John

,

The Eternal Dance

,

The Eternal Dance
Trinity Sunday
Sunday, June 12, 2022
John 16:12-16

“I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t handle them now. But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is. He won’t draw attention to himself, but will make sense out of what is about to happen and, indeed, out of all that I have done and said.”

John 16:12-13 (The Message)

Listen to this week’s sermon here:

____________________

Why does the Trinity matter?  Who cares if God is three or one or one-hundred?  Why have we spent thousands of years of church history struggling to figure this out.  God is God! Isn't that enough?

We cannot understand the Three-One God rationally, but the Trinity shows us that for all eternity, God is a relational being and exists forever in a state of perfect love and harmony among Father, Son, and Spirit.  When John writes that "God is love," he is not speaking in the abstract.  God truly exists in a relationship of perfect love.

Here are just a few implications:

  • Creation:  Humanity was created because love naturally seeks to reproduce itself, to love more persons and also to be loved by them.  This is a core reason why human parents desire to have children, despite the physical and emotional pain they know will result.

  • Relationships: It explains why humans desire relationship and why as God says, "It is not good for man to be alone" (Genesis 2:18).  If we are made in the Divine Image, than our need for relationship is part of the image of God.

  • Sin & Evil: It explains the existence of sin and evil.  God did not arbitrarily choose to give us free will so that we would rebel and unleash thousands upon thousands of years of destruction upon his creation.  Rather, because God is love and created us in the Divine image to be in a loving relationship with Father, Son and Spirit and with one another, God could not have created us without the freedom to choose.  Love is not truly love if it is forced.  If you knew your spouse or your parents or your children could not possibly choose to reject you, would you really believe their love was real?  Their love for you is defined by the fact that they choose to love you, and your love for them is also love freely given.

  • Salvation: It explains the nature of salvation, because Jesus said that we should abide in him or be one with him as he is one with the Father (John 14:9-12, 15:1-11 ;17:21-22).  God's entire purpose in redemption is to restore us to the perfect harmonious relationship we shared with Father, Son and Spirit in the Garden of Eden.

The Trinity is not a math problem to solve.  The Three-One God is a dance to be danced, a song to be heard and sung and played, a masterpiece of beauty to be enjoyed, a life to be lived and a love to be loved. 

We may not ever fully understand it, but the Three-One God is inviting each of us to join the Eternal Dance.  Will you accept God’s invitation?

 

,

When the Rooster Crows

,

When the Rooster Crows
I Have Seen - Part 3
Sunday, May 1, 2022
John 21:4-19

He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.

John 21:17

Listen to this week’s sermon here:

____________________

We had seen Jesus several times since that unbelievable morning when we found the tomb empty.  There was no question for any of us now that he was alive, but life still wasn’t quite the same. 

The roosters still crow every morning, reminding me of all I’ve done wrong.  They remind me of how unworthy I am.  I thought I was a sinful man when I first met him, but now I knew that I was even more of a sinner than I had once realized.  I wonder if he still would have wanted me to join him if he knew how much I would fail him.  Would he have still called me a friend if he knew that when he needed me the most, I would turn my back and claim not to know him?   

I was the chief of sinners, but Jesus forgave me.  Jesus loved me.  And I wanted so badly to love him no matter what the circumstances.  Every morning I hear the roosters crow and I hear those people in the courtyard saying “Aren’t you one of Jesus’ disciples?”

“Yes, yes I am a follower of Christ,” I answer myself.  “Not a very good one at times.  And I certainly don’t deserve to be.  But I still love him and he told me to fish for people and to feed his sheep.  And no matter how many times I fail, that’s exactly what I’m going to keep doing…”

“…I know now that Jesus will forgive me when I fail, but I don’t want him to have too.  I can’t stand the thought of disappointing him again.  I wonder sometimes, if he still feels the nails every time I fail.  Does he hear the crowd cry “Crucify” again.  If I’m causing him pain, then I really need to change, because I just can’t bear the thought of hurting him.” [1]

When the rooster crows reminding me of all I’ve done, I know I’m forgiven, but I also know that Jesus has trusted me with so much more.  “The world will fasten a belt around you and take you where you don’t want to go,” he told me… but then he said, “Follow me.”

__________

[1] lyrics from “Can You Still Feel the Nails”, Ray Boltz

 



,

Devoted Thomas

,
Devoted Thomas

“Doubting Thomas”… That’s what they call me. But you never hear anybody talk about doubting James or doubting Philip or Matthew or Bartholomew? It was just as hard for them to believe. And what about you… did you believe the first time you heard that somebody had come back to life after three days in the grave? Do you believe now? Would anybody know you believe it? Call me what you want, but I say, who wouldn’t doubt that…

,

Linger a Little Longer

,
Linger a Little Longer

How quick we are to rush out of church on Easter to shout out the good news to all the world that Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen indeed! …

Well, after we get our Easter family photos…

and a good Easter lunch, of course…

and maybe a nap…

and dying eggs with the kids or grandkids…

and...

Well… maybe tomorrow. It’s getting late and tomorrow is Monday. Back to the grind.

How quick we are to rush out of the church on Easter to get back to our plain old ordinary lives for another year.

We’re in good company. All of the disciples came out on Easter morning just like us. They took a quick look into the empty tomb and before you know it, they’re heading home, back to their normal lives…

,

Caught Between Truths

,
Caught Between Truths

For centuries Israel had been praying for a fulfillment of God’s promise, a king to sit on David’s throne for all eternity. For generations they had been a marginalized people under the oppressive rule of one empire after another, and they had gone through a number of “would-be messiahs” who promised to save them only to be killed in the end. Would God ever send a Savior?

Now the savior stands before the Roman authorities accused of treason. His own people declare that he is a threat to Ceasar. “We have no king,” they say, “but the emperor.”

How did we fall so far? We went from a people who would do anything to be set free from Roman rule to a people who would ultimately reject God’s own Son in favor of the Roman Emperor who the world calls the son of God.

We shouldn’t be so quick to judge. Perhaps we are more alike than we care to admit…

,

Keepers of the Spring

,
Keepers of the Spring

…The late Peter Marshall, former chaplain of the United States Senate, often told the story of the “Keeper of the Spring,” about a man who lived in the forest above a quaint Austrian village in the Alps.

The old gentle man had been hired many years earlier by a young town council to clear away the debris from the pools of water that fed the lovely spring flowing through their town. With faithful, silent regularity he patrolled the hills, removed the leaves and branches, and wiped away the silt from the fresh flow of water. By and by, the village became a popular attraction for vacationers. Graceful swans floated along the crystal clear spring, farmlands were naturally irrigated, and the view from restaurants was picturesque.

Years passed. One evening the town council met for its semiannual meeting. As they reviewed the budget, one man's eye caught the salary figure being paid the obscure keeper of the spring. Said the keeper of the purse, "Who is the old man? Why do we keep him on year after year? For all we know he is doing us no good. He isn't necessary any longer!" By a unanimous vote, they dispensed with the old man's services.

For several weeks nothing changed. By early autumn the trees began to shed their leaves. Small branches snapped off and fell into the pools, hindering the rushing flow of water. One afternoon someone noticed a slight yellowish-brown tint in the spring. A couple days later the water was much darker. Within another week, a slimy film covered sections of the water along the banks and a foul odor was detected. The millwheels moved slower, some finally ground to a halt. Swans left as did the tourists. Clammy fingers of disease and sickness reached deeply into the village.

Embarrassed, the council called a special meeting. Realizing their gross error in judgment, they hired back the old keeper of the spring . . . and within a few weeks, the river began to clear up.

This story paints a beautiful picture of the church’s role as keepers of the spring of living water. Sadly, the church tends to act more as a gatekeeper restricting access to those who we deem worthy of a drink. It is as if we feel the need to ration a limited water supply for the sake of our own survival, not recognizing the abundance available to us and to the world in God’s eternal spring. Like the exiles in Jeremiah’s day, we in the church today have “forsaken [God], the fountain of living water, and dug cisterns for [ourselves], cracked cisterns that can hold no water.” As it has throughout history, the life-giving water Christ offers will spring forth in the deserts beyond our walls, and even the deserts within our walls…

Subscribe to receive regular sermon reflections & blog updates from Craig

* indicates required