May 24 2020 "Let Jesus Open Your Mind" Luke 24.44-53

May 24 2024 Luke 24.44-53 “Let Jesus Open Your Mind” Pastor Jacqueline Hines

In this eighth week of quarantine we are ending the season of Easter and entering Pentecost. How great is our God, in such a time as this.

Let us be in prayer. We are trusting in you Lord, because we are in a place that we have never been before. Have mercy upon those who need it most, the hopeless, the helpless, the heedless, the leaderless and the scattered. Amen.

This Sunday is called Ascension Sunday because it is the day we remember the scriptures that tell of the day that Jesus was talking to the disciples and after the conversation was over, he lifted his hands up and blessed them all. Jesus lifted his hands like we often do when praising God or like pastors do when blessing the people after a service is over. When he lifted his hands he was carried into heaven. 

This moment is found in our recitation of Apostle’s Creed;

 we say  -

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;*
the third day he rose from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,

(so we celebrate an entire day and Sunday to remember that Jesus ascended into Heaven – the creed continues…)

he sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic** church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.

The Ascension is a part of the life of Jesus that 4^h Century Apostles wanted to include in their teachings.

In the lesson from Luke we see that after the resurrection, Jesus spent 40  days on earth, before he ascended into heaven.

 What was he doing during those 40 days? You might wonder. He did a lot. First, he appeared to Mary Magdalene and other women who had come to tend to Jesus’ body at the tomb, though the angel told them “He is not here. He has risen just as he said he would. He also spent time walking and talking with two disciples on the road to Emmaus; on two occasions, he entered a room where the disciples were hiding, fearing they might be the next to be crucified. There he showed his nail-scarred hands to Thomas who was doubting, and lastly, he commissioned the disciples to go to all nations and baptize and teach and be mindful that he promised he would always be with them.

We weren’t there in that first century, but we affirm the life of Jesus as the bible describes it. At times, there is talk about whether Jesus was real, about the bible being hard to understand, irrelevant to our cultural context, and boring.

More of us appreciate soothing biblical words like David’s Psalm 23 

because they profess a comfort for our souls. We may hold tightly to Joshua’s words of conviction – “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

During graduation season a favorite text shared is God saying, 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  

Again and again we choose to listen during the Christmas season to the words of Mary, the mother of Jesus. After the Angel Gabriel told her that she was blessed and highly favored to become the mother of the Messiah. She accepted that call as she sang out these words: 

“My soul rejoices in my savior!” She believed the words of the prophets she heard every time she went to the temple. She believed the God she experienced in her heart, in her family traditions, in her community and culture. She believed the words the angel told her. So many thoughts must have been tossing and turning in Mary’s mind. In spite of doubts, concerns, and unanswered questions, she believed. She put one foot in front of the other and trusted God to lead her where she needed to go.

Sometime we are just like Mary. Sometime we may be more like doubting Thomas for whom seeing was the only way to believing. 

If we live long enough, we may see things we would never believe possible. There was a time when going to the moon was an idea found only in 1940’s comic books. Being able to see and speak to each other around the world while hundreds of miles away was once inconceivable. The story of Noah and his family living in an ark came to the front of our minds a few months ago when we experienced weeks of rain that never seemed to end, causing flooding, uprooting trees and homes. 

The destruction of the world by fire jumped out of the bible pages into our living rooms as we heard the evening news tell of uncontrollable forest fires in California and Australia. 

Some news can change our minds about life being only what we know life to be, or being the paradise we want life to be.

We may be puzzled with those passages in the bible that give graphic depictions of damnation and hellfire, polygamy, genocide, incest, We do well to think as well as pray when we read, for the Bible is inspired by God to make us mature Christians with good character, to have a right relationship with God and with one another. 

Just like any session of learning, some answers may not be clear until weeks and months, even years of explanation and exploration. It is good to pray and spend time in the presence of Jesus and let Jesus change our minds as needed.

Years ago there was an emergency in an elementary school and I was called on to teach a science class. We talked about the planets, the weather, we examined cells under a microscope, and so forth. We made volcanoes with vinegar and baking soda. There was one experiment that I could not pull off. There was something about a lemon and copper wire that was supposed to emit enough power to make a lightbulb come on. (Now that I think of it, I may have been better off if I had used a bulb with lower wattage.) It was sobering and frustrating as well as disappointing not to have the answers.

In life, we are reminded that there are lessons that are ongoing. Even with the coronavirus, we are learning new and important information all of the time. It is the same way with the bible. Every lesson builds on the last one. The Holy Spirit continually nudges us to respect and ponder God’s word and to be ready to hear God’s voice above all else.

When we study the bible, we find some words are like milk and honey. Others are hard sayings, bitter to the taste, tough to digest. There may be biblical words that make us look away in disgust or contempt, or we may smile while our eyes sparkle because of a sweet taste. Or we may shed tears and frown as if reading God’s word were like eating a raw onion and hot peppers.

The disciples studied the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. They did not read the gospels; they lived the gospels. The gospels were written decades later. Luke tells us in verse 45 of chapter 24 that Jesus opened the minds of the disciples to understand the scripture. As we spend time on a faith journey with Jesus, as we pray - keeping the conversation going, we learn and grow. Jesus opens our minds, too.

Our minds are open in this journey of life, death, heaven, and hell. Unforgettable lessons come in our seasons of grief and sadness. 

Award-winning Musician Curtis Chapman and his wife adopted a little girl from China. At the age of four, daddy’s little girl was accidentally crushed as she ran to greet her teenage brother who was driving up to their house. This anguished father ran over to his teenage son, held him close and said, “Your father loves you!” That move of the Spirit breathed much needed life in the midst of tragedy. Only love can bear the weight of life’s brokenness.

The bible teaches new life, but the promise of new life is not a false promise; it is just hard to read about when a loved one is snatched from our arms. It’s the love of Jesus that sees us through. He comes to us and helps us. One of the May Upper Room devotionals told of a man who was very broken at the loss his wife and in his talk with Jesus he realized, though he had no more days to love her, he cherished the days he did have and learned to give thanks for them.

Once I was asking God how to pray for a man sick in the hospital. It is good to ask the Lord like the disciples did. “Lord, teach us to pray.” This man could no longer walk on his own, but the next morning I awoke after a dream that the man was standing beside his hospital bed, waving good bye to me. I believed that was the answer to my prayer. People smiled when I shared that dream at his funeral a few weeks later.

Several years ago, I was on the way to the hospital to visit a very sick man who was semi-comatose. I had a sense that the Holy Spirit wanted me to hurry. It felt like I was being blown by a strong wind toward something urgent that God was working on. In my mind he was at death’s door. I learned that he really was on the threshold of eternity and it was my job that day to be present and to pray. Prayer matters. Prayer is a part of the plan. Prayer is not a wishing well and Jesus is not our Jeanie in a bottle. We ought to pray when the Spirit says pray. We want to pray in season and out of season. It’s been several years and that man who was close to death that day is still living. God has a purpose and a plan.

It is good to let Jesus open our minds. It is good to keep the conversation going with him, to think as well as pray, to find the comfort and understanding that is available to us.

Years ago it was in my mind to do a 40 day fast in order to get closer to God, to grow stronger spiritually and be a good soldier of the cross. During that fast, my mind was changed. I began to focus on the biblical wisdom for keeping God’s creation physically healthy. The only vision I ever had of Jesus was when I was down on the floor exercising. During a stretch, I closed my eyes and could see him and I understood without words that I was doing something important.

For years since that fast, I have been reminded that it is God’s will that we do our best to do what it takes to be healthy in mind, body, and spirit. I try to eat right. I ate some delicious hot dogs that were said to be particularly healthy, but when I read the package, I was disappointed to read they contained some items I thought were not helpful, so I spoke to a rabbi and the rabbi agreed and mentioned that the biblical laws, guidelines, and principles for health must be reflected upon and updated because the sources of food and the processing of food can change from region to region and generation to generation. We have to think as well as pray and let Jesus open our minds to the way we need to go.

When I was learning to read, I was reading everything in sight. I got a hold of my father’s pack of Camel cigarettes and read the surgeon general’s warning, and I rushed to him with great alarm and warned my father of the dangers of smoking. It would be years before he quit smoking, but it had not been that many years before then that doctors were advising women to smoke cigarettes to calm their nerves, even during pregnancy. On one of the sitcoms this week, a son complained and blamed his mother for smoking during labor and the mother shouted back, “Yes, I was smoking, and so was the doctor while he was delivering you.” Our minds have been opened to a new truth about smoking.

It wasn’t long ago that cigarette manufacturers finally admitted that they were adding addictive chemicals in order to increase their profits, in spite of the skyrocketing lung cancers and other diseases. One doctor says greed and politics affect our food as well. It is good to pray about every aspect of our lives, for God has wonderful plans for us.

We do not have all the answers, and we won’t have all the answers. There is a gospel song that says to God:

You don't answer all my questions
But you hear me when I speak
You don't keep my heart from breakin'
But when it does, you weep with me
You're so close that I can feel you
When I've lost the words to pray
And though my eyes have never seen you
I've seen enough to say

I know that you are good
I know that you are kind
I know that I am loved  
I know that I am safe  
Cause even in the fire, to live is Christ, to die is gain

You're still close when I can't feel you
I don't have to be afraid
And though my eyes have never seen you
I've seen enough to say

I know that you are good
I know that you are kind
I know that I am loved
I know that I am safe

Let us pray. Lord, how you love shines through the grey clouds of our days. Your still small voice awakens us and keeps our mind stay on you and lets us know you care for each and every one of us. Still, there is a part of our minds that are in turmoil as we are in war with the corona virus. Help us. Deliver us. Calm us.  

We pray as you taught the disciples. Our father who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.  

 May you keep your mind on Jesus and grow to know the greatest love of all. Amen.

If you would like to make your contribution to the ministry and mission of Bethel, the website is Bethelumchurch.com 

Or you can send to 952 Bethel Church Road, Spring City, Pa. 19475. Join us next week,  fifth Sunday as we celebrate our Youth and the day of Pentecost from Acts 2.1-21 in a message “Let Jesus Have Your Heart”   God bless you!