This Sunday Share is from David Garrison, pastor of Northminster Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Madison Heights, Virginia. David also happens to be an old friend of mine, and I’m delighted to share this Easter-appropriate post – “The Only Difference That Matters” – from his Pastor’s Corner blog. From 1 Corinthians 15:12-19, he explains why the resurrection is essential to Christianity.
You’ll find it at the link below – it’s worth the short read!
How often have prominent public figures had to walk back, clarify, or disown public comments in response to a social media protest? A recent Pew Research poll showed that only about 25% of American adults use Twitter, and about 25% of those people write 97% of all Tweets. Yet, journalists, politicians, executives, individuals, and others often feel they need to bow to Twitter and other social media or be “cancelled.” I’m not sure which is more worrisome, that so few largely anonymous Twitter users have so much power, or that even U.S. presidents sometimes yield to them.
Paradoxically, while the pandemic has shaken many people’s confidence in authority, at the same time some worldly authorities are claiming more power, having failed so miserably to manage the pandemic and its ripple effects. To me, a lesson of the pandemic was: “See all these things people trust in? They can all be torn down overnight.” It has left a lot of people shaken. Those we used to trust aren’t trustworthy, but where else can we turn?
The authorities respond: “Just give us more power and we will try again, but harder. Ignore the evidence and trust us.”
The authorities of Jesus’ time were pretty lousy themselves. In the greatest abuse of authority in history, they killed Him on a cross on Good Friday, humiliating Him publicly for all of history to see. The rebel Barabbas was released by Roman political authorities instead of Jesus because of the cries of an angry mob stirred up by a few Jewish religious authorities jealous of Jesus’ appeal and resentful of His claims of authority. Astonishingly, it’s not entirely unlike Twitter. In modern times, the mob wouldn’t even need to show up to have Jesus killed, the “influencers” would just have to start #CrucifyHim trending and people would follow along just to be seen holding the popular view. If Jesus’ message of love and hope for mankind died with Him, where can we turn?
Fortunately, we have Easter, where Jesus responds: “You hit me with all the power you have, and it wasn’t enough. Even the grave cannot hold Me. I rose from the dead and now sit at the right hand of the Father, in the place of ultimate authority. The tomb is empty. Observe the evidence and trust Me!”
Jesus is risen indeed!
“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
This is the LORD’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Save us, we pray, O LORD!
O LORD, we pray, give us success!” – Psalm 118:22-25
[Originally published after Good Friday in 2022]
Today’s Sunday Share comes from Jared Wilson on the For the Church website of Midwestern Seminary. Wilson turns the cliché of midlife crisis into “Midlife, Christ Is” for those of us solidly in middle age. He writes that “while I have no illusions about having the strength and energy I did at 25, I have no doubts that my friend Jesus is as strong as he’s ever been, and wherever I have to go, I know he will go with me.”
Read more at the link below. (Estimated reading time 3 minutes)
As a hearing child of deaf parents myself, I was thrilled in 2022 to see the movie CODA win best picture, deaf actor Troy Kotsur win best supporting actor, and Siân Heder win for best adapted screenplay. CODA stands for Children of Deaf Adults and the story centers around Ruby Rossi, a hearing teenage girl who is an amazing singer but is the only hearing member of her family. There are good lessons in the movie about overcoming differences and obstacles through some compassion and creativity.
It was a great movie but be aware: “Mr. Kotsur used the versatility of sign language to enhance Frank’s dialogue, which is sometimes salty enough to push the limits on the movie’s PG-13 rating.”[1] There’s one scene in particular where Frank Rossi embarrasses his daughter Ruby in front of a boy with some improvised, erotic sign language. Versatility has negatives but also positives…
Multiple words for love in Greek (eros, agape, etc.) conceal layers of meaning when translated to English. After watching CODA, I was reminded of an example where the expressiveness of sign language also adds layers of meaning beyond spoken English. (maybe spoken English is just a bad language?) Not all sign language is the same – there are many dialects – but the sign for Bible I use is actually two signs: “Jesus” followed by “book.” Every time I sign what I would just speak as “Bible,” there’s a reminder built right in that the Bible is a book about Jesus. From start to finish, the Bible is a record of why He needed to come, what He was like when He did, and what His followers should believe, know, and do. Jesus Christ is described right in the sign for Bible!
But there’s still another layer. In the book of 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul defends his ministry saying that his message needs to focus on “Christ crucified”[2], not on performing miracles to those who want signs and impressing with fancy speech those who love wisdom. To sign “Jesus”, I touch the middle finger of my right hand to the palm of my left hand, then the middle finger of my left to the palm of my right. What does that signify? It’s an expressive reminder of the crucifixion of Jesus, and the nails that were barbarically driven into his hands. Thomas, one of the 12 main disciples of Jesus, said after the first Easter that he would not believe Jesus had risen from the dead “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side.” Eight days later, Jesus presented Himself to Thomas and said “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” To which Thomas replied: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:24-29). I don’t know if this was intended by the person who created the sign for Jesus, but it may be a liturgy recalling this encounter, reminding us that Jesus was crucified, yet lives!
So, whenever you think of the Bible, think of it in sign language where every single time you sign it, there is a reminder that the Bible is the book about Christ crucified. After Thomas declared who Jesus was, Jesus responded: “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Every time I sign “Bible,” it testifies to those who have not seen Jesus of what He has done for them.
One Last Thing
By the way, to sign “book” you place your hands together flat, palms facing each other, in front of you, then open them as if your hands were the front and back of a book.
[1] Jurgensen, John. “Troy Kotsur of ‘CODA’ Wins Best Supporting Actor Oscar.” The Wall Street Journal, 27 March 2022.
[2] 1 Corinthians 1:23
The mark of a relationship with Christ has taken many forms over the ages, but with one common factor: a self-sacrificing love.
In the book of Genesis, Joseph, son of Jacob, has a fascinating story. Joseph was favored by his father, despised by his brothers, sold into slavery in Egypt, but eventually rose to a position of prominence under Pharaoh. In Genesis 41, Pharaoh learns that Joseph has interpreted dreams and calls for his help with Pharaoh’s own distressing series of dreams. Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dreams as a prophecy of seven years of famine and recommends a plan to get through it. After this interpretation comes Genesis 41:38, where “Pharaoh said to his servants, ‘Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?’” We connect Pharoah’s recognition of God’s Spirit in Joseph to the correct interpretation of dreams, but there is more to it: Joseph also cared for the people of Egypt and oversaw the plan to survive the famine.
In the book of Acts, after Peter’s proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ to many “rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem,”[1] Acts 4:13 records that “when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” These crowds knew that Peter and John had been with Jesus, that they had a similar spirit. They had something that comes not from this world’s schools or from what it holds in distinguished, high regard. Instead, “they were uneducated, common men,” but they carried the mark of Jesus. They had a connection to an unknown source of boldness and were concerned for the spiritual needs of all people.
In the Psalms, a Psalmist (probably David) wrote in Psalm 119:97-98:
“Oh how I love your law!
It is my meditation all the day.
Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
for it is ever with me.”
The Psalmist praises God’s commandment as a source of wisdom better than anything available to his enemies. By meditating on God’s commandments, the Psalmist is “wiser than my enemies,” because he has a wisdom from an unworldly source. He carries the mark of Christ, but what is this commandment and what is this wisdom?
In Matthew 22:37-40, Jesus says the greatest commandments are: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” In other words, any and all commands of God are subordinated to the command to love God and neighbor, including our enemies.
In John 13:34-35, Jesus reiterates the rule, telling His disciples: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Therefore, how can all people “find a man…in whom is the Spirit of God?” Where will the world find astonishing boldness and good news among even “uneducated, common men”? They will find it in those who have the fruit of the Spirit, which begins with “love,” but also includes “joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”[2]
So, does someone have a physical need like those impacted by the famine in Joseph’s day? Does someone have a spiritual need for hope that only the gospel can provide? Love provides the answer to both needs, and by love will the world know Christ’s disciples.
Therefore, make Christ known today by loving someone as Christ would.
Driving Toward the Morning Sun 