jwquaker

Ransomed to Love

By Jared Warner

Willow Creek Friends Church

April 19, 2026

Click here to join our Meeting for Worship

Click to read in Swahili

Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili

1 Peter 1:17–23 (ESV)

¹⁷ And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, ¹⁸ knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. ²⁰ He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you ²¹ who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. ²² Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, ²³ since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;

---

We are currently living in a historic time. I say it is historic because we are at a cross road that I never thought I would have ever been. Twenty-five years ago on September 12, 2001 Pope John Paul II said “[9/11] was a dark day in human history, a terrible attack on human dignity.” and added: “The heart of man is an abyss whence, at times, emerge acts of unspeakable ferocity.” He then went on to urge against the spiral of hatred and violence, and faith comes to our aid at these times when words seem to fail, stressing that those who believe in God know that evil does not have the final say, and that forgiveness is not weakness but the fullness of justice needed to heal the wounds caused by such atrocities.

I am not Catholic, I am a Quaker. I am a minister of the gospel among Friends. Our Faith and Practice says this, “Friends feel that life is sacred, and that war and violence are not consistent with Christian Principals (Matthew 5:38-48). It is our firm conviction that war is wrong as a method of settling disputes, destructive of our highest values, and productive of the seeds of future wars. We, therefore, as a church, unequivocally support young Friends who as conscientious objectors to war refuse military service. And we are concerned to find alternative solutions based upon justice and righteousness for all peoples and are deeply moved to participate in the new calls to peacemaking which are being sounded in our day.”

This is what I was taught growing up. When I turned eighteen and had to register for selective service my mother, father, pastor, and pretty much everyone in our Meeting both those that served in the military and those that refused to serve, made sure I knew that as Friends we seek peaceful methods of resolving disputes and each wanted me to register as a conscientious objector. Much to my surprise there is not a box to check on the form for a conscientious objector. I stressed about this. And unfortunately no one had an answer. The final solution we came up with was that I needed to write a letter to my pastor with a copy of the registration form that we could keep on file at the Meeting.

There is still not a box on the form for CO’s, I even asked our Yearly Meeting Superintendents how we should encourage our young people to register as CO’s and they did not have an answer. So the method I used when I turned eighteen is the same method I encourage today. If you want to register as a CO, I encourage you write a letter to the Meeting expressing that desire, we will keep it, and if needed we will stand with you.

I bring this up because for some reason, when the current pope expresses concern for peace, there is an outrage. When I make comments about the peace testimony there is outrage. I have been told by many of my friends that I am being political, and have mental illness because I just cannot accept the current administration. No, that is not the case. This has been the stance of the Catholic church my entire life, they had a few eras of their history where they started wars, but for my entire life the Catholic church has been advocates for peace. And the Friends Church has had a testimony for peace since our beginning. When William Penn, whose father was the admiral of the British Navy, was first becoming convinced he asked George Fox if it was alright to wear his sword. In that day and age, the aristocracy would often wear a sword, both for protection and status. The answer that George gave was profound. You would think that being a proponent of peace that George would have chastised young William for asking the question. You would think he would say, “Friends are peaceful you shall not wear a weapon of war.” but that is not what George said. Instead he said, “Wear it as long as you are able.”

Wear it as long as you are able.

I want us to consider that statement for a moment. George did not tell him that he was wrong for wearing a sword, he did not belittle him for owing a weapon, he simply said wear it as long as you are able. William Penn could not bring himself to continue wearing the sword much longer after that. He had listened to the preaching, and the teaching of the Friends and was convinced that warfare was opposed to the teachings of Christ, and that testimony went with him to the colony here in America that bears his father’s name. It is this testimony that drove Penn to promote and petition all the other colonies of America to form a congress where representatives of each could come and find resolution to their disputes and promote common good. That testimony of peace was woven into the very fabric of what became our nation.

There are times where it appears that peace cannot stand, but we must try. We must encourage those around us to recognize that of God in the image bearers that we see as our enemies. Because if we do not try, we can quickly fall prey of dehumanization. We can justify violence against others, because they are not like us. They are other. And we turn into something terrible, we begin to champion sin instead of grace. We become the ones that nailed Christ to the tree.

“And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile.” We live in a world that is at odds with our professed beliefs. It has always been at odds with our expressed beliefs. Those that profess Christ are living in exile, because our ways are not the ways of this world. Jesus taught us to love our enemies, to do good for those who persecute you. But that is not the easiest thing to do. When we face our rivals we want them to pay. We see it on the sports’ field at the KU vs. MU Football game. Albert faces that on the ice, especially when he challenges the Stars. We do not want to lose, we want the opponent to face the worst. Competition is not wrong if we keep it in check. After each period of play Albert often meets the opposing goalie with a fist bump as they skate to the bench. After each game the players often shake hands at center field. But the world does not often lend it self to that kind of sportsmanship.

The world wants us not to see the opponent as a friend but an enemy. The world wants us to look at the citizen of Germany as something less than us. The Russians as less than us. The world wants us to view the Muslim as a hopelessly violent beast in need of eradication. We once lived in a world like that, but instead of people of Islam the enemy was Israel. We fought a war to defeat that world view, and we made treaties signed by all nations within the United Nations that made the claim that genocide is a crime against humanity and a war crime. Yet have we stopped to think about how we speak about those we have disagreements with? Do we not remember the words of scripture that say, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:8-10 ESV).

While we were God’s enemy, Jesus came to us. While we were living in full rebellion against everything God stood for, Jesus came, lived among us, taught us, faced injustice, execution, and the grave. That was what we were, but God so loved the world that he send his son not to condemn the world, but to save it, so that whoever calls upon his name will have life.

“If you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers.”

We were ransomed. This is a term we do not often think about in our contemporary lives. We might hear the word on a movie when a child is taken from their parents and the criminals demand money for the return. Often we look at this verse, and that is what we think, Jesus paid the price. That is only part of the meaning. The word here can also used in the story of Ruth and Boaz. Ruth was not kidnapped but according to the law the nearest relative had an obligation to marry Ruth after her husband died. Boaz was a relative of Ruth’s husband but he was not the nearest relative. Boaz had to go before the council of elders and ransom Ruth, he had to free the man from his obligation and take it on himself. But this is not the only instance.

Every first born child according to Jewish law belonged to the Lord. When Israel lived in bondage in Egypt, God sent plagues to defeat the spiritual forces of that dark empire. The final plague, was the death of the first born children of all the land, and Israel was ransomed from that horror by the blood of the passover lamb that was spread across their doorposts. From that moment on God told the people of Israel, that the first child to open a womb was his. That child would be dedicated to service of the Lord. In some instances, like Samuel, the child was given to the priests to literally serve, but in most cases the family would ransom the child. They would bring gifts of praise and offerings of thanksgiving to the temple to thank God for the child, and to provide for the livelihood of the Levite who would take their place of service. To ransom is to free, to release, and to redeem. It can be a release from bondage, or it can be a release to service.

Peter is reminding us that we have called upon the name of Jesus, and the Father who judges impartially has heard that call. He knows what we were. He knows who we are, and we should conduct or live our lives with fear. Not afraid, we should not be afraid of God, or of what the world can do to us. We should live in reverence. We should revere and reflect the life of Jesus in everything we do, because through him we have been ransomed. We have been released from our obligation. We have been freed to serve. We have been restored to a different kind of life. We were once enemies of God, but while we were still on that field of battle Christ stopped the conflict and stood in our place.

What does this look like? For Ruth, she was once a foreigner living in the land of Israel. A widow of a man whose marriage would have been scandalous during that time. Yet Boaz ransomed her. She was no longer a daughter of Moab, instead she would become the great grandmother of a king. She was released from shame, from poverty, and from disgrace because Boaz saw her as she was a beautiful child of God. Consider Moses and Aaron. They gathered in the huts of Egypt, they listened to the screams of sorrow that filled the empire of Egypt, while they held their children close, eating the meal of roasted lamb. They stood ready to act in an instant. Ransomed by God, released to act if called, ready to face the armies of an empire. But they did not fight, instead they, along with the rest of Israel, walked out of Egypt no longer slaves but at liberty.

“Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you.”

Jesus was known, he was foreknown before the foundation of the world. From the foundation of world it was known that we as humanity would reject our place with God. We would use the freewill God created us to have and abuse it. God knew, humanity would desire the knowledge of good and evil. God knew that we would use that knowledge and would become afraid of those around us. That we would use the brains we were gifted to create marvels and weapons. He knew that we would inherit from our forefathers, the constant quest for wealth and power. And even before this happened, God had already predestined Jesus to stand in our place for us. God, himself had already known that he would come to provide a way for our redemption.

The world fights. The world struggles against itself, taking from one nation what we think we deserve. What is it we deserve? What is it we think we deserve?

Open the pages of history and read. What do we deserve? Russia deserves Ukraine in their mind, because they are brothers, they share history, and culture. But the people of Ukraine do not see things from the same perspective. From the Ukrainian perspective, Russia is a thief. They stole their culture, their name, their heritage, and kept it for their own. What do they deserve?

Let us look at my own people, the English. Our language is spoken around the world, it is the language of business. But it is also the language of bondage, the language of oppression, and dominion. What do the English deserve? God will look at the people of Moscow and the people of England and judge impartially. Just as God looks at the people of Iran, Israel, Germany, and New Zealand. We do not deserve anything. We are nations and people of oppression every last one of us. If you give us the right tools, we have within us the capability to do the most heinous or the most beautiful things. We can create art, or missiles. We can walk on the moon in the pursuit of exploration and the advancement of knowledge, or we can annihilate civilizations. What do we deserve, what is the inheritance we receive from our forefathers?

I love my history. I love the history of Friends. My ancestors came to this nation for the right reasons. They traveled west hoping to create a city where Christ would be known. That was their mission, and I can look on a map and see the path they traveled, because they named the communities they set up the same. But even that grand ideal is tarnished. There was not a military in Pennsylvania colony, they sought to treat the indigenous people as equals, but even the greatest ideals have darkness. The people of Pennsylvania gave blankets to indigenous people, they gave them blankets as a gift, but those blankets carried disease. A people of peace, a people of God wanting to create cities where God could be freely worshiped, gave to the needy blankets of disease. We stand saying we deserve what is ours? We have done many good things. We have done marvelous things, but we deserve nothing in ourselves. For every amazing thing I have done, I have done something worse. For every smile, I have created a frown. I know what I am capable of, and at times it scares me.

I know what I am capable of, but I also know that I have been ransomed. I have been released from bondage. I have been liberated and called to something new. I have been raised with Christ from the dead, and my hope no longer resides in the things of my forefathers, but instead it is with Christ. We have been redeemed to a new life, a new hope, a new kingdom.

“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been borne again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.”

I have reflected on the events in the news. I have listened to friends, I have heard people make claims and accusations. And my mind keeps going back. We were born into a world of sorrow and dust. And we will go back to dust. Kingdoms and empires rise and they fall. They always fall, but something remains. Children are born. Life continues. And my mind goes back to the words written by Paul, once again, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

We have been ransomed not by the might of David over Goliath, not by the passion Boaz had for Ruth, not by the righteousness and faith of Moses. But God himself come to live among us. God himself, came to live within our worldly systems of wealth and power struggles. God himself, challenged those systems and taught us to love one another just as he has loved us. He faced wrongful accusations, he faced brutality, and death. Not because he deserved it but because we do. He showed us just what we are capable of. We will kill an innocent man as long as we can profit. Jesus died and was buried. He laid separated from life for three days, and then rose from the grave. He rose to give us hope. He rose to show us that the systems of the world do not dictate the end of the story. Life will triumph over death.

We were enemies of God, and yet Jesus loved us enough. We deserved wrath, yet he gives hope. The world gives war and sorrow. Christ gives loves. Purify your souls by your obedience to the truth. Love one another earnestly from a pure imperishable heart, living and abiding in the word of God.

---

---

To Donate to Willow Creek Friends Church Click here:

To donate directly to Pastor Warner click here:

Born Again to a Living Hope

By Jared Warner

Willow Creek Friends Church

April 12, 2026

Click here to join our Meeting for Worship

Click to read in Swahili

Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili

1 Peter 1:3–9 (ESV)

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷ so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, ⁹ obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

---

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead.

Born again to a living hope.

The idea of Born again is something that has been used a great deal among Evangelicals. It has become a touch point, or a signal word to us. We listen for people to drop that phrase into a conversation so that we can have some assurance that they are safe to listen to. We have used this phrase to such a degree that I wonder if we understand its meaning.

The phrase is derived from the conversation that Jesus had with Nicodemus one night. Jesus said to him, “you must be born again to enter the kingdom”. Nicodemus asked what that phrase meant, and he asked if he must enter into his mother’s womb once again? We laugh at that statement but it is honest. We do not fully understand it. The confusion goes so far that some have said that Jesus taught reincarnation, or that we our spirit will enter another body and live life again and again until we live the saintly life. We might even laugh at that idea, but it too is an honest leap.

I assure you that Jesus was not teaching reincarnation, but the phrase means to beget again, or caused to be born again, recreated, or renewed. The phrase although it can be misunderstood, has a unique usage. The root of the word means to re-create. The senses of the word point to basically four different usages, to give a new role, new abilities, new representation or image, or renew. The sense of the word that Peter uses comes from the to renew sense, and from that sense there are six other sensations that are covered. To refresh is one, to remake or beget again, to give birth, to replace, restore, or to revitalize.

I know that for most of us, I can just list off all those things and it just goes over your head, but the reason I share this is that there is a prefix on most of those senses, re. In the English language that prefix usually means again. When we renew a subscription, we are extending the subscription for another term. If we are reforming an organization, we are taking what was once there and changing things so that it can continue into the future. The sense that Peter is using is the remake sense. It is almost like a reset. And if you play video games we know what reset means, we get a second chance to try again.

But as I consider this I was drawn to the context of the passage, Peter also speaks of various trials. The translation to English softens things. The reality is that what he is saying is you are going to face injustice, and suffering. You are going to face things in life that will be challenging. Some of those things will be reasonable, some of those things will seem like utter chaos, some of it will be understandable, and others will be injustice. We will find ourselves in hard time that are self inflicted, and we will face trials that were enacted upon us from outside forces. We will and we do suffer.

We suffer. This is often one of the factors of life that cause people to reject faith because they do not understand, we do not understand. How can a loving God allow suffering?

I was talking to my mom a few months ago, I told her that I though I would someday write a book and I would call it 3:16, and I would go through every book of the bible and write something about chapter 3 verse 16. I did this because so many of the 3:16 verses are cool. We all know John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Then there is 1 John 3:16, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” Then 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”

I love the 3:16 verses. But in our conversation, we got to Genesis 3:16. “To the woman he said, ‘I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” My mom decided at that point I should probably pick a different profession because she thought that the book would not sell at that point. But I got to studying that passage as we talked. We look at this from a labor perspective, or the actual work of giving birth. That is not the complete picture. It is more than just child birth it is child bearing or motherhood. It is the work of raising a child. Then there is that weird your desire shall be contrary to your husband part. I do not know if this happens at your house, but have you noticed that fathers and mothers tend to do things differently when it comes to children? I do not remember wrestling my mom, but I do remember my dad tossing me around. I also remember my mom yelling at him when she saw me flying through the air.

There is pain and suffering in raising a child. Yes it is a complete joy, but every scrap makes our own knees hurt. Every tear we want to take on ourselves so that they do not have to suffer. But we cannot take their pain. We instead suffer with them.

But if we look at the work of bearing children, we can then look at the next verse and see that the judgment given to Adam also includes labor. “Cursed is the ground because of you, in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust and to dust you shall return.”

Suffering is the consequences of the desire of trusting our wisdom instead of the wisdom of God. Suffering is a result of our actions. Some of that suffering is intentional and some is unintentional. Sometimes in our best efforts to be wise we have opened ourselves up to greater trouble.

I was watching a youtube video while I was working about the history of sugar. I did not realize that there was a history of sugar, but I was proven wrong. There was a point in time where doctors thought sugar was miraculous. They would prescribe for various ailments, and one of the things they prescribed it for was to clean your teeth. At that point I stopped working and diverted all my attention to the video. We as humanity once thought that sugar was something that would protect and clean our teeth. I am sure you are not surprised at the unintentional consequence to that. Nearly every emerging technology is seen as being amazing at first. We want to apply it to nearly everything. And in that excitement there are unintended consequences. Pain relief is important in medicine, but can often have consequences. Using a computer is nearly a necessity now but if you use it all the time you end up with bad posture and carpal tunnel syndrome. The automobile is connected to an increase of lead poisoning. The industrial revolution changed industry yet air pollution was the result. Unintended consequences from human action, that result in human suffering. We needed the technology, we use the technology, but we must recognize that we have caused many problems in our search for wisdom.

Our labors often result in suffering. And Peter says we are going and are facing suffering. Suffering of many kinds and from many sources. Yet he does not say this is unfair. He instead tells us to rejoice.

I struggle to rejoice in the midst of suffering. I do not like being sick. I lose sleep over many different stresses in my life. I used to work nights, and after doing that it is like my body’s default settings were changed and whenever I get stressed out my internal clock gets switched again. And this just leads to more stress, anxiety, and suffering usually in the form of a migraine. But Peter says rejoice.

He says rejoice because we have been born again, recreated, renewed, given a new chance. Rejoice because we have been made into something new born to something different. Living Hope. God has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

I want us to just reflect on this for a moment today. I have given several Easter sermons over the years twenty-three years I have been a pastor, about twenty I think. Over the course of those years I have reflected often on the resurrection, and there is a question I have often asked myself over the course of my contemplations. “Do I believe in the resurrection?” I want to say a simple yes. But then another question comes to mind, “If I do believe, what does that mean?”

I struggle with this, because the implications are vast. If we believe in the resurrection, if we believe that Jesus rose on the third day in literal physical form, should it not change something in our hearts and minds?

As I think about that I have often reflected on what lead to the need for the resurrection. What was Jesus doing that put him into that situation in the first place. Since I have read a great deal of theology I can say he had to be crucified so that he could be our propitiation, he needed to become sin for us so that he could satisfy the wrath of God. I can speak of several things about why Jesus had to die, but what was he doing that inspired the Religious leaders and the Roman government to take such a drastic action? He was faced injustice head on.

In our lives we often suffer. And often we absorb that suffering as our lot in life. There is nothing necessarily wrong with that. Paul tells us that he has learned to be content in all situations, rich or poor, well fed or hungry. We can be content. We must endure our suffering. But Jesus did not just endure. He spoke boldly against the hypocrisy of religious leaders. He said to them that they burdened their disciples with great loads that they themselves did not carry. And then he would cry out to the people, come all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. The meaning of that is that he did not have a lot of rules to follow, just one really. Love God with everything you have and are, and love your neighbor as yourself. He called them out on their hypocrisy because they did make a bunch of rules, they interpreted scripture and instead of finding the teaching or wisdom of God, they found methods of exploitation.

But the religious leaders were not the only people that felt threatened. Rome was also concerned. Jesus inspired people, his miraculous healings attracted attention, and because of that crowds would form wherever he went. The towns and villages were not huge in the first century. Yet thousands of people would crowd in around him. I used to work in retail security, and crowd control was a major part of that job. We would spend months devising plans to handle one singular day, the day after Thanksgiving. If plans were not carefully made, trouble would be the end result. Crowds are scary when you are tasked with keeping peace. And when over five thousand people randomly show up in one area, something little could spark an all out riot.

Jesus fed over five thousand people with five loaves and two fish. Imagine the emotions of that crowd. Imagine what would happen if after they all ate, that man then said march right not into Jerusalem and take it. The Romans were scared and looking for some way to prevent that from happening. Then one day Jesus went into the temple and gave the religious leaders and overlords both a reason. Jesus walked into the court of the Gentiles, the place that the people of all nations could come and worship the one true God. And scattered throughout that courtyard, were pens with sheep and tables where people would convert currency. There was this conspiracy among the righteous to take advantage of the people wanting to worship God, exploiting faith for gain. Jesus cried out that my father’s house is a place of prayer and you made into a den of robbers. And he began to snap a whip in the air scaring the livestock, and overturning the tables of the money changers. Silver and gold was flying and scattering. The poor were diving onto the ground to gather what they could, and the rich were doing the same to save their potential losses. Chaos ensued. And suddenly the righteous and the powerful had a common purpose.

Jesus stood up against injustice. He called out the hypocrisy, he challenged the philosophies of the government. And those that had power felt threatened. They crucified Jesus because of their own desires of power and control. Jesus died so that the rich could stay rich. He died so that the poor would stay poor. He died so that the exploiters could continue to extort their victims. Jesus died so that the wisdom of this world, the suffering of this world, the sin of this world could survive. Jesus became sin for us. And he carried the burden of that sin to the cross. He died and was buried. Hope was lost.

According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Jesus died so that the world systems could continue. But he rose again so that they would crumble.

We are born anew to a living hope, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation read to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice. In this we rejoice. Because Jesus lives we know that though we suffer now, it will not last forever. Though we face trials now, it will not be the end. We have something better, something pure, something beautiful just beyond the horizon.

Our suffering is not in vain. It is through the suffering that we obtain the prize in Jesus. It is through the suffering. We gain something invaluable. Hope.

Jesus once said that the poor would always be with you, he also said that those poor are blessed. We often struggle with that thought. We struggle because something has been lost in the context of time. The poor, does not only mean those that lack finances and wealth, it also means those that lack power and influence. In ancient cultures, the rich ruled, because the rich were the government. Everything belonged to the Emperor or the king and if you had wealth or power it was because the ruler allowed it. And the rulers of the Gentiles would lord it over their subjects. That is not so among us, Jesus said. The rich are not blessed because they have their reward. Our focus instead should be on the one that do not have power and influence. We should care for the least of us because theirs is the kingdom. They possess the treasure that we seek. They are the ones that understand the power of hope. The rich have all they need, but the poor do not. The poor are able to recognize that they do need, they suffer.

That is where our focus should be, according to the teachings or the commands of Jesus. We can seek out power and influence here and now, but that is all we will get, here and now. Have you ever wondered why the richest people in the world are so concerned with money? Everything revolves around it, because everything in their life is focused on it. They are nothing without their money. No one would know their name, no one would care about their opinion, no one would value their input, because in the world system those that have power control the money. But the value of corporations can disappear. What was once seen as an immovable force within a society can become worthless within a short amount of time. Its perishable, defiled, fading. Walmart is being swallowed by Amazon. Emerging technology that makes life easier, gains wealth and power, then they exert control to maintain their power. But the giants will fall, suffering happens. Blessed are the poor, for they will inherit the earth.

God has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. We are born again, given another chance, a new chance, to obtain an inheritance that does not diminish, because it is based on something more valuable than the systems of the world can fathom. Hope.

People see how we respond through the trials we face. When we face those trials do we rejoice or complain? When we are in the middle of the struggle do we give up or do we continue to strive? And how do we respond to the people around us while we bear the most difficult of our burdens?

I believe in the resurrection. I believe not because someone gave me a good answer. I still struggle with the logic of that belief, and yet I believe. I believe because I saw the lives of the saints within my community. I saw the tears streaming down the face of my mother singing, “it is well with my soul” while my little sister’s body was being prepared for organ donation. I saw it when my dad got up every morning to go to work, and rushed out to the fields to work some more, so that he could pay of the debts obtained during a farm failure. I saw it the lives of students in Ukraine that lit up when they finally were able to grasp some concept of faith they had wrestled with. I saw hope in the eyes of my boys when they do the thing they love. We suffer, we face trials. But we have something greater. We have hope, and we have that hope because of the great mercy of God, who did not think equality with God was something that could be stolen, but become submitted himself and become obedient even to death on a cross. And on the third day he rose again to life. Do we believe in the living hope? Will we stand up to the injustices around us so that the poor will see that hope lives? Will we rejoice?

---

---

To Donate to Willow Creek Friends Church Click here:

To donate directly to Pastor Warner click here:

Broken Dreams Restored

By Jared Warner

Willow Creek Friends Church

April 05, 2026

Click here to join our Meeting for Worship

Click to read in Swahili

Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili

John 20:1–18 (ESV)

¹ Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. ² So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” ³ So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. ⁴ Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, ⁷ and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. ⁸ Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; ⁹ for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the disciples went back to their homes. ¹¹ But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. ¹² And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. ¹³ They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” ¹⁴ Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). ¹⁷ Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” ¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

---

“They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”

I feel that we have become so comfortable with the message around scripture, that we begin to overlook and miss things. We skip parts to get to most exciting parts. But I do not think we should do that. Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb. This is something that each of the gospels mention. Some include other women, but John only says Mary. This is why some people have entertained the idea that maybe Mary and Jesus were romantically involved. Which seems scandalous to some, but for me it is a pointless thought experiment because we cannot know. What we do know is that Mary was a disciple.

When Jesus came to their house in Bethany, Mary would sit with the other disciples at Jesus’s feet, listening and participating with the discussion. This was, in fact, scandalous, because it was not proper for a woman to be formally educated in that era of history. That does not mean that they did not learn, it was just not proper for them to participate in the group, it was not uncommon for Rabbis to teach their daughters but this was informal. Martha was also a great friend of Jesus, but she most likely being older had accepted a more traditional role within society, and she chastised her sister, going so far as demanding that Jesus put a stop to this scandalous activity of allowing her sister to learn. We forget history. We forget culture. We often just overlook that because it is no longer scandalous.

We forget that Jesus challenged commonly held cultural norms. He challenged them and said, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

What does Jesus mean when he says this? I personally believe that Jesus was honoring and encouraging Martha. She loved serving the guests, she found meaning and purpose in that role. It is traditional sure, but for her it was her calling. Mary was not like Martha, scripture often depicts her as being much more forward and active. Martha was anxious not about the service, she was more than capable of serving the guests and could probably have organized a party at a moment’s notice. She was anxious about what people might think. She was worried about how people might regard her sister. She was worried about her sister’s spirit getting hurt by others. “Martha, Martha you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.”

What is the one thing? Listening to the calling within your life. Finding the one thing that inspires, fuels your passion, and gets you excited. That one thing is becoming the person you were created to be.

Mary chose the good portion. She was listening to the spirit within her and was pursuing it. Jesus does not say that Martha was not choosing the good portion, he only says that Martha was anxious about Mary. Jesus was telling Martha that her sister was not like her, she has her own path and her own passions. We cannot make those we love fit into our story for them, they must pursue themselves.

Jesus challenges the cultural norms. He encourages those around him to consider that what we once knew may not be the complete story.

I want us to think about Mary today. I want us to remember all the times in our lives that someone told us we cannot do something. How did you feel in that moment? When I was a child I was told that I could never serve in the military, at the time I did not care, but I loved jets and rockets. I would get up early on a Saturday morning and watch the Right Stuff. I loved to watch the science and the passion of the test pilots and I wanted to be an astronaut. Needless to say I was watching the Artemis II launch because I took me back to those Saturday mornings. But then it dawned on me, all of those heroes of mine were in the military, and I would not be able to follow in their footsteps. It broke my spirit. For quite a while I just drifted. Nothing really got me excited. Genetics almost did, but I soon lost interest in that too.

When I was in high school, I took several college classes as dual credits. One of those classes was English Composition. I struggled with that class. I would stay up late at night with my uncle pouring over each of my assignments, writing and rewriting everything. I thought it was well written but when the paper was returned to me, I would have a D. I used take pride in my intelligence, but I felt like a failure. The teacher even wrote on one of the assignments that I would never accomplish much if writing was involved.

That teacher broke me. It sent me into a spiral. I did not know what I wanted to do, I once thought I would pursue genetic engineering but I threw that idea out the window because what if I had to write something? So I did what I thought I could. I studied crop science and thought I would become a crop consultant, but I hated it. Then I went on a mission trip to Ukraine, a trip to teach English of all things. And something ignited again. I came home, and entered ministry. I found that I was missing certain skills in that field, so I enrolled into a graduate program. I did not even seem to remember that a master’s degree would require writing, because I needed something more. The interesting thing is that the professors in that program were not like the teacher I had in high school. They comment about my unique style of writing, and they encouraged me to continue to pursue it. Just so you know the one that made that comment is going to be the keynote speaker at Yearly Meeting this summer, so I encourage you to attend if you are able.

One teacher crushed my spirit, and another taught me to dream again.

This is what I want us to see in Mary. She goes to the tomb that morning after the Sabbat, and she walks to the tomb and the stone had been taken away. She sees this thing and she drops everything and she runs. She runs to Simon Peter and the other disciple. She just bursts in and immediately starts to speak. Again, stop and think about this, she is an unmarried woman going directly into the group of disciples and she speaks with them as an equal. And these men do not scoff at her or question what she has shared with them. They know who she is and they trust her. When she says, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” they believe her.

They instantly respond. Peter jumps up, probably knocking multiple things to the floor, and because he is impulsive and could probably be diagnosed with ADHD, he probably let the door bagging open. And the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, followed closely. And probably the most hilarious verse of this passage, “but the other disciple out ran Peter and reached the tomb first.” Who does that? It is hilarious because it is probably a running joke surrounding the early church, and it was saved for generations in the pages of scripture. Proving that there is and always has been some healthy forms of competition.

They listened to Mary. They heard the pain in her voice. They heard the voice of this passionate woman that defied social norms and joined them in the discussion, crack in horror and fear. Jesus gave her permission to pursue her dreams. He gave her a place within the community not merely as a servant but as an equal. She loved this teacher because he did not limit her, instead he encouraged her. The other disciples heard that crack, and lightening pulsed through their nerves, and they could not contain themselves, and they went immediately to that tomb, for a couple of reasons. The first is to protect their friends, both Jesus and Mary. And because they like Mary we once individuals in the cogs of society. They were once men bound by cultural norms. They were common men. Peter was a fisherman, and the other disciple, the one tradition calls John, was also the son of a fisherman. They had left their nets to follow Jesus. They were told by their society that they were not special, that they needed to just go home and do what their family has always done. They were rejected by the teachers, they were labeled common, but Jesus called them. He saw something within them that they may not have even seen themselves. He ignited a flame, gave them a chance, and encouraged them to pursue something everyone else said they were not cut out for. They ran because they too were seen by this man, this teacher, this messiah and he became everything to them.

What would become of them if the body was stolen? Where they being framed? Where the gentiles desecrating their faith like they did during the days of the Maccabees?

We often forget the despair the disciples would have felt. We often forget that the moment the tomb was sealed, their hope and dreams were also dead and buried. We have been there. A word was said without thinking and our dreams come crashing down. An email lands in your inbox and your heart sinks. You open the mail box and see another bill and payday is still a week away.

John outran Peter, he stops at the entrance and looks inside. He sees the linen cloths lying there, and he is incapable to move, paralyzed. Peter came, following him, and he went into the tomb. I imagine he probably hit his head against the ceiling in the rush to see. He too sees the cloths and then he sees something else. He sees the face cloth, or napkin, folded up in a place by itself.

This puzzled them. St John Chrysostom, the Bishop of Constantinople, also known as the Golden Mouth, says this about this event:

They see the linen clothes lying there, which was a sign of the resurrection. For if they had removed the body, they would not have stripped it first, nor, if any had stolen it, would they have taken the trouble to remove the napkin and roll it up and lay it in a place by itself apart from the linens. They would have taken the body as it was. Therefore, John tells us by anticipation that it was buried with much myrrh, which glues linen to the body not less firmly than lead. He tells us this so that when you hear that the napkin lay apart from the linens, you may not endure those who say that he was stolen. For a thief would not have been so foolish as to expend so much effort on a trifling detail.ⁱ

Chrysostom, served as bishop within a generation from when the Nicene Creed was formed. This was the one statement of faith, the only statement of faith the entire Church agreed upon. Over 1000 years ago, they already faced the same criticism we face today, where is the body, surely it was just stolen. And John, both Johns actually, point out that had anyone stolen the body, or taken the body they would not have taken the time to unwrap it. Chrysostom points out that as they wrap a body they would have been using a mixture of myrrh, which would have basically made the wrappings as stiff as concrete. And the fact that they mention the face cloth folded in a place by itself expresses some token of extreme care.

In burial, the traditions focus on honoring the body. The face would have been covered to preserve dignity, while the women washed the body as they could not cast a lingering on the face. So the face would have been the first part of the body cleansed and covered. Every other strip of linen would have attached itself to this cloth. Yet it was carefully folded by itself. When looking at other story among this culture saying that when a master leaves a folded napkin on the table it indicates that, “I am not finished yet”, or “I am coming back”. Where a wadded up napkin would indicate they are done. This is a story, but a good story. The disciples saw the care of the different fabrics and it indicated something to them.

John, the other disciple, saw and believed. They were at the grave of Lazarus, who was raised from the dead, but Lazarus was bound by the grave clothes. But here was something different. The body of Jesus was not bound, and the care given to the clothes resembled the care of those that put them on the body. They believed but they did not yet understand. They went back to their homes, but Mary remained.

Mary stood there weeping. And only then does she stoop to gaze within the tomb. Peter and John saw only the clothes, Mary however sees two angels sitting at where the head and feet should have been. They ask her, “Woman, why are you Weeping?” She responds that, “That they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Then she turns away. She sees angels and even that does not comfort her grieving heart.

She turns and literally bumps into Jesus and He asks her the same question. And Mary being accosted by angels and Jesus gets a bit snappy and she says, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” She is basically telling the supposed gardener to give him back. So Jesus being who he is, calls her by name, “Mary”. One simple word. Mary.

Mary, being as impulsive as Peter, screams and squeals as she cries Rabboni. And Jesus tells her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to to my brothers and say to them…”

I have watched many videos of soldiers coming home from deployment and surprising there wives or mothers. I am sure you have seen them too. This is absolutely the reaction Mary had in this moment. I have often heard people say that Jesus commanded her not to touch him, but I think the meaning is more like Mary I can’t breath, let go! And once she stops hugging him, he tells her to go. This is a commanding verb. He commissions her to go to my brothers, and he commissions her to say or to speak to them, the resurrection Gospel.

Mary, like all of us was inspired, she pursued her dreams, she was encouraged by loving mentors, and she had her dreams crushed. Mary like all of us lived within a culture telling her to stop, telling her she is not good enough, or not able. But Jesus gave her the honor to be the first apostle.

What does this tell us? Dreams can die. Hope can dwindle. People around us can be insensitive and cruel. They might even take every remembrance of that passion away. But hope cannot be bound. It cannot be buried forever. Hope will return. Jesus suffered, because he challenged the norms of society. He pointed out their hypocrisy and injustice and they made him pay with his life. That is often the case with power seekers. They want to silence and control. They want to keep those that shine light into their darkness out of view. They bury it. Cast confusion and spin stories. But truth and hope will rise. And those that were once oppressed will be given greater honor. They will be the first to stand and proclaim, “I have seen the Lord.”

Jesus is risen. Hope has returned. And with a folded napkin he has proclaimed, “It is done”. Death no longer binds, it instead opens up to new life. Hope is no longer buried, it instead empowers all the more. And inspiration has returned.

Let us go now, praising the resurrection of hope. In Jesus Christ humanity is restored, and we can once again strive. We can once again stand in the light without shame and proclaim I am a child of God, because Jesus has ascended to his father and our father, his God and ours.

i Elowsky, Joel C., editor. John 11–21. InterVarsity Press, 2007, pp. 340–41.

---

---

To Donate to Willow Creek Friends Church Click here:

To donate directly to Pastor Warner click here: