Pastor Mike Lowery - Sermoncast Concord UMC

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Time to Wake Up Acts 9:36-43

Happy Mother’s Day!

Good memories…

Some ine: apple trees, drink cups, “time to wake up”


We are thankful this day for the love God shows us through the mothers and mother-figures in our lives

And we single one out of scripture as an example…


Tabitha/Dorcas (maybe a mother; certainly a mother-figure)

She lived in Joppa, a port town on the Mediterranean just south of what is now Tel Aviv. The modern name is Jaffa, & it remains a thriving town in Israel.
Was called a “disciple”

One who is seeking to grow in the ways of faith and life, trusting God and serving God.
But THIS “disciple” in this passage is the ONLY feminine form of the word used in the whole Bible. She is the only woman in the Bible that gets labeled a DISCIPLE.


She was called by God to works of charity

Showed God’s love to widows (and orphans?), who were among the most vulnerable of society
Was she a widow? We don’t know.  A mother? We don’t know.  Were the widows followers of Christ? 


What we DO know, and what her story should teach us:

We do know that the widows loved her! Probably because she had first loved them.  Sound familiar?
We know that she was not just fond of doing works of charity (agape love) but devoted to them. Moms tend to be devoted to their child’s well-being.  Tabitha had widened her circle.
We know that she used what skills she had for God’s purpose.
She probably did her good works up to the last. We can imagine how she hung on to complete her work and then, finally, though that her work was done.  But we KNOW that God wasn’t done with her, and that MANY were saved!








Let us not grow weary of well-doing!  Wake up!  Be thankful for those examples of holy love that God sets before us and become those examples for others!  People need more Tabithas in this life!

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Grace for the SkepticJohn 20:19-31  
What is the Big News here?
Jesus is alive! Jesus breathes upon them the Holy Spirit!
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created
John 1:1a In the beginning was the Word
Genesis 2:7 Then the Lord God …breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.
John 20:22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit."

But Thomas steals the show..
He wasn't there, he didn't see, he wouldn't believe!

How did Jesus respond to him?
With compassion, by letting him see.
With a final Beatitude

Why is there so much “active unbelief” nowadays?
God interferes with their "good time"
God has let them down (or God’s people)
These are often the “burned” or the wounded... like Thomas.  Such skepticism is very often the result of pain, and leads to emptiness

We imagine Thomas' disbelief as intellectual, but maybe it was relational
He didn't believe his friends' eyewitness accounts, or his Rabbi's past teachings & miracles
He was grieving, and this was "too good to be true;"

But what are we to make of what Jesus said to Thomas?
Can you imagine a case where demanding evidence is wrong? (How about "Prove that you love me!”)
Some may think that what is "leaped over" through faith is a lack of evidence. But in my experience, it is more about the struggle in our hearts (insecurities, fear of being hurt, etc.) than the struggle in our heads
Like "love," we can say a lot or a little when we say, "I believe"
ex 1: "I believe it's going to rain."
ex 2: "I believe this airplane is safe."
ex 3: "I believe in my wife."

"Belief in Christ" is that kind of belief that starts with a realization and moves quickly to trust, then over time permeates the center of your being and fills every corner of your life...
(Like Thomas says: "My Lord and my God!")

I LOVE talking with those who have honest intellectual struggles, for they are searching for the truth
But for MANY this last beatitude could effectively be translated "blessed are those who believe without an injured heart impeding their way"
Will we be there to assure them that God in Jesus felt the same grief and pain at the unjustness of this broken world? That is at the CORE of the Good News!




 
 

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Then They RememberedLuke 24:1-12 
Why are we here?
Almost 2,000 years ago...
A man was betrayed, captured and killed; his followers scattered, his mother mourned; hopes were dashed ...and then the unbelievable happened

Have you believed the unbelievable, and found it true?
That you could find love, or self-worth, or meaning?
That your child would look into your eyes and call you Mamma or Dadda?
That you would look into the mirror and see your mother or father?

Have you ever doubted the words of someone you trusted, because they were too bad, or good, to be true?

A Catastrophic Joy...
Why do we have no word like "catastrophe" for something good?
Could it be that life hasn't caused us to need one?
J RR Tolkien: "I coined the word 'eucatastrophe': the sudden happy turn in a story which pierces you with a joy that brings tears... because it is a sudden glimpse of Truth, ...that this is indeed how things really do work in the Great World for which our nature is made.” - Letter 89
But we need a better word. Redemption, maybe?

...at Odds with the World
Why Mary was disbelieved:
Not just because of the legal disregard of women, or even pure chauvinism
But because this is not the way the world works, but we feel it should!

Why did Peter (and John) not fully believe?
Mary and the women REMEMBERED, and they saw the light at the end of the tomb, but the “menfolk” were still “stuck” at Golgotha, in the land of shattered hopes and dreams.

Why are you here, some on most Sundays, some for the "high" holy days?
Not just because "I was made to come," surely
But because:
You have seen the brokenness of your work, maybe even yourself
And a part of you cries out for the "happy ending," the sudden undoing of the catastrophes of our lives, the healing of the harms and hurts, the world to be as your heart cries out that it should be

What is the promise of Easter?
That on that most blessed of mornings, the world finally worked as it ought to!
That on a blessed morning to come, the ways of this broken world will change, heaven and earth will join, and Joy will come!
And that until that day, our calling is to look upon the brokenness, the hurts, the little and large catastrophes of our lives and of those around us and proclaim that this is not how it has to remain! And to each day, and with the Spirit's guidance, help each other and all of those in this world full of brokenness and hurt, to REMEMBER Christ’s promise, and to see the Lord!

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The Long-Awaited KingLuke 19:28-40
Do you like waiting? Does anyone?
Waiting for a certain date & time vs.
Waiting for something to happen… when?
Waiting for the world to change?


Did you know TWO processions into Jerusalem?
From the West: Pilate's Procession
The rulers, the soldiers and cavalry
Many "gods" represented by Caesar
Peace through Roman power

Pilate was an expert in the “game of thrones”…
Maneuvering for position; stabbing others in the back
Gaining power at the expense of others
Who will win? Who will lose?

But today we celebrate the Triumphal Entry!
From the East: Jesus' Procession
The "peasants," the poor, the faithful
Proclaiming the Kingdom of God
Peace through God's strength, shown in our weakness

Jesus was a King who refused to “play the game”
Humble ourselves to be exalted by others
Turn the other cheek; forgive a brother 77 times...
Praise a widow giving a penny vs. others giving fortunes
A STRONG person who turned down the lure of power to stand between us and death



Which King Will We Choose?
The irony: many people wanted Jesus to be more like Pilate
Let Jesus Be Jesus! Come to Him, not trying to "redefine Jesus for the 21st century." Jesus is just fine, thanks.
Jesus’ approach seemed doomed to failure, but (and here’s the kicker) how many of us remembered Pilate had a procession that day? 
Seems like in this case, the world did change for the better!  Maybe if we let Jesus be Jesus IN US, it will continue to!

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Extravagant Love John 12:1-8

Two weeks before Good Friday, before Easter

Jesus and the disciples are in Bethany

At the house of Simon the Leper
Martha was serving (but not grousing)
Lazarus was eating
Mary showed her (and possibly her family’s) devotion and gratitude


What is the greatest gift you’ve ever received, or given?

Have you ever poured out a year’s wages on a loved one’s head and feet?


An Extravagant Gift

12oz spikenard

Imported from India (the Himalayas)
300 denarii (a year's wages of a working man)
Probably used as an investment; possibly her (and her family’s) life savings


Econ 101: When you spend something, you have not just lost its value, but all the other possible uses of it

Pension? Unemployment? Food in a famine?
Their little bit of hard-earned security?


An Anointing:

Of His head as King before a Triumphal Entry
Of His feet as her savior, showing Mary’s humility
She could not know it was also the only burial anointing He would ever receive


She was only opposed by false piety

Judas (and others?) tried to tarnish her gift
What Mary did was astounding, and beautiful

Makes me feel a little cheap








This was the kind of action you must be CALLED to do. Not every person has every calling, but if we stay in love with Jesus, we will find that answering His specific call upon our lives leaves our hearts at peace and our souls filled with Joy.

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GREAT JOB EMILY!!!