St. Peter's House and Home Improvement

Ever been in a house where the owners have had some fun remodeling over the years, building an addition onto an addition onto an addition?  Or maybe your childhood school now looks totally different with several new additions and wings and rooms?  

Today I want to take you to the apostle Peter’s house to reflect on God’s house…

A highlight of our time in Israel was spending a short time in Capernaum:  Jesus’ disciples’ ol’ stompin’ grounds.  (That’s a lot of apostrophes.)

There we had the opportunity to see what a home during Jesus’ time would have looked like, and even have a glimpse at the Apostle Peter’s house…

Okay, it wasn’t exactly "Peter’s" house; traditionally it was known as Peter’s mother’s house. (sorry, more apostrophes…)  But, that in essence meant Peter also could have lived there.  In that culture, most of the sons would have lived with their mother, even after they were married.  (Yes, all you wives out there – collective groan as you imagine living with your mother-in-law…)

But all joking aside, they were a true family and had a true sense of community.  They all lived in one large house, but would build addition after addition after addition.  When a man was engaged or betrothed, they would build this room for him and his wife, which would be completed upon the wedding.  And each member of the family had a trade to contribute to the household.  Literally one big happy family.  (ideally of course)

But we know how humans operate and I’m sure there were times of conflict and run-ins.  But they took care of each other, and when another person was to be added to the family, there was always room.  They built room.  Literally.  They built addition after addition to make space for new family members.

So when Jesus says in John 14, “My Father’s house has many rooms” this is exactly what the disciples are imagining: God’s house having addition after addition after addition…  Let’s read a little more:

 “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

For those of us familiar with this passage, we always associate it with God preparing a place for us in heaven, which is a common and accepted interpretation of this passage.  But it’s much richer than just that; it has implications for us even before we reach heaven.  God is saying that he is preparing a new addition just for us to be with him in his family, and he is coming “back to take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am.”  Just like the son taking his bride, Jesus the Son of God takes his people to come be with him in his house forever.  And what makes this even more beautiful – there are MANY rooms:  ALL are welcome in the family of God.  God will build addition after addition after addition to make sure all those who come to him can be included in his family, adopted as his children.  There is never a lack of space in the house of God. 

MANY rooms.

God has a room for you; God has a room for anyone who comes knocking on his door. 

Do you have room for God?   And do you make room as God does for others to join in the family and household of God?   Brings a new meaning to “home improvement…”

Remembrance/Veterans Day and the Torn Curtain

 

"And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

The earth shook, and the rocks split…"

Matthew 27:50-51

Death is never an easy discussion point.  And dealing with the death of a loved one is by far one of the hardest parts of being human.  Whether an expected death or a sudden taking of those we love, when someone passes away, our world is shaken.

Remembrance Day or Veterans Day is a time to reflect on those who gave up their own lives to make our world safe and free.  Thousands upon thousands died to grant us freedom, and this very day more continue to sacrifice their lives to maintain this much-needed freedom.   

For thousands upon thousands of family members and loved ones, their world was shaken when the horrible message was received.

In ancient Jewish tradition, there was a powerful reaction to news of death of a family member.  For ancient Jews, when a relative died, they tore their robes.  The grim reality of life without this person caused a powerful reaction – the emotional tearing of their clothes.

When Jesus died after his execution on the cross, we do not know if his disciples tore their robes.  We do not know if his mother Mary or brother James tore their garments with the despair that this beloved man had died.

But we do know that God did.  God tore his robe, and God’s world was shaken when Jesus died…

The Gospel writer Matthew describes God’s powerful response to his only Son’s death:  “At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  The earth shook, and the rocks split…”

God tore his robe, and God’s world was shaken when Jesus died.

The curtain of the temple tore.  The curtain of the Jewish temple was the curtain of the "Holy of Holies" -- the place that God himself dwelt with his people.  And it was this curtain, God's "robe," that tore.  And the earth shook and rocks split.  God was grieving.  God tore his robes.  God's world was shaken.  God's Son had died. It was finished.

 Let us not forget the sacrifice...

Remembrance Day and Veterans Day are opportunities to stop and reflect on the sacrifice made by an immeasurable amount of men and women to give us the life we have today.  Every day we are blessed to live in such amazing freedom because of those who stepped up to put a stop to horrors of sinful people.  We grieve the lives lost, and we grieve with the families of these people who had to receive unbearable news...

And God grieves too.  Just like Jesus wept for his friend (John 11), and just as God grieved his Son's death, God grieves the lives lost and the sad state humanity put itself into.

On this day, let us not forget the sacrifice of those who gave of themselves for our freedom.    
 And let us also not forget the ultimate sacrifice the Son of God gave for our eternal freedom, and the God who tore his robe and grieved for his Son who died to save us all.  

"Curtain torn in two,

Dead are raised to life;

'Finished!' the victory cry.

This, the power of the cross:

Son of God, slain for us 

What a love!  What a cost!

We stand forgiven at the cross."

~Keith Getty, Stuart Townend

He makes me lie down in not-so-green pastures...

"The Lord is my shepherd;

I shall not want

 ² He makes me to lie down in green pastures… 

He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake…" 

(Psalm 23)

“Green pastures.”

I know what you are all thinking --  you are imagining rolling hills of bright green, golf-course like perfection, where sheep graze in the shade with a brook of water not far from where they have a gourmet of grass to feed on.

Ah, green pastures. 

Sorry to shake your image of what “green pastures” are being referred to here,  but what the Psalm-writer was talking about when he said “green pastures,”  this is what he would have meant:

That’s right:  an almost desert-like area where you can hardly see anything growing.  Not exactly the five-star golf resort you had in mind.  And those funny squiggly lines across (horizontally?) the hill?  Those are “paths of righteousness.”  Those funny looking, messy paths, are “paths of righteousness.”

So here we have a desert-like “green” pasture, which looks  almost as if any sheep would starve if that’s all they had to eat.  But these “green pastures” are significant.  As you can tell by the photos (and the reality of the middle east climate), there is very little rainfall in these parts.  So any growth that happens is actually from the wet dew on these small plants that produce this “pasture.”  But these plants are so sensitive, and get so little water, that if the sheep eat the entire plant and get all the way down to the root, the fields and entire pasture gets exhausted and leaves no chance for new growth for the plants.  And no new growth, means no food for the future… 

So the shepherd’s job is to lead the sheep in the paths of righteousness, but to keep them moving.  The shepherd’s job is to make sure the sheep get just enough of the plants in the pasture before encouraging them along, so to not eat too much of the plant that can grow back for the next time they come to this pasture… 

One thing we were asked to consider on our journey is the meaning of these meager pastures.   If God  is the one bringing us to such not-so-green pastures, this also means God is the one encouraging us to keep moving in our journey.  God doesn’t want us to get stuck in one place on our journey; God the Shepherd wants to continue to lead us, to teach us, to find new growth in our lives.

As a people and in our own individual journeys, God is prodding us and encouraging us to keep moving.  It is easy to get stuck in our faith journeys, but God is always wanting us to open our eyes to new opportunities and challenges and insights, so we can get the proper faith nourishment.

And for every individual person as well as every church community, this could look very different.  Maybe God is encouraging you to grow in your faith by starting a new ministry in your church or community, or perhaps even seek full-time ministry yourself.  Maybe God wants you to take a new step in your devotional life, or even nudging you to talk to a co-worker or neighbor about your hope in Christ.  Maybe God is prodding your church to look at new ways to serve your community, or to work with other churches in the area, or other ways to keep moving forward as you keep your eye on Christ’s prize.  These are all things God may be using to keep us moving in our faith journey.

I’m just as guilty as the next person to not want change and to “like things the way they are” not being prodded out of my comfort zone.  But let us not ignore our Shepherd’s voice as God may be encouraging us to follow his guidance and keep moving in directions we may be unsure of.  And yes that path may be messy and squiggly but who knows… maybe in following the path God is leading us, we will be blessed in far more ways we ever imagined…

"Lord, give us

         feet for the path

                      strength for the Stride

                           passion for the Pace"

              

                                            ~Rev. George deJong