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Lenten Reflections 2011
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Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Reflection by Dick Strucko
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Good Afternoon.
Before I begin, let me assure you that the reflections that follow mine will only get better!
Please stand for the reading of the Holy Scripture, if it is not uncomfortable to do so. This passage features the heart of my reflection. It is taken from Matthew’s Gospel, Chapter 25, verses 31-40 entitled “The Sheep and the Goats”. . . . .
The goats obviously did none of the actions that Jesus commanded us to do.
To further heighten Christ’s message of service to others, I would like to act out a story with my wife that demonstrates this theme. We do not expect to receive any accolades from the Actor’s Guild.
ADMIT ONE TO HEAVEN
Mr. Jones died last night, but his spirit was high. He was scheduled to meet with the “Admitting Angel” at the pearly gates in just a few minutes. The truth was that the angel was a little late, but Mr. Jones was in the mood to forgive. He was also nervous, because he didn’t know what to expect from this “admittance meeting.”
“Good Day Mr. Jones,” the angel said to him. Mr. Jones was startled!
“I hope so!”
“I apologize for being late,” the angel began,” but I ran into a bit of difficulty with your records, and I wanted to double check. It is a very important moment in eternity.”
“Trouble? I don’t understand. How could there be trouble? I was in church every Sunday.”
“Well Mr. Jones, I was checking and I found no record of you feeding the hungry or giving a drink to the thirsty . . . .”
Mr. Jones started to rub his hands together. “BUT, I was a faithful attendee. Ten AM every Sunday morning . . .”
“. . . . or clothing the naked, giving shelter to the homeless. It says here that you never once contributed food to your church’s food pantry, and that you spoke against your parish staff’s support of programs to provide shelters for the homeless.”
“Look, I’ve got my tax records with me. I contributed an average of $25 a week in support of the church, and you can check. The contributions were made each week. I guess that proves I was there, right?”
“You never visited the sick or those in prison. Not even your aunt who spent all those years in the nursing home. She had been so good to you when you were young.”
“Well, I was too busy then, O.K.? Here are all the Sunday bulletins for thirty years. I saved every one of them. That proves it once and for all. I was a good Church-Going Christian all my life." He smiled smugly.
The angel stared in disbelief! Then she picked up a gilded phone and turned slightly, speaking in hushed tones. Finally, after an unbearably long time for Mr. Jones, the angel turned again. Smiling weakly she said, “Mr. Jones, we like to think of ourselves as fair here. So this is what I can do for a man who never seemed to connect the time in church with the purpose for going, that is, to change the quality of your life and the lives of others." The angel had been rapidly scribbling on a piece of paper as she spoke. Then she handed the paper to Mr. Jones. "After speaking with our Chief Angel, this is what we can do for you" -- a ticket that states:
ADMITS ONE TO HEAVEN
GOOD ON SUNDAYS ONLY
FROM 10:00 a.m. TO 11:00 AM
It is obvious that Mr. Jones felt that just attending church was all that was necessary to be admitted to heaven. He did not feel that he had to act upon any of the requests that were made by God or Christ that were preached by his pastor during the weekly sermons except his weekly donation to support the church. He had little sympathy for those less fortunate than he when he wouldn’t contribute to the church’s food pantry and he was against helping the homeless find shelter. He was sure that just attending church regularly satisfied the requirements to be called a “Good Christian.”
Now I’d like to read a story about a group of women who did listen to the lessons of the weekly sermon and acted in a manner that Christ would have us do. This story comes from the booklet “Our Daily Bread” and is entitled “How God shows His love.”
Martha, a 26 year-old woman with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) needed help. When a group of 16 ladies from Evanston, Illinois, heard about her, they jumped into action. They began to give round-the-clock nursing care. They bathed her, fed her, prayed for her, and witnessed to her. Martha, who had not received Christ as her savior and couldn’t understand how a loving God could let her get ALS, saw His love in these women and eventually became a Christian. She is with the Lord today because 16 women, following Jesus’ example, personified God’s love.
In the Book of James 2:26 we read, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” In the Gospel of Mark we read the Second Greatest Commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” We show our love to others through our words, and more importantly through our actions and deeds.
In closing, I have a proposition to make. It is not likely that there are any “Mr. Jones” in this room, but perhaps in additional to following the traditional “giving up something for Lent,” we could also look around our community to see if there is someone who could use a meal or need a ride to the doctor, or consider participating in the “Meals on Wheels” program, or check with Jackie Cunningham here in our church to see if there is someway you could help the Missions Team. Now I must follow my own advice.
Listen and Act on our Scripture Teachings!
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Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Reflection by Dottie Mann (Read by Mary Jones)
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John 3:16-3:17
For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved.
Listen to those words again.
Aren’t those the most wonderful words you have ever heard? What an amazing, wonderful, awesome God we have. A God who loves us so much that he gave his only Son to be humiliated, whipped and crucified so that sinners like you and I could be saved and have everlasting life through his Son, Jesus Christ. What amazing love! God sent his Son, not to condemn us, but to save us. He sent him as a way for us to have complete forgiveness.
One of the Disciple classes I participated in was entitled “Jesus in the Gospels.” I recently reviewed some of this study. The question to be answered at the end of the first chapter was “Who is the Jesus you bring with you to this study?” My answer was: “God with love so unbelievable that He came to earth as man and endured horrific pain and disrespect, so we could have eternal life through Him. The one I turn to for all of my needs. The one I thank for everything. The one who took on our sins and never complained.” My answer today would still be the same. I might add that He is the one who told us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves and the one who told us to Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength.
The Season of Lent is always a good time to review the four Gospels which each present Jesus’ ministry.
Through more than 60 carefully selected series of Old Testament quotations, the Gospel of Matthew documents the claim of Jesus Christ to be the Messiah. Everything about Jesus, from his genealogy to his miracles, all point to the same inescapable conclusion: Jesus Christ is King! Jesus even turns what seemed to be the defeat of His death into victory through the Resurrection.
Isaiah 52:13 through chapter 53, which was written 700 years before the birth of Christ, tells the story of Jesus. Remarkable? – Not when we remember that the Bible is the Word of God. God already knew what was going to happen – just like he knows what is going to take place 700 years from now.
When I study the Old Testament, I see how prophecies are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. God does have a plan! He has a plan for you and for me. I wonder some days what His plan is for me and I ask Him what it is that He wants me to do. Some days I am either hard of hearing or just not listening because I don’t know what it is that He wants me to do. Then I realize that He is saying …Dottie have a little patience, I will let you know what I want you to do in my time....not your time. Then I go about my business and at the end of the day, I realize that He has put opportunities in my life for me to share His love... most of the time, it is in small ways… a hug, a smile, a good morning, take somebody a meal or invite someone to my house for a meal. And, then there are times He has Pastor MaAn ask me to go beyond my comfort zone and deliver a reflection. At first, I don’t want to do it, but the Holy Spirit, won’t take no for an answer – He doesn’t give up and I finally say ok, ok, I’ll do it, but I’ll need your help. Then I say to myself, why did you let Him talk you into that. The answer I usually get is…just because…because He can. It’s at this point I know that I might just as well “get ‘er done.” The lesson learned is that He never gives up on me.
Back to the Gospels.
The essence of Mark’s Gospel can be summed up in a single verse: Chapter 10 verse 45… “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
The Gospel of Luke presents Jesus as a man of great compassion and intense emotions. Luke also shows that Jesus’ resurrection ensures that His purposes will be fulfilled: Luke 19:10 “to seek and to save that which was lost”. Me and you.
The Gospel of John shows Christ in His divinity as the Son of God. John highlights the glory of Christ as the Son of God, from His role in creation … John Chapter 1, Verse 1 which says “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God.” to His miracles, to His unique relationship with the Holy Spirit to His return to a fully glorified state.
When I listen to hymns like “Spirit Song” and “Where You There” I tend to get weepy… the words in those two hymns say it all…
• Oh let the Son of God enfold you with His Spirit and His love.
• Give Him all your tears and sadness, give Him all your pain.
• Jesus, come and fill your lambs.
• Words written to reach those in need of Christ.
• Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
• Were you there when they nailed Him to a tree?
• Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
• Were you there when the sun refused to shine?
• Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
“Were you There” tells the entire story of the crucifixion and resurrection.
By His rising from the grave, Jesus, placed the seal of assurance upon the forgiveness of our sins.
“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8
May our lives be filled with Jesus’ love for others so that we may be a blessing to others.
Peace be with you. Amen.
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Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Reflection by JoAnn Kulesza
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Read the Book of Mark, Chapter 14, Verses 3 through 9.
I was literally led to this scripture reading by having the bible flip open to the page. I found myself flooded with things that speak to me in this account from Mark about events leading up to Jesus’ last days of ministry on earth.
Most of you know that one of my mantras is “Carpe Diem” or Seize the Day. This woman, (most assume she was Mary, Simon’s sister, explaining her presence in the house), did just that, or more accurately Carpe Articulum – Seize the important moment. Here was Jesus, recognized by many people to be at least a great prophet, perhaps the Messiah, in her very own home. How could she not honor this important teacher, this important man in some way? The opportunity presented itself and she acted upon it. Carpe Articulum, Carpe Diem.
Now, I was curious about nard. I didn’t know what it was (refer to Spikenard article from Wikipedia). This was an intensely aromatic amber-colored oil, very thick in consistency, made from the underground stems of the Spikenard plant. First of all, I can’t imagine Jesus covered in this gooey-substance, smelling essentially of incense. But, this is what the woman had to honor him…and he recognized it as such.
Notice where Jesus is: in the home of a man Simon the Leper. Jesus does not rebuke those whom society did, but mingles and dines with them. The onlookers of the event of perfuming begin criticizing the woman and the incident, saying such extravagance on Jesus was foolish. But, Jesus sees it differently. He sees it as an act of selflessness, an act of honor and love, of reverence and preparation for the last event of his human life, physical death as God made man. He even elevates the event as memorable for many years to come.
There are many opportunities to “Carpe Articulum” that we often ignore, many times we rebuke those that Jesus would embrace, many times we criticize an act of extravagance at a crucial time in someone’s life when we do not understand its significance or intensity. Or we WAIT to honor those around us until the time of life’s final event. Do we offer Jesus our best, act selflessly, honor him with our best? Do we see things as the disciples…or try to emulate Jesus and see them from His perspective?
We are all vessels of the Lord, all slivers of our Maker which come in different shaped containers, but all containing a very intense and expensive perfume: love. Let us choose to break our ‘jars,’ pour out the ‘pure nard’ upon each appearance of the Lord in our lives, giving unabashedly to serve, welcome and honor Him who honored us by living as one of us and dying so that we might live. Carpe Articulum…Carpe Diem.
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