Monthly Archives: February 2015
The Greatest Victory of This Year… Who Will You Tell About It?
Devotional Thought on Monday:
15 I speak to you as sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup we use in the Lord’s Supper and for which we give thanks to God: when we drink from it, we are sharing in the blood of Christ. And the bread we break: when we eat it, we are sharing in the body of Christ. 17 Because there is the one loaf of bread, all of us, though many, are one body, for we all share the same loaf. 1 Corinthians 10:15-17 (TEV)
938 Let us go to Jesus in the Tabernacle where we can get to know him and assimilate his teaching, and then be able to hand out this food to souls.
Yesterday, we celebrated an incredible victory.
I wonder which of us will share the news of this victory today?
Yesterday, we were invited to feast together, with a crowd far greater than any audience to watch any superbowl, any all star game. A diverse and rowdy bunch for sure, as people not just across racial, cultural, and age gaps were gathered together. Even across time were gathered in the presence of God to feast, to enjoy, to know God’s love.
What a victory we celebrate! What a victory we can share with others!
Our victory, for we share in it with Jesus. We share in His Body, His Blood, together. We share in praising Him with angels and archangels and all those host of Heaven.
After a super bowl victory, the fans will relive the special moments of the game for weeks. I am still getting advertisements for Patriot gear. People are still talking about it though it is slowing down quite a bit.
I wonder why we don’t talk about the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, with similar fervor? Even among church folk – you rarely might hear how good a sermon was, or more likely the music, but how often do we hear about how incredible communion was?
Is it too intimate?
Do we not comprehend what took place?
Do we not realize the promises, once guaranteed, now fulfilled as we take and eat, take and drink?
Do we not understand what it means to proclaim and celebrate His death, which intercepted our spiritual death, until He comes again?
Celebrate my friends! As you do, at that moment as you take the Body and Blood of Christ and are nourished by it, may you gain more insight into God’s love for you! May you know the incredible dimensions of that love, revealed in Christ Jesus being made a sacrifice, for you.
AMEN!
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 3316-3317). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Struggling with The Reality of One, Holy, Catholic/Christian and Apostolic Church
Discussion/Devotional Thought of the Day:
1 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. 4 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all. Ephesians 4:1-6 (NLT)
932 God is right there in the centre of your soul, and mine, and in the soul of everyone who is in a state of grace. He is there for a purpose: so that our salt may increase, that we may acquire more light and that each one of us from his place may know how to distribute those gifts of God. And how can we share out these gifts from God? With humility and piety, and by being very united to our Mother the Church. Do you not recall the vine and the branches? How fruitful is each branch when united to the vine! What large bunches of grapes! And how sterile the broken-off branch that dries up and becomes lifeless! (1)
As often as the sacrifice of the cross in which Christ our Passover was sacrificed, is celebrated on the altar, the work of our redemption is carried on, and, in the sacrament of the eucharistic bread, the unity of all believers who form one body in Christ is both expressed and brought about. All men are called to this union with Christ, who is the light of the world, from whom we go forth, through whom we live, and toward whom our whole life strains.(2)
When I was first installed as a Lutheran pastor, part of the service was my assent to the doctrine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. i gave assurance that i believed in what the word of God teaches, and that i found the explanation of that found in the documents of the book of Concord to be a clear explanation of them.
I did then, and I do now so believe.
Yet, I struggle with the dissonance between those documents and what is commonly held to today.
One of those struggles is found in the words from the Nicene Creed, “and I believe in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.” (3) I hold to those words, and find great comfort in them. I believe there is only one church, yet I see the fragmentation of it, and worse, I see pastors and people who rejoice over that fragmentation.
Yet that fragmentation is not something praised in scripture. The Ephesians passage above makes this clear. We can add to the passage the 12-14th chapters of Romans and 1 Corinthians 12-14. We could also mention Philippians 2, not just the well known 5-10, but the verses that are the reason Paul includes 5-10; the call to unity, the call to serving other. Add 1 John – the entire letter, but especially chapter 4.
And yet we deny the church is one.
And in doing so, we deny the desire of Christ Jesus. We deny the unity we find in Christ Jesus, who draws us all to Himself, and who unites us to Himself, as we are united together in His death, and in His resurrection. It is the unity we see, as we kneel and commune together, a family feast with not just the congregation we gather with, but the whole church, including all the company of heaven.
I am not saying that we should compromise on our doctrine! However, the Una Sancta (that there is one group of holy people – those who trust in Christ Jesus) is part of that doctrine; what we discern because it has been revealed to us in scripture. To deny this does what St. Josemaria states, it causes us to wither and die,
I love what Vatican 2 describes, the very nature of the Lord’s Supper brings about and reveals that unity. Luther does an excellent job, although with many more words, in the Large Catechism’s explanation of the Creed.
The challenge i see is that we continue to think unity comes about by studying doctrine, debating over who is correct. Yet the church has often claimed what we pray determines what we believe. Why is that not true here? Unity is found at the altar, at the baptismal font, as we together have the grace and peace of God abundantly poured out upon us. Unity comes from the Spirit, given to each of us in baptism – gathers us together into one family of God.
Yes, there will be arguments, but those need to boil down to being discussions, with the end result acknowledging the presence of Christ. Yes there will be those who wander away, but we are called to work to reconcile and restore them, rather than vilifying and condemning them. Yes, we have to identify false teaching, but we need to do it with the idea of reconciliation, and with the attitude of love that Christ demonstrated, dying for us.
Unity in a church of unperfected saints isn’t easy, but it isn’t optional. We are one, holy catholic and apostolic church!
Maybe it’s time that was more clearly revealed in our lives, and how we treat each other. Maybe it’s time to meet in prayer, and ask God to make His reality, ours.
Kyrie Eleison!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 3287-3293). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
(2) Catholic Church. (2011). Dogmatic Constitution on the Church: Lumen Gentium. In Vatican II Documents. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
(3) The original translations of the Creed use the word Catholic, which means universal. However, Lutheran churches often substitute the word Christian in instead. I have been told that there was no word for catholic in german at the time the Creed was translated into german. While I cannot confirm that, I still prefer to use in my writings Catholic and explain its meaning, rather than change the creed.
They Don’t Love Your Religion, but They Like Your Jesus? What a awesome opportunity!
Devotional Thought of the Day:
21 Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” But the people were completely silent. 1 Kings 18:21 (NLT)
7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor. James 4:7-10 (NLT)
920 If you follow faithfully the promptings of grace, you will yield good fruit, lasting fruit for the glory of God. To be a saint necessarily entails being effective, even though the saint may not see or be aware of the results. (1)
Over the last few years, there have been a number of youtube videos were perceived to attack Christianity. These videos question the validity of how the Christian religion is lived out, by those who claim to be Christians.
That means you and me.
Don’t take it as a personal attack, but please take those words personally.
When people point out our hypocrisy, whether they are inside the church or outside, there are two things going on, both which are beneficial.
The first is you have a chance to engage in relationships with them. What would happen if someone says that to you, and your answer is, “Please, could you show me, and encourage me, in where I need to be like Jesus?” They very easily could have valid concerns. For example, without realizing it, the people of God once, in trying to help people, set up a swap meet with animal stalls and even moneychangers in the temple courts. What started out as a helpful idea (providing sacrifices for people who travelled long distances) turned into a monstrous mess that stopped those not yet in Covenant, from being able to be still and know God. They are being provided to you by God to help you focus on being in your relationship with Christ,
Please note I am not saying they know Jesus, but that doesn’t stop them from being used by Him. The dissonance they pick up on, may not be what they think, but there is still a problem. Often what they are picking up on is our inability to follow God completely. They could be picking up on the Romans 7 challenges to our life, when we don’t do what we should, and we do act and think like we should not. Or that we’ve forgotten our first love or are lukewarm in how our faith affects our life. They may not know what they are seeing, but God can be using them, to help us grow.
The second thing happens if we take the time to hear them; if we to listen to their observations; if we ask them to assist us in really being Christians; if we welcome their comments so we are representing the life so well described in scripture. As we sit down with them, as we study God’s word together, as we see the height and depth, the breadth and width of God’s love, they too are changed.
For together we journey close to God! Together, as we focus on Christ, they have the opportunity to grow. Together we find out what it means to imitate Christ and to reflect His glory into the darkness of a world that doesn’t recognize Him. They become part of the community of faith, even if only to explore it, to find out if they don’t like our religion or just our poor example of it.
And they find a Jesus they might, or might not have known. A Jesus, who came to help sinners, to help those who rebel from a life, lived with God. The God, who recognized wounds, and sin, brokenness, and injustice. He brought them up, not to condemn, rather bring healing. We can follow Him, together.
So welcome the conversations, welcome the assistance, provide the opportunity….engage in a relationship with them, knowing that God wants both of you to live a life transformed, repentant, cleansed and at peace.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 3245-3247). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
You Can’t Dismiss the Supernatural! For It Is Our Life!
Devotional Thought of the Day:
27 God’s plan is to make known his secret to his people, this rich and glorious secret which he has for all peoples. And the secret is that Christ is in you, which means that you will share in the glory of God. Colossians 1:27 (TEV)
7 If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this p
recious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. 8 As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, 9 but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. 10 What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! 2 Corinthians 4:7-10 (MSG)
922 The apostolate—which is a sure sign of spiritual life—means being constantly on the lookout so as to supernaturalise each detail of the day, whether big or small, by putting the love of God into everything one does. (1)
What would happen, if we considered every situation we find ourselves in, a supernatural one?
What would happen if we treated the little things in life, like driving a car, or taking out the trash, or even talking to a 3 or 4 year-old, as a precious event. What would happen if we knew that second was a miraculous gift of God? What if we treated every moment, every conversation as if it was occurring in church? What if we realized that the glory of God is being revealed all around us, with every breath, every exhale, every heartbeat?
These questions may seem rhetorical, but they are not.
They may cause a bit of guilt or shame, but they shouldn’t.
This is our reality that God has taken up residence in us, that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. In our very bodies is manifest the love and presence an glory of God.
it may even be as improbable as the idea that Solomon’s temple, or a tent in the wilderness could contain the glory of God.
But His glory dwells in a people claimed as His, In people He has cleansed, that He has poured His Spirit into, that His glory would be seen by the world. That those who are His, could know His mercy, that those who don’t, would see His glory, and come to know Him.
This isn’t poetry or some high-level theology. it is not just some metaphysical thought, or something that we only meditate upon when the mood hit; bu has no connection to our daily life
It is our life, a supernatural life, a miraculous life, lived in the glory of God. Every moment, even those that are the most common. Even the things which try to crush us, or defeat us. Even those moments where we grieve, or mourn, or are depressed, He is there. Seek His presence, His comfort, His peace… and share it with those around you.
May this reality be realized you more and more… this day.
AMEN.
AMEN!
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 3249-3251). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Can You Hear…no… Can you Understand Me Now?
Devotional/Discussion Thought of the Day:
9 It’s the same for you. If you speak to people in words they don’t understand, how will they know what you are saying? You might as well be talking into empty space. 10 There are many different languages in the world, and every language has meaning. 11 But if I don’t understand a language, I will be a foreigner to someone who speaks it, and the one who speaks it will be a foreigner to me. 12 And the same is true for you. Since you are so eager to have the special abilities the Spirit gives, seek those that will strengthen the whole church. 1 Corinthians 14:9-12 (NLT)
19 Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ. 20 When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law. 21 When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ. 22 When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. 1 Corinthians 9:19-22 (NLT)
917 In modico fidelis!—faithful in little things. Your job, my son, is not just to save souls but to bring them to holiness, day after day, giving to each moment—even to apparently commonplace moments—the dynamic echo of eternity.
I need to apologize to you my readers. A few of you now have said my spelling or grammar errors have made it challenging to read my blog. I dismissed it for several reasons as to why it didn’t concern me. This blog started out as a synthesis of my own personal devotions, which a friend suggest I put out on a blog.
This weekend, as I preached on the second Bible passage quoted above, I started to think of this blog and my sermons. I was convicted, and realized that in, not paying attention to grammar and spelling, I wasn’t doing what Paul urges, being all things to all people, that I may win some.
I know this in terms of language, as Paul talks about in the first passage above. Thanks to a friend I have, over the last couple of years realized that language is more than just the words, it is what they describe. That a Bible translation or a sermon may seem to be in English, but is it in the English our people can understand clearly? Language dialects aren’t just found based on ethnic/cultural issues, but also in our vocation and environment. WIth all these complications, communicating is a challenge, but it is so needed!
Yes, we can use dictionaries, they could as well. We can try to understand what a word or phrase means by context, we can even rely on the Holy Spirit to “interpret” in their heart. However, the message of Christ is too important to let my own issues cause a fog to obscure the message.
Back to my confession, if I passively or actively choose to allow something to get in the way of the message being heard, then I have failed, indeed, I have sinned. And for that I shall seek God’s grace and mercy, and ask for yours as well. It’s time for me to be faithful in the little things, for the sake of the message being heard. I need to me faithful in this, so that you can hear the echo of eternity. I need to do this, so that these sermons and posts can be heard, so that as they reveal God’s love, you can understand it.
The message is too important for any of us to allow language or culture or tradition, choice of Bible translation, personal comfort or even spelling or grammar to get in the way of it being heard, of it being understood.
People need Christ Jesus, they need to understand the incredible love and loyalty He has for those people He has created to be His people. There is nothing in life that is more important than understanding God’s love for you.
That is why Paul wants us to be all things to all people, so that we might win some. It is not about being a chameleon, fitting in to these groups. It is about being close enough to them to know how they think, so that we can communicate God’s love to them, even as we love them!
May we all treat that message with the care it needs, that it may be heard.
(note to help me with this – I am now running all my blogs and sermons through grammerly, and proof reading them. Feel free to mention other corrections needed, or things needed to be explained better.)
Compelled to Share our Hope!
Compelled to Share our Hope
1 Corinthians 9:16-27
† IHS †
May the joy of knowing and understanding the love and mercy of God compel you to proclaim that love to a broken world.
Compelled?
As I read the second reading for this week, the one from 1 Corinthians, there is a phrase that convicted me.
I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t preach the Good News!
The word there in Greek for preach the gospel is not the word for what I am doing right now, in the middle of a church service. It is the word we get evangelism from, the idea of sharing the hope you have; because you know Christ.
What we are all are commissioned to do, it is the work of the people in church, to share the love of God, and His mercy, with everyone we meet.
I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t share why I have hope for I know Jesus Christ!
I have to admit, there are times where I don’t feel so compelled to share my hope.
There are times where giving people hope isn’t that much of a priority. Where we don’t care, as we go about our day, being driven by our tasks, by our needs, by our desires. We aren’t compelled to share our hope, the hope we have because we know Jesus.
When I heard this how terrible for me, what I don’t hear why it Is terrible when our hope isn’t shared. I think it is terrible because God is going to be up there, disappointed in us, because we didn’t obey and do what He has asked us to do. We’ve let Him down again, we’ve disobeyed, and we might even think we need to be punished. We are wrong when we think those things.
Or we might believe we are being punished because things aren’t going right.
That’s not it either, and I am going to try and explain how we are compelled, why it is terrible for us, when we overlook our hope and don’t share it.
Not of my initiative
In verse 17, Paul tells us that we aren’t alone in this, that he didn’t have any initiative for sharing His faith either. Doesn’t that sound a little strange, that Paul, the great missionary apostle, didn’t do what he did because he was such a mission-driven, natural born evangelist?
He wasn’t self-compelled, he had to be compelled. Being compelled means that Paul was passive, this task was given to him to accomplish, and the drive to accomplish it was external. He had no choice, no initiative yet he accomplished the task,….
Why?
You see the text, what does it say?
God has given me this sacred trust…..
God has put His faith in Paul to get this done….
Talk about a heavy load to bear, a heavy weight to carry. God trusted Paul to do this work, to be sent to people to show them the love of God. He was sent to give them hope! He’s one of those about whom Jesus spoke when He said,
“Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I send you.” John 20:21 (TEV)
So of Paul and the apostles, Jesus talks of being sent on the same mission, to have the same goal. That God gave Paul this sacred trust, even as we read a moment ago.
It doesn’t end there…for hear what Paul says to the church at Corinth, and to us,
## “You should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.”
It is what the love of Christ compels us to do, what the poured out blood of Christ compels us to do. This love, this knowing God compels us to tell people why we have hope because we know Jesus.
But God compelling us, God laying upon us this burden, isn’t His heavy-handed law coming down.
It is about the gospel, it is about knowing the joy that we have, in Christ, and as we realize this, we will desire, we’ll be compelled to share this incredible joy.
Escriva & Jeremiah 9:24
One of my favorite writers struck me like this passage questioning my desire to share my hope with a quote, which turned into yesterday’s blog. It’s a bit long, but the basic idea is that our ## prayers and focus should be on the mission. That we are to help people have the hope that we have. We strive to see God’s desire that all come into this relationship with Him.
if yes, then there is great joy in your life, as you see God working through you, as people hear about this hope we have in Christ.
If no, the answer wasn’t to get out of your pew and go do it anyway. The answer was to trust more in Jesus, to know His promises more, to understand what the Father wants to give us, this covenant relationship.
The promise is seen in the cross – as His body was given, and His blood was shed, to bring us into this relationship, even as our sins are forgiven. This promise teaches us to know that we have life with God, not just now, but now and forever!
We celebrate that every time we share in the Body and Blood of Christ, for Paul says each time we do, we proclaim His death, His death for us until He comes again.
We need to know that desire of God, to rejoice in understanding that this is the aim of God our Father.
All of the sin; all of the things you are ashamed of in your life; all of the things that breaks us down; that kills our spirit; the rebellion and selfishness that is nothing more than making an idol out of ourselves. It is killed off, the sin that blocks us from God, intercepted and the victory prize is Christ’s. We became His, when we were united in His death and His resurrection.
St. Josemaria went on to say,
If you possess joy, then you seek to give it to others!
You might even say, if you possess this joy, you are compelled to give it to other! That God has so shared with you His glory, that you have no other choice for God has given you this sacred trust. Just like Paul, the apostle.
That is the love of God that compels you, the more you experience it, the more you are changed, born, transformed, and the more you want to pass it on to others.
Even to the point where like Paul, you will be what people need you to be, you will be with them, that you might gain them for Christ.
For when one comes… the joy is beyond belief.
Jeremiah put it this way…
23 GOD’s Message: “Don’t let the wise brag of their wisdom. Don’t let heroes brag of their exploits. Don’t let the rich brag of their riches. 24 If you brag, brag of this and this only: That you understand and know me. I’m GOD, and I act in loyal love. I do what’s right and set things right and fair and delight in those who do the same things! Jeremiah 9:23-24 (MSG)
Rejoice in this, even to the point where you brag about it!
You understand and know God, the God whose love is yours, the God who sets things right, and you know and understand His faithfulness and His loyalty.
Who makes you His own!
When someone asks you why you have hope? Share His love with them,…..share His mercy with them, and invite them to know His peace!
AMEN!
Being Missional is a Happy Thing!
How can on not receive this bread and wine with joy? In the same way, how can one not share that joyous good news with others?
Devotional?Discussion Thought of the Day:
23 The LORD says, “The wise should not boast of their wisdom, nor the strong of their strength, nor the rich of their wealth. 24 If any want to boast, they should boast that they know and understand me, because my love is constant, and I do what is just and right. These are the things that please me. I, the LORD, have spoken.” Jeremiah 9:23-24 (TEV)
914 If your prayers, your sacrifices and your actions do not show a constant concern for the apostolate (2 see below for what the apostolate means), it is a sure sign that you are not happy, and that you have to be more faithful. Whoever possesses happiness, and the good, will always seek to give it to others. (1)
When I first read the words in blue this morning, I was taken aback, stung by them. I went through a cycle of emotions; first I denied that the words were true (or had an effect on me). Then I moved on to anger, trying to justify myself by saying they were not trie. Then a brief battle with guilt and shame, as I know I am not always thinking about the mission, even when I am thinking about my ministry.
Once past that smaller rollercoaster of emotions, I started to meditate on these words, and on the Bible passage I earlier read from Jeremiah. It is the one cited above talking about how our boasting should be that we know and understand God. It is the same thought, for boasting about God is our mission, our apostolate.
We know His mercy, His love, we know His desire that we have a deep and abiding relationship with Him. We know that our being in that relationship pleases Him. We know he does this our of His Fatherly love for us.
How could knowing this not be that point where we know the joy, where we know happiness? How could we know this and keep silent? If we are knowing and understanding God and His love doesn’t result in our proclaiming it, we do need to trust Him more, we need to understand His blessings more.
This is not about being forced to be missional, to understand our apostolate. It’s not about being a good Christian or making sure we are checking off all the right boxes in spiritual growth. Being so engaged in our apostolate, being missional is a sign of the joy that comes from knowing God’s love. We trust God at promises that exceed anything we can know or experience on our own. It is about walking hand in hand with God.
That is worth boasting about, that is worth rejoicing over, this God who loves us enough to come to us, cleanse us, and make us His own people.
So boast away my friends, in the love of God for you… and may many hear it, and come to rejoice with you!
Two Things Needed in Every Church, and in Every Person in Church
Devotional Thought of the Day:
19 My friends, if any of you wander away from the truth and another one brings you back again, 20 remember this: whoever turns a sinner back from the wrong way will save that sinner’s soul from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins. James 5:19-20 (TEV)
28 “Now, what do you think? There was once a man who had two sons. He went to the older one and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 ‘I don’t want to,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. 30 Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. ‘Yes, sir,’ he answered, but he did not go. 31 Which one of the two did what his father wanted?” “The older one,” they answered. So Jesus said to them, “I tell you: the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the Kingdom of God ahead of you. Matthew 21:28-31 (TEV)
909 You say that you want to be an apostle of Christ. I’m very glad to hear it. I pray that God may give you perseverance. Remember that from our mouths, from our thoughts, from our hearts, should issue only divine motives, of hunger for souls, of themes that lead us one way or another to God—or at least, that do not take us away from him. (1)
If I could give a gift to every pastor, to every seminarian, to every Sunday School Teacher, to every person struggling to make it to church on Sunday, it wouldn’t be more money, or more skill, or even more knowledge of doctrine. It wouldn’t be to give them a fun and happy church, where everyone’s problems are solved.
Two tiny, invisible things I would give them. Two things that are born from… well, I’ll get to that in a moment.
The two things are this. Desire to minister and Perseverance.
Paul talks about this desire to young Timothy, as part of the description of a bishop, a pastor. Someone who covets the role, who can’t tink of doing anything else, being anything else. I believe this is true for any role in the church as well. It’s not about the title, it is about the work.
The other thing is perseverance, To persevere through a learning curve (and to never forget you haven’t made it to the top) Perseverance with our own mistakes, even our feeling that we are beyond our own capabilities, perseverance fueled by a desire to realize that our work will save a sinners soul from death.
That is what we are about, whether it is the elder visiting the shut-in, the ladies preparing the elements for the Lord’s supper with great care, the Sunday School teacher, preparing hard, throwing everything into their ministry, and mostly praying harder than anything else.
For the desire, and the will that perseveres is not earthly, it is not common, It comes from the highest heaven, it is the transformation that God does in our lives. We are the son who says no to our Father, then cannot but help completing the task. We are compelled as St. Paul will tell young Timothy.
We desire and persevere against what is natural for us, because the grace of God is so overpowering.
That is why tax collector, a bunch of untrained fisherman, and a few others can change their world, even facing death as it happens. It is why those who have gone before us have done amazing things, witnessing the faithfulness of God. it is why a bread baker in a monastery can write one of the foremost books about spiritual life.
Desire and perseverance, two of the characteristics we see in Christ Jesus. That is where we get it from, an alien
Two things that come to us, as we abide in Christ Jesus…. and desire to see sins covered, and souls saved from death… and we cannot help but be driven to see our Father’s work done.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 3210-3214). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
God, Do You Really Want Me to Go Through THIS?!!?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
16 Yet preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t preach the Good News! 1 Corinthians 9:16 (NLT)
4 I replied, “But my work seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose. Yet I leave it all in the LORD’s hand; I will trust God for my reward.” Isaiah 49:4 (NLT)
902 I didn’t think God would get hold of me the way he did, either. But, let me tell you once again, God doesn’t ask our permission to “complicate” our lives. He just gets in: and that’s that! (1)
As I look at my life, there is a strong temptation to question God’s wisdom, or perhaps His sanity.
Not that doing so is a good practice, please note, I said temptation. And like Jeremiah, and Isaiah, I sometimes struggle with why God would lead me the way he has, and like Isaiah, I wonder if I will ever get to see the results.
I preach about God’s faithfulness, and I know it is true. I have seen it over and over in my life. Yet there are times where the attitudes of Jeremiah and Isaiah aren’t just interesting passages, they are words I think, and say. Lord, really? Couldn’t you find someone who could do this better? Couldn’t you find someone with a stronger faith, who was more patient? Couldn’t preaching about the peace of Christ be more… peaceful?
Those times don’t last for months, but they can flow from one day into another. They never get past Sunday, or the Wednesdays during Advent and Lent where we share in the Eucharist, where we receive the Body and Blood given and shed for us.
I wonder what would happen if every pastor was honest about those times where God “complicates” their lives? How would their congregations react? Would they be supportive? Would they dismiss the pastor? Would they work harder in the harvest fields? Would it strengthen their faith, or weaken it? What about their peers in ministry, how would they see them?
Looking back, after most of those days when I feel like a Jeremiah, or an Isaiah, I find that God has been at work in ways beyond anything I can share here. I can see why being brought low in Spirit is a blessing, why being humbled is part of the cross we bear.
I’ve learned to just let the emotions run for a little while, and then remember the hope we have in Christ Jesus. That He will sustain us, that the peace and sustenance we’ve been given. That is why the Liturgy fo the Lord’s Supper becomes so much a blessing.
As we sing the sanctus, to realize we are singing of His holiness with the whole company of heaven, including Jeremiah and Isaiah. God proved faithful to them, and the promises He made through them, and He will be to us.
As we sing the Agnus Dei, to realize the Body and Blood of Christ is there, so He has been given for us, to take away our sins, to have mercy on us, to grant us peace…..
As we hear a welcome to the table, as we take and eat, and take and drink, we realize again that we dwell in Him, and that He has bound us to Him in the New Covenant.
As we (a Lutheran practice) leave the altar, we sing the song of Simeon, and realize that He is our salvation, that He is our light and life, and the glory of His people.
I can’t stop the days like Jeremiah’s, I can’t diminish the feelings like Isaiah. Not on my own. Yet walking with Christ, there is hope, and there is a peace so blessed, I can take the time to pour out my heartache, to give Him frustrations and my doubts. His peace allows for such blessed times.
I pray this for you as well, that you would realize the peace, and let it strengthen you to do so, whether you are ordained or not, for we all are His priests. We all serve, and He will use us in places beyond anythings we could imagine, or want.
AMEN
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 3193-3195). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
On Sunday Morning, Do We Not Hear Christ’s Cry, Do We Know Hear the Father’s Desire?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
50 Don’t you realize that it is better for you to have one man die for the people, instead of having the whole nation destroyed?” 51 Actually, he did not say this of his own accord; rather, as he was High Priest that year, he was prophesying that Jesus was going to die for the Jewish people, 52 and not only for them, but also to bring together into one body all the scattered people of God. John 11:50-52 (TEV)
906 That cry of the Son of God, lamenting that the harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few, is always relevant. How it tears at our heartstrings. That cry came from Christ’s mouth for you to hear too. How have you responded to it up to now? Do you pray at least daily for that intention? (1)
A few weeks ago, as I answered the call to provide the invocation at my city’s Martin Luther King day celebration, I thought of the charge laid against the church in the 80’s, which may be still true today. It noted that Sunday morning was the most segregated time in a church’s week. With few exceptions, (my Concordia is close to being one ) churches in our country are primarily ethnocentric. It is true, unfortunately, that churches, even the most missional ones, are this way. My own denomination’s national magazine recently had our president lamenting that a district hadn’t planted a church in a predominantly Anglo community in fifteen years.
While this may be an issue of passivity and comfort, there is something that is even more staggering. A move to isolate the church on Sunday from the world. A pendulum swing reaction from the Seeker-sensitivity of the 80’s and 90’s, that is claiming that Sunday Morning worship services are for believers only. That we have to return deliberately to encoding everything in practices and languages that a unbeliever would not be able to comprehend. This is what is faithful, we are told, to use words like salutary, or beseech, to strive for an ethereal and beautiful service, but one that our own people struggle to value.
Let me be clear, I am in no way advocating the abandonment of the liturgy. if anything, I think word and sacrament order should be made more available.
But I am saying we need to hear the Father’s desire that all come to the transformation of repentance. We do need to pray for the work, even the work on Sunday morning! We all need to realize that the harvest doesn’t pause for a station break on Sunday morning as we, the holy people’ recharge. Evangelism happens as well as a couple chooses to move from their comfortable place, to sit with those visitors and make them comfortable, and explain the service movements. Harvest work should be seen throughout every aspect of the service. Our spiritual homes must be places of hospitality to all. That has always been true, even at Solomon’s temple, and at the tabernacle.
The idea that Sunday is only about those who are members of the church is as ludicrous as those who say it should only be about seekers. Both ignore the fact that Christ would die for those who are already in covenant with God, as much as He died to bring the nations into that covenant. For all to know that He is God, and we are His people.
Worship wars, liturgy wars, wars about what is beneficial or not cease, as do the flurry of articles bashing contemporary worship liturgy, as well as that bashing traditionalism, have no place. They do stop when we focus on God’s desire to call all His people, to gather them together as one. (this includes those that don’t know… yet!) As we pray that, God would send more workers into the harvest fields, so these battles diminish. I pray we realize that the harvest is great, not just in Turkey and Ghana, but also in our own sanctuaries.
May our worship teach anyone there what they need to know about Christ – His presence, His mercy, his faithful love…
AMEN
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 3202-3204). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.(1(
