I know it hurts
But, be joyful and celebrate; it’s for your own good…

“I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely.”

The game is over. You’re sore.

Today’s Gospel reminds us that we are to be joyful. How do we combine a spirit of joyfulness and our temporary pain? Is there anything in sports that might help us be Jesus’ joy to the world?

One athlete who, in light of eternity, always thought her God-given abilities in sport were “kind of a dumb gift”. For years she wished she had been given a gift to play an instrument or to be good at public speaking so that she could easily reach out to others with God’s love. Then one day she discovered a ministry that uses sports to share the love and life of Jesus with people around the world. It seemed like a perfect fit. In her heart, she felt like God was telling her, “Look, here is what I’ve been wanting you to do with the gift I have given you!” All of a sudden, what once seemed like a “dumb gift” now seemed like an incredible gift that God had purposed all along. It was a gift that gave her joy and brought Him glory.

For her, and for us, the sports field is a sacred place where we experience life with God; life within our faith community. In play we shine brightly for Him.

God desires that we live joyful lives and that we bring His joy into all we do. We can and must celebrate God, our salvation, and have great joy at the same time.

As Christians we do all as a means to declare and display the significance of Who He is – even in our temporary aches and pains.

As we live our daily lives, playing sports, exercising, working, teaching, being family, neighbors, and friends, let us consider what it means to worship God through all those avenues. Let us consider how in doing all this we, like that one athlete, bring God’s joy to the world.

In the film Chariots of Fire, athlete Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian says, “I believe God made me for a purpose: China. But he also made me fast! And when I run, I feel His pleasure.” These words reflect his attitude, which revealed a holy competitiveness. He felt at joyful and at peace using his God-given ability to run fast in worship of God.

Don’t let worship be just about singing, music, or sitting in church. Let worship be the joy filled way we approach all we do, and how we show God’s joy in all we do.

Hand me a shovel,
I’ve got to find the source of this vine.

“I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit”

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? There are many versions of this question that we could propose, was it the tree or the seed, the ocean or the rain?

As we work through our week we are confronted with this question more often than we think. Consider the fact that we live in community, in a family, in a neighborhood, in an apartment building. If we work we face the community of our workplace. Whether we belong to a club, go out to a movie, go shopping, or prepare to vote later this year we are constantly confronted by differing versions of community.

Now consider where we are this morning, in church. Certainly the family of faith is a community, and our unity with God and each other is a shadow of the perfect community for which we are all destined. But is this community of faith somehow estranged from the rest of our communities? Is it an endpoint?

We need to ask ourselves that all-important question, what came first, all these other communities or the community of God? When we come to church do we extract ourselves – is church something we do at the “end” of the week, or do we see our church community as our place of beginnings?

Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus. This meeting brought him into the community of faith. It was his beginning, a beginning that would change the world; the character of the Church from one limited the near east and the Jewish people, to full inclusiveness for all.

We need to pick up our shovels and dig into what is for us the foundation of everything we do. In digging in do we see the Church, our baptism, our weekly worship, as our beginning, our starting point? Is this where we start or where we end?

Jesus tells us that we are intimately connected to Him, as much as branches are connected to the vine. As long as we stay connected to the source of our strength and direction, as long as we know our starting point, we will have joy. We will be most productive by defining everything from our attachment to the vine. If we do we will “bear much fruit and become His disciples.”

St. Paul told the Ephesians that the secret to loving is living loved. “May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love.” Just as a tree draws nutrients from the soil, we draw nourishment from our starting point – God and His community, all joined in one source, one vine.

Baaaaaaaa!
I’ll be right there.

“I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me”

Some of us may remember that time where we cried out for our parents only to find that they didn’t come right away. Perhaps we heard them say ‘wait,’ or ‘I’ll be right there.’

Whether we can actively recall that moment or not, just the mention of it makes us uncomfortable. We realized that there would be those times where we will be utterly alone.

Or, so we thought…

Today we are reminded that we are never alone and without assistance. We also become acutely aware that the One who stands with us has done everything possible to heal any brokenness that exists in our lives, curing us of every sin. Today, Jesus comes to us in the form of the Good Shepherd.

Peter and the Apostles standing before the Sanhedrin (the same one that had brought Jesus to Pilate to be crucified) strongly proclaim that the cripple was healed through the power and proclamation of Jesus. They go on to say that no one may be saved except through Jesus’ name. Were they a little afraid? Perhaps, not knowing everything that might happen to them. Yet they acted and spoke with absolute confidence that their Shepherd was at their side, protecting, feeding, supporting, and strengthening them. Their confidence was not their own, but from the One who comes every time we call on Him. The One who listens to us and speaks to us.

So here we are. Perhaps our parents don’t come running every time we cry out. Perhaps we don’t even talk to them about our little (and sometimes larger) hurts. Perhaps they are no longer with us in bodily form. But we do have someone we can always turn to. Someone we should speak to about our joys and hurts, our thoughts and questions. That is Jesus.

Having laid down His life for us, we must know that we are totally valuable to Jesus; that the smallest thing in our lives is of concern to Him.

Jesus promises us that He knows us and that we will know His voice. Listen as He says: “I know mine, and mine know me.” To make this true requires some effort on our part. We have to reach out and talk to Jesus. Then we have to listen. Jesus does speak to us, to our conscience, to our needs, and He does come to render assistance, to give that hug, and to guide us back to the straight and narrow path when we stray. Finally, we need to live like the Apostles we are, with a spirit of confidence. Live with confidence because Jesus hears us and comes to us every time, right away.

I am soooooo confused!
Let me explain.

“Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”

Incredulous – a fancy word. It is one of those words we use when we don’t want to clearly say that a person is disbelieving.

The disciples were incredulous for joy – still disbelieving even though they had already touched Jesus. The two disciples just returned from Emmaus had walked and talked with Jesus, broken bread with Him. Yet they were still incredulous…

Here we are – the disciples still skeptical, disbelieving, unable or unwilling to believe that Jesus was standing with them and that they weren’t just seeing things. They needed to admit and accept that Jesus did rise; that He was standing there, that this was all very real and true. They needed help.

Perhaps the disciples were feeling like we do. Someone has taken the time to explain something, yet we just don’t get it. They can see it on our face even as we nod along saying, ‘Sure, I understand, I get it.’

Jesus had spent three years with His disciples. He revealed so much. He prayed with them. He talked about His Father. He revealed that He is the Son of God and son of man. They heard the Father’s voice; they saw the Spirit descend on Him in the form of a dove. They saw Him raise the dead – three times – something only God can do.

They nodded along the whole time, ‘Yes Jesus, I understand, I get it.’ They loved Him, perhaps they didn’t want to make Him mad by making Him have to explain the same thing over and over? Of course, He knew, He saw the confusion, the incredulity on their faces.

So, Jesus asked for a fish fry and proceeded to eat and teach them – to reveal everything so that they could connect the dots.

The Messiah had to offer sacrificial atonement for our sins. The sacrifice to be offered was the Messiah’s death. Based on His faithfulness, the Father raised the Messiah – and made a promise that all of us would rise too because God reigns over all opposition, even death. Finally, that the Messiah would call a group of faithful and dedicated followers to spread the news – that God came among us, was born, suffered, died, was buried, rose again, and ascended into heaven – all out of love for us.

The disbelief among the disciples was ended. It wasn’t just the fish dinner. They “got it.” They understood and received empowerment in the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The world is full of disbelief – but we have the ultimate power to make things clear and understandable. Go out and end the confusion. Connect the dots. End the incredulity!

Where’s heaven?
I know, it doesn’t look like it, but right here.

“With great power the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus”

It is a typical question children may ask, where is heaven? Truthfully, we all wonder too, where is heaven?

Scripture tells us that God created the universe in six days. Of course, the universe is what we can see and perceive. As human beings, and people who live in a culture where science has helped us so much, we may think that we could somehow analyze how things work and find that place, that part of matter and energy where we might find God and His dwelling.

If we believe, and we should, that God created the heavens and the earth we know that God’s dwelling exists apart from what we can perceive with senses and science. Heaven exists outside the dimensions of both space and time.

God’s revelation in scripture gives us glimpses into what heaven will be like. Jesus told us that He will prepare a place for us. He tells us that it will be like a great banquet. In heaven there will be no sadness, only joy, and it will be a place of light. We also know, that based on what Thomas and the other apostles and disciples experienced in meeting Jesus after the resurrection that our bodies will be imperishable, we will be glorious, powerful, and spiritual.

The problem, of course, is that we tend to perceive heaven as a different and separate place we have to get to. This can be dangerous since we may focus all our energy on getting there to the detriment of building God’s kingdom here as we are asked to do.

God and His heavenly kingdom permeate time and space. God’s kingdom – heaven – is all around us and in us. One day, and we pray soon, they will come together. We will be joined to God, the dead will be raised, and we will live together in an entirely new place, as told in the Book of Revelation 21:1: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared.

How do we get there? Through repentance from sin and being regenerated in Him. We must accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Then, by doing the things necessary to build the kingdom of God.

Heaven is here, all around us. To see it, to best get there, we must work to bring people to faith in Jesus. Then, working together, we must do our all to show what the kingdom will be like – by our charity, by love for all.

Like the apostles, that’s how we must bear witness to the resurrection.