Born Again - 3 Ways of Grace

I had the privilege of preaching to a Spanish speaking congregation who meats in the chapel of my church.  Here is the message I preached through a translator on April 12, 2015.  They were very gracious host and I look forward to having their pastor preach at Pleasant Grove UMC on May 31st.

Copyright April 8, 2015 by Chris Mullis
John 3:1-8, 1 Peter 1:3-4

Introduction

          I believe we are all part of the   If you believe in Jesus Christ, if He is your Lord and Savior, you are my brother or sister.  I know this is true because Christians are born again.  So even though you and I have different parents on earth, our heavenly Father is the same.  I want to read the place in the Bible where Jesus first said the phrase “born again.”  Then I want to talk about being born again, and 3 main ways we experience God’s grace. 
same family, regardless of what church we go to or what language we speak.
t is such a privilege to speak to you today.  I love to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ any chance I get.  Thank you for welcoming me today. 

John 3:1-8 (NIV)

¹Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. ² He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

³ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
⁴ “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
⁵ Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. ⁷ You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

The key verse for us today is John 3:6 (NLT) – ⁶ Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.

Prevenient Grace

            Humans can reproduce human life by having children.  I have three children.  My oldest is in the 11^th grade.  Lord willing, he will graduate high school next year.  He will be an adult soon.  But I still remember when he was a baby.  I remember when he took his first steps.  I was not there, I was in my class at seminary, but my wife got it on video and I watched it that night when I got home. 

            Soon my son Gavin was learning to speak and then to read and to add and subtract.  He was also learning about Jesus.  We took Gavin to church from the time he was a baby.  It took some time for him to mature enough to be ready, but when he was 10-years-old, he was “born again” when he decided to follow Jesus as his Lord and Savior.  Now he is almost an adult and he continues to grow in strength and wisdom and faith.

            Praise God!  All of my children have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  My youngest daughter just turned 8-years-old.  She was born again last summer at Vacation Bible School.  She is still young, and doesn’t understand everything about being a Christian, but she understands enough and she is growing—both her body and her spirit.

            I love each of my children.  I loved them even before they knew it.  Even when they were babies and couldn’t understand anything, I took care of them.  I loved them.  This is like one of the ways God’s grace works for us.  He loves us even before we know it.  Long before we ever think about God, He is already thinking about us. 

You see it was nearly 2,000 years ago that Jesus came to earth and lived, died on the cross, and rose from the grave.  You weren’t even born yet, but God was already thinking about you.  He was thinking how you would struggle with sin.  He knew how you would feel ashamed for things you had done or things you left undone.  He knew how your sin would separate you from Him and He didn’t want that.  So He sent His son, Jesus, to die for you to pay the price for your sin and to rise to new life so you could also be “born again.”  He did all this before you ever had a single thought.  That’s how amazing God’s grace is.  It comes before anything we do and is already starting to make a way for us to be born again.  In my church, we call this Prevenient Grace.  It is the grace of God that draws us to God and prepares us for salvation.

Justifying Grace

            But at some point, we become aware of what God has done for us—just like my daughter last summer who finally was old enough to understand what Jesus did for her and wanted to be a Christian.  At some point, you start to understand that Jesus is alive and he can change your life and that he deserves your complete devotion.  And if you ask to be his disciple, he will let you and you will be “born again.” 

            This new birth is not a result of human effort.  It is a birth that comes from the Holy Spirit.  1 Peter 1:2 says “God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.”   And verse 3 says, “It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead.”

When you are born again, you become a new person.  2 Corinthians 5:17 – “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

When you are born again, all your past sins and mistakes are washed away in a flood of God’s grace.  1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”

When you are born again, you are adopted as God’s very own son or daughter.  “1 John 5:1 – Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God.”

And along with these honors comes the inheritance of eternal life.    1 Peter 1:4 says, “We have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.” And John 3:16, “...everyone who believes in [Jesus] will not perish but have eternal life.”

The moment you say “yes” to Jesus, you are “born again” by God’s grace.  In my church, we call this Justifying Grace.  It is the undeserved grace of God that justifies us—or makes us righteous in God’s sight.

Sanctifying Grace

            What happens after a person is born again?  Well, what happens to a child after it is born?  A child begins to grow.  Soon they are crawling, then walking, then talking, then running, then playing soccer.  Then they become teenagers and make their parents crazy.  Then maybe they go to college or start working, get married, have children of their own.

            The same is true of Christians that are born again.  We start to grow in our Christian faith.  We do not stay the same as we were when we were “born again.”  “Instead,” as Ephesians 4:15 says, “we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.”

            If you are the same today as you were when you first became a Christian, something is wrong.  If you saw a baby who still looked like an infant, but was 5 years old, wouldn’t you think something is wrong?  You would think, “What has happened to this poor child that has kept it from growing up?”  Sometimes, I look at some Christians and I think, “What is wrong with this poor Christian?  They were born again (maybe 5 years ago), but they have grown very little in their faith.  They haven’t learned anything about what the Bible says.  They haven’t put their faith into practice.  They haven’t changed the way they live—they still live like the people outside the Church who aren’t Christians.  They haven’t been a witness for Jesus—telling people what he has done for them.  Even worse, they don’t love people the way Christ teaches us to love.”

            It’s OK to be a baby Christian right after you are born again; everything is still new.  But we shouldn’t stay like babies for long.  But how do you change?  It is the grace of God that helps us to grow—to become more and more like Christ.  In my church, we call this Sanctifying Grace.  It is the grace of God that perfects us—that helps us grow more and more like Christ.

You see, you can’t make yourself grow.  You can’t work harder and make yourself perfect.  Only God’s Holy Spirit can change you.  Can you imagine a little child who wants so badly to grow up?  He says, “I don’t want to be a little kid anymore!  I want to be like my big brother (or big sister)!”  And so this little child closes his eyes and grits his teeth and stiffens all his muscles and tries to make himself grow up.  It won’t work—no matter how hard he tries.  Who makes him grow?  Isn’t it God who makes the child grow?  The child can do some things to help the process.  He can eat good food to make his muscles stronger.  He can go to school and learn.  He can make sure to get enough sleep at night.  These are all things that help, but only God can make him grow.

It is God who makes your spirit grow too.  It is His Spirit that helps you to change.  Maybe you were born as a very selfish person, but with God’s help you can grow out of it and become more like Christ—caring more about others than yourself.  Maybe you are too shy to tell people about Jesus, but God can help you grow into a great evangelist.  Maybe you don’t know much about the Bible, but God can help you learn and grow into a Bible teacher or a pastor.  It is God that makes you grow.  He can make you grow into whoever He wants you to be.  But you have to let Him.  You have to cooperate with Him.  You have to follow the steps He gives you.  You have to listen to your pastor who was put here to guide you.  You have to study your Bible, which is God’s Holy Word.  You have to worship God and listen to His voice.  These are all things that help.  If you cooperate with God, He will make you grow.

Conclusion

            I do not know you very well.  I don’t know where you are in your Christian journey.  Maybe you are not a Christian yet.  But God’s grace has brought you here.  God was already thinking about you before you ever thought about Him.  He has been working many things out to bring you here today.  Maybe He has been protecting you from danger or illness or trouble, so that you could come here today and hear the Gospel.  Maybe—because God loves you so much—He has allowed some bad things to happen to you in order to turn your heart to God. 

If you are not a Christian, why don’t you become one today?  You can be born again!  You can become a new person!  All your sins can be forgiven!  You can put your past behind you and start all over—with a new beginning, and a life full of possibilities!  Don’t put it off.  No one knows how much time they have left in this world.  You must be born again in order to see God in heaven and avoid His punishment.

Maybe you are already a Christian.  You were “born again.”  God’s grace has washed away your sins through the blood of Christ.  Just as he died and rose again, you have died to your sins and risen to a new life—a Christian life.  You are born again.  I am so happy for you!  You are my brother or sister in Christ!  But have you been growing?  Are you doing things that help you grow?  Are you cooperating with God’s Spirit?  Are you letting Him make you more like Christ?  Are you letting Him change you?  Or are you’re the same today as you have always been—still just a baby in Christ?

It’s time for you to make a choice.  You need to say, “I don’t want to be a baby Christian anymore.  I want to grow up.  I want to be more like Christ.  Lord, help me to be more like Christ.”  Maybe it’s time for you to start studying your Bible more.  Maybe it’s time to be more regular in your church attendance.  Maybe it’s time for you to ask your pastor how you can serve your church.  Maybe it’s time to be a witness for Jesus at your school or where you work or with your family and friends.  Doing things like this will help God change you into the person He wants you to be—to be more like Christ.  Ask God to help you grow.  Let Him help you change.

Where ever you are in your journey with Christ, I hope you will take at least one step forward today.  If God has spoken to you today, I urge you to talk to your pastor, Isabel.  She loves you very much and wants you to know Jesus and to grow.  She is the person God has chosen to be your shepherd.  She can help you know what to do next.

 

Wanted: Faith - Dead or Alive?

Copyright April 7, 2015by Chris Mullis
James 2:1-17

Introduction

What is faith?  A nun who works for a local home health care agency was out making her rounds when she ran out of gas. As luck would have it there was a station just down the street. She walked to the station to borrow a can with enough gas to start the car and drive to the station for a fill up. The attendant regretfully told her that the only can he owned had just been loaned out, but if she could wait he was sure it would be back shortly.

Since the nun was on the way to see a patient she decided not to wait and walked back to her car. After looking through her car for something to carry to the station to fill with gas, she spotted a bedpan she was taking to the patient. Always resourceful, she carried it to the station, filled it with gasoline, and carried it back to her car.

As she was pouring the gas into the tank of her car two men walked by. One of them turned to the other and said: "Now that is what I call faith!"
            I want to talk about faith today.  Listen to what God’s Word says about faith in James 2:1-17.

James 2:1-17

¹My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?

² For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes. ³ If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, ⁴ doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives?

⁵ Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him? ⁶ But you dishonor the poor! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? ⁷ Aren’t they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble name you bear?

⁸ Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ⁹ But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law.

¹⁰ For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws. ¹¹ For the same God who said, “You must not commit adultery,” also said, “You must not murder.” So if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law.

¹² So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. ¹³ There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.

¹⁴ What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? ¹⁵ Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, ¹⁶ and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

¹⁷ So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

Salvation is by Faith Alone

            As most of you know, I live way up in “North” Cohutta—way out in the country almost to Tennessee.  It is especially beautiful this time of year.  It takes me about 20 minutes to get home from the church, but I don’t mind.  It’s beautiful, stress relieving drive.  The other day, I was driving home, enjoying the greenery and flowers that are beginning to spring forth.  The sun was getting low, painting the sky a glorious orange yellow.  The sky was clear, the weather was mild, and I had the sunroof open so I could enjoy it all.  Just about that time it hit me—the rotten stench of a dead animal on the side of the road.  It entered in through the sunroof, swirled around the interior of my car, and found its way up my nostrils.

            Somewhere, along the roadside lay the rotting carcass of an animal.  Once it had been a living, breathing organism—perhaps a raccoon or a possum, a rabbit or a squirrel.  But now, it was just a dead, stinking corpse.  There’s a big difference between something that’s dead and something that’s alive.  The same is true of faith. 

We Christians like to talk about faith.  It is the hallmark of our religion.  In his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul systematically described God’s plan for salvation.He started by describing humanity’s condition—that we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (3:23) and that the consequences of our sins is physical and spiritual death (6:23).

 I once had a Muslim friend who I shared the gospel with.  He got hung up on this idea that everyone has sinned.  He didn’t see himself as a sinner.  “Chris,” he would say, “I never hurt anyone.  I don’t steal; I don’t murder.  I won’t even kill a spider if it gets into my house.” 

“But Nadeem,” I used to say, “surely you realize that you’re not perfect.  You tell little white lies or get jealous or say something that intentionally offends somebody.  Even if you only sin a little, you have fallen short of God’s glory.”

Sometimes we Christians are like Nadeem.  We try so hard to be “good.”  Sometimes we begin to think we really are “good.”  We come to church every Sunday; we give our time and money.  We do all these “good” things.  But all it takes to make you a sinner is one violation of God’s law.  For in our scripture lesson, James plainly says, “For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.” (James 2:10)

Even something as simple as looking down on a poor person or showing favoritism or loosing your temper or being jealous or gossiping makes you guilty before God and the consequence of even these little sins is still death.

Luckily, Paul goes on to describe God’s plan for saving humanity from this inevitable death through the gift of Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for each of our sins.  In Romans 10:4, Paul says that all who believe in Christ are made right with God.

The theological term for this doctrine is justification by faith.  From time to time, Christians stray from this doctrine.  We begin to think we can earn God’s favor by doing good things.  But we can never do enough to work our way into God’s Kingdom.  Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us, “⁸God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”

In many ways, this doctrine of justification by faith is very liberating.  It means that we no longer have to feel guilty when we mess up and fall down in our Christian walk—for God’s forgiveness cleanses us of our sins (Acts 13:38).  It means we don’t have to worry about whether or not we have been good enough to earn salvation—for we can’t earn salvation; it’s a free gift that cannot be earned.  It means that being a real Christian is not about following all the rules and being a good person.  No, we are Christians because we are saved by God’s grace when we believe in Jesus Christ. 

Living Faith

On the other hand, this doctrine of Justification by faith has led many Christians to be lazy or worse—to cling to a faith that is as dead as the road-kill we pass on our Georgia highways.  I know people who can explain in great detail exactly how God achieved salvation through Christ.  They can quote you scripture that neatly lays out the intricate details of sin and salvation and can even relate back to Old Testament prophecies.  But you know what, that doesn’t mean a hill of beans if you aren’t living what you believe.

I love how James put it in 2:19-20, ¹⁹Do you still think it’s enough just to believe that there is one God? Well, even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror! ²⁰Fool! When will you ever learn that faith that does not result in good deeds is useless?

What an eerie and powerful image.  I imagine the wretched demons down in the depths of hell trembling and shaking.  They know all about God’s plan to save humanity through Jesus Christ.  They know all about the doctrine of justification by faith (I’m sure they could even explain it better than our most prestigious theologians).  They also know who God is and who His son Jesus Christ is.  They tremble in fear and dread the day of the Lord because they have rejected Him as their Lord and they know their punishment is coming.

Yes we are saved by faith, but not a dead, complacent, do-nothing faith.  The faith that saves us is powerful and alive.  It changes who we are and how we act and even how we think.  

We cannot cheapen faith.  A person who has faith in God, trusts in God.  A person who has faith surrenders his life to God.  A person who has faith gives up everything and turns to God and says, “I am Yours!  Do with me what you will.  Show me how You want me to live; send me where You want me to go; tell me what You want me to say and I will do it.”   

You say you believe.  Well show me what you believe.  “Well, I know that I’m a sinner and Jesus died on the cross for me…”  No, I didn’t say tell me what you believe.  I said show me. 

Do you really believe that Jesus is the Son of God? That he really did die on a cross for your sins and for the sins of the whole world?  Do you really believe that he came back to life and is alive now? And that he’s going to return on judgment day?  Well, if you believe all that, then that ought to lead you to do something?  Does your faith lead to action?  Or is your faith dead—like the twisted carcass of an animal lying on the side of the road?

These are difficult times for our world.  The last thing we need is a bunch of Christians walking around clinging to a dead, complacent, do-nothing faith.  What we need are Christians who are willing to stand up and live their lives for Christ.  What we need are Christians who proudly proclaim their faith in Christ, not just with their mouths, but also with their actions and with their money and with their votes and with their sacrificial service to their community. 

Look, right here in this community we have the opportunity.  We have children who need to be taught the basics of the faith, the basics of Christianity, the basics of the Bible.  Public schools aren’t allowed to do it.  The government can’t do it.  The TV, the radio, the movies, the video games sure aren’t gonna do it.  If the Church doesn’t teach them something of lasting value, then nobody will. 

I shudder to think of this nation in 20 or 30 years if the Church fails to teach the children of this generation, the future of our nation, what living for Christ is all about.  I tremble to think of what this community will be like in 10-15 years if we don’t teach our children what being a Christian is all about.

But we have a chance to make sure the future is bright.  In Matthew 5:13, Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth…”  Have you ever thought about what that means?  To be the salt of the earth?  Think about the qualities of salt.  Salt can be used as a preservative.  Before the modern use of refrigeration, people used salt to cure meat and keep it from spoiling.  You can still buy salt-cured ham in the grocery store.  (I made some of my own salt-cured ham last week.)  In the same way, Christians who truly have a living faith have a preserving influence on society.  Our commitment to love and holy living keeps the world from slipping into total godlessness.  Can you imagine how fast our country would slip into moral chaos if our Christian influence was suddenly and completely removed?  But that’s not going to happen, because I believe in you.  And I believe your living faith is going to compel you to do something to make the world a better place.

But that can only happen if your faith is alive.  Is your faith dead or alive?  Let us pray…

Dear Father, revive within us a living faith that we may live a life of love and service to others.  May our lives be pleasing to You and bring goodness to our communities. May our Christian faith add flavor to life just as salt adds flavor to food.  And may You receive all the honor and glory for it all.  Amen.

The Tomb is Empty - Easter Sermon

Copyright by Chris Mullis March 30, 2015
John 20:1-18

John 20:1-18

¹Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. ² She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

³ Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. ⁴ They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷ while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. ⁸ Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed— ⁹ for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then they went home.

¹¹ Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. ¹² She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. ¹³ “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.

“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”

¹⁴ She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. ¹⁵ “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”

She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”

¹⁶ “Mary!” Jesus said.

She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).

¹⁷ “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

¹⁸ Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.

Opening

            We begin our conversation at a tomb.  A place where they keep dead people is not the happiest place to begin a conversation, but our text requires it, so here we are.  There are all different types of tombs.  You've seen them.  There is that old dilapidated graveyard with the weeds growing through the neglected and cracked tombstones.  There is that small, crowded cemetery at the old, country church.   There are the spacious, well maintained graves at the perpetual care cemetery.  There are those places where people of great fame lie buried in historic cemeteries.  I even read once about a pauper’s graveyard that was full of unmarked graves.  There is something mysterious about a tomb—something that awes us and commands deep respect.

            Once I visited a confederate civil war cemetery in Marietta.  It was a place of mysterious beauty.  The grounds were well maintained; but because of the sheer age of the graves, many of the tombstones were old and worn.  Some were very hard to read.  I walked slowly from one grave to another, reading the names of those who had been born, had lived, and died.  There was a great variety of lives represented—men, women, and (most strikingly) the graves of little children who may have only lived a short time.  In one section, about a hundred plain white markers were lined up in straight lines—as if in military formation.  These were the graves of a whole company of confederate soldiers who had given their lives in battle—fighting for what they believed.  In another place, there was a tall monument—about 5 feet tall, shaped like the Washington Monument.  At one time it must have been a regal headstone, but now it was old and rough and gray.  It was the marker of a prominent Marietta family.  The names of each of the family members were engraved on the front of the marker; the dates of death ranged through the early to mid-1800s.  A few feet from this old, worn monument lay four roughly hewn stones.  A sign on a post explained that these stones were the unmarked graves of four of the slaves that worked in the family home; some speculation was made as to what their names may have been.  I continued on, captivated by the memorials to the lives that had been lived and had ended—as life always does. 

            And of course, there are those familiar tombs, where we have buried our loved ones.  My Grandma and Grandpa lie side by side in a cemetery in Macon, GA.  They died six years apart.  I attended both their funerals.  I saw their coffins a few years apart standing poised above freshly dug graves, waiting to be lowered and covered.  I have visited their gravesites a few times.  I've read the simple, metal markers seated in the ground that honor their lives.  I have placed flowers on their graves in loving memory of them.  I have stood above their burial plots remembering their faces and the good times we shared. 

            There's an eerie aura that surrounds a cemetery.  Cemeteries are the setting for ghost stories.  I mean, who would want to visit a cemetery all alone in the dark?  Yet this is where we find Mary Magdalene in our passage from John.  

Movement One – Dark Sadness

It's still dark.  There is a chill on the air that cuts to the bone.  And here comes Mary, eyes swollen and red from grief, walking all alone down the path that leads to Jesus' tomb.  In John, it doesn't say why she came and before we can find out, she discovers that the stone—which was meant to keep the tomb securely locked—has been rolled away, leaving it wide open and unprotected.

The first thought that came to Mary's frantic mind was, "Oh no!  Someone's stolen the body!"  Can you imagine showing up to visit the grave of your loved one, only to discover that someone had dug up the body and stolen it? 
          Jesus was a famous man.  He'd worked many miracles.  He'd healed the sick, brought sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, even raised the dead.  Mary, herself, had seven demons driven out of her by Jesus.  Maybe someone had stolen the body, hoping to steal its power.  Or maybe some religious fanatic had stolen it, hoping to propagate the rumor that Jesus had risen—just as he said he would.  Or maybe some sick soul just wanted an exotic souvenir.  But Mary wasn't looking for any of those things.  She was just looking for the body of her beloved Jesus—her Lord, who just days before had been brutally murdered by the religious establishment.  She was looking for a sealed tomb, with a marker to remember the wonderful man she’d known, but what she found was and empty tomb and all she could think is, "They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!"

          So she ran and told Peter and John.  Why she told Peter I don't know.  Maybe she didn't realize that just the other night he had adamantly denied even knowing Jesus.  But she told him nonetheless.  And Peter and the John ran to verify the news.  They even looked inside the tomb where the body had lain.  Sure enough, the body was gone.  Only the linen body wrappings remained—folded up neatly in the corner.  Didn't the thieves who stole the body realize that the linen shroud would be worth a lot of money? 
          Peter and John looked around, verified that the body was gone, and went back home.  The scripture said that the Messiah would rise.  They now knew that the body was indeed gone, but they hadn't put two and two together yet. 

          But poor Mary remained at the tomb.  Weeping for the dead.  They’d robbed her of her Lord.  Now they had even robbed her of his memorial.  How would she ever be able to get on with life, now that her beloved Jesus was gone?  She was so distraught that when she stooped and looked into the tomb, it didn't even register that she was speaking with white-robed angels.  

Why are you crying, Mary? 

The Sun is beginning to rise.  The tomb is empty and the stone is rolled away.
Why are you crying, Mary? 
The body is gone but the grave clothes are still here—for Christ has no need of earthly coverings!
Why are you crying, Mary, as though you've lost the one you love? 
Look, you don't even know you are speaking with angels!
Why are you crying, Mary?  Why are you looking for the living among the dead? 
You will not find the living in a tomb made to hold the dead!

Movement Two – Darkness to Light

          Mary is in such a spiritual fog, she doesn't even care that she's speaking with angels.  She can't recognize the truth that should be coming to light, just as the sun is beginning to rise above the horizon—bringing light to the world.    

          There's a funny thing about light in the gospel of John—it always has two meanings.  On the one hand, it is the physical characteristic that makes it possible to see.  But light also has a deeper meaning in John—it symbolizes the light of Christ:

8:12 Jesus said to the people, "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't be stumbling through the darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life."

12:35 Jesus replied, "My light will shine out for you just a little while longer. Walk in it while you can, so you will not stumble when the darkness falls. If you walk in the darkness, you cannot see where you are going.

12:46 I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the darkness.

          In the same way, darkness has a metaphorical meaning in John.  Remember when Nicodemus approached Jesus in John chapter 3, trying to understand about being born again, he approached him at night.  When Judas left to betray Jesus into the hands of his enemies in John 13:30, it says, "he immediately went out; and it was night."  The darkness of night in John represents more than just the absence of sunlight-S.U.N.  It represents the absence of the Son's Light-S.O.N.

          And when Mary Magdalene visited the tomb that first Easter morning, she visited, "early, while it was still dark…" And even as time wore on, though the sun may have begun to rise above the horizon, the darkness in her mind continued to cloud out the Light of Christ's Truth—he was not dead, there was no body to find.  Yet she was seeking a dead Jesus, not a risen Lord.

Why are you crying, Mary? 

The Sun is beginning to rise.  The tomb is empty and the stone is rolled away.
Why are you crying, Mary? 
The body is gone but the grave clothes are still here—for Christ has no need of earthly coverings!
Why are you crying, Mary, as though you've lost the one you love? 
Look, you don't even know you are speaking with angels!
Why are you crying, Mary?  Why are you looking for the living among the dead? 
You will not find the living in a tomb made to hold the dead!

Movement Three – He Calls My Name

          Mary was still lost in a dark fog of despair.  She didn't see the Truth; she didn’t recognize the angels; she didn't even recognize Jesus standing behind her.  From the shadowy entrance of the tomb, she mistook her Lord for the gardener.  Therefore, Christ called her out of the darkness by name, "Mary!"  He called her out of the darkness, just as he once called Lazarus out of the darkness of a tomb, "Lazarus, come out!"  You remember Lazarus.  At the sound of Christ's voice, Lazarus, dead for four days, came stumbling out of the tomb still wrapped in his grave clothes. 
          In the same way, when Christ called her by name, Mary came stumbling out of the darkness of the tomb and into the light—recognizing that her Lord was not dead, but alive!  Immediately, as he spoke her name, she knew that Christ her Savior had risen!  He took everything the evil of this world could dish out; he died on the cross, was buried in a cold dark tomb and yet, he rose from the dead and he is alive!  At his command, she ran as fast as she could to proclaim the Truth to the other disciples, "I have seen the Lord!"
          Often we are like Mary.  We get lost in the dark fog of despair.  We don’t recognize the Truth—even when it’s right there in front of us.  We grope around in the darkness and don’t see that Christ our risen Lord is right there with us.  But sometimes he calls to us—calling us out of the darkness, calling us by name.  Do you hear his voice calling?
          Christ is risen!  You will not find him in a tomb.  You will not find him among the dead.  He is not there.  He is here with us.  He is calling us by name.  John!  Bobby!  Scott!  He is calling us by name!  Do you recognize his voice?  Sara! Joanna!  Kaye!  Who are we looking for?  Are we looking for a body or are we looking for a Risen Savior?  We will not find the living among the dead!  Jack! Kelly!  David!  Turn around and recognize him in light of his resurrection!

Why are you crying? 

The Sun is beginning to rise.  The tomb is empty and the stone is rolled away.
Why are you crying? 
The body is gone but the grave clothes are still here—for Christ has no need of earthly coverings!
Why are you crying, as though you've lost the one you love? 
Look, you don't even know you are speaking with angels!
Why are you crying?  Why are you looking for the living among the dead? 
You will not find the living in a tomb made to hold the dead!

Closing

          Christ is alive!  "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."  He offers this eternal life to you.  You need not stumble along in the darkness anymore.  Turn to the Light.  Recognize the risen Savior.  Believe in him and be saved.  For this is the glorious message of Easter Sunday!

Easter Sunrise - A New Beginning

Copyright April 2, 2015 by Chris Mullis
Romans 6:3-11

Read Romans 6:3-11

³ Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? ⁴ For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.

⁵ Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. ⁶ We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. ⁷ For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. ⁸ And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. ⁹ We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. ¹⁰ When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. ¹¹ So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. 

A Sunrise is the Symbol of a New Beginning

Every time I see a sunrise, it reminds me of the possibilities of a new day.  Whatever happened yesterday is over.  It’s a brand new day.  Anything can happen!  And I think that the core of the Christian message.  Because of what Christ did on the first Easter, we can make a brand new start.  The old has passed away.  We are no longer controlled by what happened before.  We can start over.  Just as Christ died and was buried in a tomb, our old way of thinking and acting can be buried if we let it.  And just as Christ rose from the dead, we can rise with him to a new life with new and better ways of thinking and living.  This si the glorious good news of Easter! 

The Story of Tom’s New Beginning

            I met a new friend when I lived in Lithia Springs, Georgia.  His name was Tom Kaznicki.  I was serving in my first appointment and also in seminary.  We lived in an apartment next to Tom’s parents and Tom was living with them.  We thought it was strange that Tom—who was in his 30s—was living with his parents, but we never asked about it.  We would say hello as we saw him from time to time—just being friendly neighbors. 

            When I found out Tom liked the outdoors like me, I invited him to go on a hike with me at Sweetwater State Park.  As we were walking and talking, Tom asked me what I did and I told him I was a pastor and was in seminary and shared how I was working as a chaplain at a drug rehab center.  Tom got quiet and I thought, “Great.  I ruined it now.  He thinks I’m some sort of religious nut.”  (Tom had never attended church as a kid or an adult.  This often happens to me when people find out I’m a pastor.  People start to treat you different; they stop seeing you as just a person and then only see you as a “pastor”.) 

After a few minutes of silence, Tom said, “You know it’s really strange that you said you work in a drug rehab center.  That’s the reason I’m living with my parents.  I was living in Michigan, but I relapsed in my drug addiction and lost my job and had to move back in with my parents.”  It turned out Tom had been struggling with an addiction to methamphetamines since he was 17.

Tom and I stayed friends over the years—even after I moved away to another town.  Tom and I would talk on the phone every so often.  Sometimes, Tom would call me confide in his struggles with the addiction.  Once, he called me and was so disappointed and frustrated he had relapsed yet again.  He said, “Chris, I just wish I could die and start over.  I wish go back to when I was 17 and just never try those drugs.”

The Holy Spirit gave me the right words to say.  I said, “Tom, that’s what Jesus did for us.  Because of what he did on the cross and the way he rose from the grave, we can die and start over.  That’s what it means to be a Christian.  There’s a scripture that says, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lived in me (Galatians 2:20).  So you see, if we give ourselves to Christ, we can die and be reborn as a new person.  We can have a brand new start.”

About a year later, I received a letter from Tom.  He thanked me for being his friend and for my advice.  Tom was in a Christian drug rehab program and had given his life to Christ and had been clean for over a year.  Tom thanked me for planting the seed that had helped him come to Christ.

A few years later, Tom died.  When I heard the news I thought, “Oh no.  Tom relapsed again and overdosed.”  But to my relief I found out it wasn’t so.  Tom had remained drug free.  However, the years of drug use had taken their toll on Tom’s body and he had a heart attack even though he was still relatively young.  But I am not sad for Tom, because I know he is in heaven now.  And I know I will see him again one day on those streets of gold, because I believe in what Jesus did for us all on Easter. 

Conclusion

Because of Jesus, you no longer have to be trapped in your sin.  You no longer have to be chained to your past.  Christ has set us free to make a brand new beginning.  And just as the sun rises each new day, you can make a fresh start again and again if you have to.  But don’t go on in your sin on purpose.  Don’t waste the power Christ gives you.  Take hold of your New Beginning and let your old sinful self die forever.  Step into the new life of your new day and choose to walk in the light forever, never going back.  Burry your old sins forever in a tomb and rise to the new life Christ offers you.

Maundy Thursday - Wondrous Love

Copyright by Chris Mullis April 1, 2015

John 13:1-17, 31-35

 John 13:1-17, 31-35

13 Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end.^{[a] 2} It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas,^[b] son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. ³ Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. ⁴ So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, ⁵ and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.

⁶ When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷ Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”

⁸ “No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet!”

Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.”

⁹ Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!”

¹⁰ Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet,^[c] to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.” ¹¹ For Jesus knew who would betray him. That is what he meant when he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹² After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? ¹³ You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. ¹⁴ And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. ¹⁵ I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. ¹⁶ I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. ¹⁷ Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.

³¹ As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus said, “The time has come for the Son of Man^[h] to enter into his glory, and God will be glorified because of him. ³² And since God receives glory because of the Son,^[i] he will give his own glory to the Son, and he will do so at once. ³³ Dear children, I will be with you only a little longer. And as I told the Jewish leaders, you will search for me, but you can’t come where I am going. ³⁴ So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. ³⁵ Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

Introduction

            Love.  Wondrous love.  It’s an amazing thing.  I’m not talking about the warm, fuzzy kind of love that is merely a feeling you get.  I’m talking about the deep, authentic love that God has for us and that we are called as Christians to share with one another.  This kind of love is wondrous; it is a challenge to offer and it is a challenge to receive.  Jesus spent his whole ministry offering this wondrous love to the people of the world—this love, which even took him down the road to Calvary.

            On our own power, we can’t offer this kind of love because it is not in us.  We are like an empty glass that can offer no refreshment until it is filled with thirst quenching water.  We must be filled with God’s love before we can offer this wondrous love to others.

            Jesus was full of God’s love and God’s love shaped everything about who he was and what he did; and on the final evening with his disciples before he was arrested, Jesus demonstrated who he was in a dramatic way—by washing his disciples’ feet.  This foot washing was more than simply a cleansing of dirty feet.  It is an act of self-revelation.  By his actions, Jesus says to his Disciples—this is who I am:

1.     I have enough confidence in myself that I can be humble and serve you.

2.     I care about you and your needs.

3.     And I am not afraid to be intimate with you 

Confidence

Look at John 13:3.  Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God.  Jesus knows who he is.  He is the Son of God and his Father loves him.  He knows he is about to be betrayed, and crucified, but he is full of love because he knows who he is.  And he demonstrates who he is by what he does next.  He gets down and performs the humble task of washing the dirty, smelly feet of his own Disciples. 

Jesus is God’s Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords.  You don’t expect to find him washing dirty, smelly feet.  But Jesus is confident in who he is.  He doesn’t need to prove anything to himself or anybody else.  He’s not worried about what people think.  All he cares about is what his Father thinks.  And his Father loves him.  Therefore, he is free to abandon ordinary etiquette between master and disciple and wash his follower’s feet.

            We often fail to have this confidence.  We want things done our way.  We want people to serve us—to prove we are important.  But we have nothing to prove.  We are God’s children!  He loves us.  He loves us so much he sent His own Son to redeem us.  Be filled full of that love—overflow with that love and you will begin to act as Christ acted.

I care about you and your needs

            The second thing Christ tells us about himself by washing his disciples’ feet is that he cares about our needs.  You know, you’ve got to really love someone if you’re going to mess around with their feet.  Feet aren’t the most appealing part of the human body.  My own wife doesn’t like to mess around with my feet!  But the disciples—who walked around all day in sandals on the dusty roads of Judea—had filthy feet that needed to be cleaned and cared for.  Jesus cared enough about the disciples and their needs to set aside his rights as their master and stoop down and wash their feet. 

            You learn all kinds of spiritual truths as a parent of small children.  When I was a teenager, I was appalled to see parents cleaning the snotty noses of little children.  I couldn't imagine doing that; it just grossed me out.  Then I became a parent and suddenly I was not only cleaning the snotty noses of my children, but also changing dirty diapers, cleaning up vomit, and doing various other common and disgusting duties of a parent.

Parents tend their children’s needs because of love!  And that’s how God loves us.  He loves us enough to cleanse us when we are the most unclean.  He loves us enough to touch us when we are the most untouchable.  And he says to us in verse 14:  And since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet.

             Do you realize that Jesus already knew that Judas would betray him in a few short hours?  Yet Jesus stooped and washed Judas’ feet the same as he washed the rest.  Not because he felt like it, but because he loved him and cared about his needs.

We too have been cleansed by God.  We have been filled with His love.  That’s why we reach out and demonstrate God’s love to others—with our neighbors, with our co-workers, and especially with those whom no one else seems to care about.  Even when the task is not easy or when it makes us feel uncomfortable, love compels us to stoop down and wash the dirty feet of those in need.

 

Intimacy

            The third thing Jesus tells us about himself by washing his disciples’ feet is that he is not afraid to be intimate with them.  You don’t get much more intimate than washing someone’s feet.  It’s personal.  But that’s who Jesus was.  He got personally involved.  He ate with sinners.  He touched the lepers.  He hugged the children. 

            And Jesus is intimately involved in the struggles we face.  He cries with us; he laughs with us; he walks with us.  And at the end of the day, when the dirt of this world is caked on our tired, aching feet, he is there to humbly bend down and wash our feet.

            Are you willing to let God wash your feet?  Are you willing to set aside your preconceived notions of who Jesus is and allow him be intimate with you—perhaps in a new way that makes you feel a little uncomfortable?  Are you willing to accept God’s wondrous love for you?  Or are you like Peter who said:  “No, you will never wash my feet!” 

            Sometimes it is very difficult to be that intimate with God—to grant Him access to the most private areas of your life.  But just as Jesus replied to Peter, he replies to us:  “If I don’t wash you, you won’t belong to me.”

            It is a challenge to accept God’s wondrous love, but we must accept it.  Are you willing to let God wash your feet?