Click on the links below for more sermons.

WHY (the) DELAY?
March 9, 2008
John 11:1-45
Psalm 70:1-5

WHICH ONE ARE YOU?
March 2, 2008
John 9:1-41
Deuteronomy 13:1-5

THE WHOLE WORLD
February 17, 2008
John 3:1-17
Ezekiel 36:24-28

The Temptation of Jesus
Mat.4:1 -11

TRANSFIGURATION
February 3, 2008
Matthew 17:1-9
Daniel 12:1-4

THE SECOND CALLING
January 27, 2008
1 Kings 19:19-21
Matthew 4:12-22

THE FIRST CALLING
Isaiah 53:1-7
John 1:29-42

Baptism Of the Lord
Isaiah 42:1-4
Matthew 3:13-17

EPIPHANY
Micah 5:1-5a
Matthew 2:1-12

SACRIFICE
March 23, 2008
John 20:1-18
Hosea 6:1-3

     During the time the Israelites lived in Egypt they were exposed to the religious beliefs of the Egyptians.  It was a religion that believed beyond any shadow of a doubt there was life after death.  However, the life to come was anything but a pleasant walk in the park.  Immediately after death you faced a grueling gauntlet of physical challenges.  You had to cross foggy marshes filled with quicksand.   You had to cross raging rivers with invisible whirlpools.  You had to travel dozens of miles while clinging to the side of a sheer vertical mountainous cliff.  You had to find the hidden path through pools of fire where the wicked were being tortured.  At any point in the journey you could die a second time, and this death was eternal.  

     Ten separate times you came to an impenetrable iron gate.  At these gates you must either recite a password or answer a cryptic riddle.  If you didn’t know the password or the riddle you were stuck standing at the gate for the rest of eternity.  Eventually, you arrived at a council of the gods, where you stood and shouted your worthiness to enter paradise.   “I have not committed evil against men.  I have not seen evil.  I have not made anyone sick.  I have not caused anyone suffering.  I have not had sexual relations with a boy.  I have not defiled myself.  I have not taken milk from the mouths of children.  I have not stopped a god in his procession.”  The list went on and on, and took nearly an hour to recite.  It concluded by yelling four times, “I am pure!  I am pure!  I am pure!  I am pure!”  If you had not memorized the entire list you died the second death. 

     Finally, as you stood before Horus, Anubis and Thoth your heart was placed on a scale and weighed against the feather of truth.  If your heart was too light, the Destroyer (a monster with the head of a crocodile, the body of a hippopotamus, and the legs of a lion) ate your soul and you died forever.  The Egyptian religion was filled with angry gods, who were arbitrary and capricious in their dealings with humans, and demanded horrific sacrifice in exchange for salvation. 

     Somewhere between 1445 and 1280 BC Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt.   Joshua led them into Canaan, where they came face to face with the Canaanite gods and goddesses.  They learned about Baal, whose priests cut deep wounds into their bodies and bled, so that their god would be encouraged to hear their prayers (1 Kings 18:28).  The same Baal who asked young families to either bury their firstborn child alive, or burn it, before he would bless their house (Jeremiah 19:5).  They learned of Chemosh, who would extricate you from any disaster if you offered your firstborn child as a burned sacrifice (2 Kings 3:27).  And, they learned of Molech, who demanded infant children to pass through the fire before he would grant his blessings (2 Kings 23:10).  The Canaanite religion was filled with angry gods, who were arbitrary and capricious in their dealings with humans, and demanded horrific sacrifice in exchange for salvation. 

     The Aztecs and the Mayans followed these same beliefs.  Human sacrifices had their hearts cut out, were decapitated, were skinned or buried alive – all to satisfy the god of death.   Children, primarily six year old boys, were considered more pure and their sacrifice was viewed as a higher quality offering.  These young boys were deliberately given severe infections, causing them to cry for days before the sacrifice.  It was a better sacrifice if the child had cried a lot.  The Aztecs and Mayans worshiped angry gods, who were arbitrary and capricious in their dealings with humans, and demanded horrific sacrifice in exchange for salvation. 

     The Inca’s preferred sacrifice was a fifteen year old girl.   Normally poor families ate of diet of just potatoes.  But for one year young girls would be fattened up on a high protein diet of maize and llama meat.  At the end of that year they would be forced on a grueling pilgrimage to the highest mountain top, where they would be drugged then tied to a stake and left to die.  The Inca’s worshipped angry gods, who were arbitrary and capricious in their dealings with humans, and demanded horrific sacrifice in exchange for salvation. 

     Year after year the Israelites offered sacrifices of their own; burnt sheep and oxen (Exodus 20:24), slaughtered bulls and rams and goats (Exodus 29:1-22, Leviticus 17:29-34).  Year after year they asked God to forgive their sin and be their friend.  Year after year God said, “Yes, for now.  But one day, one day I will require much more.” 

     In 586 BC Nebuchadnezzar conquered Israel.  He destroyed the city of Jerusalem, sacked the Holy Temple, and deported the Israelites as slaves to Babylon.  There, in exile, they were introduced to the Babylonian gods and goddesses.  Apsu and his wife Tiamat were the very first gods.  They had children and grandchildren (sub-gods), and Tiamat let the offspring run wild.  She loved the chaos.   When Apsu tried to stop the insanity he was killed by his own son.  Tiamat then created eleven monsters and married Qingu – the chief of the monsters.  She planned on letting the monsters destroy all the other gods and goddesses.  Chaos must reign. 

     At this point her grandson, Marduk (Jeremiah 50:2), approached all of the sub-gods with a deal.   He would kill Tiamat and all her monsters if he was made the unconditional king of the gods.  He would require unquestioning obedience from them.  The sub-gods agreed.  Marduk killed his grandmother with a mace, and split her body into two parts.  From these two parts the earth and the universe were formed.  Then, Marduk created human beings.  Their sole function were to be his slaves, to dance to whatever whim he chose.  The Babylonians worship angry gods, who were arbitrary and capricious in their dealings with humans, and demanded horrific sacrifice in exchange for salvation. 

     However, one day Tiamat will resurrect herself.  She will join the two parts of her body back together and regain control of the universe.  You will know this is happening because chaos and craziness begin to increase.  It will be the end of days.  The Israelites looked around.  They were God’s chosen people, living in exile away from the Promised Land.  God’s Holy Temple lay in ruin.  Their worship was forbidden and had to be kept underground.  And, they asked themselves, “Isn’t this the definition of chaos?  Isn’t this the definition of craziness?  This must be the end of days.” 

     When they finally returned to Israel, they brought their apocalyptic dread with them.  The end of days was fast approaching, what would the end be like?  Most of you have seen the Star Wars movies.  They are not scripture, but their messianic message is well known to most people.  The Israelites returned from Babylon with many books that were never included in their Bible, but whose messianic and apocalyptic stories were well known by all.   God looks down on this fallen world, and he is angry.  Eventually he will send his Messiah, his vengeful arm, to break into history.  The demons and the fallen angels will be punished (1 Enoch 10:6, 16:1, 19:1).  The Gentiles will be smitten, and those who survive will become Israel’s slaves (1 Enoch 90:18).  Even the bad Israelites, those who cooperated with the Gentiles, and with Rome, will be smitten (Testament of Benjamin 10:9).  The Son of Man will whip and drive the sinners off of the earth (Similitude’s of Enoch 45:3, 48:2, 49:4, 61:8).  The world will be made right.
Then, after 400 years, the Messiah will die.  The righteous will die with him.  For seven days the earth will lie silent.  Then, an angry and unsatisfied God will destroy and re-create the universe – starting over from scratch (2 Esdras 7:29).  Many of the poor, uneducated, working class Israelites (the Am ha-Aretz) had come to believe in an angry God, who was arbitrary and capricious in his dealings with humans, and demanded horrific sacrifice in exchange for salvation. 

     And then, along comes Jesus of Nazareth.  He says to these people of the land, “Your God doesn’t hate you.  Your God loves you.  He loves you more than you could ever comprehend (1 John 4:8, 16).  He knows that your sacrifice will never be enough (Hebrews 10:1-4).  So, here’s the twist.  God will become the sacrifice (Matthew 20:28).  It’s not you, not your children, not your animals or plants.  It’s me, I will be the sacrifice.  I will repair the centuries of damage caused by sin (Romans 5:10).  I will become cursed for you (Galatians 3:13).  I will suffer for you, not just physically – but emotionally as well.   I will endure the psychological pain of bearing the guilt of your sin.  I will freely give the ultimate sacrifice, I will die for you (John 15:13).”

     “Even though it hurts my heart, even though the road is so long, even though just like Moses and Elijah I want to quit – in fact I’ll beg God to let me quit, but I won’t (Luke 22:42).  I’ll hang in there.  Just for you.   I will let them beat me until I am virtually unrecognizable as a human being.   And, I will suffer this so that every one of you will live forever (John 11:25-26).  More than that, I will suffer so that your lives now will more rich, more rewarding, more abundant (John 10:10). 

     I will take on all of the sin sickness that drags you down and defeats you.  Give me all of your diseased relationships.   Give me your divorce.  Give me your abuse, be it physical, sexual, or emotional.  Give me your addiction to drugs, or alcohol, or pornography.  Give me your anger and your hate.  Let me have your rage.  Give me the grief and sorrow you carry for everything that is broken in your life.  Pour it all on me, and I will be the sacrifice.”

     Every other religion that has ever been requires pain, suffering, obedience and sacrifice from the worshipers.  Every other religion requires you to prove your worthiness.  Only Christianity is different.  And here is how you can trust that Christianity is true.  Only Christianity provides you with proof that it is worthy.
Jesus said, “I will suffer and die for you.  But, on the third day I will rise up and live again (Matthew 17:23, 20:19, Luke 9:22, 24:46-49)!”  And he did!  Mary Magdalene was the first to see him, then the rest of the women.  Next he was seen by eleven of the Apostles and James and Paul, two men on the road to Emmaus, and eventually to a crowd of five hundred (1 Corinthians 15:1-8, 1 John 1:3).  The priests knew it was true, and tried to cover it up (Matthew 28:11-15).  But, the voice of the eyewitnesses could not be silenced.  They were hanged, crucified, stabbed, burned, stoned, and beaten – and still their story did not change.   We saw what we saw!  Jesus came back from the dead, just the way he said he would. 

     Today is Easter!  There has never been a day like this in the history of the world.  Today our sacrifices stop.  Today our worship begins.