Brown's Daily Word 3-18-08

Good Morning.
Praise the Lord for this Holy Week. We would continue to look at the Triumphant entry of Jesus, the King our Lord, to Jerusalem as it is recorded in Luke 19.
It must have been quite a scene as Jesus rode into Jerusalem. First, he is not riding a warrior’s horse, he is riding on the colt of a donkey. His head is bobbing as the colt takes its awkward steps. And all around is a motley crowd. Former prostitutes, shouting children, people who had been lepers who were now cleansed, people who were once blind who now could see, people who at one time had running sores and untouchable diseases, tax collectors, foreigners — all of whom had been touched by Jesus. The Bible says, “The whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen” (Luke 19:37).
Jesus seems to be repulsed by the religious, and strangely attracted to the sinners and unacceptable people of society. He drinks and eats with tax collectors so that he is called a drunk and glutton. Women with bad reputations caress his feet, washing them with their tears and drying them with their hair. They anoint his head with expensive perfume. He touches people with leprosy and terrible diseases, things that most people would not get within a hundred yards of. Jesus has accumulated a strange mix of people among his disciples. There are zealots who wanted to fight the Romans with terrorism, and whatever other tactics and force were required. On the other hand you have tax collectors who have collaborated with the Romans. Because of this, and issues like who was the greatest, there seems to be constant conflict among the disciples. How patient our Lord must have been — how open his heart.
I see Palm Sunday as one grand act of invitation. Jesus is riding into Jerusalem inviting, not forcing, them to receive him as King — only not the kind of king they thought they wanted. His arms are open wide. The invitation is for them to lay down their political ideas of what the kingdom of God means, and take up his teaching of what the kingdom actually means. This is not an invitation to take over Rome so that Israel can be free, this is an invitation into new life in the kingdom of God here and now, while Rome is in control politically. This is not just an invitation to be healed, delivered or forgiven, it is an invitation to kingdom living that transforms the world. Jesus’ invitation was for everyone to come and recognize the King of this new kingdom. It was an invitation to leave their directionless and self-absorbed lives of confusion and ambiguity. It was more than an invitation to be saved from personal sin; it was an invitation to leave a life of futility and stupidity and enter into the God-life he was offering. It was an invitation to leave a life of dysfunction and have a life that worked, because it was a life lived God’s way.
Brian McLaren puts it in his book "The Story We Find Ourselves In". He says, “For prostitutes, the call of Jesus was to leave their story of men who pay money for love, and to enter the story of God, who in love pays for us with his own life. For Pharisees, it was to leave their story of religiosity and superiority and rigidity and judgmentalism, their story that was exclusively focused on their own narrow little sect, and instead to enter God’s broader and deeper and better story of grace and compassion and mercy and love for all people. For Zealots like Simon, it was to leave the political story of violence, to stop slitting Romans throats, as if that would bring the story to its desired end, and instead to enter God’s spiritual story of peace for all people, to risk persecution for justice and to prefer suffering over causing others to suffer. For tax collectors like Zacchaeus or Matthew, it was to stop collaborating with the Roman Empire, and profiting in the process, and instead to collaborate with the kingdom of God, and sacrifice in the process. For the rich — like that young ruler Jesus met — it was to abandon the hollow story of acquisition, and instead to enter God’s better story of generosity. For farmers and shepherds, it was to realize that there’s more to life than just planting seeds of wheat or tending flocks of sheep; instead, Jesus invited them to enter into the bigger story of planing seeds of truth and seeking lost men and women, every one of whom is loved and counted and missed by God. For fishermen like Peter and Andrew and James and John, it was to trade in the story of catching fish for a bigger story of fishing for men and women, inviting them into God’s story of ongoing creation and redemption. For the middle class, who want nothing more than to create a little social aquarium for their family. . . . it’s a call to care about the families of their neighbors too, especially the poor, to see them as family too, as children of Adam and children of God.”
Jesus invites the atheist to leave the story of a world where God does not exist, and enter a beautiful, new, colorful world where God is the cause of everything that exists. He invites the humanist, whose story is all about depending on himself to discover meaning and ultimate reality in the material world, to enter the story of God where God’s greater purpose is bigger than any one person or group of people, a meaning and purpose which God has built into the universe. He invites nominal church people to leave a life where God only occupies one hour a week, with a passing prayer here and there, to enter fully into his life and teaching, on a moment by moment basis. Instead of inviting God to be a part of your life, accept his invitation to fully be a part of his, to move beyond thinking we need God’s help to realizing how much we need God himself. He invites us to move beyond a list of rules and right doctrine to a life of ongoing relationship with himself. He invites you to understand that he did not die just to bring you to heaven, but to bring heaven to earth through you.
Jesus gives an open invitation to a life of fruitfulness. Jesus’ openness to us is not an invitation without cost. It is not just an invitation into God’s love, although it certainly is that, it is an invitation into God’s kingdom where there is work to be done. Being a kingdom person means accepting kingdom responsibilities. What strikes me about the context of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem that we are celebrating today is that it is sandwiched between two great parables. Luke tells us that as he was heading toward Jerusalem, he told the parable of the ten minas. We are told that the reason for telling the parable was, “because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once” (Luke 19:11). Minas were a currency that was about the equivalent of three months wages. The parable begins with the words: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return” (Luke 19:12). Jesus is talking about himself. He was telling them that he was going away for a period of time, but it would result in him being appointed King of all the earth and return to it. But before he left, he would give money to his servants which they were to put to work until he returned. He gave each servant a mina. One servant multiplied it to ten minas, the next multiplied it to five, but the last one hid his mina in a piece of cloth and hid it. The master was angry and took the man’s mina and gave it to one who had ten. The parable ends with the words, “I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away” (Luke 19:26). Jesus expects us to be fruitful. His invitation is an invitation to have our lives count.

In Him,
Brown
The Holy Week Schedule for Worship Services:

On Wednesday at 6 p.m., there will be a soup supper, followed by the movie, "The Passion of Christ"

On Maundy Thursday at 7 p.m. Ron Goldberg will serve a Sedar, which will be combined with a communion service.

Good Friday at 6 p.m., there will be a combined worship service at the Endicott Church of the Nazarene

Saturday at 11 a.m. there will be an Easter Egg Hunt for the children, with lunch to follow.

Easter Sunday, the day of resurrection, there will be a Sunrise Service at 6:30 a.m. followed by a family breakfast at 7:30.
Worship Services at 8:30 and 11:00 a.m., and Sunday School at 9:50 a.m.

Marriage Advice from Kids
How Does a Person Decide Who to Marry from a kids viewpoint . . .
"You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming."
Allan, age 10

"No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you're stuck with."
Kirsten, age 10

Concerning the Proper Age to Get Married

"Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER by then!"
Cam, age 10

"No age is good to get married at.... You got to be a fool to get married!"
Freddie, age 6

How Can a Stranger Tell if Two People are Married?

"Married people usually look happy to talk to other people."
Eddie, age 6

"You might have to guess based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids."
Derrick, age 8

What Do You Think Your Mom and Dad Have in Common?

"Both don't want no more kids."
Lori, age 8

What Do Most People Do on a Date?

"Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough."
Lynnette, age 8

"On the first date, they just tell each other lies, and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date."
Martin, age 10

What the Children Would Do on a First Date That Was Turning Sour

"I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the newspapers and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns."
Craig, age 9

When is It Okay to Kiss Someone?

"When they're rich!"
Pam, age 7

"The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with that."
Curt, age 7

"The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them and have kids with them.... It's the right thing to do."
Howard, age 8

The Great Debate: Is It Better to Be Single or Married?

"I don't know which is better, but I'll tell you one thing ... I'm never going to have sex with my wife. I don't want to be all grossed out!"
Theodore, age 8

"It's better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need somebody to clean up after them!"
Anita, age 9

"Single is better ... for the simple reason that I wouldn't want to change no diapers... Of course, if I did get married, I'd figure something out. I'd just phone my mother and have her come over for some coffee and diaper-changing."
Kirsten, age 10

What Promises Do a Man and a Woman Make When They Get Married?

"A man and a woman promise to go through sickness and illness and diseases together."
Marlon, age 10

How to Make a Marriage Work

"Tell your wife that she looks pretty even if she looks like a truck!"
Ricky, age 7

"If you want to last with your man, you should wear a lot of sexy clothes.... Especially underwear that is red and maybe has a few diamonds on it."
Lori, age 8

Getting Married for a Second Time

"Most men are brainless, so you might have to try more than one to find a live one."
Angie L., age 10

How Would the World Be Different if People Didn't Get Married?

"There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there?"
Kelvin, age 8