I’ve asked many people facing the death of somebody they love: What would the person who has died want for you? A. A wonderful next chapter of your life…
Life is full of transitions. A career ends and retirement begins. Somebody dies and the world is never the same. Friendships are broken and each side must go on… a divorce, a health crisis, a move, a child moves out. After the coronavirus lockdown is lifted, what will it be like? This week I was forwarded a list of 24 questions for churches to ask as we begin to hold public services again… many not fitting our situation but good questions, all having to do with how patterns/practices might be different… an obvious one is that likely we’ll no longer have a greet one another time… other’s I hadn’t thought of like considering a secure donation box in the lobby instead of passing the plate… Every transition is a crisis, even good transitions, because it is a change…
Life is full of transitions. A career ends and retirement begins. Somebody dies and the world is never the same. Friendships are broken and each side must go on… a divorce, a health crisis, a move, a child moves out. After the coronavirus lockdown is lifted, what will it be like? This week I was forwarded a list of 24 questions for churches to ask as we begin to hold public services again… many not fitting our situation but good questions, all having to do with how patterns/practices might be different… an obvious one is that likely we’ll no longer have a greet one another time… other’s I hadn’t thought of like considering a secure donation box in the lobby instead of passing the plate… Every transition is a crisis, even good transitions, because it is a change…
Almost every youth and adult who gives their life to the Lord Jesus Christ does so during a crisis… that’s when priorities are re-evaluated, that’s when past decisions are questioned and whether or not those decisions brought the peace and purpose we all crave. Last week we walked alongside Cleopus and another disciple on the way to Emmaus… basically they are trying to wrap their minds around what the life and death of Jesus will mean? What are they to believe? How are they to understand it, how to go on… i.e. What will be the new normal now that Jesus is no longer here among us! At the end of the scripture last week the two follower of Christ are amazed the new normal includes the risen Christ, they go lickety split back to Jerusalem and testify of what they have seen, when suddenly Jesus appears to the two of them and the eleven, and what are Jesus first words? “Peace be with you” (Luke 24:36).
Jesus’ great desire for his disciples in the new normal is to have peace….
The disciples are in a crisis/transition… surely the most profound transition in history… Jesus died. He was the most amazing teacher, miracle worker, wiseman who challenged the religious leaders for three years, lifted up the poor, dignified the outcasts… He said crazy things about being raised from the dead after three days, but until they saw the risen Christ they didn’t grasp how literally true it really was…
whenever major change comes there is no choice but to find a new normal… you can fight it, you can lament the death, the broken relationship, the broken health all you want, but there will be a new normal… often the way people think try to build a new normal is to load up their bag from the past with as much stuff as possible so that the new life will look as much as possible like the old life… I say, pack your bag light and look to Christ… Jesus appears and his first words in this critical moment are “Peace be with you” because he wants the new normal to be satisfying, exciting, liberating… we are still living in the era of the resurrected Christ as we wait for his return. The gospel of Luke ends with the ascension of Jesus Christ to heaven…
May 1, 2012… you know what happened that day? 117 sermons ago (plus perhaps 10-15 by Chad) that I preached the first sermon from Luke…. A chapter here, a chapter there… Anyone remember? Luke has an obvious structure… Luke 1:1-4 is a prologue ~ why he’s writing the story of Jesus.
Luke addresses the book to a friend named Theophilus and he says, READ Luke 24:3-4. Luke tells the story of Jesus because he wants Theophilus (and us) to have confidence in the truth of Jesus Christ… to know the story of Jesus and not rumors, to have confidence in this most astounding story…The purpose is to embrace the risen Christ, living peace in a new and extraordinary normal.
As I look over that first sermon 8 years ago, one point stands out that is especially relevent for today… take a risk… here is what I said 8 years ago…
To change is to take a risk, a new allegiance, new truth, your reputation, what others think of you, dying to your old patterns and raised to a new life. Surely Theophilus wrestled, perhaps as some of you are, with his faith: “Do I really believe in Jesus? Do I love Jesus? Do I belong to Jesus? Am I willing to go public? … Theophilus takes a risk: and employs Dr. Luke to find the answers. …Theophilus could have ignored the intrigue that was festering within, but he took that risk, to find out, knowing he might have to change everything about himself. He goes to Dr. Luke, an educated gentile friend who has access to the apostles and the eyewitnesses and the disciples. And he says, “Luke, I need you to go find the truth. Go get the facts. Go find out exactly what happened around this man Jesus and give me a full report.”
Being a Christian is risky. Everyday you must ask if you are willing to live by the truth, to change. I like this story: A ship wrecked off the New England coast many years ago. A young member of the coast guard rescue crew said, "We can't go out. We'll never get back." The grizzled old captain replied, "We have to go out. We don't have to come back." When you take a risk and find out truth, you may never come back, die to the old is the way the Bible says it. You will be a different person: “You have to go out. You don’t have to come back.”
I challenge you to take a risk and become a different person. If you don’t know the Lord Jesus Christ, embrace Him… If you 1/2 know the Lord, go all in… If you’ve given your life to Christ commit to being open to grow in ways you cannot even imagine as you become vulnerable to Him… A new and exciting normal living for the risen Christ…
If Luke 1:1-4 is the prologue, I think a postlude begins with the followers on the road to Emmaus (last week). Luke completed the task given to him by Theophilus who wanted Luke to report the truth, and now Luke takes the liberty to challenge all those who read the Gospel of Jesus Christ: What are you going to do about it… the story proper ends with the empty tomb… The women who go to the empty tomb wonder what it means but are thrilled to hear the message of the fulfillment of the promise of the resurrection…(Luke 24:3-4) they tell the other disciples, Peter hurries to the tomb and we are told he is left wondering… the Bible says in Luke 24:12: Peter, “went away, wondering to himself what had happened.” Peter is on the cusp of the greatest transition in history… living in the era of the risen Christ… the promise of God for those who believe is a new and exciting normal…
How do you respond? You know the story of Jesus. He died. He is risen… Do you believe? The world will never be the same. How do you respond? It’s a time of transition. Cleopus and a companion are leaving Jerusalem on the road to Emmaus, a small village, back to the real world, but a world that will never be the same… last week Chad and Macy showed us how they were trying to figure out what it all meant…. Life as they knew it with Jesus alive on earth is over. Last weeks scripture ended with their eyes being open to the risen Christ in their presence and they raced back to Jerusalem to tell the others… READ Luke 24:33-34a.
Anytime there is a transition, a crisis, there is going to be a change…a new normal is coming… but what will it look like? It’s risky! But the greatest risk is to dare to expect a great and wonderful life with Jesus Christ, a life of peace that he has promised. Anytime there is a transition you have to go forward to a new life, but you don’t have to go back to the old… We can lament the past, never letting go ~ there will always be a time of wondering what it means ~ but the Lord invites us to embrace a new and exciting new normal in the era of the risen Christ. Embrace change. Take a risk. The biggest risk is to change for the better… Invite the Lord to revolutionize your heart and soul… Go forward with Christ. Like the old grizzled sea captain said, “We have to go out. We don’t have to come back.” It’s risky to go forward with Christ because the future is unknown …
The action is fast in Luke: the 2 Emmaus disciples go to the eleven (Judas is gone)… “While they were still talking about this” trying to understand, trying to make sense of everything, i.e. wondering… “Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’” (Luke 24:36).
Jesus wants a new normal for them: PEACE. I don’t blame the disciples for being afraid. READ Luke 24:37. It’s a roller coaster: Jesus is alive? no he’s dead! oh my goodness he’s alive! change and uncertainty is always a crisis… Jesus words help them accept and understand the new reality… first he challenges them to examine their own fear and ask why do you doubt (Luke 24:38)…He’s sincere, not a put down… next he shows them his wounds and scars to affirm they are not crazy….Isn’t that half the battle of finding a new normal when you are hit with overwhelming news… trying to figure out if you are crazy or not… life transitions often cause us to question our sanity… Lastly, for the disciples, what finally settles them is an ordinary meal… READ Luke 24:40-43. I often say to those facing the crisis of death, “my prayer is you’ll be able to sleep all night soon.” Emerging into a normal includes ordinary, eating, sleeping… when you embrace Christ, the promise of a new normal is exciting, one of peace, but you’ll still need to work, to eat, to sleep…
When Jesus at last speaks to them about the new and exciting normal, he affirms this was God’s plan all along…, the Lord knows our future, he knows what is coming. The transitions of life are in His hands too: READ Luke 24:44-49. Jesus affirms that his life and death and resurrection are all part of God’s eternal plan… the words are clear that now that he is risen, the work of God will continue: he is speaking of a new and exciting normal: “I am going to send you what my father has promised.” We are still living in the era of the risen Christ. It is an exciting time that ought to cause our hearts to be absolutely amazed!
Go forward in Christ. You don’t have to go back to your old life… his promise for us is the same as the disciples: peace. embrace the new and exciting normal of what it means to be amazed by his life on earth, to be astounded by his death and resurrection, and to go forward as people of faith. There is more to come!
Now that Luke is finished, Chad and I have decided it would be good to go on to Luke’s second book of the N.T. the second volume of Life with the Risen Christ. The book of Acts. Acts is like a giant arrow that points to the more that is coming in the new risen Christ era…. We might start next week?
Luke ends the way Acts begins: the ascension of Christ to heaven. The promise of God is that Jesus will return. That will be the next greatest transition in all of history! The ascension is a visual reminder that we are living in a new era with Christ in heaven yet present on earth through the Holy Spirit. He is alive, no longer flesh and blood, but alive. Be part of the new and exciting life for those who embrace the risen Lord.
I want to end with a visual parable… a reminder of the ascension. Watch this balloon ascend…. I will release the ballon and end with a prayer. (sidenote: I hope we gather together as a church family before this balloon loses it’s helium…) Jesus ascended, one day he will descend again and usher in the greatest transition of all: eternal life with Jesus Christ. Amen.
[release balloon] Prayer.
Jesus’ great desire for his disciples in the new normal is to have peace….
The disciples are in a crisis/transition… surely the most profound transition in history… Jesus died. He was the most amazing teacher, miracle worker, wiseman who challenged the religious leaders for three years, lifted up the poor, dignified the outcasts… He said crazy things about being raised from the dead after three days, but until they saw the risen Christ they didn’t grasp how literally true it really was…
whenever major change comes there is no choice but to find a new normal… you can fight it, you can lament the death, the broken relationship, the broken health all you want, but there will be a new normal… often the way people think try to build a new normal is to load up their bag from the past with as much stuff as possible so that the new life will look as much as possible like the old life… I say, pack your bag light and look to Christ… Jesus appears and his first words in this critical moment are “Peace be with you” because he wants the new normal to be satisfying, exciting, liberating… we are still living in the era of the resurrected Christ as we wait for his return. The gospel of Luke ends with the ascension of Jesus Christ to heaven…
May 1, 2012… you know what happened that day? 117 sermons ago (plus perhaps 10-15 by Chad) that I preached the first sermon from Luke…. A chapter here, a chapter there… Anyone remember? Luke has an obvious structure… Luke 1:1-4 is a prologue ~ why he’s writing the story of Jesus.
Luke addresses the book to a friend named Theophilus and he says, READ Luke 24:3-4. Luke tells the story of Jesus because he wants Theophilus (and us) to have confidence in the truth of Jesus Christ… to know the story of Jesus and not rumors, to have confidence in this most astounding story…The purpose is to embrace the risen Christ, living peace in a new and extraordinary normal.
As I look over that first sermon 8 years ago, one point stands out that is especially relevent for today… take a risk… here is what I said 8 years ago…
To change is to take a risk, a new allegiance, new truth, your reputation, what others think of you, dying to your old patterns and raised to a new life. Surely Theophilus wrestled, perhaps as some of you are, with his faith: “Do I really believe in Jesus? Do I love Jesus? Do I belong to Jesus? Am I willing to go public? … Theophilus takes a risk: and employs Dr. Luke to find the answers. …Theophilus could have ignored the intrigue that was festering within, but he took that risk, to find out, knowing he might have to change everything about himself. He goes to Dr. Luke, an educated gentile friend who has access to the apostles and the eyewitnesses and the disciples. And he says, “Luke, I need you to go find the truth. Go get the facts. Go find out exactly what happened around this man Jesus and give me a full report.”
Being a Christian is risky. Everyday you must ask if you are willing to live by the truth, to change. I like this story: A ship wrecked off the New England coast many years ago. A young member of the coast guard rescue crew said, "We can't go out. We'll never get back." The grizzled old captain replied, "We have to go out. We don't have to come back." When you take a risk and find out truth, you may never come back, die to the old is the way the Bible says it. You will be a different person: “You have to go out. You don’t have to come back.”
I challenge you to take a risk and become a different person. If you don’t know the Lord Jesus Christ, embrace Him… If you 1/2 know the Lord, go all in… If you’ve given your life to Christ commit to being open to grow in ways you cannot even imagine as you become vulnerable to Him… A new and exciting normal living for the risen Christ…
If Luke 1:1-4 is the prologue, I think a postlude begins with the followers on the road to Emmaus (last week). Luke completed the task given to him by Theophilus who wanted Luke to report the truth, and now Luke takes the liberty to challenge all those who read the Gospel of Jesus Christ: What are you going to do about it… the story proper ends with the empty tomb… The women who go to the empty tomb wonder what it means but are thrilled to hear the message of the fulfillment of the promise of the resurrection…(Luke 24:3-4) they tell the other disciples, Peter hurries to the tomb and we are told he is left wondering… the Bible says in Luke 24:12: Peter, “went away, wondering to himself what had happened.” Peter is on the cusp of the greatest transition in history… living in the era of the risen Christ… the promise of God for those who believe is a new and exciting normal…
How do you respond? You know the story of Jesus. He died. He is risen… Do you believe? The world will never be the same. How do you respond? It’s a time of transition. Cleopus and a companion are leaving Jerusalem on the road to Emmaus, a small village, back to the real world, but a world that will never be the same… last week Chad and Macy showed us how they were trying to figure out what it all meant…. Life as they knew it with Jesus alive on earth is over. Last weeks scripture ended with their eyes being open to the risen Christ in their presence and they raced back to Jerusalem to tell the others… READ Luke 24:33-34a.
Anytime there is a transition, a crisis, there is going to be a change…a new normal is coming… but what will it look like? It’s risky! But the greatest risk is to dare to expect a great and wonderful life with Jesus Christ, a life of peace that he has promised. Anytime there is a transition you have to go forward to a new life, but you don’t have to go back to the old… We can lament the past, never letting go ~ there will always be a time of wondering what it means ~ but the Lord invites us to embrace a new and exciting new normal in the era of the risen Christ. Embrace change. Take a risk. The biggest risk is to change for the better… Invite the Lord to revolutionize your heart and soul… Go forward with Christ. Like the old grizzled sea captain said, “We have to go out. We don’t have to come back.” It’s risky to go forward with Christ because the future is unknown …
The action is fast in Luke: the 2 Emmaus disciples go to the eleven (Judas is gone)… “While they were still talking about this” trying to understand, trying to make sense of everything, i.e. wondering… “Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’” (Luke 24:36).
Jesus wants a new normal for them: PEACE. I don’t blame the disciples for being afraid. READ Luke 24:37. It’s a roller coaster: Jesus is alive? no he’s dead! oh my goodness he’s alive! change and uncertainty is always a crisis… Jesus words help them accept and understand the new reality… first he challenges them to examine their own fear and ask why do you doubt (Luke 24:38)…He’s sincere, not a put down… next he shows them his wounds and scars to affirm they are not crazy….Isn’t that half the battle of finding a new normal when you are hit with overwhelming news… trying to figure out if you are crazy or not… life transitions often cause us to question our sanity… Lastly, for the disciples, what finally settles them is an ordinary meal… READ Luke 24:40-43. I often say to those facing the crisis of death, “my prayer is you’ll be able to sleep all night soon.” Emerging into a normal includes ordinary, eating, sleeping… when you embrace Christ, the promise of a new normal is exciting, one of peace, but you’ll still need to work, to eat, to sleep…
When Jesus at last speaks to them about the new and exciting normal, he affirms this was God’s plan all along…, the Lord knows our future, he knows what is coming. The transitions of life are in His hands too: READ Luke 24:44-49. Jesus affirms that his life and death and resurrection are all part of God’s eternal plan… the words are clear that now that he is risen, the work of God will continue: he is speaking of a new and exciting normal: “I am going to send you what my father has promised.” We are still living in the era of the risen Christ. It is an exciting time that ought to cause our hearts to be absolutely amazed!
Go forward in Christ. You don’t have to go back to your old life… his promise for us is the same as the disciples: peace. embrace the new and exciting normal of what it means to be amazed by his life on earth, to be astounded by his death and resurrection, and to go forward as people of faith. There is more to come!
Now that Luke is finished, Chad and I have decided it would be good to go on to Luke’s second book of the N.T. the second volume of Life with the Risen Christ. The book of Acts. Acts is like a giant arrow that points to the more that is coming in the new risen Christ era…. We might start next week?
Luke ends the way Acts begins: the ascension of Christ to heaven. The promise of God is that Jesus will return. That will be the next greatest transition in all of history! The ascension is a visual reminder that we are living in a new era with Christ in heaven yet present on earth through the Holy Spirit. He is alive, no longer flesh and blood, but alive. Be part of the new and exciting life for those who embrace the risen Lord.
I want to end with a visual parable… a reminder of the ascension. Watch this balloon ascend…. I will release the ballon and end with a prayer. (sidenote: I hope we gather together as a church family before this balloon loses it’s helium…) Jesus ascended, one day he will descend again and usher in the greatest transition of all: eternal life with Jesus Christ. Amen.
[release balloon] Prayer.
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