Category Archives: Peace
Give thanks for “them”! God is Using “Them” to Make You Holy!
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to the Cross
“And have you forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons? “My son, do not scorn the Lord’s discipline or give up when he corrects you. “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son he accepts.” Endure your suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? But if you do not experience discipline, something all sons have shared in, then you are illegitimate and are not sons.” (Hebrews 12:5–8, NET)
“O LORD, restore our well-being, just as the streams in the arid south are replenished. Those who shed tears as they plant will shout for joy when they reap the harvest. The one who weeps as he walks along, carrying his bag of seed, will certainly come in with a shout of joy, carrying his sheaves of grain.” (Psalm 126:4–6, NET)
Wherever they may be, let all my brothers remember that they have given themselves and abandoned their bodies to the Lord Jesus Christ. For love of Him, they must make themselves vulnerable to their enemies, both visible and invisible, because the Lord says: Whoever loses his life because of me will save it in eternal life [Lk 9:24; Mt 25:46]
174 Don’t say, “That person bothers me.” Think: “That person sanctifies me.”
The art of being a disciple of Jesus requires you to embrace God disciplining you.
Many books which talk about the practices of Christian Discipline, I have used and been blessed by them. Authors like Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, John Michael Talbot, Fr. Timothy and ancient classics as well. They are full of good advice, as they recommend ways to deepen your prayer life, meditate on scripture, and do things to promote what is now called Spiritual Formation (a kinder, nicer title!)
But there is an aspect of discipline I rarely see talk about, the discipline of the Lord.
The art of receiving the discipline of God.
That discipline that happens, when God separates us from our sin, and because we stubbornly cling to it, the discipline isn’t easy. It can feel like all of God’s wrath is being poured out on us, or at least God removed His protection and providence. As Hebrews notes, it can be painful, but it is necessary, and more, it is proof that we are God’s children, for He cares enough to punish, so He doesn’t have to condemn us. It is part of the transformation of repentance that God’s disciplining occurs, and is effective.
One of the challenges of such discipline, is how God chooses to discipline us.
In the Old Testament, for example in the books of Joshua and Judges, Ezra and Nehemiah, God uses the enemies and adversaries of Israel and Judah to disciple them. Those enemies and adversaries conquer God’s people, enslave them and torment them. Sometimes, it would take decades to achieve God’s purpose, when God’s people cry out to Him, to remember them and rescue them. God had warned them, as Moses delivered the Covenant to them, that these punishments could happen if they sinned.
They sinned, they chased idols, dishonored their parents, were unfaithful, stole and gossiped, etc…
So God disciplined them, and they came back.
God hasn’t changed.
So will accept it when God confronts our sin? When God allows us to experience some of the consequences, that He can heal us, as He comforts and cleanses us?
Will we remember – as Francis points out, that we turned our lives over to God? That when we lose our life and let God mold it, we gain our lives in an incredible way?
Will see Escriva’s point, that those who are “bothering us” are being used by God to draw us to Him, because any other option is simply too frustrating and too trying?
Will we see them as examples of God’s love, calling us back to Him, as He uses even these “relationships” to draw us close, to transform us into the likeness of Christ?
And once you see this – can you give thanks for their presence in their lives?
This is strong discipline, and it requires us to grow in our trust and dependence of God.
That is a good thing, btw.
——-
Pasquale, G., ed. (2011). Day by Day with Saint Francis: 365 Meditations (p. 267). New City Press.
Escrivá, Josemaría. The Way (p. 47). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Faith is Nothing Less than Intimacy with God…
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to His cross…
“For,’ I say, ‘just as shorts cling tightly to a person’s body, so I bound the whole nation of Israel and the whole nation of Judah tightly to me.’ I intended for them to be my special people and to bring me fame, honor, and praise. But they would not obey me.” (Jeremiah 13:11, NET)
I shall tell you a great secret, my friend. Do not wait for the last judgment. It takes place every day. ALBERT CAMUS
I think it might shock some of us profoundly if we were suddenly brought face to face with our beliefs and forced to test them in the forges of practical living. How many professing Christians boast in the Lord but watch carefully that they never get caught fully depending on Him? Pseudo-faith always arranges a way out to serve in case God “fails.”
What we need very badly these days is a company of Christians prepared to trust God as completely now as they must do at the last day! For each of us, the time is surely coming when we shall all have nothing but God! To the men of pseudo-faith, that is a terrifying thought!
For true faith, it is either God or total collapse, and not since Adam first stood up on the earth has God failed anyone who trusted Him! We can prove our faith by our committal to it—and in no other way!
It almost sounds silly to compare the intimacy God desires to a pair of tight-fitting underwear. Heck it almost seems blasphemous!
But that is how our Lord wants us to be, so…
The reason for it is seen in Tozer’s work, for his words about dependence on God parallel the experience of the people of Israel and Judah. We want a distant faith, with an escape clause for when our faith fails and we do not, perhaps even cannot, see God being faithful to His promises. Tozer and Camus both point to the day when there is nothing else left but Jesus! Camus goes farther… identifying that day as today.
We need to recognize the intimacy that God not only desires, that He offers at the Cross in baptism, and as He tenderly and with great precision cuts away all our sins as He washes us clean, and as He feeds us His Body and Blood at the altar. This is the God who gives us His word, His promises, and would have us cling to Him, and the hope He provides.
It is such a powerful concept, this intimate relationship that God desires, that the greatest example provides a bit of laughter, a lighthearted but deeply challenging thought.
You and God – as close and as intimate as your underwear!
And from that intimacy comes the faith and trust necessary to live, in this life, through the judgment, into eternity.
You and God, underwear and body – as inseparable as it gets!
AMEN!
Shelley, M. (1986). Helping those who don’t want help (Vol. 7, p. 13). Christianity Today, Inc.; Word Books.
Tozer, A. W., & Smith, G. B. (2008). Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings. Moody Publishers.
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.
They Need Jesus, not just words about Jesus! (A Sacramental Discussion)
Thoughts which draw me closer to Jesus, and to the Cross,
10 There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses. The LORD knew Moses face to face 11 and sent him to do signs and miracles in Egypt—to the king, to all his officers, and to the whole land of Egypt. 12 Moses had great power, and he did great and wonderful things for all the Israelites to see. Exodus 34:10-12 NCV
That’s essentially the same joke as the one about the theologian who died and was given the choice by God between going to Heaven or going to a theology lecture about Heaven, and he chose the lecture.
Constricted by our finitude, driven by restlessness, and induced by unfulfilled longings we go about our lives in frantic search of our true home, true love, and true identity. We cling to ideas, people, experiences, relationships, or professional identities that we hoped would fill the gaping hole within us. The cycle of restlessness, reaction, and rapaciousness is the breeding ground of human suffering. The creation narrative exposes this daunting yet redeemable reality.
Yesterday in reading Peter Kreeft’s excellent apologetic treatise, I came across the line in blue above.
Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be a joke unless it bore some resemblance to truth. Unfortunately, I think this vocational risk for academic theologians has infected the clergy and leadership of the church. We hear more about the church, and more about apologetics, and more about the nature of God than we do being introduced to God and interacting with Him. I am as guilty of it as any, but while we should be hearing Him, while we should be know God, as Moses did, face to face, we talk about Him.
And then we wonder why our churches are lifeless, why they are more and more empty, why our lessons and sermons fall on deaf ears, why pastors will spend saturday afternoons surfing the internet to find a sermon that might make a difference! (I’ve seen it, some weeks I will have 400 hits on searches find a sermon from 6 or 9 years ago! I think about Nolasco’s words about the people searching, and I don’t believe they will find that which fills the holes that cause such mental, psychological and spiritual anguish if all we do is tell them about the doctrines of Christ.
They will just move on to try and find some hope, somewhere else. They will find some other substitute to cling too, some other remedy, or more likely, something to deaden the pain.
Our Lord isn’t dead. We don’t have to talk about Him as if He was!
They need to know Him, they need to experience His love! They need to walk with Him on the side of the lake, or through the streets surrounding Union Station in KC (if you read this in the future, there was a gun battle there yesterday) They need to realize His presence in courtrooms, and rehab facilities.
They need to experience their reality redeemed, and reconciled with how God exists in their life.
They need Jesus…and so do you and I.
That is where word and Sacrament ministry – that is the sharing of God’s word in scripture, and the sacraments being the conduits of God’s merciful blessings are all about. The word of God, the gospel that tells you that is was always His plan to be in relationship with us, and detail what that looks like (what is called the law) and ho He creates and restores in (the promises of the gospel) The sacraments bring us into that relationship – that union/unity with Jesus. Each in its own way, not only assuring us of our forgiveness, but welcoming us into the presence of God, That is what baptism, confession and absolution, and the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper promises and delivers!
The chance to experience what Moses did and better, the opportunity to have God dwell in us, and us in God.
This is what matters, this is what our family needs, our churches, our communities, our countries… our world.
Lord, help us draw people to You, where they will find life.
Kreeft, Peter. Ha!: A Christian Philosophy of Humor (p. 57). St. Augustine’s Press. Kindle Edition.
Nolasco, Rolf, Jr. 2011. The Contemplative Counselor: A Way of Being. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
The Blessing of Despair and Self-imposed Exile
Thoughts which draw me out of my exile, to Jesus and the cross
16 “Now tell your fellow-exiles what I am saying. I am the one who sent them to live in far-off nations and scattered them in other countries. Yet, for the time being I will be present with them in the lands where they have gone. Ezek. 11:16 GNT
But God is trying to reveal by His Holy Spirit the utter weakness of the child of God who is still putting his trust in himself.
Why does it take us so long to put our complete trust in God? He has made it so simple, so rewarding to yield what we are to Him!
767 What really makes a person—or a whole sector of society—unhappy, is the anxiety ridden, selfish search for well being, that desire to get rid of whatever is upsetting.
As I read Ezekiel’s words to the exiles, I can easily put myself in their shoes. There are days I feel like I don’t belong, that I am all by myself and feel like there is no hope.. no relief from the pain or the loneliness. I also know I am not alone in this – all you have to do is look at the number of pastors leaving the ministry, the number of teachers leaving education, the number of frontline workers leaving sheriff’s departments, police departments, and the rise of “coaches”–more often than not those who could not continue in their vocation, but someone want to help those who remain (and find a remnant connection to it)
Often times we call such times of self-imposed exile “burnout.” And truly, they are.
Those times come with a promise though, one seen by Tozer, that God will reveal our weaknesses, and use those times to deepen our relationship with Him–that we would come to trust Him more. You see exile and burnout are a matter, not of a lack or weak faith, but a time that reveals those times so that we value what God’s presence in the brokenness provides.
What it we took St. Josemaria’s idea of what was upsetting – and instead of getting rid of it, saw it as an opportunity to get to know Jesus better? To look for how He will provide? To find the joy in the presence of God who loves and embraces us, even in the midst of all that we consider negative. What if we heard Ezekiel’s message – that our exile was not just a disciplinary action by God, but a chance to see Him active in our lives, restoring us, calling us back–fulfilling the promise He made through the words of Ezekiel.
God sends us off into the exile we choose in our rebellion, so that He can be with us, and therefore restore us. Even there, WE ARE NOT ALONE!
God is with us… even in our doubt-filled, sin caused periods of exile we choose and impose on ourselves. He lets us go there.. so He can bring us back..
A. W. Tozer and Gerald B. Smith, Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2008).
Escrivá, Josemaría. The Forge . Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Why Pastors and Priests (like me) Need Church…
Words that drive me to Jesus, and to the Cross…
10 As the priests were leaving the Temple, it was suddenly filled with a cloud 11shining with the dazzling light of the LORD’s presence, and they could not go back in to perform their duties. 1 Kings 8:10-11 GNT
20I am telling you the truth: you will cry and weep, but the world will be glad; you will be sad, but your sadness will turn into gladness. 21When a woman is about to give birth, she is sad because her hour of suffering has come; but when the baby is born, she forgets her suffering, because she is happy that a baby has been born into the world. 22That is how it is with you: now you are sad, but I will see you again, and your hearts will be filled with gladness, the kind of gladness that no one can take away from you. John 16:20-22 GNT
While they are thus in fear and terror, the Lord brings them peace, not by removing any danger, but by quieting their hearts.
Now the liturgy is meant to form the individual Christian. Hence we have to learn how to understand its symbols, in order to absorb the lessons which they convey. But at the same time the liturgy is more than symbolism and more than ritual. Through the medium of the Church, which He has entrusted with the task of guiding, sanctifying and instructing mankind, God exercises a sacramental action upon the spirits of men of faith.
I have been thinking about church a lot recently, trying to understand why in parts of the world, the church is growing faster than it ever had, and why in others, it is rapidly shrinking.
I would love to blame the shrink on the amped up political atmosphere, as extremists in every spectrum try and force their way into power. Whether it is legalism or lawlessness, whether it is tieing to the secular conservatism or secular progressivism, the tactics are much the same.
I could blame it on apathy, and a country not able to escape the consequences of isolation.
I could blame it on a season dominated by every sin and temptation known to mankind.
Placing blame will do nothing – except causes dissention, more division and accelerate the decline of the Church, as sanctuaries empty—as they no longer are sanctuaries, as people find no refuge or peace in the places dedicated to communion with God.
I need the church to be such a place–a refuge, a sanctuary, the holy ground were peace overwhelms the struggles I am embroiled in this life. Luther’s words resonate with this, as he pictured God not taking away the struggles, the chaos, the anxiety or the pain. Instead, He quiets my heart, and the hearts of those with whom I share God’s word, the peace given them as I share with them the Body and Blood of Jesus.
Merton identified this as the sacramental action of God, as He pours out the blessings, the mercy, peace and love which forms us, creating a faith, a dependency on God, wherein the awe we find in His presence, makes everything else an inconsequential shadow. That all sounds like heavy theology tainted with a bit of mysticism.
I wish I could explain it in a simpler way, but the peace of the moment is beyond explanation, Jesus illustrates it well, in the moment a new mom holds her baby, and all the travail and even the mess isn’t important… the baby is here..
or in our case, God is here.
and like the priests – we are so in awe, that all we can do is enjoy the presence of God.
Together.
(Merton was wrong – this isn’t individual. It is who we are…together – the family of God)
This is why I need the church, the people of God gathered around His word, the people who receive His sacraments… who experience His peace..
I get to see it, facilitate it and that is awesome… but what is better – I participate….
I am so looking forward to this tomorrow… will you join me… either at Concordia, or with the saints in another location, but sharing in the same presence of the same Lord.
Please… come and know His peace and healing!
Martin Luther and John Sander, Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year (Rock Island, IL: Augustana Book Concern, 1915), 138.
Thomas Merton, The New Man (London; New York: Burns & Oates, 1976), 160.
To Pray and Worship with All Your Heart and Soul….What does it mean?
Thoughts drawing me closer to Jesus and to His cross!
No, I’m not drunk, sir,” she answered. “I haven’t been drinking! I am desperate, and I have been praying, pouring out my troubles to the LORD. 16Don’t think I am a worthless woman. I have been praying like this because I’m so miserable.” 1 Sam. 1:15-16 GNT
Are we presently missing important elements of worship in our churches? I speak of the genuine and sacred offering of ourselves as we worship the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Who can object to pious and righteous talk? Soon the whole enterprise takes off like a magnificent balloon, rising on the strength of its own hot air, with marvelous descriptions of the Christian life, the abundant life, spirituality, and the like. The minister becomes a guru rather than a proclaimer. The balloon rises perhaps until the stratospheric air can no longer support it and so it bursts and falls ignominiously back to earth. Or it is like Andersen’s fairy tale about the emperor’s new clothes? Everyone feels compelled to go along with the game until the naive little boy blurts out the truth: “But he’s naked!” Then all the pretense collapses.
But it is obvious to most that real worship and praise isn’t bursting forth from the average Catholic congregation during the opening hymn or song. We aren’t experiencing the jubilatio of St. Augustine’s communities. But we can! The next time we sing at Mass, let’s dare to really sing. Sing with all your heart and soul. Dare to open your mouth and praise God
I wonder what would happen if Tozer saw today’s church, if he would see the missing parts of worship restored. I can think of people here and there whose sacrifice seems significant, yet, I don’t know it is., or what really lies behind the sacrifice–or if it is really one.
I fear that for many of us, our worship is like Forde’s critique, that we are no more than a spiritual version of the Emperor’s new clothes. I fear that we will find there is nothing there, that my sermons have lifted people into a pious, blind life that seems to soar until it crashes. That the verses and choruses we sing are sung out of a love for music, and not without recognizing the presence of the One our voices praise.
We need to sing with all our heart and soul, and that doesn’t mean loudly, or with great power. It means all of it – much as Hannah does in the reading from 1 Samuel. To pour out the pain, the brokenness, the barrenness, to just let it flow out….
You see, praise comes from meeting God in that place, and letting Him raise you up. It means pouring out everything in our prayers, holding nothing back, to let God minister to us. Then our praises take on an other worldly quality, coming from our healed hearts and souls.
It doesn’t take courage as much as desperation.
But the result is glorious – for we come to depend on God in a way that cannot be created or maipulated by skilled planning, or the most incredible of organists, choirs, praise bands or soloists. Yet each, as they encounter a God who cares, adds their voices together–lifting the God who lifted us up.
And for every Hannah, we can then become be like Eli, who ministered to her, on the Lord’s behal
Tozer, A. W., and Gerald B. Smith. 2008. Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings. Chicago: Moody Publishers.
Forde, Gerhard O. 1990. “Hearing.” In Theology Is for Proclamation, 137–38. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
Talbot, John Michael. 2023. The Lord’s Supper: A Eucharistic Revival, Berryville, ARK. Troubador For the Lord Publishing.
Don’t Confuse Church with Heaven…
Thoughts to urge you closer to Jesus… and to adore Him!
6 I am quite confident that the One who began a good work in you will go on completing it until the Day of Jesus Christ comes. Philippians 1:6 (NJB)
They dream of a church as righteous as Adam was in paradise, though the wrath of God was revealed from heaven against him when God said, ‘Adam, you may eat of every fruit, but if you eat of this tree you shall die.’
The Eucharist received in Holy Communion awakens us to the permanent presence of Christ within us at the deepest level. The Eucharist, like the Word of God in Scripture, has as its primary purpose to bring us to the awareness of God’s abiding presence within us.…
There are times where being a part of a church is overwhelming.
It might be because of conflict.
It might be because people have expectations that they place on the church, but not on themselves as part of the church.
It might simply be because of too much truama.
Simply put, church is not heaven on earth. We might want it to be perfect, we may think it should be, we will get angry when it is not heaven on earth, when people in it disappoint us, and even hurt us.
People may think churches are built on holy ground – and I will argue they are! But that doesn’t mean everything that happens within it is holy and perfect. For sinners in need of grace find a place there, and God begins His work in someone’s life, as the church is gathered together, and shares in the words of God, and the sacraments through which He pours out His love.
Keating is right – church is where God reveals Himself to His people, especially through the Eucharist! He is here as God’s people are gathered – whether in stately cathedrals, simple wooden buildings, caves, or at the local starbucks.
But Luther is also correct – in this midst of these groups, there is sin, and sin that God must purge or punish, cleanse or condemn. ANd sin means people get disappointed, hurt, betrayed. They fail and yes, they sin.
Here is why – the work of sanctification happens there – as God continues His work – and will continue it, until we are are completed when Jesus returns. That means there is always work going on, sins being confronted and cleansed, reconciliations occuring where there was only brokenness, life becoming real and glorious, even as evil is dealt with, and people who are muddied with sin being cleansed. If these things aren’t happening in a church, it isn’t the church.
Church isn’t heaven…. but it is the place where we see glimpses of it, as we see God at work. It’s full of broken people – and that can be frustrating – and even depressing – and it can even break you. But it is also where you heal, where you find God at work, where you find hope and rest..
So keep looking to what He is doing – and become part of it…. and be patient with His work, and not dismayed that it is needed. In fact, rejoice as you see it being accomplished – for it means God is at work…. around you and in you. And He will complete it!
AMEN!
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.
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 Peace that We Need…
Thoughts to encourage our clinging to Jesus…
Then Moses called for Mishael and Elzaphan, Aaron’s cousins, the sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel. He said to them, “Come forward and carry away the bodies of your relatives from in front of the sanctuary to a place outside the camp.” 5 So they came forward and picked them up by their garments and carried them out of the camp, just as Moses had commanded.
6 Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not show grief by leaving your hair uncombed* or by tearing your clothes. If you do, you will die, and the LORD’s anger will strike the whole community of Israel. However, the rest of the Israelites, your relatives, may mourn because of the LORD’s fiery destruction of Nadab and Abihu. Leviticus 10:4-6 NLT
He is gnawing at his own heart,” said Luther. “I, too, often suffer from severe trials and sorrows. At such times I seek the fellowship of men, for the humblest maid has often comforted me. A man doesn’t have control of himself when he is downcast and alone, even if he is well equipped with a knowledge of the Scriptures. It is not for nothing that Christ gathers his church around the Word and the sacraments=- and is unwilling to let these be hidden in a corner. (1)
Of course, if you’re not careful you can burn yourself out in pastoral work. Sadly, thousands of pastors end up spiraling into emotional and spiritual collapse every year.
But when you take care to receive Christ’s own love and strength by means of his Spirit through his word, you have something to give to others without yourself being depleted and emptied. (2)
Any appeal to the public in the name of Christ that rises no higher than an invitation to tranquillity must be recognized as mere humanism with a few words of Jesus thrown in to make it appear Christian.…
Christ calls men to carry a cross; we call them to have fun in His name. He calls them to forsake the world; we assure them that if they but accept Jesus the world is their oyster. (3)
I have to admit, I don’t like the words Moses spoke to Aaron and his boys. Why aren’t they allowed to grieve alongside their family? Paul talks of us weeping with those who weep (and laughing with them as they laugh as wll.) So this stupid act of their cousins should bring a time of grieving and being there for the family.
Shouldn’t it?
In this case, by no means in every case, they could not be there. We have to be careful of making this scenario a case study and establishing ground rules for pastoral care. I have heard that pastors must keep their distance and be above and remote from the scenario to pastor people. Based on the Romans 12 description of weeping and laughing, I have heard the opposite.
The question is, how do we become wise enough to know the difference? And how do we deal with our own pain? How do we find our peace when we encounter such trauma as pastors or people? Where do we find the wisdom to enter into the family’s pain, or not?
Senkbeil and Luther both note the high cost of enduring such trials. Trials that lead to the “gnawing at your own heart,” not being able to “have control of himself,” and “emotional and spiritual collapse” that most pastors deal with regularly. They will both find the same solution, which I will get to in a moment after I deal with Tozer – his words help clarify the discernment needed.
The idea that our message is only an invitation to peace and tranquility is the danger of trying to multi-task as a mourner and spiritual care provider. I am not saying God cannot work in these situations, but it taxes us too significantly and will lead to a message that doesn’t tie our peace to the cross. Establish enough of these trials, one after another, and the pain will break anyone. And when we fail, our words become something less, a placebo, no longer connected to the peace that is genuinely needed in a time like these.
Tozer calls the believer to carry the cross first…to forsake the world because focused on Christ whom we meet at the cross, we can be relieved of burdens and find the peace we need. This is why Senkbeil talks of letting the Spirit work through Word and Sacrament to receive Christ’s love and strength within us. It is why Luther talks of the fellowship
and the humblest maid comforting him, even as Jesus gathers His church around the Word and Sacraments. It is only connected to God’s grace that our words can do more than be a placebo. Only then is there something to give something beyond all understanding… the peace of Jesus!
Aaron and his boys were responsible for the Old Covenant sacrifices, those activities that pointed to God’s promise of peace. They weren’t forbidden to weep because God was uncaring. Rather, I think they needed to have the strength
of the promise that would enable the community to find grace and peace at the moment. They needed to remind people that God was still with them and that God was sustaining them, and even as God was ministering to them through the community, Their comfort and peace came from God, and they needed to lead people there. For us that means embracing the cross, accepting its suffering, realizing that there we meet Jesus. That is where we find life and hope, and rest. THat is why baptism, absolution and the Lord’s Supper take us there.. to Jesus… at the cross.
When I was a hospice chaplain, I watched nurses put aside their grief to care for the patients who passed away. We would weep together later – apart from those we had gone to care for, the patient and their family. Like Aaron and his
boys, we were the hands and voice of God for those hurting and grieving. I think that is what Moses was working from with these words. He directed them to not show grief at that moment because if they lost their way in despair, not
only would they drown, so would the community. As they focused on God… and His mercy…then they would be comforted and be able to offer the same.
This isn’t easy; this idea of keeping our eyes on Jesus in the middle of the pain. To be bluntly honest, I needed to be reminded of it presently… but it is there, at the altar with others.. that God’s peace is found, where the burdens
are lifted.
After the years of 2020 and 2021… that is where we need to be found… and when we are… we can minister to so many who need to know the peace of Jesus.
(1) Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 54: Table Talk, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, vol. 54 (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999), 268.
(2) Harold L. Senkbeil, The Care of Souls: Cultivating a Pastor’s Heart (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2019), 7.
(3) A. W. Tozer, Tozer for the Christian Leader (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2015).
What do you need? How will it happen? The purpose of self-examination!
Thoughts to enocurage you to adore Jesus, and to celebrate His role in your life!
27 So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. 1 Corinthians 11:27-28 (NLT2)
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT2)
How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand? 3 Turn and answer me, O LORD my God! Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die. 4 Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!” Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall. 5 But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. 6 I will sing to the LORD because he is good to me. Psalm 13:2-6 (NLT2)
The philosopher Socrates said, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” If a common philosopher could think that, how much more we Christians ought to listen to the Holy Spirit when He says, “Examine yourself.” An unexamined Christian lies like an unattended garden. Let your garden go unattended for a few months, and you will not have roses and tomatoes but weeds. (1)
Master Gabriel,164 pastor in Torgau, asked Dr. Martin Luther about that passage of Paul to Timothy [I Tim. 4:5], “For it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.”
Dr. Martin Luther replied, “Godly men acknowledge that all things are of God and consecrate them through the Word of God when they pray. To them all things are pure when they are used according to God’s will. (2)
When Tozer quote Socrates, it sounds familiar, and even Biblical.
After all, Paul warns the church that each person should examine themslves prior to receving the Lord’s Supper. The wanring about being jduged for sinning against the Body and Blood of Christ is serious.
I think that Tozer and Socrates have something different in mind than the Apostle Paul. It is not a bad thing, but Paul is talking about something more significant, I would say something more critical. Someting that requires more than anyone is capable of addressing on their own.
That is where Luther comes point out what is necessary, the prayer that God consecrates, man doesn’t.
Our examination simply to recognize the necessity of Christ’s Body to be broken, His blood to be shed. The sacrifice of Christ, and the covenant it creates, is the only answer to what we see when we examine our lives. For what we see are the wounds caused by sin, the brokenness caused by our self-idolatry, the times where we think our desires outweigh the wisdom of God.
The prayer of Psalm 13 anticipates this work of God that occurs as we are consecrated as the consecrated bread and wine, the very Body and Blood of Christ are taken and we commune with God. There we celebrate that God has removed all that offends Him, and where He renews our spirit. All the promises given to us in our baptism – when we were united with Jesus in HIs death and resurrection – all this is renewed as we commune with Him….
And then, renewed, revived, free of the burdens of guilt, shame, resentment, we begin to see this God we worship more clearly…. and praise goes into another level.
So examine yourself… realize how great your need is… and realize it is answered…
God loves you… that much!
(1) A. W. Tozer, Tozer for the Christian Leader (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2015).
(2) Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 54: Table Talk, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, vol. 54 (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999), 244.
