Now when John, while in prison, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see” Matthew 11:2-3

INTRO: Why are you here this morning?

I’m here to do whatever I can to move us into the best life possible
– to me, the best life is not an achievement or a static condition, but a process, because the best life is a life of constant growth

Since material success isn’t essential to the full enjoyment of life, we concentrate on the spiritual journey
– “journey” implies waypoints, destinations we have to reach to move toward our goal
– there are developmental tasks that require us to learn new information and skills

In Christian spirituality, these waypoints are usually referred to as “stages”
– but I think that introduces a view that’s too systematized
• it implies that we all travel by the same route, hitting the same mile marks in the same order
– God’s Spirit determines what we need next
• we hope to eventually experience all the waypoints, but we don’t move out of one “stage” into the next as if ascending the runts of a ladder
• whatever we learn from one experience, carry with us into next
• sometimes, the Spirit takes us back to an earlier place, which we must relearn or penetrate to a deeper level

C. S. Lewis, “We all know the old joke, ‘You’ve given up smoking once; I’ve given it up a dozen times.’ In the same way I could say of a certain man, ‘Have I forgiven him for what he did that day? I’ve forgiven him more times than I can count.’ For we find that the work of forgiveness has to be done over and over again.”

– so it may be that God brings us back to an old resentment (or ego issue, guilt, etc.) several times before it is finally resolved

We can go to school to learn we need for the spiritual journey — “The University of Jesus Christ” Continue reading →

But let a man examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. 1 Corinthians 11:28-29

INTRO: Today we’re going to read through three passages

Each passage brings us to a new understanding of the relationship between our bodies and Jesus
– as we read, pay attention to what Paul says is the wrong thing to do, think, or say, and the right things

1 Corinthians 11:23-32 – instructions regarding the Lord’s Supper

What does he say is wrong (or wrong way to approach the Lord’s Supper)?
– “unworthy” – specifically, 29, “not discerning the body”

What does he say is right (or right way to approach it)?
– we must examine ourselves and with that inward focus eat and drink

The Lord’s Supper is where we symbolically begin with Jesus
– whatever happens when we meet him and receive him, it is celebrated in the Lord’s Supper
– we return to this place of our beginning repeatedly Continue reading →

Body Parts In Scripture
The internal organs

The Abdomen – meim

• the belly or “bowels”
  – includes intestines and internal reproductive organs (Ge. 15:4)
• specifically, female reproductive organs – rechem, the womb (Jer. 20:17)
• male and female reproductive organs — beten — also “belly” or  appetite
• the innermost parts of the body are hadre beten
  –  the bed chamber and inner rooms of the temple — hadre/heder (2 Ki. 6:12 and 1 Chr. 28:11)
  – Yahweh searches these inner places of the person (Pr. 20:27)
• all of the “inner parts” located in the body cavity — qereb (Pr. 14:33)
• the liver – kebed
  – from kbd, “heavy,” “weight” – probably for its size
  Lam. 2:11, “My heart (kebed) is poured out on the earth”

“This is a way of describing measureless grief; in his sorrow the poet is no longer in control of his innermost feelings; his very life is poured out with his liver.” Hans W. Wolf, Anthropology of the Old Testament Continue reading →

Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. Psalm 51:6 (read entire Psalm)

INTRO: What is your body trying to tell you?

Antonio Damasio is a respected scientist and one of his fields of research is the neurology of emotion
– he had identified a brain-body loop that is necessary for processing emotions
– messages are carried from the body to the brain chemically (in the blood) and electrically (in the nervous system)

Think about this for a moment? How do we know we’re hungry? We feel sensations of hunger
– there are some people, who when really hungry, slip into a bad mood
-the body affects the brain, producing emotional responses to various sensations

Damasio says that in our western society today, we cut ourselves off from a lot of the body’s messages
– he guesses that in earlier times that was not the case

“It must have been easier to sense life within . . . . I suspect they were able to sense more about themselves than many of us, the unforewarned, are able to sense these days.”

There’s no need to guess that ancient people were more aware of went on in their bodies – all we have to do is read the Old Testament
– I’ll point out just one example I read a couple months ago: Continue reading →

So I was doing yard work this afternoon and my eyes kept tearing up–I figured it was grass allergy. Anyway, something was missing and I realized while mowing the lawn that I wasn’t grousing as usual, “That dog is killing the grass” or “I’m sick and tired of picking up after her.” Sweeping the patio I almost expected Ginger to come bounding out of the doggie door because she always took a special delight in going to the lawn after I had beautified it and leaving one of her masterpieces on it. (If your eyes had seen what my eyes have seen, you would agree that she could be quite the sculptor at times.)

The realization comes gradually but with absolute certainty–I would be happy to go on cleaning up after Ginger and reseeding the dead patches in the lawn if I could somehow turn back the clock, take away Ginger’s cancer, and have her with us for twelve more years. Of course, this is mostly for Barbara’s sake. (Dang allergy–where’s the tissue?)

It occurred to me that every pet owner has an implicit agreement with their animal. It begins the day we bring it home from the rescue shelter, pet store, or wherever we are fortunate enough to encounter them for the first time. I admit that there are good dogs and bad dogs, good cats and bad cats, and so on and on, even as there are good humans and bad humans. But in all fairness to the animals, the bad ones have frequently become that way through the abuse of a bad human or the neglect of a clueless human. Continue reading →

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” John 8:12

INTRO: Last week we began exploring the question, What entered world at Christmas?

I said that we would look at four Christmas gifts related to “I am” statements made by Jesus and recorded in John’s gospel
– Last week our meditation was on his claim, “I am the Bread of Life”
– today we will consider his announcement, “I am the Light of the world”

We want to look at this carefully, because the passage is outrageous!
– in the Hebrew Scriptures, God has a name – Yahweh
In time, the people of Israel considered it to be so sacred that they stopped pronouncing it
– translated, Yahweh means: “I am who I am” or simply “I am” – What does this mean?

• God is the One who exists – absolute being (He. 11:6)
• the One whose existence transcends time! Eternal
  – never, “I was” or “I will be” or become
• therefore, the one who is always present
  – whatever exists, exists in him (Jn. 1:3; Acts 17:28) Continue reading →

And He said, “See to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not go after them. Luke 21:8 (read vv. 5-38)

INTRO: What’s your gut reaction when you hear, someone say, “We’re coming close to the end”?

Or, “These are the last days”?
– it seems that there is  always someone announcing the end of the world
– of course, not all of the the doomsday people are Christians

• Do we see more stability, less violence, or improved international ties in the Arab countries where dictatorships have recently been toppled?
• Do the current financial crises in Greece and Italy improve our outlook on the world economy?
• Does the fact that Iran has nuclear weapons capability help us sleep better at night?

We can agree with the “End Times” enthusiasts at least on one point: we face an uncertain future

In Luke 21, Jesus predicted the fall of Jerusalem and his coming “with power and great glory”
– as we enter the text, we immediately come to two challenges that need to be resolved:

1. To clearly understand as precisely as possible what Jesus is saying
2. To fit the teaching of this chapter into the rest of his teaching and ministry
   – in other words, into the context of the whole story

Continue reading →

He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Luke 14:35 (read entire chapter)

INTRO: Have you ever returned to a place where you grew up and thought, “It’s so much smaller than I remember”?

The physical environment did not shrink – your perspective is enlarged
– what we hold to be reality internally depends on our perspective of external reality

One of the factors that shape perspective is culture
– cultures define reality
– which is why the people in different cultures attribute illnesses either to spirits or bacteria

Cultures also manufacture reality
– for example, we are convinced that we live in the real world Continue reading →

Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. Luke 12:51-52 (read verses 49-59)

INTRO: Does it bother you that the most influential leaders of our nation are so lacking in the skills necessary for cooperative projects that they cannot work together effectively?

These are the people who urge corporations and citizens to join hands and work together for a better America
– but faced with a serious national issue, they stubbornly divide along party lines Continue reading →

And it happened that while He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the people say that I am?” They answered and said, “John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen again.” And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Luke 9:18-20 (read verses 1-27)

INTRO: A question keeps coming up in the story of Jesus

It has to do with his identity–who is he?
– it is asked by everyone who encounters him: the crowds, the disciples, the Pharisees, John the Baptist, King Herod
– in chapter 9, for the first time, God begins to make the answer clear to the disciples

The heart of this chapter is Jesus’ transfiguration (vv. 28-36)
– Jesus’ identity is not hidden here, but bursts forth in heavenly glory Continue reading →