Make Room For God’s Comfort in “your” Worship!
Thoughts which drive me to Jesus, and to the Cross
28 After this, Jesus knew that everything had been done. So that the Scripture would come true, he said, “I am thirsty.” 29 There was a jar full of vinegar there, so the soldiers soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a branch of a hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ mouth. 30 When Jesus tasted the vinegar, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and died.
15 Jesus asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Whom are you looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said to him, “Did you take him away, sir? Tell me where you put him, and I will get him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” Mary turned toward Jesus and said in the Hebrew language, “Rabboni.” John 19:28-30,20:15-16 NCV
It is right, and even necessary, that there exist today a radical call for a simplicity that will purify the liturgy of all aesthetic embellishments so that we may experience once again the original force of the word and the reality that we encounter there. The Church must return again and again to the simplicity of her origins if she is to experience and mediate the reality that underlies all appearances. She must nevertheless not forget that the celebration of the Lord’s Last Supper means, by its very nature, the celebration of a feast, and that festive embellishments are an integral part of any feast.
Now God is present here,
Then let us all adore;
Before Him bow with humble fear,
And praise Him evermore:
Let every worldly thought be gone,
And meekly bow before His throne.
I love the pageantry of a very formal liturgy. There is something special–especially at an ordination, or a high feast, of a full and rich liturgy, coming across gloriously with Hosannas and Amens, the full choirs sustaining the church’s praises.
But that cannot be, in my opinion, the main form and style of worship.
I am not alone in this – Pope Benedict XVI’s quote shows a necessity for the church to follow a KISS principle – (Keep it Simple- stu..err silly one!) We need to experience the original force of the word and the sacraments we encounter! We need to focus, not on the golden threads and astonishing voices….but on God–present in our lives together. We need to let His glory wash over us, stripping us of all the things of the world, including all our attempts to impress Him, by creating what we think heaven might be like.
We just celebrated the harsh realities of Good Friday and Easter, but with all the embellishments that occur, sometimes we miss the story of His brutal death, and His incredible resurrection, and our being there, through the miracle of baptism. We need to get this – church is not about all the glory we can muster, it has to be God’s glorious presence, and His glorious work in us.
That is why we have to keep things simple at times, so that we can realize the feast is more than the potluck, it is that simple bread and wine which is the Body and Blood of Christ – given and shed for us, to free us, to comfort us, to empower us, as God comes to us!
This is what generates worship – the presence of God.
May we never obscure it!
Luther, Martin, and John Hunt. The Spiritual Songs of Martin Luther: From the German. Translated by Thomas Clark, Hamilton, Adams, and Co., 1853, p. 175.
Ratzinger, Joseph. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl, Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth, Ignatius Press, 1992, pp. 129–30.
What if I am “one of THEM?”
Thoughts which drive me to Jesus, and to the cross…
One of the men there was Caiaphas, the high priest that year. He said, “You people know nothing! 50 You don’t realize that it is better for one man to die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.”
51 Caiaphas did not think of this himself. As high priest that year, he was really prophesying that Jesus would die for their nation 52 and for God’s scattered children to bring them all together and make them one.
53 That day they started planning to kill Jesus. 54 So Jesus no longer traveled openly among the people. He left there and went to a place near the desert, to a town called Ephraim and stayed there with his followers. John 11:49-54 NCV
Let’s not deceive ourselves: in our life we will find vigor and victory and depression and defeat. This has always been true of the earthly pilgrimage of Christians, even of those we venerate on the altars. Don’t you remember Peter, Augustine, Francis? I have never liked biographies of saints which naïvely—but also with a lack of sound doctrine—present their deeds as if they had been confirmed in grace from birth. No. The true life stories of Christian heroes resemble our own experience: they fought and won; they fought and lost. And then, repentant, they returned to the fray.
We should not be surprised to find ourselves defeated relatively often, usually or even always in things of little importance which we tend to take seriously. If we love God and are humble, if we persevere relentlessly in our struggle, the defeats will never be very important. There will also be abundant victories which bring joy to God’s eyes. There is no such thing as failure if you act with a right intention, wanting to fulfill God’s will and counting always on his grace and your own nothingness.
There’s One, in feebleness extreme,
That can a helpless worm redeem;
And now I put my trust in Him,
Nor shall my trust be vain.
There is no doubt the high priest spoke for God as he prophesied about the necessity of Christ’s death. THere is also no doubt that he didn’t realize the importance and power in the words he said about the sacrifice. He would be one of those that called for and encouraged the people to cry our “Crucify Him!”
A religious leader doing something that was so evil, while at the same time speaking for God.
It boggles my mind, to consider the paradox that while Caiaphas was doing something so holy, he was contemplating evil, along with most of the priests and religious leaders. I have to think this through and realize that we haven’t changed that much these days. There are still religious leaders that are willing to sacrifice others, there are still those, who get to speak for Jesus, and do, while not living a life reflective of what they preach.
The i contemplate this the more names and faces come to mind until I am left with only one image, the one I see in the mirror every morning. Could I be a modern Caiaphas? Could I have been one of those crying out to crucify Jesus? I tell you, the gospel reading my devotions really hit me hard this morning….
for I know I have spoken for God, and yet…I struggle with sin, and I struggle with the same kind of attitude that put Jesus on the cross.
I know this is why Jesus came, and why Christ died…and yet, as Paul described in Romans 7, this is a wretched life at times.
As I read the res of the materials I used for my devotions, on sites my favorite writer/pastor priest was cited in another book, So I went to the source and saw the words of St. Josemaria above, the words about saints not being perfect either, The words of “counting always on His grace and your own nothingness ” This has to be my focus to let the sin that Chirst died to remove from my heart and soul. God did this for the saints that lived before me, and hopefully, I can help the next generation know this as well.
Luther and Escriva both, talk about our faith, our dependence on Jesus and the promises of His redeeming us and making us His own are so critical. Sure we will fight temptations and sin and demonic forces pulling us from God, but He will pick us up, the Spirit will draw us back to the cross, to see His love ofr us, to receive His healing, That is the victory that erases the defeats, that is the hope that overwhelms the despair, that is the love of God for us….His own. AMEN!
Luther, Martin, and John Hunt. The Spiritual Songs of Martin Luther: From the German. Translated by Thomas Clark, Hamilton, Adams, and Co., 1853, p. 159.
Escrivá, Josemaría. Christ is Passing By . Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition. #76
In times of despair… there is the greatest hope
The Good Shepherd, carrying His own.
Thoughts which draw me closer to Jesus, and to the Cross
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. 12 The worker who is paid to keep the sheep is different from the shepherd who owns them. When the worker sees a wolf coming, he runs away and leaves the sheep alone. Then the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them. 13 The man runs away because he is only a paid worker and does not really care about the sheep. Jn 10:27–28 NCV
27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never die, and no one can steal them out of my hand. Jn 10:11–13. NCV
A friend of mine, who depended for years on kidney dialysis and who realized that his life was slipping away from him moment by moment, once told me that as a child, and later as an adult, he had had a special devotion to the Way of the Cross and had often prayed it. When he heard the frightening diagnosis of his illness, he was at first stunned; then suddenly the thought came to him: what you have prayed so often has now become a reality in your life; now you can really accompany Jesus; you have been joined to him in his Way of the Cross. In this way, my friend recovered his serenity, which thereafter illumined his countenance to the end of his days and made visible the light of faith that was in him.
Insecure people tend to take all criticism as a form of persecution–as a threat, a personal attack–but seldom as a call to refine or amend behavior. Thus it is St Josemaria’s priority, because he is a good father and coach, to secure his spiritual children in the love of God. And you can only find your security there in the Pauline paradox.: by felling weak and humble and yet simultaneously and wholeheartedly being totally dependent oon the power that comes from God. (see 2 Cor. 12:1-10)
I see the beams of endless day,
All radiant in yon world afar;
I long—I long to fly away,
And be where saints and seraphs are;
To join the everlasting song,
And mingle with yon ransomed throng.
I resonate a lot with Luther’s hymn, and the desire to flee this world in order to be in the presence of God. I will freely admit part of this is because of the burdens and pains of this life, There are some days those burdens, and the evil in the world combines and comes close to crushing me, somedays it seems like it does. The option of standing, perfected, holy, pure, righteous in the glory of God, to see Him as He is, and to be welcomed there… that sounds so much better than what we have here.
I resonate a lot as well with Pope Benedict XVI’s friend, who found that in the process of severe health challenges–almost I know the Way of the Cross, and I know we are united with Christ’s death and resurrection, it is a deeper thought to consider our suffering is part of His, that His included ours, and the depth of despair we know and endure, is because the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, is sustaining us. When I am thinking clearly, I remember this – for instance when our church responds with “and also with you”, or I am feeding them the Body and Blood of Jesus. This is where this peace comes from, finding the strength of Christ, finding the power involved in His death and resurrection, to be at work in us, for that God has promised.
That is why St Josemaria had, as every pastor should, the drive to secure his spiritual children, his parishioners and others he disciples, in the love of God. That is the only place we can find security, it is the only place we can find peace. It is why one friend will park his car in front of church on the way home from a bad day at work, and why another, dealing with the deepest struggles, found they could rest better than any other place, in front of the altar at their church. St Josemaria’s correct, only by being at our weakest, can we find the strength–again , for me, that comes at the altar, and looking forward to it, when I get to say only a few words, “the body of Christ, given for you…” and I see the most incredible bring healing to those who are broken. (the same as I baptize, or tell someone God has forgiven them!)
This is because in those moments we realize He is our Shepherd, that we have life, both now and eternally, when we are hearing His voice, because He walks with us. We can trust Him, and those He calls as shepherds, who are willing to suffer and sacrifice for the sheep. that takes a lot of pastors, as it took a lot out of Jesus–the sufferings and sacrifices he made prior ot the cross.
Our hope is found there… depending on Him, and His presence. It is our life… with our Shepherd….
Ratzinger, Joseph. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl, Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth, Ignatius Press, 1992, pp. 110–11.
Hanson, Dr. John Henry, Coached by Josemaria Escriva, Scepter, NY, 20204
Luther, Martin, and John Hunt. The Spiritual Songs of Martin Luther: From the German. Translated by Thomas Clark, Hamilton, Adams, and Co., 1853, p. 156.
Can I Get a Witness? The Witness is the Same! a sermon on 1 Cor. 15:111
Can I Get A Witness?
“The” Witness is the Same!
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
† Jesus, Son, Savior †
May the grace of God our Father, shown to you in the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus, assure you of His love, as the same power is at work in your life!
Can I get a witness?
It’s been years since I heard the phrase, but I remember a church that I guess preached at once, where the pastor asked after the sermon, “Can I get a Witness?”
And person after person would talk about how God had redeemed them or reconciled a relationship that had been trashed by sin.
It’s been probably close to forty years since I was there… but I remember the people shouting and testifying to how good God was, and how he rescued them.
As our journey together changes from the weeks of Lent to the weeks of Easter, we go from looking at the broken people at the foot of the cross to the work God did and is doing.
That is the content of the witness and the impact of the witness.
It’s not about the witness but the witness.
Paul will state the witness clearly in verse 3 of our Corinthians reading this morning,
“I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said
Christ died for our sins
He was buried
He was raised from the dead
Three short points – that change the world – that change our world….
And no matter who preaches Christ, that is their message.
Christ died for our sins,
He was buried
He was raised from the dead…
That is the witness we need today, for it is the only witness that will change those who are broken…
- I don’t want the witnesses; I want what their witness
In the epistle, Paul then proceeds to document the witnesses. Peter, the 12, 500! James, everybody, then Paul.
If you asked any of them, they would agree with Paul, that they weren’t worthy to see the risen Lord, never mind account themselves as worthy to witness the fact that He died, that he was buried and Alleluia! He is risen!
They are right in a way, because they didn’t deserve to witness the cross and the resurrection any more than we do. And the witness isn’t about them, though it will change them, though it will change us.
It is about the idea that Christ has died, Christ was buried. Christ has risen, and He is coming again!
Someone should make a song out of that… 😊
When I look at social media, most of the critique of the church and of Christianity has nothing to do with the witness that Christ has died, Christ was buried, Christ has risen. Often that is because the witnesses are talking about other things—usually the sinful behavior of others, or why that denomination’s not right, or that pastor or politician is evil.
Even yesterday while writing this – out of the first 25 posts were negative religious posts, and only one mentioned Good Friday or Easter. It wasn’t one side or the other; it was both sides.
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God – that’s a given – we don’t have to show everyone’s sin publicly. Or assume what someone else shared about someone’s sin is accurate?
What has happened to those who have the witness?
Can I get a witness? Can I know what the Lord has done?
- We all preach the same message – you believed.
We have to get back to following the example of the early church!
11 So it makes no difference whether I preach or they preach, for we all preach the same message you have already believed.
We have to get back to it, not because this is our duty. If I say you must go share your faith, I am robbing you. All I would be doing is making your work the focus, taking the attention and focus away from what Jesus has done.
That wasn’t how the early church worked…
They saw what God did—they told others about it!
They experienced His love and peace, and they shared it with others.
16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Ephesians 3:16-19 (NLT2)
Therefore, the witness is so important –not it is critical!
The witness reveals God’s love, our identification with Christ’s death, burial and resurrection changes everything.
That is the message we need to stand firm in the only message that will save us.
Christ has died!
Christ was Buried!
Christ is Risen! and
Christ will come again!
All for those who know this – who bear the witness…
Who answer the call, “Can I get a witness!”
And respond with Jesus! AMEN!
By My Hands, For My Sake: The Centurion – A Good Friday Sermon
Concordia Lutheran Church – Cerritos, Ca , at dawn on Easter Sunday
By My Hands, For My Sake
The Centurion
Matthew 27:54
† Iesou, Huios, Soter †
May the grace of God our Father, who sent Jesus to die for you, overwhelm you so that you have to confess with the centurion that Jesus “truly is the Son of God!”
- The Confession
It wasn’t part of the traditional reading tonight for the passion of Christ. But it is still part of the story. So here it is…
54 The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!” Matthew 27:54 (NLT2)
As we’ve looked at the hands involved in the crucifixion, these hands, and those he was commanded, were as guilty of Christ’s murder as any. Adam was the first to sin, causing a sacrifice to be needed. The Centurion was as silent as Nicodemus, to scared to raise his hands to ask a question, so he waited till midnight to show up and ask. That silence was not unlike Judas’s kiss, which betrayed Jesus, or Peter’s denial. His actions, like Mary Magdelene’s, the Thief on the cross or Barabbas, were as guilty as this centurion’s, which held the order to be crucified.
And though he wasn’t a Jew, those hands complicit in the death of Christ, would be among those Jesus died for, on that Friday which we celebrate today!
- The Irony
There is not much known about this centurion, except for that which we know, because of his title.
He may not have guarded Jesus, but his men did.
The men he commanded would have been the soldier’s that whipped and mocked Jesus.
Again, he supervised those who hung the sing on the cross which testified to Jesus being the King of the Jews, and the hands which handled the spikes driven through Jesus’s wrists, and his ankles. Those hands held the order to crucify three men that day, one of which everyone knew was innocent.
And he was either the man who plunged the spear into the side of Jesus, or he issued the command.
This is the man who was responsible for the torture and murder of Jesus. And yet…
So are we.
For he would be nailed to the cross because of our sins, as well as the centurions. We would be the enemies for which Jesus would die. We would be strangers and aliens trying to find a home in a place where we did not belong. We sinned in thought and inaction as he did, we sinned by breaking His law.
And as Jesus died for this centurion, he would die… for us.
As Jesus was revealed to be truly the Son of God to this commander, so we have had Jesus revealed this way to us.
- The Revelation and the Hope.
The entire life of Jesus, the incarnation, the missing years, the ministry and teaching all of history boils down to this time, as Jesus hangs on the cross, grasping for every breath,
However it happens, Jesus is revealed to this man, in his death, as the Son of God. Heck he may not even know what that title means yet. But for him it is a change of allegiance as well, for that was a title Caesar, his commander-in-chief claimed. You don’t take your C-in-C’s title and give it to someone else. Especially a title that presupposed divinity. That would be blasphemy–unless the One you are talking of is truly God.
In doing so, the Centurion fulfilled the commandment to have no other gods, by declaring Jesus to be truly God.
And that would give him hope?
Even as Christ died.
Something was revealed to him through Jesus’ temperament, through it all–through the words on the cross, including the words that forgave the centurion and all of us.
“Father forgive them – they don’t know what they are doing!”
What kind of peace this would bring—to her from Jesus himself, while He hung on the cross…
As the Holy Spirit revealed Jesus to be God so to full have the authority to say them…
Including the man whose hands handled Jesus death…
Who hands were among those by which Jesus would die..for who sake He did die…
Even as we are part of the cause—and the ones who benefit.
Look at the cross, know the love.
AMEN!
By My Hands, For My Sake: Mary Magdelene – A Good Friday Sermon
By My Hands, For My Sake
Mary Magdalene
Luke 8:2, John 19:25, Matthew 27:55-56
† Iesou, Huios, Soter †
May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ free you from whatever oppresses you!
Hands once oppressed, and sin filled.
As we have wandered into and out of lives that were involved in the death of Christ, we have seen broken men, the Father of the thief and Barabbas, men who we don’t normally think of as broken, Peter and Nicodemus, and those we don’t think of as being redeemable- like Judas.
This afternoon, we look at a lady, one identified by name at the foot of the cross in each of the gospels. But to imagine what she had endured, only would leave her more distraught, more feeling abandoned as she stood at the foot of the cross.
Her hands, her sin, would require Jesus’s death, a death she would prepare him for by washing his feet with her tears, and anointing him for burial with the costliest perfume.
Yet to look upon Him, as He hangs on the cross…for her sake.
It is perhaps, one of the most compassionate things in scripture, that she would be the first to see him on Sunday morning…
To understand the importance of her, realizing that Jesus was risen, we need to understand where she had come from, from what she had been rescued.
Who is She?
We know only a few things, her brother and sister’s name, and that she was a prodigal, a lady of the evening who became wealthy, but at a great cost.
Mark’s gospel explains..
9 After Jesus rose from the dead early on Sunday morning, the first person who saw him was Mary Magdalene, the woman from whom he had cast out seven demons. Mark 16:9 (NLT2)
I do not know how this lady became possessed by demons, but it is nothing to dismiss.
A horrid life, full of trauma, full of pain, full of demonic torment. We don’t know if she ever knew love from parents, or a husband. Used and abused by men, full of despair, robbed of all hope.
Most of us have sins that haunt us that most others do not see. Her sin was more visible than others. But all of us are haunted by our sin, all of us had the moments when we dwelt in darkness.
It is that darkness she worried about as she saw Jesus on the cross, it must have been that darkness that fell, even as His blood dripped to the ground. How her anxiety would grow as she watched Him die.
It is has been said that it is always the darkest before dawn.
But what if you do not know dawn is coming. What if it doesn’t come for a few days.
Do we realize the power of sin had over us, as Mary did? Would we more than sickened at the cross, if we didn’t know there was a resurrection coming?
She knew Jesus rescued her from the darkness before—that is why she would show adoration at a pharisee’s house, even though she would be dismissed and mocked.
She knew what Jesus had rescued her from…
Do we?
We look back and know….
We of course know now, not only would she see the risen Jesus, but she would see Him before Peter and John, before all the others, whose hands were involved…
We will hear that story soon…
When we do, remember the feeling now, as we stand with Mary, an realize the depth of the sin that threatens to overshadow us… and know that it won’t..
And adore Him. AMEN!
By My Hands; For My Sake — Peter’s Hands – A Last Supper Sermon
By my Hands, For My Sake:
Peter’s Hands
Mark 1:16-20, Mark 14:47, 1 Peter 3:21, Mark 14:22-31
† Jesus, Son and Savior †
May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ bless your hands, as God works through them, to bless the world!
- The Hands
During the midweek lent services, the theme has been hands and the cross
Adam’s hand that held the fruit he ate, the first time the cross was needed to correct actions…
Nicodemus’ hands which couldn’t be raised to ask a question, but would later remove Jesus from the cross.
Judas’ hands, as they toss the bribe money back, Barabbas’s hands that were freed from restraints, and last week, the hand of a son, nailed to a cross next to Jesus, but in heaven just a few hours later….
And tonight, we deal with look at the Apostle Peter’s hands, and how they were a part of the story of the cross.
- The Fisherman’s Mark 1:16-20
The first time they were encountered, Peter’s hands were working oars, and hauling nets. Rough hands, calloused, hard working hands. But hands which were meant for different work, for fishing for men rather than fish, for healing life rather than taking it, for writing scripture rather than keeping logs.
So many of us, like Peter, don’t use our hands for what God intended, until we know Him, until we experience His love. To encounter Jesus means everything, and changes everything in Peter! The Gospel of Mark’s retelling of Peter’s recruitment,
17 Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” 18 And they left their nets at once and followed him. Mark 1:17-18 (NLT2)
This simple fisherman gives all of his craft up in a moment, and changes! But that same impetuous nature, will get him into trouble over and over!
- The Swordsman – Mark 14:47 (John 18:10)
Such as the time Mark, who was Peter’s assistant, tells us about that Peter, who uses his hands for evil. Mark writes,
46 Then the others grabbed Jesus and arrested him. 47 But one of the men with Jesus pulled out his sword and struck the high priest’s slave, slashing off his ear. 48 Jesus asked them, “Am I some dangerous revolutionary, that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me? 49 Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there among you teaching every day. But these things are happening to fulfill what the Scriptures say about me.” 50 Then all his disciples deserted him and ran away. Mark 14:46-50 (NLT2)
Though Mark won’t tell us who “one of the men” was, John does. It’s Peter! He yanks out his sword, swings at a man’s head…and mostly misses !He just barely cuts off the ear!)
Jesus will heal the man, correcting Peter’s action, just as He is being arrested. Peter’s hands, like his mouth, didn’t have a way of filtering out the ideas he had. He just reacted, and so often that reaction was sinful, and didn’t consider the work God was trying to do!
We often sin like that, not thinking about what we are doing, not thinking about the temptation, but just falling into it. Other times, like when Peter is warming his hands by the fire, denying he knew Jesus, we know we are going to sin, and in our weakness, we can’t overcome temptation… and we fail…
But that is what this night, tomorrow and Sunday are all about… the fact that the things our hands have done… caused Jesus to die on the cross… but it was for our sake He did die.
The Baptizer ( 1 Peter 3:21)
Peter’s hands, along with the other apostles, would be used for something different. On Pentecost, the hands which Peter cried into, having betrayed Jesus, would be wet again, but this time from the water where they baptized 3000 men and their families!
He would write to the rest of the church,
21 And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 3:21 (NLT2)
Those hands, used to oars and ropes, nets and swords would pour water over people, and not because of the water but because of Christ’s promise, they would be united to Christ, and receive promises that were incredible….hear them again…
38 Peter said to them, “Each one of you must turn away from your sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins will be forgiven; and you will receive God’s gift, the Holy Spirit. 39 For God’s promise was made to you and your children, and to all who are far away—all whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” Acts 2:38-39 (TEV)
This is what Peter’s hands were repurposed to do, to catch people, to bring them to Christ as he made disciples by baptizing and teaching them… but there’s more…
- The Rememberer (Mark 14:22-31)
Try to imagine the first time, after the ascension, where Peter took bread, repeated the words of Jesus, broke and distributed His body and Blood?
Imagine the emotions running through Peter as he remembered this night, and Jesus’s words—understanding what they meant—and how that would impact him.
It would be overwhelming, especially knowing that it was just after that, that Peter said he would never leave Jesus, that He would die with Him. (see the Mark passage – paraphrase it into your words)
How could that not be on Peter’s mind as he said the words of institution,
Even as he realized. Because of the cross – he was forgiven.
What a moment that would be.. what a moment it is for us..
TO share in Christ’s Body and Blood – even as they did.. even as our hands were once as sin-filled as any…. But now…they are welcome to feast with Jesus….
How much would officiating at commune overwhelm Peter? How much would receiving it??? How would He be able to do so???
Because of His cross…he could. Because of the sacrifice which he knew was for him, he could.
The same is true for us, as we share in His Body and Blood – we don’t deserve it, we have betrayed Him, and yet…we caused the need for His sacrifice… and yet… it was for our sake… He went there..
Let’s share in that feast!
(the Lord’s supper follows)
Eat up! There is a Long Journey Ahead! (some thoughts on the Eucharist for Holy Week)
Thoughts that pull me closer to Jesus, and to the Cross… (and the altar)
29 Jesus answered, “The work God wants you to do is this: Believe the One he sent.”
30 So the people asked, “What miracle will you do? If we see a miracle, we will believe you. What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the desert. This is written in the Scriptures: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”
32 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, it was not Moses who gave you bread from heaven; it is my Father who is giving you the true bread from heaven. 33 God’s bread is the One who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Jn 6:29–33 NCV
Believers go from place to place,
With cares and griefs oppressed;
But when they’ve run their earthly race,
They’ll find a glorious rest.
When from the things of time they cease,
God brings them to the port of peace;
The seed is sown with hopes and fears,
But soon the precious fruit appears.
How happy when our race is o’er—
Our journey at an end;
Our spirits, bound to earth no more,
To glory shall ascend!
Clearly God had commanded the fathers concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices, but what Jeremiah is condemning is an idea of sacrifices that did not come from God, namely, that such worship pleased him ex opere operato. He adds that God had commanded faith. “Obey me,” that is, “Believe that I am your God and that this is the way I want you to know me when I show mercy and help you, for I do not need your sacrifices. Believe that I want to be God, the one who justifies and saves, because of my Word and promise, not because of works. Truly and wholeheartedly seek and expect help from me.”
We have just barely begun Holy Week, aka Basic Training for Disciples. and I am tired. My faith, my ability to trust in and depend on God should be strengthened.
And yet the journey of this week is barely a speck in the journey we take, that Luther describes with so much passion–a journey into the glory of God, where He has the place for us,
The journey’s difficulty is compounded when we think the effort, physical, mental and spiritual, needs to be our responsibility. That we have to understand everything, sacrifice all the right things, at the right times, that we have to do this to earn the grace, to be worthy of it, otherwise it isn’t ours.
We then project these standards onto others, and except them to do what we cannot. This disappointment divides us from them, rather than unites us in a desire to journey in God’s grace together. All our sacrifices together are not enough, they cannot please God, they cannot erase our sins, and therefore they cannot sustain us during this Holy Week, anymore than the sacrifices of Jesus day meant anything–they had no power on their own, and because they weren’t done hearing God’s direction – they were meaningless.
There is one thing that isn’t worthless, the Bread of Heaven Himself. Jesus is our Bread Of Life. It is from Him we can expect help, it is from His His body and His blood that the promises of His sustaining presence are revealed. Jesus is the sacrifices that God the Father ordered, the one He finds acceptable, the one that eliminates our sin and saves us.
The Lord’s Supper is not merely some practice we do, as if we have to make it meaningful, as if we have to come suitably prepared. It is the meal for pilgrims, for those without resources, for those who need it provided for them, for us.
It is all that Jesus promises, all that He would give us, and what we need to be sustained on the journey. Not because it works on its own, but because of the promise that God gives us through it.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for providing Your conduits of grace, found in scripture and the sacraments. Help us depend on You and the promises You pour out on us through these conduits of grace. AMEN!
Luther, Martin, and John Hunt. The Spiritual Songs of Martin Luther: From the German. Translated by Thomas Clark, Hamilton, Adams, and Co., 1853, p. 146.
“Apology of the Augsburg Confession: Article XXIV The Mass” Tappert, Theodore G., editor. The Book of Concord the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Mühlenberg Press, 1959, p. 254.
A Father’s Proudest Moment? Yeah! A sermon on Luke 23:32-43
By My Hands, for My Sake
A Father’s Proudest Moment
Luke 23:32-43
† I.H.S. †
May the grace and peace of God our Father assure you that you too will be in paradise (though not today!)
- St Dismas Church.
It would be centuries after his son died, but a beautiful church would be named after his son. Hand carved sones make up the walls, and the pews and all the word work done by members of the community. Even the stain glass windows were made onsite – by another member of the community…
It is a beautiful place, a sanctuary for those who can climb the hill to enter the church, where the grind of their daily lives would be lost in the peace, and even the joy of such a beautiful church.
I could imagine the dad’s smile, thinking what a blessing it was…
One former member of the community wrote,
I can honestly say that the only breath of fresh air in that wretched environment was that church. An absolutely gorgeous structure which does grant reprieve from the drudgery of every day life.
Sounds like an impressive place! He goes on…
Clinton correctional facility is the embodiment of hell on earth. Nevertheless retired Priest (Father Bill Edwards)and ,Deacon Dibeck are truly blessed man and will always hold a place in my heart. Imagine signing up to take a job in a maximum-security prison as a Priest and a Deacon.. I would otherwise refer them to seek psychiatric help but they are clearly blessed by the Lord and are carrying the good word to those in need. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVuftGUjRBE)
Oh, did I mention the man’s son was the only person in scripture who Jesus said would see him in paradise, thus declaring Dismas a saint?
And the church named after him is a church set placed in a maximum-security prison named after him?
St. Dismas Church…
As we’ve looked at various hands throughout this lent, tonight I want you to consider what went through the mind of the father of the man who died alongside Jesus, who shared the crucifixion…
And the day that was undoubtedly the proudest day, and the most meaningful day possible for a dad.
- Did my sin lead to his?
But let’s go back and put our feet in the shoes of this man on the cross’s father. Can you imagine the pain of hearing that sentence being placed on your child?
We don’t know how long the son had been in trouble in life, but crucifixion was for capital crimes. It was for someone who committed such a horrible act that society, both the Jews and the Romans, wanted to publicly torture him on the cross for hours, even days.
This was a crime they wanted no other person to think of, never mind commit.
I doubt this was a onetime loss of focus, and I don’t think he was stealing a nice BLT from the local sub shop.
I don’t think the father’s distress was all caused by the sentence either. Sure, I doubt he talked to his neighbors about that, I am sure rumors were spread, and the family felt shame and hurt because of their son.
But I can imagine the father’s shame was more personal. I can imagine him questioning how he failed his son. Was he not there enough, did he not pray with him enough, did he not send him to the right synagogue, the right school, did he not train him up in the ways he should go?
Not all thieves and murders had parents who did the same, yet I can easily imagine the man’s father lying in bed at night, wondering how his own sin, how his sin influenced his son. Did the things his son saw him do set such a bad example that his son thought there was nothing wrong with sinning? After all, the son must have thought- if my dad didn’t care if he sinned, if he didn’t feel remorse, why should he?
Did the dad see in his son’s sentence to death his own failure, his own guilt, his own shame?
Was the weight of his own sin crushing him even more as he looks on his condemned, dying son, as he realized its impact on the son he held as a baby…. And wanted the best for?
He knew what his son had in him, he knew his heart – and yet what happened… and did he take on the blame?
- The Proudest Moment—and one that gives hope for me..
As the son hung there with the son of God, the interaction reveals that hearts of both sons,
The one son, who is sorry for his sin, who confesses it, much as Judas did last week. God was working in his heart—and the compassion he showed there, showed that he, like most of us, was not completely corrupt, his sin—while strongly gripping him—did not own him past the point of redemption.
Those words may have helped the dad a little, but the words of Jesus to his son, oh how glorious those were…
“today, you WILL BE with me in paradise.”
Ultimately, I do not think there is anything more incredible to know about anyone we love who has struggled in life, than to know God’s love has broken through—and that they will be in His presence eternally. That they will finally know the peace we want them to know, even as they seem so hardened by sin.
The proudest day—far more important than a wedding day, far more important than a graduation, it would even overshadow the death on the cross…
His son was going to heaven…to walk boldly before the throne of God pure, holy, sinless… godly.
The prodigal saved into the arms of His heavenly Father.
I am making the assumption here that the father was at least a nominal believer, history tells us he was—though not much more than that..
But I can imagine him, as the weight of his sin and guilt was lifted as well, as he saw in his son’s salvation. The guilt and shame for not raising his son well enough disperses but so does all the other sin, for Christ’s death secures the promise of forgiveness for all who believe.
It may take even to Pentecost to sink in, until the father is baptized, but the joy and its healing began then, even as the skies darken, as first Christ dies, and then his son.
This gives us hope, as we pray for our families and for our spiritual families. For those who think they can avoid God, or dismiss Him… and those of us who wonder what we could have done differently.
This is the power of the cross, the ultimate victory, the ultimate moment of glory—as God proved that He loves us, and the people we love whom we worry about, who frustrate us….
Keep praying for them, and remember the story of Dismas and his dad… and the Lord who loved them both… and loves us.
AMEN!
Lord, Don’t Ask Me That….
Thoughts which drive me to Jesus, and to the Cross
6 When Jesus saw the man and knew that he had been sick for such a long time, Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be well?”
7 The sick man answered, “Sir, there is no one to help me get into the pool when the water starts moving. While I am coming to the water, someone else always gets in before me.”
8 Then Jesus said, “Stand up. Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 And immediately the man was well; he picked up his mat and began to walk. John 5:6–9. NCV
He fills our souls with hope,
That we shall yet arise
To dwell with Him in realms of bliss—
In mansions of the skies;
There through eternity to raise
The sacrifice of endless praise.
828 Have you ever thought how you would prepare yourself to receive Our Lord if you could go to Communion only once in your life? We must be thankful to God that he makes it so easy for us to come to him: but we should show our gratitude by preparing ourselves very well to receive him.
I have heard many a sermon, and more than a few lectures in pastoral theology about the question Jesus asks the man poolside in Siloam. Most of the time it is to make the point that “most” people are comfortable in their brokenness. It doesn’t matter if the issue is physical or spiritual–the point the preacher/professor is trying to make is that all people don’t want it, that all people will not have the desire to resolve the issue.
As someone who has battled physical and spiritual issues all my life, I am revolted by that kind of talk. For the despair that steals desire puts that desire often beyond my reach–sometimes far beyond my reach. If I mention that, some doubt my faith, some doubt my prognosis, and some simply discount me and treat me like I am worthless, already dead. Make no mistake, Jesus knew the answer – as he knew the man’s capabilities, and the stage of burnout he was in at the time.
I am willing to write this because I have also preached those sermons, I have given those lectures, and I regret it.
St. Josemaria’s words I read this morning, made me think of the one thing I can do – I can celebrate God’s presence in the Eucharist, in the Lord’s Supper. For there, just as in life, He comes to us, He nourishes us, He forgives and comforts us. And it is not only once, it can be weekly, even daily! While I appreciate St Josemaria’s words on how we come, with reverent expectation, it is He who comes to us there, to minister to us. That is the preparation we need – to realize how much we need Him–and to go tto the sanctuary, to go to the altar, expecting His work to be done there… in our lives.
God knows our weakness, our brokenness, the level of burnout and hopeless that paralyzes us… and He comes and asks – knowing the answer. He then brings healing into our lives…as He takes our burdens on himself.
It is there we rise from the lives were we thought we had no assistance. It is from there, burnt out, broken, without hope we are able to rise and take up our mat. Oddly enough, the man will try and minister to those who think they are well! (that is just a seed being planted – don’t assume it a failure!)
It is there – as Christ comes to us…that we find healing. If you can’t make it to church, let the leaders of the church bring the church to you. Jesus will be there… ready for you…even if you think you aren’t ready for His healing.
Luther, Martin, and John Hunt. The Spiritual Songs of Martin Luther: From the German. Translated by Thomas Clark, Hamilton, Adams, and Co., 1853, p. 144.
Escrivá, Josemaría. The Forge . Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
