Monthly Archives: June 2014
Those People Sin? How Convenient! We Have Something in Common!
Devotional Thought of the Day:
15 Here’s a word you can take to heart and depend on: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. I’m proof—Public Sinner Number One— 16 of someone who could never have made it apart from sheer mercy. And now he shows me off—evidence of his endless patience—to those who are right on the edge of trusting him forever. 1 Timothy 1:15-16 (MSG)
367 Among believers ( original read Catholics) it might perhaps be that some have little Christian spirit; or so it might seem to those who have dealings with them at some particular moment. But if you were to be scandalised by this fact, you would show that you knew very little about human wretchedness and… about your own wretchedness. Furthermore, it is neither just nor loyal to use the example of the weaknesses of a few to speak ill of Christ and his Church. (1)
it is a rare day when looking at facebook and twitter doesn’t cause a bit of sadness. Simply put, a lot of those who count on God forgiving their sins, forget that it is God’s desire to forgive all sinners.
Yeah – it means those people we don’t just judge but those we condemn. Politicians, athletes, movie stars, our neighbors, ex-spouses, bosses, employees, immigrants, criminals, instead of fearing God’s wrath and repenting, they feel our wrath. And that is a problem, because if they feel our wrath, they won’t know the blessing of fearing His, of having the Holy Spirit cut their hearts open and bring them healing. They won’t ask us about the mercy of God, the forgiveness poured out in love. They won’t engage us in discussion, they won’t come into our homes or invite us into theirs.
There are a lot of religions out there, there are even some that have no deity, except perhaps one’s self. Reaching them with God’s love isn’t some kind of war, some kind of argument. Even Elijah’s “battle” at Mr Carmel wasn’t a head to head battle. It was, let’s see whose God will answer prayer, let’s see whose God will reveal Himself, not for the prophet’s and priests sake, but for the sake of the people God would make his own.
When we realize we are sinners as well, there are a number of blessings that come. The first is that we can hear that our sins are forgiven. The second is that once forgiven, we can still identify with those who struggle in guilt or shame, we know what it is to deny the truth, we know the brokenness, and can speak their language and point them to the hope we know, the mercy we’ve experienced, the love that brings us comfort, and heals our brokenness.
That’s what Paul is getting at, when he says his sins top all ours. (and no that is not a challenge) That is what St Josemaria is pointing to, when he calls to mind our own wretchedness.
We have been given hope, we know we’ve been delivered from the muck and mire of sin.
They need that – and yes sin can be confronted in a way that lays out hope – that takes them along the path we’ve been on, as we come alongside them. that works a lot better than lasso’ing them and dragging them into God’s kingdom, or just leaving them in their brokenness!
Lord have mercy on us, and teach us how to have mercy on others…..
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1683-1687). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Why Works are Necessary to Faith…?!?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
22 But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. 23 For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. James 1:22-25 (NLT)
1 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Romans 6:1-2 (NLT)
8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:8-10 (NLT)
Another of the elders said: When the eyes of an ox or mule are covered then he goes round and round, turning the mill wheel But if is eyes are uncovered he will not around the circle of the mill wheel. So too, the devil if he manages to covered the eyes of a man can humiliate im in every sin. But if that man’s eyes are not closed, he can easily escape the devil. (From Celtic Prayer Book,, 6/18, Aiden Readings)
355 Sooner or later, those who do not wish to understand that the faith demands service to the Church and to souls, invert the terms, and end up by having the Church and souls serving their own personal ends. (Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1642-1644). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.)
For centuries, the church has argued about what role we play in our lives as God’s people. TO be honest, I find the arguments tiresome, and most of them end up with their own distortion of the truth. Some would pit Paul against James, some, but looking at the above passages, there doesn’t seem to be that much of a difference. Some get it wrong by saying there is no work at all involved in faith, and they misquote passages like those that say all work is like filthy rags, or that all have fallen short of the glory of God. In doing so, they forget the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of every believer. They forget the transforming work of God in our lives. On the other side of the pendulum swing, there are those that say we must work to earn our salvation – that unless we work alongside of God we aren’t saved.
Within the sphere of Lutheran Theology – some would deny that there is a “third use” of the law – that there is a line that we should adhere to, as those who trust in Jesus Christ. They would say this is a violation of our understanding of the proper tension between law and gospel, forgetting that we don’t preach the uses, it is the work of the Holy Spirit that not only applies the uses, but as He transforms us, equips us with the charis to be used in service to others.
In this I really like the words from my devotional this morning, and our being portrayed as a bunch of stubborn oxen or jackasses. (which we pretty much are) We just plod along, focused on what is before our eyes. If we are focused on Christ, we work, we do what we are led to do, we walk in faith and do that which God calls and chooses us to do. We are led – and we do the things that we do… focused on Christ. (see 2 Cor. 3:16ff, Titus 3 etc) Our service is about what we need, it isn’t about our glory, it isn’t about what others do, it is just what God calls us to do. Heck, we might not even know it.
The other option is to remove the focus on Christ, to be overwhelmed by all the options for sin, to have the eyes blinded to Christ, but open to everything else. Then man believes everything is about his, about His pleasure, about His life. Church becomes what is pleasure for him, rather than what is best. That’s why we see pressure being put on the church to turn a blind eye to certain sins, like sex outside of marriage, or gossip, or any other self-centeredness and self idolatry.
But if our eyes are fixed on Jesus, the sin which ensnares us loses its grip – and we find ourselves being transformed by the Spirit. This results in works which please God – a necessary by-product of faith. Works don’t save us, they don’t produce faith or faithfulness, they are simply evidence of our trust in God.
So when the world is tempting you, when you are overwhelmed, remember your focus on Christ, encourage others to keep their eyes on Christ as well.
AMEN…
Walking Away from God and His People? Please read….
Devotional Thought of the Day:
17 When they saw him, they worshiped him, even though some of them doubted. Matthew 28:17 (TEV)
343 That passage of the Second Epistle to Timothy makes me shudder, when the Apostle laments that Demas has deserted him for love of this life and gone to Thessalonica. For a trifle, and for fear of persecution, this man, whom Saint Paul had quoted in other epistles as being among the saints, had betrayed the divine enterprise. I shudder when I realise how little I am: and it leads me to demand from myself faithfulness to the Lord even in events that might seem to be indifferent—for if they do not help me to be more united to Him, I do not want them! (1)
I have some friends who I am thinking of, even as I write this blogpost. If you are reading this, you probably are not them…. but it might apply anyway.
They are facing challenges in life, hard challenges, painful challenges. Enough so that while praying that they would see God revealed in their life, considering what they’ve gone through brings tears to my eyes. I can’t know the pain as deeply of course, ,but the pain is visible and tangible.
And the temptation is to walk away from the one place where their hearts can be lifted, where they can find peace.
How do I know this? Been there, been tempted to walk away once or twice…heck who am I kidding. It’s a lot more than that, and I have. As the prodigal found out, it isn’t better there. Not even close. the scars get bigger, the healing doesn’t come, the loneliness seems to grow and dominate, as does the despair.
St. Josemaria gets the point, the more I walk away, the littler I become. The answer isn’t running away, trying to slide away unnoticed, as if the pain will simply dissipate….
I’ve found the answer is to embrace God even more strongly, to bug him like the old lady bugged the judge, to yell at Him like Jeremiah does in chapter 20 of his book, to try and wrestle with him as Jacob/Israel did. To trust Him so much that I can doubt what’s going on, and I can express my doubt that He is present. That kind of doubt takes faith, faith that He won’t turn us away if we are blunt and honest. Trust that will work out in our lives, as that trust in His presence, His love and care allows us to dump all the crap in our lives onto the cross – where it will die with all sin and shame.
Don’t run away, don’t walk… come back, join us who struggle with our faithfulness – and trust in His. Let us encourage each other, for these last days… we need that encouragement, that reminder of God’s presence..
For that is having great faith.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1595-1600). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Seriously, Does God Take Mondays Off?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
“I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day, right up to the end of the age” Mt 28:20, MSG
341 You told me that God sometimes fills you with light for a while and sometimes does not. I reminded you, firmly, that the Lord is always infinitely good. That is why those bright days are enough to help you carry on; but the times when you see no light are good for you too, and make you more faithful.
Deep faith is seen is us, when we can’t hear or see God, yet still we instinctively recognize His presence and trust him ( I don’t remember who he was quoting CS Lewis maybe, but I remember the Bible Study where Doug Dickey taught me this )
My son yesterday bought a computer game called Minecraft, which is a bit much for a 7 year old, even one as precocious as my son. He waited for it to download (he gave me the money to buy it with my credit card, ) and took the computer over. Even as I knew he would, he immediate found himself in a situation he didn’t know how to get out of easily. After a wile helped him with it, and then, when he got in a similar one, I had to let him struggle and insisted he did, rather than just start it over.
This morning the lesson was repeated, this time with a yo-yo, which he said didn’t work. (He got it as a prize at school, and despite flashing lights, was somewhat cheap) Again, showed him it could work, gave a little advice, and then let him struggle with it. He understood this lesson this morning, and achieved his goal of bouncing the you-yo ten times. He made the connection to last night – and said – this is why you didn’t let me restart? Why I had to keep going and work it out? Yes, son, and what would happen if I fixed everything the first time you got stuck? With a smile he replied, “I wouldn’t learn to do things myself”
Smart kid! (takes after his mom)
So now I am at work, and got 6 million things to do, all the while trying to recover from 2 days of grief, grief that I couldn’t get past, as this was the first Father’s Day without my dad. I know enough to know that grief can’t just be shaken off, or ignored, Scars open, scabs rip off – and sometimes the healing in complete, and sometimes we find it hasn’t really begun. We have to trust God through it all, and let the time pass…..
The lesson to my son now comes and slams home on me. The quote in blue above slammed it home to, as I am not as quick to pick up on things as my son is. There are days everything seems to click, where God’s presence is so clear, that I feel like I could figuratively reach out and hug him. There are other days, where from my perspective, I can’t see His light as clearly, where life obscures the glory He has invited us to share in forever. Where life seems to be a “Spiritual Monday”, and while we go through Monday, maybe God took it off like some pastors do?
I mean it – where is God on Monday? And why can we have a spiritual version of Monday on a Thursday, or a Saturday, or even a Sunday?
St. Josemaria and Dr. Doug were right though, that faith is seen and grows, when we learn to recognize God’s presence, even when we think it isn’t there. When we rely on His promises rather than our perception, When we reach out in faith, and receive the blessings of mercy and peace, and love. When we call out “Lord have mercy on Us” and we find our eyes opened, or maybe just our hearts, assured and calmed by His presence.
You see, what I know is this, as my son struggled with a computer game, as he got frustrated by “spaghetti string” on his yo-yo, his dad was there, watching, knowing there was a way to fix what was going on in both situations. Yet if he had really gotten stuck beyond his ability, I would be there, rescuing him, fixing things, restoring things. Even more so has God promised to do that, even more does He perceive where we are at, and care for us.
He is there, even when we can’t see Him. His presence, His protection, His comfort, His peace, His glory……
So rest, cling to the One who promised to be our God, who promised that we would be His people… and your heart will know what your mind can’t always process.
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1584-1587). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
He Thinks about, and Cares for US!!
He Thinks About, and Cares for Us!
Psalm 8
† In Jesus Name †
May you receive the grace, the mercy and peace of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, that you resonate with the cry for His majestic name, His incredible glory, to fill the earth!
What to Preach about this Week?
When I looked at the readings this week, and realized that on hallmark calendars it was Father’s Day, and on the Church Calendar it is Trinity Sunday, I faced a dilemma.
Which incredible thing do I preach on?
Do it preach on Trinity Sunday, and what the Athanasians’ Creed means? Do I preach on how those of us who are fathers can try to be like our Father in heaven? Or how our children should respect us like we are supposed to respect our Father in Heaven? Look at the readings – we have the incredible passage about the great commission! Go into all the world my friends and let’s get to work making disciples! Or about baptism, or doubt, or faith? I could have even preached on the longer optional reading today, which was all of Creation in chapter 1 and some of chapter 2 of Genesis.
Lot’s of great choices! Which one do we need to hear the most?
Not one of those…
We need to hear the words of the Psalm… we need to grasp the incredible praises that are communicated in those words, and then, join in the praises!
Though we rarely give thought to the psalms, besides to pray through them, I think this day… everything else, why we want to explain the Trinity, the Mission of the Church, the role of fathers, everything, begins to make sense….. so let’s get to it!
- What is Man?
How many of you saw the moon Friday night, or last night? How many have looked up into the sky and seen the brilliance of the millions of stars in the Milky Way galaxy? Or simply lain in the grass and looked at the clouds passing by on a beautiful day, and realized that it is God who put these things in place…it is He who ordained all of creation…..
How glorious, how inspirational, how even creating something like a star, or the universe through which it’s light and energy travel.. How it is all kept in balance, how amazing…
Compare that to us.
Who are we, compared to the distances of space, the energy that could reflect off a moon and shine so gloriously in the night sky?
The psalmist asks that very same question:
4 what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?
Who are we?
We might answer we are dads, or moms, we might answer by what we do for a living, I am a pastor, Tom is retired, Chris is a professor and a musician…
We might answer more honestly from our perspective, we are people who know sorrow and grief, are anxious, sometimes dwell in guilt and shame, we are broken, sinful. We struggle to understand things of God, like how the God is three and one, or how Jesus is 100% God and 100% man… or how a creed written 1400-1700 years ago explains it.
But that is from our perspective, from our view, and the Psalmist is asking God what He thinks about us……. and why He would care for us….
That is why the Psalmist praises God, because God does think about us, and He does care for us…..
Unbelievable, Incredible!
Not just think as in – oh yeah, there they are, the word has a depth of perception, of looking into deeply and understanding.
God – the one who thought for a moment and the moon and stars were made….
Thinks deeply and cares about us. About you, about me, about us together as Concordia…
And He cares.. more deeply than we can imagine..
Yhwh and Adonai
I want you to go back, and look at verse one for a moment.
1 O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!
Do you notice that the first LORD there is all in capitals, and the second is normal? That is because in Hebrew, there are different words. The first, the one all in capitals, isn’t the word LORD, but the actual name of God. Yhwh or Jehovah depending on pronunciation. The Name that is to fill the earth, the Name above all names. The Name God has given us to call upon Him, that we would know He saves us!
The second is His title – Lord, Master, King, the one who reigns over us. But that to is not always what we think. The word comes from the idea of a foundation, of the one who provides support and sets us up firmly to stand.
The description of it in Hebrew reminded me of something here, the base for the processional cross. Hmmm…. Vicar, come up here for a moment please.
We are like the processional cross… without a base – we look nice – and maybe able to stand for a moment. But without the base, we will fall eventually and maybe even crack someone on the head…
But with the base…the foundation, the place where we fit, we stand….
And that is the nature of God’s reign, of His Lordship. It focuses on His commitment to us, the promises He makes and fulfills in Christ’s death, burial and resurrection.
We see it in His sharing His creation with us, giving us responsibility for it. A responsibility to care for it, to care for each other, even as He cares for us.
It makes sense for God to do this to Jesus, to place all this authority and responsibility in His hands. But does it make sense to put it in our hands?
It does, when we realize that God never leaves us, that God is always present here, in our lives, even as Christ’s Body and Blood are present in the Lord’s Supper.
And in Christ, joined to His death and resurrection in baptism, we find ourselves alive in Him, His co-heirs, God’s children. I love the Apostle Paul’s way of phrasing this:
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. 13 You were at one time spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were Gentiles without the Law. But God has now brought you to life with Christ. God forgave us all our sins; 14 he canceled the unfavorable record of our debts with its binding rules and did away with it completely by nailing it to the cross. 15 And on that cross Christ freed himself from the power of the spiritual rulers and authorities; he made a public spectacle of them by leading them as captives in his victory procession. Colossians 2:12-15 (TEV)
Does God think about you? Does God care?
Look at what He has done for us in Christ……
And know He knows you, He cares for you…
The Majestic, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Triune God… thinks about you, cares about you… loves you….
And brings you into His glory and peace, a place beyond all description, where we are guarded and protected by Christ….
So let us worship Him! AMEN?
Being Blunt and Honest With God….. A Necessity..even when I am ticked off
Devotional Thought of the Day:
7 LORD, you have deceived me, and I was deceived. You are stronger than I am, and you have overpowered me. Everyone makes fun of me; they laugh at me all day long. 8 Whenever I speak, I have to cry out and shout, “Violence! Destruction!” LORD, I am ridiculed and scorned all the time because I proclaim your message. 9 But when I say, “I will forget the LORD and no longer speak in his name,” then your message is like a fire burning deep within me. I try my best to hold it in, but can no longer keep it back. Jeremiah 20:7-9 (TEV)
333 Think about this carefully: being transparent lies more in not hiding things rather than in wanting things to be seen. It is a matter of allowing the objects lying at the bottom of a glass to be perceived, and not trying to make the air visible. (1)
it has been one of those weeks. The kind I have had far too often recently, but this one is up there.
Six years ago, even though I read the verses above from Jeremiah many times before, I actually preached on it. I was at the time deciding to accept a call to the church I presently serve. Leaving behind friends and a church that was described by my predecessor as the nicest church he had ever encountered in 50 years of ministry. So why would I leave? And what did it mean that I would preach on this dark passage from Jeremiah?
Weeks like this one. Where I started the week praying for friend that was likewise moving from one parish to another, at the choice of his supervisors. Trying to grieve the change, while ministering to those he was coming to serve. Difficult. Very difficult. Another old friend this week revealed that he was also moving from one church to another – re-assigned by his supervisors. A challenging move for him as well, and then another friend last night, was told it was time to move in his ministry.
I am praying for one of the men I had a part in training for ministry, he has brain cancer and is fading fast. Another friend I found out this morning, who I also trained as a deacon, had a heart attack. Last night, out of the blue, I found myself discussing the death of one of the best friends in my life, who ministered at my side for far too long. There as well was another of my best friends, who lost his dad a month after I lost mine, and a few months later, his mom went to be with God as well.
Tomorrow, as our children wish us Happy Father’s Day, for the first time we can’t go to lunch with our dads, or talk to them on the phone. Some 15 of our friends lost dad’s or a granddad after ours passed.
This is not counting the trauma of those around us, which dwarfs our own. Dear friends with health problems. Families torn apart and going through death, others through divorce, family facing issues with those they love who are in bondage to drugs or alcohol. People dealing with financial crisis, people dealing with disabilities, including those of the mental health variety. Missionaries who are trying to deal with poverty that makes our headspin, or with violence and threats and potential martyrdom. Other people making decisions that will wreck their lives, decisions they know are wrong, but justify with justifications that…
It is enough to make you want to scream “stop”, or yell out in anger and frustration.
And if we admit it, if we are honest and transparent, the One we want to yell at …. is God.
Couldn’t He do something? “In only you had been here Lord,”the sisters of Lazarus has said. Whose fault is all of this suffering, all this pain? Why can’t life be simple and pleasant and without all this…. painful crap… (I wrote something else there.(shit).. but edited it)
It took preaching on Jeremiah’s hitting the breaking point, to be able to realize that it was ok to yell at God. That you can say that God tricked you, deceived you, to cry out like a 5 year old, “That’s not fair” or “This sucks…. That transparency with God, about our feelings, our frustrations our pain is a good thing, and I will dare say, it is necessary.
Because being that transparent with God is a matter of faith, it is necessary if we are to trust Him to bring us through the situation, if we are going to allow Him to walk us through the fire, through the storm, even through the valley of the shadow of death. It is necessary to grieve, because then acknowledging the pain, we can let Him, ask Him, count on Him, to bring healing, to bring peace, to flood our lives with His love, and comfort.
You can’t do that if you are hiding it, if you are bottling it up, letting it turn to resentment. Pouring it out on those who become you victims, because you won’t let the frustration and anger be turned on the One who has shoulders to bear it, shoulders that bore the stripes of whips, the very stripes that Isaiah prophesied would heal us, cleanse us… save us.
Have to admit, I don’t like writing this blog. Have to admit – I would love to just spend tomorrow walking along Lake Ossipee, with my son, and yeah – with my dad.
It needs to be written, for my own sake, but perhaps for yours as well. To give us the confidence to say,
Lord have mercy…. which can only be said… when we know we need it… even desperately need it.
Amen.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1555-1557). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
How to Pass the Test of Your Life….
Devotional Thought of the Week:
5 Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith. 2 Corinthians 13:5 (NLT)
Last night, as we looked at the end the book of II Corinthians in our midweek Bible Study. The above verse (in read) really stuck out, really became the focus of the study.
To examine ourselves, to look bluntly at our lives, to understand where we’ve failed, is not easy. Even the way we deal with others hurting us, (or being able to hurt us) can result in our sinning, it can result in our not doing what is right. Examining ourselves isn’t easy, partially because our very nature will take everything to the worse case scenario. We again get it wrong, when we think that examining our lives, our souls, is about beating ourselves up, as if somehow the worse we feel about ourselves the more righteous we are. Or the more we beat ourselves up, the more we’ve atoned for what we’ve done wrong.
It doesn’t work that way, this examining ourselves, this putting our faith to the test.
When I used to teach in the computer information systems introductory course at a community college, one of the question on the final was a pass/fail question. It was a simple question based on the microsoft office program. It asked, “what does the F1 button on your keyboard do?” The answer was simple, it is the HELP button, the button you push when you don’t know what to do, and things aren’t working the way you think they should. There were many other questions on the test – but that one was critical. If my students could remember that, everything else they needed to know was readily at hand. Get that question right – the rest of the test opened up, miss it, and well, you were done.
Life has the same kind of test, according to St Paul. One question, get it right and life opens up, even our mistakes, our errors, our sins can be dealt with, no, it has been dealt with at Jesus’ crucifixion.
The answer to life’s test? Simple – Christ is in you!
Paul talks about it again to the church in Colossae:
26 This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. 27 For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory. Colossians 1:26-27 (NLT)
There’s the secret, there is the test. Not to be perfect – for we are simultaneously sinners, yet righteous in Christ. The key to examining ourselves isn’t to beat ourselves up, but to know we need Jesus, and to realize He is here, He is with you, reconciling you to the Father, and then to others.
Christ in you – Christ with you, the very hope we have that the test of life is passed…
Life changes when we know we are welcome in His place… it changes our heart, our mind, our life, our eternity.
The test is that simple…..
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1558-1560). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Who Is My Brother? Who is my Neighbor? Who is my fellow-citizen?
Devotional thought of the day:
9 The LORD asked Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” He answered, “I don’t know. Am I supposed to take care of my brother?” Genesis 4:9 (TEV)
17 “Do not bear a grudge against others, but settle your differences with them, so that you will not commit a sin because of them. 18 Do not take revenge on others or continue to hate them, but love your neighbors as you love yourself. I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:17-18 (TEV)
317 The Apostle also wrote that “there is no more Gentile and Jew, no more circumcised and uncircumcised; no one is barbarian or Scythian, no one is a slave or a free man; there is nothing but Christ in any of us.” Those words are as valid today as they were then. Before the Lord there is no difference of nation, race, class, state… Each one of us has been born in Christ to be a new creature, a son of God. We are all brothers, and we have to behave fraternally towards one another! (Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1501-1505). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.)
We are a society that lives on the defensive. We see it nationally, where we spend billions on trying to protect our assets, and when our leaders try to help out others in need, they are blasted. We see it in how we want justice, as long as its impact is NIMBY (not in my back yard) as long as it doesn’t affect my neighborhood. We are wiling to help extended family, as long as it doesn’t cost our immediate family, or even our personal needs, wants, desires. We honor the sacrifice of the past, as long as it doesn’t mean we have ot sacrifice today. Martyrs of 500 years ago are honored, but we don’t want to face the fact that there are martyrs every day. Because that might mean we have to suffer.
It is the nature of our world, and if in no other way, we struggle to be in that world, but not of it, in regards to this.
We struggle to be one in Christ.
We struggle to forgive hurts, to reconcile, to ever desire those things. We want instead to justify our actions, our words, our thoughts, We want to be know as the ones who are right,the ones who do things the way they should be done, and those members of our family, or those nor from our community, or from our country, are always wrong.
We need to go back to the basics, to our baptism, to the moment the Holy Spirit cuts open our hearts and creates in us faith, when He gives us a new mind, when we become new creatures. We need to keep that moment before us, to remind us of who we are. Not just a Parker, nor just someone who lives in Cerritos, or the USA, but one who has found Jesus completely trustworthy, who realizes the love and mercy given to me, who recognizes the healing done in heart and soul.
It is then I can ask the questions of who is my brother, or neighbor, or fellow citizen on this journey through life. The answer?
Who did Christ die for?
The only way to love them, is in Christ. For then we can deal with the hurt, the pains the betrayals, knowing God has already dealt with those injuries at the cross. Even as He dealt with ours.
That’s what faith is… trusting in God’s presence, His love, His mercy, for us all…..
Traditions, Athanasius and the Best Practices….
Devotional Thought of the Day:
21 The LORD says, “I hate your religious festivals; I cannot stand them! 22 When you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will not accept the animals you have fattened to bring me as offerings. 23 Stop your noisy songs; I do not want to listen to your harps. 24 Instead, let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like a river that never goes dry. Amos 5:21-24 (TEV)
314 “Who said that to reach sanctity, you need to seek refuge in a cell or on a solitary mountain?” That was what a good family man asked himself in amazement, and he added: “If that were so, it would not be the people who would be holy, but the cell, or the mountain. It seems they have forgotten that Our Lord expressly told each and every one of us: be holy as my heavenly Father is holy.” My only comment was: “Our Lord, besides wanting us to be saints, grants each one of us the relevant graces.” (Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1490-1494). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition. )
Sunday,we will do something in my church, that we only do once a year. We will pull out of the closet a statement of faith, a creed that is 50 verses long. It’s one of those kind of ancient writings that demands you stop and think through a verse before going to the next. It describes the relationship of the persons of the Trinity, and the complete unity at the same time. It describes as well how Jesus is 100% God, and yet simultaneously man. It is complext, and glorious and needs not 10 minutes to recite it in church, but hours to talk through and realize how incredible this God that it describes is.
Personally, I love it, as I will love the conversation during Bible Study that follows, as we take some time and dissect it.
But I fear that many who will say the words, will walk away, not understanding this complex creed, or why we do it. That is a pastoral concern, and one we should have. It’s one we must have.
But for many of us, tradition has become what the “monastery” of our age. We hide in it, find peace and joy in it, and mistake that peace for the peace that accompanies holiness. We find comfort in the old ways, and romanticize and idolize them, thinking they are the keys to our spiritual health, to our orthodoxy, to our faith. As St Josemaria points out so clearly, it is not the mountain top, or the tradition that is called to be holy. We are.
That’s why in throughout the Old Testament prophets, there is a condemnation of people’s sacrifices. Sacrifices that God called for, things that were the closest thing to the sacraments we treasure today. They were supposed to be a means, a conduit of God’s mercy,yet they had turned into something else, a meaningless time, spent in trying to attain a perfection that ignored their very reason for existence. They didn’t communicate that God was their for the broken, there to heal, to forgive, to pour our righteousness, to let the justice that comes from the cross to lift people up. A purpose to help people realize they walk, their life journey is done with God.
Such is the nature of a baptized, Pentecostal life. A life lived in communion, in fellowship, in a relationship with the God who created the heavens, and comes to us.
Traditions? Practices? Creeds? Do they give people what they need to know about Christ?
They can, they cannot. It is not the traditional practice, whether 1500 years in practice or 15 minutes that makes people holy. It is the presence of Christ, revealed, known, that the Holy Spirit uses to transform us. May all we do bring us to know Christ, and the power of His resurrection, and therefore ours.
Amen.
Manic Mondays, A Nun, and Sanctifying a Reality Show?
Devotional thought of the day:
I urge you, then, brothers, remembering the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, dedicated and acceptable to God; that is the kind of worship for you, as sensible people. 2 Do not model your behaviour on the contemporary world, but let the renewing of your minds transform you, so that you may discern for yourselves what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and mature. Romans 12:1-2 (NJB)
311 Many things, whether they be material, technical, economic, social, political or cultural… when left to themselves, or left in the hands of those who lack the light of the faith, become formidable obstacles to the supernatural life. They form a sort of closed shop which is hostile to the Church. You, as a Christian and, perhaps, as a research worker, writer, scientist, politician or labourer… have the duty to sanctify those things. Remember that the whole universe— as the Apostle says—is groaning as in the pangs of labour, awaiting the liberation of the children of God. ( Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1478-1483). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.)
It is Monday. I am weary, and I have a long week ahead. Have to admit, there is a desire to become the first Lutheran religious hermit. To just sit in a nice comfortable cave, equipped with WiFi, study scripture and write blogs. Engaging the world is the last thing I want to do. Engaging the world means taking on things that are difficult, it often means confronting sin, or if nor, helping people survive th brokenness that sin brings.
Then I think of one of the most remarkable things I have seen in a long time, a 25 year old nun in Italy performed on a reality show called the Voice. You have to take a moment and watch the video of her first performance.
o what the heck, here is another:
I am probably not the first blogger to mention her, she won the entire competition. But I want you to watch again the videos, this time – pay attention to the four judges. They don’t know what to do with her at first, and then they take her into their hearts. Especially J-Ax, the rapper judge who worked with her as her “coach”. As you watch each of her videos, there is something that is happening, her voice, her smile, her joy becomes contagious, infectious. People listen to her simplicity, they are in awe of her work.
A life, dedicated to God, offered up as a living sacrifice, sanctifies a show, it sets it apart. It makes people wonder about her faith. A place that normally shows the darker, more sinful side of music changes.
Most of us won’t ever have the chance to be on television performing. We may not get to see the entire world spin around, and their jaws drop as they realize, oh my gosh – this is a woman or man of God. That’s okay, we weren’t put in that situation, we have been put where we are. With our families, our neighborhoods, our communities, even our workplaces. We are there for a reason, sent into the vocations we hold as the representatives of God, to mirror His glory, to reveal His love and mercy (for that is what is truly glorious about Him!) We have been sent to be living sacrifices, discerning what God’s will is as we reach out to our world. Sometimes that means we go unexpected places, deal with people we don’t think would listen or hear, like a rapper becoming good friends with a nun…..
It’s a matter of faith, this transformed life we live, trusting in God to send us to places which need to be made holy…..
If a young nun can sanctify a Reality show, have literally millions clapping and singing with her, maybe we can see God sanctify our Mondays?
Kyrie Eleison
