Category Archives: Fellowship
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.
The Critical Need… Isn’t Deeper Theology…
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to the Cross
“Now an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you understand it?”The expert answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.”Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”” (Luke 10:25–28, NET)
“Opening sentences
One thing I have asked of the Lord,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life;
to behold the beauty of the Lord
and to seek Him in His temple.
Call: Who is it that you seek?
Response: We seek the Lord our God.
Call: Do you seek Him with all your heart?
Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Call: Do you seek Him with all your soul?
Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Call: Do you seek Him with all your mind?
Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Call: Do you seek Him with all your strength?
Response: Amen. Christ, have mercy.”
Yes, it is fun to fool around with councils and fathers if one juggles with the letters or constantly postpones the council, as has now been done for twenty years, and does not think of what happens meanwhile to the souls who must be fed with conscientious teaching, as Christ says, “Tend my sheep” [John 21:16].
The responsive prayer above in green is one I have used, on and off for years. I originally found it in a book called “Celtic Daily Prayer” and later found the website version above.
The responsive part of it, means so much to me, not that i full seek the Lord, but it reminds me to pray and do so. and to to strive to do it with all I am. For there I will find the love and peace I need to survive. I will find the grace that enables me to look past this troubled day.
I need to seek God, with all I am… and I need to be reminded to do so.
I see that in ministry as well. There are a lot of cool things to look at in academic theology. Wonderful thoughts about the mysteries of God, all the incredible histories, some of which provide warnings by example. But far too often, these histories, these doctrinal disputes, these things become red herrings and strawmen, capturing our hearts and minds, stealing our focus on Jesus.
That’s Luther’s point about the councils, and studying their works. Sometimes the actual work of those councils stopped the priests, bishops and cardinals from providing the pastoral care their people need. That they desperately need.
This is true today as well, as I find people, hungry for hope, turn to Youtube and other social media, looking for experts to teach them. They find teachers and apologists, men and women who do know a lot about doctrines and histories from within one framework or another, But what is not provided is pastoral care and guidance–which should focus us on our relationship with Jesus and celebrate our being healed from our brokenness with others that are broken.
I am not doubting the sincerity of these teachers, or necessarily what they teach, but we need to be carried to Jesus, we need to receive His healing. Then this other stuff might be beneficial.
What is critical – to experience the love and mercy of God, to experience the resurrection from the dead, that only comes from dying with Jesus at the cross and rising with Him – His people.
May we seek Him, and be strengthened by those who help carry us to Him.
Amen
https://www.northumbriacommunity.org/offices/morning-prayer/
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. 359). Fortress Press.
Freedom, Liberty, and your Rights –
Thoughts which carry me, even drag me to Jesus and the Cross
“When any of you has a legal dispute with another, does he dare go to court before the unrighteous rather than before the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you not competent to settle trivial suits? Do you not know that we will judge angels? Why not ordinary matters! So if you have ordinary lawsuits, do you appoint as judges those who have no standing in the church?I say this to your shame! Is there no one among you wise enough to settle disputes between fellow Christians?” (1 Corinthians 6:1–5, NET)
Francis told them: “When you pray, say “Our Father” and “We adore you, O Christ, in all your churches throughout the whole world, and we bless you, for by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.”
To any human who bothers to think a bit, it should be evident that there is in our society no such thing as absolute freedom—for only God is free!
It is inherent in creaturehood that its freedom must be limited by the will of the Creator and the nature of the thing created. Freedom is liberty within bounds, liberty to obey holy laws, liberty to keep the commandments of Christ, to serve mankind, to develop to the full all the latent possibilities within our redeemed natures. True Christian liberty never sets us free to indulge our lusts or to follow our fallen impulses
Tozer’s words about freedom seem so appropriate today, though written decades past. He smacks down the illusion of idols named freedom and liberty. For they are not absolute, they are not all powerful, and they aren’t all merciful… for they have a cost that is reminiscent of slavery….unless…
It has been redeemed by the one who saves us, that He is allowed to put the limits on our freedom, limits which recognize His role as our God, and the limits He placed on Christ’s freedom, which was given the boundaries of what best cared and provided for us.
Tozer said “mankind,” but lets simplify it – our children, our parents, our parents, friends, co-workers and neighbors. Our liberty must be in tune with how we love those around us, those who need us to sacrifice for their well-being. whether the need is physical, psychological or spiritual.
That is what Paul us getting at with his comments on lawsuits–wisdom is required because God’s justice is different than man’s. It is based in mercy, love and loyalty– not just what is our “right” or allows us to maintain our liberty, above our community.
This is the truest freedom.. that found in our relationships…the freedom to be loved and to love.
Pasquale, G., ed. (2011). Day by Day with Saint Francis: 365 Meditations (p. 192). New City Press.
Tozer, A. W., & Smith, G. B. (2008). Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings. Moody Publishers.
Will Anyone Miss You When You Are Gone?
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to the Cross:
“After about two years his intestines came out because of the disease, so that he died a very painful death. His people did not make a bonfire to honor him, as they had done for his ancestors. Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. No one regretted his death; he was buried in the City of David, but not in the royal tombs.” (2 Chronicles 21:19–20, NET)
Finally, after a pleasant conversation, the abbot, as he left, humbly asked him to pray for him. The dear man of God replied: “I will willingly pray.” When the abbot had ridden away a short distance, the faithful Francis said to his companion: “Wait a little, brother, because I want to pay the debt I promised.” As he prayed, suddenly the abbot felt in spirit unusual warmth and sweetness like nothing he felt before, and rapt in ecstasy, he totally fainted away into God. This lasted for a short time, and then he returned to his senses and realized the power of Saint Francis’s prayer. From that time on, he always burned with ever greater love for the Order, and told many about this miraculous event.
When doing our morning devotions this morning, we were talking about the people who built the tower of Babel, and their ambition, creativity and focus. All praiseworthy characteristics, except that you were used in self-interest and to achieve personal fame.
Then in my private devotions, I came across the passage about Jehoram, and it is grievous. No one cared that this king died, and perhaps no one cared about the pain he was in.
I can’t imagine that fate, and I certainly would not want it for any of my friends, or even some of my adversaries. It’s not about seeking fame and fortune, it is about life have meaning and value…about making a difference in other people’s lives.
Nothing could be better than hearing something like this about somone… “He went out of his way to pray for me, and because of that, I knew that God was with me…” Which is basically what St Francis did for the rich abbot. He didn’t give him wise advise, he didn’t donate millions (though our preschool would willing accept a few million in donations – then we could not charge tuition!) he simply prayed for him, and the abbot knew it, and never forgot.
That’s the point, being there in a time of need, because Jesus is there for us, make the largest difference in the world. And it causes us to be remembered, and God to be praised. It may be the teacher given a hug, it might be the elder who made people laugh, it might be the night caregiver, who changes the bedpan and comforts the one infirm. It might be the manager – who invests her faith in her people, and gets to see the results, as they come to love the God, who comes to them.
IF you have a moment, think of those people, and give thanks to God for those whose passing you would regret, whose life you value because of their impact on you. Give thought as to why they have that value, and thank God for them… and maybe even tell them you are thanking God for them!
And if some abbot asks you to pray for them, surely do it! (anyone else that asks you should pray for as well!)
Pasquale, G., ed. (2011). Day by Day with Saint Francis: 365 Meditations (pp. 160–161). New City Press.
Is the church still asleep in the light? (Oddly Enough, Pope Benedict XVI and Keith Green have the same solution!)
Thoughts that carry this broken pastor to Jesus, and to the cross.
“How long, you sluggard, will you lie there? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to relax, and your poverty will come like a robber, and your need like an armed man.” (Proverbs 6:9–11, NET)
“The world is sleeping in the dark, that the church just can’t fight, because its asleep in the light….”
. Every font is now charged with spiritual fire, and from every chalice we now drink sacramental blood. Adam mutinously ate from a tree and its fruit killed him; we meekly eat from the tree of the cross, and its fruitful flesh restores our life.
Thus, missionary zeal has nothing at all to do with the conquest of a person or people, but rather with enabling all to give their lives the deepest and most joyful meaning possible. The Church but reflects Christ’s light and permits people to experience in the Eucharist God’s presence in Christ’s sacrifice, and thereby the divine invitation to adore and glorify Him, the triune God.
My generation of church leaders heard the words of Keith Green’s song as a prophetic message, judging the church of its day, and their lack of helping people see the incredible intimate relationship we have in Christ. We swore we would never be like that, that our generation would be the one that would see the world change again, that as servant leaders of the church, we would see revival far greater than Azusa Street or Caine Ridge, a reformation and restoration of the church that had only been a dream for Luther and those who followed.
40 years later, our churches are even more empty, and “asleep in the light” is not just a spiritual statement, but often a physical one, as our leaders are no longer in their 50s and 60s, but many of them over 80!
We are asleep here in the USA, and in Europe, and the hope of the church has begun to be found in East Africa, and in the wilds of South and Central America and Southeast Asia and Korea. In those areas, the gospel in thriving, in ours it looks more like the living room during a bowl game, those that remain are snoring.
Our answers aren’t even really answers! They are hypothesis that are being un-retired, programs that mimic those which were once considered effective, or “modified” from those which seem effective now, without any study or long range success. Books written, seminars sponsored (usually led by formerly burned out pastors who weren’t successful) coaches contracted, all to achieve what should naturally be achieved, if we are being restored by the Body and Blood, nailed to the cross, which enters us each and every week!
The answer to spiritual apathy, to spiritual low-blood sugar isn’t monitoring and reading, it is having something to eat!
Pope Benedict XVI understood this in a similar way to Keith Green, as he describes the driving force of missionary zeal to be found in the intimacy of the Eucharist, in the presence of God as Christ has given Himself, (once and for all ) for us. That invitation into adoration that occurs during the Feast is life giving, life restoring, freeing it again from the life draining bondage of sin and a unrighteous world.
That’s why Keith ended his call to missionary action with these words,
Come away, come awayCome away with me, my loveCome away from this messCome away with me, my lovCome away from this messCome away with me, my loveCome away, come away, ohCome away with me, my love
In the sacraments, we find that we do “come away” with Jesus, only to find out that we awaken from our broken slumber, and see that others can be share in this life and glory of Christ as well… and we find ourselves given to this task… and content to see God provide the revival.
Keith Green, No Compromise – 1978
Fagerberg, D. W. (2019). Liturgical Mysticism (p. 38). Emmaus Academic.
De Gaál, E. (2018). O Lord, I Seek Your Countenance: Explorations and Discoveries in Pope Benedict XVI’s Theology (M. Levering, Ed.; p. 53). Emmaus Academic.
Can a Lutheran (Or Catholic or Presbyterian or) Pray for Revival?
Concordia Lutheran Church – Cerritos, Ca , at dawn on Easter Sunday
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to the Cross
““So I will set apart as holy the tent of meeting and the altar, and I will set apart as holy Aaron and his sons, that they may minister as priests to me. I will reside among the Israelites, and I will be their God, and they will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out from the land of Egypt, so that I may reside among them. I am the LORD their God.” (Exodus 29:44–46, NET)
544 The Communion of the Saints. How shall I explain it to you? You know what blood transfusions can do for the body? Well, that’s what the Communion of the Saints does for the soul.
I don’t know why I felt the need to write on revival this morning, and to be honest, I didn’t see the connection at first in my devotional readings. The seem as far from the concept of revival as the horizon seems to the sailor in the Pacific Ocean.
What great thoughts ar expressed in them though! The idea that God’s reason, His “so that” for the Exodus, was not just so they could recognize Him, but that He could reside, that He could dwell with us! And as He does this community that is formed with Him in Him and through Him becomes the place of the transfusion, as the trust in God that sustains this saint becomes common to that one. Where the hope of that little group becomes the hope for all, as we are reminded of the Lord’s presence,
And as I long for those thoughts to become reality at Concordia – I realized what I was longing for was the result of revival–it is the end game result, the people of God knowing the love of God for man that enables us, no that compels us to share the life we’ve been given.
All the rest that goes with revival, from the repentance of people who have learned to grieve over their and their communities’ sins, to the flood of new music, to the care for those who are widowed and orphaned and who have immigrated to the community, are complimentary and caused by the people of God dwelling in His presence, communing together, as they are made God’s.
But it is the communion, the community of God and man (all of us) that is the goal. Not the change in morality, though that will happen, nor is it about filling every church and planting thousands of others-thought this will happen as well. It’s not about political agendas, or denominational superiority. It is even about the signs and wonders that happen…..
Revival is simple- it is about people rejoicing in the presence of a loving God as He cares for us.
And this we can all pray…even as the psalmist did:
6 Won’t you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you? 7 Show us your unfailing love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation.
Psalm 85:6-7 (NLT2)
Escrivá, Josemaría. The Way (p. 117). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Is This World Depressing…or what?
Thoughts which carry this broken pastor to Jesus, and to the Cross
“LORD, why are people important to you? Why do you even think about human beings?” (Psalm 144:3, NCV)
“No one should assume lordship or authority over the church, nor burden the church with traditions, nor let anybody’s authority count for more than the Word of God.”
He writes: “A more or less lengthy visit to a Catholic bookstore does not encourage one to pray with the psalmist: ‘You will reveal the path of life to me.’ Not only does one quickly discover there that Jesus did not turn water into wine, but one also gains insight into the art of turning wine into water. This new magic bears the name ‘aggiornamento’.” Under this new aspect the shepherd of the Church is offered the opportunity of giving his teaching ministry a democratic form: of becoming the advocate of the faithful, of the people, against the elitist power of the intellectuals.
We believed such works to be fully satisfactory and, indeed, the only things that were holy; the pursuits of common Christians we considered worldly and dangerous. In contrast to this darkness, consider the priceless and to-be-cherished blessing of knowing with certainty wherein the heart is to take comfort, how to seek help in distress and how to conduct oneself in one’s own station. Truly we should now render to God heartfelt thanks for the great favor and blessing of restored light and understanding in Scripture and the right conception of doctrinal matters.
I don’t think I have actually watched a news show or read an actual newspaper, secular or religious in 15 years. I might look at a sports article on line or maybe read or watch something if I am doing research, but the days of sitting down and reading have long drifted away…
While I miss the idea, the content is to depressing, to full of stories of sin, or people fighting to free something from its designation of being sin, as they try to hang on to an appearance of Christianity that doesn’t require faith in the mercy forgiveness or love of God.
Social media is much the same, not an uplifting endeavor, for the most part. However there, I can find people for whom to pray, as they freely confess their anxieties, their bias and their sins. (though they often come across as proud of them!) You can even find a great selection of idols which people have put all their trust in–from investments to political and religious figures to the “book of the month” which promises to restore what has been lost.
I think the psalmist saw a similar thing nearly 3000 years ago as he asked the brutal questions above. God – why the heck do you care about these people who have so wrecked the world, each other and their own lives. (though I should replace people with ‘all of us!’) It’s true in the church as well, and in every denomination. The early Lutherans were prophetic about this – as too many have tried to gain power, influence and authority over the people of God. THen, they would have only perceived this as one group – yet even today these battles go on in eery denomination, and between them, as they try to influence others.
Pope Benedict resonates with this, as he talks of authors who try to take the miracles out of the Bible, as if they want to eliminate the very footprints of Jesus in our lives, by removing them from scripture. What a horror! What an abuse of the responsibility of the pastoral office! Legalists, the kind that St. Paul calls the mutilators in Philippians 3, exist on the other side as well – pushing the rites of men as more critical than the gospel.
Again, the fatalistic is easy to take in this moment!
Luther’s words rise up at the end…the goal of ministry that makes the different. To bring people, these people we would easily give up on the certainty where they can find comfort, help and a attitude in life that allows us to be content where we are. To see people begin to resonate with that grace and mercy delivered through the word of God and His Sacraments, to know the freedom and hope that comes when we realize God is restoring us… that makes all the difference in the world. To see God at work. These things end fatalism, as we realize God loves the world.
And God loves you….
and me.
“The Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord: X Ecclesiastical Rites that are called Adiaphora….” Tappert, T. G., ed. (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 614). Mühlenberg Press.
Ratzinger, J. (1992). Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year (I. Grassl, Ed.; M. F. McCarthy & L. Krauth, Trans.; p. 331). Ignatius Press.
Luther, M., & Sander, J. (1915). Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year (p. 367). Augustana Book Concern.
We Need to Be Comforted, not Comfortable.
Thoughts which carry this broken believer to Jesus, and the Cross:
“Also do good things for the city where I sent you as captives. Pray to the LORD for the city where you are living, because if good things happen in the city, good things will happen to you also.”” (Jeremiah 29:7, NCV)
We have lost sight of the fact that Christians cannot live like “everyone else”. The foolish notion that there is no specifically Christian morality is merely one way of saying that a fundamental concept has been lost: the “distinctively Christian” as opposed to the models offered by the “world”. Even religious orders and congregations have confused true reform with a relaxation of the traditional austerity previously practiced. They have confused renewal with comfort. To give a small but concrete example: a religious reported to me that the downfall of his monastery began very concretely with the declaration that it was “no longer practicable” for the religious to rise during the night to recite the nocturnal office. But that was not the end of the matter. The religious replaced this uncontested but significant “sacrifice” by staying up late at night to watch television
These sufferings are often such that even the great and strong would languish and wither beneath them, were it not for the comfort God bestows. These troubles grip the heart and consume the very marrow.
There are days I am tired of being broken.
Whether it is talking about the physical brokenness I endure because of Marfan’s Syndrome, the brokenness I encounter spiritually and emotionally in my community, or the brokenness that I encounter personally because of sin and my own “unique” place on the spectrum, I am tired of it.
I know I am not alone–I have a church and community and friends around the world who are almost as broken, and just as weary and tired of it. Oddly enough, I more I realize I am broken, the more demand is placed on me to come to the assistance of those who are broken as well…and this is evidence of my deliverance, even if, at times, I do not see it.
I think it is because we are taught to pursue comfort–to live lives of leisure, to enjoy the good things in life, and be rid of anything that takes endurance, hard work and suffering. We are told life should be comfortable we should fit in it with ease, like sinking into a relaxing bath or jacuzzi, sipping on a nice cold beverage and letting the past drift away from us. (this is not new – there was a bath soap (or something like that) that used the phrase, “Calgon, take me away!”
But as I titled this blog, I think we have got it wrong. We should not pursue the comfortable, it is a goal that is impossible. We can crowd our lives with distractions, but they will not meet our greatest need..
That is why Jeremiah, as Judah is taken away, tells them to notch it up, to not only endure their captivity, but to strive to make their captors lives better, to work for their success, to pray that the Lord bless Babylon–the very people that took them as slaves and tormented them!
It is what Pope Benedict notes, as he mourns the loss of those who set aside renewal for comfort, who replace time spent in prayer and meditation with watching late night television! He laments the fact that Christian morality embraces harsh times and hardships as they learn to love God and through His love, learn to love the unlovable. The sarcrfice is worth it, for the impact on society is enormous.
While we set aside being comfortable, we find true comfort, as the Spirit, the Paraclete, comforts us. (Logically this doesn’t work unless we need to be comforted!) The troubles that are so powerfully described by Luther drive us to Jesus and to the cross, there is no recliner, no 5 star resort hotel, no self help guru/pastor/coach/cousnelor that can do what the Holy SPirit does, as the gospel is shared through God’s word and the sacraments. Indeed, were it not for that mercy and grace that the comfort consists of, we would be without any hope.
But the Holy Spirit, the Lord of life, is here. He was sent by the Father and the Son to comfort us, to dry the tears, to heal the hurts, to remind us that in Christ we have life–even if that life is hard to see at times.
We are not alone as we bear our cross, and bear it we shall. For we are joined to it with Jesus, and the Spirit comforts us in our grief.
So seek out His comfort – it is worth more than anything – for it is the result of His love, and as your rest in it, you dwell in His peace. Amen!
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.
Why I Believe It Is Time For the Church To Stop What It’s Doing…
Thoughts which drive me to Jesus, and to The Cross
21 “Not all those who say ‘You are our Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven. The only people who will enter the kingdom of heaven are those who do what my Father in heaven wants. 22 On the last day many people will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, we spoke for you, and through you we forced out demons and did many miracles.’ 23 Then I will tell them clearly, ‘Get away from me, you who do evil. I never knew you.’ Matt 7:21-23 NCV
I pray Thee, O God, pour out upon me Thy Holy Spirit,—the Spirit of prayer,—that I may ever love and desire to pray; being daily free to approach Thee, with all confidence, in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ; to bow the knee before Thee in every time of need, as a child well beloved.
And so we go about our lives almost mechanically with little or no awareness of the seed of contemplation buried deep within. This is as true of many, if not most, Christian counselors as it is of their clients.
We live by default, doing what we have been programmed to do. We have been conditioned to believe that busyness and multi-tasking are a mark of effectiveness, that human efforts and plans speed up positive change, and that vitality is acquired by activity. The cultural focus on doing as opposed to being that society privileges tends to strengthen this conditioning.
For the past two months I have been thinking about the church, mine, those in my district, those in my denomination and those across the USA.
For a dozen years or more, people have been saying we are in the Post-Christian Age, though I think they mean the post church and post congregational age. Experts are telling us to redefine minsitry away from preaching the Gospel, and administrating the sacraments, and to do something, anything – to bring people into community. Old programs are being reinvented, redefined and placed out there as the hope for what they didn’t deliver in the first place. Others lament and want to go back to the systems and practices of the 1950’s or earlier, as if the church was perfect back then. We panic when this then doesn’t work, and hop into the next hope–often written by someone in the midst of their own efforts to overcome the slump their church is in….until the next book comes out, the next magazine or blog that promotes this or that…
I think we need to stop…seriously stop what we are doing.
I think if we don’t, the church is going to find itself as the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecty above – a church that spoke for Him, delivered people out of bondage, and even did miracles, but never knew Him, and were not known by Him.
I believe Nolasco describes this place we are at as well as any… we do things – even mechanically, but we aren’t away of what God has planted in His church. We don’t spend time contemplating it in prayer. We ,measure our effectiveness, and now be-moan it…without considering what we know – that the Holy Spirit is in charge of the harvest. Our books on leadership, even in the church, push this – and we buy into it. We miss the chapters on prayer and devotion written by those who planted and replanted churches before us, to get to what “we have to do!” But because we lack a seriously intimate relationship with Jesus, we don’t have the foundaiton of worship and prayer that all renewal and revival is based.
Let me take it a step further, the church no longer cares about preaching about the sin its own people need to be delivered from, because it doesn’t treasure the intimate relaitonship with Jesus found at the cross.
Lohe’s prayer, translated in 1914 can be prayed (maybe translated first!) today. That all the church, from its pastors to the newest visitor need to spend time in prayer and contemplation of the presence of God! We need to receive and treasure the comfort and mercy we have, the peace that comes upon us, the moments we know that He is here…for us.
It is only, by stopping, being silent, finding our place in His refuge and knowing what it means for Him to be our Lord and God, that we will ever realize the ministry we’ve been given… it is only because of experience the burdens of sin and all its corrolary effects that our freedom in Chirst ever becomes something of glory. It isonly then we can approach Him confidently, as children approaching the One they know loves them…
and then, aware of what He does nin our lives, we begin to see the needs of the world, for that sae revelation, for that same intimate relationship.
For that same joy…
William Lœhe, Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians, trans. H. A. Weller (Chicago: Wartburg Publishing House, 1914), 7–8.
Rolf Nolasco Jr., The Contemplative Counselor: A Way of Being (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2011), 1–2.
Regretting the Neessity….But Love Demands It.
Concordia Lutheran Church – Cerritos, Ca , at dawn on Easter Sunday
Thoughts which drive me to Jesus, and to the Cross
So then, my brothers and sisters, because of God’s great mercy to us I appeal to you: offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer. 2Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect. Romans 12:1-2 GNT
Those who have been cast down in terror should not despair, or flee before God, but rise again and be comforted in God. God wishes to have it preached and published that he never lays his hand upon us in order that we may perish and be damned. But he must pursue this course to lead us to repentance, else we would never inquire about his Word and will. If we seek his grace, he is ready to help us up again, to grant us forgiveness of sins, the Holy Spirit and eternal life.
Oh, if we would only stop trying to make the Holy Spirit our servant and begin to live in His life as the fish lives in the sea, we would enter into the riches of glory about which we know nothing now. Too many of us want the Holy Spirit in order to have some gift—healing or tongues or preaching or prophecy.
Yes, these have their place in that total pattern of the New Testament, but let us never pray that we may be filled with the Spirit for a secondary purpose!
Remember, God wants to fill you with His Spirit as an end in your moral life. God’s purpose is that we should know Him first of all, and be lost in Him; and that we should enter into the fullness of the Spirit that the eternal Son, Jesus Christ, may be glorified in us!
In WEB Griffin’s masterpiece about the US Army, and officer responds to a question about a combat decision with, “I regret it was necessary”. The phrase always stuck in my mind. I can’t even remember when Captain Parker (that name stuck in my mind) said it, or in which book it was said.
It came to mind while reading Luther’s quote this morning, as I think God thinks something like that every time He has to discipline us, whether individually, as a community, as the world. Does God enjoy it? Never! Even for the wicked who die in bondage to their sin God weeps over. Its not His plan, and He works through His people, through the word and sacraments they share, to constantly to lift up those who realize how broken they are.
This is what St. Paul is describing to the church in Rome, encouraging people to stop fighting God, to simply let Him transform them into the image of Christ – as He planned. This will be uncomfortable at times, it will be disappointing at other times, but you cannot reshape and repurpose something without some changes being made. Embrace those changes!
The changes are necessary, completely necessary–even if we regret that they are needed.
That is where Tozer’s quote comes in, as too often people come to God with their own agendas. In this case it is referring to charismatics, but it is applicable to all who claim to follow God. It isn’t about the gifts, the theology, the worship style, about our pleasure (because we are living sacrifices) it is completely about being lost in Christ, having the Holy Spirit envelop us, knowing God in all His glory.
That is what this religion called Christianity is all about – nothing less than this…
The Lord is with you!
Martin Luther and John Sander, Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year (Rock Island, IL:
A. W. Tozer and Gerald B. Smith, Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2008). Augustana Book Concern, 1915), 229–230.
