A Contrast in Opinions

March 30, 2025

After all these years and as many times as I’ve heard this story, I never knew what the word “prodigal” meant, I had to look it up.  And it turns out that there are two related meanings for the word “prodigal”.  The first definition is “spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant.”  And the second definition is “having or giving something on a lavish scale.”  I never knew that.

Today’s story might be familiar to some of us.  A father with two sons had his youngest son come to him and ask him if he could have his inheritance now, while his father was still alive.  In our culture, we might find that request to be a bit unusual, though possibly pragmatic depending on circumstances.  We are accustomed to children leaving home, possibly moving far away, and making a life for themselves, and often, parents do help their children with these initial expenses. 

But having a child leave the home in first century culture was not only unusual, it was an affront to the family.  The youngest son’s actions in our story today were shocking and just incredibly rude.  N. T. Wright explains, “The shame that this would bring on the family would be added to the shame that the son had already brought on the father by asking for his share before the father’s death; it was the equivalent of saying ‘I wish you were dead’.” [1]  Scott Hoezee is a little less charitable when he says, “Please note: the younger son is a jerk.” [2]  Nevertheless, his father bore the insult and agreed to give his son his share of the inheritance.  Our text tells us that the son “got together all he had”, probably meaning that he sold his share and consolidated his earnings and left for a “distant country”. 

In that distant country the son squandered his resources.  While his older brother will later insist that his younger brother spent his money in illicit ways, our text here gives no hint of that.  The two Greek words διασκορπίζω (dia-skor-pee-zo), meaning to scatter or disperse and ἀσώτως (ah-so-tos) meaning recklessly or wastefully give us a picture not of debauchery, but of irresponsibility.  And so, before long the younger son faces the consequences of his carelessness.  There’s a great Billie Holiday song that became Blood Sweat and Tears first big hit, and the chorus of “God Bless the Child” says, “And when you’ve got money, you’ve got lots of friends crowding around your door.  But when the money’s gone, and all your spending ends, they won’t be around anymore.” [3]

Our younger son found this out the hard way.  And with spectacularly lousy timing, his money ran out just as a famine hit the land where he was living.  Now, famines cause recessions, and recessions result in unemployment and a greatly reduced availability of decent jobs.  And so, our son takes what work he can get… a job feeding the pigs of a Gentile farmer.  The wages were so low that the son was starving and wished that he could eat the carob pods that he was feeding to the pigs.  And in his hunger, and in his disgust at feeding these unclean animals, the son reached what the 12 step programs refer to as “rock bottom”. 

Our text tells us that “he came to his senses” and in that process, learned a couple of things about himself.  First, he realized that his father took much better care of his hired hands than the son’s current employer did.  Second, he realized that he had sinned against his father.  When society expected him to stay home, to support and to care for his family, and to Honor his parents, he had done none of these things.  And further in failing to honor his father, he broke one of the commandments and sinned against God as well.  Lastly, he realized that he had abdicated his position of privilege and was no longer worthy of being called his father’s son.  But still, with an empty stomach, he decided to go home in the hopes that his father would allow him to work as one of the hired hands. 

On his long journey home.  I can’t imagine that he didn’t spend days or even weeks walking all day every day.  And I would imagine that a lot of that travel time was spent rehearsing the speech that he was going to give his father, accepting responsibility for his actions, apologizing to his father for having treated him so poorly, and begging for a job as his father’s hired hand.  Garland tells us that, “It would not have been unrealistic for the father to kill the son rather than the fattened calf.  The son fit the category of a rebellious son, a glutton and a drunkard, who [according to Deuteronomy 21:18} could have been stoned.” [4]  And so, there were no assurances that he would be welcomed home.

I have fond memories of family vacations when I was a child.  Once a year we would hop in the station wagon and drive from our home in Columbus, Ohio to my mom’s parents house in Memphis, Tennessee.  This is a journey of almost 600 miles and with today’s highways the drive would take about 9 hours.  But in the late 50’s and early 60’s when the interstate highway system was just beginning to be built, the majority of our drive was on two lane roads and the drive took us almost twice that long.  One of my most vivid memories of those trips was traveling behind trucks that were carrying livestock.  To be stuck behind a truck that was carrying pigs, potentially for miles, is an experience one would not soon forget.  The stench was unbearable, and we often had to wait for miles before we had a chance to pass the truck and escape the smell.  There is a reason that the Jews viewed pigs as unclean animals.  It’s because they are.  Many animals will designate a section of their living area as their bathroom.  Pigs do not.  They eat and sleep in the same place as their waste.  Which would explain why those trucks were so unbearably offensive.

When our prodigal son arrived home, his father saw him coming from a distance and ran to meet him.  In the culture of the ancient east for an adult to run was undignified, and an older man, especially a land owner, would not want to be seen demeaning himself by running, and yet that is exactly what the father did.  He then embraced his son, kissed him, and gave a flurry of orders to his servants to bring the finest robe, a ring, sandals, and to prepare a feast.  But did you notice what he didn’t do?  He didn’t say to his son, “man, you are ripe.  Go take a bath!” 

The prodigal son came home wearing rags that almost certainly bore the stench of the pigs that he had been caring for.  He was filthy from the long journey, he wasn’t wearing shoes, he was exhausted and defeated.  But he wasn’t even able to make the speech to his father that he had been practicing for days.  His father interrupted the beginning of his speech with an avalanche of love and compassion.  His father was so delighted at his son’s return that he didn’t just forgive him, he restored him.  The robe, the ring, the sandals, were all symbols of the fact that the father had fully returned the prodigal to his status as a beloved son.  And then, the father threw a banquet to celebrate his beloved son’s return.

And so, this really isn’t the story of a prodigal son who wasted his resources.  This is the story of a prodigal father lavishing grace and forgiveness on his beloved son.  And that grace and forgiveness, those hugs and kisses were not contingent upon his son taking a bath first.  There was no requirement that he clean himself up before his father would accept him.  His father welcomed him, hugged him, and kissed him in spite of the filth and the stench on his clothes and his person.  Because all that mattered to the father was the fact that his son had returned to him. 

And in our story today, Jesus teaches us something incredibly important about God’s love, because in this story, the father plays the part of God.  And here Jesus is making a powerful statement about the depth of God’s grace and the absolute joy with which God welcomes every one of His beloved children that turns to Him. 

But this is not the end of today’s story. 

The older brother heard the commotion from the banquet and asked one of the servants what was going on.  The servant told the older brother about his younger brother’s return and told him about his father killing the fattened calf to have a banquet to celebrate.  The older brother refused to enter the banquet.  And for the second time in our story, the father shows grace and compassion.  He could have simply directed one of his servants to go and tell his son that his presence was demanded at the banquet, but instead he graciously goes out to meet his older son to talk to him.  And when he does, he gets an ear full.  “Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.  But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!” 

If the father in our story is playing the role of God, then the younger son is the tax collectors and sinners and the older son is the Pharisees.  Morris tells us that the older son, “saw himself as the model son, but his use of the [word ‘slave’] gives him away.  He did not really understand what being a son means.  He could not see why his father should have been so full of joy at the return of the prodigal.  He complains that his father had never given him a [goat] for a feast with his friends.  The proud and the self-righteous always feel that they are not treated as well as they deserve.” [5]

The younger son had had an opportunity to examine his life, to see how his sins of rebelliousness and selfishness had ultimately led to disaster.  The older son had yet to have that opportunity.  The older son’s words reveal his heart.  He was resentful and jealous, but he was the responsible one.  He was the one who was dutifully working for his father, but as it turned out, he didn’t view himself as a partner in his father’s work, he viewed himself as a slave.  There was no joy in his heart over his partnership with his father, there was only a grudging sense of obligation.  And as a slave to his responsibilities he viewed the irresponsibility of his younger brother as unforgivable.  He refused to join in the celebration of his brother’s return; indeed refused to even recognize him as his brother, calling him “this son of yours”.  And while his life seemed to reflect a laudable sense of duty and honor, his lack of love for his brother was clearly and painfully evident. 

Garland tells us that, “Repentance may be most difficult for the righteous, who seemingly need no repentance. Prodigal sinners leave the filth of the pigsty behind.  Righteous sinners, however, must leave their imagined righteousness behind.  It requires abandoning self-assured boasts about obedience and a preoccupation with rewards.  It requires giving up their disdain for others who seem, less obedient and their expectations that these deserve to be rejected by God.” [6]

The older brother’s statement that he, “never disobeyed [his father’s] orders” mirrors the attitude of the Pharisees who believed that they were blameless.  In both cases their blind obedience to the law caused them to believe that they were righteous and yet their hearts were filled with resentment.  Neither the older brother nor the Pharisees were willing to enter the banquet, but it is at the banquet where God’s love blossoms. 

After his son’s tirade the father answers tenderly.  Instead of addressing his son with the standard Greek word for “son”, υιός (wee-os) he uses the word Τέκνον (tek-nohn) which would best be translated as “beloved child”.  “You are always with me, and everything I have is yours.” The father said, “But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”  And hidden in the translation is a profound truth, because the word that we translate as “had to” is the Greek word ἔδει  (ee-die) which gives the sense of a God-ordained imperative.  The celebration isn’t optional because the heart that is aligned with God’s heart cannot help but join in the celebration and the joy over a repentant sinner.

            Again, Garland says, “Joy is the only option.  Grumbling cuts one off from the salvation that comes in Jesus.  The older son represents those who resent heaven’s joy and resist it on earth.  He must do more than keep commands but must join the party and learn that forgiveness is greater than justice.” [7]

            My dear friends, there’s a party going on, and everyone is invited.  And all that is required for entrance is hearts that are filled with love.

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[1]  N. T. Wright, Luke for Everyone, Pg. 139

[2] Scott Hoezee, Center for Excellence in Preaching, Commentary 2019, 03, 25

[3]  “God Bless the Child” by Arthur Herzog Jr. & Billie Holiday, Edward B. Marks Music, 1939

[4] David E. Garland, Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke, Pg. 628

[5] Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: Luke (Revised Edition), Pg. 267

[6] David E. Garland, Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke, Pg. 634-635

[7] David E. Garland, Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke, Pg.633

Borrowed Time for the Fig Tree

March 23, 2025

            Sometime around the year 26 of the Common Era, the Roman Prefect, Pontius Pilate decided that he needed to build an aqueduct in Jerusalem.  The Romans were famous for building aqueducts, and these aqueducts generally led to a better quality of life for those who lived in the areas that were served by them.  Choosing to build this aqueduct was the act of an efficient administrator and the aqueduct stood to provide much benefit to the people of Jerusalem.  There was just one problem.  Pilate decided to fund this aqueduct by taking money from the temple treasury.  Oops! 

A massive revolt occurred as a result of this and while there is no proof of a direct link between this event and today’s story’s description of Pilate mixing the blood of Galileans with their sacrifices.  Pilate’s response to the revolt over the taking of temple funds resulted in numerous deaths.  And so, it is entirely possible that it is to this event that today’s story refers.  In first century Palestine, the Galileans were known to be short tempered when it came to enduring Roman oppression.  Josephus described the Galileans, saying, there were many that were “ever craving for revolution, [and] by temperament addicted to change and delighting in sedition”.  [1]  And so, the residents of Jerusalem did not exactly hold Galileans in the highest esteem, viewing them as being a bit backwater, shall we say?  Unruly… maybe?  Understanding this mindset will become important shortly.

            But regardless of whether our passage today is speaking to this event or another similar occurrence, there is an interesting dynamic here, and it is one that Jesus did not miss.  “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered in this way?” Jesus asked.  It’s a common human trait to try to justify ourselves by pointing out the greater sin of others.  If I am driving 75 MPH on the Parkway (who? Me?) and someone passes me doing 90 MPH or so and then a few moments later I get pulled over for speeding, my first thought is going to be “what about that other guy??”  Yes, I was breaking the law, but I wasn’t breaking it as badly as he was!  We can always find someone else who does what we think to be worse things than what we do, and we like to call out these actions of others so that we can feel better about ourselves.  “Well, at least I’m not THAT bad!”

            But Jesus wasn’t having any of that.  And what He did was to take this statement and to turn it around completely.  You see, the Galileans who were killed by Pilate were killed because they were violently resisting the Romans.  Jesus’ questioners were actually posing a political trap for Jesus.  If Jesus supported the actions of the Romans who may very well have been doing nothing more than defending themselves, then Jesus would appear to be sympathizing with the Romans, which would have been problematic to His Jewish audience, to say the least.  But if Jesus supported the Galileans in their violent revolt, it would have created problems for Him with the Roman authorities.  Well, not only did Jesus’ answer move the conversation into an entirely different theological direction, Jesus also, very cleverly, addressed the political issue as well.  You see, the men who were killed by the falling tower that Jesus mentioned were most likely men who were working on Pilate’s aqueduct.  And so, if tragedy had befallen those who were opposing Rome, tragedy had also fallen upon those who had been working FOR Rome.  It’s not like God was playing favorites here.  People on both sides of the political spectrum, tragically, and unexpectedly, lost their lives.

            John 9 tells us the story of Jesus encountering a man who had been born blind, Jesus was asked if the man’s blindness was a result of his sin or his parent’s sin.  But Jesus made it clear that neither the man’s personal sin nor the sins of his parents were responsible for the man’s blindness.  For those asking the question about the sins of the Galileans or the sins of the man born blind, Jesus’ response sees right through their attempts to justify themselves, and His answer is essentially “well, what about you?”  Garland says, “The absence of any concrete signs of judgment in one’s life is not a sign of one’s righteousness or that a reckoning is not right around the corner.  One may not distance oneself from the victims with such remarks as ‘We are all sinners of course, but not as bad as some’”.  [2] We are not to concern ourselves with the sins of others.  Period.  We are to center our concern on OUR relationship with God, because having a right relationship with God means that our sins are forgiven; gone, no longer of any consequence.  There is no further need for us to justify ourselves, because we have been justified by God the Father Himself.  And further, a heart that is right with God will have no desire or need to disparage another person or to call attention to their sins in contrast to one’s own.

            Many years ago, I planted a dwarf apple tree in my yard.  For quite a few years I enjoyed plentiful harvests of apples, but eventually the tree began producing fewer and fewer apples.  My son, the biology teacher, suggested that the tree and the apples might be healthier if the tree was not only pollinating itself and that, essentially, I needed another apple tree.  I bought another dwarf tree and planted it in my yard, but three years after planting the new tree I moved and the new owners cut down both trees.  In the three years that I had it though, that 2nd tree that I planted never produced any apples.  While dwarf apple trees are expected to bear fruit sooner than full sized apple trees, there is still an expected three to five year wait before a new tree begins to produce apples. 

For those who aren’t in the know about fig trees, fig trees tend to produce fruit a little sooner than most other fruit trees, but there is still an expected two to three year wait before a fig tree will begin to bear figs.  In fact, according to Jewish law, figs from fig trees are not to be eaten for the first three years and the figs from the tree’s fourth year are entirely dedicated to God, so the fig tree legally won’t produce usable fruit until the fifth year.

            But in our story today, it would appear that the fig tree owner was maybe just a bit impatient because it had been three years and there were still no figs.  Now, I’m sure that he knew much better than I about what to expect from a fig tree, but apparently the man who took care of the vineyard agreed with me that maybe the fig tree just needed a little bit more time.

            Interestingly, our story never tells us about what happened to that fig tree the following year, but the parable still tells us a lot about the fig tree and about how it relates to us.  You see, the point that Jesus made in speaking about the Galileans and the workers at the Tower of Siloam is that there is an urgency in the need to turn to Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Those killed in the shadow of the temple and those killed when the tower fell all died suddenly and unexpectedly.  And if any of those who died had initially rejected Jesus, their options for changing their minds came to a sudden and tragic end.  And so, our first lesson from today’s reading is a reminder of the pressing need, not only for us, but for our friends and our families and our acquaintances, to make the choice to become followers of Jesus.

            But our lesson doesn’t end there.  Why was the vineyard owner going to cut down the fig tree?  It’s because it wasn’t producing any fruit.  This tree was drawing nutrients from the soil, nutrients that would have been put to better use by nourishing something that WAS producing fruit.  To leave an unproductive tree in the middle of the vineyard would be a poor stewardship of resources.  And yet in spite of that, the tree is given more time to become a productive part of that vineyard.  William Barclay tells us that, “The fig tree was drawing strength and sustenance from the soil; and in return was producing nothing.  That was precisely its sin.  In the last analysis, there are two kinds of people in this world – those who take out more than they put in and those who put in more than they take out.  In one sense, we are all in debt to life.  We came into it at the peril of someone else’s life; and we would never have survived without the care of those who loved us.  We have inherited a Christian civilization and a freedom which we did not create.  There is laid on us the duty of handing things on better than we found them.” [3] 

Just like the fig tree, God’s children also are called to bear fruit.  And just like the fig tree, in spite of the grace that gives it another year, there will come a time when the options of God’s children to become bearers of the fruits of the Spirit will end also.  This isn’t a pleasant thought but nevertheless it is one that we need to face. 

The lessons of the last two weeks are probably not the most popular lessons of the Gospel.  We don’t really like to think about judgment.  Our faith lives are much more pleasant when we are focused on the grace and forgiveness and love of God.  And I suspect that God also finds it much more pleasant when He is able to be the source of grace and forgiveness and love.

And so, we as believers, come face to face with what appears to be a dilemma.  Because we have a loving, gracious, and forgiving God, but we also have hell, a place where unbelievers are eternally separated from God.  And if we are to trust God; I mean truly trust Him, then we need to resolve this apparent dichotomy in our minds.  And the answer to this question began to take shape in last week’s discussion about the narrow door.  If you will recall, we talked about how the narrow door is not easily entered and how those who want to enter on their own terms will find themselves unable to enter.  Only those who are willing to enter on God’s terms; only those who are willing to live lives of compassion and love and justice will be able to enter. 

I quoted 2 Peter 3:8-9 last week, a passage that says, “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance”.  The Calvinist in me understands the fact that God has foreknowledge, He knows who will choose to enter and who will not, but ultimately the choice to enter will be made by those who agree to enter on God’s terms.

And entering on God’s terms means being willing to have God change our hearts.  It means being willing to become people of kindness and grace and compassion.  It means becoming people with a heart for justice and an appreciation for the beauty of God’s diverse creation in all of its splendor.  And the best part of all of this is, when our lives are given to Christ, we find fellowship, peace, joy, fulfillment.  When our lives are given to Christ, we are given the opportunity to become the people that God has always intended for us to be.  And what could possibly be better than that?

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[1] Flavius Joseph, Life of Josephus, 17

[2] David E. Garland, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke, Pg. 538

[3] William Barclay, The Gospel of Luke, Pg. 175

No Prophet Can Die Outside Jerusalem

March 16, 2025

            Anyone who is familiar with farms or raising chickens knows how aggressively mother hens protect their chicks.  As for me, well, I’m not a farm boy, so I had to look it up.  If there is an approaching storm, or if there is cold weather, or if there is a threat from a predator, a mother hen will cluck at her chicks to call them, then as she spreads her wings, her baby chicks will gather under her wings and find protection there.  Protection from the storm, or the cold, or protection from the predator, from whom the mother hen will fiercely defend them.  But there is one even more poignant example of a mother hen’s devoted protection of her chicks.  Sometimes there are fires in barns or in chicken coops, and when the fires have been put out, it is not at all unusual to find mother hens that have died in the fire, but under whose wings are their still living chicks.  The mother hen will literally give up her life in the fire to save her chicks.

            When we read in today’s lesson about Jesus’ longing to gather the children of Jerusalem together as a hen would gather her chicks under her wings, we see in this simile, a picture of the depth of Jesus’ love and care, as He also offers up His life for the protection of His beloved children.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

            In today’s story, a group of Pharisees come to tell Jesus that Herod wants to kill Him and that He should leave Galilee.  Scholars disagree about the meaning of this passage.  Some say that the warning comes from a group of Pharisees who are, secretly or otherwise, followers of Jesus and that the warnings are sincere.  Others say that the warnings, while possibly accurate, are a ploy by the Pharisees to trick Jesus into going to Jerusalem where the Sanhedrin is waiting to arrest Him.  Fortunately, as far as the story goes, their motives are completely irrelevant and Jesus answers them in the most defiant way imaginable. 

            First, Jesus responds to the Pharisees by calling Herod a fox.  Now, given the fact that the 21^st century English speaking world views a fox as being a cunning and resourceful creature, this could appear to be a compliment of some kind, but it is nothing of the sort.  Our first century counterparts lived in a much more agrarian society, with much more familiarity about the difficulties of raising livestock, and people knew that farmers and shepherds had to protect their animals from foxes, and so while there may have been a grudging respect for the fox’s clever ways, these first century folks viewed foxes as being a nuisance and generally as being worthless creatures, as in, the world would be a better place without them.  Sort of like how I feel about wasps and hornets.  And so, Jesus calling Herod a fox was anything but complimentary.  It was, in fact, a derogatory statement by Jesus that Herod was worthless and irrelevant. Given the fact that Herod had only recently beheaded John the Baptist, this was a bold and insolent statement that would have infuriated the already dangerous Herod. 

            But let’s look at the rest of Jesus’ response.  ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.”  What do we think Jesus meant by this?  Jesus meant that there was absolutely nothing that Herod could do that was going to interfere with Jesus’ goal of accomplishing His Father’s mission.  Jesus continued his statement by saying “In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!” 

            In spite of Herod’s well-deserved reputation for a violent temper and a vindictive nature, Jesus is completely unconcerned because, in the end, Herod will be only a pawn in the grand redemption that is soon to take place on Calvary’s hill.  Back in Luke 9 we read that Jesus had resolutely set His face to Jerusalem.  Jesus would see to it that His Father’s will would be accomplished exactly as planned, and there was nothing… nothing that was going to prevent that from happening.

            Next, Jesus gives a glimpse into His motivation for completing His unimaginably difficult mission as He expresses His deepest desire to gather the children of Jerusalem as a mother hen would gather her chicks under her wings.  Like the mother hen that we discussed earlier who gave up her life to save her chicks, so it is that Jesus, out of His extraordinary love for His beloved children, was willing, and indeed did, give up His life for the lives of those He loved so deeply. 

            Over the last few weeks, after having touched on the subject during a sermon, I have been giving a lot of thought to the idea of loving one’s enemies.  I’ve always believed that Jesus had an unfair advantage when it came to this because He knew the hearts of all people.  Jesus knew all of their extenuating circumstances and all of their trials and traumas, and we all know that to have empathy; to take the time to understand the difficulties and challenges that others face can help us to have more compassion and indeed more love for those who might otherwise be really difficult to love.  But it never crossed my mind until recently that there are people here and there who are just unredemptively evil.  During the Nuremberg trials after the 2^nd World War, where Nazi leaders were being tried for their war crimes, an army psychologist, Captain G. M. Gilbert, who had been assigned to work with the accused, wrote, “In my work with the defendants I was searching for the nature of evil and I now think I have come close to defining it.  A lack of empathy.  It’s the one characteristic that connects all the defendants, a genuine incapacity to feel with their fellow men.  Evil, I think, is the absence of empathy”. [1]  And yet here’s the thing, Jesus knows the hearts of these people also.  He sees within them their total lack of compassion, and yet still, Jesus loves them and is willing to give His life for them.  So much for my idea of Jesus having an unfair advantage.  He loves them even when they have a complete lack of redeeming qualities, save one.  They were made in God’s image.

            And here, in today’s story, the Bible speaks volumes about the nature of God’s forgiveness.  Jesus was willing to forgive everything, to gather all of His beloved children under His wings, as it were, and to save them; every single one of them.  But some were not willing.  And to those who were unwilling Jesus pronounced judgment: “Look!” He says, “your house is left to you desolate”.  We don’t know if the “house” to which Jesus refers is the Temple or if it is the “House of Israel”; those of God’s chosen who have rejected Jesus, but the outcome is the same.  They, and their house have been separated from God.  And there is a difficult theology here, because even though those rejecting Jesus have succeeded in separating themselves from God, God still hasn’t turned His back on them.  Forgiveness and reconciliation to God are always just as close as a repentant heart.  But Jesus’ last words in today’s reading speak an ominous message.   “I tell you; you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” 

            These words will be spoken at Jesus’ second coming, and so His message is one of an urgent nature.  The time to turn to God is now.  The time to accept Jesus is now!  Just before our reading today, Jesus told the parable of the narrow door. “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door,” Jesus said, “because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.  Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’”

            God IS patient with us.  2 Peter 3:8-9 says, “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance”. And so, God has patiently waited for millennia, giving His children time to turn to Him and to be saved.  But God’s patience will not last forever.  At some point, known only to the Father, that door is going to close.  Manson says, “God opens the door of salvation for us to enter, but it is narrow.  One has to struggle through rather than stroll in.  If people fail to enter it, it is not because God refuses to admit them.  It means they want to enter on their own terms, and not on the only terms on which entrance is possible.”  [2]  Garland continues this thought, “The strength to enter comes only from God.  [Jesus’] lament reveals God’s passion to save, but salvation requires accepting God’s offer of grace through Jesus and heeding His teaching by reorienting one’s life accordingly.   It is not that God decides who will be allowed to enter and who will be shut out but that God acknowledges who has entered and who has refused to enter.” [3]

            As we look at today’s lesson, we find Jesus, inexorably heading to His death on a cross.  Jesus has selflessly followed this road for three years and will complete His work in a few short weeks.  Jesus would not let the temptations of the devil deter Him.  He would not let the threat of violence by Herod deter Him.  He would not let those who rejected Him deter Him.  And the reason that Jesus persevered through these difficulties is because of love; selfless, extravagant, agape love.  In this lesson we also find the contrast between those who have accepted Jesus and those who haven’t.  Throughout our study of Luke we have seen that the people flock to Jesus, often mobbing Him, and yet when Jesus’ teaching becomes too difficult or too demanding, people walk away.  Just like the rich, young ruler who walked away sad because he didn’t want to part with his fortune, or the Pharisees who were too caught up in their power and influence to follow Him, those who wanted to be associated with Jesus but didn’t want to make the commitment to love selflessly, ended up rejecting their only chance at salvation.

            For us, right now, the door to salvation is open, but it is not a wide door, and it isn’t entered effortlessly.  Entering the door requires a reset of our attitudes and our actions.  It’s not that our actions save us; please understand that clearly.  Salvation is entirely of God and is entirely of His doing.  It’s just that the evidence of our accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior is the fact that He actually BECOMES our Lord and Savior.  Which means that we see the wisdom, indeed the necessity, of allowing God to transform our hearts into hearts of love and compassion and empathy.  To transform our hearts into hearts that long for justice and fairness, to transform our hearts into hearts that demand equality for all and hearts that embrace diversity as the God breathed thing that it is.

            No, we’re not going to be perfect.  We won’t love perfectly, we won’t act perfectly, we won’t think perfectly.  But together, as Christians, we have embarked on a journey.  One that the Methodist theologian John Wesley described as “going on to perfection”.   A process whereby throughout our lifetimes we grow in faith and in faithfulness, to the end that our hearts will increasingly look like God’s heart.  Let us accept Jesus!  Let us walk through that narrow door! And let us learn to become a people after God’s own heart.

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[1] Gustav Gilbert, Nuremberg Diary

[2] Manson, The Sayings of Jesus, Pg. 125

[3] David E. Garland, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke, Pg. 561

Wrong Ways and Right Ways

March 9, 2025

So… How do we think it happened?  Was it a guy in a red body suit with horns and a tail and a pitchfork?  How about, maybe a talking snake?  Or perhaps it was a slick Madison Avenue type in a three piece suit ala Al Pacino in the movie, “The Devil’s Advocate”?  Or just maybe Satan “spoke” to Jesus in the same way that he “speaks” to us; or more accurately in the same way that he seeks to influence us.  I think that if we are to understand today’s text that we need to engage with it honestly, and that means trying to come to some understanding with what we believe about Satan. 

One popular thought is that Satan isn’t real, or that he is simply a representation of the penchant for selfishness that lives in all of humanity.  But the Bible doesn’t allow us the luxury of such a thought.  The Bible speaks openly and often of Satan.  I found over 100 references to Satan in the Bible with just a cursory look.  And while we know very little of how Satan came to be what he is, what IS clear is that he is real, that he is in direct opposition to God, that his intent is to turn as many people away from God as he possibly can, and that, unfortunately, he has power to influence us.  In the book of Job, God gave Satan the power to afflict Job.  The result to Job was devastating.  Jesus, just before He was arrested, told Peter that Satan had asked to “sift [the disciples] as wheat”.  And we all know that the result of that, was Peter’s three denials of Christ.  And so, we dismiss Satan at our peril because Satan asks to sift us also.

I would imagine that a guy in a red body suit with horns and a tail and a pitchfork would be relatively easy to resist.  I mean, we may be intrigued by what he has to say, but he definitely looks sketchy.  But Satan’s real methods are much more subtle.  When, in the past, I’ve discussed how the Holy Spirit speaks to us, I have said that having the Spirit speak to us in an audible voice would be highly unusual, though not impossible.  But that the Spirit mostly speaks to us in ideas and thoughts and notions.  So it is with Satan, who simply makes suggestions, most of which, at least on the surface, seem somewhat reasonable.

 Jesus had just spent 40 days in the desert fasting and praying.  And after 40 days without food, he was hungry.  The Judean wilderness is so desolate that, throughout all of history, it has been mostly uninhabited.  It is a harsh and unforgiving place and very little grows there.  I am told that the desert floor is covered with limestone rocks and that these rocks resemble loaves of bread, probably even more so when one hasn’t eaten in 40 days.  Satan could have used his influence simply to cause Jesus to visualize these rocks as being bread, and it’s not hard to imagine how Jesus might have thought that using His power to satisfy His hunger was probably a pretty harmless thing.  Maybe even something that he could justify because if he died of hunger, what good would He be to the world then?  And I think that this temptation is indicative of how Satan works.  Give someone an idea, then give them a justification for the idea, and then let human nature take its course. 

But of course, Jesus knew that the effects of this temptation would run much deeper than just this one simple event.  James Laurence explains, “This is a temptation [for Jesus] to use His divine power for Himself… not for His heavenly Father, not for humanity, but for himself. And I suspect that the devil knows that if he can get Jesus to think about himself, even just a little, then the devil has won. Because there is no way that Jesus will be crucified for our sins, if he begins thinking about himself in any way.” [1]  So, Satan seeks a toehold with one little temptation, but Satan has a long game.  The little, seemingly innocuous ideas he gives us are designed to erode our faith and lead us into a life of compromises with that faith. 

Laurence continues, “And there is something universal in this. Because once we decide to live for ourselves, and not for God, even just a little, we have begun wandering away from the faith. Because there is no way that we will do anything sacrificial – for God or for others, if we are thinking about ourselves.” [2]

And so, how DOES Jesus resist this temptation?  His response is directly from scripture: Jesus said, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.”  Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 8, but there is more to the verse than what Jesus quoted.  The verse as it appears in Deuteronomy 8 is, “[We] do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”  Jesus had recognized the subtext of Satan’s temptation and had spoken to it directly.  Jesus knew that He needed to follow God’s plan precisely, and that meant that there was absolutely no leeway for Jesus to act in His own behalf.  Can we look at this and see how incredibly subtle this temptation was?

In the second temptation Satan showed Jesus all of the kingdoms of the world and offered them all to Jesus in exchange for Jesus’ worship.  Well, this one doesn’t seem subtle on first glance, does it?  But do we understand the extent of what is being offered here?  Imagine what might have happened had Jesus accepted this offer.  Jesus could have created a society of love and compassion.  All of the wars, all of the pain and suffering, all of the diseases, all of the hate and misogyny and bigotry of the last 2000 years, gone.  Jesus could have created a perfect society, BUT… for those who didn’t want to participate in a society of love and compassion; for those for whom what they had simply wasn’t enough, some force would have had to have been applied to keep these people in line so that the perfect society would work for everyone else.  Ultimately, it would have been a society based on coercion, not on love.  Miller says, “No rule based on eternal authority ever truly wins the allegiance of [people], nor can it last… God wants the will of [humans], [their] hearts, [and their] free obedience in love.  When these are given, then, and only then, is His kingdom at work.” [3]

Jesus answered Satan, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”  And once again there is depth to this answer.  Worshipping the Lord presupposes that we will follow Him also… and follow Him completely.  If we are to place our trust in God, that means that we trust that God knows what He is doing, and we are willing to follow exactly that which He calls us to do.  Jesus knew that there is no plan B for God’s kingdom.  Jesus must do exactly what His Father calls Him to do.

I saw a pretty funny cartoon last week.  Two people were standing and were beginning to be covered with what looked like ashes falling from the sky.  One person says, “What’s this? Why didn’t someone warn us about this?”  The other person replies, “We were warned”.  In the next frame they are knee deep and the first person says, “They saw this coming, why didn’t they tell us?”  the second person says, “They told us”.  In the third frame they are waist deep and the first person says, “They should have said it in a way that we would believe it.”  The second person says, “Some did believe, but some didn’t.”  In the fourth frame they are neck deep and the first person says, “I blame them for letting us not believe them”.  The second person says, “They saw that coming too”.  When Jesus was asked by the Jewish religious authorities to show them a sign, Jesus’ reply to them was that even if someone returned from the dead they wouldn’t believe.  As it turned out, He was exactly right, wasn’t He?

I would imagine that Jesus’ consideration about how to go about His ministry in a way that would reach as many people as possible was an extremely difficult one.  At this point, Jesus already knew that He had the power to do miraculous things.  And so, the temptation to do something spectacular and attention grabbing must have been significant.  Herod’s Temple stood at the precipice of the Kidron Valley, so the fall from the tower at the northwestern corner of the temple to the floor of the valley below would have been some 450 feet.  That would be like falling from a 34-story building.  To have leapt from that corner and landed lightly on His feet would certainly have attracted attention.  Perhaps He could then have taken a bow and said “ta-da”. 

With my apologies for making a sarcastic joke, the temptations of Jesus were very, very, real, and in each instance, a decision was made by Jesus as to what the shape of His ministry would be.  His ministry, formulated during these 40 days of trial, would eventually be exactly as God intended it to be: selfless, compassionate, and faithful. 

One thing that I hope no one missed in our reading today is the fact that Satan quoted scripture.  In asking Jesus to jump from the highest point of the temple, Satan quoted Psalm 91:11-12, “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”  Jesus replied, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”  And for the third time this morning Jesus’ answer is deeper than it seems.  Jesus clearly saw the distinction between faith and presumption.  Jesus, and we, are called to live faithfully and to trust in God to care for us and to provide for us, but at the same time, we can’t expect that God will protect us if we choose to do something stupid.  There are still consequences for actions, and so taking that leap from the temple wouldn’t have been something done in faith.  Just like Jesus said, it would have been an attempt to test God’s faithfulness.  And that is NOT faith.

And so, what does today’s story have to say to us?  In recognizing Satan’s deceptive use of scripture, we have been given a warning.  No single verse of the Bible is intended to stand on its own.  Every verse, every word, needs to be understood in the light of the witness of the entire Bible.  N. T. Wright says, “It is a central part of Christian vocation to learn to recognize the voices that whisper attractive lies, to distinguish them from the voice of God, and to use the simple but direct weapons provided in scripture to rebut the lies with truth… At the heart of our resistance to temptation is love and loyalty to the God who has already called us His beloved children in Christ, and who holds out before us the calling to follow Him in the path which leads to the true glory.” [4]

The good news is, Satan was defeated at the cross.  Jesus has triumphed and Satan’s fate has been sealed.  The bad news is, Satan is still active in the world and is still able to influence humans.  I’d like to close with some wise words from David E. Garland, “One resists Satan when one is more concerned with serving others than serving oneself.  One defeats Satan when one knows and accepts one’s place in the order of creation and trusts God’s promise to save.” [5]

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[1] James Laurence, MyPastoralPonderings.com, “When We Are Tempted”

[2] ibid

[3] Donald G. Miller, The Layman’s Bible Commentary: Luke, Pg. 55

[4] N. T. Wright, Luke for Everyone, Pg. 33

[5] David E. Garland, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke, Pg. 188

Πραΰτης (Prow-teese)

Ash Wednesday Homily

March 5, 20258         

   In his book, Confessions, Augustine of Hippo said, “God, you were within me, but I was outside of myself.  And I searched for you in the things of the outside world.”  So often people seek meaningfulness in their lives by turning to the things of this world.  Blaise Pascal once said, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each [person] which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.”

            People try to fill that vacuum with all manner of things.  Some of those things can be innocuous and some not so much, but all of it is harmful to us if it is an activity designed to fill the space in our hearts that rightfully belongs to God.  In one of that great sage Stevie Wonder’s songs, he said “Always reaching out in vain, accepting the things not worth having”. [1]  Those are wise words, as the world, seeking fulfillment from the things of this world, will never find satisfaction in any of them.  Have you ever wondered why so many millionaires and billionaires can just never seem to have enough money, no matter how much they already have?  It’s because the vacuum that they are trying to fill with money can’t possibly BE filled with money but can only be satisfied by being filled with the love of God. 

One of the most common human temptations is the seeking of the approval of others, and it is this idea that our story today focuses on.   In our story, Jesus is telling us that when we give to the needy, the purpose is not to be giving in order to gain the approval of others; to show others what good people we are.  When we pray in public, the purpose is not to show people how pious we are or how smart we are.  If we are fasting, the purpose is not doing it for show so people will think how spiritual we are or how faithful we are. 

            As is so often the case, our story today goes deeper than appearances.  What we really have here is a question of what is motivating one’s spiritual activities in the first place.  Is someone donating money to seek the approval of others?  If so, I say knock yourself out!  There is no reason why someone can’t make a donation in order to have their name plastered on the front of a building.  Philanthropy accomplishes a lot of really good things that benefit a lot of people.  But there needs to be a level of honesty about whether one is giving out of the kindness of a Godly heart, or out of a desire to be recognized by the world, because when one gives out of a desire for recognition, one needs to understand that that recognition will be their only reward.  On the other hand, the one who gives as a result of a heart that has been transformed by God’s love has no need of recognition from anyone BUT God.

            And so, asking ourselves the tough question of are we seeking approval for our actions, can help us to evaluate whether we are following the call of our transformed hearts or just seeking to fill that God shaped vacuum with recognition and praise.  The simple truth is… the worldly heart basks in the adoration of others and acts in a manner that allows that worldly heart to receive as much adoration as is possible.  But the transformed heart is so deeply moved when it sees another human in need or in distress that the transformed heart will act to fill that need, according to available resources, because it is the nature of the transformed heart to seek to alleviate that need.  And the transformed heart finds no need to be recognized for its actions, because it has only sought to do what Jesus would have done. 

            This self-effacing attitude is characteristic of the faithful Christian and is consistent with the Biblical call for meekness as the Christian seeks not to be recognized for simply acting as the Spirit has moved them.  It is here that we see this Biblical concept of meekness in action as this person’s motivation is not a desire for self-gain or self-aggrandizement, but simply a selfless act that is born of love.  Now, I seriously do not want for us to misunderstand Biblical meekness.  In the Greek, the word that we translate as “meek” is Πραΰτης (Prow-teese), and Πραΰτης is a word that the ancient Greeks used to describe a horse that had been trained.  Πραΰτης is not describing weakness; it’s not the definition of a wall flower or a 98-pound weakling.  Πραΰτης is the definition of something or someone possessing great power… but power that is under the control of a master.  The meek Christian is one who carries within them the immense power of LOVE.  And it is that love; the overwhelming power of God’s love living within us, that is, more often than not, the source of every good thing that Christians do. 

            Jesus ends this part of His sermon by telling us that, “Where our treasure is, there our heart will be also”.  If one’s treasure is recognition and admiration, then what their heart is doing is seeking to fill that God shaped vacuum with worldly things.  But for those for whom God is their treasure, for those who have allowed God’s Holy Spirit to begin that process of transforming their hearts into hearts that look like God’s heart, then their actions will be the tangible proof that God Himself is their treasure.

            As we enter into this season of Lent, there will inevitably be much discussion among our families and friends about who is giving up what for Lent.  My question this evening isn’t what are we giving up, it’s WHY are we choosing to give up whatever it is that we have chosen to give up.  Are we giving up something in order to show our faithfulness to the world?  Or are we making a quiet sacrifice, known only to us and to God; a sacrifice made in meekness?

            In speaking of meekness, C. S. Lewis once said, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less,” [2] It is important that we, as Christians, make Jesus the focus of our efforts.  It is important that we as Christians recognize the power of God’s love being manifested in our day to day lives.  That love has the power to do unimaginably good things.  And that love dwells within the hearts of each of us.  Imagine what we might accomplish this Lent if, rather than giving something up, we were to resolve to live and act in light of that love that lives within us.

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[1] Stevie Wonder, “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing”, (Universal Music Group) 1973

[2] C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

The Booths that Never Were

March 2, 2025

            Most of you probably know that I am a huge baseball fan and that I follow the New York Mets.  A few weeks back I was reading one of the Mets blogs and they were talking about who were the greatest Mets of all time.  The conversation took shape responding to a question about which Mets should be enshrined on the Mets version of Mount Rushmore (Would that be Mount Metsmore?).  This is not an unusual comparison. We often will find discussions of greatness in one field or another when the greatest of the great are named to the “Mount Rushmore” of that particular field.  And then, of course, we have the REAL Mount Rushmore.  In 1927 the United States decided to commemorate 4 of the great presidents, and so, Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt had their images carved into the face of the mountain.  The monument is an enduring testament to the excellence of four presidents who shaped our nation.  And I suspect that this monument, already nearly 100 years old, will continue to testify to the greatness of these presidents for a good long time to come.

            In our story today we read about The Transfiguration.  Jesus, accompanied by Peter, John, and James, ascended a mountain so Jesus could find some solitude to pray.  It’s possible that this happened at night, or perhaps really early in the morning because the text tells us that the disciples were sleepy.  But pretty soon the disciple’s sleepiness would be interrupted as Jesus’ face and clothes became dazzlingly white.  The NIV does a great job of translating the Greek ἐξαστράπτω (ex-as-trap-toe) as “bright as a flash of lightening”.  The King James translates this as “white and glistening” but ἐξαστράπτω was actually used by the Greeks to describe a flash of lightening, and so, here we have a really good description of the transformation that took place as Jesus’ face and clothes became just blindingly white.

            And as the disciples recovered from their sleepiness, they noticed that Jesus wasn’t alone.  Unfortunately, the NIV offers an incomplete translation of the next part of the passage as the NIV reports that the disciples see that Jesus had been joined by Moses and Elijah, who also appeared in “glorious splendor”.  The NIV omits the Greek word “ἰδοὺ” (ee-doo).  The New King James version more accurately translates this passage as, “And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah”.  That word “Behold” is the Greek word, ἰδοὺ, and this is a word that means not simply to see something, but to examine something for the specific purpose of understanding it.  The text tells us that Jesus, Moses, and Elijah were discussing Jesus’ “departure [that] he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.” and Luke is asking us to pay specific attention to what they are saying.  Jesus, Moses, and Elijah were discussing Jesus’ impending death.  But curiously, they were not using the word that was most commonly used to describe “death”.  In fact, the word that they used was Exodus.  Yes, the same word that was used to describe Moses’ God empowered miraculous deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, was now being used to describe an even more miraculous deliverance.  That of the deliverance of humankind from sin and death through the work that would soon be accomplished by Jesus on the cross. 

            And so, let’s take a moment to understand this event through the eyes of Peter, John, and James.  To the Jewish people, Moses and Elijah were, and still are, rock stars.  Moses is the giver of the Law, the man who met God face to face and whose own face was illuminated, brightly reflecting the glory of God.  A man who wore a veil over his face to hide that shining so as not to frighten his people.  Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, guided them through 40 years in the wilderness, and was the person through whom God worked the miracles of providing water from a rock and manna from, well, nowhere.  Moses was kind of like our George Washington… if George had maybe performed a miracle or two.

            Elijah is the preeminent prophet of Israel. A prophet who boldly spoke truth to power.  During Elijah’s time the Israelite King Ahab’s wife was not Jewish, she was Phoenician and was a princess.  Ahab’s marriage to her was a brilliant stroke of political strategy, forming an alliance with a former enemy, but his wife Jezebel didn’t worship God, she worshipped the Phoenician deities Baal and Asherah.  During the reign of Ahab, Ahab, and many Israelites turned to the worship of these idols also.  Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal in a challenge in which Elijah successfully called down fire from heaven to consume a sacrifice after 450 prophets of Baal failed to do so.  In doing this, Elijah returned most of Israel to the worship of the one true God.  Elijah also asked God to bring about a drought, which He did.  Elijah provided miraculous food to a widow, her son, and himself, raised that widow’s son from the dead, and then had God end the drought.  Elijah did not die but was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind.  Elijah was kind of like our Abraham Lincoln… if Abe had maybe performed a miracle or two.

            When I was in college at Berklee, I was a fairly decent trombone player, and I was blessed to be able to play in the best student big band in the college.  One late spring day we were playing, and it was hot in the room, so we had the doors open.  This band was quite good, and so there were crowds gathered at the open doors at both ends of a fairly large room listening to us play.  Suddenly, the crowd at one of the doors parted like Moses parting the Red Sea, and in walked the president of the college with Duke Ellington.  The band fell apart and stopped playing as each of the members, myself included, just kind of stared in open-mouthed astonishment at this legend who had just entered the room.  I mean if there were a Mount Rushmore of Jazz, Duke would certainly be on it.  Our director greeted Duke and then restarted the song that we had been playing, Duke listened for a moment or two, then nodded his head in appreciation and left the room.  That brief moment has remained one of the highlights of my college experience and is a memory that I will always cherish.

            And so, in a way, I can identify with the disciples; even though my experience was completely worldly, and their experience was miraculous, and astounding, I can still understand how they must have been awe-struck.  As Moses and Elijah departed, Peter had what he thought was a brilliant idea: “Hey Jesus, let’s make a Mount Rushmore here with you and Moses and Elijah”.  Well, he didn’t ACTUALLY say “let’s make a Mount Rushmore”, he said let’s build three booths.  But the idea is the same.  The idea is that he wanted to commemorate this miraculous event with some sort of monument.  I don’t find it difficult at all to identify with Peter here.  The desire to remember something momentous, to have a physical reminder of something amazing that happened is completely understandable.  In fact, the United States is absolutely full of monuments that commemorate one event or another, as are, I am sure, most countries.  There seems to be a peculiar human need to memorialize important events with monuments of one sort or another.  But before Peter was even finished making his remark a cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” 

            And I really see this voice as a sort of a wake-up call to Peter and the other disciples.  Our faith is not a static thing.  It’s not something that we get figured out and then have the luxury of sitting back and enjoying our acquired knowledge.  We can’t take our faith and cement it into a single mountaintop experience, because ultimately, our faith is something that will never stop growing.  And our faith grows only through listening to Jesus. 

            We all know Peter’s story.  We know about his abject failure when he denied Jesus three times.  And yet, we also know that Peter overcame his failures to become one of history’s most effective messengers of the Gospel.  Peter, just like the rest of us, needed to continue to listen, continue to learn, continue to grow in faith and in obedience; Peter had a momentary thought that he wanted to bask in the experience of witnessing Jesus’ glory and seeing Moses and Elijah in person, but Peter had a far more important call that wasn’t at all related to his thoughts or his feelings or the peaks of his experiences.  Peter had a call to serve God; to be the hands and feet and voice of Jesus in the world after Jesus had ascended.  And we have the exact same call.  If the world is going to hear the Good News, from whom are they going to hear it?  They need to hear it from us.  They need to hear it from our lips, and they need to see it in our lives.

            Peter became a faithful witness.  His sermons literally brought thousands of People to a saving faith in Jesus.  But in order for him to accomplish that, Peter needed to come down from that mountain top.  He needed to fail.  He needed to fall down, and he needed to be picked up and he needed to be forgiven, and he needed to be renewed.  In the last chapter of the Gospel of John the Bible relates the deeply touching story of Jesus restoring Peter.  And through that restoration, through Peter’s experience of being forgiven, through Peter’s experience of Jesus picking him up and once again asking Peter to follow Him, Peter experienced the depth of God’s grace, and he responded to that grace with a devotion to Jesus that literally changed the world.

            I’ve never seen it, but I am sure that Mount Rushmore is quite impressive.  And I would imagine that Peter’s Mount Rushmore of Jesus, Moses, and Elijah would have been quite the tourist attraction for the last 2,000 years.  But we are not going to get where we need to be by clinging to our past.  Jesus is God’s son, and we need to listen to Him.  We need to let Him pick us up and restore us when we fall.  We need to listen to Him as He draws us forward into faithfulness, into obedience, into discipleship.  Let us leave our monuments behind us as together we walk into a future of love.  Love for God and love for others.  It is that to which He calls us.