More Than Bread

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This may be a difficult episode for some of us to love. It's all about the ascension of Jesus. The ascension is that moment described in the gospels and the book of Acts when Jesus went up to heaven. But the language of ascension is not just a “going up” language. That language is used, Jesus going up, coming up, ascending. But it’s not just directional, it’s primarily positional.  Ascension is the language of Jesus becoming King. He ascended to His throne. King of Heaven and Earth, head of the Church.  He is the King of the Kingdom of God. God has delivered to Jesus, through his death and resurrection, all authority and all power. 

Here is the part that might be hard to love. If He’s not your King, He’s not your Savior. Is He your King? Have you bowed your knee to Him. Have you surrendered your heart to him? He’s not your savior if he’s not your King. If he’s not your king, you’re not following Jesus. You're just going to church. It's not the same thing.

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In this episode we will ponder two different groups (and two specific people) who interacted with the resurrected Jesus, women and family; specifically Mary Magdalene and James. If there was anyone there for Jesus in the hardest moments of his life it was Mary. If there was anyone's change of mind that proves (at least for me) the  resurrection, it was James the brother of Jesus.

I am desperately convicted of how much today we need courageous, stick-with-it women like Mary Magdalene and men like James the brother of Jesus, the skeptic turned believer who would spend so much time on his knees, that he gained the nickname, "Old Camel Knees." We would do well to aim our lives in the direction of either one!

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Do you believe? When you look around you at the state of the world, or maybe the state of your family, or your life, do you ever wonder who is driving this thing we call "the world" and can that someone be trusted? Can I place my life in his hands? Does he care about me? Can I trust his character and his competence?  I call it the "Quest to Believe." Over and over again, the writers of scripture, Jesus himself connects an uncommon life, a life that thrives, with faith, with believing.

It seems like it should be an easy thing, it's so easy even a child can do it. In fact we often hold that up as the standard, a child-like faith. But then we grow up...and sometimes this quest for faith seems so difficult. Can I tell you something? You aren't alone. It's always been difficult.  Can I tell you something even more important? Jesus can handle your doubt with deep compassion! Come to him and let him help you in the struggle!

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It's one of my all-time favorite moments in the life of Jesus, breakfast on the beach at sunrise with his friends. But for Peter, it's a hard moment...a moment when he comes face to face with the facts of his failure. Jesus knows Peter has messed up. Peter knows Peter's messed up. Peter's pretty sure that Peter's gonna mess up again and Jesus would probably agree. But Jesus doesn't even mention what Peter did wrong. Jesus doesn't let out with a cockle-doodle-do and say, I told you so Peter.  He doesn't even try to work through the steps of what Peter did wrong.... 

He just asks him, "Do you love me Peter?" Three times, once for each denial.  Not because Jesus wanted to remind him of his failure, but I think because, there was nothing more important in that moment than Peter hearing his own words in his own ear affirming, "Yes Jesus I love you." Because there was nothing more important in that moment that Peter saying, "Jesus you have my heart."

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In this episode we will spend some time talking about the authority of our King in the Kingdom of God. The glory of Easter is not just the promise of personal resurrection. It's the promise of the Kingdom of God come to earth. It's the fulfillment of the promise of the return of the King! 

And that King, our King Jesus is offering us the same challenge He offered them at their special place in Galilee, the offer to be part of his team on a mission. Not fans in the stands, but players on the field. He is calling us to go with the good news that the Kingdom of Heaven has come, that the King of the Kingdom is risen and reigning.

All authority has been given to Him, so we go in His authority, for His mission to see our neighbors delivered from the power of darkness and transferred into the Kingdom of the Son!

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 Can you imagine what would happen if we had a viral outbreak of Easter?  When God let Jesus loose on the earth, people were amazed; amazed at his birth, amazed at his life, his teaching, his miracles, and his compassion. What if, because resurrection power has been let loose in the world; what if because of the outpouring of Spirit, Jesus was let loose through each of us again and again and again?
 
That's what happened in the early days of the church and it was an amazing time.  It really happaned, a small, marginalized community of people discovered hope and power and they started to live like Jesus. They started to serve like Jesus and love like Jesus and give like Jesus. And they became known as the people who turned the world upside down.  What if it could happen again? What if?

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How many here have ever had a good movie or a good book spoiled because somebody told you the ending?  Like, "Did you realize that the guy in the Sixth Sense is actually  dead?" Sorry. On the other hand, in real life, there are times when knowing the ending  could make the middle a little easier to live through.

Sometimes wouldn't it be nice to know how the story ends?  Did I make the right  decision to hang in there?  How are my children going to turn out?  Is there any point to the difficulty I'm going through?  Will it ever end?  My life seems so dark right now, it it worth living?  Will there ever be any light?  Any laughter?  Anything but this loneliness? Those questions might be easier to live with, if we knew the end of our story.

And in a sense, that's exactly what Easter means to me. I know the end of my story and even better I know the author! He's alive!

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Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday are the celebration pillars of Holy Week. But today isn’t Friday or Sunday. It’s Saturday. The in-between day. The Saturday between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday goes by various names, Holy Saturday, Black Saturday, even Hallelujah Saturday in Portugal. I think of it as Silent Saturday, stuck in the in-between, not quite as bad as Friday, but no hope in sight for Sunday. In some ways, it’s where we often find our living. In-between. Waiting. Waiting in spaces of unanswered prayer, hope not yet realized, grief and fear and anxiety perhaps not at an urgent pitch, but by no means gone. 

Welcome to in-between Saturday. The death, lockdown and resurrection breakthrough of Jesus took place over three days. If Friday was the day of suffering, pain and agony and Sunday was the day of hope and victory. Saturday was the day of uncertainty, the day of doubt and confusion and misery.  Saturday was a day of waiting... what are you waiting for...?

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Can you guess the most famous, the most well known logo of all time?  From tattoos to jewelry, from huge monuments that tower over cities to a tracing in the air over a forehead or a heart, from works of art to a form scratched on the walls of catacombs -- the caves where persecuted Christians hid, it's the cross.

 You see it on churches, t-shirts, and cemetery tombstones. It hangs from necks as gold jewelry  and it's inked in blue on people. I bet it's hard to go through a day without seeing at least one. This is the ages old logo of the church.  The cross is the brand of the untamed Jesus and all those who follow Him.

Why a cross? That's what Good Friday is all about!

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John 17 is Jesus last time of prayer before the cross and in it we see the dream on the heart of Christ, was a dream for our common unity, that we would love each other like Jesus loves us. And yet how well have we responded to his prayer.  We have been so  easily divided, race, covid perspectives, economics, when it comes to the unity of the  church, I can’t say I’m looking forward to another season of politics. 

Listen, the early church didn't ignore the politics of the day because they were afraid. They ignored the politics of the day because they believed they had found something    far more powerful, far more glorious. They believed that  they were part of a Kingdom that made politics look like fool's play. Rather than settling for a lesser glory, they      decided to strive for a glory-saturated community. 

For almost 25 years, this has been my prayer... "Father show us your glory. Fill us with your love. Make us one."