Category Archives: st josemaria escriva
Blessed are those without “Filters”
Thoughts which drag me to Jesus, and to the Cross
23 Then the king gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem together. 2 He went up to the Temple of the LORD, and all the people from Judah and Jerusalem went with him. The priests, prophets, and all the people—from the least important to the most important—went with him. He read to them all the words of the Book of the Agreement that was found in the Temple of the LORD. 3 The king stood by the pillar and made an agreement in the presence of the LORD to follow the LORD and obey his commands, rules, and laws with his whole being, and to obey the words of the agreement written in this book. Then all the people promised to obey the agreement. 2 Kings 23:1-3 NCV
Why we need to learn this is because within each of us is a child of Adam who does not fully trust God. There is someone who wants to control his own life down to the last detail, someone who struggles to believe that God can and will meet all of his needs, someone who questions God’s efficiency and foresight and his unbelievable patience –with all that is wrong in the world and in my life–and someone who absolutely dreads the full implications of the stark order: “Follow Me!”
The correction of this disorder explains why, as the apostles follow Jesus, he constantly does things that set them off. He lets them be frightened at sea, confused on land, and sad and distressed, in his company. He does things that seem to go against common sense, and when provoked, they are very vocal about their frustration, anger, sadness, confusion. And then it gets real. Finally, the unfiltered emotion has broken through and the Physician takes it from there. Healing begins with an exposed wound.
LORD, hear my prayer and let my cry come unto Thee. Hide not Thy face from me for I am poor and needy. Incline Thine ear unto me. When I cry unto Thee, hear me and answer me.
I have a friend, well actually I have several–but I am thinking of one in particular, who has publicly confessed to not have a filter. He is known for saying things without thinking them through, and he gives you, bluntly and honestly, who he is. Sometimes it’s kinda cute, sometimes it is more than abrasive! And sometimes, it is so full of God’s love and hope that everyone sits back in awe,
As I’ve grown older, I have come to appreciate people like this more and more. I long to share the gospel with them, even if they are militant opposed to the Church, and they blame Jesus for the excesses and sins of the people who are sinners, yet are trying to depend on Him. Simply put, the lack of a filter works against them, for that means they have less of a filter defending them. They will put up a fight, but it isn’t hidden behind a false reality that has been carefully constructed. THey end up being wonderful evangelists as well, for they realize their need for God.
You see this with King Josiah. They find for him the scriptures (how they lost them is crazy) and he hearing them goes into high gear and floors it. He and the people repent, and then they begin to clean house – the house of God. And oh do they clean house! and city! and Nation! (Basically a revival breaks out) What an amazing, unfiltered response to hearing about the love of God!
This is what Fr. John is getting at – the extent of the filters we set up to that God has to remove, and then the work of Jesus “Setting us off,” all so that in our state of unfiltered emotion, He can serve us, wash our feet, calm our storms, heal us, and through the cross, the grave and the resurrection, restore us, as broken as we are. But he has to destroy those filters first.
It is then, without filters, without filters, that we can cry out Loehe’s prayer and mean it.
It is then that we can deal with our brokenness honestly, we can confess our sins, and trust God to do what He promised…
Fr. John Henry Hanson, Coached by Josemaria Escriva, p.90
Lœhe, William. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Translated by H. A. Weller, Wartburg Publishing House, 1914, p. 321.
What if I am “one of THEM?”
Thoughts which drive me to Jesus, and to the cross…
One of the men there was Caiaphas, the high priest that year. He said, “You people know nothing! 50 You don’t realize that it is better for one man to die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.”
51 Caiaphas did not think of this himself. As high priest that year, he was really prophesying that Jesus would die for their nation 52 and for God’s scattered children to bring them all together and make them one.
53 That day they started planning to kill Jesus. 54 So Jesus no longer traveled openly among the people. He left there and went to a place near the desert, to a town called Ephraim and stayed there with his followers. John 11:49-54 NCV
Let’s not deceive ourselves: in our life we will find vigor and victory and depression and defeat. This has always been true of the earthly pilgrimage of Christians, even of those we venerate on the altars. Don’t you remember Peter, Augustine, Francis? I have never liked biographies of saints which naïvely—but also with a lack of sound doctrine—present their deeds as if they had been confirmed in grace from birth. No. The true life stories of Christian heroes resemble our own experience: they fought and won; they fought and lost. And then, repentant, they returned to the fray.
We should not be surprised to find ourselves defeated relatively often, usually or even always in things of little importance which we tend to take seriously. If we love God and are humble, if we persevere relentlessly in our struggle, the defeats will never be very important. There will also be abundant victories which bring joy to God’s eyes. There is no such thing as failure if you act with a right intention, wanting to fulfill God’s will and counting always on his grace and your own nothingness.
There’s One, in feebleness extreme,
That can a helpless worm redeem;
And now I put my trust in Him,
Nor shall my trust be vain.
There is no doubt the high priest spoke for God as he prophesied about the necessity of Christ’s death. THere is also no doubt that he didn’t realize the importance and power in the words he said about the sacrifice. He would be one of those that called for and encouraged the people to cry our “Crucify Him!”
A religious leader doing something that was so evil, while at the same time speaking for God.
It boggles my mind, to consider the paradox that while Caiaphas was doing something so holy, he was contemplating evil, along with most of the priests and religious leaders. I have to think this through and realize that we haven’t changed that much these days. There are still religious leaders that are willing to sacrifice others, there are still those, who get to speak for Jesus, and do, while not living a life reflective of what they preach.
The i contemplate this the more names and faces come to mind until I am left with only one image, the one I see in the mirror every morning. Could I be a modern Caiaphas? Could I have been one of those crying out to crucify Jesus? I tell you, the gospel reading my devotions really hit me hard this morning….
for I know I have spoken for God, and yet…I struggle with sin, and I struggle with the same kind of attitude that put Jesus on the cross.
I know this is why Jesus came, and why Christ died…and yet, as Paul described in Romans 7, this is a wretched life at times.
As I read the res of the materials I used for my devotions, on sites my favorite writer/pastor priest was cited in another book, So I went to the source and saw the words of St. Josemaria above, the words about saints not being perfect either, The words of “counting always on His grace and your own nothingness ” This has to be my focus to let the sin that Chirst died to remove from my heart and soul. God did this for the saints that lived before me, and hopefully, I can help the next generation know this as well.
Luther and Escriva both, talk about our faith, our dependence on Jesus and the promises of His redeeming us and making us His own are so critical. Sure we will fight temptations and sin and demonic forces pulling us from God, but He will pick us up, the Spirit will draw us back to the cross, to see His love ofr us, to receive His healing, That is the victory that erases the defeats, that is the hope that overwhelms the despair, that is the love of God for us….His own. AMEN!
Luther, Martin, and John Hunt. The Spiritual Songs of Martin Luther: From the German. Translated by Thomas Clark, Hamilton, Adams, and Co., 1853, p. 159.
Escrivá, Josemaría. Christ is Passing By . Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition. #76
In times of despair… there is the greatest hope
The Good Shepherd, carrying His own.
Thoughts which draw me closer to Jesus, and to the Cross
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. 12 The worker who is paid to keep the sheep is different from the shepherd who owns them. When the worker sees a wolf coming, he runs away and leaves the sheep alone. Then the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them. 13 The man runs away because he is only a paid worker and does not really care about the sheep. Jn 10:27–28 NCV
27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never die, and no one can steal them out of my hand. Jn 10:11–13. NCV
A friend of mine, who depended for years on kidney dialysis and who realized that his life was slipping away from him moment by moment, once told me that as a child, and later as an adult, he had had a special devotion to the Way of the Cross and had often prayed it. When he heard the frightening diagnosis of his illness, he was at first stunned; then suddenly the thought came to him: what you have prayed so often has now become a reality in your life; now you can really accompany Jesus; you have been joined to him in his Way of the Cross. In this way, my friend recovered his serenity, which thereafter illumined his countenance to the end of his days and made visible the light of faith that was in him.
Insecure people tend to take all criticism as a form of persecution–as a threat, a personal attack–but seldom as a call to refine or amend behavior. Thus it is St Josemaria’s priority, because he is a good father and coach, to secure his spiritual children in the love of God. And you can only find your security there in the Pauline paradox.: by felling weak and humble and yet simultaneously and wholeheartedly being totally dependent oon the power that comes from God. (see 2 Cor. 12:1-10)
I see the beams of endless day,
All radiant in yon world afar;
I long—I long to fly away,
And be where saints and seraphs are;
To join the everlasting song,
And mingle with yon ransomed throng.
I resonate a lot with Luther’s hymn, and the desire to flee this world in order to be in the presence of God. I will freely admit part of this is because of the burdens and pains of this life, There are some days those burdens, and the evil in the world combines and comes close to crushing me, somedays it seems like it does. The option of standing, perfected, holy, pure, righteous in the glory of God, to see Him as He is, and to be welcomed there… that sounds so much better than what we have here.
I resonate a lot as well with Pope Benedict XVI’s friend, who found that in the process of severe health challenges–almost I know the Way of the Cross, and I know we are united with Christ’s death and resurrection, it is a deeper thought to consider our suffering is part of His, that His included ours, and the depth of despair we know and endure, is because the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, is sustaining us. When I am thinking clearly, I remember this – for instance when our church responds with “and also with you”, or I am feeding them the Body and Blood of Jesus. This is where this peace comes from, finding the strength of Christ, finding the power involved in His death and resurrection, to be at work in us, for that God has promised.
That is why St Josemaria had, as every pastor should, the drive to secure his spiritual children, his parishioners and others he disciples, in the love of God. That is the only place we can find security, it is the only place we can find peace. It is why one friend will park his car in front of church on the way home from a bad day at work, and why another, dealing with the deepest struggles, found they could rest better than any other place, in front of the altar at their church. St Josemaria’s correct, only by being at our weakest, can we find the strength–again , for me, that comes at the altar, and looking forward to it, when I get to say only a few words, “the body of Christ, given for you…” and I see the most incredible bring healing to those who are broken. (the same as I baptize, or tell someone God has forgiven them!)
This is because in those moments we realize He is our Shepherd, that we have life, both now and eternally, when we are hearing His voice, because He walks with us. We can trust Him, and those He calls as shepherds, who are willing to suffer and sacrifice for the sheep. that takes a lot of pastors, as it took a lot out of Jesus–the sufferings and sacrifices he made prior ot the cross.
Our hope is found there… depending on Him, and His presence. It is our life… with our Shepherd….
Ratzinger, Joseph. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl, Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth, Ignatius Press, 1992, pp. 110–11.
Hanson, Dr. John Henry, Coached by Josemaria Escriva, Scepter, NY, 20204
Luther, Martin, and John Hunt. The Spiritual Songs of Martin Luther: From the German. Translated by Thomas Clark, Hamilton, Adams, and Co., 1853, p. 156.
Lord, Don’t Ask Me That….
Thoughts which drive me to Jesus, and to the Cross
6 When Jesus saw the man and knew that he had been sick for such a long time, Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be well?”
7 The sick man answered, “Sir, there is no one to help me get into the pool when the water starts moving. While I am coming to the water, someone else always gets in before me.”
8 Then Jesus said, “Stand up. Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 And immediately the man was well; he picked up his mat and began to walk. John 5:6–9. NCV
He fills our souls with hope,
That we shall yet arise
To dwell with Him in realms of bliss—
In mansions of the skies;
There through eternity to raise
The sacrifice of endless praise.
828 Have you ever thought how you would prepare yourself to receive Our Lord if you could go to Communion only once in your life? We must be thankful to God that he makes it so easy for us to come to him: but we should show our gratitude by preparing ourselves very well to receive him.
I have heard many a sermon, and more than a few lectures in pastoral theology about the question Jesus asks the man poolside in Siloam. Most of the time it is to make the point that “most” people are comfortable in their brokenness. It doesn’t matter if the issue is physical or spiritual–the point the preacher/professor is trying to make is that all people don’t want it, that all people will not have the desire to resolve the issue.
As someone who has battled physical and spiritual issues all my life, I am revolted by that kind of talk. For the despair that steals desire puts that desire often beyond my reach–sometimes far beyond my reach. If I mention that, some doubt my faith, some doubt my prognosis, and some simply discount me and treat me like I am worthless, already dead. Make no mistake, Jesus knew the answer – as he knew the man’s capabilities, and the stage of burnout he was in at the time.
I am willing to write this because I have also preached those sermons, I have given those lectures, and I regret it.
St. Josemaria’s words I read this morning, made me think of the one thing I can do – I can celebrate God’s presence in the Eucharist, in the Lord’s Supper. For there, just as in life, He comes to us, He nourishes us, He forgives and comforts us. And it is not only once, it can be weekly, even daily! While I appreciate St Josemaria’s words on how we come, with reverent expectation, it is He who comes to us there, to minister to us. That is the preparation we need – to realize how much we need Him–and to go tto the sanctuary, to go to the altar, expecting His work to be done there… in our lives.
God knows our weakness, our brokenness, the level of burnout and hopeless that paralyzes us… and He comes and asks – knowing the answer. He then brings healing into our lives…as He takes our burdens on himself.
It is there we rise from the lives were we thought we had no assistance. It is from there, burnt out, broken, without hope we are able to rise and take up our mat. Oddly enough, the man will try and minister to those who think they are well! (that is just a seed being planted – don’t assume it a failure!)
It is there – as Christ comes to us…that we find healing. If you can’t make it to church, let the leaders of the church bring the church to you. Jesus will be there… ready for you…even if you think you aren’t ready for His healing.
Luther, Martin, and John Hunt. The Spiritual Songs of Martin Luther: From the German. Translated by Thomas Clark, Hamilton, Adams, and Co., 1853, p. 144.
Escrivá, Josemaría. The Forge . Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
What Good are our Broken Lives? More than you know!
Thoughts which call me closer to Jesus, and to the Cross..
43 “A good tree does not produce bad fruit, nor does a bad tree produce good fruit. 44 Each tree is known by its own fruit. People don’t gather figs from thornbushes, and they don’t get grapes from bushes. 45 Good people bring good things out of the good they stored in their hearts. But evil people bring evil things out of the evil they stored in their hearts. People speak the things that are in their hearts. Luke 6:43-45 NCV
LORD Jesus Christ, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter my sinful heart; yet, Thou deignest to recognize my great poverty and need. Therefore, I fervently desire Thy presence, to nourish, comfort, and strengthen my poor soul. Speak Thy word to my soul and it shall be well with me. Amen.
‘Remember, man, that thou are dust, and unto dust you shall return. There are implications to be found in this. If man had been fashioned from something that could evaporate, then there would be nothing for him to return to. But a man, even while he is living in the flesh, can return to his constituent element: He does this the moment he is ready to be what God has made him. Dust may not be romantic, but there could be nothing more real..”
When I read the words of Jesus, like those in red above, I feel diseased, depressed, for I look at some of the ways in which I live, and I don’t see good fruit. If I see any fruit it is at best too sour, to overripe, and usually too rotten–if it exists at all. I am not sure I count myself as evil, but if the judgement has too choices, good or evil…. well the preponderance of evidence is not always favorable.
And think about that, guilt and shame builds. I see myself as wretched and as a failure, (Please don’t argue – this is how I and many others feel with such a passage being read or meditated upon. ANd there is hope to come!)
So Loehe’s prayer is simple – and archaic, but the words are encouraging – and often mirror where I eventually come to, the prayer that God doesn’t belong in one such as me–but He doesn’t care what I think and know. He knows me enough to know I needed the cross, I needed HIs presence, and as I encounter it, and the love He has for a sinner like me–oh how I want it even more.
And then comes Zeller and Hanson, reminding me of the blessing of Ash Wednesday – the idea that we can return to the dust we were before our creation, and God can recreate us, by the same power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead. We can exchange that dust and ash for beauty, we become His new masterpiece, we become His…again.
The guilt and shame is removed, and for a moment we glimpse of the God who is ours, whom we are united too in baptism, who we commune with in the Eucharist, who we rise with from death and dust to a new and everlasting life.
Hevenly Father, let us know the weight of our sin, if only for an instant, that we may realize our need for Jesus, and for the healing which You so eagerly work in our lives. We oray this in Jesus name, amen!
Lœhe, William. 1914. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Translated by H. A. Weller. Chicago: Wartburg Publishing House.
Hubert con Zeller, “The choice of God”, quoted inJohn Hanson, Coached byJosemaria Escriva, (Scepter,NY, 2024), 54
The Only Way to Start the Year….
Thoughts which bring me to Jesus, and to The Cross
The LORD said to Moses, 27 “The Day of Cleansing will be on the tenth day of the seventh month. There will be a holy meeting, and you will deny yourselves and bring an offering made by fire to the LORD. 28 Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Cleansing. On that day the priests will go before the LORD and perform the acts to make you clean from sin so you will belong to the LORD.
29 “Anyone who refuses to give up food on this day must be cut off from the people. 30 If anyone works on this day, I will destroy that person from among the people. 31 You must not do any work at all; this law will continue for people from now on wherever you live. 32 It will be a special day of rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. Lev 23:26-32 NCV
Happy is the person whom the LORD does not consider guilty and in whom there is nothing false. 3 When I kept things to myself, I felt weak deep inside me. I moaned all day long. 4 Day and night you punished me. My strength was gone as in the summer heat.
Selah
5 Then I confessed my sins to you and didn’t hide my guilt. I said, “I will confess my sins to the LORD,” and you forgave my guilt. Ps. 32:2-5 NCV
36 Finally, it was very foolish of our opponents to write that men who are under eternal wrath merit the forgiveness of sins by an elicited act of love, since it is impossible to love God unless faith has first accepted the forgiveness of sins.
All that exterior activity is a waste if tune, if you lack love. It’s like sewing with a needle and no thread.
What a pity if in the end you had carried out “your” apostolate (mission) and not “His” apostolate.
Every three or four years, I choose a translation to read through that was designed for younger or simpler readers. What benefit usually comes is when familiar “church” words are replaced with words that describe what is actually going on. In this case, the “Day of Atonement” is replaced with the “Day of Cleansing.” The day when all sin is erased, a day of great joy, a day that means, in the truest sense of the word–freedom.
In that moment, in the Mosaic period of the Covenant, all the people of God (Israel AND the foreigners that dwelled with them) could rejoice. Every sin, every bit of its buddies shame and guilt was removed from the people. It was a special day of rest, not because of the hard work prior to it, but because of the great blessing of God’s mercy.
It was, and is today, a life changer. And it should be prepared for with eagerness, for great joy awaits. And then, it should be followed with restful, joyous contemplation, for the weight that has been removed is beyond description.
The cost and consequence of all sin, the incredible burden of shame, the crushing power of guilt…is gone.
And we are free to love–and that love gives meaning and depth to everything we do. And it is good to take an hour, a day, a week, even a year, contemplating our forgiveness, found in our relationship with Jesus.
In these days, in the New Covenant, we have to be careful not to dismiss the “Day of Cleansing.” It is not a yearly occurrence, but one that happens as the people of God gather. as they minister to each other, and when the pastor/priest tells people. “you are forgiven in Jesus’ name.”
If we are to begin a new year correctly, it needs to start with that cleansing and rest. It needs to start with love, and that love requires the freedom that cleansing/absolution/mercy brings to the table.
So find times to think about what you’ve done, how God has healed the brokenness, and how you are made whole. DO this often, and see what God has freed you to do, next.
Godspeed, and God’s peace
Phillip Melanchthon, “The APology of the Augsburg COnfession: Article IV Justification'” Theodore G. Tappert, ed., The Book of Concord: the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press, 1959), 112.
Josemaria Escriva, The Way. no. 967
An Odd, Blessed, Understanding of “Family”
Thoughts which drive me to Jesus, and the cross, and then to the world..
18 As Jesus was getting back into the boat, the man who was freed from the demons begged to go with him.
19 But Jesus would not let him. He said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 So the man left and began to tell the people in the Ten Towns about what Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed. Mark 5:18-20 NCV
This is why, as a Christian sets out on his way of uninterrupted dealing with our Lord, his interior life grows and becomes more strong and secure. And he is led to engage in the demanding yet attractive struggle to fulfill completely the will of God. I might add that his not a path for a privileged few; it is a way open to everyone.
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel: For He hath visited and redeemed His people,
And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us:
In the house of His servant David; As He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets:
Which have been since the world began;
That we should be saved from our enemies:
And from the hand of all that hate us;
To perform the mercy promised to our fathers:
And to remember His holy covenant;
The man, rescued from the clutches of pure evil, is told by Jesus that he has graduated from seminary, and now is being sent to his home, to share with what God (for that is what the reference Lord means here) has done, and the compassionate, intimate mercy shown to him. The man complies, with an odd twist, he redefines the term family in the widest possible way! He goes and share with them, the population of 10 very diverse cities of primarily non-Jewish peoples. People that moved there because of business, because of the military occupation, because of a thousand different reasons. It awaw san area so diverse, the people named it using a Greek name, not a Samaritan name, nor a Hebrew name,
Such is the kind of praise that wells up within us, that both St. Josemaria and William Loehe note (Loehe quoting Zacharias in Luke 1) as they consider the work done in the lives of the people of God. There is nothing abnormal about spending time with God, and then desiring that others find they are able to share in such a blessing.
St. Josamaria describes it as an observer, (but it was his experience as well!) Zacharias/Koehe see it as it happens, even though it hadn’t fully happened yet, but the response is the same as the man going to Decapolis – look at what God has done! It is not a forced evangelism program, as they embrace the “demanding yet attractive struggle to fulfill compactedly the will of God.” Again, we have to realize where our desire comes from–it is not an obligation it is not something the pastor can manipulate, or program into his people. It come from them seeing God, talking to Him intimately, allowing Him to show you that you are loved. As you realize that wonderful love, as you realize the demons God’s rescued you from, hear his voice telling you when it is time to go…for this is what we are all called to do.. to live in Christ and go to our “family” and completely fulfill His will.
A will explained simply by Jesus, “go tell them what God has done..to you.”
So go spend some time with God – and let me know what happens next… as He surprises you with people who need to hear!
Josemaria Escriva. Christ is Passing by. (New York, Scepter, 2002( no. 199
“the Song of Zacharia Benedictus”, William Lœhe, Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians, trans. H. A. Weller (Chicago: Wartburg Publishing House, 1914), 91.
Who Are You Asking to “Come”?
Thoughts which drag me to Jesus, and to the Cross…
6 The LORD Almighty says to the priests, “A son honours his father, and a servant honours his master. I am your father—why don’t you honour me? I am your master—why don’t you respect me? You despise me, and yet you ask, ‘How have we despised you?’ 7This is how—by offering worthless food on my altar. Then you ask, ‘How have we failed to respect you?’ I will tell you—by showing contempt for my altar. 8When you bring a blind or sick or lame animal to sacrifice to me, do you think there’s nothing wrong with that? Try giving an animal like that to the governor! Would he be pleased with you or grant you any favours?” Malachi 1:6-8 GNT
The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come!”
Everyone who hears this must also say, “Come!”
Come, whoever is thirsty; accept the water of life as a gift, whoever wants it. Rev. 22:17 GNT
Meditation is a continual prating or talking and is here used in a bad sense. For as a lover is always spontaneously saying many things about the object loved, so the hater is assiduously prating the worst of things about the object hated. There is the same modesty also in the words “rage” and “take counsel together;” the act itself was far more atrocious than the purport of these words would seem to indicate. We are thereby taught not to exaggerate the evil conduct of men, but as much as possible lessen it, and thus show that we do not feel so much indignation on our own account as pity on theirs.
823 Love for God invites us to shoulder the Cross squarely: to feel on our back the weight of the whole human race, and to fulfil, in the circumstances of our own situation in life and the job we have, the clear and at the same time loving designs of the Will of the Father.
I write this with more than a little anxiety, as I want people to depend on God to do the the miraculous through them, not add more guilt or shame, or use that to motivate them.
But I read the the first passage, these words that come at the end of the Old Testament, and hear them, and take them in consideration with the words from Revelation, and the words of Luther and Escriva, and see what an incredibly, wild, miraculous God works in and through us, His people.
As I look at the church today, it does seem to have settled with less effort less results in what they offer God. Other things take the best part of our time and our talent, take the best parts of us, rather than allowing God to transform us in His image rather than being conformed to the world. (Romans 12:1-3, 2 Cor. 3 16ff)
We are more than willing to protect what we have in the church, trying to preserve it (whether traditional or contemporary) rather than muddy ourselves by reaching out to those who desperately need to know God loves them. We are more than willing to whine and complain and obsess about those who we see threatening our lives, but are we willing to intercede for them, get to know them, learn to love them? That’s the kind of Cross we need to shoulder, to see that God desires more than anything to transform us and them into His one people.
To say with the Spirit and Jesus, “come!” for that is we need to do to invite them, on God’s behalf! To help them who are thirsty for justice, and for making things right, to realize that is seen best in Christ’s work on the cross. THey may not understand this – but love and prayer, patiently delivered by the power of the Holy Spirit, will cause the antagonists and yourself to be the kind of offerings that makes God dance with joy!
Martin Luther and John Sander, Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year (Rock Island, IL: Augustana Book Concern, 1915), 383.
Escrivá, Josemaría. The Forge . Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Prayer – the recognition of our greatest need!
Thoughts that drive me to Jesus, and to His cross
They stumbled because they did not believe in the word; such was God’s will for them.
9 But you are the chosen race, the King’s priests, the holy nation, God’s own people, chosen to proclaim the wonderful acts of God, who called you out of darkness into his own marvellous light. 10At one time you were not God’s people, but now you are his people; at one time you did not know God’s mercy, but now you have received his mercy. 1 Peter 2:8b-10 GNT
When prayer is genuine, possessing the fire by which it is kindled, prompted by a sincere heart which recognizes its need and likewise the blessings that are ours as proclaimed in the Word, and when faith in God’s Word—in his promise—revives, then the individual will be possessed with a fervor prompting him to fall upon his knees and pray for strength and for the power of the Spirit. Martin Luther
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. Escrivá, Josemaría. The Forge .
I’ve been doing some research into the collapsing mid-sized church, those that run 250-2000. In my group of churches, their numbers are shrinking faster than the hopes the fans of the… (well I won’t mention the team name). Seriously, we have a problem across the board–and many younger pastors are leaving their church to pick up the problems some other pastor left, in order to take the place of pastor #3. Or more likely, they leave the parish, and become life coaches or counselors or teachers or..
I have to believe some of this is do to our poor formation, not only of pastors, but of church leaders in general. As churches shrink, we put in place anyone breathing – anyone willing to volunteer, rather than adequately prepare them. Then frustration and anxiety set in, as they don’t feel successful, and the leaders who put them there see no results. We become unhappy, as if happiness is the answer to everything, and the lack of it causes anxiety and desperation and often, change that is… unwise
St. Peter’s words talk about what eventually happens – they forget the promises in the word of God and they don’t hear it…even as we study it with our churches, we don’t hear it. We hear about the Greek or Hebrew, we read and hear about the background of those who did hear it, and how the Holy Spirit used it to change their lives. We hear what we have to do, the doctrines we have to believe, the way we must behave (or that how we behave is okay…when we know scriptures teaches differently) But we don’t hear about the good news, the love of God poured out on His people…along with mercy and grace and healing…as He restores us.
And without hearing that, without knowing God is hear for us, ready to listen, ready to act…the noise and stress and anxiety only gets worse. Eventually, pastors and people leave, determining there has to be more, a different way…..and they try to find it on their own, or coach those who are looking for it–but are just as lost in the darkness….
The church needs to draw them out of that darkness, as it is gthered by Jesus and reflects His glory, as He revives them. He’s there, we just need to recognize our need for Him, and those promises, the promises that we are no longer alone – but we are His people. A message we receive, not just in sermons and the Lord’s Supper, but in that neglected sacrament of prayer…
Oddly enough – though Lutherans may not talk about it often today, Luther points us to that need – to pray for the power of the Spirit to be manifest in our lives together, in the church where the Spirit gathers and enlightens us all.There is no doubt of the need, there should be no doubt of the theology… and there should be no doubt of the promise…
So hear that word, those promises and pray with me…
The Hope of the World is Found IN the Broken Believer
Thoughts the draw me to Jesus, and to His cross!
16 “I will look for those that are lost, bring back those that wander off, bandage those that are hurt, and heal those that are sick; but those that are fat and strong I will destroy, because I am a shepherd who does what is right. Ezekiel 34:16 GNT
5 Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith. 2 Corinthians 13:5 (NLT2)
If the poor wounded man had desired to help himself he would only have done harm to himself and irritated his wounds. Had he remained lying quiet, he would have suffered all the same. This parable pictures us perfectly.
Let me tell you about the true Christian, the Bible Christian, and his view of this troubled and uncertain world in which he lives….He knows that the day when Christians should meekly apologize is over; that they can get the world’s attention not by trying to compromise and please, but by boldly declaring the truth of divine revelation with the affirmative signature, “Thus saith the Lord!”
761 Christ is nailed to the Cross. And you?… Still taken up with your whims and fancies—or rather, nailed by them!
Luther, talking about victim tended to by the Good Samaritan, describes the how completely broken and hopeless he is. Unable to help himself, unable to survive on his own, completely hopeless.
And yet it is such broken men and women that can and must provide the hope that this world needs.
Yes- they are the hope of the world… for they, as beaten and broken as they are… they have heard Jesus say, “thus saith the Lord!” Which really means “You are mine!” And that is the hope for the world, to hear those incredible words. It is as we are nailed to the cross because of our brokenness that we are united to the hope that is Christ. Those whims and fancies are killed off ( and ohh they struggle to come back to life)
The hope is actually found in Christ, through the Spirit who makes His home in us, who shines through our lives, who hope and love so fill out lives that it overflows, and draws people looking for answers in this broken world. For it is He who has come to look for those of us who are lost, to bring us home.
This is the truth we have to declare – the presence of the Lord Jesus in the lives of His people. No other religious tenet, no other truth works unless we bring that to the attention of those who are His people. From there we explain the cross – and how that means He is there… there to help, to cure, to cleanse, to bless. Any “truth” other than that tends to distract from that, and from the peace that God would have us know..even as we know His love.
The Christian’s view of this troubled and uncertain times is not to give up on the world, but to see the need for Christ’s love being brought to the world, as it was to us.
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: Augustana Book Concern, 1915), 341.
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.
