Monthly Archives: September 2025
The Re-formation, not the Reformation
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to the Cross
“who by God’s power are protected through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:5, NET)
While perfect restoration to the divine image awaits the day of Christ’s appearing, the work of restoration is going on now. There is a slow but steady transmutation of the base metal of human nature into the gold of God-likeness effected by the faith-filled gaze of the soul at the glory of God—the face of Jesus Christ!
We are coming up on the 508th anniversary of Martin Luther asking for a discussion on 95 points, or theses, which concerned him about the teachings of indulgences and purgatory. This discussion focused a lot on the Doctrine of Justification, and the Doctrine of Sanctification — in other words, how are are delivered from sin, and how we are transformed, as the Holy Spirit works a miracle in us.
In the midst of what became the “Reformation,” as sin prevailed and divided the church, what was lost in the process was central issue–the “re-formation” of the sinner into a saint. Lives would be taken–by both sides, the church would be fractured, and fractured again,
One of my favorite novelists (W.E.B Griffin) wrote a line I will not forget, “I regret it was necessary” in regards to an action he had to take in war. I deeply regret the reformation, and I deeply regret the fact that 500 years later we have become so divided that we forget the core of it – the re-formation of the sinner.
It is all about God’s power at work, God’s ability to care and protect us as He transforms un into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ (see 2 Cor. 3:16ff, Col. 1:28-29, Romans 12:1-3, Ephesians 2:8-10. This is where the discourse was supposed to go, but horribly did not.
We need to talk about how we are re-formed, for the sake of our people. We need to know the power and ability of God, the grace by which we are rescued from our bondage to sin, the sin which separates us from God, and would result in our condemnation unless it was dwelt with. We need to talk about what the Holy Spirit does to us after we are made righteous in Christ, how we are made holy and perfected/made complete.
We don’t need to talk about these things in an academic manner, or with arcane and technical language. That would only serve a small contingent of people, those labelled “theologians.” We need to discuss it for the people like Theophilus (which means friends of God) to whom Luke wrote his gospel, and the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, Written so Theophilus, a common ordinary person could know the truth, and as the Apostle John writes, “31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name. John 20:31 (NLT2)
Our people need to have the assurance of God’s work in their lives, anything else is a minor tidbit of information. He is re-forming us! Amen!
Tozer, A. W., & Smith, G. B. (2008). Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings. Moody Publishers.
Life: God’s Version of “Take Your Child to Work’ Day” Week 9 – But Dad, You Promised! Psalm 91:9-14
Life: God’s Version of “Take Your Child to Work’ Day”
Week 9 – He Cares for Us! But Dad, You Promised!
Psalm 91:9-14
† Jesus, Son and Savior †
May the grace, mercy, peace and comfort of God be yours, as you endure life in this broken world!
- Intro: Scratch out that title
This morning I need you to do something.
I need you to take a pen, or one of those little stubby pencils. Got it?
Now open your bulletin to the title page. Come on – this is important!
Now scratch out that crazy title – that He cares for us!
No, not just a line – scribble over it, I don’t want to see those words! Think like a 5 year old, throwing a tantrum.
Now, write in, “But Dad, You Promised!!!!”
Ever have one of those days when you were doing something with your dad and mom, and there was a promise to do something after? Then when the task was done, for whatever reason we find unacceptable, they couldn’t fulfil their promise?
“But Dad, You Promised!”
- Is Frustration a Sign of Weak Faith?
That’s my reaction this week to the reading from Psalm 91, as a mixture of emotions, none of them positive—pour out when I read, “If you make the LORD your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, 10 no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home.”
On Monday, I thought about talking about how much God cares for us for the promises in this passage are quite clear!
By Wednesday, and the day of 10 critical prayer requests, all involving illness and physical afflictions (which is part of the idea of plague—not just anything that is an illness – but anything that stresses you physically and emotionally. I began wondering if the angels fell asleep or went on vacation this week, for the passage promises, “For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. 12 They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.” I mean, if we can’t blame God, maybe the angels got held up in a spiritual battle,
what part of this promise God forgot, and by Friday, I was beginning to question whether we haven’t made the Lord our refuge, we haven’t made him our shelter, all bets and promises are off.
So did God forget, were the angels lazy or delayed, or have we somehow spiritually failed?
And does my even asking that question raise a question of whether I trust God?
Where does doubt turn to sin?
And where does doubt turn to unbelief?
With promises like this, my heart cries out, seriously cries out at times, “But Fathr, You promised!”
And I struggle with the need that we have to cry that, and the fact we do…
So what is the answer? How do we explain suffering, illness and trauma, knowing the promises of God. How can I trust those promises, when it appears they aren’t kept?
I will protect him…
I will ask this again,
- How can we trust those promises, when it appears they aren’t kept?
We can’t just dismiss this seeming contradiction – we have to honestly deal with out doubts, and we can.
Of course, my private devotions didn’t help this week! From reading of the God ordained suffering in Ezekiel to this famous passage from James, “2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. James 1:2-4 (NLT2)
I use other books as well, and whether from Luther or others, everything seemed about suffering and struggling, and how we are blessed. The one based on St. Francis was pretty blunt as well, “Even though he was completely worn out by his prolonged and serious illness, he threw himself on the ground, bruising his weakened bones in the hard fall. Kissing the ground, he said: “I thank you, Lord God, for all these sufferings of mine; and I ask you, my Lord, if it pleases you, to increase them a hundredfold. Because it will be most acceptable to me, that you do not spare me, afflicting me with suffering, since the fulfillment of your will is an overflowing consolation for me.”[1]
So on one hand, we have promises that God will protect us wherever we go – and in another we have the promise and evidence that Christians do have many challenges to deal with—but here is the caveat—what is the result of all of these challenges?
What does Francis see, or James, or King David—who wrote this Psalm but whose life…had its challenges, or Paul with his thorn in the flesh?
How come they can, in on moment cry out “Father God, you promised,” and then a moment later sing his praises, or find comfort in their struggles? It is as if they believe that other promise, that God uses all things for good for those who love Him and are called into His purpose.
That’s how they get there, and how we get there, as we stop seeing the challenges as challenges, but the opportunity to see God at work, doing the miraculous to bless us and others through the suffering.
So seek your refuge in Jesus, find your home, your shelter in the presence of God. There you will find yourself held onto through the storm, even as you hold onto God. There you will find you know His name, because He has given it you as you were made His child.
The greatest example of this can be seen when Satan confronts Jesus with this passage. Jump off from these heights – angels won’t let you land hard! And while Jesus doesn’t due that, can anyone really say that evil didn’t try to conquer Him?
It did not conquer Him, although He was afflicted more than any other. He endured the cross, despite the pain and the shame the book of Hebrews tells us. But how can a sacrifice that results in your salvation be evil? Not only you – but everyone who trusts and depends on God.
There is our faith! That is why the sacraments are so powerful, as we again realize that God has brought us into His presence, as we come to the altar, as we receive His precious Body and Blood – as we realize as Francis said, that it is okay, because we are more convinced of His will, and desire it more than our comfort in this life.
This is a time of healing, this is the time where we can pour out the doubt, the questions, the pain and stress. This is the time we look at the baptismal font and the altar and take a deep breath – and remember the love of God, and that He calls us by His name-the name by which our salvation and the promise that these challenges will result in good is made…
And then, instead of crying out, “but God, you promised” we cry out, “yes God, you promised, You are my refuge, You are my Home, You are my rescuer, and my Hope! ” as we sing His praises…
AMEN
[1] Pasquale, G., ed. (2011). Day by Day with Saint Francis: 365 Meditations (p. 274). New City Press.
The Proper Tension Between Faith (Alone) and Works
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and the Cross
So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by my works. You believe that God is one; well and good. Even the demons believe that—and tremble with fear.” (James 2:17–19, NET)
Thus they do not lie, deceive, and backbite, but are kind, truthful, faithful, and trustworthy, and do whatever else the commandments of God prescribe. That is the work of the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies and also awakens the body to such a new life until it is perfected in the life beyond. That is what is called “Christian holiness.”
[VI. Concerning the New Obedience]
[1] It is also taught that such faith should yield good fruit and good works and that a person must do such good works as God has commanded for God’s sake but not place trust in them as if thereby to earn grace before God.50 [2] For we receive forgiveness of sin and righteousness through faith in Christ, as Christ himself says [Luke 17:10*]: “When you have done all [things] …, say, ‘We are worthless slaves.’ ” [3] The Fathers also teach the same thing. For Ambrose says: “It is determined by God that whoever believes in Christ shall be saved and have forgiveness of sins, not through works but through faith alone, without merit.”51
For decades I have heard discussions (okay arguments) about the relationship between faith and works, and specifically about the old Lutheran phrase, that we are Saved by God’s grace alone, through Faith alone, as revealed in Scripture alone. Some think this means that no works are necessary for the believer, and others accuse Luther of teaching that, pointing out that James and other Biblical texts show a strong relationship between faith and works.
The latter is true, there is a strong relationship between faith and work, as is taught in Hebrews and Romans, as well as the Gospels, and demonstrated throughout the Acts of the Apostles. But the former is true as well, as Paul writes to the church in Ephesians, as John reveals in the Revelation, and as Jesus testifies in the gospels.
James makes it clear that faith is not just simple intellectual agreement on the existence of God, or even the loving and merciful character of God. Even Satan and the horde of demons know this, and it terrifies them, for they refuse to depend on God’s work at the cross.
Luther and the early reformers agree with that…our faith, our trust and dependence on God requires a transformation of our hearts and minds, a conversion. Article VI of the Augsburg Confession, the primary document of the Lutheran Church – clearly makes this statement.
But it is the trust in God that is faith that saves – not the works that are generated by the change. One is the cause, the other is the effect that testifies to the cause. This faith, this dependence on God is itself a gift of God, as the Holy Spirit cuts open our heart, (see Ezekiel 36, Acts 2, Col 2) and cuts away the lack of trust – which is testified to by actions as well – the actions we call sin.
We have to be clear about this – no prayer, no action, no doctrinal stance we teach means a thing, unless we depend on Jesus. This is the same faith that was taught in the early church as well.
So next time the discussion involves “faith alone”, know that it is talking about how we are saved, and it doesn’t cause a divorce between faith and the works that follow.
Now, if you have faith, if you depend on Jesus to have saved you – get back to work loving your neighbor.
Robinson, P. W. (1539). On the Councils and the Church. In H. J. Hillerbrand, K. I. Stjerna, T. J. Wengert, & P. W. Robinson (Eds.), Church and Sacraments (Vol. 3, p. 420). Fortress Press.
Article VI: Augsburg Confession Kolb, R., Wengert, T. J., & Arand, C. P. (2000). The Book of Concord: the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (p. 40). Fortress Press.
The Priceless Value of Being Spiritually and Physically Broken
Thoughts which carry (or perhaps drag) me to Jesus, and to the Cross
“My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything.” (James 1:2–4, NET)
With the Christ as leader, he resolved “to do great deeds,” and with weakening limbs and dying body, he hoped for victory over the enemy in a new struggle. True bravery knows no real limits of time, for its hope of reward is eternal.
In one of George MacDonald’s books, there is a woman who has met a sudden sorrow. “I wish I’d never been made!” she exclaims petulantly and bitterly: to which her friend quietly replies, “My dear, you’re not made yet. You’re only being made—and this is the Maker’s process.”
Christian believers are wrongly taught if they believe that the Christian life is a guarantee against human trials and problems. If they believe that, they have mistaken earth for heaven and expect conditions here below which can never be realized until we reach the better world above….
If we cannot remove our problems, then we must pray for grace to endure them without murmuring. We will learn, too, that problems patiently endured will work for our spiritual perfecting.
My complaint today is that God keeps stealing my pity parties!
It is no big secret that i have had a lot of health issues over the last 40 years, and face more to come. There are times, like the last week, where it seems like something else is going to be added, another thorn in the flesh. If it is not me, its my staff, (one with covid, one with severe bronchial issues) or this friend (dealing with a staff infection that keeps coming to the surface) or that friend. (hmmm, maybe it’s not good to be close to me?)
These kinds of things are wearying, and take a tax on me spiritually, and when it comes to my own health, I wonder when they will render me ineffective, useless, worthless. Is there a day soon coming when I can’t disciple people, a day when I can’t preach, or play in the worship liturgy band, or even do my greatest love, handing people the Body and Blood of Christ at the altar.
Giving place to those anxieties and fears is emotionally and spiritually debilitating! The thoughts alone can paralyze you, as they drain your faith, as well as your confidence, and leave me like a lifeless pile of dead leaves…
SO then God steals my pity party.
First, in my “on this day” memories on FB, there is a picture of one of the holiest ladies I know, who sat in our church office for over 40 years, just loving and caring for people, for the kids, and for the 7 pastors that were blessed to serve her over the years. Then I thought of another lady of faith, Grandma Myrtle, and also my wife’s mother, who though both bed bound- find a lot of meaning and usefulness in praying for others.
And then I get to my devotional reading, and the prayer of St. Francis that even though life was slowly fading from his body he believed that God still had great things for him to accomplish through prayer–recognizing the assault on his emotions and faith to be demonic. As i read that, I realizing it is not the health issues that wipe me out, but the fears and anxieties, the feelings of helplessness and worthlessness that are the problem. And these problems are demonic, trying to hide the grace of God which would allow me, as James says, to rejoice in these things.
The other readings also tug strongly at me, as they attempt to separate me from my self-pity, despair and depression. The idea that I am not “made” yet, but being renovated, and made for eternal life is indeed comforting and empowering, sustaining Francis’ belief that God will still work with me now. And as Tozer points out – any suffering is part of the process of making us–of perfecting us.
I can, even tired and worn, alive and with meaning because the Lord is with me. (you too!)
Pasquale, G., ed. (2011). Day by Day with Saint Francis: 365 Meditations (p. 271). New City Press.
Shelley, M. (1986). Helping those who don’t want help (Vol. 7, p. 45). Christianity Today, Inc.; Word Books.
Tozer, A. W., & Smith, G. B. (2008). Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings. Moody Publishers.
Visions of Fire and Brimstone are Needed Still, But Who Needs It Has Changed.
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to the cross.
“Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, for without it no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God, that no one be like a bitter root springing up and causing trouble, and through him many become defiled.” (Hebrews 12:14–15, NET)
““And you, son of man, groan with an aching heart and bitterness; groan before their eyes. When they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you will reply, ‘Because of the report that has come. Every heart will melt with fear and every hand will be limp; everyone will faint and every knee will be wet with urine.’ Pay attention—it is coming and it will happen, declares the sovereign LORD.”” (Ezekiel 21:6–7, NET)
Those who saw them, however, were greatly amazed that they differed from all others by their habit and life and seemed almost like wild men. In fact, whenever they entered especially a city, estate, town, or home, they announced peace, encouraging everyone to fear and love the Creator of heaven and earth and to observe the commandments.
I think it was Moody who came up with the idea that having people put in hell for a minute would drive them to the cross. At least he had the first half of preaching law and gospel correct!
But perhaps there is another who needs to visualize, and even experience the wrath of God, to contemplate its horror.
I am talking about those who minister to others. It might be a pastor or priest, a deacon or even and internet apologist. It would include the Bible Study leader, and also the Christian who could make an impact in their community.
How much would it change your heart to share the experience of Ezekiel, who pictured people so overwhelmed by the wrath of God that their hearts melt, their hands can no longer hold or lift anything, and quite colorfully, they can’t control their bladders. (other translations say their legs become like water-attempting to clean up the mess!) To observe people experiencing that furious a revelation of God, delivering the punishment they deserve should change how we minister, and how we are motivated to minister.
That kind of ministry is what Hebrews describes, this passion to share with people a peace that doesn’t make sense. To work that people can see God, and approach Him boldly, for they have not rejected the grace of our Lord. I love the thoughts, just as I would love to be described as the two men St. Francis described! To seem like wild men, as we passionately seek to be at peace with others, a peace only possible in Jesus.
To know what people face if we fail, and they come short of the grace of God. That will tame the zeal and focus it on ministry. It will stop us from being condescending–and focus us on serving. It will change our attitude that we are battling those sinners, and remind us we are on a rescue mission to save them.
True revival will begin, the more we realize what God is rescuing us all from…as will the most incredible worship. May we
Pasquale, G., ed. (2011). Day by Day with Saint Francis: 365 Meditations (p. 269). New City Press.
Life: God’s Version of Take Your Child to Work’ Day Week 8 – The Job Isn’t Done, yet! A sermon on Amos 8:4-7
Life: God’s Version of Take Your Child to Work’ Day
Week 8 – The Job Isn’t Done, yet
Amos 8:4-7
† In Jesus Name †
May the grace and mercy of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ sustain you, until the work God began in you is completed as Jesus returns!
How do you know the work is over?
As we talk about going to work with God, today we are going to look at the great moment when the job is done.
Or more precisely, how do we know when the job is done?
When we are kids, I don’t think we understand this all that clearly. We might finish a small task and go, “Dad, we’re done!” and think it high time we go and celebrate!
Until Dad lets us know that the little task we had completed was just the first of many!
“But Dad, I filled the wheelbarrow liked you asked, can’t we go now?”
“No son, now we make the concrete with the sand and the cement mix, then we get the rocks and make the wall….”
“but Dad, that will take for—-ever, and I am hungry now…”
“Be patient, there is more hard work to do…. “
So I’ve got a question for you…
As we work with God in this life, are you ready and willing to keep working with Him?
Are you sure? What if the work is hard?
What if the work isn’t just trying to save the world, but you are the object of the work? What if you are the one God is finishing what He started to recreate?
Or we could you hear yourself telling Him, Lord, we finished the work?
The Law ( Oh and is there law!)
The passage from Amos describes God’s message to His people, as He continues to do the work while He walks with them. You see, they messed up the job a little, and caused some delays, and God must…work on them a little.
The passage is brutal, getting right to the point as God points out their sin. God goes right after how they treat their neighbor, taking advantage of them the moment, they walk out the door of church,
“so you can get back to cheating the helpless. You measure out grain with dishonest measures and cheat the buyer with dishonest scales. 6 And you mix the grain you sell with chaff swept from the floor. Then you enslave poor people for one piece of silver or a pair of sandals”
Now, all these sins are against one’s neighbor, but you may be going, whew, those aren’t my sins. I mean when was the last time Nancy mixed chaff with the wheat she was selling someone? Or the last time you used that scale that you knew was off… in a business transaction.
Wait, does lying to the doctor count here?
Or do you “own” some people who went into debt with you?
Or is there something deeper at work here?
The Real Sin, Behind the Sin
One of the problems with Amos is that we don’t recognize the primary sin here, and there fore we can’t recognize the gospel in the passage that deals with the sin.
We look at what we consider the big sins, the ones committed against other people.
Did anyone notice I missed the big sin in the passage?
You can’t wait for the Sabbath day to be over and the religious festivals to end…
Here is the issue—what leads us into deeper sin is our rush to end our time with God and get back to “real life.” The second commandment – to treasure the sabbath day and keep it holy – they couldn’t waste their time finding rest and restoration by knowing God’s love, and instead they wanted to get back to …whatever they thought was more valuable than worship and prayer, than hearing God’s word and communing with Him.
I’ll be honest, there are times when I’ve been distracted by life, and wanted to get moving past some pastor’s conference worship session or end a Bible Study. Sometimes the reasons sound good, other times
And it is that attitude towards God, that point where time with Him doesn’t matter compared to something else, that we begin to act and believe like others don’t matter either.
That is where sin begins, where neglect of our relationship with God
That is what James is talking about, when he writes about God’s law not being a bunch of different sins that are ranked, but rather, “8 Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 9 But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law. 10 For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws. James 2:8-10 (NLT2)
So if God’s going to do the work, on us, with us, wouldn’t it be beneficial if we aware of the work?
Did anyone see it in the passage from Amos?
It’s there!
The Grace, Where We Didn’t See Grace
It’s a challenging discussion, enough so that I wrote several other pastors and Jim and Bob to see if they saw it. Didn’t even sleep on Sunday night, as I could not see the gospel in these verses, something that would give us hope, because of the death, burial and resurrection.
And then I saw it, right there in verse 7,
7 Now the LORD has sworn this oath by his own name, the Pride of Israel: “I will never forget the wicked things you have done! Amos 8:7 (NLT2)
God’s not going to forget our sins! That’s incredible news! In those words, we find the gospel, and it is amazing!
It doesn’t sound like good news, it doesn’t sound like the gospel! That sounds like condemnation! That sounds like every sin is going to be remembered and God will crush us for them….
And if God remembers every time we neglect Him, every time we sin by not loving our neighbor as ourselves, we are in deep doo doo.
But the Hebrew there means that He won’t forget to deal with the sin. It doesn’t say He won’t deal with it, or that He will just right off the one committing the sin. God won’t forget our sin, means He won’t forget to deal with it.
Amos and the people of God didn’t know how God would deal with such sin, they had no idea of Grace. They only knew that sin would get punished…they never saw Jesus taking the punishment we deserve
They didn’t know of the cross.
They didn’t apply Ezekiel 37 and God putting His spirit into the bodies He created from the dead dry bones in the Valley. They didn’t believe he couldn’t save us, and bring back to life that which was dead in sin.
They didn’t realize what we testify to..
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
(He is risen indeed! Alleluia)
and therefore
(We are risen indeed! Alleluia!)
God indeed will never forget our sin, and He will never forget He dealt with that sin at the cross!
We have to understand this job, God doesn’t do it half way, He completes it, He doesn’t forget our sin, nor will He ever forget He did something.
Which is the point of the prophetic message, to help us realize the promise of Christ, and God not forgetting, but dealing with our sin, at the cross. And because of that death and resurrection, He will never forget He dealt with that sin.
When we know that, the peace of God, which passes all understanding, yet in which we are safe, our hearts and minds, by Christ Jesus.
Give thanks for “them”! God is Using “Them” to Make You Holy!
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to the Cross
“And have you forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons? “My son, do not scorn the Lord’s discipline or give up when he corrects you. “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son he accepts.” Endure your suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? But if you do not experience discipline, something all sons have shared in, then you are illegitimate and are not sons.” (Hebrews 12:5–8, NET)
“O LORD, restore our well-being, just as the streams in the arid south are replenished. Those who shed tears as they plant will shout for joy when they reap the harvest. The one who weeps as he walks along, carrying his bag of seed, will certainly come in with a shout of joy, carrying his sheaves of grain.” (Psalm 126:4–6, NET)
Wherever they may be, let all my brothers remember that they have given themselves and abandoned their bodies to the Lord Jesus Christ. For love of Him, they must make themselves vulnerable to their enemies, both visible and invisible, because the Lord says: Whoever loses his life because of me will save it in eternal life [Lk 9:24; Mt 25:46]
174 Don’t say, “That person bothers me.” Think: “That person sanctifies me.”
The art of being a disciple of Jesus requires you to embrace God disciplining you.
Many books which talk about the practices of Christian Discipline, I have used and been blessed by them. Authors like Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, John Michael Talbot, Fr. Timothy and ancient classics as well. They are full of good advice, as they recommend ways to deepen your prayer life, meditate on scripture, and do things to promote what is now called Spiritual Formation (a kinder, nicer title!)
But there is an aspect of discipline I rarely see talk about, the discipline of the Lord.
The art of receiving the discipline of God.
That discipline that happens, when God separates us from our sin, and because we stubbornly cling to it, the discipline isn’t easy. It can feel like all of God’s wrath is being poured out on us, or at least God removed His protection and providence. As Hebrews notes, it can be painful, but it is necessary, and more, it is proof that we are God’s children, for He cares enough to punish, so He doesn’t have to condemn us. It is part of the transformation of repentance that God’s disciplining occurs, and is effective.
One of the challenges of such discipline, is how God chooses to discipline us.
In the Old Testament, for example in the books of Joshua and Judges, Ezra and Nehemiah, God uses the enemies and adversaries of Israel and Judah to disciple them. Those enemies and adversaries conquer God’s people, enslave them and torment them. Sometimes, it would take decades to achieve God’s purpose, when God’s people cry out to Him, to remember them and rescue them. God had warned them, as Moses delivered the Covenant to them, that these punishments could happen if they sinned.
They sinned, they chased idols, dishonored their parents, were unfaithful, stole and gossiped, etc…
So God disciplined them, and they came back.
God hasn’t changed.
So will accept it when God confronts our sin? When God allows us to experience some of the consequences, that He can heal us, as He comforts and cleanses us?
Will we remember – as Francis points out, that we turned our lives over to God? That when we lose our life and let God mold it, we gain our lives in an incredible way?
Will see Escriva’s point, that those who are “bothering us” are being used by God to draw us to Him, because any other option is simply too frustrating and too trying?
Will we see them as examples of God’s love, calling us back to Him, as He uses even these “relationships” to draw us close, to transform us into the likeness of Christ?
And once you see this – can you give thanks for their presence in their lives?
This is strong discipline, and it requires us to grow in our trust and dependence of God.
That is a good thing, btw.
——-
Pasquale, G., ed. (2011). Day by Day with Saint Francis: 365 Meditations (p. 267). New City Press.
Escrivá, Josemaría. The Way (p. 47). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Life: God’s Version of ‘Take Your Child to Work’ Day Week 7: Dad’s Happy! (so are we) A sermon on Luke 15:1-10
Life: God’s Version of
‘Take Your Child to Work’ Day
Week 7: Dad’s Happy! (so are we)
Luke 15:1-10
† In Jesus Name †
May the grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus be yours, and may you rejoice as others who were lost are found!
Intro – The Job is done!
There were days that I went to work with my dad that were more special than others.
We were doing something with cement, building a new stone wall, or patching some foundation, or creating a walkway. As we laid down the last wheelbarrows load of cement, as we were younger we always watched my dad take out a pencil and carve his initials in the last section.
As we got older, my brother and then I would do enough work, and do it well enough, that our initials, STP and DTP would join TEP in some corner of the project.
And then off to Howard Johnson’s for an ice cream shake and a beer.
There was great joy, the job was done. Something was created, something was made right!
Time to celebrate!
That is the same thing that happens in heaven, every time a sinner is found and brought home. And like my dad and brother celebrating, like the shepherd finding the one, and the lady who found the silver coin, there is incredible joy, and a party that goes beyond belief.
And what is really cool – because life is God taking his kids to work, we get to celebrate as well!
And what a celebration it is! Dad is happy, and so we are happy.
Sort of like the shepherd who carries home his sheep…and the woman who found her very valuable coin.
Law – We don’t like those…. People/Sinners
The context of Jesus’ parable cannot be overlooked.
The Pharisees and those that studied the law didn’t get it. Both of these groups focused on living their lives as holy as possible, trying to eliminate any practice or behavior that wasn’t allowed for in scripture. They were devoted to their way of life, and proud of it, because of the effort put into it.
As hard as they practiced their disciplined life-style, they forgot to love their neighbor, to be concerned about them, and they just looked down on them, because they didn’t follow.
When they Jesus spending his time with these lesser beings, they are ticked off—if he’s truly God’s holy chosen messiah, he should be with them, praising them for their diligence and hard work.
Here again how the Bible declares the scene.
2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!
Imagine Jesus coming back today, and sitting here in church, and then we invite him to come eat with us, and his response was to leave, and head down to a picnic with…. Hmmm… who you do you think you are holier than? Or maybe those horrible rotten sinners who…
Or maybe, instead of heading to lunch with us, he heads to a jail in Colorado, to spend a couple hours with a 22year old assassin.
Maybe that puts us in the mood of a the pharisees.
“Pastor, you can’t mean that Jesus would rather spend His time with “him” rather than us…
My only reply – is God’s job today to search for the one, or the ninety nine?
Who is the lost coin that needs to be found – us or him?
Yet the interesting thing is, that God would have some of his kids with Him, to make the point of God’s love – to be there, as God does what only God does. As God works on Him seeking to finished the job that began as Jesus died for everyone of his sins.
And those of us who can’t go to jail to visit him, can God at work by praying for him, and for his family, as they realize that only Jesus can deal with the depth of his sin.
For in prayer, asking God to be at work, we confess that we believe God can and desires to save everyone.
And can you imagine the joy that would be in heaven, should this young man be brought home, carried by Jesus? Could God do it? He already has – in David’s case, in Paul’s case, in the case of one of the soldiers at the cross, a man named Longinus, who used his spear to prove Jesus was dead. Each a murderer was changed by the power of God’s love.
I know who the first person who would want to greet him when he gets before God’s throne. I mean after God the Father would welcome him home. Two forgiven sinners, saved by Jesus – what a image!
And I would pray we would all go ballistic with joy!
Gospel – Look at how God searches for us, finds us brings us home and rejoices!
Moving on to how incredible the gospel is–When both the lost sheep and the lost coin are found, the term used gives us a modern word- heurisko – the art and science of finding something, or someone. It combines intuition, deep research, intelligence, basically pursuing the thing with everything one is, and haves.
And Jesus came to find us, with everything He had and is, including His life.
To find all of us.
I saw something in Luke that I’ve never seen before in this parable, but it is there, both in Matthew’s account and the account from Luke we have today…
“Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness”
As I thought through this passage, this one verse captured my heart.
The 99 weren’t even home yet. They were still in need of their Shepherd for they were in the wilderness.
They were on the way, but they weren’t home, yet we still need Him to bring us home.
We still need Jesus, we still need the Spirit’s guidance, we still need the Spirit’s guidance to deal with temptation, to live a life with Him. And because we are really all more like the 1 than the 99, we know the Lord is with us. We and the pharisees aren’t the 99- we are the one, and Jesus is carrying us home. `1
We know that heaven went ballistic with happiness when we God put His mark on us. He was so happy.. another job well done.
And then he invites us to work with Him to share in His happiness, to share in His joy, as others are re-created in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
As He invites to go to work with Him, even as He takes on the toughest of jobs.
Amen!
Is it to horrid a thought?
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus and to the Cross!
“Say, ‘Mountains of Israel, Hear the word of the sovereign LORD! This is what the sovereign LORD says to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: I am bringing a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.Your altars will be ruined and your incense altars will be broken. I will throw down your slain in front of your idols.I will place the corpses of the people of Israel in front of their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars. In all your dwellings, the cities will be laid waste and the high places ruined so that your altars will be laid waste and ruined, your idols will be shattered and demolished, your incense altars will be broken down, and your works wiped out.The slain will fall among you and then you will know that I am the LORD.” (Ezekiel 6:3–7, NET)
4. But I was far too impetuous, poor wretch, so I went with the flood-tide of my nature and abandoned you. I swept across all your laws, but I did not escape your chastisements, for what mortal can do that? You were ever present to me, mercifully angry, sprinkling very bitter disappointments over all my unlawful pleasures so that I might seek a pleasure free from all disappointment.
It is one thing I suppose, for Augustine to rejoice in God in God turning Augustine’s joy and pleasures into sour, disappointing losses. It would seem to be another to rejoice in God fulfilling the destruction He has Ezekiel communicate to the people of Israel, as He rids them of their idols.
It may not be.., in fact, we need to rejoice and ask God to wreck our idols, destroying them, even if it costs us our lives. That sounds painful and it will probably be very traumatic, for these idols have burrowed deeply into hearts and souls. We don’t even recognize them as idols in some cases, they have managed to become so ingrained in our lives.
The Holy Spirit is the only one who can cut away that kind of idolatry, using the Scriptures to cut away all that is not of God. (see Colossians 2:11-12) It’s not pretty – because of the grip idolatry and other sin has on us, and our own attraction to it.
This brutal attack on our idols is God’s desire, even as it is our cry when we cry out for His mercy.
When the Spirit frees us from our idols, the freedom enables us to rejoice in the pain, to look with joy and fondness at God spoiling the joy we once found in our rebellion and sin.
So what are these idols? The things we chase after, mistakenly believing that obtaining them will lead to our peace and contentment, that will calm our anxiety. We are more sophisticated in our how we create our idols these days. But they still promise what they can’t provide, they still offer security, or fame, or health, or peace.
And God in his mercy, removes these idols crushing them, as your life seems sour, and without joy, and even dead. Jesus can and does bring life to the dead, and life where there was nothing.
We will find a whole different life as God cuts away the idols…
And we we rejoice in His work, and the difference it makes in life.
Saint Augustine. (2012). The Confessions, Part I (J. E. Rotelle, Ed.; M. Boulding, Trans.; Second Edition, Vol. 1, p. 64). New City Press.
I’m Not Sure Who Needs God’s Mercy and Peace more..
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to the Cross
“So I said, “My endurance has expired; I have lost all hope of deliverance from the LORD.”” (Lamentations 3:18, NET)
“For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help.” (Hebrews 4:15–16, NET)
“Listen to my appeal for mercy! Deliver me, as you promised.” (Psalm 119:170, NET)
985 The day you no longer strive to draw others closer to God—since you ought to be a burning coal all the time—you will become a contemptible little piece of charcoal, or a little heap of ashes to be scattered by the slightest puff of wind.
Back when I served as a prison chaplain, I had the incredible joy of seeing men who realized the depth of their sin, who had the Holy Spirit cut it away, circumcising their heart, just as the Apostle Paul describes in Colossians 2, the same experience that Luke describes in Acts .2:37. There is no doubt in that moment where they realized the depth of their sin, as the trauma they brough on themselves shattered them, that they were in need of God’s mercy and peace.
And there He came to them.
There is a strong part of me praying that the young man who took a life this week is able to see Jesus coming to help him. I am praying he experiences the mercy and love of God, and in that experience finds peace.
And yet, he’s not the only one in need of such peace. From the people who rejoice in his actions, to those who who want to strike back and anger — we all need it to. We all need to experience the mercy and love found in Jesus. (an example – a minister who rejoice in “blocking people” because they obviously need Jesus, seems to be in as much need of God’s love, mercy and peace as those he would deny it to.
Here is the bottom line, we are all hurting, we are all damaged by our sin, the sins of our family and community, and the weight of the sins of the world. In that pain and confusion we strike our, say things that don’t make sense in reality, but we are going by the rumors and gossip based on things taken our of context that has prevailed on both sides. (Example – politicians on both sides stating the other sides is 100% responsible for the environment that lead to Kirk’s death. I don’t know what the ratio is – but it is because of the caustic environment the man grew up in, then the sin of all is responsible.)
I even falter, resonating with Jeremiah’s words that my endurance has expired. I find myself overwhelmed at the hatred being spewed out by both sides, and I want to judge both sides, respond prophetically to both sides, to show them their own double standards that lead them to judge their perceived opponents, rather than encouraging them towards Jesus. Several times in the last few days, as I look at the responses to the shotting and I understand Jeremiah’s lament, and I fear I am becoming that piece of charcoal – burnet out by people refusing grace for one, and therefore denying its existence, even for them. WHat good is my voice against such a storm? How can I convince fellow believers never mind unbeleivers, that God’s love and mercy can be found even here–in these dark days.That Jesus is here… ready to forgive, to heal, to reconcile us to the Father, as one family..
The Jesus that would come to all of us. The Jesus whom embraced the crowds cry for his crucifixion, by dying to free them from sin.
He knows our pain, He’s lived through it, He’s seen the weight of sin try to crush us all – not just “them.”
Let’s not cry out for a man’s death, but cry out to God instead that he come to know mercy. And cry out our nation comes to know it as well.
.Escrivá, Josemaría. The Forge (p. 204). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
