Were You There? (Lent Week 4)

 (Place yourself in this fictional glimpse based on Mark12:13-17).

  During your visit, your friend invited you to hear Jesus speak. You had heard Jesus speak once before and were eager to listen to him again. You definitely were not disappointed! His words challenged you to worship God not out of fear or obligation but with a heart filled with joy and love.

 When Jesus finished one of his teachings, a group of Pharisees and Herodians approached him. Your friend shook his head and said, "Here it comes."

 "What do you mean?"

 "The Pharisees don't really like Jesus."

 "Why not? Why wouldn't they like someone who speaks God's truth?" you ask.

 "I'm not really sure. The Pharisees are always testing Jesus. It's like they want people to know they are wiser than Jesus. Jesus is a lot more popular than them. I think they are jealous. There have even been whispers of the Pharisees wanting to arrest Jesus."

 Now it's your turn to shake your head. "Why would anyone want to arrest Jesus? Does anyone know God better than him?"

 "One of the Pharisees begins speaking,' Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you are not concerned with anyone's opinion. You do not regard a person's status but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?"

Your friend mutters, "Not one of us thinks we should be paying taxes to Caesar. They want Jesus to speak against the Roman law."

 "Jesus answered, 'Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius to look at.' They brought one to him and he said to them, 'Whose image and inscription is this?'

 They replied to him, 'Caesar's.'

 So Jesus said to them, 'Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God."

 Jesus handed the coin back to the Pharisees. Realizing that Jesus' answer had satisfied Jewish customs and Roman law, the Pharisees pretended to thank Jesus for his wisdom and walked away. Jesus continued his teachings as if he had never been interrupted.

 Later that evening, you reflected on Jesus' teachings. You wondered how your faith could be more of a reflection of your love for God rather than just following rules. You were very saddened and confused by the Pharisees' actions today and other circumstances your friend had shared with you. You wondered if you had ever unknowingly acted like Pharisees. You asked God to open your heart to some difficult questions that kept nagging your conscience as you prayed.

 You began to pray, "Lord, do I appreciate the faith of those around me even when we disagree? Do I hold my knowledge of the faith as something better than others? Do I react with mercy and compassion as Jesus taught, or do I respond with righteousness and jealousy?" You sat in silence for a long time allowing your eyes to be opened. 

 "Lord, help me to love more. I am worried about Jesus' safety. Please help those who have hardened their hearts to Jesus. Amen.”

-Susan

Were You There? (Lent Week 3)

 (Place yourself in this fictional glimpse based on the Gospels.)

 You had walked for hours, hoping to hear the new teacher Jesus speak. You wished your good friend had joined you. His Mom said he was too young to be following rabbis outside of town. Off in the distance, you could see a boat nearing the shore. One of the men in your group yells, "It is him! I see him! We better hurry!"

  As you come closer, Jesus has already begun teaching. Quickly, your group finds an open spot off to the side. Your heart is literally on fire as Jesus teaches. You have never felt this way when the rabbis speak in the synagogue. Jesus didn't just give a list of rules to follow. Instead, Jesus gave so many examples of how God loves us. Jesus really opens your eyes to God's love. God doesn't feel distant. He feels very close. You don't even realize that hours have passed since you sat down.

 You find yourself momentarily distracted as his disciples begin talking amongst themselves. You hear the word "food "and "hungry." You look up at the sky and realize the sun is heading towards the horizon. You feel your own stomach growl as you know you never ate the lunch your mother had given you. In fact, you can't recall anyone eating while Jesus was speaking. Suddenly, a thought occurs to you: Jesus has not eaten. You wonder if he has any food or if that's what his disciples are discussing. You look at what your mother has packed. It's not much, but Jesus just said we should share our gifts and talents with the Kingdom. Your stomach again growls as you wonder what to do. Should you really give away this little bit that you have? Should you offer Jesus everything? Shouldn't you keep some for yourself? You wrestle for a few minutes with the idea of giving Jesus everything. Finally, your heart wins the match and forces you to stand. Quietly you make your way through the crowd towards the disciples.

 "Excuse me, I would like to offer my lunch to Jesus. It's not much, but it's all I have."

 The disciple smiles at the boy. "What are you offering?"

 "Five barley loaves and two fish." You feel foolish now that you have said it. The disciple does not look very impressed. 

 "I will let Jesus know," the disciple responded. 

 The disciple returns a few minutes later and says, "Jesus is very pleased with your generosity. He happily accepts your gift." You watch as the disciple takes your lunch to Jesus. What happens next is unexplainable. First, Jesus blesses the bread and fish in front of everyone. Then he begins to hand out the food to the people directly in front of him. Next, others are given food and more people after that! He has handed out much more than 5 loaves of bread! Jesus then instructs his disciples to pass bread and fish to everyone!  

 Jesus walks over to you and hands you food as well. "Thank you for sharing with me. I, in turn, have shared your gift with everyone."

 "How is that even possible? I only gave you 5 loaves and 2 fish?"

 Jesus smiled and said, "I asked God to bless the gift you had shared. With God, all things are possible. He is never outdone in generosity. Will you follow me and help me feed others?"

 You realize that Jesus had done something miraculous with your gift as you pass out the food. Today you played an important role. The Kingdom of God needed you. As you continue to distribute the food, you wonder, "What else should I share with the Kingdom?" You think about Jesus' question," Will you follow me and help me feed others?" Did that mean something more?

-Susan

Were You There (Lent Week 2)

( Place yourself in this fictional glimpse based on the Gospels.)

  Quickly you carry your large empty tray back to the food preparation area. You stop for a minute to wipe the sweat running down the side of your face. Cana can be so hot in the afternoon. You notice a couple of the other servers looking into the wine containers. One of the servers flags you to come over. "Do you know if there are any more vessels of wine? These are all empty."

  "How can they be empty?" You ask. "This will be the shortest wedding ever." You realize you had spoken louder than you should as a woman quickly walks past you. "Do you think she heard me?" You ask the others. 

  "Don't worry about it. When the guests' glasses are not refilled, they will figure it out anyway," your friend says reassuringly.  

  A few minutes later, the same woman returns with her son. She looks directly into your eyes and says, "Do whatever he tells you." 

  The man smiles at you, putting you ultimately at ease. "Hello, I understand the wine is running out. Please fill these jars with water and then bring them to me so that I may bless them."

 You wonder if this man understands what he asks of you. "You want all of these filled?" That's going to take some time. I'm going to need a lot of help. Each one of these filled to the top with water weighs over 200 pounds."

  The man seems to seriously consider your words. "You're right. What I'm asking you to do will not be easy, but I will pray that my Father will grant you the strength and the help you need to carry out this task."

  You want to say no. Of course, you should say no, but the man's response was so genuine it almost made you feel special. Before your mind can respond, your heart commands your lips to say, "Yes, I will be sure these jars are filled with water."

  The man smiles and says, "Thank you."

  As you begin to instruct some of the other servers to help you, everyone starts complaining. "Can't this wait until the morning? We are too tired to begin a job this big," declared one of the servers.

  "The people are going to want wine, not water. So why are we wasting our time," grumbled another? 

  After a considerable amount of time has passed, you begin searching for the man to let him know that the task has been completed. The man and several of the guests are actively involved in a conversation. Respectfully, you stand just outside this circle of men, waiting to be noticed. The man sees you almost immediately and excuses himself from the conversation.  

  "Don't be too long, Jesus, I need to hear your opinion on Peter's comment," yells one of the men as the others begin to laugh. 

  Jesus looks directly at you and says, "Follow me." Jesus stops in front of the vases of water. He raises his hands and, with eyes closed, begins to pray while looking towards heaven. After he was done praying, he looked at you and said, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." Confused, you filled a minor pitcher with what you knew to be water, but it no longer looked like water. Instead, it was a rich color of red, and its fragrance was a bouquet of sweet wine.  

  Your hand begins to tremble as you carry the pitcher to the head waiter. Your head is spinning as you try to comprehend what just happened. If this is a trick, the head waiter will be very angry. 

"And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now." (John 2:9-10) 

The head waiter was delighted, and you were instructed to immediately begin serving the wine.   As you went pack to start preparing, you couldn't help but pour yourself a glass. This is water, and water doesn't just become wine. Wine comes from grapes. It takes at least 6 months to make wine. It would have taken a few hundred pounds of grapes to make this much wine. You feel your hand shaking even more as you raise your glass to your lips. Cautiously you take a small sip. Your eyes widen with excitement. This was not good wine; it was the most incredible wine you had ever tasted. How was this possible? How could Jesus turn water into wine by praying? Who is this man called Jesus?

  The rest of the night was a blur of excitement and questions. Over and over, you replayed in your mind Jesus praying over the vessels. This was a miracle! You witnessed a miracle! But what if his mother had not heard your concerns? Would this still have occurred? Does his mother know what he is capable of doing? In your mind, you hear her voice over and over, "Do whatever he tells you." What if I had said no to Jesus? What if I had said, "what you ask of me is too difficult?" This encounter with Jesus has changed your life. You distinctly remember the moment he said, "Follow me." You now wonder if there was something much more to this request. Perhaps he was not just referring to tonight. It's possible you still need to fill his request.

-Susan

Were You There? (Lent Week1)

 (Place yourself in this fictional glimpse based on the gospels.)

  They call him John the Baptist. You come out to the Jordan River as often as you can to hear him preach. His words are powerful. He speaks of repentance. He challenges everyone to prepare for the Messiah as if he was coming very soon. You smile as you remember the day John baptized you in the Jordan. You have felt like a new person ever since that moment.

 Today, you notice John speaking with two other disciples as you approach the river. You are close enough to hear John say, “Behold the Lamb of God,” as he pointed to a man who had begun walking away from the crowd. You quickly turn your head to see who they are talking about and do your best to memorize the features of this stranger. What does that even mean he is the Lamb of God? Who would want to be a lamb? The lambs are the ones sacrificed or eaten at Passover. Yet, John’s tone inferred this was a meaningful title.

  You watched the stranger walk further away. The two men speaking with John now appear to be following him. You wonder to yourself,  "Should I also follow this Lamb of God? How closely should I follow him? Where will this path take me? You consider all the things you are supposed to do this week. Is following this man really more important than your plans?"

-Susan

What Happens Next?

 

   My son was playing one of his video games when he accidentally spilled his glass of water. He had to act quickly to dry off his laptop before it got ruined. I heard the commotion and went to see what had happened.   Fortunately, his quick actions saved his computer but not his game. Apparently, he was penalized for leaving in the middle of this competitive game. “ You don’t realize how hard I worked to get to that level. Now it’s all lost!” He said with anger and disappointment. 

  I’m glad God doesn’t react to our mistakes this same way. He doesn’t take away the progress we have made in our faith lives when we stumble; He keeps calling us to draw near. So, as we begin our Lenten journey again, take some time to discover what progress you have made since last year. Are you still open to hearing His voice?

  Beginning this Sunday, I will be posting a series of fictional stories based on the Gospels. Using your imagination, place yourself in the scene described, and search your heart for the answers to the questions posed. Remember, no matter what mistakes we have made in the past, God calls us to His cross. You can pick up wherever you left off and continue the journey. 

-Susan