Monthly Archives: December 2017
The Great Scandal, the incredible gift we can give God!
Devotional thought for our seemingly broken days:
Jesus said to them, “I assure you: Tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you! 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn’t believe him. Tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him, but you, when you saw it, didn’t even change your minds then and believe him Matthew 21:21-32
God’s patience calls forth in us the courage to return to him, no matter how many
mistakes and sins there may be in our life.
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.
If someone did a translation of the quote from the Bible in red above today, we would have to replace tax collectors and prostitutes with some other terms. Simply put, those jobs aren’t as demeaned and distasteful as they once were. They aren’t considered evil, so who do we choose? Whose very identity and actions not only are scandalous, but disgusting?
What if it was those men who were accused of sexual harassment? What if it were those in the media than manipulated with false news? What if it were the out-of-control politicians that we all want to hold up to ridicule, as if that would change their attitudes and behaviors. What if it were those who had committed atrocities with guns, or bombs?
The scandal of the Church being the church is that every sinner, even these are welcome in its midst. That we will care for such, that we won’t just try to rehabilitate them, we will work to reconcile them to God, and even to those they have hurt.
Jesus words to those who thought they were righteous, that they were holier than the rest of the sinners is that these disgusting, sickening, evil people are more likely to trust and depend on God, and therefore come to repentance than we are.
They did in John the Baptist’s day they still do. And it is what we need to do, desperately need to do.
Unless we realize our brokenness, damaged by our own sin, and by original sin which left us helpless against temptation, unless we realize our sin is as scandalous as those mentioned above, how can we return to Him? How can we out of the distress of realizing our own inadequacies cry out for mercy to God? How can we, in Benedict’s words, give more than our “good stuff”, and hand over to Him, the offering of our sin and shame. he has been waiting patiently to deal with that crap in our life, and to offer it to Him may be the greatest sacrifice we have
Yes Lord, here it is, my life, broken by sin, crushed by temptation, ridiculed by guilt and shame. Here it is, Lord Jesus, create something with it…
This is our prayer in advent, that like Isaiah we would cry for God to rip open the heavens and do what He longs to do, because He loves us and calls us to be His own
It is a costly gift, this gift of our brokenness. It will truly take courage to give Him, it will truly take faith and trust,
It will be worth it… when we see what God creates…
Pope Francis. A Year with Pope Francis: Daily Reflections from His Writings. Ed. Alberto Rossa. New York; Mahwah, NJ; Toronto, ON: Paulist Press; Novalis, 2013. Print.
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.
Blessed to Be in His Presence: Free from Blame and made Partners: An Advent Sermon on 1 Cor 1
We Are Blessed to Be in His Presence
Free from Blame and Made His Partners!
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
† I.H.S †
As the Apostle Paul desired for the Corinthians, may God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace!
Thank God you belong to Jesus!
An observation I heard more times than I could count yesterday is one familiar.
“How do people get through this without Jesus?”
“How does the secular world deal with this?
And to be honest, I don’t know, but I have an answer to their problem, at the end of this message.
So when I got back to church yesterday, and I looked again at the passage, what caught my eye more than it did before was Paul giving thanks to God for his people and the grace He’s given, for they belong to Jesus.
And so memories of after the service came back, so many of your faces, resonating with these words of Paul.
I have to thank God that it the grace He has given so evident, as is that you belong to Jesus, you are His! All of the words of comfort you offer each other confirms it, as we seemingly do it month after month, year after year. The gospel I share with you from up here, or in the MPR, I get to see them lived out far more clearly, as the riches of God’s gifts is seen in you.
I don’t have to prove His presence is true, you know that, even if you are little hazy about all the details, we cannot deny that God carries us in times like these.
Look at what we do, this isn’t possibly without God’s work being true
I don’t know how often you think about Jesus coming back, never mind are eagerly waiting for His return. Most of the time for me, it is a prayer of desperation, a prayer because I don’t know how we are going to cope any longer, or dare I say, how much more of a challenging life we can endure.
That’s the same kind of feeling Isaiah had in the Old Testament, when he cried, Lord, just burst open the heavens and come down!!!!
We’re waiting Lord! Just rip open those skies and get down here!
I mean what are you waiting for Lord?
We’re not the first people to struggle, and we aren’t the only people who think the struggle’s gone on long enough. According to the Book of Revelation, even those in heaven, those who testified to God’s love cry out, “How long, O Holy and true Lord, how long until the suffering is dealt with?” (Rev. 6:10)
God’s answer to them is rest a little longer, the number of your brothers and sisters aren’t complete. Remember that please. That the number isn’t complete….
The church is like Maxwell house….
So how do we endure all the suffering? All the pain that sin causes in our lives? If God won’t come and take us all home right now, how will we get past tomorrow?
How can we endure to the end? How will we be strong and faithful from this moment until Christ returns?
While Jesus isn’t coming back for the final judgment yet, He promised that God would never abandon us, that He would never leave us alone. Here he promises it again,
“He will keep you strong to the end,”
But it doesn’t end there, there is more , “so you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus returns”
Hear that guys? All blame! By guys I was talking to the men who are to blame for everything! You know who you are!
Seriously, that promise is twofold. The first is that God will personally sustain us, and keep us strong until Jesus returns. The second is that we will be blameless – completely righteous, innocent of all sin, completely cleansed by God, our soul completely healed.
What we can’t do, He did already. For our strength comes from our being untied to Jesus’ death and resurrection in our baptism, in God claiming us as His, for it is when we were united to Jesus that we became His, new creatures, that He fully cares for and sustains.
Because of Him we were sinners, and now we are forgiven, righteous, holy, and this is how Jesus will find us, the very work He did on the cross made it possible, and made it happen
Partnership with Christ – from His death till He comes again
So let me bring back up the idea of how people get through this life without knowing God.
It’s not supposed to be that way, and in fact, even as God planned for us to be blameless and holy, and strong to the last drop, he planned for those people who didn’t know His comfort.
Just as the Father sent Jesus to us, Jesus sends us to them.
You heard me right, that’s what the idea the Apostle is getting to, when he says, “God will do this, for he is faithful to do what He says, and he has invited you into partnership with His son, Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Our partnership, our communion, our fellowship with Jesus is so complete, we share in His vocation of Savior. Not that we are crucified for their sins, but they hear about that incredible act of love, and the resurrection through us. They hear of the love of God that will sustain us through this seemingly broken, shattered life.
And our words will confirm the work of Jesus, as the Holy Spirit draws them to Him, as we share the hope we have.
They don’t have to go through this life without Christ, and certainly, we know that God doesn’t desire that they go through life without hope, and for that reason, He isn’t come back yet…
You and I are Jesus partners, have been since our baptism, and through us, through the gospel, we share with family and friends, they will know that God is with them as well…
And then on the days when they like us are broken and exhausted, or tire of crying, and dealing with the guilt and shame of sin, they will know the power and beauty and strength and peace found in these words,
The Lord, who loves you, is with you!
AMEN!
Are We Still Afraid of (intimacy with) God?
Devotional thought for our seemingly broken days:
18 All the people witnessed m the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain surrounded by smoke. When the people saw it n they trembled and stood at a distance. 19 “You speak to us, and we will listen,” they said to Moses, “but don’t let God speak to us, or we will die.”
20 Moses responded to the people, “Don’t be afraid, for God has come to test you, so that you will fear Him and will not sin.” 21 And the people remained standing at a distance as Moses approached the thick darkness where God was. Exodus 20:18-21 HCSB
213 When you have fallen or when you find yourself overwhelmed by the weight of your wretchedness, repeat with a firm hope: Lord, see how ill I am; Lord, you who died on the Cross for love of me, come and heal me. Be full of confidence, I insist. Keep on calling out to his most loving Heart. As he cured the lepers we read about in the Gospel, he will cure you.
Reading the reaction of the people God led to Mount Sinai, at first I am confused. Why do they want to distance themselves from the God who had saved them from the Egyptians, the God they had cried out to save them?
Then I wonder if I am any different. Or if the Church today is any different.
We are in awe of those who seem visibly in tune, intimate even, with God. They are among those we sort of see as our heroes. That is, until they invite us along on their journey. The moment we hear them say that all they have done is possible for us as well, we treat them much as Israel treated God.
“We stand over here and watch as you approach God. We’ll stand close enough to know some sort of safety, but far enough away that we aren’t overwhelmed by His grace. We can be afraid of Him, but we don’t want to be close enough to fear Him, to be overwhelmed by His glory so much that we rever Him, that we adore Him.
Look at Moses words again, Don’t be afraid, for God has come to test you, so that you will fear Him and will not sin!”
We might read this and think the reason we will not sin is that of fearing punishment, of fearing His wrath, because we fear both the consequences now and for the future. That isn’t the reason we won’t sin. It is because of our fellowship with Him, and the trust that grows that impels us to call out to Him when the darkness of sin begins to cast its shadow over. We might not like the phrase “intimacy with God”, but it is that very intimacy that gives us hope, that draws us deeper into a relationship with Him, and as we grow in our love for Him, as we trust and adore Him and revere Him, then we are changed, sanctified, set apart to Him.
To use St Josemaria’s words, we are cured.
He has heard us.
He is here.
As He was for those in the desert, those He rescued to make for HImself a people. The people He would love, and care for, those through whom His place to reconcile the world would come true.
So let us hear the advice the Apostle Paul gave in his letter to Hebrew Christians,
16 Let us have confidence, then, and approach God’s throne, where there is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it. Hebrews 4:16 (TEV)
AMEN!
Escriva, Josemaria. The Forge (Kindle Locations 928-932). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Do You Feel Like Your Ministry is Against the Tide? That’s not always bad…
Devotional Thought for these seemingly broken days:
20 Peter turned around and saw behind them the disciple Jesus loved—the one who had leaned over to Jesus during supper and asked, “Lord, who will betray you?” 21 Peter asked Jesus, “What about him, Lord?” 22 Jesus replied, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me.” John 21:20-22 (NLT)
255 Don’t expect people’s applause for your work. What is more, sometimes you mustn’t even expect other people and institutions, who like you are working for Christ, to understand you. Seek only the glory of God and, while loving everyone, don’t worry if there are some who don’t understand you.
“Sometimes, “the pastor writes, and my heart and mind want to say, “all the time.” Because there are times I am sure that my peers in ministry don’t quite understand me. Or if they do, they think I am slightly unhinged, or out of contact with reality.
An example. a few years ago in a group of pastors being taught and mentored by some experienced leaders, we were working on the “Mission Statements” for our churches. The process they were taking us through was similar to work I did a decade before, and my church had just developed its Mission Statement, the description of who we are, and what God does through us. “Concordia is the place where people find healing in Jesus, while helping others heal”. It didn’t meet the standards of a normal mission statement, a standard brought over from the world of management.
While I stood firm, for this was who we were, who we wanted to be, and the standard to judge what we do, it bothered me for a while that our mentors didn’t see it…. appropriate as a Vision or Mission Statement.
So do I chuck it, and start the process over, limiting myself to the standards of good management theory (that I learned in management at Pepperdine, and in my undergrad work) or should I do what I did? Part of me wonders if this is a product of some quirky tendencies of someone with Asperger’s, or is this description (originally noted by one of our 85+-year-old saints) God’s vocation for this church. It seems like it is what the church should do, who it should be, and yet, if it is, why don’t more people understand?
Again, this is just an example to work with, not one I am currently questioning.
“Sometimes”, St. Josemaria said, “sometimes.” So I need to consider the potential of whether any present scenario is simply my own concoction, or do I?
Peter wondered about John’s role as an apostle in the quote above. If Peter is the leader of the apostles, John is often considered the #2 man, even despite his age. Jesus is told, “don’t worry about him, you follow me.” Similar to St Josemaria’s advice, to seek God’s glory (not mine, not yours) and to love people.
This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t listen to criticism, (whether constructive or not – sometimes the not is more beneficial!) That criticism is often that which will sharpen our words, out thoughts, and stop us from diving off a cliff. We should hear them, especially when they are showing us from scripture, and from the lives and words of those who’ve gone before, when we are sliding away from God’s truth.
There have always been those that God used, who weren’t mainstream, who were misunderstood, who didn’t quite fit the norm. Francis of Assisi, St John of the Cross, Martin Luther, and yes Josemaria Escriva, missionaries like Hudson Taylor, William Carey, Eric Liddell come to mind. But there are millions of others who likewise were put in a place, and in a time, where God needed them, with a vision that glorified God as the love of Christ was revealed.
That is the bottom line, hear them, listen, pray. Consider deeply what you are doing, is it revealing Christ crucified, the hope of glory? Is it truly loving others? Is it consistent with scripture,? With those who have depended on GOd in their lives before?
Then be faithful, be involved, and walk, depending on God. AMEN!
Escriva, Josemaria. The Forge (Kindle Locations 1068-1073). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
