Tabernacle

Sometimes Jesus asks for the impossible, like when He asked a frantic father to keep trusting Him even though the report was undeniable: “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?”  Resurrection has a way of bringing happy endings to our most unimaginable pain and loss.  Where is Jesus asking you for the impossible?  What happy ending do you foresee?

Back and forth across the Sea of Galilee, Jesus and the disciples encounter all kinds of people on each leg of the journey.  After meeting (and healing) the man with the legion of demons, Jesus meets a synagogue ruler and then a very poor, very sick woman.  True to form, He loves them and blesses them all.  He loves and blesses you too.

The Gospel is the good news, the good (and true) story of all that Jesus did to deliver us from sin and restore our relationship with God.  It is also the story of how Jesus is restoring in us our true humanity, the reflection of God’s image in us.  Where these themes overlap is where our story gets personal and where it becomes the story of “how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you” (Mark 5:19).

Today we welcome back Rev. Robert Cunningham, who is the Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) pastor at UVA.  Robert and Katherine have two kids and lots of students they love well.  Today we get a taste of the ministry at UVA, as Robert has been preaching through the Psalms in large group this spring.  The Psalms teach us to be honest before God, even when we are sad and grieving.  The Psalms don't tell us to stuff our painful emotions; rather, God gives us words to express our pain through the Psalms.  And they point us to the One who took our sadness on Himself, to turn our lament into laughter.

We tend to think of Jesus as a pretty safe guy. Isn't it the Good Shepherd's job to rescue the sheep and lead them to green pastures and still waters? But Jesus is full of surprises. One day, He led his disciples onto the Sea of Galilee where the waters became anything but still. But His puirposes were good. Only in the storm could He show them His power. Only in the storm could He call them to true belief in Him.

Jesus comes to us and asks us to weigh His words.  Is He truly who He says He is?  Is He really the Light of the world?  Is He the One who bring us God’s hope, truth, and grace?  We in the Church believe this is true, but we can’t help wonder with the world about why things seems to continue to be so crooked.  If Jesus really is the King He claims to be, then where is His reign?

We are a complicated mass of emotions and reactions.  Why is that some people respond better to difficulty and adversity than others?  Why is that some people stay healthy in the midst of prosperity while others are spoiled?  Is it nature or is it nurture?  Actually, it doesn’t matter.  Regardless of how you are wired or what you’ve been exposed to, Jesus invites all of us to evaluate the true condition of our heart and then to make whatever changes that will lead to spiritual health.

The resurrection is a crossroads, a point of decision.  If it is true, then it is gloriously true and will radically bless your life—now and in eternity.  And if the resurrection is not true, then Christianity is a sham.  But there is an in between place that Christians struggle with, we who believe that Jesus rose from the dead, “Just as he said.”  Sometimes we forget how the resurrection changes everything.  We revert to living like it never happened.  How can we live more in light of the resurrection?

Jesus came to call us into His new family, the household of God, where we are adopted by our heavenly Father and Jesus becomes our Brother.  They say that blood is thicker than water, to be sure.  But the blood of Jesus is thicker than our bloodlines.  He affirms our earthly families, but He also says that God’s family is what truly defines us and secures us and shapes us.  So rejoice that you are adopted, and that you are inside His family of faith.

What you make of Jesus is all important.  It is vitally important to regard Him as He is, as He truly is, as opposed to how we imagine Him or wish Him to be.  But be warned: knowing Him as He is will disrupt your life—for now.  But be encouraged: knowing Him as He is will bless your life—for now and forever.