How Disappointing

The scene. A man hanging nailed to a wooden cross between a couple of thieves also hanging on crosses. Above his head is a sign, “King of the Jews. How ironic. Just a week earlier this man was being celebrated and cheered as he triumphantly and humbly entered into Jerusalem. The people who had cheered him on that day, a week later were calling out for him to be crucified. What was the heinous act this man had perpetrated to warrant such a change in opinion in one week? He committed the crime of disappointing them. The people had watched his ministry for several years, seen his miracles, and heard his words of love. They had been promised a Messiah, a savior and now he had proclaimed himself. The promise had been fulfilled. They were going to have the kingdom re-established through the line of David and Judea would again have a king who would lead them, Rome would be expelled, and they would be saved from a time of oppression and tribulation. But, that was not what was happening. He had not expelled Rome and those who celebrated him had now gone from celebration to dissolution to disappointment to utter hatred. That is the problem. They did not understand you do not get to pick your savior and that can be very disappointing. We want to be in charge of selecting the person who will be our Lord. We do not have multiple saviors to choose from. Fortunately Jesus chose us before the beginning of time. He sacrificed himself for our sins. He will accept us into his eternal kingdom if we choose to follow him where he leads. This is our time of communion where we reflect on a God who became flesh and walked among us and died so that we may live eternally with him in paradise.

Working or Discipling

Paul, while under house arrest, wrote a letter to the church at Ephesus. A church he had pastored for a while. He gave them praise. Paul writes, For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. Paul goes on later to say, For it is by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. In a very pagan culture, the church in Ephesus was reaching out, it was bearing fruit, it was creating disciples. They were sharing the gospel in a dark land that Christ died for their sins and was raised from the dead and was now at the right hand of God. How different things were 30 years later when John wrote to the church in Ephesus as recorded in the Revelation. John speaks to a church that is busy working, working, working, but they have no heart. They are just busy. They are doing a lot of work among the pagans but they are not sharing the gospel and they are not disciplining. It is good that we are in this series on discipleship. We need to know that at the end of the day, feeding the lost just keeps them healthy till the day of judgement. We need to always share the gospel. We need to be the church that Paul was writing to. Because…Even though I was a sinner, Christ died for me. If I was the only sinner on Earth, Christ would have humiliated himself on the cross taking my sins on his shoulders to provide me a way to be with him in eternity. It is also good that we remember that each week in our time of communion. We take time to recall how Jesus broke the bread and shared the cup with his disciples and told them how as often as they eat the bread and drink of the cup, they proclaim his death till Christ comes again. He is coming again and we need to be sharing and disciplining.