Fortitude: Being Brave

Scripture:

John 19:38-42

Quick Summary:

Joseph and Nicodemus were scared of following Jesus. But when all of Jesus’ disciples abandoned and denied him at the cross, it was these two scared men who risked their lives so that Jesus could have a proper burial.

The Point:

Joseph and Nicodemus showed fortitude. Fortitude is when God give us the courage to do what is right.

Questions for Family Time:

                  1.      What was the story today about?

             a.    When Jesus died on the cross for our sins.

                  2.      Who helped Jesus ?

         a.      Joseph and Nicodemus carried him to the tomb.

                  3.      Were Joseph and Nicodemus disciples?

        a.      They were too scared to be disciples, but became brave in the end.

Deeper:

I heard it said recently that it’s not how you begin but how you end. That pretty much sums up the story of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Both believed in Jesus, but both kept their opinions to themselves. They didn’t follow Jesus because they were afraid others would find out. They both had a lot to lose. Nicodemus was a Pharisee and Joseph sat on the council that requested Jesus’ crucifixion. They both would lose their friends, their careers, and their faith communities if they were outed as Jesus followers.

I imagine that the disciples of Jesus looked down their noses at these men of little faith. After all, The Twelve gave up all they had to follow Jesus and were always with him in front of crowds or sitting at the temple.  How telling it is that The Twelve are nowhere to be found when Jesus finally died on the cross. Fear of the crosses that lay in wait for them tempted them to abandon their leader. They had spoken of bravery and rebellion while Jesus was alive, but now that he hang dying, they were nowhere to be seen.

Only the two scaredy-cats remained. Joseph, who never had the courage during Jesus’ life, now courageously honors Jesus’ body in death. He goes to Pilate himself and requests permission to take down the body.  There goes his career. Then, with Nicodemus’ help, he wrapped it in new cloth and fragrant spices. There goes their faith community. Matthew tells us that Joseph put Jesus in his own new tomb, never used before, and rolled a stone in front of it. There goes his friends and family relationships.  But those things now are not as important as they were. What is most important now is that Jesus is buried with dignity, not allowed to suffer the shame of being picked apart by birds like so many criminals. Honoring Jesus became more important to these men than what they stood to lose.

Even in death, Jesus was still transforming lives. He took these two men too scared to stand up to their peers, and used them to prepare the way for his resurrection only a few days later.

Perhaps you have felt like Joseph and Nicodemus. God has called you, but you have ignored that call because it would totally change your life. Maybe you have watched others follow Jesus, as you believe in him in secret. If so, than hear this Easter the good news: Jesus needs you. He needs you to honor him and to give the best of what you have, so that through your gift he can bring new life. Take courage, for out of your fortitude God will do something beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.

Personal Reflection:

When have you been scared to live out your faith? What would you have to give up to live out your faith? What new life could God bring from you courage to do what is right?

Justice: Being Fair

Scripture:

Luke 21:1-4

Quick Summary:

Jesus saw people giving their money to the temple when a poor widow put in just two coins. He said she put more than all the others, because she gave a big portion of what she had. She gave more in God’s eyes even though she gave less in people’s eyes. God sees what is fair, but that is not always the same. Our virtue is Justice. It is treating everyone fair. 

The Point:

Justice is about being fair to everyone. Being just means helping the people who need it most the most.  

Questions for Family Time:

                  1.      Who gave the most money in the story?

a.     the rich

                  2.      Who did Jesus say gave the most?

a.      the poor widow

                  3.      Why did Jesus say she gave the most?

a.      She gave the most of what she had.(proportionally, she gave more than the rich)

Deeper:

Justice in our society is often understood as people getting the punishment they deserve. The Bible talks about justice in a much broader sense. It is fairness for all people. Often God is found telling his people that they need to seek justice for the oppressed, not by punishing individual oppressors, but breaking down oppressive systems in their society and empowering the oppressed to rise above their circumstances.

When our nonprofit organizations ask for donations, they recognize the biggest gifts. They put up plaques with the largest donations on their walls. The biggest givers are recognized the most. Those big givers are often the ones who have the most to give. They are wealthy businesses and families. They are NOT poor widows. They are the people at the other end of the spectrum of wealth. Recognizing the biggest gifts which happened to be donated by the riches people was the same during Jesus’ time. The people of Jesus’s time expected that was how God recognized their too gifts. Then Jesus came along and called a measly 2 coins the largest gift. That gift wasn’t worth recognizing. It wasn’t enough to run the temple, to feed the priests, to care for the building, to buy oil for the candles or wood for the altars.   It was nothing.

Widow in the Scripture is code for “someone with nothing.” A widow had no husband or sons, and with them no land rights or ability to make a living. They were at a dead end. This is why Jesus consistently reached out to them as the poorest of the poor and makes them the hero of his stories. With one word he described a person of the utmost lowest class without the ability to rise. Not only this, but this position was not due to things under their control. They didn’t deserve to be in the position they were in. They were someone that any group of people could have sympathy for. That poor widow.

And yet, Jesus makes her the hero.

Jesus said the widow’s was the largest gift because God counts by the proportion of what we have to what we give. The rich men maybe gave 3% of their income that day. All their needs were met and that money was just extra rattling around their pockets. The widow, though, was poor. Those two coins easily could have been 50% of her income for the day. Jesus recognized the sacrifice she was making in giving such a large proportion to God. She was not giving God the extra after all her needs were met. She gave to God and trusted he would meet her needs.

Jesus didn’t advocate for the widow giving the same as the rich men. He advocated justice. Justice was seeing that in the widow’s case, the amount of money was not equal to the size of gift. Justice was recognizing her gift was more sacrificial. Justice was looking passed the coins to where (and who) they came from.

God always sees in terms of justice. He cares about lifting up the oppressed. He is less concerned about how much has to be given to them than about them ending up equals at the end. In school, some kids need more help with reading, but at the end, we want every kid to read well. That is justice. Justice is not giving them all the same help in reading, but making sure they all end up proficient. That is how God sees us, and how he wants us to see others. He doesn’t want us only seeing the gifts people give to society. He wants us to see the people behind those gifts. He wants us to recognize that some gifts that seem tiny are enormous.

Personal Reflection:

When have you seen a tiny gift really be an enormous one because of the one giving it? How do you teach your kids to stand up for others, especially people who might be labeled as oppressed or poor? How do you stand up for them? What would be a big sacrifice for you to give to God?

Hope: Knowing it gets better than this

Scripture:

John 3:16

Quick Summary:

Jesus explains to Nicodemus that God loves us so much, that he sent Jesus to die for our sin. When we believe in Jesus and follow him, we are promised Eternal Life with God. (Most of our time will be on memorizing John 3:16)

The Point:

No matter what we struggle with here and now, we have hope in eternal life when we follow God. Hope is our virtue for this lesson.

Questions for Family Time:

                  1.      Can you tell me John 3:16?

a.      For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.  

                  2.      What does this tell us about future?

a.      When we believe in Jesus, we get to spend forever with God.

                  3.      What does this tell us about hope?

 a. Hope is believing something better is coming, and living forever with God is as good as it gets!

Deeper:

 Our scripture today is one of the shortest texts we will study. It also is arguably the most famous. It is plastered on signs, billboards, and even on sport enthusiasts’ chests. The reason for its popularity is that of all the passages in the Bible, it sums up the whole Bible the best. Check it out:

1.     It talks about how much God loves us and how far God is willing to go to make sure we know that.

2.      It shares the whole point of Christmas: that God gave the world his son in Jesus Christ.

3.     It talks about how Jesus is God’s son in a different way than us. He is begotten, 100% of God. We are only created, made by God, not one person of the divine Trinity.

4.     It talks about our choice of either rejecting Jesus and turning away from God, or following Jesus and being adopted into God’s family as a true child. Not only does it point to our choice, but says that God gives us all a chance, every human on the face of the planet…whoever believes.

5.     It talks about eternal life. Jesus’ resurrection of the dead was just the first. We are promised to live on after we are done with this world. Even death cannot separate us from the love of God. 

That’s what makes this small verse so powerful.
For me, having this verse memorized comes in handy when I am losing my way. When I can’t feel God’s love, it points to the proof of his love, Jesus. When I feel surrounded by death and destruction, it point to the promise of everlasting life. In those moments when I feel defeated and forgotten, this is what I repeat to myself, over and over again.

My prayer is that it will stay with your child to see them through the moments when they feel defeated and forgotten. It will remind them that God is bigger than the moment’s circumstances. It will remind them how deep God’s love is for them, and that he would do anything to share his love with them. I pray that it will be a beacon of hope for them when they are surrounded by darkness.

I also pray that for you. I encourage you to put this passage somewhere to remind you that there is always hope. In Jesus lowest moment, he was literally dead and buried. And yet, God loved him and us so much that Jesus rose from the dead. That is the kind of love that God has for you. And we get to share that love forever. It doesn’t get better than that.

Personal Reflection:

What part of this verse strikes you the most? Have you made the choice to accept God’s love and follow Jesus? How is that choice apparent in your life?