Original post at http://jacobjuncker.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/everyone-likes-a-good-joke/

This message was offered at Wesley United Methodist Church (Culver, IN) on Holy Humor Sunday, April 7, 2013.

Note: unlike past sermons, these are my notes, not my manuscript.  I am working hard to move to a more conversational style of preaching that relies less on a manuscript.  I am hoping to eventually start recording sermons, but until that is possible, I will post my sermon notes.

READINGS: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, John 20:19-31

Let’s pray.
Gracious God, in the moments to come, help us all to laugh.  Give me the words to speak and they the ears to hear so that they might not only get the joke, but that we, together might be inspired to live your Word in the world starting today.  Amen.

˚˜˚˜˚˜˚˜˚˜˚˜˚

Why couldn’t anyone play cards on the ark?
Because the animals were on the deck.

Who was the greatest mathematician in the Bible?
Moses: it is rumored that he wrote Numbers.

Where was Solomon’s temple located?
On the side of his head.

Which Old Testament character was known for having a foul mouth at a young age?
Job: he cursed the day he was born (Job 3:1).

Where is the first baseball game mentioned in the Bible?
Genesis 1:1, “in the Big Inning…”

What cars are mentioned in the Bible?
Well, God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden in a (Plymouth) Fury (context see Genesis 3).  David’s Triumph was heard throughout the land.  But, the amazing verse about cars in the Bible is the fact that “all of the apostles were in one (Honda) Accord” (see Luke 2:1, 5:12,King James Version).

What man in the Bible had no parents?
Joshua, the son of Nun (Joshua 2:1).

Who was the best comedian in the Bible?
Samson: he brought the house down (Judges 16:29-30)

Everyone likes a good joke; and, we have the best one to tell.

As Christians we have a story to tell that is Good News for all who hear it.  We have a story that can bring joy and transform the world.  The story goes like this:

God saw how dreary we were making our lives.  Anger, hatred, greed, pride, envy and a whole host of other actions, attitudes and things were keeping us from a growing relationship with God and neighbor.  We were created in the very image of God, and yet, we had gone so far astray that we forgotten the light, beauty and joy that God had placed within us.  The world was dark.

At the right time, God came to show us the way that leads to life: a way of living that reveals the divine spark that lives within each and every one of us.  But, the light God revealed was too bright for us to handle.  We shielded our eyes and pushed God away.  We pushed God as far away as we could: putting God to death, hiding him in a forgettable tomb, and—just to be safe—we sealed the tomb with the biggest rock we could find.

After lying in the tomb for three days, God laughed: a guttural belly laugh.  And, the stone rolled away.  Refusing to give up on the world God loves, refusing to be set aside, God walked out of the tomb.

Everyone likes a good joke; and, we need to share ours.

We have the best joke to tell, it brings joy, happiness, and laughter.  And, we need to stop keeping it to ourselves.  We have a joke worth telling: a joke that everyone can find joy in.  And, we need to share it in order that the world might find joy in knowing that God has not abandoned the world God so loved and came to save.

Five Tips for Telling a Joke[1]

1.     Make sure you actually know the joke.

Practice it!  Tell it to other Christians first.  Trust me, you want to tell the joke a few times before you tell it to a stranger.

2.     Shorter jokes are better.

I know, I know.  You think you’re a great story teller.  But trust me, people will listen and remember the joke better if you keep it short.  Just tell the joke!

3.     The punch line comes last.

And I mean last!  Nothing should come after the punch-line (except for silence and their laughter).  Share the joke and then let it sink in.  Don’t make it a pressure sale.  Allow people to decide to find joy in it or not.

4.     Keep it clean.

And I mean crystal clean.  If you wouldn’t tell it to the pope or a three year old, then don’t tell it.  Seriously.  A lot of harm has been done by Christians who tell dirty jokes: full of hate, judgment and damnation.  Keep the joke clean.

5.     Don’t take credit for a joke that’s not yours.

Our joke was given to us.  It’s ours to tell, but God needs and deserves to get all the credit.

So now that you’ve been given a few tips for sharing a good joke, go and do it.  Everyone likes a good joke.  And, you’ve got the best one to tell.  I hope you’ll pass it on.

Original post at http://jacobjuncker.wordpress.com/2013/04/13/wonder/

This message was offered at Wesley United Methodist Church (Culver, IN) on Easter Sunday, March 31, 2013.

READINGS: Luke 24:1-12

Let’s pray.

Gracious God, in the moments to come, give me the words to speak and they the ears to hear, that together we might learn and be inspired to live your Word in the world starting today.  Amen.

˚˜˚˜˚˜˚˜˚˜˚˜˚

Have you ever had a crazy thought? something that you saw or noticed that made you scratch your head?  I don’t know about you, but I often stand in wonder.  Consider[1]…

• Why does your nose run and your feet smell?
• Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
• Why isn’t phonetic spelled the way it sounds?
• If ‘pro’ is the opposite of ‘con,’ is Congress the opposite of progress?
• Why do we call it a hamburger when it is made of beef?
• Why are there interstate highways in Hawaii?
• If Wal-Mart is lowering prices daily, how come nothing in the store is free yet?
• If air travel is so safe, why do they call it a “terminal”?
• If the #2 pencil is the most popular, why is it still #2?
• Before the light bulb was invented, what appeared over people’s heads when they had an idea?

I wonder…and I wonder if you do too?

Do you look at the world around you with curiosity? are you filled with admiration, amazement, or awe?  Do you find yourself surprised or in doubt over an unexpected sight or outcome?[2]

Do you wonder?

It was early in the morning when, according to Luke, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and a few other women went to the tomb.  They met at Mary the mother of James’ house.  She lived on the edge of town.  As the women gathered, it was evident that none of them had slept.  The Messiah—the one they had hoped would redeem the world and usher in a new realm of peace had been betrayed by one of their friends, brutally beaten, wrongfully charged and executed.  How could you sleep after witnessing—even from a distance—such a horrific sight?  After all had gathered, they headed quietly to the tomb.  There was nothing to say, just a job to do.

As they topped the hill, not far from the tomb, they noticed that the birds had stopped singing.  It was as if something had happened up ahead.  The women huddled closely together as they walked.  They were carrying a lot of oil and spices.  They’d be an easy target for robbers.  They lowered their heads and quickened their pace.  When they arrived at the tomb, they discovered why the birds had stopped singing: the giant stone that had been placed in front of the tomb to seal the door had been moved.  The tomb was open.

As the women looked in they began to cry.  Jesus’ body was gone.  “They didn’t know what to make of this.”[3]  Had robbers stolen the body?  Did Pilate or the chief priests order their guards to desiccate Jesus’ tomb?

^4-8 They were puzzled, wondering what to make of this. Then, out of nowhere it seemed, two men, light cascading over them, stood there. The women were awestruck and bowed down in worship. The men said, “Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery? He is not here, but raised up. Remember how he told you when you were still back in Galilee that he had to be handed over to sinners, be killed on a cross, and in three days rise up?” Then they remembered Jesus’ words.

^9-11 They left the tomb and broke the news of all this to the Eleven and the rest. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them kept telling these things to the apostles, but the apostles didn’t believe a word of it, thought they were making it all up.

¹² But Peter jumped to his feet and ran to the tomb. He stooped to look in and saw a few grave clothes, that’s all. He walked away puzzled, shaking his head.[4]

Peter Θαυμάδζων (thau-măd-zōn).

This Greek word is translated several different ways.  In the King James Version, New International Version, and Common English Bible translations of Luke 24:12, Peter “returned home, wondering what had happened.”[5]  In the New Revised Standard Version, Peter is “amazed.”[6]  The English Standard Version says that “he went home marveling at what had happened.”[7]

Luke, the Gospel writer, uses the word—Θαυμάδζω—some 11 times in his gospel.[8]  The word means “to be extraordinarily impressed or disturbed by something.”[9]  Depending upon its context the word is translated as surprised, marvel, amazed, questioning, puzzled…wonder.

After the women reported what they had seen and what the two strangers in dazzling clothes had reported, Peter leapt up, and ran to the tomb.  He looked in and he was…surprised, puzzled, questioning, marveling, doubting.  When Peter looked in and only saw the linen cloth his mind began to reel: all he could do was wonder.  And that, to me, seems like an appropriate response.

Wonder.

As we look into the tomb on this Easter morning, I invite you to wonder like Peter.  The tomb is empty.  Christ has been raised.

Stand in wonder.  Allow yourself to soak it all in.  That which was dead is now alive.

Death has been swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?[10]

Stand in wonder and know that “nothing can separate us from God’s love…not death or life, not angels or rulers, not present things or future things, not powers or height or depth, or any other thing that is created.”[11]  Not past mistakes nor guilt, not attitudes, circumstances, disappointment, or insecurity; not arrogance, confusion, addiction or indifference: nothing can separate us from the love of God found in Jesus Christ.

Stand in wonder: and boldly proclaim, “Christ the Lord is risen today!”

Amen.

Original post at http://jacobjuncker.wordpress.com/2013/04/13/good-friday-its-our-choice/

This message was offered at Wesley United Methodist Church (Culver, IN) on Good Friday, March 29, 2013 as part of a Tenebrae Service.

READINGS: John 18:1-19:42

It was a lonely day for Jesus.

Jesus had just finished supper with his friends—which to remind you, according to Jewish custom, the new day begins at sundown, not sunrise.  So, it was the start of a new day.  There was a glorious sunset and the moon was on the rise.  Jesus had just finished eating with his twelve closest friends when he told them, rather abruptly, “Get up.  We’re leaving this place” (John 14:31d).

The disciples didn’t know where Jesus was leading them, but they’d grown pretty accustomed to that.  Jesus often led them on unfamiliar paths: to places and people that they would have never visited or even recognized.  Yet, they trusted Jesus.  As they walked Jesus pleaded with his friends: no matter what happens, stick with me.

Remain in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.  I have said these things to you so that my joy will be in you and your joy will be complete.  This is my commandment: love each other just as I have loved you.  No one has greater love than to give up one’s life for one’s friends.[1]

By the end of the day, this teaching would take on a whole new meaning.

You know how the story goes.

By the end of the day, Jesus will be arrested, kept up all night by the questions of the chief priests… He will be beaten, put on trial by Pilate, whipped some more by Roman guards, betrayed by the very people who welcomed him into Jerusalem with shouts of Hosanna![2]   He’ll be found guilty by the masses—more culpable than a murderous, rabble-rouser named Barrabas who was released at the request of crowd.  By the end of the day, Jesus will have walked “the lonesome valley” to a place called, in Aramaic, Golgotha (or Skull Place).  He will be strung up, nailed to a cross and lifted up between two criminals.  The world will go black and Jesus will die.  Most of his friends will be too afraid to do anything.  They’ll stand at a distance confused by the scene: the Messiah, the Christ, God in the flesh, the one who has come to redeem the world and establish a new, heavenly realm on earth will be overcome and executed by the world God so loved and came to save.  It must have been a confusing sight.

Even some 2000 years removed, the sight is still unbearable: nearly too much for us to witness.  But on this of all days, we mustn’t avert our eyes.  Because, on this day, we begin to see how much love Jesus, God in-the-flesh, has for us.  The teachings and miracles weren’t enough to convince us.  We need the cross—because it jolts us from our comfortable lives and demonstrates just how far Jesus will go to demonstrate God’s love.

This is how much Jesus—the incarnate God—loves us.

He allows us to say no.  He doesn’t force himself on us.  He allowed Judas, Peter and the other disciples… He allowed the crowds, the religious and secular leaders to say no.  God loves us so much that God allows us to choose.  Our God is not coercive.  God does not use mind control tricks or magic to get us to recognize God’s gracious presence in our midst.

What he does, is remind us of the consequences.  When we fail to choose to God, when we neglect to bear witness to God’s gracious presence, when we put our own needs before those of God and neighbor, we choose to put God on the cross.

So tonight, we’re reminded just how lonely it was for Jesus.  When we said no to God, we put Jesus on the cross.  And, it was in that moment, that he demonstrated how much he loves us; because he let us say no.  May we never forget the price God paid for our choice.

Let us pray.

Savior of the world,
what have you done to deserve this?
And what have we done to deserve you?
Strung up between criminals,
cursed and spat upon,
you waited for death,
and looked for us
for us whose sin has crucified you.

To the mystery of undeserved suffering,
you bring the deeper mystery of unmerited love.
Forgive us for not knowing what we have done;
open our eyes to see what you are doing now,
as, through wood and nails,
you disempower our depravity
and transform us by your grace.[3]

Original post at http://jacobjuncker.wordpress.com/2013/03/10/god-will-remove-our-disgrace/

This message was offered at Wesley United Methodist Church (Culver, IN) on Sunday, March 10, 2013.

READINGS: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, Luke 5:1-3, 11-32

Let’s pray.

Gracious God, in the moments to come, give me the words to speak and they the ears to hear, that together we might learn and be inspired to live your Word in the world starting today.  Amen.

˚˜˚˜˚˜˚˜˚˜˚˜˚

Hanging out with the wrong crowd can get you into trouble.  In a study disseminated by The University of Minnesota called “Protecting Teens: Beyond Race, Income and Family Structure,” researchers found that “teens who spend a lot of time ‘just hanging out’ with friends, especially friends involved in a specific risk behavior, are more likely to be involved themselves.”[1]  In fact, peer involvement was the leading factor in determining “risky behavior.”  More so than family structure, economic status, and religious affiliation (or lack thereof)—those things are important—but hanging out with friends most determines an adolescent’s behavior.  It’s funny to me that the federal government along with the Robert Johnson Wood Foundation spent nearly $25.2 million dollars to verifying what my mother and Scriptures already saying: hanging out with the wrong crowd can get you into trouble.

In Proverbs 1, Solomon instructs us, “Pay close attention, friend, to what your father tells you; never forget what you learned at your mother’s knee.  Dear friend, if bad companions tempt you, don’t go along with them.”[2]  Conventional wisdom suggests that when you associate with people who make bad, destructive decisions that you yourself will eventually make the same mistakes.  Its to this end that the prophet Amos asks, “Will two walk together unless they have agreed?”[3]  To this end, conventional wisdom suggests that we should withdraw from those “bad” influences in order to protect ourselves from the bad choices of others:[4] let those “evil-doers” wallow in their mistakes so that we might remain pure.  But, conventional wisdom seems to escape Jesus.

Jesus was always hanging around with the wrong crowd.  In our gospel lesson for we learn that “all the tax collectors and sinners were gathering around Jesus” (Luke 15:1, New Revised Standard Version).  Note: that it’s not just a few tax collectors and sinners.  It’s not 10 tax collectors and sinners.  It’s all of them.  And, the Pharisees and legal experts were concerned.  They grumbled.

Doesn’t Jesus know that hanging out with the wrong crowd will only lead to trouble? “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”[5]  By associating with them he’s opening himself to their filth.  He’s just making himself dirty.  Doesn’t he know that hanging out with “those people” is going to run off all his biggest supporters—good, righteous folk who are supporting his ministry?  “Stop wasting your time on such a worthless cause,” the Pharisees and legal experts must have thought, “start spending your time with people who can really start making your ministry something big.”

Jesus heard them grumbling; and, he said to them, “Let me tell you a story.”  There once was a successful landowner who had two sons.  The eldest is a hard worker.  He puts in long hours of work to help build on his father’s success.  The younger son can’t wait for his “old man” to “kick the bucket” so that he can have what his father has worked so hard for.  The younger son is so bold that one day he simply asks for what he thought was his…and, the father obliged.  He gave the younger son his share of the family’s land.  Upon which the younger son immediately sells it and

runs off to some first-century Las Vegas, squanders it all, and ends up eating beans and mush alongside the hogs he is reduced to feeding.  Then he decides that he might return home—even if his father will not take him back as a son and treats him like a hired hand, it will be better than this.

So home he goes.  He is braced for humiliation.  However as he comes over the hill in sight of his hometown, his father runs to greet him with open arms.  The prodigal cannot even launch into the groveling speech about how he deserves nothing more than hired-hand status—the one he has rehearsed over many weeks and many miles—before the old man is wrapping him in the household’s finest robe and putting a ring on his finger.  It is the royal treatment, literally.  Before he can blink the tears out of his eyes, a fatted calf has been killed and most of the town has been invited into a spectacular party.  It is a shindig of, well, biblical proportions.”[6]

While all this was happening the eldest son was just finishing up his work in the back-forty.  It had been a long day—everything seemed to go wrong, everything took twice as long as it should have taken—but he was faithful to his work.  He got it all done, even if he had to put in three hours of unpaid overtime.  As he crested the hill he noticed that there was loud music coming from the homestead.  As he got closer, he could make out the song, it was Kool & the Gang singing “Celebration.”  He could even see people dancing.  As he neared the house, he asked someone what was going on, “Haven’t you heard, your youngest brother has returned.  You’re father’s throwing the party of the century!”  The older brother was furious.  He was about to turn the other way, when his father came running toward him, pleading for him to join the party.

The older brother, in a bout of fury, let loose, “Join the party!  I’ve been working God only knows how many hours doing everything you’ve ever asked of me, yet you’ve never done anything like this for me!  And now, when this son of yours comes home having squandered what you gave him on prostitutes, you’re going to reward him?  Do you have a screw loose?  How messed up is that?!?”

To which the father replied, “Son, this is my party.  It’s not about what you’ve done.  It’s not about what your brother has done.  It’s about a family reunited!  A part of us was lost—we both thought he was dead—and now you’re brother has been found.  He’s back!”

We’re never told if the older brother ever went to the party.  We’re not told if he went to the party out of curiosity to see if his brother had changed.  We’re not told if the brother stayed jealous and refused to accept his younger brother. It’s never said whether or not the older brother stays, continuing to work with his gracious father and his younger brother.  We’re simply not told.  Jesus abruptly ends the story.  Why? Because, perhaps, he doesn’t know how it’s going to end.

Will the Pharisees accept the fact that Jesus has come to “seek and save the lost”?[7]  Will they come to realize that “Healthy people don’t need a doctor, but sick people do.  [Jesus] didn’t come to call righteous people but sinner to change their hearts and lives.”[8]

Jesus defies conventional wisdom, hanging out with wrong crowd, because that’s where God’s love is most needed.  You see, it’s in the broken places of the world…it’s in the broken places of the human heart that God’s love is needed most.  And, God is more than willing to give it.  God is more than willing to look past our mistakes—to remove our disgrace—and help us rebuild our lives if only we’d turn back to God.  We are more than our mistakes.  We are more than the problems we’ve created.  In fact, when we were at our lowest—when we thought we had run the farthest from God—God chose to hang out with the wrong crowd in order to show us how much God loves the world.

The older brother missed that point.  It didn’t matter what the younger brother had done, the father’s love was so great that it looked past the son’s mistakes.  The Pharisees missed the point.  All they noticed was that Jesus was hanging out with the wrong crowd—people who made a living making destructive choices.  And, it’s my prayer that we won’t miss the point too.

¹⁶ So then, from this point on we won’t recognize people by human standards. Even though we used to know Christ by human standards, that isn’t how we know him now. ¹⁷ So then, if anyone is in Christ, that person is part of the new creation. The old things have gone away, and look, new things have arrived!

¹⁸ All of these new things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and who gave us the ministry of reconciliation. ¹⁹ In other words, God was reconciling the world to himself through Christ, by not counting people’s sins against them. He has trusted us with this message of reconciliation.[9]

Friends, God so loved the world that God came and associated with the wrong crowd in order that all people might come to know God’s love.  God will forgive even your most atrocious mistakes.  In fact, God will, like the father in the story, rejoice—in spite of your mistakes—when you turn back to God.

My friends, hear the Good News:  God’s grace is big enough to remove all our disgrace.  There’s no mistake we can make that God won’t forgive.  We need to remember that for ourselves and share it with others…and, then, we need to prepare for the party: the celebration God will throw when all of Creation turns back to God.  I can’t wait.  Can you?

Amen.

Original post at http://jacobjuncker.wordpress.com/2013/03/10/we-will-seek-the-lord-and-be-fruitful/

This message was offered at Wesley United Methodist Church (Culver, IN) on Sunday, March 3, 2013.

READINGS: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, Luke 13:1-9

Let’s pray.

Gracious God, in the moments to come, give me the words to speak and they the ears to hear, that together we might learn and be inspired to live your Word in the world starting today.  Amen.

˚˜˚˜˚˜˚˜˚˜˚˜˚

Jesus sat down at the round table.  It was the place people went to kibitz: to offer unsolicited advice and criticism about anything and everything.

In my childhood, the round table was at Gundhi’s, the now closed family restaurant in town.  It was really the only sit-down family restaurant in the area at the time.  It was my grandfather’s favorite place to eat.  You could get stuffed tenderloin, beef Manhattan, and fried chicken all with a choice of three sides and a roll.  The round table was located in the far right-hand corner of the informal dining room.  It was the last table, before entering the formal dining room: a strategic location that allowed residents of the round table to survey who was entering the restaurant.  Were patrons eating in the informal dining room, having just come from work?  was there a reason that they were eating in the formal dining room? a business meeting, a funeral dinner, a family celebration, perhaps?  The roundtable was strategically located so that everyone who entered the restaurant was open to the advice, criticism, and welcome of those sitting in the round.

During breakfast and lunch the round table was always full: elbow to elbow with people and up to the eyebrows in local gossip (some of it exaggerated, some of it true, and some of it not).  The roundtable was a place for the locals to gather, grab a cup of coffee (regardless of the time of day), eat a meal, and reflect on the happenings of the day.  It was the place Jesus’ own father would take him for lunch as a boy when he was working in the carpentry shop.  His dad would always give him the same advice, “don’t eat too much, I need you be able to be worth somethin’’ this afternoon.  We’ve got a lotta work to do.”  The roundtable was where Jesus and his father would go for lunch, enjoy a cup of coffee, and catch up on the local news.

So, it was here—at the roundtable—that Jesus sat down.  The waitress poured him a glass of real coffee—the high test, caffeinated stuff in the brown topped decanter, not that worthless dirty water in the orange one—and he joined the conversation.

“Did you hear what happened down at the temple?” said Jo the local carpenter.  “Those good-for-nothing Romans are up to trouble again.”  Jo slammed his hand on the table.  Everyone was listening now.  He continued, with each word his blood boiled a little hotter, and his voice got louder.  “It’s bad enough being occupied by Pilate and his Roman minions, but have you heard what happened?  Pilate sent his cronies down to the temple and had men—our countrymen!—cut down like lambs to the slaughter.  No, not simply like lambs to the slaughter, but alongside sacrificial lambs, so that the blood of holy sacrifices and patriots ran together as one.  Can ‘ya believe it?!?  What could possibly be more violent, more reprehensible?”[1]

Talk around the table got quiet.  Everyone was shaking their head in agreement and disgust: everyone except Jesus.  There was a long pause.  Then, nearly in unison, they all lifted their coffee cups and wetted their palate with that black elixir of life that would give them energy to face the day: a day that now seemed a little bit darker.  They held their cups up near their mouths, taking warmth from the cup in light of such a cold story; and, all eyes turned toward Jesus.

We’re not given any clear indication if the story told to Jesus that day at the roundtable was true.  “What is clear is that it was an appeal to Jesus’ nationalistic sympathies.  He is expected to hear the story and galvanize in heated moral superiority with his countrymen, very much against the outsider Romans, those inhuman forces of evil.  However Jesus will not go along.  He does not focus on Pilate or the Romans and their cruelty.  Instead he turns attention back on”[2] the “local yocals,” his friends, sitting at the roundtable.

“Ya, what about it, Jo?”  Everyone around the table took another sip of coffee, eyes darting from Jo to Jesus, Jesus to Jo, Jo to Jesus.  Jesus used the awkward silence to take another sip himself.  He, then, addressed everyone around the table, “Do you think that our countrymen who supposedly died at the hands of the Romans that day are better or worse off than anyone else?  Maggie, yesterday you were talking about those 18 men who innocently lost their lives when out of nowhere the tower of Siloam fell on them.  Are they better or worse off than those who were not crushed?  Come on!  The fact is death is going to come to us all.  It may come to us in old age.  It may come to us by accident.  It may come to us at the hands of the Romans.”  It was here that Jesus abruptly paused and took another drink of coffee.  He choked a bit, and began to cough; tears welled up inside him as he thought about his own impending death at the hands of the Romans.  Jesus looked up, his eyes still watery, and gazed into the eyes of everyone sitting at the table: “Time is running out for all of us,” Jesus said; “but, death does not have to be the end.  You know, you can choose to live.  The choice is simple—but it will cost you everything.  ‘Change your hearts and lives’ (see Luke 13:3 & 5) or your life will surely be cut short.”

Jesus looked down at his breakfast, and noticed that there was two halves of fig on his plate.  Figs were his favorite fruit.  Before anyone had a chance to respond, Jesus continued, “Let me tell you a story.  It’s kind of like a man who planted a fig tree in the middle of his vineyard.  When the season was right, the man went looking for some fruit.  When he found none, he called over the local arborist (that is a specialist in the cultivation and care of trees and shrubs).  “Look, said the tree owner, I’ve been waiting for this tree to produce my favorite fruit for the past three years.  Each year, I come away empty handed.  Cut the worthless thing down.  Why should I allow it to waste perfectly good soil?  It’s doing nothing but leaching all the nutrients from the ground starving the other plants.”  The arborist, hearing the owner’s fury, responded, “Let’s give it another year.  I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. Maybe it will produce next year; if it doesn’t, then chop it down.”[3]  Jesus then stood up, finished his coffee, and made one last comment before he left the table.  He said, “Got any fruit?”  With that he walked to the counter, paid the bill, and gave the waitress a generous tip.  Though he was gone, Jesus’ question lingered around the roundtable: “Got any fruit?”  What a strange question, they thought…his plate of figs was still sitting on the table.

Got any fruit?

Jesus is asking a question he and others throughout the Bible ask regularly.  The prophet Isaiah (5:1-7) bemoans the fact that a well groomed vineyard placed on a fertile hill where all the rocks had been removed yielded nothing of worth.  The owner was so mad that he tore down the wall that protected the vineyard and allowed it to be trampled underfoot, laid to waste, and overtaken by briers and thorns.

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are his pleasant planting;
he expected justice,
but saw bloodshed;
righteousness,
but heard a cry![4]

In the Gospel of Matthew (21:18-19), Jesus is walking along the road on his way back into Jerusalem.  It was early in the morning and he was hungry.  He noticed alongside the road, a fig tree.  “He went to it and found nothing at all on it but leaves.  Then he said to it, ‘May no fruit ever come from you again!’ And the fig tree withered [and died] at once” (Matthew 21:19, New Revised Standard Version).

In the Gospel of John, immediately following Jesus’ last supper with his disciples, Jesus told them:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vineyard keeper. ² He removes any of my branches that don’t produce fruit, and he trims any branch that produces fruit so that it will produce even more fruit. ³ You are already trimmed because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in me, and I will remain in you. A branch can’t produce fruit by itself, but must remain in the vine. Likewise, you can’t produce fruit unless you remain in me. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, then you will produce much fruit. Without me, you can’t do anything. ⁶ If you don’t remain in me, you will be like a branch that is thrown out and dries up. Those branches are gathered up, thrown into a fire, and burned…^.8 My Father is glorified when you produce much fruit and in this way prove that you are my disciples.[5]

Got any fruit?

Is the way we live your lives proof that we are followers of Jesus Christ?  Are we growing in our faith and love toward God and neighbor?  Do we exhibit what Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 (note it’s a single fruit not multiple fruits): love, joy peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control?  Are we, in the words of Isaiah, living lives marked by justice and righteousness?

And, perhaps, here’s the tough question for us to hear in light of our lesson for today: are we bearing fruit? or are we just taking up space in God’s vineyard, sucking up vital nutrients and starving other plants?  “Are we pew potatoes in the church and the chosen frozen in the world?  Or have we so given our lives over to Christ Jesus that he dwells within us sufficiently that when a fruit inspector comes along they see evidence of fruit everywhere?”[6]  The world is full of fruit inspectors: in not so many words, I talked about that last Sunday at the Community Lenten Service (which you really should be attending!).  Do they see Jesus in the way we live our lives?  Do the fruit inspectors find any growth in our commitment to love and serve God and neighbor? or is our fruit old, shriveled, rotting on the vine?  Do they see the Kingdom growing within us as individuals and in the community in which we live and serve.  Have ‘ya…

Got any fruit?

Jesus said that we cannot create fruit on our own.  We cannot simply will to be fruitful.  We simply cannot, on our own accord, grow the fruit of the Spirit, justice or righteousness.  We cannot on our own establish God’s Kingdom which is something beyond our own abilities.  Jesus said, if you want to bear fruit, then you’ve got to follow me.

⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, then you will produce much fruit. Without me, you can’t do anything. ⁶ If you don’t remain in me, you will be like a branch that is thrown out and dries up. Those branches are gathered up, thrown into a fire, and burned…^.8 My Father is glorified when you produce much fruit and in this way prove that you are my disciples.

Friends, seek the Lord and you will be fruitful.  Plant yourself firmly in God’s presence through regular Scripture reading, prayer, Christian conferencing, public worship, and service.  Grow in your commitment to serve God and neighbor through your prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness.  Seek the Lord and be fruitful.  Amen.

Original post at https://jacobjuncker.wordpress.com/2013/02/28/in-christ-alone/

This message was offered at Wesley United Methodist Church (Culver, IN) as part of the Community Lenten Service on Sunday, February 24, 2013.

⁶ So live in Christ Jesus the Lord in the same way as you received him. ⁷ Be rooted and built up in him, be established in faith, and overflow with thanksgiving just as you were taught. ⁸ See to it that nobody enslaves you with philosophy and foolish deception, which conform to human traditions and the way the world thinks and acts rather than Christ. ⁹ All the fullness of deity lives in Christ’s body. ¹⁰ And you have been filled by him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. ¹¹ You were also circumcised by him. This wasn’t performed by human hands—the whole body was removed through this circumcision by Christ. ¹² You were buried with him through baptism and raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. ¹³ When you were dead because of the things you had done wrong and because your body wasn’t circumcised, God made you alive with Christ and forgave all the things you had done wrong. ¹⁴ He destroyed the record of the debt we owed, with its requirements that worked against us. He canceled it by nailing it to the cross.

Colossians 2:6-14, Common English Bible

Let’s pray.

Gracious God, in the moments to come, give me the words to speak and they the ears to hear, that together we might learn and be inspired to live your Word in the world starting today.  Amen.

˚˜˚˜˚˜˚˜˚˜˚˜˚

The way we live our life matters.  The things we do, the things we buy, the things we say, the work we do, the music we listen to, the television shows we watch, and the websites we visit… They all say something about who we are.

What does the way you live your life say about you?  Think about that for a moment…

And, perhaps the most important question for us to consider is: how does the way you live your life point to the love of God found in Jesus Christ?  In what ways is your life bearing witness to your growth in faith and love toward God and neighbor?

It was at the last supper that Jesus issued a new commandment.  It was the commandment that would be the distinguishing mark of all Christ followers.  The disciples didn’t have a great track record of putting Jesus’ words into practice.  Jesus knew that tensions had risen to such a level that he would most likely be arrested soon.  He needed his disciples to understand and begin to carry on his mission.  So, like a loving parent, he issued a new commandment that would summarize his entire mission…and then repeated it THREE times.

³³ Little children, I’m with you for a little while longer. You will look for me—but, just as I told the Jewish leaders, I also tell you now—‘Where I’m going, you can’t come.’

³⁴ “I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other. ³⁵ This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other.”

It’s intriguing to me that Jesus does not say.  Everyone will know you are my followers based upon the day you worship or the music you sing.  He doesn’t say that the world will know you are my followers by the opinion you hold about abortion, human sexuality, the environment, or war.  Jesus says, “everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other” (John 13:35, Common English Bible).

And, yet, we—generally speaking—as Christians, are not known for that which Jesus commanded.  In 2007, the Barna Group released a study of Christianity’s perception among 16-29 year olds.

The study shows that 16- to 29-year-olds exhibit a greater degree of criticism toward Christianity than did previous generations when they were at the same stage of life. In fact, in just a decade, many of the Barna measures of the Christian image have shifted substantially downward, fueled in part by a growing sense of disengagement and disillusionment among young people. For instance, a decade ago the vast majority of Americans outside the Christian faith, including young people, felt favorably toward Christianity’s role in society. Currently, however, just 16% of non-Christians in their late teens and twenties said they have a “good impression” of Christianity…

While Christianity has typically generated an uneven reputation, the research shows that many of the most common critiques are becoming more concentrated. The study explored twenty specific images related to Christianity, including ten favorable and ten unfavorable perceptions. Among young non-Christians, nine out of the top 12 perceptions were negative. Common negative perceptions include that present-day Christianity is judgmental (87%), hypocritical (85%), old-fashioned (78%), and too involved in politics (75%) – representing large proportions of young outsiders who attach these negative labels to Christians. The most common favorable perceptions were that Christianity teaches the same basic ideas as other religions (82%), has good values and principles (76%), is friendly (71%), and is a faith they respect (55%).

Even among young Christians, many of the negative images generated significant traction. Half of young churchgoers said they perceive Christianity to be judgmental, hypocritical, and too political. One-third said it was old-fashioned and out of touch with reality.

Interestingly, the study discovered a new image that has steadily grown in prominence over the last decade. Today, the most common perception is that present-day Christianity is “anti-homosexual.” Overall, 91% of young non-Christians and 80% of young churchgoers say this phrase describes Christianity…

When young people were asked to identify their impressions of Christianity, one of the common themes was “Christianity is changed from what it used to be” and “Christianity in today’s society no longer looks like Jesus.”[1]

As Christians—regardless of our denomination—we’ve lost our way.  As followers of Christ, we’re not known for our love for one another.  Instead, we’re known for being judgmental, hypocritical, old-fashioned, too involved in politics, and anti-homosexual.

I wonder, what would it look like if we were known for our love?  What would it look like if we got over our opinions about hot-topic social issues and started living and loving like Christ commanded?

^6-7 My counsel for you [this afternoon] is simple and straightforward…  You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You’re deeply rooted in him. You’re well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you’ve been taught. School’s out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.[2]

Follow Jesus’ command: “Love each other.”  Love each other with the same reckless abandon that God loves you.  Let the way you live your life point toward the love of God found in Jesus Christ.  It seems so basic, doesn’t it?  Live your life in such a way that those around you can see Jesus.  Well, then, let’s start doing it…  Let’s live our lives “in Christ alone”…