“He Knows My Name”

Meditation on John 20:1–18

Easter Sunday 2013

***

        Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene 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 towards 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 round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ 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 in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means 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 Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her. 

***

     Some of you may have seen me driving around Renville in my red mini-cooper this week.  I don’t drive it much in Minnesota winters—for reasons that are obvious to Minnesotans.  It isn’t a “snow car.”

    I am sure that I am the only person in Renville who has a red mini cooper with a white stripe.  Actually, I am pretty sure that I am the only person in Renville with a mini cooper of any color or stripe.

    Since I have been here almost 2 years, there are plenty of folks who see my car and think, “That’s Pastor Karen. What’s she up to?” But not everybody knows my car and me.  Not yet.

     One of the best things about being the only person to drive a mini in this part of the world is watching the reaction of other drivers.  On Friday, as I waited at the stop sign on County Road 6 preparing to make a left onto 212 and head to town, two tractor trailers passed by.  And both of the drivers did a doubletake. Their jaws dropped open.  And though I couldn’t hear him, I could see one of them mouth the words, “What IS that?!”

     But all car talk aside, you DO know me better than when I arrived in 2011 and you tried to figure out what to call me.  Reverend Crawford? Pastor Crawford?  Pastor Karen?  Or just Karen? They’re all OK with me. 

     You know that I have a husband named Jim who is also a pastor and a bunch of kids, including one in the military and two in Minnesota colleges. You know that I love my family and I love to write. Some of you read my devotions on Facebook.  You know I like dogs and many of you have met my Sheltie and my Pomeranian—or at least heard them barking.

     And you know so much more about me than that!

     And I know YOU better, too than I did in 2011.  I started with learning your names and trying to figure out how you are related to one another.  I am still working on it! I have had the joy of visiting many of you in your homes—and if I haven’t come to your house, yet, I hope to come soon. I have visited some of you in hospitals and nursing homes.  I have confirmed some of your children.  I have baptized infants—and I look forward to baptizing another little one in April. I have presided over weddings and, Lord willing, will preside over three more in May and June.     

       There have been 6 or 7 funerals, and I have been privileged to walk prayerfully beside those who struggle with grief and loss. I have watched your faith grow stronger.

       I have prayed with you and for you.  And some of you have prayed for me, too!

      We know so much about one another that when we speak each other’s names in greeting, we are saying so much more; we are proclaiming our loving relationship.

***

     

       In our gospel today, Mary Magdalene, before everyone else, has discovered the stone rolled away and the empty tomb.  Her pain and sorrow drew her to be with Jesus before the sun came up on the first day of the week.

     

       Upon seeing the empty tomb, she runs to get Simon Peter and another unnamed disciple, “the one whom Jesus loved.”  And they come—the one whom Jesus loved arriving first.  They see that the tomb, is indeed, empty. Then, Peter and the unnamed disciple go away.

       

      Mary remains at the tomb.  Alone.  Weeping.

     

       She has personally experienced Christ’s healing and God’s forgiveness by faith.  She has been with the Lord many days as his loyal disciple and close friend. She knows him well.  She knows so much more about him than just his name.  She cannot imagine life without him.  She doesn’t want to live without him. She isn’t ready to let him go.

    

        And in her grief, she fails to recognize two angels of the Lord dressed in white. Then, she fails to recognize Jesus standing next to her! 

    

     “Woman, why are you weeping?” he asks, like the angels asked.

    

      ‘Sir, if you have carried him away,” she answers, “tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’

     

       Then Jesus says,  “Mary!”  With her name, he says so much more; he reaffirms their loving relationship.

      

      She responds by speaking his name and confirming her love,  ‘Rabbouni!’ Teacher!

      

       As I read this familiar passage, I am amazed, as always, how Jesus, who is about to accomplish God’s plan for the salvation of the world, would be so concerned about the grief of one person that before he ascends to be with God, he comes to comfort her and help her move on.

      

       ‘Don’t hold on to me,” Jesus says.

       

       Then He gives her a precious gift. He charges her with an important task—to carry His message of hope to the others.   

       

      And Mary runs to do as he asked, announcing to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord!”

     

     Alleluia! He is risen from the dead! 

   

      I can imagine the disciples’ surprise at her news.  Especially Peter and the other disciple who had come to see the empty tomb, but then had gone home.

    

      I also can’t help thinking about the unnamed disciple who came with Peter to the tomb.  Who was he?

    

      Some scholars believe they know which disciple John was talking about in his gospel. Others say that John deliberately did not name the disciple.  That’s what I think, too. 

    

       I am sure our biblical authors considered long and hard every word they wrote—and that God inspired them to write what they did.  And, sometimes, words and details that seem to be “missing” are left out for a reason.

   

        I believe that John, who wrote his gospel for the Church of every age, meant for the audience to put themselves into the story through the character of the unnamed disciple—the one whom Jesus loved. 

    

         We are the ones who ran to the tomb with Peter and Mary—and got there first, but didn’t stay long enough or pursue Christ hard enough to see Him face to face.

      

        This is a warning to those who become discouraged too easily and for those who lack patience.  And it is an encouragement for us to seek the Lord with all our hearts—and never give up pursuing Him!

       

        Friends, this God who proves His love for the world by offering salvation through His Son —also knows and loves each one of us personally.

       

       He knows your name.  He knows MY name! And he knows so much more! 

      When we cry out to him in our darkness, His Spirit comes to us and conveys His love by calling us by name—just as our Lord came to comfort and reassure Mary in her grief.

     

      The Lord has given us all a precious gift, an important task.  He has charged us to carry his message of hope.

    

       To go out into the world in faith—that we, too, have “seen” the risen Lord dwelling in our midst.

    

       To tell all who walk in darkness that the light of Christ still shines.

    

       To proclaim, Alleluia! He is risen from the dead!    

Let us pray.

    Holy One, thank you for your love, generosity and amazing grace that led you to give up your only Son so the world may be saved through belief on Him! We look forward, Lord, to the day when Jesus comes again and our bodies are resurrected with Him.  Forgive us when we have lacked the faith to pursue Christ with all our hearts.  Forgive us when we were impatient and gave up too easily.  Teach us to trust in You always.  Give us courage to carry the message of hope to those who walk in darkness.  Let us be bold and proclaim not just on Easter morning, but every day, “Alleluia! He is risen from the dead!”  In Christ we pray.  Amen. 

“How the World Will Know”

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Meditation on John 13:1-15; 31-35

Maundy Thursday 2013

***

    Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him.

         And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.

          He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’

         Jesus answered, ‘You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’

        Peter said to him, ‘You will never wash my feet.’

        Jesus answered, ‘Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.’   

        Then Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!’

        And Jesus said to him, ‘One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.’ For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’

          After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example that you also should do as I have done to you.

          When he had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, “Where I am going, you cannot come.”

          I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’

***

        What would you do if you knew you only had a little while to live?

        Yes, you would spend it with your loved ones.  You would have conversations that you may not have had before—intimate conversations. You would hug and hold hands. You would share memories that would make you smile and shed tears.  You would talk about your faith and what was ahead of you—living in heaven with God, but also separation from the ones on earth whom you love. 

         You would relay final instructions.  You would be concerned for their well-being—who will encourage them when you are no longer there to help them through life’s struggles. You would tell them not to be fearful or grieve too long, but to continue on in the way you have taught them, through your words and example.  You would tell them to walk on as God leads them to go.

      And because you love them, you would urge them to care for one another and to love one another after you are gone.

      Those last days and moments—the words, intimacy, and vulnerability of that time—would be forever inscribed on your loved ones’ hearts and minds. 

***

   This is how it is with today’s gospel.  Jesus knows he only has a little while longer to live.  His “hour” has come. And he is spending his final moments in intimate conversation with his beloved disciples, the people who have followed him, loved him, and supported his ministry through good times and bad.  Jesus isn’t finished his work, yet, but he is nearing his most important task; the work of the cross lies ahead.  His disciples still have more to learn if they are going to be able to continue on with Christ’s healing, reconciling ministry when he is no longer clothed in human flesh, standing in their midst.

     Jesus chooses to wash his disciples’ feet not just to show them he loves them, though love IS what motivates him. This intimate act of humble servitude, in which he wipes away the filth of the world that clings to their bodies with every step, foreshadows when he will humbly give up his life in loving service to the Father, cleanse us of sin, and make what is unrighteous holy and acceptable to God. 

       The feet, in Jesus’ time, were the dirtiest part of the body because they were always exposed to the elements. People wore open-toed shoes and walked on unpaved streets where animals relieved themselves and household waste was poured before the invention of modern sewers and indoor plumbing. This is why Jesus says, “A person who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet.”

      To come into contact with the filth of someone else’s feet was to defile oneself. A host provided water and soap for guests to wash their own feet as they entered; if the host was wealthy and the guests important, a servant or slave might do the job.

      So at the dinner table, Peter watches his Lord prepare to do the unthinkable with increasing alarm. Jesus comes to him with his bowl and towel and Peter says, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?!”   

      Jesus answers, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

     Peter continues to protest.

    “You will NEVER wash my feet!” he says.

    And Jesus answers, ‘Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.’   Meaning, you will not be able to live with me in my righteous kingdom without end. 

     It isn’t until later, as Jesus says—after Judas has betrayed him, Peter has denied him and the other disciples have fled in fear.  It isn’t until later, after the work of the cross and the day of resurrection that the disciples understand that Jesus needed to become the lamb of God for them.  That he needed to become the holy, blameless sacrifice for the salvation of the world. 

     They won’t make the connection between Jesus’ loving acts of servitude—the foot washing and the cleansing of their sin on the cross—until after the resurrection. All of his followers will understand then that Jesus WAS God in the form of frail humanity.

       God sent His Son to make things right between Him and us because we couldn’t do it ourselves. We were just TOO filthy—the stain of sin could not be scrubbed off heart, mind, body, and soul through human efforts.  Even if we repented and were sincerely sorry that we had hurt God with our sinful ways, we could never be righteous enough without Christ crucified.

     Before Jesus leaves his disciples to be with God the Father, he gives them final instructions. He urges them to continue on as he has taught them, living to serve others as he has shown them to do.   

       “I have set you an example that you also should do as I have done to you,” he says.

      Those last days and moments—the words, intimacy, and vulnerability of that time—would be forever inscribed on the disciples’ hearts and minds. They would be remembered and retold again and again, every year by the Church of every age. 

     Through the Word and Spirit, Christ continues to urge and empower us to honor and obey his “new commandment” and teach it to our children and children’s children.

    As I have loved you, says the Lord, love one another.

    Love one another as I have loved you.

    And this is how the world will know that YOU are mine, if you love one another. 

Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, thank you for washing us clean, wiping away all of our unrighteousness through the blood of your Son, Jesus Christ.  Thank you for leading us to this moment when we would again retell His story and remember his last words to his disciples, his instructions for the Church of every age, his instructions for us today.  Lord, please help us honor and obey Christ’s “new commandment.”  Help us to love one another as you have loved us through words and acts of kindness and compassion.  Teach us to love and forgive as you love and forgive so the world will know that we are His disciples—that we belong to Him!  In Christ we pray.  Amen.

Pastor Karen's Palm Sunday Sermon

This is the link to hear Pastor Karen's Palm Sunday sermon, and below is the full text.

https://www.box.com/s/aihr35qp65i3mox7gvj3

"Something's Going to Happen":

Meditation on Luke 19:28-40

Palm Sunday 2013

“Something’s Going to Happen”

Meditation on Luke 19:28-40

Palm Sunday 2013

***

         

      After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, "Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' just say this, 'The Lord needs it'"
     So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?" They said, "The Lord needs it." Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!"
     Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, order your disciples to stop." Jesus answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out."
     And as Jesus came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”    (Luke 19:28-40)

    ***

       
Is it just my imagination, or is that grass we see beneath the melting snow? On Friday, as the snow melted away enough so that I could finally take my mini cooper out for a drive for the first time in months, I thought to myself, “Could it be that spring is finally on its way?”


Of course, then I heard that snow was in the forecast again. It seems I get my hopes up, only to be reminded, once more, that I am not in York, Pennsylvania, anymore. The last time I preached that spring was on its way, I got a phone call from Alice Beekman two days later. During a snowstorm. She was giggling.


“Pastor Karen, you said spring was coming! What’s with all this snow?”


But even lifelong Minnesotans like Alice say they are ready for winter to end. And it isn’t just the cold weather and snow that makes us long for spring. In spring, the world around us changes before our very eyes. What has seemed dead and gone for 4 months or more has only been sleeping.


Brown, patchy grass comes back green and tall. Buds appear on bare tree limbs. Soon, there will be leaves.


Birds return from their winter homes. They stir playfully in trees and bushes, perch on telephone poles and wires, and fill the skies. They set to work building nests. Before you know it, there will be eggs and hungry, chirping young.


Flocks of honking geese pass overhead. Green shoots push through garden soil. Daffodils, tulips and crocus burst into bloom, as do forsythia, azalea, rhododendron, and dogwood. Perennials make a comeback—bigger and better than the year before.


Frozen fields of white melt away to reveal dark brown soil, waiting for farmers to work their magic with machines that swoop back and forth and up and down.


Just before spring arrives, something is different. The air seems to whisper, “Something’s going to happen. Something’s going to happen.”



***


The change from winter to spring is similar to the dramatic change the Palm Sunday story signals for the Church. Something is different today, when we hear about Jesus riding boldly toward Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey, a crowd throwing down their coats for him and cheering him on.


Up to now, Jesus has been ministering, healing, preaching and teaching in the towns, villages, and countryside outside of Jerusalem. He has urged those from whom he cast out demons and made whole to say nothing about what He has done. He has mysteriously slipped through the grasp of his enemies, who have, at times, tried to push him over a cliff and stone him to death. His disciples have often been baffled about his true identity and relationship with God. When Jesus calms the storm, they say to one another, “Who is this that even the wind and the waves obey him?” When Jesus talks about leaving them to go and prepare a place for them, they protest their ignorance, saying “Lord, we don’t know the way to where you are going!”


Jesus answers questions with more questions and tells confusing stories with layers of meaning. And when he miraculously feeds the starving crowd, and the people plot to make him their king, Jesus goes into hiding, then escapes with his disciples in a little boat.


Today, there is no more confusion or subterfuge. What has been hidden from the disciples’ eyes is now plainly seen. The emboldened disciples have grown from the original 12 to be a “multitude.” They praise God joyfully with a loud voice “for all the deeds of power they had seen.”


We celebrate Palm Sunday like the disciples, heralding the Messiah with a noisy parade, the waving of palms, and little children singing “Hosanna, Loud Hosanna! … For Christ is our Redeemer, the Lord of heaven our King!”


Some of the Pharisees are taken aback by this display of emotion and praise for this man they call a “heavenly king.” They are also angry that he is riding on an unbroken colt of a donkey—an animal so unruly that few would dare try such a thing. Fewer still would remain mounted on its back. The taming of the wild creature is a sign of the peace Christ has come to bring through his own body, breaking down what divides human beings from each other and human beings from their God. Jesus riding on the unbroken colt of a donkey is also a sign of God’s promised visitation to the Jewish people, fulfilling the words of the Old Testament prophet Zechariah.


The time for quiet, for status quo, has ended. The season has changed; the world in Jesus’s time not only looks different, it IS different. The earth is filled with His glory. Creation is ready to cry out, “The Messiah has come! The Messiah has come!”


“Rabbi, order them to stop,” the unbelieving Pharisees feebly demand.


Jesus replies, “I tell you, if these people were silent, the stones would shout out.”


***



The celebration will soon end. The multitude will run away in fear after Jesus is arrested. Peace on earth will not come without a high price. Jesus weeps at the sight of Jerusalem, looming ahead. He cries not because he knows he will suffer and die, but because his own people are unable to see the truth, that Jesus is the Messiah, the one for whom they have been waiting.


Jesus says, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”


Palm Sunday, also called “Passion Sunday,” marks the beginning of Holy Week. This is the point of no return. Jesus has come to Jerusalem to accomplish God’s work of salvation. This time, there will be no slipping away from the grasp of his enemies. It is “Passion Sunday” because of Christ’s love for us, a love so great, so passionate, that he was willing to become the Lamb of God, the sacrifice for the sins of the world.


As we follow in Christ’s footsteps to the cross on Calvary, we walk in gratitude and in awe of Him who died for our sakes. We walk without fear or shame. We journey on with the confidence of the children of God who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Christ draws us nearer to His cross not to condemn us, but so we may experience love and forgiveness and know God’s will for us.


We walk in hope and anticipation, much like the feeling we have just before the arrival of spring. We walk in the promise of victory over sin and death and life in a new heaven and earth.


Those with eyes open to the truth walk knowing that not only is the world being changed by Jesus’ death and resurrection, so are we!


All Creation cries out to the glory of the Lord every day, as it did that day so long ago, when the king of heaven rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, and the multitude sang praises to his name.


Each new day, as we await Christ’s return for His Church, the air seems to whisper, “Something’s going to happen. Something’s going to happen.”


And it will.


Let us pray.


Loving God, thank you for opening our eyes to the truth of Jesus, the Messiah! Thank you for the hope and promise of forgiveness and new life in Jesus Christ, who is the Lamb of God. Lord, we ask that you continue to transform us by Your Spirit just as you are renewing all Creation. Move our hearts to rejoice in You each day and praise your Holy Name just as the disciples did when Jesus rode a donkey to Jerusalem. Remove our fear and shame so we may draw closer and closer to you, with the anticipation that something good is going to happen—something even more beautiful than the arrival of spring after a long, snowy winter. Let us hear you whisper your loving will for our lives and be emboldened to tell others the Good News that the Messiah has come—and He is coming again for His church. In Christ we pray. Amen.

   

   

           

    

   

      

   

Pastor Karen's sermon March 17, 2013

If you'd like to hear me preach yesterday's sermon, just click on this link.


https://www.box.com/s/n2hp5x0fi7cnxr6dnhed

“Knowing Christ”

Meditation on Philippians 3:4b-14

March 17, 2013

***

     “If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

      “Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”   

***

       Have you ever wondered why we so often read aloud from the Apostle Paul’s letters in church?

         Who was this man—Paul?

         He was a missionary and leader who greatly impacted the faith and shape of many early Christian communities. He wasn’t one of the original 12 disciples; nor was he among the seven chosen later to lead and serve. But through his letters, he continues to influence our faith perhaps more than any other apostle.

       Our New Testament contains 13 of Paul’s letters! The longest is Romans. The oldest is I Thessalonians, which was written around 49 A.D. -- before any of the four gospels.  Most likely, the writers of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John had already read Paul’s letters!

       But sadly, we don’t know all that much about Paul. We only know what scholars and historians have gleaned from Paul’s own letters and the book of Acts, written by a fellow named Luke.

       Here are some things we know about Paul.

       He was born within a year or two of Jesus’ birth—around 5 A.D. He was Jewish. Before he became an apostle of the risen Christ and took the Greek name “Paul,” his name was “Saul”—a Hebrew name. He was born in Tarsus, the capital city of Cilicia on the Mediterranean in what is present day Turkey. He grew up and received his education in Jerusalem, learning at the feet of the famous Jewish rabbi Gamaliel. 

       Saul spoke Greek and was a citizen of the Roman Empire. He was a Pharisee, someone who sought to obey God’s commandments and the laws that Moses gave to his ancestors long ago.

       Saul was a man of strong convictions, a kind of soldier for orthodox Judaism. After Jesus was crucified, he traveled from synagogue to synagogue urging punishment for Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah. In Acts 8, Saul was “ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women,” to prison in Jerusalem.  In Acts 9, Saul was “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.” 

      Before Saul’s vision of the risen Jesus and his conversion on the road to Damascus, he relentlessly pursued the followers of Jesus fleeing persecution and arrest in Jerusalem as if he were “Dawg the Bounty Hunter.”

     Saul approved of the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr.  Saul was the one guarding the coats of those who threw the stones.

    His identity as protector and defender of the religion in which he was raised, rooting out and punishing heretics, was his sole purpose before he came to know Christ Jesus as his Lord.

    Then everything changed.

 ***

      Paul writes from prison in his letter to the Philippians. He has been arrested for preaching the resurrection of Jesus the Messiah and our salvation through Him. He writes to encourage the church that is suffering persecution and worried about Paul.  He tells them that he is praying for them. He tells them to “love one another” and “produce the harvest of righteousness that comes though Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.”

     He isn’t afraid to die, he says, because whether he lives or dies, he will still exalt the Lord in his body with bold speech.

     And Christ will always be with Him.

    Pauls urges the church to live “in a manner that is worthy of the gospel of Christ,” standing firm in the faith and not being intimidated by any opponents.

     He holds up Christ’s self-giving example for them to imitate. “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit,” he says, “but in humility, regard others as better than yourselves.”

     In our reading today, Paul looks back and sums up his own life—all that he was and all that he has done—good and bad. He sees it all as rubbish! He is telling the Philippians, Don’t look back!

    “Whatever gains I had, he says, “these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ.  More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

    Nothing else matters to Paul as he awaits the promise of everlasting life with His Lord.

    All that matters is knowing Christ.

    Friends, our lives here are not easy.  We may not have the same kind of persecution that Paul and the Early Church endured.  But we still suffer. 

     People we love struggle with cancer and other illnesses, and we feel helpless and afraid.  We lose our loved ones to death, and we feel the pain of the loss and the loneliness of our separation from them.  We wonder if the pain will ever end and if we will ever feel “normal” again.

     We have memories of who we were and our life histories—things we have done and experienced, both good and bad.

      But when you find yourself sinking into sorrow or regret about the past or are worried about the future, remember the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

     He had every reason to feel shame and regret for the person he used to be.  But that was not his message to the Church.  He preached God’s grace and salvation through faith—not from our works or from adhering to the “law”!

    As he faces possible death in prison and remembers his life—the good and the bad, he says, “…I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

   Friends, don’t dwell on the past. Yesterday is truly gone.

   We have today, a friend told me yesterday.

   We have today to live in a manner that is worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

     So stand firm in the faith. Imitate Christ’s self-giving example.

    Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, regard others as better than yourselves. Love one another.

     And let us live today not swallowed up by the worries and sorrows of this world.  Let us live in the peace, hope and promise of all eternity in the world to come.

    All that matters is knowing Christ. 

Let us pray.

    Heavenly Father,  thank you for your Word that reveals your love for us!  Thank you for forgiving us in Christ by your grace through faith—and not by our works.  Thank you for the hope and promise of everlasting life with you.  Reassure us, whenever we look back with sorrow and regret and fear for the future, that our histories and worldly identities are worth nothing in your righteous kingdom.  They are rubbish!  Comfort us with the assurance that all that matters is knowing Christ as our Lord and Savior. Stir us to share the Good News with all we meet and exalt Christ in our bodies with bold speech. In His name we pray.  Amen.