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John 21:1-14

This is the question that the disciples appeared to have in our text for this morning. Here is a brief review of the past few days in their lives:

• Jesus is killed on a cross and they all flee.
• Yet 3 days later, on Sunday morning Jesus appears to Mary, though no one believes her.
• Yet, that night Jesus appears again to the disciples in the upper room.
• A week later, Jesus appears again, this time to the disciples including Thomas.
• Yes, they were joyful…..but also scared.
• Jesus had told them to go to Galilee….he would meet them there.
• But no real explanation… and it may have been many days since Jesus last appeared.
• They were still perhaps scared of the Jewish leaders.
• What could all of this mean? What should they be doing???

Our text finds 7 of the disciples (5 of them named) at the Sea of Galilee. They are no doubt feeling as though they are at a dead end. What has the past three years been all about? So much disappointment. Despite their promises to always stick with Jesus they had all fled in the hour of trouble.  They had all failed him. It’s true that following his death and burial he had miraculously appeared to them on two different occasions – and while they expressed joy, they were also afraid. What did this all mean? What were they to do now??

So Peter decides to go fishing and the others agree to come along. They fish all night long with no luck, not even a single fish caught. In the morning, Jesus – who they don’t recognize – calls to them from the shore. “Any luck? Any fish?” “No”, they answer. “Throw your nets down on the right side of the boat, and you’ll find some.” When they do that, sure enough, they experience a catch so large they can’t even haul it in. Did this scene remind them of their original call by Jesus recorded back in Luke chapter 5? Did something seem unusual and yet similar? We don’t know….but John appears to have recognized the man on the shore as “the Lord”. Peter jumps in to hurry ashore. The others follow with the boat, net, and fish. Jesus waits for them, having already prepared a fire and some food. “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught. Let’s have breakfast.” The disciples know it’s Jesus but are too hesitant to confirm it with questions.

In the remaining portion of chapter 21 we read the important conversation between Jesus and Peter. Three times Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” Three times Peter answers, with rising consternation “Lord, you know that I do.” “Then feed my sheep. Take care of my lambs” Jesus tells him. It seems clear that Jesus is recommissioning Peter for more work – despite having denied Jesus and failing him three times prior to the crucifixion. While Peter and the others had all deserted the Lord in his hour of trial, he yet intends to send them out again, just as he had three years prior. He had already breathed the Holy Spirit on them and offered special peace. We will soon see that Jesus instructs them to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit comes on them with special power. Then their true calling would be more deeply understood and accomplished.

While this account begins with the disciples sensing a dead end and confusion about their future, we find the story ending with a doorway. The disciples (and especially Peter) are invited back in…. are re-commissioned for fishing. They are not only forgiven but given meaningful work. Take care of my sheep. Follow Me. And so what began as a disaster, ends with an open door for continued fishing / service.

How about us…..personally…..and as a church? Have we ever felt like we were facing a dead end? Have we ever felt a lack of clarity… not sure what was next?

The days and months following the great earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown in Tohoku, Japan on March 11th of 2011 brought such a time to all of us. How should we function as churches? How could we bring relief to the hardest hit areas? What did God want us to be doing? How could we best coordinate our efforts and steward our limited resources? While NOTHING we did could ever take away the grief, the sorrow, the terror that so many had gone through….yet, as the months and years of relief work continued it became clear that over and over, what had appeared to be a total dead end…..was in many cases a door that God opened for new ministry. The Holy Spirit was indeed working through many weak and often fallible servants to bring about kingdom fruit.

As I’ve read this account this week, the following points remain in my mind for further reflection:

1. Keep fishing! (don’t give up, just because we fail)
2. Try something different. (try the right side of the boat!)
3. Bring some of the fish that you’ve just caught. (God will work with us, but desires to use our gifts and abilities.)
4. It might feel like a dead end at times. But God may be opening new doors!

Holy Spirit, help us to apply these wonderful examples to our own life together here at JCC!

(the above is a summary of the message shared during our worship time on April 30, 2023.)

Genesis 11:27-12:9

When we study biographies of people who left their footprints in history, we can often see their potential early on in their lives. This often gets augmented by experiences, knowledge and skills they gain. We can see the seeds of greatness to come.

When we think about great men of faith like Paul, we see a similar pattern. He had fervor for God and Israel, had a great theological education, studied under the best rabbi, and was considered one of the elite religious leaders. He was one of those cases where people would think that “He is one of the greatest enemies of Christianity but imagine what kind of champion of Christianity he would be if the Lord turned him around.”

There is another method that God can use to raise greatness in a person. The first real “hero” of the Bible didn’t show any potential greatness. In fact, his life was practically done as far as contribution to society and to history. Yet God in His greatness, made greatness out of nothing. This should give us hope for our own lives, as well as for those who come behind us.

It is said that the whole of the Bible is sort of in the shape of an hourglass with a long waist. Genesis 1-11 deals with universal things, then starting with Abram and Sarai, it narrows the focus to Israel, and then from Acts 2, the focus broadens back to the universal. In this narrative, we are introduced to Abram and Sarai (who will later be renamed Abraham and Sarah), whose descendants will become the nation of Israel, from which the savior of the world will be born.

We are told that Abram is seventy-five years old. We later learn that his wife, Sarai, is ten years younger, which would put her at sixty-five years old. We also learn that Sarai is barren, and they have no child, nor any hopes of one. They probably are resigned to living out their remaining days quietly with no children nor grandchildren and would start thinking about to whom they should leave their possessions once they are gone. Considering their time and culture, they probably would give anything to start over and have a family.

So, when the LORD tells Abram that if they are willing to leave their home and go where He directs, He would make Abram the ancestor of a great nation, Abram is ready to take a chance and move. So, Abram, along with Sarai and Lot, his nephew, and all their possessions, move to the land of Canaan.

In the second half of the chapter, they encounter their first dilemma – famine. Abram decides to leave the promised land and move to Egypt. Before they enter, Abram instructs Sarai to lie to the Egyptians and tell them that she was his sister. Sarai complies and is soon taken into the Pharaoh’s house and Abram is given servants and animals as payment. To protect Sarai, the LORD afflicts the land with a great plague. Pharaoh reprimands Abram for lying about Sarai but spares his life and orders them to leave Egypt with all their possessions.

On the surface, it seems that Abram, the chosen one, does not leave a good impression. Apparently without consultation or directions from God, he decides to move away from the promised land and move to Egypt to deal with the famine. He shows cowardice by being concerned only for his safety, putting Sarai at risk of not only angering the Egyptians but having their marriage violated. Also, instead of being a blessing to the Egyptians, he brings a plague upon them.

At the same time, we can see that God is protecting Abram and even increasing his possessions through this episode, to help with the nation building process.

If we were to imagine the sort of person who we would choose to be the ancestor of a great nation, we would probably choose a couple who were young and could bear many children. They would need to be courageous and wise and strong to meet all the challenges they would face. They would also need to be sensitive to God’s leading and faithful to follow where the LORD leads them.

So far, we are not impressed. They did move into the promised land, but when trouble hit, they left without consulting the LORD. Abram showed his non-heroic side by trying to ensure his own safety by putting his wife at risk by getting her to agree to lie to the Egyptians.

In defense of Abram’s actions, he does not yet have a long history of dealing with the LORD. Therefore, Abram does not know how the LORD operates, His infinite powers, nor how true to His promises He is. Abram will learn as he travels on this journey.

Most of us have had more experience with the LORD than Abram and Sarai at this stage of their lives. We also have the benefit of the Bible stories that teaches us about how the LORD operates in this world and with His people. So, in many ways, we should be making less mistakes in our walk of faith than Abram and Sarai at this point of their journey.

We often think that God chooses people for their potential, and certainly He can do so. However, in the case of Abram and Sarai, we see a situation where they were not chosen for their potential, since they had none. They were advanced in age and unable to have offspring – They were not qualified candidates. God does not need potential. He can make something out of nothing. He can make the impossible possible.

So, when God calls us to do what we know we cannot do, we need to be reminded that God can work with someone with no potential. We should also avoid thinking too well of ourselves in terms of skills, experience or potential to do the LORD’s work, since He doesn’t necessarily need those things to get His work accomplished through us. Abram and Sarai remind us that God can make a great nation out of an elderly, barren couple.

Through the recorded stories about the Patriarchs – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, we will see them acting in great faith and with little faith. We will see them acting wisely and foolishly. We will see them acting bravely and cowardly. And we will see how God is there with them every step along the way – Just as He will be with us every step along the way in our journey of faith.

Due to the greatness of God, there is always a chance that great acts of faith can come, even through us.

(The above is a summary of the message shared by Shun Takano during our worship on April 23, 2023.)

To my friends at JCC,

While going through some of my old poems I found this one that I don’t think I showed to anyone, but since it’s a small way of saying thanks to all of you I thought I should send it along. I hope you are all doing well, I miss very much not being able to make it to services, and I miss the loving companionship we shared over many years. Though my memory is fading, I remember those times clearly. They were the best days of my life. Please keep me in your prayers, as you are always in mine. Take care, and may God bless you now and always! Remember me, as I remember you, with love,

Your friend and brother in our Lord Jesus, Jon Honeycutt

Every time I arrived at church, it became a little victory

around the mountain I could search to find its here I’d rather be

Though events conspire to keep me from the high point of my waning week

God’s grace enables me to come, His fellowship and truth to seek

And whatever stick gets in my spokes, He pulls it out that I may go

To laugh and learn and love you folks whose graces in this garden grow

What’ere the world that looms ahead, whatever obstacles defy

I shall, through them be safely led, and join you in the by and by

What’ere the reasons, cause or call, a love for God was shown to me

A new beginning, all in all, a soul re-born at J.C.C.

John 20:19-31

Seeing is believing……a phrase we often use….. Throughout the gospel of John, examples of people who needed to “see” before they could “believe” are plentiful. In fact, as we saw a few weeks ago in our study of John chapter 1, the invitation to “come and see” was offered by many, including Jesus himself, as a means of producing faith and belief.

“Come and See” pattern in the gospel of John:

• In the first chapter of John, Jesus says “Come and see” to the two disciples of John the Baptist who ask him “Where are you staying?”
• In verse 41 of the same chapter, Andrew – one of the first two disciples – goes and finds his brother Simon (Peter) and says “We’ve found the Messiah…. Come ….and see..”
• In the passage directly after this one, Philip becomes a follower of Jesus and immediately tells his friend Nathaniel about Jesus….using the same words as Jesus…”come and see” – verse 1:46.
• In John chapter 4 the Samaritan woman does the same thing. She encounters Jesus deeply, his identity is revealed to her, and she receives eternal life. She immediately goes and testifies about Jesus to the people of her town saying…. “come and see”.

In each of these cases the messenger was saying…..come and see for yourself. Come and meet Jesus. Then you can decide for yourself. Come, see, and then you’ll believe.

In our text for today, Thomas also wants proof of what the other disciples tell him. But he’s not the only one:

• The first disciples who hear what Mary tells them – Jesus’ body is gone! – want proof  too, so they run to the tomb…. and find it empty. (20:3)
• Later, when Mary comes back to them after talking to Jesus (who she had thought was the gardener) announces that she has seen the Lord…we still aren’t told whether the disciples believe her or not. Probably not, since they haven’t seen Jesus yet for themselves. (20:18)
• And finally, Thomas, when he hears from the others that Jesus visited them in the upper room and spoke with them says “unless I see…… I won’t believe.” (20:25)

And of course, this makes sense. Because, seeing IS often the impetus for believing.

Thomas is often described as “doubting Thomas” but it’s clear that it’s not so much a problem of doubting, but that he simply wants confirmation in the same way that the others did, and that each of us do.

When Jesus reappears a week later, Thomas is there. Jesus addresses him directly, telling him to put his finger in the nail holes, and his hand in his side. “Don’t be unbelieving, but believe” says the Lord. Thomas then becomes “believing Thomas” confessing “My Lord and my God” (v. 24ff)

Then Jesus says an interesting thing: “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Wait…..so believing is not ALWAYS based on seeing??

What an encouraging thing to read…..since that includes all of us doesn’t it? We can’t “see” the resurrected Jesus physically.  We have never met him in the same manner that his disciples did. Yet, we’ve come to believe through encountering the resurrected Jesus. It’s the same resurrected Lord, and we too, proclaim, “My Lord, and my God!” So we know that yes, it’s not only possible, but rather normal to believe without seeing….proof and confirmation can come from “spiritual seeing” and many other experiences as well as from physical sight.

Here are two “take-away”, important phrases of Jesus from today’s text:

1. “Don’t be unbelieving…..but believe”
2. “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

Just as Jesus was sent by His Father to earth….to show us the way, to teach of the Kingdom, to proclaim freedom and salvation to the world….we are being sent by Jesus (with the help of the Holy Spirit) to be involved in the same work – kingdom work – loving people, serving people, announcing the arrival of the kingdom, freedom, and salvation.

Dear Lord, please help us in our unbelief….and work through us today. Amen.

“Doubts can drive us further into Scripture and closer to God as we seek answers for our questions. If you have doubts, pursue God until they are resolved.” David Jeremiah

“Doubt is honesty; unbelief is obstinacy.“
Henry Drummond

I Corinthians 15:17-26

Today, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Typically, we look at one of the famous passages in the gospels about that Sunday morning. We are all familiar with that narrative about the women going to the tomb where they find the boulder that was covering the entrance miraculously rolled away, Jesus’ graveclothes still there but not the body, and the angel telling the women that Jesus has risen and is no longer in the grave.

Instead of rehashing this story, let us look at what the resurrection means, as well as what it would mean if it did not happen.

When I first heard the story about Jesus, it stood out to me that two miracles were claimed for Him – One at the beginning of His life, and one at the end of His life. The first was the miracle of the virgin birth, where Mary becomes pregnant without having sexual relations with a man. The second was the resurrection. Back then, it was easier for me to believe the miraculous birth than the resurrection.

After all, there have been documented asexual births in nature, but no other instances of someone dying on Friday and coming back to life on Sunday. There have been occurrences where someone dies for a few minutes and comes back to life, but that is more like a revival than a resurrection.

It turns out, the resurrection is the key to Christianity. Without the resurrection of Jesus, Christianity falls apart.

A few times during His ministry, Jesus told His disciples that He will be captured, tried and executed, and then rise on the third day. If Jesus stayed dead and was not resurrected, then this would mean either Jesus was lying, wrong or crazy. It also could mean that somehow, Jesus failed in His mission and God abandoned Him in death.  If Christ did not rise from the dead, then there is no resurrection for us either.  This would mean that there is no forgiveness of sins, no salvation, no eternal life in fellowship with God and our Christian brothers and sisters.

There are many who believe that our spirit is bound in our imperfect bodies, and that we only reach our spiritual potential when we are freed from it. It is understandable that people come to this view, since our bodies, especially when we are injured or riddled with disease or old age, limit us in living the way we would like. Also, when we sin, it is often to satisfy the needs of our bodies. So, we come to the conclusion that when we die, our spirits are finally freed from the limits of our bodies and now we can reach our potential and can come close to God.

However, this is not what the Bible teaches us. God created humans to have both body and soul. If that were not the case, He would not have created a body for us to start with. The Bible also tells us that when the time comes, we will go meet our Lord not just in spirit, but also with a resurrected body. In eternity, we are not going to be some bodiless spirit, but we will have a physical body. But this body will be not the imperfect body that we are/were used to, but a glorified body, similar to what the resurrected Christ has.

So, when this age ends and a new earth and a new heavens are created, we who died in faith will be there with our new bodies. This is the hope that the Lord has given us on that Easter morning when He rose from the dead.

This is why we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are grateful for what He went through on Good Friday, but that would have been meaningless had He not risen. Because He has risen, we now know that our sins are forgiven due to the good works of Christ on the cross. And by accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we too will rise in the end, with our souls and our new bodies, and be in eternity with our Lord, as well as our brothers and sisters in Christ.

(the above is a summary of the message shared by Shun Takano with us at our Easter worship on April 9, 2023.)

Here is some recent news from Anna, one of the missionaries we are supporting in Japan. Click on the link below to see her complete newsletter in your browser:

RECENT NEWS FROM ANNA

Genesis 9:8-17

After Cain murdered his brother, Abel, and was exiled to the land of Nod, Cain married and had many descendants. Seth was born to Adam and Eve, and their descendants also became numerous. But the wickedness of humankind became great to the point where God was sorry that He had made them.

He was ready to wipe out humanity and start over, but Noah found favor in God’s eyes.

God ordered Noah to make a giant ark in preparation for the great flood. Two of each animal were collected into the Ark, along with Noah and his wife, as well as their three sons and their wives. It rained for forty days and forty nights and that combined with the ground water that burst forth resulted in a great flood that covered all the mountains and killed all the people and land animals.

The flood continued to swell for one hundred fifty days. It took another one hundred fifty days for the waters to start to abate. It took a few more months before the ark settled on the mountains of Ararat. Another two months, and Noah was able to open the doors and get out onto dry land.

Noah built an altar to God and sacrificed some animals (God had commanded Noah to bring additional clean animals into the ark for this purpose). God was pleased and decided to never curse the ground because of humankind, nor destroy the earth with a flood.

Now we come to today’s passage, where God cements His decision and makes a new covenant with Noah, his descendants and all the animals, and sets the rainbow as the sign of this covenant. Every time we see a rainbow, we are to be reminded of this covenant.

Why did God use the rainbow as the sign of this covenant? If you look at the passage, it never actually says “rainbow” – It actually says, “bow in the clouds”. The bow and arrow were the most powerful weapon in those times, and it was the main tool used during a battle. And an empty bow turned on its side was a symbol of cease fire or peace, since one could not shoot an arrow from that position.

So, God, who acted in aggression towards the earth and its inhabitants, is now offering peace – shalom – to the world. This is good news, since we would not be able to survive God’s continued aggression.

We might imagine that God was willing to establish this covenant because finally, after the great purge, humans were going to be less wicked than before.  But this is not the case, according to Genesis 8:21, “I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, for the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth.”

God knew that there is wickedness in humankind that will continue, and there would come times when He would just rather start over. But the rainbow will be there as a reminder to Him of this covenant (Genesis 9:14-15).

This meant that periodic purging by flood to reduce the wickedness of humanity was no longer an option God would use. In Exodus, we see God making another covenant with Israel and giving them the Ten Commandments to try to guide their behavior. Nine out of the ten commandments were things the people were not to do. This is an indication that God knew that the natural tendency in humankind was to sin.

Even when people took the laws seriously, there was a tendency to see what they could get away with. There are websites dedicated to informing devout Jews of what can and cannot be done on the sabbath, and it is very complex. Instead of celebrating all the liberties that God gives, laws tend to have us focus on the restrictive nature of laws.

When Jesus taught about two of the Ten Commandments in His sermon on the mount, it made the people realize that it is not possible to keep the laws through our efforts. If being angry is committing murder in our hearts, and just by having lustful thoughts about someone is committing adultery in our hearts, then no one is capable of keeping the laws. All they do is to remind us that none of us is righteous on our own. This is what Paul means in Romans 3:10 – There is no one who is righteous, not even one.  And the wages of sin is death. This means that all of humanity was headed to eternal death.

Even though humanity continues to be wicked, God’s desire is to not destroy humanity but to save it. Knowing that humanity cannot save itself, there had to be a way where humanity could be saved – A way to deal with humanity’s sinful nature without compromising God’s righteousness.

The solution to mankind’s sin problem was revealed on Easter, which we will be celebrating the next time we meet.

The Son of God was sent to earth and faced many temptations to sin, and yet remained sinless. So, the man with no sins – the only one in history – died a sinner’s death on the cross. He died not for His sins, since He had none, but for the sins of humanity. That was on Good Friday.

Then on Easter morning, Jesus rose from the dead, validating the fact that His sacrifice in our stead, was accepted by God, and the means for salvation was now available to everyone. Any person who would accept Jesus Christ as their lord and savior will now be judged righteous not by what they did, but by what Christ did on the Cross on our behalf. We get to wear His righteousness and become sons and daughters of God.

So, when a rainbow appears in the sky, we should be grateful that it reminds God to not destroy us. Not only that, but it should be a reminder to us of how much God loves us and wants us to live and to have eternal life.

(the above is a summary of the message shared by Shun Takano during our worship service on March 26, 2023.)

John 9:1-41

Our text for today is a miracle story – a story of Jesus healing a blind man. He had been blind from birth.

Jesus and his disciples see this blind man and they ask Jesus “Was it due to his sin….or his parents’ sin…. that he was born blind?” “Neither…” Jesus says. The man’s blindness is NOT directly related to his, or his parents’ sin. To see one’s misfortunes as always a result of sin is completely wrong.

Jesus makes some mud with his spit, puts in on the man’s eyes and tells him to go and wash it off in the Pool of Siloam. When he does, his eyes are “opened” and he is miraculously healed…. he can see!

This causes some confusion among his friends and neighbors. Some think it really happened. Some think that it’s a different person than the blind man that they’ve always seen begging on the street. Further, the word of this healing gets out. And the Pharisees are concerned because the healing happened on the Sabbath, when evidently “no healing should be done”.

In the end, the blind man is called before the Pharisees and leaders, and then later his parents are called in for questioning. If you read the details it is really rather humorous how the once-blind man is able to answer the Pharisees and state his belief that the man who healed him must have been a prophet, someone who was connected to God.

The healed blind man is thrown out of the synagogue and we know only that the Pharisees and leaders are frustrated and angry with Jesus.

There are many questions raised by this story:

• Clearly Jesus refutes the initial inference that the man’s blindness is directly related to specific sin.
• Unlike other healing accounts, Jesus has no conversation with the man. The blind man does not ask for healing. Jesus just heals him.
• No one – not his neighbors, not his family, and certainly not the Pharisees – seem happy about his healing. No one! No one is excited for him!
• At first there even seems to be some indifference on the part of the healed man toward Jesus – when asked where Jesus is…..he simply answers “I don’t know.”
• Later, we’re given a hint that people were afraid to say too much, because they would be thrown out of the synagogue if they confessed Jesus as the Christ.

But now let’s go to those final verses – because I believe it’s here that we really understand this story. After Jesus hears that the healed man has been thrown out of the synagogue, Jesus finds him and asks him…”Do you believe in the Son of Man”. He answers….”Who is that…show me so that I can believe.” Jesus says: “It’s me, you’re talking to him.” Then the man worships, “Lord, I believe”.

And then we have these words of Jesus:

Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” 40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?” 41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.“

So here it is: this is a story about blindness and sight – darkness and light.  A man is born blind, not able to see. Then Jesus, the light of the world (v.5) heals him and he is given the miracle of sight. The neighbors and friends are unable to “see” the miracle that has been done. They too are blind. The Pharisees and Jewish leaders are blind to the fact that a great prophet is among them. They are unable to “see” the truth, because they are so sure that they know the truth – (we are followers of Moses, this fellow is a sinner, doing anything on the Sabbath is a sin, etc.)

• To be certain of our correctness, to be certain that we are always right…..is to be blind. A lack of humility is a sign of blindness.
• Jesus’ paradoxical statement at the end: If you were aware of your blindness, if you had even an inkling of humility, you would not be guilty. But because you say with pride “we see clearly” you unfortunately have no excuse for your blindness.

How about us? Today, as we enter the 4^th week of Lent,

1. Let us be humble, aware that our sight is limited, that we see through a glass darkly.
2. God, please open our eyes so that we may see new truth! So that we may see your miracles all around us! Help us to recognize you as our Savior, Messiah, Lord!

The Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai (1924–2000) captures this paradox in his poem:

From the place where we are right
Flowers will never grow
In the spring.

The place where we are right
Is hard and trampled
Like a yard.

But doubts and loves
Dig up the world
Like a mole, a plow.
And a whisper will be heard in the place
Where the ruined
House once stood.

(the above is a summary of the message shared during our worship on March 19, 2023.)

Genesis 4:1-16

We think of this narrative as a story about Cain and Abel, but Abel really only plays a minor role. All we know about Abel is that he is the younger brother and was a keeper of sheep. When offerings were made to God, Abel’s was accepted, while Cain’s was not. Out of jealousy Cain kills Abel. We really do not get a chance to get to know Abel. We do not get to hear Abel speak at all, except for his blood crying out from the ground.

The main story is between God and Cain.  Questions arise from this narrative for which there are no clear answers. The reasons that Abel’s offering was accepted but Cain’s offering was rejected is not given. And if we just take the narrative as given, the only people to inhabit the world should be Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel. Yet, there are the people that Cain fears will kill him, and people in the land of Nod, where Cain ends up settling. We can only conjecture about the answers, but the answers are not found in the book of Genesis.

It seems obvious that Cain cares greatly about his relationship with God and is devasted and angry about his offering being rejected. He sees Abel as a rival that is getting in the way of being approved by God. God makes it clear that Cain has a choice to give into his anger or not, but Cain chooses to act out on his anger and murders his brother.

If we were to ask the “person on the street” what the story of Cain and Abel is all about, they may think that it is about a brother who commits a crime of passion and kills his brother. And when confronted with the crime, he confesses, asks for forgiveness, and mercy and protection is given by God. But this is not the case.

Even though God already knows what Cain had done, He asks Cain where Abel is – God is giving Cain a chance to admit to what he did, but Cain simply pleads ignorance. Even when confronted with his guilt and told of his punishment of banishment, Cain does not show any signs of contrition, nor does he admit his guilt, nor ask for forgiveness – He is more worried about his own safety.

Under these circumstances, we would not be surprised if God simply destroys Cain, but instead, he puts a mark on Cain that will protect him from anyone who might want to do him harm.

What are we to take away from this narrative? It certainly is not that God loves us so much that we can commit murder and we can get away with it.

According to Jesus, the greatest commandment is to love God and to love others. If we were to reflect on which of these is harder, most of us would say the latter. If we are honest with ourselves, there are many people that we dislike, for various reasons. And even those people we like, it does not take much for us to feel anger, jealousy, or even hate at times. Sometimes we come close to acting out, and sometimes we actually do lash out. The prison system has its share of residents who went too far.

What caused Cain to kill his brother was the fact that God rejected his offering, while accepting Abel’s. There probably would not have been any murder had God rejected both offerings, or had accepted Cain’s offering. But God did reject, and that led to Cain becoming upset. God is God and He has every right to make His choices as He sees fit. And we have a choice on how we deal with our intense emotions. There are consequences when we choose to harm others. Not only are there legal implications and consequences for us, it also affects the person who is harmed, as well as those around the victim, and those around us.

God talked to Cain and tried to encourage him to do better. He also warned Cain about sin, and how it is lurking to take hold of him. Instead of working out the issue with God, Cain gave into his anger and took it out on Abel.

Yet God does not stop speaking to Cain after the murder. There are the necessary consequences – Cain’s work is going to be much harder – the ground is not going to produce rich harvests for him, and he is also banished from his home and has to go settle in the land of Nod. But there is also grace and mercy – God allows Cain to live and grants him protection. This results in Cain settling in and raising a family.

This is a reminder that even when we fail God in our relations with one another, God will not abandon us. He will continue to reach out to us.

It is also a reminder that when we feel like lashing out at someone, we should talk to God and then to listen to His response, which often comes through reading the scriptures, or through others that He will send to us.

Loving others is not an easy thing – If it were, there would not be so many instructions in the Bible regarding this topic.

Not long ago, a disturbing light was shed upon a married couple. The marriage seemed like a good one, with the couple being actively involved in ministry together. But in the privacy of their home, there was abusive behavior – both emotional and physical. When this started to become public, this negatively affected not only the marriage, but also impacted the various ministries in which the couple was involved.

We have to remind ourselves that no one is making us act out in violence, whether emotionally, physically or both. We have the choice whether to act out on our negative emotions or not. The Holy Spirit is there to help us in these situations, if we allow ourselves to be helped.

If we do end up acting out and harm others, there will be consequences. However, remember that God will not abandon us, and He will continue to speak to us.

John points out in his first letter that God’s command to us is to believe in the name of Jesus Christ and love one another. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we should make every effort to obey this command. But when we fail, Paul reminds us in Romans that there is nothing in all of creation that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is what we will be celebrating next month. That was the ultimate show of love to us from God the Father.

So, in response, let us love God and others.

(the above is a summary of the message shared with us by Shun Takano during our worship on March 12, 2023.)

Matthew 6:1-6; 16-18

Intro: Meaning / Understanding of Lent

• A period of preparation before Easter
• 6 weeks (40 days, count six weeks from Ash Wednesday without the Sundays (36 days), then add the days of Holy Week from Thursday until Easter Sunday for a total of 40)
• 40 is an important number in the Bible – 40 days and nights of rain during the flood, 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, 40 days of fasting for Jesus as he prepared for ministry, etc.
• What should we be doing during these 40 days to prepare for Easter?

Popular understanding:

• Abstinence from certain foods
• Giving up something (Maybe a guilty pleasure like chocolate or coffee)
• But Fasting in the Christian understanding is so much more than “giving up” something. It is a journey TOWARD a deeper relationship with God.

Fasting and abstinence in the Christian sense is:

• An attempt (even if briefly) to live more perfectly
• In Paradise, humans were not concerned with food and physical needs. Their life consisted of growing in Grace and in their relationship with God. Complete dependence.
• In the Fall, there came a losing sight of complete dependence on God, and an over-concern for food and physical needs – almost to the point of suffocating our very existence.

Lent represents a chance to realign our priorities, to once again prioritize our spiritual appetite over our physical needs.

“Be careful not to do your `acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (v. 1-4)

Almsgiving:  Giving to others, being generous with neighbors

• Alms are our evidence of our love for God, expressed through our love for neighbor.
• We can’t truly love God, without loving our neighbor.
• On these two things: love of God and neighbor, rests the entire law!
• As Jesus warned, we must be careful. If we are just giving alms to be seen by others, or to become famous, or so people will think well of us – we end up losing any reward.
• The giving of alms is also a private thing and one that realigns our priorities from merely self-care – which is important – to neighbor-care, which is a commandment.
• Almsgiving is also part of our intimate journey to God.

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (v.5-6)

Prayer

• Here we see in Jesus’ words that prayer, like fasting and almsgiving, is a personal and private conversation with God.
• It’s not to negate group or community prayer. But it’s to invite us into the secrecy of the prayer in our closet, where no one but our heavenly Father will see us.
• We are not to pray to publicly impress people or shout about our love for God.
• During Lent we have the chance, in private prayer, to also involve our bodies and physical nature through kneeling, prostrations, standing, pacing, dancing prayer? It may be easier to do all of these in the privacy of our own closets!
• Prayer is also part of our intimate journey to God.

“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (v. 16-18)

Fasting:

• Fasting is commanded and modeled by Jesus  “when you fast…”
• “If you love me, you will do my commandments.”
• Not a punishment for sins, but a joy and intimate (private) achievement
• A chance to be reminded of how dependent we are on physical needs
• No matter how “sought after the food” …. if you ate it daily it would lose its charm….. if you skip even one meal, or experience even just a bit of hunger, the taste of simple food and plain vegetables immediately returns.
• Fasting is part of our intimate journey to God.

One idea for this week:

Skip one lunch

• During that 30 minutes of fasting
• Take time to praise and pray
• Choose one person or situation to pray for

In this simple exercise you are practicing all 3 “pillars of Lent” at once. Fasting, praying, and praying FOR someone as a gift or almsgiving.

(the above is a summary of the message shared during our worship on March 5, 2023.)