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No one ever wants to hear their doctor say the dreaded C-word: cancer. At the same time, we understand that not all cancers are the same. Some are very treatable and have almost no effect on your quality of life; others are debilitating and almost always fatal. Good doctors will not just inform you of the disease, but its prognosis as well. Jesus, the good physician, has notified the leaders of Jerusalem of their problem. In this parable, he is telling them the full extent of it. Their problem is not just with some prophet from Nazareth, but with God himself.
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The world is filled with authorities. Your boss, your governor, your president. For each of us, escaping authority is an unthinkable dream. We all have someone to answer to. Yet, when it comes to the gospel, we don’t often talk about authority. Gift, grace, compassion? Sure! Authority, demand, obedience? Well, we might whisper something about them, as the fine print of a sermon. For what does authority have to do with the Good News of Jesus? As it turns out, much.
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Most, if not all other world religions are based on principles. Islam’s center is not Muhammed, but action. The same can be said about Buddhism and Judaism. Moses and Buddha might be important, like Muhammed, but the principles of the religion extend beyond them. Not so with Christianity – we are a religion that centers not so much on principles as on a person. As we have seen what kind of King Jesus is, the incident with a withered fig tree helps to show us what kind of person Jesus ISN’T.
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In our last installment on the Church and Politics, we consider how Christians handle themselves in our American context.
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Political turnover in the past was chaotic. No matter how good the former King was, there was no indication as to what the next ruler would be like, or what his policies would be. While the father might have been a good and conscientious king, that was no promise that his son wouldn’t be a bumbling idiot and mean to boot. For many in Jerusalem, while they perhaps had heard of Jesus, they didn’t know much about him. In his introductory and triumphal entry, they learn something important about him: humility.
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Many folks in America are "really" political. What of Christians? How political should we be? Maximally, as it turns out!
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If we live in a new Kingdom, not of this world, how then are we to interact with the governments of this world? While we are to submit, we also must necessarily subvert.
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How political is the gospel? As it turns out, it is political through and through
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We are in the political ad season, with every candidate promising that they’ll look out for your interests and, at the same time, telling us the other won’t. “I care about you” is the theme of them all, and for good reason. All politicians know one inevitable human fact – we care about ourselves, and often to the detriment of the good of others. Jesus here tells his disciples that this cannot be so for them. But that inevitable human fact is hard to shake. That is why you need to learn humility.
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The Bible is a wonderful book. Written over the course of a millennium, in different languages through the eyes of different cultures and people, it hits on a variety of subjects. Money, sex, anger, power, war are huge issues, but it also tackles smaller ones – friendship, speech, time-management, philosophy, even at times giving us a look at simple personal correspondence. Yet, there is one driving question that lingers in the background, one thing that is the Big Thing in the Bible – how do we gain eternal life? Jesus is presented with that very question and gives a surprising answer.
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Marriage is uniquely important in the Bible. In Genesis, we find in the opening two chapters three basic points: God has created everything that is not himself; Humans were made in his image; and humans are given into marriage. That’s quite a place of importance for marriage! The fact that God calls his people his bride, that Jesus is the bridegroom, and one of the few pictures we have of heaven describe it as a wedding feast shows that the emphasis in Genesis is not lost. Today, we see the importance that marriage has in Jesus’ eyes, but also the importance of those who do not fit into that mold.
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Everyone has rules. Very few people are true anarchists, and even they are probably kidding themselves. We may differ on what they are, but we all believe that some things are right and some wrong; and doing justice is nothing more than to right the world’s wrongs. But where does forgiveness fit in? What should we forgive, or how much? Today, we follow Peter’s question, and Jesus’ quite difficult answer, and see what it means for us
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Discipline, no matter the form, is difficult stuff. No matter how we need to be disciplined, the fact that we must work at it indicates our deficiency in some way. At times, that is just working on the basics of the Christian life, becoming more like Christ in our thoughts and actions. But at other times, more outside help is needed. As we continue to think through how we are to live together as community, Jesus today commands that we be loving one another through discipline. But what does that look like?
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Veterinarians are not novel and new things; ever since there has been a need to keep working animals upright and pulling, there has been a need to have people to keep them that way. Quickly, animal care spread from animals that do work for us to the animals that provide for us. The church is both the sheep and paradoxically the vet at the same time. We are to keep each other whole and healed, and work hard to prevent sin and its sickness from spreading.
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The Olympics are in full swing, and it is hard not to think of both the triumphs and failures of the past. There are many times that teams, with much more individual talent have failed their ultimate test. USA Basketball, loaded with some of the most talented players in history, were humiliated when they took only a bronze medal in 2004 – the precise opposite of the “Miracle on Ice” of 1980. We know well that it is not just individual talent, but how that talent works together that matters. Jesus has instructed us on our own individual morality in the Sermon on the Mount; now he turns to teaching us how to play well together. These are sermons for the church, beginning in the smallest of places: children
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We think that we would love to get whatever it is our hearts desire. To have a genie grant us wishes, or the power and money to get what we want. Some think that this is precisely what Jesus holds out to us, especially in passages like the one before us. “Nothing will be impossible for you” is quite the promise – but what does Jesus mean by that? And what role does our faith play in this great promise? More than you may think!
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Humans will endure much, so long as they know what they are enduring for. Athletes like Michael Phelps will stretch their bodies to the limit to win medals and accolades. Ernest Shackleton and crew endured a year in the Antarctic just to survive. Jesus has made it clear that disciples will have to suffer in this world to gain their lives back in the next. What will sustain us through this suffering? Nothing but the most spectacular glory.
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We are fallen, which means that, on this side of Adam and Eve’s transgression, we will sin. But it also means that we will just flat out get stuff wrong. Mistakes will be made, errors endured, failures felt. It just so happens that, whether a simple error or a sinful transgression, mistakes are wonderful opportunities to learn from. Peter has made a terrific blunder, but the Lord, in his kindness, never overlooks a good opportunity. He will use Peter’s sinful outburst as a chance to teach what true discipleship looks like, for Peter’s sake and ours.
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There are questions and conversations that you will remember forever. Whether from someone who pushed you to be better, or saying “I do”, those moments define a good portion of our lives and who we are. Peter’s defining moment is before us today; yet it is not his alone. All of us share in this moment, for there is no other question that is more important. Who do you say Jesus is?
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Bre and I attempted to teach our children some sign language when they were really young. It is an excellent way to get them to communicate with you before they can talk, and it has been useful beyond those early days. We had a limited vocabulary, however, and sometimes when I sign I need to make gestures that, to be frank, are not always understood. Or never understood. Turns out signs must be understood to be helpful. Today, the Pharisees and Sadducees want a sign from Jesus, but they won’t get one. Instead, Jesus pleads with his disciples to see the warning signs of their leaven.
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