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Yet – 3 Powerful Words of Powerful Faith.
Devotional Thought for the Day
17 For though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit appears on the vine, Though the yield of the olive fails and the terraces produce no nourishment, Though the flocks disappear from the fold and there is no herd in the stalls,
18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD and exult in my saving God. 19 GOD, my Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet swift as those of deer and enables me to tread upon the heights.* NABRE – Hab 3:17-19
Anything done out of love is important, however small it might appear. God has come to us, even though we are miserable creatures, and he has told us that he loves us: “My delight is to be among the sons of men.”10 Our Lord tells us that everything is valuable—those actions which from a human point of view we regard as extraordinary and those which seem unimportant. Nothing is wasted. No man is worthless to God. All of us are called to share the kingdom of Heaven—each with his own vocation: in his home, his work, his civic duties, and the exercise of his rights.
Nothing is wasted! What marvelous words are uttered by St Josemaria!
Words that resonate with the Habbakuk’s conclusion of his book. Let me paraphrase!
“Life Sucks! YET I will rejoice in the Lord! YET I will exult in my saving God!
For as our souls, our very lives are entrusted to Him (something the Holy Spirit does, because Jesus paid the price to make it happen on the cross!) everything has meaning, and we begin to see how all things can indeed work for good, for those who love God.
That’s a hard thing to trust God for, especially when we think of him as the deists did in the centuries following the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment. Because they couldn’t trust the God they couldn’t see, they reasoned he left town, Because they couldn’t understand that God was there in darkest points of history, they assumed he wasn’t there, and that He didn’t care and abandoned those He promised to walk with, those He promised to support, and heal, and strengthen.
Nothing is wasted.
Man is that hard to hear! For there has been much that I can’t count as beneficial without coming to the same conclusions. Where are you, my God? Why did You abandon me? Why did I have to go through this? Why do I see it repeated?
Nothing is wasted.
Not even the times of emptiness.
Not even the times where I cry out in anger, in pain, in fear.
Those words talk of dependence, of the greatest level of what we call faith. The point where rock bottom we realize He is hear, and just go, “Lord, I can’t anymore, all I have to cling to are Your promises, the promsies I can’t believe are true for me.
Yet, I abandon myself to you, I will depend on what I can’t see, what may be beyond my logic, but what you promise is real.
You are here… I can see that today…when I couldn’t last week, and may struggle next month to see it.
You are here!
So I will praise You, So I will rejoice in a God who wrote those promsies through prophets, and etched them in the hands of His Son.
Yet… a powerful word.
One I need to pull out and use… often.
Escriva, Josemaria. Christ is Passing By (Kindle Locations 1394-1399). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Eight Years, and Still Learning this Lesson; A Sermon on Job 38
Why Ask?
Job 38:1-18
† In the Name of Jesus †
May you be blessed by truly grasping that the grace, mercy and peace of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ Jesus is indeed yours, even as it was Job’s!
A Questioned answered, with a Question
I know it is very valid educational method, but it still irritates me. It is called the Socratic Method, and it can be very effective, in both teaching and in counseling. You simply make the student process the information by only responding to them with a series of questions, based on their answers.
As I said, it can be very effective, because it makes the person you are teaching or counseling think. Instead of giving them the answers, you guide them in finding the answer. It does wear on the student a little, as they struggle with the process. But because they come to the conclusion, they understand the answer far better.
25 years ago, this month, I was a freshman at a Bible College, and my first class in Ephesians had a professor who taught in this manner. It was great, and he was excellent at this style of teaching. I still remember some of the discussions in that course. The next semester though, he used the same educational theory. The only problem was the course was elementary Greek! So Mr. Parker, what do you really think the 2nd person aorist passive verb “pistis” means! Socratic teaching doesn’t work for things like ancient Greek, or Algebra. But it has its place.
Like when someone like Job is looking for an answer, an answer they already have. It is then far more beneficial to have them answer the questions, moving ever towards the answer that they already know.
When Job asks why? God doesn’t answer directly, but starts Job on a series of questions, that will lead Job back to what is essential, not only for Job, but indeed, for us.
What the question isn’t asking
How dare you?
Why do we hear it that way?
We are attuned to the Law, to the Wind and Waves
Hear again, the first verses of our reading,
1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: 2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 3 Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. 4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding Job 38:1-4 (ESV)
A bit attention getting? I think so! Out in Anza, we had a lot of dust devils – miniature tornadoes which spiraled dirt a hundred feet in the air. They made a lot of noise when they hit the church, and if you drove through one, the dirt will come flying through the A/C vents! I can’t even imagine the whirlwind that hits job, both the one out of which God answers, and the one his life was in. He lost everything, he had friend doubting his faith, and as he sits there, crushed and broken, Godfinally answers. “Get up, and answer me…”
I have to wonder, if when we read this passage, we read it as God criticizing Job, as God putting Job in his place. Hey Job, don’t you realize that you are nothing, that you can’t measure up to me, that you are insignificant in my eyes? After all you’ve never done anything, and you won’t measure up to what I can do. Come on Job, be a man, put up your dukes and let’s rumble! Winner takes all, and I, Almighty Sovereign, Everlasting God will challenge you to a fight of 10 rounds. Ready?
Except can’t be that. We know from the rest of the book that God favors Job, that He loves him. That God counted Job as His. That God said that Job would not stop entrusting himself to the God that love him, because the love is beyond the stuff of the world.
So why do we hear these questions of God in this way? Why do we not question the way this sounds? Does it seem to be the God you would want to follow? To be that petty, that mean, that self-serving? Yet, how often do the people of this world see God, and indeed, His church, as that kind of God? How many think that God and the church only exist to condemn, and brutally use guilt and shame to control them? Do we give them that expectation? Do we expect it ourselves? Why?
Is it perhaps because we are afraid that God would be that way? That we hear God’s law questioning our lives, and we automatically assume that the reason He is questioning us, is to prosecute us? So we are afraid to admit that we have failed, that we gossiped, or lied, or lusted or wanted to kill someone, or betrayed someone’s trust, or didn’t love that person.
How many of us are afraid of the voice that would answer us, out of the storms that are our lives? We fear being blown over by that wind, or maybe we are afraid of what God will ask of us, and that as sinners, we will be called to do something incredible, like Peter’s walking on water.
The danger of not getting the Entire story!
But Peter didn’t drown in his storm, and neither did Job. We know that Jesus reached down and saved Peter, and if we read three more chapters of Job, we would know that God also redeemed his life. The issu
You see, God is asking these questions in a Socratic form. The answer to each of them, “No, I wasn’t there Lord”, “no, I didn’t do that”, is not to humiliate Job, but to get him to think. The questions are asked with a goal in mind for Job. That he would understand that it is okay for mankind to struggle with life, and the heavy questions of suffering and why things happen. That we don’t have the answers to why, but that we can answer who is the One who determined the measurements of the world. Then we know the answer to whom controls the waters and who the morning stars, and the angels shouted for joy to see!
A few chapters after these questions, God says if Job can only answer him, 14 Then will I also acknowledge to you that your own right hand can save you.” Job 40:14(ESV)I don’t know about you, but the last thing I want God to think, is that I can save myself. I cannot, for I will screw it up. I don’t want God to applaud my efforts, I want Him to reach out and save us, to make us His, to redeem us.
That is what the questions lead to, and what Job remembers, when in chapter 42 we find this. “1 Then Job answered the Lord and said: 2 “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” Job 42:1-2 (ESV)
Job is back, back to where he was in the beginning, when all was going well. He remembered that his trusting God was based, not on his holiness, but on God’s faithfulness, on God’s character and strength. That is where the questioning leads, to the very relationship that God assured satan was unshakeable. Not because Job was perfect, but because Job knew whom to trust.
25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, 27 whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me! Job 19:25-27 (ESV)
Job knew, in the midst of his suffering, that God would redeem him. That somehow, even though he were to die, that he would then live to see God. That is the voice speaking of someone who knows they are God’s, that is assured that God is one their side, that their redeemer will come. In God’s answer to Job’s complaint here is a far better answer. You are not God – I am.
I am.. I am your God. I am the one who will save an redeem, and answer.
In Christ’s death, centuries after Job’s life ended, the answer was seen in its fullness.
That is where God was leading Job in the questioning, not to self-suffiency, or humiliation, but to call on Him, trusting in the His love. Love so strong, that it would pay the highest cost, the Body and Blood of Jesus, to redeem us, to save us from our sins, and the sin of the world.
I have a son, a cute little pain in the neck. As I leave in the morning, I call out to Him and ask, do you love me? He runs and hides, or says no, with a great big smile on his face. I long to hear him say I love you dad, or to reach out His arms to me. Patience will get me the hug I want – and God is more patient with me – waiting for me to remember He is God. The God who asks me to call upon Him,.
That is the nature of God and Job, it’s not about the suffering, it’s not about the challenges, it’s not about humiliation. It is about a God, and one of His people. The One who promised to redeem, and the one who would be redeemed.
My friends, we are the redeemed. Redeemed not by our own works, but called to redemption by God, and made to be His people.
May you live in God’s peace, knowing this. Peace that surpasses all understanding, and guards our hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus.
Amen?
Be at peace.
The Real Controversy in the Book of Jonah
Devotional Thought of the Day:
9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you have a right to be angry over the gourd plant?” Jonah answered, “I have a right to be angry—angry enough to die.” 10 Then the LORD said, “You are concerned* over the gourd plant which cost you no effort and which you did not grow; it came up in one night and in one night it perished. 11 And should I not be concerned over the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot know their right hand from their left, not to mention all the animals?” NABRE Jonah 4:9-11
Missionary activity is nothing else and nothing less than an epiphany, or a manifesting of God’s decree, and its fulfillment in the world and in world history, in the course of which God, by means of mission, manifestly works out the history of salvation. By the preaching of the word and by the celebration of the sacraments, the center and summit of which is the most holy Eucharist, He brings about the presence of Christ, the author of salvation. (1)
“I have learnt with sadness of the killing this morning at the Church of Saint-Etienne du Rouvray. The three victims: the priest, Father Jacques Hamel, 84, and the authors of the assassination. Three other people were injured, one very seriously. I cry out to God with all men of good will. I would invite non-believers to join in the cry! “ (2)
A lot of people focus on the fish (some call it a whale) in the story of the prophet Jonah. To be honest, the controversy there is silly, a game played to avoid what is truly controversial. The sin that is challenged there, and not met with repentance, the sin of Jonah.
Imagine today if an evangelical leader was called to go to Iraq or Syria, to preach repentance to the cadres of ISIL, or to AAfghanistanand preach to ISIL’s history enemy, Al Quaeda. Would they look for the nearest beach, rather than taking a ship to the location of their new ministry? Would they and their friends get mad if they saw their enemies repent, throwing a tantrum as Jonah did?
There is the controversy, there is the place where ministry could occur, and those who know the grace of God are tempted to turn their back on not only the people God would have heard their gospel, but on the mission of God, and really on the heart of God.
God calling you on not loving your enemies? God calling you on loving a “thing” ( in his case a plant, of for us, our way of living ) more than you love the people. That’s controversial. There is a conversation that will hurt, that may drive us from the room, or perhaps to our knees in repentance.
Look at the quote of the ArchBishop of the priest who became a martyr. He prays for the two assassins – and calls them victims! That is controversial! Even more controversial than Pope Francis reminding the cChurch that Christians can be very violent as well.
We are all sinners, we are all victims of unrighteousness as well. The unrighteousness of sins committed against us, the unrighteousness that springs from our being led into sin by those who should be carrying us to the cross. From those who should help us see our epiphany, who should help us see Jesus revealed as the one who cleanse all people of all sin, and all unrighteousness. Who desires that so much, that he is even patient with us as He waits for us to get our act together, to live as Christ lived, to love our enemies even as Christ loved us.
Jonah was pissed at God, for he couldn’t see why God would let a plant die. Yet Jonah was willing to write off a city, and was ticked at their repentance. God called him on that…
And perhaps now, or perhaps as we head forward to communion this weekend, we need to examine ourselves, confess our sins, our time of acting like Jonah. To get past the little miracle to the big issue of Jonah.
God loves our enemies as much as He loves us.
It’s time to rejoice over that fact… and realize those who like us, were enemies of God, are our brothers and sisters. Whether they are Muslim, or Sikh, Jewish by faith, or simply genetically, atheist or agnostic, Lutheran or Catholic. God is calling them, and calling us to deliver that message.
Lord have mercy on us ALL!
AMEN
(1) Catholic Church. (2011). Decree on the Mission Activity of the Church: Ad Gentes. In Vatican II Documents. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
(2) Archbishop LeBrun http://saltandlighttv.org/blog/general/press-release-of-the-archbishop-of-rouen-following-hostage-situation-at-church-of-saint-etienne-du-rouvray
The Hard Lesson of Life…. Perspective
10 We are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus for the good works which God has already designated to make up our way of life. Ephesians 2:10 (NJB)
In describing the spirit of the association to which I have devoted my life, Opus Dei, I have said that it hinges upon ordinary work, professional work carried out in the midst of the world. God’s calling gives us a mission: it invites us to share in the unique task of the Church, to bear witness to Christ before our fellow men and so draw all things toward God. Our calling discloses to us the meaning of our existence. It means being convinced, through faith, of the reason for our life on earth. Our life, the present, past, and future, acquires a new dimension, a depth we did not perceive before. All happenings and events now fall within their true perspective: we understand where God is leading us, and we feel ourselves borne along by this task entrusted to us. God draws us from the shadows of our ignorance, our groping through history, and, no matter what our occupation in the world, he calls us with a strong voice, as he once called Peter and Andrew: “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”11 He who lives by faith may meet with difficulty and struggle, suffering and even bitterness, but never depression or anguish, because he knows that his life is worthwhile, he knows why he has been born. “I am the light of the world,” Christ exclaimed. “He who follows me does not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.” (1)
It is challenging to me to think of myself as a work of art, never mind God’s work of art.
And it is hard to see what I am doing as ‘good works”, in fact, I sometimes wonder if I am the opposite to King Midas, everything he touched turned to gold and everything I touch collapses, or breaks, or needs to have toilet paper applied.
I understand all too well St Josemaria’s description of groping through history, dwelling in the shadows of ignorance. Even as He draws me, there is a reluctance to enter the brilliance of His glory, the glory He would share with all of His people.
But I have to realize that He is more reliable than I am, that His will is being accomplished, and should I humbly focus on my journey with Him, the very places we go together, the people we talk to, are part of His making my life a work of art. Walking with Him means having the challenge and pain of loving people – including those who consider themselves unlovable I know their pain, as does about every person I have met in life.
That’s why, as we are transformed, faith also accepts that what we can perceive is not all there is to the story. That God is doing something very special in our lives, giving us a meaning we can’t see, because the artwork isn’t finished yet.
Knowing that means that I can accept that the potter knows what He is doing – that His vision for my life, my vocation can be vastly different from His. But he is the designer, the architect, the Creator, and I am but His creation.
A creation so beautiful in His eyes, that He would share HIs glory with me, and will all who are His people. That is what I have to remember as I skirt in and out of the shadows, as I wonder what He has in mind, and what He is doing. I even come to realize the reason I am allowed to hang out in these shadows, is to reflect His glory into the dark places, where other masterpieces lurk, afraid to come into the light, afraid to be seen, unaware that they are meant to be His people and He, their God.
In baptism – He cleansed me of all my sin and the unrighteousness of the world, and the struggle to see my life from His perspective is a challenge. Even so, the work is His, the promise to see it through is His. I’ve learned to trust Him, will learn it some more.
it is an interesting life… challenging.. and yet with Him? Incredible. For He heals the broken, and uses them to bring healing to others!
AMEN!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria. Christ is Passing By (Kindle Locations 1411-1423). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Awe: Love that Embraces…. Pain?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
2 Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right side of God’s throne. Hebrews 12:2 (TEV)
9 Love must be completely sincere. Hate what is evil, hold on to what is good. 10 Love one another warmly as Christians, and be eager to show respect for one another. 11 Work hard and do not be lazy. Serve the Lord with a heart full of devotion. 12 Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles, and pray at all times. 13 Share your belongings with your needy fellow Christians, and open your homes to strangers. 14 Ask God to bless those who persecute you—yes, ask him to bless, not to curse. 15 Be happy with those who are happy, weep with those who weep. 16 Have the same concern for everyone. Do not be proud, but accept humble duties. Do not think of yourselves as wise. Romans 12:9-16 (TEV)
Love has certain standard features. Sometimes we speak o love as if it were an impulse to self-satisfaction or a mere means to selfish fulfillment of one’s own personality. But that’s not love. True love means going out of oneself, giving oneself. Love brings joy, but a joy whose roots are in the shape of a cross. As long as we are on earth and have not yet arrived at the fullness of the future life, we can never have true love without sacrifice and pain. This pain becomes sweet and lovable; it is a source of interior joy. But it is an authentic pain, for it involves overcoming one’s own selfishness and taking Love as the rule of each and every thing we do.
As my son, moments after being born, was laid on my wife’s chest, I witnessed a sense of profound joy. Despite the pain, despite the discomfort, despite the complete lack of privacy, there was great joy! (Enough so that i didn’t realize my mask was on backward and I was about to pass out from breathing my CO2!)
I thought of that scene as I read the words of St. Josemaria. They are correct, to love people can hurt, it can disappoint, it can demand that we make sacrifices, or embrace situations where our dignity is cast aside. It is not the one who is our beloved that demands this, but love itself means we take action, we sacrifice, and we embrace the pain.
And yet, I think about the smile on my wife’s face, and realize this dear priest is right again – the pain is no less sharp, the tears no less real, and yet the joy given in the sacrifice is wonderful. .There is no one, in the midst of loving another, that would say the love isn’t worth it, that they would rather go without the one they love. ( again I remind you – the beloved does no, should not demand the sacrifice, or require the pain – that doesn’t love)
This involves us, as St. Paul notes, in the joy and tears of those we love. When one hurts, we all hurt. When one is enjoying life, that sparks joy in us all. In every way, the community of faith is affected alongside those who are loved by God together. Who are united in that love, and therefore begin to truly love each other. We truly embrace the costs of loving, just as Jesus did, know the joy that comes from this love, not only in heaven, but now in reconciliation, and in sharing in the blessings of God.
It even makes those who believe they are our enemies, our beloved. Just as Christ loves us when we were His enemies.
This is love.
While it is unmerited by the beloved, it costs the one who loves.
But the joy, in inexpressible, beautiful awe-inspiring.
You are the beloved, and because of that, you also love.
Escriva, Josemaria. Christ is Passing By (Kindle Locations 1387-1392). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
The Christian and the Problem of Sin…and Hope
Discussion thought of the Day:
15 I do not understand what I do; for I don’t do what I would like to do, but instead I do what I hate. 16 Since what I do is what I don’t want to do, this shows that I agree that the Law is right. 17 So I am not really the one who does this thing; rather it is the sin that lives in me. 18 I know that good does not live in me—that is, in my human nature. For even though the desire to do good is in me, I am not able to do it. 19 I don’t do the good I want to do; instead, I do the evil that I do not want to do. 20 If I do what I don’t want to do, this means that I am no longer the one who does it; instead, it is the sin that lives in me.
Romans 7:15-20 (TEV)
11 In union with Christ you were circumcised, not with the circumcision that is made by human beings, but with the circumcision made by Christ, which consists of being freed from the power of this sinful self. 12 For when you were baptized, you were buried with Christ, and in baptism you were also raised with Christ through your faith in the active power of God, who raised him from death. 13 You were at one time spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were Gentiles without the Law. But God has now brought you to life with Christ. God forgave us all our sins;
Colossians 2:11-13 (TEV)
7 But if we live in the light—just as he is in the light—then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from every sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and there is no truth in us. 9 But if we confess our sins to God, he will keep his promise and do what is right: he will forgive us our sins and purify us from all our wrongdoing. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make a liar out of God, and his word is not in us.
1 John 1:7-10 (TEV)
The problem of sin is one that has stalked mankind since the beginning.
We may try to hide it, sure that people won’t see through our careful concealment, our spiritual camouflage. We may deny it, or let it rip our souls to shreds. It is there, lurking, stalking us.
As pastors, we see its effect in our people, as they struggle with every aspect of life, from work to marriage to raising their children. I’ve watched it nearly destroy a church, and I know it has destroyed churches and even denominations. We’ve watched it destroy our brothers in ministry, and yes, we know its dark powers all too well.
Yes, sin is a problem in the church, and being a real church means we try to deal with it. We can’t really hide it, denying it and the bondage it puts people in is.. well asinine in that we are committing people to hell on earth, and hell eternal. We cannot camouflage it and hope it blends into the background. For in all of those options we see the warning of John, indicating that we make God a liar.
So how does a Christian, whom we teach has been cleansed of sin in baptism (see Ezekiel 36:25ff, Titus 3:2-8, 1 Peter 3, Romans 6 and Colossians 2) struggle with the fact that they still sin? How do we find comfort knowing t How do we find comfort in the wrongdoing that has been done to us as well, that we will fall prey to Satan and commit a sin, or two, or twenty? For sin and unrighteousness paralyzes us, it inhibits our faith, especially when Satan tries to convince us the pain is real.
Note: When talking about sin and wrongdoing, it is important to note that the sin is our wrongdoing, and the wrongdoing John mentions is the wrongdoing, the sin done to us. When we are declared righteous, when we are purified – both are dealt with. Yet there is a struggle. For we don’t always see this done and we live with the pain of sin.
In talking this over with a friend, and thinking through the passages above, and of note the underlined sections, I came up with an analogy.
I had a friend who lost a leg, and he often talked of (he never complained) of phantom feelings in his missing limb. Sometimes it felt like it was asleep, or it itched, or it even caused him great pain as it felt like it was cramping. The feelings were not “imagined”, they were documentable and real. Sensory nerves were firing, motor nerves were wanting to direct movement. The brain registered it all.
The symptoms were real, the effects on the body were real, the source? It wasn’t real. It was cut off completely, removed, and thoroughly as something is removed in a circumcision. This paradox defies explanation.
Spiritually, the paradox is much the same. It may seem like sin controls us, the actions, the results appear much the same as they did before our “circumcision.”( I love Ezekiel 36 on this – as the Spirit removes our stone dead heart and replaces it with one living, and home to the Spirit) That sinful nature died on the cross – that is God’s promise. Surely our sin was forgiven, and the sin of the world was stripped away from us, as if God somehow combined a brillo pad with ivory soap… and could scrub us, without damaging us.
So why does it still feel like we can’t stop sinning? Why is there despair that is so deep, and so powerful that it could be labeled a black hole?
It’s that paradox again – the phantom power of sin, the illusions that the demonic can try to cast. Yes we still sin, yes we still don’t do what we should and do what we shouldn’t. Yes, there are days we feel like a wretch, and our ability to condemn ourselves will run high. Where we wonder if there is hope, if we will ever be righteous and holy and good.
It is then we have to realize the power of spiritual circumcision – that the sin we are battling is the cause of the sin. (this is NOT and should never be an excuse) The way to defeat it is to go and confess, and hear God has forgiven us, to hear that He has healed us. That He has purified us. That He has cut away this sin, and though we feel its effects, its pain, it itching… it isn’t us.
We live in Him.
Dealing with the phantom pain then becomes realizing how real it is, and isn’t, and running to the one who confirms it isn’t, and letting His promise mean more than our struggle. To trust Him, to depend upon Him, to let Him support us, even as we walk through life, missing that which would have destroyed us, but for His action, His love.
This is our life… in Chirst.
Knowing He has had mercy, even as we cry out fo it!
God’s peace to you, forgiven child!
The Forgotten Furnace Prayer….Is One We Need to Guide our Worship/Liturgy!
Devotional Thought fo the Day:
26 “Blessed are you, and praiseworthy, O Lord, the God of our ancestors, and glorious forever is your name. 27 For you are just in all you have done; all your deeds are faultless, all your ways right, and all your judgments proper. 28 You have executed proper judgments in all that you have brought upon us and upon Jerusalem, the holy city of our ancestors. By a proper judgment you have done all this because of our sins; 29 For we have sinned and transgressed by departing from you, and we have done every kind of evil. 30 Your commandments we have not heeded or observed, nor have we done as you ordered us for our good. NABRE Daniel 3:26-30
481 Take a good look at the way you behave. You will see that you are full of faults that harm you and perhaps also those around you. Remember, my child, that microbes may be no less a menace than wild beasts. And you are cultivating those errors and those mistakes—just as bacteria are cultivated in a laboratory—with your lack of humility, with your lack of prayer, with your failure to fulfill your duty, with your lack of self-knowledge… Those tiny germs then spread everywhere. (1)
Perhaps I had read the Bible passage in red as a child, as I grew up in the Catholic Church. I know I haven’t recently, for I usually use protestant (evangelical) translations of Scripture, which have a few differences in the Book of Daniel. The passage has been there, and Luther quotes it several times. I have to admit, as I read it – I came to love it, it resonated deeply and pointed me to Jesus.
I find it remarkable, as the three men are sitting in a furnace, and they are heating it up, that they pray in this way. Their prayer doesn’t start with calls for vengeance, or even a call for deliverance. They aren’t calling God to blast their enemies.
It starts with their confession – and the acknowledgment that God has every right to punish them for how they turned their backs on Him.
In the midst of their trauma, in the midst of being tortured and persecuted, the three men turn to God and admit they are guilty, and God has every right to punish them. They even recognize that the commandments are for their good, to guide them in life that is lived well and full.
They didn’t obey; their people didn’t obey.
They deserved God’s judgment, and they recognized it.
So they turned to God, confessed their sins and depended upon His character, His mercy, His love. Assured of His mercy, the second hymn will be a joyous song of praise – sung in the presence of the Son of God.
How we need this spirit to be replicated in us today. That when oppressed or persecuted, when struggling we recognize that we deserve much worse, (this is our confession) we are then encouraged to depend on the mercy of God to deliver us ( the sermon), and then have a celebration in the presence of the Son of God (isn’t this what communion really is?)
Rather than striking out at those we perceive to be our enemies. Rather than calling down God’s wrath upon them, rather than trying to justify ourselves, what if our first reaction was to pray that we be forgiven. What kind of joy would come from this? What sense of serenity found in Christ Jesus? To be rid of the germs our guilt and shame, and the beam that blocks the vision.
What an incredible prayer (I highly suggest reading the entire thing) What an incredible statement of dependence on God, and the effect of it on life.
May we learn to pray and worship this way…even in the midst of the fire…
Escriva, Josemaria. The Forge (Kindle Locations 1834-1838). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Hope Generated in His Promised Plans: A sermon on Psalm 138…
The Simple Christian Life – Love, HOPE, FAITH
Hope Generated in His Promised Plans
Psalm 138
† I.H.S. †
May this message about the grace of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ increase your hope and expectation of God’s role in your life!
Abraham: Blinded
Even though the sermon is based on the Psalm – I want to start with the Old Testament reading about Abraham. God is talking about hiding His plans from Abraham, and there are days I wonder if the Trinity hasn’t had the same conversations about us.
Not that God is going to do something like he did through Abraham with us. I mean, having a kid at 100, or when Kay is 90? Maybe that is Al and Shirley’s task? Carol and Chuck’s?
But what about this idea that we don’t know the plans God has for us. TO be honest, I am personally struggling with that one right now. God, I don’t understand what You are doing, it doesn’t make sense!
You see that in the psalm as well – when at the end of praising God, when at that end of realizing that God has saved us while realizing that God will work out His plans for our life because His love is faithful. The psalmist then pleads…
“Don’t abandon me. (remember) you made me.”
I get that… and yet.. the entire Psalm speaks to the fact He will not.
There, we can find the truth that helps us, when we don’t have a clue about what God has planned for our lives.
The answer is profound, and it will give a profound hope, an incredible expectation of what God can and will do in our lives.
Even after the praise – Even after the climb
I am going to shift for the moment, to the end of the Gospel of Matthew, to a seen that didn’t make sense to me when I first realized what it says:
16 Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted! 18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Matthew 28:16-18 (NLT)
They had seen him crucified, they spent significant time with him after the resurrection, and it said that some of them still doubted.
Just like the Psalmist.
Just like me when I am at a convention, or when I am struggling with not knowing which way life will twist next. When I don’t know the plans He has for me, and to be honest; I wonder if the plans are truly good and right.
Because of the sin of the world, because of my sin, because of the brokenness of everything, trusting, expecting, depending on everything to turn out right is a challenge at times. Sometimes it isn’t even about sin; it may be that we are simply tired.
Like the 11, some of us doubt,
It’s not new; it’s not something that will result in your condemnation, or in God abandoning you, even though it seems at times like He has, or He might or He should.
Just because you don’t know his plans, doesn’t mean that what He has planned for us is horrid or evil.
So how do we cope when we don’t know his plans, and this leads to doubt?
Back to the basics – He rescued us -why would he waste us?
We go back to what we do know, what we count on.
God.
Who He is.
Seven times his name, His personal name is used in this passage. Eight more times David uses pronouns directly talking to or about Him. 2 more times he references the name of God.
We have to hear these things for ourselves. Let’s read them together
- You answer me
- Your unfailing love and faithfulness
- Your praises (backed by your name – who you are!)
- You answer me
- You encourage by giving strength
- You will protect me
- You reach out your hands
- Your right-hand saves me
- Your faithful love endures forever.
and, - You made me.
The very reason we praise Him, along with Kings from all over the earth is that we Hear His words, we understand His care for all – especially those of us who are broken and humbled by life. They need to hear Him, and they shall, for this is His desire.
This is the reason we have hope in life, why we expect that at the end of our days there is life everlasting. This is why we know that as we walk through this life – we hear Him. For we are people who are people who are His priests and kings.
Behind the plans, God has made His nature, the very same nature we see backing up the promises He made and kept in the life and death, the resurrection and ascension of Jesus.
Like Abraham, and even more closely, we walk with God, His Spirit dwells within us, His voice resonates in us because He is with you.
Which is why we do what he did,
Hear the words again,
I have singled you out so that he will direct his sons and their families to keep the way of the Lord, by doing what is right and just.
Does that sound like this?
19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.
We, those who God has made plans for, who are blind to them, and sometimes doubt, have the same call – to help all of Abraham’s children of faith, not matter Jew or Gentile, to hear His voice, including the answer to the last cry of the Psalmist
And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:19-20 (NLT)
He won’t abandon us; He is with us… This is most certainly true. AMEN
The Ministry Of Reconciliation: A Great Untapped Power…
Devotional Thought of the Day:
35 They will say, “This once-desolate land has become like the garden of Eden. The cities once ruined, laid waste and destroyed, are now resettled and fortified.”s 36 Then the surrounding nations that remain shall know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt what was destroyed and replanted what was desolate. I, the LORD, have spoken: I will do it! (NABRE Ezekiel 36:35-36)
24 Suppose, now, that the invitation (to confess our sins and receive absolution) were changed into a command that all beggars should run to the place, no reason being given and no mention of what they were to look for or receive. How else would the beggar go but with repugnance, not expecting to receive anything but just letting everyone see how poor and miserable he is? Not much joy or comfort would come from this, but only a greater hostility to the command.
25 In the same way the pope’s* preachers have in the past kept silence about this wonderful, rich alms and this indescribable treasure; they have simply driven men together in hordes just to show what impure and filthy people they were. Who could thus go to confession willingly?
26 We, on the contrary, do not say that men should look to see how full of filthiness you are, making of you a mirror for contemplating themselves. Rather we advise: If you are poor and miserable, then go and make use of the healing medicine. (1)
That is the way you are, too, he says; that is the way you are interiorly, if we look attentively at ourselves we shall know that this is true. We are interiorly stunted and crippled. We lack interior strength because we live only exteriorly. “Everyman”, who abounded in health and life, was interiorly completely crippled, but he did not know it. In his efforts to draw all life to himself, he had failed to learn what life truly is. There appears now on stage a second female figure, who teaches the dying Everyman how to pray again. Thus faith helps to give strength to his works. Supported by faith, his works can move, and he, too, can move—to move along the right, the true road to salvation. Faith gives him from Christ’s strength what Everyman does not have of himself. (2)
A pastor or priest sits, and hears people unburden their lives, and we see a miracle happen. Those crushed by guilt and shame are healed, they are made whole. They are restored.
We can often see it with our eyes, yet the perception goes far deeper, as the grace of God bursts from their hearts and souls through their eyes. It is such a thing that Ezekiel describes as he calls watching a once desolate land become the garden of Eden. Or a city laid waste, that has been restored.
Pope Benedict wrote of it as Everyman learning to pray again – the line of communication between God and man cleared of all that blocks it from our inattention, as guilt and shame are flushed away, and we can live again. Luther talks about it as a great treasure, this healing medicine of hearing God speak.
But we would rather look in the mirror and see the filth; we would rather look at works, poor and feeble, no better than filthy rags. Because we’ve let confession (and I mean the entire church) and the precious words of absolution be neglected, we struggle to believe them, to perceive the grace we should look for, the guarantee of mercy we should desire!
This is why pastors and priests must return to teaching about this precious sacrament. So that its power to heal and restore people no longer sits unused, misunderstood, untapped. Our people need to have this – they need to be able to share the joy of their salvation, to celebrate that God isn’t far off, but in Him we still live and move and have our very being! This is amazing grace; this is proof of His unfailing love… these words of absolution, these glorious words that we are free…
God is merciful, the world needs to know this, you and I need to know this.
As we are absolved, let our awe turn into praises and celebration, as God throws us a feast, and as we know we are welcomed in His presence. AMEN!
(1) Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 460). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.
(2) Ratzinger, J. (1992). Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. (I. Grassl, Ed., M. F. McCarthy & L. Krauth, Trans.) (pp. 233–234). San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
* ( DIsclaimer: While it may be true that some in the RCC in Luther’s day are accurately described in his comment, the priests of the Roman Catholic Church I know and admire urge people to go, not just out of obedience, but because of the joy that awaits them as Christ assures them of His forgiveness – there are such pastors in every church body, even as there are those who would deny people of the joy of reconciliation)
Confronting Spiritual Apathy & Indifference
Discussion Thought fo the Day:
1 So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. 2 For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished. 3 So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak? 4 And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose.
Hebrews 2:1-4 (NLT)
1 God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it.
Hebrews 4:1 (NLT)
67 Surely it is a sin and a shame that, when he tenderly and faithfully summons and exhorts us to our highest and greatest good, we act so distantly toward it, neglecting it so long that we grow quite cold and callous and lose all desire and love for it.
68 We must never regard the Sacrament as a harmful thing from which we should flee, but as a pure, wholesome, soothing medicine which aids and quickens us in both soul and body. For where the soul is healed, the body has benefited also. Why, then, do we act as if the sacrament were a poison which would kill us if we ate of it? (1)
Luther’s stance on communion here may be shocking to some. To avoid the Lord’s Supper is simply sin, it is shameful!
I hope it is! I hope it shocks us out of our lethargy, out of the apathetic attitude we have toward being the church, the lethargy that diminished our desire to be gathered around the altar of the Lord, to receive the Body and Blood of Christ, given and shed for us.
The very summons Luther notes, as Jesus draws us to Himself, as He summons us, and would dwell in us, and us in Him is the word used in Greek, which we translate into the word “church”. Ekklesia!! Thos called out, those called together! The people of God created in the work of Christ’s obedience in life and death, as we are cleansed and set apart into an incredible, intimate, wondrous relationship with God. A relationship beyond our ability to comprehend, as we dwell in His presence, and are promised His glory!
As church growth theorists and church planters and revitalizers study churches, the one thing that can’t be studied is the source for our life, this “being called”, this being the church. We want the answers to why churches are in decline in America, we want answers to stem the tide, and the answer is simple….
Take and eat…
Take and drink…
Celebrate the union, the wedding of Christ and His bride, those called to Him, those drawn to Him by His love. Those who are united to His death and resurrection in the sacraments, especially the feast that celebrates the work, the offering being completed.
But the Church, since the days of the Enlightenment, since the days where rationalism has become the dominant philosophy, has set it aside. We have lifted up the sermon higher than the reading of the gospel, nevermind the feast that is our foretaste of the Feast that will come when Christ returns.
We’ve neglected this salvation, of celebrating it, choosing instead to sit on the sidelines, describing it as if we were announcers at a sporting event. We’ve neglected it, even as we justify celebrating it every other week or once a month, less it loses its meaning? I even heard a man justify denying people men who would serve the people of God this precious blessing, because once people only were given the Lord’s Supper once every other month, and they were very glad they got it that often!
If it is shameful and sin when we fail to celebrate this great salvation, is it any less sin to not tremble with fear when we think of people who do not experience this relationship? How much more should we tremble when we realize we have put man-made rules in place that prohibit and blocked people from experience Christ’s presence?
My friends, I leave you with this thought from Luther, describing the need of humanity for the Lord’s Supper,
72 If you are heavy-laden and feel your weakness, go joyfully to the sacrament and receive refreshment, comfort, and strength. (1)
encourage others to go with you, for they have the same need, a need that will be met there in Christ.
Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 454). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press. Large Catechism: Fifth Part – The Sacrament of the Altar
