Jesus’ walk to Emmaus with these two followers is full of mystery, wonder and awe. Also read Luke’s account of what happened in the early church (our daily readings from Acts). The New Testament repeatedly emphasized the word “Scripture(s).” Interestingly, the word “Scripture(s)” is never used in the Old Testament. We have a phrase, “Word and Table.” It means that Jesus is made known by the Word of God (Scripture) and by Holy Communion. These are two primary means of grace through which Jesus opens our eyes and our minds to new realities. Worship can open our eyes, minds and hearts to consistent experiences of God’s grace. Worship is best done as an automated rhythm of life (not haphazardly). Asbury’s strategic initiative for 2019-2020 is: “Helping Others Follow Jesus by strengthening worship attendance.” We want you to attend worship services because everything leverages off worship. This is where we meet others, make new friends, get involved in study and service, sing, pray together, give our money, learn what is going on, share our creeds, receive and extend forgiveness, and hear the Scriptures proclaimed. It is a place to listen, learn, grow, witness and give our attention to God. We find a place where the main agenda is to follow Jesus. We find God’s grace here. Worship rearranges life. It needs to be our No. 1 priority. In the absence of making it so, this saying becomes true: “We worship our work, we work at our play and we play at our worship.” - Pastor Tom Harrison

The Bible is a book about real people and real stories. Something incredible started happening after the Resurrection. Jesus started appearing to people in all kinds of places and situations. His bodily presence demonstrated He was physically alive and present. The gospels have various accounts of these post-resurrection appearances. Luke goes into detail about Jesus appearing to two disciples who were walking on the road to a village named “Emmaus.” Luke says their “eyes were kept from recognizing him.” Jesus spoke to them, beginning with Moses and the prophets, and explained the Scriptures and how they all pointed to Himself. They were crushed by the crucifixion and confused by the post-resurrection appearances they were hearing about. Jesus opened their eyes. The Old Testament (or Hebrew Bible) are “the Scriptures” Jesus described. The New Testament had not been written yet. These Scriptures pointed to Jesus. All the stories of the Old Testament culminate in the Resurrection of Jesus. The Old Testament becomes a new book when we look for Christ in all of it. There are many troubling and confusing parts in the Hebrew Bible (names, places, violence, warfare, dietary laws, etc.) but it is only the first act of a two-part play. Without the Old, the New is without foundation and doesn’t make sense. Without the New, the Old is incomplete. The last word in the Old Testament is “destruction” (or “curse”). The last sentence of the New Testament is: “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all. Amen.” (Revelation 22:21) I’ll take the grace of Jesus over “destruction/curse” any day.

- Pastor Tom Harrison

This is another story of Jesus reaching out to embrace people who were considered “beyond” salvation. Like the Samaritan woman at the well, Zacchaeus had flown past cultural values. He lined his pockets by helping finance the Roman occupation of Israel. He collected taxes (profit gouging) from his fellow Jews to bankroll the despised Roman oppressors. These Jews had no recourse against Zacchaeus. He could tell you to shut up and pay Rome and if you didn’t, he could turn you over to them for retribution. To say the Jews hated Zacchaeus and his fellow tax collectors is a classic understatement. Zacchaeus didn’t respect them, so they didn’t respect him, either. Jesus loves ALL people. He gave prostitutes, tax collectors and murderers an invitation to a new life. He even offered forgiveness to a thief dying with Him on the cross. The undeserved favor of Jesus is called “grace.” NOBODY is perfect. We are ALL sinners. We all miss the mark. We must not deny grace to anyone. Jesus respects all people because all people are created in the image of God. Jesus chose to give respect to Zacchaeus. The chief tax collector didn’t have to earn Jesus’ respect, but He responded to it. Zacchaeus was “up the tree” in more ways than one. He wanted something more from life than a successful business. It is amazing how Jesus could spot this guy who had come up so short in the community. It is so like Jesus. He always had an eye out for the outcast.

- Pastor Tom Harrison

They Marveled…

The “Woman at the Well” was an unbelievable story to people in the days of Jesus. It freaked out His disciples. In fact, they marveled that He would talk to this woman (but no one questioned Him about it). It was wrong on numerous levels. She is a Samaritan and the Jews hated Samaritans. “The Good Samaritan” is an oxymoron—the only “good” Samaritan would have been a dead Samaritan according to the conventional wisdom of the day. The Samaritans were Jews who fell away from following the true God and worshipped false gods when the Assyrians conquered and intermarried with several of their tribes (in 722 BC). Jews often refused to travel through Samaria (north of Jerusalem). Jesus was crossing another taboo when He spoke to a woman. To have a public conversation with a woman would have been improper then. Furthermore, she was a woman with a sexual history. That is why she was drawing water in the heat of the day—NOBODY would want to be seen with her. She was despised. Her reputation was loathsome. Jesus spoke to the “wrong” people. He ate and drank with them, too. He didn’t kiss up to the proper folks. He boldly took risks. He believed that every person had sacred worth and was worthy of being loved, accepted and forgiven. He never compromised His message. He said certain things were right and certain things were wrong. While Jesus used judgment, He didn’t condemn people. He told them the truth and invited them to follow Him, regardless of their past. He invited them to be freed from sin.

- Pastor Tom Harrison

Not So with You

Our passage from Mark 10 is stunning. The audacity of James and John (Matthew’s Gospel has their momma asking for this favor) to request being seated at the right and left hand in your (wink, wink) glory. They were after their OWN glory, not the glory of Jesus. We hear Jesus’ gentle rebuke, but I would have loved to have seen His expression (exasperation?) when they popped the question. It didn’t go over well when the other disciples heard of the request (“indignant,” is the word). They were probably upset because they hadn’t thought of it first. They all wanted to run their own play and call their own number. Jesus had to get His team back together. His punchline is that He didn’t come to be served but to give His life away. Our natural bias is to organize life so we can be comfortable. We like to come first. We prefer the kingdom of self. Jesus ushered in a new kingdom—the kingdom of God. Let’s not throw rocks: We are all building our own kingdoms until we turn to the kingdom of God. Jesus spoke more about the kingdom of God then he did about anything else (money was his second favorite topic). Some of us are more scripted into service and helping than others. Some of us are givers and some are takers. Regardless of our natural disposition, we are all called to serve and to do it in the spirit of Jesus. He served with confident humility.

- Pastor Tom Harrison

Turning the Tables Jesus was angry. He was furious when the religious leaders were ripping off worshipers. There IS a time to be angry. It has been called “righteous indignation.” Jesus didn’t sit on His emotions. He did not look the other way. He acted. Jesus didn’t make a big deal over trivial matters—this was a big deal. In turn, when the chief priests and scribes became indignant that Jesus was receiving praise, Jesus defended the actions of His worshipers. Once again, He referenced the truth of Scripture (verses 15-16, citing Psalm 8:2). Assertiveness is understood as behaving confidently and not being afraid to say what you want, need or believe. Jesus was (and is) His own man. He knew who He was, and He was comfortable asserting Himself when necessary. Ecclesiastes 3 tells us there is a time for everything, including “a time to keep silence and a time to speak.”

- Pastor Tom Harrison

Fruit, Gifts and Power The concept of God as Spirit makes sense. God the Father is Spirit, not flesh and blood. The New Testament is clear that God the Son became a human in Jesus. The Christmas message, God become Man, is inconceivable to me. Yet, that is what God the Son did. The third Person of the Trinity is the Holy Spirit. Of the three parts of the godhead, the Holy Spirit is the least understood for most of us. Jesus was led and empowered by the Holy Spirit. To follow Jesus, we must have His Spirit in us (else we attempt it on our own strength). Jesus tried to explain to His disciples that the Holy Spirit would be given to them after He left. It would be to their advantage that He go away so they would not be dependent upon His physical presence. By giving the Spirit to them, He could live within all disciples simultaneously. The Holy Spirit was given on the “Day of Pentecost” (Acts 2). The Day of Pentecost was the birth of the Church. All Christians have received the Holy Spirit (otherwise, you are not a Christian). There are at least three effects of the Holy Spirit on us. First, the Spirit is for individual believers (Galatians 5:22-23). Second, the Spirit imparts gifts for the church (1 Corinthians 12:4-11). Third, the Spirit empowers us for witness (Acts 1:8). Witness, empowerment and mission are the main topics of the Book of Acts. Our readings this week focus on Jesus’ teaching and the first two chapters in the Book of Acts.

- Pastor Tom Harrison