Photographer: Jo-ann Tan

Come to service at 9 am this sun 060408! (2nd floor, John Wesley Centre) and discover:

* What on earth are WE here for?

* How can we be better together?

* What is 40 DOC of community all about?

* What sumptuous lunch we are having!

And come in BLUE as we want to be BLUE TOGETHER!

cover design: Sharene Sim

This sermon is in preparation for 40 Days of Commnunity.

Come and join us for service at 11 am. We are at 496, Upper Bukit Timah Rd. 2nd floor of the Sanctuary, John Wesley Centre.

“On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices
they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the
tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they
were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning
stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the
ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?
He is not here;”
Luke 24:1‑6 (TNIV)

There is a time for words, and a time for silence.
A time to reflect, to dissect and understand,
and there is a time to just stand and look.

To behold.

Later comes the thankfulness, the future and the promise.
Thankfulness for this bruised reed not broken, this smouldering wick
not snuffed out; that our fragile hopes have not been crushed, and we
are still standing when the lights come back on.

But first, there is a time to just stand and look.

“…darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped
shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two…”
Luke 23:44‑45 (TNIV)

The body is taken down.
The tomb is sealed.
Night falls.
All that is left to do now
Is wait.

Now the free fall and the whirling darkness.
There can be no talk of the future here. Nor talk of the past.
No talk at all. There is only falling.

You can’t pick yourself up if you haven’t hit the ground.

It is over
It is ended
It is done
It is executed
It is complete
It is concluded
It is settled
It is finalised
It is accomplished
It is achieved
It is fulfilled
It is realised
It is paid
It is carried out
It is finished

What’s the trick? What’s the secret? Who’s ready with the twist, the
final reveal?
But there is no trick, no secret. This is it.

Where then are the optimists among us? Who’s going to tell me it’s
going to be okay? Where are the prophets, the wise men, the ones who
can explain? Has anyone worked out what happens next?

Where is everyone?

“Jesus said to his disciples: “Dear children, how brief are these moments before I must
go away and leave you! Then, though you search for me, you cannot come to me –
just as I told the Jewish leaders. So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love
each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one
another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
Simon Peter asked, “Lord, where are you going?”
And Jesus replied, “You can’t go with me now, but you will follow me later.”
“But why can’t I come now, Lord?” he asked. “I’m ready to die for you.”
Jesus answered, “Die for me? I tell you the truth, Peter—before the rooster crows
tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more
than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that
I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get
you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I
am going.”
“No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so
how can we know the way?”
Jesus told him, “I am the way …”
John 13:33‑14:6 (NLT)

It shouldn’t be this confusing.

Everything is couched in vagueness, all the instructions are cryptic. I
start out one way with confidence and a clear direction in mind, and
always end up lost. Or not so much lost, just always travelling and
never getting any closer. Always journeying and never arriving.

Wouldn’t it have been so much easier if you’d given us a destination?

“Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had leprosy.
During supper, a woman came in with a beautiful jar of expensive perfume.
She broke the seal and poured the perfume over his head.
She anointed Jesus’ feet with it and wiped his feet with her hair.
She broke the seal and poured the perfume over his head.
She anointed Jesus’ feet with it and wiped his feet with her hair.
And the house was filled with fragrance.
The fragrance of the oils filled the house.
Some of those at the table were indignant. “Why was this expensive perfume
wasted?” they asked. “She could have sold it for a small fortune and given the money
to the poor!” And they scolded her harshly.
But Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. Why berate her for doing such a good thing to
me? You will always have the poor among you, and you can help them whenever
you want to. But I will not be here with you much longer. She has done what she
could and anointed my body for burial ahead of time. I assure you, wherever the
Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be talked about
in her memory.”
Mark 14:3,9, John 12:3 (NLT, MSG)

A gesture of love so extravagant, so over the top, so extraordinary.
The audacity of it, something so valuable, so irreplaceable, dashed at
Jesus feet ‑ it’s just the sheer ‘all or nothing’ attitude of it all. There’s
no going back; once it’s done it’s done.

So why do I feel uncomfortable?

Is it that I just wouldn’t dare? I don’t dare. I just don’t know if I’m
prepared to take what is precious to me, and dash it at Jesus’ feet.
I’m just not prepared.

“In the Temple area in Jerusalem, Jesus saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and
doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money. Jesus
made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out
the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned
over their tables. Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, “Get
these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!”
Then his disciples remembered this prophecy from the Scriptures: “Passion for God’s
house will consume me.”
But the Jewish leaders demanded, “What are you doing? If God gave you authority to
do this, show us a miraculous sign to prove it.”
“All right,” Jesus replied. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
“What!” they exclaimed. “It has taken fortysix
years to build this Temple, and you can
rebuild it in three days?” But when Jesus said “this temple,” he meant his own body.”
John 2:13‑21 (NLT)

Another time in the temple, Jesus addressed the people…

“Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory. I tell you the truth,
unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death
will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their
life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep
it for eternity. Anyone who wants to be my disciple must follow me, because my
servants must be where I am. And the Father will honour anyone who serves me.”
John 12:23‑25 (NLT)

This isn’t what I expected.

Give me the conquering hero, someone I can fight for, a man I can be
proud to serve. Give me a movement to be part of, a rule to live by, a
cause. Give me a mission, a challenge.

But you ask me to die.

This is not what I expected.