Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. John 20:19-20 (read verses 19-23)

INTRO: The day after Easter 2004, I had an impression as if God were speaking to me

Church attendance swells on Easter–more than any other day of the year
– so there was always a lot of preparation for Easter weekend and we treated Easter Day as a big event
– then, like all big events, the day after we would experience an emotional let down
• but that year, I felt that God was saying, “Don’t draw an ‘X’ through that box on calendar–Easter isn’t over”

The following weekend I visited the Camadoli hermitage near Big Sur for first time
– there I met Fr. Romuald, and through his love and wisdom I discovered a new level of intimacy with God
– one morning that same weekend, while meditating in scripture, I received another impression, as though God was saying, “I am bringing something new to birth in you”
– this coincided with Easter, which they celebrate, not for a day, but all through April and May Continue reading →

As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, shouting:
“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” But Jesus answered, “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!” Luke 19:37-40

INTRO: Almost everyone says they feel closer to God in nature

So why don’t we go into country, desert, forest, or walk by the ocean more often?
– beside having schedules that are overbooked, we add to them unnecessary responsibilities

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, some Pharisees told him to restrain his disciples
– but as it was, the voice of the people was restraining the rocks — all nature was ready to breakout in praise

Religion is supposed to prepare us for life on this planet, but instead it sometimes declares war on nature
– for example, a practice of silence and solitude can be spiritually refreshing and make us better listeners, etc.
– but to never speak or interact with others goes against both nature and scripture
Ecc. 3:7, there’s “a time to be silent and a time to speak” Continue reading →

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. Romans 8:5 (read vv. 1-17)

INTRO: In the last six weeks, we’ve gone over the body in scripture from head to toe and from the outside in

We have been exploring the role their bodies (and parts) played in their spiritual understanding
– we have seen that men and women in the Bible listened to their bodies, searching for deeper meanings to what they felt and experienced

For example, when Rebekah was pregnant with twins and they jostled each other in her womb, she asked, “‘If it is so, then why am I this way?’ So she went to inquire of the LORD” (Ge. 25:26). It was then that God revealed to her the destiny of her two sons. The point is that she believed that what went on inside of her had a meaning that only God could make clear.

Continue reading →

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (read vv. 12-20)

INTRO: The question most frequently put to youth pastors, “Is it alright for a Christian to go to parties?”

It sounds like the teenager is asking, “How close can we get to the edge and still be Christian?”
– but what really lies behind the question is more like, “Is there anything fun about this Christian life? Anything interesting or exciting? Anything that compares with the social life of an active teen?”
– when preachers spell out the life of faith, their descriptions oftentimes sound dreary and like a lot of work
– it is as if we were at war with pleasure – at war with our bodies

The the impression we get when reading about the first Christian monks
– known for their “asceticism” – rigid self-discipline — they intentionally deprived themselves of food, sleep, and comfort
Karl Rahner, “. . . asceticism was considered almost exclusively a substitute for martyrdom.” Continue reading →

My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.
Do not let them depart from your sight [lit. “eyes”];
Keep them in the midst of your heart. Proverbs 4:20-22 (read vv. 20-27)

INTRO: Simone Weil was born into an affluent family, but always felt drawn to poor

Wanting to better understand the hardships of the working class, she went to work in a factory
– there she learned not only the harsh conditions in which many people labored, but also about their afflictions, both great and small
– one observation she made reflects on minor injuries in the workplace:

“When an apprentice gets hurt or complains of fatigue, workmen and peasants have this fine expression: ‘It’s the trade getting into his body.’ Whenever we have some pain to endure, we can say to ourselves that it is the universe, the order and beauty of the world, and the obedience of creation to God which are entering our body.”

Acquiring a skill changes our bodies
– first blisters form and then become callouses, muscles that are sore at first become strong, and the movements that are awkward starting out we later perform with agility and grace

In our current study, we are learning to let God’s grace enter our bodies Continue reading →

How lovely on the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who announces peace
And brings good news of happiness,
Who announces salvation,
And says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Isaiah 52:7 (read vv. 7-12)

INTRO: Some of you know of Walter Martin

He popularized Christian apologetics in his book, Kingdom of the Cults
– Walter Martin lived here in San Juan Capistrano and occasionally I would run into him around town
– he suffered from diabetes and nearly lost his feet to the disease
– in one of our encounters, he told me about a masseuse who worked on, “She saved my feet,” he said

Few of us were ever taught importance of taking care of our feet
– we abuse them with shoes that are too tight or worn out and also with bad posture
– this can create muscle tension and over compensation that results in pain in our legs, back,  and neck
– we pay for abusing our feet as we age – mangled feet can misalign the body and diminish its ability to balance, causing us to lose stability
If you are ever tempted to say, “My feet are killing me,” it is probably because you are killing them Continue reading →

The Hebrew word yad appears at least 1600 times in the
Old Testament and has a wide variety of meanings

• A person’s hand can be with someone – to join, support, or assist (1 Chr. 4:10)
  – also, “to give the hand” – join in partnership (2 Ki. 10:15)
• A person’s hand can be upon someone – either to give help or to be against
• by the hand of means “to come through someone,” by the agency of (1 Sa. 11:7)
• take from the hand of is  to rescue or deliver someone
  – (Ex. 2:19; Isa. 51:22)
• to place the hand on or over ones mouth is to silence ones self
  – stop ones self from saying anything (Job 40:4)
  – the last place that a word can be prevented from being spoken Continue reading →

Then Moses said, “What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.'” The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” Exodus 4:1-2 (read vv. 1-8, 10)

INTRO: I’ve got to hand it to you, you found your way here [we met on Sunday at a new location]

Think about the phrase I used – what did I just “hand to you”?
– what passed from my hand to yours?
What are some other ways that we use “hand” as metaphor?

Today we’re going to meditate on what the Scriptures say about hand

Every once in awhile we have to deal with the fact that our time and culture is very different from what we encounter in the Bible
– we are not those ancient Hebrew men and women
– we don’t think of our bodies the way they did — we don’t think of our breath as spirit or blood as sacred
– our objective way of thinking puts us at distance from our bodies – the world of nature – God Continue reading →

The idols of the nations are but silver and gold,
The work of man’s hands.
They have mouths, but they do not speak;
They have eyes, but they do not see;
They have ears, but they do not hear,
Nor is there any breath at all in their mouths.
Those who make them will be like them,
Yes, everyone who trusts in them. Psalm 135:15-18

INTRO: I want to tell you what I see God doing with “us”

God has each one of us on a spiritual journey
– this describes our progress in God – we grow and develop into spiritual maturity (Ep. 4:11-14)
– what this means is that we become more at peace in Jesus, more content, less angry, and filled more with the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23)

Think of the spiritual journey like a hike in the Sierras – the Spirit is our guide
– the more we advance, the more we will take advantage of better gear and make better use of it
– we are learning about hiking, but also about everything else — weather, trees, plants, animals, stars, etc.

In a similar way, getting training in spiritual disciplines is useful for making progress in our spiritual journey
– these include learning to wait on God in prayer, the sacred reading of scripture, fasting, discernment, solitude, and so on Continue reading →

Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures Luke 24:45 (read vv. 36-53)

INTRO: When you read a novel–mystery, sci-fi, thriller, etc.–the end is satisfying if there’s a point and everything fits

In this last small section at the end of Luke, one big challenge remains
– not in regard to Jesus – the message of his life is very clear
– but the story of Jesus was never just about Jesus
– it has been about the lives he touched – especially those closest to him

So Jesus is alive from the dead, God’s Son, Messiah and Lord
– but where does this leave the disciples?
– what has he done to their lives and where do they go from here?

This is the loose end that has to be resolved before the story ends
– I want you to notice in this last section, Jesus does all the talking Continue reading →