The Controversial Life of Jesus

     Webster defines “controversial” as someone or something that is marked by strong opposing views.  These “controversial” figures evoke passionate responses when brought into a discussion.  Controversial figures are typically either loved or hated, but rarely evoke a neutral response.  Jesus, I would have to say, is one of the most controversial figures in the history of our world.

     What are the controversies that surround Jesus life?  First there are His claims.  Many may look at Jesus and think that He was a good man and a fine teacher, but by today’s standards that would not be the case.  Jesus was controversial in His teachings.  He opposed many of the common teachings of the day.  In fact in His first public teaching in Luke 4, Jesus was very controversial, teaching as one with authority and making claims that no one dared to make.

Luke 4:18-21 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” ²⁰ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down…“Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” 

     This was a prophecy directly attributed to the coming of the Messiah.  He was saying to them that the Messiah has come and even one step further I am He.  Not exactly the words of a guy merely claiming to be a good teacher.  Jesus also challenged many of the common teachings of the day and the teachers of the day  He easily is the most controversial person of His era.  He is controversial from the moment He steps on to the scene and even after His death. 

     After His death, controversy arises that quickly turns into conspiracy.  The Roman soldiers lost the body?  Or had He risen from the grave like He claimed?  Some have claimed to see Jesus alive.  Has He risen from the dead?  For those who are in power, it doesn’t get much more controversial than this.  If this is true, then they are really seen in a bad light.  It means that they were wrong…very wrong.  Out of this controversy arose the conspiracy…cover up the resurrection.  Pay off the guards.

Matthew 28:11-13 …some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. ¹² When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, ¹³ telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 

     Several years ago there was a list produced of the 10 most controversial films of all time.  Interestingly enough it came out right after a very controversial film, "The DiVinci Code", had just been released in theatres.  Of these top 10, which "The DaVinci Code" was not on, two of them were about Jesus with The Passion of the Christ being the most controversial of all time.  Jesus evokes this kind of response from people.  It’s hard to not have an opinion about Him.  He usually elicits a passionate response, even 2,000 years after His death. 

     Jesus welcomed the controversy.  Controversy gets us to think about the issues at hand.  In Jesus case the issue at hand was this:  Is this man who He claims to be?  Is He the promised Messiah that will reconcile mankind back to God?  If He is, then we should follow Him.  If He isn’t then we should forget about Him.  Over the next few weeks as we approach Easter, we will look at the controversial life of Jesus ending with the most amazing event of all time, the resurrection of Jesus.  I hope you enjoy our time together.

 Have a Great Week!                                                                                                             

Pastor Stan and Polly

Legacy of Living

 If we only had a week to live or a month to live, what would our final days and hours look like?  I’m sure most of us have had this question posed to us in one form or another.  Several years ago a movie came out entitled “The Bucket List”.  In this movie there are two gentleman who are nearing their end who have complied a list of things they must do before they die.  What about us though?  What would we do with our remaining time?  King David, as he was reaching his end demonstrated his own love for God and love for people, something that all of us are called to do by God.

The first thing David does is let go of what has been a lifelong dream. 

1 Chronicles 28:2-3 “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it. ³ But God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for my Name, because you are a warrior and have shed blood.’

Despite all of David’s accomplishments, his biggest dream was to build a temple, a place of worship for God.  Imaging that?  What is the one thing you really desire to accomplish before you leave this earth?  Imagine letting go of that.  But David recognized that he had accomplished what God had called him to do.  All of us are called by God to contribute to this generation.  Sometimes the dreams we have, no matter how great, are not ours to carry out.  David had done, even in this dream, what God had called him to.  More importantly David had accomplished all that God had for him and now it was time to pass this dream on.  He made the plans, brought the vision before the people and even had the resources but God had called Solomon to carry out the task. 

After David surrenders this dream, he passes on to Solomon the crown and with it the wisdom that David has gained through his successes and failures as king. 

1 Chronicles 28:9, 20 And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind…Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you.

Solomon, follow God and serve Him wholeheartedly.  Son, I know what happens when we do our own thing.  It may seem too much at times and even downright scary but God has called you to be the next king, do it well.  Follow God and trust Him wholeheartedly. 

After David does passes on these words to Solomon and makes him king, he chooses to spend his last bit of time praising God before the people and encouraging them as well to never forsake the Lord and turn away to other gods.  The temple was to be a reminder of God’s glory and faithfulness and blessing.  David desires for his son and his people to remember God and follow him. 

            All of us have been called to contribute to this generation even if we aren’t king.  We have been called as parents, grandparents, friends, teachers, mentors and many other ways.  What is the legacy we are leaving in that?  What will those who have known us see?  David was an incredibly flawed leader, yet, he was called a man after God’s heart by God.  I think we see why in his last days.  He loved God, he loved the people and he spent his last days praising God and encouraging the people to follow God.  I hope our legacy is the same, that we pass on to those in our lives a legacy of a passionate pursuit of God.

Have a great week!

Pastor Stan and Polly

The Double Invitation

I was 15 years old, sitting alone in that cell at juvenile hall.  My choices had finally caught up with me.  There was no avoiding the inevitable.  I had no one to blame for my choices.  Those were dark, lonely hours and I’d like to tell you that everything turned out okay, but I’d be lying if I left out the consequences to my choices that followed me for years.  It’s never fun to look at the raw ugliness of our sin.  But we all have to, there’s no avoiding it. But it is in that place that we see the unmistakable invitation of God to enter into His grace.  The gospel, after all, is God’s invitation to come to Jesus Christ in the midst of our ugly, stupid and twisted sin.  

            The most dangerous aspect of sin is the trail of destruction it leaves as we are blinded to it’s damaging consequences.  David’s story is no different.  We can ask ourselves, “How does a heart that was so sensitive to the things of God, so open and alive become so calloused, hardened and dead?”  That’s what happened to David.  This same man that was conquering Giants and keeping his faith through his years as a fugitive and eventually celebrating with a wild dance before the Lord, disengages and seeks his shelter in the arms of another man’s wife.

            If this can happen to David, who sought with so much passion the heart of God, than it can certainly happen to us.  We lose our sense of purpose, we become inward focused and we disengage from God.  Once we do that we are an open target for sin and temptation. 

2 Samuel 11:1 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army…But David remained in Jerusalem.

            David had spent so much time as a warrior, fighting battles and running as a fugitive, he probably figured he deserved this break.  He disengaged.  Who could argue with that?  David had spent so much time in battle that he desired a time of peace and rest.  The problem is that he disengaged from God as well, not once in this chapter do you see David engaging God.  He is silent before God.  Apparently as he disengages his role as “Warrior King” he also disengages his role as “Priestly King”.  Without God, who has been his constant companion, David feels alone.  In that moment, he walks onto the balcony and what does he see?

2 Samuel 11:2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful,

            David sees this beautiful woman and he wants this beautiful woman.  That is the temptation but the sin occurs when David takes the woman and then tries to hide his sin.  In the hiding of his sin, the circumstances quickly spiral out of control and David is nearly destroyed by his choices.  Where did it all begin?  It began as he disengaged from God and sought a replacement for the void left.

            In this story David faces what we all do at one point or another.  He faces a double invitation.  First, he has the invitation to come clean about his sin.  Let’s face it we all fall short so why not come clean with it before God.  Secondly, he has the invitation to come alive.  Bury your sin with Jesus Christ and be raised again to New Life.  That is good news!  David’s sin was bad, probably worse than most of us but God’s forgiveness is greater.  May his mercy, grace and forgiveness drive us into his arms.

           

Have a great week!

Pastor Stan and Polly

David's Dance

I will always remember it vividly; Brian Wilson lets go of the pitch and Nelson Cruz swings but gets nothing but air as strike three sails into Buster Posey’s mitt and the celebration begins.  Guys are jumping up and down and the announcer proclaims that for the first time since 1954 the San Francisco Giants, once again, are World Series champions.  It’s an exciting moment and I’m sure everyone else, especially here in Nebraska was excited as I was.  But it is just baseball and none of the guys on this current Giants roster was on the one in 1954.  In fact, they were in New York at the time.  So once I put all of this in perspective, I say, “Yes!  It was fun!” but it certainly gives me more of an appreciation for David as he goes a little nuts when he finally enters Jerusalem with the Ark of the Covenant as the new King of Israel.

2 Samuel 6:14-15 David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the Lord with all his might, ¹⁵ while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

            Part of our problem is we worry too much what other people think.  There are certain places where going nuts is okay, like at a sporting event, but other places it is not, like the doctor’s office.  David has spent the last 7 years running from Saul and hiding in caves, I think he has every reason to celebrate God’s faithfulness in his life.  Not everyone thinks this is okay though, David’s wife, Michal, rebukes David for his behavior.

2 Samuel 6:20 When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”

            Why is it that we can so quickly lose all dignity for a sporting event or a concert but we become so reserved when it comes to celebrating God’s faithfulness to us.  Listen to David’s response…

2 Samuel 6:21-22 I will celebrate before the Lord. ²² I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes.

David is saying that there is nothing I will celebrate more than God’s faithfulness. I am free in my celebration of what He has done, whether I am king or not.  I will be far more undignified than this, even to the point of humiliating myself.  Wow! 

            What a precedent to set as the new king of Israel.  Their last king was consumed with looking bad.  When he disobeyed God, he was more concerned with Samuel walking out of the tent with him to give the appearance of normalcy than he was with his disobedience.  Now Israel has a king that says, “Be free to celebrate God’s faithfulness!  Watch me!”  He proceeds to dance up and down the streets and praise God.

            David knew a little something about God’s faithfulness.  He had experienced it in his time as a fugitive.  God had delivered on His promise and prepared David for this day.  If we took time to reflect, we would see God’s faithfulness in our lives too.   He has and will continue deliver on His promises and they are much sweeter than a World Series victory.  We have reason to celebrate so I say to you, “Be free!  Celebrate God’s faithfulness!”

Have a great week!

Pastor Stan and Polly