Monthly Archives: March 2017
Don’t Waste a Monday: It can be glorious!
Devotional Thought fo the Day”
1 So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. 2 For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished. 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 2:1-3 (NLT)
7 A day of salvation, of eternity, has come for us. Once again the call of the Divine Shepherd can be heard, those affectionate words: Vocavi te nomine tuo—I have called you by your name. Just like our mother, he calls us by our name, even by the name we were affectionately called at home. There, in the depths of our soul, he calls us and we just have to answer: Ecce ego quia vocasti me—here I am, for you have called me, and this time I’m determined not to let time flow by like water over rounded stones, leaving no trace behind. (1)
It is Monday morning, and the temptation is to simply outlast the day. To go through work and life on some kind of automatic pilot, to ignore the boredom, or monotony, to survive the stress and anxiety it causes.TO just moan about the impact of the time change and on top of it, the normal Monday grind. We can, to use the phrase from St Josemaria – just let Monday pass us by, without leaving any trace…
There is an option.
We can hear His voice. We can hear Him call our name, and transform our Monday into something greater, a journey with our friend, the Lord who loves us and cares for us. Hearing His voice, letting it resonate within us, makes Mondays (and everyday ) a time of awe, a time where His work leaves us breathless, as He transforms everything around us. On Mondays we have the opportunity to radiate His glory, to share in His mission, to realize as Jesus was sent by the Father, so He has sent us.
For while He has saved us for eternity, He has also sent us back into this world to help save it, as we journey through life with Him.
Why would it make sense to waste this? Do we value our life in CHirst so little that we would rather walk into the darkness without being by His side?
Or would we rather see this as another day for salvation, another chance to see the masterpieces God creates as He calls to others through us?
May we not neglect this day, and the Lord who calls to us in it!
AMEN!
(1)Escriva, Josemaria. The Forge (Kindle Locations 257-262). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
There is Another Way: A Lenten Sermon on Romans 4
There is another Way
Romans 4:1-8, 13-17
† In Jesus Name †
As we realize the sin we commit, may we also realize the grace of God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, which cleanses us from the sin, even as we come to depend on His presence in our lives!
Parenthetical Statement
In the midst of the passage from Romans this morning, our translation puts a few of the words inside of parenthesis. They are no less part of scripture, and I would call your attention to them this morning…
They are these words, “The only way to avoid breaking the law, is to have no law to break!”
That seems simple. No law, no breaking the law.
Even though they are scripture, they present a problem for us. They are a literary device, not what we would call “pure gospel”. A literary device, sort of like sarcasm or irony.
You see, as a literary device, the idea of getting rid of God’s law is predetermined to fail.
For one thing, it’s impossible.
For another… well you will see.
We can’t avoid it – because of Adam
Paul’s literary device fails, simply because we can’t avoid sin. Last week we saw why, sin entered the world through Adam, and it was passed on, as vicious as any virus or genetic anomaly to every person who was a product of human conception.
All we have to do is look at what our lives produce, and we know that the Apostle Paul was right when he said that, “the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it.”
That seems like a bit of a challenge, doesn’t it? You try to obey God’s law, and you can’t!
Some will say the law is impossible, that we should just ignore God’s law, and do whatever we want. Others give up, and others pretend that they have never sinned, or that their sin isn’t as evil as the sins of those they complain about.
Sin, we’ve all done it, we’ve all earned the wrath of God that are the wages for that sin. Ignorance of the law doesn’t matter, and we can’t simply make God’s law disappear, or claim that it isn’t for us…
You can’t avoid the law, it exists, which is why we need what Abraham discovered….. the discovery that David says brings great joy.
Rejoice, we were cleared of breaking it.
Hear David’s words again,
7 “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. 8 Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord as cleared of sin.”
This promise is for all people, without care for their age, their ethnicity, where they lived or even the sin they committed. This wondrous act of God, clearing us of sin, putting the sin out of sight is amazing!
Trusting God, depending on Him to keep a promise that goes back to the garden of Eden is what we are talking about, it is how we have a “right relationship” with God.
Since the beginning this is God’s plan, since God covered Adam and Eve’s sin with the skins of animals, since God saw Abraham’s trust, first in the promise of Isaac’s birth, and then as he went to sacrifice Isaac, knowing God’s promise was deeper than he could understand. Hebrew’s tells us that he counted that through Isaac God would provide him more descendants than the sand on the shore, or stars in the sky.
That trust, that dependence on God saw Abraham counted as a friend, just as David, whose sins far outweighed his predecessor King Saul, God describes as a man after his own heart. Paul gets this as well,
20 Here we are, then, speaking for Christ, as though God himself were making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf: let God change you from enemies into his friends! 21Christ was without sin, but for our sake God made him share our sin in order that in union with him we might share the righteousness of God. 1 Cor. 5:20-21
This right relationship we share – another way of describing God’s work in creating it is what Paul told the church in Corinth – His way of changing us from enemies into His friends.
His friends.
Let that sink in.
Like Abraham, being counted as righteous means you are counted as a friend of God.
His friend.
That’s what a right relationship with God is, which explains why David uses this word joy to describe our sin being put away.
During Lent, this is what we focus upon, this work of God we need, this love of God that proclaims we are cleansed, healed, forgiven, loved, by the Creator of the universe, who created us to be His friend.
And though sin tried to break that relationship, our God had already prepared for that, even before creation, for His intent has always been the same as it was in the garden,
to walk with us… He as our God, we as His people, his children, His friends.
And the cross, it is our way to avoid the damage of sin. And it works. So be at peace and trust in God who loves you more than anything.
AMEN!
Forging the faithful… and standing the heat…. Words of Encouragement for those who serve God’s treasured people
Devotional Thought of the day:
28 So, naturally, we proclaim Christ! We warn everyone we meet, and we teach everyone we can, all that we know about him, so that, if possible, we may bring every man up to his full maturity in Christ. This is what I am working at all the time, with all the strength that God gives me. Colossians 1:28 (Phillips NT)
12 He did this to prepare all God’s people for the work of Christian service, in order to build up the body of Christ. 13 And so we shall all come together to that oneness in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God; we shall become mature people, reaching to the very height of Christ’s full stature.
Ephesians 4:12-13 (TEV)
There was a mother who, like all mothers, was passionately fond of her little child, whom she called her prince, her king, her treasure, her very sun. I thought of you. And I understood —for what father does not carry deep inside some maternal feelings?— that it was no exaggeration for that good mother to say: you are more than a treasure, you are worth more than the sun itself: you are worth all Christ’s Blood! How can I fail to take up your soul —pure gold— and place it in the forge, and fashion it with fire and hammer, until that gold nugget is turned into a splendid jewel to be offered to my God, to your God?
I was talking to another person in ministry this week, and we were talking about how to encourage young people to make the sacrifices of entering the ministry. Within the context was also the discussion of the sacrifices we make to serve others. One of the sacrifices you might realize as you read the words in blue above.
If we are to be the instruments that which the Holy Spirit uses to “forge” people, to shape and mold them as we teach them and administer the sacraments, that weans we have to deal with the heat as well. Using more Lutheran terminology, you can’t preach Law and Gospel without hearing it yourself. For that is how St Josemaria’s forge works, as we are purified and fashioned for the life God has planned for us – to be there for them.
Yet if we spend time at the forge, we have to be there in the heat, we have to hold on, and care for those God gives us to care for, to be there with the fire and the hammer, to work despite the heat, despite how it zaps our strength, despite their sweat and tears (and even the stubborn refusal to bend to God’s will)
Over 20 years of preaching in jails and churches, spending time at bedside and with those who are ill and dying, this is what ministry has taught me. It is those moments where the heat is the hottest that I remember – not for the pain, but for incredible beauty that appears as the Holy Spirit transforms them, as the Spirit revitalizes them and reveals in them the image of God in which they were created, which was marred and broken by sin.
And being in the heat – you get to witness this, you get to see it. You get to look to God and say – I see what you did there, Oh my, how holy! How they shine because of Your care, your mercy and love! How they reflect your glory! As we see this, the heat is forgotten, the Lord and His beloved children are all our mind can focus upon. It is an incredible blessing to see, more than any discomfort, far worth the sweat and the tears…
Miraculously something else happens, those of us who serve as tools, who endure the heat for others, realize the same heat that transformed them, is why we are able to bear the heat, because we too have been transformed and tempered as well. While sometimes we think we are not made for this work, God turns our lives into masterpieces as well.
Praise God for the heat of His forge, and the work He gives us…. for it is an incredible thing to have a small part in, as He uses us. AMEN!
Escriva, Josemaria. The Forge (Kindle Locations 226-231). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
When being a jackass is beneficial to my faith…
Devotional Thought of the day:
14 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was conferred on you through the prophetic word with the imposition of hands of the presbyterate. 15 Be diligent in these matters, be absorbed in them, so that your progress may be evident to everyone. 16 Attend to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in both tasks, for by doing so you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.
1 Timothy 4:14-16 (NAB)
998 O blessed perseverance of the donkey that turns the waterwheel! Always the same pace. Always around the same circle. One day after another, every day the same. Without that, there would be no ripeness in the fruit, nor blossom in the orchard, nor scent of flowers in the garden. Carry this thought to your interior life.
St Josemaria often referred to himself as a donkey, and as I finish reading his book, The Way, there is this quote, one that I believe is a key to the ministry he founded, and perhaps why he was able to persevere. The statement resonates with me, in that it is one of the things I need struggle with, what I call the Tyranny of the mundane.
While St Josemaria describes the animal like a donkey, if I were to insert myself into the story, I couldn’t choose the donkey. I would have to use the more coarse term, jackass for myself. And so I shall.
I struggle with the mundane, repetitive tasks, as always have. As an aspiring piano student, I wouldn’t do the drills my instructor wanted, I could sight read them easily enough. So my practice time was spent playing things like Billy Joel, Elton John, Styx, and Journey. I hated doing all the repetitive math problems, or any kind of “busy work.” I still do not! It doesn’t matter if it is work at the house, or at my office, or the things I do to take care of myself.
Its even easy to get lax in spiritual things, to allow them to become duties and not joys. To see them as obligations and monotonous duties rather than blessings. Whether it is the time in prayer, time in devotional or ministerial studies, time in worship and in taking the sacraments, it is far too easy to see these things as repetitive. This is what the Apostle Paul is warning Timothy about – the need to focus in, and persevere.
I am not so foolish as to think I will simply bypass such thoughts, and never feel that way.As I grow older, these times of temptation may be less, but they are still there, seasons where I can’t just be motivated on my own, seasons where I forget the blessing that awaits from doing what I cherish at other times.I call these times, my dry seasons. They come and go, but if I abandon my time with God during them, it is much harder to restart them. Much much harder.If I can keep going, if I can persevere, then eventually, the season will pass.. and I see what God is doing…
And this is where I need to become a jackass. Or perhaps it is better to say… become like a jackass?
The jackass doesn’t care if the work seems repetitive, redundant, monotonous. It simply does its job, aware that as it does, it will be cared for by those responsible for it. The jackass may never see the beauty its work provides, it may never get the connection between its work pumping water, and the feed it is given to nourish it. It just knows its task, and it does its job.
In endures, it perseveres, travels the same road over and over, and is content.
IN those times, where I don’t see the “payoff,” I need to trust in God’s promise. That I am His child, that He will never leave or forsake me, that this is all working for good, because He loves me, and is teaching, enabling and giving me the desire to love in response. For that is what these spiritual “disciplines” do.
Whether I see it, or not.
Whether you see it or not, this is true for you as well.
If you are in one of these dry seasons, keep going, persevere, the blessings are there, and you will, or others will see them as the dry season ends…..And be the jackass! Hmmm, that doesn’t sound quite right – how about, “act like a jackass? Hmmm no better… O well, you know what I mean.
If you abandoned it all during the last dry season, find a brother or sister who can help you get back to it. Return and spend time with God.
And with Him, you will find you dwell in peace! AMEN!
Escriva, Josemaria. The Way (Kindle Locations 2316-2319). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Love is, Jesus is, We are! Never Jealous, Boastful, or Proud
Love Is, Jesus is, We are
Never Jealous, Boastful or Proud
† In Jesus Name †
As we explore the dimensions of God the Father’s love for us, revealed clearly in Jesus, may we realize that He is not only loving us, but teaching us to love as well!
Love IS
Last week when we defined love, we heard about the fact that love never gives up and that love always cares for others more than itself. Which is the basic definition of the word cHesed in the Old Testament.
Those two characteristics are expanded this evening, as we look what Love is, and see that is who Jesus is, and become surprised that God is working in us, transforming us until that is who we are.
We see it take another step as we realize that love is NEVER jealous, that it is not boastful, that it is not proud.
Some interesting words there, all that are related to a heart that is self-centered that is driven by a need to have something, whether it goods, or admiration or applause. Love doesn’t need that, it is content, confident of the presence of God and the promises of God.
But how do we become so confident in where God has us, that we cease to be jealous, that we have need to boast, that we simply, humbly walk with God?
Jesus Is
The answer, as we will see throughout this Lent begins with Jesus, for you can read this passage of scri[ture and simply substitute Jesus for the word love, and nothing changes.
He wasn’t jealous, even though He left everything, every right, every possession aside when He was born of Mary, but also when He began to preach and teach, and when He went to the cross and died.
There was no need for Him to boast, instead of taking the best place, He washed feet, and ministered to the Leper, and had compassion on widows and Samaritans.
And what to be proud of? That He could do miracles? That He could teach thousands? That he could confound the best and brightest by simple God-centered answers to the questions they planned to trap Him with?
What good would any of that have done.
Instead, He did what He came to do, He loved. He was love!
We Are
So how does Jesus help us overcome our self-centeredness? How does He help us lay aside what we desire, and our need for admiration? How does He transform us into people that like Him, prefer to be last, and prefer to lift others up instead of themselves?
The gospels tell us that as Jesus is lifted up, He will draw all to Him. And as they are drawn to them, as they look on and adore the Lord who delivers them from their own sin’s punishment,
As we grow in understanding that we are loved by God, our need to be self-centered can disappear, little by little.
As you understand that His love for you compels Him to care for you, to act on your behalf, so jealousy fades away, as does the need for the acclaim and applause of others. He loves you, and that is so overwhelming that it is more than enough. Indeed, I am not sure I can even comprehend with my mind fully to realize what that means… that God loves you and me that much.
But my mind doesn’t have to, my heart and soul do, especially while I am at the altar, and receiving the Body and Blood of Christ……
It is then I understand these words of Mary,
46 … “Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. 47 How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! 48 For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed. 49 For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me. 50 He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear him. 51 His mighty arm has done tremendous things!
Luke 1:46-51 (NLT)
And quietly, as we are in awe of this love God shows us, the Holy Spirit is doing what the Apostle Paul described,
16 But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
2 Corinthians 3:16-18 (NLT)
That is what is happening to you my friends, as you dwell in God’s peace. AMEN!
We aren’t just obligated to go to church, it is something we desperately need
The church, is always in the midst of a storm… but safe in Him
Devotional Thought of the Day:
20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. Hebrews 10:20-25 (NLT)
997 Absence, isolation: trials for your perseverance. Holy Mass, prayer, sacraments, sacrifices, communion of the saints: weapons to conquer in the trial.
Growing up, there was a sense that church was an obligation. In fact, there were days called “holy days of obligation.” To miss going to church on these days was considered a sin.
But I never asked why it was a sin, I was just told it was, and I responded as everyone does when forced to do a task, I rebelled. Didn’t go, and even if I did, I wasn’t really there, I wasn’t really particpating. So even if I was there, I really wasn’t.
The one thing I never asked was why we were obligated, and if I had, I am hoping the answer would have been what we see above in Hebrews 10. There God makes clear that we are welcome there, and there we find encouragement to endure until Christ returns.
We need to be with each other, we need to be celebrating God’s presence together, we need to share as those who receive His mercy. (this is why I am so in favor of having the Lord’s Supper weekly, if not offered more frequently!)
For there together, we find God keeping His promises – reconciling that which was torn apart, healing that which is broken.Bringing together that which was isolated and fitting into the place it fits in His body. We were created to experience life in community, as part of something that endures, that is sustained, that grows healthy and strong.
As we realize that this is not an obligation of force, but one of need, our hearts change.We begin to treasure what church brings, we see it as a time that is holy, set apart as a time for us to find rest, and refuge, forgiveness, and the awareness of God’s presence in our lives. A presence confirmed as others tell us His peace is with us, that He is with us.
As we realize this church goes from being more than an inspiring message, or uplifting music. The gathering of people we realize is something sacred, the place they occupy becomes holy, it becomes a moment where heaven is revealed.
It is what we desperately need, it is what those around us need……and so the more we go, the more we realized we needed to….
For this is why we were made…. to live in peace with God and each other. AMEN!
Escriva, Josemaria. The Way (Kindle Locations 2315-2316). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Lent: It’s Not about YOUR Sin! A sermon for the first Sunday in Lent
Lent: It’s Not About YOUR Sin
Romans 5:12-19
† Jesus, Son, Savior †
As you encounter the brokenness of this world that goes back to the days of Adam and Eve, my you know how great the difference is in your life, because of Jesus Christ our Lord!
A Misconception
A friend of mine commented this week that “we aren’t supposed to “like” Lent. Because that would defeat the whole purpose.”
It was an interesting thought, and I wondered about what her dislike Lent so much.
Perhaps it is because we have the focus on the wrong part of Lent. Because while Lent has us look at sin and our need for the Holy Spirit to grant us repentance, Lent isn’t about sin.
The purpose of these 40 days is to evaluate out lives, to see the places where the Holy Spirit needs to work, and to invite that work, to desire it, to allow God to clean out the unholy, unrighteous stuff that stops us from truly living life.
The goal of Lent isn’t to beat ourselves up for what we’ve said or thought or did.
The goal of Lent is to realize that crud is there and to desire it gone from our lives.
But how does that happen? How do we see the reality that sin doesn’t have us locked down and headed straight to hell?
Your sin is nothing new…
Please understand that I am not saying sin doesn’t exist, or that we shouldn’t be repentant. Not at all, sin is serious business, but it is not our primary business.
Hebrews 12 tells, “Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up… and let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.” (Heb 12:1)
That is the invitation of Lent, to recognize sin for what it is, and to cast it aside. Yeah, it is bad, yes it damages our relationship with others and really damages our relationship with God.
As Paul says, this sin kills, it brings death as serious as any plague known to mankind. And we are its latest victim, in what appears to be an unbroken line, all the way back to Adam. That seems to be the point Paul makes over and over in the passage from Romans 5 that was read this morning. Time after time Paul tells us that Adam’s sin, his stepping over the line brought death, it brought condemnation.
For each of us, without salvation, would stand condemned, passing on sin as if it was a genetic syndrome.
Christ’s Act, and your right relationship
But I’ve said that Lent and this section of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome aren’t about sin.
They are about bring delivered from sin, and to look at our lives, and learning to desire to live in the like Christ, in His glorious holiness rather than in the darkness of Adam’s sin. To live, in what Christ righteous act on the cross brought us, what Paul calls a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.
This relationship, this life is the focus of Lent. Forty days to think about what we retain from Adam and to ask God to cleanse our lives. To depend on Him more, to live with Him in a more devout way. Not some kind of false holiness that would exalt us, but simply depending on Him, trusting Him, adoring the God who would take our debt and lay it on Christ, who would bring about righteousness in us.
To want to see this happen, to desire this above all, that is what these days we call Lent are about.
The Continuation of the thought..
At the beginning of the next chapter, Paul will ask the Romans the question which boils down to – who are you going to be like, Adam under condemnation, or Jesus who brings life. I like the way the Phillip’s translation phrases it,
1 Now what is our response to be? Shall we sin to our heart’s content and see how far we can exploit the grace of God? What a ghastly thought! We, who have died to sin – how could we live in sin a moment longer? Have you forgotten that all of us who were baptized into Jesus Christ were, by that very action, sharing in his death? Romans 6:1 (Phillips NT)
This is what we are aiming for in Lent, the desire expressed here, to live in sin’s power not a moment longer, to receive the grace that makes us live in triumph over sin and death as Paul mentioned in today’s reading.
To run to the altar, seeking the comfort that comes from knowing there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. To remember what was done in our baptism, to remember His death, burial and resurrection, not as historical facts, but as part of our life, for we died and rose with Him. This is what we celebrate, as we partake of His body and blood and know, the Holy Spirit is changing us, even as we can’t take our eyes off of Jesus.
This mystery of the faith is what we celebrate during Lent, building up to Good Friday when we hear Jesus’ words, it is finished. It is accomplished. We are clean, we are holy, we are righteous, for we dwell in Him!
Lent helps us realize that, and realizing that we do toss aside that sin, and look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. To realize in Him we live and move and have our very being.
For in Christ, we exist in the unexplainable, unsurpassable peace of God. We are safe there, our hearts and minds kept there by Jesus. AMEN!
Love is, Jesus IS, We are! Sermons for Lent #1 Patient and Kind
Love Is; Jesus is; We are
Patient and Kind
† In Jesus Name †
As you experience the grace and mercy of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ may you see God enabling you to really love Him and others!
During this season of Lent, many people think we are to beat ourselves up for our sin. That we give up something in order to atone for our continued sin, to show God how sorry for what we’ve done, and what we’ve failed to do.
That’s not completely accurate, though it moves us to where we need to be.
The goal of Lent is to stop us, to help us realize we aren’t who we should be, as the children of God. Not to beat us up, but to encourage us to have a life that is more like Jesus’ life. The goal is to build in us a desire to imitate Christ, and to live like Paul, who could say, “imitate me as I imitate Christ”.
Love Is
So this Lent, we are looking at one of the best descriptions of Jesus we can find, one we hear more often at weddings. We’ll take a couple of the descriptions each week, and this week we are looking at these two.
Love is patient and Love is kind.
The Message translation gives us another perspective:
Love never gives up.
Love cares for others more than for self.
Can you imagine if we were so patient we never gave up? Or if everyone was more interested in what was good for others rather than just being self-centered?
Not just within families and churches, but if everyone loved everyone. This is who we are supposed to be!
This is not just a nice idea, it is what God commands us to do, to love Him, to love our neighbors, to love those who hate us. We know this, but I wonder if we desire it, if this is truly who we want to be.
It should be
Jesus Is
As we look at love being described by St Paul, we have to realize how it describes Jesus Christ, who was the perfect, sinless man. If we evaluated how he loved by these words, we see it perfectly.
Not just with his patience and not giving up on the Apostles, especially Peter. But Jesus doesn’t give up on us, He isn’t even tempted to do so.
And we see his kindness, His putting others first as He ministered to those around them, having compassion on the crowds who followed them, always being able to find the people who needed His care. Being there for those who would give up, or struggle with their sin, and don’t know how to break it.
This is what the Apostle John meant when he said God is love, for in Jesus, they found out what that really means…we see this amazing level of patience, that God will embrace suffering a long time, for His goal is bring everyone to repentance, to transform everyone so that their lives are a picture of Christ’s love. That is the ultimate example of kindness,
We Are
So we know this description of love should describe our life as well. We know it doesn’t, at least as we struggle with it, so how can we desire to grow in our ability to love?
The answer is on all of your minds. Look, you can see it on those around you.
The cross, the place where Jesus gave His life for you. We could put a blob on your forehead, but we put a cross. To remind you that while you have sinned, you really aren’t sinners anymore.
You have been united to Christ, and the ashes that mark you, mark you as His, just as the cross made over your head and heart at baptism did. His sacrifice, His body and blood broken and given for you provides the answer.
It is what we need to spend contemplating. As we think about this great love, a love that cleanses us from sin, and leaves us holy, set apart to God, set apart for God to dwell with. The more we spend time talking to God, exploring the breadth and width, the height and depth of His love, the more the Holy Spirit transforms us, causing and enabling us to love as He does…. For we are with Him.
As the song we will sing in a moment says, where You are Lord, I am free….
Free to love.. to be patient, to be kind, to be like Christ who not only sets you free, but makes you Holy.
AMEN!
It’s time to come home… coming to our senses about sin and the family of God
Devotional Thought of the Day:
17 Coming to his senses he thought, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger. 18 I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.” ‘ 20 So he got up and went back to his father. 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 15:17-20 (NAB)
985 You strayed from the way and did not return because you were ashamed. It would be more logical if you were ashamed not to return.
Why, Then, is the Law to Be Taught, and What is Its Legitimate Use?
I. That people might learn from the Law seriously to acknowledge both their manifold sins and the judgment of God against sins, namely that they are subject to divine wrath and the curse or eternal condemnation, unless they are set free through Christ, so that they thus turn themselves away from sins, fear the wrath of God, and seek the true physician who alone can heal our weaknesses. Ro 3:20; 4:15; 2 Co 3:6–9; Eze 18:30–31; Mt 9:12.
II. That the Law, written by the finger of God, might be for the reborn a sure norm and rule, showing which works God has prepared, in which He wants the reborn to walk and serve Him. Dt 12:32; Eze 20:19; Ro 13:8; Cl 2:20–23.
He came to his senses. We need to do the same.
Growing up 40-45 years ago, there was a rule in our home, be back int he house before dark. We lived on 3 hilly wooded acres in New Hampshire, and darkness fell fast, there was nothing like lingering twilight in the, once the sun went down, darkness descended, and it was a black darkness.
More than once, I would leave too late to get home before darkness caught me. Once i remember sitting in the small ancient cemetery (newest grave was 1810 or so) a half mile down the road, fearing what my arrival home would bring. As a side note, I don’t recommend sitting in a dark cemetery with huge creaky oak trees blotting out the moonlight.
Car lights could be seen, and I feared each one would contain my parents, out searching for their young rebellious, disobedient son. After about an hour passed by, as the night was getting colder, desperation would force me to leave my refuge, and walk my huffy bicycle home.
As I walked by my neighbors, looking in their windows, I wondered if they knew of my misadventure if my folks had checked with the Stobers and the Zahns. Eventually, I tried to figure if I could sneak in, through the basement sliding glass door, or maybe through the studio or kitchen door. But I made it home, and at first hugged, then scolded, then hugged again, I was finally safe, and the anxiety could fade away.
This is how we treat God, whether we’ve run far off, or whether we are hiding deep inside our own hearts as we sit in church on Sunday morning. St Josemaria tells us our shame should have driven us home, desperately seeking refuge, rather than ensnared us and kept us anxious, cold, hungry and left…. outside, tormented, and scared what would happen when we finally arrived home.
As a pastor, there is a need for me to teach people that the best place for them to be, when struggling with sin, is in the midst of God’s family. There, mercy and peace is waiting. Forgiveness and love will be manifest. Chemnitz was correct, where the Law serves properly when it moves believers from remaining in sin to remember they are set free from sin by Jesus, and enables them to respond to that mercy and love. That it shows them they can seek the healing of their hearts and souls, for this is why Jesus reaches out to them.
People need to know that church is a safe haven fro sinners, a place where they aren’t going to be condemned for being snared by sin, but where they will find peace, as others similarly wounded assist them, and help them depend on Jesus.
This is the church, this is the Father’s home, where we find His compassion.
So come home, enter the warmth and light, and know love and peace…. it’s time.
And if you see me or anyone else hiding behind a tombstone, bring us home too.
For we all get caught in the darkness from time to time.
Escriva, Josemaria. The Way (Kindle Location 2290). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition
Chemnitz, Martin, and Luther Poellot. Ministry, Word, and Sacraments: An Enchiridion. electronic ed. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999. Print.
A Lenten Devotion: Are you satisfied with just “getting” to heaven?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
9 For we are partners working together for God, and you are God’s field. You are also God’s building. 10 Using the gift that God gave me, I did the work of an expert builder and laid the foundation, and someone else is building on it. But each of you must be careful how you build. 11 For God has already placed Jesus Christ as the one and only foundation, and no other foundation can be laid. 12 Some will use gold or silver or precious stones in building on the foundation; others will use wood or grass or straw. 13 And the quality of each person’s work will be seen when the Day of Christ exposes it. For on that Day fire will reveal everyone’s work; the fire will test it and show its real quality. 14 If what was built on the foundation survives the fire, the builder will receive a reward. 15 But if your work is burnt up, then you will lose it; but you yourself will be saved, as if you had escaped through the fire. 1 Corinthians 3:9-15 (TEV)
939 Be men and women of the world, but don’t be worldly men and women. (1)
As I read this scripture passage this morning, it seemed to confront a popular thought about heaven that I’ve bought into for years. It is usually expressed this way,
“I’d rather be a doorkeeper in heaven, than to rule hell.”
More often it is seen by an attitude that wants to do the absolute minimum to get to heaven. That would rather not be bothered with striving to be holy, or to be inconvenienced by reaching out and serving others. The attitude that acknowledges that pastors, priests, deacons and other ministers are servants, but expects them to serve by meeting our desires, by making us comfortable. By doing our favorite music, to preaching in a way that inspires but doesn’t challenge, to making us realize the danger of their sin, but not our own. To show us the needs to send a few dollars to missions over there, but not to see the mission field in our neighborhood.
This is building with straw and wood. The stuff that doesn’t survive the test on the Day of Judgment. The stuff that won’t leave us in awe, for we won’t see how God worked through us.
For you see, while we do things with the “gold, silver and precious stones”, those are the things God brings into our lives. This isn’t about being proud of what we have done, what we have built, but being able to see God at work in our lives. It is about our living, really living, beyond that which we are by nature willing and capable of doing on our own.
It is about living the baptized life, realizing we walk this journey with Jesus. It is about the Holy Spirit transforming us, as we reflect Jesus into this lost and broken world.
So this Lent, instead of giving up chocolate or caffeine, give up a weak faith that is comfortable for one that is built on Christ’s comfort, and shares that comfort with others.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria. The Way (Kindle Locations 2180-2181). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
