Barabbas and Me

Mark 15:1-15

Did you ever get away with something when you knew you were guilty?  Perhaps a speeding ticket?  People ordinarily focus on Jesus and Pilate throughout this part of the story or on the crowd, swayed easily.  Today, I wonder instead what the view might have been from Barabbas’ prison quarters.  I wonder what if anything changed in his life, freed as a guilty man.  He was a known murderer and insurrectionist; yet, the religious authorities and crowd called for Barabbas to be free.  I wonder what had happened in his life to bring him to this point, awaiting death by crucifixion.  Why did he make the choices he had?  Did he hear the crowd shouting for the death of the other man?  And once released to walk away, what did Barabbas do with his new life and freedom?  How did he handle the gift of grace?  Did he go by the cross to see the one who took his place?  Did he ask around and find out who Jesus was?  In what way, if any, did his life change to now be free?

How is Barabbas’ position like ours?  It turns out Barabbas and I have a lot in common.  We, too, are offered freedom, grace, and new life because Christ was crucified.  We certainly do not deserve it either.  What do we do with that?  How do we live after God’s gift of unmerited grace?

Click on these movie and drawn images of Barabbas and ponder what it means to be free.

http://tiny.cc/byjxb

http://tiny.cc/9lwtk

http://tiny.cc/p85kl

http://tiny.cc/h184v

Condemned and Denied

Mark 14:53-72

Peter protested vehemently when Jesus said Peter would deny knowing him.  Yet, Peter now finds himself in dangerous circumstances, hanging around outside Jesus’ trial before the Council.  Peter warms himself by the fire.  Meanwhile, Jesus is accused, derided, and beaten.  Testimonies against him do not agree.  He is deemed a blasphemer.  Someone recognizes Peter, but he repeatedly perseveres in not acknowledging a relationship to Christ.  When Peter hears the cock crow the second time, he comes to himself.  His soul catches up with him.  He has disavowed his relationship with his Savior.  He breaks down.

At what points do we spiritually come to ourselves?  How and when do our souls catch up with us?  How does God use the world around us to draw our attention toward our relationship with Christ?  How does God use others to bring us back to being a disciple?

Click on the links for artists’ depictions of Peter’s denial.  My favorites are the third and fourth because of the expression and posture of Peter.  In the second link, Peter appears to not be able to look Jesus in the face.  What are your thoughts on the images?

http://bit.ly/g7XF7t

http://tiny.cc/3zufz

http://tiny.cc/fnr9g

http://bit.ly/g6Cwez

Betrayal and Difficult Prayer

Mark 14:26-52

On March 20, we take the next steps in Jesus’ journey.  In these verses, Jesus tells his closest followers that they will all desert him, even though Peter and the others protest that they will surely not; in that same moment, Jesus also says that he will go before them in the next days of their own difficult spiritual journeys.  Jesus announces both their betrayal and his restoration of relationship with them.  Then Jesus struggles in prayer with not wanting the events to unfold as they will; nevertheless, he commits himself to God’s will.  That “nevertheless” is quite important.  How do we handle difficult seasons of prayer?  How do we know God’s will?  How do we struggle with the difficult realities of what God is calling us to do?  In what ways do we desert Jesus by how we live and what we say?  In what way does Christ restore relationship and love us nevertheless?  How do we catch glimpses of God’s love even as we walk away? 

Knowing we will abandon our following of him, Jesus still is determined to walk the agonizing journey toward the cross…  in love.  Look at different artists’ interpretations of the story.  The four links are lengthy, but click on them as a way to enter Jesus’ struggle in prayer. 

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://bennettcarnahan.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/christ-in-gethsemane-p.jpg&imgrefurl=http://bennettcarnahan.wordpress.com/2008/11/17/christ-in-gethsemane/&usg=__tIxwkXF78Y6k7RvLoKse3tZBq5k=&h=470&w=468&sz=48&hl=en&start=24&zoom=1&tbnid=eOepPz1oVIG5MM:&tbnh=149&tbnw=163&ei=yhp5TbaTOYLEgAf-n_DeBw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgethsemane%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4TSNA_en___US395%26biw%3D1516%26bih%3D635%26addh%3D36%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C541&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=706&vpy=231&dur=2153&hovh=225&hovw=224&tx=128&ty=116&oei=sRp5TZrbGcu20QHblqH_Aw&page=2&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:12,s:24&biw=1516&bih=635

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://carabiner.stpaulqc.org/uploaded_images/12-PrayingAtGethsemane-770186.jpg&imgrefurl=http://carabiner.stpaulqc.org/2008/03/gethsemane.html&usg=__wxR5hHQYkakJadHvLhLP4mseZI8=&h=420&w=401&sz=62&hl=en&start=24&zoom=1&tbnid=05ZuY0ymYIiQ2M:&tbnh=137&tbnw=131&ei=_hp5TcDyEZC_gQeswrUp&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgethsemane%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4TSNA_en___US395%26biw%3D1516%26bih%3D635%26addh%3D36%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C408&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=945&vpy=203&dur=2308&hovh=230&hovw=219&tx=123&ty=143&oei=-hp5TcXYFce-0QG60uT6Aw&page=2&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:24&biw=1516&bih=635

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.thomaskelly.net/images/garden_of_gethsemane.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.thomaskelly.net/collected.htm&usg=__ywHxrs1Ecnu83h-iNf9P5DKVDTI=&h=350&w=465&sz=147&hl=en&start=48&zoom=1&tbnid=DnzO7bH9DWh9BM:&tbnh=135&tbnw=174&ei=Yht5TeHCAsvogQeZr6DFBw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgethsemane%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4TSNA_en___US395%6biw%3D1516%26bih%3D635%26addh%3D36%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C896&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=1231&vpy=236&dur=219&hovh=195&hovw=259&tx=180&ty=93&oei=XRt5TfH4A5S40QGkpt33Aw&page=3&ndsp=25&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:48&biw=1516&bih=635

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.sermons4kids.com/gethsemane_288x432.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.sermons4kids.com/henry_martin.htm&usg=__bNxs3j2S-g3YMXfdtTHuudtbMMA=&h=432&w=288&sz=51&hl=en&start=165&zoom=1&tbnid=dEsFKRRP9qySgM:&tbnh=150&tbnw=100&ei=SRx5Te28FsXUgQfon8jeBw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgethsemane%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4TSNA_en___US395%26biw%3D1516%26bih%3D635%26addh%3D36%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C3511&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=253&vpy=114&dur=7597&hovh=275&hovw=183&tx=106&ty=191&oei=Chx5TZK5Loy50QHWy-iDBA&page=8&ndsp=26&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:165&biw=1516&bih=635

New series – 24 Hours That Changed the World

Exodus 12:1-4,11-14; Mark 14:12-25

The church season of Lent is a spiritual journey, one in which Jesus invites us to follow him as he enters this difficult period of self-sacrificing love on the way to Easter morning.  (Watch the Czech movie Most (“Bridge”) for a contemporary cinematic parable of God’s love for humanity – http://www.mostthemovie.com/.)  There is no short cut for Jesus from the Last Supper to Easter morning; he walks through abandonment, arrest, trial, torture, and crucifixion.  In this series of sermons, we will explore these last 24 hours of Jesus’ life seen through the lens of the gospel of Mark, and based loosely on the book 24 Hours That Changed the World by Adam Hamilton.  The journey begins with the Last Supper, the final meal Jesus ate with his closest followers.   What would it have been like to eat that meal with Jesus?  Would his followers have known what was happening at the Last Supper?  Jesus announces that one of the group will betray him; Judas gets a bad reputation for betraying Jesus, but before this chapter of Mark is over, all the disciples will desert and abandon him.  And here unfolds the road of the cross…

Look at different artists’ interpretations of the Last Supper as another way to enter the story…

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bassano/last-supper/

http://www.backtoclassics.com/gallery/masterofthehousebook/thelastsupper/

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/dali-last-supper-1955-granger.html

http://www.artchive.com/artchive/L/leonardo/lastsupp.jpg.html

http://mattstone.blogs.com/photos/asian_icons/lastsupper_sadao_watanabe_japan.html

Ash Wednesday

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; II Corinthians 5:20-6:10

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the first day of the church season of Lent (the 40 day period of preparation preceding Easter, not including Sundays).  We will have a 7pm service in the sanctuary.  The name “Ash Wednesday” comes from the early church’s custom of putting ashes on the forehead as a sign of penitence and contrition.  At the end of the service, we will invite persons to come to the altar rail in order to receive ashes on the forehead in the shape of a cross as one of the pastors says, “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.  Repent and believe the gospel.”  The service also invites persons to a time of spiritual reflection and self-examination.  The challenge is to look honestly at ourselves, our shortcomings, our sinfulness, our hypocrisy … and ask God to change us.  The invitation from Joel 2:12 is to “return to the Lord with all your heart… to rend your hearts and not your clothing.”  To rend one’s heart is to tear it open and invite God (and ourselves) to take a thorough look inside.  How does one return to the Lord?  How does one return humbly, meaningfully, in love and gratitude to the God who made us?  The invitation is to confess our sinfulness and selfishness, and accept God’s grace and forgiveness – and wake up the next day to look even more honestly at our hearts again.

Welcome!

Welcome to the new worshipconnect blog – a new forum for conversation on worship, community, and meaningful service lived in the context of faith in, and life with, God.  It is our goal to invite each person to be connected to God and others through worship, small groups, and missions.  Please consider this blog as an open air format for commenting, asking questions, and wrestling together with what it means to live as a person of faith in this community and world.

This coming Sunday, March 6, will be the final one in a sermon series entitled “Open.”  This week’s focus is to “Go!”  The message looks at Isaiah 49:1-6 and Matthew 28:16-20.  The Matthew passage is traditionally called “The Great Commission” and encompasses Jesus’ commissioning of the motley crew of disciples (those who believed and those who doubted) to go and share God’s love and Jesus’ message with others – everybody.  Jesus also promised to be with them always.  So we are sent out beyond the walls of the church, beyond whatever borders we would errantly try to draw around God’s welcome, to share God’s love and grace with everyone, knowing that we have divine companionship in the process.  What are your thoughts as you read those Biblical passages and ponder these words?