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Thursday, July 21, 2016
A tidy Amish garden shed.
"The Main Question"
Message Summary: Pilate's question, "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" is the most important question each of us will answer. In one sense this question is dealt with when we receive Christ as our Savior, but there's another sense that it's an ongoing daily question. Today we have a choice whether or not to submit to the Lordship and Kingdom of Jesus Christ. We pray that each reader will choose to do so. We proclaim again today, "As for me and my house we will serve the Lord!"
Note: Due to a long day out on Wednesday and early morning and full day Thursday we did not prepare a podcast for this message.
"What shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?" (Matthew 27:22).
Yesterday we had an interesting experience. Our Amish friends, Jesse and Anna Ruth, have been supplementing their income on their dairy farm by giving authentic Amish farm tours. I have assisted them by building them a simple website and provided counsel as well as ordering materials. It's been going very well for them and yesterday they had their biggest tour to date. Three big coach busses pulled onto the farm with 200 orthodox Jewish girls from Brooklyn. Jesse had invited us over for crowd control. The girls had adequate chaperones so we left early. Jesse called me last night and told me things went very well.
The city girls were quite intrigued by the farm and of course had questions such as "Will the mule bite?" and "Does it hurt?" (to milk a cow).
Today we all deal with a lot of questions. Many are minor and routine. Some questions are addressed to us and verbalized by others. "Do you want sugar and cream?" "Paper or plastic?" "Do you want fries with that?" Some we ask or are working through on our own. And the list goes on and on.
But there are huge questions that can easily be overlooked amidst the hustle and bustle of life. But today let us consider life's main question. The biggest one of all.
The daily text is a question that Pilate asked the crowd at the time of the Lord's trial. Pilate had seen the flimsy evidence. He had heard the cautions of his wife. In examining the text one can detect a wavering in Pilate's own personal convictions. But rather than act on principle he polled the crowd (politicians haven't changed much have they?) and the majority cried out, "Crucify Him!"
I consider Pilate's question and see it as a fitting expression of a question every single individual must deal with. It’s life's main question. It's already worded in the first person singular so everyone merely needs to personalize it and make it their own question: "What shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?"
Pilate was confronted face to face with the divine Son of God. In one way or another all reading this are being confronted and probably have been many times. We will simply be unable to use the excuse, "But I didn't know."
Responses to this question, "What shall I do?" vary from outright rejection to ignoring, to procrastinating, to compartmentalized religious lip service. Do you relate to any of these responses?
The only acceptable answer that pleases God is to express the essence of Peter's great confession of faith concerning who Jesus is, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God." This genuine heartfelt confession will lead to a daily submission to the Lordship of Jesus.
Jesus came into the world "to seek and to save that which was lost" but was violently rejected by many and He continues to be rejected today, often violently. This is also true of His followers including some who are reading this today. The apostle John wrote, "He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him" (John 1:11). And for the last 2,000 years men and women continue to be confronted with the choice whether to receive or reject.
Pilate's question, "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" is also the most important question each of us will answer. In one sense this question is dealt with when we receive Christ as our Savior, but there's another sense that it's an ongoing daily question. Today we have a choice whether or not to submit to the Lordship and Kingdom of Jesus Christ. We pray that each reader will choose to do so. We proclaim again today, "As for me and my house we will serve the Lord!"
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father, we have been given the gift of salvation
through the birth, death and resurrection of our Savior. Thank You for
the free will given to us that allows us to reject or receive this
"Jesus, who is called Christ." When given the choice we like Peter
respond, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal
life." We go to the Rock of our salvation, our hope for all eternity.
Amen. Orthodox Jewish Girls from Brooklyn NY Visit Lancaster County Amish Dairy Farm
What a unusual scene as the three big busses rolled down the long country lane carrying 200 girls from their summer camp along with their chaperones.
And the city girls stepped off the busses.
Jesse welcomed the girls and explained how the tour would work assisted by another Jesse, a local former Amish man who was on the TV show "Amish Mafia". (Which for the record is a horrible and mostly fictional depiction of Amish life.)
Jesse was assisted by another Jesse, a local former Amish man who was on the TV show "Amish Mafia". (Which for the record is a horrible depiction of Amish life.) Jesse took a group out to the fields and explained the ways of an Amish working farm.
Jesse stands guard while the girls take turns petting the friendly mule who had most surely never seen this many people before.
Bottle-feeding a week old calf.
Observing the milking barn. Of course the girls weren't used to seeing the cows frequently relieve themselves. I prefer to block that view from my memory when I consume dairy products!
Some wanted to try milking a cow.
As the others watched they sang, "Old McDonald Had A Farm"
A group getting ready for the house tour.
I climbed up into the barn loft trying to get a good view for photos and was greeted by these curious, friendly Husky pups.
A minor clash of cultures; city and country, Amish and Jewish, but actually they also have something in common in a very conservative expression and being counter-cultural.
The entrepreneurial kids have developed an interesting source of income.
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"Without Him" Video Jake Hess, Wesley Pritchard, Woody Wright, George Younce and Hovie Lister
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
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