EASTER April 4-5, 2021 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “CERTAIN HOPE FOR UNCERTAIN TIMES!”

 

EASTER

April 4-5, 2021

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

 

“CERTAIN HOPE FOR UNCERTAIN TIMES!”

1.     Easter gives us hope for uncertainty in this life.

2.     Easter gives us hope for a certain life to come.

 

1 Corinthians 15:19-20 (EHV) “If our hope in Christ applies only to this life, we are the most pitiful people of all. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

 

          Uncertainty, not knowing, is the worst. You are left hanging, paralyzed, unable to act and not knowing which way to go. So if you apply for a job that you really want it’s the waiting that’s the hardest part. Did I get it or not? Once I know I can act one way or the other. Or take the biopsy. Is it cancer or not? Uncertainty again leaves you hanging, wondering, what should I plan for. So when you are waiting for some needed news that will be either good or bad it’s better to know. Then you can act. Uncertainty, uncertainty is the worst. We are so glad to be able to worship online and in person this Easter. It was good to know we could plan on having this service but we certainly have had more than our fair share of uncertainty this past year, haven’t we? If you are like me, you felt pulled back and forth by experts. Things that we were told were true one week weren’t true the next week. Things I thought for sure would happen didn’t happen. The waiting was the hardest part. Will the economy tank or bounce back? Will I keep my job or lose it? Will we be able to go back to in person worship, in person school, or not? What keeps you going in uncertain times is hope. Hope that things will get better.

          What are you hoping for this morning? Do you hope this virus goes away or the vaccines work so life can go back to normal? Do you hope that our nation can somehow heal? Is your hope more personal for something like a job or healing or for a relationship? It’s important to have hope. It’s also important that your hope is well placed. So often the hope people have is no hope at all but just a wish, a dream, “Wouldn’t it be great if..” but there is nothing backing that hope or wish. That’s why it’s good for us to be here, to be listening. We are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and what we shall see is that what happened outside of Jerusalem that first Easter Sunday almost 2000 years ago gives us a sure and certain hope, hope backed by Christ.

          It gives us hope for the uncertainties of this life. Jesus has made many promises to you, promises filled with hope. He has promised never to leave you or forsake you. He has promised you that with Him in your life you never face any problem alone. He has promised to work all things in your life for the good. He has promised that He is ruling all things, including governments of this world, for the good of the church and that means for your good. He has promised that He has all power to provide for you and protect you and He is using it. He has promised to hear and answer all of your prayers based on what is best for you. He has promised you that He loves you unconditionally. He has promised you that His death has paid for every one of your sins in full, that you are forgiven.

          All those promises are meaningless if Jesus’ bones are buried in some cave somewhere outside of Jerusalem. None of these promises can be true. None of God’s promises can be trusted. You have no hope for this life if Christ has not been raised from the dead. But He did rise from the dead! Read all of 1 Corinthians chapter 15 today if you want and rejoice. Rejoice as it reveals Jesus lives! In addition to the eyewitness accounts from Matthew’s Gospel and Mark’s Gospel  and the ones Luke so carefully researched and wrote down in his gospel and the eyewitness account of John in his Gospel, Paul reminds us of the time the risen Lord Jesus appeared to over 500 people at one time and then to Paul himself. Jesus is risen and that means you have certain hope for the uncertainties of this life.

          So go ahead and smile and be happy and have hope, hope in Jesus. Hoping for our lives to return to normal is just a wish, but hope in Jesus gives me confidence that because He lives we get to know that even if we don’t get back to normal He will work abnormal for our good. Hoping I get a certain job I have my heart set on is a wish. Hope in Jesus gives the peace that my living Lord Jesus will provide for me in the best way and if I don’t get that job it’s because my living Lord Jesus has a better one for me. Hope that our country will heal or a relationship will make it is a wish. But hope in the living Lord Jesus gives me the comfort of knowing my part in causing division in our nation and my part in ruining a relationship has been forgiven and I am free to live today in a way that promotes healing and peace. Hoping grandma’s cancer goes away is a wish but hope in Jesus gives me the calmness of knowing grandma will get better.

          Recently I was told of a retired pastor who had just gotten the news that he had an inoperable brain tumor, likely 6 months to live. A relative who did not know of this diagnosis happened to call him and ask how he was feeling. “OK,” he said, “but pretty soon I’ll feel perfect!” How could he say that? He could and did because not only does our living Lord Jesus give us certain hope for the uncertainties of this life but he also, and more importantly, gives us certain hope for the life to come.

          That’s what the Apostle Paul was emphasizing in the section of 1 Corinthians I read to you. “If our hope in Christ applies only to this life, we are the most pitiful people of all. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” I appreciate honesty. Paul’s words very bluntly remind us that a day is coming when hope for this life won’t matter any more because this life will end. That’s not a popular message in an America where many citizens strive to hold on to every last breath but it’s true. The death rate for Americans still stands at 100%. What then?  It’s good to have hope in Christ for this life. It changes attitudes and outlooks. But this life ends. Then what? If there is nothing more we are the most pitiful people of all.

“But” and I hesitate to say this, however, this is a really big “but.” But what? But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Jesus lives! Do you see what this means? We have certain hope for the life to come. Paul called Jesus the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. Since we live in an urban area we really don’t focus on what firstfruits are or mean. Firstfruits are exactly what they sound like, the very first part of a crop that is ready to harvest. It’s the first daffodil to break ground, but it’s not the last. It’s the first apple or cherry blossom to show, the promise that more are coming. It’s the first ear of juicy Wisconsin sweet corn waiting to pop in your mouth, but more are coming.

Here is hope, certain hope for the life to come. Let’s go back to grandma’s cancer. You love grandma. She loves you more. Throughout her life she has been there loving, hugging, smiling. She has prayed for you and pointed you to Jesus her Savior by word and example. You pray for her to get better. She will! She will! Because Jesus lives. Whether the cancer takes her or something else she will not end when this life ends. She will fall asleep in Jesus and as He rose from the dead as the firstfruit  she will follow as the second or more likely billionth. You will be with her again. Now if it’s not Grandma you are hoping to see, who is it? Picture them. Easter gives certain hope for the life to come. It’s happening.

Now look at what that does to the here and now. This life can frustrate you but it cannot break you. It can vex you but it cannot defeat you. It can drag you down but it cannot put you out. It can cause you pain and your heart to ache but it cannot control you and does not define who you will be nor will the hurts and pains last. The Devil and the unbelieving world can try to marginalize you as much as they want but they will be the ones on the margins just hoping to get to be what we are, but their hope is nothing more than a wish that will never happen. But you, you will live forever in the glory and joy of heaven where no pain can touch you, no hope goes unfulfilled, no sin can make you feel guilty and no relationship break your heart. Why? Because Jesus lives! Certain hope for the life to come.

          Friends, I am quite certain that if I could tell you and the rest of America for a fact that all Covid related inconveniences would end tomorrow there would be great joy and happiness—for a little bit. At least until the next fear producing crisis came. If I told you, you would get that job that you really want or your house offer would be accepted you would be thrilled--for a bit, until the job or house became one more thing in this life you take for granted as we all find it so easy to do. However I can’t tell you any of those things with any certainty. What I can tell you  is Jesus lives. And because He lives you can always count on a brighter tomorrow. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed! Amen.

April 1, 2021 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: John 13:1-5, 12-17 “HANDS OF HUMILITY!”

 

MAUNDY THURSDAY

April 1, 2021

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: John 13:1-5, 12-17

 

“HANDS OF HUMILITY!”

 

John 13:1-5, 12-17 (EHV) “Before the Passover Festival, Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved those who were his own in the world, he loved them to the end. ² By the time the supper took place, the Devil had already put the idea into the heart of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. ³ Jesus knew that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God. ⁴ He got up from the supper and laid aside his outer garment. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. ⁵ Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him…. ¹² After Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer garment, he reclined at the table again. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. ¹³ “You call me Teacher and Lord. You are right, because I am. ¹⁴ Now if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ Yes, I have given you an example so that you also would do just as I have done for you. ¹⁶ Amen, Amen, I tell you: A servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”

 

          I’m guessing you have all either had an experience like this or watched it happen. You go to a restaurant. The hostess seats you and says, “Your server will be with you shortly.” You wait. You converse with your dinner guests. After a while of talking you realize no has stopped at your table yet, not even to fill glasses of water. That’s weird. You look around trying to catch the eye of who is supposed to be your server. No one. You go back to the hostess who points out your server to you. You ask for some water. “Sure, I’ll be right there.” More waiting. Uncomfortable. Starting to lead to anger. You hunt the server down. “Can we get some help?” “Sure, just let me take care of this table first.” You head out in a huff. That’s not good service.

          Whether that has actually happened to you or not at a restaurant it has happened somewhere. Poor service just leaves you waiting and frustrated and it is all too common. At the doctor’s office. The grocery store checkout or just trying to get an oil change. Here’s the problem. We all depend on others for needed service. In fact God created people to depend on others. You might be able to do your taxes but can you fix your computer, your car, your plumbing? Good service is so important and often so rare that we are willing to honor good service with healthy tips and enthusiastic referrals.

          And if you are the person who likes to do that then certainly you will want to refer your friends and relatives, and maybe even your enemies, to Jesus! The word of God we are looking at shows Jesus providing invaluable service not just to His disciples but to all of us as we look at his Hands of Humility.

          We join Jesus and His disciples in the Upper Room and the night of what we have come to call Maundy Thursday. They are celebrating the Passover and Jesus has a lot on his mind. “Before the Passover Festival, Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved those who were his own in the world, he loved them to the end. ² By the time the supper took place, the Devil had already put the idea into the heart of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. ³ Jesus knew that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God.” Did you catch that? Jesus knew. He knew it was time, time for Him to feel the sting of betrayal by a friend, time for Him to endure the pain and suffering of Hell in order to redeem the people He loved so much. Who would have blamed Jesus if He made the night about Himself, if He had been withdrawn and quiet? But He wasn’t. He was busy serving.

          “He got up from the supper and laid aside his outer garment. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. ⁵ Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.” You have to wonder a little bit just what had happened when Jesus and his disciples had first entered the upper room. Remember, these are the guys that Jesus busted arguing about who would be the greatest in Jesus’ kingdom. These are the guys who fought again when James and John’s mother asked for special privileges for them. Normally when you entered a house in that culture someone washed your feet. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say the lowest man on the totem pole got the privilege of handling, sweaty, stinky dirty feet. With no one there to wash their feet were they arguing again? Who would get stuck washing feet? Nose goes! Rock, paper, scissors! Wouldn’t you think one of them would at least have offered to wash Jesus’ feet? Didn’t happen. But feet were washed—by Jesus. “ After Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer garment, he reclined at the table again.” With all that Jesus had on His mind, with the weight of the sins of the world resting on His shoulders we would understand if Jesus let a little of his righteous anger show. But he didn’t. His hands of humility went into action and He served.

          And He served with purpose. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. ¹³ “You call me Teacher and Lord. You are right, because I am. ¹⁴ Now if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ Yes, I have given you an example so that you also would do just as I have done for you. ¹⁶ Amen, Amen, I tell you: A servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.” You can teach with words. You can teach with actions. You can do what’s best and teach with both. That’s what Jesus was doing. Without frustration or exasperation, with perfect patience Jesus taught the joy of service.

          Jesus’ hands of humility humble us. Most of the time our service to others falls far short of what Jesus has shown us. Often we base it on the behavior of our neighbor. We shun people who don’t agree with us. We get around to the problem child last. We do the least we can get by with for the most difficult people in our lives and gladly do good to those who are good to us and we justify our poor Christian service by saying, “That’s all they deserved,” And our own words condemn us. What if Jesus worked that way? No one would have gotten their feet washed. Much worse, no one’s sins would be paid for. But that’s not Jesus. He didn’t walk out in a huff over the bad behavior of his disciples and he didn’t walk out on you and me either. He served and gave his life as a ransom for many.

          Maybe we wonder why Jesus took this particular time to teach a lesson on Christian service. So many other things could have been His priority. But the Savior you know always has the best interest of His people in mind. He gives what they need. What we need is to know what will give us joy in this sin filled world as we wait for the glory of heaven. And what we need is the strength to do it. Both of those Jesus provided with His hands of humility. This day we call Maundy Thursday. Many people think Maundy must have something to do with the Lord’s Supper because this is when Jesus gave it to us. Actually the word Maundy comes from the Latin Mandate which means command. A new command Jesus gave that night. Love each other as I have loved you. Love by serving. Find joy by serving. The command is not to wash feet but to serve others needs even if it’s lowly, even if they don’t deserve it. And the strength to do it? Jesus’ hands of humility held out bread and said, “Take and eat, this is my body,” and the cup and said, “Take and drink, this is my blood.” Faith food. Strength for Christian living.

I said earlier that God created people to need the service of others. He also created us to find joy in serving others with our own hands of humility. That’s why Jesus said, “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” Happy serving! Amen.