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4/2009 Mission Seeds 

Message: Journey or Victory

Grace and peace to you from Jesus Christ our crucified and risen Lord.

As I write this message, we sit in the middle of sing them out loud and clear come Easter morning. Lent. We have put our A…….s aside in order to It may seem silly but we do the same thing Christmas eve getting all sentimental about the birth of the Christ child.

As Lutheran Christians, we follow a liturgical year that corresponds to the life of Christ. This is helpful in on our own Christian journey. However, it doesn’t always correspond to the ups and downs, joys and sorrows, victories and challenges of our personal life. To top it off the victory of the resurrection is not the complete end. It is in a way just the beginning.

Here we are on our Lenten journey heading for the Last Supper, the betrayal, the crucifixion and of course the resurrection. We are headed for the Promised Land just like the Israelites during their40 years in the wilderness. We have some advantages. We’ve read the script, we know how the story goes at least to a point. We know the story gets worse before it gets better. Christ has to die before he is raised. We too die in our baptism and are raised to new life with him.

As I sit writing, I wonder what should I concentration, the journey or the victory? This year in April we start out continuing our journey to the cross but in the middle of April, we have Christ’s victory, our victory. Since Easter is so late this year, we try to stay the course in our Lenten journey. We enter Spring, getting those beautiful sunny days that tease us with visions of flowers, green grass and leaves making it difficult not to start singing those A’s.

Interestingly the gospel of Mark has no resurrection appearances. Many scholars and lay people alike have theorized as to why the author left it that way. Could it be that he was thinking, if he put resurrection appearances in his gospel instead ofjust the empty tomb people would get the impression that the story was over?

We don’t think that when the Israelites entered the promised land the story was over. We should not think of Christ’s resurrection as the end either but rather a beginning. Spring does not mark the end of life but the beginning. The crucifixion doesn’t mark the end of life but the beginning. Maybe the thing to concentrate on in April is both the journey and the victory. You could say that the Christian life is the journey and the victory rolled intones. Even as we enter into the promise of the resurrection, we journey.

I remember a physical education teacher I had in High School. He would end each class saying, “That’s all we have time for”. We continue following Christ until that day comes when no one can work; the day when Christ comes again and says, “That all we have time for”, but that’s not yet. Blessings to you,

Pastor Sharot

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3/2009 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.

Average Joe starts feeling unhealthy --ok, he has been feeling unhealthy for quite a while. On January 1 he decides to join the millions of Americans who make a New Year’s resolution to diet and exercise. Joe, unlike millions of Americans, keeps his resolution. He begins to see some differences in his appearance and in his health.

Our creator ingeniously put our bodies together. It should not be surprising to us that our body works a lot better and we feel a lot better when we treat it the way it was supposed to be treated.

We have also been created as spiritual beings. God intends for us to live in a relationship with him, with his other children and in harmony with the world. As a loving parent, God will always love us no matter what we do. He will love us if we mess up our health and our spiritual relationship. God cares for us even when we do all the other things we often do to mess up and live other than the way God has intended us to live. But, how much better it is when we live as God intended.

Paul in his letter to the Corinthians makes a good point. The committed athlete, not the cheaters who use drugs trying to get an unfair advantage,) works hard exercising self control. They devote themselves to building up their bodies and developing their skills in order to be the best they can be.  

We often let ourselves get out of spiritual shape. Spiritual exercises can be very helpful in this regard: Worship, Prayer, Bible reading and study, Christian fellowship and service.  We are entering into the “get into spiritual shape season”: Lent. There are many things we can do to get into spiritual shape. Wednesday Soup suppers and Lenten services can be of great help to us. It is an opportunity to change our regular routine. It gives us an extra opportunity to worship, pray, study the bible, and have Christian fellowship; all lead us to Christian service in this world. In addition, we will provide some bible readings for each day of Lent which you can do on your own or with others. One way to read and “discuss” the readings is online. If you are interested in the online discussion email me: pastorsharot@urland.org.

Let me encourage you spiritually. If you are in good spiritual shape you know practice is important. If you are out of spiritual shape take this opportunity to kick start your relationship with God. God would really like that.

Pastor Sharot

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The new Christians in Corinth were crazy about their faith; some think they were just plain crazy. They found new freedom in their lives through the gospel of Jesus Christ. The “good news”, revealed to them that they no longer had to buy God’s love and forgiveness through their actions. Nothing they did or didn’t do improved their relationship with God. It was what Jesus had done on the cross, that made all the difference.

We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 

With this new freedom comes new responsibilities and concerns. First, we are responsible to our neighbor.  Go to a parade and work your way to the front of the line; you are free to do that. What if you are taller than the person in back of you and because you are in front of them they can’t see?

Go to a potluck and you notice there isn’t enough for everyone. You brought your share of food but others didn’t. If you are first in line, you are free to take as much as you want but what about the people at the end of the line?

cost about $67,000 dollars. Campolo said, “If Jesus had $67,000 do you think he would spend it on a Lexus?” (There is the joke that ends, Jesus walked everywhere he went). 

The point is not guilt, at least that is not the point I’m making. The point is we have a lot of freedom but there is a balance as to what is beneficial. We have a responsibility to the rest of creation. We are our brother’s and sister’s keeper.

‘All things are lawful for me’, but I will not be dominated by anything.” The second concern is being faithful to the one who gives us freedom. We need to be careful about our passions. Passions and interests are God given gifts. While we ought to enjoy and use our passions for the glory of God, there is the danger of being carried away, dominated by them.

Treats are not decadent, they are gifts from God. If we can’t stop eating them, they are dominating us. If we are dominated by anything then we have lost our freedom.

To have a job you enjoy is a gift from God but if you need to work all the time, a workaholic, you have a problem.

Jesus has indeed set us free; however, it seems that there are two things to consider concerning our freedom. Is it harmful or beneficial to my neighbor and the world? Am I losing my freedom and worshiping something else?

Blessings, Pastor Sharot

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1/2009 / 2009

You are a 16 year old girl, or younger. You are engaged to be married. An angel comes to you and tells you that God is with you, you are favored by God. This is sounding good. Most of us would appreciate this message. Who wouldn’t want God to be with them, especially if God found favor in them?

Now you are told you are going to have a baby but not with your husband. You will have God’s son. This is good; by some miracle, you believe it. He will great, son of the most high. God will give him the throne of David, he will rule over the house of Jacob with an everlasting kingdom. This is good, this is very good, and this is a great honor.

Yet if you were this young girl Mary, you knew Joseph would know it was not his child.  You would not only have to believe this messenger of God but you would have to trust him no matter what Joseph believed and decided to do. God promised to be with you and honor you but you might have to go it without a husband.

We know the story. God gave Mary and Joseph trust and strength to be faithful in this most holy calling. They went into the future believing.

2009 is upon us. We too have a holy calling. Our calling may or may not be so dramatic. People may not light candles and celebrate the work we had a hand in but the work God calls us to do, as we move into the future, is no less holy. It is holy because God is calling us to it.

Is some ways, you could say that God’s calling for us in 2009 requires even more faith than Mary and Joseph’s calling. Most of us are heading into 2009 without the benefit of an Angelic visit to tell us what our job is and to assure us that God is with us.

Let me be of some assistance as I play the part of an angel, a messenger of God. God is with you. You have found his favor. God has work for you to do. This I know. This I believe with all my heart. Unfortunately, I don’t exactly know what that work is.

I suggest you start 2009 praying for direction. Pray with the trust and belief that God is with you, that you have found favor in his sight and that he really has work for you to do. As you move into 2009, pray, expecting an answer. 

God bless your new year.

Pastor Sharot

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