Monthly Archives: October 2025
Treasuring the Eucharist, (and the other sacraments)
Thoughts that carry me to Jesus, and to the Cross
“Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up,and they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear like the sky itself.But he did not lay a hand on the leaders of the Israelites, so they saw God, and they ate and they drank.” (Exodus 24:9–11, NET)
In summary, if God were to bid you to pick up a straw or to pluck out a feather with the command, order, and promise that thereby you would have forgiveness of all sin, grace, and eternal life, should you not accept this joyfully and gratefully, and cherish, praise, prize, and esteem that straw and that feather as a higher and holier possession than heaven and earth? No matter how insignificant the straw and the feather may be, you would nonetheless acquire through them something more valuable than heaven and earth, indeed, than all the angels, are able to bestow on you. Why then are we such disgraceful people that we do not regard the water of baptism, the bread and wine, that is, Christ’s body and blood, the spoken word, and the laying on of man’s hands for the forgiveness of sin as such holy possessions, as we would the straw and feather, though in the former, as we hear and know, God wishes to be effective and wants them to be his water, word, hand, bread, and wine, by means of which he wishes to sanctify and save you in Christ, who acquired this for us and who gave us the Holy Spirit from the Father for this work?
Ministers plant seeds in soil plowed by life’s circumstances. Many of the seeds take root. Some we’re aware of; others we aren’t. But by teaching biblical standards with biblical illustrations or illustrations from life, people beginning to go through those kinds of experiences often appropriate those principles. They experience the remedial effect of preventive counseling.
Due to some rather unique circumstances, my nights have not been filled with sleep and wonderful dreams. But lying their in bed, trying to be still and quiet gives me time to think. Last night it was about what I could teach about ministry.
I narrowed it down to three, one of which was to make the most out of liturgical worship, in order that people find comfort and the peace of God–and as the Lutheran Augsburg Confession states, “be drawn to Communion and Mass” (Article XXIV, Augsburg Confession).
Oh that more people would realize the benefit of the Eucharist–and receive it as often as possible!
And as I looked at my devotional reading this morning, I see a similar notion, the passion for Luther for people receiving as a treasure and treasuring the Sacraments, these conduits of grace that God established for us! And the grief that comes from when they do not!
While Shelley doesn’t mention the sacraments as the Biblical illustrations that plant seeds, they are! How we treat them, both the ministers and the one’s ministered too, either nourishes our growth, or can hinder it greatly. For every sacrament offers a renewal of the remedy, a chance to see again the work of God cleansing and healing our broken souls, hearts and minds.
This is especially true as we feast with God, as we eat His Body and drink His blood as He commanded, knowing Him through this sacred act-His act.
It is the feast seen in the day of Moses, as the elders, newly forgiven, eat and drink with God, in His presence. It is the wedding feast of the lamb, which is described in the book of the Revelation of Jesus the Christ.
It is the joy of God, celebrating with His people, as He gathers them home, both now and forever. There is nothing else like it.
And knowing the truth it reveals, that God is indeed with us” is what will sustain us,
Plant these seeds, do it with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, as you live the truth of these moments in which the Spirit transforms us!
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. 437). Fortress Press.
Shelley, M. (1986). Helping those who don’t want help (Vol. 7, p. 67). Christianity Today, Inc.; Word Books.
Celebrating Our Re-formation! Week 3: Grace Revealed
Celebrating Our Re-formation
Week 3: Grace Revealed
Psalm 121
† In Jesus †
may the grace and peace of God our Father reveal to you the presence of Jesus in your life, as He watches over you!
Stirred, not Shaken
It is my prayer that this message and the grace it describes leaves your faith in God the opposite of a James Bond martini – that it is stirred, and not shaken!
That is, after all, the nature of being re-formed, of this reformation where we look to the scriptures for the promises we have faith that Christ Jesus guarantees, the promises we call God’s grace.
For that grace is our only hope – the intercession of Jesus into our broken lives, lives which needed to be recreated, an re-formed, re-formed lives that reflect Jesus’ love into a broken world.
This is what Luther was all about—how do we see ourselves in Christ?
Do we recognize our need to be re-formed?
Do we recognize the work of Jesus, that draws us to the cross, where we are crucified with Him, so that can rise with Him
That’s grace…
The grace that re-forms sinners into saints.
Why do we need such a Reminder
Last week I preached on a passage that was mostly law – showing mankind’s absolute need for God to intervene in the lives of men, or we stand condemned by our own thoughts and actions.
This week is almost exactly opposite! A passage that primarily is focused on the impact of grace, and God has intervened and is actively involved in the lives of His people.
But why do we need such a reminder, you think that such a treasured thing as grace would never be forgotten, that it could never be forgotten.
But we do – we are more shaken than Mr. Bond’s favorite beverage.
We need to know we have help coming, we need to know we aren’t alone, we need to know we aren’t stuck, forever broken.
So powerful is the sin, the sins that had its grips on us, the sin that has its grips on so many in this world – that we need to continually hear the good news, that Christ has died for us, ,that Christ has risen and we are raised with Him, and that Christ will come again!
In light of the power and reach of sin we need to know God reigns, that grace overwhelms.
For sin would shake our faith, our ability to depend on Jesus.
And we don’t need our faith shaken, but stirred as we are re-formed
The SMR God
Hear theses verses again, for they are the purest example of grace,
4 Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps
5 The LORD himself watches over you.
7 The LORD keeps you from all harm and watches over your life
The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go,
Five times this word, shows up – that God watches over you – that God guards your back, that God is there in your life!
The word means more than just observe – it means to guard, to treasure what in entrusted to you. It pictures the military of the time, protecting the family of the King.
It’s the kind of guard that Elisha knew that he asked God to reveal to his assistant, described
15 When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. “Oh, sir, what will we do now?” the young man cried to Elisha. 16 “Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” 17 Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!” The LORD opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire. 2 Kings 6:15-17 (NLT2)
We don’t just have guardian angels, we have a guardian God, who brings His entire army to guard and protect us from sin, Satan, and the threat of death.
Back in the day, there was a show, “Touched by an Angel.” A Beautiful young Scottish angel, her friend Andrew- the angel who escorting dying people to heaven, and their “trainer”. Think two deacon angels and a pastor angel. The last episode had them questioning a disaster, and the worst thing – or so they thought- was that Andrew and his fellow death angels weren’t there to minister to the dying, and the grieving.
Until this other person, the new guy, revealed himself to be Jesus, and told them, “The angels weren’t involved because this job was too big for them – only he could handle it.”
Well, that was a television show, but it had a wonderful truth imbedded into it. We are to valuable for just an angel, or even ten thousand thousands to watch over. To heal, to help. And the promise is that have Jesus to do that… and always will.
He is our help, our refuge, our hope and healing, and He watches over us. AMEN!
