I remember being a smart-alecky church kid. Whenever we were asked if we had memorized any Bible verses, there was always one we could cite. Not chapter and verse, mind you, but at least the verse itself. It was this one. It’s easy. Two words. Nine letters. Eleven digital characters in total. Anyone can memorize Bible verses. You’re welcome. But as short and simple as this verse is, there’s a whole lot of truth packed into if we are willing to sit long enough to see it. Let’s talk about it.
“After he had spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he had nothing. Then he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. He longed to eat his fill from the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one would give him anything.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
Have you ever considered someone to be irredeemable? It’s easy for us to do. When someone does something terrible enough, our first instinct is to write them off. Or, when someone falls into a pattern of troubling behavior long enough, the ones who have tried to help them out of it for a long time finally throw up their hands and give up on them. Sometimes, when another person just irritates us enough, we pass a final judgment on their character as terrible, and that’s the end of their story as far as we are concerned. How many marriages have ended with the stated reason given being “irreconcilable differences”? In all of this, we begin to believe a lie: That person or situation will never change. This is certainly a tempting lie to believe, but a convincing lie is still a lie. Let’s talk about the truth this morning.
“For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
When was the last time someone offended you? Don’t worry about the so-called “snowflakes” on college campuses across the country. Neither am I talking about your seeing something on the news happening in some other part of the country or world that made you angry. I’m talking about just you. When was the last time you were deeply, truly offended by something another person in your social circle did? Have you forgiven the person for that offense? Or, are you holding onto it for one reason or another? Forgiveness is a tough topic to tackle and for a number of reasons. And yet, if you would confess to being a follower of Jesus, it’s one you can’t avoid. Let’s talk this morning about forgiveness and why it matters so much.
“They went out and ran from the tomb, because trembling and astonishment overwhelmed them. And they said nothing to anyone, since they were afraid.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
Today this journey comes to an end. It has taken us two days shy of 13 months. I’m so glad to have had you with me on it. As I said yesterday, we’ll start a new journey together soon, and I am very much looking forward to that. I’ll have more news on what that will be in the next few weeks. In the meantime, don’t tune out! We’ll spend the next few weeks looking at some of the lies followers of Jesus believe and why the truth is so much better. And just in case you’ve forgotten, here’s a link back to where we started on September 1 of last year. Thanks for reading and sharing. Now, let’s get to the task at hand.
Have you ever seen someone react to something in the wrong way? Perhaps it was a surprise party, and instead of excitement, they were angry. Maybe it was a Christmas present that made them start crying. It could have been really sad news that made them laugh. There is an endless combination of possibilities here. Sometimes people simply don’t react to something the way most folks think they should act. What we see here at the end of Mark’s Gospel is a perfect example of this. Let’s dig in to see what the reaction was, what it should have been, and what it means for us.
“When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side; they were alarmed. ‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he told them, ‘You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they put him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, “He is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there just as he told you.”‘” (CSB – Read the chapter)
I’ve talked before about my love of magic. I love seeing the fruit of many years’ worth of hard work and dedication that talented magicians have put in to honing their ability to completely wow me by making something appear where it has no business being or knowing something there’s no way they could have known. One of my favorite categories of magic acts is where the magician looks like he has lost control of the trick. He “messes something up” and it appears you have caught him in the act of deception, only to find out he was perfectly in control of the situation the entire time and you only saw what you were intended to see. The truth is things were always unfolding just exactly like he planned for them to go. On the morning of the resurrection, it looked at first like things were flying out of control. The truth, though, was they were unfolding just exactly like God had planned for them to go. Let’s talk about it.
The Nexus 