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This means that consciously or subconsciously the leader at the front has one job.  This job is to convince you that your main goal in your Christian life is to keep showing up.  If you keep showing up and you can get your friends to keep showing up, then there really isn’t more expected of you (besides to make sure you show up more often to the programs and make sure your money shows up in the plate).  Great leaders have mastered the art of summarizing your entire Christian walk into showing up and listening to them preach and convincing you that this is your main duty in life.  The cycle goes around and around as great leaders convince through their clever communication skills that the very act of being communicated too is what life is about.

The bad leaders are the ones that work themselves out of a job by making themselves unnecessary.  Bad leaders are the kind that tell everyone that is being preached to and showing up at church is the most important thing they can do, and then do a below-par job at actually convincing them to stay at their church.  You generally get people complaining that they aren’t being fed at church, they aren’t being spoken too or the church just isn’t for them.  It sucks when you are a bad leader because you think the way of getting these people back is to just to become more convincing, but really it’s just a Catch 22.  You’ve already convinced them that all they they need in life is to show up, and then you don’t give them anything worthwhile to show up to.

Related posts:

1. Good and Bad Leaders
2. Couple Good Links
3. Christian Culture – Does More Harm than Good

One of these prayers, which you have probably heard is called a ‘Shema’ prayer and it’s a prayer that Jews would say over and over again

“Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God, The Lord is One.”

Christians would have something similar and they had a prayer that they would say in repition

“One God the Father, and one Lord Jesus Christ”

There are many techniques and practices that Christians practice and many ways in which Christians learn to meditate and focus on the divine. Now back in the days when Acts was written, there was one type of Jewish meditation which became well known and practiced frequently. It was a sustained contemplation of the great vision of the first chapter of the book of the prophet Ezekiel where he sees something like a great chariot, with whirling wheels and flashing lights. There is a full description of the vision that includes four-faced angels who carry a chariot while sparkling and glowing, rainbows, jewels and thrones. The point on meditating on this vision for Jews was to see if by devout prayer, fasting and holiness one might come to share in the climax of this vision in Ezekiel 1

Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.
This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

Now people who studied day in and day out in the scriptures longed deeply to share in this kind of vision. They would use this kind of vision as prayer in hopes that someday they would be able to see the same glory, God’s face on his throne, even if such a sight would hurl them to the ground.

The reason I tell you this, is because we are in Acts 9. Acts 9 might be the most famous passage in Acts because we are at the road to Damascus, or Saul’s conversion. Two times in our readings before we have heard mention of this Saul guy. He was the one that people were laying their coats down in front of during the stoning of Stephen and he was mentioned about that he was leading the persecution of the Christians around. So Luke was setting us up, he was letting us know that this was the ultimate enemy of the church. Saul was the one to be afraid of, this was the one that was willing to use any force necessary to stop this false teaching from getting any further.

There is plenty more about Saul that we wouldn’t know just yet about him from reading, but I think are important for us to know to get a better understanding of exactly what Saul was doing, the kind of person he was and why he was persecuting Christians everywhere. Saul came from a part of Judaism with a very deep devotion to God and his law, he was a Pharisee. So remember when we talk about Pharisees, we talked about this last year a bit, we can’t characterize them as the bad guys, they were the good guys. They were the ones that kept the law, that did what they were supposed to do. He was from Tarsus which was known to be an intellectual place and he studied under great Jewish scholars and rabbis of his time. Saul was the cream of the crop and he loved God deeply. His entire life was in devotion to him and he never stopped serving him day in and day out.

So let’s take a quick primer on what we’ve just been through. The gospel is spreading. It has reached Judea, Samaria (Simon the Magician), and the Ethiopian (the ends of the earth) which we talked about the week before Palm Sunday. So Jesus words have now come true. This gospel is moving fast. But along with this good news that is spreading is all this persecution and so many people trying to put it out. We have the Pharisees killing Stephen and screaming at the top of his lungs and we have people running around spreading this news about Jesus. The most powerful people are taking serious measures to put an end to all the nonsense. Luke is being sure to give us both sides of this story and fill us in on the successes and failures of the gospel spreading. So we have come to the main event. The leader of the persecution. Saul of Tarsus. The very person who was the cause of many of the sufferings of all these Christians. So let’s read at the beginning of Acts 9.

Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.”

The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.
Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

Meditation like we just talked about would have been taught and practiced often. It’s very possible that even on this trip to Damascus that he was trying to envision this glory vision from Ezekial. The miraculous happens. The vision happens. Except that it wasn’t just God, it was Jesus. When he finally gets to see God’s glory like in Ezekiel, he sees Jesus. When something like this happens to you, your world gets turned upside down. Jesus changes everything. All this time he thought he was serving God, but it turns out he was persecuting Him. You can only imagine what this would do to you.

I remember when I read my first book on foreign aid companies. It was called the Road to Hell. It was a major criticism about the entire aid industry and how maybe wealthy countries were doing more harm than good by being there and bringing food. The stats were convincing and the stories were moving. The whole book did a number on me. All of sudden, some of the only things that I thought were good in the world and actually helping the world become a better place were actually making it worse. Nothing was safe, there was no good I or anyone could do. It was like my world was taken from right under me and I needed to start from scratch and really re-evaluate why I did the things I did and if I had really thought about them. It shifted my direction of thinking so much that the trajectory of my life changed with it. I cut out certain kinds of missions trips and I started investing my time and energy into helping locally run organizations. I started seeing the value in my individual relationships with the poor and not expecting some organization to do it for me. The list went on. I’ve had lots of these moments which makes me reconsider my past entirely. Even though my life I believe was always had good motives, I still come to grips with the reality that I was wrong, I was misinformed, I was missing something, I need to make some drastic changes. It’s odd how one moment, one realization can all of sudden bring a flood of new meaning to past events and to future ones.

Q: How about you? Have you ever had a Saul moment, where something registered with you and all of sudden you realized everything must change or has changed?

For Saul this moment was seeing Jesus. We have to keep in mind that Saul has probably seen Jesus before, he would have seen him with his followers and teachers around and would have known all about him. He just never made the connection. He never realized Jesus was God. As soon as that realization hit him. Everything changed. His entire life, all his prayers, all his memorized scripture, all his traditions all of sudden came to life and came with new meaning. Jesus was the answer to everything and he was working against it. He realized he was God’s enemy.

If you thought this gospel spreading to the ends of the earth was miraculous. How about spreading to the gospels enemies? The greatest enemy? This gospel is so powerful that it seems to be uncontrollable. We are beyond the ends of the earth and now reading the very hearts of those who opposed this gospel by killing people that believed it. Luke puts this story in just at the right time to remind us that nothing is about to get in the way. The very things that we thought were going to get in the way were going to become the things that furthered this good news forward.

Luke also is carrying on the theme quite strongly here, that this has nothing to do with people doing the right thing. Sure we know now that Saul writes half the New Testament, but to start the story off Luke just lays it bare. He was the enemy, he was the one to be feared. The reason he has now started following Jesus is not because he did the right thing, it’s because God stepped in and ordered his path. It’s not even like Saul was sitting in his chariot like the Ethiopian reading his Bible and seeking God to do the right thing. He was on his way to persecute and capture Christians. Nothing, and I mean nothing, that Saul did caused this event to happen. So, this is not a story that we can use to create some sort of formula to how people get converted or to what is the norm for salvation, but we see this as Luke placing this part of the story right here to show us something. That this is God’s story. Not Saul’s, Stephen’s, Peters – God’s. God showed up to him. He wasn’t even asking for it. Saul didn’t even know who it was at first. This was all God, from the beginning to the end. Saul was just a pawn in God’s master plan.

There is lots that we could spend our time in with just this little story. Like the fact that Jesus says why are you persecuting me? This question is packed full of theology that Saul will just start to begin to unpack here. He is persecuting Jesus because his followers are the body of Christ. Why are Christians considered followers of the Way? We could spend hours talking about what this meant. But we’ll just leave it for now, and keep moving on with this story.

Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

It’s interesting to note here that when the Lord speaks to Ananias, his response is “Here I am Lord.” This is a typical response to God throughout the scriptures. This was someone who knew God’s voice and was listening for it. When the Lord spoke to Saul, Saul’s first questions was “who is this?.” He was about to find out, but he had yet to make the connection that Jesus was Lord. There have been people that have said that Ananias is one of the forgotten great heroes of the church. Think about how messed up this story is. Ananias has no illusions. He knew exactly who this Saul guy is, and now he’s close by and he’s supposed to go lay his hands on him? This all sounds like a horribly bad idea. This was going to get him killed. But he does it anyway. The story continues to unfold and it continues to be lead by God and God only. God came to Saul. God came to Ananias and he’s getting this good news out no matter what, and he’s doing it in the most unique ways. I can’t help but think God has a sense of humour with a last line like that as well, “I’ll show him.” So now let’s go into the rest of this story without too many more stops.

So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized;
and he took food and was strengthened. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ. When many days had elapsed, the Jews plotted together to do away with him, but their plot became known to Saul. They were also watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death; but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket.

When he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. And he was with them, moving about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord.
And he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death. But when the brethren learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus. So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.

So we are starting to see God’s mission unfolding. We’ve hit pretty much all the stops and it is now being spread through a very intelligent and zealous man named Saul. As I read through Acts, I can’t help but keep asking myself why all this is happening. Why do people care enough to go and kill Saul? Why did Saul care enough to persecute and kill Christians? Why is this so revolutionary that it’s literally turning people’s worlds upside down?

We don’t really live lives where a story like this makes sense. I don’t think any of us really care about anything that much. Which is why it’s constantly necessary to drag ourselves back into the context of this time to understand what people are feeling, and what they are pushing back against. The people that wanted to kill Saul are not bad people. They were good, upstanding God-fearing people. They believed that God alone was God, and they believed that he had given them his Law and that their entire lives should be summed up by fearing God and this law. God was king. God is sovereign. God cares about us and he is on our side. God is coming one day to free us from oppression, put our enemies under our feet and give us eternal life. We can barely imagine these people whose entire lives are consumed by these realities. This is the story of Hebrew Scriptures which they lived and breathed and memorized and hoped for.

Then Jesus shows up. He starts saying he’s the hope. He’s what they’ve been waiting for. Their entire lives now make sense because he is there. But he dies, so it’s a little unexpected, because the hope isn’t supposed to die, he’s supposed to win. But then his followers start saying he came back to life and he calls his disciples to start spreading this news to everyone. People are believing it by the droves and slowly the body of Christ, the church, becomes larger and larger and making converts from the most unlikely of places. The entire church is left with this mission to spread the kingdom of God everywhere and declare Jesus’ lordship over all of creation. As Newbigin puts it:

The concern for mission is nothing less than this: the kingdom of God, the sovereign rule of the Father of Jesus over all humankind and over all creation. Mission.. is the proclamation of the kingdom, the presence of the kingdom and the prevenience of the kingdom. By proclaiming the reign of God over all things the church acts out its faith that the Father of Jesus is indeed ruler of all. The church, by inviting all humankind to share in the mystery of the presence of the kingdom hidden in its life through its union with the crucified and risen life of Jesus, acts out the love of Jesus that took him to the cross. By obediently following where the Spirit leads, often in ways neither planned, known, nor understood, the church acts out the hope that it is given by
the presence of the Spirit who is the living foretaste of the kingdom.

The Church is bound to challenge in the name of the one Lord all the powers, ideologies, myths, assumptions, and worldviews which do not acknowledge him as Lord. If that involves conflict, trouble, and rejection, then we have the example of Jesus before us and his reminder that a servant is not greater than his master.”
- Leslie Newbigin

When Saul finally makes the connection that Jesus is his hope fulfilled, he starts to take all that zeal and all that passion and starts to live out the truth of this new Lord. As Newbigin states above, Saul is about to partake on a journey that is going to involve trouble, rejection, torture, pain and eventually death. When you say Jesus is the Son of God or that Jesus is Lord is challenges everything that doesn’t say he is Lord.

Q: Do we challenge powers, ideologies, myths, assumptions and worldviews that don’t acknowledge Jesus as Lord?

My assumption to this question is that we don’t.  We can look at the fact that we are all pretty comfortable, we are all pretty peaceful, and we never really challenge anything at all.  We barely know what it means to do that and we don’t like to exert much effort to do so.  The result?  Peace.  We are peaceful right now because we allow things to go along in the direction they are heading without ever challenging them.

“we take in the harsh truth that there was and still is a political cost to the incarnation of God’s peaceable love” – Common Prayer Intro

This story ends with Saul getting sent back to where he came from – Tarsus. He’s about to face into his own people. The people that he was raised with, his family, his friends, he is going back to them. Odds are that we probably just read a few years of Saul travelling around this little bit and preaching and proclaiming Jesus just in these last few paragraphs. This most likely happened all over the course of a couple years. We’ll get to see how that unfolds as we make our way slowly through Acts. In the meantime, the church that exists so far is enjoying peace. Finally, peace. The church is growing and being built up and there is peace, that can be either a good thing, or it can mean what it means for us today – a bad thing. I thought this would be a good place to leave it today. So go in peace.

Related posts:

1. God Speaks Through Difference: A Sermon on Acts 6:8-8:3 (The Sermon and Stoning of Stephen)
2. The Gospel Embodied in Community (A Sermon on Acts 2:42-47)
3. Evangelism, Ethiopians and Eunuchs: A Sermon on Acts 8:26-40

You can read the Good Friday Liturgy here.

[Reading - John 20]
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Mag’dalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him, “Teacher.”. Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Mag’dalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her

[Song - Jesus]
I will sing a song to you
And you will shake the ground for me
And the birds and bees and old fruit trees
Will spit out songs like gushing streams
And Jesus will come through the ground so dirty
With worms in his hair and a hand so sturdy
To call us his magic we call him worthy
Jesus came up through the ground do dirty
I will sing a song for to you
And you will stomp your feet for me
And the bears and bees and banana trees
Will play kazoos and tambourines
And Jesus will dance while we drink his wine
With soldiers and thieves and a sword in his side
And we will be joy and we will be right
Jesus will dance while we drink his wine
Jesus will come through the ground so dirty
With worms in his hair and a hand so sturdy
To call us his magic we call him worthy
Jesus came up through the ground so dirty
Jesus came up through the ground so dirty
Jesus came up through the ground so dirty
Jesus came up through the ground so dirty

[John 20]
The risen Christ came and stood among his disciples and said, Peace be with you!
Then were they glad when they saw the Lord.

[Prayer]
It was a long three days
It came as a surprise
We went back to fishing, back to our normal lives
We didn’t wait, we gave up
But you didn’t give up
You came to us instead
You came to us while we were still fishing
Still sinning

We really didn’t think this was going to happen
But now that it did
Now that you are standing here in front of us
The holes in your hand, the look on Mary’s face
It’s starting to make sense
You died so we didn’t have to
We die, so we don’t have to
You hung on that cross, in such a shameful way
So broken, so distraught that God forsake you
We felt forsaken too
We believe, help us in our unbelief

You lived the life that Israel couldn’t
You died the death that Israel wouldn’t
All these prophets words started to come back to us
You were the suffering servant
You were the broken Saviour
This is what we’ve been waiting for

This is Abraham’s promise being fulfilled
Jacob, Isaac, Joseph, David…
You were the light to the nations, you blessed the nations
You freed Israel from the law
You freed us from it as well

We welcome your death
Because this morning, even death doesn’t stay
Teach us how to die
So that we may live
Teach us how to live
So that we may die
We accept your gift
Your sacrifice
Your presence
Thank-you

Thank-you for everything
Creation
Your Patience
Your Direction
Your Way
Your Death
Your Grace
We rejoice in your ressurecction
We accept your new way of life
Give us strength to keep on this new life
You’ve turned back news into good news
Now we will turn this good news into real life

You have risen
We choose to follow you
Be here with us
Amen

[Communion]

[Song - In Christ Alone]
In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm

What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless Babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save

Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live, I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again

And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From a life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny

No power of hell, no scheme of man
Could ever pluck me from His hand
Til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I stand

[Reading - 1 Cor 15]
Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you–unless you have come to believe in vain.

For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them–though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.

Related posts:

1. Good Friday Liturgy – 5 Stages of Grief
2. Christmas Eve Liturgy
3. Rob Bell’s Newest Video on the Resurrection

The Resurrection Sunday liturgy can be found here.

[Introduction]
Before we start, remember, Sunday service starts at 6:45 at Canatara beach at the Bandshell. Bring toppings for Pancakes as we will come back here after to eat.

As for the children today, we are requesting that they are on their best behaviour. For those that can read, we would love it if they would follow along with the liturgy in your hands. For those that can colour, there is a children’s liturgy of colouring pages that they can colour. If things aren’t working well then we would just ask that you would bring them to the other room, where the Easter story is playing by Veggie Tales. We have no one specific to watch them today, so if necessary just make sure your own children are taken care of or partner with someone you see that doesn’t have a kid.

This morning we are gathering together to recognize the death of our Lord Jesus. It is a solemn occasion. It’s the kind of time where we come together to mourn. To help shape our service this morning we will be using the five stages of grief to guide us through the reality of what it means for Jesus to be put to death. What it means for God, what is means for us, and what it means for the world. The liturgy will be full of readings, scripture verses, video clips, silence and prayers. We printed it out for you to follow along so you can see back with what has been said and look forward. So follow along, let your mind wander, and allow yourself to be overtaken by what we are reading, saying and doing together. Let’s begin.

[Reading - Mark 15:1-39]
At dawn’s first light, the high priests, with the religious leaders and scholars, arranged a conference with the entire Jewish Council. After tying Jesus securely, they took him out and presented him to Pilate.
Pilate asked him, “Are you the ‘King of the Jews’?”
He answered, “If you say so.” The high priests let loose a barrage of accusations.
Pilate asked again, “Aren’t you going to answer anything? That’s quite a list of accusations.” Still, he said nothing. Pilate was impressed, really impressed.
It was a custom at the Feast to release a prisoner, anyone the people asked for. There was one prisoner called Barabbas, locked up with the insurrectionists who had committed murder during the uprising against Rome. As the crowd came up and began to present its petition for him to release a prisoner, Pilate anticipated them: “Do you want me to release the King of the Jews to you?” Pilate knew by this time that it was through sheer spite that the high priests had turned Jesus over to him.
But the high priests by then had worked up the crowd to ask for the release of Barabbas. Pilate came back, “So what do I do with this man you call King of the Jews?”
They yelled, “Nail him to a cross!”
Pilate objected, “But for what crime?”
But they yelled all the louder, “Nail him to a cross!”
Pilate gave the crowd what it wanted, set Barabbas free and turned Jesus over for whipping and crucifixion.
The soldiers took Jesus into the palace (called Praetorium) and called together the entire brigade. They dressed him up in purple and put a crown plaited from a thornbush on his head. Then they began their mockery: “Bravo, King of the Jews!” They banged on his head with a club, spit on him, and knelt down in mock worship. After they had had their fun, they took off the purple cape and put his own clothes back on him. Then they marched out to nail him to the cross.

Denial

[Prayer]
We have gone another year and things are doing well.
We can still wake up, most of our loved ones are still alive.
We can make it to work, we can earn our money and buy our things.
We can save for our future, our retirement and our dreams.
We know what needs to be done, and we are motivated enough to do it.
We have a sense of our worth and our capacity to perform.
We are feeling fine.

We care about our children, and their futures and their success.
We get them into good schools and help them with their homework.
We get pregnant and eat the right foods, do the right exercises and take the right classes.
We enjoy our successes with small parties and quick vacations and nights out
We attend church gatherings downtown when we are up to it.
We read our bible when we can make time.
We say prayers with our kids before they go to sleep.
We are feeling fine.

We have got a handle on our brokenness.
We don’t lavish it around, we keep it private, almost hidden.
We have stopped from most ways of destruction – at least the obvious ones
We are smiling, we are successful and our futures are bright.
We are doing way better than most.
We are feeling fine.

[Reading]
As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, ‘DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.’” And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.”

[Song: Chariot]
Swing, like a chariot
At the trumpet call
When we’re all unsaved,
Swing like a wrecking ball
Like the heart of god
What a mystery
Filled with the wedding feast
For the snakes and bees
With the angel teeth, swing
Come and carry us
Come and marry us
To the blushing circus king
And dance like elephants as he comes to us
Through a fiery golden ring

With a violin and a song to sing
As he brings for us our wings
Now he’s one of us
Plays the tambourine
Breaks the bread for us
And sings
Will you wait for us
Will you stay for us
Will you grace us everything
You’re a wrecking ball
With a heart of gold
People wait for it, swing
Like a chariot
Swing it low for us
Come and carry us away

So we will become a happy ending
So we will become a happy ending

Fire come and carry us
Make us shine or make us rust
Tell us that you care for us
We need to hear a word for us
Let your body stand with us
Or let our rags be turned to dust
Chariot you swing for us
We think that you can carry all of us

So we will become a happy ending
So we will become a happy ending
So we will become a happy ending
So we will become a happy ending

Anger

[Reading - John 18: 1-11]
Jesus, having prayed this prayer, left with his disciples and crossed over the brook Kidron at a place where there was a garden. He and his disciples entered it.
Judas, his betrayer, knew the place because Jesus and his disciples went there often. So Judas led the way to the garden, and the Roman soldiers and police sent by the high priests and Pharisees followed. They arrived there with lanterns and torches and swords. Jesus, knowing by now everything that was coming down on him, went out and met them. He said, “Who are you after?”
They answered, “Jesus the Nazarene.”
He said, “That’s me.” The soldiers recoiled, totally taken aback. Judas, his betrayer, stood out like a sore thumb.
Jesus asked again, “Who are you after?”
They answered, “Jesus the Nazarene.”
“I told you,” said Jesus, “that’s me. I’m the one. So if it’s me you’re after, let these others go.” (This validated the words in his prayer, “I didn’t lose one of those you gave.”)
Just then Simon Peter, who was carrying a sword, pulled it from its sheath and struck the Chief Priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. Malchus was the servant’s name.
Jesus ordered Peter, “Put back your sword. Do you think for a minute I’m not going to drink this cup the Father gave me?”

[Video]

[Prayer]
This really is all your fault.
We were following you, remember? You ended up on the cross, not us.
You storm into the temple, flip tables, lip off the powerful ones, it was inevitable.
There was multiple attempts to try and disagree with you, but you were unconvinced.
Death, Beatings, Mocked – You had it coming.

Now you tell us to follow you into that kind of death?
Are you kidding me. No way. I don’t want to die. Remember what we just said?
We like our lives, things are fine, we are content, our children are happy.
We are successful, we have enough money and we are happy going after more.
Give it all away, look like those poor unmotivated people in the world?
No thanks. I’d rather stick to your words about responsibility and your blessings.

No wonder Peter grabbed his sword out, he was just worried about his own skin.
No wonder he denied you, he doesn’t want the same fate as you.
We are in the same boat, and it’s upsetting that you would even ask us to do the same.
We don’t want to join, because you lost, you died and we don’t want to lose.
This direction isn’t good for us, it’s going to turn our children into outright losers.
So no, we won’t follow you there, it’s too upsetting.
We aren’t choosing failure.

[Response - Song - What is not to love]
What looks like failure is success
And what looks like poverty is riches
When what is true looks more like a knife
It looks like you’re killing me
But you’re saving my life

But I give myself to what looks like love
And I sell myself for what feels like love
And I pay to get what is not love
And all just because I see things upside down

What looks like weakness can do anything
And what looks like foolishness is understanding
When what is powerful has not come to fight
It looks like you’re going to war
But you lay down your life

What looks like torture is a time to rejoice
What sounds like thunder is a comforting voice
When what is beautiful looks broken and crushed
And I say I don’t know you
But you say it’s finished
When what is beautiful looks broken and crushed
And I say I don’t know you
But you say it’s finished

Bargaining

[Prayer]
Here’s an idea.
How about instead of all this death stuff, we live good lives.
We will show up to church, have bible studies and pray daily.
We will give 11% to the church, stop swearing and won’t drink much
We won’t be ashamed of your gospel, we will tell people at the right times
We will raise our kids in Sunday school and be nice to the smelly kids
We will follow the Bible as our moral codebook, guiding our paths straight
We will work on being loving, graceful and forgiving

We just want to live by the basic rules.
We reap what we sow right?
So we’ll just sew some good seed.
We’ll clean up all the bad things that we do, so bad things won’t happen to us.
We’ll keep our end of the bargain, if you keep yours.
Deal?

[Reading - A Good Man is Hard To Find]

Alone with The Misfit, the grandmother found that she had lost her voice. There was not a cloud in the sky nor any sun. There was nothing around her but woods. She wanted to tell him that he must pray. She opened and closed her mouth several times before anything came out. Finally she found herself saying, “Jesus. Jesus,” meaning, Jesus will help you, but the way she was saying it, it sounded as if she might be cursing.
“Yes’m, The Misfit said as if he agreed. “Jesus shown everything off balance. It was the same case with Him as with me except He hadn’t committed any crime and they could prove I had committed one because they had the papers on me. Of course,” he said, “they never shown me my papers. That’s why I sign myself now. I said long ago, you get you a signature and sign everything you do and keep a copy of it. Then you’ll know what you done and you can hold up the crime to the punishment and see do they match and in the end you’ll have something to prove you ain’t been treated right. I call myself The Misfit,” he said, “because I can’t make what all I done wrong fit what all I gone through in punishment.”
There was a piercing scream from the woods, followed closely by a pistol report. “Does it seem right to you, lady, that one is punished a heap and another ain’t punished at all?”
“Jesus!” the old lady cried. “You’ve got good blood! I know you wouldn’t shoot a lady! I know you come from nice people! Pray! Jesus, you ought not to shoot a lady. I’ll give you all the money I’ve got!”
“Lady,” The Misfit said, looking beyond her far into the woods, “there never was a body that give the undertaker a tip.”
There were two more pistol reports and the grandmother raised her head like a parched old turkey hen crying for water and called, “Bailey Boy, Bailey Boy!” as if her heart would break.
“Jesus was the only One that ever raised the dead,” The Misfit continued, “and He shouldn’t have done it. He shown everything off balance. If He did what He said, then it’s nothing for you to do but throw away everything and follow Him, and if He didn’t, then it’s nothing for you to do but enjoy the few minutes you got left the best way you can by killing somebody or burning down his house or doing some other meanness to him. No pleasure but meanness,” he said and his voice had become almost a snarl.
“Maybe He didn’t raise the dead,” the old lady mumbled, not knowing what she was saying and feeling so dizzy that she sank down in the ditch with her legs twisted under her.
“I wasn’t there so I can’t say He didn’t,” The Misfit said. “I wisht I had of been there,” he said, hitting the ground with his fist. “It ain’t right I wasn’t there because if I had of been there I would of known. Listen lady,” he said in a high voice, “if I had of been there I would of known and I wouldn’t be like I am now.” His voice seemed about to crack and the grandmother’s head cleared for an instant. She saw the man’s face twisted close to her own as if he were going to cry and she murmured, “Why you’re one of my babies. You’re one of my own children !” She reached out and touched him on the shoulder. The Misfit sprang back as if a snake had bitten him and shot her three times through the chest. Then he put his gun down on the ground and took off his glasses and began to clean them.
Hiram and Bobby Lee returned from the woods and stood over the ditch, looking down at the grandmother who half sat and half lay in a puddle of blood with her legs crossed under her like a child’s and her face smiling up at the cloudless sky.
Without his glasses, The Misfit’s eyes were red-rimmed and pale and defenseless-looking. “Take her off and thow her where you thown the others,” he said, picking up the cat that was rubbing itself against his leg.
“She was a talker, wasn’t she?” Bobby Lee said, sliding down the ditch with a yodel.
“She would of been a good woman,” The Misfit said, “if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.”
“Some fun!” Bobby Lee said.
“Shut up, Bobby Lee,” The Misfit said. “It’s no real pleasure in life.”

[Reading Mark 12: 41-44]
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

[Song: Mumblin Word]

They led him to Pilate’s bar
Not a word, not a word, not a word
They led him to Pilate’s bar
Not a word, not a word, not a word
They led him to Pilate’s bar
But he never said a mumblin’ word
Not a word, not a word, not a word

They all cried, “Crucify!”
Not a word, not a word, not a word
They all cried, “Crucify!”
Not a word, not a word, not a word
They all cried, “Crucify!”
But he never said a mumblin’ word
Not a word, not a word, not a word

We nailed him on to a tree
Not a word, not a word, not a word
We nailed him on to a tree
Not a word, not a word, not a word
We nailed him on to a tree
But he never said a mumblin’ word
Not a word, not a word, not a word

Depression

[Prayer]
It didn’t work.
The bargain didn’t play out.
We were good and bad things happened.
They were bad and good things happened.
It’s almost as if you take pleasure in blessing the wicked.
They don’t love you, and yet it seems like you favour them.
How does that make any sense?

We probably won’t make a big deal out of it.
Just wish you would have done what we thought.
We held up our end.
It’s a little unsettling to know that this is all unpredictable
We don’t like that there isn’t a formula to follow
or a simple cause and effect
We suck.
We don’t deserve any of this. Why are we here anyway?
Life isn’t worth it. There is no way to make any sense of what’s happening.
So we might as well give up.
It’s like you’ve abandoned everything, and left us to our own confused wanderings
Why? Why God? Why is life like this? Why are you like this?
It’s enough to put someone over the edge.

[Reading - Psalm 41:1-11]
A white-tailed deer drinks from the creek;
I want to drink God,
deep draughts of God.
I’m thirsty for God-alive.
I wonder, “Will I ever make it—
arrive and drink in God’s presence?”
I’m on a diet of tears—
tears for breakfast, tears for supper.
All day long
people knock at my door,
Pestering,
“Where is this God of yours?”

These are the things I go over and over,
emptying out the pockets of my life.
I was always at the head of the worshiping crowd,
right out in front,
Leading them all,
eager to arrive and worship,
Shouting praises, singing thanksgiving—
celebrating, all of us, God’s feast!

Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?
Why are you crying the blues?

Sometimes I ask God, my rock-solid God,
“Why did you let me down?
Why am I walking around in tears,
harassed by enemies?”
They’re out for the kill, these
tormentors with their obscenities,
Taunting day after day,
“Where is this God of yours?”

Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?
Why are you crying the blues?

[Song - Were you there?]

Were you there when they crucified my Lord
Were you there when they crucified my Lord
Oh sometimes it causes me to tremble tremble tremble
Were you there when they crucified my Lord

Were you there when they nailed him to the tree
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree
Oh sometimes it causes me to tremble tremble tremble
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree

Were you there when they pierced him in his side
Were you there when they pierced him in his side
Oh sometimes it causes me to tremble tremble tremble
Were you there when they pierced him in his side

Were you there when the sun refused to shine
Were you there when the sun refused to shine
Oh sometimes it causes me to tremble tremble tremble
Were you there when the sun refused to shine

Were you there when they laid him in the tomb
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb
Oh sometimes it causes me to tremble tremble tremble
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb

Acceptance

[Prayer]
God, Look upon us with mercy.
Our Lord was content to be hung on the cross for us
Our Lord was beaten in the hands of wicked men
Our Lord was silent in the face of mockers
Our Lord was hanging there, for us, for them, for me, for everyone
Have mercy on us Lord

You created us.
You sustain us even now.
Your sacrifice was for us.
Your mystery engages us
Your love baffles us
Your grace empowers us
Your mercy reminds us
that you are God, and we are your creation

This was never about us
This was never about what we could do, or how we could be successful
This wasn’t about us getting it right, or believing the right things
Somehow you dying became all about us
And all about what we could get and where we could go
This was about you all along, your love and who you are.
Forgive us for not seeing that
Or Living it

We are only starting to understand what you did on that day 2000 years ago
We don’t even know what that means for us now
Our efforts are lost and empty and have gotten us nowhere
But the story of you dying is still there, timeless, haunting
We see it, we believe it, but that’s all we know to do

You died, but we need you here, with us.
Come back, come soon.
We acknowledge your dreadful absence and insist on your presence
Come back, come soon, come here.

[Isaiah 53:4-10]
Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

[Response - Silence]

[Communion - Good Wine]

People were invited to come up to the front with rocks they were given at the beginning of the service.  They were to put their rocks at the foot of the cross in the middle of the room representing their sins that were responsible for Jesus’ death.

At this point, following the elements and Eucharist readings as the wine was poured into the glass he dumped the glass all over the rocks in the middle of the room and proceeded to dump the expensive bottle of wine all over the rocks.

[Reading - End of Crucifixion Story]

There was a man walking by, coming from work, Simon from Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. They made him carry Jesus’ cross.
The soldiers brought Jesus to Golgotha, meaning “Skull Hill.” They offered him a mild painkiller (wine mixed with myrrh), but he wouldn’t take it. And they nailed him to the cross. They divided up his clothes and threw dice to see who would get them.
They nailed him up at nine o’clock in the morning. The charge against him—the king of the jews—was printed on a poster. Along with him, they crucified two criminals, one to his right, the other to his left. People passing along the road jeered, shaking their heads in mock lament: “You bragged that you could tear down the Temple and then rebuild it in three days—so show us your stuff! Save yourself! If you’re really God’s Son, come down from that cross!”
The high priests, along with the religion scholars, were right there mixing it up with the rest of them, having a great time poking fun at him: “He saved others—but he can’t save himself! Messiah, is he? King of Israel? Then let him climb down from that cross. We’ll all become believers then!” Even the men crucified alongside him joined in the mockery.
At noon the sky became extremely dark. The darkness lasted three hours. At three o’clock, Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
Some of the bystanders who heard him said, “Listen, he’s calling for Elijah.” Someone ran off, soaked a sponge in sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down.”
But Jesus, with a loud cry, gave his last breath. At that moment the Temple curtain ripped right down the middle. When the Roman captain standing guard in front of him saw that he had quit breathing, he said, “This has to be the Son of God!”

Go in the uneasy peace of this Good Friday

Related posts:

1. Good Friday
2. Stages of Faith
3. Christmas Eve Liturgy

There is a plethora of reasons as to why we don’t change.  It ranges from apathy to ignorance to arrogance to rebellion.  We don’t like it.  We don’t create spaces in our lives so change happens.  We strive passionately for the mundane and familiar as if our sanity rests in them.

While preparing my message on Saul on the Road to Damascus this weekend I began to see the story in an entirely new way.  Saul does nothing.  In fact, he was doing the opposite of good.  Saul didn’t change.  He saw Jesus and then he didn’t really have a choice to start living differently.

The problem is, with stories like this, is that they are so opposite to how we actually see the world.  We think that a good sermon (and trust me I give great sermons) will change people.  We think that when people recognize the destructive ways of their actions they will change.  We think that we can manipulate people into changing.  We think that a persuasive argument will change people.  We think that when someone has a child it will change them.  We think that we can just decide to change when we want.  It’s just not true.  This rarely happens.

~

I’ve been going to the local Anglican church on Sunday mornings before theStory service.  They do an ancient liturgy that has lots of call and response, no songs, a short sermon and then ends in Eucharist.   One Sunday this older couple was late, as they forgot about the time change.  When they got there the priest reassured them that there was still time for them to partake in the Eucharist.  He then stopped the liturgy and then distributed the sacrament to them.  Then we continued on with the last part of the liturgy.

In any of my past churches, the minister would have been upset that the couple missed his sermon.

~

People don’t change.  I do think however that people can be formed.  We can be formed through disciplines, rituals, repetition and traditions over time.  This is part of the reason I like what the Anglicans do on a Sunday morning.  It’s almost as if they have this recognition and understanding that they aren’t going to change because of a convincing sermon.  Rather, they realize that they are formed through these rituals and through the body and blood of Christ by doing it over and over again week after week, year after year.

This is why I’m becoming less and less inclined to try to write convincing sermons in order to cast vision or spark change within our community.  Sermons don’t change people.  It just doesn’t work.   I feel like sermons rather just create a guise of change.  Just talking about change somehow makes people feel like they have changed.

The sermon as part of a larger liturgy makes sense.  The sermon as the central role for forming and shaping a community needs to stop.  So maybe we should stop putting all our eggs into the sermon basket?  Imagine if we spent half the time writing liturgies as we did writing sermons?  I think it would be annoying at first, and probably wouldn’t notice much different.  I think however, in the long run, we would start to see communities reordering their lives to better participate in the Mission of God.

Related posts:

1. Using Prezi for Sermons
2. Attacking Systems, Not People
3. Truth or People?

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet.

The story begins with Philip getting some instructions from an angel. He is told to go south, down a desert road. Now Gaza was destroyed over a hundred years earlier. So this is a strange direction for him to head, but he does it anyway. So on his way, he didn’t even make it to the road, he runs into an unlikely character. This is probably one of the more interesting characters we will run into in Acts. He is a wealthy Ethiopian eunuch. We can assume right away that because he is Ethiopian, that he is black. Luke’s audience would be fascinated with this Ethiopian. It is a culture that they don’t know very well and that brings a sense of awe when they think of them. Why? Well, the odyssey speaks of the “far-off Ethiopians…the furthermost of men.” Ethiopians are people from an exotic land, the edge of the world. They are people that are from the very ends of the earth. Does this kind of description remind you of anything? Remember, last week, we talked about how Jesus’ words are creating a structure for Luke to tell his story. He is showing Jesus’ words come true.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

We are here now. The ends of the earth. You can almost taste the story going in this direction now. And to top it all off, this guy wasn’t just from the ends of the earth. He was also a eunuch. This means his private parts had been cut off. Why is this important? Well Judaism had a specific view on eunuchs, and a lot of it was inspired by a verse in Deuteronomy 23.

No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the LORD.

So not only did this guy represent people that were at the ends of the earth and all the types of people that they couldn’t even comprehend. He also represents the very people that have been ostracized and kept away from God because of their very identity. Not only would they have been kept out of the temple, but they also couldn’t participate in the very tradition that made someone a Jew, a follower of God. Anyone think of what that is? That’s right. Circumcision. You can’t get circumcised if there is nothing to circumcise. And to top it all off, this guy was powerful. He was an important official in charge of money for the Queen of Ethopia. So here we have a powerful guy from the ends of the earth, who under any normal circumstances could not be part of the people of God. Then, if who he was wasn’t weird enough, what he was doing was even stranger. He was coming back from Jerusalem where he was worshipping. So we know he wouldn’t have worshiped like the Jews would have had normally, because he wouldn’t have been allowed into the temple. He may have been allowed in the outer courts where the Gentiles were. But that’s about it. And he was reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. So again it’s emphasized that he is wealthy because he can read.

So this is probably the strangest of strange characters that we could be running into right now. But really it all fits perfectly into where we know this story is going. Luke has set it up beautifully. He shows us literally the most unlikely of characters to show up on the road at this time reading from Isaiah. So as we read, keep in mind all the qualities about him.

The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
“How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”
The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

So we have prodding again here telling Philip what to do and where to go. Philip runs to the chariot. I like that. He runs. He hears the eunuch reading. This means of course that he was reading out loud, like you would back in these days. And we find out exactly what he is reading. It’s Isaiah 53 and he needed help understanding what he was reading. The eunuch already had an understanding of the Jewish story of God and his people but he didn’t understand what this was about. This gives us a brief look into how people would have been reading the prophets at this time. They would have read Isaiah very differently that we read it now. You see we read Isaiah as a book of prophecy, a book that was telling the Jews that their messiah was coming and was going to save the world. We don’t understand most of it still, but we see it as this book of weird poetry that is pointing to Jesus. Rather people in this time didn’t read it exactly like that. N.T. Wright puts it like this.

“Rather, he was meditating deeply on the fate of Israel in exile, and on the promises and purposes of God which remained constant despite Israel’s failure to be the light to the nations, or even to walk in the light herself. Gradually a picture took shape in his praying, meditating mind: the figure of a Servant, one who would complete Israel’s task, who would come to where Israel was, to do for Israel and the whole world what neither could do for themselves, to bear in his own body the shame and reproach for the nations and of God’s people, and to die under the weight of the world’s wickedness. Only so, he perceived, could the promises be fulfilled. Isaiah was writing a kind of job description: This is what we want! A Servant who will accomplish God’s will, and rescue Israel and the world!”

- N.T. Wright.

The eunuch by reading Isaiah was entering into this narrative and desiring the same things. He thought, maybe that Isaiah was that prophet, or maybe that this prophet had already come? So who is he talking about? Philip has this wonderful opportunity to use the exact passage that he was reading to show him how the longings of Israel find their fulfillment in the story of Jesus. So he tells them the good news.

I wonder if this is weird for us to hear stories like this? Do we even have stories anymore of people like this? Can we translate this into our context at all anymore? I’m not sure if we can. After all, how often is it the case that we run into someone asking questions about the fulfillment they are asking for, and we know the answer is Jesus, does that even happen anymore?

Q: Do you have a story where this was the case for you? Where you were able to tell the good news of Jesus to someone who was already seeking?

As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

This is an interesting moment in this story. Remember that as a eunuch, the ritual to become part of the Jewish faith was impossible for him, there was all sorts of things that came in the way of him belonging to the family of God. So when he starts to hear the story of Jesus and he sees some water, he jumps at the opportunity. What could possibly stop him? No wonder he was so excited. Joining into a faith that he once was excluded from he is now embraced with open arms. No wonder he was so excited. Imagine feeling like your purpose was tied up into a religion or a life that you could never actually be part of.

All right, so this is the end of this story. The story is short, so I wanted to go through the story and at least lay out for you some basic things so that we can understand the context better and what is happening. Generally when speaking about a passage, I have a dozen books that I go through to better understand what is happening. All of them pointed to the greater story in which this story is a part and how it symbolizes something greater. However, this week, some of the readings I found online pointed towards the idea that this passage is a great lesson in evangelism. So I thought we would spend some time in the idea of evangelism this morning, if this story has anything helpful to add to out thoughts on it and where to go from there. I started getting the idea that some people use this verse or section of verses to teach about how to evangelise to people. Which got me thinking more about this story a bit more and what is happening here.

I think one of the key characteristics about this story is a lesson in evangelism, but probably not the way we would expect. Constantly what this story seems to point out and allude to is how God is prodding Philip to do one thing after another. Philip only asks one question in the entire story, and God is telling him everything else. Where to go, when to go, what to do. It is the angel that tells him to go down that road, then he is told to go to the carriage. It is almost as if Luke needs to continually remind us that it isn’t Philip here that is causing all this to happen, but it is God. God’s plan is going forward whether Philip likes it or not, and Philip is given the opportunity to join in.

This is where I struggle quite a bit with understanding my upbringing, reading the scriptures and now how I see the world. You see. Sometimes I start to think evangelism is this weird made up thing that Christians have done to somehow motivate them to do the right thing or care about people. It is this forced habit that you just have to talk to people about the “Lord” and make sure that they get saved so that they don’t go to hell.

How this story talks about evangelism is God needing to get this good news out to the whole world and so he starts spreading it and using people that want to join in on the fun to do it.

How we see evangelism now is that all our friends are going to go to hell unless we tell them to say a prayer and accept Jesus into their hearts.

Lately I wonder if evangelism starts to look different as time goes on from Acts and as we start to understand our faith differently. We don’t live in a world now where evangelism like Philip and the Ethiopian went through is a normal occurrence, or even close to that experience. Besides, Luke was trying to show us something by placing that story in that time. So to use this as a step by step evangelism tool, might not be the wisest way to look at this story. But people do it anyway. I found this article entitled Lesson in Personal Evangelism: Philip and the Ethiopian in Acts 8, and it gives us four steps to successful personal evangelism. 1. Listen to the Holy Spirit, 2. Move out of your Comfort Zone, 3. Be prepared to evangelize, 4. Positive Results. The desire to see this as lessons in evangelism is there, but I think they might be taking out the wrong lessons. For the last year or so, almost every Friday night, there is a few people that setup on the corner less than a block away to “evangelise.” They yell about God’s judgment and wrath and where the world is going if they don’t repent and follow Jesus. He hands out tracts, argues people on the street and he is relentless in his desire to save the masses. And somehow, hearing stories about salvation, and stories like this, gives them the drive they need to go on the streets and make converts. But I’m not sure if it is about evangelism, I’m not even sure many of us, if any, “evangelize” in the regular sense of the word anymore.

Q: Is this story a story of evangelism? Do you evangelize? Why? Why not?

So if this is a lesson,I wonder what that teaches us about it? I’d like to suggest that maybe we think along the lines of this parable in Mark

He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

I wonder if this is a better way to see evangelism, that God is up to a whole lot in the world and we have the option to join in with him when the time is right. This whole story with Philip was dictated by the moves of God and he was just available, present and ready to move when the time is right. Maybe instead of gearing ourselves up and then constantly failing and feeling bad about it because we aren’t “saving people” we spend that energy to be the kind of person who God uses to share his good news through.

“Luke plants this story at the heart of the moment when the gospel is starting to go out into the wider world, to make it abundantly clear that wherever yo go, whatever culture you come to, whatever situation of human need, sin, exclusion, or oppression you may find, the message of Jesus as the one in whom all the promises of God find their “yes” is there to meet that need.”

So unfortunately, I am not going to extract a four step process out of this story so we can all be sent out of here as better Philips in the world, ready to evangelise and save all your friends. However, I do hope we see this story for what it is. A story that shows that God is up to a plan that is way bigger than we can wrap our heads around. A story that symbolizes God’s salvation reaching to the very ends of the earth and to the very people who were once kept outside of his story. God’s story reaches them. It reaches everyone and it will reach everyone and you have the opportunity to join in. You don’t need to convert people to believing your set of beliefs, you need to live as if your beliefs are real. Live the kind of life that is sharing the good news around you through the actions in your life. This is the ultimate form of evangelism, and it is through that life that God’s good news will continue to go forward.

I’ll end with a quote about Saint Patrick, since yesterday was his day, and what he discovered in his church planting and evangelism efforts.

The supreme key to reaching the West again is the key that Patrick discovered – involuntarily but providentially. The gulf between church people and unchurched people is vast, but if we pay the price to understand them, we will usually know what to say and what to do; if they know and feel we understand them, by the tens of millions they will risk opening their hearts to the God who understands them. – George Hunter III

Related posts:

1. God Speaks Through Difference: A Sermon on Acts 6:8-8:3 (The Sermon and Stoning of Stephen)
2. Good News in The Last Place You’d Expect to Find It: A Sermon on Acts 8:4-8:25
3. The Gospel Embodied in Community (A Sermon on Acts 2:42-47)

“One of the major themes throughout Luke-Acts is the universalization of the gospel — that it is for all people from the last, least and lost to the first, most and found. This is a theme Luke found in his favorite prophetic book, Isaiah, and it is highlighted both early and often in Luke-Acts (cf., e.g., Luke 3:6 “all flesh shall see the salvation of God,” to Isa. 52:10). The story of the Ethiopian eunuch may be said to be exhibit A of this promise being fulfilled, not least because the actual text of Isa. 52:10 says all the ends of the earth shall see God’s salvation, and that is precisely where the Ethiopian comes from as things were viewed in Luke’s day.” - Ben Witherington III

Related posts:

1. The Gospel Embodied in Community (A Sermon on Acts 2:42-47)
2. Evangelism: Gospelizing the Gospel

Troy and I had the opportunity to go with the FMCIC to the Ghana Mission this past month. The FMCIC is coaching and working with some Ghana pastors and giving them the tools necessary to be able to get their status as their own denomination. In a culture where structured denominations is scarce there is a great need for denominations in the country that people can trust. Along with that, a small group of the pastors there have acquired land and are in the beginning stages of starting a school for women. So Troy and I were in charge of all things tech and shot a lot of video and took lots of pictures. The team we went with consisted of a wide variety of Free Methodists, from raging big oil, I want my kids to pray in school conservatives to midwife loving, tree-hugging hippies. It made for quite a trip of heated discussion. I learned quite a bit from both sides. Here is a link to all the pictures. Videos will be released on a schedule over time.

This first picture was my favourite moment. If you look very closely, you can see a guy have a smoke sitting on the goods of the flipped over truck.

We will have a small video we made about these drummer guys from the North.

We watched the Africa cup and Ghana in the quarter finals in the streets of Accra.

Orphanage nap time.

Shot by Troy

Shot by Troy

Shot by Troy

Related posts:

1. Couch on Road at Night

Rachel and I went to Costa Rica with our friends Brandon and Beth Huybers.  This was strictly a vacation.  Couldn’t have picked a better place that was friendly to tourists but still wrapped in adventure every single day.  This was by far the most active trip I’ve been on.  We went zip lining, surfing, white water rafting, beer tasting, hiking and night tours.  We found a micro-brewery called Volcano Brewing Company that also is part of a wider project of sustainable living, eco farm and new forms of energy.  Here are some pictures or you can see a bunch more here.

Related posts:

1. Pictures from LA
2. Skydiving Pictures
3. Pictures from South Africa and Swaziland