Chapter 13 of the book of Judges begins with the words “The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord” If that phrase seems familiar to you it may be because it or similar wording occurs in judges 7 times. Chapter 13:1 is the 7th one. This phrase is one of the themes of the book of Judges.
After Joshua led the Israelites into the promised land they grew complacent and began to take up the evil beliefs and practices of the Canaanites, some of whom still lived among them. So the repeated theme of the book of Judges is: Israel falls from God’s grace, God punishing them by raising up an enemy to attack them and in some cases nearly enslave them, then they would cry out to God who would raise up a defender for them. These defenders usually had the title of Judge, (hence the title of the book) The defender or judge would lead Israel into victory over their oppressors and all would be well for a while.
Then, after that judge died, the people would return to their sinful ways and beliefs and God would raise up another oppressor. This cycle is repeated in the book of Judges more than the 7 times this phrase occurs.
So that chapter 13 begins this way is a clue that another judge was about to emerge in Israel. His name was to be Samson and he would become one of the more colorful characters in all of the Scriptures. He is one of the heroes of the Bible that is often depicted in Sunday School and VBS curriculum. But he is probably not dealt with in too many sermons. He was one of those bold characters whose victories and failures lend themselves well to cursory treatments, but whose ethical and moral failings make him difficult to scrutinize in a sermon.
So Samuel is not the subject of this sermon. His mother is. Which makes my task a little awkward because the author of Judges did not give us her name. She is referred to as the wife of Manoah, and later as the mother of Samson.
As we are introduced to her She and Manoah were childless. This worked out well for God, since he needed a hero and they needed a child. So our text informs us that “the angel of the Lord” came to her and informed her that she would give birth to a son. Now, as we follow this “angel of the Lord” through the text the information about him grows. At first, Manoah’s wife describes him as “A man of God,” who had “an appearance … like that of an angel of God, most awe-inspiring.” Now I the Old Testament the term Man of God usually refers to a prophet or some other human being raised up to serve God, but here Manoah’s wife while using that term seems to suggest that he was more than human.
But in the later part of the story, there are two clues that this is no ordinary angel. First, Manoah asked him his name and he refused to give it saying His name is “Too Wonderful”. Too splendid for humans to hear and speak.
Then, as Manoah offered a sacrifice, the one with the wonderful name ascended in the flames of the fire. Manoah was then convinced that they had seen God. It was God who first visited Manoah’s wife.
And God told her not only that she would have a son, but that her son was to be special, even in the womb. He was to be a lifelong Nazirite. Nazirites were men who were set apart to perform special services for God. In Scriptures we meet a few guys who were lifelong Nazirites. Samson was one, Samuel was another and John the Baptist may also have been one. There were others who were temporary Nazirites, devoting themselves to God for a limited time period. The apostle Paul was one who did this.
Being a Nazirite was characterized by not cutting ones hair and not drinking alcoholic beverages. Samson’s Nazirite status was to begin at his conception, so his mother was not to drink alcoholic beverages during her pregnancy. (the God of Israel and our Surgeon’s General have something in common).
But what I want you to notice is that God (or the angel of the Lord) visits and informs Manoah’s wife first. She then reports his visit to her husband. This I think reflects the reality of the human race at least in our time. In many families it is the wife or mother who seems to be most in touch with God and spiritual concerns. Because of this the men and children often allow the moms and wives to be their connection to God and not develop their own connections. That is not good.
Women often are the spiritual leaders in the family, but they should not be happy to be the spiritual surrogates for their husbands and offspring. They need to bring their families closer to God, to encourage them to come to God themselves and develop their own relationships with God.
To Manoah’s credit, he did not do that. He wanted to speak with God or His messenger too, but when God came back for his second visit, he still came to Manoah’s wife. And Manoah’s wife took upon herself the responsibility of getting her husband and bringing him to God.
I want you to notice that although Manoah may not have been the spiritual leader in his family, he still asked a good question. He asked the angel, “What is to be the boys rule of life; what is he to do?” That is a really good question and I can’t help but think that this world and our churches would be better places if parents asked God questions like this: How are we to raise this child? How does this crisis play into what he or she will become? What is God’s plan for this Child? Maybe the best time to ask these questions and think about these things is before the birth of the child, because afterwards, the pace of life increases and time for thinking abstractly decreases. But sometimes we do need to pause in the midst of crisis and try to reflect on what God might be doing in the life of our child, and ask for guidance.
We see Manoah’s wife’s spiritual maturity again at the end of this passage. After the angel or God ascends in the flame, Manoah, concluding that they have seen God, also concludes that they will immediately die, because the Jews had been informed that they could not see God in all his glory and survive.
Manoah’s wife says “wait a minute, God came to tell us that we will have a son, It is obviously not his intent that we die now.” Wouldn’t it have been funny if she had said, “Well, I know I’m going to live at least another nine months, but you may be toast.” No, Manoah’s wife is encouraging and comforting to him.
And she became the mother of a Savior. Not The Savior, but a Savior. Samson was not even to be God’s final or total answer to the problem of the Philistines. In verse 5 the angel or God informed Samson’s future mother “It is he who shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”
Samson was just the beginning of the deliverance. About 20 or 30 years later Samuel would be born. He would take Israel further in their quest for freedom from the Philistines. After Samuel came king David who would almost destroy the Philistines. But in giving them Samson first, maybe God was trying to help Israel see that they needed more than just a strong and valiant leader. Samson lacked moral fiber and Spiritual leadership. Maybe God gave Israel Samson first so Israel would be more willing to recognize and accept the moral and spiritual leadership of Samuel a little later. Maybe Samson was supposed to help them see that they would need more than brute force and awkwardness to handle the Philistines and their own spiritual disorders that had caused God to put them in submission to the Philistines.
Maybe there is a corollary to this in our own time. Maybe our politics have be come so divided and divisive because we are looking for heroes or messiahs to help us and lead us when the real problem is not a leadership problem but a spiritual problem in our culture and our nation and its citizens and residents. We seem to be seeing help from the wrong quarter for the wrong problem.
But God started to answer the prayers of the people by sending Samson. Actually he began to answer their prayers by appearing to a Godly woman who was the spiritual leader in her family. And that is often where God begins to answer our prayers, by inspiring Godly women who are the spiritual leaders in their families but long to and work to bring the individuals in their families closer to God.
We need such women in our world. We need to pray for more of them. And we need to thank God for those he has given to us.

Pastor David L. Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906

There are some folks that we have seen for the past 4 or 5 years that we may never see again. Some of them have waited on us in restaurants and stores. We have excitedly watched some play sports. Some of us have taught them in classrooms and graded their examinations. They are of course the graduating seniors of Purdue University and many of them will never return to our community. The alumni association would like them to, but many will not.
At this time of year Purdue and other universities and colleges seem like magnificent oak trees or Maple trees, releasing their graduating seniors like acorns or helicopter seeds to be spread by the forces of nature or the economy so they can take root and grow into influential forces in industry or academia.
For those of us in the church, it is easy to think of the church as a magnificent tree from which our children and former members have gone out into the world, branching out on their own. Our just-now-published Faith Church Directory has names in it whose owners used to attend here when they were in our community or grew up here. Many have gone on to great success in other places.
But a magnificent tree is not the image that Christ chose to represent the church or individual Christians. He chose the grapevine, a plant whose wood is mostly useless unless you want to weave course baskets or wreaths. A grapevine is not known for its wood but for its grapes.
As Jesus and the 12 apostles were about to leave or as they had just left the house in which they had eaten the Last Supper, Jesus said to them “I am the vine, my father is the vine-grower,…you are the branches.
There are two elements that Jesus stressed in this allegory, the dependence of the branches on the stalk of the vine, and the fruit that is grown on the branches.
As we think of ourselves as branches on a vine, it becomes obvious that we are not like graduating seniors. We are not to go off on our own, independent from God and Christ, using what Christ has taught us through his word. In our journeys away from churches and families and towns we are to remain united to Christ and dependant on him. If a branch of a grapevine becomes detached from the stalk, it is worthless, good only to become kindling or a basket or wreath. It must remain attached to the vine so it can pursue the only thing it is good for: to bear fruit.
In the case of a grapevine the fruit are grapes, which can be eaten as they are. But in Jesus day they were important because they were used to make wine, the main beverage of that culture. That which was offered at meals and celebrations.
The fruit Jesus expects from us are listed in the pages of Scripture. They include love, generosity, forgiveness, patience, kindness and other traits and good deeds. But I think they also include the end or goal of those fruits; New Christians. We are to be producing good deeds and new Christians in this world. And we have to be connected to Christ in order to do these things. We need to be a part of a Christian fellowship or a church, we have to pray often, we have to read God’s Word often, we have to ask for his help and we have to acknowledge that He has forgiven our sins.
But I want you to notice that Jesus stated that he was the TRUE vine, as distinguished from other vines. The nation Israel was considered to be God’s vine. In the Old Testament, Israel was spoken of as God’s vine. Jesus himself referred to Israel as a vineyard. But being a part of Israel, while it gave great blessings to its constituents, could not save them into the kingdom of God. Jesus is the only vine that can do that.
But there is another aspect of being connected to the vine of Christ that Jesus mentioned. Pruning. A branch is trimmed back annually so it can produce more fruit. It is not our primary duty as a Christian to gain stature in our community or wealth or respect or honor.
On one of my old tables at home there is a top that is made of one board that is 39 inches wide. That is a wide piece of lumber. Some trees are grown to produce good lumber, to provide comforting shade or to stop the wind. Vines provide none of that, they just provide fruit.
Our primary duty is to produce fruit. And God will trim us back from our unprofitable growth so we can produce more fruit. Sometimes this is painful. Things that distract us from producing fruit must go. And we like some of those things, that is why we brought them into our lives.
You may have noticed that we Christians have a sacrament that has to do with grapes, or more properly, with wine, the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. It represents Christ’s death for us, and this sacrament, in distinction from the other sacrament, is to observed often, many times for each Christian, as often as we will. The Lord’s Supper being authorized to be eaten often is another reminder that we are to be constantly connected to Christ our vine. We are to constantly recognize him as our only savior.
In the days ahead, we will be seeing families acknowledge the graduations of the their children with pride and some of them will be sending their graduates off into the world to conquer little parts of it. Most of us have at one time or other been on that journey. But as Christians, we are not acorns or helicopter seeds, being taken away from the tree that nurtured us. We are branches of the true vine, staying attached to the stalk and allowing ourselves to be pruned, to have the extra stuff in our lives removed so we can produce fruit for the vine.
I don’t know if you noticed it or not but one of the more troubling and debated verses of scripture occurs in this passage. In verse 7 Jesus is recorded as saying “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish and it will be done for you.” The problem is not with those words, it is with our experience and with our understanding of those words. Is there anyone here who has not prayed asking for something that you never received? God does not always give us what we want. And may His Name be praised for the follies He has kept us from.
The promise is that as we live in Jesus and as his words live in us, we will be so changed that His will will become our wills, His desires will become our desires so that our prayers will be answered because they will be asking for things He wants to give us.
As we live as branches of the true vine, we bear fruit for His Glory not our own and we should become more like the vine to which we are attached. We are not to soar and be free and independent, we are to be attached to the great source of power and Grace, so we can bear fruit for Him.

Pastor David L. Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906

Three weeks ago we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday. The weeks after Easter are always a good time to think about how we should respond to the resurrection of Jesus, How we should live our lives after the resurrection of Jesus.
So, today I want to look at how the Apostles lived their lives in the months after the resurrection of Jesus. As you know, the resurrected Jesus visited with them on and off during the first 40 days after his resurrection, then he ascended into heaven. 10 days later, the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles at Pentecost in Jerusalem.
Some time after that, Peter and John got into some trouble for healing a man at the gate of the Temple courtyard. This man was a crippled beggar who often begged for money at the Temple gate that was considered to be more beautiful than the other gates. Peter told him that he and John had no money to give him, but they would give him what they could, and he healed him in the name of Jesus.
The healed beggar got up and leaped with joy as they all proceeded into the temple courtyard to the place called Solomon’s porch. Many people were amazed to see this man walking and leaping, and many gathered around the beggar and Peter and John to hear what had happened. Peter began to preach to them about Jesus, His resurrection, and the forgiveness of sins Jesus now offered to them.
Before too long the captain of the Temple police and some of the people who ruled the Temple came to see what was going on. They were not happy that Peter and John were preaching about Jesus and calling people to believe in him, so they arrested Peter and John took them into custody. Luke added the footnote that about 5,000 believed and became Christians on that occasion.
Our Scripture Reading for today picks up the story at this point. The next day, the Sanhedrin met and called for Peter and John to be brought from the jail for a hearing before them. Presiding over this hearing were Annas and Caiaphas the Hi priests who had been behind the plot to have Jesus killed.
They started the hearing by asking the same question they or their representatives had often asked Jesus during his life. You will find that question in verse 7 of the 4th chapter of Acts. They asked “By what power or by what name did you do this?” They wanted to know what or who had empowered them to do the healing miracle of healing the lame beggar. The Sanhedrin and especially the High priests were in charge of what went on in the Temple precincts and they wanted to know who these two common men thought they were. This is emphasized in the Greek word that is translated as YOU in our translation. It implies a haughty attitude over people whom they considered to be inferior. They were asking: By What Power or name did people like you do this?
This part of the passage is a reminder that there were, are, and will be those who hate Jesus and his followers and tend to treat with contempt those who believe in Jesus. When we experience this or hear about Christians being hated and persecuted we are sometimes shocked and gather up a bit of righteous indignation. But we ought not to be surprised. The bible makes it clear that this will happen in this world until our Lord returns.
Peter answered their question under the influence of the Holy Spirit with a bit of righteous indignation. He reminded them that the events that led up to their arrest started with their doing a good deed, the miraculous healing of a crippled beggar. And he boldly proclaimed to them that this miracle was done by the name and the power of Jesus, the Christ or Messiah of Nazareth, whom they had killed and whom God had raised from the dead.
Wow! In that sentence there was enough to infuriate the members of the Sanhedrin several times over. First of all he proclaimed that the Jesus they had killed had empowered them to heal the beggar. Then he identified Jesus as the Christ or Messiah who came from Nazareth, a crummy little village in Galilee. The folks in Jerusalem expected the Messiah to come from Jerusalem or at least from Judea, the area around Jerusalem. Then he announced that God had raised from the dead the one they had killed. And Peter was saying this to the same powerful and influential people who had been behind the plot to kill Jesus.
Remember, this is the same guy who some months before had refused to admit to a powerless servant girl that he even knew Jesus. Something had obviously changed Peter. What was it?
Actually two things had happened. Jesus had risen from the dead and the Holy Spirit had come upon Peter and the other 11 apostles.
Every Easter some of us ask ourselves quietly “do I really believe this stuff about Jesus being raised from the dead?” I suppose there are many reasons to answer that question with a yes. But one that always sticks in my mind is one given by Chuck Colson who died about 8 days ago. As you know, Chuck was one of the Watergate conspirators, President Richard Nixon’s dreaded hatchet man. After his conversion he reflected on his faith and his experience in the downfall of Richard Nixon. He said that experience was instructional to him. It has been posited by enemies of Christ that the followers of Jesus faked the resurrection of Jesus and that our faith is based on a lie.
Colson argued that in the light of his experience the Apostles could not have done such a thing. He pointed to the group of people who along with him had pledged themselves to be loyal to and to protect the President of the United States, one of the most powerful men in the world. After Watergate, it was only a matter of months until some of those formerly most loyal to Nixon began to expose the lies that they had helped construct.
In contrast to that behavior, Colson pointed to the behavior of the Apostles, each of whom testified to the very end that Jesus had risen and that they had seen him on more than one occasion after his death. Many of their lives ended in horrible deaths, but they were unshakable to the very end in their testimony as to what they had seen.
And we see that in Peter in this passage. The one who had denied Jesus before a servant girl, now stood before the powerful men who had killed Jesus and boldly proclaimed that God had raised Jesus from the dead. Only one who had seen and spoken with the resurrected Jesus would be able to do that.
Now that we have observed the boldness of Peter I want you to notice how he started his speech to the Sanhedrin.
He referred them to the miracle he had done in Jesus name. Without that miracle, he would not have converted about 5000 people the day before. They were among the crowd that had gathered as a result of the miracle. Without that miracle he would not have been arrested or been standing before the Sanhedrin. It was his good Christian work of healing that beggar that allowed him to be where he could preach about Jesus.
God gives us good works to do so we can be heard when we talk about Jesus. That is why we help others. This morning after worship, we will be looking at some of the missions we support. Those folks do good works for others so they can be heard when they talk about Jesus. And we help support them in their work and their message.
What Good works has God given you to do so you can be heard when you talk about Jesus?
I want you to notice something else that I have pointed out before that occurs throughout the New Testament. I need to repeat it because it is counter-cultural in our day.
You will find it in verse 12. It records Peter as saying about Jesus; “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved”. It is an oft-heard false doctrine in our culture and sometimes even among Christians that all religions are of equal value and they all lead people to God or salvation. That is not what the Bible says. The Bible and the ancient confessions and creeds all state that Jesus is the only way to salvation and eternal life. Jesus said that and Peter said that.
The scripture lesson for today ends with the Sanhedrin instructing the Apostles not to speak any more about Jesus. Their answer was that they would have to obey God rather than them. As Christians we have all been instructed to do good deeds in the name of Jesus and to speak to others about him and our faith in him. Those instructions have come from God. Like Peter and John, we must keep on speaking about Jesus.

Pastor David L. Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906

I hope you enjoyed our voyage through Mark during Lent and Easter. Today we have one final passage from Mark, after which I do not plan to preach from Mark for quite a while.
I always appreciate the opportunity to read through one of the gospels because it reminds me of characteristics of our Lord and how others responded to Him. One of the things I often notice as I read through a gospel is that the enemies of Jesus seemed to understand the things Jesus said much better than did his followers.
As we look at the events surrounding Easter we remember that the Apostles had no idea that Jesus would raise from the dead. The last thing they were looking for on Easter was the resurrection of Jesus. Yet, Matthew wrote that the enemies of Jesus were aware that Jesus had said that he would rise from the dead on the third day after his death. That is why they asked Pilate to post a guard at the tomb, so the followers of Jesus would not steal the body and fake a resurrection. They were giving the followers of Jesus way to much credit.
We also know that the disciples of Jesus often asked him to explain his parables to them because they did not understand them at first. Yet it seems that the enemies of Jesus understood his parables all too well, especially the ones that were critical of them.
Our passage this morning opens with the 12th verse of chapter 12, which is really the last verse of the previous passage. Jesus had just told the parable of the evil tenants. That is the parable in which a man planted a vineyard, built all the necessary structures to support it, and rented the entire property out to tenants. Then the tenants refused to pay the rent. They also abused the messengers that the landlord sent them, killing some. The landlord sent his son, whom they also killed. At the end of the parable there is an announcement that the owner of the vineyard will destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others. In verse 12 we read “When they realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowd, so they left him and went away.
We do not know if the Disciples of Jesus understood this parable, but we are told that those who were opposed to Jesus did. They understood that as the Sanhedrin, comprised of chief priests, scribes, and elders, they were the ones to whom God had entrusted the Temple, the religion and the souls of the people of Israel, God’s vineyard.
They wanted to arrest Jesus and eventually have him put to death when they heard this parable, but they couldn’t because he was surrounded by adoring crowds. Now, I do want to take just a moment and explain that the people who ruled Jerusalem and had jurisdiction over all Jews, the Sanhedrin, were not normally a murderous lot. They were usually a wise and even-tempered bunch, comprised of people from various groups in Israel who tended to work together to control each other. But there was something about Jesus that enraged them. He pointed out their inadequacies and their sinfulness and their tendencies to rule to their own advantage, and they hated him for it.
They understood the parable of the evil tenants was about them and were enraged against him because of it. That is why they sent some of their henchmen to try to trap Jesus into saying something they could use against him and use as a pretext to have him arrested.
Some of these henchmen were of the Pharisee party; others were Herodians, or supporters of the Herods who ruled parts of Palestine. They came with a question that seemed to be an honest question dealing with the culture and the religion of the Jews in that day.
They asked if it was right and proper for Jews to pay their annual tribute payment to Rome.
Now the tribute was a small amount which the Roman Government required all people or at least all men in the empire to pay to the emperor. There were other taxes that were required on goods, services, professions, and so on. None of these were popular, but this tribute was particularly aggravating to the Jews for two reasons. First of all, they considered themselves to be freeborn citizens of God’s nation, ruled by only God. Anything that reminded them that they were really under the control of the pagan emperor in Rome was insulting to them.
Then there was the even more religious reason. Back in the time of the Exodus from Egypt, God had ordered all the Jewish men once they reached a certain age to pay an annual tribute to God as an acknowledgment and reminder that they and their people belonged to God. The payment of such a tribute to Rome or any other person or nation was considered to be a usurpation of God’s ownership, power, and divinity.
So, the enemies of Jesus sent their emissaries to him to ask Him a question that was calculated to get Him into trouble. If He said that Jews should pay the tribute tax, some of his followers, all of whom were Jews, would disagree with Him and stop following Him. If he said that Jews should not pay the tribute tax, He would be encouraging others to break the law and the Roman governor and his forces would have an interest in silencing him.
You might have noticed that the flattering preface to the question was longer than the question. That should always be a danger sign. When the flattery that precedes a request is longer than the request, you might be the victim of a set-up or ambush. But any parent knows that.
But in this case, the flattery, while directed toward Jesus was really for the benefit of the crowds who were present to hear Jesus. The flattery was to convince the crowds that these men really honored Jesus and wanted his opinions, so if Jesus answered in a hostile manner, The questioners would look good and Jesus would look bad.
Jesus was too clever for them of course. Instead of answering directly, he asked to see the particular coin with which the tribute must be paid. It was a Roman coin that had the image of the emperor on it and was engraved with a title that claimed that the emperor was the semi-divine son of the now divine deceased emperor. A coin bearing such a claim was repugnant to the Jews who refused to honor any claims of divinity of any but the God of Israel.
When they showed him the coin, he asked whose image and title was on it. They replied “The Emperor’s”. Then he gave a marvelous response. He said “Give to the Emperor the things that belong to the Emperor and to God the things that are Gods”.
The first part of the answer has several meanings. In telling them to give to the Emperor what belonged to him I think he was perhaps somewhat humorously upholding the Jews outrage against the emperors claim to divinity. He can be seen as saying, “No self-respecting God-fearing Jew would have such a coin claiming divinity for the emperor in his purse. Get rid of it, give it back to the one who has made such a claim. And Good riddance!” In saying that, he was turning an act of obedience to an emperor who claimed divinity into a silent act of rebellion.
But in those words he was also telling the Jews to get over it and face reality. They were under the control of the Roman emperor. And with such control came some advantages. The Romans built and maintained good roads so merchants could get their wares to them. The Romans built aqueducts and water systems to provide fresh drinking water. The Romans built and maintained theaters and coliseums for their entertainment needs. The Romans maintained a mighty Army to defend them against their other enemies. Of course, the Jews did not appreciate that because they considered the Romans to be their enemies.
But in his answer, Jesus taught the people, and all of his people since, that Governments do provide many services and have a right to require us to pay for them.
But he did not end with a lesson in civics. He moved on to a lesson in practical theology. Jesus had pointed out that the image on the Roman coin was that of the emperor and he said they should give to the emperor what belonged to him. Then he added, “And (give) to God the things that are God’s”.
The coin had the image of the emperor on it. Whose image is on each and every human being? In Genesis we read that God said, Let us make man in our image.
When Jesus told them to give some of their money to the emperor as a tribute he was also telling them to give all of themselves to God.
Today is April 15th, which is usually the day our federal and state taxes are due. This year, due to a calendar conflict, the due date is Tuesday, April 17th which ironically is Tax Freedom day, the day on which the average American will stop working to pay taxes for 2012 and begin working for him or herself. How much of yourself and the rest of your year will you give to God, the one who created you and then saved you through the death and resurrection of Jesus our Lord?
This is the day when most of us are very aware of how much we paid to the Federal and local governments for our earnings during 2011. With that number in mind, let me ask; How much of your wealth and time and energy did you give to God? Do you not owe God more than you owe to governments?

Pastor David L. Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906

I wonder how many of you have ever heard a sermon preached on Mark’s account of the first Easter. The 8 verses I just read comprise all that Mark wrote about that day. Soon after he wrote his gospel, people evidently began feeling that his account was lacking. Within 100 years of his writing of the gospel, other endings were added to the gospel to include some mention of the post- resurrection appearances of Jesus and details that are mentioned in the other Gospels. But almost all bible scholars have always agreed that Mark’s Gospel originally ended with verse 8 of chapter 16.
In order to complete my commitment to stay with the Gospel of Mark through Lent, I decided to continue those readings with Mark’s account of the resurrection of Jesus. I think that Mark tells us more than enough to get us through the few moments we have before the sacrament of the Lord’s supper is served.
While Mark does not tell us of any human interaction with the resurrected Jesus, he does tell us of the early morning visit to the tomb of Jesus by the two Marys and Salome. They wanted to honor the one they loved in his death. They knew that Jesus’ body had been prepared lavishly but hastily by two men very late in the afternoon of his death. They knew that a lot of spices had been applied to his body a little more than a day and a half earlier.
They also knew that after a day and half in a closed up tomb, a decomposing body would not provide a very pleasant environment for them. But they loved Jesus and wanted to take care of the body of the one they loved. They did not expect a resurrection, they only wanted to be faithful. Faithfulness is often rewarded by God. Their faithfulness was rewarded by their bring the first to hear that Jesus had been raised from the dead.
As the women walked toward the tomb, they were worried. They had observed a large stone being rolled across the entry to the tomb on Friday afternoon. They were now concerned as to who would help them roll the stone away from the opening of the tomb. But, like a lot of our worries, God had taken care of the stone before they arrived. Most of us need to worry less and trust God more.
Since the tomb was open, the women proceeded inside. As they entered they would be in the entry room of the tomb. Straight ahead of them would be another opening that would allow access to the actual burial chamber. As they went through that opening, there would be shelves cut out of the rock to the right and the left. Those were where the bodies were to be laid. The other gospel writers informed us that this was a new tomb, so after Jesus was buried, there was an empty shelf on the other side.
As they entered the burial chamber, they saw someone sitting on the shelf that was supposed to empty. Mark tells us that this shelf was on the right side as they entered. A young man was sitting there. He was dressed in white. The other gospel writers tell us that this was really an angel. But Mark allows us to reach that conclusion ourselves. According to the Scriptures, Angels can appear to be human beings. That is something to keep in mind as we interact with strangers.
This young man (the angel) told the women not to be afraid, that Jesus who had been crucified had now been raised. He told them that Jesus was not there. I think he was implying that tombs were for the dead and that Jesus did not belong there because he was no longer dead. Then he pointed across to their left and said “Look, there is the place they laid him.” And then, as if to say “make your look a quick one” he said “But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going ahead of you to Galilee, there you will see Him, just as he told you.”
The angel told them that they were to inform Jesus’ disciples or followers And Peter. Peter had three times denied that he even knew Jesus. He no longer deserved to be counted among the followers of Jesus. But the angel specifically included him. You see, the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection can overcome the results of our cowardly, stupid, sinful, and even evil acts.
Peter had excluded himself from those who followed Jesus by his denials. Jesus, through the angel, invited Peter back into the group, the church. He also invites us back in every time we remember his death by eating this meal. All is forgiven.
Mark wrote that the angel prophecied that Jesus would meet the disciples in Galilee, but did not give an account of the reunion.
The last verse of this Gospel is astounding. Verse 8 reads, “So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” That’s it, that’s all Mark wrote. The end. Now we know that was not the end, we know that eventually they did tell the others and later that day Jesus appeared to some of the others and he later did meet them in Galilee.
But Mark ends his gospel on this note. A note of terror, Amazement, fear and silence. Which is not a bad place to be on Easter.
We who live in the glory of the resurrection of Jesus are so used to the forgiveness of Jesus that we probably never or only rarely contemplate the terror that would have been our final end had not Jesus died and risen from the dead.
We also have the tendency to not be amazed enough. Jesus, the very Son of God died for us, He rose again from the dead for us to give us power over sin and death, and to make us a part of his eternal kingdom. As we think of Easter, and His death and resurrection and all that they mean for us, we should be amazed! Amazing Grace, How Sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!
Mark closes his gospel with three silent ladies. They did not obey the angel at first because of their fears. But eventually they did tell the good news about Jesus. Will you?

Pastor David L. Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906

The Gospel writer Mark makes it clear that the Last Supper of our Lord was a Passover meal or Seder as it is called today. The Seder is a memorial of the Passover meal that was the last meal the Jews ate before leaving Egypt with Moses. The Seder has several parts or courses with several loaves of unleavened bread or Matzoth eaten between some of the courses. Unleavened bread is used because in their last meal in Egypt, the Israelites were in a hurry and there was no time to allow the dough to rise before baking. There are also 4 courses of wine served during the meal.
Accompanying the Seder meal is a script of questions and answers that the head of the household asks the people seated at the table. Each course is a symbol for something that happened to the Jews in Egypt or during their exodus. For example, one of the courses is a paste made of fruit and nuts that represents the mortar that the Jews used to build buildings in Egypt as the slaves of the Egyptians. The symbolism of each course is explained by the question and answer that accompanies it.
Some of the courses are actually dips that the unleavened bread is dipped into. In our readings this evening this is confirmed by the statement of Jesus that Judas was dipping his bread in the same dipping-bowl as Jesus.
As Jesus recited the script of the explanations for the elements in the meal, He added two of his own that have become the two elements of our Lord’s Supper. As he blessed and broke one of the loaves of unleavened bread, he stated that it represented his body, soon to be broken for them. As he poured out one of the courses of wine he declared that it represented his blood soon to be shed as a new covenant for the forgiveness of their sins.
Mark tells us that after the meal with its old and new explanations, they sang a hymn, which is the customary ending to a Passover Seder.
According to the Gospel writers, after the meal they went out of that house and out of the city toward the Mount of Olives, to Gethsemane which was an olive orchard at the foot of the Mount of Olives.
On the way Jesus warned them that they would all desert him and leave him to die. He also said that their desertion was predicted by the prophet Zechariah when he wrote about the Shepherd being struck down and the sheep being scattered.
They all joined Peter in saying that they would never desert him. But Mark tells us that they did. After a period of prayers, well prayers for Jesus, naps for the Apostles, Judas came with a squad of temple police and others to arrest Jesus. And after some initial resistance, the Apostles all ran away deserting Jesus to his enemies to be killed.
There was no dessert offered at the end of Seders in those days, just as there is no dessert offered at the end of the Lord’s supper in our day. But I think such a meal of grace and fellowship deserves one. Might I suggest that after this meal we treat Jesus to a dessert? How about some fruit? I am not thinking of Strawberries or similar fruits of the earth. How about the fruits of the Spirit The Apostle Paul enumerates the Fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5: 22-23. They are: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control. Those things offered to Jesus after eating his Supper would be a perfect response to that meal.
The Apostles at that first Lord’s Supper had no desert. They deserted Him instead. But later, after His resurrection and after Pentecost, they worked for Him and offered Him the fruits of the Spirit in their lives.
What will you do after this meal? Will you desert Jesus? Will you run away from defending him and proclaiming his name and doing deeds of kindness and mercy in His name?
Or will you offer Jesus the perfect fruit dessert, the Fruits of the Spirit lived out by you before Him and for Him?

Pastor David L. Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906

Happy April Fool’s day! No one seems to be certain of the origin of April fool’s day but various nations and cultures throughout Europe have celebrations of fools in early April or late March. Today April fools day falls on Palm Sunday. This does not happen often. Although the last time it happened was in 2007, only 5 years ago, the last time before that was 1928. In fact, Palm Sunday only falls on April First an average of three times each century.
Some might think it inappropriate to connect Palm Sunday with April Fools day. After all, Palm Sunday is the day we celebrate Jesus’ arrival into Jerusalem as the God-sent king and Savior.
This event was clearly orchestrated by Jesus to be the fulfillment of at least 2 Old Testament prophecies. The most well-known of those would be Zechariah 9:9 which appears in our First reading. The other passage is Genesis 49: 10&11. It occurs in Jacob’s final blessing of the descendants of his son Judah. Those two verses read; “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and the obedience of the peoples is his. Binding his foal to the vine, and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he washes his garments in wine and his robe in the blood of grapes;”
By riding into Jerusalem in fulfillment of these two prophecies, Jesus was clearly claiming to be the God-sent king of God’s new kingdom. He was not really claiming to be the king of Jerusalem because he almost immediately left the city and went back to Bethany to spend the night.
Jesus seems to have used an underground of his followers to help him in this event. There seems to have been an arrangement between Jesus and the owner of the donkey. The passwords that the two apostles were to use to gain possession of the donkey were “The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.” We do not know if the words “The Lord” refers to Jesus or to the owner of the donkey and the master of the people who were tending the donkey.
Jesus seems to have had some followers who could be depended upon to help him from time to time. Two of them would bury him the next Friday afternoon. Jesus still has an underground. Throughout the world there are those who may not be publicly known as Christians but who can be counted on to help those who belong to Jesus and to help God’s kingdom grow. We need to be thankful for them and pray for them.
The donkey owner allowed Jesus to use his donkey. How much of your possessions do you allow God to use?
On Palm Sunday, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. It was to fulfill those scriptures, but there were other things of significance in this act. It was held that only unbroken, or previously unridden beasts could be used for sacred purposes. Jesus was declaring himself to be a King and Savior, he was also declaring that this was a sacred, Holy event. It was God’s day.
But he must have looked silly riding that young donkey. I wonder if his feet dragged on the ground? His riding in this manner fulfilled scripture, but it probably did not appear as majestic as one would have thought from reading the prophecies.
I think Jesus riding the donkey is a good image to keep in our minds when we think about the things we have been able to do for God. Sometimes we need to remember that Jesus used even a donkey to bring honor to God and fulfill His plans.
G K Chesterton wrote a poem entitled “The Donkey”. It reads thus,

“When fishes flew and forests walked and figs grew upon thorn,
Some moment when the moon was blood, Then surely I was born.
With monstrous head and sickening cry And ears like errant wings,
The Devils walking parody on all four-footed things.
The tattered outlaw of the earth, Of ancient crooked will,
Starve, scourge, deride me I am dumb, I keep my secret still.
Fools, for I also had my hour, One far fierce hour and sweet,
There was a shout about my ears And palms before my feet.

Those who accompanied Jesus into Jerusalem that day seem to have gotten into a celebratory mood. They waved palm branches, which seems to have been a mode of public rejoicing adopted from processions during the festival of Tabernacles. They quoted portions of some of the Messianic Psalms by shouting “Save us, we pray” which is the English Translation for “Hosanna” They pronounced Jesus as Blessed for being the one who came in the name of the Lord, or with the Authority of the Lord. They also celebrated him as being associated with the coming kingdom of their ancestor David.
But what did all that mean? Some of them believed that Jesus was the Messiah. Others were probably just rejoicing that they were entering Jerusalem for the upcoming feast with a celebrity of sorts.
I think to one looking on it must have been a funny sight, a poor carpenter turned rabbi claiming his royal tribal connections and being honored not by nobles or the leaders of the people but by a random group of people. Years later the Apostle Paul would write “God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom.”
Then, after all that fuss, he went into Jerusalem, into the temple courtyards just long enough to look around and then left the city and walked back to Bethany. He did not even spend the night in the city he had triumphantly entered.
That was intentional. Jesus’ kingdom has very little to do with the cities and nations of this world. He looked around in the temple to see what he would have to clean out the next morning. Jesus is the judge sent from God. He decides what is fitting and what is not. Have you let him look around in your life and drive things out of you?

Pastor David L. Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906

Because of the unseasonable weather we have been having I thought that some of you might need a reminder as to where we are on the calendar. We are not approaching the 4th of July, we are in the early days of spring. Next Sunday will be Palm Sunday. Today, as we continue in Mark, we are looking at an event that may have occurred just before Palm Sunday or during the week after it.
There are 3 references to Jesus being anointed with perfumed ointment by women in the gospels. Luke’s account seems to be a different occasion than the ones listed in Mark and John. And although many scholars think that Mark and John describe the same event, I am not so sure. If Mark and John do describe the same event, the woman of Bethany who is not named by Mark is Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. But as I am not certain, I prefer to refer to this woman as an unnamed woman who lived in Bethany.
Bethany was the village of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. It was about 1 1/2 miles East of Jerusalem on the southeast slope of the Mount of Olives. Jesus began his journey on Palm Sunday from Bethany and it seems that during Holy week he went out from Jerusalem on most evenings and spent his nights in Bethany or on the Mount of Olives.
This morning I am not speaking only about this woman and her anointing of Jesus. We are also looking at what Mark placed before and after this account. The overall theme of this larger passage is the quickly approaching death of Jesus.
In the first two verses of chapter 14, Mark informs his readers that the chief priests and scribes, by which I think he means the majority of the elders of the Sanhedrin, were looking for a way to quietly arrest Jesus and eventually kill him. They had determined not to kill him during the festival of Passover and unleavened bread. They thought there were too many risks associated with trying to get him killed during the festivals.
During the festivals the population of Jerusalem grew from 50,000 people to 250,000 people. All those folks were packed into a not too large walled city. A good portion of those extra folks would be visiting from Galilee. The Galileans were generally recognized by the Judeans as hotheads, always ready to protest, demonstrate, or riot. And many of those folks, being Galileans, were likely to favor Jesus, another Galilean. So, if the Sanhedrin could get Jesus quietly arrested during the festival they would, but the plans to kill him would wait till after the festivals, and most likely they would have to wait to arrest him after the festivals.
Mark may be telling us that Judas, in his willingness to betray Jesus and take the arresting party to Jesus while he was in a secluded place, may have pushed up their plans a bit. And if we understand the references in the Bible to Jesus as the Lamb of God or the Passover lamb, fulfilling once and for all the need of God to Pass-over or forgive our sins, it may have been God, allowing Judas to do his dirty deed that caused the Sanhedrin to kill Jesus just before the Feast. The death of Jesus as an atonement is made more obvious by its occurrence on the same day the lambs were slaughtered for the feast. God may have arranged for that by Judas’ betrayal. But we will get to Judas in a moment. First we need to look at this unnamed woman.
Jesus was the guest of a man named Simon who was called the leper. We can’t imagine that he was at that moment afflicted with leprosy, as he would have been forbidden from having dinner guests. But as a woman called Big-Nosed-Kate in a Wyatt Earp movie once observed, “People get nicknames for all sorts of reasons”.
While Jesus was eating in Simon’s house, a woman who obviously loved and admired him brought a stone flask full of perfumed oil or ointment, broke the neck of the flask to open it, and poured the valuable ointment over Jesus head, perfuming his hair. The anointing of respected and loved people in this way was occasionally done.
But immediately there were voices of protest in the room. Some said “Why was the ointment wasted in this way? For this ointment could have been sold for 300 denarii, and the money given to the poor.” Mark adds that they scolded her.
We don’t know who these people were, but it is possible that some of them were followers of Jesus. We know that Jesus and most Jews had a concern for the poor. John tells us that the apostles kept a treasury from which money was distributed to the poor. So it is possible that some of those scolding the woman were followers of Jesus.
But Jesus immediately stood up for her in a way that probably even surprised her. He said “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me….”
That much she and they would have understood. Jesus was not denigrating the poor or the need to help them. The need for the followers of Jesus to take care of the poor is constant and continues into our day and seems to be increasing at the present time.
But some of the needs of the poor and some other opportunities are of a more limited time frame. There are precious opportunities to do something special for someone or for God that are sometimes of very limited duration. This woman wanted to honor Jesus with this anointing by her valuable ointment. She did not know how long she would have that opportunity so she chose that moment. And Jesus graciously received her honors. And more so.
His defense of the actions of the woman continues in verses 8 &9, and this is where the surprise comes. Jesus said “She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.” Wow! Jesus said that because she persisted in her loving act, she wound up doing something special for him, serving him in some special way that even she did not think of or comprehend. And in reading this passage, we are fulfilling the blessing that Jesus pronounced upon her, that what she had done would be told where ever the good news would be proclaimed.
Within a few days or a week Jesus would be dead. Jesus took her action as honoring His body which would soon be offered as the great sacrifice.
In verses 9&10 Mark wrote that another person connected with Jesus also seized an opportunity. The opportunity to sell Jesus to His enemies who were looking to kill Him. He sold the Holy Son of God for money. Scholars have conjectured for centuries what his motivation for such a horrendous act might have been. We know that he was the apostles treasurer and that he stole some of their money. Was his motivation greed? Or was he in disagreement with Jesus methods and maybe trying to force Jesus to take powerful political action? We don’t know. But whatever his motivations, he saw an opportunity to accomplish something in his offer to the Chief Priests. It turned out to be a horrible opportunity that may have cost him eternity. What he did is also remembered throughout the world wherever the good news is proclaimed.
Both this unnamed woman and the man whose name is infamous saw opportunities and are known for what they did.
Christians are surrounded by opportunities to help and serve others and God. The poor always need our help but sometimes we have opportunities to do something special for some of them. Sometimes we have special opportunities to do something really great for God. When you have such an inclination, don’t ignore it, seize it and you might be doing something much more than you have in mind.
Christians are also surrounded by opportunities to displease God and to embarrass his people or maybe even bring ourselves and others to great harm. Be careful. Pray. Ask the Spirit to guide you as you choose the opportunities that are before you.

Pastor David L. Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906

When Jesus wanted to illustrate some of his teachings he often looked to everyday people. Some of his parables have as their main characters people just like the ones seen often in his travels. There was a farmer sowing seed, there was a widow who needed a judge to give her justice, there was a man who got beaten up on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. These, of course were not real people, but they were like real people in Jesus’ day.
The passage which we just read does not contain parables about fictional people who were based on real people. This passage contains two instances of Jesus referring to real people and holding them up as examples before those who were listening to Jesus as he taught in the temple courtyard in Jerusalem during the last week of his earthly life.
In the temple courtyard there would have been many people. Most of them would be wearing colored robes, many of them ending at the knee or mid-calf. These were the clothes of workers, merchants and so on. But in their midst, going about their duties and professions would be some who wore long robes of white linen. These robes were adorned with long fringes. These were the robes of men who did no manual labor. The men who wore these robes would be mostly priests, Levites, and Scribes.
The priests and levites were of course religious professionals who made their living at the temple, leading the worship, offering the sacrifices, performing the rites of purification, and fetching and carrying the vast quantities of wood and water needed for the daily services and sacrifices, and cleaning and maintaining the temple and its connected structures and courtyards. They had been born to this work, being descendants of Levi, the ancestor of Aaron, the first High Priest.
The Scribes were not descended from Levi. They had decided to be Scribes. The Scribes were those who were trained to write public documents. Now, in Israel, many of those public documents were related to the religion of Israel. They were the men who hand copied texts of the Law and the Prophets, our Old Testament books. Jesus lived 1500 years before the printing press, so all copies of the scriptures were hand copied by the scribes. Because of their familiarity of with the scriptures they often were considered to be biblical scholars and were consulted about the meanings of scripture passages.
In the gospels the scribes are sometimes referred to as the lawyers because they also knew the laws of Israel and were consulted for legal advice. In this capacity, they drew up wills and contracts.
The Scribes were not allowed to receive payment for the above mentioned services, so they generally lived on stipends provided by the wealthy and those who were wealthy before they began providing stipends for Scribes. Having a scribe or two around became a status symbol, and they were invited to all the major social events. Because of their assistance in copying the scriptures they were given special seats in the synagogues along the front wall, facing the congregants. But most of their religion was for their profit. They used it to gain themselves a special status. And because of it they gained the trust of the people which they sometimes abused for their own profit. It seems that they sometimes encouraged widows to continue the stipends their husbands had given them and sometimes impoverished them. It may also be that they encouraged those for whom they drafted wills to include themselves as beneficiaries.
Because the scribes were regarded as leaders in the religion of Israel and people to be honored, Jesus warned the people he was teaching to be careful about them and not to be like them. They were not as pious as they appeared to be. They used their position and their status in the religious community to profit themselves over God and the people. Then they would make long prayers in public so the people would know how religious they were. Jesus announced to the people in the temple courtyard that day that Scribes like them would receive a great condemnation.
Because Jesus lifted them up for a great condemnation we need to be careful lest we behave in any similar ways. It is sometimes easy to listen the adulations of others about our beliefs or behaviors and begin to believe the good things that people say about us. It is sometimes too easy to look good in front of others. It is sometimes too easy to allow our church connections to smooth the way for us in other endeavors.
I lady I knew once told her husband that he should attend a more prominent church because as a real estate agent she could make use of the connections he would establish there. It is easy to make judgments about such motivations, but we all really need to examine what we do and why we do it. This examination should be conducted into every area of our lives, particularly our faith. You do not want to be like the scribes of Jesus’ day in any way. The Scribes used their religion to cover up their corruption. Religion is supposed to lead us closer to God, and reveal our sins to us so they can be forgiven.
In verse 41 of our passage the scene changes a bit and the example changes a lot. Jesus probably moved from the larger courtyard up several steps and into the Court of the Women. In that court there was an area that was referred to as the Temple Treasury. It was not where the temple money was kept, but where it was received. In this location there were 13 collection boxes that sat on the floor against the wall. Each of these had a bell-shaped top, out of the center of which came a tube that rose to above the waist of the average person. The tube was to put your coins in so they would go into the box. The tops of the boxes joined to the tubes looked like upside down straight horns or trumpets. Nine of the thirteen boxes were for the various offerings that were required of all Jews, Four were for voluntary offerings, such as Thank offerings, Fellowship offerings, Alms for the poor, and so on.
When Jesus went into this area of the Court of the women he did something that may have seemed uncharacteristic of Him. You might have remembered that Jesus had cautioned his followers to do their good deeds somewhat privately and that when they gave alms to the poor they were to do so without being observed. I believe the phrase he used was so that the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing.
On this occasion, this same Jesus sat down across from the boxes and deliberately observed the people putting their offerings into the tubes. He saw many of the wealthy putting in large sums. Placing large sums of coins in those tubes would have taken a while, putting them in one at a time. Because of this the Jews with their sense of humor used to refer to the wealthy giving their temple gifts as “playing the trumpet” as those standing by could hear the many coins going down the tubes one at a time.
Then He saw a poor widow approach the boxes and heard two little clinks as two little coins worth about a half cent apiece went down the tube and into a box. Then he called to his apostles and told them that the widow had put more in than any of the wealthy folks. She had put in all the money she had. Now she might get more tomorrow, enough for that day’s food but maybe not. Jesus said she had given all she had to live on. If she were to survive without hunger tomorrow the Lord would have to provide for her. As she left the temple that day, she had given her entire fortune to the Lord.
Now, after he had warned his listeners to beware of and not be like the Scribes, was he now instructing his disciples to be like this woman, and give God their all? I’m not sure, but he certainly lifted her up as an example of one who loved the Lord and gave him her offerings at great cost to herself.
Jesus had made it clear that we are not to let others know what we give to God, and that we are not to give to God in ways that would impress others. So we have kind of gotten the feeling that we should not observe what others give, and that no one should watch what we give. But from this passage, I think it is clear that God observes how much we give and to what causes and more importantly, how much we have left for ourselves after we give our gifts to God.
It seems that God judges not only by how much we give, but how much we keep.
That day in the temple Jesus lifted up two examples. We are to avoid becoming like the scribes, who used their religion as a stepping stone to respect and profitability, and to cover up their corruptions. And we are to be more like the poor widow, who gave God her everything.

Pastor David L. Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906

How many subjects are dealt with in this passage? Our English translations divide this passage into three paragraphs, although the old greek manuscripts do not have paragraph divisions. So How many subjects are dealt with here? Does Jesus deal with the action reported by John in only verses 39-41, moving on to the subject of those who cause others to stumble in 42 – 48 and then a third subject of Salt in verses 49 – 50? Or does the material covered in this passage all have to do with John’s report of the stranger casting out demons?
The more I studied this passage I became convinced that Jesus is really dealing with one subject in this entire passage. All of these thoughts were provoked by John reporting to Jesus that they had seen another man driving out demons in Jesus name and had ordered him to cease and desist because he was not one of them, not one of Jesus’ chosen apostles.
The way it was reported to Jesus by John, the man was not just attempting to drive out demons in Jesus’ name, he was succeeding. The power of God that could come only through faith was working through this unnamed man. But the Apostles knew that they had been chosen by Jesus and given the power to cast out demons, and they seem to have thought that they were the only ones authorized by God to do so.
This mentality of being the only chosen ones was not unique to the Apostles. The Apostles came by it honestly as they were all Jews and the Jews generally reveled in their being uniquely chosen by God to be his people. It seems that God did put a few stories in the Bible to remind that that they were not the only ones to worship the one true God.
One of the great saints of the OT, whose story was often quoted by the Rabbi’s was Job. Job was not Jewish. In fact he may have been pre-Jewish, as he may have been a contemporary of Abram.
This idea that people have that they are the only chosen ones or the only ones whom God has completely enlightened persists to our own day. Most of you have heard the religious joke about the tour in heaven for those who had just arrived. They were shown the facilities and taken down various hallways past many rooms. At one point the angelic tour guide said “Now we all have to be quiet as we pass this room because the (Baptists, Catholics, Presbyterians, Anglicans, or whatever denomination you want to insert here) are in here and they think they are the only ones here.
But this other guy who was casting out demons might have bothered the Apostles because of something that had happened recently. Our passage is at the end of chapter nine of Mark’s gospel. The ninth chapter begins with Mark’s account of the Transfiguration of Jesus. Three of the apostles were with Jesus during that event. The other nine remained at the bottom of the mountain and failed to drive a demon from a certain boy. Nine of them had failed and now there is this other guy who is not a part of their group who is successfully driving demons out of people in Jesus’ name. Man, how frustrating is that?
So, because he was not of their group, and maybe also because he was succeeding where 9 of them had failed, they told him to stop. Evidently he did not stop because John said that they had TRIED to stop him.

Jesus responded to John and the negative behavior of the apostles toward this man in several sentences. At first he addressed this one particular case by saying, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.” In other words, they should have allowed him to continue to cast out demons and even encouraged him to do so, because at this point in Jesus’ ministry when followers were leaving him and when his enemies were beginning to make plans to do away with him, Jesus could use all the friends he could get. And this man by doing miracles in the name of Jesus was providing good free advertising and was not likely soon to turn against Jesus.
Then Jesus starts to broaden the issue a bit beyond the individual man in question. He said “whoever is not against us is for us.” This phraseology seems a little awkward in this place. it might seem better if Jesus had said “He who is with us cannot be against us. But one of the points of the conversation had been that this man was NOT with them. He was not a part of the group that closely followed Jesus. So Jesus spoke in terms of the man not being against but for or in favor of them.
I think this saying and this sentiment has been misunderstood by separating it from what came before it and after it.
It has become a statement that could be used to bolster the current “whatever” status of religions in our culture. You know, the belief that all religions contain some truth about God and humanity and creation and that therefore they all equally lead to truth, God, and salvation. And that in the end it really doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you don’t get in any ones way as they journey toward God.
The next Sentence is used to the same end. Jesus said “Whoever gives you a cup of cold water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward. Some understand this to mean that all who help Christians for whatever reason will be saved. Not at all, the deed must be done not just to help a hurting person, or some other altruistic reason, but “because you bear the name of Christ”. specifically to help one because they are a brother or sister in Christ.
I think these two phrases are misunderstood because of the artificial paragraph division that has been imposed on this passage by our English translations.
Because what comes next are some of the harshest, most judgmental phrases in all of Scriptures.
Jesus’ Apostles had just commanded a man to stop doing miracles in the name of Jesus. This might have caused him to wonder about his connection to Christ and might have caused him to doubt Jesus or stop believing in Jesus. Or it might have led him to believe that Jesus did not approve of his work.
So Jesus began to talk to them about the danger of causing the little ones to stumble. The little ones are people who believe in Jesus but might not have the full understanding or maturity in Christ as some of the rest of us. Jesus speaks of causing others to stumble as throwing a stumbling block in front of their feet, of doing something to trip them and cause them to fall down.
The stumbling block of the Apostles had been their command to the miracle worker to stop doing work that brought glory and honor to the name of Jesus. What if they had stopped him from believing in Jesus? If that had happened they would have been better off if they had been drowned in the sea with a big millstone tied around their necks.
The people in Jesus day were familiar what that form of death. The Romans had killed some Galilean rebels in this manner some years earlier. And some Galilean Rebels had used this manner of execution against some supporters of Herod. The millstones were easily used because they had a large hole in the middle to attach a rope through and each stone weighed a couple a hundred pounds.
Now that illustration was bad enough, but Jesus then ventured into suggestions of self-mutilations. If your hand, foot, or eye causes you to stumble, to fall away from Christ, then it would be better for you to cut it off or pluck it out than to stumble. Because the stumbling and falling could cause you to be thrown into hell which is described in pretty grim terms here with never dying worms eating ones flesh and fires that never go out. These symbols came from the city dump outside of Jerusalem but were used to describe God’s eternal garbage dump of hell.
Now Jesus did not say that a hand or foot or eye could cause one to stumble, he was just saying what one should do if that was the case. He was pointing out the seriousness of stumbling or acting before or teaching others so that they would stumble. Such things might have eternal consequences for the little ones and for ourselves.
Then he gave the antidote. “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” He transitioned into the idea of salt with the phrase about being salted with fire. The Jews salted their animal sacrifices before burning them, that might be where the imagery comes from. But the main imagery of the salt lay in what salt was used for in those pre-refrigerant days. It was used to preserve meat. It kept meat from putrification, from rotting. Jesus said we are to have salt in ourselves. We are to have in our lives things that will keep us from rotting, keep us from stumbling, keep us from causing others to stumble.
What are those things? They are the gifts of righteousness that God has given to us. The words of the Scriptures, the commandments of God the doctrines of proper belief that are set forth in Scriptures. We are not just to study them, we are to make them a part of our lives. We are to obey them and believe as they instruct us. Then we will stumble less and cause others to stumble less. And that is important, because stumbling can have horrible consequences.
Christians are to be the Salt of the Earth. By our lives and deeds we are to be preserving the people of our day until Christ returns. We can only do that if we have salt in ourselves; If we have a love of others and if that love and concern is guided by the doctrines of the Christian Faith as set forth in Scriptures. We need to know our Scriptures and our faith and behavior need to be guided by the Scriptures.

Pastor David L. Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906

Our sermon this morning is about the restoration of the life of Jairus’ daughter. The entire story begins at Mark 5: 21 and is interrupted by the account of the healing of a woman. Our second reading covers only the last part of the story of the raising from the dead of Jairus’ daughter, but the sermon deals with the entire story.
About 33 years ago I had a friend named Randy. He was about six foot four inches tall and in good shape. His three year old son was following in his father’s large footsteps. He was a really big boy for a three year old. But he was still a three year old, and his three year old muscles and nerves and brain sometimes found it difficult to control such a large body. It was particularly difficult for him to stop his body once he got it moving in a particular direction. One day he ran through a glass storm door. Upon impact, the glass formed large shards, one of which pierced his chest, just missing his heart and several large arteries.
My friend gathered his wounded son up into his large arms, carried him to the car, got in, cradled him on his lap and ordered his wife to drive them to the hospital. When they arrived at the hospital, Randy carried his son into the Emergency room and announced loudly, “Hello, I am Randy Bremmer and this is my son. You are going to take care of him NOW!”
I do not know how big Jairus was but I think he was every bit as concerned about his daughter as my friend was about his son. She too was in danger of loosing her life. As her condition grew worse, Jairus must have wished that Jesus was in town. As one of the leaders in the synagogue, Jairus would have known Jesus or at least heard about him. Jesus had spoken in several synagogues in Galilee and had even healed a few people during Synagogue services. If Jesus was in town, then maybe his daughter might have a chance.
Then he heard that Jesus WAS in town. A boat had just brought him across the lake. He was still by the lake surrounded by a crowd. Jairus rushed to the lake, forced his way through the crowd and fell at Jesus feet. He probably grabbed Jesus’ feet, and he begged Jesus to come to his house and heal his daughter so she might live.
He was most likely overjoyed when Jesus agreed to go with him, and they were on their way, surrounded by a moving mass of onlookers and followers.
And then Jesus stopped. A woman who had been bleeding for 12 years had touched the hem of Jesus’ robe and immediately been healed. No one knew what had happened until Jesus stopped and asked who had touched him because he had felt healing power go from him. Then there were two conversations one with his disciples then another with the woman who had been healed. And, what must have been upsetting to Jairus, these conversations took place while Jesus was standing still. Jairus with all his heart wanted Jesus to start moving again! His daughter was still dying!
Then his worst fears were realized. People from his house came to tell him that he did not need to bother Jesus any more. His daughter was dead. Jairus’ heart broke.
But what was Jesus saying to him? He said, “Do not fear, Only believe”. He could have responded that his fears were over, or had been realized, his daughter was dead. And what was he supposed to believe?
Wait a minute. they were moving again, and this time Jesus ordered the crowd not to follow him. This time, it was just Jairus, Jesus, Peter, James and John who continued to proceed to Jairus’ house.
When they arrived, the professional and family mourners had already started their wailing. Jews buried their dead the same day they died, and the public grieving started as soon as the deceased died.
What was Jesus saying to the wailing, dirge singing mourners and their instrumental accompanists? He said “Why do you make a commotion and weep? She is not dead but sleeping.” Now back in those days, commas were sometimes mistaken for death, but Jesus hadn’t even seen her yet before making this announcement. So the mourners laughed at him. And he ushered them out of the house.
Then Jesus, Jairus, his wife, and the three apostles went into the room where the girl’s body was. Jesus walked over to the body, took its hand, and said “Little girl, get up!” And she did and she began to walk around the room!
That answered the question Jairus may have asked earlier. Jesus had said to him after the announcement that his daughter was dead, “Do not fear, only believe.” When we read that, I asked for Jairus, “Believe in what?” Now we know. Jesus was asking him to believe that Jesus could bring his daughter back to life. Then he did. And because he brought her back to life, then did the same for Lazarus and another unnamed dead guy, then returned to life himself after his own death, the words Jesus spoke to Jairus have become important to all of us. He says, do not fear, only believe.
A week and a half ago our brother Andy buried his mother, a sister in Christ. He believes that Jesus will raise her from the dead.
Many of us have buried our parents and some of us our spouses believing that Jesus will bring them to life again.
And it not just the deaths of loved ones we are concerned about. I am 61 years old. Which means that I am probably way farther than halfway through my journey of this life. Do I believe that Jesus can raise the dead? Yes I do. Do you? Jesus said “Do not fear, only believe.”
After Jesus brought Jairus’ daughter back to life, he ordered them to give her something to eat. People who have been brought from the dead back to this earthy life need to eat. As a reminder of our coming resurrections and of the fact that we have already started our new lives in Christ, he also has given us something to eat. Bread and wine that are reminders of his body and blood, His death, through which he gave us our future resurrections. Do you believe that Jesus will raise the dead? If so, let’s eat this spiritual food that somehow nurtures our eternal souls.

Pastor David L. Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906

Every once in while some of our political candidates come up the idea to simplify our tax system. Then, after while someone will “run the numbers” and determine the shortfalls of the proposed system. Our current tax system is large, expensive and complicated. But simpler is not always better.
The Roman Empire had a much simpler system. It did not involve a large bureaucracy. It had very few actual employees. It was what we would call a franchise system. People would pay the Roman Government for the privilege of collecting a certain kind of tax in a certain place. It would be agreed as to how much money should be derived for the benefit of the Empire for a year. Everything collected beyond the agreed upon sum was the profit of the tax collector. The Tax collector would tell a merchant or caravan operator how much they owed and there was no appeals process. Then the tax agent would keep what he had overcharged. It was a system that invited abuse.
The Romans also liked to use people from the native populations of their various districts to collect their taxes. In Israel, there were Jews who colleted the tax. But the other Jews did not like them. The Jews believed that any king other than God who ruled Israel was a usurper. They did not appreciate Jews who would collect taxes and thereby support a foreign government. Jews who collected the Roman taxes were regarded as traitors. And robbers, because of the way the system worked.
Taxes were collected on many items, including the goods that traveled in the caravans on the Roman roads. We have some reason to believe that Fish were also taxed. If that is the case, we can imagine that the tax booth that is described in this passage, on a road outside Capernaum, near the shore of the Sea of Galilee, would have received revenue from two sources: the caravans carrying goods on the road, and the fish caught in the Sea of Galilee. The man who ran that tax booth was a Jew named Levi. In the gospel of Matthew he is identified as Matthew, which is no problem as several of Jesus Apostles seem to have had at least two different names.
The problem was that he was a tax collector. As I said they were regarded as traitors and robbers and were excommunicated from their synagogues, which were the center of Jewish life and community. They were not allowed to testify in court. They were considered to be worse than Gentiles.
And Jesus chose one of THEM to follow Him as disciple and perhaps an Apostle. Think about that for a moment. Jesus was just outside a town that depended on fishing for its economy. Jesus had already called 4 fishermen to follow him and perhaps they were with Jesus when he called Levi. As fishermen, they would have known Levi. He was the guy they may have had to pay for the fish they caught. I doubt that they liked him. I doubt that they were pleased that Jesus called him to join them. Jesus chose his apostles for reasons known only to himself, and one of those reasons was not to choose only people who liked each other.
And yet, many Christians seem to think that only people they get along with should be allowed to join the church they belong to. Christian fellowship is not to be based on the natural affinities we have for each other, it is to be based on the fact that we have all been called into one body by the same master. Jesus made that clear by the individuals he chose as Apostles. They came from various backgrounds and had different ideas about many different things.
Levi’s immediate response to the call of Jesus is seen in two actions. First, he left his tax booth and followed Jesus. He was finished as a tax collector. He had been called to be something else, which was at first to be a follower of Jesus.
The second thing he did was to have a big dinner to which he invited all his friends and colleagues and Jesus and his followers so his friends could meet his new teacher and master. There were also some uninvited observers there.
Those uninvited guests were Scribes who were also Pharisees. The term scribe informs us of their training and avocation. They copied and studied the Scriptures and other texts.
The term Pharisee describes their beliefs. They were the Jews who believed that a strict adherence to the Laws in the OT was possible and necessary. As part of that belief, they thought that the righteous should keep themselves separate from unrighteous people, or people who violated the OT law or just were not very careful in keeping it. They referred to these people as Sinners. That term would include criminals but also all folks who did not really care about keeping the all of OT laws.
These Pharisaic Scribes seem to have been shocked at the company Jesus was keeping. They thought Jesus to be a righteous man, who did try to keep the laws of God. And yet he met with and ate and drank with tax collectors who had been booted out of the religious communities of the Jews and Jews who did not really take Judaism seriously. In their eyes he was contaminating his righteousness.
Jesus had an answer for their concerns. He said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.
Now your doctor might not agree with the first part of that saying of Jesus. Jesus spoke way before well-visits to doctors and annual physicals which are requested or recommended by health insurers. In Jesus’ day, what Jesus said about doctors was accepted as truth by all.
What Jesus was saying was that he came to help those who were unhealthy spiritually, those who were at odds with God. He defined that more clearly by saying that he came to call sinners and not righteous people.
But that statement has also been the subject of many debates and explanations throughout church history. Based on some of the other sayings of Jesus and the writings of the Apostle Paul and others, Most Christians have come to believe that there are no righteous people. That all must come to God as Sinners and ask for forgiveness through the death of Christ. Based on that theology, what Jesus was saying was that those who thought they were righteous with out him would not come to him and he did not come for them, until they acknowledged their unrighteousness.
But there is an aspect of this saying to which I want to call your attention. Jesus made it clear that his urgent work was with the unsaved, those who really did not think that much about their status before God, and those who knew that their status before God was not good. I think that is a really important point for us.
Some of you are aware that the Pastor and Some of the Session members and some of the people who worship at Faith Presbyterian think that our church, our congregation is in a period of change or transition or that we are about to go through one. We all know who we are as a congregation. We know where we have been and who we have been. But it is clear that we are becoming or have become something else. I have been pastor here for three and a half years and I have buried 20% of all the members of this congregation who have died in the past 42 years. I have also buried some folks who were important to us but were not officially members of this congregation. We are aging. We do not have the same energy levels we used to.
The Session is beginning to take action that will help our church to make some decisions about our destiny and what we will become.
As I think about that, I realize that we will be thinking about how to gather other folks to become a part of us. And as I think about that, I realize that most churches either actively or passively recruit new members who are already a part of the church universal. Most increases in church rolls come from a decrease in other churches rolls. We recruit from each other. Now some of that is due to people changing jobs and communities and we do want to be able to invite those people to be a part of us.
But as we think about our need to grow and to gather in others, we need to remember whose church it is. This church belongs to Jesus. And he wants us to invite those whom the Pharisees called sinners. Some of them really were sinners, but others were those who just had not thought much about God for quite some time or ever.
Those were the ones Jesus came to call. Those are the ones He wants us to call to Him. We are looking for ideas as to how to do that. We would love to hear yours. And we would love to know that you are trying to call some of them to Him.

Pastor David L. Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906

Recently I have seen a number of TV programs that have started at one spot in the story then switched to the action that occurred a few days or hours before that scene. I don’t really like that in a TV program, but I am about to do that in a sermon. Today I am preaching about the Transfiguration of Jesus, which was an important event in the life of Jesus and to three of his apostles. But you might have noticed that the passage which describes that event begins with the words “Six days later”.
Now, sometimes when you see a reference to the passing of time in a biblical passage it is only a transition to the next passage. But it seems to be more than that in this passage. There are three Gospels which tell us of the event of the transfiguration of Jesus; Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and they all begin the story of the Transfiguration of Jesus by stating that it occurred 6 days (Luke says 8 days) after something else happened, and the other thing that happened is the same in each case. All three of the Synoptic gospel writers felt that the transfiguration of Jesus was related to something that happened 6 or 8 days earlier. What was that?
Well, if you look back to the middle of chapter 16 you will see that there is a series of conversations and statements that begin at Verse 13. In that verse Jesus is recorded as asking his disciples who the people of that day were saying that He was. After they answered that question He asked who they thought He was. Peter answered for them that they thought that he was the Messiah, and the Son of God. In response, Jesus pronounced a blessing on Peter. Then he told then not to tell anyone else who they knew him to be. Then he began to tell them that he would go to Jerusalem and suffer, be killed, and be raised from the dead. Matthew and Mark tell us that Peter told Jesus not to say such things and Jesus called him Satan and told him to get behind him. Luke does not tell us about that. But all three synoptic Gospels tell us that after Jesus began to talk about his coming death and resurrection he also predicted that those who would follow him would also suffer and must take up their own crosses and follow him.
Then Luke and Mark have a statement similar to what we find in Matthew in chapter 16 verses 27&28 where we read “The Son of Man is to come with his angels in the Glory of his father, and then he will repay everyone for what he has done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Next comes our second lesson which begins by saying: “Six days later” then goes on to describe the transfiguration of Jesus. So of the three gospels who tell us about the Transfiguration of Jesus, all three give us an order of events that goes like this: Peter declares Jesus to be the Messiah and the Son of God, Jesus blesses Peter for that statement, Jesus predicts his death and resurrection in Jerusalem, Jesus states that his followers will also suffer, and then states that He will return with glory and repay everyone for what they have done, followed by his declaration that Some standing there that day would live to see Him coming in is kingdom.
Then we have the account of the Transfiguration of Jesus. It seems clear that Matthew, Mark, and Luke want us to see these things as being related. So this morning, I want to look at this event we call the transfiguration of Jesus and see how it is related to what preceded it.
So, what happened at the Transfiguration? Matthew and the others tell us that Jesus went up a mountain with three of his Apostles and was transfigured before them. The Greek word used for Transfigured here is the same word from which we get the word Metamorphasis. It means a change in ones form or appearance. It is described as a light shining from his body making him shine from his face and through his clothes. At the same time, Moses and Elijah appeared and were talking with Jesus.
And the Apostles did not know what to do. How would you respond to seeing a good friend emit light from face and body and conversing with two men, one of whom had lived 1500 years before and the other who had lived about 800 years before.
Peter was the first to spring into action, and he declared his intention to make three temporary dwellings for Jesus and his two time-traveling visitors. Based on what Jesus had said 6 days earlier, Peter thought that this was the beginning of Jesus’ reign of Glory. He thought the eternal Kingdom of God was starting right there on that mountain and that maybe they would be there awhile while Jesus gathered political power and plotted to drive the Romans out of Israel. So building temporary shelters would be a logical start.
Peter was as much right as he was wrong. The transfiguration was a fulfillment of Jesus comment that some living right then would live to see him come in Glory. What Jesus shone with was the Glory of God that belonged to the eternal Son of God before he was born into this world as Jesus. As Jesus began to think seriously about his death as a human being, he needed to feel the power and Glory of God once more to help him face death.
That is also why the Father sent Moses and Elijah to talk to Jesus. His closest friends on earth would not talk about his death. They refused to understand him when he spoke about it. They denied it up until the moment he died. But Jesus needed some human comforters to talk to him about death, so God sent two who were no longer alive on earth. Some scholars have stated that Moses represented the OT Law, since it was given through him and Elijah represented the OT Prophets. As a reminder that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Laws and the Prophets of the Old Testament.
I think they can also be seen as representing two other groups. Moses died in seclusion from the rest of Israel and God buried him in an unknown location. The Jews also believed that God had angels protect his grave. Moses represents all those who have died or will die before Christ returns. He is a reminder that God is protecting their beings, their souls, until the resurrection.
Elijah never died. He was taken up in a whirlwind accompanied by a chariot and horses of fire. Elijah could be seen as representing those who will not die, who will be alive at the return of Christ.
Contrary to the plans and hopes of Peter, this was a very short-lived event. While Peter was still volunteering to make shelters for Jesus and his visitors, a bright cloud came over them. They probably could not see Jesus or each other. They heard a voice from the cloud saying “This is my son, the beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” They were very much afraid and fell to the ground, overcome by their fear.
The next thing they knew, Jesus was by them touching them and saying, “Get up, and do not be afraid”. When they looked, Jesus was alone and no longer shining. The event was over.
On the way down the mountain, Jesus told them not to tell anyone about what had happened on the mountain until Jesus rose from the dead. It must have been satisfying for Peter to have heard the Voice of God from the cloud verifying that Peter had been right in declaring that Jesus was His Son. But if he noticed that once again, Jesus mentioned his death, he did not talk about it.
He and the other two wanted to know, since Jesus was the Messiah, where was Elijah? It had been predicted by the Prophet Malachi that before the Messiah came, Elijah would come again. It seems that many were looking for a literal fulfillment of that prophecy, a return of the OT prophet himself. Jesus told them that the prediction about Elijah had been fulfilled by John the Baptist, then reminded them that John had been killed and that he would too.
So what are we to understand about Jesus from the event of the transfiguration?
It is a reminder that Jesus was fully divine as well as fully human. At the Transfiguration we see the Glory of the Divine Jesus, normally covered, shine out through his humanity.
It makes it clear that this event has some instruction regarding his death and how we understand it. Before and directly after it there are statements from Jesus about his death.
And what would this instruction be? It is easy to read the gospels and think that Jesus reached a point where things got out of control and the Jews and the Romans overpowered him and forced death upon him. That is not really what the gospels teach us. The gospels teach us that Jesus voluntarily died on the cross for our sins. Back in the 1950s a songwriter named Ray Overholt who had a tv show for kids up in Michigan wrote a song entitled “He could have called 10,000 angels” in which he expressed the voluntary nature of Christ’s death. Ray got it right.
While Jesus was focusing the attention of the Apostles on his upcoming death, this event occurred in front of three of them to help them understand that as Almighty God, no one could take his life, not even Augustus Caesar himself. Jesus walked every step of the way to his death voluntarily. He loved you that much. That was why there were human observers of the Transfiguration. So you would know that it was God who died for you.
I think the three who saw it kind of understood it. Did you ever notice that, if we are correct in understanding that John was the beloved Apostle who wrote the Gospel, he tells us that two of the fellows who witnessed the transfiguration were the only two who followed Jesus from the garden to the trial in the house of the high priest. They had seen the Power and Glory of God that resided in Jesus. They might have been waiting to see if Jesus would overcome his enemies with a great display of that power and glory. He didn’t. But they did see his power and glory a few days later when He rose from the dead, just as he said he would as they came down that mountain.

Pastor David L. Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906

Even though last Sunday’s Super Bowl was between two teams that most of us don’t care about, I suppose that most of us watched it or parts of it. I must say, I tuned in partway through the game in order to see a little of the game and some of the commercials. I enjoy some of the Super Bowl commercials because I prefer ads that appeal to the more elemental or basic parts of my sense of humor. My wife will tell you that if a commercial has a talking baby, stupid pet tricks, or chimpanzees, monkeys, or baboons, I will probably like it.
So I must say I was interested in Comedian David Letterman’s summary of the Super Bowl commercials he saw. His summary was done during his monologue on Monday night. It consisted of brief pictures of several of the commercials accompanied by his one or two word descriptions of each one, except the last one which took several words. His descriptions of what the Super Bowl commercials were all about went kind of like this: “Sex, Sex, Wacky Baby, Sex, Wacky Dog, Sex Wacky monkey, Sex, Sex, and Jay Leno likes to steal things from other comedians.”
I think his summary revealed some of the obsessions our culture has. I think the last one revealed a personal obsession of David Letterman, but no one can watch tv for more than 15 minutes without being exposed to our culture’s obsession with Sex.
And just as the Super Bowl advertisements ended, we are now gearing up for Valentine’s Day. If I could follow Dave Letterman in summing up many of the Valentines day commercials, it seems to me that some are saying, “You can’t love her unless you spend a lot of money” while others seem to be saying “show her you love her as cheaply as you can.” Many if not most of the advertisements for Valentines Day will also pander to the obsession our society has with sex. In fact, that the celebration of St. Valentine’s Day was put on the church calendar on a day previously used to celebrate some of the pagan deities’ fertility celebrations reveals that other cultures have shared our obsessions. But the nearly forgotten legends of the Saints Valentine remind us that this holiday was established to celebrate another kind of love.
When you investigate the origins of the holiday you discover that the name Valentine is one of the three constants in the legend. There seem to have been several St. Valentines in the first few centuries of church history. There are different stories associated with them. But they have 3 things in common: Their names were Valentine, their deaths were all celebrated on February 14th, and they were all Martyrs, meaning that they all died because of their faith. They loved God and they did or said things to please God. Those things they said or did got them killed.
St. Valentines Day was not to have been about romantic passion, it was about the love that some Christians have had for God. So today I want to attempt to reclaim Valentine’s Day for God and Christians.
The passage we read this morning from the first epistle of John is obviously about love. In these 15 verses some form of the word love is used 27 times. And one of the most famous statements about God is used twice: God is Love.
Now, having said all that I need to remind you that the New Testament of our Bible was written in the Greek language and that there are 4 different words in Greek that are translated into English by the word Love. Now I know that some of you have been told that there are 3 Greek words for love, that is because the 4th only appears twice in the Bible and both times is used as a compound word combined with one of the other three.
In this passage, only one Greek word for love is used. That word is Agape. It is the highest form of love that is not based on beauty or attraction or gender or relationship and has nothing to do with sexual desires. It is a love that motivates the lover to do something for the object of his or her love, and it does not have to be mutual. It can be a one-way love or an unrequited love. It is used in the bible to describe Gods love for us.
Before I go any further, I want to deal with the declaration that God is Love. It is, of course true. God is the personification of as well as the source of love. But the phrase is often used with the assumption that Love is all he is or is His only attribute. That is not true. In other passages, the Apostle John also writes that God is Light and others in Scripture wrote that God is Truth. Love is not our only path to God nor is it our only directive from Him. But it is essential that we understand his love for us and the kind of love we are to demonstrate to Him and His.
I think that the first verse of this passage (verse 7) can serve as an outline for the entire passage. It states 3 things. The first is the title or subject of this passage. Christians are to love others. Following that is Roman Numeral I - Love is from God. Then comes Roman Numeral II - those who love know God and are born of God.
I want to start with that which I have referred to as Roman Numeral I Love is from God. Statements that come under this heading occur in verses 9&10 and 14&15.
In verse 9 we read “God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.” Now there are several biblical implications in these words. The first is that God’s love has no cause outside of himself. God sent his son into the world of his own free will and creativity to benefit the world. You might remember that although God had been in communication with the people of the world, especially the Jews, no one expected him to send His Son, nor did they understand what the Son came to do. They thought God was going to send them an earthly King. Jesus also made it clear that although the Father had communicated with the Jews and others in this world, most of them did not know God, or they would have recognized who Jesus was. Jesus came to reveal God to the people God loved.
This verse also implies that the purpose of God’s love was to save the dead or dying. The purpose of sending the son was “So that we might live through Him.” He loved those who were dying or certainly headed for death and sent His Son to them so that they might live! The son’s mission was motivated by love. The Son’s mission was to save lives, to give life to those who were dying.
Verses 14& 15 also elaborate on the love of God. They read, “And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.” It is John’s testimony that Jesus was sent to be the Savior, the one who would give life to the perishing, and that those who receive that life abide or live in God. We don’t just get our life from God through Jesus as if he was some never ending source of life-saving spiritual plasma. We live in Him, we reside in Him, and he lives in us. We see this in verse 16 “So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is Love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.
And that brings us to Roman Numeral II – Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Now, remember, the word for love in this passage is Agape. This discussion is limited to the kind of love God has shown toward us. Not the other lesser but nonetheless wonderful types of love we experience and show toward others. Mother-Love, Brother-love, Love of Country, Romantic love, all of these are strong forces and marvelous gifts to us given by God, but the kind of love God shows toward us, this AGAPE love is far superior to all of them and may be the reason we have all of them.
Only those who are born of God, who have been saved, who have been given new life, eternal life, can even begin to attempt to love others with this kind of love. Everyone who has this divine form of love has to be born of God and has to know God. You can’t have this form of love without being IN God through Christ.
And IF you are in God through Christ, You MUST have this form of love. You must love others, you must care about them and desire to help them if they are Christians and desire to bring them to Christ and help them in other ways if they aren’t Christians. This requirement that Christians are to demonstrate this type of love to others is stated several times in this passage, especially in the last verse “The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.”
This is the requirement that was set forth in the parable of the Good Samaritan. The one who took care of a man from a race that generally despised his own, a man who paid out his money to care for this other man, a man he did not know until he came across him beaten near to death, This is the one whom Jesus said loved his neighbor.
That is pretty much the end of the sermon, but there is a bonus. In verses 17 & 18 John wrote that perfect love casts out fear. We do not have to fear about our eternity, we do not have to fear about our existence here, because God loves us and we are secure in God’s love for us when we demonstrate it to others. We best know that God loves us when we allow him to help us love others, some of whom might be considered unlovable.
If you experience fear in your life, maybe it is because you are not using the love of God in you to love others, especially those who do not love you.

Pastor David L. Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906

In last week’s sermon we saw how Paul and Aquilla and Priscilla started the church at Corinth. They worked full time as manufacturers of sturdy cloth goods like tents and sacks and work clothes, and then in their leisure hours preached and taught about Christ. So, it could be said that the church at Corinth was started and sustained for a while at no cost to the Corinthians. They did not have to pay their Pastor and other church staff.
In our day, there are two old sayings that can be used to describe an unintended side effect of Paul’s working to pay his own way as an evangelist and Pastor. It has been said that No Good Deed Goes Unpunished. It might be difficult to understand how, but Paul was evidently spoken against because he paid his own way.
Others came to Corinth after Paul left, claiming to be true Apostles and delineating several reasons why Paul was not a true Apostle or why Paul was not as good an Apostle as others were. One of the reasons they set forth was that he did not ask to be paid by them. Although our old saying had not yet been coined, they seemed to believe that Free Advice or Free Service is worth every penny it cost. Other Apostles expected the churches and people they served to pay for their lodging, food and even the costs of bringing their spouses along. Paul did not. Those who did used this as evidence that he was not a true or good Apostle. In the 9th chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul answered those who listened to his critics.
In the first 14 verses of Chapter 9 he stated that in a way, his critics were right, they, and he had the right to ask that they and their families be supported by the churches they served.
Then in the 15th verse, the passage I read begins with these words “But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing this so that they may be applied in my case. Indeed, I would rather die than that – no one will deprive me of my ground for boasting!
By the way, Since I sometimes point out places in which the NRSV, our translation of choice, does not translate the Greek of the NT as well as it could, I want to point out that in this verse it does a fantastic job of translating that second sentence, the one with the dash in it. There was no dash in the Greek but the NRSV used it to convey the break in thought in this difficult sentence.
What Paul was saying in that verse and in the rest of this passage is that he did not make use of his rights as an apostle because he wanted to do something extra for them and for God. His having come to them with the Good News about Jesus was not to his credit. It was his calling from God. He was compelled to do it. He got no credit for doing it. But he had gone beyond his calling in the way he did it, sacrificing his own time and money. That enabled him to rejoice in doing that which God had called him to do. The word translated Boast also means to glory in or to rejoice in. It was his extra credit for God. Not that that extra credit went toward earning him salvation or a better place in the Kingdom of God. All that was a gift from God given through the death and resurrection of Christ and Paul’s faith in Christ.
So, what I wanted to get at this morning is that Paul is talking about two things in this passage. His calling and his reward or glory or boasting.
His calling was given to him from God. It was to preach about Jesus to people in Asia Minor and parts of Europe. That, along with his Salvation was what was given to him by God. You all have a calling from God. I know what some of them are, but not all of them. I suspect that some of you are still trying to figure out what your calling is; what it is that God wants you to do for him with your life, or with the rest of your life.
Once you know what that is, then the fun can begin as you figure out how you can perform that calling and add your own gift to God to it. Being an Apostle was Paul’s calling. Being an Apostle at no cost to God or to the people he served was Paul’s gift to God and the people he served. It was part of what made Paul a happy and contented man.
Today is Scout Sunday and we are pleased to have with us the Scout Troop we sponsor, Troop 338. Those of you who are or have been in scouting know that there are scout manuals that set forth the various levels and badges and awards of Scouting and what is required to attain them. There are probably scouts who use those manuals as a step by step guide to achieve those levels, badges, and awards. Then there are those scouts who use those manuals as a way to demonstrate their desire to serve each other, their communities, their country and their God. They go way beyond the basics in the manual and add their own creativity and excitement.
I had a friend named Horace Woodward. He did a number of good deeds for me and my family. I would have done nearly anything for him, not just because I felt that I owed him, but because I wanted to help him as he had helped me.
Do you feel that way about God?
On the table in front of us are the symbols of the Death of Jesus. God loved us so much that he sent Jesus to die for us so our sins could be forgiven and so we can live with God in his eternal kingdom. God has also called us to serve him while we live on earth. How will you exercise your calling? Will you only do what you have to? Or will you give yourself and God some reason to rejoice in the way you discharge your calling, going beyond the bare minimum, adding to it a gift from yourself to God and to those you are called to work with and for?

Pastor David L. Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906