April 6, 2022 – Midweek Lent                                      Text:  John 19:1-16

Dear Friends in Christ,

    “I saw a woman today who finally became hard as wood all over.”  A French doctor named Guy Patin wrote these words in 1692.  This is the first clinical description of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressive, or FOP, a disease that slowly and irreversibly turns people into solid bone.  The disease imprisons the whole body.  Ligaments, tendons, and muscles solidify as the body becomes as hard as cement.  The rogue gene of FOP has one goal – slowly harden the body until it’s dead.

    We are in a sermon series called Witnesses to Christ.  Tonight, we meet Pontius Pilate one of the more notorious names in history.  Pontius Pilate had an acute case of FOP.  In Pilate’s case the gene went straight to his heart – back to front, top to bottom.  Spiritual FOP has one goal . . .

“SLOWLY HARDEN OUR HEARTS”

    If spiritual FOP can harden our hearts then we are on the way to being spiritually dead.  But at first we don’t notice, do we?  Our priorities start getting mixed up.  Slowly, we stop praying and stop repenting, and then we stop trusting Jesus.  Then a day comes when words such as Christ and salvation and Baptism and worship and Holy Communion mean nothing.  Spiritual FOP has one goal – slowly harden our hearts until we are spiritually dead.  Pilate knows.

    Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea for ten years – AD 26 to 36.  Pilate was from a middle-class family and that tidbit is huge as you will see.  Pilate served the Roman army in Germany and then met an upper-class Roman woman in Rome named Claudia Procula.  Guess who her grandfather was?  Caesar Augustus – the Roman emperor.  Pilate was in.  He got a position he never would have gotten any other way.  The position?  Governor of Judea.

    That is his background.  But hang on…we got a Thursday night posse led by Judas Iscariot who have come to arrest Jesus.  He will stand before Annas, Caiaphas, and finally the Sanhedrin – the Jewish Supreme Court.  They accuse him of blasphemy which is punishable by death.  One slight problem here.  They can sentence a man to death but can’t carry it out.  They need the consent of Pilate.  This is what got his name in the creeds and made him famous.

    It was early morning when Jesus was led to Pilate around 6:00 a.m.  All the accusers are there – chief priests, scribes, Pharisees.  They have Jesus right where they want him.  Soon they will have Pilate right where they want him.  

    He starts with some basic questions like, “What has this man done wrong?”  The Jews can’t give a direct answer.  Pilate was not fond of the Jews and he didn’t understand them or their religion.  He wasn’t going to get into a religious debate.  His heart is becoming harder.

    Pilate questions Jesus.  “Are you the King of the Jews?”  Jesus answers, “You say that I am a king.”  This means, “Yes, I am a king, but not the kind you are thinking of.”

    The chief priests want to confuse Pilate into thinking Jesus is some kind of revolutionary and a threat to Rome.  Jesus tells Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world.”  The Pilate heart is getting as firm as cement.  Jesus is scourged.  But they want more.  They want Christ killed.  They play the card they have been hanging on to all this time.  They say to Pilate, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend.” (v.12).  Well played.  The Caesar, the king, named Tiberius was sick at the time.  He was a suspicious and violent man.  Tiberius wouldn’t like getting news about a riot in Judea, especially when this governor was appointed only because of family connections.  And Pilate was, after all, just middle class.

    The Jews blackmail Pilate and it works.  It is a choice between Jesus and Rome.  This is Pilate’s conscience.  What is it going to be?  People will do many things to save their job and status and reputation.  They will even crucify an innocent man.

    Pilate asks, “Shall I crucify your King?”  This isn’t a military king looking for battle.  This King is a suffering and bleeding type – looking for us.  This is the King who cleanses sin-stained hearts.  This King heals deep brokenness.  This King calls us out of darkness into His marvelous light.  He knows the time and place for His execution and still goes there – all for us.

    The chief priests give an answer, “We have no king but Caesar.”  There cannot be a riot.  We can’t have the town taken over.  So Pontius Pilate caves.  Let the mob do their thing.  Nailed to a cross. Suspended between heaven and earth.  Pilate now has a heart as hard as Mt. Rushmore.

    Notice the pattern of Pilate.  John 18 – 19 is “what’s in it for me?”  It is only about him and don’t get in the way.  We know that pattern.  It is a recipe for a hard heart.  It mangles marriages, kills kids, and finishes off family and friends.  Spiritual FOP is killing us.

    Is your heart hard or calloused or indifferent or dead?  It is not too late.  The Lord can create a new heart.  Ezekiel 11:19:  “I will give them one heart…I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh.”  God will take away our stubborn heart and give us a tender, responsive heart.  It means our heart will beat again.      Amen.     

April 3, 2022                                          Text:  Philippians 3:8-14

Dear Friends in Christ,

    Track season is underway.  St. Paul illustrated where the Lord is calling us with the oldest of athletic competitions, the foot race.  We all know the coach speak: “keep your eye on the finish line or rim or ball or goal.”

    Chariots of Fire won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1982.  I wonder if it could win today?  It was the true account of a man who, like St. Paul, ran toward the life above.

    The movie chronicled Eric Liddell’s refusal to run on a Sunday in the 1924 Olympics and his subsequent victory in the 400 meters.  For Liddell, Sunday was the Lord’s Day, a day to honor God.  It was not a day to run – even in the Olympics.  The movie was very good, Toni and I actually just saw it a few years back, but even Hollywood couldn’t communicate the whole inspiring story.  

    Sally Magnusson wrote a book entitled The Flying Scotsman.  She admitted that she approached the Liddell story as a subject too good to be true attitude.  She thought such a strong-minded man would have a “holier-than-thou” attitude.  In many of her interviews with those who knew him they described Liddell as “Christlike.”  He was open to people of all races and befriended competitors no one else would talk to.

    Eric Liddell gave up running to become a missionary to China.  He died of a brain tumor at age 43.  He had a quiet serenity from early morning sessions of prayer, meditation, and Bible study.  On the day he died in 1945, one his companions wrote in their journal: “He wasn’t a great leader or an inspired thinker, but he knew what he ought to do, and he did it.”

    Liddell lived his life like he ran the 400, with his . . . .

“EYE ON THE FINISH LINE”

    In our Epistle, St. Paul reminds us that righteousness does not come to the Christian by obeying the Law – it is the gift of God through faith in Jesus Christ.  Neither guilt over the past nor worry about the future produces the Christ-life in the present.  Nobody is perfect in this life – not St. Paul, not Eric Liddell, not you and not me – but in faith the perfect righteousness of Christ is already ours.  Christ has set us free to run through life without the need to look back over our shoulders, without prejudice for those who run alongside, without jealousy for those who are out front, and with our eye on the finish line.

    Ever heard this line?  “Watch where you’re going.”  Parents says it to kids.  Bump into someone you might hear it.  Coaches say it to runners.  St. Paul says it to us.

    Where are you going?  Life has many distractions.  We want our words to reflect Christ, but profanity is so prevalent it is hard to go out in public.  We want our minds on the things of Christ while we watch media that stacks sin upon sin with no remorse or counter opinion.  We want our eyes looking heavenward but pride, greed, envy, lust and laziness stand up in front of us.  We want hearts filled with Christ but we clog our arteries with apathy, indifference, and selfishness.  We want to be loving to others, but self gets in the way.  A psychiatrist had this sign on his door: “Specializing in people who have no idea who they are.”  When we are wrapped up in ourselves we make a very small parcel.

    Where was St. Paul’s focus?  Look at his deeds and life and writings and we get the picture.  St. Paul knew the Scriptures.  Eric Liddell knew the Scriptures.  Do we know the Scriptures?  As the Holy Spirit helps us study and learn He will empower and run alongside us.  The Word of God is much better than Wheaties.

    St. Paul focused on telling the Good News.  With his eye on the finish line, He worked to proclaim the Gospel to large audiences and individuals.  When we repent of our distractions with our words and minds and eyes and hearts and actions, the Lord can forgive and keep us moving toward the finish line.  He won that for you too on a Sunday when a tomb was empty.  With this new outlook and heaven on the horizon we can share the news of Jesus on the track where the Lord has us running.

    Back in 8th grade I ran competitive track for the first time.  The Lord blessed me with speed, and I was able to cross the finish line first numerous times.  On the 4 x 100 Relay I ran the anchor or last leg.  My buddies and I won at the District level on a cinder track.  Remember those?  We then went to the Sectional and it was on an all-weather track.  The race began and by the time the baton got to me, well, I would have had to have been Usain Bolt to even place.  This is what I remember:  I never glided on a track so effortlessly, no cinder just pure comfort.  But all I could see were the backs of the other runners.  So peaceful but 6th out of 8 teams wouldn’t cut it this day.  I finished but we were disappointed.

    That can be a picture of life.  You feel you are behind from the start.  But as Christians we keep going with the peace of Christ.  He leads the effort.  He makes the path.  He has already won the race.  We see the finish line.  On your run, get set to tell the Good News about Jesus to everyone you know, and go . . . why?  Because the Lord has focused your eye on the finish line.

        Amen.