In Memoriam (John 15:12-17) by Rev. Dr. Alan W. Deuel

Time magazine carried a story about former President George Herbert Walker Bush. It described a trip he took back to the South Pacific.  During WW II, Bush had been a bomber pilot, and was shot down by Japanese antiaircraft fire. The article detailed Bush's return to the very spot where he was rescued from his downed aircraft.  During his return visit, Bush met with a Japanese gentleman who claimed to have witnessed Bush's rescue back in 1944. The man related that as he and others were watching the rescue take place, one of the man's friends remarked, "Surely America will win the war if they care so much for the life of one pilot."

In another story Sgt. 1st class Paul Ray Smith could have retreated, but doing so would have allowed Iraqi troops to overrun an American aid station at Baghdad International Airport. Instead, Sgt. Smith grabbed a rifle and antitank weapon and continued fighting, holding off about 100 enemy soldiers. When a fellow soldier shouted at Smith to take cover, Smith refused. “He gave me the cut-throat symbol,” the soldier recalled. “He was not leaving.” Smith was severely wounded and died at his post. Yet his efforts stopped the April 4, 2003, assault.

Two years later, President Bush presented the Medal of Honor to Smith’s 11-year-old son David.  Drawing from this soldier’s example, the Army drew up a new creed as it tightened training procedures: “I will always place the mission first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit. I will never leave a fallen comrade.”  Smith’s widow commented, “Paul showed the soldiers what it means to be a soldier.

Some observers argue that the spirit of sacrifice in America is wanning, that its not as prevalent today as in past generations.   What do you think?   One could argue the point.  Today we often hear examples of: "Me first.” “My rights above others.”  “It’s all about me and what makes me happy.”    And yet, when we see our miliary today and the sacrifices men and women and their families have made, when we see Americans generously helping others in situations ranging from neighbor helping a neighbor to an outpouring of support for communities, nationally and internationally dealing with natural disasters of fires and floods, I see the spirit alive and well.

On this Memorial Day weekend, we honor those who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice; we remember those who have died in the service of America.   Today we honor the fallen heroes, America's armed service members who didn’t come back.  Memorial day events locally have been scheduled at two national cemeteries Miramar National Cemetery and Fort Rosecrans.

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic and was first observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.  The day was originally called Decoration Day.

I quote a part of that original order:  “The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, hamlet and churchyard in the land.”   After WWI, the holiday changed from honoring those who died fighting in the Civil War, to honoring Americans who died fighting in all wars.

Today we recognize the 150th anniversary of Arlington National Cemetery.  150 years ago, in 1864,  the first military burials took place in Arlington National Cemetery.  We remember the tomb of the unknown soldier, in honor of the many soldiers who have died in wars with their remains being unidentified.

Memorial Day is about sacrifice.  Sacrifice is a value, an idea.  It is also a choice.  We have the freedom of choice.  You certainly can choose to lead a self centered, self-absorbed life.  God doesn't force you to give your life away in helping other people, encouraging other people, or serving your country.    But when you choose self above everything and everyone else there is a consequence; you miss out on the greatest joy and meaning there is in this short life.   You and I were made by God to serve and give and to love others.  When you do it, it is the greatest thrill of life.  It is the secret to happiness.  Why – sin is getting off track and following another way.  Salvation is getting on God's track and following God's way.  The consequences of a self – centered life are serious, loneliness, your list of friends will shrink when they see you are only out for yourself, and that you don't really care about them, and personal unfulfillment, and emptiness, you will feel a void that nothing, certainly not material things, can fill.

Christian faith says the idea that happiness comes from living a self-centered life is a lie.  That’s what sin is all about, it’s about self-glorification and self-focus, and self-worship.  You are the center of everything.  Being created in God’s image means God has wired us to give of ourselves away, to focus outwardly rather than inwardly.  And when we come to faith in Christ, when we go deeper in our relationship with God in Christ, we discover this truth.

What is it that makes life worth living? What is it that brings meaning and joy and purpose in life?  Is it achieving celebrity status, is it wealth, is it political power?  The Bible is clear – it's to love God and to love others.  To love God with your heart, soul, strength and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself.  It's to give, to share, to make sacrifices for others of your talents, your abilities, your time, your passion, your energy, and your resources, and sometimes you are called upon, sometimes the circumstances dictate, that you are asked to make the ultimate sacrifice.

John 3:16 says: ”God so loved the world that he gave his only son.”  Love and sacrifice are intertwined, they are inextricably bound together.  Genuine love is always sacrificial and making a sacrifice is always an act of love.  You cannot love somebody, your spouse, your friend, your neighbor, your child, your grandchild, your colleague, your comrade, you cannot love God, without sacrifice.  Words are cheap.  Lip service is not love.  If you can show me how to love without making a sacrifice, I'll sign up right now!  But it can't be done.

Rom. 12:1 says: "So brothers and sisters, since God has shown us such great mercy, offer your lives as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, who is your spiritual worship.”  Offer your lives as a living sacrifice for God to use for His purposes.

John 15 says:– “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”   We have the paramount example of a sacrificial life in Jesus.  This is the life God calls us to emulate.  We're talking about a giving life-style, a sacrificial life-style.  But why would anyone in his or her right mind do that?   For Christians the answer is - because God sacrificed His Son for us in order to bring us back to God.  Christ's sacrifice forgave us our sins and opened the way to restore our relationship with God.  Why? Because Christ commands it of those who claim to be his followers.

A professor was invited to speak at a military base and was met at the airport by an unforgettable soldier named Ralph.  As they headed toward the baggage claim area, Ralph kept disappearing: once to help an older woman with her suitcase; once to lift two toddlers so they could see Santa Claus; and again to give someone directions.  Each time he came back smiling. "Where did you learn to live like that?" the professor asked. "During the war," said Ralph. Then he told the professor about Vietnam.  His job was to clear mine-fields, and he saw friends meet untimely ends, one after another, before his eyes. "I learned to live between steps," he said. "I never knew whether the next one would be my last, so I had to get between picking up my foot and putting it down again. Every step felt like a whole new world.”

In the book The Greatest Generation Tom Brokaw writes: “This generation came of age during the Great Depression and the Second World War and went on to build modern America.  This generation was united not only by a common purpose, but also by common values – duty, honor, economy, courage, service, love of family and country and above all, responsibility for oneself.  This book, I hope, will in some small way pay tribute to those men and women who have given us the lives we have today, an American family portrait album of the greatest generation.”

Now in thinking about making sacrifices, we must be honest.  Do you ever feel unappreciated for doing the right thing?   Do you ever feel resentful for giving and sharing and helping, especially when you don't receive any thanks or recognition?  You start thinking: "Why bother?”  “What's the use?”  “Why make the effort?”  “Why should I sacrifice when nobody else is?"  Do you ever wonder if your sacrifice is really making a difference?  Is it worth the effort? Is it worth the cost?  I think these questions run through all our minds from time to time.

I want you to listen to God’s word - God sees what you are doing. God knows what you are doing. God remembers your sacrifices.  Hebrew 6:10 says: "God is not unjust.  He will not overlook your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped his people and continue to help Him."    God will remember.   God rewards the disciplined and obedient and loving heart.

The question is: How are you living your life?  Do you need to make a change in your attitude or lifestyle?  Scripture says the greatest use of your life is to invest it in something that's going to outlast it, the kingdom of God, the will of God, the purposes of God.   Whom is God calling you to sacrifice for?   How can you live a sacrificial life?

First, worship God continually.  Ps. 50:23 says: "True praise is a worthy sacrifice."   When you are singing, when you are praying, when you are worshipping God, you are making a sacrifice.  True praise to God is a sacrifice.

Second, minister to others.  The Bible says Jesus gave His life for us so we should give our lives for our brothers and sisters.   1 John 3:16 says: “We ought to give our lives for each other.”

Third, give of your time, talents and resources sacrificially.  Ps. 50:14 says, "Give your offering to show thanks to God and give what you promised."

Fourth, share Christ with others.    Heb. 13:15 says:  "With Jesus' help we will continually offer our sacrifice of praise by telling others the glory of His name."   Sharing your faith with others is a sacrifice of praise to God.

“Jesus says: My command is this  - Love each other as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down one's life for one's friends.”  Amen!

On the Road (Luke 24:13-35) by Rev. Dr. Alan W. Deuel

 

Think for a moment about a time when you grieved the death of a loved one.  What was that experience like for you?  Grief, mourning is I believe the most intense and painful experience of all of life.   For some of you it is a distant memory.  For others the sting of grief is still raw and painful.   In light of our story from the Gospel of Luke, on the road is a metaphor, for coping with loss in a time of mourning.  I know many of you have walked that road.  I have as well.

It is in just such a time, that we encounter two disciples, Cleopas and an unnamed disciple, who are departing from Jerusalem and heading back to their home in the nearby village of Emmaus.   They are trying to come to grips with the death of their dear friend and teacher Jesus.  At this time they were completely unaware of Jesus’ resurrection.  For them it was still Good Friday, not Easter Sunday.   Overwhelmed with grief, they push on, alternating between moments of silence and quiet conversation.  

“We had hoped that he was the one.  The one what?  The one to redeem Israel.”  They had hoped Jesus would liberate the Jewish people from the Romans.  And besides, they loved, respected admired Jesus as their teacher and friend.  They had seen him perform miracles, and care for lepers, and heal the sick.  Jesus taught them wisdom through parables about the Kingdom of God, like no other rabbi they had ever met.  But that was all in the past, now Jesus was dead.   They had seen their master crucified on a cross. 

True, there were rumors about an empty tomb and a vision of angels announcing that Jesus was alive, but this was undoubtedly mere hearsay, wishful thinking, and nothing more.   The two men are returning home to pick up the pieces of their lives and carry on.   They trudge on, when suddenly, out of the blue, a stranger appears before them and asks them what they were discussing.  They were surprised and I'm sure annoyed by this interruption.

This stranger listens and then gently chastises them for their lack of faith in His teachings and promises.  He spends a day with them and then at the right moment, reveals His true identity as the Risen Lord.

In this Easter season, we declare that we don’t grieve a dead Jesus, but believe in and follow and worship a living Lord.  We declare to a secular world, to the atheists, the agnostics, and skeptics that God is real and that Jesus is alive.  We don’t believe that Jesus was merely a gifted teacher and prophet of the past, but the Lord of today. 

What is God saying to us in this story?  What is God’s word to you?  Here are some things I hear  God saying. 

First, the two disciples were surprised by this stranger who interrupted them.  He appeared out of nowhere.  They didn't expect him at all.  And this intrusion turned out to be a surprise of grace.  It changed their lives forever.  It renewed their hope and faith and courage.   Sometimes God surprises us in this way.   Sometimes it's the surprises of life, the unexpected turn of events, the things you didn't see coming, that later on turn out to be God's hand at work, God's blessing, a blessing in disguise, which has a profound impact upon our lives.  Can you think of a time when God's grace surprised you?

Second, Jesus met the two disciples at a time of deep personal need.  Here is an amazing truth about God.  God is compassionate, gracious, merciful, loving, who meets us in our times of brokenness and need, who reaches out to us when we are hurting and struggling and fearful.  I think of how God spoke to my heart, and touched me, when my mother, and later my father died.   Can you think of just such a time in your life? 

Third, Jesus appeared to them, but they didn't recognize him.  Why?  I think it was about perception – if you don't expect to see something, you won't recognize it, you won't see it, you will look right past it.  I remember that happening when we ran into a friend from Santa Monica in CO.  They were looking at me and I noticed them, but kept walking, until they shouted “Hey, Alan, its me.”  Our own perception prevents us from seeing what is right in front of our eyes.

Jesus stood before them, but they didn't realize who it was.  Yes, there are times when God is acting in our lives, when God is intervening in our lives, when God is reaching out to us, strengthening us, renewing us, guiding us, but we don't recognize that it is the presence and power of God. 

Fourth, through broken-hearted, these disciples were not defeated and headed home to start the next chapter of their lives.  In my experience as a pastor, people who battle on in times of grief and deep disappointment, who persevere, are more likely to find God or to be found by God, than those who just give up.  Having the courage to keep moving forward, to carry on, to keep going, can bring us through the most painful times and in such times there is the real possibility that we will encounter the living God.   I have experienced this in my own life and seen it many times in the lives of people I have ministered to. 

Fifth, I hear God saying that Jesus the Lord reveals Himself to us in the scriptures.  “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?   The Bible is the written word of God.  God has inspired people throughout history as they have turned to His word.  God continues to speak to us through the Bible today.   The psalmist says: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”  We read in the Gospel of John:  “These words were written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”  II Timothy says: The Bible was written to teach us the truth about God and salvation, to teach us the truth about moral living, to correct  unjust or unkind behavior and to change our lives, so that we might mature in faith and grow closer to becoming like Jesus Christ in mind, heart, and behavior.”

The Bible has proved to be a priceless source of inspiration and guidance and strength and wisdom for countless believers over the ages.  By the Holy Spirit's witness through the Bible: Bach composed, El Greco painted, and Pascal wrote his Pensees.  The Word of God has inspired Christian authors like Catherine Marshall, Charles Swindoll, Charles Stanley, Pastor Rick Warren,  and  Max Lucado to write  books and devotionals that have inspired millions.

Finally, I hear one more thing in this story - Jesus reveals Himself to us in the Lord’s Supper. 

The church has claimed from the time of the first Easter meal when the disciples ate with Jesus after his resurrection, that the Risen Lord is present whenever his followers gather together for communion.  The two disciples sit down with Jesus, break bread and Luke tells us:  “Their eyes were opened and they recognized him”  Throughout the ages, Christians have testified to Jesus the Risen Lord being truly present in the celebration of Communion.   The broken bread and poured wine are occasions of Christ's presence. 

We gather around the Lord’s Table because of our common spiritual hunger.  We come together for meals to satisfy our physical hunger because physical sustenance is necessary for life.  So it is with spiritual thirst and hunger.  For we humans are more than flesh and blood, more than primates, we are spiritual beings created in God’s image.  We  need spiritual nourishment as well.  

In the Lord’s Supper, by faith, the Holy Spirit feeds our souls with the bread of life and the cup of salvation.  The Holy Spirit strengthens our faith and confirms our faith.  We participate in a spiritual reality, in a spiritual communion with the living Christ.  We receive forgiveness, healing, and spiritual renewal.  We grow closer in our spiritual union with Christ and one another as we gather at His table.

Jesus invites us to come to His table regularly.  The Lord’s Supper is meant to be experienced many times in a believer’s life.  Jesus knows about the human hunger for a transcendent reality beyond ourselves.   Jesus knows that there is a hunger deep in our soul that no amount of calories can fill, that only Jesus, the bread of life can satisfy.

Shortly before his death, tennis star Arthur Ashe, who died of AIDS due to a tainted blood transfusion in 1993 wrote these words to his daughter:  “Camera, have faith in God.  Do not be tempted whether by pleasures and material possessions or by the claims of science and smart thinkers, into believing that religion is obsolete, that the worship of God is somehow beneath you.  Spiritual nourishment is as important as physical nourishment and intellectual nourishment.  And by it you will grow into a deeper understanding of life’s meaning.”   

Christians have said:  “At this Supper I experienced God’s forgiveness .”   “At communion I have experienced an inner peace and calmness.”   “At communion I experienced a healing in my soul.”  “At communion I experienced God’s affirmation and love and acceptance.”  “At communion I experienced God’s call to some vocation or to serve others or to share with others or to go and reconcile a broken relationship.”  “At communion, I experienced a renewed sense of energy and power and courage to get on with my life.”

My friends, as Jesus revealed Himself the two disciples, may we too encounter the Lord in worship and in this supper today.  Encounters with Christ are always a blessing and a surprise of grace.  Amen.

Greetings! (Matthew 28:1-11) by Rev. Dr. Alan W. Deuel

On this morning, nearly 2 billion people on this planet are worshiping the Risen Lord.  From comfy living rooms of house churches to the imposing sanctuaries of Gothic cathedrals, from Pacific Beach to Jerusalem, believers are celebrating and rejoicing in the resurrection of Jesus.

God surprised us at Easter.  Jesus, whom everyone thought was dead, said to the women that morning “Greetings.”  And Jesus the Lord is saying these very words to us this morning as well.    Easter announces that there is no grave deep enough, no stone heavy enough, no evil strong enough, to keep Christ in the tomb and to keep us from the Risen Lord.  Can I get an amen!

On Easter God’s power burst forth to reverse the irreversible, to turn an ending into a beginning, to bring victory out of defeat, to raise life out of death and hope out of despair.   God turned the anguish of the women and the disciples into alleluias and amens.

Non-believers and religious critics have spoken about Jesus' resurrection as a paradigm for higher spiritual truths or ultimate ideals within the reach of the human spirit.   It is really a metaphor for the triumph of the human spirit: overcoming defeat, courage in the face of death, the resilience of the human spirit, forgiveness, hope, redeeming a wrong.  Easter is about what is humanely possible.

Christianity says no, not so!   Easter is about the resurrection of one called Jesus of Nazareth.  The resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of the Christian faith.  It’s the historical basis and support for the celebration of Easter.   We read in the letter of I Corinthians: “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.  If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.”  

On Easter morning two women went to the tomb to anoint Jesus body with oil and spices as was the Jewish custom.  The women encounter an angel, who tells them that Jesus is not in the tomb but that he has been raised to life. They are to go and tell the disciples that Jesus will meet them in Galilee.  Filled with fear and yet overjoyed at hearing this astonishing news, they leave the tomb when suddenly Jesus stands before Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, saying: “Greetings, do not be afraid.”

Easter announces that the tomb was empty!  Why was the tomb empty that Sunday morning?  There are two fundamental arguments.  One is that it was due to natural causes.  Here are some of the theories critics have promulgated down through the centuries: the stolen body theory as we read about in our lesson from the Gospel of Matthew; the swoon theory, that Jesus was unconscious when he was buried, not dead, and awoke and hid when the tomb was opened; the wrong tomb theory, that the women lost in grief, went to the wrong tomb that morning which just happened to be empty; the hallucination theory, that the disciples and many others were hallucinating when they claimed that Jesus had appeared to them. 

The other argument is a supernatural cause.  That the tomb was empty because of Jesus' resurrection, which is of course the basis of the New Testament, the basis of the birth and growth of the Christian Church, and the basis of countless numbers of people who have testified about how their lives have changed after repenting and confessing their faith in Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.

Listen to the testimony about  Easter written a generation later from the Apostle Paul in I Corinthians: “I would remind you, brothers and sisters of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you, unless you have come to believe in vain.  I handed on to you what I in turn had received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve, then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died, then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me.”  

Easter further announces that Christ's resurrection changes lives and transforms people.  It forever changed the lives of Mary Magdalene and the other Mary on that amazing morning.  New life begins when we dedicate, when we commit our lives to one greater than ourselves.  

I came across this story about a young soldier who lost his legs in an explosion in Iraq.  Something inside died in him the day he learned he would never walk again.  He refused to talk with anyone who tried to help him.  One day another patient in the hospital strolled in and sat down on a chair near the bed.  He drew a harmonica from his pocket and began to play softly.  The young solider looked at him for a second and then resumed staring at the ceiling.  The next day the harmonica player came in again, and did so day after day for a week, without saying a word.  Then one day he asked the soldier, “Does my playing annoy you?  The patient said, No, I guess I like it.  So they talked a little bit.”

One day the harmonica player played a sprightly tune and began to do a tap dance.  The soldier in bed looked on but was unimpressed.  “Hey, why don't you smile once and let the world know you're alive,” the dancer said with a friendly smile.  The wounded soldier said, “I might as well be dead.”  “Okay, answered his new friend, so you're dead.  But you're not as dead as a fellow who was crucified 2,000 years ago, and He came out all right.”  “Oh sure it's easy for you to preach,” replied the patient, “but if you were in my fix, you'd sing a different tune.”  With this the dancer stood up and said, “I know a 2,000 year old resurrection is pretty far in the dim past.  Maybe an up to date example will help you believe it can be done.”  With that he pulled up his trouser legs and the young man in the bed looked and saw two artificial limbs.  The harmonica player had also lost his legs in the war, and after going through the pain of grief and rehab, had experienced the power of Christ's resurrection.  The young soldier's own resurrection began at that very moment. The power of the Resurrected Lord who changed the lives of those two women on that first Easter changes lives today.

Finally, Easter declares that after death there is life.   Now of course many people do not share this belief.  They are represented by the thinking of actor Johnny Depp:  He was interviewed and said: “I went around for years thinking, "Well, what's it all for? All this stuff that I gotta do, interviews and movies and success or not success or this or that.  But when my daughter was born it was as if a veil was lifted, and things became clearer, and I went, "Oh, I get it now! That's what life is for … " I didn't have a real handle on what life is supposed to mean or be or anything like that.  And I still don't.   And I'm not sure life is supposed to mean anything at all. But as long as you have the opportunity to breathe, breathe.   As long as you have the opportunity to make your kid smile and laugh move it forward … . I think we're here and that's kind of it. Then it's dirt and worms.”

But in stark contrast Jesus the Risen Lord says – Greetings!  Easter claims just the opposite; there is an afterlife, there is a life after death, there is an eternal life beyond this earthly life.  Eternal life awaits those who believe in him.  Jesus will welcome us into heaven.  I can imagine Jesus saying “greetings” as one enters glory.  Can you?

The prospect of death, our own death or another's death is frightening.  We don't like to talk about or think about our own mortality.   A recent article in the Wall Street Journal says, "By all observable metrics, zombies are totally hot right now. Zombies are everywhere.  They have become outrageously, staggeringly, mindblowingly popular.  With nearly 16 million viewers, The Walking Dead, the hit TV show about a world dominated by flesh-eating zombies, nearly outperformed the 2014 Winter Olympics.   So what's the big deal with this zombie craze?  Dr. John Ulrich, Professor of English at Mansfield University says, "At its most elemental level, the zombie represents our fear of death."   Do you agree?

Easter declares God's victory over death.  The resurrection shows that even the seemingly indomitable power of death is subject to the sovereign power of God.    Death is not the final verdict.  Easter promises eternal life through faith in Christ.  And this news is indeed something to celebrate.  The future is not closed.  Christ's resurrection inspires hope and says Jesus holds the future open for us. 

A movie based on the book, “Heaven is for Real,” which has sold over 1 million copies since its publication in 2010, is currently being shown in theaters.  It's about a little four year old boy's astounding story of his trip to heaven and back.  

In the book, his father, pastor Todd Burpo, writes that during the months after his son's emergency surgery in 2003, little Colton began describing events and people that seemed impossible for him to have seen or met.  Examples include a little sister who died in a miscarriage before he was born, whom no one had told him about, and his great grandfather who died 30 years before Colton was born.  Colton also claimed he personally met Jesus riding a rainbow-colored horse and sat in Jesus' lap, while the angels sang songs over him.  Colton said:  “The angels sang to me because I was so scared.  They made me feel better.” “When was this, the father asked?  “At the hospital, I was with Jesus, when you were praying and Mommy was talking on the phone.”   

Of course the story is not without its critics.  Where would we be without skeptics and critics?  One critic wrote that the success of the book shows that vast numbers of Americans lack the reasoning ability of adults.

Jesus rose; so will other human beings.  Jesus lives and so will other human beings.  Jesus is the assurance that people who die in Christ will live again.  Jesus the Lord makes these wonderful resurrection promises:  “There are many rooms in my Father’s house, I am going there to prepare a place for you, I would not tell you this if it were not so, and I will come back and take you to myself, so that you will be where I am.”  Jesus says: “Because I live, you shall live also.”  Jesus says: “I am the resurrection and the life, whoever believers in me, even though they die, shall live.”  

I close with this rather unusual obituary in our Union Tribune: Juanita Davis Notice Change of Address:  I want you to know I have moved.  On February 20, 2014, I received a call from my God informing me my new home is ready:  My new address is: 2014 Jesus Way, Godtown, Heaven 22014.”   Greetings!  Happy Easter!

Life’s Critical Questions (Jeremiah 1:4-10; I Peter 1:3-9) by Rev. Dr. Alan W. Deuel

Questions, questions!  Life has so many questions?  Such as: Is there intelligent life on other planets or solar systems or galaxies?  Why did dinosaurs disappear around 65 million years ago?  How did life begin?  Is happiness life’s greatest goal?   Does the abominable snowman exist?   Are ghosts real or a hoax?   What came first the chicken or the egg? 

Of course we can also think of questions that are a little more down to earth?  “Why is it harder to lose weight as you get older?”  “Where did I put my cell phone?”  “Why is there always one sock missing in the dryer?”  “When is my baby going to start sleeping through the night?”    “Where did I put my glasses?”  “When is the pastor going to stop asking questions?”

Questions are important?   I wonder who first asked – is it possible to fly to the moon?  We don’t ever want to stifle our children’s curiosity and discourage them from asking questions.  The 5^th century B.C. classical Greek philosopher Socrates developed an entire approach to learning called the Socratic Method.  It is a form of inquiry and discussion between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to illuminate ideas.  It is a dialectical method of discussion for examining opposing ideas in order to find the truth.

True, we won't have all our questions answered in this life,  for example, questions about suffering and the death of loved ones.    Some people give up asking questions and pursuing answers.  Some people seek answers all their lives but never find them.  And some people find answers to their questions.   

In our O.T. Lesson, Jeremiah, a 6^th century B.C prophet to the Jews in Judah, the southern Kingdom questioned God; he questioned God's call upon his life.    God says:  “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you and before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”  Jeremiah questioned God's judgment.  He replies:  “O, Lord, I do not know how to speak, I am only a boy.”                  

                                                                  

 And God responds:  “Do not say I am only a boy.  You must go to everyone I send you and say whatever  command you.  Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you.”  Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched Jeremiah's mouth saying:  “Now  I have put my words in your mouth.  See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdom to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”  

God called Jeremiah to speak to the people.  God equipped Jeremiah for his service as a prophet to Judah.  Jeremiah was to bring God's prophetic word – Repent or face God's judgment.”  Like Jeremiah, we ask questions during the course of our lives.  Here are some critical questions which people wrestle with.

Who Am I?  It's a fundamental human question, one that's as old as when human beings first developed language.   I can picture it:  “Two people are looking at each other after discovering that they can speak:  One says, “hello, who are you?  The other one answers:  I don't know, I was hoping you could tell me.”

I can answer this question in many ways.  I am a man.  I am a husband.  I am a father.  I am a grandfather.   I am a pastor.  I am an American.  How would you answer the question? 

What is the biblical/Christian answer?   As believers, we must first rephrase the question from a biblical viewpoint:  Who does God say I am?  Who does God say we are?  God says to Jeremiah, “Even before you were born I knew you.”   God is the God of all humanity.  God has seven billion humans on this planet.   When God looks at humanity, what does God see, a faceless blob?  No.  God who is the author of life sees individuals. 

God knows you and me more intimately than we know ourselves.  We are people of utmost value and  importance.  We are made in God's image.   God created us, God knows us, God loves us, God sent his son to save us and God reaches out to us in our lives. 

I like the way Pastor Rick Warren puts it:  “You must begin with God not with yourself.  You exist only because God will that you exist.  You were made by God and for God.  And until you understand that life will never make sense.  It is only in God that we discover our origin our identity our meaning, our purpose, our significance and our destiny.  Every other path leads to a dead end.”  

Scripture is unequivocal; in life and in death we belong to God.   Romans 14:  “If we live we live to the Lord, and if we die, we died to the Lord, so whether we live or whether we died, we are the Lord's.”  I am a child of God.  You are a child of God.  We are children of God.

Author Tim Storey in his book, It's Time for Your Comeback, writes about heavyweight boxer George Foreman.  He says George used to be a very disturbed, angry, mean individual.  One day after losing a fight, he was lying in the back room on a table, when he had a vision of Jesus.  Jesus said:  “I'm going to transform your life.”  And George Foreman gave his life to Christ.  The happy, smiling face you see on television is not the same man he was before he met Jesus.  Foreman says he learned to trust in Christ and that since that time his life has been blessed.  He knows who he is.  He knows to whom he belongs.  He knows what it is to have hope and meaning.  He knows he is God's child.

A second question is why Am I here?  This too is an age-old question.  People have asked it since time immemorial.  What would be your answer?  

John Gardner, the founding chairman of Common Cause, a citizen's lobby in 1970, tells of a cheerful older man who asked the same question of every new acquaintance he met:  “What have you done that you believe in and you are proud of?”   He never asked, what do you do for a living?  It was always what have you done that you believe in and your are proud of?”  It was unsettling to some people.  This gentleman had no particular answer in mind.  He was delighted with a woman who answered, “I'm a mother and I'm doing a good job raising my three children.”  And by a custom cabinet maker who said:  “I believe in good workmanship and practice it.”  and by a woman who said, “I started a bookstore and its' the best bookstore for miles around.”   The man said:  “I am not looking for any specific answer,  I just want to put the idea into their minds.  They should live their lives in such a way that they can have a good answer.  That's what's important.”  How would you answer the question?

Biblically, the answer is to glorify God, to bring glory to God.   The lyrics of a contemporary song are:  “In my life Lord, be glorified, be glorified, in my life, Lord be glorified today.”  Glorify God in whatever you do, in all of your activities, in your work, in your leisure, in all the endeavors of life.  What has God willed for you to do with your life?   What is your answer to God?  Jeremiah knew why he was here.  God had spoken to him and had given him a mission to glorify God as a prophet to Judah.    

Once again, I turn to Pastor Rick Warren, who writes:  “It's not about you.  The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness.   If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God.  You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.” 

You were made for God and life is about letting God use you for His purposes.  It's about becoming what God created you to be. 

Third, where Does My Power Come From?  Where do you find the energy and the endurance to serve, to get involved, to follow God's call, to glorify God with your life?  Eating properly helps.  Getting enough sleep is important.  Taking care of your health is fundamental.  But let's look again to Jeremiah.  

God touched his mouth and empowered this prophet for his task.   God always empowers us and supplies the ability for what he calls us to do.   God chooses us to do His work and then God equips us for the task.  Jeremiah immediately thought God had chosen the wrong man, but how did Jeremiah know he couldn't fulfill God's call upon his life?   Like the man who was asked if you could play the violin.  He answered:  “I don't know.  I've never tried.”  That's a good answer.  How do you know what you can or can't do until you've tried it.

Maurice Berquist in her book, “The Miracle and Power of Blessing, writes about the parallel principle:  “If you pull a copper wire, parallel to overhead power lines you get a transfer of power.  Even through the second wire is not physically touching the first or connected in any way to a generator, power will come into it just as soon as it gets parallel.”  The Bible declares that when our lives are parallel to God's purposes we find a power we never dreamed possible.

 The final question is what happens after I die?  Where Am I going after I die?  There are countless answers to this question in philosophy and religion about the After-Life or Life After Death.  One notion is that death means the end of everything.  It means the total annihilation, the complete extinction of the body, soul, personality, memory.  One's identity and existence is wiped away forever.  There is no continuing existence of any form.  A typical saying is: “This is the only life you will have, so enjoy it.”   This concept is not biblical.

Reincarnation is another idea.   This too is not a biblical or Christian notion.   But it is interesting to ponder.  It is the religious or philosophical concept that the  human soul or spirit, after death, begins a new life in a new body that may be human, animal or spiritual, depending on the moral quality of one's previous life.    Just like one changes clothes, our soul changes life forms.  Reincarnation asserts that all animals including humans have souls and the soul goes through different life forms until it is purified and becomes one with God.      

                 

Ultimate Immersion or absorption into the divine is another concept of the afterlife.  Think of God as an ocean and our soul as a droplet of water. The water droplet is separated from the ocean and its goal is to merge back into the ocean. We are like those rain droplets; our souls have been separated from God after our being born in this world.  Like rain droplets, the main purpose of our souls is to merge back with God.  Once a soul merges into the being of God, it achieves salvation, rids itself of all suffering and pain becomes lost and one in the eternal being of God.   This too is not biblical.

Purgatory is a Christian concept, represented in the Catholic Church.  Purgatory is a temporary realm where all souls go to be purified or cleansed before they are ready to enter glory or heaven to live forever in the presence of God.  There has been an ongoing debate between Christians since the Reformation about whether or not purgatory is biblical.

A biblical notion is that death takes believers immediately to be with Christ in heaven.  Nothing can separate us from the love of God, not even death.  Jesus describes the image of a house:  “There are many rooms in my Father's house, and I am going to prepare a place for you.  I will come back and take you to myself, so that you will be where I am.”   The last verse of the hymn How Great Thou Art says:  “When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation, And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!  Then *I shall bow in humble adoration,  And there proclaim My God, how great thou art!”

Another biblical notion is the Resurrection.   At the final coming of Christ, our bodies are resurrected, they become transformed or changed into glorious bodies.  Our new bodies are different and yet we retain our individual identity and we join together with the communion of the saints.  I Peter declares this assurance for the future:  “By God's mercy we have been given a new birth into a living hope through Christ's resurrection from the dead, that that hope is an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.  In this we rejoice, even if now for a little while we have to suffer various trials.”  

May you during this Lenten season take time to ponder, to reflect, in light of your faith, upon some of the critical questions of life and of your life.  Amen!

Listen! (Matt. 17:1-13) by Rev. Dr. Alan W. Deuel

A concerned husband went to see the family doctor: "Doctor, I think my wife is deaf. She never hears me the first time I say something.  In fact, I often have to repeat things over and over again. "Well," the doctor replies: "Go home tonight, stand about 15 feet from her, say something and listen carefully.   If she doesn't respond, move about five feet closer and say it again. Keep doing this so we can get an idea of the severity of her deafness.

Returning home, the husband followed the doctors instructions.  He stands about 15 feet from his wife, who is in the kitchen chopping some vegetables. "Honey, what's for dinner?" He gets no response, so he moves about five feet closer and asks again.  "Honey, what's for dinner?"  No reply.  He moves five feet closer and still no reply.  Frustrated, he moves right behind her and asks "Honey, what's for dinner?"  She replies, "For the fourth time dear, I said vegetable stew!"

In this light, let’s turn to our morning story which portrays a profound event in the life of Jesus’ and his disciples: the indescribable, the indefinable, the ineffable moment of Jesus’ transfiguration.  Think now, aren’t there moments in life which are inexpressible?  We have a difficult time putting them into words.  Have you ever experienced such a time?  The joy at the birth of a child is one of those moments.  The loss of a loved one is one of those moments.  A brilliant sunset or sunrise is one of those moments.  Being caught up in uplifting music is one of those moments.  When your child says “I love you” and wraps his or her arms around you is one of those moments. There are mountaintop and valley moments throughout life.  We are often not ready for them.  They arrive unannounced and change us in irreversible ways.  They demand that we be silent and listen.  Such moments touch the depth of our souls and have something to say to us. 

Our story from Matthew's Gospel is one such time.  Jesus is on a mountain with his disciples Peter, James and John.  Jesus is suddenly transfigured before them, his face shines like the sun, his clothes become dazzling white, his appearance is radiant.    Moses and Elijah appear and are talking with Jesus.  Peter is overwhelmed and says, “Lord, it is good for us to be here.”   Well I should say so.   He was in the company of two Jewish superstars.  Moses, who led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, the one who brought them God’s 10 Commandments and the prophet Elijah, who with God’s power defeated the false prophets of Baal and who ascended to heaven in a chariot of fire.  These are two giants in Israel’s history.  They were even bigger than Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts.

Peter wanted the magical moment to last forever and offers to build three booths- one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah.   Realizing they are standing on holy ground the disciples fall to their knees in awe.  Then the story says: “A voice said, this is my Son, whom I love.  With him, I am well pleased.  Listen to him.”  

The story of the transfiguration says first, God speaks!   God spoke that day and the undeniable implication is that God continues to speak to believers today.  Do you believe it?  Has God spoken to you?   A young mother said: “My 3-year-old son, Ian, enjoys the Bible story about Samuel hearing God's voice at night.  One evening after reading the story to Ian, I asked him if God had ever spoken to him.  To my surprise, he answered, "Yes."  "What did God say to you?" I asked.  Ian thought and then said in his deepest voice, "Ian! Go to bed!"  That explained why Ian settles down more quickly when I'm outside his room and tell him to go to bed.”  

Scripture tells of how God spoke to Elijah in a cave out in the middle of the wilderness, not in the wind, not in the earthquake, not in the fire, but in a still small voice.  Other translations say in a gentle whisper or in the sound of sheer silence.

If we don’t believe God speaks to us today, what does that say about our theology?   That God is mute?  That God doesn’t care to reach out to His people any longer?  That God has nothing left to say to us?  That God has decided to turn His back on us and has left us figure it out on our own?  That God is on an extended vacation to the Caribbean?  The problem is that this is bad theology.

God is either alive or God is dead.  Scripture and our Christian faith says God is alive and God love.  God loves us with a passionate and unconditional love and reaches out and intervenes in our lives.  Scripture says:  “God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”

A Christian writes:  “I knew that it was God speaking to me because I was in tune with my inner spirit and my spirit suddenly became light.  Years of heaviness were lifted from me.  I heard God’s forgiving and accepting voice.  A new yet wobbly courage started to live in me, and I became comfortable in my own skin, in my own circumstances.  I felt safe and certain and grateful. Nothing around me had changed, but everything was different.  I knew it was God’s voice speaking because I could smile once again.”

Second, the story of the transfiguration says something else – listen!    Why should you and I listen to Jesus?    Jesus is the Word of God.   Jesus is God’s word of life and truth.   Jesus is the path to Life and Eternal Life.  Jesus is the way out of darkness into the light.  Jesus is the way out of despair to peace and joy.  Jesus is the way out of fear to courage.  Jesus is the way to discovering purpose and meaning.  By faith in Christ we are welcomed into God’s kingdom and become children of God.  Jesus is lord over all other rulers and authorities in the world.  Christ is the Head of the Church and is present in both Word and Spirit.    The Risen Lord sent the Holy Spirit to instruct and empower and guide the Church according to His purposes.  Jesus carries out His ministry through you and through me, that is, through our faith and service and witness.

Why should we listen?  Because God commands it: “This is my Son, whom I love.  With him, I am well pleased.  Listen to him.”

How does God speak to us?   It’s a question about which Christians agree and disagree.  It engenders lively discussion and debate.   Both from my spiritual experience over the years, and by my reading of scripture, I believe the answer is God speaks to us in a multitude of ways.  God speaks in different ways at different times in our lives.  God speaks to one believer in one way and to another believer in another way.  Why?  I don’t know.  Perhaps because the hearts and minds of certain believers are more reachable in some ways and closed in others.  It’s a mystery.  It’s God’s prerogative.  

Clearly God speaks through the Bible.  Reading and listening to scripture, in Bible classes or in one’s daily devotions, is essential to our spiritual journey.  We are to listen not only with our ears, but with our hearts.  For instance, say you are experiencing a highly stressful and difficult time, you’re at an emotional low and you read: “Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you” or “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  or “Be not afraid.” And by that word your soul is lifted, your spirit is renewed, you experience an inner strength and peace.      God has spoken.

We hear God in worship.  In faith and trust we listen and the ordinary, humble, human words of a sermon become, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, God’s word and you feel like the sermon was meant for you.  God speaks to us through the music of worship, through the choirs, the hymns and songs, through the prayers, through someone’s personal testimony, through the videos and multimedia in worship, and through the sacraments.  We cannot limit God’s passionate desire to speak to our minds and hearts in worship.

God speaks to us in dreams or through our conscience, as we wrestle with a moral decision or through a vision, or through a surprise, or through unexplainable guidance where you feel led to do something, like get in contact with someone and your not sure why.  God speaks when we exclaim it was a “God moment or God thing.”  Faith declares that “coincidences are small miracles where God chooses to remain anonymous.”

I’ve personally had such spiritual experiences. Other believers have shared with me their spiritual experiences as well over the years.  I’ve had people say to me:  “Pastor I would like to tell you about something spiritual that happened to me, I think God was talking, but I’m a little uncomfortable about it, so please listen and don’t think I’m crazy.”     

God speaks through the voice of a trusted friend.  No, not every word that someone else says is God’s word.  We must always be discerning.  We need to test the word, to check it out.  But the Bible is clear that the Holy Spirit does speak through the counsel of others.   

We hear God‘s word in prayer, through continual, expectant, thankful and persevering prayer.  Prayer is a key means I believe in which God speaks to us.  

God's word can come through a call to action.   A call to a job, a call to involvement in the church, a call to getting involved in the community like in Military Outreach Ministry.  You feel convicted to volunteer, to help with some need.  It might have to do with homelessness or raising money for the battle against cancer or with concerns about the environment, or helping with foster care, or serving in the schools or in the military.

Sometimes you just feel a nudge, to just check something out, and later realize after you are fully involved that God spoke to you, that it was a calling from God?  When have you heard a comforting word, a corrective word, an encouraging word, a hopeful word, an insightful word, an inspiring word, a challenging word, a helpful word?  That was the word of God.   I believe the question is not - does God speak today?  The question is – are we listening?  It’s a good question to ponder anytime, especially in this time as we prepare for our journey through the season of Lent.   Amen!

Who is My Neighbor? (Luke 10:25-37) by Rev. Dr. Alan W. Deuel

Do you know your neighbors?  A mother writes:  “While visiting a neighbor and her five-year-old son Andrew, Andrew pulled out his kindergarten class picture and immediately began describing each classmate. "This is Robert, he hits everyone. This is Stephen, he never listens to the teacher.  This is Sara, she never stops talking.  This is Mark, he chases us and is very noisy." Pointing to his own picture, Andrew commented, "And this is me.  I'm just sitting here minding my own business."

On the long running popular children's television show, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, which aired for over 30 years, at the beginning of every episode, Fred Rogers would enter his house singing: “Won't you be my neighbor?”  Think about neighbors you have had over the years.   Have you had good relations with your neighbors?  Have you made an effort to help your neighbor?    Has your neighbor made an effort to get to know you? 

The parable of the Good Samaritan is about neighbors and arises out of a discussion between Jesus and a Pharisee.  “A lawyer stood up to put Jesus to the test - teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  Jesus knew he was trained in the law, so he asked the man: “What is written?”   The Pharisee answers: “You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart and soul and mind and strength and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”   Jesus says: “Do this and you shall live.”   But the man asks a follow up question, “who is my neighbor?”  In other words, whom specifically am I supposed to love?  Where are the boundaries?  It’s a fair question.  In response, like he often did, Jesus tells a story.  

A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho.   It was called the Jericho road and had a fearful reputation.  It was nicknamed “The Bloody Pass”.   It was a dangerous stretch of rocky mountain road as we learned when our tour group traveled it in 1993.  It is a crooked, lonely, isolated seventeen mile trek dotted of caves.   Since the road was so often traveled by religious pilgrims and merchants, robbers hid in the caves waiting for their next victim.  Jesus would likely have taken this parable from real life events.

Who is my neighbor was a relevant question in Jesus’ day.   Were non-Jews, Gentiles, Greeks, Persians, Syrians, whom Jews were forbidden to associate with by law neighbors?    Were Roman soldiers neighbors?   Were lepers neighbors?  Were Samaritans, who had a long history of enmity with Jews, neighbors?    It’s a relevant question today, don’t you think?   It raises complex issues about borders and immigration, and relationships with Muslims and strangers in need whom we encounter in our lives.  Not to mention the “I don't want to get involved” attitude which permeates our society today.

Jesus' answer is unequivocal, it's not the priest nor the Levite for both pass by the victim of violence who is lying on the side of the road.  It is the despised Samaritan who does the right thing, who stops to help a man who has been beaten by robbers.  The Samaritan proves to be the neighbor.

He shows compassion, kindness and concern.  He shows generosity of money and time.  He shows courage by stopping to help when the robbers could have still been in the area.     Does Jesus say he is a hero?  No, Jesus says he’s a neighbor.  This is what neighbors do; this is what being a neighbor means. 

I can think of at least three ways we too can be a neighbor to others and fulfill God's mandate.  I'm sure there are others that you could think of, but here are three examples.  

One is to be a neighbor indirectly and simply call for help or go and get help.  If you see someone in trouble, if you see someone stranded, rather than passing by, simply call 911 and let the authorities know that a person is in need of assistance.   From our point of view that may seem like a small thing, but from the point of view of someone in trouble, it is an answer to prayer.   I have made such calls at various times over the years as I'm sure you have as well.

Second, we can be a neighbor directly to someone in need or in trouble.  I think of the story about 10 year old Kevin Stephan of Lancaster, New York, who in 1999 was a bat boy for his brother's little-league baseball team.  During one game, a player who was warming up accidentally hit Kevin in the chest with a bat.  Kevin fell to the ground, unconscious.  His heart stopped beating.  Kevin says: "I remember that all of a sudden, I got hit in the chest with something, and I turned around and passed out."

Fortunately, a nurse whose son played on the team was able to revive him.  Kevin and his family later learned that the nurse, Penny Brown, was supposed to be at work that day, but had been given the day off at the last minute.

Seven years later, in January of 2006, the same nurse, Penny Brown, was eating at the Hillview Restaurant in Depew, New York, when she began to choke on her food.  "The food wasn't going anywhere, and I couldn't breathe," said Penny. "It was very frightening."  Patrons began screaming for someone to help. One of the restaurant employees, a volunteer firefighter, ran out from the back.  He wrapped his arms around the woman, applied the Heimlich maneuver, and saved the woman's life.

When the emergency was over, the patron and employee recognized each other. The person who saved Penny's life was 17-year-old Kevin Stephan, the same boy whom Penny had saved seven years earlier.

I also think of the story a couple of years ago of nine-year-old Chiara Rufus.  She had picked up the milk and bread her mother had sent her to buy.  As she left the store, a stranger was waiting outside in his car and asked, "Want a ride?"   Chiara refused and hurried toward home.   But then the stranger pulled up beside her and yelled, "Get in."  Afraid, the little girl climbed into the car.  At just that moment, Monique Williams, 34 years old, was driving home.  As she saw the young girl approach the car, she sensed that something was wrong.  A mother of three daughters, Monique as a little girl had also been approached by strange men who tried to lure her into cars.

Monique asked the man if he knew the little girl.  He said “yes.”  Then she asked Chiara, "Do you know him?"  Trembling, she said, "No."  Monique exploded: "You get out of the car!  Get out now!"  As the little girl jumped out, Monique maneuvered her vehicle in front of the stranger's car.  She began to yell: "You're wrong! You can't take a little girl!"

Within moments, the police arrived.  The same man had previously tried to lure kids into his car.  Police chief Gary Miguel said of Monique, "She saw something wrong and refused to look away."   Perhaps that's why Monique has two plaques in her living room.  One reads, "Civilian Commendation." The other: "To my guardian angel Monique Williams. I love you. Chiara Rufus."  Monique was truly a neighbor.

Third, we can also be a neighbor by acting to correct the underlying social conditions which have caused people to be hurt.  We seek to work against injustice by eliminating the conditions that hurt people's lives in order to bring about social justice.  We think of people like Martin Luther King Jr and the Civil Rights movement and Caesar Chavez and the Farm Worker movement and Nelson Mandela in his fight against apartheid in South Africa. 

Ten years ago, Kirsten and Lee Hildebrand thought they knew where their lives were headed. They had just settled into their first home in a suburban community, where Kirsten practiced labor and employment law and Lee was working on a doctorate in counseling psychology. But when the couple attended Eastbrook Church, a nondenominational, inner-city Milwaukee church, they began to wonder: Did we settle down in the right place?  "Some of our friends thought we were totally nuts, but we felt led to move into an inner-city neighborhood."  Kirsten and Lee sold their suburban home and bought one in inner-city Sherman Park where neighbors take in the world from adjoining porches.   As the couple unpacked boxes, a question hung over them. "We knew we were led here for a purpose, but we didn't know why," says Lee.

Six months later, after they had remodeled their own home, the Hildebrand's noticed a foreclosure sign a few houses down. They tried, along with two of their neighbors to purchase it. The bid was unsuccessful, but their conversations during the process helped them identify a trend in their neighborhood—absentee landlords. "The landlords didn't care about the properties, didn't put the work in, let them deteriorate and then demanded high rent," Kirsten says,  "This isn't fair, everyone deserves a nice place to live. All humans do."

After many late-night conversations they decided to systematically purchase rundown houses, restore the beauty of the buildings, rent them affordably to the residents of their city, and hopefully change the trend. They registered their name as "City Ventures LLC" and brought their business plan to Legacy Bank.  The bank decided to invest and City Ventures bought a single-family house where they spent nights and weekends restoring it. The City Ventures partners juggled full-time jobs with the new worlds of plumbing, electrical work, rent collecting, and the realities of the inner city. The night could bring drug dealers into their construction sites. The morning light might reveal the scrawl of vandals on freshly painted walls or a pile of glass instead of new windows. But neither Kirsten nor Lee saw crime as the neighborhood's defining characteristic. "Ninety percent of the people are people who just want to live their lives."

Today, Sherman Park is a living illustration of the last six years of the Hildebrands' lives.  Seventy restored buildings boast colorful awnings and shutters, new bricks or siding…. "It's really exciting—the way we've started from a dream," Lee says. "We worked hard, and God's grace was at work with us. We give God all the credit. It's amazing how different the neighborhood is from six years ago."

Jesus calls us to broaden our circle of concern and increase our sensitivity and compassion for people in need around us.   It's easy to become emotionally detached, desensitized or callous to the needs of others.   Jesus says there really are no limits as to who is our neighbor in God’s family.    The command to love our neighbor is not to be interpreted in a narrow way.  Our neighbor is any person who is in need of love, any person who is in pain, any person to whom we can give life and hope through our presence or resources.   Jesus radically expanded the concept of neighbor.

A Christian truth is that one of the ways to strengthen our love for God is to love other persons.  When we love others, the love of God can flow in and through us in a free and unimpeded way.  God is able to give us greater wholeness of life, when we're sharing life in an unselfish way with others. 

Which of these three was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?   The lawyer said: “The one who showed mercy on him.”  Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”  Amen

Come Unto Me (Matthew 11:28-30) by Rev. Dr. Alan W. Deuel

You open your mail and surprise surprise there's an invitation.  What a joy it is to receive an invitation – to a birthday party, a super bowl party, an anniversary party, a graduation, or to a wedding.

In this morning's text Jesus utters perhaps the most tender and appealing words of his ministry:  “Come unto me!”  It is a gracious invitation.  These words have been immortalized in Handel's Messiah, in the famous aria in which Handel combines these words with others from the prophet Isaiah: "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd. Come unto him.”

What comes to your mind when you hear Jesus’ words?  How do you respond to Jesus’ invitation?   True, these words might sound hallow, empty to some: “No thanks Jesus, I've got it covered.”  

Pride can stop us cold.  It can shut out our hearing and accepting any offers of help. “A friend says, Hey, I'm sorry about what happened, but I'm here for you, you know that.  And you reply, thanks, but I'm fine, I don't need any help.”  Pride stops us from reaching out to others for support.  We're just too proud to say, "Jesus, I need help, I need you."

But when our hearts are receptive to Jesus words, we open ourselves to a whole new spiritual world.  When we can finally admit: “Lord, I can’t go it alone, I need you,”  Jesus’ words penetrate our hearts, they are a song in our soul, they are the most welcome and comforting and hopeful words in the world.  

Come unto me!   

“All who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens!” To be human is to carry burdens.   The question is not if we carry burdens, but when.  True, we carry different burdens and we handle them in different ways.  Burdens of guilt and shame,  burdens of stress, burdens of pain and hurt, burdens of failure, burdens of fear and anxiety, burdens of addiction, burdens of loneliness, burdens of resentment, jealousy and anger, burdens of low self-worth, burdens of feeling lost and aimless, burdens of a lack of meaning and purpose.  They come with parenting, friendship, marriage, divorce, being single, work, unemployment, illness, money problems, grief, and a crisis of faith.  Are you carrying a burden this morning?

Sometimes, even religion becomes a burden.  This was the context in which Jesus spoke to the people.  From the time the law was given to Moses, where God commanded the Jews to remember the Sabbath and rest from work, Jewish teachers had written hundreds of additional rules and regulations regarding Sabbath observance – the time between sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.  The Hebrew word Sabbath means “rest.”  

But it was difficult to rest when you were worried about not breaking any of the religious rules.  For example on the sabbath you couldn't work: you couldn't carry anything, you could only walk a certain number of steps, you couldn't cook, you couldn't talk about business,  and you couldn’t help people or rescue animals – because that was work and the command was to rest.   Yes, anything, even religion, can become a burden.

Jesus continues: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart."  This morning, right now, Jesus is personally extending an invitation to you.  Jesus who is gentle and humble offers support, encouragement and an opportunity to learn from him.   Do you find it surprising that Jesus offers tired, burdened people a yoke?  When we are burdened we need an escape, a holiday, a party, a vacation, a trip to Disneyland, not a yoke. 

What does Jesus offer with this invitation? He offers to ease their strain, to lift their burden, to shoulder their load, to give them rest, to release them, to set them free.  Nobody else can do that but Christ, for he is portrayed in the New Testament as the supreme burden-bearer. He bore our burden of sin by His sacrificial death on the cross. " "Behold the Lamb of God who lifts up and bears away the sin of the world."

Jesus offers us a new kind of yoke.  Jesus likens the crowds he was addressing to oxen struggling to move while carrying a crushing load.  Jesus is referring to an agricultural method that was common in the first century. A yoke is the piece of equipment that binds the ox to the plow.  Whenever a young ox needed to be trained, he would be attached to the yoke of an older ox. The older ox would pull the yoke and the younger ox would follow in his footsteps and learn all the steps, even though he wasn't actually pulling any of the load.

Jesus is saying: “Yoke yourself to me.  Let me help you carry the load and I will  lead you and teach you how to live."  "My yoke is easy and my burden is light."   Jesus' words call to mind the poem Footsteps in the Sand.”

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.  Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.  In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there were one set of footprints. This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints. So I said to the Lord, ‘You promised me Lord that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there have only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, you have not been there for me?’ The Lord replied, ‘The times when you have seen only one set of footprints in the sand, is when I carried you.”

And Jesus concludes his invitation – “I will give you rest.  You will find rest for your souls.”  What a comforting word -  Rest.  Do you get enough rest?  Are you tired – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually?   Rest is indispensable.  We need rest in life.  Request is required to live.

Philip Melancthon, a 16th Century Reformed theologian, once said to his friend Martin Luther, “This day you and I will discuss the governance of the universe.” Luther said in response: “This day you and I will go fishing and leave the governance of the universe to God.” 

What does Jesus mean by "rest for your souls"? The Greek word here literally means “an intermission.”  Jesus makes a promise, he says: “If you accept my invitation; you will have an intermission, a respite, a reprieve, a break from the day-to-day struggles of everyday life.  You will experience spiritual renewal, relief, refreshment, a time of peace.”  

It takes humility to say: "Jesus, I' have run out of options, I need your power and your strength.”  When you arrive at that moment, where you can acknowledge your need for Him, Jesus will offer to yoke you to His YOKE and you will find rest.

In 2008 the New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl due to a spectacular catch made by Giants receiver David Tyree.  Quarterback Eli Manning threw what looked like a desperate pass. Tyree somehow jumped high above defensive coverage, picked the ball out of the air, pinned it to his helmet, and fell to the ground for a completion. The Giants went on to win the game, 17–14.

In the wake of his new fame, Tyree has talked openly about a troubled past. He started drinking when he was in junior high. By his junior year in high school, he was regularly consuming 40 ounces of malt liquor and a half a pint of Jack Daniel's.  It was not uncommon for him to smoke marijuana in the same sitting. The habits continued throughout his college career.

After Tyree was arrested for selling drugs to pay off a fine he had incurred during his rookie season with the Giants, his pregnant girlfriend threatened to leave him. "I had no peace," Tyree says. "My life was obviously in disarray." When he picked up a Bible and read its message of redemption, he knew things would turn around. He decided to never drink again and started attending church for the first time in a long time. Tyree is now sober, married, and a Super Bowl hero.  Looking back on his life thus far, Tyree says, "It's more than just a feel-good story. It's about destiny and purpose."  I will give you rest, Jesus promises.

I close with Jesus word's from the contemporary language of The Message.  “Come to me.  Get away with me and you'll recover your life.  I'll show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with me and work with me, watch how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I won't lay anything heave or ill fitting on you.  Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Are you trying to live without God's help?   Jesus invitation is before you – “Come unto me.” Let us prepare our hearts to come to the Lord’s Table.  Amen!