Monthly Archives: March 2013
Remember – We Speak for Christ
We Speak for Christ
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
† In His Name †
As we speak for God, may we speak through the knowledge of the grace, the mercy and love which reconciled us to God, as we bring others the message of reconciliation!
We Speak for Christ, but what are we saying?
The sermon title you see before you, “we speak for Christ” is one which is an incredible burden, but it is something we need to keep in our mind, not just during the sermon, and the worship service, but every moment of the day.
You see if we claim to others that we speak for God as we talk about His will, as we talk about grace, as we invite them to church, then we need to realize that often, they will judge God by what they hear from our voices at other times as well.
I was talking to a lady this week, she was talking about why she and her husband were considering leaving the big church they were going to, and thinking about looking for a smaller church. In the process, she told me about the church that they went to before the mega-church. I asked her about why they decided to check out the big church in the first place, and she told me of the event that soured her husband on their original church some ten to fifteen years ago.
She related how they had gone there one morning, in her husband’s older truck. As they parked the truck in the parking lot in front of the church, a man came out, and asked them to move the truck and park it somewhere else. The man was concerned with what kind of image would be given, if beat up cars were in plain view in the parking lot.
The man moved the truck, to a different church and its parking lot where he and his wife have been going to that church ever since. She did promise that upon their return from vacation, they might return to the church here. You see, this church was where their children were baptized and confirmed.
It is a challenge for us to do what we are told in Colossians 4:6, 6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. Colossians 4:6 (NKJV)
It is even harder sometimes, for our words to be Christ’s as we respond to those who’ve sinned against us. It is hard for us to forgive those whose words may not have been as gracious to us, for in that same way we are tempted not to be gracious.
How we see them, determines how we speak to them
I’ve joked once or twice about not putting Christian bumper stickers on my car, because I don’t want my driving patterns to reflect badly on God. There is some truth in that, and the same thing when not thinking about representing God, we step on our tongues and insert our foot in our mouths. There is one thought – maybe we just never claim to talk for God? Then people wouldn’t blame God for our failings – right?
But then, we are ignoring the multitude of scriptures that talk about the people of God, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, being God’s voice to call people out of darkness and sin, to share in His peace. We need a better solution than just being quiet about our faith, our of fear of misrepresenting God.
It is found in the first verse of our epistle reading, St. Paul writes,
“16 So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now!
Most of our problem, controlling our tongue is because we look at people as un-redeemed, or not worth our time, or for that matter, God’s time. Maybe we are snobs, and think others are below us, or that they are just different, or maybe, even as we look around this room, we think – “thank God I’m not like that sinner…”
How we interact with people is based often in how we “see” them, how we perceive their value to us, to society. It isn’t just the generations represented in this room – it’s been a problem even back to the time of Christ…
For some, including Paul who wrote this letter, saw Jesus as illegitimate, as an outcast, as an wandering religious kook – who, because of a lack of education, couldn’t possibly understand the deepest part of the Jewish faith… to the extent Paul really persecuted the people whose trust was in Christ. Paul would realize Jesus was more than homeless religious fanatic… that he was the Son of God, and what it mean – that Jesus would die on the cross.
The difference comes into play when we stop looking at them based on human standards of value, but understand how Christ sees every man, woman and child that has ever existed, and when we consider their value to Him.
How does Christ see them?
In verse 17, we are told that anyone who belongs to Christ isn’t just waiting to become something else – they have become something new already. It’s passages like this – and the discussion between Jesus and a Pharisee named Nicodemus that we get the concept of being born again, the washing of rebirth that we commonly call baptism.
Which Is how we are to see each other – as people whose value is not measured according to value on earth, but rather value to God. Who thought enough of us, who valued us enough, that He reconciled the world to himself – He brought us back – He reconciled us, He cleanse us, the ways scripture describes this incredible work we given “church words” like justified and sanctified, ransomed and redeemed, and the one in this passage – reconciled.
As in reconciling a checkbook, or a set of accounts, where not only is everything accurate, but it is the way it should be – every negative entry accounted for and every error corrected. Where there is nothing left to devalue what is, by God’s account – priceless and precious. Where after everything is accounted for – and everything is checked – it all balances….
And this miracle – the way that every sin has been paid for – Paul describes in verse 21:
21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
That is Christianity simply put – God loved the people He created, to the extent He has taken care of our sin. He values us, our company, our presence, He values us enough to let Jesus bear all of our debt on the cross. All of it.
That is how, then we are to relate to each other, with the same value as God has for us…. We are to each other as people God cared enough that Jesus would die for them.
The offer on the table…which we take to them
That then leads us back to the original concept – that people base their perception of God on how we treat them, of the things we say, and don’t say…
That we are His ambassadors, given the task of reconciling all people to God. That we have the responsibility to plead with those who don’t know Jesus, who don’t know the love of the father, to come back, just like the prodigal does, when he remembers how his father treated all of his people.
To see it through – we need to look at others, as those God would die for, for indeed He did. We need, for our own deeper understanding of God’s love for us, to realize it extends to all – that He is not willing that any should perish, but that all would be reconciled – that’s why Christ came to reconcile us all – so that all children of God could always come home.
That Is the glorious message we have been tasked with, the message we, as Christ’s ambassadors are tasked to deliver… and no other message then this… that all would come back to God…
That they would all know His love…
His mercy…
His peace.
The peace of God that is beyond all understanding, the peace in which we are kept, for we dwell, reconciled in and by Christ Jesus. AMEN!
evangelical catholic – pt. 3 – An interesting comment on fellowship/communion
Not quite a devotional but….a good thing to discuss!
I mentioned before, in pts 1 & 2 that the Lutherans were once callled “evangelical catholic”, so the title of this book by George Wiegel intrigued me, when I saw a friend reference it. It isn’t about Lutherans, or Lutheranism, but a look back at the last centruy of the Roman Catholic Church, looking at a change in the nature of ministry, a re-focusing. As I have read the first few pages and chapters, I realized that processing it might be better done in writing – as I see somethings incredibly… well “Lutheran”… and part of me wonders about how Luther would fare in today’s RCC. At any rate – since I am processing it, I suppose that some of you might enjoy the thoughts, or even better, engage in discussion. So here goes part 3.
Thus evangelical Catholics who adhere to the Gospel— once again, the truths that God has revealed for our salvation in Holy Scripture and the apostolic tradition— are in fuller communion with evangelical Protestants who affirm classic Christian orthodoxy than they are with prominent Catholic theologians such as Hans Küng, Roger Haight, and Elizabeth Johnson, despite being, canonically, in the same Church with the latter. (1)
The context of this quote, comes from a discussion about the church’s doctrine – and unity within the doctrine. It notes, fairly, that not all that claim the title of Catholic (we could add/substitute Lutheran or for that matter – Christian) do not agree with the teaching and/or practice of the church. There is obviously some flexibility in practice, the Franciscans/Capuchins do hold everything in common with the Dominicans or the numeraries of Opus Dei. But there are those who specifically break with the church. A great example would be Hans Kung, or the politicians who are pro-abortion, or pro-women’ s ordination, and yet claim to be good Catholics. The author notes a desire for people to be honest – if they have another faith, or even another god, just admit it – and follow that god and its teachings to the extreme.
That is another discussion, but it gives context.
What I am surprised at, is the idea that a catholic author would dare write that there are those of us out in the protestant sphere, who affirm classic Christian Orthodoxy, that closer in communion to those “evangelical catholics” – because of our focus on the gospel, and the task we’ve been given to plead with people to be reconciled to God ( II Cor. 5). It is something I’ve been wondering about for about 2 and a hlf years – whether our affiliation to our denominations is based in culture or ethnicity, rather than doctrine. That our battles within denominations are more about our preference of practice, than actually being consistent to the faith delivered to us.
Let me use an example.
A regular attender at one of the churches I pastored was an 88 year old lady – an incredible lady who was an active participant in the life of our parish. She went through the new members class with great joy, as she finally had answers that puzzled her forever. But when it came to the end of the class, she and I had a conversation- because while she wanted to be active in everything (except congregational meetings) and she loved the doctrine that she was taught, loved the service, loved the sacraments and the promises they gave her, she had called herself a Presbyterian all her life. It was hard to give up the word, and the fact that it made up so much of her identity, and she struggled with becoming a member – just because of a strong tie to the word…..
Kung does this – as do other theologians and even writers – look at all the catholic journalists who now are writing that the new pope must change this, or bring the church into the present by removing the restriction on “that”.
And we find ourselves – no matter the title, in fellowship with people who are different in their core beliefs, their core practices, while the people we have far more in common…we are separate from, standing across the road, as it where – able to see and wave and talk… yet…. It’s no wonder that many young people don’t grasp why the denominations are necessary, when they really aren’t united in doctrine.
I think ultimately, there are two options. Will we further dissect the church, creating smaller and smaller denominations and synods – niche marketing the faith as it were…
Or we will simply run to the cross, and pray…. for our unity – in Christ.
(1) Weigel, George (2013-02-05). Evangelical Catholicism (p. 38). Basic Books. Kindle Edition.
They failed us, they sinned….now what?
Devotional/Discussion thought of the day:
“You have to love your fellow men to the point where even their defects, as long as they do not constitute an offence against God, hardly seem to you to be defects at all. If you love only the good qualities you see in others—if you do not know how to be understanding, to make allowances for them and forgive them—you are an egoist.” (1)
Therefore, to avoid this vice (bearing false witness) we should note that no one is allowed publicly to judge and reprove his neighbor, although he may see him sin, unless he have a command to judge and to reprove. For there is a great difference between these two things, judging sin and knowing sin. You may indeed know it, but you are not to judge it. I can indeed see and hear that my neighbor sins, but I have no command to report it to others. Now, if I rush in, judging and passing sentence, I fall into a sin which is greater than his.
There was once a saying that you must accept one major defect in each of your friends. I am not sure of where it comes from, or to what extent I agree with it. But if we are to have friends, we have to accept that our friends will be sinners. Including of course, the fact that they will sin against us, and we will sin against them. We will struggle with this, as we wonder if they will forgive, and whether we will. Will we count their sins more important than their friendship? WIll we value them enough to go and ask forgiveness. And we ask, will they hurt us again? Does forgiving render us defenseless against future pain, or can we remember – and keep up our guard up.
In Fr. Escriva’s comment, the shortcomings are specifically between you and another, and yes Martin Luther’s are more geared toward general sin against God. But both have at the heart of them the idea goal of maintaining a relationship that is health and without the walls that come up, when we become egotists, when we place ourselves in Gods position, and decide that wrath and punishment are deserved, and withholding mercy is what is needed.
Except that is not the heart of God.
Remember – the offer of mercy was given to you, before you actually sinned – before you were even conceived in sin. The debt is already paid for, the mercy poured out on you, and the only option we have… is to refuse it, to ignore it, to turn and walk away from it. As we understand the concept of Justification, as we understand the power of reconciliation, it is while we are yet sinners and enemies of God, that He was working, to draw us back, to make things right, to seperate that sin from us, as the Holy Spirit uses the word of God, the very gospel revealed to us, to cut out the hardness of heart and the egotism that would make us… not extend forgiveness.
Knowing that – can we look at our brothers and sisters with Christ’s attitude towards them? Can we look at them knowing the mind of God – the attitude we see revealed in passages like John 17 and Philippians 2 and 1 Corinthians 13? Can we point them to Jesus, always and encourage them to point us there, to the cross, where we are, together, untied in His love, in His grace, because of the great mercy He has for us?
We can… and when we struggle – my best suggestion – remember the sacraments, remember the water poured over you, cleansing you from sin, remember the altar where you go, that you may know and taste and see that the Lord is good? Can you bring your brother there… and celebrate the goodness of God – who has blessed you with each other?
Such is our calling, such is our ministry.
Lord have the mercy on us, to enable us to do this very thing!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 3365-3367). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
(2) The Large Catechism of Martin Luther. the explanation of the 8th commandment
“My own faith?” … not so much!
Discussion thought of the Day..
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Whoever loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 And God showed his love for us by sending his only Son into the world, so that we might have life through him. 10 This is what love is: it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven. 11 Dear friends, if this is how God loved us, then we should love one another.1 John 4:7-11 (TEV)
“A disciple of Christ can never think as follows: “I try to be good; as for others, if that’s what they want… let them go to hell.” Such an attitude is not human. Nor is it in keeping with the love of God, or with the charity we owe our neighbour.” (1)
This Lent the theme of most of our readings continues to be reconciliation among the people God has created. We have seen God’s heart – that he will not take pleasure in the death of the wicked, that He only wants them to come home, as the prodigal did.
When will our heart break for those who walk without Christ? I am not talking about the kind of guilt caused by a spiritual version of those programs that show starving children, seeking to get us to send wads of money to appease our shame, to give us the feeling that we helped a little, therefore it is alright to go back to living life. I ask the question again, when will our hearts truly break for those that do not know the mercy of Christ, or the peace of God our Father.
When will we love them, as He loves them?
It has to come down to whether we see ourselves as His family, that our neighbor, even the one we struggle with, as someone as close to us as family. It is because… they are. Christ died not just for us – our faith is not an individual faith, Jesus is a personaly savior – He died to reconcile us all to Him, and therefore to each other. We aren’t really talking aboout ng strangers, but our own people, our own family. And that takes patience, and love… time.
So look on those who do not know the love of Christ, and love them and be patient with them, until their journey brings them home as well.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 3358-3361). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Realizing and Revealing the Lord is With You, assuring You of His Presence!
Realizing and Revealing…
The Lord is With Us
Assuring us of His Presence!
Judges 6:33-4:1
† IHS †
May you be so blessed as God reveals His presence in the journey of your life, that you find your journey so full of mercy and peace, that His presence in revealed to others.
Gideon’s Fleece Overlooked
Have you ever watched a favorite movie, or read a favorite book, and come across a scene that you did not remember? A part of the plot that made the scene, that was critical for really comprehending the entire story.
Where we walk with Gideon tonight, as he realizes the presence of God is really, really with him, is a story familiar to many of us, even if we don’t remember who Gideon was, or where in the Bible this story is found. Because this is where we get the phrase about “putting a fleece before the Lord”.
It’s where we get the concept of asking God to make clear which way we are to go, which road we are to take, if this is really God’s plan for our lives.
And if that is the concept we have, we are going to see a missing piece to the story tonight. One that will correct our understanding a little, and in the end, bring us even more comfort, as we realize His presence in our lives, and how He saves people, rescuing them from what oppresses and binds them, revealing how He loves and provides for His people.
Gideon was Enveloped/Clothed/Came Upon
When we left Gideon last week, he had desecrated and destroyed an idol that had kept the people of God in bondage. He started, with God’s guidance, the rescue that the people of God had cried out for, even in their unbelief, even in the midst of their rebellion. This had a tremendous impact on God’s people, even to the point that Gideon’s father, who once was proud of hosting the idol’s altar, challenged the idolatry publicly, defending his son.
The battle to rescue God’s people tonight shifts, as now the battle goes from spiritual to physical. Side question to consider sometime – why do we find the physical battles in life more “serious” or more “threatening” than the spiritual battle?
In order to take on the physical – and I love how the New American Bible phrases this – the Holy Spirit envelops Gideon – other translations use clothe, or comes over, the picture is wrapping around for protection and warmth. Gideon’s walk with God takes on a new dimension, a new vocation; he is called to be one who speaks for God, who leads God’s people, while God rescues them.
It is the same kind of language that describes our Baptism, and the gift of the Holy Spirit given to us then. We are clothed with Christ, the Holy Spirit comes upon us as is talked about in Acts and we are sealed in the Holy Spirit in Ephesians.
Gideon wanted confirmation… of God’s presence
He got it… and went..
Even as Gideon begins to live within what we would call the life of the baptized, he, like us, still struggles with the idea that God would dwell with Him that the Holy Spirit would continue to be there. Perhaps like Paul he struggles with the things he wants to do, but does not and the things he knows He should not do, but does.
That is why Gideon needs to have confirmation, to know not only that God is with Him, but also that God is with Him in this particular journey, in this mission to save God’s people. He needs to know, even as he looks at the life of Israel, that God isn’t giving up on them, that this is really God’s intent.
It would be as if we were to send out a missionary to Cambodia – or wait an even more challenging place – Washington D.C. to save all the people there, wouldn’t the one chosen to go really want to know God’s desire – that God really desires to save them? Are you really serious God – do you really want to save these people of Cerritos and Artesia, La Palma and Whittier and Bellflower? That you want to use people like us?
Lord, do you still want to keep your promise?
Do you still love them? Do you still love us?
The lambskin was treated as it needed to be, to become proof of God’s love, of His presence of God’s will. Proof to assure Gideon of the promise. Just as another Lamb, the very Lamb of God became proof of God’s love, as God prepared to send those apostles out. even as He sends us out. As we go out, to neighborhoods, to offices, to workplaces, in response to people crying out to be rescued, to be loved, to see that which enslaves defeated…
That they would come to know that which we know… even as we celebrate the presence among us of the Agnus Dei, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world… and grants us peace.
AMEN?m
The Hidden Evangelist in You….
1 “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. 2 When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. 3 But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4 Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.Matthew 6:1-4 (NLT)
“941 Shun public display! May your life be known to God, for holiness passes unnoticed, even though it is most effective.
942 Try to ensure that people don’t notice when you lend a helping hand; try not to be praised or seen by anyone… so that, being hidden like salt, you may give flavour to your normal surroundings. And thus, as a result of your Christian outlook, you will be helping to give to everything about you a natural, loving and attractive tone.”(1)
These quotes from the Bible and from St. Escriva’s Forge may not seem to be about the mission of God, the work of evangelism that the church has been entrusted with, but, they are at the core of the life of evangelist, at the core of every believer’s call to be an apostle – to speak for God, to share the desire that God has, for prodigals to come home, to see beggars and hungry clothed and fed as we are baptized, as we commune with the feast that is simultaneously celebrating our sacramental homecoming, and the wedding supper of the Lamb that was slain to make the feast possible.
I will contend that being an evangelist is more about our lives lived in service to others, especially to those who do not know God’s love. It’s not about who can shout the loudest, or make the most intellectual points in a philosophical debate. It’s not done with a camera following you around, so it can be posted on YouTube. That’s not really evangelism, it is not a message focused on Christ’s love.
Evangelism is difference in substance, greatly different, even as almsgiving and prayer is different than those who make a show of it. Putting it bluntly, the greatest almsgiving is found in giving people what they need the most – and nothing is needed more than a relationship with God. We aren’t called to batter down walls and overwhelm minds, but we are called to be salt and light – things which change what exists by their existence. Evangelism in our lives is done as we bring our flavor to the area we are in, not dominating but simply revealing what is absolutely true. We are called to share… to encourage, to assist and be strength, all the very things God is for us. To realize God’s love to the depth where we realize that it is our life’s vocation to share it.. because of the great need. As we come alongside to help – the gospel is there as well, for Christ is there.
And that is why the evangelist may go unnoticed, why our left hand doesn’t know what the right is doing, because the action is so normal, so natural, so there…
And there, not drawing attention to ourselves, but serving others, reflecting God’s love, we will find joy in the midst of the mundane, or the traumatic..
It is being
(1)Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 3325-3329). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Millions of Churches or One…His?
Devotional/Discussion of the Day:
9 After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. 10 And they were shouting with a mighty shout, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!” Revelation 7:9-10 (NLT)
“Also they teach that one holy Church is to continue forever. The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.And to the true unity of the Church it is enough to agree concerning the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments. Nor is it necessary that human traditions, that is, rites or ceremonies, instituted by men, should be everywhere alike. As Paul says: One faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all, etc. Ephesians 4:5-6.” — Augsberg Confession, The
I am in on ongoing discussion, that concerns me greatly. It is about the church and how it ministers in a community that is diverse. both in terms of ethnicity and in terms of generations. As I occasionally do, I challenged the unexplored presuppositions, and commented about whether the church has to focus ministry one way, or the other – why can’t the church just reach out to everyone, and what you end up with is a multi-cultural church, one that very well may resemble the church described in the red letters above.
I was surprised, because of the push-back I got.
It’s only experts who can pull that off, it can’t be done, the big churches have tried, etc, etc. etc. They talk about the nature of a church denomination or the, “it was tried once”, or “the people have to have that call” and a number of other things that I disagree with, simply because there is no scriptural basis. Indeed, the early church was multi-cultural – because their communities were. And the zeal to see people freed from the bondage of sin, the oppression of satan, and the anxiety of death is overwhelming, when we actually realize it ourselves.
The answer isn’t in planning to have a monoethnic church, nor is it to plan to be multi-cultural. Simply put, the plan is to be the church – the CHURCH described in the founding document of the Lutheran Church – the Augsburg Confession. Interesting that we usually think of the CHURCH as in denominations finally getting their act together, finally uniting in mission, in the apostolate given to us by God. But the CHURCH is a body that transcends everything that could describe us, as we are united in Christ. Our people have to realize that – the grace of God is communicated through the church, through its members/the priesthood of all who trust in Christ. It is heard as the scriptures are explained, as we witness people receive God’s grace through the sacraments God ordained.
It’s His church, His people, and the way to be the church is not to plan which group we are to reach out to, but to reach out to the people that are around us, realizing their need to know Christ. To get to know them, to show them the love of God.
George Wiegel, in a book on the changes in the Roman Catholic Church wrote this… which still sticks with me…
What is at stake in the demand for doctrinal clarity (and for the clarity of Catholic identity that follows from doctrinal clarity) is not a matter of winning an intellectual argument, which is how self-absorbed intellectuals often understand it. Rather, doctrinal clarity is a matter of equipping “the saints,” the men and women who have entered into friendship with the Lord Jesus, to become his witnesses in the world and the servants of those who most need to see the face of the Father of Mercies. (from Evangelical Catholic)
For a parish, for a congregation, it is essential that they grasp how incredible this message of God’s love is, that God will remember their sin no more, that He has freed them from guilt and shame… and as they do – as they begin to treasure that their sins will not be remembered anymore, as they begin to explore the breadth and depth, the width and hight of God’s love, revealed in Christ – they will reveal that – as those God sent into their neighborhoods, and their businesses, into the places they shop and eat….
And the church, if in a multi-cultural area, will become multi-cultural… it cannot help but to do so…
Lord may we see the mercy that you have for us, as you reconcile us to you, that we may plead with others to become reconciled as well….
A Heavy Responsibility…for the church, for you..to love
Devotional/Discussion thought of the Day:
8 If I announce that some wicked people are sure to die and you fail to tell them to change their ways, then they will die in their sins, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths. Ezekiel 33:8 (NLT)
You have a duty to reach those around you, to shake them out of their drowsiness, to open wide new horizons for their selfish, comfortable lives, to “complicate” their lives in a holy way, to make them forget about themselves and show understanding for the problems of others. If you do not, you are not a good brother to your brothers in the human race, who need that gaudium cum pace, that joy and that peace, which maybe they do not know or have forgotten. (1)
I dealt with verse 8 above in yesterday’s sermon, but almost as an aside. There were other things to explore, as we looked at our nature to call God out, because we don’t think the way He works is… well.. fair. That the Lord, in showing mercy to sinners, to being merciful to wicked people, isn’t “just” or “righteous”. We explored what it means that God doesn’t rejoice when sinners die, when they “get what’s coming for them”, but rather, He rejoices when that prodigal, that lost sheep comes home. Powerful stuff, and we desperately need to understand God’s heart, and even more, to see it duplicated in our own lives.
That is where verse 8 comes in, and the quote from Fr. Escriva, which talks of the same thing, with a clarification that helps us comprehend our “duty” and why we would bear the guilt of others who would die, because we didn’t share the life transforming message of God’s love with them.
We need to tell them – we have an obligation to, but an obligation that is not from blind obedience, it is the obligation that is implicit in our being called to love our neighbor.
Let me give a favorite example. Let’s say outside you favorite restaurant sits a billionaire, and he is signing 1 million dollar checks, and giving them to anyone there. You get yours, you go to your bank – it’s legit. Do you just go home happy your have a million dollars? Or do you call a person or twenty or one hundred? Do you do so out of a law driven sense of “duty”, are you obliged to? Or are you calling people as fast as you can, demanding that they drive over as fast as possible, so they too can be blessed, because you know them, because you have a relationship with them? If you do not call someone, why would that be? Is it because you don’t have a relationship with them? Or that you are so ticked off – you decide they don’t need it?
Same thing applies here – because our salvation, our being delivered by the mercy of Jesus into the Father’s presence, is priceless – even compared to a million dollars. (we probably need to realize, to really comprehend that as well!)
And if you are a “good brother to your brothers and sisters in the human race”, you are compelled, because of your love for them, and because of the priceless gift that is theirs, to help them see it, to bring to them the gospel and therefore the Holy Spirit who will transform them, even as He grants them repentance. it is duty because of your love for them. It is the breaking of your heart as you see someone who lives, hounded by guilt and shame, or enslaved and tormented by their desires, that drives you to share with them the very thing that steals their hearts from that which oppresses them. That brings them into the presence of God, and causes them to know His joy and peace! It is phrased so delicately in the quote from Fr. Escriva – that they may not know, or have forgotten.
Calling them to repentance, calling them to be abandoned to that which has broken them… yes…that is our mission – because we love them… and can’t abide their not knowing Who we know…
God help us to do His will… and celebrate the prodigals homecoming and healing… even as we celebrate God welcoming us home.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 3183-3187). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
God isn’t Fair! He isn’t doing what’s right
“The Lord isn’t Doing what is Right?”
Ezekiel 33:7-20
† Jesus, Son and Savior †
May we realize the joy that it brings God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ to see the grace, the mercy, and love they have for mankind received and cherished!
A change in journalism, reflecting our sin!
I have suspected it for a while, but I think this week pretty much proved it – the art of news reporting is gone. We are a long way from the days when a news cast signed off with “and that’s the way it was”, or a reporter pleaded like a Joe Friday, “just the facts ma’am.”
Every news article I read this week seemed more like an opinion-editorial piece, with the writer’s speculation about how the latest financial disaster could be averted, or why the pope really resigned, or what they should do to replace him, to bring the Catholic Church into the twenty-first century. Of course, some of the ideas for both are nations budget and the choice of the new pope were… hmmm…how is the best way I can describe this… creative?
As if every journalist, every reporter, every blogger was an expert on to balance a budget, or deal with disasters, or was an expert theologian.
Of course, the newsman simply are doing what they see us doing. We try to prove that despite our disagreement with the way things have been done in the past, there has to be some hope for the future…
If only those in charge do it.. the way we know is right!
We love to do the backseat driving, the second guessing, to question those who actually have the responsibility and the pressure of making the decisions. Not that we are more intelligent, or have the information at hand, that they do. It is almost a national past-time. It doesn’t even matter if it’s “our guy” that we are questioning.
Sometimes… it doesn’t even matter if it’s God….
That’s what we see in today’s Old Testament lesson, as God says,
17 “Your people are saying, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right,’ but it is they who are not doing what’s right. 18 For again I say, when righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and turn to evil, they will die. 19 But if wicked people turn from their wickedness and do what is just and right, they will live.
Imagine that, telling God that He isn’t doing what is right…. Because He is willing to save the people that are considered wicked, and condemning those who consider themselves righteous…..
Where do people get the… nerve… to declare that God doesn’t know what He’s doing, or that He is doing wrong…in showing His mercy?
Why do we question the depth of God’s mercy
I don’t think that it is just the people of those days who make such judgments. In the Luther movie, there is a scene where Luther has to minister to a family where the son has committed suicide. He challenges the view that everyone who does such is inherently evil, or doesn’t believe in God. He buried the body of the young man in a graveyard, and assured the parents that one could be in heaven, who died oppressed by satan, or for a time doubted….He trusted in God’s mercy in those situations, but can we?
How many of us question whether this person’s claim, or that one’s, that they are believers? How willing are we to declare that this person in history or that one is in hell? Do we really believe that people are beyond the reach of God. That it is not right if God lets someone like Pol Pot’s chief prison warden, or someone like Jeffrey Dahmer, could get into heaven. What about someone like Christopher Darner? Surely not him?
What if we said that someone who everyone thought was good, would not go to heaven, because their faith wasn’t in Jesus, or because they didn’t abide in Christ?
Would we have the same attitude as those who went before us? Would we ask, “Jesus – what were you thinking when you made Peter the leader of the Apostles
Were you doing what is right? What is just Lord? Because to be honest, I do not see it!
What I need to realize, is that I don’t have to… we aren’t God, we aren’t the judge. We don’t need to question His actions, His mercy
We need to rejoice in it!
The reason why hearing this is good news
You see, though many of us might consider someone we know as a just or righteous, or maybe even as a holy people, that they are just a “good” person, there is no such thing out of Christ. We struggle – and that word for wicked sounds horrible, but it just means those who are guilty, not just found guilty in a court somewhere – but who actually did that which was wrong.
Simply put, it’s not just the mass murderers, or those who did the unbelievable evil, but those that simply broke one of the ten ways in which God ordained for us to live.
When we hear Ezekiel’s words, when we begin to comprehend his warning, or when someone like Ezekiel reaches out to us, we still need to listen! We don’t need to hide behind some façade of righteousness!
We don’t need to hide anymore, we can confess our sins grasping onto these words,
As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?
God isn’t out to “get” people that do wrong, that wander away on their own! He wants to rescue them, and that is why He gave us His word, and why we treasure it! It assures us of His desire to fix what we broken, to restore that which we’ve wrecked! That is why the sinner, the “wicked” can have hope!
That is why Ezekiel promises that as verse 16 promises, “none of their past sins will be brought up again!”
Imagine that – none of our sins, ever brought up again! They are gone! So gone that the issue isn’t whether we were wicked or good, but whether we are walking in the presence of God, for there is life!
That’s why St Peter joyfully tells us that God is patient with us, He is willing to suffer for a long time, so that we have the opportunity to see our sins separated from us, to rejoice in knowing His love! It is why Paul tells us it was for the joy set before Him that Jesus endured the suffering and shame of the crucifixion.
Jesus talks of this too, that the Father doesn’t take any pleasure in the death of the wicked – but instead phrases it this way,
7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away! Luke 15:7 (NLT)
That is why we talk of celebrating the Eucharist, the Lord Supper. It is why this is a feast at His table, the same kind of feast thrown for prodigal sons, and those dragged off the street to come to the wedding Feast of the King’s son in another parable.
God doesn’t rejoice in the death of the wicked, but in their return, in their being saved.
And while some may think that isn’t a good or right thing to do, this prodigal, formerly spiritually homeless one rejoices greatly.
That desire of God is so strong, that is why the watchmen – those God has placed to warn the sinner and welcome the repentant – are told the serious nature of their work. It is not because God is mean – but because the message is so…. Important to know – that there is a way out.
And so God instructs us all,
I have appointed you to stand watch for the (my) people of Israel. So listen to what I say, then warn them for me. 8 When I tell wicked people they will die because of their sins, you must warn them to turn from their sinful ways. But if you refuse to warn them, you are responsible for their death. 9 If you do warn them, and they keep sinning, they will die because of their sins, and you will be innocent.
My instinct is to hear that as law – as a command – that if I don’t tell you – and you don’t tell those who aren’t here yet – then we are guilty again! Another law at work?
No, again – the context means everything! For it is the very cry of those feeling the weight of their sin, who realize that they cannot pay the price of their sin to whom God speaks! He promises them that it is not their death that pleases Him, but their return, the transformation that we call repentance, the kind seen when behaviors change, and when reconciliation and redemption and walking with God is what we know… and therefore what we do.
When we dwell in peace… the peace of God that passes all understanding, as we are guarded in Christ Jesus! AMEN?
Revealing rather Lecturing: Evangelical Catholicism II
Devotional Discussion Quote of the day:
Yet the hard fact is that “The Church teaches . . .” is language destined to fall upon deaf ears in twenty-first-century cultures of radical subjectivity, in which the highest authority is the imperial autonomous Self. “The Gospel reveals . . .” is a different matter. “The Gospel reveals . . .” is a challenge in answer to the critique of the very idea of “revelation” mounted for the past two centuries by the high culture of the West. “The Gospel reveals . . .” is a challenge not unlike the challenge posed by Jesus to his disciples on the road to Caesarea Philippi: “Who do you say that I am?” [Mark 8.29]. By throwing down a gauntlet in the form of a proposal, “The Gospel reveals . . .” demands a response. That response may, initially, be skepticism, even hostility. But it will likely not be indifference. Moreover, if the truth, proclaimed clearly and fearlessly enough, has its own power— as two millennia of Christian history have shown—“ The Gospel reveals . . .” may, at the very least, be a conversation starter— unlike “The Church teaches . . . ,” which sets off every modern and postmodern and antiauthoritarian alarm bell in minds and hearts formed by the ambient culture of the twenty-first-century West. Evangelical Catholicism understands that there is an inherent connection between divine revelation and the Church: “The Gospel reveals . . .” eventually leads to “The Church teaches . . .” But it gets to the latter from a distinctive starting point. Evangelical Catholicism begins from an unapologetic confession of Christian faith as revealed faith—“ the eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us” [1 John 1.2]. 5 That eternal life, that Word of God that has come into history in search of us, is “what we have seen and heard” [1 John 1.3]. (1)
I’ve had 11 courses in preaching – from 4 in my junior and senior years of Bible college, to my Master’s program – to 5 Doctoral Level courses where I was paired up with a mentor who was a mega church pastor. (the ratio in those classes was 5:1) In a lot of those courses, the style of preaching was similar. We preached the word “authoritatively”, that is, we were the experts. We knew the Greek and Hebrew. We were trained to dissect the text, and put it together in a way that would apply to the lives of those people. Indeed, one of the best classes was in how to comprehend the lives of our people. Often times we included quotes from the great preachers, John Chrysotom, Martin Luther, the Wesley’s, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the modern guys like John Stott, or Chuck Swindoll, or Ken Korby or and of course Spurgeon – using their wisdom and ability to thread words together into beautiful tapestries and shore up our weak points.
Some lessons ran counter to that… and those are the ones that make the above quote resound
My first preaching teacher, Doug Dickey, told me once that every sermon has to share the love of Christ, to not worry about being brilliant, but simply show those listening about Jesus.
Juan Carols Ortiz, my mentor in the doctoral level program, told me not to lecture, but to tell a story, that walks the people along the road with Jesus, allowing them to get to know Him, to feel His love, His gentle correction, and even the joy that He feels, as we respond to that love.
And WMC introduced me to the style of preaching that is considered the distinctive approach of Lutheran preaching – to afflict those comforted in their sin, and comfort those afflicted by their sin. (see Walther’s “The proper distinction between Law and Gospel”)
Those rules can work within a standard presentation, whether it is a sermon, or over a glass of diet coke/coffee/tea/beer. But in each of those roles, we are pulled out of the model of the lecturer, the one who says the Church (whether Catholic or Lutheran ro Calvary Chapel or Baptist) says… (or its stars say) to reveal to those we are in dialogue with the incredible person of Jesus Christ, the One who is the way, the truth and the live. Not as what I think of him, but as how He has revealed himself to us, through the scriptures, through the very word of God, given to prophets and apostles, that they would reveal to us the living Christ, to invite us into His presence.
There is a big difference there, that as Wiegel says leaves the post-modernist and the skeptic with something that strips their post-modernism and leaves them, a human being needing to get to know this Person. It causes the one who says they want to be spiritual but not religious with the insight that you can’t divide your knowledge and practice – because God gave us both, in order to be in a relationship with us, revealing in us each – our ability to trust Him, and that we are entrusted to Him.
So my brothers who preach, and to all who share the gospel, it is time for the Apocalypse – no, not the end of times horror stories of novels. But what the word really means – to unveil the Lord Jesus Christ, to reveal the height and depth and breadth and width of the Love of God revealed to us, to the people who so desperately need to know it.
And may all who do this, whether Lutheran or Catholic, Reformed or Wesleyan, Baptist or Pentecostal, rejoice as Christ is made known…
(1) Weigel, George (2013-02-05). Evangelical Catholicism (p. 30). Basic Books. Kindle Edition.
