FYI - not like my normal recordings. On Good Friday the past 15 years when I preached I chose to do so in character as someone looking on and watching the events. This time it is from the perspective of the man born blind from John 9 and he is telling what he has seen to Mary, Martha and Lazarus.

The night of Jesus' arrest in the Garden has been known as Maundy Thursday because of John 13.34 - A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. The Latin words for new commandment are mandatum novum and is from that word mandatum we take the name of this day. For Jesus to give a commandment is interesting and is straightforward and surely an easy thing to do. Well, there's a problem, two people to whom Jesus gives this very commandment, after washing their feet and presiding at the Last Supper commemorating the redemption of Israel from slavery in Egypt, will betray him before the sun comes up. We just aren't that loveable, it requires a commandment and it requires the Holy Spirit. Tonight we reflect on a night fraught with meaning, a night of celebration and hope broken by betray and hopelessness. A night of chaos, madness and evil and it began with a command to love.

One of my favorite people asked me about I Corinthians 7:4 - "For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does." This is in a little part of the epistle that is subtitled in the English Standard Version, "Principles for Marriage." I believe in order to unpack that we need to go back to Genesis and the creation of the woman from the rib of the man. We need to understand what it means for a man and woman to become one flesh. To think about that the guiding principle is from the Song of Songs, I am my beloved's and he is mine. 

 Psalm 118:19-29 

Matthew 21:1-11           

Isaiah 45:21-25

Matthew (26:36-75)             27:1-54(55-66)

On Palm Sunday we have two conflicting emotional experiences. We begin by recreating the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on a donkey in fulfillment of the prophecy in Zechariah 9. We wave palm branches and sing All Glory Laud and Honor as we, as a congregation, enter the sanctuary together. Following this we get to the Gospel reading which is the entire Passion of the Christ, from the praying in the garden with the disciples to the betrayal by Judas, the trial before the Jewish leaders, then before Pilate, Herod and back to Pilate, the mocking and scourging by the soldiers, the crown of thorns mashed onto Jesus' head, the crucifixion and the death of Jesus. In our tradition we the congregation join the crowd shouting "Crucify Him!" In the space of 15 minutes we have acclaimed Him as king and also demanded He be crucified for blasphemy.  What Jesus did in coming in the form of a man, submitting Himself to His own creation and dying on the cross is unimaginable. No other religion has anything close to that idea. That He did so that we might live isn't even a concept other than in Christianity. Without the resurrection this is simply an incredibly tragic day in history. The resurrection changes everything and provides the interpretive key to His identity and the meaning of our lives and hope eternal!

Psalm 130 

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Romans 6:16-23

John 11:1-44

The final sign pointing to who He is Jesus gives prior to his own death and resurrection is the resurrection of Lazarus. In Ezekiel we have the story of the dry bones being brought back to life and it only happens when the prophet speaks to the bones as the Lord commands him to do. There was no way to resurrect those dry, very dry bones but when the Lord asks Ezekiel if it is possible he say, Lord you know.  Wise man, he knows there is always hope, even in "impossible" situations so long as God is involved. The mourners at the grave of Lazarus, including Mary and Martha, don't believe there is anything that can now be done for their brother. They believe if Jesus had shown up when they sent for Him He could have healed Lazarus, they had seen Him heal others.  This, however, was too hard. We know that because when He asks for the tomb to be opened, they protest that there will be an odor. They had no idea why Jesus wanted the tomb opened and they got instead a personal demonstration that there was no limit to His power. 

Psalm 23

1 Samuel 16.1-13

Ephesians 5:1-14

Four verbs define faith: see, know, believe and act. First we have to see clearly, not with jaundiced eyes or pre-conceived notions of what is true and what is not. We have to then interpret what we see so that we may know truth. Third we have to believe the evidence of our eyes, mind and heart so that we may obtain greater knowledge, wisdom and understanding. Finally we have to act on that belief as if our lives depend on it being true. That is the actual definition of faith, not some blind leap into the unknown. Samuel shows us faith in anointing David as the next king. David expresses that faith in the 23rd Psalm, he has experience of God that allows him to know that tomorrow God will also be there. Paul knows because he was given sight and a heavenly witness on the road to Damascus. A blind man is healed and comes to faith in Jesus in spite of the fact it cost him "everything" and no one around him joined him in that faith.

Psalm 95.6-11

Exodus 17.1-7

Romans 5.1-11

John 4.5-42

Do you know anyone who is discouraged or  afraid? Chances are pretty good you do at this moment in time as we face so much uncertainty in the world with the Coronavirus. The new nation was discouraged after they had a  couple of days to celebrate the Red Sea miracle. They realized they weren't going to be magically transported to the Land, they would need things like water and they looked to Moses to make that happen. In our Gospel, Jesus meets a woman who is discouraged too and offers her water, a very specific kind of water, living water. After some religious talk she admits both her discouragement and her thirst for what He seems to be offering. The terms for getting it, truth. We don't need to be afraid and soft pedal the truth because it is the most wonderful news in the world, He is still that living water for our souls.

Can an Anglican Priest and Missionary really not be born again? Yep, it happened to John Wesley. Wesley knew a lot, patterned his life on biblical standards but was well aware he was more or less faking it. He was as confused as Nicodemus in our lesson this morning from John 3.1-17. Nicodemus had a lot of religious knowledge, he was a Pharisee and a teacher in Judaism but when Jesus spoke to him of spiritual things he was clearly lost. The good news is this isn't the last we hear of Nicodemus nor was Wesley's failed attempt at mission work the last word on his ministry. Paul was another guy who had a lot of religious knowledge but it was insufficient to know the Messiah when he saw Him. Both Paul and Nicodemus thought they won the eternal life lottery when they were born into the right people group and circumcision sealed the deal but both realized that being born again was necessary. Paul argues in Romans 4.1-17 that circumcision is nothing at all without faith in Jesus, he saw the truth, that Abraham's faith was counted to him as righteousness not his circumcision. Life is a journey that begins with a step of faith, just like Abram's faith in leaving everything familiar behind when God called him to do just that in Genesis 12.1-8. We never know where the journey leads but we know it begins at the cross and ends in eternity.

What is Ash Wednesday, why do something like Lent?

There is a purpose to the church calendar year as observed by the liturgical year. It's purpose is to build a rhythm of life into God's people that keeps us anchored in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. We follow a different drummer than the rest of the world. It causes us to touch all the bases regarding Jesus, not just focus on parts of His life and teaching. It grounds us in His life in a profound way. Lent is nobody's favorite season but it is necessary to re-orient our lives, to tell us take a season to remove the clutter and get back to keeping the main thing the main thing. I've started a new exercise regime in my life and what I am discovering is that my body is warped in a strange way and I am working to get that righted. I know it will take a long time to undo what has developed over many years of not paying attention to the alignment of my body. It's strong from years of weight lifting but not flexible and not as strong as it could be. I am committed to getting that corrected no matter how painful it is at times or how long it takes because I want to be able to live long and get the most out of life and my body as possible. Who wouldn't? That's exactly the same principle as Lent calls us to.

Psalm 99

Exodus 24:12-18

Jesus takes three disciples up on a high mountain with, it seems, no advance warning for what will happen there. They see and experience the most amazing revelation of Jesus' identity they would receive until the resurrection. They see him transfigured and talking with Moses and Elijah who have been dead at the time for centuries. The disciples are not sure what to make of this scene and yet there has never been anything like it. It was obviously intended to galvanize their faith for what was ahead, to cease questioning Jesus' authority when He said things that conflicted with their pre-conceived notions about his ministry and role. He obviously knew what was going to happen, that He would be fully revealed as greater than and different to anything that had come before or would come after.