Category Archives: Poeima
Do we know what Patience is? Really?
Thoughts that carry me to Jesus, and to the Cross:
“But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and merciful God. You are patient and demonstrate great loyal love and faithfulness.” (Psalm 86:15, NET)
God communicates his will to humanity so that the whole human race may take part in his divine life. In his high priestly prayer in John’s Gospel, Christ prays to the Father, saying:
I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belong to you, and you gave them to me, and they kept your word. I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. (John 17:6, 20; author’s translation)
The purpose of God’s revelation to humanity is for humanity to share in his divinity
Patience.
A virtue that is quite misunderstood at its core.
We think of it as being willing to wait a time in order to see our wants and desire come to fruition. I waited patiently in line for this, or I waited patiently for my promotion, or to be noticed by that person. Too often patience is intertwined with our own self-centeredness, our own narcissistic
I think if the goal is primarily about us, while it is delayed gratification, it isn’t the fullness of what patience is, at least scripturally. I think patience, Godly patience, is waiting for the best to occur to someone else. God’s will was to bless us, for us to take part in His divinity, in His glory, in His eternal life. It was already His, He didn’t have to wait for it, but He waits for us to join Him, to share in that life He plans for us.
Does He benefit? Yes, in seeing us benefit.
Is God willing to be patient with our understanding, our internalizing His revelation? Absolutely! All scripture testifies to His guiding our individual and communal journey toward Him.
There is nothing more important in life that this, nothing more amazing to think through, nothing more important to wait for–For that is what God is patient with, turning our very lives into works of art.
This is why we praise our God, for His vision of making us one with Him and in Him, and His patience and love which makes this happen.
(and now, let us imitate God, and be patient with others whom God is working on….)
De Gaál, E. (2018). O Lord, I Seek Your Countenance: Explorations and Discoveries in Pope Benedict XVI’s Theology (M. Levering, Ed.; p. 180). Emmaus Academic.
Time to Stop Objecting To the Harvest: An Eastertide Sermon from Concordia on Acts 11:1-18
Time to Stop Objecting
To the Harvest
Acts 11:1-18
† I.H.S. †
May the grace and mercy of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ inspire your work in the Harvest of all souls, as you rejoice in your own salvation!
God is moving… are we?
I have to make a good confession. Over the last week I have had a number of things that I just wanted to do. Nope, no way. I had some great excuses lined up, but to be honest, I just didn’t want to make the drives, I didn’t want to sit in the seats and attend those meetings, I didn’t want to lay on that gurney, or drink that horrid stuff with nasty effects, and I didn’t know if I had anything left to minister to people I had never met before.
I was a bit of a grump…
And in each of the 7 places God was sending me to. I would see Him at work… even to the point of crying with a peaceful joy.
The reason I bring this up, is that I understand Peter, and the story he recounts to the believers in Jerusalem, who are little tired, a little paranoid of causing more trouble with their Jewish relatives, and to be honest, they didn’t think they had the will or desire to do what God was calling them to…the places He would send them anyway, just as Peter was sent to Cornelius and his family and friends.
But after the fact, the trips, both Peter’s and mine, even the colonoscopy, were incredible blessings. Because of the impact those moments had.
Even if we objected to the harvest, and tried to find excuses, and didn’t want to go…..
For as the title says, it’s time to stop objecting to the harvest!
- Dangerous words!
In this passage, we see Peter making two blunders far worse than the two classic blunders of “’getting involved in a land war in Asia,’ and ‘going in against a Sicilian when death is on the line.’”
Far greater.
The first we see in verse 8. Peter said to the Holy Spirit, “No”
Don’t ever do that. Nope, never ever said to the Lord, No.
You end up saying yes, but if you are unlucky you smell like you’ve been living in a giant fish for three days, or walking around the Sinai Peninsula, or maybe even, like Peter, have to eat some bacon wrapped lobster….
Wait… that’s what he said no to??
Yes… to prepare Peter to do something even more challenging, which for many silly reasons, objected to…
The other massive bunder… God responded to this way, Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.’
Peter learned the hard way, that God was in control, that He determined if something was clean or not, whether there was hope or not, and that God chose to whom He would offer salvation.
We don’t get to decide if people of this economic class, denomination, political affiliation or race, culture or ethnicity are saved or not… we get to rejoice in their salvation.
I want to repeat that, We don’t get to decide if people of this economic class, denomination, political affiliation or race, culture or ethnicity are saved or not… we get to rejoice in their salvation.
- The gift is for you and you and you..
And that is where God sends us, whether long term believers who are struggling and don’t quite “get” God…. Like Cornelius, who wanted to honor God, but because he didn’t know Jesus.
And we stop saying, “No, Lord.” Or “you can’t Lord – its against the rules…” and we see God at work. It’s amazing.
I didn’t know I would get three opportunities to encourage three women – my before, during and after nurses on Friday. All were related to pastors, a daughter, a wife and a sister. But all three needed encouragement from the bizarre pastor who they had to care for.
The same thing with the two funerals, both very different, both needed to hear God’s grace- one who had no idea of the peace of Christ, and one, they just needed to hear it again. Like the hymn, “I love to tell the story,” sometimes the ones longing to hear it are the ones who know it best.
You see we get to tell people the gift of God’s love is for them too! We will realize that just like Peter was called into Cornelius’ life to tell them “how you and everyone in your household can be saved!’”
That’s our job whether they are young or old, no matter rich or poor, beautiful or ugly, no matter the race, the ethnicity, the original nationality, or what language they speak.
And then, as we see God working in their lives, our own faith in God is strengthened as we realize those we might have thought beyond salvation have the Holy Spirit convicting them, and given them the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.
And as we see the harvest begin, we will rejoice with angels and archangels and all the host of heaven in the harvest. Amen!
The Vision of the Chalices: Thoughts on our Existence
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to the cross!
“In all hard work there is profit, but merely talking about it only brings poverty.” (Proverbs 14:23, NET)
He found it easier to do what is perfect than to talk about it; so he was constantly active in showing his zeal and dedication in deeds, not in words, because words do not do what is good, they only point to it.
That is why we use we use matter in liturgy, explains Paul Evdokimov. “The final destiny of water is to participate in the mystery of the Epiphany; of wood, to become a cross; of the earth, to receive the body of the Lord during his rest on the Sabbath.… Olive oil and water attain their fullness as conductor elements for grace on regenerated man. Wheat and wine achieve their ultimate raison d’etre in the eucharistic chalice.
I am pretty sure it was a dream, (at least I hope it was!) but there were some chalices gathered together, having a discussion, which occasionally devolved into arguments about their reason for their existence. The odd thing, is that they all sat on a shelf, awaiting to be purchased, and none of them had actively served–they were all awaiting to be purchased and put to use. That didn’t stop them as seeing themselves as experts, of forming and aggressively sharing their theories and positions. They even formed a coaches and consultants guild for chalices’
One day, a chalice that should have been retired, for it was dented, and its gold faded, its ornate artwork rubbed down by decades in the hands of priests and pastors, came into the shop. The pastor asked if his old friend could be repaired, his gold polished if he could be restored.
There were more chalices there that day, as they were having a conference to vote on new rules for the creation, maintenance and use of chalices. Only the best were allowed to come, those that dedicated their lives to the study and teaching of chalice-ness. The old chalice listened in and smiled, and longed to be back in his parish, for it was there he was a chalice. It was there the joy of being the vessel containing Christ’s Blood was found, as broken people drank from Him, and found the healing God meant for them. It was there he was profitable, or in the old language, salutary.
He attempted to share this, but was shut out – too eccentric, to odd, and too dedicated to those ugly broken humans, who would wear him down, steal his luster and shine.
Hopefully you see the connection of this dream to the proverb, and the poverty of being “on the shelf” rather than in the hands. And St. Francis and the old chalice have much in common, as does the point of the destiny of water to be used in baptism, and wheat and wine in the sacrament. Of the wood of the manger and cross, and even the temporary use of the grave.
But do you see yourself in the dream? Are you the sort of Christian who just sit on a shelf, reading books on theology, evangelism, and how to be the church? Or are you like the old beaten up chalice which has lost its glorious shine, but filled with the completeness that is found in being who God called you to be, one of His people who was sent to continue Christ’s ministry to those who are broken,,,,
Don’t spend time thinking about it.
You know you are His, forgive, healing, children.
So live that way, and fulfill your ministry.
Pasquale, G., ed. (2011). Day by Day with Saint Francis: 365 Meditations (p. 104). New City Press.
Fagerberg, D. W. (2019). Liturgical Mysticism (pp. 134–135). Emmaus Academic.
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.
Tips on Getting the Best Deal…. don’t
Thoughts that draw me to Christ – and to the Cross
20 You have nothing to do with corrupt judges, who make injustice legal, 21 who plot against good people and sentence the innocent to death. Ps 94:20-21 GNT
Yet popular Christianity has as one of its most effective talking points the idea that God exists to help people to get ahead in this world! The God of the poor has become the God of an affluent society. We hear that Christ no longer refuses to be a judge or a divider between money-hungry brothers. He can now be persuaded to assist the brother that has accepted Him to get the better of the brother who has not!
Too often, individuals and organizations look to get the best deal. How can their actions benefit themselves, or the group that they owe allegiance too. Even within orgranizations, there is competition between divisions and departments. It exists in churches and denominations as well. We want ours to get what it needs, even at the cost of others. Even if it means they shut down.
There is a name for this in scripture,
Covetousness.
We can justify it all we want, but covetousness is contagious. It starts out small, like the man who tells the pastor that he doesn’t care what happens to the church – as long as it is their to do his and his wife’s funerals. There is little care for the people around him. It then extends out to churches and denominationals that see other churches as places to prey on – and so welcome and recruit people from other churches, offering them “more” of this, and ‘more” of that–to meet their perceived needs. It can go on, to people pushing agendas that prey on needed ministries to fund those agendas.
THis isn’t new, Tozer’s words acknowledge it 30 years ago.
You see it in the scriptures as well, as people go against the work of Ezra and Nehemiah, as the Kinsman passes his right to Boaz (who gets to slap him in the face with a sandle!) so his son gets the full inheritance. In the apostles who are jealous of others ministering in Jesus’ name.
Here is the option.
The word cHesed in Hebrew, often translated as love, loving-kindness, has the sense of loving loyalty. It is the word used in conjunction with a covenant, to express the attitude that one should do everything in their power, not only to keep their end of the covenant, but to help the other party keep their end of it.
Even if it means death.
This is what compelled Jesus to die on the cross, the promise ot help mankind receive all the promises made to Adam, and to Abraham, and the promises given to all naitons through Moses.
This is the heart of the matter in Luther’s understanding of the 7th commandment as well. In explaining it to dads, so they can explain it to their children, Luther wrote, “but help him to improve and protect his income and property.”
To do otherwise is to disobey God by stealing from one’s neighbor.
But when we do help them, when we invest in them, when we strive on thier behalf, we see God at work in them and we see God’s blessings upon them, and we get to share in their joy.
Is such easy? no!
Is such perhaps met with suspicion and reluctance? yeah… because of past history.
Is it worth it? Was it worth it to Christ.
Our being in Covenant with God means we are in covenant with all of mankind, and so cHesed – this loyalty/love/kindness compels us to these kinds of actions. May we welcome such compulsion, and turn our back on coveting that which God gave to someone else.
A. W. Tozer and Gerald B. Smith, Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2008).
Martin Luther, “The Small Catechism: The Ten Commandments”, Theodore G. Tappert, ed., The Book of Concord the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press, 1959), 343.
The Church Desperately Needs Fools and Madmen – if we are to survive.
Thoughts to help us run to Jesus…
Caiaphas, who was high priest at that time,* said, “You don’t know what you’re talking about! 50 You don’t realize that it’s better for you that one man should die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.” John 11:49-50 NLT
They say, “God has abandoned him. Let’s go and get him, for no one will help him now.” 12 O God, don’t stay away. My God, please hurry to help me. Psalm 71:11-12 (NLT2)
Scripture’s commandment to turn the other cheek does not contain a primarily ethical meaning—to overcome oneself, or to give the other an example of one’s self-mastery or enlightenment—but the meaning of love, which “demands that one suffer humiliation with the humiliated Christ rather than receive honor, to be seen as a fool and madman for Christ’s sake, who himself was seen primarily as such, rather than to be esteemed as wise and clever in this world” (Ignatius of Loyola)
Now note that deliverance from evil is the very last thing that we do and ought to pray for. Under this heading we count strife, famine, war, pestilence, plagues, even hell and purgatory, in short, everything that is painful to body and soul. Though we ask for release from all of this, it should be done in a proper manner and at the very last.
Why? There are some, perhaps many, who honor and implore God and his saints solely for the sake of deliverance from evil. They have no other interest and do not ever think of the first petitions which stress God’s honor, his name, and his will. Instead, they seek their own will and completely reverse the order of this prayer. They begin at the end and never get to the first petitions. They are set on being rid of their evil, whether this redounds to God’s honor or not, whether it conforms to his will or not.
The Canaanite woman had the kind of faith which penetrates the clouds. She would not take any kind of refusal as a real refusal, as a real “no.” She kept on praying with faith. The more she was tried, the more she placed her trust in Jesus, until she finally achieved her goal and got all she wanted. This is the disposition God waits for in the crisis of faith: trust in his mercy no matter what kind of treatment he gives you. Only great faith can penetrate those apparent rebuffs, comprehend the love which inspires them, and totally surrender to it.
Barely a day goes by without ads or advice about how to save the church. Here is how to make your preaching more relevant, how to do outreach online, and how to grow this ministry, that ministry. If only you had a program like Alpha or Rooted or follow Purpose Driven Church theory or…
For someone who doesn’t even know what a box is, never mind think out of it, my answer for what the church needs to do is described well in the devotional readings I encountered this morning.
The answer to survival is that we again need the church to be considered fools and madmen/women.
The phrase comes from the reading of Balthasar – and refers to people who are willing to be humiliated for no other reason than we do so with Jesus. The world would say we are nuts; we are fools. We embrace the suffering we encounter, whatever God allows, to seek Him and find Him and be with Him.
That is what Luther was getting at as well, as he explored the phrase, “deliver us from evil.” It is not the first plea in the Lord’s prayer but the last. It is not the most important thing – in fact, the most important thing is that we use God’s name to address Him. We need to set it apart for those deeply intimate conversations. We ask to ask for a lot, but only last do we ask for delivery from evil. If we believe all else is answered and delivered, where is the power of evil? It has already been broken and shattered.
Take a moment and think about it – what has Satan left if we are sure God’s Kingdom has come, and God’s will has been done?
This is what servant-leadership truly is in the church, being willing to embrace the suffering and remind people of God’s presence in the most broken parts of their lives. It requires tenacity, not to endure, but to pursue God like the Samaritan woman Keating praises! Jesus praised her, for she trusted that Jesus loved her and her daughter. We need to seek that experience of His love and His mercy, counting on Him to reveal Himself there.
That is why we endure… to depend on Christ – to dwell in Him… and as we do, we serve amid brokenness. We embrace it, knowing that God rules, and therefore it works. and if the world things we are fools and madman… that’s okay.
Balthasar, Hans Urs von. 2004. Love Alone Is Credible. Translated by D. C. Schindler. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Luther, Martin. 1999. Luther’s Works, Vol. 42: Devotional Writings I. Edited by Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann. Vol. 42. 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.
Real Peace is Not the Absence of Conflict…
Devotional Thought of the Day:
16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! 17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
Romans 12:16-18 (NLT2)
20 You clash with the character of one person or another…. It has to be that way—you are not a dollar bill to be liked by everyone. Besides, without those clashes which arise in dealing with your neighbors, how could you ever lose the sharp corners, the edges—imperfections and defects of your character—and acquire the order, the smoothness, and the firm mildness of charity, of perfection? If your character and that of those around you were soft and sweet like marshmallows, you would never become a saint.
I have never liked conflict.
Like many people, I would go to great lengths to avoid it, and I fear its approaching.
I think this is, in part, because we don’t know how to understand it, and we either fight for victory, or we settle for compromise. As a result we are not aware of the sweetness of harmony, the true peace of living in concord, and the hope that comes from finding the true peace that happens when we reconcile.
As a result, we dwell in a time where conflict is played out strategically, in back rooms and parking lot conversations, via text messages and other social media we gather our side, and are ready to go to war, or run away from our opponents.
And all suffers.
Living in peace with everyone is not about being liked, it is not about being popular, it is about working for true reconciliation, true unity that is not at the cost of diversity, or does it force conformity to anything else but Jesus. ANd since the Spirit is in charge of that transformation, the very clashes we, can lead to reconciliation.
Real peace is found there, not in the apparent absence of conflict.
It is a hard lesson, and to be honest, one I have refused to learn, even as I prayed for such a peace to grow in my life. Yet I have begun to see it, I have watched God at work bringing together those who trusted Him enough to be honest, and desire to see Him honored more than to be proven they are right. I have seen it in those who journy together. I have seen it at the communion rail, and in the passing of the peace.
So trust God, be willing to pay the price for true peace, knowing God will help, He will be there, and the person you are in conflict may come to realize, as you do, that you are on the same journey, being drawn by God into His presence.
Heavenly Father, help us to trust and depend on you more than we fear and avoid conflict. In those situations, help us to honor you, and seek the peace that is found in reconciliation, not settling for compromise or avoidance. Give us the patience to see this happen, in Jesus name. AMEN!
Escriva, Josemaria. The Way (Kindle Locations 209-213). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Please Come Back Soon, Lord! Huh? You Are Here!!!!
7 God sent me ahead of you to rescue you in this amazing way and to make sure that you and your descendants survive. 8 So it was not really you who sent me here, but God. Genesis 45:7-8 GNT
Trial and temptation are the initial means of spiritual formation. Through them the Christian is stripped time and time again of presumption and the delusions of righteousness. One is thrust into a kind of existential free fall with nothing to break the descent into darkness, nothing to hold onto but Jesus the Christ.
309 Far away on the horizon heaven seems to meet the earth. Do not forget that where heaven and earth really meet is in your heart of a child of God.
Yesterday, I posted on FaceBook the following thought
“Struggling with the idea that Maranatha shouldn’t be just a prayer of despair, but one of expectation.”
Let me be honest, the last week or so, as I’ve have witnessed so much trauma, that I would be very grateful for the Second Coming of Christ. And in a desperate way, I want to plead for it, for the release from the tribulation and tears that seem to be occurring wherever I turn.
And yet part of me regrets wanting the Second Coming for such a personal excuse, for such a homecoming, for such peace. I know I should know this peace, and there are times where I know it, especially as I hand to my brothers and sisters the Body of Christ, as my elders and deacon encourage them to take and drink the Precious Blood poured out to activate the New Covenant, a relationship where we are free from sin.
As I look out on this broken world, this shattered community, as I see the sin ravaged relationships, my instinct to run and hide from the pain.
And gently confronting my angst this morning, I came across the readings above, and sit in wonder, as I realize God’s providence.
In the reading from Luther’s Spirituality, I see the blessing of such tribulation, as it strips from me everything but Christ. Out of need I cry out to Him and find He’s already there. He’s not on the distant horizon, not somewhere out there in time. But He is here, He is wonderfully sustaining me! He is wonderfully here!
And then, like Joseph, I realize the pain’s purpose, the salvation of all of those around, the chance we all have because even in this midst of the trauma, I see God at work. Oddly enough through some of the most broken, those in the deepest pain, those with no other option but Christ.
What an amazing paradox, what a wondrous mystery. What an unbelievable peace that is found now, in the presence of the Lord who will wipe away every tear one day, yet now cries with us, even as the Holy Spirit comforts us,
And as I think this through, I realize the peace, the incredible peace of being claimed and cleansed in baptism, of the feast where God celebrates our being united to Him. And though the trauma remains… so can we.
If you too are dealing with, or surrounded by those who are dealing with trauma, pain, whether from nature or because of sin, consider this prayer for you as well.
Lord, there are so many in need of Your peace, as they feel pressures crushing them, or feel for those who are being crushed, Lord reveal yourself to them, may they know the presence of the Holy Spirit, that in the midst of everything, builds within them the undeniable peace that is unable to be explained, but comes from knowing they are loved by you, Jesus, and the by the Father and Holy Spirit, as You reign and care for us, forever and ever, AMEN!
Strohl, J. E. (2007). General Introduction. In P. D. W. Krey, B. McGinn, & P. D. S. Krey (Eds.), P. D. S. Krey & P. D. W. Krey (Trans.), Luther’s Spirituality (p. xxvii). New York; Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.
Escriva, Josemaria. Furrow (Kindle Locations 1471-1472). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Church, Know Who Your Enemy is… and isn’t!
The church, is always in the midst of a storm… but safe in Him
the devotional thought of the Day:
12 For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age. Ephesians 6:12 (TEV)
1 To you, who were spiritually dead all the time that you drifted along on the stream of this world’s ideas of living, and obeyed its unseen ruler (who is still operating in those who do not respond to the truth of God), to you Christ has given life! We all lived like that in the past, and followed the impulses and imaginations of our evil nature, being in fact under the wrath of God by nature, like everyone else. 4 But even though we were dead in our sins God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, gave us life together with Christ – it is, remember, by grace and not by achievement that you are saved – and has lifted us right out of the old life to take our place with him in Christ in the Heavens. Thus he shows for all time the tremendous generosity of the grace and kindness he has expressed towards us in Christ Jesus. It was nothing you could or did achieve – it was God’s gift to you. No one can pride himself upon earning the love of God. The fact is that what we are we owe to the hand of God upon us. We are born afresh in Christ, and born to do those good deeds which God planned for us to do. Ephesians 2:1-4 (Phillips NT)
The circumstances of various regions being duly considered, students are to be brought to a fuller understanding of the churches and ecclesial communities separated from the Apostolic Roman See, so that they may be able to contribute to the work of re-establishing unity among all Christians according to the prescriptions of this holy synod.
Let them also be introduced to a knowledge of other religions which are more widespread in individual regions, so that they may acknowledge more correctly what truth and goodness these religions, in God’s providence, possess, and so that they may learn to refute their errors and be able to communicate the full light of truth to those who do not have it.
66 These articles of the Creed, therefore, divide and distinguish us Christians from all other people on earth. All who are outside the Christian church, whether heathen, Turks, Jews, or false Christians and hypocrites, even though they believe in and worship only the one, true God, nevertheless do not know what his attitude is toward them. They cannot be confident of his love and blessing. Therefore they remain in eternal wrath and damnation, for they do not have the Lord Christ, and, besides, they are not illuminated and blessed by the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Even back to my childhood, I remember people telling me who the enemies of God are, and therefore who the Church’s and my enemies are. And often, far too often, we would rise up to figure out how to start a new Crusade to crush this new enemy.
Some of the enemies were external to the church. Atheists and Agnostics who were so burnt by the church that they felt they had to “save” people from it. Other religions that were out to convert us (before we converted them!) Some of our enemies were internal to Christianity, (ex the Catholics pointing to Luther, the Baptists pointing to the Catholics, the Pentecostals pointing to the less emotional Presbyterians and Methodists. And some of these enemies were even in our congregations, like those who went to war over worship styles, or those that supported t this change, or those that just wanted them to remain the way they always were.
But we treat our enemies as if we were on a holy crusade against the heretics and infidels of our times. The church too often focuses on witch-hunts rather than ministering to those who are in need. Especially the ministry of reconciliaiton, and the ministry of deliverance,salvation. Deliverance from sin, deliverance from idols, (see Ezekiel 36:25) deliverance from the broknness that plagues our lives and relationships. THat should be our focus, to the believer and unbeliever, to our brothers and sisters in Chirst, and towards our enemies and adversaries, who, we pray, will become our brothers and sisters in Christ.
As Paul says, we don’t battle against them, but aginst those that hold them in bondage! Vatican II and Luther note that they have some ideas of God, What they know isn’t enough, because while they understand that God must be just, that there has to be “karma”, a payment your have earned for the sin you have committed, they have no idea that God could be, that God desires to be merciful.
That is our message, that is why we need to understand their religions, not to defeat them in battle, but to realize what they do teach about God, however they have veiled Him, and reveal Him fullu, so that they can depend on Him fully. We need to tell them the good news about God’s mercy and love, so that the Holy Spirit will fulfill the promise of working through the word, to illuminate their hearts.
We can’t have that kind of focus if we remain in ignorance, nor can we see this as our mission, what we’ve been sent to do, if we think of the people as our enemies and adversaries. This is why scripture commands us to love our enemies, because, in the final analysis, they are not our enemies.
Get to know them, share wth them the reason that we broken sinners have found hope…. and look to God, who loves you so much, and has an eternity planned for you that is beyond comprehension.
The Lord is with you!
Question of the day: If we know God is with us, why would we fear those with different beliefs?
Catholic Church. (2011). Decree on Priestly Training: Optatum Totius. In Vatican II Documents. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 419). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.
How to Survive When Prayer or the Sacraments Seem…Meaningless.
Devotional Thought of the Day:
7 “The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. 8 Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. 9 With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this: Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are. 10 Set the world right; Do what’s best— as above, so below. 11 Keep us alive with three square meals. 12 Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. 13 Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil. You’re in charge! You can do anything you want! You’re ablaze in beauty! Yes. Yes. Yes. Matthew 6:7-13 (MSG)
18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Ephesians 3:18-19 (NLT2)
551 Flee from routine as from the devil himself. The great means to avoid falling into that abyss, the grave of true piety, is the constant presence of God.
Recently, my son wanted to help me. He’s noticed I’ve been under some stress, and he knows I can’t share some of those things with anyone, even his mother. Another friend asked how they could help.
In both cases, I answered prayer and the response led me to believe they were disappointed with that answer. I could see it in my son’s eyes, “Can’t I do more?”, and in my friend’s response as they try and give me ideas on how to spend my “free time”
Pray, simply pray.
It might be, and is often for me, in a pattern. Some people don’t do that well, and the pattern becomes rote, automatic, simple repetition. For me, it can become that, but I have learned to try and savor the words, rather than just repeat them. I try to tune into what they reveal, and how they help me experience the love of God that is too great to understand fully.
That was St Josemaria’s key, that when prayer, meditation, adoration, studying the scriptures, etc become routine, we need to flee from it becoming routine is to realize the constant presence of God.
Fleeing from routine doesn’t mean fleeing from the practice, it means fleeing from the practice being routine, about realizing that you are in the presence of God, to give to Him your burdens, to entrust to Him, to depend upon Him because you know He’s promised to be there. To experience that love, despite what the world would throw at you.
For experiencing love is never simply routine…
I included the Lord’s prayer from a paraphrase, Peterson’s The Message. I by no means want to abandon the way each of us learned it, but sometimes reading another version helps us to appreciate what we are praying a little more, to realize what the familiar words mean. (the words that are like family) How they do reveal the love of God, how they help us experience it, how all-encompassing it is.
We need that, we need to be in communion with God, in communication with Him. We need to leave our burdens on His doorstep, We need to pray, and receive the sacraments, and spend time seeing Him revealed to us, so ready to love us as we read the Bible, as we read those who realized it before us.
This is God, right now, right here! He is with you! (me too!)
Talk to Him, realize how much He desires to be with You! Adore Him, and begin to realize what it means for Him truly to be YOUR God.
Dwell in His merciful peace.. AMEN!
Escriva, Josemaria. The Way (Kindle Locations 1331-1332). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
