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…
“Pious Practices Are Pragmatic” or “Spend the Time with Him”
Thoughts which Carry Me to Jesus, and to the Cross
““I am the vine, and you are the branches. If any remain in me and I remain in them, they produce much fruit. But without me they can do nothing.” (John 15:5, NCV)
The sociologists who prepared a recent report about women religious in Quebec, the French-speaking province of Canada, describe how, in the course of twenty years [1961–1981], all the communities there initiated every conceivable kind of reform: abandonment of the religious habit, individual budgets, degrees from secular universities, membership in secular professions, massive assistance from “specialists” of every kind. Yet sisters continued to leave and new ones failed to come. Perhaps, without being fully aware of the reasons, women religious felt a deep unrest at living in a Church in which Christianity is reduced to an ideology of doing, a Church in which there is no longer any place for mystical experience, for that zenith of religious life that has been—and not by chance—the most precious treasure of the Church through centuries of uninterrupted constancy and fullness in the lives of religious, usually women rather than men; in the lives of those extraordinary women whom the Church has honored with the title “saint”, and sometimes even “doctor”, not hesitating to offer them as models for all Christians.
To be “led by the Spirit of God” means to be given a heart which gladly hears God’s Word and believes that in Christ it has grace and the forgiveness of sins; a heart which confesses and proves its faith before the world; a heart which seeks, above all things, the glory of God, and endeavors to live without giving offense, to serve others and to be obedient, patient, pure and chaste, mild and gentle; a heart which, though at times overtaken in a fault, and may stumble, soon rises again by repentance and ceases to sin. All these things the Holy Spirit teaches one if he hears and receives the Word, and does not willfully resist the Spirit.
“According to several surveys, prayer remains the least satisfactory aspect of pastors’ spiritual lives.”
Back in the 1990s, before i became a pastor, I read an article by a pastor I knew and respected, that grieved over the amount of time pastors spent in prayer, and in listening to God as they read scripture and other books devotionally. The 2017 quote above indicates that hasn’t changed much, and a google search indicates that pastors and lay people spend less than 15 minutes in prayer a day on average. WHen I read Jack’s words, I wondered, somewhat self-righteously, how pastors could let this happen, how could they (now we) cut ourselves off from the source of our life, the very power that enables us to do what we do.
I don’t wonder anymore. Our very ministry and life robs us from these things, as we try to balance the needs of our people, our community, our families–all who we are called to minister to, with spending “me time”, the time I need to find the peace and sanctuary I need to survive this mad world. If I don’t take this time, it is clearly visible – and it seems more and more so.
THere is also a bit of hypocrisy here. How can I instruct people to spend time in prayer, talking and listening to God, if I don’t show an effect of that prayer in my own life? For certainly we all need this time of rest, this time of recovery, this time of devotion, adoration, doing those things once labelled pious.
Today I think the pious label needs to be replaced with a different one.
There are not pious practices, they are not what creates pietism.
They are simply pragmatic.
Like when I plus my car in to get charged.
Jesus speaks of this as He teaches us that we can do nothing separated from Him, NOTHING.
My two favorite pastor/theologians, Martin Luther and Pope Benedict XVI comment on it, noting the effect of removing those practices on a community of nuns, that literally dies off as the pragmatic practices that caused them to realize the presence of Jesus in their lives is removed, and their hearts, like those of the pharisees and people of Jesus day are far off from Him. Luther testifies to the effect of walking in the grace and forgiveness found in the Spirits presence, a mindblowing witness of the transformation of a sinner into a reflection of Jesus.
We need this time, as we need to breathe, as electric cars need current and gas cars need gasoline. We live in Him, and He in us, and it takes time to work that out in our heart, souls and minds.
I know this for a fact, as I sit in my office – 12 major things (woops – another came to mind 13) and a million minor things to do…
But I can’t do any of them without Him.
Neither can you… spend he time in prayer, even if it is slowly savoring the words of the Lord’s prayer, or a psalm or 2…
and know the Lord is with you!
Ratzinger, Joseph. 1992. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl. Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Luther, Martin, and John Sander. 1915. Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year. Rock Island, IL: Augustana Book Concern.
https://www.christianitytoday.com/karl-vaters/2017/september/for-every-minister-who-struggles-with-your-prayer-life.html
Burnout is Inevitable…and, It Is Needed?
Photo by Wouter de Jong on Pexels.com
Thoughts which carry the burned out to Jesus, and to the Cross
“LORD, you tricked me, and I was fooled. You are stronger than I am, so you won. I have become a joke; everyone makes fun of me all day long. Every time I speak, I shout. I am always shouting about violence and destruction. I tell the people about the message I received from the LORD, but this only brings me insults. The people make fun of me all day long. Sometimes I say to myself, “I will forget about the LORD. I will not speak anymore in his name.” But then his message becomes like a burning fire inside me, deep within my bones. I get tired of trying to hold it inside of me, and finally, I cannot hold it in.” (Jeremiah 20:7–9, NCV)
The road that leads us forward, the road to progress, must at the same time be a road that leads us backward, back to fundamentals, a road that leads us inward and upward. Christ is the center; to look upon him is our first and noblest task, or, as the first letter of Clement, one of the earliest successors of Saint Peter, expresses it: “Let us keep our gaze fixed immovably on the saving Blood of Jesus Christ.” But how can this be? How are we to receive Christ as the center, Christ as the answer, as the Bread that is life, as the living Word? The letter interprets this simple, profound, and fundamental concept, which was likewise the basic concept of Vatican Council II, in the words: “Let us live by every word that comes from your mouth.”
During this interim, Jeremiah keeps the faith that has been entrusted to the prophet, but not without great conflict: “If I say, ‘I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,’ then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot” (Jer 20:9). At this point he almost succumbs to his distress, but soon he is raised up again, saying: “But the Lord is with me like a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they will not prevail” (Jer 20:11). Then a powerful impatience wells up in him again so that he appears to lose hope and to rage against the will of God.
These struggles are peculiar to the saints, and through them they discern the magnitude of sin in human nature. They match what Paul describes in Romans 7 and agree with what he says elsewhere (2 Cor 12:7) about torments or thorns being given to him in the flesh, that is, extreme fear and trepidation. In the midst of these torments, however, the Spirit yearns for help “with sighs too deep for words” (Rom 8:26), and it prevails.
Back in 2017, I wrote a sermon on the passage fro Jeremiah above. I called it, “God, we need to talk!” By far it is my most “popular” sermon I’ve ever posted on line.
And I hate that it is necessary.
But it is, as the title of this blog indicates, Burnout is inevitable. In ministry, it is assured. In marriage, it will definitely happen, It would cause your to change jobs, or even get fired from them, as burnout can impact our attitude and therefore what we get done.
You see that in the burnt out prophet’s words, especially in verse 9, as he talks about the inner conversation where he wants to forget about God, and never talk about Him again.
That is where Pope Benedict tells us to go back tot he scriptures, the word of God that is the word of life. To get focused on Jesus, in order that He may heal us!
We have to remember that we can’t do anything from ministry to marriage to work, to any endeavor on our own strength for long. We burnout because we aren’t self-sufficient, because we cannot do it on our own, and we can’t fulfill that damned phrase, “if you want it done right, do it yourself.
But that is Pope Benedict’s words begin to make more sense. And then my favorite reformer, Philip Melanchthon, adds his wisdom about the struggle that is peculiar to the saints, those who need to be reminded that the Spirit is interceding for them, even when it appears we have lost our hope.
That is why I ask if burnout is necessary, and I believe it is. As was once said, we have to know our limitations, and then it is even more critical to be aware of the presence of God, who empowers and sustains us, even when we are running on empty. The greatest prophets experienced it, St. Paul talks about it twice, as does St. John. Maturity isn’t being strong enough to never burnout–it is about knowing the peace of God during the burnout, and being confident God will bring you through it, or bring you home.
God is with us, even in the midst of it…and He is holding us up…exactly as we need.
Ratzinger, Joseph. 1992. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl. Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Melanchthon, Philip. 2009. “The Lessons of Jeremiah’s Prophecy, 1548.” In Early Protestant Spirituality, edited by Scott H. Hendrix and Bernard McGinn, translated by Scott H. Hendrix, 67. The Classics of Western Spirituality. New York; Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.
Stolen Images: DaVinci’s and Something More Hideous…
Thoughts which drag me back to Jesus, and to the Cross…
“Then I heard the Lord’s voice, saying, “Whom can I send? Who will go for us?” So I said, “Here I am. Send me!” Then the Lord said, “Go and tell this to the people: ‘You will listen and listen, but you will not understand. You will look and look, but you will not learn.’ Make the minds of these people dumb. Shut their ears. Cover their eyes. Otherwise, they might really understand what they see with their eyes and hear with their ears. They might really understand in their minds and come back to me and be healed.”” (Isaiah 6:8–10, NCV)
If, in view of something apparently more important, we push God to one side in order to give precedence above all else to the happiness of the human person, we do not thereby become more free to establish right order in the world, but rather lose the standard and eventually come to despise mankind. Only one who regards humanity from God’s perspective is capable of loving mankind. Only one who knows God can love mankind—even the most wretched, the weakest, the defenseless, the battered, the unborn, the inept. That is why the “Hear, O Israel” stands irremovably at the beginning of all our ways.
Now, this is Christ. I see him hanging on the cross, not beautiful, nor greatly honored; but I see him hanging in disgrace, like a murderer and malefactor; thus, reason must say that he is cursed before God. The Jews believed this to be true and they could only consider him the most cursed of all men before God and the world.
Moses had to set up a serpent of brass, which looked like the fiery serpents, but did not bite, nor harm any one; it rather saved the people. Thus, Christ also has the form and the appearance of a sinner, but has become my salvation; his death is my life; he atones for my sins and takes away from me the wrath of the Father. If man believes that the death of Christ has taken away his sin, he becomes a new man. The carnal, natural man cannot believe that God will gratuitously take away and forgive us all our sins. Reason argues: You have sinned, you must also atone for your sin. The gospel of Christ says: You have sinned, another must atone for you. Our works are nothing; but faith in Christ does it all
I have see Social Media blow up over the opening of the Olympic Games in France. I have seen a lot of fear, a lot of hatred, a of condemnation. Because they took license (in both meanings of the words) with a man’s depiction of the Last Supper.
But what should the church expect from people who do not know God? What should we expect from that part of humanity that is “wretched, weak, defenseless (against evil and temptation) battered by sin, etc. I think the fact the church has a different expectation of the world is sadder than the world’s attempt to mock the church.
But the world needs to learn a lesson about how to mock, how to completely pervert something, for it can only take what is good, and try to make it look evil. It has no power to take what seems evil and make it good. That’s why Isaiah says they have no clue, as they refuse to listen to God. For if they had, they would flip things from bad to good….as Jesus does.
Consider Luther’s point about the serpent – the one who delivers the judgment for rebellion against God. God mocks Saan there, by using the image of the serpent that causes such pain and death- to bring healing and life. The difference is God’s serpent didn’t bite us, it bit death.
The same with Christ on the cross. A hideous form of torture, an unbelievable amount of pain, as one hangs on the tree – accursed because of sin.. not his own, like other criminals and rebels, but ours. And so the church mocks sin, Satan death, and the world by preaching Christ crucified – earing crosses and crucifixes–parading them before the entire world… shattering the world and perverting the world sense of justice, by punishing the Innocent One in a humiliating, ugly, and traumatic way.
The irony of the Cross is its brutality, its horror, it injustice leads to perfection, to holiness. The irony of the cross is His death leads to eternal life. Its irony is that what sought to permanently divide us from God, eternally united us to God.
And those who think they mocked the church, those that think they were deliberate profane, we pray that they understand the irony, and find the hope in Christ Jesus, and in His sacraments.
Ratzinger, Joseph. 1992. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl. Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Luther, Martin, and John Sander. 1915. Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year. Rock Island, IL: Augustana Book Concern.
Despair, Depression and Burn out… Is there hope?
Photo by Wouter de Jong on Pexels.com
Thoughts which draw me closer to Jesus and to the Cross…
1 These are the words of the Teacher, a son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 The Teacher says, “Useless! Useless! Completely useless! Everything is useless.”3 What do people really gain from all the hard work they do here on earth? Ecc. 1:1 NCV
58 So my dear brothers and sisters, stand strong. Do not let anything move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your work in the Lord is never wasted. 1 Cor. 15:58 NCV
Faith is not just a matter of feeling, something that we pursue as a private matter in addition to the ordinary pursuits of every day because, after all, man has a longing for religion. Faith is above all the orderliness of reason, without which it loses its standard and the ability to judge its own goals
For such times, when our heart feels too sorely pressed, this comfort of the Lord’s Supper is given to bring us new strength and refreshment.
I have yet to meet anyone over the age of twelve, who hasn’t encountered the feeling that Solomon so perfectly explains this morning. It is a sense of fatalism, a lack of meaning, which attempts to extinguish our meaning. It hits us all, some of us because of things in the world we can’t change, others because of things in our lives, relationships, health, work, And when all those things gang up….what I call righteous depression sets deeply into our lives. And if we are dealing with some form of clinical depression at the same time… life becomes even more miserable.
Even for Solomon, the wisest man in history, one of the wealthiest and famous men in ancient history, who clearly was at a low as he wrote this book. Which is exactly why its in scripture, for if he could survive such, we who have the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, can do the same.
St. Paul shows the counter, that our depression isn’t an accurate feeling, what we are experiencing in the dark shadows of life isn’t what is real. It may seem this way, oh the darkness seems so real, so traumatic, and we seem so alone. But God promises something radically different a we walk with Him, a promise sthat we need to cling to, a hope that goes beyond our sensibilities, that defies our logic.
A promise that points out that God’s love and peace is beyond our understanding, untouchable by our logic. A peace that is found when we depend on God, (for that is what “to have faith” means) and we let God’s reason overwhelm our reason. We trust His reality more than what we perceive.
ANd this is the reasons for the sacraments. Something physical, something tangible, something which comforts as we realize we are being ministered to by God… as much as Elijah was, when he ran away from his victory. When we hear the words-they should shock you enough to move past your old logic that is failing, for something that is healing, for something miraculous.
This is our hope when we think all is vain, to cling to the hope of Christ, in who nothing is vain.
May you find someone to day to encourage you to look to Jesus, and may you do the same for several others.
“Ratzinger, Joseph. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl, Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth, Ignatius Press, 1992, p. 226.
Martin Luther, “The Large Catechism,” Tappert, Theodore G., editor. The Book of Concord the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Mühlenberg Press, 1959, p. 449.
Experiences beyond words……Where Theological and Exegetical Knowledge Fail
Thoughts which drive me to Jesus, and to His cross…
3 But those who prophesy are speaking to people to give them strength, encouragement, and comfort…..5 Those who prophesy are greater than those who can only speak in different languages—unless someone is there who can explain what is said so that the whole church can be helped. 1 Co 14:3-5. NCV
19 I am teaching them to you now so that you will put your trust in the LORD. NCV Pr 22:19.
The Imitation of Christ admonishes us: “Even if you knew by heart the whole Bible and the sayings of all the philosophers, what would it profit you without the love of God and his grace?” “Everyone has a natural craving for knowledge, but of what avail is knowledge without the fear of God?” “An unlearned person who serves God is surely better than a learned one who proudly searches the heavens while neglecting himself.” “Give up your excessive desire for learning. Therein are to be found only illusion and inner emptiness.”
How a man is born again may easily be told in words. When, however, it is a matter of experience, as it was with Nicodemus, it is a hard matter to understand and it requires effort to attain the experience. To persevere in this, when it becomes a matter of experience and when we are really tested, requires pains and labor.
Nicodemus was a brilliant scholar among the Jewish leaders. Yet he had to approach Jesus by night, and then the simplest thing, the idea of being born again, befuddled him. (I like that word befuddled – I dont’ know why!) He was confused, as many were with Jesus’ simplest teachings.
There are some things in life that you do not learn with your mind, you can only experience them, and let them transform you. Paul the apostle talks about two things – God’s love and His peace in a manner that clearly states that they are beyond our ability to understand, but are easily experienced. The Holy Spirit causes us to do causes, in ways beyond words. And if we focus on trying to explain it, we lose track of the experience.
There is more to it than that, as Paul discusses above when the saints in Corinth. There is a purpose to our words that can easily get lost as we pursue any gift–the ability to use that as a tool to help people experience the love and peace of God. We are called to bring each other strength, encouragement and comfort we are called to help all those called together–all those God desires to save. And the pursuit of knowledge can distract from that.
This is why Solomon, the wisest man in history would write that the purpose of his scriptures was to help us put our trust in the Lord, not in Solomon! And Pope Benedict XVI ( aka Joseph Ratzinger) the brilliant theologian Scholar, would quote another saying the natural craving for knowledge is worthless, compared to an unlearned person in a relationship with God. Brilliant men, gifted with knowledge and wisdom, dialing it back–to know God.
Another brilliant pastor I know, had an advanced school of preaching – 5 courses…. an introduction then 4 deeper classes. the first deep class was 45 hours learning who we were in Christ – not pastors, but children of God, who God was forming. THe last class had “nothing” to do with scripture–at least directly. Instead, we were study our people, to know what they were going through. We were given ways to learn their hurts and pains, to get behind the walls they set up. to laugh and cry with them (as St. Paul advised) because then we could see the Holy Spirit using our words to reveal that comfort that only comes from experiencing God’s love, that comes as we dwell secure in His peace. I look at those two classes as being the most formative of my preaching, even though they taught me nothing about studying scripture, or Greek or Hebrew. Instead of that Schuler, made us live in the love and peace scripture revealed, and then encouraged us to understand how we would help reveal it to others.
One of my other mentors, a brilliant Hebrew scholar, is also such a man. His gift goes beyond languages. While a good preacher (except for his ubiquitous mentions of USC football), his primary ministry I will always see as how he helped his congregation experience God’s love and peace in the Lord’s Supper. It was visible to me, as I assisted him, that his people savored this moment of communion, as they experienced Christ’s Body and Blood, given and shed for them. Body’s relaxed– smiles broke out, tension faded in weary, anxious bodies, as peace settled over them–as they knew they were loved. This is what I hope I can do… far more than anything else…this is what is needed – and important!
Don’t get me wrong, study is still a discipline I need, – but what is needed more, what we need to pray for, and focus our ministry on, is that God loves us, and calls us to Himself. Everything else must serve that purpose… for then the church is a place where broken people find healing, while helping others heal.
Ratzinger, Joseph. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl, Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth, Ignatius Press, 1992, p. 223.
Luther, Martin, and John Sander. Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year. Augustana Book Concern, 1915, p. 247.
Should I Want to Please People? The Answer is surprising…
Thoughts which drive me to the crucified Christ….
31 The answer is, if you eat or drink, or if you do anything, do it all for the glory of God. 32 Never do anything that might hurt others—Jews, Greeks, or God’s church—33 just as I, also, try to please everybody in every way. I am not trying to do what is good for me but what is good for most people so they can be saved.
11 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. 1 Co 10:31–11:1. NCV
Sovereign Love is found only in charity; the love of hope is imperfect, and consists more of feeling than fact, without charity; yet as a motive power nothing can exceed hope, and therefore we say that through hope we love God supremely.
321 Apostolic soul, that intimacy between Jesus and you—so close to him for so many years! Doesn’t it mean anything to you?
I read a different Bible translation every year for a reason, I want to do more than just read it, I want things to strike me differently, to challenge me, to gnaw at my brain until it burrows into my heart.
Today is one of those days, and it was caused by Paul’s advice that we are to imitate him by pleasing everybody in every way. I had to admit, this struck me odd, so I went back to my old familiar translations, NLT, NJB, NKJV even the old KJV, and all of them had the same concept… we are to please every body.
That sounds so contrary to how I’ve been taught to minister to people! We are supposed to do what is right, not what makes everyone happy! When we preach, when we plan worship, when we are counseling them regarding sin and trauma, I’ve heard that from pastors and professors for years, especially in regards to worship practices.
I think the anxiety rises because we equate people pleasing with compromise, and that leads us to think we would compromise something important, like the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus which was accomplished to join us to Himself by erasing our sin. I have heard such conversations about those who want to appease those in their church by honoring traditions, and by those who want to offend them in order to “please” others.
I think please them is less about compromise than we think – it is about making people comfortable in the presence of God, removing the stumbling blocks that distract them from resting in the presence of God. Think abut a hot day, where you are working hard outside, and someone offers you a cold soda just as you finish your work. That can be a moment where you are pleased, where nothing stops you from taking a deep breath and being satisfied with the day.
It is that kind of moment of intimacy with God, the assurance that He is with them, that being pleased is all about. That allows the anxiety and tension, the stress and overwhelming emotional overload to be vented, and to leace us in a moment of bliss, in a moment where salvation is recognized and rejoiced in, even if just a quietly said, AMEN! (meaning “this is real and true)
The desire for people to come to those moments is what Josemaria is talking about, as he addresses those who want to save the world. For it is those moments of intimacy with God, those moments that should mean everything to us…that should fuel our apostolate (Roman Catholic term – some contemporary protestants would say our missional attitude.) It is that which fuels the hope that brings us to God who gives us that hope, and helps us to realize how meaningless life is without it.
That is the core of evangelism – and what would lift people up and give them more pleasure than they’ve ever experienced, to know by experiencing it– the height, depth, breadth and width of God’s love for them, revealed in Christ. And the more we realize that pleasure, that joy, the more dominant giving it to others becomes….
Of the Love of God. Translated by H. L. Sidney Lear, Rivingtons, 1888, p. 79.
Escrivá, Josemaría. The Way (p. 54). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
God Acted on OUR Behalf: A sermon from Concordia on Psalm 124
God at Work IN OUR LIVES
God Acted on OUR Behalf
Psalm 124
† In Jesus Name †
May the grace, love and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be revealed to you daily in your lives.
The Scariest Meditation….think about it for a moment
I want you to open your bulletin back up to the first reading, from Psalm 124, and read that first question with me….
What if the LORD had not been on our side?
Now think of a traumatic experience in your life, and meditate on that psalm for a moment…
That’s only half a moment…keep going… what would have happened if God wasn’t there?
I have to admit, when I tried to actually consider that, and the times I’ve been through, and the times I am going through… I can’t… it’s too hard..
That and my mind keeps hearing you guys telling me… “and also with you.”
The purpose of the psalms, whether sung, chanted or read, are to help us worship—which means we need to know and be able to express why we value God….
And today, that starts by considering the desolation that is the alternative….
To be honest, I would rather not do so….
If He wasn’t their rage might have been deserved
The passage continues, Let all Israel repeat: 2 What if the LORD had not been on our side when people attacked us? 3 They would have swallowed us alive in their burning anger. 4 The waters would have engulfed us; a torrent would have overwhelmed us. 5 Yes, the raging waters of their fury would have overwhelmed our very lives.
Wow, were these people upset at Israel! The description sounds worse than war, rather more like the kind of rage that happens when a bear or a tiger is hurt, and mauls whoever is nearby whether they deserve it, or not.
The problem is, without God acting in our lives, this is hard to say, they deserve it.
The reason is that it is a hard thing to say is… get this… because that means we deserve wrath for some of the things that God has had to deal with in our lives.
The stuff that ticks people off, the stuff we’ve done that causes so much anxiety we are drowning it, and the guilt would overwhelm us…
And we could have deserved it… for Paul described us well, in describing himself, Titus, and every Christian…..
3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, and wrong. We were slaves to passions and pleasures of all kinds. We spent our lives in malice and envy; others hated us and we hated them…. (Titus 3:3)
Wow- pastor-you are unloading on us today!
You really think we are all that bad? Do you really think we are evil
I could point to scripture as evidence, if I wanted to take the heat off of myself… or I could point to the joy that of you felt a few weeks ago, as you brought your burdens up to the altar, and had them taken from you, so that God could commune with you…
But before you get to pounded in the ground, I would ask you to read the passage again…. Especially the underlined part…
We escaped – because He acted
3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, and wrong. We were slaves to passions and pleasures of all kinds. We spent our lives in malice and envy; others hated us and we hated them…. (Titus 3:3)
It goes on to talk about what happened then,
4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior was revealed, 5 he saved us. It was not because of any good deeds that we ourselves had done, but because of his own mercy that he saved us, through the Holy Spirit, who gives us new birth and new life by washing us. 6 God poured out the Holy Spirit abundantly on us through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that by his grace we might be put right with God and come into possession of the eternal life we hope for. Titus 3:4-7 (TEV)
This is what the Psalmist was talking about when he said…
6 Praise the LORD, who did not let their teeth tear us apart! 7 We escaped like a bird from a hunter’s trap. The trap is broken, and we are free! 8 Our help is from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 124:6-8)
There are traumas that we bring on ourselves, and there are others that we do not. Do not take these words to say that all the trauma is our fault, and even as some of it is, we know this,
God did rescue us.
This isn’t about whose side He on….
That’s what the psalmist asks, “what if the Lord had not been on our side…”
The purpose of thinking about that is to thank Him for being there.
Every week, when I study the passage, I look at the original languages. Every once in a while, this week the first line looks like this…
| What | if | the | Lord | • | had | not | been | on | our | side | |||||||||
| 6 לוּלֵ֣י | ← | → | 7 יְ֭הוָה | 8 שֶׁ | ►9 | ◄6 | 9 הָ֣יָה | → | 10 ל11 ָ֑נוּ | ← | |||||||||
My translation of this would be simpler….
If Not YHWH existed(was) with us
Or even simpler
If not God was with you!
But that is merely to get us to think…
Praise God…the Lord is with us..
And He has rescued us.
As the psalmist says, the trap is broken, we are free. Our God, who created all that we don’t see, and all we do,… is our God, and He is with us! AMEN!
I don’t need to know.. and that’s good!
Thoughts which bring me to Jesus, and to the Cross
14 The true children of God are those who let God’s Spirit lead them. 15 The Spirit we received does not make us slaves again to fear; it makes us children of God. With that Spirit we cry out, “Father.” 16 And the Spirit himself joins with our spirits to say we are God’s children. 17 If we are God’s children, we will receive blessings from God together with Christ. But we must suffer as Christ suffered so that we will have glory as Christ has glory. Ro 8:14–17.
For my comfort also, Thou hast instituted the exalted sacrament of the true body and blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, whereby Thou feedest, waterest, and dost nourish my soul, and givest me the assurance that Thou wilt dwell in me and I in Thee. For this spiritual treasure I render praise and thanksgiving unto Thee.
301 I’ll tell you a secret, an open secret: these world crises are crises of saints. God wants a handful of men “of his own” in every human activity. Then … pax Christi in regno Christi—“the peace of Christ in the kingdom of Christ.”
I used to love to try and figure out the greatest mysteries of the faith. I used to love to try and figure out how the Trinity all “fits” together, and I used to spend a lot of time trying to picture the throne of God, looking at Exodus, Isaiah, Matther and Revelation’s description f it, (although never ho sits on the throne–and how the Trinity appears there!) Or to contemplate the Eucharist, the CELEBRATION of the Lord’s Body and blood given for us.
I won’t say I have considered everything–there are far deeper hypothesis than I can handle. It’s humbling to realize that, but I am getting more and more thankful that i cannot… for knowing I am not capabale frees me to focus on things I do know.
The fact that i can cry out to my heavenly Father, because life is so broken, and to know He listens is amazing. As is the comfort that Loehe describes in his prayer, that comes from understanding what God does, and planned to do in the sacrament to us… a treasure that is worth praising God for, as it lifts the burdens we bear far to long in our lives. The burdens Escriva talks about, the ones caused by crises we all deal with, and that through the peace poured out on us, we are able to share and reveal it to others.
Suffering is such a pain, yet…. when we see what God does with it, what He planned to do with it, we become thankful–knowing the peace that is there… that allows us to heal, that allows us to see, and share in the glory of God.
This is so incredible, that i am that willing to give up the questions that curiosity forms, to just sit and tink through the presence of God in our lives… and be at peace.
God’s speed, and God’s peace!
Lœhe, William. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Translated by H. A. Weller, Wartburg Publishing House, 1914, p. 393.
Escrivá, Josemaría. The Way (p. 51). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
How We Need to Talk About Baptism
Thoughts which force me to Jesus, and to the Cross,
3 Did you forget that all of us became part of Christ when we were baptized? We shared his death in our baptism. 4 When we were baptized, we were buried with Christ and shared his death. So, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the wonderful power of the Father, we also can live a new life.
5 Christ died, and we have been joined with him by dying too. So we will also be joined with him by rising from the dead as he did. 6 We know that our old life died with Christ on the cross so that our sinful selves would have no power over us and we would not be slaves to sin. 7 Anyone who has died is made free from sin’s control. Ro 6:3–7.NCV
Hide me within Thyself, that my will subject itself entirely unto Thee, and I be freed from the dominion of self and of every other creature. Let me not be wholly possessed of mine own nature. Grant that the thirst for temporal things be quenched in my heart. Uproot all self-love and selfish desires. Banish all hatred and jealousy, and cut off passion and my attachment to the things of this world. Gather my soul unto Thee and preserve in me a pure and peaceful conscience. Glory, praise, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
A Christian knows that he is grafted onto Christ through Baptism. He is empowered to fight for Christ through Confirmation, called to act in the world sharing the royal, prophetic, and priestly role of Christ. He has become one and the same thing with Christ through the Eucharist, the sacrament of unity and love. And so, like Christ, he has to live for other men, loving each and every one around him and indeed all humanity.
Yesterday, my devotions forced me to take a different angle at the Lord’s Supper, today, similarly, the readings are leading me towards baptism, not toward the theology of it, or the mode and method, but to the effect of the sacrament. How this act which God ordains and uses, transforms our life as promised. Like the Lord’s Supper, the comfort given to us, as the presence of God is manifested, is something we need–desperately need. By understanding what has been done to us, the transformation began in us.
The more we understand this effect, the more we can meditate on the wonderful work of Jesus, the more we heal.
So let’s start with Josemaria’s words, and how he explains that we are grafted onto Christ, that it transforms us to sharing in the very ministry (and eventually the glory) of Christ Jesus. Confirming that faith (setting aside whether it is a sacrament or simply a sacramental ) and nourishing the relationship not only unties us with Jesus, but with all He came to save! That is the very discussion that Paul shared in Romans – as we die with Christ and experience the life of being born again–even as Christ was raised from the dead. The effect of the grace promised in Baptism is that we live a new life! We are born again, and united with Christ Jesus!
It is the realization of this that Loehe prayed for– for every plea he utters is fulfilled by the promises of baptism! That is where the transformation that has begun as we united to Christ in this new life. Our heart and soul are transformed, a transformation it takes time to learn to live in-but that transformation–but it is happening! That is why Loehe prays, so He can be assured that the promises are indeed his–a gift from the God who loves him.
We have to understand these blessings prior to getting into the mechanics of a sacrament, before trying to create hypothesis to explain the mysteries, before discussing anything-we have to know why God instituted this means of grace. We have to know the promises! The other discussions take form after, including us recognizing we don’t have all the answers – we have the command to do this, and the reason why…. to bring comfort and peace to those God wants to call His children.
Lœhe, William. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Translated by H. A. Weller, Wartburg Publishing House, 1914, p. 391.
Escrivá, Josemaría. Christ is Passing By (p. 159). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Glorify God? How?
THoughts that laed me to Jesus, and to the Cross
8 First I want to say that I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because people everywhere in the world are talking about your faith. 9 God, whom I serve with my whole heart by telling the Good News about his Son, knows that I always mention you 10 every time I pray. I pray that I will be allowed to come to you, and this will happen if God wants it. 11 I want very much to see you, to give you some spiritual gift to make you strong. 12 I mean that I want us to help each other with the faith we have. Your faith will help me, and my faith will help you. Rom 1:8–12. NCV
O SWEET and beloved Jesus, dear and lovely is Thy name. I pray Thee, fill my heart with Thy love, that, as a consuming fire, I may entirely glow with love to Thee. Lord, let my love for Thee be such that for very love I will resign the great burdens which oppress my soul, and all the fleshly lusts and passions of this earthly life, and, by Thy guidance, follow after Thee, without hinderance, into eternal glory. Amen.
780 Deo omnis gloria—“All glory to God.” It is an emphatic confession of our nothingness. He, Jesus, is everything. We, without him, are worth nothing: Nothing. Our vainglory would be just that: vain glory; it would be sacrilegious theft; the “I” should not appear anywhere.
What does it mean to glorify God? How do I do it? How do I facilitate the people of my church and their giving God glory?
I know God deserves all the glory and honor and praise, but I need to remember why this is so. It is not because of His might, or His wisdom, it is not because of the marvels that He has created,
It has to do with His love, and the mercy that originates and pours out because He loves us.
Tyrants can have power, the rich and might can be self-centered, and as I look at the pantheons of gods created by the mind, most resemble their counterparts. They have tempers, they are self-serving, they are combative, they are devious they lust for pleasure, more power, more control, and they treat mankind with agendas based on what they enjoy. They reflect the worst of humanity,
Whereas the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, the Son of God Jesus, is far different. He came to minsiter, to serve, to heal, redeem and restore. He came to love.
Even one like me. Even someone worth nothing, except in His sight.
And that is glorious… FOr someone worth so much to care for someone so insignificant, it is mind boggling.
That is why I have to pray with Loehe, that God strengthen my ability to love, that He simply take over and fills me again with that love, that I may adore Him. Because on my own – the love is too incredible,, to overwhelming, to intimate to be able to respond to…
The response is to share that love with those whoso desperately need it, to follow Him as he looks for the wounded to heal the broken to reconcile and restore–to be His partner in this ministry, even as so many have before.
This is His glory, to love those whom He makes His own, to exalt those who have been humbled by life and by sin.
This is our God…
Lœhe, William. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Translated by H. A. Weller, Wartburg Publishing House, 1914, p. 378.
Escrivá, Josemaría. The Way (p. 136). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
