Acts 13:15-33
(NRSV)
After the reading of the law and the prophets, the officials
of the synagogue sent them a message, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word
of exhortation for the people, give it.” So Paul stood up and with a gesture
began to speak:
“You Israelites, and others who fear God, listen. The God of
this people Israel chose our ancestors and made the people great during their
stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. For
about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. After he had destroyed
seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance
for about four hundred fifty years. After that he gave them judges until the
time of the prophet Samuel. Then they asked for a king; and God gave them Saul
son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty years. When
he had removed him, he made David their king. In his testimony about him he
said, ‘I have found David, son of Jesse, to be a man after my heart, who will
carry out all my wishes.’ Of this man’s posterity God has brought to Israel a
Savior, Jesus, as he promised; before his coming John had already proclaimed a
baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing
his work, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but one is
coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of the sandals on his
feet.’
“My brothers, you descendants of Abraham’s family, and
others who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent. Because
the residents of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize him or
understand the words of the prophets that are read every sabbath, they
fulfilled those words by condemning him. Even though they found no cause for a
sentence of death, they asked Pilate to have him killed. When they had carried
out everything that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and
laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead; and for many days he
appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and they are
now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good news that what God
promised to our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising
Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm,
‘You are my Son;
today I have
begotten you.’
Even before a new pastor arrives at a church they hear
stories about king David.
King David is not the mythical figure of Hebrew Bible lore,
but rather the mythical figure in the history of the particular church.
Before I even arrived (and ever since) I have heard stories
of Meridian Street's King David
Like most king David stories, they take on a life of their
own.
Arriving as I did, on the cusp of the 200th Anniversary of
Meridian Street, I have tried to understand the ministries of the previous men
and woman whose seat I now have the privilege of occupying.
And the funny thing is --- even thought I have read the
histories of Meridian Street, and tried to understand the progression of this
wonderful congregation. The truth is,
the history of Meridian Street --- in most people's minds --- goes back at best
to the building of this wonderful structure.
In the corporate memory of Meridian Street the years prior
to moving to 5500 North Meridian Street seem like ancient history.
But even saying the history starts with this building is a
bit of a stretch.
The real history begins in 1962 with the ministry of Dick
Lancaster.
Many, many, many of you have regaled me with Dr. Lancaster
stories.
Nobody talks about the pastors who preceded Dr. Lancaster
Except maybe
Buddy Hall, when I have asked him
about his dad
Logan Hall
Frank Templin
And nobody talks about the pastors that followed Dr.
Lancaster except to tell a story of how they broke protocol that Dr Lancaster
created, or stepped on sacred ground.
Walking down
the center aisle
I know nothing about
Rev Schwein (unless it is bad ---
although my best friend said he was the best preacher he ever heard)
Cindi Alte --- Her brief tenure
when Schwein left abruptly but she was then replaced with quite a bit of
unhappiness just a few months later
Rev Miller
--- Nobody talks about him --- although I have heard he is a nice guy
Rev Wantz --- even he seems to be ancient
history and not the Sr. Pastor just 12 years ago
Anne, of course is a different story --- I have gotten to
know her personally and can see the wonderful life changing ministries she
instituted here.
I know this is going to date me, and maybe they weren't
popular here, but in the early 90's --- Gatorade put out a series of commercials
that featured Michael Jordan with an amazingly catchy tune -- inviting us to BE
LIKE MIKE -- do you remember them?
Michael Jordan became a mythical figure that everyone wanted
(and many still want) to emulate.
David, King of the Jewish people, was the same way.
When Saul was chosen to be the first King of the Jewish
people, he failed in his task as king, and Samuel had this exchange with him:
1 Samuel 13:13-14
“How stupid of you to have broken
the commands the Lord your God gave you!” Samuel told Saul. “The Lord would
have established your rule over Israel forever, but now your rule won’t last.
The Lord will search for a man following the Lord’s own heart, and the Lord
will commission him as leader over God’s people, because you didn’t keep the
Lord’s command.”
And God chose David: "a man after his own heart"
Over a 1000 years later he was remembered by the author of
the Book of Acts:
Acts 13:22
[God] said, ‘I have found David,
son of Jesse, to be a man after my heart, who will carry out all my wishes.’
For 1000 years, the kings of Israel had attempted to live up
to the ideal that became King David, and for a 1000 years they all failed and
fell short of his glory.
And then, sometime around 4 BCE a baby is born in an obscure
portion of the Roman Empire.
Both Matthew and Luke in their birth narratives want to make
something abundantly clear.
This is no
ordinary baby
This baby, born in a cave in the insignificant town of
Bethlehem is not insignificant
This baby is from the line and lineage of David --- THAT DAVID
And this baby will fulfill all the promises that have gone
unfulfilled since the time of David
He will reestablish
the kingdom
restore
and unify it bringing together all the dispersed tribes
He will throw
out the imperial invaders (the Romans)
He will re-establish a corporate
relationship with God by being the True High Priest
THESE ARE THE STORIES that are being told about Jesus.
Can you imagine what it must have been like to grow up being
told that YOU are the new DAVID, the Greatest King of all time --- that YOU are
the Hope and Restoration of Israel
The weight must have been unbearable
From the stories I have heard, the
weight of following the King David of Meridian Street was devastating on many
of those who followed him
I have told you --- my goal for 2019 is to help you fall in
love with Jesus --- maybe for the first time --- maybe in a whole new way
But we cannot fall in love with someone that we don't know
Love is not an intellectual assent to an idea --- it is a
relationship
So we must try build a relationship and try to understand
what motivated and influenced Jesus
What made him
love God completely?
So that we too
may fall in love with him completely
My goal during this season of epiphany and beyond has been
to help you understand some of the key concepts that influenced Jesus in the
first century of the common era.
We have looked at seven important concepts
1. God is creator
of all
2. Sin is what
keeps us from a relationship with God
3. God desires
and makes a covenant with his People
Israel
is God's chosen people
But
Israel is to be a light to the world
4. Failure to
follow God --- to break the covenant with God --- has consequences
The
result can be catastrophic
Destruction
of the Northern Kingdom of Israel 721/722
Destruction
of the Temple and Judah 587
5. But even
despite the consequences --- God is faithful and restores his People
6. But it is not the people who restore the
relationship with God --- Restoration is all God's doing
Humility
is the lesson of exile
7. The people
(then and today) long for a savior
Jesus enters humanity with all these factors playing into
how people perceived and understood him.
And many of them impact how we understand and build a
relationship with him
But throughout his life, Jesus really seems to have ONE goal
To bring
people into a closer relationship with God
And we have been invited to emulate the mission of Jesus
Loving our
enemies
Seeking God’s
justice for all
Recognizing
that ALL are children of our creator God
But first and foremost --- PUTTING GOD FIRST in our lives
Loving God
with our heart, soul, mind, and strength --- with our very being
Only once we love the God we encounter in Jesus --- can we
love LIKE God and love ALL of our neighbors
Jesus constantly demonstrates the HE is the one after God’s
own heart
And he
invites us to join him on this journey of love
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