Category Archives: Devotions
We all know God loves us, but far too often the stresses, anxieties and problems in life crowd Him out of our view. Here find a moment to re-focus and remember how incredible it is that God loves us, and what it means to live in His presence, in the peace that passes all understanding…
Him? What? Why? Me? A sermon on Acts 9:1-22
Him? What? Why? Me!
Acts 9:1-22
† I.H.S. †
May the grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ astound you, as you minister and love those whom the world has given up on
- The other conversion
In today’s reading from the book of Acts there are two conversions. One is the one everyone knows about, the incredible conversion of a man who used the law to kill and torture those he didn’t like. He seemed out of his mind, and unwilling to consider any other position but his.
The bigger miracle, in my opinion, is the conversion of the other guy.
Looking at that one will have more impact on us anyways, because to be honest, I don’t think many of us are like Saul, who kept uttering threats to kill elders and pastors and other leaders of the church.
We need to see how Ananias was converted, how God changed his mind, and then see the incredible joy he was able to witness, because he was willing to head God’s heart, and consider a vision bigger than his own
- Look at it my way….
I want you, for a moment, to put yourselves in Ananias’s shoes. There are all sorts of rumors going around, way before he has a vision. Everyone knows about Paul leading the group that killed the first deacon…and they know he’s on the warpath.
Paul gets the high priest to effectively declare war on Christians. No holes barred, for the high priest’s letter to the synagogues have the weight of all of their office behind them.
Ananias knows this… and then the vIsion… I am going to paraphrase it a little…
Good morning Ananias!
yes Lord?!?
I’ve got something for you to do… Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now. 12 I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again
And Ananias response is a three letter word that is the worst thing you can say to God….
BUT!
Never, ever, ever say that to God… even when we think we have a reason, it is usually means that we somehow don’t trust Him or think we know better.
Ananias thinks he knows the whole story – this guy was as evil as they come…he enjoyed killing Christians. God don’t you realize how much trouble this guy is? Don’t you realize how black and evil his heart is?
God treats Ananias a lot nicer than I would have….
I would have said, “Ananias, you remember – I am God? Don’t you remember that besides loving me you have to love your neighbor Saul? Don’t you remember what I taught about forgive him even as I forgive you?
Come Ananias, you know that even though the church gave up on Saul I haven’t!
Ananias needed his mind changed just as much as the Paul!
And so do we.
Too many times we doubt that God is able to do things in a person’s life. We believe someone is too evil, or too broken. And so we treat them like someone beyond God’s reach….
Or maybe they are mean murderous types… maybe they are just cold and don’t come across well, or they are a pain in the neck, or they are poor and homes, or maybe we thing they are so rich, they wouldn’t even think we exist.
Not one of them is beyond God’s reach – not one of them….
But will we believe it? Will we trust God when He tells us that God has chosen them? That God has a plan for their lives?
God’s words were simple…. “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. 16 And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake
- Learning to Treasure God’s masterpiece
So Ananias mind is transformed by God. He remember that God is in charge,, and listens, and sees a miracle that is beyond anything he ever expected….
His heart changed… and he ministered to and love this wayward, power abusing murderer.
Hear again what Ananias saw God do.. through him.
He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized. 19 Afterward he ate some food and regained his strength.
Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days. 20 And immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is indeed the Son of God!”
Imagine Ananias’ reaction…. Paul is now preaching about Jesus… proclaiming that He is the Messiah, the Son of God!
I can almost hear Ananias, in awe going… “I knew God was going to do something special with that boy! I just knew it!”…
Seriously, God can change anyone… and he can change our hearts toward anyone.
We just have to hear how much God loves them, and forgave their sin by dying on the cross. They might refuse . but that doesn’t change what God has promised them…The more we see that change others, the more we are able to see God at work, in us.
That is how God changes His people; Some he has to change as He did Paul, some He has to change as He did with Ananias.
And most of the time – we aren’t aware of it, for we are in awe – and sharing that Jesus is the Son of God…and He will never give up working on us, in and through us. For as God changes and converts us, we find ourselves dwelling in His peace… a peace that can affect all around us, for we learn to love, because we are loved. AMEN
Partners: A sermon for the installation of a pastor and his congregation
Partners
Phil. 1:3-6 & Matt. 28:16-20
† I.H.S. †
May the grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ become so evident in this place that your ministry partnership is full of joy!
- The Band Leader
I have looked forward to this day for nearly three years.
Because this day is the result of a lot of work, a lot of time on the phone, and reading emails, a lot of frustration at times, if we are honest, some doubt, and finally, some relief.
And so people of Grace Lutheran School and Grace Lutheran Church, this is the day the Lord made…. For you!
You see, this day isn’t about Rev. Michael.
This day is about Grace Lutheran Church and Grace Lutheran School, of which Mike, you, and your family become a part.
One of my illustrations of how the partnership between a community of faith – the church and school – and their pastor work together comes from my youth.
You see… my parents were ballroom dance teachers, and when I asked them to teach me…. They handed me a guitar. I asked them a few years later, and they helped me get a piano. Something about my coordination being so wrong that it would be bad for business if I tried to dance.
But have you ever seen ballroom dancers try to dance without music?
Here is the point.
You are here to be in the background as the people learn to dance with God. You will, in your time of prayer for them, in your devotional time, in your time preparing sermons and Bible studies, in your time laughing and crying with them, you will be helping them learn to dance….
To dance with God.
That is your role in this partnership.
You are the band. You have to help them with the rhythm; you have to lift their spirits and help them learn to live life, moving in response to God.
And hopefully, as dances end… you will give thanks to God for their partnership in the ministry, as you see how God brought them through this life and finished His work with them.
- Anxiety and Doubt
This isn’t to say it is going to be easy.
One of the things so often overlooked as we look at the Great Commission is where the disciples were. Just a little while after, they realized “Alleluia He is Risen” (He is Risen Indeed, Alleluia!) and therefore… (We are risen indeed, Alleluia) is this phrase,
Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted!
Wait… what? Witnesses to the Lord’s nail spike prints in his hands, gaping spear wound in his side, and they….doubted?
Do you mean even they struggled?
Yeah – and there will be days for the entire community.
There might be an odd day when you are playing polka, and they are dancing the foxtrot. And the dissonance will make you wonder who is wrong and who is right….
Oddly enough, you can dance the foxtrot to a polka – you just have to move really quick!
But the partnership doesn’t end there… you get back to working with each other. You help them back into the groove, and then you almost want to stop playing – because they are doing the work of the ministry soooo sooo well as they learn to dance with God.
- Treasure what God has put together
And what is that ministry?
Well, how many people are in this Valley? According to the internet, about 517,000 people. About 60 churches here as well, according to one internet page.
So before you go into all the world to make disciples, you start here. 8618.6667 people to disciple, just if y’all take a single portion. Since you guys have such a clear view of grace, are such an awesome church body – and have a good pastor… let’s triple that. 25,850 people that you guys can reach out to, helping them become people who know Jesus loves them and learn to dance with Him!
There is the ministry of the church.
That is one of the things that happens when this partnership is doing what it is supposed to: when you, Pastor Hall, are setting the rhythm through your administration of the sacraments, your teaching and preaching, and the way you live. You set the rhythm in the way you dance with God…
What does it mean to make a disciple? The first step is easy – you wash them clean of sin in baptism. Not that the water is essential – teach them what Ezekiel 36 and Titus 3 say about God’s promises and actions.
The second part is a bit of a translation issue.
Most translations say, “teach them to obey the commands.”
The Greek is a lot better. I could teach for an hour on this – but Mike will do a better job. Here is what it says in Greek.
Teach them to guard the treasure (tereo) I have called into existence. (entellomai)
Teach them to guard the treasure that I have called into existence….
What treasure is that?
This treasure that the Father sent Jesus to die to create…
What I call the dance – that is what the treasure is.
When a good male leads his partner in the dance, and she trusts in him, there is a level of communication that occurs instinctively; it is based on that trust.
That is the treasure – this incredibly excellent relationship with the Creator of the Universe….
As your people learn to dance with God, something incredible happens. They reach out and love people around them, drawing them into the dance…
You are partners in this thing, and I pray dear brothers and sisters of Grace Lutheran Church and School – including your pastor- are so overwhelmed by what God does through this partnership that you give thanks to God every time you think of each other. Amen!
The Cure for Spiritual Tantrums…
Thoughts to encourage running to Jesus!
But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the LORD his God and heal me! 12 Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?” So Naaman turned and went away in a rage.
13 But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir,* if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? 2 Kings 5:11-13 NLT
Liberal Protestant theology understood this in a fundamental way when it expressed Jesus of Nazareth as the pure face of the eternal Father’s love beyond the Old Testament’s teaching of the Father who shows two faces, the face of wrath and the face of love.
Step by step, materially then spiritually, as you see from the text, especially as we read on, he is left with only one thread of consolation: the fact that God is God, the Creator who can do whatever he likes; and nobody can say to him, “You can’t do that to me.”
….nevertheless do not know what his attitude is toward them. They cannot be confident of his love and blessing, and therefore they remain in eternal wrath and condemnation. For they do not have the LORD Christ, and, besides, they are not illuminated and blessed by the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Why We Throw Spiritual Tantrums….
He was a grown man, a leader of leaders, appreciated and loved by his king.
Nevertheless, he stomped around and threw a tantrum that would make any 3-year-old proud! Arrogant, proud, and unwilling to admit his need, he was ready to give up his healing. Pride and arrogance are a deadly combination. If not for some of his men’s bravery, he would have spent his life cursed…
At least once a month – usually once a week, I find myself falling into the same trap. Be honest, you do as well. We want what we want when we want it, how we want it, acquired in the manner we planned!
Like Liberal Theology, we want to strip Jesus of his role as judge and only recognize him as the face of what we consider love to be. As He works to heal our brokenness, we tell Him to stop – and say the unthinkable, “you can’t do that to me!” We see it all around us; we’ve learned it well from society! We hear, “you can’t charge us that much for gasoline!”, “you can’t give me a bad grade,” “You can’t let my health fail,” and “you can’t tell me my coping mechanism is a sinful addiction,” “you can’t tell me this behavior, lifestyle, choice are wrong!” The list grows, and we throw more and more tantrums…
The officers that called Naaman to stop whining took a chance. They confronted him because the prophet was speaking for God, who didn’t have to heal him but provided a way he could be healed. They led him to take the step of acknowledging God didn’t have to heal him. He realized God could do it, and God was the one who set the terms.
In our case, the terms are particularly nasty.
“Take and eat; this is my body, broken for you!”
“Take and drink; this is my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sin!”
Hearing those words, we know what Luther wanted us to know about Jesus. That is, His mindset toward us – which leaves us confident of His love and the blessing He poured out upon us! He united us with His death and His resurrection.
I know this, and I think you do too… yet we will throw a tantrum today, no later than tomorrow. I pray someone will be there to remind us of the heart of God, and His attitude toward us, which is necessary to facilitate our healing. Tomorrow, the same challenge appears, and the only way out of such sin… is through the cross.
It is difficult to go there, but it is more exhausting not to run there! We actually sometimes need those tantrums, to remember why God is in charge… to know we can hear and recognize His voice, His invitation, His desire to comfort us.
So come, and know you are welcome at the altar.
So stop the tantrum… and drag your Naaman with you…
Hans Urs von Balthasar, Love Alone Is Credible, trans. D. C. Schindler (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2004), 148.
Thomas Keating, The Daily Reader for Contemplative Living: Excerpts from the Works of Father Thomas Keating, O.C.S.O., Sacred Scripture, and Other Spiritual Writings, ed. S. Stephanie Iachetta (New York; London; New Delhi; Sydney: Bloomsbury, 2009), 117.
Robert Kolb, Timothy J. Wengert, and Charles P. Arand, The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2000), 440.
Prayer is like a jacuzzi…
Thoughts to Encourage Your Devotion to Jesus…
But when you pray, go into your own room, shut your door and pray to your Father privately. Your Father who sees all private things will reward you.” Matthew 6:5 (Phillips NT)
The habit of breaking off our prayers before we have truly prayed is as common as it is unfortunate. Often the last ten minutes may mean more to us than the first half hour, because we must spend a long time getting into the proper mood to pray effectively. We may need to struggle with our thoughts to draw them in from where they have been scattered through the multitude of distractions that result from the task of living in a disordered world.…
First he invites Christians to pray his very own prayer along with him, joining their prayers to his. “Our Father,” he invokes, by these words implying that any Father of his is our Father too. Since we pray in and through Jesus to the almighty Maker of heaven and earth, we have the privilege of approaching him as beloved children
From God’s point of view, it is not accomplishments but efforts that count. If we accept our poverty and limitations, but still go on trying, we will rate higher than everybody else in God’s book, just as the poor widow did.… If we make the effort and receive that one precious point for trying, God can take his pencil and start adding zeros after it.
As I was confronted by Tozer this morning, I struggled with his honesty. I don’t know how often I start to pray or read the scriptures and find my mind wandering off into space. I find myself checking a text, answering an email, or thinking of someone I need to call. Many things demand my attention, and I don’t even struggle to fight them off. I try to justify it by saying I am growing old, and my concentration isn’t what it once was… but that is just a poor excuse.
We need to sink into prayer like we do when we go into a jacuzzi. It requires great patience and the acceptance that it takes a little while to get used to it. But when we do, the comfort it gives, the stress it relieves, and the benefit it brings us are beyond belief. So it is with prayer, the first five to ten minutes are tough. Still, eventually, Satan will tire, and the distractions will dissipate. You will find yourself welcome in this conversation with God.
We need to realize that we belong in that moment. There is a point in entering a jacuzzi when you know you can take the final step in, when the heat has moved up your legs as blood returns to the heart, and you are internally ready. We can boldly enter the water then, and in the same way, as we pray, we get to the point where it just becomes a bold move. We are up to our necks….dwelling deeply – nothing else but our Lord, listening, comforting, directing, healing, empowering.
It takes effort because we are, as Keating notes, poor and limited. What we have to offer doesn’t seem enough. We go on trying, encouraged by the Father of Jesus, our Father, who loves us. And as we struggle, we learn to keep praying, knowing we will find ourselves in a moment with Him. Then we learn it was not about us straining to reach Him but realizing that He came to us.
Distracted as you are praying? Find a quiet place – keep praying… even if it is simply savoring the Lord’s Prayer or personalizing Psalm 8, 23, 139. Keep trying to pray, seek His face, His voice, and His care. You will get there… and then the feeling is incredible…for He is your God, and you are His.
Lord, help us to be patient while we enter the waters of prayer. Help us to keep praying until the distractions pass, and all we know is You and Your love. AMEN!
Tozer, A. W. 2015. Tozer for the Christian Leader. Chicago: Moody Publishers.
Senkbeil, Harold L. 2019. The Care of Souls: Cultivating a Pastor’s Heart. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
Keating, Thomas. 2009. The Daily Reader for Contemplative Living: Excerpts from the Works of Father Thomas Keating, O.C.S.O., Sacred Scripture, and Other Spiritual Writings. Edited by S. Stephanie Iachetta. New York; London; New Delhi; Sydney: Bloomsbury.
The meaning of the empty tomb…
8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed—9 for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. 10 Then they went home. John 20:8-10 NLT
This changes the conversation on problems in the ministry immensely. Yet most of us still don’t get it. We keep focusing on visible things and neglect the spiritual. Ironic, isn’t it? You and I both know that most of our work involves things that are invisible, yet very real. No one has ever seen God, after all, and yet you and I daily teach and preach about him to others. We console, comfort, rebuke, and exhort the faithful using the invisible power of the Holy Spirit mediated through the word and sacraments. Forgiveness, peace, holiness, joy, consolation—all these are intangible and beyond the range of the senses, and yet our work revolves almost totally around these invisible things. It’s strange, then, that when confronted with roadblocks and obstacles in ministry we address only things we can see, touch, and measure externally.
But if we view creation with the eyes of love, then we will understand it, despite all the evidence that seems to point to the absence of love in the world. We will understand the ultimate purpose of creation: not only the purpose of its essence, which we seem to make some sense of through the various intelligible relationships among individual natures, but the purpose of its existence in general, for which no philosophy can otherwise find a sufficient reason.
The disciples had a lot to learn, as does every Christian.
But it is not just something discovered in the classroom or found by reading blogs or listening to podcasts. Like the sermons preached every Sunday in a million churches, lectures, lessons, and the ubiquitous podcasts and blogs are heard by the intellect. The “aha” moment that struck up such a passionate response in praise on Sunday is gone by Tuesday, or perhaps Wednesday.
This was true of the disciples – they heard Jesus speak of his death and resurrection. They heard that the seed needs to fall to the ground and die, then life is given to a multitude. They heard all the parables. The Apostle John said that until the moment they entered the tomb… they still didn’t understand the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead.
They had to encounter and experience the incredible love of God, at work at the cross, and then, only then, in the darkest spiritual despair, find the living Lord. The impossible had to happen – they would never understand it until it was experienced. The word of God simply points to that experience, where forgiveness, peace, holiness, joy, consolation – all these things Senkbeil points to and more, flood the life of one who knows Jesus died and rose… for them.
As we encounter Jesus, risen from the dead, life can make sense. Existence is no longer an ordeal to be navigated. It is about God’s love for us and the ability to love He enables in us. That is the ultimate purpose of Creation seen in the empty tomb… we need to know the power of His resurrection – for it is at work in us.
This was done…
for us!
The scriptures reveal this; this is what the sacraments help us experience.
We need to look in the tomb… we need to experience the death and resurrection of Jesus. We need to finally understand…He is Risen, and therefore we are risen indeed! All praise and glory to our Lord! Amen!
Senkbeil, Harold L. 2019. The Care of Souls: Cultivating a Pastor’s Heart. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
Balthasar, Hans Urs von. 2004. Love Alone Is Credible. Translated by D. C. Schindler. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Visionary Servant Leadership
Thoughts helping us focus on Jesus…
Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. 4 So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him. John 13:3-5 NLT
Leadership requires vision, and whence will vision come except from hours spent in the presence of God in humble and fervent prayer?
God remains the center, and man is drawn beyond himself toward the absolute as it manifests itself. He “possesses” love only insofar as love possesses him, which means that he never possesses love in such a way that he could describe it as one of his powers, which lies at his own disposal. To be sure, this does not mean that love remains external to him, but if it does not, it is only because love itself takes possession of him in his innermost heart—interius intimo meo.
Nevertheless, as a spiritual physician I’m treating the whole person, not just their emotions. When the soul is at rest in God, emotions will stabilize.
There are a lot of books out there that one could read to learn about Visionary Leadership. That includes those written by pastors, former pastors, corporate CEOs, former military leaders, and sports figures like John Wooden.
Rarely do I find that there is a spiritual component in these books or the seminars they spawn. If so, spirituality made be motioned as an afterthought. Even though we have generations of servant leaders, and the example of the prophets and Jesus of such incredible leadership.
We think such leadership is a gifted ability, something innate in that person but missing in this person. In thinking so, we make a mistake. Authentic leadership is not a gift as much as it is a side effect. (Note – leadership in Romans 12:8 is closer to administration than leading and guiding people. )
A side effect of time with God.
That time with God results in a deeper dependence, a deeper trust. Theologians call this faith, but that overused word rarely is thought of as the desperation that results in our clinging to God, knowing there is no other answer.
And the side effect of that dependence is the leadership Jesus shows as he washes the disciples’ feet and dies for them and the world the next day. Tozer talks of leadership coming from hours spent in the presence of God. Balthasar speaks of being drawn to God and possessed by God’s love – even to the most interior, intimate part of being. God is there; that is what conversion is, as our hearts and minds- cold, dead, broken by sin are replaced by the Spirit with Christ’s heart and mind. It all comes down to dwelling in HIs presence, and being sure of the promises, as Chirst was, as he washed the feet of the apostles… even of Judas…
Ultimately, this kind of leadership is focused on drawing people into the heart of God. That is where we must lead them, for that is where we find out who we are. We have to be confident of God’s presence and His work – then leadership is simply part of the response. This is the work Senkbeil speaks of – the healing that takes place as we wash feet, go and pray, or take the time to explain what the scripture means.
That is visionary servant leadership… which is the kind that makes an actual difference in the lives of people… both not and eternally. AMEN!
Tozer, A. W. 2015. Tozer for the Christian Leader. Chicago: Moody Publishers.
Balthasar, Hans Urs von. 2004. Love Alone Is Credible. Translated by D. C. Schindler. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Senkbeil, Harold L. 2019. The Care of Souls: Cultivating a Pastor’s Heart. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.d
The Ministry Isn’t Rocket Science…but
Thoughts to drive us to Jesus side…..
Save me, O God, for the floodwaters are up to my neck. 2 Deeper and deeper I sink into the mire; I can’t find a foothold. I am in deep water, and the floods overwhelm me. 3 I am exhausted from crying for help; my throat is parched. My eyes are swollen with weeping, waiting for my God to help me. Psalm 69:1-3 (NLT2)
Almost anything associated with the ministry may be learned with an average amount of intelligent application. It is not hard to preach or manage church affairs or pay a social call; weddings and funerals may be conducted smoothly with a little help from Emily Post and the Minister’s Manual. Sermon making can be learned as easily as shoemaking—introduction, conclusion and all. And so with the whole work of the ministry as it is carried on in the average church today.
But prayer—that is another matter. There Mrs. Post is helpless and the Minister’s Manual can offer no assistance. There the lonely man of God must wrestle it out alone, sometimes in fastings and tears and weariness untold. There every man must be an original, for true prayer cannot be imitated nor can it be learned from someone else.
There is an analogy between growing up spiritually and the growing up that takes place in the normal course of human life. In approaching adolescence and adulthood, everyone seems to have to pass through a crisis.… God has great sympathy for those who are going through this crisis in their spiritual life. They do not know what is happening to them and tend to concentrate on the disintegration of what they love, rather than on the real spiritual growth of which they are becoming capable.… If we look on the bright side and are firmly convinced that it is normal to have to forge new relationships, our crisis of faith will appear as a great invitation to go deeper into the heart of Christ. The very transition makes it impossible for the former people we counted on to help us. Part of growing up is to become independent—not of everybody, but of those on whom we are too dependent—so that we may depend completely on the Holy Spirit. That is what spiritual maturity is.
Tozer is correct…. the actual day-to-day tasks of being a pastor or one of those who help him are not that difficult. They don’t take the mind of a rocket scientist or incredible skills in management and business. That’s why people are getting “self-ordained” or getting one-day licenses to do weddings or just doing memorials on their own.
But a real pastor, a real elder, a real Sunday School teacher, or worship leader is not just a combination o talent and academic preparation. They have to be someone who wrestles with themselves and God – much as Jacob did. As each man’s gifts are different, so are the battles. The temptations, the anxieties, and the circumstances that they dwell in are different, making each battle unique – and therefore, the healing from battle damage is never the same.
Those battles are irreplaceable in one’s growth as a believer. Keating’s comparison to the challenges of the transition from childhood to adulthood is perfect. During that time, physically, mentally, spiritually, everything is challenged. Some demean it, having forgotten those long nights and empty feelings. As we enter Christ, everything changes, as idols and those who could become idols are removed. And while we have their words and often their examples, we are bereft of the comfort and the fact that someone is listening.
And that makes the brokenness echo throughout our hearts and minds, and yes, our souls. As we come on the other side of it, what disintegrated is replaced (much as Job’s family and fortune were!) Life becomes different, and we look at it with eyes that have grown weary as spiritual maturity is forced upon us. Every thing is stripped away, and we find everything is found as the Holy Spirit grants us the faith we need.
The place where the Psalmist was, is more important for a pastor or any other servant leader or believer in the church to experience. It is out of such times we God’s hand clearly, and the brokenness gives way to grace.
Ministry isn’t rocket science – it is more complicated. Still, as we see the breakthroughs and see the miracles, it is more rewarding…for it is walking with God… each step.
Tozer, A. W. 2015. Tozer for the Christian Leader. Chicago: Moody Publishers.
Keating, Thomas. 2009. The Daily Reader for Contemplative Living: Excerpts from the Works of Father Thomas Keating, O.C.S.O., Sacred Scripture, and Other Spiritual Writings. Edited by S. Stephanie Iachetta. New York; London; New Delhi; Sydney: Bloomsbury.
The Question about Ministry…
36 The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! 37 You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. 38 I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.” John 3:36-38 NLT
5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the LORD.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Interlude 6 Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time, that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment. Psalm 32:5-6 (NLT2)
That person sitting across from you in your study or lying in a hospital bed is just another wayward child of God the Father, each in their own way yearning to return to the Father’s house. Baptismal therapy is nothing more and nothing less than a return to baptism and the ongoing application of the gifts bestowed once in that sacred bath by which sins are forgiven and life restored.
The heart of the Easter mystery is our personal discovery of intimacy with God which scripture calls “innocence.” It is the innocence arising from easy and continual exchange of the most delightful kind with God.…
This morning I received official notice that my Ph.D. dissertation was fully accepted – the writing can “officially” begin. But it is something that has been forming in me for the last 28 -30 years. The readings this morning echo that concept. The nature of the ministry is bringing people into the glory of God. They are restored to dwell in that place!
Ministry is the work of reconciliation – the workers are sent out to gather people in the harvest – bringing them into eternal life. Doing that work only happens in the way the Psalmist experiences. When I know my sin is forgiven when I stop trying to hide my guilt. The response is simple. I want others to experience
the freedom, the peace, the life that comes in knowing Christ Jesus!
Senkbeil describes this revelation as the forgiven sinner sees the person as another prodigal – another wandered who is lost, trying to find their way in the world. The ministry then reminds the person what God has done in them as He cleansed them in baptism. If the person hasn’t been baptized, sharing the news of God’s mercy and compassion on those in bondage to sin. Yes, we desire; we hope and pray that they experience the intimacy with God that Keating talks about as he describes the sinner’s innocence.
This is what drives ministry – at its basic and best, it is the desire for others to experience the love of God that is unexplainable. A love that is beyond measure that leaves us experiencing innocence, righteousness, justice, and holiness, all because God loves us, and He is here.
This is ministry, as we have freely received – we freely give… This leaves you – and those around you with a question to ask. Do you need to hear that God loves you – and is merciful to you…. Or do your need to be the one that helps others find a deep, intimate, healing relationship with Jesus?
(I can help you either way!)
Heavenly Father, send forth Your Spirit on all believers, that they may realize how deeply You love them. As they experience the innocence that comes with salvation, help them share Your love with those around them. We pray this in the name of Jesus, your Son, our Savior and Lord! AMEN!
Senkbeil, Harold L. 2019. The Care of Souls: Cultivating a Pastor’s Heart. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
Keating, Thomas. 2009. The Daily Reader for Contemplative Living: Excerpts from the Works of Father Thomas Keating, O.C.S.O., Sacred Scripture, and Other Spiritual Writings. Edited by S. Stephanie Iachetta. New York; London; New Delhi; Sydney: Bloomsbury.
The Question of Morals/Ethics
Thoughts that should drive us to the cross,
7 After Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he lay down at the far end of the pile of grain and went to sleep. Then Ruth came quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. 8 Around midnight Boaz suddenly woke up and turned over. He was surprised to find a woman lying at his feet! 9 “Who are you?” he asked.
“I am your servant Ruth,” she replied. “Spread the corner of your covering over me, for you are my family redeemer.”
10 “The LORD bless you, my daughter!” Boaz exclaimed. “You are showing even more family loyalty now than you did before, for you have not gone after a younger man, whether rich or poor. 11 Now don’t worry about a thing, my daughter. I will do what is necessary, for everyone in town knows you are a virtuous woman. Ruth 3:7-11
For no one but Christ alone succeeds in directing his action entirely to Christ; and thus, if we live in loving faith, our ethical standard is in the end taken from our hands and placed in the love of God.
You’re afraid of becoming distant and cold with everyone—you want so much to be detached! Get rid of that fear. If you belong to Christ—completely to Christ—he will give you fire, light and warmth for all men.
I’ve heard a lot of people judge others on the basis of morals and ethics recently. They take the highground, and assume others are simply imoral or unethical. Some even say that those they are judging the actions of are not, and could never be believers.
In that case, the moral and ethical maybe on a higher elevation, but it is not gorund, it is quicksand.
My devotions this morning included the story of Naomi’s plan for Ruth to get a husband. That was the intent of sending Ruth there, to remind Boaz of the obligation of kinsman redeemer, and the reward – a life with Ruth. Whether or not “anything” happened that evening – we do not know. But we know Boaz was concerned people might think that way – for he mentioned everyone knowing that Ruth’s virtue hadn’t been questioned. Though some might, if they caught her all dressed up, lying under the covers.
Our minds are not hard pressed toask the question if something happened. I’ve read commentators who insist that something did…
The moment our minds go there, we become like the prodigal son’s brother, or like the Pharisee who prayed at the same time as the tax collector. We sin. We become distant and cold to the person we are judging and often condemning. We want to be detatched, to drive a huge wedge between us and those who are unethical and immoral.
We forget our own self-serviing actions, our breaches of our own ethical and moral code, never mind that of God. We set ourselves up as those who can keep up and drive everything to Jesus, and do that which is holy and right – all the time.
We need Jesus to come and take our moral and ethical standard, to let the Holy Spirit transform our hearts and minds, so that they reflect Christ’s. There, we dwell in a peace and love that goes beyond explanaiton, that cleanses us from our own sin, our own ethical and moral failures. Filled with His love, we can then be that which others are drawn to, helping them see their need for Chirst to work in their lives.
You see, conversion is a matter of God invading our lives, cutting open out hearts and letting Him clean house. Which means we cannot take credit for any righteousness, we can only explain that we are also sinners, those who have been saved by God. THe God who longs to save people of every tribe, every nation, every toungue.
God will do what is necessary… may our lives be spent witnessing this… and even being a part of it. THat then becomes an incredible joy.
Balthasar, Hans Urs von. 2004. Love Alone Is Credible. Translated by D. C. Schindler. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Escriva, Josemaria. The Way . Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
The Rule of Preaching…
Mar 16
Posted by A Broken Christian
The Ark of the LORD remained in Philistine territory seven months in all. 2 Then the Philistines called in their priests and diviners and asked them, “What should we do about the Ark of the LORD? Tell us how to return it to its own country.”
3 “Send the Ark of the God of Israel back with a gift,” they were told. “Send a guilt offering so the plague will stop. Then, if you are healed, you will know it was his hand that caused the plague.” 1 Sam. 6:1-3 NLT
The great deficiency to which I refer is the lack of spiritual discernment, especially among our leaders. How there can be so much Bible knowledge and so little insight, so little moral penetration, is one of the enigmas of the religious world today.…
If not the greatest need, then surely one of the greatest is for the appearance of Christian leaders with prophetic vision. We desperately need seers who can see through the mist. Unless they come soon, it will be too late for this generation. And if they do come, we will no doubt crucify a few of them in the name of our worldly orthodoxy. But the cross is always the harbinger of the resurrection.
The great folly of the pope’s church is that it’s based only on the external rule of reason, without the Word of God, and our salvation is supposed to be bound up with outward child’s play. If this had only had to do with moral and legal matters!”
This post may seem a bit harsh, but I believe it is needed these days.
The folly that Luther once charged “the pope’s church” with is no longer only their problem. It never was only theirs, nor does it affect all of those who preach in Roman Catholic Churches. It is the same issue that Tozer recognized in the 1970s-1980s, and unquestionably my generation has come to know the vanity he foresaw in his time.
The church has become like the Philistines, who could not figure out how to deal with dwelling in their presence. They recognized that something Divine was in their midst, and they saw the effects of the discipline God was pouring out on them. (Note I said discipline, not condemnation.) We’ve lost the ability to discern the presence of God and are even more unable to discern what that presence means. As Tozer said, we have some much Biblical (Theological?) knowledge, but so little of it penetrates past our mine to impact our hearts, our souls.
That is where the folly, even the silliness of preaching is seen.
We study more of the form of the message – than the message itself. We want to know what commentators perceive, rather than spend time quietly meditating on the text itself. We don’t want to invest the time, perhaps because we don’t value how God is working and can work in us. This is seen on Saturdays, as websites hosting sermons receive many hits (my blog is no exception – 6% of all my hits are on Saturday night before midnight!) We are not preaching out of the depths of our heartache and healing.
We simply take others’ works and present them, expecting that their results will become ours.
What is not then communicated is that incredible fact that in the blood, sweat, and tears needed to prepare a message for the people of God, the message is prepared. As we encounter Him working in our lives, as shown on every page of scripture. That is why meditating on scripture is so praised in scripture. That is why allowing God to apply His truth in you – before you hear what others say
is crucial. We need to have more of an answer than the Philistinean priests… we need to be able to help people see God, and respond to Him.
As pastors, priests, and preachers, we need to talk with our Lord more.. listen more. Then, the grace which reveals to us His presence and peace…we can show to our people.
The Lord is with you!
Lord, help us not be satisfied with passing on what others think about You and Your word. Instead, help us to experience the love beyond dimensions and the peace beyond understanding, as You restore us… and then help us to guide others into that same place. AMEN!
Tozer, A. W. 2015. Tozer for the Christian Leader. Chicago: Moody Publishers.
Luther, Martin. 1999. Luther’s Works, Vol. 54: Table Talk. Edited by Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann. Vol. 54. Philadelphia: Fortress Press.
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Posted in Ancient Future, Devotions, Martin Luther, Tozer
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Tags: commentaries, healing, hope, pastors, preaching, presence of Jesus