Buschong, Bob 3

Scripture: Luke 23:32-43 (NIV Extract 32, 33, 43) - "Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals - one on his right, the other on his left".... "Jesus answered him, 'Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.'" (Please read the entire text in your Bible)

Message: Here's Jesus, the one who had begun his life as a refugee, homeless and in poverty, now in the company of those cast out by society, executed outside the city gate like the animals that were used in sacrifice. It's a humbling reminder; Jesus brings with Him the poor, the outcast, the marginalized, the homeless, the imprisoned, those who are scorned and rejected, and when we genuinely, sincerely receive Jesus into our hearts we receive them as well.

Two of these marginalized folks are side by side with Jesus, on their respective cross, experiencing the slow and painful death of crucifixion. The first man seems cynical, mocking Jesus: "If you really are the Messiah, then what are you waiting for? Save yourself, and while you're at it, save the two of us as well!"

The second man clearly saw something special in Jesus. He had heard His prayer of forgiveness as the nails were driven into His hands, and this seems to have stirred within this man a sense of remorse that moves him to cry out, "Jesus, remember me as You come into your kingdom." With no hesitation, Jesus responds, “Listen to me. This is the truth. Today you will be with me in paradise.”

Preacher and teacher Dr. Will Willimon expands the typical understanding of the word "paradise" when he puts it like this: "Paradise is whenever, wherever we are with Jesus."

The dying thief didn't have to wait until he drew his last breath to be in paradise with Jesus. That experience began as soon as he realized that this bruised and bloody man next to him on a cross was the One called to usher in the Kingdom of God; his experience began in that very moment. And that is true for each of us as well.

Prayer: Thank You, Gracious God, for the message of the cross, which is all about the gift of Your gracious love offered to all of humanity in and through Jesus. Amen.

Pastor Bob Bushong

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Scripture: John 1:14 (NIV) – “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Message: Franklin Roosevelt and a close friend were talking one evening at the White House. Toward the end of their conversation, President Roosevelt suggested that they go out into the Rose Garden and look at the stars.

They looked up for several minutes, peering at nebulae with thousands of stars. Then the President said, “All right, I think we feel small enough now to go in and go to sleep.”

We need to experience that sense of wonder periodically to keep our lives in perspective, don’t we? It’s part of what it means to be human. In today’s world we live among so many amazing inventions and conveniences present in our own homes and offices, that we are in danger of losing a sense of amazement at the most basic wonders of creation – the way babies are born, or the way our minds and bodies work, or the miracle of a sunrise.

We have entered the season of Advent once again – that season of the church year during which we prepare our hearts and our lives to celebrate the birth of the Son of God into the world. One of the wonderful things about Advent is that it serves as an annual reminder of the importance of seeing the miraculous in our midst.

Let’s agree not to miss it this year. Let’s agree not to miss the miraculous, specifically the miracle of God’s love that entered into the world in a tangible way through that baby named Jesus.

Prayer: Lord, keep us from missing the miracle of the Incarnation: that is, the birth of the God of the Universe into the world and into the midst of all human experience in order to put the ultimate punctuation mark on the remarkable power of Your gracious love. Amen.

Pastor Bob Bushong

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Scripture: Mark 1:9-13 (NIV) - "At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: 'You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.' At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him."

Message: Theologian and author Frederick Buechner describes Lent in this way:

"After being baptized by John in the river Jordan, Jesus went off alone info the wilderness where he spent forty days asking himself what it meant to be Jesus. During Lent, Christians are supposed to ask one way or another what it means to be themselves."

What does it mean to be ourselves as followers of Jesus, anyway?

I received an email from a friend who is reading C S Lewis' Mere Christianity for his morning devotional time, and this morning he read these words from that thought-provoking little book:

"Most of us are not really approaching the subject [of Christianity] in order to find out what Christianity says: we are approaching it in the hope of finding support from Christianity for our own views."

This is a statement worth pondering. How many of us approach Christianity in a way that asks the faith itself, rooted as it is in the life and teachings, the death and resurrection of Jesus, what it expects of us? How many of us go to God in prayer daily and ask God to show us what God wants us to learn, to say, to do, to think, to accomplish, to share, to sacrifice, to forgive, to let go of, to hang on to, to risk on that particular day? I How many of us base daily decisions that we make about how we spend our time and our resources on the claim of Christ on our lives?

This is the work of Lent.

Prayer: Touch me powerfully, O God, with the indwelling of Your H0ly Spirit in ways that show me daily who it is that You are calling me to be as a disciple of Jesus. Amen.

Pastor Bob Bushong

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