sermons

Our King rides a Donkey (Sermon March 29, 2015 Palm Sunday)

John 12:12–16 (NRSV)

Black ink and watercolors on paper bound between wood boards covered with dark brown kidskin.
Getty Center
Los Angeles, CA USA

Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

(Mt 21:1–11; Mk 11:1–11; Lk 19:28–40)

¹² The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³ So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna!

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord—

the King of Israel!”

¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written:

¹⁵    “Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion.

Look, your king is coming,

sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

¹⁶ His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him.

Today we celebrate the announcement of the king! Jesus during the festival came into the city of David while people cheered and waved palms celebrating a new era of history. The restored kingdom of God!

Every year we celebrate this day because it is one of the greatest days of the year within our faith. I wonder if the power of this day has lost some of its splendor through the commonality. At first we cannot forget the significance of the proclamation.

The crowds went out to meet the parading disciples in the streets of Jerusalem. The palms were there for a very important reason, the palms were used to provide a roof over the heads of the travelers as they made temporary shelters as they made their pilgrimages to the festival. The amount of travelers in the city would have ranged between a 100,000 to a million people depending on who you read, but the reality is that the city was packed full. People were setting up shelters wherever they could, along the roadways and in the desolate places outside of town. People returning to the city of David to celebrate the Passover from the far eastern regions of the Persian empire, the western expanse of the Roman Empire, and even people from the heart of Ethiopia. Dispersed children of Israel as well as curious gentiles that feared and respected the God of Israel all traveling and camping around the great city of God. Tabernacles were built to protect these weary travelers from the elements as they sought to draw closer to God.

The significance of the palms runs even deeper because they are a symbol of victory in the ancient world. When ancient warriors would return home from battle the populous would wave palms in the air in celebration. This was done throughout the ancient world, a tradition among the Hebrews as well as the gentile nations. So we have camps of people lining the streets, as they saw the disciples approaching with Jesus they began dismantling their tents, their dwellings offering all that they had available to them to honor this traveling teacher that inspired them to dream about the emerging kingdom of God all around them.

As the people began to cheer and chant, Jesus found a young donkey and rode it into the throng. While they cheered, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord— the King of Israel!” Jesus did not turn from this pronouncement but accepted it, embraced it, Jesus is the King of Israel. The imagery is strong within these words. As ancient kings and tribal leaders paraded into the villages they would wear their greatest ceremonial gear, freshly cleaned and shined, and mounted upon their finest horse. The horses would be tall and proud, their heads were held high and their feet beat into the ground in time as everyone cheered. Jesus also rode into the crowds upon a beast of burden, but there is a striking difference. Jesus did not ride on a tall and powerful warhorse breed but a donkey. This speaks volumes of the identity of the emerging kingdom of God that the crowds were hoping for. War and victory are not something one would find donkey involved in. When I was younger, there was a traveling show that would visit the communities around the area that would recruit people to engage in a game of basketball while riding on a donkey. The reason they did this was because when it comes to competition donkeys are not the stead of choice. They are stubborn, they tend to have a mind of their own, and really only mind their owners. This makes for a hilarious show as you see amateur donkey jockeys trying their hardest to coax their beast to participate in a game, but goes to show that a cavalry of donkeys would be an army of clowns. I am not saying that Jesus’ parade was humorous, but only that his chosen means of transportation was not exactly what we might expect.

Donkeys are intelligent and loyal animals that are very willing to do assist in their master’s work, but require gentle persuasion. Donkeys are used for many tasks from pulling carts and plows or bearing a load upon their backs. They are small and surefooted, but have a very powerful instinct of self-preservation. They were and are common animals, common meaning strong yet fairly inexpensive. They were not the beast used to express great wealth or power, but were the gentle beast of burden owned by the common people. A young donkey as mentioned in this passage is a donkey that is untrained, not yet fit to do work. The king of Israel, the king of kings, and lord of lords was paraded into the city of David, the jewel of Israel, upon a common unfit and untrained beast. Not a conquering warhorse, not even a strong ox, but a common donkey. What does this say about the kingdom of God?

The crowd had been waiting centuries for a king that would lead them in the ways of God, that would again bring the blessing of the Lord to their lands. They thought they had found it again as they returned from exile but they were quickly conquered again by a foe that was even worse than Babylon. They rose up and pushed the dark forces back only to be tricked into selling their security to yet another tyrannical empire. It was a cycle that continued from the beginning of their history as a nation. I say this because this all began when the people originally cried for a king to fight their battles for them and to lead them into prosperity. A king was not in God’s plan but he allowed it because the people desired a king, but God told Samuel that by asking for a king they were rejecting God as being their lord and true sovereign king.

I am not saying that the kingdom of Israel and Judah were all bad. David was a king after God’s own heart and the scriptures are filled with song of praise written by this king of Israel, but slowly the people turned from God and began to put more and more trust into the hands of their leader. Within two generations the kingdom of Israel divided and fell further from God’s intended plan where they would be his people and he would be their God. God’s plan was to be the one and only lord of their lives, but years after year they placed their trust not in God alone but in their worldly kings, who fought their battles and consumed the work of their hands.

The people wanted the warhorse but the king paraded through the crowds on a donkey. They called for a king to lead them victoriously to freedom, but they received something different. The point of the palms and donkey is that true victory comes through the common, unfit, and unlikely. The kingdom of God is not the kingdom of man.

When Jesus began to preach he said, “The kingdom of God is at hand.” This does not merely mean that it is near, but literally here all around us. It was found right where they were it was not something that had to be conquered with swords and spears but one that simply had to be seen and acknowledged. The kingdom was found in the child that was curious enough to ask the question why, it is found in the disciple seeking God under the fig tree, it was found in the synagogue and on the streets. The kingdom was found on the mats of the lame and in the hearts of the blind. The kingdom of God is at hand it is all around us, here today and unto the ages.

Why then do we not see the kingdom of God? Why does it seem that so often the kingdoms of darkness seem to overtake the kingdom of light? Why did Jesus right triumphantly through his victory parade on a donkey?

When you are able to answer that last question you will begin to see the kingdom of God. All too often skew our understandings of God to meet our desires and because of this our view of the kingdom is hampered in fog. The people wanted a king to trample their enemies so that is the king they tried to find. But in the fog around them they failed to see that the victory of their king was not in trampling the enemy but bringing them into fellowship through friendship. Our king rides a donkey.

The kingdom of God is not like the kingdoms of man. Jesus said that whoever wants to be the greatest must be a servant of all; that the first will be last and the last will be first. He said to the wealthy rulers that to enter the kingdom they must sell all they have that gave them worldly power and give it to the poor. Everything about God’s kingdom is opposite and opposed to the kingdoms of the world. Jesus rode a donkey not a warhorse.

We often miss the kingdom because our eyes are not trained on the common but on hills far away. When Jesus said that the kingdom of God is at hand he did not say that it is in the seats of power, or in a future time after death only, but all around us. It is common. It is found right here in our communities. The reason that God was grieved at the idea of Israel having a king is that this redirected the people’s eyes off of their community and placed them out on the high hills. This can distract the attention away from what God is calling us to do where we are. Often these high hills are not wrong but they can distract us. To turn the governing bodies into God fearers is important, feeding the hungry of the world is important, providing for the medical needs of the billions of humans in the world is important, but often those big goals cloud our vision and distort our view of the kingdom. I have had several friends leave the church because of distortions just like these. Some leave because they see the church as powerless to meet the great needs so they look to the powers of the world to provide for the needs. Or they turn from God because they have invested so much time and energy into a project and see just growing needs that they cannot provide for. But Jesus rode in victoriously on a donkey.

The kingdom of God is here. We will not see it in Washington or New York, in India or Ireland unless we first are able to see it right here. This is why God himself had to come to live among mankind because through Jesus’ life and teaching He showed us how to begin to see the kingdom of God where we are. It comes through making it our custom to worship Him, withdrawing to isolated places to pray, and to serve our community. It comes when we become people focused on Loving God, embracing his Holy Spirit, and living the love of Jesus with others. The kingdom can be experienced here today and forevermore when we redirect our attention away from the war horses and start looking at the donkeys.

The kingdom of God is not in a nation, but is in the individual lives of people within each community. It is built on life at a time, one individual at a time, one family at a time. We do not need to force people to conform but encourage our friends and neighbors to live a life of loving God, embracing the Holy Spirit, and living the love of Christ with others. That is the kingdom of God. It is victorious in the commonality. It is a king riding a donkey victorious.

As we enter into this time of open worship and holy expectancy I would encourage each of us to consider the image of Jesus on that common beast of burden, consider where we are looking to see and experience the Kingdom of God, and where we are investing our time and energy. Are we able to see the kingdom of God in the lives of those around us or is our vision clouded by things beyond our control? Love your enemy, pray for those that persecute you, turn the other cheek, do not worry, and care for those that cannot care for themselves these are the things Jesus calls us to do right here because that is where the kingdom of God really is and our king rides a donkey.

Living Beyond the Veil (sermon February 15, 2015)

Mark 9:2–9 (NRSV)

mid 12th century
Cappella Palatina di Palermo
Palermo, Italy

The Transfiguration

(Mt 17:1–8; Lk 9:28–36; 2 Pet 1:16–18)

² Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, ³ and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. ⁴ And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. ⁵ Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁶ He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. ⁷ Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” ⁸ Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

The Coming of Elijah

(Mt 17:9–13)

⁹ As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

2 Corinthians 4:3–6 (NRSV)

³ And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴ In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵ For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Living Beyond the Veil

One of the most annoying speeches that every child has ever heard when they embark on a much anticipated field trip has to be, “Remember when you are out there you represent your school.” I always wondered why they said that it was not like any of us really cared what reputation the school had. It was school that is it, we had to go and we finally got a chance to break free and live a little. Of course along with that speech came the realization that if we did misbehave we would not get to go on another fieldtrip for a very long time. But what do people see when they look at us?

Each of us though we are unique individuals, still reflect the community in which we live. We reflect the culture that our parents, our friends, our schools, our civic organizations, and our religious background have given us. We mirror the things that we have seen and as others come into our spheres of influence we reflect our culture onto them and then they in turn reflect it back. What do people see when they look at us?

Paul in today’s reading tells us something very profound. He speaks about a veil saying, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.” Think about that for a moment. Initially we think that those that are perishing are the ones that cannot see, but that is not what he is saying he is saying even if our gospel is veiled. He is saying that we are being hidden, or more accurately we are hiding from those that are perishing. Covering the gospel, blending in to the culture around us, hiding, but why? Paul says that those in the world have an excuse, “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” They are blind and unable to see the light, but this does not explain why we ourselves are veiled.

The veil is something that our culture does not fully understand, because the western world has done away with this practice, but there are cultures that would understand quite well what image Paul is trying to portray. We look at these cultures and we immediately judge them and begin to complain that they are mistreating a segment of their population, and to be honest I would probably agree with you because I live in a culture that does not appreciative the veil. But the veil is there for a purpose, to hide the beauty. To keep what is behind the veil secret from all but the one it is intended for. There is a barrier between the veiled and the revealed, a barrier that cuts off the opportunity of friendship because the one behind the veil is hidden from the outside.

The physical veil is not used in our culture but we still hide. We hide our true selves behind many different masks, we hide behind walls that shield ourselves from intimacy because we are afraid to be vulnerable. We keep our guard up, hoping that we can trick those that look at us into believing some sort of acceptable character of who we truly are. We hide because if someone really knew me then would they find me acceptable? Would they accept me if they knew I had struggles, would they love me if they knew my past, would they even talk to me if they knew what I really thought, would they like me if they knew me? Before we even give them a chance we cut them off, we live behind a veil.

Paul tells us, “For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake.” The danger of an individualistic society like ours is that there is such a strong desire to be seen in a good light. We want to stand on our own, we want to be seen as successful among whatever group we identify with. The funny thing about that is that within that very statement there is a paradox. We want to be individuals yet we want to be accepted within a community. We want be seen as successful in ourselves, yet under the standards of a community. Maybe we have gotten things a bit backward. We are unique individuals, gifted in various ways but it is the community that honors those gifts. Before we get all defensive, just think about it for a moment. If you have a million dollars but nowhere to spend it, and no one to share it with, you have nothing of value. Our currency and our ability to earn wealth only has value if we are living within a community. Outside of a community the only thing of value are the things that keep you alive: food, shelter, water, air. It is in a community that culture develops and that the uniqueness of individuals can be celebrated and honored. The ability to write a novel has no benefit without others who want to read, our businesses would have no meaning if there were not a community to buy our product or services. So what Paul is speaking about is that instead of focusing of ourselves we should focus on Jesus. Instead of using our uniqueness for our own gain we should use it to proclaim Christ.

This is the sticker though, if we do not use all that we have to proclaim Christ within the community, we are veiled and we are being ruled by the gods of this world. Veiled by definitions of success that have no meaning to Christ. Veiled by the desires of being accepted by others when Christ is calling us to do something totally different. Veiled by our culture and interoperating everything about ourselves through the eyes of that culture. Yes, we are veiled. When we focus our attention on things outside of Christ we are veiling the gospel, we are veiling it with ourselves and our desires instead of letting the light of Christ shine though us. We are stepping up to be the master of our universe instead of submitting to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Let us look now at the passage in Mark, where Jesus is up on the mountain with Peter, James and John. They went up there to pray in an isolated place because that is the rhythm of life that Jesus was trying to teach them and during that time of prayer something amazing happened. There with Jesus the disciples saw Moses and Elijah standing beside him and Jesus was dressed in garments that were whiter than human hands had the ability to bleach. They were shocked and amazed, they did not know how to even begin to grasp what was going on around them. So Peter pipes up because he has this annoying habit of having to speak in awkward situations. “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here, let us build three tents…” There are veiled words coming out of Peter’s mouth. Words that reflect the culture and the community that he is wishing to impress. Jesus is there standing with Moses and Elijah and Peter says Rabbi, teacher let us build tents and stay here.

We may not catch it immediately. Moses is seen by the culture as being the great law giver, the first and most important of all the rabbis. It was through Moses that the very first teachings of God were given to the tribes of Israel, the first interpretations of greater meaning which allowed them to build a community and thrive as a culture. Moses is the greatest of men. Then there is Elijah. This is the greatest of all the prophets, whose name means my God is Yahweh. Elijah challenged the false gods of the world, called fire down from heaven to prove that God is God, and was carried up to heaven without tasting death. Moses gave them faith, Elijah defended their faith. Moses establish a people, Elijah preserved and saved the people. The greatest of men together, one represents the law, the other the prophets. These two men define the faith of Israel. So Peter sees this and begins to think Jesus is equal to these men let us build on this.

Peter was looking at this through the eyes of the culture Jesus is equal to Moses, the law, and equal to Elijah the prophet the third great era of Jewish history is about to begin building on the law and the prophets. Though this is not entirely wrong it is not exactly what the scene was showing. Moses and Elijah were standing there talking with Jesus. Moses the Law giver was speaking with Jesus. Elijah the great prophet was speaking to Jesus. They were praying, seeking the advice and council of Jesus, not Jesus seeking guidance from them. It was Moses and Elijah that came to meet Jesus on that mountain. You might say but they were dead for centuries how could they have been speaking to Jesus, but that is the true mystery. When we enter in prayer we enter into the realm of God which is not bound by the same dimensions of man. What these three disciples were seeing that day was the divine nature of Jesus. But they were unable to see through the veils before their eyes, and they assumed equality with men, not equality with God was being revealed to them. So when Peter spoke God rebuked. “This is my Son, the Beloved; Listen to Him.”

The veils we live behind are defined by our culture but Paul is calling us to partake of a different kind of culture. Instead of cultures defined by the gods of the world, a culture defined by the one true God who created the heavens and the earth. And God is telling the disciples and us to listen. Moses sought the council of Jesus and from that council the nation was establish, but mankind did not fully follow and they began to listen to the gods of the world. They twisted and perverted the words of God to such a degree that it became necessary for the prophets to emerge to set things right. Elijah sought the council of Jesus because he felt alone in a world that rejected God. From the teaching of both these men, the rabbinical Jewish faith that was seen in Jesus day emerged after it grew in exile. Both versions of the faith began very similar there was an awakening of faith and people responded but over time veils emerged and interpretations began to twist and turn until the faith that was once so powerful coming from the very mouth of God began to look as dark as the world it was created to redeem. Then Jesus came saying that the Kingdom of God is at hand. Calling us to follow Him. On that mountain we were not called to follow just another great teacher but to follow God Himself.

So why do we live behind veils? Jesus, God Himself, came showing us the life and lifestyle he created us to live in. I life of worship, prayer, and service to others. Yet we live behind veils. Do we not believe that Jesus can redeem? Do we not believe that Jesus can save and reconcile the world to himself? Do we not trust that he can do what he promises to do? Will we not entrust our lives to the one that can conquer the sting of death? The veils we live behind speak volumes of the culture we wish to reflect, cultures that are ruled by the gods of the world: god that have taken on different names but they still remain the same, gods of war, gods of greed, gods of sensuality. Elijah stood against those gods and said “My God is the one true God.” Moses stood against those gods and demanded that his people be released from bondage. These two men met Jesus on that mountain across the dimensions of time, and God tells us listen to him. Drop the veils and become a people of God. A people that is defined by loving Him and loving their neighbor. A people that desires to participate in the lifestyle He himself lived with us, a lifestyle of worship, prayer, and service. A lifestyle loving God, embracing the Holy Spirit, and living the love of Christ with others. It is not ourselves but Jesus that we should reflect, it is not our culture but the culture of Christ that we should seek to reflect and expand. Let us let that light shine in the darkness.

Cycles of Belief (Sermon January 25, 2015)

Mark 1:14–20 (NRSV)

The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry

(Mt 4:12–17; Lk 4:14–15)

¹⁴ Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

(Mt 4:18–22; Lk 5:1–11)

¹⁶ As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” ¹⁸ And immediately they left their nets and followed him. ¹⁹ As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. ²⁰ Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

There are times that I seem to be a bit hard on the church, and I know that last week might have been one of those days where that was the tone. I am hard only because I love the church. I love this community and this Meeting so deeply that it is really quite hard to explain. Yesterday during the discipleship training session that we hosted here at willow creek, we were actually challenged quite deeply about many things. There is the challenge because of the great love that our area and yearly meeting have for the local meetings. But right along with the challenges comes encouragement. Someone asked me yesterday about how we came to this church, and I actually surprised myself with the answer that I gave. I said that ever since I felt the call to become a pastor, this Meeting was at the center. I knew early on that eventually I would come to Kansas City to minister among each of you. They looked at me in shock so I went on to explain a bit about why.

When I first attended this Meeting, there were people that immediately welcomed me, there were people that encouraged me, people that encouraged me to explore the calling that I felt God was leading in my mind this Meeting was exactly the type of meeting I wanted to work with. This Meeting took a broken, discouraged young man that thought he was no longer really welcome in a church and you showed him that not only was a broken person welcome, but that that very same broken person was important and necessary for the kingdom of God. In the relatively short amount of time I have been associated with this Meeting I watched a small church encourage and guide two pastors while they explored their callings. So in my mind in my heart this Meeting is home, this is where God spoke the loudest to me, this is where I really fell in love not only with my wife, but with the people of God. I may be hard but I am hard because I know what can be done through each of you and I do not want us to forget the most important aspect of why we are here.

Why are we here? Why do we meet together every first day of the week in this place at this time? We are here because the kingdom of God is near.

The passage we read today is often consider the calling of the first disciples, but it could also be called the first message of Jesus, at least first message recorded by Mark. What I mean by that is that this was the first message that Jesus presented that caught the attention of this particular Gospel writer. It was the first message that attracted his attention and changed the course of history as he knew it. Was it the literal first, we will never truly know but what we do know is that this simple message lays the foundation for every other message that Jesus gave. A simple message, an introduction and invitation to a journey that changed the perspective of faith.

“The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news.” One sentence, one brief statement that is simple and complex at the same time. This one statement tells us why we are here, where we came from and where we are going. So much in nineteen words.

The time is fulfilled. One could also say just as easily that a new era is being defined, and the next chapter is starting to be written. Change is one the horizon and through this change that everything that had gone one up to this point, is clarified more fully. The time is fulfilled. Jesus says this just after John the Baptizer is arrested, which most likely caused a stir in the community. John was seen as a prophet, the beginning of the next era, but John himself said no, that there is one coming that will be greater than he, one whose sandals he was not qualified to untie. John stood in the gap, a voice crying in the wilderness to repent.

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. The idea of a kingdom is a scope of influence. It is not necessarily a nation or state, but a way of life. It is the realm in which the king provides protection and encouragement. Picture in your mind a kingdom, for most of us when we visualize a kingdom we see a great walled fortress with high towers. It is within those wall that the king would sit, and the scope of influence would be the area seen from the tower. An ancient king could only influence the areas watched from the towers, at times they may gain more towers to extend the kingdom out but whoever controls the tower rules the land. I make mention because that is what near suggests. The term we translate as near means close, or all around. The towers are secured and the kingdom stretches from within the walls out across the hills and plains from horizon to horizon. It is everywhere all around us.

One era is closing, opening into the next, into which the influence of God stretches from horizon to horizon. Building on everything in the past but looking toward the future. The influence of God is all around us, but only if the towers are occupied by ones under the influenced and directed by God. Think about that for a moment. Picture that scene in your mind. Now we will get into the heart of the message, repent.

Repent is more than just turning around, but it is a complete change of thought and attitude. Repentance is not a onetime event but it is a fluid and flexible concept. Our minds, our thoughts, and our attitudes can often take different paths, at times they can change countless times throughout a day. When Jesus says repent at this moment he is saying let your mind be flexible and open to change, allow your life to be molded into a vessel that can meet the situations at hand.

Believe. The message presented by John the Baptist and the message of Jesus are very similar. Both state the closing of one era and the beginning of another. Both call people to repent or change their thoughts and attitudes, but John cries to repent and be baptized, where Jesus calls us to repent and believe. How often have we thought about the difference between the two messages?

A few months ago I mentioned that there are different levels of belief. The first is knowledge, then trust and then entrust. There is a vast difference between each of these stages of belief. The first, knowledge, is basic understanding where we have thought about it and find it to be true. Trust is a step on down the path. To believe in a trusting way, we have knowledge that we find to be true, and we act on that knowledge, we find it trust worthy, but we still have some hesitations. Entrusting belief takes us well beyond knowledge and into a life fully immersed in God. We find Him trustworthy and are willing to put our very existence into the hands of God. Very few move to this level of belief because it requires that we let the other direct our paths, and trust that our wellbeing will be taken care of. Belief is relational.

But what are we to believe, what are we to entrust our wellbeing to? The good news. This is a cycle, which takes us back to the beginning of the statement. The good news is that the kingdom of God is near, it is at hand it is all around us as far as we can see, and we should repent change our thoughts and attitudes to allow ourselves to entrust our wellbeing to the good news. Which takes us back to the beginning again and again, deeper and deeper, drilling down into the very core of who we are until every aspect of our life is totally and completely entrusted to God.

Jesus speaks this simple message and he walks along the shores of the sea and he comes across Simon and his brother throwing out their nets. Simon and Andrew made their living casting nets, their entire day is spent tossing the net into the water, pulling it back, and repeating. It is a cyclical job. Throwing the net, pulling it in, emptying and repeating. It is hard work, never really knowing what lies beneath the surface but hoping that something of value is pulled in so that you can support and feed the family. Jesus watches them perform their cyclical task, and then invites them to something different, a change in their thoughts and attitudes. He invites them to follow Him and instead of casting nets and pulling in fish they could then participate in the cycles or holy rhythm of Christ. “I will make you fish for people.”

The group then walks a bit and they come across James and John. He again make the same invitation to walk with him in this cyclical relationship that will continuously drill down until every aspect of their life is fully entrusted to God their true King.

Why are we here? We are here because the kingdom of God is near. It is all around us and Jesus is calling us to repent and believe. He is calling us to ever deeper aspect of our relationship with him so that we move from knowledge to trust, until we can entrust every aspect of our life and wellbeing to Him. And when we do that He says we will bring others in. It is a cycle that drills deeper but at the same time grows and expands gathering more and more strength which turns the cycle again and again and with each turn we are conformed just a bit more to the image of Christ. We are here because when we meet with each other the spinning of the cycle in each of our lives begins to encourage those around us giving more energy to continue the cycle. We meet together to help each other adjust attitudes and change our minds so we can dig just a bit deeper, entrusting just a bit more of our lives to the king. With each turn our life goes deeper, wider, and we are then stretched upward toward glory as if we are atop a strong tower looking out over the plains and hills seeing those around you so we can cast out the nets and encourage another into the very same cycle.

We are here to continue the cycle, to entrust just a bit more, and to encourage each other and those outside to Repent and draw them into friendships so we can encourage again. It is a simple message but one that is incredibly hard to live out, because each of us have areas that are filled with hardness that threaten to stop the cycle in at any moment. I had one of those hard places several years ago. A place in my life that was hard and not entrusted to the king, yet there was someone here that help. And encouraged me just a little bit at a time.

I am often hard on the church because I want us to push through those hard rocky areas together, to turn those cycles and entrust more of our lives to God. I want us to follow him in that holy rhythm of Prayer, Worship, and service. So that we can repent, change our attitudes so we can conform to the spirit and become a people totally immersed in loving God, Embracing the Holy Spirit and living the love of Christ with others.

As we enter into this time of open worship and holy expectancy consider the message that Jesus presented, consider the message that we are giving. Is it continuing the cycles or stopping the drill. Is the cycle going deeper and wider or has the cycle stopped in a place short of total belief?