Monthly Archives: April 2013
The Lord’s Supper: A Tangible Invasion of My Darkness…
Christ Washing the Feet of the Apostles by Meister des Hausbuches, 1475 (Gemäldegalerie, Berlin). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional thought of the day….
I’m GOD’s favorite. He made me king of the mountain.” Then you looked the other way and I fell to pieces. Psalm 30:7 (MSG)
As I look at this verse, part of the passage I will discuss in this week’s sermon, I think it well describes the life of a Believer.
I think about Elijah, and the drastic change from the man on Mt Carmel, to the man buried in self-pity in a cave a month’s journey away.
Peter comes to mind – at one moment hearing that the words of his mouth was a revelation directly from the Father, to the next, his pride turned to disgrace as the same mouth is confronted as being the adversary to God. Never mind the night of the last supper, as he goes from correction regarding the foot washing, to the glory of being there for the first celebration of the Lord’s Supper, to the failure to stay awake and pray, to the absolute pit of despair as He hears a rooster crow…and realizes how he has failed again… and denied the Messiah, the Savior.
It’s my life – the moments were I am so sure of God’s presence – with which I get to passively participate, to the moments that I question my ability to stand in His presence, because I am confronted with my own failures, my own thoughts and desires, my own sin. I tell you, there are days I wonder if there are any good caves on the market – (suitably furnished with wi-fi and a refrigerator stocked with Diet Coke with lime and some good cotto salami and cheese) Seriously, there is so much darkness in the world, and in my own life, that I wonder what headway is being made. I wonder if there is anything that will help people… and if I can help them, by God’s mercy, i have some proof of God’s work in my life.
Maybe our lives our like jig-saw puzzles – and it seems when I see the beautiful scene that God has designed coming into focus, someone comes along and tosses all the pieces back in the box.
I know my road may not be as dark as some, and perhaps not as many pieces are thrown in the box (just as I know others who try to comfort themselves with the same thoughts), yet there are times in life where it falls apart, or my mind tries to cope with all the stuff that is flying around me. It doesn’t matter whether it is my own issues, or those of those I count as my family (which includes family, friends, fellow believers that I work with, and well the people on FB that I correspond with often) Our pains aren’t individualized ( Romans 12:15-16) we share them – and the burdens can add up. And when we realize we don’t see God, everything falls apart…. breaks up,… our anxieties build, and..
It is dealing with such things – that I’ve come, more and more, to appreciate the Lord’s Supper, the feast were we Commune with God, what we call the Eucharist, or the Sacrament of the Altar. A piece of bread, a sip of wine, these things we eat and drink, that tangibly invade my darkness, my place where I am broken, among people who are broken….
For the bread and wine aren’t just empty carbs, they are the Body and Blood of Christ, in and under that bread and wine. He is present, tangibly, His holiness, His mercy, His love.
That which is broken, He’s come to repair, that which is hurt, is healed, the pieces are picked up, the tears are dried off, the cold darkness replaced by His warmth and life and …..glory. Yes – by His glory.
For He is here…. comforting us and causing us to realize in that moment, that He always was… He will always will be.
Some have talked about how the Lord’s Supper is something that recharges them, that lifts them up… I think the reason why is simple – it calls us to interact with God in a… well,,. supernatural, divine way. A way that reminds us of the transformation, the very work of Christ in our lives. It calls us to remember the promises, the mercy – but most of all – it recenters us on His presence……
May we always treasure this celebration, and give thanks and praise to the One who is our gift, our grace.
Related articles
- Need Hope? No Answers? Come Experience Jesus, Have Hope! (evangelical catholic VI) (justifiedandsinner.com)
The Dance of the Liturgy, Learning to Partner with God
Devotional Thought of the Day,
11 You have changed my sadness into a joyful dance; you have taken away my sorrow and surrounded me with joy. 12 So I will not be silent; I will sing praise to you. LORD, you are my God; I will give you thanks forever! Psalm 30:11-12 (TEV)
I’ve been working on a new series for Sunday School – which is shaping up pretty nicely.
It is a refresher of sorts, a way to help people remember why we do what we do in worship – which is in many ways – a rehearsal for life now, and life everlasting. For those who prefer church terms – it is a on-going catachesis – a way to present the core of our faith in such a way that people see it with fresh eyes. You see, while our liturgy is worship – it is also where we learn what it means to partner with God, to follow His lead, to celebrate and move. If we learn the lessons from it – if they become as integral to our life as the steps of a dance are to an accomplished dancer, we find it flowing into our lives – and the dance continues, no longer practice – but lives in us as we leave our sanctuaries. The steps, the rhythm, the music, all becomes part of us. Even more – that we are partners with God – becomes more natural, more real, the discipline, the beauty, it is our life.
The first basic key for us – is that everything is focused on our Partner…. as we let Him guide us through this dance of life.
Come, its time to pray, our Partner awaits…
When Darkness Hides God’s Face…and all hope
Devotional/Discussion Thought of the Day:
1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? I have cried desperately for help, but still it does not come. 2 During the day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer; I call at night, but get no rest. Psalm 22:1-2 (TEV)
“When darkness seems to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His blood, Support me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my Hope and Stay. ” (1)
There are days when I could be easily convinced that our present time is more oppressed than any other time in history. The traumas and tragedies just seem to keep coming, the days and week just seem to bring more people, dealing with more pain. It doesn’t matter whether the trauma is natural (i.e. getting older, physical or mental illness) or self-inflicted, or the oppression caused by another. (the latter two relate to the damage of sin and narcissism/self idolatry) The trauma exists, the pain is real, the tears and groans all too.. overwhelming.
If I look at the hymns of the past – whether the Psalms in Old Testament times such as Psalm 22, or hymns across the ages, I find the same weariness, the same brokenness, the same tears, the same despair.
And the same answer.
A God whom those who cry out to in despair, find themselves worshipping, praising, adoring, as they find rest, peace, and yes healing in God. I am not saying these battles are easy, or quick, for they never area. But the darkness that seems to hide God’s face, the overwhelming flood that seeks to destroy us, will not stand against God. It can’t, anymore than the gates of hell can hold against Christ’s incarnation. Even though there are days where it may feel like we cannot go on, it is God’s love that will sustain us.
For God has not hid himself, He always will be there, for He promised to, and His presence will sustain us.
The Psalm quoted above finds the one who questioned God’s presence finding resolution and finding God’s presence. Here is where the Psalm ends:
22 I will tell my people what you have done; I will praise you in their assembly: 23 “Praise him, you servants of the LORD! Honor him, you descendants of Jacob! Worship him, you people of Israel! 24 He does not neglect the poor or ignore their suffering; he does not turn away from them, but answers when they call for help.” 25 In the full assembly I will praise you for what you have done; in the presence of those who worship you I will offer the sacrifices I promised. 26 The poor will eat as much as they want; those who come to the LORD will praise him. May they prosper forever! 27 All nations will remember the LORD. From every part of the world they will turn to him; all races will worship him. 28 The LORD is king, and he rules the nations. 29 All proud people will bow down to him; all mortals will bow down before him. 30 Future generations will serve him; they will speak of the Lord to the coming generation. 31 People not yet born will be told: “The Lord saved his people.” Psalm 22:22-31 (TEV)
Likewise – rejoicing in the work of Christ, the hymn resolves,
When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found,
Clothed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne!
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
May you find His faithfulness, His righteousness, His peace sustaining you this morning.. for it is there – and it always has been.
God’s peace is yours – because He has born our sorrows, our griefs, our sins, as He walks with us. For that is how Jesus, who was crucified for you, ministers to you as you journey with Him.
English: Icon of Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Even on Mondays.
(1) 2nd and 3rd verses of “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand”
Related articles
- The Tomb is Empty? Yeah! He is Risen and The Lord is With us! (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Worship for Barren and Empty Souls (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Meditation on Psalm 116 ~ Br. Scott Brown, Postulant (orderofpreachersrcc.com)
- Will Jesus find us trusting Him? (Evangelical Catholic Evaluation V) (justifiedandsinner.com)
Worship for Barren and Empty Souls
Flatiron from Brown’s Peak Saddle – Four Peaks Wilderness (Photo credit: Al_HikesAZ)
Discussion thought of the Day:
“The wilderness is still the place of worship. (as it was for Israel) But for you and me ist is a matter of dunes and dry ground. In fact, it may be deceptively gree. Our Hunger and thirst are more spiritual realities than physical ones. The desolation we often experience involves our yearning for a more palpable feeling of the Presence of God. We need spiritual bread every it as much as they needed the manna in the wilderness. Our deep need for Living Water is as intense as any thirst their parch throats ever knew.
As so we look to the One whose coming incranated for us the Manna, the Living Waterand the presence of God. Jesus has entered into the wilderness of our wilderness and found us…. ” (1)
In a few hours I will be mentioning this passage in class. This morning – as most morning goes – the revelation that Michael Card mentions above was why we gathered for church. And even there, as I preached about the bondage caused by sin, and talked about our helplessness and need for Christ, I could “see” those who were burdened for others or by their own problems. We are, in many ways – so similar to Israel wandering in the desert – awaiting a promised land.
I wonder how many of us realize the fertile ground that exists in the desert – just a little water – and it blossoms with plants and flowers, incredible beauty – in the midst of what was thought to be barren. It just takes the touch of heaven to bring it forth.
So to in our lives….I’ve seen it too many many times to count. There is great beauty in the wilderness – there is a dance that comes from mourning, there is always life and reconciliation where we thought there was only darkness and despair. The key… simply is worship – worshipping the One who invades our wilderness, who brings light into the darkness. Who comes with compassion and comfort.
And in that darkness, in that solitude – as we find Christ finding us… we find life – and a life that praises – that glories – that begins to recognize the healing brought to us. …
And oh – how we need it. O how I need it – even though I know it is there…
If I can help you find it – this hope, this incredible mercy, this love and the presence of God, I would love to….
For as I see you find it – I am reminded it is there for me as well.
Lord Have mercy on us, and help us realize Jesus, that you have!
(1) Michael Card, The Sacred Sorrow – page 24
Related articles
- A Violent Grace by Michael Card (crossingbookstore.wordpress.com)
- The Presence of God in Our Worship (glennpackiam.typepad.com)
The Jail is Empty (because the Tomb is)
The Tomb is Empty, So is the Jail
Acts 5:12-32
† Jesus, Son, Savior †
As you realize the grace, the mercy and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, may you realize as well that He has freed you to join Him!
The +1: The Tomb is Empty, He is Risen, The Lord is With you, You are Free.
Last week, during the service and sermon I asked you to respond to a number of things! Actually, I didn’t ask you! You just responded, and did it well. Which is appropriate, as we use these things pretty regularly here at church.
I wanted you to tie them together – a bond that would lead you from one saying to the next – and every time you hear one – hopefully the others will just come to mind as well.
So let’s see if you remember them
The Tomb is ……
therefore, He is Risen…
therefore, The Lord is with…
And to that today, as we look at the reading from the book of Acts, we are going to add one,
36 So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free. John 8:36 (NLT)
Indeed – and that is our theme for this day…as we look at the fact that no longer was the Tomb empty, but so was the jail. Moreover, while this is fact, the difference between the Priests and the Apostles is such a valuable lesson for us. For many of us deal with times in our lives where we feel ourselves imprisoned, bound, captive – and the point is simple –
The Tomb is Empty, He is Risen, The Lord is With You – and IF God has set you free…
Who was really imprisoned? What Imprisoned them?
If you look at the actions of the Priests and officials, you see what motivated them to react with orders to arrest the apostles. We see it there in verse 17 – the were filled with jealously – the word picture describes being overwhelmed and flooded with it – even to the point of not seeing the good they were denying.
They were fighting against good stuff. They stopped people from being healed. The interfered with people being freed from what oppressed them – what ailed their spirits or the demons with whom they struggled. Even more annoying to them, were the crowds that began to believe. The crowds in whom the word of God was working, generating life and faith as lives were brought together with God. Such things that the crowds grew, and the glory of the priesthood and its empty temple diminished, quickly.
The priests were in a prison that was far more insidious, even more restrictive than the facility that the one in which they stuck the apostles. For we can find peace anywhere, but we cannot flee from ourselves. We cannot flee our own idols, and we can’t even free ourselves from the sin and idols which we worship.
That is why I ask – who was imprisoned? The one’s in the community’s jail, or the ones who tossed them into that cell? It’s a pretty common occurrence in scripture, Joseph and His brothers, Saul and David, Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar, or Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. Or for that matter – who knew more freedom – Jesus on the cross, or those who crucified him?
When we are bound up in jealousy – when we zealously protect our idols, those things we count on, before we count on God. I am always curious when we think we need to defend our gods anyways. Can’t they stand up on their own? First sign of an idol is when we have to defend it. Such sin is revealed as well when we stop good from happening because it didn’t happen our way. It is then we should realize that we are imprisoned by something that controls us – we are oppressed by it, it suffocates us and can even kill our Spirit – as it did those priests and Sadducees. Imagine not realizing the tomb was empty, or that He is Risen, or that the Lord is ….. indeed, if you didn’t know this – how could you ever conceive of being free indeed?
And how sad is that…? Can we even conceive of it?
Or do we need to be rescued from it?
God Frees them and us in more ways than one
I love that the phrase, “the angel of the Lord” is used to describe who delivers the apostles from their prison. For that phrase is used normally of God Himself – as in the days of Abraham, Issac and Israel, or Moses’ day.
It reminds us that real freedom comes from Him, He is always it’s source. He is our source. The way they are freed, it isn’t a big deal here. Come on, Jesus says, let’s go, time to get back to what I sent you to do – go and give them my message of life! Go tell them, that:
The tomb is…. Praise God He is Risen, the Lord is with….. and… if the Son sets you free… you are free indeed!
So my only question today – is what are you freed from? For the Son has set you free. Have you thought about it recently? Maybe you are here today, wondering if you can be freed from…
Something…
Instead of the something maybe it is the guilt and shame or anxiety that you need to be freed from so that would enable you to act? Or maybe what you need freedom from is the jealousy or zeal for an idol, or a sin, that stops you from seeing that we dwell in the glory of God – He is truly present here, His spirit dwells in each one of us – for that is His desire.
You see, sometimes it isn’t what we think we need to be delivered from, but our being stuck to it, our being superglue’d to it, unable to free ourselves. The guilt and shame bind us, or our desire that no one know we are in such a needy place, bind us far more than the actual issue. Or our desire to protect ours – our precious thing – ends up strangling us, choking our life out.
O we need to get that Jesus has set us free! That all the prisons that sin can create, all the temptations of Satan and the oppression of demons, that the anxiety we have over life and death – that was crushed at the cross. The doors to that which confines us, thrown open, and Jesus, the Angel of the Lord comes to us and escorts us out, reminding us
My tomb is …. I am risen and with you – and I have set you free…..
For at the cross – when He died – when His blood was shed, all that ties us was defeated.. you are free!!
You are free – go and give the people this message of Life…
You are free.. Christ has freed you – the Son has freed you – so you are freed….?
Yes indeed.
I would end with this one thought…. There are a lot of people who don’t get this – that are struggling with very little hope. They may know these phrases – but they don’t ever quite link them together.
or for a moment – because of trauma, or because of sin – they forgot them.
The Angel of the Lord re-commissioned the apostles that night – even as He freed them.
HE said to them, “Go to the Temple and give the people this message of life!”
So you too my friends have been commissioned – to go to those bearing the wounds and those who help carry them, looking for someone to help, praying someone will help – and now you know what to tell them….
The Tomb is
He has Risen
The Lord is With you
and if the Son has set you free…
AMEN?
Need Hope? No Answers? Come Experience Jesus, Have Hope! (evangelical catholic VI)
English: The Lord Jesus Christ in the image of Good Shepherd. Early Christian trsdition of symbolism. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional/Discussion of the Day..
15 But have reverence for Christ in your hearts, and honor him as Lord. Be ready at all times to answer anyone who asks you to explain the hope you have in you, 1 Peter 3:15 (TEV)
At the same time, Evangelical Catholicism recognizes that, in offering everyone the possibility of friendship with the Lord Jesus, it is offering the postmodern world something postmodernity badly needs: an encounter with the divine mercy. As the God of the Bible came into the ancient world as One who liberates humanity from the whims and fancies of the Olympian gods or the terrors of fearsome Moloch, the Gospel of Jesus Christ and friendship with him liberate postmodern humanity from its burden of guilt, born of a tacit (if often intuitive and inarticulate) understanding of the awfulness that humanity visited upon itself throughout the twentieth century. By whom can that burden of guilt be expiated? To whom can that wickedness be confessed, and from whom can forgiveness be received? In offering friendship with Jesus Christ, Evangelical Catholicism offers postmodern humanity a path to a more humane future, absolved of the guilt of the recent past. 12 And where is this friendship with Jesus to be found? According to the evangelical Catholic proposal, this friendship is found in the Church, in the Word of God recognized as such by the Church in the Bible, in the sacraments celebrated by the Church, in the works of charity and service, and in the fellowship of those who have been “born of water and the Spirit” [John 3.5]. Despite the sinfulness of its members and their failure to live fully the meaning of friendship with the Lord Jesus, the Church is always the privileged place of encounter with the living God, who continually forms his people into the community in which the full truth about humanity is grasped.
In the last few days, I have had to deal with an increasing number of people who have struggled to have hope, to find hope. There have been a large variety of reasons, with a multitude of causes. Some are young with everything going right, some are more my age – and partially wonder about what is right still, still others, older and wondering if their life has any meaning, and if it ever did. The weight they bear – each again different, seems crushing. So crushing is the weight upon them, so much so that I struggle with just watching their struggle. As I returned to my office, to complete my sermon, I have to write this – as much as for those around those who are struggling, as those who are.
You see – when someone is severely anxious, severely stressed, when they can’t find the answers – they don’t need to know about Jesus – they need, desperately need to know Him.
All of the sound bite apologetics sound nice, and they may even give assent to them After all – we’ve heard them before – we’ve seen them posted on FB, they’ve made the rounds. They may have read the books where the quotes we all love come from. and actually know the context of the quotes!
Whether they do or don’t, they need to know the God who is there with them – they need to connect to Who they feel disconnected to, or from whom they disconnected themselves. They need a tangible and real connection to divine mercy, to the love of God that keeps them, literally guards them. They need to know the reason we have hope – and that is far more than knowing about Christ – it is about knowing Him deep enough sure enough, that we don’t just hope in Him the way we hope the tax bill won’t be enormous – but we expect Him, we trust Him to keep everything He has promised. That our trust in Him, based in knowing even the beginning of the depth, height, breadth and width of His love, because we know HIm, brings comfort to our hearts.
Simple because we know – He is with us! He is our Shepherd, our caring and providing and merciful Master.
I love how the quote from Weigel’s book identifies the source of that hope – is to be found in the Body of Christ – in the community He established, where He reveals His presence through His word, where He pours out that DIvine mercy in the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and yes Confession and Absolution. (and I would include prayer – as the Apology of the Augsburg confession most assuredly tells us is sacramental)
You see, in word and sacrament ministry, we don’t just learn about Christ, we don’t just take notes on how God is promising to work, but we see HIm at work, we experience His grace, the miracle of the reconciliation that comes as God bring us to faith, as we begin to truly see what it is like to live – as we encounter His life, His mercy…
That Encounter – one which lasts all our lives, overwhelms any modern or post-modern theory. It crushes the idea that we are alone, that there is no meaning to life – no constant to hold on to, to base our lives upon.
That is what is needed…. and that is what we bring to the picture – and what we desperately need to be reminded of, even as we do….
Lord, show us the mercy you have and have had on us!
(1) Weigel, George (2013-02-05). Evangelical Catholicism (p. 59). Basic Books. Kindle Edition.
Related articles
- Will Jesus find us trusting Him? (Evangelical Catholic Evaluation V) (justifiedandsinner.com)
- The Church’s Answer to Post-modern thought…. Word and Sacrament (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Speaking of Evangelical Catholicism (nationalreview.com)
Sleepless Nights, Murphy’s Law and My Fatalism
Devotional Discussion of the Day,
It seems to be a common thing I am noticing on FaceBook, and on Words with Friends. Many, many people up later at night, (at least 12 in the last couple of nights) looking for some interaction with others.
Of course, for me to notice this… yeah – pretty much I can be up that late as well.
Usually it is because I am trying to discern Mr. Murphy’s strategy to wreck my life. How Mr. Murphy tries to twist me, those around me, and the situations I encounter – to assure that it will screw up royally, and my life won’t come up smelling like roses, but instead the stuff that makes roses grow beautifully. How much of my life is determined to counter these things – how many ways will I either try to deny, argue, bargain, coerce life into being easy, or enjoyable or happy. But in order to comprehend doing that, I have to plan for every variable, ever twist, every turn, every option, and my mind goes into high speed, and does not rest.
My usual tactic is to play a game on my phone – one which causes me to function at such a high level of thought – that I emotionally fall asleep and crash. Or I put on my CPAP mask – and responding in a Pavlovian sense – my body overrides my mind and it shuts down. Sleep occurs – but the dreams don’t provide enough rest.
So where is our hope? Where is our rest – where is the ability to stop doing what so many of us do, tossing and turning as our mind tries to play God.
Yeah – I said it – we try to play god. Instead of creating gods in our own image, as the ancients have done for millenia, we just determine that we have to make all the decisions, we have to have all the answers, we have to be prepared for everything. And when we can’t – we either become fatalism ( “Life a “b@*#&” and then you die” was the phrase in the 80’s. “Life is pain your Highness” is how a very favorite movie stated it ). I am a master of that – resigning myself to the ineventual mess ups that occur. Or we rev – and rev and reve – trying to figure out how to beat this fatalistic ending we “know” is coming.
And we forget the option that is the simplest, and the most effective. Read these words and realize what they mean:
6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. 1 Peter 5:6-7 (NLT
3 Trust in the LORD and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. 4 Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart’s desires. 5 Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you. 6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. 7 Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.Psalm 37:3-7 (NLT)
Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall. Psalm 55:22 (NLT)
As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!
Realize that God desires, wants you to depend on Him, it is the very relationship He created you to enjoy.
Let Him take over being God…. He’s got the wisdom, the experience, the power – and most of all – the love for you which uniquely qualifies Him for the job.
Where you there when the… on Good Friday? On Easter Sunday? As much as He is here now!
12 For when you were baptized, you were buried with Christ, and in baptism you were also raised with Christ through your faith in the active power of God, who raised him from death. Colossians 2:12 (TEV)
4 By our baptism, then, we were buried with him and shared his death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from death by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might live a new life. 5 For since we have become one with him in dying as he did, in the same way we shall be one with him by being raised to life as he was. Romans 6:4-5 (TEV)
Among the spiritual songs that are prevalent during Easter week, there is one that can be sung with such power, that it sends shivers downs people’s back, and can make the manliest man week in the knees. The spiritual “where you there when they” is a simple spiritual – but oh the emotional power of that song, as we hear the verses describing the crucifixion and burial of Christ. The woe’s hit us in the gut as we realize the death of Christ, and that we were as much the cause of it – as the Jewish Priests and Pilate and every sinner who Christ came to rescue was.
And we were there…
The above two passages – among several – talk of this very thing. That we were there, that in our baptism we died with Christ, so that we could be raised with Christ.
Which is the last verse of the song – “where you there when He rose up from the grave!”
And the answer for that is…. yes as well.
We have a new life, a new mind, a new heart – and a relationship that is heavenly – for it is with God. We do walk with God, He is our Comforter, our Paraclete our Shepherd. Everything changes with Christ – it is not just a bunch of knowledge to one up someone in a discussion. It’s not about changing people’s behaviors and stopping them from doing things that are distasteful,. Surely those things will change – as the Holy Spirit confronts and guides. But they aren’t the reason for the cross and the grave and the empty tomb. That is not the reason for the glorious exertion of the power of God.
The reason for the cross, the grace, the resurrection… is so that we are God’s children.
Will Jesus find us trusting Him? (Evangelical Catholic Evaluation V)
Devotional thought of the day:
So what makes you think God won’t step in and work justice for his chosen people, who continue to cry out for help? Won’t he stick up for them? 8 I assure you, he will. He will not drag his feet. But how much of that kind of persistent faith will the Son of Man find on the earth when he returns?” Luke 18:7-8 (MSG)
We are three days into celebrating the fact that the tomb is empty, that the Lord Jesus Christ is Risen, and that because of that – we can know the Lord is with you!
We love Easter, the celebration, the enthusiasm, the overwhelming joy of coming face to face with God’s love, shown on the cross – where we find ourselves drawn into Christ’s death, and the miraculously, our spirits, freed from sin, soar incredibly without the weight of injustice, and sin and guilt and shame. But soon we crash down into this false reality of life, for reality is that peace, we forget the life we have in Christ. ( thank God we are reminded by Paul “ 2 Keep your minds fixed on things there, not on things here on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 Your real life is Christ and when he appears, then you too will appear with him and share his glory!” Colossians 3:2-4 (TEV) For we are assured that is our reality.
Back to today’s question! In the passage at the very top, we are asked will Jesus find faith on the earth when He returns. If He returned on Easter, as our churches are full, as people are singing and hearing and responding about His being risen from the dead, that day, the answer seems obvious. Yet what about 3 days from now – just a week after Good Friday? What about in August, when the heat is getting to us, and our patience is thin. What about after the next major trauma – whether global in scope or personal? We Christ find faith then?
Two Answers,
The first comes from the book Evangelical Catholic that inspired this post – and it deals with faith from the perspective of doctrine, the Biblical teachings that are handed down to us through our churches. The author, George Wiegel. He makes a very solid point about the impediment of our own adaptation of the faith.
Deep Catholic reform in the United States is impeded by bishops, priests, consecrated men and women in religious life, intellectuals, and laity who are in a diminished state of communion with the Church— existentially if not canonically— because they deny to be true what the Catholic Church “believes, teaches, and proclaims to be revealed by God,” as the profession of faith for those being received into full communion with the Church puts it. How many Catholics in the United States— again, bishops, priests, consecrated men and women in religious life, intellectuals, and laity— can say, without mental reservation, “I believe and profess all that the holy Catholic Church believes, teaches, and proclaims to be revealed by God”? To the degree that the answer to that question is negative, or ambiguous, then to precisely that degree is the deep reform of the Church envisioned by Vatican II being imperiled. (1)
Though I would need to adapt this a little, the idea that people who deny what is believed (faith placed in) and taught and proclaim that is revealed by God, is the key here. We don’t get to redefine what the “faith” is. It simply is what God has revealed it to be. And the more we deviate with that, the more we slowly at first depart from the faith. The more mental reservations we have, the more we say I believe what God has revealed in scripture, except XXX, the more we make ourselves the judge and jury over God, and the less we walk the life of faith, and to be honest, the more doubts we entertain.
I am not saying we shouldn’t challenge what we believe – exactly opposite. But what we test what we believe against is not what is logical, when can always be easily perceived. What is the standard is scripture. What is standard is how God reveals His love, His mercy, His presence to us, even as He fulfills His promise of bringing healing and life to our sin-bruised, battered and broken lives. The more we deviate from the God who is self-revealed in scripture, the more we struggle with placing our logic above God’s, the less we see His work in our lives.
Which brings us to the second point about faith,
Faith isn’t just a noun, it isn’t just getting to know what the scriptures reveal. It is getting to know, to intimately know, the God who reveals Himself through those writings. That is why I titled the above – will Jesus find us trusting Him. Faith is after all – the description of what we trust in God for, the expectation that He will be who He reveals Himself to be – for us, to us, with us. That is also the context of the first reading – where the judge grants the widow’s request because she places her life in his hands. (and even though an evil judge with be faithful and just, how much more will God be?) So the context of the quote about finding faith is nothing less than will Jesus find us trusting in Him, living based in trusting Him to fulfill His promises, and giving to Him everything that burdens us, that causes anxiety, the things we don’t have an answer for yet?
Will we trust Jesus? Will we realize what that cross and empty grave mean, and will we live life with Him, trusting completely in His promises?
That is what causes renewal in us, renewal in our parishes, renewal in our denominations and in the church universal (i.e. small c catholic)
BTW – He is the only one completely trustworthy.
Godspeed!
Weigel, George (2013-02-05). Evangelical Catholicism (p. 52). Basic Books. Kindle Edition.
How long will Easter’s glory shine in our hearts?
4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.John 1:4-5 (NLT)
You became a bit frightened when you saw so much light, so bright that you thought it would be difficult to look, or even to see. Disregard your obvious weaknesses, and open the eyes of your soul to faith, to hope and to love. Carry on, allowing yourself to be guided by God through whoever directs your soul. (1)
It seems many churches yesterday saw incredible spikes in their attendance counts. We had nearly a triple digit spike! It was great to hear all these voices, responding with strong “Amens” and singing and praying together. The cynical side of me wonders if the same people will return to church in the weeks to come, or will attendance fade back to normal. But even among those who normally are here, who normally sing his praises, will His glory continue to shine through us, or will it fade as well? Will we sing Christ the Lord is Risen Today still? and if we do, will it sound more like “Were you there..hen they crucified my Lord”. (As it did this morning on the radio)
How do we keep the glorious light we experienced yesterday from fading?
The answer is simple – by realizing – each and every day – as many times a day as possible – that the Lord is with us! That He doesn’t slumber of sleep or take a vacation, or even a day off.
We need to realize we live in the presence of God.
And we need to encourage each other to see God’s revealing Himself.
Simple perhaps – but as profound as an open tomb.
(1)Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 3577-3580). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
