Monthly Archives: December 2015
The K.I.S.S principle: Keep it Simple Sermon-crafter!
Devotional Thought of the Day:
11 This is a sure thing: If we die with him, we’ll live with him; 12 If we stick it out with him, we’ll rule with him; If we turn our backs on him, he’ll turn his back on us; 13 If we give up on him, he does not give up— for there’s no way he can be false to himself. 14 Repeat these basic essentials over and over to God’s people. Warn them before God against pious nitpicking, which chips away at the faith. It just wears everyone out. 15 Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won’t be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple. 16 Stay clear of pious talk that is only talk. Words are not mere words, you know. If they’re not backed by a godly life, 2 Timothy 2:11-16 (MSG)
242 Sometimes they didn’t want to understand: it is as if they were blind… But sometimes it has been you who did not manage to make yourself understood properly. You must change that!
I will be honest; it is a challenge for me. It always has been, and as long as I preach, I think it will be.
To explain the glorious, majestic, beyond belief work of God in a simple way, that people will listen too. Yes, I know the Holy Spirit does the work of imprinting that which God has called into existence on their hearts, but that doesn’t mean we can be lax, or, on the other extreme, so eloquent that even a seminary professor would be in awe of our wisdom and message.
Every time we sit at a keyboard, or for some, take a pen in hand, we risk our words becoming talk that is only… talk. We may be proclaiming wonderful ideas, incredible theology, mind-blowing insights into theological truths, but if they don’t get the relationship, if we don’t bring people to realize their hope is not in knowledge, but in the intimate relationship with Jesus that Paul describes. It bears repeating
2 If we stick it out with him, we’ll rule with him; If we turn our backs on him, he’ll turn his back on us; 13 If we give up on him, he does not give up— for there’s no way he can be false to himself. 1
There is the truth that makes a difference. There is the truth that opens eyes, causes ears to hear, brings healing and expectant hope to those damaged and broken by sin.
Yes, there will be people who always seem blind and deaf spiritually. But Paul is equally insistent to Timothy to preach clearly, having studied well. That is the good stewardship of that which is entrusted to us in our ordination, or delegated to those co-misisoned to bear witness to Jesus.
Preaching with simplicity is a craft. It still may be profound, for the simple truth usually is more profound that the most complex of theories.
God loves you… he proved this as…
God came…for you
God died … for you.
God rose again – for you.
Oh yeah – He’s coming back for us.
That’s pretty profound, yet very simple.
May people hear us tomorrow as we point to Jesus. May we rejoice as they see the light that shatters their darkness. AMEN!
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1203-1204). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Why Advent is a Blessing for Sinners… (like me)
Devotional Thought of the Day:
7 But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.f 8 If we say, “We are without sin,” we deceive ourselves,* and the truth is not in us.g 9 If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.h 10 If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.1 Jn 1:7–10) NAB-RE
“Confession has not been abolished by the preachers on our side. The custom has been retained among us of not administering the sacrament to those who have not previously been examined and absolved.
2 At the same time the people are carefully instructed concerning the consolation of the Word of absolution so that they may esteem absolution as a great and precious thing.
3 It is not the voice or word of the man who speaks it, but it is the Word of God, who forgives sin, for it is spoken in God’s stead and by God’s command.
4 We teach with great diligence about this command and power of keys and how comforting and necessary it is for terrified consciences. We also teach that God requires us to believe this absolution as much as if we heard God’s voice from heaven, that we should joyfully comfort ourselves with absolution, and that we should know that through such faith we obtain forgiveness of sins.”
Part of the purpose of Advent within the Church year consists in reviving once more this awareness in us. It should urge us to confront these truths, to admit the extent of our lack of redemption, which did not simply exist in the world at some time and perhaps still exists somewhere but which is a present reality within ourselves and within the Church. The Christian existence, therefore, includes this as well: that we, out of the distress of our own darkness, like the man Job, dare to speak to God. It also means that we do not think we could present to God only half of our existence and must spare him all the rest because it might grieve him. No—to Him in particular we may and must carry the total burden of our existence in complete honesty.
There is a patterned to which the church year flows, one reflected in the Northern Hemisphere’s calendar. As the year ends, and begins, the days grow shorter, the amount of light we see daily diminishes, as often with it, hope. People deal with more depression, and grieve deeply, as the oncoming holidays remind them of the loved one’s they miss.
Sins become more magnified, as we have more time to dwell on them. Both those sins that were committed against us, and those which we ourselves commit. Again, because of more time in darkness, we have more time to think, to ponder, to feel the guilt, to be weighed down by the shame. To realize how much we are beyond any help,
save the help of God.
I think Pope Benedict nails it, in the third quote above, when he say we shouldn’t spare God the grief of dealing with half of our existence, we may and MUST carry the total burden to Him, in complete honesty. (I am reminded of people who filter out their pastors and priests from seeing ALL of their facebook/twitter feeds, because they feel ashamed, or are afraid of feeling that way!) If we need help, if we need to be rescued from the crushing weight of sin and shame, then He is the person, He is our Hope, He is our answer.
As the Lutheran Confessions say, when the pastor/priest speaks the words absolving you of sin, they aren’t just his words, they are the words of God you need to hear, that you must hear. This absolution is the comfort that relieves the guilt and the shame. That is why we talk of it as such a great treasure.
As I’ve been contemplating Advent, and the nature of repentance, penitence, I am realizing more and more we need to go through such times of self-evaluation. of coming face to face with our sin. Of realizing the depth of it. Not to end up drowning in guilt and self-loathing, but because it will bring us to the Father in heaven, it will cause us like Job, like Abraham, to work with God honestly. To run to Him, because He is our hope.
This is what confession is, the very thing God knew we needed. To hear his voice, through others He called and commanded to be there for you, to say the words, “you are forgiven, in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
So take the time during this advent, during this time when darkness seems to hide all that is good and holy, to consider, confess, and be comforted by God.
AMEN
Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (pp. 61–62). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.
Ratzinger, J. (1992). Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. (M. F. McCarthy & L. Krauth, Trans., I. Grassl, Ed.) (p. 382). San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Advent Message #1 Psalm 51 Have mercy on me!
Have Mercy On Me
Help me to know your unfailing love!
Psalm 51:1-6
† IHS †
David’s Scenario
The pastor descends, and heads straight toward a member of the church. The look on his face is serious, there is no humor in his eyes.
He walks up to one of the most respected leaders of the church, the man respected for his faith. He zeroes in on him, heads straight at him, and as he stops, he reveals to the man that he knows about that specific sin. The sin that was serious enough for the people to take up stones and kill him. The sin which didn’t just break a commandment, but shattered several of them.
He calls him out on it, in front of everyone
What happened to David, happens all over again.
Except that it happens to Tom. Or Al, or Doug, or Wanda..
I want each of you to think how David felt in the first reading, as Nathan revealed to the world David’s sin. The sin he thought no one knew. The sin that ate him, that continued to eat at him.
What if tonight, instead of David’s sin, it was yours that was revealed.
What terror would you feel, what pain?
Even though we are looking at the Psalm during this advent, we can’t understand the strength of David’s plea for mercy, we can’t understand how desperate His cry to God, without hearing the depth of despair, as David’s sin was found revealed not just before God, but before all.
How Can this Be?
It is in the aftermath of this scene, that David writes these words,
Have mercy on me, o God, because of your unfailing love!
Have mercy on me, I am a sinner, I am a wretch.
He cannot deny it. He cannot simply say, no, I’m good with God. Nope, don’t worry pastor, that Confession thing, hearing you tell me I am forgiven, it’s not a big deal. It’s the other people that you have to worry about.
You know, those that rip their neighbor’s off, those who are sexually immoral, those who lie and cheat and gossip. That’s for them, not for me.
David’s sin is laid out. Undeniable, horrid, sickening.
It would still make every headline today.
You are the man.
You are the woman.
You’ve sinned.
And revealing that sin, in a way you can’t deny, in a way you have to confess, is part of the healing. It is why Luther and the early reformers didn’t get rid of confession, either public of private.
Because we know in our plea for mercy, that it will be answered.
Just as David’s was, just as Moses’ was, just as Peter’s was.
Just as Tom and Al and my plea’s for mercy will be answered.
Hear David’s words again,
Have mercy on me, o God, because of your unfailing love!
That is what Advent is about, learning to depend on God’s unfailing love. Learning to cry out what has been called the Jesus Prayer, Lord have mercy on me, a sinner.
Crying it out, knowing the heart of God, knowing the heart revealed at the manger and the cross, as God comes into the word to show us that mercy,
Crying out, not based on anything but the unfailing love of God. For that is our only refuge when we come face to face with our sin. When we realize how wrong it is, and that we can’t fix it.
To do as David would continue to pray,
Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins.
2 Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
3 For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night.
4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.
5 For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
6 But you desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there.
7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:1-7 (NLT)
A prayer of despair, a prayer of recognizing what we had done, a prayer of faith, knowing the heart of God.
The heart of God that answered David, and answers you and I
“Yes, you have sinned, but I have forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin..”
Amen!
The Joy of… Suffering?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
8 “But as for you, Israel my servant, Jacob my chosen one, descended from Abraham my friend, 9 I have called you back from the ends of the earth, saying, ‘You are my servant.’ For I have chosen you and will not throw you away. 10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. Isaiah 41:8-10 (NLT)
254 An incurable illness restricted his movements. And yet he cheerfully assured me: “The illness suits me well and I love it more all the time. If I were given the choice, I would be born again this way a hundred times!”(1)
Moreover, the people are instructed often and with great diligence concerning the holy sacrament, why it was instituted, and how it is to be used (namely, as a comfort for terrified consciences) in order that the people may be drawn to the Communion and Mass (2)
I have the honor to visit a 97 year old lady for about 10 minutes a week. She lives with some other eldery people around the corner. It isn’t much of a visit by the world’s standards, but it is one I treasure.
She has lived a fascinating life, one that would have me asking her to tell the stories from, for she has worked in places that I find extremely fascinating. But with the strength she has, just a few minutes of hearing about God working with our preschoolers, and a prayer of blessing, and it is time to leave.
Yet her contentment is amazing, her joy as she sees me is so evident. She doesn’t mind her weakness. She seems to treasure our brief moments together. This incredible lady, me, and the God who loves us so! A few moments that make such an incredible difference.. in my life.
It is hard to look at her weariness, for the smile and the assurance of her love for God overwhems it. She is more at peace than so many I know. So much more full of joy. Despite the suffering, despite the hours spent alone.
There are all different types of suffering. Suffering can be caused by evil oppression, by poverty, by health, by age, by loneliness?
But what we find in the suffering makes all the difference in the world. In this time of Advent, can we find Christ there? Can we find the joy of having no other hope but that which is found in Christ Jesus? The hope of sharing in His glory?
When we do, when in the midst of the pain we hear His voice; when we realize the comfort Jesus brings to us in the Lord’s Supper; in those moments of prayer when we can only listen, and allow the Holy Spirit to minister to us, that is when the quiet joy comes flooding through our souls. That is when the brokenness finds healing.
That is when we know we are loved.
Such a joyous thought…
I pray that you and I would know God’s love that deeply, with that assurance, at any age, in any situation. Because of that love, may joy be generated at our very core.
AMEN!
.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1244-1246). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
(2) Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 56). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.
Augustine on Sin and Counterfeit Glory.
Devotional thought of the day:
Well, no wonder! Even Satan can disguise himself to look like an angel of light! 15 So it is no great thing if his servants disguise themselves to look like servants of righteousness. In the end they will get exactly what their actions deserve. 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 (TEV)
Thus all pervertedly imitate Thee, who remove far from Thee, and lift themselves up against Thee. But even by thus imitating Thee, they imply Thee to be the Creator of all nature; whence there is no place whither altogether to retire from Thee. What then did I love in that theft? and wherein did I even corruptly and pervertedly imitate my Lord? Did I wish even by stealth to do contrary to Thy law, because by power I could not, so that being a prisoner, I might mimic a maimed liberty by doing with impunity things unpermitted me, a darkened likeness of Thy Omnipotency? Behold, Thy servant, fleeing from his Lord, and obtaining a shadow.
I am not sure why I added Augustine’s Confessions to my devotional reading for this year. It may be because of the major role his work played in Luther’s life, or in my desire to understand the divisions between the Roman Catholic Church and my own Lutheran church. But a month in, I am glad. There is deep simplicity in the words, as we observe his reflection on his life, including a life attracted to sin that ensnares us. It’s brutal, honest, uncomfortable, revealing and liberating.
In today’s reading, he brings up something incredible, the idea that all of the sins we choose are a simple counterfeit, and imitation of that which is of God. And in analyzing what we pursue, the very perversion reveals both our idol (the self) and the true life we would have, in Christ.
It is brutal because it reveals to us our idolatry, our desire to do that which Adam and Eve fell prey to, the desire to be God, to judge things as righteous or not. It is uncomfortable because it reveals how poor an imitation these things are. Here are some of examples which precede the quote,
“Luxury affects to be called plenty and abundance; but Thou art the fulness and never-failing plenteousness of incorruptible pleasures. Prodigality presents a shadow of liberality: but Thou art the most overflowing Giver of all good. Covetousness would possess many things; and Thou possessest all things. Envy disputes for excellency: what more excellent than Thou?”
Is it no wonder the emptiness that haunts us, the depression that we seek to ignore,to laugh off, to overwhelm and even self-medicate ourselves against?
Is it no wonder that the upcoming generation attempts to throw off the modernistic search for a scientific, tangible reality, yet can’t create one either? At least not where they are Lord of Lord and King of Kings?
Truly King David is correct in his similar diagnosis,
1 Why this uproar among the nations, this impotent muttering of the peoples? 2 Kings of the earth take up position, princes plot together against Yahweh and his anointed, 3 ‘Now let us break their fetters! Now let us throw off their bonds!’ Psalm 2:1-3 (NJB)
So what hope is there? What can we offer to those burnt out on their idolatry, on their struggle to find a suitable, comfortable imitation of God?
We hold out the hope, not of an imitation of God, but of being in a relationship where we are transformed and imitate Him. His love, His mercy, His grace. King David speaks of this as well in that same Psalm,
11 Worship GOD in adoring embrace, Celebrate in trembling awe. 12 Kiss Messiah! Your very lives are in danger, you know; His anger is about to explode, But if you make a run for God—you won’t regret it! Psalm 2:11-12 (MSG)
Walk with Him, ask for His mercy, ask Him to reveal His love. He Shall, for He is no shadow, He is our Reality.
Augustine, S., Bishop of Hippo. (1996). The Confessions of St. Augustine. (E. B. Pusey, Trans.). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. (Chapter VII)
