Posted by Chris on May 17, 2009 under Sermons
William Bridges would seem to be an expert on transitions. He wrote a book about transitions titled, Transitions. Transitions involve endings, neutral zone, beginnings. How do we navigate transitions with our faith?
Read John 20:11-18.
This story is about a lot of things. It is a transition.
I have always wondered why Jesus seems so rude toward poor disoriented Mary. Does he think himself too good now?
This isn’t about Jesus. It is about Mary.
- Focus on 20:17
- Do not cling to me. Do not hold on to me. (Let me go)
- BUT – you go find my brothers and tell them “I am ascending to my father and your father, to my God and your God.
- Mary has to let go because she has a mission. She is sent by Christ
- She wants to hold on to Jesus as she knows him. As long as she is holding on and won’t let go then she cannot be sent on the mission.
- She wants to hang on to Jesus, her Rabbi, but he is returning to His Father, and now he can say, her father and her God too.
- Recall in 14:12 – When Jesus is with his Father, we will be able to do even greater works.
- Transitions will happen.
- No one is making it happen. No one is forcing it. God and the universe have not conspired against you. Things change. We change. Others change. (This too shall pass)
- Some of it is good. Some of it isn’t. Some of it just is.
- What was isn’t necessarily bad, but it cannot always be. It ends. [There was nothing wrong with Jesus as Mary’s rabbi – but that came to an end. Mary has to let go of it.]
- What is soon to be might be good, better, or worse. But it begins.
- Transitions are all around us: The events of today. The experiences of our nation. The experiences of this church. The inappropriate responses are fear, worry, anger, and even nostalgia.
- What truly matters is that we follow Christ through the ending, the in-between, and the new beginning.
- Letting Go and Going Out
- Holding on to that which has ended keeps us from moving into the mission of God.
- What is it that we are holding on to and won’t let go?
- A grievance, conflict, unresolved past, sin, nostalgia, comfort, control, expectations preferences, age, familiarity?
- It might be something really important, but we have to let it go to get to the new beginning.
- And letting go doesn’t despise what was. It can honor it.
- What’s Our Mission? What is Your Mission?
- If your faith ends here. If these were your best days, then where’s your mission? If this was the best then what was it for? Did it matter? Did the teaching and care and confidence we invest in you matter?
Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles
The occasion of the above reading involved a strong disagreement among Jewish Christians about the need for gentile converts to accept Jewish practices. Many Christian Jews thought that if a gentile converted first to Judaism, then the gentile was “qualified” to convert also to Jesus Christ. After all, most gentiles knew only idolatry, not the living God the Jewish people knew. Many gentiles had terrible concepts about divinity-the Jews thought they could destroy those terrible concepts and prepare gentiles for having the lives they should live.
Interestingly, the disagreement 2,000 years ago is very similar to our disagreement today: What is the foundation of salvation? Is the foundation our acts or God’s acts? The primary difference in their discussion and ours was (is) this: their discussion focused on background and our discussion usually focuses on the necessity of obedience.
Peter said to them and would say to us, “Your concerns miss the point!” Salvation is able to exist because of what God did in Jesus’ death and resurrection. Any human response to what God did is just that-a response, not a foundation. Faithless salvation does not exist: the person must place total confidence in what God did in Jesus’ death and resurrection. That is the foundation of salvation: the foundation of forgiveness, of sanctification, of redemption, of righteousness. That is God propitiating for our failures.
Every act of obedience is merely a response to what God did in Jesus. Obedience is a huge, believing, “thank you” to God that declares appreciation to God for what He did for us. Obedience is not a “question mark” or an unbelieving manipulation (“I did the right acts so You, God, have to save me!”) Human acts can never manipulate God!
“Thank you, God, for not making our salvation dependent on a human’s or group of humans’ approval. Our hope is in what You did for us, not in what we do.”
Posted by Chris on May 10, 2009 under Sermons
Ammonites
- Deuteronomy 23:3
- Refused Israel passage during the Exodus
When the Israelites of the Exodus paused before their territory, the Ammonites prohibited them from passing through their lands. For this act, they were denied entry into “the congregation of the Lord.” – Deut. 23:3
Attacks by the Ammonites on Israelite communities east of the Jordan were the impetus behind the unification of the tribes under Saul, who defeated them.
From Samuel II 10:2, it may be concluded that Nahash assisted David out of hatred for Saul; but his son Hanun provoked David by ill-treating his ambassadors, and brought about the defeat of the Ammonites, despite assistance from their northern neighbors in Aram. Their capital Rabbah was captured, and numerous captives were taken from “all the cities of the children of Ammon.”
Nahash
- The Snake
- Especially cruel
- Gouges out right eyes
– Debilitating
– Humiliating
Jabesh-Gilead
- Refused to muster in Judges 21:8-9
- Gives Jabesh a choice – lose your eye or die!
- Jabesh gets 7 days
Seven days to determine if Israel is going to be saved
Who Will Save Israel?
- v. 3 – If there is no one to save us
- v. 9 – You shall have deliverance
- v. 13- The Lord has worked deliverance in Israel
Savior Saul
- Saul is outraged by the oppression and humiliation
- Saul is consumed with the Spirit of God
- God empowers Saul to rescue Israel
He’s farmer Saul to begin with.
He has compassion on his critics.
Samuel’s Farewell
- God is witness
- Now you have a king
- Who saved you?
- You and your king do right
Holy War – 1 Samuel 13
- Saul musters Israel to go against Philistia
- The troops are going AWOL
- Saul does not show trust (offers sacrifice)
- The dynasty will go to another
Posted by Chris on under Sermons
Read John 19:16b-30.
So here’s Jesus, Mary, the Beloved Disciple, at the cross. Why is Jesus saying this at the cross? Is this his last will and testament? Is this the final request of a dying man? Did he just happen to remember that someone needs to take care of mother? Recall everything Jesus has said before …
- Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. (15:13-14)
At the cross, Jesus is calling on his disciples to have the same sort of friendship that he had for them
- He is asking the disciple to give his life for Mary – to care for her as his mother
- He is asking Mary to give her life for the disciple – to regard him as her own son
- This is new relationship in Christ.
- Sentimentality, tradition, and/or nature might lead to a mother giving her life for a child. It might lead to a child giving his life for his own mother. But at the cross, we go beyond all of that. We have resources that the rest of the world doesn’t have … at the cross.
I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. (16:20)
Today the rest of the world is celebrating the cherished concept of motherhood. The rest of the world is giving flowers to mom, the rest of the world is going to take mom out to eat, the rest of the world is giving mom a card that says just the right thing, the rest of the world is serving mom breakfast in bed. We can do what the rest of the world does. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s nice. It’s kind.
But we are also a people who know what it means to stand at the cross. We are a people who begin worship not in the filtered glow of a Hallmark Mother’s Day ad. Our worship is not just a sentimental embrace of the traditional ideas our culture cherishes.
We can do more than take our own sentimental values and ask heaven to sprinkle magic Bible dust on it.
We take our most cherished traditional ideas like motherhood, fatherhood, childhood, family and we place them in the shadow of the cross and the light of Christ reveals more than we can imagine.
At the cross … We have been given a message and resources that the rest of the world just doesn’t have. What the rest of the world cannot do very well, especially at a time like this, is name the pain and shame that is very real … realities the rest of the world would prefer to forget …
- The loss of a mother
- The mother who has lost a child
- The woman who cannot have a child
- The mother and child that are separated
- The mother who never was much of a mother at all
Can I say this? Can we talk about this? Church we have to! We must! We are the people who dare to stand at the cross.
At the cross … We stand boldly in the presence of pain or shame and name it.
At the cross … Jesus is speaking in the presence of the shame and pain.
At the cross … Pain gives way to new life and shame is changed to new hope.
At the cross … Relationships are created that cannot be created anywhere else.
At the cross … A woman who is losing her son gains a new family.
At the cross … A disciple who is losing his teacher becomes a son.
At the cross … Your shame may be covered over by the blood of Jesus.
At the cross … Your pain and sorrow has been heard by the crucified one. He will not turn against you.
Mary, the Beloved Disciple, and the other women are going to worship soon. They will lead the worship. Peter who betrayed Christ will be there too, but he will not lead the worship. Thomas who doubted will be there, but he will not lead the worship. Judas will not even be there. The ones who will lead the worship will be those who stood at the cross and feared that their pain and grief would overwhelm them. They are the ones who heard every word he said – at the cross.
Can we worship with them – at the cross? Psalm 22 I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. (16:20)
Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles
Paul’s situation for writing those words focused on Jew and gentile (any non-Jew from any nation) relationships. Paul’s point: any gentile placing trust in God through Christ was loved by God as much as any Jewish person placing trust in God through Christ. There are no superior and inferior Christians. The key is not “where you came from,” but “do you place your trust in what God did in Jesus Christ.” Faith in Christ is the key to salvation, not lineage. Superiority attitudes have no place in coming to God through Christ. All who trust God’s work in Christ are important.
In the salvation concept, Paul made these statements: Salvation is the direct result of God’s attitude toward people. Salvation exists because of God’s incredible kindness. It is God’s gift, not a human achievement. Salvation’s firm foundation rests on what God did in Jesus Christ. It is not the result of a human act or activity. Human acts are not salvation’s foundation. Always, it is God, not us.
People believe Jesus Christ is an act of God [not a fortunate happening], and respond to what God does in Jesus Christ. Why? They trust God’s work in Jesus. How? They become crafted by God. They are willing to be God-made in Christ. How do they show this? Believers spend their lives learning what God’s good works are, and doing those works. Why? (1) They believe God was at work in Jesus. (2) They are God’s craftsmanship. (3) Christians are God-designed to do God’s good works.
Recently I listened to godly people in Christ share heart views. Their concerns in Jesus Christ are genuine. Their dedication to doing God’s good work in Christ is heartfelt. They totally believe in Jesus. They agree a person must come to Christ. They agree the foundation of everything is confidence in God’s work in Christ. They agree on the importance and roles of repentance and baptism. They agree on transformation in Christ. They agree on passionate devotion to God’s good works. However, they often differ on how to implement passionate devotion to Christ.
We live in complex times in a complex world and a complex society. The result: complex lives, relationships, and needs. Only by God’s grace can salvation exist! Salvation is not founded on our agreement, but God’s kindness! Thank you, God!
Posted by Chris on May 3, 2009 under Sermons
Transition of Power
- Samuel’s sons – unjust
- The elders of Israel
- A king like the other nations (v. 20)
Shifts in Succession
Exodus and Empire
- Samuel’s warning about kings
– Military conscription
– Land redistribution and taxation
– Class distinction, luxury of palace
- You will becomes slaves
– King = Pharaoh
– Israel = Egypt
God’s Reply
- Give them what they want
– Not approving of the monarchy
– Not denying them the monarchy
- God’s grace and wrath
– Grace to work with their mistakes
– Wrath – Romans 1:24
Grace: compare 8:7 with 9:16.
Is God really giving them a king and refusing to protect them, or is He going to use the monarchy to preserve them from enemies? God is sovereign, not petty.
God’s Ruling
Destiny and Donkeys
Saul’s Paradox
9:1 – Saul is son of Kish from an important family
9:21 – Who Am I?
10:22 & 23 – tall and reluctant
Posted by Chris on under Sermons
Read John 18:28 – 19:16.
So here’s Pilate on his way to work. It’s a day like any other for him. He’s a bit tired because his wife has been tormented by bad dreams lately and he is growing weary of her anxiety and religious superstition. Pilate and his wife are staying in Jerusalem during the Passover festival. Certainly not for religious reasons. No, it’s what his job demands. It serves the empire for Pilate to maintain the government and military presence during this high religious festival. This is the time of year when the zealots get stirred up – Jerusalem is on high alert for terrorist activity. For Pilate, a return to his home in Caesarea cannot come soon enough.
Pilate begins the day in meetings dealing with administrative matters. As the governor of Judea he has the usual docket of mediating disputes, awarding contracts, and meeting with representatives of various interest groups.
First up this morning is a case involving the Chief Priest Caiaphas and an alleged zealot from Galilee. Pilate looks over the case and notices that the Chief Priest and his entourage aren’t even in the palace – it’s their religious piety again, Pilate finds it so pretentious but it isn’t good form for him to say anything. Yet, there’s something about the case that doesn’t seem right to Pilate, so he approaches the Chief Priest and begins asking questions …
- What did he do? Pilate doesn’t get a straight answer: “If he hadn’t done something really bad, do you think we would be bothering you?” They ask with contempt.
- It’s an internal matter, none of my concern
- We cannot impose the death penalty – great, they are using the Roman authority to their own advantage. Fine, Pilate can play that game too.
- He goes straight to the accused: “Are you King of the Jews?”
- Jesus: “Do you want to know the answer to that yourself, or are you acting for others?”
- Pilate: “I’m not a Jew. Your people brought you here, now what did you do?”
- Jesus: “My kingdom isn’t earthly.”
- Pilate: “Fine, are you a king or not?”
- Jesus: YOU TELL ME … everyone who cares about the truth listens to my voice.
- Pilate: What is truth?
What is Truth? — I noticed something in the Apostles’ Creed.
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Maker of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried; …
Why add this line? Is it a shorthand way of describing what happened? What does it mean to suffer under Pontius Pilate? Is this just a reference to his beating and punishment?
I suspect the writes affirm that Jesus is the suffering servant. He did suffer. He suffered at the hands of an empire that had ignored truth. He suffered at the hands of powers and principalities that were more interested in imposing their rights and dealing out death than the truth.
Pontius Pilate represents an empire of pretense and lies. As a representative of that empire, he cannot hear the truth.
When you consider how we say things like let’s be honest, and I’m going to tell you the truth. It’s interesting that we have to ask permission to tell the truth. I think that’s because we realize that we live in the empire of Pontius Pilate. An empire of pretense, denial, and self-censorship.
We suffer under Pontius Pilate. We suffer under the rule of denial and pretense that ruins lives and leads to death. The religious hypocrisy that kills the spirit and dilutes Christianity, tries to tame it, flattens it into a cardboard cutout, and makes it membership in a club of nice folk.
Let’s be honest … truth is risky.
- It means risking being right. We really love to be right. There’s a confidence in being right. A security. A safety. A sense of pride.
- Pilate did everything he could to be right. Being right means having truth on our side but when the choice is between being right and the truth – truth wins out. And sometimes, let’s be honest, we sacrifice the truth just to be right.
- The awkward moment of watching someone who is certain they are right. They might even deny the truth – in order to be right!
- To be truthful we may have to risk being right. What prejudices and hatreds and injustices what denials have I believed because I would rather be right than submit to the truth.
Let’s be honest … truth hurts.
- It’s one thing to tell someone else the truth and say, “the truth hurts.” It’s another thing to be confronted by it and accept it.
- I think we all want the truth, we say we do, but we sometimes make it difficult for truth to prevail. We are good at denial. We are good at pretense. We avoid conflict. The truth is hard work. The truth makes all of us accountable. And even though we want others to be truthful and honest and accountable – if truth is really going to win out, then it means we have to be truthful as well. It means we submit even ourselves to something bigger than us.
Let’s be honest … the truth is life. Why is Pilate so concerned to get it right? Because Pilate is managing death. Someone is going to die on Pilate’s watch. It’s going to be Barabbas or Jesus. Or it’s going to be the crowd or himself and his empire. All Pilate and his empire can do is manage, distribute, and dispense death. Pilate cannot give life. Despite all of his symbols and position and power, he doesn’t have authority to give true life. The man in shackles, the man who was beaten and suffered. Jesus Christ has that authority.
That why the Kingdom of Christ is different. The truth brings life. People are looking for a way out of the empire of deception. They want to be a part of a truthful community. Want to get away to the country of truth. Children in a burn ward.
Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate so that we don’t have to. May the truth set us free!
Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles
Today’s need for commitment is overwhelming! The failure to grasp the meaning of commitment provides many false concepts of loyalty! It seems selfish attitudes control more of our actions and behaviors than does the concept of commitment. Today people seem more concerned about personal pleasure, freedom from difficulty, or convenience than in being a person God or others can trust. “Is it fun?” or, “What’s in it for me?” seem to be the important questions, not, “Do I keep my promises?” or, “Is my word valuable?”
In the concept of marriage, in the bond of the parent-child relationships, in employment, in being friends, or in being caring neighbors, are human-to-human relationships based on commitment or selfishness? In matters of faith in God, is the human-divine relationship sustained by commitment or by selfishness?
Discipleship to Jesus Christ is based on service. Service is based on unselfishness. Paul wrote the Christians at Philippi, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3, 4). Service to God means less of me and more of others-just as it did in Jesus!
Think of this in another way. If God used my concept of commitment to forgive me, to redeem me, to sanctify me, to provide me grace, or to show me mercy, would I be blessed or cursed? Look at Jesus’ cross and justify your behavior. Look at Jesus’ tomb and explain a selfish attitude. An unselfish God does not lead a band of selfish disciples!
Even the incredible apostle Paul knew times of fear, yet he never forgot his commitment. Read 2 Timothy 2:1-13. Remember that Paul, while facing certain death, wrote this to encourage Timothy. Serving Jesus killed Paul, but he knew it was worth it!
You are a Christian? Wonderful! Serve God in a spirit of commitment, not a spirit of selfishness. Be a servant, not a watchdog! While the world barks, Christians serve.
Posted by Chris on April 26, 2009 under Sermons
See John 16
Click here to listen to this sermon.
This chapter reminds me of “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s a comin’!” which is the title of Tony Campolo’s well-known sermon that references a sermon by his preacher, Marshal Shepard Sr. at the Mt. Olivet Church in West Philadelphia …
It’s Friday, but Sunday’s a comin’. It was Friday, and my Jesus is dead on a tree. But that’s Friday, and Sunday’s a comin’. Friday, Mary’s crying her eyes out, the disciples are running in every direction like sheep without a shepherd. But that’s Friday, and Sunday’s a comin’ … Friday, people are saying, “Darkness is gonna rule the world, sadness is gonna be everywhere,” but they don’t know it’s only Friday, but Sunday’s a comin’. Even though this world is rotten, as it is right now, we know it’s only Friday. But Sunday’s a comin’.
The good news is that the cross in Friday is not the end. Sunday, the day of resurrection is coming. I want us to imagine the before and after of Friday and Sunday. Think of the cross – there is a Friday side or sorrow, suffering, fear and loss. And there’s a Sunday side where the meaning of the cross has been changed forever.
The cross is the ultimate turning point. An event of great shame and sacrifice that causes offense and fear, becomes the key to salvation and the door of hope. Using the language of John’s gospel, we might say that there is the view from below and the view from above. We see everything, the world, our life, church, even the cross from either the view from below or the view from above. Those who can see from above are those who’ve been born from above.
That’s important because historically, we live on the Sunday side of the cross. We could just set John 16 aside and say that it was written from the perspective of the Friday side when the disciples are very anxious about Jesus leaving and they will not see him anymore. But don’t forget, John wrote this Gospel on the Sunday side. He wrote it for born from above believer on the Sunday side. Why would he do that? He did that because even though we are historically on the Sunday side, in our experience, we all find ourselves on the Friday side of the cross from time to time.
John is preaching to believers beyond the first generation. He’s preaching to those who have heard but never seen. He’s preaching to you. He’s preaching to West-Ark. He’s preaching to the United States.
He says that he knows it is Friday and there is trouble in the world.
- When the Spirit of Fear and Worry is so thick in the air that we cannot get a breath – that’s the Friday side of the cross
- When those who hate Christ and hate the church threaten to smother those who love to talk to about Christ – that’s the Friday side of the cross
- When the Spirit of Despair grips our chest so that we feel like we can never laugh or smile – that’s the Friday side of the cross
- When poverty wins again because you just had a moment when you think you are going to get ahead and its slimy tendril pull you back under – that’s the Friday side of the cross
- When the sorrow overcomes you and you turn back to the pills, the drink, the sex, the party – anything to numb the pain of loneliness and to silence the tapes playing constantly in your head mocking you in your own voice – that’s the Friday side of the cross
That’s the Friday side of the cross. We’ve all been there. Jesus said, In this world you will have trouble (16:33). Isn’t it strange how we try to avoid admitting that. Maybe we assume that good people don’t do that. Maybe we just try and put a lid on it. We want to belong to church so that we can take heart. We want to belong to church so that others on the Friday side of the cross can lift us up to the view from above – so that we can get to the Sunday side. We want to hold someone’s hand while we breathe through the pain like that woman in childbirth. We know that sorrow will turn to joy.
But Jesus is warning us that sometimes the trouble comes not from the world, but from inside the church. When the church is on the Friday side of the cross looking at the cross from below, there will be real sorrow.
Jesus told his disciples to get ready for the time when they would be cast out of the synagogue. He told them to even prepared for the fact that sincere but mistaken people would consider it a righteous act to kill believers in Jesus. This warning never expired. It applied directly to the generation of believers who worshipped in the synagogue with their Jewish brothers and sisters. They would experience sorrow and suffering from those who claimed to worship the God.
But the warning never expired. Through the ages and even in our own day we experience sorrow from within the church. The church that claims to fight and struggle in God’s name, but they cannot see the cross from above. They cannot leave Friday and get to Sunday.
- In 1907, a Brother Harris in the Bellwood, TN Church of Christ published a letter in the Gospel Advocate. He was complaining to E.A. Elam (a member in his own congregation) because the Elam’s had adopted a child who just happened to be black. Harris asked Elam to send the girl to a different congregation so that there would be peace in the congregation. He concludes one of his letters, “I tried to write this in the spirit of Christ, I know; for I hate to see strife in the church. We would like everything to be run nicely and in order.” Brother Harris was stuck on the Friday side of the cross – he only knew sorrow and worry, he had no hope. I hope he figured out that Sunday was coming to Bellwood. Read more through this link.
- Changing the Locks Story
- A few years ago I visited with a woman named Darlene who was dying of cancer. Some of the members of our congregation had befriended her but she had questions and wanted to talk to the minister. She told me about her experience of Friday below the cross. Not only was her sorrow for the cancer and the pain, she was also concerned about her soul. She was afraid that God did not hear her prayers. Why? I wondered. It was because Darlene had grown up with well-meaning but misinformed people who claimed to follow God. According to them, one had to pray with tongues or with the spirit with exuberance – and Darlene just couldn’t do that. All she knew how to pray was the Lord’s Prayer. Those people who prayed so well and sincerely wanted to speak to God had cast Darlene out. They left her on the Friday side of the cross, but Darlene started talking to her Father and found out that Sunday is coming.
- Disfellowshiping the Divorced Story – They realized that they could honor God’s ways, but did not have to add the shame and sorrow of exclusion to the sorrow of broken marriage. They decided to take heart and overcome the world.
Inside the church and outside the church we are looking for the quick fixes that will make the sorrow go away. We want the pill, the book, the verse, the plan, the cash, the bill or the amendment that will make it all go away. We want to jump from Friday straight into Sunday. Jesus doesn’t say there will be a quick fix. He says that we will see him again, not right away, but in a little while.
Jesus says that only in him can we have peace. Only in him can sorrow turn to joy. When the world cranks up its hate and fear, When the church seems to be acting like the world , When we find ourselves standing below the cross on Friday – Jesus calls to us from Sunday and says – “Take heart, I have overcome the world!”
Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles
The above text is among the curious gospel statements about Jesus. Jesus and the 12 toured Jewish cities and villages teaching about the kingdom of heaven. A group of women accompanied who helped support these men by contributing from private funds. On this tour the women were among those who had been healed of demonic possession and sicknesses. Mary Magdalene also was mentioned as being among the group of women from Galilee who followed Jesus at the time of his crucifixion (see Matthew 27:55, 56; Luke 23:49).
That produces some interesting questions. Why did Jesus allow these women to associate with him in public? In Jewish society then, a woman was not to be in public with a man. This socially unacceptable practice was forbidden and contained enormous danger for misunderstanding. Whyever would Jesus permit that?
Why those kinds of women? Most of what we know about biblical references to evil spirits is speculation. Evidently, unclean spirits, demonic spirits, and evil spirits refer to the same phenomena. Though there are differing views about whom these evil spirits entered or why evil spirits entered such persons, there is common consensus that evil spirits represented Satan and his interests, not God and His interests.
Were you a person possessed of an evil spirit in Jesus’ ministry, and Jesus cast that spirit out of you, how grateful would you be? Were you a Jewish woman who was so blessed, and were you restricted in ways to express your gratitude, what would you do?
A way to express gratitude in keeping with the good received was to minister to Jesus and his work. Would you be grateful? Oh, yes! Would you wish to show your gratitude? Oh, yes! Would you wish to express gratitude in keeping with the good you received? Oh, yes! Interestingly, these women served, they served honorably, and they expressed their gratitude in serving Jesus and the 12 as these men taught about God’s kingdom. Mary had seven of these evil spirits removed!
Lessons: (1) Jesus permitted gratitude. (2) Gratitude was expressed in service. (3) No one had been too bad to help! (4) Great helpfulness produced profound gratitude! Is that also true with you?
