Sermon, February 28, 2016 Strength to Keep Going Pastor Cheryl Foulk

Transcription

1 Sermon, February 28, 2016 Strength to Keep Going Pastor Cheryl Foulk Board games can be a lot of fun. Do you have a favorite board game? Chess, Monopoly, Clue, Scrabble, Checkers? Some board games do take strategy. I have been beaten by pre-schoolers playing Candyland... My husband, Ben, told me about a board game that his family had when he was a boy, and it was called Going to Jerusalem. It was produced in the 1950's by Parker Brothers; the game came with a small New Testament if you needed to look up the Scripture references on the cards. The goal was to get the plastic figures of the disciples from the start at Bethlehem to the end destination, which was Jerusalem. On the way, you passed through Capernaum, Galilee, and

2 Nazareth. You hoped to be the first player to get your 3 disciples to the city of David. You even had a chance to be the Good Samaritan and let other players pass you on the board. Curious feature of this board game is that it ended with Palm Sunday; there were no squares that mentioned the last supper, or Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, or Jesus' arrest, the Cross, or the empty tomb. The game began with Christmas and ended with Jesus being cheered as he entered the city. Big gap here, because the last week of Jesus life is missing! I don't know if the makers of the game thought that it would be too overwhelming for children to hear the whole story. For those of us who believe in Christ, we can't leave out Jerusalem, we can't leave out the Cross. And so today, we are going to Jerusalem, remembering that Jesus and his disciples went there on their last journey. There are clues throughout the Gospels that Jesus is focused on how His life may end. We read in Luke that he went through cities and villages in Galilee, teaching and healing, but He was looking toward Jerusalem. In one story, He told the disciples: Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem... The Son of man will be delivered to the Gentiles, mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon; they will kill Him. Even with those warnings, it appears that what lies ahead in Jerusalem is not clearly known by the disciples. What they do realize is that there are possibilities of danger, of opposition to God's kingdom, and even death for all of them in the big city. Jesus reminds them that Jerusalem has never been kind to prophets, to those who would speak God's word. His strongest enemies are in Jerusalem, His greatest challenge. There will be trouble. Understandably His disciples were reluctant to go to the city. Peter tried to persuade Jesus to

3 not go, and Jesus did not want to hear Peter's arguments. Jesus is described this way: He steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. We might say that Jesus put on his game face. He is preparing himself and his friends for whatever lies ahead. Jesus goes with passion in His heart. On the way, He cries over Jerusalem; He cared very much for the people there, for their faith and for what will happen to them. Today, we read the passage from Isaiah 50. This is one of four descriptions in Isaiah about a leader who comes to offer hope to the people of Israel who are far from home in Babylon. The leader is a teacher who has a listening ear to God and to the cries of those in trouble. He is a servant, a person of compassion, who will bring courage to those who have lost heart. The surprise in Isaiah is that this person is not welcome by others, but is despised and mistreated. The very One who has come to bring healing and salvation, is put down. This servant is not ashamed because the Lord is with Him and gives him strength. We find the same description here: Servant's face is like flint. He is determined to be obedient to God, even though people turn away from Him. These words were written many years before Jesus lived, but those who believed in Jesus as the Messiah saw in these words a description of Him. We can see how these words come alive in Jesus: He is the one who teaches, who bring salvation and hope, who heals our wounds, who washes the feet of His friends. He is the one who was made fun of, betrayed and beaten. Jesus finds His strength in God in order to finish His journey. He gives all of Himself in a sacrifice of love.

4 British author J.R.R Tolkien wrote Lord of the Rings after being a soldier in trenches of WW1. When he returned from the war, he wrote a powerful story of good and evil, hope and despair, of courage and greed. You may have read his books or seen one of the movies. The central characters are hobbits: short gentle creatures who like to stay home and enjoy good food by the fire. In this story, they are called to travel far from their shire into a world filled with dark forces. They attempt to accomplish an impossible mission even though they are not mighty, and at times, have little courage. Hobbits have a conversation about what is the distinction between going on an adventure and going on a quest. You choose to go on an adventure perhaps because you are bored and would like more excitement. You choose it for yourself and your enjoyment. You can go and come back from an adventure with little change to your heart or your life. A quest is a different matter. A quest is a calling, a mission, a purpose. When you answer the call to a quest, you are part of something larger and more important than your own happiness. Jesus invites us to follow Him, to be part of something larger and more important than just our

5 happiness. He invites us to pick up our cross and follow Him daily. The Shadow of the Cross touches our lives. The Cross affects our choices, our direction, our reputation, even whether we are popular or not. Beyond these walls are folks who are hurting, who are struggling, who are tired of life being so hard. We are called to give of ourselves to a world that is suffering, to a world that God loves. I look at all of us, and I see how we have answered the call. In big and small ways, you have fed the hungry, clothed and given shelter to those who had no home, visited those in prison, gone to the bedside of those who are sick, and looked out for the widows, and the children. You have welcomed those who are strangers in our land. You have cried with those who grieved, encouraged those who have given up. You have stood by those who had few friends. You have never ceased praying with great hope. By following Jesus, there have been times when you also have been rejected and put down. If you are asked, How is it possible to be faithful for the long haul when it is not easy? you could answer with Paul's words: Since it is by God s mercy that we are in this ministry, we do not lose heart. 5 For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as servants for Jesus sake. We have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed... 2 Corinthians 4 Jesus drew upon God's strength and so can we. Bishop Will Willimon described Jesus and his disciples traveling on the road out of Jericho and coming to a point where a decision had to be made. They could head back north to Galilee, which was home and to family, which was perhaps the safer choice, or they could go west and climb the foothills, and go to Jerusalem. Jesus and His disciples turned and they went to Jerusalem. Bishop Willimon goes on to say that Galilee and Jerusalem may be places you can find on the

6 map but they are also places in our souls, decisions that we make in our own lives. When you are standing at the crossroads of your faith, which direction will you choose? Benediction (Hebrews 12) Keep your eyes on Jesus who began and finished this race we're in. Study how He did it. He could put up with anything along the way because He never lost sight of where He was headed and who He belonged to.