Beauty Care

04/03/2024

We are nestled in a small community located in Overgaard, AZ.
A loving Christ-centered community.

04/03/2024

04/03/2024

Luther’s small catechism Bible study 4-2-24

04/02/2024

Shrug Not at the Burial of Jesus [by Chad Bird]

The seemingly small, the particular, the previously overlooked, magnifies in importance.When we are children, small as we are, almost everything in life seems big. Our father, who walks with us astraddle his shoulders, is a giant. Our home, with its rooms dwarfing us in size, feels like a castle. I think of my backyard as a child. Through my young eyes, it was an immense space, with an outbuilding, dog pen, stacks of firewood, my clubhouse that my father built me, and a stretch of green grass.
From a child’s perspective, that is how life is. As an adult, I know better. My backyard was small. Our home was modest. My father, not even six feet tall, was hardly a colossal figure.

Aging alters our perspective. As we get bigger, the world grows smaller.

The opposite happens, too, though, doesn’t it? Small things—or, at least, that which previously was thought by us to be small—expand in significance. When I was five years old, I daydreamed of starring in a Superbowl as an NFL quarterback; at fifty-three years old, I am far happier throwing a football with my grandsons on a lazy Sunday afternoon. The seemingly small, the particular, the previously overlooked, magnifies in importance.

Today is illustrative of this “small-become-big” tendency. At least it is for me, and perhaps for you, too, especially if your heart bears the scars that inevitably come from life in a wounded world.

He Was Buried

On this Saturday, the church remembers this singular fact: Jesus was buried. During all my childhood years in the pew, I am certain that this event from our Lord’s life meant little if anything to me. That Jesus was crucified? That was a huge deal. I was “washed in the blood.” That Jesus was resurrected? I heard sermons aplenty on that. These twin facts, Jesus died and Jesus rose, were big news.

But that brief line which Paul includes in 1 Corinthians 15:4, “he was buried,” would have occasioned from me not much more than a shrug.

A shrug.

Stand with me, however, after my childhood was over, beside the grave of a dear friend who, in a depressed state, took his own life. See his body buried beneath that earth. I see it, even now, all these years later. Back then, I was learning, slowly but surely, that we do not shrug when we remember that Jesus, too, was buried.

Or stand alongside me, as a young pastor, on frozen Oklahoma soil, right after Christmas, as we lower a coffin into the earth. That coffin holds the body of a young man who, late one night, fell asleep at the wheel. There are his mom, his dad, his brother, and sister. Do we think they would shrug when told that their Savior, too, had his own day of burial, and that he knew the way into—and out of—the grave?

This supposedly small fact, “Jesus was buried,” turns out to be not so small after all.

Sabbath Rest for Jesus

It was no triviality for Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus the Pharisee. When it was time to bury Jesus, they did not roll up his body in an old blanket and place him in a rapidly dug hole in the ground, as happened to many who were crucified by the Romans. Though time was short and Jesus had to be buried hastily, before sunset, these two men still took great pains to care for his co**se and to bury him as a king.

The body of Jesus, battered and torn, Joseph removed from the cross (Luke 23:53). Think of how demanding that task would have been. Nails still affixing the limp and lifeless body to the cross. Blood everywhere. Yet see the hands of Joseph at work, tenderly, lovingly, doing what must be done.

There is the clean linen shroud. Joseph wraps it around the body, along with the mixture of myrrh and aloes, seventy-five pounds worth, which Nicodemus provided (John 19:39). One scholar notes that this was enough spice for a royal burial. Nicodemus would have known that. After all, this initially skeptical Pharisee now knew that he was burying not just a rabbi, but the Messiah, the King of the Jews.

His body, now ready, is laid to rest in a new tomb, cut in the rock, where no co**se had yet been laid (John 19:41). This would have been the family tomb of Joseph, newly hewn, ready for that first father, mother, sibling, or child who died. As it turned out, the first occupant would be the head of the human family, the last Adam, who would forever fundamentally alter the significance of every family grave, rendering each one the temporary holding place of the dead, not the “final” resting place.

The sun sets. The Sabbath begins. The day of rest comes. Having finished his own work of being conceived, born, living, teaching, healing, suffering, and dying for us, Jesus then enjoys his Sabbath rest in the tomb. As at the end of that first week of creation, “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Gen. 1:31). So also Jesus sees everything that he has done for us, and behold, it is very good. So he says, “It is finished” (John 19:30), bows his head, gives up his spirit, is buried, and rests.

Rent-a-Coffin

Christ entered that place where, perhaps decades from now or perhaps (for some of us) within a week’s time, we too shall enter. But because Jesus has been there before us, completed his Sabbath rest, and vacated the premises in resurrection triumph, the grave is for us just a subterranean bed in which our body shall sleep in death as it awaits the return of Jesus.

I like to think of it this way: My body will be placed in a “used coffin” and lowered into a “preowned grave.” I am borrowing what Jesus has already purchased, used, and then passed on to me. With a wink and a nod, my Lord says, “You can use mine. I am done with them, and soon you will be, too.”

The resurrection of Jesus turns every funeral home into a Rent-a-Coffin business.

Paul puts it even better when he says “we were buried with [Jesus] by baptism into death” (Rom. 6:4). In Greek, “buried with” is one word (συνθάπτω); we are “co-buried” with Jesus. That means, for the Christian, we can stare down into our future graves, smile, and say, “Been there, done that.” On the day we were baptized, we were co-crucified, co-died, and were co-buried with Jesus (Rom. 6:4-8). Now alive in him, we also know that, at the end, we shall be co-resurrected with him. That is our firm and certain hope.

Let me close on a personal note.

In about two months, my family and I will visit, once more, the grave of our son, Luke, at the United States Naval Academy. His class of 2024 will be graduating. I will stand on that green grass, on that lawn full of gravestones, including one with the years 2000-2022. But I will not be at my son’s final resting place; I will be at his body’s temporary, subterranean bed. As with every Christian who leaves this life, Luke is with Jesus even as his body awaits its resurrection.

Through the inevitable tears, I will smile, for what once was small to me, that Jesus was buried, now towers in significance. Our Lord has changed everything. His rest in the tomb, short-lived though it was, has transformed every grave of every believer into nothing more than a provisional stop on the ultimate journey to bodily resurrection.

“Jesus was buried.” Far from a shrug, those three words now elicit shouts of Hope and Hallelujah.

04/01/2024

Easter Festival service 3-31-24

04/01/2024

Easter Sonrise service 3-31-24

03/31/2024

3/31/24; Easter Festival Service; Series B: Is.25:6-9; Ps.16; 1 Cor.15:1-11; Mark 16:1-8;

Grace, mercy, peace to you, from God our Father and from our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
The commercial finds Earnest P. Warohl at the top of a ladder, his friend Vern, is working on the roof, all hot and sweaty. Earnest holds a can of sprite, a straw inserted into the can, he commences to suck on the straw and you hear the familiar slurping sound, to which Earnest asks: do you know what that sound means in Russia Vern? EMPTY! Solomon, the wisest man to have ever lived, other than Jesus, declares in the Book of Ecclesiastes, which is almost exclusively addressing the emptiness of a horizontal view: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity”. As a people, we are just not very interested in, nor fond of, empty. Not empty wallets, not empty gas tanks, nor that can, cup, or bottle of our favorite bev- era-ges. Neither are we so keen on empty lives, empty promises. How many all around us, perhaps even among us, are enduring so much emptiness, with plenty to go around. Certainly for those closest to Jesus, there has been plenty of empty, these last few days, hasn’t there? Expectations, hopes, and dreams, left empty.
That first Easter morning, as Mark records it, finds some faithful women headed to visit the tomb of their Savior. Do note these are not just “those women” or some unnamed women. No, their names are made known, you want to hear from an eyewitness? Here is the list of names one would or could go see and speak with, on this matter. These faithful women are found doing faithful women things! After all, these women had already been eyewitnesses to Jesus’ burial, they knew His body had been placed within the confines of the tomb, owned by Joseph of Arimathea. Foretold in Is.53:9: “they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death,”
These women were concerned with the stone which would have to be removed in order for them to accomplish their desired task, that of wrapping spices in the burial cloth of Jesus. As much being their concern to honor their “presumed dead” Jesus. Since they find the stone had already been rolled away…..one of the other Gospel writers hinting that an angel had basically tossed the large stone away from the mouth of the tomb. Not that some measly stone would have been able to contain the tomb’s former resident. Rather, the tomb must be accessed by those who would serve as witnesses! Accessing the tomb though they are met with a different scene than expected; how often have we had the privilege of seeing an angel? And, as is almost always the case there is fear or alarm involved with as much, thus the angel's words to the women: “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.” Notice how Jesus is still being recognized as: Jesus of Nazareth, the human portion of His 2 Natures. And while we are only ever concerned with Jesus of Nazareth, it’s not as if He were the only one named Jesus. So, you're looking for Jesus of Nazareth, are you? Well, He’s not here! He’s not there in the tomb because He has risen! Christ is risen, He is risen indeed, Alleluia. [it's so good to have the Alleluia’s back]
There are two continuous and permanent realities which can never be separated nor found opposed to each other: Jesus IS the crucified one, Jesus IS the risen one. These two truths also being the totality of who and what we are as Christian’s. We do not look for Jesus in a tomb, He is not there, He IS risen. Yet, in order to rise, He had to be dead, His crucifixion seen to that! All of which is in full accord with the Father’s plan to secure our salvation and make sure we would not be bothered with or scared by any of that death stuff. Such precious resurrection language not limited to the New Testament. Is.26:19 tells us: “Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!” Early in Dan.12 we read: “At that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” Even while there are those who speak and act as if Jesus were still dead! Not much of a Savior for us if He remains in a tomb, somewhere.
In 1 Cor 15 Paul provides us with these words: “Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” Echoing back to Solomon’s tagline of Eccl: “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” Empty indeed is a life with no hope, especially no hope of the resurrection! Jesus’ victory over death and the grave means we too will know and be a part of such victory. The Lord’s Prophet Hosea declares: “I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol; I shall redeem them from Death. O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting? [Hos.13:14]
In order for our Lord to redeem us, to secure eternal life for us, He had to endure some empty, in His life as well. Phil. 2, has this to say: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,”
What do we confess in the Apostles Creed: He….suffered under Pontius Pilate [locating Him in a place and time] was crucified, died and was buried, [all eyewitness accounts and thus verifiable] He descended into Hell [His victory lap if you will - here I am, exactly who I said I was, yet you refused me] The 3rd day He rose again from the dead….Jesus IS the crucified one; Jesus IS the risen one, forever and always will be! These faithful women being counted worthy to be the ones who would first bear the incredible news of an empty tomb, which indicates a living and risen Savior! They were now instructed to go and tell the disciples and Peter, that is, not to hold all of this news in as if it were some sort of secret. What has the Lord’s Church been commissioned to do, be about? Jesus in Mt.28 declares: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” If Jesus were still in the tomb, what would we have to teach? Why bother teaching since all of us would remain dead in our trespasses and sin? Without hope now and forever.
In Galilee “There you will see him, just as he told you.” The Words of the Lord are not empty words, they are words of promise, of completion. In Luke 21 Jesus reminds the hearer: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” Each and every promise, every prophecy, ever given, will be fulfilled in accord with the one who spoke them. Lamentations 3 tells us: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
The Epistle text for this Easter Festival service finds Paul reassuring the Church at Corinth: “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,” That empty tomb may have been a mystery to the women and the disciples, but it was no mystery to the Word which foretold of what would, what had, what must, what did, transpire over these last 3 days. Etched in stone might not even prove to be solid enough or permanent enough, when speaking of God’s Word.
This morning we have spoken of and about emptiness and empty things. Another empty to be mentioned is deaths being emptied of its power and sting. David tells it like this: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Dear Christian, because Jesus IS risen, death for us is now very empty, empty of its threat and danger. Not only that but the evil one has also been emptied of his power. Christ’s death on the cross for our sin, in our place, kicked in the devil’s head. What does our living Lord’s word say in Rev.1: “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”
Because of Christ’s empty tomb, our tomb will be found empty on the Last Day, the day when He who IS the crucified, He who IS the risen, Lord and Savior, will usher us into the glory prepared for the faithful. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” [Mt.25] Christ’s crucifixion and death, His rising again on the 3rd day was also in place from the foundation of the world. All that has taken place these last 3 days had been prescribed, declared, from the very beginning, all for our salvation. Nothing and no one could stand in the way of their arrival, nothing could stand in the way of them coming to pass. Nothing can stop their ultimate fulfillment, our being ushered into the kingdom of heaven by He who blazed the trail for us, He who is the firstborn from the dead.
His name is Jesus, He IS the crucified one. His name is Jesus, He IS the risen one, yes, even for all eternity. Christ is risen, He is risen indeed. Alleluia! Jesus lives! The victory’s won! Death no longer can appall me; Jesus lives! Death’s reign is done! From the grave will Christ recall me. Amen? Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our living and reigning Savior, Amen.

03/31/2024

3/31/24; Easter Sonrise; Series B: Exodus 15:1-11; Ps.118:15-29; 1 Cor.5:6b-8; John 20:1-18;

Grace, mercy, peace to you, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
While you and I reside, 2000 years removed, or do we, from the events of these last 3 days; we should not allow such distance; or even one’s familiarity, sway us from the awe and wonder, overlook the doubts, the distress and fears, the dread concerns, so many seemingly dashed hopes; those close to Jesus would have known and endured ever since late Thursday evening; Jesus’ betrayal and arrest, and His crucifixion and death. A tiring situation, a mind numbing time, that of blurred senses and thoughts along with so many unanswered questions.
These verses, recorded for our good and edification in chapter 20 of John’s Gospel, provide a good glimpse into the emotional rollercoaster so many would have been on. Our hearing of this faithful and devoted disciple, Mary Magdalene, who has once again, made her way to the tomb of Jesus, early that first Easter morning. Arriving at the same location where she and others had dutifully and carefully, observed the linen wrapped body of their crucified, and quite dead, Savior; His being placed in a borrowed tomb. A very large stone had been used to seal the mouth of the tomb plus, as we learn from a different Gospel account, the stone had been officially sealed, a detachment of soldiers having been dispatched to guard this dead Jesus fellow. Who, this morning, and from all appearances, has been - misplaced and/or is missing! Not only are there no soldiers when Mary arrives, the stone has been removed, appearances strongly suggesting there is trouble afoot.
We certainly cannot blame Mary, her devotion is very commendable, her love for her Lord, quite evident. I mean, where are the Lord’s disciples to be found, on Friday, here early Easter morning? Fears sure can make a mess of things, can’t they? Amid the uncertainties and fears, one thing was quite certain, the body of Jesus was not there, however, foul play would not exactly top the list. What body stealer makes sure the linen grave clothes, which were of value, would have left them, even in such an orderly fashion? One can only imagine the various thoughts that would have been weighing heavily on Mary’s mind; going through Peter and John’s minds. As verse 9 details: “for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.” Although Jesus had informed His disciples of as much on 3 separate occasions, that He must die and then rise again…..how many occasions might we be able to recount our own “not getting it”?So, is there really any wonder over so much confusion and uncertainty, being demonstrated? Are those not the byproducts, if you will, of being unaware, unclear? There are a great many things which have us losing the ability: to “see” Jesus!
Plus, it’s not as if Jesus didn’t try to help them “see”.
One thing that piqued my interest was all of the hurrying and running, after all it’s a tomb. I must admit though that such comments come from a thought process which is very familiar with the whole of the events and happenings of Easter morning. Perhaps even more intriguing is how the 2 alerted disciples show up, observe the situation, only to then, head back home? While the devoted Mary continues to stay near the tomb. She is persistent, and rightly so, after all, she is desperate for answers, to locate her Lord’s body. Her persistence, by the way, does afford her the encounter with the 2 angels who Peter and John had overlooked or, more likely, they were not intended for Peter and John to actually see them. As the 2 heavenly messengers inquire of a very distraught Mary: “They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?”’ Such a question to a very distressed Mary, whose reply could have easily been: Um, well like, Jesus is dead, His body is missing! What do you mean, why am I weeping?
Many of us wept on Friday [and we know well how this morning was going to turn out]. Although more alarming would be, if we have become so “accustomed” to what Jesus endured that we can yawn, through it? We have to feel for Mary though, don’t we, how often have we known sorrow over the death of a loved one? And Jesus’ death was about as horrendous of a death as one could know. Nevertheless, had the divinely prescribed death, of which she mourns, not taken place? O, there would be plenty of weeping “and gnashing of teeth” in the eternal torment each and every one of us would know. Jesus had to die, Jesus must die, and “give His life as a ransom for many.” Jesus must also live! In 1 Cor.15 Paul writes: “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.”
The knowing, the not knowing, their fears and doubts, do not change the situation, nor the reality of all this, not in the least. Good Friday had to come to fruition, for if there were no death, there could be no resurrection. Again Paul details this, elsewhere in 1 Cor.15: “if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” To truly take in the events of Good Friday, is troubling and heart wrenching, something the Passion of the Christ displays and conveys quite vividly. However, the events of these last 3 days cannot in any way be separated, no distance allowed between them, for they truly are a cohesive whole, our salvation, our eternity depending, on this 3 day long event. Jesus must be crucified, the tomb of Jesus must also be empty, for Jesus must rise from the dead in order that we can live! Christ is risen, He is risen indeed, Alleluia.
Mary’s persistence also finds comfort, peace, and joy, in what next takes place, as her resurrected Lord, and ours, asks of her the same question the angels had, with an additional inquiry of His own: “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Jesus, knowing full well, as if our Savior is ever found ignorant or oblivious, even as He provides Mary the opportunity to verbalize her answer. When, at the sound of her Shepherd’s voice, everything changes: “Mary”. Earlier, in John 10 we find these words of Jesus: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.” We are attentive to the Shepherd's voice, aren’t we? His voice being ever and always evident in the words of scripture, He who is the Word made flesh, who had come to dwell among us, for such a time as this. Gal 4 provides us with these words: “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”
“Whom are you seeking?” was the question posed to a very distressed Mary that 1st Easter morning. Should that question be posed to us, gathered here this Easter morning? Whom are you seeking? What if one is uncertain concerning all that answer might involve…..in Mt.24 Jesus has these words of warning: “if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”
Easter is a big deal, a big day, especially so in and for the life of the Church, and rightfully so. Which is why so many tirelessly fight against, trying hard to discredit, the empty tomb, to deny the living Jesus. Regularly, around Good Friday, Easter, there’s some “new” discovery made; be it the “gospel” of so and so, or a newly unearthed “tomb of Jesus”. Ours, dear Christian is to know with complete certainty the voice of the Savior, the marks of the crucified, the empty tomb of the resurrected Savior. Not only for ourselves, no, these eternal truths are just as much for our neighbor. Christ’s sacrifice paid for the sin of the world, not just ours. His victory over the grave didn’t blaze a trail into eternal life just for the likes of you and me, He did as much for all.
Mary was told by the Lord: “go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.” The message of a risen Jesus, a living Jesus, is to be made known far and wide; it was then, it is today, it will be so until our Lord’s return on the Last Day. We announce it to each other, we announce it to our family, we announce it to the world around us. Everyone needs to know, everyone must know, the Savior lives, our Jesus ever lives. Christ is risen, He is risen indeed, Alleluia. Amen? Amen.
The peace of our ever living God and Lord grant to you His perfect peace, Amen.