–Mary Magdalene to Nicodemus in The Chosen
———————————–
“I received a phone call from Ken Dahlberg,” I said to our church president, Tim. “Do you know him?” I asked.
“Yes, I know Ken,” Tim replied. “He grew up in this town. We were friends and graduated together. He even belonged to this church, but after confirmation he hardly ever came to worship. His parents died a long time ago, and he has no other family here, so I have not seen him for many years. Why do you ask?”
“He said he is coming to town for your thirty-year class reunion this summer and he wanted to know if he could preach at our church that Sunday. I said I would get back to him. He told me he is a minister at some independent church in St. Louis.”
Tim said, “I heard something about that a few years ago, but Ken has been out of touch with everyone here, so no one knows very much. What I did hear about him being a pastor, surprised me. The Ken I knew was not the type.”
“Tell me more,” I said.
Tim described the Ken of years ago. “I told you Ken was a friend of mine. I should have said ‘part-time friend’ because he was also a part-time bully. Ken was a funny guy and everyone liked him; that is, when he wasn’t being a bully to whoever happened to be around him. He was the biggest and strongest kid in the class, so he could pick on whoever he wanted, and he did– sometimes. Other times he was a fun guy and the friend of everybody. Ken and I were in Sunday School together, but I think he might have missed the lesson on how Jesus said we should be kind to one another. Ken was unpredictable, and on his mean days, he could be merciless.
“Ken’s dad was very strict, so in high school Ken had to be careful about under-age drinking. But when he went away to college, he seemed determined to make up for lost time. Ken went from being a star athlete in high school to being a champion drinker of beer in college. He was drunk all the time, making it impossible for him to succeed academically. Before long, Ken dropped out of college and enlisted in the army. I don’t know much about him after that.” Tim paused and said, “I don’t know what kind of a preacher Ken would be, but I do know this much: if we’d get the word out that Ken was preaching here, we would get a crowd on that Sunday.”
After calling Ken back, and talking on the phone a little more, I decided to have him preach that weekend he was in town. It was clear he wasn’t a Lutheran anymore, and it sounded like he could be a bit of a loose cannon. But he had an interesting testimony, and he was eager to share it with his old hometown friends and neighbors.
No one dozed off during Ken’s forty-five-minute sermon. He was a loose cannon, and he did not always say things the way I would. But he was intense, engaging, funny, thoroughly converted, one-hundred percent on board with Jesus, and he wanted to make sure you were too.
Ken talked a bit about growing up in town, and then described his life after he dropped out of college—the part no one knew anything about. In the army, Ken switched from drinking beer to using a wide variety of drugs. He was well on his way to making a total mess out his life. He just barely got through his two years in the army, and then somehow, he got a job in a factory. But his addictions interfered with his work, and before long, he was on the verge of losing that job.
Then his life changed overnight… literally, overnight. After yet another weekend of too much partying, Ken sat on the couch of his apartment for some television. This was before there were 600 channels to choose from, and all he could find was a late night preacher, ranting and raving about sin, hell, death, and damnation. The preacher talked about falling away from God, listening to the devil, and ruining your life. The part about a ruined life started to hit home for Ken, sitting there all alone, about to lose the little bit of stability he had left. The preacher went on and on, and Ken began to think he was talking right to him. Finally, the preacher was quoting Jesus, saying “This very night your soul might be required of you, and what chance will you have before God with all those unforgiven sins hanging around your neck. This might be your last opportunity to avoid the fires of hell, so get off that couch, get down on your knees, and pray.” So, Ken did just that. He got off the couch, onto his knees, and repeated the words of the prayer the preacher was saying. And Ken’s sins were forgiven, he was done with his addictions, and the very next day he went back to church for the first time in ten years. Ken did not lose his job, but six months later he quit to go to Bible College. After a year there, he received some sort of a certificate that was enough to get him a pastor job at that inner city mission church and homeless shelter in St. Louis.
Tim was right; we did have a crowd in church that day. Old friends could not believe how Ken had changed. After hearing Ken’s story, and then a full dose of his own brand of hell-fire and damnation preaching, Tim said to me, “That looks like Ken, but that is not the same old Ken. He is a completely different person.”
What happened? Ken got to know Jesus. And now, he is different.
*******************************
Luke 12:20a — God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul will be demanded from you.”
Hebrews 9:27 — Everyone is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.
Acts 16:30-31 — He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”
II Corinthians 5:17 — Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
********************************
Come Into My Heart
–Words and music by Harry Clarke (1888-1957)
Come into my heart, O Lord Jesus,
Come into my heart, I pray;
My soul is so troubled and weary,
Come into my heart, today.
Come into my heart, O Lord Jesus,
I need Thee through life’s dreary way;
The burden of sin is so heavy,
Come into my heart to stay.
Come into my heart, O Lord Jesus,
Now cleanse and illumine my soul;
Fill me with Thy wonderful Spirit,
Come in and take full control.
——————————————————–
My usual goal of approximately a thousand words for these meditations is now used up, but if you have time, here is a bit more.
The Chosen, the highly acclaimed television series about the life of Jesus, begins with a father reciting Isaiah 43:1 to his little daughter, Mary: “This is what the Lord says— He who created you: ‘Do not fear, I have redeemed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.’” The story then moves ahead thirty years and Mary is now called Lilith—no one knows her real name. She is demon-possessed, a prostitute, drinks too much, has violent fits of rage, and is contemplating suicide. The Chosen is based on the characters and stories of the Gospels, but adds creative back stories. In this back story, the arrogant Pharisee Nicodemus is called on to help her. He is not able to help her, but later, Jesus heals her. She is healed in the New Testament, and no doubt in some wonderful way. The back story created in The Chosen is also wonderful. The links below are to the three key scenes. The first is when Nicodemus goes to exorcise the demon from Lilith (Mary). The second is when Jesus heals Mary. The third is when Nicodemus asks the healed Mary what happened.
—————————————————-
Five seasons of The Chosen have now been released (eight episodes per season), with two seasons remaining. To read a more complete description of The Chosen and find out how to watch it, go to:
