter remember Jesus had told him this would happen, and Peter wept.
I want to invite you to try to put yourself into Peter's shoes. How would you have responded to such questioning? Maybe a better question is, would you have had the courage to even be in the courtyard when he was? No other disciples is to be found at this time. Peter had courage enough to follow Jesus to the high priest's house, but lost his courage when questioned. Where would you be?
I had one person yesterday ask me why Peter did not go for help. I don't know the answer to that, but that was a good thought. What if instead of staying close Peter had gone to gather the other disciples and brought all of them to support Jesus. I usually like to face tough times with other people, so I would hope I would have thought of something like that. Jesus had more followers than just the 12 disciples. At one time he sent out 70 followers to do ministry. Peter could have gathered a large group to support Jesus, but instead he was there alone.
Of course, I want to say I would not have denied Jesus like Peter did, but I also think Peter is bold and brash and if anyone would stand strong in a crowd he would be someone who would. So if he couldn't then the surrounding situation must have been intimidating.
This story in Peter's life does challenge me to do more than just say I would not have denied Jesus, but rather to work at not denying Jesus in my life. Each day we have chances to deny Jesus by things we say or do that are not pleasing to God. Things we have justified by saying everyone else is doing it or I am not hurting anyone. The crowd is not concerned about our denial, but I know God is. God wants us to follow His example and always treat others with compassion. God wants our lives to show his love and grace to everyone, including ourselves and those we may not like. I accept that challenge and will strive to live it. How about you?

In the Garden

The second event of the last 24 hours of Jesus' life take place in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:32-42). This was a garden filled with olive trees. The word gethsemane means olive press, so somewhere in the garden there was an olive press. An olive press was a large smooth stone with a round stone that would be pushed around to squeeze the oil out of the olives. Did you know half of the weight of a fresh olive is oil? Useless fact, I know, but at least you learned something today, right?
I found it interesting that this garden was named for an olive press as this garden is known as the place Jesus came to pray before he was arrested, tortured and crucified. Jesus probably felt like an olive in a press this night as the pressure of what was about to happen was coming down on Jesus. The pressure of what Jesus saw coming was driving him to his knees.
It was after midnight that Jesus and his disciples arrived in the garden. Jesus asked his disciples to pray and yet they kept falling asleep. We know Jesus was praying to God that there was another way to redeem humanity other than his torture and death. However, Jesus was going to give his life if that was what God asked him to do.
Again I want to think about what it would have been like to be one of Jesus' disciples in this situation. When Jesus asked his disciples to pray they had no clue what was about to happen. I probably would have fallen asleep just like the disciples did. For one thing, I am not a night person. I have a hard time staying up until 10:30pm. Another thing is that not knowing what was about to happen I probably would not have been really excited to pray. If I knew what was going to happen I would have been devoted in prayer, but not seeing the significance of that night I would have been more lazy in my prayers. I wish this was not the case, but there are times I am more fervent in my prayers than others.
Routine prayers don't usually get me so excited that I could pray for hours. When I do have a specific prayer concern or my spirit is given direction then I can be drawn passionately into my prayer time. I would have hoped given the situation the disciples were in that my spirit would have been so connected to God that I would have been drawn into prayer, but I can't say for sure that would have happened since it didn't with the disciples. They fell asleep and Jesus was left alone in prayer to struggle with his impending death. At the end of this prayer time Judas enters the scene with a crowd of armed guards. Judas greeted Jesus with a kiss on the cheek and then Jesus was arrested.
How do you react when the pressures of the world are coming down on you? Do you turn to prayer? Also, how faithful are you to be in prayer for those around you? When Jesus needed the disciples in prayer the most, they fell asleep. Will we do the same for those around us or will we dedicate ourselves to praying for others?

The Last Supper

During the six Sundays in Lent I am going to be focused on some significant moments in the last 24 hours of Jesus' life. The main question I want to wrestle with is what it would have been like to be a follower of Jesus during those final hours? And I think there are two ways to look at this question. First you could look for what that moment was like as it actually occurred. However, you could also think about how that event would have changed in your mind looking back, after Jesus was raised from the dead.
The first event that the final 24 hours of Jesus' life was the Last Supper (Mark 14:12-25). Jesus and his disciples were celebrating the Passover. This was a tradition of remembering the deliverance from slavery in Egypt for the people of Israel. They celebrated this meal every year. The disciples may have just been going through the motions until Jesus changed the tradition and took bread, blessed it and broke it. He gave it to them saying it represented his body. Next he took a cup and blessed it and gave it to each of them. He said this wine represented his blood of the covenant. At this meal we also know Jesus washed his disciples feet as a symbol of his servanthood to them. He also informed them that he would be betrayed by one of them and Peter would deny him.
For me this would have been a lot to take in. I think in the moment I would have been trying to figure things out. I do not think it would have made a lot of sense to me, but I also would have thought it was meaningful. I enjoy it when people take something I think I have figured out and then they make me think a little more. By changing what the disciples were used to Jesus challenged them to open their hearts and minds and to look past what they already thought they knew.
If I were looking back after Jesus' resurrection, I think I would have really treasured the Last Supper. I would have felt like Jesus was drawing strength from having his closest friends surround him as he faced his final hours. And I would probably have never have let that sacred time escape my memory.
What about you? What would you have thought or felt if you were present for the Last Supper?

Get Ready

First I want to praise God for the youth who led worship yesterday. You did a wonderful job at offering a worship service that did touch many lives. I had many people make positive comments to me. So great job!
I think God was leading our youth to help all of us get ready for Lent which begins with Ash Wednesday this week. Then starting next Sunday we will be focusing during Lent on the last 24 hours of Jesus' life. There is a video introducing this series on our church webpage. During the six Sundays of Lent we will remember the Last Supper, Jesus' prayer in the garden, Jesus' time being tried and tortured, and finally the crucifixion. All of this is to get us ready for a wonderful celebration of Easter.
If we want a joyous Easter we need to get ready by remembering what Jesus went through to get there. Jesus did not just have a nice wonderful life on earth and rise to heaven. He had a life of wonderful ministry, but also difficulty, temptation, and suffering. When we better understand what Jesus went through for us, we become ready to celebrate Easter more fully. My hope is also that we do not just celebrate Easter on that one Sunday a year we call Easter, but that each and every day becomes an "Easter" for us, as we rise each day to praise and serve God.
So I hope you will join me over these next six weeks of Lent and then the grand celebration of Easter. My hope is to reconnect with Jesus' last hours that we might experience God's work in those moments and what God is doing today. Get ready because God has big plans for this Lent.

The Mission is Here and There

Yesterday the coordinator for disaster relief who has organized much of the ministry for the United Methodist Church following the Floods of 2008 in Cedar Rapids spoke to our congregation. She shared many wonderful stories of how God has worked to help people, not only get back into their homes, but to move their lives in a positive direction. I felt it was very encouraging that God is still working in disaster areas.
She encouraged us as we plan to go for a day of work in March to help with flood recovery. There will be plenty of ministry work to be done and I know we have many gifted people that will be able to go and offer their service, whether that is making cookies, decorating cards, or putting up drywall.
She also reminded us that the ministry of service can be done to touch lives right here at home. We can go to Cedar Rapids to serve, but there is plenty to do here as well. We can serve an elderly person that needs some muscle to fix something. We can serve a parent of a teenager by listening to their frustrations. We can serve someone new to the community by inviting them to coffee. We can serve people right here in our midst.
So, I too encourage you to serve. The mission of service will take you great places, but it is also always around you waiting here at home. I encourage my congregation to get ready to serve as we move into Lent. As a part of our 24 Hours that Changed the World series where we will focus on the last 24 hours of Jesus' life, we will also be challenged to offer 2,400 (twenty-four hundred) hours of service. This service can be here or there, it can be anywhere, as long as you are offering your time and energy to serve others as you serve the Lord.
If you are looking forward to this and want to share ideas of where to serve please post a comment to this blog. You might be doing some unique service that others may want to join. Or you may have an idea of how to get someone else involved in service that is not currently doing something. We all have something to offer and we just need to find the right place to offer our gifts.
Go and serve the Lord, here and there.

Primary Faith Giver

I found an interesting piece of Cain's story in Genesis 4:17. After Cain has murdered his brother Abel and become a wanderer he tries to settle down. He has a son, Enoch and then builds a city for him. There is not much more said in the scripture about this piece of the story, but my mind begins to wonder why he built a city for his son?
That is a pretty nice gift to give your child. There is no way my kids will receive a city from me. Not that I don't want to give them one. I mean I want to give them the world, but I just can't. Where I finally felt this question lead me to was that Cain, the wanderer, did not want his son to be a wanderer. He wanted more for his son, then what he had. So he built his son a city so that he will always have a place to stay and he won't have to wander. I think that makes sense and a reasonable person might do the same thing.
However since I know Cain's story (Genesis 4:1-16) I know he is not a wanderer because he did not have a city or home of his own. He did have a place to live until he made some bad choices and was cursed by God to become a wanderer. He murdered his brother, lied to God and was sent from God's presence. He was a wanderer because his relationship with God and others had been broken. He seems to think building a city will fix this problem.
As parents we do often want to give our children what we did not have. We want to fix the problems of our childhood by giving our children all the things we never had. I do not think this is completely a bad thing, but I sometimes doubt that is the appropriate way to solve the issues we are trying to solve. Cain tried to solve a spiritual issue with a physical gift. Instead of trying to solve a spiritual issue with a spiritual gift. What if instead of a city he had built his son a sanctuary? What if he gave his son a place to build a good relationship with God and maybe even to mend his broken relationship.
As parents, I believe we can really bless our children by giving them a gift we have in our relationship with God. Of course, we cannot just hand them this gift, but we can pass it on to them by living our faith in front of them. We can pass it on by reading the Bible with them, asking questions about what God is doing in this world, and letting them know why we love and serve God. If our faith is important to us, it can become important to them.
As parents you should be the primary faith giver to your children. The church can help, but it is up to you to live it each day.
We are now finishing our series on parenting, but keep talking with others about raising our children and be encouraged that God has called you to raise your children. Let me know if you have questions of how to pass on your faith more effectively or any other parenting questions. I know the task is not easy, but through Christ we can do all things.