Deal or No Deal

Scripture: John 21.1-19; Acts 9.1-20



I would like a volunteer from the audience. Please bring your purse or wallet with you.

What if I told you to give me everything in your wallet and I would give you something in return. Deal or No Deal? Whaddya say? Deal. Thank you.

What I give you is my religious blessing. Be warmed. Go in peace. Thanks for participating.

Now, this little scenario is, unfortunately, the way many people view their Christianity.
They look at like a losing proposition. Being a Christian will take up your time, steal your fun, drain your wallet. And what do you get in return? Not much really.
The picture we get here is a lot of sad churchgoers, sadly dragging feet into the building once a week, once a month. They do it because they have to.

But no one ever became a disciple of Jesus this way!

“No one who looks back after putting his hand to the plough is suited to the kingdom of God.” Luke 9.62

Why is this true? Because any who decides to be a true disciple understands the rich opportunity before them. Dallas Willard says, “One of the things that has most obstructed the path of discipleship in our culture today is this idea that it will be a terribly difficult thing that will certainly ruin your life.” You know, God will probably send you to Africa as a missionary.

This attitude of dread of what Jesus might do with you explains a lot of what transpires in our Gospel reading today. I love this passage for its power and its whimsy. The resurrected Jesus meets his disciples for breakfast. There is both power and intimacy in this scene. But the underlying theme is trust.

Some of the disciples have been out all night fishing on the Sea of Tiberias. Maybe they’ve already gone back to their old occupation. Maybe they are, in fact, waiting on God to do something and this is the best way they know how to wait. But the night is over and they have no fish to show for it, when Jesus shows up on the beach. They don’t recognize him at first. And this stranger tells them to cast out their nets one more time. There is no good reason for these experienced fishermen to listen to this suggestion. But they do and they bring in quite a haul. Their trust is rewarded and at this miracle one of the disciples sees that this stranger is the Lord. Everybody rejoices. Except that Peter does something kind of odd. He dives in the water. The scripture tells that “he was stripped for work”. He was naked. So did he jump in the water out of embarrassment that the Lord should see him naked? I don’t think so. He put his clothes first, then jumped in the water. I think something else is going on here with Peter. Peter was embarrassed because he had once again doubted Jesus. He had not trusted that any fish would be caught. Not a big deal. Except that it brought back the painful and none too distant memory of a rooster crowing and Peter skulking away in shame after repeated denials. Peter wanted to believe, but he had not yet trusted, and he knew it.

And Jesus knew it.

“When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”

Maybe Jesus was pointing to the boat and fishing equipment – Peter’s livelihood. Or maybe Jesus was pointing to Peter’s family and friends. The word “love” Jesus uses here is agape. It is the Greek for the highest kind of love, unconditional love, self-sacrificing love. The way God loves us.

“Yes, Lord, you know I love you,” Peter replies. But the “love” Peter uses is philo, which is a lesser form of love, friend to friend.

The exchange is repeated. Jesus is teaching Peter. He is using repetition to stress to Peter how important it is for him to take up the work of he Gospel. Jesus is bringing Peter to a point of clarity so he make a decision.

The third time that Jesus asks Peter of his love, Jesus himself uses the word philo. Peter is grieved and sad that Jesus keeps asking him, because Peter is grieved at his own lack of agape. In effect, Peter is sadly acknowledging that Jesus knows exactly the level and quality of his love and trust. Peter has clarity of his situation and the decision in front of him. Either go back to fishing or boldly step up to the command of Jesus to take up the leadership of the church and the work of the Gospel. What Peter is not allowed to do is to sadly and meekly muddled around on the fringe of love and trust.


Let me give you a hypothetical: Let’s say you have half a an MTO sandwich. It’s been sitting in your refrigerator since yesterday. And let’s say I offered you an envelope and said to you that in the envelope is something much better than than the MTO and you could have what’s in the envelope if you give me your sandwich. What would you do?

You’d take the envelope wouldn’t you? I mean, MTO”s are good when they’re fresh, but this is half a day old sandwich.

What if I showed you that in the envelope is a gift certificate to the Allegro or two tickets to see Seinfeld. Are you still holding on to the sandwich now?

“The kingdom of heaven is like a businessman who the lookout for beautiful pearls. He finds an incredible value is one pearl. So he sells everything else he owns and buys that pearl.” Matthew 13.45-46

One who truly sees the Kingdom of Jesus for what it is realizes that here is a thing of far more value than anything they possess. What a deal! What a bargain! Of course I will give anything I have to get this thing.

Unless we clearly see the superiority of Jesus and his Kingdom over every other thing that might be valued, cannot succeed in our discipleship to him. We will constantly be distracted and double-minded.

This is what brought Saul to the Kingdom. When Saul “saw” that the Jesus whom he was disparaging and persecuting was real, it was a moment of extreme clarity that Saul had been on the wrong side of the argument. Paul didn’t go reluctantly over to the other side, he went with joy and purpose and passion.

If you, any of you, find someone or something better than Jesus, take it. Give yourself to it. Don’t hold anything back. I am here to tell you there is no such person or thing. I am here to bring you to a point of clarity. Count the cost. Know the value of the things in question. Make a decision. Deal or No Deal.

We’ve Received Word

Scripture: Luke 24.1-12; Acts 10.34-43; Romans 6.1-11



There are lots of different beliefs about the afterlife and what happens to us when we die. They cover the gamut of, “There is only nothingness” to “I have a mansion in glory.” These beliefs crop up more frequently than maybe we realize. I heard tell recently of a dead hamster who made the journey into the next life accompanied by food and some of his favorite things.

Our culture today has borrowed and included beliefs from different times and cultures so that we have pieces of Reincarnation and Hindu spirituality; Buddhist enlightenment; a raw materialist/evolutionist resignation; as well as a Christian hopefulness.

In some cultures, like the Plains Indians culture, it customary to speak with the dead. In fact the divide between living and dead is a very permeable and shifting one. A man might have an argument with his wife and not speak to her for days but have an all day chat with his long-dead grandma. We have prohibitions in our culture against trying to speak with the dead. These prohibitions come straight from the Scriptures. I notice the many signs in our popular cultural (tv shows like Medium and Ghost Whisperer) that we are ignoring or wish to ignore these prohibitions.

Its important to note, however, that the Scripture doesn’t say the dead cannot speak or the spiritual world doesn’t exist. Of course, the Bible in fact points to the reality of these things. Rather, God tells us through the Scriptures that we would do well to not get mixed up with mediums and sooth-sayers and voices of the dead. We have no business in their world. We have enough to do here in our world, and we have the only spiritual guide we need in the Holy Spirit.

“Why do you seek the living among the dead?” the angels told the frightened women.

Jesus’ resurrection is the declarative statement that we are spiritual creatures living in a spiritual world. It is the antithesis to the raw atheistic and materialist view of our world that has received attention on the NY Times bestseller list and other places. “The God Delusion” is written about, “The End of Faith” is proclaimed. Men like Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins say they have no emotional reasons for their strident disbelief. They so there is no evidence for resurrection and God:

“There’s no evidence for such a God,” says Harris in an interview with Newsweek, “and it’s instructive to notice that we’re all atheists with respect to Zeus and the thousands of other dead gods whom now nobody worships.”

But when I look at the stories surrounding the empty tomb, I don’t see the ridiculousness of Greek mythology, instead, I notice how humanly probable it all is. The stories are not contrived. The people act like we would act in the same situation. Lee Strobel points out that women in first-century Jewish culture were not the most credible of witnesses. In fact, in a court of law their testimony would be considered unreliable. So why do the Gospel writers say that women discovered the empty tomb, especially when this fact hurts their case in the view of their audience? Because the Gospel writers wanted to tell the story the way it actually happened.

What about miracle? A dead body coming back to life is called resurrection – not resuscitation mind you, but resurrection – and that is a miracle.

Though there are evidences of God’s supernatural activity all around us, these do not prove that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ happened. Though I would also point out that many people today believe in all kinds of charms, potions, seers, horoscopes, talismans and trust funds, still their existence does not prove or disprove the Resurrection.

There is a healthy skepticism that, indeed, is seeking the truth. And then there is an unhealthy and unwise skepticism. It may start out in service of the truth, but it becomes only self-seeking and arrogant. The person who falls under its sway refuses to believe in God because deep down they just don’t want anyone telling them what to do. They don’t want to admit that there is good and evil and they have to choose a side.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is our advance notice that the Kingdom of God, which is all that is good and true, has come.

As Rick Warren puts it, “history split into A.D. and B.C. because of the Resurrection. And the Resurrection is not only the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it is the hope of the world: it says there’s more to this life than just here and now. That doesn’t mean that I do less, it means that this life is a test, it’s a trust and it’s a temporary assignment.”

We’ve received the Word. Will we really believe and act on this news in our daily lives. To live in the light of the Resurrection – that is what Easter means.

To paraphrase Pascal, “I’m betting my life that Jesus Christ was not a liar. When we die, if I’m wrong, I’ve lost nothing and lived a good life. If I’m right, I’ve gained everything. . . .Certainty, Certainty, joy, peace. God of Jesus Christ. My God and your God.”

For the Love of Him

Scripture: John 20.1-18

I’m not sure why you came this morning. Maybe you get up early every day and, today, since we’re offering the 6:30am service, you thought you would take advantage of it. Thanks for coming. I should tell you this service probably won’t develop into an every Sunday thing. Others of you may have that special sense of the holiday. On special days you do special things, like go to sunrise service. Thank you for coming.

There may be a third reason for coming as well – the news of this day is too exciting not to get up early and come and see ourselves. Because the news concerns someone we care about very much.

It was that way the very first Easter Sunday. A woman named Mary got up early because someone she cared about very deeply had just died. She went to visit his tomb, to make sure the body had been properly cared for, to linger awhile near the body of her loved one. But the body was gone missing. And in panic she ran to tell the other close friends of the deceased of this calamity. Two men named Peter and John came running to the tomb with Mary. They too, were in a panic. They came, breathless, sweating, and shocked. Their grief was too raw to be shaken this way.

What strikes me about this account in John’s Gospel is how narrative this is, and therefore, how probable it seems. I’m not talking about the miracle yet, I’m just saying, couldn’t you picture yourself in the place of Mary or Peter or John? You too would react much like they did. Why? Because they are there for the love of Jesus their friend. They were not experiencing a doctrine, they were not setting the stage for a belief system. They just wanted to be there for their friend, as he had always been there for them.

My friend, Matt, was ordained an elder in the church a few years ago. At the ordination service it is customary for the one being ordained to have a few witnesses standing with them before the Bishop and the Conference. Matt asked me to be one of those witnesses on his behalf. At the time, Matt and I had not been friends for very long, so I considered it a special honor to be asked. I remember waiting in the gymnasium at Messiah College for the ordination service to start and Matt and I and another pastor named Stephen were standing there together. Stephen was Matt’s other witness that day. Stephen and I knew each other but not really through Matt. Stephen greeted me and then asked what I was doing there. “Are you Matt’s mentor?”

“No,” I said with a smile, “I am here because I am Matt Lake’s friend.” Where else would I be?




For many people outside the faith, the fuss over Easter is really a bit of a mystery. Of course they read and hear about Jesus and the resurrection. They may even hear someone tell them that Jesus loves them too. That news probably doesn’t offend them, nor does it inspire them. At most, it’s puzzling. At the least, it just doesn’t register for them as something worth noting. Why would someone they don’t know, have never met even, love them?

We must confess even in the church to being a little nonplussed as to why we should be excited to be here today. Yes, we believe, but when has belief ever gotten us that excited?

Unless we really know Him. Unless Jesus has been such a friend to us that his suffering and death, like Mary, moves us to tears. And the prospect of Him really rising to new life gives us hope and joy that all he said is true and we will be with Him now and forever.

That hope is rekindled every time someone close to us dies. We hope. We believe that this life is not the end. We trust the One who teaches us about Life and Death.


We are Jesus’ friends. We are not here for obligation or doctrine or tradition. We are here because, well, where else would we be when our best friend is being honored so?

As Eugene Peterson says, “Following Jesus doesn’t get us to where we want to go. It gets us to where Jesus goes, where we meet him in Resurrection surprise: ‘My Lord and my God!’”

We too have seen the Lord! We know that He lives and walks with us still! He has conquered death on our behalf. Our faithful friend is with us and will never leave us! Good News! Good News!

My Own Prison

Scripture: Matthew 27.32-46 Good Friday 2007


They offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when he tasted it he would not drink it.

When Life has been specially cruel or unpleasant, we say “This is a bitter pill to swallow,” or “a bitter drink to drink.”

When the consequences are serious, nothing seems to make the bitterness go down easy. There are things that we don’t ask for that the universe visits upon us anyway. And then there are many more things that we have a hand, many troubles that are of our own making.

Someone recently told me of a man he knew, we’ll call him Bill, who was a mason and building contractor. Bill worked on a lot of commercial buildings for businesses, schools, government buildings, etc. He was good at what he did. Bill was also an alcoholic. His alcoholism got worse, as it is wont to do. But Bill realized the extent of his problem when he looked around at his prison cell and realized that he had laid the blocks for the prison he was in. He had built his own prison.

Is the drink more bitter when it comes “unasked for” or when it comes of our own doing? You could debate that question. What is much more clear is that like Bill, we have all had a hand in constructing our own prisons of self. We may use different materials – anger, envy, pride, sloth, greed, lust – but the function of our buildings are the same. And they are remarkably effective. Our prisons separate us from who we are meant to be in God. Physical prisons are about punishment and, maybe, rehabilitation. Our spiritual prisons, perversely avoid the justice that would do us good and bring on not rehabilitation but debilitation.

Jesus Christ, the God-Man, is the One who has gone to the very prisoners of Hell and proclaimed freedom.

“Behold, I have the keys of Hell and death. . .”

You have heard of the inmates running the prison. In Jesus, the innocent man has willingly become a prisoner. This makes Him uniquely qualified to help us.

“He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53.5

The innocent prisoner took our punishment for us at the Cross. This was and is, no small matter. Jesus knew how painful this would be.

“My Father, if it is possible, let this bitter drink be taken away from me. . .”

But Jesus did not refuse the drink in the end. Because He longed and loved to see all the prisoners go free.

St. Augustine once said that without Christ, it is not possible to avoid sinning. Can a man do good? Yes, but in the end, bad man or good man, we get caught up in the sin that has such power in this world over us. In Christ, however, it is now possible to not sin. We are set free from this power.

The movie, Blood Diamond, is the story of the terrible cost of Africa’s illegal diamond trade. These “conflict diamonds” are so called because of the thousands upon thousands of men, women, and boys who suffer unspeakable brutality to finance the wars, rebellions, and comfort of cruel men. Life is cheap in Africa’s diamond regions. The people who have lived in this dangerous climate have a succinct phrase for such a climate – TIA, This is Africa. After witnessing so many young boys being stolen from their families, having their hands cutoff, drugged, and brainwashed to become guerrilla thugs, one man asks another this question, “Is it possible for a bad man to become good?”

When this man asks the question, remember, he’s not asking it among polite company in a Sunday School class in Duncansville, Pennsylvania. He’s asking it in the middle of a country seemingly bent on destroying its own people. The other man has no immediate answer. But the film’s story, in the end, tells the truth. The man, previously a sceptic, answers with his life. He sacrifices himself for the lives of others and for the truth to be told. The film tells us that someone must be willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of all.

Would someone willingly die for good people? Would that Someone even die for the bad and wicked?