What New Thing is God Creating in This Mess?

 

Almost daily, I think about Noah Collin's message to us two weeks ago. He said something like, "Look where the mess is - that’s where God is doing something new."

Our scripture this week comes from John 20.  It begins:

Early in the morning on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone was moved away from the entrance. 

Can you imagine yourself in Mary’s place?

I can.  I feel discombobulated, mystified, out of control…these new emotions added on top of my sadness over Jesus’ death.  I'm a mess, the situation is a mess. 

Read on:

2 She ran at once to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, gasping for breath. “They took the Master from the tomb. We don’t know where they’ve put him.”

3-10 Peter and the other disciple left immediately for the tomb. They ran, neck and neck. The other disciple got to the tomb first, outrunning Peter. Stooping to look in, he saw the pieces of linen cloth lying there, but he didn’t go in. Simon Peter arrived after him, entered the tomb, observed the linen cloths lying there, and the kerchief used to cover his head not lying with the linen cloths but separate, neatly folded by itself. Then the other disciple, the one who had gotten there first, went into the tomb, took one look at the evidence, and believed. No one yet knew from the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. The disciples then went back home.

11-13 But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. As she wept, she knelt to look into the tomb and saw two angels sitting there, dressed in white, one at the head, the other at the foot of where Jesus’ body had been laid. They said to her, “Woman, why do you weep?”

13-14 “They took my Master,” she said, “and I don’t know where they put him.” After she said this, she turned away and saw Jesus standing there. But she didn’t recognize him.

15 Jesus spoke to her, “Woman, why do you weep? Who are you looking for?”

She, thinking that he was the gardener, said, “Sir, if you took him, tell me where you put him so I can care for him.”

16 Jesus said, “Mary.”

Turning to face him, she said in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” meaning “Teacher!”

17 Jesus said, “Don’t cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I ascend to my Father and your Father, my God and your God.’”

18 Mary Magdalene went, telling the news to the disciples: “I saw the Master!” And she told them everything he said to her.

When I imagine myself with Jesus in this scene I’m frantically asking him to explain things to me.  When I finally stop asking and follow his instructions to “go to my brothers”, I can only hope that they will explain things to me.

What new thing was God doing in this mess?  We now know much more of the story than Mary did, and know that something huge happened that day, a New Beginning better than we could ever imagine.

Fast forward to 2024…so much feels out of control; I can only cling to the hope that God is doing something really BIG again.  

This week, we welcome a new speaker, Brendon Moore, an MDiv student from Regent College. I hope you can join us on Sunday when Brendon talks to us about this familiar Easter passage.  (Note that Worship is being held again in the Dogwood Room.)

There will be no Circle Conversation this week; we will be sharing cake and thanking Sanders, Angela, and Timothy for all that they have shared with us over the last year.

Image by Des on Flickr

What can Jesus teach you about your New Beginning? Why learn from him?

 

In Matthew 11:29-30 Jesus says '“Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”'

He wants to help us by teaching us things that keep us "living freely and lightly".  Why do things the hard way if there is an easier way? 

If we look at the beginning of his ministry he can teach us a lot about our own new beginning.  He went to a wedding in Cana, where he performed his first miracle.  We read in John 2:1-11:

1-3 Three days later there was a wedding in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. Jesus and his disciples were guests also. When they started running low on wine at the wedding banquet, Jesus’ mother told him, “They’re just about out of wine.”

4 Jesus said, “Is that any of our business, Mother—yours or mine? This isn’t my time. Don’t push me.”

5 She went ahead anyway, telling the servants, “Whatever he tells you, do it.”

6-7 Six stoneware water pots were there, used by the Jews for ritual washings. Each held twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus ordered the servants, “Fill the pots with water.” And they filled them to the brim.

8 “Now fill your pitchers and take them to the host,” Jesus said, and they did.

9-10 When the host tasted the water that had become wine (he didn’t know what had just happened but the servants, of course, knew), he called out to the bridegroom, “Everybody I know begins with their finest wines and after the guests have had their fill brings in the cheap stuff. But you’ve saved the best till now!”

11 This act in Cana of Galilee was the first sign Jesus gave, the first glimpse of his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

The first thing that Jesus teaches us about how to do "new beginnings" is right at the beginning of our passage - “Three days later.”

What happened three days earlier?  If we read John 1, we find Jesus calling his disciples.  He teaches us that the first thing we have to do on our New Beginning is to pick our team.  Don’t try to do this New Beginning on your own!

What happens next?  His mother tells him that the wine has run out. Despite a bit of an argument about it, he decides to do something about it.  Here, Jesus is teaching us to listen to others, especially elders and mentors, people with more experience than we have.  Jesus also demonstrates that it’s OK to challenge what they say; the exchange helps us to think about it.  Sometimes elders and mentors challenge us to take a risk.  They push us to go a little further than we might go on our own.

This interaction with his mother also shows us the third step: identify the need.  This is when we decide exactly what we want to do in our New Beginning.  Identifying the need is how we find the desire to stick with it.  

What’s your New Beginning?  Going to medical school?  Serving in your community?  Getting through a challenging day?

Notice that what Jesus does in his first miracle is something that he and his mother have decided is possible.  It is specific, achievable and time-bound.  (There is no point turning the water into wine after the wedding is over, right?)

What happens next?  Jesus speaks to everyone who is participating in this miracle.  Fill the pots with water.  Now fill your pitchers and take them to the host.  We learn here to issue clear instructions to everyone involved.

I love the sentence at the very end of our passage: And his disciples believed in him.  See how succeeding at this first thing in his ministry gets his team on side with whatever he plans to do next? 

Jesus has a lot to teach us about goal setting, teamwork and succeeding at our New Beginning, whatever it may be.  He's the perfect Project Manager and he gives us very clear steps to emulate:

1. Pick your team.

2. Listen to others, especially elders and mentors.  It’s OK to challenge them.

3. Identify the need. Make sure your goal is specific and time bound. Start with something you can succeed at.

4. Issue clear instructions to everyone involved. 

Please join us on Sunday in the Dogwood Room to dive deeper into the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.  There's more for you to find in this passage; Jesus just might be equipping you to perform a miracle!

Susan

Image by Andi Sidwell, Flickr

Have You Felt the Freedom of Forgiveness?

Last week, Rev. Beckingham helped us through the brokenness of conflict.  To clean up the mess, we often have to forgive someone…easier said than done.  How do we untangle the large knot standing in the way of that forgiveness?

This week, we welcome a new speaker to CVC:  Noah Collins, a 2024 M. Div Graduate from Regent College.  Noah is going to speak to us about 2 Corinthians 5:6-19, a passage that is all about New Beginnings!  You may recall that Paul wrote this letter to the church in Corinth during a time of conflict.

One of the wonderful things about our new beginning in Christ is forgiveness.  Here’s what our letter to the Corinthians says about this (and other things).

2 Corinthians 5:16-20 MSG

Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life emerges! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.

…the Messiah forgives…new life emerges…

All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other.

What did Jesus, the Messiah, say about forgiveness? 

He taught us to pray,  "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."

And in Matthew 18:

21 At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, “Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?”

22 Jesus replied, “Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.

Wow, that’s a lot of forgiveness.

Sometimes we forget that when we forgive someone, we are the ones who benefit more than the person we are forgiving.  To let go of the grudge that drags us down is such freedom!

I invite you to read all of 2 Corinthians 5 before Sunday to get more context and enjoy all that is said about new life.

Image:  maisie lo on Flickr

What Causes Quarrels and What Causes Fights Among You?

 

This is the question posed by James in his letter to Christian Jews outside of Israel, perhaps in Syria.  James is thought to be the brother of Jesus, and the letter was likely the first New Testament book written.

If so, this letter was written shortly after the resurrection of Jesus, by someone who knew Jesus well…it might be worth a read! 

He asks the question in James 4:1, and he goes on to warn about worldliness.  In this warning he talks about desire and prayer, about loyalty to God, and about grace and humility:

2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people![c] Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

But then, almost suddenly, he ends the warning with these verses:

11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.  The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

These verses remind me what Jesus says about judging your neighbor:

‭Matthew 7:1-5 ESV‬

[1]  “Judge not, that you be not judged. [2] For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. [3] Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? [4] Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? [5] You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

When I fight with someone, it is usually because I want my own way…my way is superior to their way…judgement.

Jesus tells me that there is a better way.  There are so many reasons and ways to fight, but only one right way to love your neighbour as yourself...the Jesus Way.

I’m looking forward to hearing what Rev. Paul Beckingham has to say about this passage on Sunday…James sure has a lot of different (and challenging) things to say about why we fight.  Paul will also gather us at the Lord’s Table.

Image:  Jevgēnijs Šlihto on Flickr.com