Category Archives: Theology in Practice
Come and See What We Treasure! The God Who Comes Near! Deut. 4:1-2,6-9
Come and See What We Treasure!
The God Who Comes Near!
Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9
† In Jesus Name †
Blessing
May the grace and mercy of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ help your treasure the fact that you dwell in the very presence of God, and will, forever!
Who Do You Hear?
Have you ever been in a situation where you were talking to someone, and you didn’t quite hear what they said?
When you look at them, you realize that they know you lost track of the conversation, and they know you realize that they know?
Do you politely ask them to repeat themselves? Do you just pretend you know what they were talking about? Do you hope that they somehow say something that gives you some clue as to what they are talking about, and the importance of it?
Have you been listening to what I am talking about?
What did I just say?
Hmmmmm! (does Mandarin have a thought like “Hmmmm”)
In the passage this morning, God is talking through Moses to Israel about the relationship He wants to have with them, and the most incredible blessing that would provide a blessing—not just to the people of Israel of that day, and their descendants—but to all who would become part of the family of God.
Decrees and Regulations!
What it seems the descendants of Abraham, Issac and Jacob need to listen to, are the decrees and regulations that they are about to learn about. We aren’t just supposed to hear them, but not add or subtract from them. We just have to obey and treasure them.
The challenge is that most people in the world really don’t like being told what they are supposed to do and what they aren’t supposed to do. You want proof? Just watch the speed of cars out on the street when children are being dropped off here and across the street Monday through Friday! You don’t even need to look to the street—just try standing out in the parking lot with a slow sign! If you aren’t run over cussed at, you will understand that people don’t like obey the decrees and regulations they hear or read in the scriptures!
“Love your neighbor!
“Maybe?”
“Honor your father and mother?”
“Uh… do I have to?”
“Make disciples of all ethnicities?”
“God, what did you just say?”
“love your enemies”
“…..”
Hmmmmm!
Israel, even with reminders of the Tabernacle and Temple, with the pillar of smoke and the pillar of fire, struggled to keep what they saw as the rules God forced on them.
That’s going to be the problem—one that continues even in our day. We see God’s decrees as His rules, rather than what it is… and the regulations we see as the judgment God makes on those who fail to live life in the way God advises—and therefore live as those facing condemnation.
We still feel that way today sometimes – that either God has condemned us, or we take care of that for Him, condemning people, and condemning ourselves.
Because we didn’t listen, and we didn’t hear…
You see, the word decree is from the Hebrew word “engraved” as in “engraved in stone.” Engraved in stone like the Decalogue – the 10 words, or as often translated, “the 10 Commandments.”
Where the first thing engraved is, “Anokiy YHWH ka Elohe aser hose ti’mi” translated “I am the LORD your God who rescued you,”
When we need to hear God speak of our relationship, the first thing we need to hear, is that
“I am the LORD your God who rescued you!”
Wisdom!
That is why Deuteronomy goes one to say…” When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, ‘How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!’ 7 For what great nation has a god as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us whenever we call on him? 8 And what great nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair as this body of instructions that I am giving you today?
They nations understood what the primary decree was—and the relationship it established between God and His people – the people through whom the salvation of all nations would come, as Jesus saved them.
That’s how they go from the decrees to the fact that God came near to His people when they call on Him. They understand the decree starts with the fact the God declared Himself to be their God—for He was involved in their lives
As He is in ours.
He calls us to hear this, this intimate relationship He establishes with His people whom He loves. That was what was decreed, that was what the regulations, the judgments of God are based on—even in the Old Testament, as God promised to always forgive and restore His people.
That is what the Mosaic Covenant promised, it is what the tabernacle pointed to, it’s what is found over and over in the prayers as the Temple was dedicated, when Solomon voiced, “34 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and return them…” 1 Kings 8:34 (NLT2)
And that is fulfilled at the cross, as Jesus looks down at us, not condescendingly, but full of love, and tells the Father to “forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”
Remember this (and pass it on!)
That is why the passage ends with these words: “But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren.”
never forget….
Never forget…
23 For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread 24 and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me.” 25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me as often as you drink it.” 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 (NLT2)
This is how we listen carefully, how we see what those who saw God come near the people of Israel saw – that we have “a God as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us whenever we call on Him.”
Amen!
We Need to Be Comforted, not Comfortable.
Thoughts which carry this broken believer to Jesus, and the Cross:
“Also do good things for the city where I sent you as captives. Pray to the LORD for the city where you are living, because if good things happen in the city, good things will happen to you also.”” (Jeremiah 29:7, NCV)
We have lost sight of the fact that Christians cannot live like “everyone else”. The foolish notion that there is no specifically Christian morality is merely one way of saying that a fundamental concept has been lost: the “distinctively Christian” as opposed to the models offered by the “world”. Even religious orders and congregations have confused true reform with a relaxation of the traditional austerity previously practiced. They have confused renewal with comfort. To give a small but concrete example: a religious reported to me that the downfall of his monastery began very concretely with the declaration that it was “no longer practicable” for the religious to rise during the night to recite the nocturnal office. But that was not the end of the matter. The religious replaced this uncontested but significant “sacrifice” by staying up late at night to watch television
These sufferings are often such that even the great and strong would languish and wither beneath them, were it not for the comfort God bestows. These troubles grip the heart and consume the very marrow.
There are days I am tired of being broken.
Whether it is talking about the physical brokenness I endure because of Marfan’s Syndrome, the brokenness I encounter spiritually and emotionally in my community, or the brokenness that I encounter personally because of sin and my own “unique” place on the spectrum, I am tired of it.
I know I am not alone–I have a church and community and friends around the world who are almost as broken, and just as weary and tired of it. Oddly enough, I more I realize I am broken, the more demand is placed on me to come to the assistance of those who are broken as well…and this is evidence of my deliverance, even if, at times, I do not see it.
I think it is because we are taught to pursue comfort–to live lives of leisure, to enjoy the good things in life, and be rid of anything that takes endurance, hard work and suffering. We are told life should be comfortable we should fit in it with ease, like sinking into a relaxing bath or jacuzzi, sipping on a nice cold beverage and letting the past drift away from us. (this is not new – there was a bath soap (or something like that) that used the phrase, “Calgon, take me away!”
But as I titled this blog, I think we have got it wrong. We should not pursue the comfortable, it is a goal that is impossible. We can crowd our lives with distractions, but they will not meet our greatest need..
That is why Jeremiah, as Judah is taken away, tells them to notch it up, to not only endure their captivity, but to strive to make their captors lives better, to work for their success, to pray that the Lord bless Babylon–the very people that took them as slaves and tormented them!
It is what Pope Benedict notes, as he mourns the loss of those who set aside renewal for comfort, who replace time spent in prayer and meditation with watching late night television! He laments the fact that Christian morality embraces harsh times and hardships as they learn to love God and through His love, learn to love the unlovable. The sarcrfice is worth it, for the impact on society is enormous.
While we set aside being comfortable, we find true comfort, as the Spirit, the Paraclete, comforts us. (Logically this doesn’t work unless we need to be comforted!) The troubles that are so powerfully described by Luther drive us to Jesus and to the cross, there is no recliner, no 5 star resort hotel, no self help guru/pastor/coach/cousnelor that can do what the Holy SPirit does, as the gospel is shared through God’s word and the sacraments. Indeed, were it not for that mercy and grace that the comfort consists of, we would be without any hope.
But the Holy Spirit, the Lord of life, is here. He was sent by the Father and the Son to comfort us, to dry the tears, to heal the hurts, to remind us that in Christ we have life–even if that life is hard to see at times.
We are not alone as we bear our cross, and bear it we shall. For we are joined to it with Jesus, and the Spirit comforts us in our grief.
So seek out His comfort – it is worth more than anything – for it is the result of His love, and as your rest in it, you dwell in His peace. Amen!
Ratzinger, Joseph. 1992. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl. Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Luther, Martin, and John Sander. 1915. Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year. Rock Island, IL: Augustana Book Concern.
“Pious Practices Are Pragmatic” or “Spend the Time with Him”
Thoughts which Carry Me to Jesus, and to the Cross
““I am the vine, and you are the branches. If any remain in me and I remain in them, they produce much fruit. But without me they can do nothing.” (John 15:5, NCV)
The sociologists who prepared a recent report about women religious in Quebec, the French-speaking province of Canada, describe how, in the course of twenty years [1961–1981], all the communities there initiated every conceivable kind of reform: abandonment of the religious habit, individual budgets, degrees from secular universities, membership in secular professions, massive assistance from “specialists” of every kind. Yet sisters continued to leave and new ones failed to come. Perhaps, without being fully aware of the reasons, women religious felt a deep unrest at living in a Church in which Christianity is reduced to an ideology of doing, a Church in which there is no longer any place for mystical experience, for that zenith of religious life that has been—and not by chance—the most precious treasure of the Church through centuries of uninterrupted constancy and fullness in the lives of religious, usually women rather than men; in the lives of those extraordinary women whom the Church has honored with the title “saint”, and sometimes even “doctor”, not hesitating to offer them as models for all Christians.
To be “led by the Spirit of God” means to be given a heart which gladly hears God’s Word and believes that in Christ it has grace and the forgiveness of sins; a heart which confesses and proves its faith before the world; a heart which seeks, above all things, the glory of God, and endeavors to live without giving offense, to serve others and to be obedient, patient, pure and chaste, mild and gentle; a heart which, though at times overtaken in a fault, and may stumble, soon rises again by repentance and ceases to sin. All these things the Holy Spirit teaches one if he hears and receives the Word, and does not willfully resist the Spirit.
“According to several surveys, prayer remains the least satisfactory aspect of pastors’ spiritual lives.”
Back in the 1990s, before i became a pastor, I read an article by a pastor I knew and respected, that grieved over the amount of time pastors spent in prayer, and in listening to God as they read scripture and other books devotionally. The 2017 quote above indicates that hasn’t changed much, and a google search indicates that pastors and lay people spend less than 15 minutes in prayer a day on average. WHen I read Jack’s words, I wondered, somewhat self-righteously, how pastors could let this happen, how could they (now we) cut ourselves off from the source of our life, the very power that enables us to do what we do.
I don’t wonder anymore. Our very ministry and life robs us from these things, as we try to balance the needs of our people, our community, our families–all who we are called to minister to, with spending “me time”, the time I need to find the peace and sanctuary I need to survive this mad world. If I don’t take this time, it is clearly visible – and it seems more and more so.
THere is also a bit of hypocrisy here. How can I instruct people to spend time in prayer, talking and listening to God, if I don’t show an effect of that prayer in my own life? For certainly we all need this time of rest, this time of recovery, this time of devotion, adoration, doing those things once labelled pious.
Today I think the pious label needs to be replaced with a different one.
There are not pious practices, they are not what creates pietism.
They are simply pragmatic.
Like when I plus my car in to get charged.
Jesus speaks of this as He teaches us that we can do nothing separated from Him, NOTHING.
My two favorite pastor/theologians, Martin Luther and Pope Benedict XVI comment on it, noting the effect of removing those practices on a community of nuns, that literally dies off as the pragmatic practices that caused them to realize the presence of Jesus in their lives is removed, and their hearts, like those of the pharisees and people of Jesus day are far off from Him. Luther testifies to the effect of walking in the grace and forgiveness found in the Spirits presence, a mindblowing witness of the transformation of a sinner into a reflection of Jesus.
We need this time, as we need to breathe, as electric cars need current and gas cars need gasoline. We live in Him, and He in us, and it takes time to work that out in our heart, souls and minds.
I know this for a fact, as I sit in my office – 12 major things (woops – another came to mind 13) and a million minor things to do…
But I can’t do any of them without Him.
Neither can you… spend he time in prayer, even if it is slowly savoring the words of the Lord’s prayer, or a psalm or 2…
and know the Lord is with you!
Ratzinger, Joseph. 1992. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl. Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Luther, Martin, and John Sander. 1915. Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year. Rock Island, IL: Augustana Book Concern.
https://www.christianitytoday.com/karl-vaters/2017/september/for-every-minister-who-struggles-with-your-prayer-life.html
We Pray to the Lord of the Harvest that: We Make Our Traditions Matter! A sermon on Mark 7:1-13
We Pray to the Lord of the Harvest that
We Make Traditions that Matter
Mark 7:1-13
† I.H.S. †
May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ help you to value what you think, say and do, as they help you realize that God is with you!
The great questions
About once every two months, I get asked one of those questions that pastors, okay, this pastor, loves to hear. So if you want to make a pastor happy, or at least this pastor, ask him something like this.
“pastor, why do you/we bow to the altar when we approach it?”
“pastor, why do some people make the sign of the cross when we pray, or during the creed?”
“pastor why do we sing something every week? Like the Kyrie, or the Lord’s prayer or the Agnus Dei?” (what are those things anyway?)
You want to make a pastor happy, ask him why we do the things we do, for there should be a reason behind it!
If a pastor ever answers questions like that by saying “it’s tradition,” tell them that is not a good enough answer, you want to know why it’s tradition, why is it done today? And if you would like to change a tradition, perhaps it is good to understand why the tradition was treasured, prior to abandoning it.
But religious traditions are like our gathering in church this morning. It only has value if its chief purpose is to give people what they need to know – Jesus.
Otherwise, the traditions are like the traditions the pharisees tried to hold on to, and Jesus wasn’t too complimentary of those traditions!
Law – clinging to or expanding traditions without meaning
Listen to the exchange again
“So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.” Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’ For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”” (Mark 7:5–8, NLT)
Now, back then, there was no health department signs in the bathroom where it ordered that you must wash your hands before returning to work.
In the Old Testament, there were a number of times where you had to wash your body and clothes for ceremonial reasons, like in Numbers 19,
18 Then someone who is ceremonially clean must take a hyssop branch and dip it into the water. That person must sprinkle the water on the tent, on all the furnishings in the tent, and on the people who were in the tent; also on the person who touched a human bone, or touched someone who was killed or who died naturally, or touched a grave. 19 On the third and seventh days the person who is ceremonially clean must sprinkle the water on those who are defiled. Then on the seventh day the people being cleansed must wash their clothes and bathe themselves, and that evening they will be cleansed of their defilement.
Numbers 19:18-19 (NLT2)
There is also a passage about the priest about to sacrifice, who has to wash his hands before he does. But anytime someone was defiled, usually involving touching blood or something dead, or for certain sins, there was a time of purification and at the end, water applied. Often it was by sprinkling, which eliminates the discussion about whether it was for a hygienic reason. The reason was to celebrate the cleansing by having a visible, tangible way to express it.
But over the years, the original meaning was forgotten as the process was expanded, to the point where it is described in the gospek. “4 Similarly, they don’t eat anything from the market until they immerse their hands in water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to—such as their ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles. (and some manuscripts include dining couches)” Now, if those items touched blood, yes, there was a ceremonial reason to wash, but out of fear, they figured, we would just wash everything…then even wash hands before taking a piece of wheat from the plant and chewing on it.
It’s as if they said – since God said this was proper, let’s take it up a notch, without considering the impact it has on those who they demand obedience, as they make up these traditions.
So here is the lesson for us, Why do we have the traditions we insist on, why are they there, and therefore why should we treasure them.
Basically, how do they point us to Jesus, and the comfort and hope we find in Him.
If we can’t answer that, then, as Jesus quoted, “our hearts are far from Him, and our worship is a farce….
So what can we hand down?
So are there any good traditions? Are there things that we treasure in church that we must pass on, and must insist on?
There is only one thing to judge by, according to scripture,
5 He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. 6 He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. 7 Because of his grace he declared us righteous and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.” 8 This is a trustworthy saying, and I want you to insist on these teachings so that all who trust in God will devote themselves to doing good. These teachings are good and beneficial for everyone. Titus 3:5-8 (NLT2)
Or as my deacon students are memorizing – the chief purpose of all ceremonies (traditions, pastoral care, worship, etc. ) is to give people what they need to know about Jesus.
This is what matters, this is what’s important.
Does remembering our baptism point to Jesus? Yes!
Does hearing our sins forgiven point to Jesus? Oh yeah!
Does hearing the word of God point us to Jesus? Yes!
Does the sermon point us to Jesus, our healer and hope? It certainly better
Does the Lord Supper point us to Jesus? Nothing does it better!
Does all this pointing to Jesus lead us to praise Him with our voices and worship Him with our lives? Yes!
This kind of praise and worship honors Him, and shows are hearts are His.. and our worship is meaningful, and real, for in it we confess the Lord is with us!
AMEN!
Life is Suffering! (and yet…)
Thoughts which lead me to Jesus, and the cross, where I find comfort and peace!
“LORD, I know that our lives don’t really belong to us. We can’t control our own lives.” (Jeremiah 10:23, NCV)
“Since you were raised from the dead with Christ, aim at what is in heaven, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Think only about the things in heaven, not the things on earth. Your old sinful self has died, and your new life is kept with Christ in God. Christ is your life, and when he comes again, you will share in his glory.” (Colossians 3:1–4, NCV)
Christian or spiritual peace, however, just turns the thing about, so that outwardly the evil remains, as enemies, sickness, poverty, sin, death and the devil. These are there and never desist, encompassing us on every side; nevertheless, within there is peace, strength and comfort in the heart, so that the heart cares for no evil, is really bolder and more joyful in its presence than in its absence.
Siddharta Budha, the great philosopher, has been credited with saying that, “life is suffering.” And at first glance, there is a lot that supports his premise.
Most people aren’t content with their lives, whether young or old, rich or poor. It doesn’t matter their sex, if you can slow them down to examine their life, they will soon want to move onto something else.
Some try to change their lives, constantly changing jobs, or sexual partners, moving from here to their, each stop shorter and shorter and shorter, as they, like the old song says, “still haven’t found what I’m looking for!”
Others become focused on others’ lives to distract them from their own meaninglessness. Some do this critically, even hypocritically, Those people are evil, stupid, wrong and a million other things. Others do just the opposite, trying to find some meaning in becoming martyrs, sacrificing time and energy serving others to the point of exhaustion, rather than dealing with their own issues of brokenness and emptiness.
Siddharta was partially correct, there is a lot of suffering in life, any one’s life. And while we would do anything we could to change that, most things only make it worse, or draw more attention to the suffering.
The prophet Jeremiah notes that inability in the quote above – we don’t have control over our lives, we can’t fix what we think is broken. We aren’t in charge because either sin, which causes the brokenness and separation, has is in bondage, or we are God’s children does.
Belonging to Christ, being purchased with His blood shed as He died for us on the cross, changes everything about what we know and experience in suffering. Are attention focuses on the end of the story, the hope we have of dwelling in Christ for eternity, and that hope reveals God’s presence with us in the present moment. Paul’s amazing words in Colossians 3 bear this out, as he says our reality is not in the midst of the suffering, but in heaven with Jesus and the Father! ANd it is secure there, until His return when…this is beyond anything else, we will share in His glory!”
This is why Luther, no stranger to suffering, oppression and challenges in can write as he does, that within there is comfort strength and peace known deep within, and we have a heart bolder and more joyful when the storms outside are more threatening. (You can see this in Elijah – as long as he is fighting the prophets of Ba’al, he’s awesome…no fight and he whimpers and whines in the cave)
This is what Siddharta wasn’t illuminated enough to see, this presence of God in the lives of people. The comfort and peace which, when encountered, results in the most incredible joy.
For life includes suffering, and sometimes that threatens to overwhelm us, but it cannot, for the Lord God is here.. loving us, comforting us, sharing life with us.
And that will be true until we are before His throne.
Luther, Martin, and John Sander. 1915. Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year. Rock Island, IL: Augustana Book Concern.
Stolen Images: DaVinci’s and Something More Hideous…
Thoughts which drag me back to Jesus, and to the Cross…
“Then I heard the Lord’s voice, saying, “Whom can I send? Who will go for us?” So I said, “Here I am. Send me!” Then the Lord said, “Go and tell this to the people: ‘You will listen and listen, but you will not understand. You will look and look, but you will not learn.’ Make the minds of these people dumb. Shut their ears. Cover their eyes. Otherwise, they might really understand what they see with their eyes and hear with their ears. They might really understand in their minds and come back to me and be healed.”” (Isaiah 6:8–10, NCV)
If, in view of something apparently more important, we push God to one side in order to give precedence above all else to the happiness of the human person, we do not thereby become more free to establish right order in the world, but rather lose the standard and eventually come to despise mankind. Only one who regards humanity from God’s perspective is capable of loving mankind. Only one who knows God can love mankind—even the most wretched, the weakest, the defenseless, the battered, the unborn, the inept. That is why the “Hear, O Israel” stands irremovably at the beginning of all our ways.
Now, this is Christ. I see him hanging on the cross, not beautiful, nor greatly honored; but I see him hanging in disgrace, like a murderer and malefactor; thus, reason must say that he is cursed before God. The Jews believed this to be true and they could only consider him the most cursed of all men before God and the world.
Moses had to set up a serpent of brass, which looked like the fiery serpents, but did not bite, nor harm any one; it rather saved the people. Thus, Christ also has the form and the appearance of a sinner, but has become my salvation; his death is my life; he atones for my sins and takes away from me the wrath of the Father. If man believes that the death of Christ has taken away his sin, he becomes a new man. The carnal, natural man cannot believe that God will gratuitously take away and forgive us all our sins. Reason argues: You have sinned, you must also atone for your sin. The gospel of Christ says: You have sinned, another must atone for you. Our works are nothing; but faith in Christ does it all
I have see Social Media blow up over the opening of the Olympic Games in France. I have seen a lot of fear, a lot of hatred, a of condemnation. Because they took license (in both meanings of the words) with a man’s depiction of the Last Supper.
But what should the church expect from people who do not know God? What should we expect from that part of humanity that is “wretched, weak, defenseless (against evil and temptation) battered by sin, etc. I think the fact the church has a different expectation of the world is sadder than the world’s attempt to mock the church.
But the world needs to learn a lesson about how to mock, how to completely pervert something, for it can only take what is good, and try to make it look evil. It has no power to take what seems evil and make it good. That’s why Isaiah says they have no clue, as they refuse to listen to God. For if they had, they would flip things from bad to good….as Jesus does.
Consider Luther’s point about the serpent – the one who delivers the judgment for rebellion against God. God mocks Saan there, by using the image of the serpent that causes such pain and death- to bring healing and life. The difference is God’s serpent didn’t bite us, it bit death.
The same with Christ on the cross. A hideous form of torture, an unbelievable amount of pain, as one hangs on the tree – accursed because of sin.. not his own, like other criminals and rebels, but ours. And so the church mocks sin, Satan death, and the world by preaching Christ crucified – earing crosses and crucifixes–parading them before the entire world… shattering the world and perverting the world sense of justice, by punishing the Innocent One in a humiliating, ugly, and traumatic way.
The irony of the Cross is its brutality, its horror, it injustice leads to perfection, to holiness. The irony of the cross is His death leads to eternal life. Its irony is that what sought to permanently divide us from God, eternally united us to God.
And those who think they mocked the church, those that think they were deliberate profane, we pray that they understand the irony, and find the hope in Christ Jesus, and in His sacraments.
Ratzinger, Joseph. 1992. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl. Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Luther, Martin, and John Sander. 1915. Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year. Rock Island, IL: Augustana Book Concern.
Despair, Depression and Burn out… Is there hope?
Photo by Wouter de Jong on Pexels.com
Thoughts which draw me closer to Jesus and to the Cross…
1 These are the words of the Teacher, a son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 The Teacher says, “Useless! Useless! Completely useless! Everything is useless.”3 What do people really gain from all the hard work they do here on earth? Ecc. 1:1 NCV
58 So my dear brothers and sisters, stand strong. Do not let anything move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your work in the Lord is never wasted. 1 Cor. 15:58 NCV
Faith is not just a matter of feeling, something that we pursue as a private matter in addition to the ordinary pursuits of every day because, after all, man has a longing for religion. Faith is above all the orderliness of reason, without which it loses its standard and the ability to judge its own goals
For such times, when our heart feels too sorely pressed, this comfort of the Lord’s Supper is given to bring us new strength and refreshment.
I have yet to meet anyone over the age of twelve, who hasn’t encountered the feeling that Solomon so perfectly explains this morning. It is a sense of fatalism, a lack of meaning, which attempts to extinguish our meaning. It hits us all, some of us because of things in the world we can’t change, others because of things in our lives, relationships, health, work, And when all those things gang up….what I call righteous depression sets deeply into our lives. And if we are dealing with some form of clinical depression at the same time… life becomes even more miserable.
Even for Solomon, the wisest man in history, one of the wealthiest and famous men in ancient history, who clearly was at a low as he wrote this book. Which is exactly why its in scripture, for if he could survive such, we who have the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, can do the same.
St. Paul shows the counter, that our depression isn’t an accurate feeling, what we are experiencing in the dark shadows of life isn’t what is real. It may seem this way, oh the darkness seems so real, so traumatic, and we seem so alone. But God promises something radically different a we walk with Him, a promise sthat we need to cling to, a hope that goes beyond our sensibilities, that defies our logic.
A promise that points out that God’s love and peace is beyond our understanding, untouchable by our logic. A peace that is found when we depend on God, (for that is what “to have faith” means) and we let God’s reason overwhelm our reason. We trust His reality more than what we perceive.
ANd this is the reasons for the sacraments. Something physical, something tangible, something which comforts as we realize we are being ministered to by God… as much as Elijah was, when he ran away from his victory. When we hear the words-they should shock you enough to move past your old logic that is failing, for something that is healing, for something miraculous.
This is our hope when we think all is vain, to cling to the hope of Christ, in who nothing is vain.
May you find someone to day to encourage you to look to Jesus, and may you do the same for several others.
“Ratzinger, Joseph. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl, Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth, Ignatius Press, 1992, p. 226.
Martin Luther, “The Large Catechism,” Tappert, Theodore G., editor. The Book of Concord the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Mühlenberg Press, 1959, p. 449.
Experiences beyond words……Where Theological and Exegetical Knowledge Fail
Thoughts which drive me to Jesus, and to His cross…
3 But those who prophesy are speaking to people to give them strength, encouragement, and comfort…..5 Those who prophesy are greater than those who can only speak in different languages—unless someone is there who can explain what is said so that the whole church can be helped. 1 Co 14:3-5. NCV
19 I am teaching them to you now so that you will put your trust in the LORD. NCV Pr 22:19.
The Imitation of Christ admonishes us: “Even if you knew by heart the whole Bible and the sayings of all the philosophers, what would it profit you without the love of God and his grace?” “Everyone has a natural craving for knowledge, but of what avail is knowledge without the fear of God?” “An unlearned person who serves God is surely better than a learned one who proudly searches the heavens while neglecting himself.” “Give up your excessive desire for learning. Therein are to be found only illusion and inner emptiness.”
How a man is born again may easily be told in words. When, however, it is a matter of experience, as it was with Nicodemus, it is a hard matter to understand and it requires effort to attain the experience. To persevere in this, when it becomes a matter of experience and when we are really tested, requires pains and labor.
Nicodemus was a brilliant scholar among the Jewish leaders. Yet he had to approach Jesus by night, and then the simplest thing, the idea of being born again, befuddled him. (I like that word befuddled – I dont’ know why!) He was confused, as many were with Jesus’ simplest teachings.
There are some things in life that you do not learn with your mind, you can only experience them, and let them transform you. Paul the apostle talks about two things – God’s love and His peace in a manner that clearly states that they are beyond our ability to understand, but are easily experienced. The Holy Spirit causes us to do causes, in ways beyond words. And if we focus on trying to explain it, we lose track of the experience.
There is more to it than that, as Paul discusses above when the saints in Corinth. There is a purpose to our words that can easily get lost as we pursue any gift–the ability to use that as a tool to help people experience the love and peace of God. We are called to bring each other strength, encouragement and comfort we are called to help all those called together–all those God desires to save. And the pursuit of knowledge can distract from that.
This is why Solomon, the wisest man in history would write that the purpose of his scriptures was to help us put our trust in the Lord, not in Solomon! And Pope Benedict XVI ( aka Joseph Ratzinger) the brilliant theologian Scholar, would quote another saying the natural craving for knowledge is worthless, compared to an unlearned person in a relationship with God. Brilliant men, gifted with knowledge and wisdom, dialing it back–to know God.
Another brilliant pastor I know, had an advanced school of preaching – 5 courses…. an introduction then 4 deeper classes. the first deep class was 45 hours learning who we were in Christ – not pastors, but children of God, who God was forming. THe last class had “nothing” to do with scripture–at least directly. Instead, we were study our people, to know what they were going through. We were given ways to learn their hurts and pains, to get behind the walls they set up. to laugh and cry with them (as St. Paul advised) because then we could see the Holy Spirit using our words to reveal that comfort that only comes from experiencing God’s love, that comes as we dwell secure in His peace. I look at those two classes as being the most formative of my preaching, even though they taught me nothing about studying scripture, or Greek or Hebrew. Instead of that Schuler, made us live in the love and peace scripture revealed, and then encouraged us to understand how we would help reveal it to others.
One of my other mentors, a brilliant Hebrew scholar, is also such a man. His gift goes beyond languages. While a good preacher (except for his ubiquitous mentions of USC football), his primary ministry I will always see as how he helped his congregation experience God’s love and peace in the Lord’s Supper. It was visible to me, as I assisted him, that his people savored this moment of communion, as they experienced Christ’s Body and Blood, given and shed for them. Body’s relaxed– smiles broke out, tension faded in weary, anxious bodies, as peace settled over them–as they knew they were loved. This is what I hope I can do… far more than anything else…this is what is needed – and important!
Don’t get me wrong, study is still a discipline I need, – but what is needed more, what we need to pray for, and focus our ministry on, is that God loves us, and calls us to Himself. Everything else must serve that purpose… for then the church is a place where broken people find healing, while helping others heal.
Ratzinger, Joseph. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl, Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth, Ignatius Press, 1992, p. 223.
Luther, Martin, and John Sander. Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year. Augustana Book Concern, 1915, p. 247.
Should I Want to Please People? The Answer is surprising…
Thoughts which drive me to the crucified Christ….
31 The answer is, if you eat or drink, or if you do anything, do it all for the glory of God. 32 Never do anything that might hurt others—Jews, Greeks, or God’s church—33 just as I, also, try to please everybody in every way. I am not trying to do what is good for me but what is good for most people so they can be saved.
11 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. 1 Co 10:31–11:1. NCV
Sovereign Love is found only in charity; the love of hope is imperfect, and consists more of feeling than fact, without charity; yet as a motive power nothing can exceed hope, and therefore we say that through hope we love God supremely.
321 Apostolic soul, that intimacy between Jesus and you—so close to him for so many years! Doesn’t it mean anything to you?
I read a different Bible translation every year for a reason, I want to do more than just read it, I want things to strike me differently, to challenge me, to gnaw at my brain until it burrows into my heart.
Today is one of those days, and it was caused by Paul’s advice that we are to imitate him by pleasing everybody in every way. I had to admit, this struck me odd, so I went back to my old familiar translations, NLT, NJB, NKJV even the old KJV, and all of them had the same concept… we are to please every body.
That sounds so contrary to how I’ve been taught to minister to people! We are supposed to do what is right, not what makes everyone happy! When we preach, when we plan worship, when we are counseling them regarding sin and trauma, I’ve heard that from pastors and professors for years, especially in regards to worship practices.
I think the anxiety rises because we equate people pleasing with compromise, and that leads us to think we would compromise something important, like the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus which was accomplished to join us to Himself by erasing our sin. I have heard such conversations about those who want to appease those in their church by honoring traditions, and by those who want to offend them in order to “please” others.
I think please them is less about compromise than we think – it is about making people comfortable in the presence of God, removing the stumbling blocks that distract them from resting in the presence of God. Think abut a hot day, where you are working hard outside, and someone offers you a cold soda just as you finish your work. That can be a moment where you are pleased, where nothing stops you from taking a deep breath and being satisfied with the day.
It is that kind of moment of intimacy with God, the assurance that He is with them, that being pleased is all about. That allows the anxiety and tension, the stress and overwhelming emotional overload to be vented, and to leace us in a moment of bliss, in a moment where salvation is recognized and rejoiced in, even if just a quietly said, AMEN! (meaning “this is real and true)
The desire for people to come to those moments is what Josemaria is talking about, as he addresses those who want to save the world. For it is those moments of intimacy with God, those moments that should mean everything to us…that should fuel our apostolate (Roman Catholic term – some contemporary protestants would say our missional attitude.) It is that which fuels the hope that brings us to God who gives us that hope, and helps us to realize how meaningless life is without it.
That is the core of evangelism – and what would lift people up and give them more pleasure than they’ve ever experienced, to know by experiencing it– the height, depth, breadth and width of God’s love for them, revealed in Christ. And the more we realize that pleasure, that joy, the more dominant giving it to others becomes….
Of the Love of God. Translated by H. L. Sidney Lear, Rivingtons, 1888, p. 79.
Escrivá, Josemaría. The Way (p. 54). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
The Tournament of Theology–cannot be won.
Thoughts which draw me close to Jesus, and to His cross.
20 Then Isaiah is bold enough to say: “I was found by those who were not asking me for help. I made myself known to people who were not looking for me.” Romans 10:20 NCV
That is the humility that is required of the theologian.… Without the realism of the saints, without their contact with reality, which is what it is all about, theology becomes an empty intellectual game and loses its character as a science.
It seems to me that we shall have our hands full to keep these commandments, practicing gentleness, patience, love toward enemies, chastity, kindness, etc., and all that these virtues involve. But such works are not important or impressive in the eyes of the world. They are not unusual and pompous, restricted to special times, places, rites, and ceremonies, but are common, everyday domestic duties of one neighbor toward another, with no show about them.
How does one acquire love? The human heart is so false that it cannot love unless it first sees the benefit of loving. No man can bring this love into the heart. Therefore God gave us his Son, graciously poured out his greatest treasures and sunk and drowned all our sins and filth in the great ocean of his love, so that this great love and blessing must draw man to love and be ready to fulfil the divine commandments with a willing heart. In no other way can the heart love or have any love; it must be assured that it was first loved. Now man cannot do this; therefore Christ comes and takes the heart captive and says: Learn to know me. I am Christ, who placed myself in your misery to drown your sins in my righteousness. This knowledge softens your heart, so that you must turn to him.
Now that we are removed a few days from Celtics domination of the NBA, my twitter feed is returning to deluge of those who treat theology like the ultimate sports event – a tournament seems to seek out who wins, and who loses. I see those who claim to be Catholics trying to score on Protestants, those who are protests trying to slamdunk Catholics, and even the Orthodox are involved now, both on offense and defense. It is far more competitive, far more brutal, and too be honest, bad sports abound more in this game than any sport.
For the tournament cannot be won, the game cannot be won. It is a double elimination contest, with both sides losing, and often both sides brutally, if not terminally injured in their faith in God.
I’ve witnessed too many such injuries, even recently, as I’ve worked with a few whose view of the church becomes jandiced. And I must confess to my engaging in such games (for that is all they are) and being scarred and hurting others….some deliberately.
To this problem the Apostle Paul speaks, quoting Isaiah above. The proof for those who tried to compete with Him didn’t eventually matter, for God could work, and does work, drawing people to His side, brining people into His glory, whco weren’t looking for Him. In fact, many of them were running from Him, and ran smack dab into a relationship where God’s love overwhelmed them. This is what Pope Benedict wrote of while a cardinal – and the head of theology for the Catholic church–without seeing the impact of God’s love on those who went before, theology is empty. Not that these people were great theologians, but because God worked in their lives– He became their reality.
That is the point of the Large Catechism, in noting the struggle to keep the commandments. I don;t care how well you can translate the Hebrew, that will not help you obey them, and those studies will not offer you comfort when you realize you shattered them in theological combat. The only think that matters then is the prelude is experiencing what precedes them, “I am the Lord, your God, who rescued you…”
Luther notes the only hope, though I would include the soul and mind as well as the heart. Without the love of God invading my life, without Him drowning our sin and filth inthe great ocean of His love, we cannot be Theologians. We have to be Theophilians first! We have to love- something foreign to us if we don’t experience the incredible dimensions of God’s love for us, which was revealed in Christ Jesus. Christ must come and take our heart captive, it must give us the ability to trust Him, who came to share in our lives, shattered and murdered by our own sin, to redeem and save us.
That is the core of real Theology, as the Holy Spirit leads us to experience the love of God that draws us into Christ, His death, His resurrection, and His glory. Theology should serve, not as an academic debate, but rather to assist in communicating that news, so that people may know the love of God.
Any other use is… worthless, empty, and leads to elimination of life.
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. 198–99.
Martin Luther, The Large Catechism, Tappert, Theodore G., editor. The Book of Concord the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Mühlenberg Press, 1959, p. 407.
Luther, Martin, and John Sander. Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year. Augustana Book Concern, 1915, p. 221.
