Monthly Archives: June 2024
God Acted on OUR Behalf: A sermon from Concordia on Psalm 124
God at Work IN OUR LIVES
God Acted on OUR Behalf
Psalm 124
† In Jesus Name †
May the grace, love and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be revealed to you daily in your lives.
The Scariest Meditation….think about it for a moment
I want you to open your bulletin back up to the first reading, from Psalm 124, and read that first question with me….
What if the LORD had not been on our side?
Now think of a traumatic experience in your life, and meditate on that psalm for a moment…
That’s only half a moment…keep going… what would have happened if God wasn’t there?
I have to admit, when I tried to actually consider that, and the times I’ve been through, and the times I am going through… I can’t… it’s too hard..
That and my mind keeps hearing you guys telling me… “and also with you.”
The purpose of the psalms, whether sung, chanted or read, are to help us worship—which means we need to know and be able to express why we value God….
And today, that starts by considering the desolation that is the alternative….
To be honest, I would rather not do so….
If He wasn’t their rage might have been deserved
The passage continues, Let all Israel repeat: 2 What if the LORD had not been on our side when people attacked us? 3 They would have swallowed us alive in their burning anger. 4 The waters would have engulfed us; a torrent would have overwhelmed us. 5 Yes, the raging waters of their fury would have overwhelmed our very lives.
Wow, were these people upset at Israel! The description sounds worse than war, rather more like the kind of rage that happens when a bear or a tiger is hurt, and mauls whoever is nearby whether they deserve it, or not.
The problem is, without God acting in our lives, this is hard to say, they deserve it.
The reason is that it is a hard thing to say is… get this… because that means we deserve wrath for some of the things that God has had to deal with in our lives.
The stuff that ticks people off, the stuff we’ve done that causes so much anxiety we are drowning it, and the guilt would overwhelm us…
And we could have deserved it… for Paul described us well, in describing himself, Titus, and every Christian…..
3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, and wrong. We were slaves to passions and pleasures of all kinds. We spent our lives in malice and envy; others hated us and we hated them…. (Titus 3:3)
Wow- pastor-you are unloading on us today!
You really think we are all that bad? Do you really think we are evil
I could point to scripture as evidence, if I wanted to take the heat off of myself… or I could point to the joy that of you felt a few weeks ago, as you brought your burdens up to the altar, and had them taken from you, so that God could commune with you…
But before you get to pounded in the ground, I would ask you to read the passage again…. Especially the underlined part…
We escaped – because He acted
3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, and wrong. We were slaves to passions and pleasures of all kinds. We spent our lives in malice and envy; others hated us and we hated them…. (Titus 3:3)
It goes on to talk about what happened then,
4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior was revealed, 5 he saved us. It was not because of any good deeds that we ourselves had done, but because of his own mercy that he saved us, through the Holy Spirit, who gives us new birth and new life by washing us. 6 God poured out the Holy Spirit abundantly on us through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that by his grace we might be put right with God and come into possession of the eternal life we hope for. Titus 3:4-7 (TEV)
This is what the Psalmist was talking about when he said…
6 Praise the LORD, who did not let their teeth tear us apart! 7 We escaped like a bird from a hunter’s trap. The trap is broken, and we are free! 8 Our help is from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 124:6-8)
There are traumas that we bring on ourselves, and there are others that we do not. Do not take these words to say that all the trauma is our fault, and even as some of it is, we know this,
God did rescue us.
This isn’t about whose side He on….
That’s what the psalmist asks, “what if the Lord had not been on our side…”
The purpose of thinking about that is to thank Him for being there.
Every week, when I study the passage, I look at the original languages. Every once in a while, this week the first line looks like this…
| What | if | the | Lord | • | had | not | been | on | our | side | |||||||||
| 6 לוּלֵ֣י | ← | → | 7 יְ֭הוָה | 8 שֶׁ | ►9 | ◄6 | 9 הָ֣יָה | → | 10 ל11 ָ֑נוּ | ← | |||||||||
My translation of this would be simpler….
If Not YHWH existed(was) with us
Or even simpler
If not God was with you!
But that is merely to get us to think…
Praise God…the Lord is with us..
And He has rescued us.
As the psalmist says, the trap is broken, we are free. Our God, who created all that we don’t see, and all we do,… is our God, and He is with us! AMEN!
The Tournament of Theology–cannot be won.
Thoughts which draw me close to Jesus, and to His cross.
20 Then Isaiah is bold enough to say: “I was found by those who were not asking me for help. I made myself known to people who were not looking for me.” Romans 10:20 NCV
That is the humility that is required of the theologian.… Without the realism of the saints, without their contact with reality, which is what it is all about, theology becomes an empty intellectual game and loses its character as a science.
It seems to me that we shall have our hands full to keep these commandments, practicing gentleness, patience, love toward enemies, chastity, kindness, etc., and all that these virtues involve. But such works are not important or impressive in the eyes of the world. They are not unusual and pompous, restricted to special times, places, rites, and ceremonies, but are common, everyday domestic duties of one neighbor toward another, with no show about them.
How does one acquire love? The human heart is so false that it cannot love unless it first sees the benefit of loving. No man can bring this love into the heart. Therefore God gave us his Son, graciously poured out his greatest treasures and sunk and drowned all our sins and filth in the great ocean of his love, so that this great love and blessing must draw man to love and be ready to fulfil the divine commandments with a willing heart. In no other way can the heart love or have any love; it must be assured that it was first loved. Now man cannot do this; therefore Christ comes and takes the heart captive and says: Learn to know me. I am Christ, who placed myself in your misery to drown your sins in my righteousness. This knowledge softens your heart, so that you must turn to him.
Now that we are removed a few days from Celtics domination of the NBA, my twitter feed is returning to deluge of those who treat theology like the ultimate sports event – a tournament seems to seek out who wins, and who loses. I see those who claim to be Catholics trying to score on Protestants, those who are protests trying to slamdunk Catholics, and even the Orthodox are involved now, both on offense and defense. It is far more competitive, far more brutal, and too be honest, bad sports abound more in this game than any sport.
For the tournament cannot be won, the game cannot be won. It is a double elimination contest, with both sides losing, and often both sides brutally, if not terminally injured in their faith in God.
I’ve witnessed too many such injuries, even recently, as I’ve worked with a few whose view of the church becomes jandiced. And I must confess to my engaging in such games (for that is all they are) and being scarred and hurting others….some deliberately.
To this problem the Apostle Paul speaks, quoting Isaiah above. The proof for those who tried to compete with Him didn’t eventually matter, for God could work, and does work, drawing people to His side, brining people into His glory, whco weren’t looking for Him. In fact, many of them were running from Him, and ran smack dab into a relationship where God’s love overwhelmed them. This is what Pope Benedict wrote of while a cardinal – and the head of theology for the Catholic church–without seeing the impact of God’s love on those who went before, theology is empty. Not that these people were great theologians, but because God worked in their lives– He became their reality.
That is the point of the Large Catechism, in noting the struggle to keep the commandments. I don;t care how well you can translate the Hebrew, that will not help you obey them, and those studies will not offer you comfort when you realize you shattered them in theological combat. The only think that matters then is the prelude is experiencing what precedes them, “I am the Lord, your God, who rescued you…”
Luther notes the only hope, though I would include the soul and mind as well as the heart. Without the love of God invading my life, without Him drowning our sin and filth inthe great ocean of His love, we cannot be Theologians. We have to be Theophilians first! We have to love- something foreign to us if we don’t experience the incredible dimensions of God’s love for us, which was revealed in Christ Jesus. Christ must come and take our heart captive, it must give us the ability to trust Him, who came to share in our lives, shattered and murdered by our own sin, to redeem and save us.
That is the core of real Theology, as the Holy Spirit leads us to experience the love of God that draws us into Christ, His death, His resurrection, and His glory. Theology should serve, not as an academic debate, but rather to assist in communicating that news, so that people may know the love of God.
Any other use is… worthless, empty, and leads to elimination of life.
Ratzinger, Joseph. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl, Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth, Ignatius Press, 1992, pp. 198–99.
Martin Luther, The Large Catechism, Tappert, Theodore G., editor. The Book of Concord the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Mühlenberg Press, 1959, p. 407.
Luther, Martin, and John Sander. Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year. Augustana Book Concern, 1915, p. 221.
I don’t need to know.. and that’s good!
Thoughts which bring me to Jesus, and to the Cross
14 The true children of God are those who let God’s Spirit lead them. 15 The Spirit we received does not make us slaves again to fear; it makes us children of God. With that Spirit we cry out, “Father.” 16 And the Spirit himself joins with our spirits to say we are God’s children. 17 If we are God’s children, we will receive blessings from God together with Christ. But we must suffer as Christ suffered so that we will have glory as Christ has glory. Ro 8:14–17.
For my comfort also, Thou hast instituted the exalted sacrament of the true body and blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, whereby Thou feedest, waterest, and dost nourish my soul, and givest me the assurance that Thou wilt dwell in me and I in Thee. For this spiritual treasure I render praise and thanksgiving unto Thee.
301 I’ll tell you a secret, an open secret: these world crises are crises of saints. God wants a handful of men “of his own” in every human activity. Then … pax Christi in regno Christi—“the peace of Christ in the kingdom of Christ.”
I used to love to try and figure out the greatest mysteries of the faith. I used to love to try and figure out how the Trinity all “fits” together, and I used to spend a lot of time trying to picture the throne of God, looking at Exodus, Isaiah, Matther and Revelation’s description f it, (although never ho sits on the throne–and how the Trinity appears there!) Or to contemplate the Eucharist, the CELEBRATION of the Lord’s Body and blood given for us.
I won’t say I have considered everything–there are far deeper hypothesis than I can handle. It’s humbling to realize that, but I am getting more and more thankful that i cannot… for knowing I am not capabale frees me to focus on things I do know.
The fact that i can cry out to my heavenly Father, because life is so broken, and to know He listens is amazing. As is the comfort that Loehe describes in his prayer, that comes from understanding what God does, and planned to do in the sacrament to us… a treasure that is worth praising God for, as it lifts the burdens we bear far to long in our lives. The burdens Escriva talks about, the ones caused by crises we all deal with, and that through the peace poured out on us, we are able to share and reveal it to others.
Suffering is such a pain, yet…. when we see what God does with it, what He planned to do with it, we become thankful–knowing the peace that is there… that allows us to heal, that allows us to see, and share in the glory of God.
This is so incredible, that i am that willing to give up the questions that curiosity forms, to just sit and tink through the presence of God in our lives… and be at peace.
God’s speed, and God’s peace!
Lœhe, William. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Translated by H. A. Weller, Wartburg Publishing House, 1914, p. 393.
Escrivá, Josemaría. The Way (p. 51). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
God Provides Shelter in His Tree Ezekiel 17:22-24
God at Work In OUR LIVES
God Provides Shelter in His Tree
Ezekiel 17:22-24
† I.H.S. †
May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ provide you comfort, as you make yourself at home in Him..
A Man’s Tree is His Castle?
Robert Redford, in the movie “the Last Castle” describes the prison he is incarcerated in with these words,
“Take a look at a castle. Any castle. Now break down the key elements that make it a castle. They haven’t changed in a thousand years. 1: Location. A site on high ground that commands the territory as far as the eye can see. 2: Protection. Big walls, walls strong enough to withstand a frontal attack. 3: A garrison. Men who are trained and willing to kill. 4: A flag. You tell your men you are soldiers and that’s your flag. You tell them nobody takes our flag. And you raise that flag so it flies high where everyone can see it. Now you’ve got yourself a castle. The only difference between this castle and all the rest is that they were built to keep people out. This castle is built to keep people in.”
What he misses is the reason for the castle—security for his family, a place where what he treasures is safe, a place where, while vigilant, he can rest at the end of every day, having made the place as secure as possible.
It is said that every man’s home is his castle, or at least it should be.
Or better yet, everyone needs a spot in a tree house… the one talked about by Ezekiel, which the gospel tells us started with the smallest of seeds…
Yep—that’s what we need—a really nice solid treehouse…
One provided and sustained by God!
Why do we need peace?
The man, or woman, or family looking for a castle is looking for a refuge, a sanctuary, a place to know peace and call home.
Why we look for peace, for that place to call home, is simple. We don’t belong in the world; it is NOT our home. That causes some dissonance, a disturbance, a lack of peace that aggravates us, causes massive amounts of anxiety and pain.
What causes this feeling that the world is broken is, bluntly sin. You sin, my sin, the sins that made us victims, the effect of 8 billion sinners. That’s why the world looks broken, that’s why God allows some places to wither and die, and why we dead trees need new life.
With that kind of world to live in, it’s now wonder we want our own castle, our own place to try to rest, a place free of all the brokenness of out there… and even to escape the brokenness of in our own souls.
But a castle has a problem–you always have to keep watch, you always have to be ready to go on defense, you always, to quote Redford, ready to defend the flag…
And that means you can’t rest…and weary, broken souls can’t….
Which is why we need a treehouse, rather than a castle…
Better than a castle—His tree…
Ezekiel’s prophecy about Jesus shows us that He is the tree in which our house, our home, is built. A place where all of us welcome where we don’t have to be defensive, because all are welcome, as they are healing from..
A place where we don’t have to be on defense. We don’t have to worry about attack because God has promised that nothing can take us from the refuge we have in Him! Hear the promise again:
“It will become a majestic cedar, sending forth its branches and producing seed. Birds of every sort will nest in it, finding shelter in the shade of its branches.
That picture of a nest, of a shelter, pictures a home—not just a castle. It pictures a time of peace—a peace that allows us to leave that sanctuary and come back, bringing others into it, for people of every sort, from every part of the world, so they can find peace.
Earlier this week my devotions had a lot to do with the Lord’s Supper – not the theology behind it, but rather the benefit of it,
One of the quotes I cam across, from the Lutheran Confessions, was this:
We believe, teach, and confess that no genuine believer, no matter how weak he may be, as long as he retains a living faith, will receive the Holy Supper to his condemnation, for Christ instituted this Supper particularly for Christians who are weak in faith but repentant, to comfort them and to strengthen their weak faith.
This is the same idea as the nest, the same idea as finding shelter in the shade of its branches. The idea of coming up here to the altar isn’t to be able to explain the mystery it is, and how the different churches see it—the idea is to find the rest, the peace, the assurance that we are God’s—who gives us His body and Blood in this precious feast…even as He strips us of all our burdens.
That is why we find ourselves at home there able to become comfortable, free of all strife and stress, freed from anxiety and guilt, shame and resentment that could steal our joy. This place is our nest located in Him, it is here we find shelter, as He protects us from all that would hurt or burn us, it is here we are reminded that we dwell in His peace… until we arrive in His presence.
Until then, enjoy dwelling in tree home that God provides for you in Christ Jesus. AMEN!
How We Need to Talk About Baptism
Thoughts which force me to Jesus, and to the Cross,
3 Did you forget that all of us became part of Christ when we were baptized? We shared his death in our baptism. 4 When we were baptized, we were buried with Christ and shared his death. So, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the wonderful power of the Father, we also can live a new life.
5 Christ died, and we have been joined with him by dying too. So we will also be joined with him by rising from the dead as he did. 6 We know that our old life died with Christ on the cross so that our sinful selves would have no power over us and we would not be slaves to sin. 7 Anyone who has died is made free from sin’s control. Ro 6:3–7.NCV
Hide me within Thyself, that my will subject itself entirely unto Thee, and I be freed from the dominion of self and of every other creature. Let me not be wholly possessed of mine own nature. Grant that the thirst for temporal things be quenched in my heart. Uproot all self-love and selfish desires. Banish all hatred and jealousy, and cut off passion and my attachment to the things of this world. Gather my soul unto Thee and preserve in me a pure and peaceful conscience. Glory, praise, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
A Christian knows that he is grafted onto Christ through Baptism. He is empowered to fight for Christ through Confirmation, called to act in the world sharing the royal, prophetic, and priestly role of Christ. He has become one and the same thing with Christ through the Eucharist, the sacrament of unity and love. And so, like Christ, he has to live for other men, loving each and every one around him and indeed all humanity.
Yesterday, my devotions forced me to take a different angle at the Lord’s Supper, today, similarly, the readings are leading me towards baptism, not toward the theology of it, or the mode and method, but to the effect of the sacrament. How this act which God ordains and uses, transforms our life as promised. Like the Lord’s Supper, the comfort given to us, as the presence of God is manifested, is something we need–desperately need. By understanding what has been done to us, the transformation began in us.
The more we understand this effect, the more we can meditate on the wonderful work of Jesus, the more we heal.
So let’s start with Josemaria’s words, and how he explains that we are grafted onto Christ, that it transforms us to sharing in the very ministry (and eventually the glory) of Christ Jesus. Confirming that faith (setting aside whether it is a sacrament or simply a sacramental ) and nourishing the relationship not only unties us with Jesus, but with all He came to save! That is the very discussion that Paul shared in Romans – as we die with Christ and experience the life of being born again–even as Christ was raised from the dead. The effect of the grace promised in Baptism is that we live a new life! We are born again, and united with Christ Jesus!
It is the realization of this that Loehe prayed for– for every plea he utters is fulfilled by the promises of baptism! That is where the transformation that has begun as we united to Christ in this new life. Our heart and soul are transformed, a transformation it takes time to learn to live in-but that transformation–but it is happening! That is why Loehe prays, so He can be assured that the promises are indeed his–a gift from the God who loves him.
We have to understand these blessings prior to getting into the mechanics of a sacrament, before trying to create hypothesis to explain the mysteries, before discussing anything-we have to know why God instituted this means of grace. We have to know the promises! The other discussions take form after, including us recognizing we don’t have all the answers – we have the command to do this, and the reason why…. to bring comfort and peace to those God wants to call His children.
Lœhe, William. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Translated by H. A. Weller, Wartburg Publishing House, 1914, p. 391.
Escrivá, Josemaría. Christ is Passing By (p. 159). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
We Need to Talk About the Lord’s Supper With This in Mind
Thoughts which call me to Jesus, and to the Cross and Altar
Since we have been made right with God by our faith, we have peace with God. This happened through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 who through our faith has brought us into that blessing of God’s grace that we now enjoy. And we are happy because of the hope we have of sharing God’s glory. Romans 5:1–2. ncv
In addition to the ministry of the Gospel—or rather included in it—there is also the ministry of the sacraments, of those signs in which today the Lord, as it were, not only still touches our senses and speaks to our intellect and thoughts, to the innermost depths of our hearts, but shows himself as well in the sensuous beauty of the things of this world so that they become places in which we touch his life.
19 9. We believe, teach, and confess that no genuine believer, no matter how weak he may be, as long as he retains a living faith, will receive the Holy Supper to his condemnation, for Christ instituted this Supper particularly for Christians who are weak in faith but repentant, to comfort them and to strengthen their weak faith.
Far to often, I see and hear discussions between Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, Baptists and Evangelicals that focus on the systematic theology involved. Arguments fly back and forth like missiles and artillery shells in a war zone–with each side more concerned about firing than listening–creating a defenses that will not listen, only counterattack.
Been there, done that, in fact, argued from the Catholic position and the Evangelical position for years. It wasn’t pretty, and it left me feeling empty, even if I “won” the debate. Oddly enough, after I entered the Lutheran Church, I found others in both of my former “associations” that saw what Luther saw, and what the early church treasured.
And that is where I think we need to start the discussion. What does communion, what does the Lord’s Supper, what does the Eucharist benefit those who commune with the Body and Blood of Christ?
Luther and Melancthon were sure that this sweet moment in life had a purpose – to comfort the people of God. That was the chief purpose of worship– to give people Christ–that which they need! Later Lutherans confessed what you see above, that the Sacrament was instituted for the purpose of comforting the weak but repentant, that is those being transformed, in their faith. Even the weakest faith will not be condemned–but strengthened in their ability to depend on God.
This is Pope Benedict’s point as well. as he talks about things that are common become a place where the innermost parts of our hearts are touched by the presence of God. This is how we find healing and comfort in the sacraments, this is how we find peace, because God is tactilely there – simply because He promises to be in His word.
This is where we need to start the discussion about the sacrament, any sacrament. What is God’s purpose, according to scriptural promises, that the sacrament was commissioned to achieve? The assurance of communion, the assurance of the blessings, the assurance that we are loved, and are being healed, and have a home.
Yeah–we need to deal with the theology–what it means to recognize the Body and Blood of Jesus…but part of that recognition is what happens when we realize the promises He pours out on us… that is the primary thing we need to recognie and cling to…
Ratzinger, Joseph. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl, Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth, Ignatius Press, 1992, p. 192.
The Formula of Concord: Epitome: Article 7, Tappert, Theodore G., editor. The Book of Concord the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Mühlenberg Press, 1959, p. 484.
You Need a Better Way to Complain!
Thoughts which guide me to Jesus, and to the Cross
With praise and thanksgiving, they sang to the LORD:
“He is good;
his love for Israel continues forever.”
And then all the people shouted loudly, “Praise the LORD! The foundation of his Temple has been laid.” 12 But many of the older priests, Levites, and family leaders who had seen the first Temple cried when they saw the foundation of this Temple. Most of the other people were shouting with joy. 13 The people made so much noise it could be heard far away, and no one could tell the difference between the joyful shouting and the sad crying. Ezra 3:11–13. NCV
No heathen, philosopher or jurist, if he have not God’s Word, can throw his care and complaint upon God. When trouble arises, he begins to murmur and argue against God and his government, as though God’s rule merited criticism. But such men receive their deserts when God permits their calculations and hopes to fail and lets the reverse prevail. They spend their lives in many vain, useless cares and projects and in the course of their experience must learn and confess that many a time the very opposite of their judgment is the truth.
Faith is a part of theology and so is thought. The absence of one or other of these would be the end of theology. In other words, theology presupposes a new beginning for thought that is not the product of our own reflection, but comes from the encounter with a Word that always precedes us. The embracing of this new beginning is what we call “conversion”.
Some of us (ok, many) have a talent that needs to be developed.
Not that we don’t use it enough, oh my gosh, it is something we do so often, we should be experts at it!
But we are not, not even close!
Why? Well, look at the results of our artistic use of words, as we complain about the world, injustice, our workplaces, our families, even our own actions and thoughts. As I said – the frequency of our complains is significant! BUt it is most often ineffective. For we complain to those who might listen, and if they do, they commiserate, as it has been said, “misery loves company!” Because we complain to those who have no power to change the situation (or change us) the complaint has no positive effect on our lives!
Luther notes something similar as he talks of those without God’s word, and their inability to throw their cares and complaints on God. The sad thing is that this method has a cost, they will receive their just deserts. Just like a friend of mine who was complaining to another friend of his wife’s cooking, not realizing he didn’t “hang up” the phone.
But to complain to God, (see Jeremiah 20:7 for an example!) we need to be aware of the relationship we have with Him! We have to know we can depend on Him, and that He loves us! This is Pope Benedict’s point, that we can’t be theologians, we can’t find the answer to “what does this mean?” without having encountered God first, without the Spirit converting us, (2 Cor 3:16ff) little by little into the image of Christ.
We see this in the passage from Ezra, as they work on the Temple. Those who look at it, remembering the old Temple – weep loudly–they aren’t seeing the promises of grace that will be received, the work of God as He reveals HIs love and the relationship they are in with Him. The others, hearing of the remarkable grace, are so exuberant, so ready to receive the forgiveness, and the clear identity as the people of God, they are ecstatic–because the relationship is so important!
For secure in that relationship with God, we can complain, confident that His answer will be a blessing, and we will eventually see how it is! This is the way to complain, even bitterly – to a God who sees you, who knows you, and who has dedicated Himself to do what is best for you!
SO go to it! Whine, complain and throw the tantrum of all tantrums. God can handle it…and you! And then, worship the Lord who is with you!
Luther, Martin, and John Sander. Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year. Augustana Book Concern, 1915, p. 210.
Ratzinger, Joseph. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl, Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth, Ignatius Press, 1992, p. 189.
Glorify God? How?
THoughts that laed me to Jesus, and to the Cross
8 First I want to say that I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because people everywhere in the world are talking about your faith. 9 God, whom I serve with my whole heart by telling the Good News about his Son, knows that I always mention you 10 every time I pray. I pray that I will be allowed to come to you, and this will happen if God wants it. 11 I want very much to see you, to give you some spiritual gift to make you strong. 12 I mean that I want us to help each other with the faith we have. Your faith will help me, and my faith will help you. Rom 1:8–12. NCV
O SWEET and beloved Jesus, dear and lovely is Thy name. I pray Thee, fill my heart with Thy love, that, as a consuming fire, I may entirely glow with love to Thee. Lord, let my love for Thee be such that for very love I will resign the great burdens which oppress my soul, and all the fleshly lusts and passions of this earthly life, and, by Thy guidance, follow after Thee, without hinderance, into eternal glory. Amen.
780 Deo omnis gloria—“All glory to God.” It is an emphatic confession of our nothingness. He, Jesus, is everything. We, without him, are worth nothing: Nothing. Our vainglory would be just that: vain glory; it would be sacrilegious theft; the “I” should not appear anywhere.
What does it mean to glorify God? How do I do it? How do I facilitate the people of my church and their giving God glory?
I know God deserves all the glory and honor and praise, but I need to remember why this is so. It is not because of His might, or His wisdom, it is not because of the marvels that He has created,
It has to do with His love, and the mercy that originates and pours out because He loves us.
Tyrants can have power, the rich and might can be self-centered, and as I look at the pantheons of gods created by the mind, most resemble their counterparts. They have tempers, they are self-serving, they are combative, they are devious they lust for pleasure, more power, more control, and they treat mankind with agendas based on what they enjoy. They reflect the worst of humanity,
Whereas the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, the Son of God Jesus, is far different. He came to minsiter, to serve, to heal, redeem and restore. He came to love.
Even one like me. Even someone worth nothing, except in His sight.
And that is glorious… FOr someone worth so much to care for someone so insignificant, it is mind boggling.
That is why I have to pray with Loehe, that God strengthen my ability to love, that He simply take over and fills me again with that love, that I may adore Him. Because on my own – the love is too incredible,, to overwhelming, to intimate to be able to respond to…
The response is to share that love with those whoso desperately need it, to follow Him as he looks for the wounded to heal the broken to reconcile and restore–to be His partner in this ministry, even as so many have before.
This is His glory, to love those whom He makes His own, to exalt those who have been humbled by life and by sin.
This is our God…
Lœhe, William. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Translated by H. A. Weller, Wartburg Publishing House, 1914, p. 378.
Escrivá, Josemaría. The Way (p. 136). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Have A Missionary’s heart, not just a missional one
Thoughts which drive me to Jesus, and to the Cross, and give me hope!
17 Since many people in the crowd had not made themselves holy, the Levites killed the Passover lambs for everyone who was not clean. The Levites made each lamb holy for the LORD. 18–19 Although many people from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not purified themselves for the feast, they ate the Passover even though it was against the law. So Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “LORD, you are good. You are the LORD, the God of our ancestors. Please forgive all those who try to obey you even if they did not make themselves clean as the rules of the Temple command.” 20 The LORD listened to Hezekiah’s prayer, and he healed the people. 21 The Israelites in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy to the LORD. The Levites and priests praised the LORD every day with loud music. 22 Hezekiah encouraged all the Levites who showed they understood well how to do their service for the LORD. The people ate the feast for seven days, offered fellowship offerings, and praised the LORD, the God of their ancestors. 2 Chron 30:17-22 NCV
727 Your flesh is tender and raw. That’s how you are. Everything seems to make you suffer in your mind and in your senses. And everything is a temptation to you … Be humble—I insist. You will see how quickly all this passes. The pain will turn into joy, and the temptation into firm purpose. But meanwhile, strengthen your faith; fill yourself with hope; and make constant acts of love, even though you think they come only from your lips.
LOST beloved Lord Jesus Christ, reconcile me with the Father; intercede for me His grace; wash me thoroughly from my sins; protect me against the evil spirit; save me from the power of hell; defend me against eternal damnation; and, finally, translate me to eternal glory. O, Crucified Jesus, hear me, for I trust in Thee; despise me not, for I love Thee; reject me not, for I revere Thee: even the bitterness of death shall not sunder me from Thee. Amen.
I’ve probably read this passage about Hezekiah and the reestablishment of the Temple’s sacramental services a dozen or two times. This morning, as I did, it hit me–how outrageous his actions were, to not only allow the “unclean” to participate in communion with God, but to encourage it, and to work with the Levites to do what could be done to sacramentally bless the people of God.
People who weren’t prepared, people who were not ready, people who wanted God and recognized their need for Him, but didn’t meet the standards set forth in the law. They were the people in Jesus parable about the wedding of the King’s son, who were invited late, dragged off the streets. They were like David’s followers, who ate the bread dedicated to God in the temple.
And knowing this, Hezekiah prayed for them, and resonated with the heart of God who want no one to persih, but all to be transformed by the grace He pours out.
These are the people St. Josemaria identifies with, who are raw, neaten, depressed, struggling with temptation. The ones he tells to be humble, to accept the struggle–for it will pass! There is our hope, there we find the power of God which enables us to love and adore Him, which He finds acceptable as the Holy Spirit intercedes and translates.
This is the prayer that Loehe penned and encouraged us to pray, even when we think we have “lost” Jesus. When we need to be reconciled (not to reconcile, but to be reconciled) with the Father. This is a prayer the Father will joyously answer, even as He healed those who hadn’t properly cleansed themselves – God did it for them.
The heart of Hezekiah was one prepared to see Revival occur in the midst of a broken people. He yearned for something that he didn’t know possible–and he saw it happen. This is the heart of a missionary, one who goes beyond strategies and plans and programs, and works with the people directly, knows their weaknesses, and guides them into the presence of Christ. Not just talking missional strategy, not just talking about outreach, but being there, in the mud, sent by God to seek and save the broken, the lost, those not ready.
That is where the church needs to be, doing that, and helping people who aren’t ready, interceding for them, even as the Spirit does for us.
Escrivá, Josemaría. The Way (pp. 128-129). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Lœhe, William. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Translated by H. A. Weller, Wartburg Publishing House, 1914, pp. 372–73.
Lord, You Hear Us? Yes you Do!
Thoughts which drag me back to Jesus and to the Cross
He will say to me, ‘You are my father, my God, the Rock, my Savior.’ 27 I will make him my firstborn son, the greatest king on earth. 28 My love will watch over him forever, and my agreement with him will never end. 29 I will make his family continue, and his kingdom will last as long as the skies! Ps 89:26–29. NCV
LORD Jesus, I regard Thy bowed head upon the cross, as the sign that Thy head is ever graciously inclined to hear me and all poor sinners in our need. Hear, therefore, the poor contrite hearts and minds, who, in these latter evil days, sigh and cry unto Thee without ceasing. Their hearts are assured that Thine ear is open unto them, and Thou wilt not let them cry in vain; for Thou wilt answer them quickly, “here am I, here am I.” Thou wilt save and grant them life and full satisfaction. Amen.
Basically, then, whatever Jesus did in the company of the Twelve served, at the same time, to lay the foundation of the Church insofar as it was done to prepare them for their role as the spiritual fathers of the new people of God. He regarded the new community of salvation that he created as a new Israel, as a new people of God that has as its center the celebration of the Last Supper in which it originated and which continues to be at the heart of its life. In other words: the new people of God is the people of the body of Christ.
I usually start my posts saying the thoughts draw me to the cross, but lets be honest, some days they have to drag me there.
My thoughts contend with where I know I should be, as they seek to take up burdens I thought I laid down at the altar before. Thoughts about things far out of my control, or even if can be an influence in the issue, the influence has to point to Jesus, not my wisdom, (this is hard for some of us to distinguish)
This is where, hopefully, a devotional life helps constrain my desire to fix everything, knowing that hope comes from God, and that Jesus is the Savior, their Savior. I am not saying there aren’t times that the Holy Spirit doesn’t speak thru me, but that needs to be the cry of the Psalmist – who prophetically points to our Lord Jesus–for it is His agreement with the Father that reconciles us, that provides the remedies we need.
The section of Loehe’s prayers that I am in now, so speak to this – that Jesus will hear our cries, that He will understand our heaviest sighs, that His Spirit will comfort and defend us–as He presence is revealed to be where we are! I and the church so desperately need that!
This is why the Lord’s Supper is so critical in a church that has experienced trauma, or division, or decline. It pulls us out our our individual selves into the community of God’s people. It refocuses us on the sacrifice of Christ, for us. It draws us into that sacrifice on the cross, where our passions and sin are cut away. It is there the church and the individuals God has called to be one in Hm find healing, that find peace…that find hope.
And from that place of healing–that is where we find the heart that will call out to others, that they may be reconciled to Christ as well.
Even if they have to be dragged there, as we do at times.
Lœhe, William. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Translated by H. A. Weller, Wartburg Publishing House, 1914, p. 370.
Ratzinger, Joseph. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl, Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth, Ignatius Press, 1992, p. 182.
