“Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” Genesis 12:1-7

“This story then, the one about Abraham leaving, is revolutionary. It’s a step forward in human consciousness. You can step out of the cycle? You can leave? And head into the unknown? You can step into something that hasn’t happened yet, that doesn’t exist yet? What an incredible new idea. And the writer doesn’t give us any explanation why. Abraham heard, and then he went. He heard something? That’s the best the writer can do? That’s so vague. Ambiguous. Sometimes the most powerful truths in a story are the ones that are never explicitly stated. This story has endured because it’s true to how it works. Something rises up within you, something internal, some force, some voice, some compelling urge to go. You get some shape, a little texture, a glimpse of what direction to head in. You get just enough so you can take the next step, but not enough to take the risk and faith and fear out of it. (Bell, Rob. Everything is Spiritual . St. Martin’s Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.)

“You get just enough so you can take the next step.” Again, Rob Bell gives us something to think about in his book “Everything is Spiritual”. In his book he takes time to talk about his spiritual journey: from growing up on a farm near Lansing Michigan, to his college years and finally going to seminary and working at a large, really large church as Assistant Pastor. Throughout the book he explains how engaged he became in his ministry that eventually he found himself completely burned out—and moving to California to begin all over. He associates his quitting the large church and moving to California with the experience of Abraham, whom G-d told to leave his father’s land and to begin a journey without ever knowing where it would lead him and how it might possibly turn out. All he had was a promise from G-d that he would not be alone in the journey.

I believe our experience with 2020 and the beginning of 2021 has been that kind of journey for all of us. No matter if you believe this pandemic is real or if you believe it is a hoax, or if you believe that masks are important or that masks are a threat to our individual rights, we have all been on a journey where we have no idea where we are being led and how it might possibly turn out. We have all lost a friend or family member or acquaintance to Covid – we have all had our routines turned upside down – we have all had to decide if we will trust in a vaccine to help eradicate, or at least control this virus. All the while, I believe G-d has been there giving us the strength, or at least the courage to move forward, because there is no choice for us to turn back. Just like Abraham, we are urged forward in this pandemic, looking to double-down on our trust and faith in Jesus. So that means we have a decision: trust in G-d or trust in our own insight. And that takes me back to the teaching of Proverbs 3:5: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight.” When we learn to trust, we also learn to worry less and live in the joy of the resurrection.

Pastor Dave

April 27, 2021 — The Gospel of the Savior

“Those who want to set the world against me are plotting against me because I am a stranger to it. So behold, now I am grieving on account of the sins of the world. But I am rejoicing on your account, because (you have….) well in (the world). So become acquainted with (yourselves), that you might profit me, and I will rejoice over your work! “I am the king” – “Amen”. “I am the (son) of the king.” (“Amen”).

“O cross, do not be afraid! I am rich. I will fill you with my wealth. (I) will mount you, O Cross. (I) will be (hung) upon you ……(“Amen”). (Gospel of the Savior)

One of the more recent gospels to be discovered among early Christian writings lost to time is the Gospel of the Savior. As with many old manuscripts, there are a lot of holes in the content – so much of the text has been destroyed. From what we have we know this gospel was once an interesting account of the last hours of Jesus’ life. What exists are instructions from Jesus to his disciples: “So become acquainted with (yourselves), that you might profit me, and I will rejoice over your work.”

And in another place Jesus addresses the cross itself: “I am rich. I will fill you with my wealth. A little while, O cross, and what has fallen will rise.”

The author of this gospel most likely had the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of John and possibly the book of Revelation at his disposal. What is intriguing is the way Jesus speaks about himself. He calls himself “a blazing fire” and “I am the king”. We know from Old Testament accounts that no one could see G-d and live – for his countenance was too awesome. Here we also have a different “I Am” statement than those that appear in the gospel of John. Whoever wrote this gospel shares the high Christology of John’s gospel.

The fact that Jesus speaks to the actual cross in this text is truly amazing. It is as if even the cross is a piece of living history – as much a voice in the plans of salvation as Pilate and Caiaphas. And the conversation Jesus has with the cross is one of planning, and control and purpose – Jesus is in control of his final days, just as the Gospel of John portrays Jesus in his Gospel. It once again gives us a picture of Jesus as king — Jesus gives us the fire of the Spirit – and Jesus is even in control of the cross. We can learn a lot from these early gospels, though not part of the Biblical canon, they still teach us so much about the life and death of Jesus.

Pastor Dave

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.” John 10:11-18

let me ask you:

“Is doing good, feeling good, and even looking good all genetics, part of our DNA in other words? Or is it a combination of our DNA and environment – part genetics and how we were raised? Or is it a combination of the evolutionary and biochemistry makeup of the brain?” Recent studies by neuroscientists have found that altruism, putting the needs of others ahead of our own – doing good for someone else – lights up the part of the brain that also lights up in response to pleasure. In other words, donating money, doing a good deed for someone, etc. stimulates the same part of the brain that is stimulated when you eat really, really good chocolate – or get a really good back massage.

It was St. Francis of Assisi who once said:

Lord, Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

“For it is in giving — that we receive.”

Apparently St. Francis of Assisi understood the very basic nature of the human brain. You do realize that one understanding of consciousness, one understanding of our ability to recognize our place in the cosmos is that we need others in order to feel good about ourselves. We need others who can reflect back to us – people from whom we might get answers to these questions: Do I look good?  Have I done good?  Am I happy?  Am I……good?

Peter and John, from the text from Acts, believed they had done something good when they healed the beggar in the name of the Lord and Savior Jesus. If you recall last week’s lesson from Acts, Peter and John encountered this man just outside the Temple proper, and Peter healed him. Here we learn it got them thrown in jail. And yet we know they felt good about what they did for that man. And nothing was going to stop them from continuing to teach and to heal in the name of Jesus.

In our text from 1 John, the writer basically says: “You cannot feel good about yourself, about your wealth, your property and possessions if you refuse to give to someone in need.” If you refuse to share out of your abundance, you will not look good, you will not feel good, and, well, you aren’t good – because your heart betrays you – for refusing to share out of your abundance. But after all, no one does ultimate good all of the time.

Look, we tend to be people who surround ourselves with like-minded people – people who look like us – and people who reflect ourselves back to us. People driven by money, power and prestige tend to flock together. People driven by looks and fashion tend to flock together. And people driven by doing good deeds – also tend to flock together. And to continue this thought, people who are driven to live the Christ-like life, the life of selflessness, sacrifice, and love — tend to live their lives doing good things in the name of Jesus – and gathering in places where people worship Jesus. And yet, doing good, looking good, feeling good – well, they do not make you and me good – because ultimately, only G-d is good. We, you and I, well we are sinful – usually we are somewhere between people at peace and rest, and really hot, messes – and our hearts betray us.

We want others to think we are good. We want others to say we look good. We want flattery from others to feel good.

We want others to see us doing good. And, biologically doing good makes us feel good – but ultimately, we are not good. We are not good.

What is good – is the Good Shepherd. What is good is the power of the Holy Spirit. What is good is a G-d who is greater than our hearts. What is good is being baptized in the name of Jesus, because when we are baptized in his name, then Jesus abides in us, and lives in us by the presence of the Holy Spirit who resides in our hearts – or as the Greek says, resides in our bowels of compassion. It is through the Holy Spirit that Jesus lives in our very being – and we become children of G-d.

Pastor Dave