Monthly Archives: September 2016
When Reality Tops Reason, which will you choose?
Devotional Thought for the Day:
48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; 50 this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” 52 The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat?” 53 Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. John 6:48-57 (NAB)
40 Faith, joy, optimism. But not the folly of closing your eyes to reality.
As people are listening to Jesus, there is something wrong.
They get so distracted by what they can’t quite understand, that they give up something glorious. They went to him, because He was the Messiah, they expected Him to save them, to teach them, to heal them of their brokenness.
I struggle with the fact that because they couldn’t understand the teaching, because they couldn’t connect the dots, they walked away.
Don’t get it; it’s hard, and so they walked away, and left life on the table.
We don’t do well with mystery; we don’t hear Jesus’ offer about eternal life – about real life, about the resurrection. Because we go back to trying to discern whether he’s rolling real presence, or transubstantiation, or consubstantiation, or some other option which would satisfy our mind, and we starve our heart.
Some want to require others to understand this at a level far beyond how scripture teaches, and they drive them away with the same frustration we are not willing to admit that we share. So they force them to close their eyes to the reality as well. Far too much evangelism and apologetic material are geared this way, attempting to force people to believe our reasonable explanations of mysteries, rather than simply letting them be in awe.
In both situations, our inability to come up with a reason explanation results in such dissatisfaction that we close our eyes, that we refuse to believe what we see, that we refuse to hear what we hear. And we ignore the reality that is our life in Christ.
Consider Peter’s words a moment later, when Jesus asks if he is going to leave as well. “Nope, you have the words of life!” For Peter, man’s reason couldn’t trump God’s reality They were used to not getting it right away, they were used to getting the parables explained, and trying to figure out how He could speak words, and calm storms. How He spoke words, and blind eyes could see, and with limbs could function. These apostles, these they didn’t leave, they heard words of life that caused the dead to rise.
They couldn’t explain it either! They struggled with what it all meant. Even as Jesus is about to ascend, the wounds still fresh in His hands, his ankles, his side, they doubt, scripture tells us. They couldn’t come up with reasonable explanations for what they saw, they didn’t understand everything He taught, even when they had it explained.
But they knew Jesus; they saw his handiwork, and they clung to the one who did things they couldn’t understand.
Because He was real. Because He was present, they saw His work; they heard His promises, and they depended on Him when they couldn’t understand.
Reality is beyond our ability to reason; the logic is beyond our ability to discern. THe apostles went with reality, their faith in the one they know.
Our reality, our life is in Jesus….even though we don’t understand it all. He is the one who died and rose, the one who spoke and created, the one who said, “eat my body and drink my blood – and live.
Live my friends, knowing the Lord is merciful. Even though that may not seem all that reasonable either.
AMEN!
Escriva, Josemaria. The Way (Kindle Locations 251-252). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
It’s time to come home: A sermon on Luke 15
It’s Time to Come Home
Luke 15:1-10
† In Jesus Name †
May the grace, the incredible love, mercy, and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, give you confidence and desire to let Him joyfully carry you home!
You are the One:
When you compare the epistle and the gospel lessons this morning, there is a conclusion you can draw that is pretty simple.
Paul didn’t see himself as one of the 99.
He saw himself as the one, the one who wasn’t just lost, but in the process of being destroyed.
He saw himself as the one who was as notorious a sinner as any, yet he realized the incredible patience of God, who searched for him, and found him.
The challenge isn’t thinking we are the ones who get to celebrate Paul’s return, but the fact that we, like Paul, needed to be rescued. For we like Paul, find ourselves broken, lost and in need of a savior.
And when we trust Jesus, and He joyfully carries us home… then there is a party like none we’ve ever seen.
To get there – there are a few challenges
It’s not “them.”
The first challenge is realizing who we are. There are two groups mentioned in the gospel. The first group who work and sincerely dedicate their entire lives to following God’s law – to living as He commanded. The second group is our group – the group that is notorious sinners.
Now I need to let you know what a notorious sinner is. It’s not as bad as it sounds…
It’s actually kind of worse.
One of the ways the word is defined in Greek is one who falls off the path, one who can’t stay on it. We understand that the path is narrow, but I don’t think we realize it is a bridge like this one, with ditches that are about 1000 feet deep to each side.
Sort of like this path in China that they call the glass path.
Here’s another view.
Sin is simply deviating from the path. It doesn’t matter whether it is using God’s name in the wrong way, murder, adultery or gossip. It is sin, and you and I fall into it, far too often.
Even as the Pharisees stand there, judging the tax collectors and notorious sinners, they are sinning, denying the very grace of God, the grace they were entrusted with, the grace that should have inspired them to help others come to hear Jesus.
Jesus realizes this, and there is a gentle jab at the Pharisees when he says the shepherd leaves the 99 in the wilderness – for he identifies that all are in the wilderness,
The wilderness – the place of nothingness, the place without any blessing from God.
The ones who determined they are holy enough, that they are truly dedicated to God, find themselves outside… while the sheep who lay dying, is brought home…
And brought home Scripture says – joyfully.
Guess it pays off to admit we need His mercy, that we need God to find us. Doesn’t that sound strange? That those who depend on their strength are left behind, while those needy are brought to safety and celebration?
There is joy in your transformation
This is the second challenge. We need to recognize the joy that Jesus has bringing us home and the fact that the work brings more joy to God than the 99 who are righteous. Of course, we know that none are righteous, but even so, the picture of Jesus is one with a grin on his face!
Dad, I’ve brought another one home!
Now imagine him saying it on the cross – it’s finished – Tom’s home, Al’s home, you’ve been brought home.
Remember, the letter to the Hebrews tells us that it was this very joy of getting us into the kingdom of God, bringing us to where we should be, that Jesus endured the cross.
What an amazing thing!
To think that what brings God the greatest joy – and all of heaven with Him is when we trust Him enough to cleanse us, heal us, and bring us into the presence of the Father.
That is what brings God joy, for us to become His children, for us to become His people, for us to realize, and trust the fact that He is our God, our heavenly father.
I don’t know if we understand that all too well. That when we realize God’s grace, when we have an aha moment when His grace transforms our lives and that is seen, the joy it brings Him and all heaven is greater than our awe, and our joy!
The Feast.
It is so great – that Jesus’s parable mentions a great feast – a great party full of joy, inviting everyone to rejoice with Him. The same for the lady who finds the reward for her work, that was for a moment – thought lost. They both throw a feast – as they recover something quite precious to them.
I often wondered- for the man who owned the sheep – what did they feast on? What was the main course?
I mean, it would be a little odd to throw a feast like that and serve lamb chops!
I bring the sermon to a close with this; the man gave his life to bring us home, to carry us with him in His death and resurrection,
and so for this feast- celebrating our homecoming, celebrating our repentant, transformed life, is a feast where the host serves the very best – where He gives His all to us.
His broken body, the blood poured out so that we could be brought home… and this feast is on of great joy, as it celebrates this,
Alleluia! He is Risen indeed
He is Risen! Indeed! Alleluia
And therefore,
We are risen alleluia indeed!
And He has brought us home….
It’s Time to Stop Hiding Behind Our Sinful Nature
Discussion Thought of the Day:
22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. 3 The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4 He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit. Romans 7:22-25, 8:1-4 (NLT)
4 Don’t say, “That’s the way I am—it’s my character.” It’s your lack of character. Esto vir!—Be a man!
125 Since faith brings the Holy Spirit and produces a new life in our hearts, it must also produce spiritual impulses in our hearts. What these impulses are, the prophet shows when he says (Jer. 31:33), “I will put my law upon their hearts.” After we have been justified and regenerated by faith, therefore, we begin to fear and love God, to pray and expect help from him, to thank and praise him, and to submit to him in our afflictions. Then we also begin to love our neighbor because our hearts have spiritual and holy impulses.
“Pastor, I can’t help it, I am just a poor, poor sinner.”
That response is a conditioned response, it is what pastors and priests have taught people to say. It is the response to sin of a generation where the sacraments have been diminished. Where absolution is not really heard and understood in the heart and the mind.
But what it does pick up on, is the law that convicts it, the passages that say, “no one is good”, “all have sinned”, and a focus that never is taken off of the doctrine of justification. People have heard all about, they know what it is, well as far as we can’t save ourselves, we are dead in sin and God delivers us. But they don’t hear the so what – how this absolution, how this declaration that we are righteous changes our lives.
With on the “what”, people (and I include pastors and priests as people – we are really) will make the what the end of the story. We still sin, God still forgives. We aren’t perfect, we’re just forgiven, and people will turn that into permission to keep on sinning.
We believe that works can’t save us, we know that nothing we do merits salvation, and we stop (and encourage people to stop ) there. That’s enough, trust in God and you will be saved people believe.
When we allow this, o what a great disserve we do! It would be like telling a convict the charges against them are overturned, but not unlocking their cell door, not removing the handcuffs, nor giving them clothes that identified them as something other. We have to share the complete gospel, all of the mercy, reveal to them the wonder of His love.
They’ve been not only declared righteous, but the Holy Spirit dwells in them, making them holy. sanctifying them, empowering them to live the baptized, repentant (transformed ) life. Our people don’t need to live in secret, hiding behind their sin or their propensity to sin. They can be encouraged to live in the freedom that Christ has given them.
That is what the third quote, from the Lutheran Confessions, is telling us. That the Spirit creating life in our hearts, is creating the impulses to do that which isn’t sin, impulses to love God, impulses to love our neighbor, impulses to trust Him more and more, and because we trust Him we are driven to reach our and serve those around us, meeting needs from physical to emotional to spiritual.
This is how Paul, distraught over his sin, finally comes to the realization (and needed to remember it daily) that justified, we can set aside that sin, and follow the Spirit. Does that mean we won’t sin on occasion? No, but it changes what drives us, what impulses we want to follow -and as time goes by, as we explore the depth of God’s love revealed in Christ, those impulses bring us great joy.
This is what St. Josemaria talks about when he challenges us to be men, not those who hide behind the weakness of character, who justify sin by saying that is who they are.
It is a challenge to live life as God intended, walking with Him, focused on Him, but even when we fail, He has, He is the answer. The Christian life is knowing this and living in light of it.
Heavenly Father, have mercy on us, your children!
AMEN!
Escriva, Josemaria. The Way (Kindle Locations 177-178). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Tappert, Theodore G., ed. The Book of Concord the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press, 1959. Print.Apology of the Augsburg Confession Article IV
How to Restore a Life, a Church, a Community, and Even a Country
Devotional Thought of the Day:
All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.What came to be 4 through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race;5 the light shines in the darkness,and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:3-5
Money can buy many things, but not the spirit of selflessness and service. That can, perhaps, be borrowed for awhile from other countries, but when it is lacking for any length of time in the whole organism of a nation, its achievement stands on feet of clay, and its collapse is in the long run inevitable. (1)
It is amazing how many people make promises that would give us hope. A new product will change our lives, a new investment program will ensure comfort in our retirement, a politician will make our communities thrive again.
What these ads are telling us, whether we realize it is or not, is that we are impoverished. That we don’t have the ability to truly live life to its fullest, because we lack this essential ingredient.
This is true for individuals, for churches, communities and our country. These advertisers, selling everything from caffeine, bacon and beer to pecan-pumpkin flavored bleach and political candidates are telling us, “you don’t have a life”, or “your life, such as it is, sucks.”
What they don’t realize, is the only essential in our lives, is Christ… and that changes everything… for it creates life.
Pope Benedict in one of my readings this morning, noted that declining countries are those who are lacking people who are willing to work the people to serve in our nursing homes and hospitals, who will take on the hardest roles where personal sacrifice is called for daily. We import people to work in those areas, rather than raising up our children and the children in our communities to make a difference. They may be imported from other states, or other countries – but imported they are.
It is not hard to see a correlation between that and the death of churches in communities. For as the church dies, the amount of people who follow Christ – not just into heaven, but walk with Him, imitating Him, living as He did – for He himself brings life to us, and defines it as He lives in harmony with the Father and the Spirit, even as He calls us into that relationship.
This is our identity, this is our life, this is what it means to be His people, and for Him to be our God. To be the children of God who love as we are loved, who lay aside our lives for others, that they would be reconciled to God. That they too would be able to share in God’s glory, that they would know and be united to Jesus.
This is why scripture points out that true religion is caring for the widow and orphan! It points out that the sheep are welcomed into heaven because they served (even though they didn’t realize they were serving!) We see that in the Augsburg Confession as well, as it talks of obedience and good works as the effect of knowing God’s love. It all starts with His love, and the result of that is a love that brings us to serve each other.
So if we want to see our church or our country renewed, it starts with knowing Jesus, with knowing the love and mercy of God which transforms us into people who serve, and even suffer, as Christ did – for the joy set before us, knowing the love of God for HIs people, of whom we are a part.
Ratzinger, Joseph. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Ed. Irene Grassl. Trans. Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1992. Print.
The Nature of Suffering and Ministry: Some thoughts on those criticizing Mother Theresa
Devotional THoguht for the Day:
41 He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” 43 Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. 44 He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. 45 At last he stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief. Luke 22:41-45 (NLT)
The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts. For theirs is a community composed of men. United in Christ, they are led by the Holy Spirit in their journey to the Kingdom of their Father and they have welcomed the news of salvation which is meant for every man. That is why this community realizes that it is truly linked with mankind and its history by the deepest of bonds. (1)
17 Alms could be listed here, (among the sacraments) as well as afflictions, which in themselves are signs to which God has added promises. (2)
I read a critique about St. Theresa of Calcutta (still Mother Theresa to me) yesterday which said her being made a saint should be controversial because of two things. The first is that she glorified suffering instead of relieving it, and that she had a strong missional spirit, to the extent she was accused of using her ministry to make proselytes.
I think the author has no idea of suffering, or to be more precise, he makes a generalization about suffering that is too short-sighted. On top of that, he confuses proselytism with ministry.
There is suffering that must be relieved – some of it simple, such as feeding and educating the poor. Or the sacrifices that are made to relieve suffering in the midst of natural disaster and other traumatic experiences. W e need to be there – to alleviate what we can – and to ensure that as we do, they know they are loved.
The is suffering that cannot be relieved (especially in the short run) without a miraculsou healing, which can and does happen. Yet it is not on-demand, and only God knows why in this case and not that. Such are the poor with leprosy Theresa and her co-workers ministered to, or those on hospice I helped our nurses minister to as their staff chaplain. The answer here is not to simply do away with those who suffer, but to be there with them, to make sure they are not abandoned, to offer comfort and peace to them and those around them. The answer cannot be euthanasia, that is not an answer, it is dismissing the value of the person, who is a valuable part of our community. SO there is suffering that must be endured – but never alone!
Then there is suffering which should be endured, for the sake of the gospel, in order to share the love of God with people. The kind of suffering that Theresa chose, the physical and psychological and even spiritual despair that accompanies ministering to those who are suffering. This is the suffering that is “sacramental” as the Lutheran confessions explain sacraments. It is the suffering the church gladly takes on, for in this ministry, we encounter Jesus. It is the suffering the apostles would feel – that would even exhaust them to where they fell asleep because of the turmoil, because of the ministry, because of the grief.
This is where the writer accused Mother Theresa of proselytizing the people she and her co-workers minister too. As if they did this to grow numbers in a club, or as if they got a bonus from God for making converts. I’ve been in similar circumstances, and often, being there when all others have left, when others can’t stand the pain, the suffering, even the stench of disease, is when we encounter the Holy Spirit at work, and a heart made ready to know a love that makes a difference.
It’s not caring for people so that they will convert, but as God reveals himself, it happens. They find His love, they find HIs mercy, they find a strength that turns their suffering into something holy, for both them and the one offering care.
That is when suffering, well there isn’t a word I can think of except beautiful or glorious, or maybe transcendent. When hope prevails over pain, and joy is mixed with the sorrow, when God is present, and when the line between patient and caregiver is blurred, because we realize in that moment God is caring for both of us, and we are simply His kids. He ministers to each, through the other.
That is something that is hard to notice from an office, from a keyboard or even watching video that recorded the ministry. You have to become part of it, have a stake in it, and serve those, and be served. It happens, as God dwells among His people.
As He hears and answers their cries for mercy, sometimes in ways not expected, but He answers, and hearts and minds are brought to know a peace that is beyond understanding.
(1) Catholic Church. “Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World: Gaudium Et Spes.” Vatican II Documents. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2011. Print.
(2) Tappert, Theodore G., ed. The Book of Concord the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press, 1959. Print. (from Article XIII of the Apology of the Augsburg Confession…
What Sex Can Teach us About our Relationship with God.
Devotional Thought for the Day:
5 And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” 6 The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to [this] mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. Luke 17:5-6NAB-RE
Men experience the preciousness of things, and experience it fully, only in the company of those who share their enjoyment; in this way, they become aware of the festive quality of an existence that is so often hostile and ill-humored in their regard but is present at a meal, as it were, with open hands, with a gesture of lavish generosity, of unrestrained joy. This liberality of existence, which is rich and bestows itself freely, is an intrinsic part of a meal. The same is true of a wedding. In it, the elevation of the biological process of sexual attraction to a fundamental spiritual act of Eros, of the human being’s loving transcendence of self, is crystallized, epitomized, and confirmed. Here, too, we experience the liberal graciousness of existence, which grants us the festive wonder of a love we cannot force but that comes to us of its own accord, takes us by surprise and overwhelms us, transforms our life, gives us a new inner center, and even, in moments of ecstatic bliss, confers on us a foretaste of a life that is brighter and fuller than our everyday life. (1)
I’ve been known to use the phrase “intimate relationship with God” more than once, and more than in one setting. Reactions are often very strong and very polarized to it. Some feel it is too common, to base, even too perverted, or it could be taken that way. Some understand it, even though they might struggle with the implications of a God that desires that we should be His people.
The words in blue above come from a man whose took an oath to remain celibate for the rest of his life. His words describe it well thought – the transcendence, the even spiritual act of eros – of giving and being given, or experiencing a level of transcendence, and even “confers on us a foretaste of a life that is bright and fuller than our everyday life”.
The physical act is not contrary to God’s purposes – he established it as something two should share. two that committed before God and man to each other, as a way of testifying to the love. It is as much spiritual as it is physical, and in that sense gives us a look at what our spiritual relationship with God is like, and what it will be like in heaven.
Please hear this – we aren’t saying eternity is sexual – that our relationship with God is simply physical – but rather – that the spiritual aspect gives us an insight into what it means to truly commit to another – to love them, to seek our their best interest. Love means losing yourself, the awareness of yourself, as you care for the other person – and as you do that – there is something overwhelming, something that transforms us, something that is more than life, alone, abandoned, broken. It is intimate in it reveals the innermost parts of us, the part that is being recreated in Christ Jesus – the most intimate, deep, definition who we are – defined in relationship to God – the I AM.
You see this a little earlier – as a father reacts to his beloved son’s return,
While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. – Luke 15:20
The father doesn’t care about his dignity, he doesn’t care about his prestige or reputation. He doesn’t care about people (including his other son) thinking he is fool who will be taken advantage of. All that is set aside – this is a son, whom he loves, and the answer to many a night without sleep. THIS IS HIS SON!!!
It is that transcendent moment, the moment the I become I-Thou, the moment we realize how deeply God loves us, and how it transforms us, as we learn to love in return, as He teaches us. As we are united to Him in baptism, reunited as He forgives our sins and cleanses us of all unrighteousness, as we celebrate this relationship – this holy relationship as He gives us His body and blood.
Bringing us back to the original quote of scripture. They ask fo more faith, and what they are really asking for is to trust God more, that God would draw us closer to Him, make Himself more real, defeat our defenses – and show us His complete love for us.
That is, of course, the answer to another prayer as well…
Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.
And it is answered, and we see it when we are in union with Christ Jesus.
(1) Ratzinger, Joseph. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Ed. Irene Grassl. Trans. Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1992. Print.
Hang On For the Ride of Your Life! A sermon on Deut. 30:15-20
Hang On For the Ride of Your LIFE!
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
† I.H.S.†
May, in the midst of this crazy life we live, you find exploring the height, the depth, the breadth and width of God’s love for you is more exciting than anything you have ever known!
A Pastor Parker Parable
It’s been a while since I did a Pastor Parker Parable, and today’s Old Testament passage seems to cry out for one.
The Kingdom of God is like a Cannonball.
Specifically, following Jesus, trusting and depending on Him is like a cannonball found in my hometown, just a couple of minutes ride from my house.
Specifically, this cannonball (click to picture) the Yankee Cannonball at Canobie Lake Park.
When I was a kid it was the most creaky, rickety, rollercoaster that I’ve ever been on. It was a blast and very cool…yet scary!
One that wasn’t scary because of the 120 foot first drop, or the sharp curves, or the screams. Sometimes it looked like this, when they replaced half the sticks holding up the tracks…
Which made it interesting.
Sort of like life.
And like, you can hang on for dear life, and enjoy the ride, or you can close your eyes, and miss it. For like the ride, life passes by much too fast – I mean where did July and August go?
So when you hear Moses or myself says, God is giving you a choice between life and death, love God, and hang on for life!
Keep Your Eyes Open!!!
There is a temptation, as you start to climb the long first hill of a rollercoaster, to close your eyes. To ignore the height, you are climbing above the ground, and if you could, you probably close your ears to the tatatataa of the tracks passing underneath the wheels, bringing you closer and closer to the top of the hill, and the change from a gradual, gentle uphill climb to a plummeting descent that causes your cheeks to be behind your ears.
You want to blame someone, whoever caused you to be on this rollercoaster, even as you feel the entire framework sway in the gentle breeze.
And then your stomach is hovering 128 feet above the ground, while the rest of body is bottoming out at 3 feet above the ground and starting to rise up the next hill! ( you do wonder why you didn’t crash full force into the ground, especially as you noticed a lot of wood missing…)
That is our life. There are times where our anxiety rises and turns into a paralyzing fear. We want someone to blame for the mess we are in, and we aren’t having fun. Where we are certain that we are plummeting to our death, or even hell, and we can’t stop and get off of life.
And so we close our eyes to the sin, to the unrighteousness. We try to dismiss it, and say it doesn’t exist, even as it tears at our face, even as we get that sick to our stomach feeling, even as we are sure we are going to crash.
Without Jesus, we would do exactly that. We would crash into the ground at 5000 miles an hour! The supports would give out, and quite possibly, we would take a bunch of people with us.
I am not sure we see sin that clearly. Oh, we might know the anxiety and the guilt and the shame, but do we realize that its end is death? DO you know that sin is disaster? Hear scripture
17 “But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, 18 then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed.
Do we get that sin crushes us, destroys us, that it leads us to worship other gods, to place our trust and hope in things that will let us down?
It does – and if the guilt and shame we try so hard to avoid, if the angst and anxiety sin and unrepentance causes doesn’t convince you of your need for Jesus, then take a serious look at hell. Consider life lived with eyes closed in fear, pain, separation from all of those around you.
Imagine enduring that for eternity?
Imagine the darkness closing in on you – that the choice you have, to open your eyes,
Jesus sets before you that, and real life today. In fact, most of us live with that choice every day.
Life, death, that which is desirable and pleasant, or that which is broken, defective, abandoned.
You’re committed
You see, life is like the rollercoaster – you aren’t in line, you are on the coaster, the wheels are going, the rails are clicking, the wind is blowing past you.
You are committed, but how you react within that commitment makes the difference.
You can close yourself off, from others and from God.
Or you can open your eyes, scream every once in a while, smile and enjoy the ride, trusting in the Lord who is your support, who is your safety, who is your refuge. Who designed the track, who knows the curves, who ensures that you will keep going!
In our reading – it says the way we “LIVE” is to love God, to treasure all that He has established, the laws, the gospel, the promises, the blessings, and where it says commit – that’s means simply to hold on.
And like the front bat on the rollercoaster, your have on for dear life – and it helps you in the curves and in the drops….
But what keeps you safe is that the coaster hangs onto you – you are belted in, you aren’t going anywhere, until it is time to unfasten this belt, because you find yourself safely back home in the station. Until you are safely in His presence….even as you are here for a moment, but then for eternity.
He holds onto you – He is the author and finisher of your faith, and He will present you perfect to the Father.
Keep your eyes open, on Him, hold onto Him, knowing He has united you to himself in baptism, and he will not lose you, and live and enjoy the ride.
knowing the peace that comes, even on a roller coaster. For we are cleansed, made holy, forgiven, healed and never abandoned by our Lord.
And He guards our hearts and minds as we dwell in the peace of our Father, peace that even overcomes fears on a 75-year-old wooden roller coaster!
AMEN!
It’s not Inconvenient! It is theft of a treasure, your treasure.
Devotional thought for the weekend:
16 He replied to him, “A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many. 17 When the time for the dinner came, he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, ‘Come, everything is now ready.’ 18 But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, ‘I have purchased a field and must go to examine it; I ask you, consider me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen and am on my way to evaluate them; I ask you, consider me excused.’ 20 And another said, ‘I have just married a woman, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 The servant went and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ 22 The servant reported, ‘Sir, your orders have been carried out and still there is room.’ 23 The master then ordered the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled. 24 For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.’ ” Luke 14:16-24 NABRE
3 So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak? Hebrews 2:2-3 (NLT)
I’ve got to work! I’ve got responsibilities! I’ve got family obligations! (Though what obligation a newlywed has to his wife… or wait – nevermind!)
Following Christ doesn’t have a simple agenda. It can’t be planned out a month in advance. There are times it means that after a hard day’s work, you spend the night helping a neighbor, or helping (with love) to that obstinate, pain in the ass relative.
There will be long days, days where plans are changed, days where things are moved around. Days where our devotions may not happen when we want. There might even be a day when we have to miss church, not to go to a ball game, but to help a hurting person.
The temptation is just to skip it that day, to pick up tomorrow what we should have done today, and just push it all back a day. Been there, done that. One year – my read through the Bible – which should have gone November 1 to October 31st, well – I gave up mid-February as I was already a month behind! Guilt and shame set in, because I wasn’t giving God the proper response He deserved. I wasn’t a good disciple, and I wondered if I was so weak, why would people follow me as a pastor?
But I didn’t understand discipleship – and I didn’t really understand the purpose of devotional time, and that misunderstanding gave me the ability to set it aside, to declare it inconvenient. An inconvenience somehow excused the necessity, because the ministry was more important than devotions, or work projects were, or family and family…uhm… obligations.
I realized sometime in that year that I missed the reading, and the liturgy I entered into every morning. I realized I didn’t “do” devotions to prove that I was devoted to God! (Sometimes we do it to prove to Him, and sometimes just to prove it to ourselves.) I can’t prove my devotion, and too be honest, as long as was my motivation, I would falter and fail.
Devotional time is not about proving our devotion as if providing us improved us. I need my devotional time – because it proves His devotion to me. I need to know that, I need to know the love that won’t let me go, I need to be convinced that I can run to His arms, depending on a mercy that promises to forgive my sin, and cleanse me from the sin of a world that could crush me.
This is my time with my Father, to hear of His love, His mercy, His desire to rescue me from the brokenness of my life.
And so, if life made me miss, I get back and make it up, savoring the little steps I take with Him, as He points out a little more of the height, the depth. The width and breadth of His love for me, and for my people, and for the community of humanity.
I need this time, which comes all together as I write a blog, or a sermon, or just worship and pray. I desperately need it, so much so I can’t count it inconvenient to miss, I consider it theft, and do what I can to get what God would give me back….
You too need a time like this, not just to read, not just to pray, but to realize the blessing of God; that is in your life. No, that is your life.
Start simple – and as you begin to be in awe – add a little more….. and become hungry to know more and more of this Lord of life.
For this is His mercy… the mercy we sinners cry out for…
Should I Stay or Should I God: Balancing Devotion and Ministry
Devotional Thought for the day:
29 So the people of Israel—every man and woman who was eager to help in the work the LORD had given them through Moses—brought their gifts and gave them freely to the LORD. Exodus 35:29 (NLT)
63 But after a man is converted, and thereby enlightened, and his will is renewed, then he wills that which is good, in so far as he is reborn or a new man, and he delights in the law of God according to his inmost self (Rom. 7:22). And immediately he does good, as much and as long as the Holy Spirit motivates him, as St. Paul says, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”8
64 This impulse of the Holy Spirit is no coercion or compulsion because the converted man spontaneously does that which is good, as David says, “Your people will offer themselves freely on the day you lead your host.”9
In the world of today, when people are so burdened with duties and their problems, which oftentimes have to be solved with great haste, range through so many fields, there is considerable danger of dissipating their energy. Priests, too, involved and constrained by so many obligations of their office, certainly have reason to wonder how they can coordinate and balance their interior life with feverish outward activity. Neither the mere external performance of the works of the ministry, nor the exclusive engagement in pious devotion, although very helpful, can bring about this necessary coordination. Priests can arrive at this only by following the example of Christ our Lord in their ministry. His food was to follow the will of him who had sent him to accomplish his work.21
I remember back in the day there were those who thought Franklin Planners and Day Runners were the key to success. Just use all the little tabs, the priority tools, the calendar and you would be a success in business.
That is of course, assuming you were able to keep track of the $120 leather bound notebook! We complain about our cell phones being leashes these days! Those things took the place of God in our priorities!
Seriously though, as I read the Book of Concord and the words from Vatican II this morning I was taken back to those days, to friends who assured me that having a organized and structured life was the key to successful ministry, and those who insisted that instead it is a pastor’s duty to first spend extensive time in devotion and prayer. Not measured in minutes -but hours a day, a day a week – a week a year. That only then will a pastor be able to endure.
And of course, each was backed up by Biblical examples.
There are still those who put forth those answers today. That want me to read these books they found – by Steve Covey or by Dallas Willard. (representative of the two thoughts) I am torn between the two often – there are people that I need to go see, things I need to plan, and yet there is also the need – a desperate need, to be still, to know that He is God, He is my God, my loving, merciful benevolent Father, and I am his child.
So how do you strike a balance? Or can you?
I have tried for far too long, more than 3 decades tried to discern this balance.
And the answer is far more… simple.. and thus more overwhelming.
Follow Christ’s will….
There are going to be times we have to lay aside everything and go. There are times where we have to manage our time. And there are times – where if we don’t seek God’s face, where we don’t encounter His presence, we will be worthless.
How do I know the difference?
By being in tune with Christ, with knowing He is walking with me. To understand that I am not the messiah – and I draw my strength from knowing His mercy for me personally. (This is why I have absolutely no problem with a daily celebration of the Lord’s Supper!) I need to know His presence, I need to know His cleansing work within me.
Then it is simple to hear his voice, then it is simple to know how to give, how to spend that time.
It has to be the Holy Spirit who coordinates that – I can simply keep focusing on Jesus, and depend on Him to make it work.
And so He does.
That is what “Lord have mercy on me, a sinner” is all about. AMEN!
Tappert, Theodore G., ed. The Book of Concord the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press, 1959. Print. Formula of Concord: Solid Declaration: II Free Will or Human Powers
Catholic Church. “Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests: Presbyterorum Ordinis.” Vatican II Documents. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2011. Print.
