March 8, 2015
Jesus gives responsibility away…
Gracious Lord, it is clear we are responsible for many things in
our lives, first our relationship with You and secondly our family. It is clear You thought, not of Yourself
while hanging on the Cross, but of Your Mother.
Enable each of us to understand our responsibility is not dictated by
our desire, but what gives You the greatest glory. For our responsibility is not to earthly
things, but to heavenly things, especially You and the spread of Your Love and
the Gospel of our Salvation. AMEN.
Each of us gathered here today have been in situations that are
stressful. Whether it is worrying about
the sprinkler that is down that will change our weight of corn during the peak growing
season. Sitting on the combine ready to
go out in the field to pick the winter wheat and waiting and watching a Summer
thunderstorm bearing down on you with large hail being shown on the radar. Or even sitting in the FSA office discussing
how through the drought you are going to continue to make the farm work. These are the stress filled lives that we
live on a yearly basis. We feel the
responsibility of the world on our shoulders and in some cases feel like we
have to act and act now in order to prevent our going over the edge or doing
something that may be catastrophic to our current way of life.
This morning in our Series of the Words from the Cross, Jesus
Christ is in an extremely stressful situation.
Hanging on the Cross having endured the torture of the soldiers, the
excruciating pain of being scourged, carrying His Cross to Golgotha outside the
city walls of Jerusalem and being nailed to the beam, Jesus feels the weight of
the world on His shoulders. It is a
weight that we can only imagine, but one that Jesus came into the world to
carry. Yet, Jesus is not trying to avoid
or distance Himself from His present circumstances. Jesus is looking out not for Himself, but for
the future of a woman standing at the foot of the Cross He is nailed to. The future Jesus is looking out for is that
His mother that she will have to
endure. A future without Him. Hence, “Jesus said to His mother: “Woman, this is
your son.” Then He said to the
disciple: “This is your mother.”
(John 19:26-27)
Mary, Jesus mother, who had been promised Jesus conception and
birth by the Angel, experienced the shepherds coming and worshiping in a small
stable in Bethlehem, because there was no room in the inn. Received the gifts of the Magi on the day we
celebrate Epiphany. Cuddled Jesus in her
arms as a newborn baby when He was small.
Searched for Jesus when He went missing on the big trip into Jerusalem. Watched Him perform miracles of Water into
Wine, healing countless people and teaching about His Father in heaven. Now stood at the foot of the Cross of Calvary
and had watched Him be nailed to the Cross, struggle to breath and heard these
words. They were not just words, but had
a deep concern and compassion from Jesus for His mother Mary.
Jesus knew what the future would be of His death very
shortly. And Jesus knew He would not be
able to care for His Mother. So, Jesus
took the responsibility He had of the care of His mother and gave it away. Jesus gave that responsibility to John. The responsibility John undertook at this
moment isn’t just in name, but John according to Jewish custom was not only
adopting Mary, but being adopted by her.
Their lives would be connected and intertwined from that moment on. The responsibility that Jesus had for Mary
was given away because Jesus wanted to insure Mary was cared for in the way she
needed and deserved and as was the custom of a good Jewish son.
Today we have responsibilities as well, not only to God, but our
families and even our calling, whether farmer, teacher, husband, wife or
child. Jesus here clearly demonstrates
and models for us the need to take responsibility seriously, give it away when
necessary and give it to the right person for the job. When “Jesus said to His mother: “Woman, this is
your son.” Then He said to the
disciple: “This is your mother.” Scripture captures for us the importance of
taking responsibility and our daily need to do this as Christians.
But why, for what reason or what is the ‘end game’ of Jesus
statement for us today that we hear from the Cross of Calvary? Of what consequence is responsibility for us
today as Christians? Simply
responsibility has eternal consequences.
And Jesus is not just the God of the here and now, Jesus is the Son of
God for all eternity. We have the
opportunity to have an eternal impact when we rightfully take our
responsibility seriously, give it away when necessary and find the right person
for the job. Jesus knew John, the
disciple He loved would take care of His mother and knew she would be safe in
his care. So Jesus gave the
responsibility to John. So to the church
understands responsibility clearly because we get to share the love of God for
each and every one of us through the Gospel of Jesus Christ here at
Emmanuel. We can share that love in
word, deed and action with everyone we meet.
That message of what Jesus Christ did on the Cross of Calvary we
can give away to all that we meet. When
we give that message of salvation away, we share not only the love of God, but
our love for one another. I have the
opportunity from the pulpit to preach, proclaim and purposefully declare my
love for you the people of God, but also and more so the love of Jesus Christ
for each and every one of us. I am not
perfect, but God is and His love is perfect and He has given us the
responsibility to give this gift of love away.
And this is exactly what Jesus modeled on the Cross of Calvary when “Jesus
said to His mother: “Woman, this is your son.”
Then He said to the disciple:
“This is your mother.”
May we give away the Gospel message of salvation to all mankind,
knowing God will insure it does not return without accomplishing its
mission. And may we understand that
Gospel message of God’s love is not for a select few, but it is our opportunity
and responsibility to give it away and believe it is for all of mankind,
including all of us saints here at Emmanuel.
AMEN.
Check out Pastor on the Prairie (ProtP)
Subscribe to ProtP
No comments:
Post a Comment