The 40 Days of Lent 2008

[Jeremy D. Scott]

North Street is intentionally participating in Lent again this year. I wondered if maybe some around here might like the opportunity as well (though the times of gathering would be difficult if you're not in MA :basic01).

I tried to upload the .pdf file of the pamplet on all this that we handed out on Sunday, but it was too big for Naznet. You can access it here (http://www.northst.org/discipleship/lentschedule.pdf).

Here's part of what went out to our e-mail list (you can see it here (http://northstnews.blogspot.com/2008/02/40-days-of-lent-2008.html), as well):

Today, Ash Wednesday, begins again the 40 Days of Lent.

We invite you again to join the North Street Community during this important season in daily intentional and formational activity. The Season of Lent is the forty day period (minus Sundays) prior to Easter Sunday. It's a time of reflection on the passion and death of Christ, and a preparation for the Resurrection Sunday. It is a time of focused spiritual formation. We will be intentionally preparing ourselves for Holy Week and Easter through these daily activities:

Daily - Scripture Reading & Reflection
Mondays - Individual Prayer
Tuesdays - Fasting
Wednesdays - Corporate Prayer
Thursdays - Corporate Scripture Study
Fridays - Personal Acknowledgment
Saturday - Preparing to Worship
Sunday - Corporate Worship

For more specific information, a printable schedule, see the links below:
Lent 2008 (http://www.northst.org/discipleship/lent2008.html)
Schedule (http://www.northst.org/discipleship/lentschedule.html)
A Brief History of Lent (http://www.northst.org/discipleship/lenthistory.html)

[Jeremy D. Scott]

Here's our "preparing to worship" for this weekend...
For all the links and pictures to work, just click here:
Preparing to Worship, February 10, 2008 (http://northstnews.blogspot.com/2008/02/pastor-jeremys-lenten-preparing-to.html)

Giving and Receiving? Not just about money...
A few years ago, Meghan and I bought the extended DVD versions of The Lord of the Rings trilogy movies. We had seen at least two of them in the theater and got swept up in the "greatest trilogy of all-time" fervor. They are indeed incredible movies.

Ever since we got them, I've wanted to take the time to watch them back-to-back-to-back. It's probably not going to happen for a few decades though, as together, the three movies are 683 minutes long (yeah, that's close to twelve hours!). But over the last several weeks, I've been watching just a bit of them as I head to bed each night (I've only just finished the second movie). They've kind of been my own little bedtime story.

Anyway, one of my favorite scenes is toward the end of the first movie. For those who don't know the story: in short, the main character - Frodo - has a ring with a horrible history and future tied to it. His mission is to travel long distances, through dangerous areas, and through all sorts of difficult trials to be rid of the ring. He is accompanied by an assortment of characters at different points.

At this one point in the first movie, a good wizard named Gandalf is sitting with him. Gandalf is like what you might imagine in the typical wizard - old, long white beard and hair, walks with a staff, and very knowledgable. He always seems to know what's going to happen next and has sage advice for Frodo and others. As they sit together, Frodo is obviously troubled by the task ahead of them. Frodo says, "I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened."

And Gandalf replies, "So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."

So we're in the season of Lent. Lent is greatly concerned about time. The choosing of a 40 day period is very intentional. It reminds us of great periods of time in scripture - the 40 days and nights of cleansing during the Great Flood, Moses' & Elijah's periods of fasting, and of course the 40 days that Jesus Christ spent in the wilderness, often looked at as a time of preparation for his ministry.

One common problem amongst today's followers of Christ - especially those of us living in America - is the tendency to rely on God most only in times of great need. Obviously, we should do so: when times are rough, we should certainly turn to God for his power and Spirit, asking for wisdom & discernment, help & understanding, and grace & peace.

But times of need would be easier to deal with if we've been listening to God the whole time anyway. Life will indeed have its ups & downs, times of distress & times of celebration. However, the majority of life is "ordinary time." And it is what we do to prepare and strengthen ourselves in the ordinary times that will greatly determine how we fare in the tough times.

Three tidbits:

* I've heard before that followers of Christ in communist China pray for revival to come to their Christian brothers and sisters in America. Think about that for a second...
* It is said that Edmund Burke penned these words: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing."
* Have you ever watched an hourglass? A couple of years ago, I asked Meghan to buy me one for my birthday. We got two. We have one sitting on our desk at home and one is in my office at the church building. An hourglass serves for me as a very visual reminder of time.

As you prepare to worship tomorrow, do two things:
1. Ask yourself: How am I doing with the time given to me? Am I relying on God all the time or just when I think I need God? Could I be doing better with intentionally seeking God and his discernment in my life?
2. Read our scripture passages for tomorrow. You can read them here.

I look forward to worshiping with you,
For & Through Christ,

Jeremy

[Mark Metcalfe]

Hello Jeremy,

I thought I would add a few words - testimony really - about some Lenten fasts.

Denying oneself for 40 days is a reminder that we are mortal, dependent on God for our needs, and indeed our wealth. I first started a Lenten fast many years ago when I thought it was primarily a "Catholic" thing, but I was prompted within to find the joy of discipline through it. I struggled with the value of fasting until someone urged me to just do it and allow the Holy Spirit to use it. Here is what I learned throughout the years.

1. Giving up more or less doesn't make me more or less spiritual. For some years, I made my Lenten observance harder and harder. I once gave up breakfast and lunch for Lent, but found myself pigging out after sundown.

2. Giving something up for 46 days doesn't make me more spiritual. The 40 day fast does not include the 6 Sundays during Lent - one is not to fast during the celebration of the Lord's Day. I thought that Catholics weren't giving it their all to allow themselves to re-engage on Sundays. I was wrong.

3. Giving up something makes a better difference when our attitude is aligned with the Lord. I have had fasts where I was nothing but hungry - I did not use it for God's glory. On the contrary, I have also had fasts where every hunger pang was a reminder to pray, and a reminder that God provides, and that He cares about my needs. While I believe that discipline is "good for you" whether you feel like it or you don't, it is better to approach fasting with a mind towards God rathen than stomach. (I should feel this way about exercise!).

4. Giving up something can set an example for others. I know you are not supposed to wear your fasting out on your sleeve and trumpet what you are doing, but your family (and mine), and your co-workers, will know that you're exercising spiritual discipline. For me, I get questions about why I am drinking water (instead of Coke) from my co-workers. That is an open door. My children, all grown now, have participated in Lent - though I NEVER forced them to.

God bless your Lenten period. (And God bless mine, too.)

Mark

[Jeremy D. Scott]

Here is the "preparing to worship" for today (with much thanks to Jon Twitchell and Christy Gunter-Leppert from LectionaryChat.com):
(If you want to read it with all the pictures and links and stuff, click here (http://northstnews.blogspot.com/2008/02/pastor-jeremys-lenten-preparing-to_23.html).

Acknowledgement & Confession:
Have you ever seen the movie, The Wizard of Oz? Maybe you've even read the book. But what a lot of people don't know is that The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is actually just the first of fourteen books by the original author, Frank L. Baum. When I was a kid, I enjoyed reading them all. I think it was sometime after I'd already read the Chronicles of Narnia three or four times and I was looking for another fantasy land to get lost in. Of course, Baum's Oz doesn't have the blatant Christian themes that Lewis' Narnia does, but they are nonetheless still good stories. And where there's good story, there's often good truth for life application.

If you remember, Dorothy and her companions are all headed for the Emerald City of Oz to find a great wizard who will be able to help each of them, namely Dorothy in her quest to return home to Kansas. Along their journey, they learn about how great this wizard is - he just appeared in the sky one day, and all the inhabitants of Oz fell before the great wizard from the sky as his power was obvious to them. And Dorothy and her friends reach the Emerald City and find the "great" wizard, who dupes them at first, but whom they soon find out to be nothing more than a normal man from Kansas who has hid behind some pretty cool tricks and schemes to conceal his true identity.

Before they found out who he really was, the wizard told them to come back before he could help them. He seemed powerful, but he couldn't deliver on their wishes and their needs - he couldn't do anything to help them. But as soon as he's found out, he finds that he can actually help each of them, giving them their respective needs.

It was only when he stepped out from hiding behind his curtain that he could be who he needed to be.

I've heard someone say that the greatest thing that could ever happen to an individual would be for his (or her) sin to be exposed on the evening news. Can you imagine it? You turn on the television to find out who's winning the latest primary, but instead of seeing Clinton or McCain, you see your own picture. And with your smiling face there for all to see, the news anchor is rattling off all the things you think no one knows about you: your sin, your past actions, your temptations, and perhaps even things a little more recent...perhaps something you did today. It would be horrible...at first glance. But if we really think about that, the situation would lead us to rely on nothing else but the grace and loving forgiveness of Jesus Christ. And isn't that where we're supposed to be anyway?

I think that this is why confession has been an important aspect of the life of a follower of Christ for most of the history of Christian tradition. We protestants don't do this very well though, and especially us, as people of the holiness tradition. We faithfully profess that we're saved and sanctified by the grace of God, but it too often ends up causing us to rely on an act or decision we made years ago, rather than a daily reliance on God's grace. When we acknowledge who we are and what we've done, we must rely on the grace of God, instead of whatever walls and pretenses we build up for ourselves.

This has to do with honesty - honesty with God and honesty with ourselves. And this is where we'll pick up tomorrow from the Word. In the meantime, ask yourselves: "What does it mean to live in spirit and in truth?"

Perhaps you'd pray this prayer, one written by Stanley Hauerwas and adapted by my friend, Christy Gunter-Leppert:
"Lord of all life, we come before you not knowing who we are. We strut our stuff, trying to impress others with our self-confidence and in the process we hope to actually be what we pretend and fake to others. Save us from this, so that we might learn who we are through trust in you, to make us more than we could imagine or fake to anyone else."

Our passages for this week, February 24, are Exodus 17:1-7, Psalm 95, Romans 5:1-11, and John 4:5-42. Click here to read them.

I look forward to worshiping with you tomorrow,
For & Through Christ,

Jeremy

[David Snowbarger]

I gave up celibacy for lent:)

[Jeremy D. Scott]

Here is our "preparing to worship" for today, with much thanks to Naznet this week and my brother Jeff. Click here (http://northstnews.blogspot.com/2008/03/pastor-jeremys-lenten-preparing-to.html) to read it in it's true form.

How often do you sit there trying to "figure God out"? When I was younger, I would often get frustrated with life when I couldn't understand something about God. Or I would fall into the trap of the questions of friends at school who knew of my faith in Christ and just wanted to get me going, questions like, "How do you really know that Jesus Christ was the Messiah?" (Yes! Believe it or not, we talked about such things in high school.) And I'd go home and write out the biblical proof for Christ's messiahship.

Or worse yet, sometimes I was wary of the work of the Holy Spirit in my own life, or in what I was seeing in the life experiences of others. I was a skeptical kid. I was affected by the modern forms of intellectual pursuit, particularly that everything has a reason and can be figured out if we just think about it long enough, have the right experimental procedures, and can logically think things through.

Even though they are pre-modern figures, we can see some of this in the religious leaders of John 9. A link to the passage is down below, but briefly, it's the story of the man born blind whom Jesus heals. Once the man has been healed, everyone began questioning. His neighbors wanted to know if he was really the same man. The religious leaders questioned both his identity and his testimony, and then they began questioning him about who Jesus was and how it was that he could heal. Questions and more questions...

And it's the response of the man born blind that jumps out the most at us today. Made famous today in hymns and songs (such as John Newton's Amazing Grace), the blind man's response seems to come out of exasperation. After all their questions about Jesus, theology, and the "hows", the man born blind finally just tells the religious leaders: "Listen guys, I don't know about all that stuff. All I know is that I was blind, but now I'm not."

My brother, Jeff, teaches Sunday School for his church. He told me this story this week:
I usually prepare for Sunday School on Saturday. I have a 9 hour shift at work (as a security guard at Harvard School of Public Health) where I pretty much just sit there. So I usually use this time to prepare for Sunday School. I just didn't happen this week. No focus, no insight, nothin'. So, when I got up in front of my class, I told them the truth. Not so much about my week, but that I had little prepared for class. I think my exact words were "I have nothing to offer you this morning." I'm pretty honest. But then I explained that over my years of teaching Sunday School, this had happened many times and that the Holy Spirit always filled in the gaps. So I set them to work on a little project. I won't get into what the project was; it wasn't anything elaborate.

About 5 minutes later a gentleman named Joe - a new Christian - came into class along with a friend. I didn't think I recognized his friend. Honestly, we've had so many new visitors and Christians in church lately I can't remember who I've met and who I haven't- let alone their names! (It's really amazing how the Lord is working in our church.) As it turns out his name was Brian. This was his first time to our church and we'd never met before.

Since Joe and Brian missed the instructions for the little class project I went over to explain it to them. As I did, Joe left for his baptism class and poor Brian was there alone. I sat down with him to introduce myself a bit more and find out why he was with us that day. It didn't take long and he was straight to the point.

I asked what he knew about our church and he said "Nothing, is it like a Catholic church or something?" I asked if he was raised Catholic and he told me, "Yes." I replied that while there are some similarities in a lot of our foundational beliefs, we were a bit different than the Roman Catholic church.

I'll never forget what he said next. It was something like this: "I don't know what this church believes. But my friend Joe here had a life that was real messed up. A lot more messed up than mine, and that says a lot! I can't believe the change in his life and I want it! That's why I'm here today.

We can think and think and think all we want about how God does what he does. And there is certainly time and space for systematic theology and to wonder about the ins and outs of God. But the essence of faith in Christ is not to figure it all out before we accept it, but to accept the invitation to "come and see".

We can apologeticasize all we want to - and try and show people who don't yet know Christ a "logical" explanation of God, how he created the world, or why Jesus is the Messiah. But until they see true change in us, and experience his love through us, I'm not sure how great our "witness" will be.

Our passages for this week are I Samuel 16:1-13, Psalm 23, Ephesians 5:8-14, John 9:1-41. Click here (http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=70960681) to read them.

I look forward to worshiping with you tomorrow,
For & Through Christ,

Jeremy

[Gina Stevenson]

Seeing this several times, I know it might sound "funny," since we're used to "apologize" meaning to repent/say one is sorry. However, I tho't---so looked it up---that "apologetics" fleshed out was meaning one was "apologizing," rather than "apologeticizing." Sure 'nuf .... [just for future reference, not to be critical, Jeremy; hey, I do read what you write! :p] that 2nd definition "splains" it.

blessings on your ministry, Jeremy. ;)

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) (http://dictionary.reference.com/help/luna.html) - Cite This Source (http://dictionary.reference.com/cite.html?qh=apologize&ia=luna) - Share This (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/apologize#sharethis) a·pol·o·gize http://cache.lexico.com/g/d/premium.gif http://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/luna/thinsp.pnghttp://cache.lexico.com/g/d/speaker.gif (https://secure.reference.com/premium/login.html?rd=2&u=http%3A%2F%2Fdictionary.reference.com%2Fbrowse%2 Fapologize) /əˈpɒlhttp://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/luna/thinsp.pngəˌdʒaɪz/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –verb (used without object), -gized, -giz·ing. 1.to offer an apology or excuse for some fault, insult, failure, or injury: He apologized for accusing her falsely.
[U]2.to make a formal defense in speech or writing.

[Jeremy D. Scott]

I realized I never posted last week's preparing to worship. Here it is (I'll post today's a bit later):

Click here for it in its original form:
http://northstnews.blogspot.com/2008/03/pastor-jeremys-lenten-preparing-to_08.html

This week's passages are loaded with good stuff! They are Ezekiel 37:1-14, Psalm 130, Romans 8:6-11, and John 11:1-45. Click here (http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=71973946)to read them.

In worship tomorrow, we'll be focusing mostly on the gospel passage which is the story of Mary, Martha, and Jesus raising their brother, Lazarus from the dead.

Despite how blessed we are living in this country, we still hear a lot of whining going on around us. Whining is a distraction from what we have in the current moment. It directs us to consider what is not rather than what is. How often do you hear the words "if only..."? "If only I had this..." or "if only this had happened instead of this..." or "if only she were like this...". One hears it all the time.

Another word we hear quite a bit that distracts us from the current moment is "someday". "Someday this will happen" or "someday it will no longer be like this." There's nothing wrong with hopeful thinking. But when we become so focused on the future and what will happen, we miss out on the current moment and what is happening.

We see elements of this in our gospel passage. Mary & Martha both tell Jesus that "if only he had been around," then their brother Lazarus would not have died. And Martha tells Jesus that "someday" everything will be okay and Lazarus will rise again from the dead in the final resurrection. Each of these responses - "if only" and "someday" were not satisfactory for Jesus.

Jesus says, "I AM". And again and again in his ministry, Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of God is now and available to us now.

I am just outside Washington, D.C. today for a conference called DeepShift: Everything Must Change. It's organized by pastor/theologian/author/speaker Brian McLaren. I've heard and learned a lot so far and will be going home with a lot to think about.

We sang a song last night called Today. It is very appropriate in light of the nowness of the Kingdom of God:

Today
Words and music by Brian McLaren and Aaron Strumpel, .2007, Brian McLaren.
Publishing, Revolution of Hope Music Group (http://www.restorationvillage.com/SFRH/index.php)SESAC 2007, all rights reserved.

Today up came the sun
Today’s for everyone
Today the Lord has made
Today now we can see
Today we can be free
Today the Lord has made

So my friends let us be glad
Let’s live in hope
Could be the best day ever
So my friends let us be glad
Let’s live in joy
Could be the best day we’ve had

Today we may dance
Today’s let’s take a chance
Today the Lord has made
Today we can set sail
Today take a new trail
Today the Lord has made

Agents of Progress and Lovers of Justice
You are called to be in the moments of the here and now
So let’s not forget it, this glorious present
It’s like the sweetest kiss, this gift of today

I look forward to worshiping with you tomorrow,
For & Through Christ,

Jeremy

[Hans Deventer]

We see elements of this in our gospel passage. Mary & Martha both tell Jesus that "if only he had been around," then their brother Lazarus would not have died. And Martha tells Jesus that "someday" everything will be okay and Lazarus will rise again from the dead in the final resurrection. Each of these responses - "if only" and "someday" were not satisfactory for Jesus.

Jesus says, "I AM". And again and again in his ministry, Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of God is now and available to us now.

Yes. But we do live with the "yet" and the "not yet". There isn't much we can do about one dead for 4 days and our sole hope is in Jesus, and in the knowing that this situation indeed isn't satisfactory to Him. Martha and Mary, though not knowing what even He could do, did trust in Him. That is the faith in the "now" we need.

So I do believe it is exactly the hope for tomorrow that should change how we live today. The Kingdom is a kingdom of hope, but it is a Kingdom today.

[Jeremy D. Scott]

Yes. But we do live with the "yet" and the "not yet". There isn't much we can do about one dead for 4 days and our sole hope is in Jesus, and in the knowing that this situation indeed isn't satisfactory to Him. Martha and Mary, though not knowing what even He could do, did trust in Him. That is the faith in the "now" we need.

So I do believe it is exactly the hope for tomorrow that should change how we live today. The Kingdom is a kingdom of hope, but it is a Kingdom today.

Right, but honestly Hans, at least in the US, we've got a lot of followers of Christ who are sitting around holding a Heaven ticket. Even our own Nazarene hymnal is stocked full of "beyond the river" theology. And we all need to hear more of the establishment of Christ's Kingdom now. We're doing fine on the establishment of Christ's Kingdom later. Sure it gives us hope. But it's not a hope that should cause us to dream only about what's to come. It's a hope that should cause us to live as if we believe it can happen right now.

[Jeremy D. Scott]

Here is today's Preparing to Worship. You can see it in its original format HERE (http://northstnews.blogspot.com/2008/03/pastor-jeremys-lenten-preparing-to_15.html).

Have any of you ever heard a rendition of the poem "The Touch of the Master's Hand (http://youtube.com/watch?v=XQnIrI3CREs)"? I remember an evangelist that would come to churches when I was younger and would sing the poem set to song. If you've never heard it, you can click on the title above and hear a rendition of it. But briefly, it's a short poem about a violin up for auction. The bidding started at $1 and worked its way up to $3 before a man came up and played the violin masterfully. The bidding then began again, this time in the thousands of dollars. The worth of the violin was said to change because of "the touch of the master's hand." It was a wonderful story.

An experiment along these lines was conducted a little over a year ago.

http://bp1.blogger.com/_QaqND5udNWE/R9vHVcy7teI/AAAAAAAAA5I/03jU85vuYxg/s200/Joshua_Bell_by_Chris_Lee_504.jpg (http://bp1.blogger.com/_QaqND5udNWE/R9vHVcy7teI/AAAAAAAAA5I/03jU85vuYxg/s1600-h/Joshua_Bell_by_Chris_Lee_504.jpg)Joshua Bell is considered by many the greatest violinist alive. He has played at the major symphony halls across the world. His playing regularly draws sold-out crowds. On January 9th, 2007, at Boston Symphony Hall, Bell drew one of these such crowds, where "merely good seats" sold for $100. As many of the best classical violinists in the world do, Bell plays an infamous Stradivarius violin. He paid $3.5 million for his. Only the best for the best. Bell's playing is accomplished, well-known, and of the best in the world. He's a master of the violin.

http://bp0.blogger.com/_QaqND5udNWE/R9vK8My7tgI/AAAAAAAAA5Y/ZSM2oee911Y/s200/0409-bell.jpg (http://bp0.blogger.com/_QaqND5udNWE/R9vK8My7tgI/AAAAAAAAA5Y/ZSM2oee911Y/s1600-h/0409-bell.jpg)Just three days after that Boston performance, Bell was put to an experiment. He donned a baseball cap, jeans, and a t-shirt and carried his Stradivarius violin into a subway terminal - L'Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C., a busy station that services mostly government workers. At 7:51 AM, he set himself up right by a trash can, just by the escalators, and several yards from the stand that regularly sells lotto tickets. And for the next 45 minutes, Bell played his heart out, mostly classical violin songs that only a few ever master. He held nothing back, giving his all as if he was indeed on the stage at Carnegie.

1097 people heard him play that morning...but only a handful stopped. And only one person recognized who he was. His total earnings that morning? $52.17 was tossed into his violin case (and $20 of that was from the woman who recognized him). Bell confessed that he felt very uncomfortable after a while. In between songs, a space usually reserved for thunderous rounds of applause, Bell was forced to squeak out a few uncomfortable chords, pretending to be tuning his violin, as the hundreds of people hurried by, too busy to hear greatness.

Apparently context is everything.

It's easy to be caught up in something great when "everyone else is doing it." It's easy to say what is worthy when everyone is expecting something to be worthy. It's easy to be a part of something that's surrounded by greatness, easy to join a movement that's already moving at the full steam of popularity, easy to jump on the bandwagon that's promoted and well-known.

Perhaps this is part of the picture of Palm Sunday. The people are expecting a Messiah. They're ready and waiting for a leader who will conquer and set things straight once and for all. Their hunger has begun to be satisfied by this guy who's coming into town who has supposedly been healing people from their sickness, causing blind people to see, and has even raised people from the dead. You can almost hear the buzz: "Hey...let's go see Jesus!" And the fanfare begins - palms and coats on the road, shouts of "Hosanna!", waving, smiling, and clamor. This guy's got a lot of fans.

But just a week later, the fanfare ends. And this very same guy - Jesus Christ, in a different, darker context: bound by chains, scarred by whips, and mocked by soldiers and institutional leaders - has no fans, no followers, and no fanfare.

Which Jesus are you following?

I look forward to worshiping with you tomorrow,
For & Through Christ,

Jeremy

(You can read the whole story and watch hidden video of the Joshua Bell experiment here (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html).)

[Jon Twitchell]

Perfect! What a great story! And a great connection to Palm Sunday.

[Gina Stevenson]

Learned that violin poem "eons" ago. Then learned every word of the one put to music, too. ;) So, anyway, that story your link led to re Josh Bell is very interesting! About halfway through it , this stood out, so far:

"It's an old epistemological debate, older, actually, than the koan about the tree in the forest. Plato weighed in on it, and philosophers for two millennia afterward: [I]What is beauty? Is it a measurable fact (Gottfried Leibniz), or merely an opinion (David Hume), or is it a little of each, colored by the immediate state of mind of the observer (Immanuel Kant)?"

Actually, I'd vote for a combo of the three ... sort of get the idea that's what the author intended, too ... unless I find out differently upon reading the rest of it later. Thanks for the link, anyway! Interesting, tho' sad people missed out on some good music, experiment. Many, tho', I suppose were on a schedule, such as they had daily re work, & hadn't extra time.

*************
LATER -- tho' not yet done [it's long, but interesting!], I found after posting this that in the very next paragraph the author sides with Kant ... indicating that he feels beauty is basically a very subjective/in-the-mind-of-the-observer entity. Still think, tho', that there's a bit of the first two in there somewhere ... less of the first, and a bit more of the second [opinion]. ;)

[BobHunt]

keep these posts coming,.I am enjoying them!!!

[Jeremy D. Scott]

Well...this is the last one for this year. The best part of Lent: it ends.

(click here for the original posting (http://northstnews.blogspot.com/2008/03/pastor-jeremys-lenten-preparing-to_22.html)...I actually had to cut this one down a bit for Naznet because it was too long)

Tomorrow is Resurrection Sunday, the biggest celebration of the year. Of course, every Sunday is a celebration of resurrection, but tomorrow is the culmination of the season of Lent, and our greatest holiday as Christians. Tomorrow, followers of Christ all around the world will gather. Our passages for this week are extensive. Click here (http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=73196362) to read them.

Some of us gathered and watched The Passion of the Christ last night in our home. I've done it every year on Good Friday since it first was show in theaters. I was again reminded last night of the brutality of what Christ went through. While the movie-makers may or may not have over-done some of the brutality, we can be certain that Christ's flogging, mocking, and death by crucifixion was extremely horrible, embarrassing, and painful. It would certainly be grounds for revenge if an innocent human being went through it. And no one was more innocent than Christ.

But we see that Christ's response was certainly not one of revenge.

For today's reading, I'm giving you portion of a sermon we heard last April 15th. That was based upon John 20:19-31 (click here (http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=43814305) to read it).

Christ died on Friday, the first day. Though not all were present at his death, everyone knew it had happened. All the disciples of Jesus knew that he was dead. So Jesus had suffered and died brutally. The man in whom all these disciples had put their lives and hopes was stripped from them, arrested, put on trial, beaten, mocked, dragged through the city of Jerusalem carrying a cross up to a hill called "death" where he was nailed to the wooden beams of the cross and hung up for all to watch his cruel death. No one doubted it - he was dead. From the perspective of the disciples, it was the end of their hope, all that they knew and believed to be true was gone. The situation of "all things right and proper" and "as it should be" was gone. Jesus Christ, their messiah, their hope, their savior...was...dead. This was the first day.

Then there was the second day, the Sabbath - what we know as Saturday, a day of rest for Judaism, and a day of rest for the dead Christ. We have nothing of this day in John. But we can imagine. Have you ever woken up the morning after a bad day? You wake up and you know in the back of your mind that something bad has happened. Perhaps you were up much later worrying about it and got a bad night's rest because of it. Regardless, you wake up with a bad feeling. Sometimes, I've woken up after a day like this and there's this slight glimmer of hope that what had happened actually didn't happen. Have you had this? You know, just for a moment, when you wake up, you think, "Wait, was that a dream?" Well, it wasn't for the disciples of Christ, it wasn't a dream at all. Jesus was dead. And they had to go through that whole day of Sabbath, with the knowledge that Jesus was dead. The son of God was dead. God...was...dead. This was the second day.

Then there was the third day, the first day of a new week. And what we know in the text so far is that Jesus had appeared to Mary Magdalene and that Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved had seen an empty tomb. So for a second, let's look at this from the perspective of these disciples who are gathered in this room, with the door shut and locked for fear of the Jews. Let's place ourselves in their position - what are we thinking? It's barely been 48 hours since all of this has taken place - since Jesus has died. I'm no great psychologist, but I'm pretty sure this isn't enough time for our period of grief to subside. And that's for anyone's death. It takes time to get over death. And here, 48 hours or so later, the drastic nature of Christ's death - the death of our Savior - is probably finally beginning to really set it. We've gathered together, in fear of what's going to happen, and our situation is one of confusion, distress, perhaps even chaos - what are we going to do? We've dropped our careers, we've given up family, and we've sold the farm for this guy Jesus, who's now dead. Death lingers in the air around us. We can still smell it and taste it and feel it. The anguish of Jesus' death is still on our minds. We're disparate, and we're angry. The last thing on our minds is a peaceful life. Nothing's right or as it should be.

We need to talk for a second about this word 'peace.' Today we hear the word 'peace' and our understanding shifts to one of tranquility. We may hear the word and think of the opposite of fighting and war, when all sides are in compromise and not killing each other. These two ways of thinking of peace are not wrong; they're quite appropriate, but the peace of scripture - shalom - goes beyond this. Shalom is a state of being where all is the way it should be. A closely related word shalem means "complete". Another closely related word l'shalem means "to pay". Shalom - to pay complete. To give completeness. And Shalom is one of the many Hebrew names for God. God is shalom. Shalom is God. God gives completeness. Satisfaction. Shalom makes things the way they should be. God makes things the way they should be.

So if we're back again with the disciples during the evening of the third day in the fearful, chaotic, and tense locked room, we're in a place that lacks any sense of peace, any sense of shalom, any sense of completeness. Our situation is ruin.

So John says that Jesus came and stood among them and said,
"Peace be with you."

And after showing them his hands and his side, he says it again,
"Peace by with you."

And the he does something strange. The text says that he breathes on them and says, "Receive the Holy Spirit."

All right, sorry, but here's some more biblical language talk - a related Hebrew word for 'breath' is ruach. And it's this word ruach that's in play when God breathes into Adam in Genesis that gives him life. Remember, Adam has a whole body with every part and muscle and bone completed, but in Genesis, only when God breaths ruach does Adam know life.

And later on in the Old Testament, in a story in Ezekiel, we see ruach again. But here it plays a couple of meanings. God's spirit is ruach. And God's spirit leads Ezekiel to the valley of the dry bones, and God tells Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones for the ruach of life. Remember, they too have complete bodies at this point in the story, bones, and flesh, and sinew had grown upon them, but they're lifeless until God's ruach - his spirit, his breath is put within them. All is only well, when with the presence of God's ruach his spirit, his breath, and our breath. Without ruach, there is no life. Without ruach, there is only death.

So here, back in the room with the disciples, Jesus breathes on them and says, "Receive the holy spirit."

And he adds this:
"If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them;
If you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

What the...?

What does that mean?

I'm fine with the holy-spirit-giving and the peace and maybe even the whole breathing thing. It makes sense that people over the years have made this John's version of the commissioning of the Church and even Pentecost, the giving of the Holy Spirit (in John, 'advocate' or 'counselor' is perhaps more appropriate). That's all well and good, but what's with Jesus' words on sin, here in this place at this time?

Let's again remember some things that have happened.

It's notable that:
Jesus said, "Put your sword away, Peter..." when Peter begins his great defense of Jesus at his arrest.
Jesus did not fight back amidst his arrest, his trial, his mocking, his beating, his path to the cross, and on the cross itself. He could have, right? Even he says as much.
Jesus said, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do," even as they 'did.'Jesus' whole life is notable in this way: a lack of aggression, a calmness and serenity when he is challenged by those who seem to despise him. Jesus lived a peace-full life. Jesus lived life the way it's supposed to be lived.

And after the victory over death, and sin, and the grave, Jesus appears to the disciples who've gathered in fear and anger and says, "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; and if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

Again, let's pretend we're the disciples. We're fearful and angry that our savior has been killed. And he shows up, alive, breathing, right in front of us. He has risen from the dead, conquered death. This guy's alive and now I definitely know that nothing can take him down! What's my response?!?

Let's go find Pilate! Let's go find the chief priests! Let's go find the guys that held the hammer and spear. We've got something to settle! Let's go get 'em!

But Jesus says, "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

Wow! Just hours after being wrongfully accused, beaten, embarrassed, and killed, Jesus - who has every human right to be upset and to seek revenge - is still forgiving, calm, and full of peace.

I look forward to worshiping with you tomorrow on Resurrection Sunday,
For & Through Christ,

Jeremy

[Steven Stone]

I gave up preaching for Lent. Didn't go over too well at church though.

[Jim Franklin]

For all the good that observing Lent is as a special time of worship, soul searching and devotement to communicating with the Divine Godhead, the SDAs in this household dismiss it as just another way the Roman church is encroaching on Protestantism. Pray for my family.