When Jesus Says “Forever”

“That meeting took forever!” “I’ve been waiting for you all day!” “We’re never going to get to Grandma’s house!”

When we use the language of impatience, we often exaggerate in order to make our point.

But when Jesus says “forever,” he is being very serious and deeply profound.

Let’s walk through five snapshots of Jesus’s life and ministry as recorded, in order, in the Gospel of John. In each of these situations, Jesus uses the Greek phrase εἰς τòν αἰῶνα, which is often translated “forever” (or “never” if its clause is negated). Literally, this phrase means “into the age”; it points indefinitely into the future. In the quotes below, I have italicized the phrase’s English translation so you can identify it easily.

Snapshot #1:

  • Jesus is enjoying great popularity; he has more followers than John the Baptist.
  • “Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:14)

Snapshot #2:

  • Jesus is still popular, but he begins losing many of his followers because of his strange and difficult teachings.
  • “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; this bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (John 6:51)
  • “This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.” (John 6:58)

Snapshot #3:

  • Jesus is now arguing with the Pharisees, the religious leaders of his time.
  • “I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” (John 8:51)

Snapshot #4:

  • Jesus has now divided the people; some believe in him, but others think he is guilty of blasphemy and want to stone him to death.
  • “I give them [my people] eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:28)

Snapshot #5:

  • Jesus is now away from the crowds, grieving the death of his friend Lazarus with Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus.
  • “Whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” (John 11:26)

Do you notice a pattern in these five scenes?

On the one hand, Jesus is decreasing in popularity as we walk through these passages. He begins with large crowds of followers, but those crowds slowly fall away and even turn against him. Finally, the crowds disappear altogether while Jesus deals with the painful loss of his friend.

On the other hand, Jesus uses increasingly intense language to describe the destiny of people who follow him. The phrase “will never thirst” becomes “will live forever.” Then that phrase is strengthened as well: “will never see death.” But no, that isn’t yet strong enough: “shall never perish.” Finally, Jesus makes it as clear and as strong as possible: “will never die.”

During the time that Jesus is becoming less popular, he is ratcheting up his language about the value of remaining faithful to him. The long-term rewards of discipleship are enormous and fly in the face of what people anticipate will happen in their lives. We all expect to become thirsty or hungry again, probably within 24 hours; if we are honest with ourselves, we all expect to die someday as well. But Jesus has the audacity to claim that his people will never thirst, never perish, never even die – and this he speaks while on his way to the tomb of Lazarus, who has already been dead for four days.

Jesus raises Lazarus back to life, which caused many people to put their faith in him. In the very next chapter of John, Jesus enters Jerusalem and begins talking about his own upcoming death. Like Lazarus, Jesus would die and be raised to life again. But unlike Lazarus, who eventually died again, Jesus never died again. He lives and reigns forevermore, seated at the hand of God the Father on high.

Jesus uses the phrase εἰς τòν αἰῶνα one last time in John’s gospel: “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth.” (John 14:15-17)

Whoever lives and believes in Jesus will never die.

It’s not a statement of impatience or exaggeration. It’s a statement of faith, a statement of trust, a statement of the orientation of life for people who follow Jesus. We live with eternal hope and eternal purpose by participating in the never-ending love of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: one God, now and forevermore.

Holiness and Confession

What comes to mind when you think of the word “confession”?

Maybe the word reminds you of someone confessing to a crime in front of a judge or jury. Maybe you think of a written statement in a police station. Perhaps you remember a relationship that deepened – or collapsed – when something was confessed.

Maybe the word brings to mind a picture of a person sitting in a closed room and speaking to a priest on the other side of a screen. Maybe you remember a bedtime prayer or a youth camp where you confessed your sins to God.

Maybe the word “confession” makes you uncomfortable. Maybe it just doesn’t mean anything at all to you.

I would like to suggest that confession should play a role in our spiritual growth and development. Confession is part of the way in which we experience God’s love and new life. Continue reading →

A Little Bit of Grammar

Do you know the “Great Commission” – those words Jesus said to his disciples at the end of Matthew’s gospel?

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20 NIV)

I have often heard preachers and teachers comment on that pesky word “go,” as in, “go and make disciples.” In the Greek language of the New Testament, the word “go” is a participle, like our English words “going” or “walking” or “reading.” A participle indicates some kind of action, but it is not the main verb of the sentence. In the quote above, “make disciples” is the main verb, and it is an imperative, a command. The general feel of this sentence, then, shouldn’t be the two-fold command “go and make disciples,” but rather something more like “as you are going, make disciples.”

The reason people explain it this way is to suggest that making disciples is the most important work that we have as followers of Jesus. I think that’s true. And it’s to emphasize that you don’t necessarily have to go anywhere – to an overseas mission field, for instance – in order to make disciples. The danger, though, is that we can separate the intentionality of “going” from the activity of “making disciples.” That is, we can relax and lay back, waiting for the next opportunity to show up for us to make a new disciple. “As you are going,” you know, when you get around to it. Continue reading →

Resting in Jesus during Election Season

The news coverage is nonstop. Twenty-four hours a day, we can find the latest information, gossip, analysis, and arguments about why Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump (or Gary Johnson or Jill Stein) should or should not be our next President. One presidential debate took place earlier this week; two more will follow in the next month. As a nation, we can hardly contain our excitement – not to mention our hopes, our disillusionment, our fears, and our anger – about this whole process.

Honestly, I have grown weary of this political season. As I scrolled through my Facebook timeline last night, I saw nothing but aggressive, one-sided posts (supporting either major candidate). I saw people arguing angrily with their friends about one issue or another. I saw memes and jokes that belittled one candidate or another. I saw long, thoughtful articles explaining why we should all vote for one candidate or another.

But I didn’t see much of Jesus in the discussion. Continue reading →

Wisdom, Violence, and Community

Charlotte. Tulsa. New York. Ferguson. Cleveland. Baltimore. North Charleston.

What these cities mean to you depends on a lot of factors. What they all have in common is a similar headline: “[Insert Name] Killed By [Insert Name].” If you’re like me, you live a very safe distance away from all these places which have experienced turmoil in recent days. Midland County, Michigan, has been far removed from scenes of police shootings and race-related protests. So it’s easy for people like me to form our own opinions without having to engage with actual people, on all sides of these issues, who are suffering. Continue reading →

What Divine Healing Isn’t

A Facebook friend of mine shared a video of a “divine healing” this morning. His comment on this video was simply “smh” – internet shorthand for “shaking my head.” The video showed a well-dressed preacher praying for a young boy, who apparently had one hand significantly shorter than the other due to some kind of abnormality. The preacher had the boy put his hands together, palm to palm, and then he adjusted the boy’s hands so that his fingertips were offset by a couple of inches. After calling on the name of Jesus and on the power of the Holy Spirit, and after encouraging the congregation to pray in the same way, the unbelievable happened:

The boy’s fingertips slowly moved closer and closer to each other. Continue reading →

The “Last” Youth Update – August 2016

WOW! Praise God! I can’t believe I have spent the last 41 years working with students, youth, parents, church families and people. As most of you know, I am retiring from Youth Ministry in the local church this week. I am reflective, joyful, satisfied, content, happy, and many other words, but most of all I am at peace with the decision that God and I have made. Ministry is not over, but it is time to visit grandchildren, explore other ministries, rest, travel and find new creative ways to proclaim the Gospel. I have been asked many times, what will I do the first week –well, who knows? St. Louis Camp Meeting begins and we will participate in that –but I do know that the first Sunday, I will finally get to hear my son preach in his church. I have always felt that my greatest accomplishment has been and should be for my kids and grandkids to be in relationship with Jesus Christ. Salvation is a beautiful gift from God!!

Our last two big events with the Mt. Haley Youth were the attendance of the International Youth Convention in San Antonio, Texas and the “Rock the Island” Christian music festival in Saginaw. The IYC was spectacular and the music festival was fantastic. God has always blessed me in so many ways and both of these events were great and the IYC was a life-changing experience. My wife, Connie, is not retiring from being the Michigan Church of God State Youth Director, so I will continue to be blessed, because we will be attending and participating in all the “big” youth events both statewide and nationally. Meanwhile, I am anticipating and expecting God to provide great opportunities to serve. We will be continuing to plan and organize the Mt. Haley CHOG Guatemalan mission in February and occasionally dropping in on Mt. Haley.

THANK YOU to Pastor David & Tara, Angie Embury, and the many others who organized a beautiful gathering of people to celebrate my retirement from Youth Ministry! I pray that God has used me to make a difference in your life as much as you have made in ours. Words cannot express the appreciation and gratitude I feel for everyone.

In closing, I would like to attach the testimonies and experiences of the three young ladies we took to the International Youth Convention. The convention is always about “life-change” and these three had that experience.

Sabrina Torres

My San Antonio experience was life changing. God has touched me in so many different ways it was unforgettable. What really got me was during the conferences I have learned to completely forgive people and how to truly walk with God, and on the last day of IYC I figured out what I can do in my life to serve the lord. I want to end up doing woodworking for Christ and I’m so ecstatic that I have figured out my calling and how God wants to use me to spread his word. The last days here I wasn’t feeling the best but that didn’t stop me from praising God and worshiping the lord. This IYC has impacted my life so much it’s unbelievable. I can’t wait to start on my path to walk with God and let him use me how he wants too. I just wanted to thank everyone for their donations and generosity for me to be able to go on this trip. I couldn’t have done it without your support and prayers.

Lacinda Vinson

My San Antonio experience was amazing! Some of the speakers were so amazing and really make you think about a lot of things. At one of the conferences I went to, the speaker helped me learn that it’s ok to forgive some and not the bad things that have happened to us does not define who we are. Another speaker that got to me said we all have a gift and a gift could be as little as just your smile and that we all are equal and we all came from dirt. (from a sermon) All of this is going to allow me to help me to go home and forgive people and have better relationships with family and friends. We also had some fun times instead of all the serious times and we also learned and saw the history of San Antonio, Texas especially with the Alamo. We had boat tours, concerts and ate all of this mouth-watering foods. We got to try new food like Mexican and Italian and those were better than I expected. One other thing, I survived my first plane ride with no throwing up. Most of all, we all seem to have better relationships and call talk about God now to each other. I want to leave you with a question that opened my eyes: “Where are you spiritually? Are you hiding from God?”

Jessi Smith

Once upon a time during July of 2016, the Mt. Haley Church of God youth group experienced the 50th International Youth Convention in San Antonio, Texas.  During the time spent in San Antonio, I was experiencing what it feels to think that God had abandoned me. Like, I felt alone and unhappy and scared. On July 4, the third day of the convention, an artist gave a unique presentation. Using black paint, he wrote the words: sin, hate, malice and lust. Then with red paint he wrote the words: God covers. He covered the words with the red paint. He continued then to paint and the end creation was a magnificent bird soaring through the air. While watching the artist, the Holy Spirit spoke to me. He told me that God could turn anything into a masterpiece. God can take broken pieces and turn them into a beautiful creation. One speaker spoke about puzzles. How if we didn’t put the pieces together then it won’t make sense. I had not put the pieces together yet. Another speaker spoke about how God made us out of dirt. How we are all just dirt bags. But God has given us all special unique gift. Our gifts can be something big or small, but these gifts are all natural things about ourselves. When the gift comes through that is when the devil sends yet another stronger army to attack us. To torture us and convince us that our gift is worthless and not needed.  I realized my gift and my calling to ministry at the 2014 IYC in Nashville, Tennessee. Ever since then, the devil has non-stop attacked me. But I have God by my side and I know that he’ll never leave. I just need to put my trust in him all day, every day. IYC 2016 in San Antonio, Texas –I have once again had a life-changing realization. I want to thank my family, friends and church family for all the prayers and help. Without you, I/we would not have had the opportunity to come to this IYC.

 

With that, I say “Thank You” for being a part of making a difference in the lives of young people at the Mt. Haley Church of God over the last five years. God has blessed the church and we have been blessed!

Love God, Love People, Live It!

Sincerely with blessings,

Pastor Jerry Graham

The Lament

Sometimes we pray and expect God to answer our prayers. Sometimes we pray and hope God will hear us. Sometimes we don’t even know how to pray.

Fifty people died in a shooting rampage in Orlando early yesterday morning. The twenty-year-old son of Pastor Bill Greiner, the senior pastor of our sister church Eagle Ridge Church of God in Midland, died in a car collision last week, early on Sunday morning. And ten years ago last week, I wrote a blog post in which I tried to process the shooting deaths of seven people across the alley from our apartment in Indianapolis, which came just a month after the deaths of five people from our college in another auto collision.

How do we make sense of the tragedies in our lives? Where is God in all this mess?

Continue reading →