Revelation 7:9-17 / Easter 4C / 21 April 2013 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. - Rev. 7:17
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. - John 10:27-28
Of all the images in the Bible, the most comforting, endearing, and enduring is that of Jesus the Good Shepherd. The image goes back to Psalm 23 and King David the shepherd-king who wrote as one of the Lord’s flock, “The Lord is my shepherd.” Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays His life down for the sheep, who calls His sheep by name, whose voice His sheep hear and follow to eternal life.
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John 21:1-14 / Easter 3C / 14 April 2013 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
I’m sure you’ve seen this: the movie after the movie. The little bit that some directors like to put at the end of a film to reward the people, like me, who sit all the way through the credits and the closing music. There’s that little director’s cut dropped in at the end. Something more. That’s what John chapter 21 is. It’s the director’s cut at the end of John’s gospel, a little something more for the reader who just can’t seem to get enough.
Revelation 1:4-18 / Easter 2C / 07 April 2013 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
“Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one; I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”
Fear not. That’s the theme of the Revelation in two simple words. Fear not. When everything is going to hell in a hand basket; when the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh seem to have the upper hand; when Christianity seems to be a lost cause and the world is stepping on the church’s neck; when Christ has all but been driven from the public square and culture and life and the message of the Gospel seems to have been drowned out by the siren songs of the world; when beasts roam and dragons threaten, and Christians are being martyred for their faith, Christ appears in His glory with two simple words: Fear not.
Easter 2013
“The last enemy to be destroyed is Death.”
Today is the Lord’s victory day. The fight is over. The battle won. Christ is risen. Death is defeated.
The victory was not won today but on Friday. At 3 PM. In the darkness, when Jesus drew in His last breath and shouted, “It is finished.” That was the end of Death’s reign. The sting of Death is Sin and the power of Sin is the Law. Jesus fulfilled the Law. Jesus absorbed the power of Sin by becoming Sin. Jesus took the sting of Death into His own flesh which is our flesh. The Law is fulfilled. Sin is judged. Death lies defeated.
Good Friday 2013
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
THE LAMB IS BETRAYED. He is sold at market for 30 silver pieces, the price of a slave. He is betrayed by the kiss of a friend, one of His inner circle, the Twelve, those whom He chose not only to be disciples but apostles. One of His own “sent ones” turns Him in to the authorities.
This is Israel’s big night. The night Israel walked out of slavery into freedom through the blood of the lamb painted on the doorposts. This is the night when our Lord sat at table with His chosen disciples, soon to be apostles, and put Himself into the Passover. This is the night when Jesus left His disciples, soon to be apostles, both a remembrance and an example of His sacrifice. This is the night on which our Lord was betrayed to death by one of His own, one who had a share in His table, one who had received the morsel of bread from Jesus’ own hand. This is the first night of the three holy days of our Lord’s death and resurrection. And you are part of it.
“Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” (Luke 20:18)
Either way, you’re dead. Either you fall on Jesus in broken hearted, empty handed, beggarly repentance or you get crushed by the weight of your own salvation crashing down against the resistance of your own self-justification. But either way, you’re going to be broken when you encounter Jesus.
Luke 15:1-3,11-32 / Lent 4C / 10 March 2013 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
A man had two sons. You know the story. It’s familiar. The older son inherits the land, the younger inherits enough money to go off and buy land somewhere else. The older son is dutiful, a “good son,” a “religious son,” who does everything his father asks. The younger son is impulsive, independent, headstrong. He gets in trouble.
Luke 13:1-9 / Lent 3C / 04 March 2013 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
If the season of Lent could be summarized in a single word, that word would be “Repent.” In the Hebrew OT “shuv” - turn back, turn around. In the Greek NT, “metanoia” - rethink, re-cognize, come to a new mind. There is a sense of jumping tracks - from wickedness to righteousness, from death to life, from condemnation to forgiveness.
Luke 13:31-35 / Lent 2C / 24 February 2013 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
This morning’s gospel is about Religion and Politics. The Pharisees and Herod. Watch out whenever Religion and Politics get together. In the Revelation, it’s the recipe for trouble and persecution. Take one part Religion, one part Politics bring them together with the devil and you have the perfect recipe of “antichrist.” Whether the emperor cult of the 1st century, the kingdom of Mohammed, the medieval papacy, the Third Reich of Hitler, or any other unholy alliance of religious and political authority, whenever the two get together there is sure to be trouble. And bloodshed.