Rebuked by Jesus??

Hey friends…
 
I don’t like getting yelled at. Do you? It’s happened to all of us: by a parent, a teacher, a boss. Maybe even a neighbor or friend. Or a spouse. Never fun. But can you imagine getting yelled at by Jesus? Rebuked and reprimanded by him? What might trigger that? Oh…and are we all certain we’re not presently in queue for that difficult conversation? Yikes!! Let’s talk more in Deeper Thoughts below.
 
But first…
 
·      Everyone please join us for a super-important all-church conversation and vote about our facility expansion project, THIS Sunday after church, 11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. At this critical decision meeting, all are welcome and everyone will have the opportunity to weigh in on what God is showing us.
o   Our Covenant Partners will vote to receive new Covenant Partners into membership, appoint new Board of Administration members, consider if we are ready to formally adopt our revised By-Laws (click here), and decide on the future of the proposed facility expansion.
o   We will share the results of our Generosity Commitments towards the project. Click here if you would still like to weigh in on the generosity God is leading.
 
·      Teens:  Youth Group Sunday after service, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., ending about the same time as the congregational meeting. Devotional time, snacks and games! Please contact Jess if you'd like to be added to the Youth Group email list or if your teen needs a ride home: [email protected].
 
·      Ladies: Tomorrow’s planned Prayer Walk at Morven Park has been cancelled. BUT… Mark your calendars for our May event: Zumba to Christian Music with Cynthia Campbell, Saturday, May 17, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. Click here for more info and to RSVP!
 
·      Mt. Hope spruce-up workday: NEXT Saturday, May 3, 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Enjoy quality time with friends while beautifying the church!  For young and old, and for all experience and skill levels!
 
·      Volunteers!! Anyone currently or interested in serving in Kids Connect or Youth, mark your calendars for a volunteer luncheon right after church, Sunday, May 18.
 
·      Don’t miss this week’s kick off of our next installment of The Daily Six video series as we begin a brand-new teaching series called “Knowing God”! Join me for six minutes each morning, Monday through Friday, on our YouTube channel as we study through the entire Old Testament together. If you’d like to receive daily email reminders and you’re not already getting them, click here to sign up!
 
OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who thoroughly enjoy reprimands. BUT…
 
 
Some Deeper Thoughts…
 
I still get serious twitches when I recall being verbally disciplined by my schoolteachers for some occasional—and normal—adolescent indiscretions. Yes, your beloved Reverend did get in trouble at school more than once. I’ve also been hauled into the boss’s office and given a stern rebuke for making corporate mistakes in my adulthood. Some of those painful and embarrassing moments are more recent than I’d like to admit.
 
Rebuke is never fun.
 
Occasionally it is misplaced or overdone—like the time I got excoriated in front of the entire class for over 15 minutes by my World Civ professor my freshman year of college. I had innocently, albeit with very poor timing, joyfully exclaimed a particular thanks to the Lord when I learned that class had been cancelled that day. I missed the part about the reason for its cancellation was her unfortunate illness. She was hurt. She let me and the whole class know about it. Firmly, with red face, raised voice, and copious amounts of spittle spewing from her angry lips. Did I mention the part about it being in front of the whole class? And the 15 minutes?
 
Sometimes, though, rebuke is well-placed. Sometimes we’ve done something wrong, and we need to be called out. As painful as it is, I want rebuke when I need it. There is no way to grow in the areas I am blind to if I don’t hear about it.
 
Jesus rebuked his disciples at a very inconsiderate moment. I think he was being unfair.
 
Obviously, he did not.
 
They were in the middle of grieving. My opinion: that’s really not the best time to call someone into your office and give them the “what for.”
 
They had just stood for hours watching the man they loved being tortured and put to death by crucifixion, a gruesome and outlandishly barbaric way to end a human life. They couldn’t even give his body their respect as oppressive Sabbath laws prohibited even the work of properly burying your loved ones after Friday sunset. They spent their Saturday consumed with overwhelming grief, confusion, despair, and probably anger.
 
Then, the next day, when the women came running from the grave to excitedly declare that Jesus was alive, no one believed them (Mark 16:10).
 
Can you blame them? Resurrection isn’t in the human catalogue of regularly anticipated experiences.
 
Later that day, two of the others came running in telling of this odd fellow they met while walking along the road. He rambled on about the prophecies and a suffering Messiah. Right as they were starting to recognize that he looked an awful lot like their now-dead Jesus, he vanished. Poof. Gone. Huh. That was weird (Luke 24:13-32).
 
Even later still, as they sat around the dinner table trying to figure out what to do next, poof again. There was Jesus standing right there in the middle of everybody.
 
His first words? Not, “Hey everyone, how ya’ doin?” Not, “Whatzzup?” Not, “Surprise! Look who it is!”
 
Nope. His first words? Rebuke.
 
“Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen” (Mark 16:14).
 
I don’t know about you, but I’m throwing the unfair flag.
 
How would they believe it? Granted, they had seen Jesus raise a few other folks from the dead. That was impressive. But to expect them to translate that to an immediate and reflexive acceptance that a missing body, a weird fellow on the road, and a spooky walk-through-walls appearance meant that he was resurrected? I think that’s a little much.
 
Jesus disagrees with me.
 
And he disagrees with all of us when we opt to not make an unconditional choice to believe him, believe his Word, and then leverage that Word in bold and authoritative prayer.
 
Friends, to Jesus, disbelief is a rebukable decision. Hebrews 11:6 reveals that faith is required to please God (a.k.a. not be in line for his discipline). Hebrews 11:1 reveals that faith is a decision to believe in that which is unseen.
 
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).
 
How are you doing with faith? Are you in line for a rebuke, even if you don’t think you deserve it? Unfair as it may seem, could Jesus say of you—or me—that our shaky faith is actually stubborn refusal?
 
As we wrap up our study of the Gospel of Mark this Sunday—learning how to be “Powered by Jesus”--let’s explore the part of our faith that is a choice. Let’s see if we’re being stubborn. Or if we just need to take Jude’s offer up to “be merciful to those who doubt” (Jude 22).
 
I won’t yell at us. I’m with Jude on this one. But let’s see how Jesus connects the dots between the two.
 
See you Sunday!!
 
Chris Eads
Mt. Hope Pastor
Friend