Category Archives: Augsburg and Trent
Augustine, Luther, Vatican I and the Purpose and Mission of God’s People.
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to the cross:
“ And as they came down the hill-side, he warned them not to tell anybody what they had seen till “the Son of Man should have risen again from the dead”. They treasured this remark and tried to puzzle out among themselves what “rising from the dead” could mean. (Mark 9, Phillips)
Have you never read this scripture— The stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner; This was from the Lord, And it is marvellous in our eyes?” ” (Mark 12 Phillips)
[1]Let us love him, for he made these things and he is not far off,44 for he did not make them and then go away: they are from him but also in him. You know where he is, because you know where truth tastes sweet. He is most intimately present to the human heart, but the heart has strayed from him. Return to your heart, then, you wrongdoers, and hold fast to him who made you. Stand with him and you will stand firm, rest in him and you will find peace.
Concerning the use of sacraments it is taught that the sacraments are instituted not only to be signs by which people may recognize Christians outwardly, but also as signs and testimonies of God’s will toward us in order thereby to awaken and strengthen our faith. [2] That is why they also require faith and are rightly used when received in faith for the strengthening of faith.
…so the Church, constituted by GOD the mother and teacher of all nations, knows its own office as debtor to all, and is ever ready and watchful to raise the fallen, to support those who are falling, to embrace those who return, to confirm the good and to carry them on to better things. Hence it can never forbear from witnessing to and proclaiming the truth of GOD, which heals all things, knowing the words addressed to it: “My Spirit that is in thee, and My words that I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, from henceforth and for ever.”*
Today is the last day of the Liturgical year. Not a big deal to some, but to me, it has some significant meaning.
It lies between the Sunday of the CHirst the King – the Sunday that celebrates His victory for us, which we know is coming, and the beginning of Advent, a season of repentant waiting for Jesus to become Immanuel, that is, God with us! (Note the exclamation point; it is there for a reason.)
Like the disciples after the transfiguration, I have questions about the cross. Not about the necessity, but the fact that Jesus volunteered for it with joy, to save you and me. We so desperately need not just a Savior, but a brother, who leads us back to the Father. It is truly a marvelous mystery to treasure, this grace that unites us to God.
We get to know this through the sacraments, those moments when God draws us near and unites us to Himself. As He originally cleanses us, cutting away our stone-hard hearts, and replacing them with His Heart, His Spirit (see Ezekiel 36:25) He then cleanses us of not only all sin, but all unrighteousness–all injustice. All the damage done to us by our sin, the sin of the world, both present and in the past. And of course, the incredible feast where Jesus feeds us with His body and blood. The Lutheran Augsburg Confession nails the purpose: not to define us to the world, but to strengthen our faith, to lay the foundation and build our lives on Jesus.
This is why Augustine talks of such an intimate relationship with God. It is of the most incredible value, so much so that He begs us to return to our heart, for that is Jesus, our Heart. He recognized, the hard way, that there is no option, no other name in which to find comfort, hope, and a relationship that heals.
This is what the world needs to know!
Vatican I sees this clearly! It is the purpose of the church, the purpose behind preaching, catechizing, teaching, and distributing the sacraments. Not just to indoctrinate people. Not to receive their tithes and offerings, and building artistic edifices. This is what ministry is! This is why we are here! This is the very thing at the heart of the Reformation (at least Luther/Melanchthon’s portion of it), and for some, the Counter-Reformation.
It is who we are, and I pray all the church, Lutheran, Catholic, Orthodox, and others, return to this ministry in the next year…AMEN!
Saint Augustine. (2012). The Confessions, Part I (J. E. Rotelle, Ed.; M. Boulding, Trans.; Second Edition, Vol. 1, p. 104). New City Press.
Kolb, R., Wengert, T. J., & Arand, C. P. (2000). The Book of Concord: the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (p. 46). Fortress Press.
McNabb, V., ed. (1907). The Decrees of the Vatican Council (pp. 17–18). Benziger Brothers.
Helping Those Who Seem to not Want Help
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to the Cross
“When Jesus had finished these parables he left the place, and came into his own country. Here he taught the people in their own synagogue, till in their amazement they said, “Where does this man get this wisdom and these powers? He’s only the carpenter’s son. Isn’t Mary his mother, and aren’t James, Joseph, Simon and Judas his brothers? And aren’t all his sisters living here with us? Where did he get all this?” And they were deeply offended with him. But Jesus said to them, “No prophet goes unhonoured except in his own country and in his own home!” And he performed very few miracles there because of their lack of faith.” (Matthew 13:53–58, Phillips)
These camouflaged souls represent a special category of people who need help: those hiding their need—either consciously or unconsciously. In order to help those who don’t want help, we must recognize that some of these people will ask for help, but they will ask for it through a tangential issue.
But doesn’t a personal relationship involve more than that? A mere benefactor, however powerful, kind and thoughtful, is not the same thing as a friend. Jesus says, “I have called you friends” (John 15:15) and “Look, I am with you every minute, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20, paraphrase).
Every church has them, every form of social media abounds with them They will often put up great defenses of their views, and sometimes are out on the offense. One friend describes them as “”For those who feel the zealous fumes of righteous rebellion coursing through their lungs,” Books have been written about them- these well intentioned alligators, these people who are more worried about being perceived as right that actually seeking the righteousness of Christ. They are labelled with terms like toxic, non-compliant, They don’t get the help, the healing they need, because they are so focused on defending their brokenness.
Others have different coping mechanisms, as they hide their hurt and pain deep within themselves. declaring all is good in their lives, and refusing, even getting offended by the offer of help.
And neither group experience of the healing, the miracle that is available to them in Jesus. Which is most regrettable, as it was when Nazareth rejected Jesus.
The question is whether our response is one based in the grief of knowing what is missing, or whether we simply wanting to correct and/or brush the dust off our feet and leave them in their brokenness. Will we see them asking for help in a very different way, and whether we will respond, or not.
This takes patience and more than a little sacrifice. It takes effort to restore these people to spiritual health, to the point where praising God is their constant focus, for they know they have been established in Christ Jesus. That is our goal, as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, to see them healed and restored.
I love how Dallas Willard used to phrase this – to know Jesus as a friend, not just a benefactor. To know that Jesus is not just invested in your performance, but is invested in you. This is where their hope like ours, is found. Where peace is beyond comprehension, where we (all of us!) are healed of our brokenness and sin.
Learn to humbly pray for their healing, pray for your own patience, pray for the love to care for them, and to hear their call for the hope you have. AMEN!
Shelley, M. (1986). Helping those who don’t want help (Vol. 7, p. 91). Christianity Today, Inc.; Word Books.
Willard, D., & Johnson, J. (2015). Hearing God Through the Year: A 365-Day Devotional. IVP.
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.
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.
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 Bizarre God…
Thoughts which lead me to Jesus and to the Cross
“I will put an end in Moab to those who make offerings at her places of worship. I will put an end to those who sacrifice to other gods. I, the LORD, affirm it! So my heart moans for Moab like a flute playing a funeral song. Yes, like a flute playing a funeral song, my heart moans for the people of Kir Heres. For the wealth they have gained will perish.” (Jeremiah 48:35–36, NET)
“Yet in days to come I will reverse Moab’s ill fortune.” says the LORD. The judgment against Moab ends here.” (Jeremiah 48:47, NET)
It grieved him when brothers sought learning while neglecting virtue, especially if they did not remain in that calling in which they were first called.
Christ’s death and resurrection, faith and love, are old and just ordinary things; that is why they must count for nothing, and so we must have new flatterers (as St. Paul says). And this serves us right since our ears itch so much for something new that we can no longer endure the old and genuine truth, “that we accumulate,”f that we weigh ourselves down with big piles of new teachings. That is just what has happened and will continue to happen.
The pastor understood their frustration. But their response was also an encouragement. He recognized one of the unique characteristics required of a pastor—perhaps a sign of the pastoral gift—is a willingness to love people even when they initially rebuff that love. The two accountants did not possess that willingness.
I would have thought that after 45 years of studying the scriptures, after nearly thirty years of teaching and preaching about the love of God, which desires to have a relationship with people, I would fully grasp how much He cares for us.
And then I come across a passage I have read 30?40? times, and am in awe of how bizarre God is.
The people that betrayed Him, more than perhaps any people are under discussion in the two passages above. Both Moab, and the Jewish people, who though thoroughly warned, fell into the same idolatry as Moab.
It’s not pretty!
Anyone who worshipped at their altars, anyone who shared in their idolatry, who served other gods, are going to have an end put to them.
And God hates it.
It rips his heart out to see them come ot where they are, and to receive the punishment they have chosen.
Just like Francis grieves when his people set aside God for “learning”, especially when they set aside Jesus and their vocation pursuing some kind of knowledge at the expense of their faith. Or the innumerable pastors and church leaders who get frustrated by those why reject them – and more importantly the peace and healing offered through scripture.
Yet God is bizarre, even as He groans over the fate they have chosen, has plans to end the judgment against them… and did so at the cross. That’s what the good pastor holds out for, and reveals to His people, a God who cares, who worked for the good of those who betrayed Him, who loved those who rebelled, and who promised to work to make everything right between them.
This is bizarre…
This isn’t normal…
Yet, it is so wonderful to know God cares that much, even for Moab….
Even for us.
Pasquale, G., ed. (2011). Day by Day with Saint Francis: 365 Meditations (p. 254). New City Press.
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. 403). Fortress Press.
Shelley, M. (1986). Helping those who don’t want help (Vol. 7, pp. 30–31). Christianity Today, Inc.; Word Books.
The Age of the Church Plant is Over in the USA
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to the Cross:
“But he lifted up our illnesses, he carried our pain; even though we thought he was being punished, attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done. He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds, crushed because of our sins; he endured punishment that made us well; because of his wounds we have been healed. All of us had wandered off like sheep; each of us had strayed off on his own path, but the LORD caused the sin of all of us to attack him. He was treated harshly and afflicted, but he did not even open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block, like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not even open his mouth. He was led away after an unjust trial— but who even cared? Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living; because of the rebellion of his own people he was wounded.” (Isaiah 53:4–8, NET)
“Therefore, be imitators of God as dearly loved children and live in love, just as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.” (Ephesians 5:1–2, NET)
The first work that blessed Francis undertook, after he had gained his freedom from the hands of his carnally-minded father, was to build a house of God. He did not try to build a new one, but he repaired an old one, restored an ancient one. He did not tear out the foundation, but he built upon it, always reserving to Christ his prerogative, although unaware of it, for no one can lay another foundation, but that which has been laid, which is Christ Jesus
959 When they take their little children in their arms, mothers—good mothers— make sure they do not have any pins in their clothes which could hurt them. When we deal with souls, we should have the same gentleness, together with all the determination required.
It was nearly 30 years ago that I was told, “just close the church, start a bunch of Bible Studies and re-open the church in 6 or 9 months with a new name.”
So said my mentors, experts in planting churches and in church growth. The church under discussion had diminished to the point where attendance could be counted on two hands and a foot, and all but my wife and I were over 70.
11 years later I was told – don’t accept the call to that church, it will kill you and it will die within 2-3 years. The people are too broken, too argumentative, too divided. No pastor can change that. DON’T TAKE IT.
Yesterday, I saw a young pastor suggesting that such “dead” churches can find growth by simply becoming a “church plant”, and using the same strategies that you would if you were starting from scratch.
What I believed in my young naivete, I know now to be true. Do that, and you will have a nice empty building to sell, and underwrite more church planting failures.
What if, instead of forcing their hand, writing the old guard of the church off and running them off, we actually imitated Christ in their presence. What if we joined them in their brokenness and carried it to Jesus with them? What if we lived in love for them, sacrificing what is needed, and didn’t care if the rest of the world noticed? What if we treated them with the pastoral care that a mother has for her little children.
Francis didn’t try to build a new church, but rebuild the ancient one. These churches that once thrived and were community centers. welcoming broken people and offering them life in Christ. Oddly enough, that church is still there, centuries later, still pointing to Jesus, still telling people their sins are forgiven, still giving out the sacraments. It’s “life-cycle” didn’t end at 40 years, its meaningful ministry keeps going.
I firmly believe the age of church planting is over. What we need in the USA and Europe is too rebuild on the ancient foundations of Christ. It will take sacrifice, it will mean joining people in their brokenness, it will means ministry…and prayer,
SO be it.
Escrivá, Josemaría. Furrow (p. 162). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Pasquale, G., ed. (2011). Day by Day with Saint Francis: 365 Meditations (p. 230). New City Press.
The Church isn’t supposed to convert people! It has a greater task!
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus and to the Cross
“For this reason I kneel before the Father,from whom every family in heaven and on the earth is named. I pray that according to the wealth of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love, you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:14–19, NET)
953 I think it is very natural for you to want the whole world to know Christ. But start with the responsibility of saving the souls of those who live with you and sanctifying each one of your fellow workers or fellow students. That is the principal mission that the Lord has entrusted to you.
Just as the early Church did not attempt to save its existence either by trying to make a concordat with Nero, Domitian, and Decius, or by stirring up a revolution against these tyrants, or by making an alliance with the Persian Empire, but simply by confessing the truth of the Gospel and building up a truly confessing Church whose members were prepared to die for the faith, so Luther and the early Lutheran Church confined themselves to do what the Church, according to its nature as an ordinance of God, can and ought to be doing.
There is a desire in most churches to see the world saved, I will never doubt that. But i think our idea of salvation is weak, and it confuses the ministry we are to share in as the church. I think St. Josemaria’s words here are profound – evangelism isn’t about what missionaries we send out do — it is about what we are doing in our communities, within our family structures, within the places where we live. Our work places, our doctor’s offices, and the stores we shop.
We are the evangelists, the missionaries, sent by God to this place–whereever you are reading this–and if you look around–there are plenty of people who trust in God, who don’t know Him. That’s why Sasse said that Luther and the early church weren’t content with becoming the state church-they had a mission – what the church was to be focused upon–what they were willing to die for… and did.
And it is not about making “converts.”
Not at all…
Look at what Paul prayed for the church in Ephesus…conversion wasn’t the experience he prayed for the church in Ephesus.
He prayed for them to experience the Love of God – to be filled with that which goes beyond any measure, that which cannot be fully explained. To encounter and experience the love of God who created us, and re-creates us in His image. When they do, a change certainly occurs, but not one generated by man. It is only through the ministry of the Holy Spirit! Get used to that, it is not us that converts people, we simply reveal the love of God, the very reason we have hope.
And it is so valuable a experience that martyrs across time have willingly given up their lives if it would help their captors know this love of God.
That is our mission – that is the good news we share with those whom we know, whom we love, and hate and are even indifferent towards..
———
Escrivá, Josemaría. Furrow (p. 161). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Sasse, H. (2001). This Is My Body: Luther’s Contention for the Real Presence in the Sacrament of the Altar (pp. 203–204). Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Life’s Unfair I Cry… and then realize I am glad for that…
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and the Cross
“For this reason the sovereign master himself will give you a confirming sign. Look, this young woman is about to conceive and will give birth to a son. You, young woman, will name him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14, NET)
When they arrived in the Spoleto valley, going back to their holy proposal, they began to discuss whether they should live among the people or go off to solitary places. But Christ’s servant Francis, putting his trust in neither his own efforts nor in theirs, sought the pleasure of the divine will in this matter by the fervor of prayer. Enlightened by a revelation from heaven, he realized that he was sent by the Lord to win for Christ the souls which the devil was trying to snatch away. Therefore he chose to live for everyone rather than for himself alone, drawn by the example of the one who deigned to die for all.
You stir us so that praising you may bring us joy, because you have made us and drawn us to yourself, and our heart is unquiet until it rests in you.
Christians who understand the true meaning of Christ’s cross will never whine about being treated unfairly. Whether or not they are given fair treatment will never enter their heads. They know they have been called to follow Christ, and certainly the Savior did not receive anything approaching fair treatment from mankind.
In language the word “unfair” seems altogether innocent but it indicates an inner attitude that has no place among Christians.
It’s ironic that one one the most evil rulers in all of history had the opportunity to receive any blessing he desired. ALl he had tro do was ask, and God would have granted it, to prove that he was trustworthy. And despite the king’s refusal, God provided him a sign, the birth of the Messiah, All to prove what is contained in the name of the Child provided.
Immanuel – “God is with you!”
It’s something we should never tired of hearing.
Even when we are as obstinate as the King of Israel, or as evil as his wife. God is at work, stirring us, trying to awe us with His love, that we might fins the peace we so desperately need, so our heart can rest from the “unquiet”
And from there, even as we desire more peace and rest, like Francis, we find at the end of our prayers a desire to live fro others. We learn to stop whining about what is fair or cry out for justice for our sake. For it wasn’t fair for Christ to come and die for me, but he embraced that sacrifice, that injustice, for me.
And so dealing with things that are unfair…
Those things become meaningless when we find the joy that comes when we realize we can worship God–for we know God’s love for us, and knowing that we can rejoice in Him. Knowing why we can rejoice in Him, because of his extravagant, incredible love for us.
That’s where it comes down to – experiencing the love of God that goes beyond what theologians can write about, or make a Youtube about. The love of God needs to be experienced, it needs to be lived in!
It is so incredible, embracing that which is unfair, in order to help people experience it is well worth it, indeed, we will come to rejoice in those times of life being unfair – for we know the opportunity it brings, to testify to how Jesus embraced us, even as our sins were unfairly carried by Him, nailed with Him to the cross….
The tears will come, as will the pain, but God will use it all for good, even if we don’t understand. He promised and we can depend on it. AMEN!
Pasquale, G., ed. (2011). Day by Day with Saint Francis: 365 Meditations (p. 214). New City Press.
Saint Augustine. (2012). The Confessions, Part I (J. E. Rotelle, Ed.; M. Boulding, Trans.; Second Edition, Vol. 1, p. 39). New City Press.
Tozer, A. W., & Smith, G. B. (2008). Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings. Moody Publishers.
Christians are simply beggars… if we do things right.
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to the Cross:
“In other words, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting people’s trespasses against them, and he has given us the message of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His plea through us. We plead with you on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God!”” (2 Corinthians 5:19–20, NET)
They are expressions of the one great heresy, which is as old as fallen mankind: Man refuses to accept the external word and the external means of grace and develops his own religion, which places man where God alone has the right to stand: “Ye shall be as gods!”
I have met Christians who were so intent upon winning souls to Christ that they would not talk to you about anything but God and His goodness!
Such a man was the Canadian, Robert Jaffray, one of our early pioneer missionaries. His family owned the Toronto Globe and Mail and as a young Christian he was disinherited because he chose to follow God’s call to China rather than join the family business.
That good godly man spent his lifetime in China and the south Pacific, searching for the lost—and winning them! He was always reading maps and daring to go to the most difficult places, in spite of physical weaknesses and diabetic handicap. He sought out and lived among the poor and miserable, always praying to God, “Let my people go!”
On my bookshelves I have numerous books about church growth, about having a missional spirit. Others talk about forensic apologetics and evangelism. Many of these approach the topic with a clinical approach, looking at statistics, looking for patterns that can be replicated, looking for logical presentations of the gospel that give overwhelming proof – which we hope will covert the heathen.
We know, for we ourselves our guilty, of the great sin of self-idolatry, of narcissism. Even in thinking “we” can prove the gospel, we are take up a burden that is rightfully the Holy Spirit. Far too often in the church, we create our own religion, putting ourselves in charge of saving the world.
Yet there are those, who in humility simply follow the Spirit, as they are compelled to not shut up about Jesus. Jaffray was one, Eric Liddell comes to mind, as does Barton Stone, and Wyneken and Luther. Each spent their lives, or a great deal of their lives not arguing, but pleading that people would be reconciled to God – a work already accomplished by Jesus.
I think that word pleading is important – it has the emphasis of desire built into the request. It doesn’t come from a place of power, or even authority, but of someone is so worried about the person they beg them to let God in, to receive the love and mercy. It comes from seeing people living without hope, without peace, assaulted by the world, and by their own guilt and shame.
And we have the antidote to that which poisons their life.
How can we get them to receive it? How can we get them to trust in a God they do not yet know of, that they have yet to experience, that they haven’t allowed to bring them to life, remove the guilt and shame of sin, and restore them?
This is the passion Paul had, this is why some cannot shut up about the love of God.
We can beg them, the Spirit opens their hearts, Christ has reconciled them to the Father.
This is our call… we simple beggers on a this journey called life…
Sasse, H. (2001). This Is My Body: Luther’s Contention for the Real Presence in the Sacrament of the Altar (p. 191). Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Tozer, A. W., & Smith, G. B. (2008). Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings. Moody Publishers.
