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The Greatest Challenge To “American” Christianity
Devotional Thought of the Day:
28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. Romans 8:28-29 (NLT)
2 When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realise that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find you have become men of mature character with the right sort of independence. And if, in the process, any of you does not know how to meet any particular problem he has only to ask God – who gives generously to all men without making them feel foolish or guilty – and he may be quite sure that the necessary wisdom will be given him. But he must ask in sincere faith without secret doubts as to whether he really wants God’s help or not. The man who trusts God, but with inward reservations, is like a wave of the sea, carried forward by the wind one moment and driven back the next. That sort of man cannot hope to receive anything from God, and the life of a man of divided loyalty will reveal instability at every turn. James 1:2 (Phillips NT)
42 Desire nothing for yourself, either good or bad. For yourself, want only what God wants. Whatever it may be, if it comes from his hand, from God, however bad it may appear in the eyes of men, with God’s help it will appear good, yes very good!, to you. And with an ever increasing conviction you will say: Et in tribulatione mea dilatasti me… et calix tuus inebrians, quam praeclarus est!—I have rejoiced in tribulation…, how marvellous is your chalice. It inebriates my whole being! (1)
So often we quote Romans 8:28 to people who are going through hard times, who are suffering, who are grieving. It often becomes a modern Christian cliche, a pious version of “don’t worry, God’s got this!”
But I wonder if we realize the important of verse 29, and what that means. That the reason God has our back, is because we are to be like his Son, Jesus. We are to be Christlike. a
That’s pretty cool when we think of the promises of reigning in heaven. Not so cool when you think of the suffering and death he endured, even though it was for the joy set before him. Being Christ-like means to love our enemies, to serve those who need our love, to embrace suffering to do it, as is necessary.
But how are we with embracing suffering, with trusting God through times where we put our own desires, our wants, even our own needs (and those of our families and friends) aside, to care for those God puts in our lives.
Think about this, we struggle and argue to take in people whose lives have been ravaged by war. We would rather kill a baby who was conceived in rape than come alongside the victims (not the plural) and provide them with what they need spiritually and physically. We do everything we can to hide signs of aging, suffering, and death. (This I think is one of the strengths of the millennials, btw – they are less likely to hide their grief, sorrow, and pain)
Even in the church, this is true, as we have experts telling us why the church is dwindling in number, for reasons that cannot be our fault, our sin, and to our shame. We don’t teach our people to sacrifice; we don’t help them to learn to pray to embrace the cross. We don’t help them learn to trust God in a way that will convince them of His presence in the midst of the suffering they endure, that they even embrace.
That’s right; I said embrace!
Embrace sacrifice and suffering? Be willing to embrace sacrifice and suffering?
Isn’t enough that life throws enough suffering, sorrow and grief into our lives? Isn’t that enough?
Maybe, but probably not.
Just so you are clear, this isn’t about earning your salvation, it merits nothing in that regard. You don’t get a better view of the throne, or get next to sit next to King David in the choir, and your mansion isn’t going to be any bigger.
It is this, your joy will come, both then and now, from being in the presence of God, and knowing peace that pervades and comforts and satisfies like nothing else can.
For you will be imitating your brother, Jesus, walking with the Holy Spirit, and knowing you are a child of God.
And that my friend, we will learn is more than enough.
May God bless you, as you walk with Christ.
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 382-387). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
There is More to Salvation than Justification
Devotional Thought of the Day:
1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:1-2 (NLT)
4 But—“When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, 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 3:4-8 (NLT)
Article VI: Of New Obedience Also they teach that this faith is bound to bring forth good fruits, and that it is necessary to do good works commanded by God, because of God’s will, but that we should not rely on those works to merit justification before God. For remission of sins and justification is apprehended by faith, as also the voice of Christ attests: When ye shall have done all these things, say: We are unprofitable servants. Luke 17:10. The same is also taught by the Fathers. For Ambrose says: It is ordained of God that he who believes in Christ is saved, freely receiving remission of sins, without works, by faith alone. ( The Augsburg Confession: The Chief Articles of the Fatih)
For all of this, I must thank Him, praise Him, serve Him and obey Him. Yes, this is true!
Martin Luther, Luther’s Small Catechism: Developed and Explained, Under: “Part Two: The Creed”.
In these days following Easter, as we move towards Pentecost, the readings in my devotionals, and the assigned readings for church describe a major shift in the lives of those who trust in God. They don’t change; they are changed. They aren’t simply justified by faith, as if that is the end of their salvation, they are also sanctified, set apart in a holy relationship, described as the New Covenant between God and His people.
I think as a church we do a disservice. At the time of the Reformation, Lutheran and some Reformed churches has a balance between Justification and Sanctification. While we were absolute that nothing we do merits our salvation, that there is nothing we do to justify ourselves before God, there was a change that He did to us.
In the green and blue quotes above, from the Augsburg Confession and Luther’s Small Catechism, this change is made clear and absolute. It is necessary to do good works, and We must thank, praise, serve and obey Him. There is no option allowed in those words
Change happens. Change will happen. We are not saved by faith alone as if that is all that salvation is; it is to misrepresent Luther and the rest of the evangelical Catholic reformers to indicate that is so. They knew what would happen to us in the relationship we have with God; the New Covenant spells it out, as clearly as it spells out the assurance of Christ’s work in redeeming us.
So how does this work? How much effort will it take to change? How mandatory is it?
Regarding mandatory, I think Luther and Melanchthon and the words necessary and must make it clear from Lutheran theology. The quote from ROmans 12, Paul pleads with people to let God work this our lives, just to give ourselves into His hands (which is where we belong anyway!) and let the Spirit mold us, working through us.
Paul will also tell Timothy to keep teaching about God’s work transforming us, and the Spirit overwhelming us, for that will result in our devoting ourselves to doing good. That is the key to this, our grasping, not just with our mind but with heart, sou, mind and strength what it means to be in Christ, to have the Spirit dwell within us.
As we pray, as we learn, as God reveals Himself to us, in us, He transforms us. We become His masterpiece, a divine work of art. This is the promise God makes to us in His word.
So it makes no sense to argue about works or to call those who teach what God is doing pietists. Some need to be corrected gently, that they realize the change is made in us, rather than we make the change. Often we aren’t even aware of it, as the sheep in Matthew 25 were unaware when they ministered to Jesus. Love and ministry become more natural, more of what needs to be done. The sacraments become dearer, these active, covenant renewal moments, when the grace of God promised is delivered, whetting our appetite for the feast when all become completely transformed when all are welcomed home into the presence of our Father.
Look to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, look to Him as the Holy Spirit transforms you from glory to glory, Look to Him, know HIs love, hear His promises, and let His word direct your thoughts words and actions. And if you fall, confess it, let His absolving cleanse your heart, and continue to journey with the God, who loves you.
AMEN
The Prayer, and the Cross.
Devotional Thought of the Day:
29 My God, how is it that I do not cry out in sorrow and love whenever I see a Crucifix? (2)
They are to correct the mistaken view that prayer is not action. The men are admonished to overcome the false sense of shame that would seek to conceal their interior life—their silent relationship with God—as something unmanly and old-fashioned. Granted, piety is not to become a public exhibition; discretion is always necessary. But neither is it to be hidden away. It should be courageous, for the body, too, belongs to God. Faith is not just a matter of the spirit; prayer is not just interior. The body must pray, too. (3)
.Yesterday, I thought, and introduced the idea that the Lord’s prayer is not just what he taught us with words, but rather with how Jesus actually lived. His life was the prayer, a lesson in humility, in being the Son, not the Father.
If we are to be Christlike, if we are to grow and mature in our trust in God, this prayer must be seen worked out in our lives as well. For it is not enough to just say the words, but rather we need to trust in God hearing them, and answering them, here and now. That is faith that is not just Spirit, but life. It is prayer that is not just internal, but the prayer of our life.
So as I encouraged us yesterday, let’s begin to see the Lord’s Prayer lived out again, in the life of the Lord we are called to imitate, to be transformed into the image of.
Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. (1)
Here is where it all begins, as Jesus lives as the Son. Fully obedient, fully adoring, fully bending His will to the will of the Father. Equal in divinity, the creed informs us, Jesus still submitted in His humanity to the Father.
He didn’t seek emancipation, he didn’t strive to become the alpha male. He loved the Father, He honored Him, He grew up (as a man) to be like His Father, to the extent that to look on Christ was to look on the Father. The image of the invisible God, that is how He is described. We know about the love of the Father because we see it in Christ and his movement to the cross. We know about the Father’s desire that no one should perish, again because of the love of the Son which accomplished the calling of all to repentance.
Something that doesn’t happen unless there is communication. And as Jesus lived in view of the first commandment, He lived in view of the second. For to use a name, to keep it holy, is to use it well, to pray, praise, give thanks, to pour out your heart. We see that in the garden so clearly, and in the high priestly prayer. Prayers we know about, so that we can trust in Jesus, so we can learn to pray as well.
May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. (1)
I just referred to this, but it iis one thing to pray that God’s kingdom come and His will be done, and another thing to grow in desire and want it to come here, right now.
To love your enemies, to live life full of mercy and righteousness. To live a life where you live humbly, as Jesus did. He laid aside it all that was self-centered. Even facing the betrayal, the kiss of Judas, the denial of Peter, He loved.
Someone once said that Christ would have died on the cross for us, even if they didn’t nail Him there. He wanted the nails though, not because of some masochistic tendency, but because the Father had said they would look upon the one they had pierced.
God’s will, God’s kingdom doesn’t always seem pleasant, or easy, or joyous. Until you realize the joy is in the one lost sheep coming home, one of the repentant who brings heaven so much joy!
To pray that God’s Kingdom comes, and will is done, requires that we accept the sacrifice of the cross of Christ, that we die to self with Him, and bear our own cross, humbly, and in love of the Father.
We need to pray, not ofor God’s sake, but for ours. To communicate with Him, to know His love, to see His work, tfor it is in prayer’s dialogue, and in celebrating the sacraments (which is really prayer as well!) that we begin to see the trasnformation God would owrk in us, where faith and work are not longer divided.
It is the beginning of Christlikeness!
So cry out, and pray!
.
(1) Matthew 6:9-13 (NLT)
(2) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 344-345). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
(3) 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. 98–99). San Francisco: Ignatius Press
I am not ready for “Holy Week”, yet… I need it!
Devotional Thought of the day:
27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands; then reach out your hand and put it in my side. Stop your doubting, and believe!” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
John 20:27-28 (TEV)
16 Meditate on this frequently: I am a Catholic, a child of Christ’s Church. He brought me to birth in a home that is his, without my doing anything to deserve it. My God, how much I owe you.
The quote is not from Holy Week, but a week after.
It seemed appropriate to me for this day, as we enter a week my heart is not yet ready for. I’ve dealt with too much grief and brokenness. I’ve dealt with too much death, or more precisely, I’ve watched too many others deal with it.
I’ve got to get my head in the game; there are services to plan, sermons to write, people to visit and share the hope that seems distant. It is there, faint in the background, sustaining me, yet it is nearly intangible. As waves of grief and other stresses of life flood over us.
I so understand Thomas today, so devastated that what is true is unbelievable.
I need to see His hands, His side, I need to eat with Him, to hear His voice, to know His love is not ended, nor is His mercy, nor his hand which corrects and guides. I need to focus, and trust, and believe.
Although I would replace the capital c in Catholic, with the smaller c indicating the church is the entire church, I so am ministered to by the words of Fr. Escriva this morning. For it is Christ that brings me into His church, even as I am battered and bleeding by sin. The sin of a broken world, the sin of others which crushes me… and yes, most especially by my own sin. A sin which heightens the anxiety over death, A sin which crushes with grief and shame, a sin which can bind resentment to me in ways I cannot overcome.
And the Savior, the benevolent Lord lifts us up, pours our His mercy and grace on us, and heals our souls.
Faith is nothing more, and nothing less, than depending on Him to come to us in our brokenness…. and bring us into His home, into His kingdom, into His death on the cross so that we will live eternally with Him.
This is the message of “holy week”, the week was broken are drawn to the cross in awe and wonder, and see the love and glory of God.
I may not be ready for it, but oh, do I need it.
You do as well… so let’s walk together, crying out with other pilgrims, “Lord, have Mercy!” AMEN!
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 294-296). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
This politician is so evil and corrupt, that they ticked God off..
Devotional Thought of the Day:
He did much evil in the LORD’s sight and provoked him to anger. 7 An idol he had made he placed in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to his son Solomon: In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I shall set my name forever. 8 I will no longer make Israel step out of the land I assigned to your ancestors, provided that they are careful to observe all I commanded them, the entire law, the statutes, and the ordinances given by Moses.
9 Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into doing even greater evil than the nations the LORD had destroyed at the coming of the Israelites. 10 The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.
Manasseh’s Conversion. 11 bTherefore the LORD brought against them the army commanders of the Assyrian king; they captured Manasseh with hooks, shackled him with chains, and transported him to Babylon.* 12 In his distress, he began to appease the LORD, his God. He humbled himself abjectly before the God of his ancestors, 13 and prayed to him.* The LORD let himself be won over: he heard his prayer and restored him to his kingdom in Jerusalem. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is indeed God. 2 Chronicles 33:6-13 NABRE
We are unjust before God; we have turned away from him in pursuit of our own glorification and so we have become subject to death. But God waives the merited punishment and puts something new in its place: healing; our conversion to a renewed Yes to the truth about ourselves. So that this transformation may take place, he goes before us and takes upon himself the pain of our transformation. The Cross of Christ is the real elucidation of these words: not “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”, but “transform evil by the power of love.…” In the Cross of Christ, and only there, these words open themselves to us and become revelation. In the company of the Cross, they become a new possibility even for our own lives.
21 Here we are talking about personal faith, which accepts the promise as a present reality and believes that the forgiveness of sins is actually being offered, not about a faith which believes in a general way that God exists.
22 Such use of the sacrament comforts devout and troubled minds.
For the last week, I have seen sincere brothers and sisters in Christ aid in the demonizing of politicians that they don’t know, never mind knowing their hearts, never mind knowing the plans God has in store for us all.
Watching the anxiety grow, and the angst, I even see it beginning to fracture families and friendships, as one can’t understand how the other can support “them”. While I pray for those running, I pray even more for those who are following and placing their hopes in the plans and personalities of those running for office.
This was on my heart this morning, as I went into my devotional reading, and came across Manasseh. Not only did he encourage the worship of idols, and demonic “gods”, he even placed in God’s temple a giant Asherah pole – a pagan idol that was simply a huge phallic symbol. He put the idol in the place where God put His name, which people would know that their prayers would be answered and that He would forgive their sins, and bring them to the transformation of repentance.
A slap in God’s face, and worse. This man was evil upon evil. I think even the staunchest opponent of any politician in office today, or running for office, would find their nemesis preferable to Manasseh. Some may argue differently, but the reality is there, God’s testimony is clear – the nation’s evil was greater than nations God condemned and destroyed. God tried to speak to them, and they ignored Him.
This corrupt evil leader would not only repent; he would also lead his entire nation in repentance, in a time of purging all the idolatry from their nation.
He would lead a revival of repentance because God didn’t give up, even as God was completely ticked off, furious beyond recognition. His people, led by a descendant of the David, the man after God’s own heart, did more evil than those God had Israel clear out of the land. God was patient with them, and called them to repentance, and transformed them from evil, into His children once again.
As Pope Benedict wrote when he was a cardinal, God sent Jesus before us to bear the price of that repentance, to bear the punishment that should have been ours. He transformed evil by the power of love, not only giving us an example to follow but making it possible to love that completely. It becomes the hope, the possibility for our lives.
Melancthon writes in the Lutheran confessions that this brings us comfort when our minds are torn between being devout, yet troubled by our sin. For our trust in God, boosted by the sacraments, the acts where God pours out His mercy, love and grace, upon us.
It is those promises, and seeing those promises fulfilled in the life of Manasseh that bring peace in a time when the world and just the United States seems beyond hope God can work in and through such people. God can call them to repentance, and has.
God doesn’t give up, He strives for our very souls and the souls of those in leadership. Trust in Him, find in your baptism, and in communion the real forgiveness of sins, and pray that God would lead our leaders to the same.
So pray for them, pray for us, that all would know the mercy and peace of God.
Peace that is promised, peace that is delivered.
AMEN!
(1) 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. 78–79). San Francisco: Ignatius Press
(2) Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 214). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press..
A Prophercy Self-fulfilled: The Church Life-Span
Devotional Thought of the Day:
19 Nevertheless, listen to my prayer and my plea, O LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is making to you. 20 May you watch over this Temple day and night, this place where you have said you would put your name. May you always hear the prayers I make toward this place. 21 May you hear the humble and earnest requests from me and your people Israel when we pray toward this place. Yes, hear us from heaven where you live, and when you hear, forgive. 2 Chronicles 6:19-21 (NLT)
1 If GOD doesn’t build the house, the builders only build shacks. If GOD doesn’t guard the city, the night watchman might as well nap.
Psalm 127:1 (MSG)
About 12 years ago, I was in a program that trained pastors for what is called Intentional Interim Ministry, or what I prefer to call Transitional Ministry. It trained pastors, many retired or about to retire, in how to help a conflicted church or a church whose identity was found in relationship to their old pastor prepare to be shepherded by someone new.
A lot of the material was excellent, but there was one theory I questioned then, and I question even more now. It was called the “life-cycle” of a church. It proposed that most churches were lasting about 40 years, and 25 years into that cycle they began to decline. Often overlooked in that discussion was the exception. I questioned the theory and the basis for it. I have seen too many churches that have existed for hundreds of years and are still a cornerstone of their community. I also wondered about the correlation of the theory to the generation it originated in – the baby boomers.
Now, I see the theory has become self-fulfilling. But I still don’t think it is accurate. Here is why.
1. How we use our talent.
If we buy into the fact that a church has a specific life-cycle, then we will see a move to use our human resources and gifts accordingly. Our brighter seminarians will be taught that the best will be the large church pastors or church planters.
After all, the statistics infer that the biggest “bang for the buck” is not in established parishes and congregations, but in doing something new. Those churches in the decline or approaching 40 years will be relegated to men who go through the motions, or as the clergy crisis draws nearer, to retirees who are great preachers, but don’t have the energy or drive to disciple and work in the community.
2. How we use our money.
What we will see here is similar, Rather than invest in the costly upkeep of 40-70-year-old churches, we will fund new initiatives, and ministries that make us feel like we are accomplishing things now. Effectively we will teach the next generation that sacrifice and determination are not as important and that it is better to give up and abandon, rather than dig deep and care for a community. (we already see this in the wastelands of cities that have been abandoned)
By the way, I am not just talking about the gothic cathedrals, but the store front chapels, the inner city, and extreme rural churches.
3. We devalue the people in a place
The first church I was called to pastor was a little place with 14 senior citizens left by the time I got there. I was told by “the experts” that the most effective strategy was to drive off the people, close the doors, and re-open the church six months later with a new name. They were willing to put their money where their mouth was and offer me a generous salary if I went with their logic.
But they couldn’t answer how these people would be cared for, where they would hear of God’s love. I have since heard other leaders say it doesn’t matter; they will find some place to go, if they can’t travel to the new church plant, well they can go to some other church in their community. These people of God didn’t matter, what mattered more were the resources they were hoarding, that they weren’t using. They didn’t see any value to them. They didn’t see them as children of God, as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.
Where there’s is no prophetic vision, scriptures tell us, people will perish. When we teach them that their church must leave a legacy, rather than have them share what God is doing, then that is all that is left. A legacy. We’ve robbed them of what is theirs in Christ Jesus.
4. We dishonor God, and dismiss His promises
As I look at scripture, while the church is the people of God, there is always a special bond between the people and the land where they gather with God. The promised land to Abraham, the altars of Jacob/Israel, the role of the tabernacle and then Solomon’s temple. God always talked of a place where He would put His name, where He would gather His own. The only time those places “closed” and something new was started was during times of sin and rebellion. Times where people did what was right in their own eyes. Times when the people forgot the promises of God, and leaned on their own strength and understanding.
While a church building today isn’t the same as the Temple – it is still dedicated and set aside for a purpose. There are still those who are baptized there, where the Body and Blood of Christ is a feast of our communion with God. Where we celebrate new life, both physical and spiritual, and where we give thanks for those who are part of us, who have died and gone home.
When we invest in the new, as if it is the best, if not only hope for the church, we dismiss God, and we discount people.
But what if we invested in these places, in the communities? What if we sent pastors who would sacrifice and strive, who would guide and be patient? What if we rededicated those buildings, and re-read the gospel as the Jews were told to do regularly. What if we treasured what happened in those buildings, and invited people to join us there. What if we realize God was with
What if we sent pastors who would sacrifice and strive, who would guide and be patient? What if we rededicated those buildings, and re-read the gospel as the Jews were told to do regularly. What if we treasured what happened in those buildings, and invited people to join us there. What if we realize God was with us there, and put His name there for a purpose, for people?
I bet that would fulfill a different prophecy, and we would see that God doesn’t abandon a congregation, that God doesn’t forget His promises.
That God hears, and forgives, and reconciles and bless His people. What if that vision were given, in such a way, that the people and the church didn’t perish?
Could we give that a try, rather than just abandoning people and planting new wildernesses?
Pray to the Lord of the Harvest – for these fields are still ready for harvesting..
The Repentant: King David
The Repentant
King David: Pride and the Altar
1 Chronicles 21:1-19
†In Jesus Name †
May God’s grace not only call you to repentance but give you hope and expectation as you await the joy that awaited Jesus as He journeyed to the cross!
This is not that story
As we hear the stories of the Repentant, the lives God would change so much that all heaven would rejoice, most people who know the Bible would expect me to bring up David at some point.
I won’t disappoint you.
Well, I will, because I am not going to talk about the little affair he had with Bathsheba, and killing her husband. Simply because that sin, while horrible, doesn’t measure up to the sin of counting his soldiers, of counting the people God entrusted to His care.
Wait, are you saying that counting people is a grievous, horrendous sin?
Hmmm. Dane, have you counted how many people are here tonight? If not, maybe you shouldn’t?
There are, and there are not, greater and lesser sins. In this case, the sin was directly disobeying God, which adultery and the murder of Bathsheba’s husband also are. SO in one way, the sins are equal. It is in their impact on others that these sins differ.
One affects two families and children. That is the sin we know about, the story of lust and jealousy. This one has far more serious repercussions. David chooses his punishment even, and even that stands out. His sin, this time, affects 70,000 of the people for whom he was responsible.
70,000.
For disobeying God.
He was tempted by Satan, and he sinned gravely.
Innocent people had to die because of it. Well, they were innocent of the sin David committed.
Just like every sin we commit has consequences that affect others.
Even though we might repent, even though we might ask forgiveness, the impact of our sin’s damage on others is felt. Families are divided, friendship’s shattered, lives crushed, because we chose our way, rather than listen to God’s direction, to the life He clearly describes for us to live, that we might bless others.
Disobedience, which boils down to telling God that we know better than He does, that we should be God.
Distressed by the realization of the impact
David asked forgiveness, but there are days where we ask for forgiveness, and while we want to be forgiven, we think that is enough. We don’t always want reconciliation; we just want to be free from punishment. We don’t always want to be repentant, and we just want to be sorry….
As David looks upon the innocent suffering, as David sees the Angel of Death ready to destroy his people, the reaction is different. He is distressed by his sin, he realizes the consequence, hear His words,
“I am the one who called for the census! I am the one who has sinned and done wrong! But these people are as innocent as sheep—what have they done? O LORD my God, let your anger fall against my family and me, but do not destroy your people.” 1 Chronicles 21:17 (NLT)
This is part of what repentance is, the distress of realizing the depth of our sin, and that sin isn’t victimless. It is what drives us to confess our sins….and beg God to spare the innocent, even as David did.
(after this first half of the sermon, we have a time of silent confession and prayer, and express our hope in God, that is described in the Creed)
The Repentant
King David: Pride and the Altar
1 Chronicles 21:1-19
†In Jesus Name †
May God’s grace not only call you to repentance but give you hope and expectation as you await the joy that awaited Jesus as He journeyed to the cross
The Altar & the Promise
Even as David and leaders are face down, praying that God’s wrath will be limited to those who are guilty, there is a strong lesson in grace, a lesson that is overlooked.
You see, that place where the angel stands, the place where God commands the angel of death to stop, where he tells him it is finished, is a special place in Jewish history.
It is the temple mount, the very place in the temp that would be called the Holy of Holies. A place of grace, a place where sin would be atoned for, with the blood, portraying the blood of Jesus, the innocent, holy Son of God, taking on the curse of sin, once and for all. The plague would stop, the power of death would be shattered, and repentance, the transformation that occurs to us because of Jesus, is made sure.
For repentance is not just the feeling of sorrow, it is not even just the distress caused as we look at the effect of our sin, repentance is not just the removal of sin crushed hearts and minds, but it is effected by the blood of Christ, the love of God being poured out upon us.
You will notice that God ordered the stoppage before the repentance was complete, and that’s because of His desire to bring us back, the joy of the father seeing his prodigal son seeing the dust from his son’s feet in the distance.
I can’t make this point enough – our repentance, our realization of how badly sin has crushed us.as that repentance becomes real, as it occurs in even just one of us, the joy of heaven is beyond belief. It is as if the entire company of heaven is looking done in wonder as God takes us and heals us.
A moment of great joy, a moment beyond our comprehension… a moment to find His peace and rest and healing… for like David, and Naaman and Josiah, we’ve become the Repentant.
AMEN!
Not Again! The Problem of Evil….in…
Devotional Thought of the Day:
21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. Romans 7:21-25 (NLT)
But again I said, Who made me? Did not my God, Who is not only good, but goodness itself? Whence then came I to will evil and nill good, so that I am thus justly punished? who set this in me, and ingrated into me this plant of bitterness, seeing I was wholly formed by my most sweet God?
There is no doubt that the world can appear evil at times. All we have to do is look at news, and whether local, national or international, we will hear of evil being done, sometimes even in the name of Jesus.
But the evil that is most ominous, that is the most dangerous is the evil that lies within our hearts. In the quotes above, we see Paul and Augustine reaching a level of transparency, a level of honesty, where the struggle becomes real. Both are writing from the perspective of a believer, a believer deeply in the process of conversion, exhibiting what we call a repentant spirit; they are experiencing a transformation of their nature. Repentance that allows them to face evil straight on, but not the evil external to their life.
It is, quite obviously, a pain=filled journey into the darkness of their souls, one that most of us do not want to participate in, and get anxious when someone else call us to make it. We know we need to repent, but the hold that sin on us is great, or at least the appearance of the sin’s possession of us is great.
We need to encounter that sin, a journey called penitence. For until we do, we cannot see that the darkness, the sin, doesn’t have the grip on us that we think it does. Until we hit the despair that Paul and Augustine encounter, we can’t really how desperate we are to escape sin’s hold on us. Until we admit we are unclean, we can’t truly understand the joy of repentance, of finding the hope that removes the despair, the sin, the guilt and shame.
For there, as we encounter and face our sin, as we would “own” it, and take responsibility for it, we encounter the Cross as well. We find that evil that we once tried to justify, that we once entered into proudly, be taken from us, and laid on Jesus. That which caused us to despair is lifted from us; its hold on us shattered. The damage it has done begins to heal, and we can learn to dwell in peace.
This is repentance; this is the transformation that Ezekiel describes as God taking our stone dead heart and replacing it with one that is alive, and which the Spirit breathes life through, as our lives are cleansed. It is the repentance that Paul describes as a change of our mind , a being clothed with Christ, a change of our schematics, a being conformed to the image of Christ, which we reflect into the darkness of the world.
There is hope for dealing with evil, and it is finding the faith, the courage to cry out, Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner” and knowing He has, and does, and will. And in faith and confidence, embracing the peace He calls us to in repentance.
Augustine, S., Bishop of Hippo. (1996). The Confessions of St. Augustine. (E. B. Pusey, Trans.). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
the Repentant
Naaman’s Sin
2 Kings 5:1019 Part I
†In Jesus Name †
May you hear God’s call to repentance…until you answer it with joyous expectation!
It is one of those things they tell you when you are trained to help people. Expect the backlash, even hatred, when you tell them what they don’t want to hear, but desperately need to hear. It may be the rehabilitation therapist who pushes you or the doctor who orders that invasive test that we only see as uncomfortable and embarrassing.
Lifeguards are told to expect it when saving the life of someone who is drowning. To the point where the technique of knocking the drowning person unconscious is practiced.
Too bad they don’t have a similar technique for prophets and pastors when we are called to do that which is uncomfortable and embarrassing.
Like calling a person to repentance, or calling them to let God heal their hearts, souls, and lives.
Like Naaman in the reading this evening.
A powerful general, in fact, Naaman is the one, the armies of Israel, feared more than any other. This isn’t just the equivalent to ISIS, but the equivalent to Hitler’s best generals. A man feared, honored, respected. Enough so that a King would call for peace so that he could be healed by the God of his enemy.
It’s all set up, healing has been promised, not just a procedure recommended, but after all the trips, after all the investment and travel is made, Naaman’s sinful pride reacts.
10 But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.” 11 But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the LORD his God and heal me! 12 Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?” So Naaman turned and went away in a rage. 2 Kings 5:10-12 (NLT)
Do you believe this man? He has been promised complete healing, absolutely complete healing, and he rejects it because he doesn’t like what God calls him to do. Instead, he wants to rely on his own wisdom, his own strength and do it himself.
I mean, who does he think he is, to bargain with God?
I mean, it’s not like he’s an even a believer, he’s not even Lutheran. Why does he think he knows better than God? Who does he think he is, to say those other rivers are better than the Jordan? Who is he to get mad at God and storm off? Really???
What kind of self-righteous sinner is he? The worst of the worst, to turn away angrily from the loving mercy of God our Father…
Yes, he is the worst kind of sinner, the same sort of rebellious sinner as you and I, and the rest of the sinners in the world.
We do the same thing when we ask why we have to repent, or why we have to obey commands which we don’t like. I mean, how many of us really like and eagerly obey the command to love our enemies and pray for those who would persecute us?
Or how many of us understand the mind of God when he tells Peter to repent and be cleansed of your sin, and be transformed by the renewal of your mind.
We don’t, so we argue that our sin isn’t as bad as theirs, or that it’s not that bad of a sin, that we are just doing fine spiritually, that there is nothing to repent of.
You might even get mad at me, when I remind you that there is, or you might not like it when Chris plays that song, that reminds you that you need to have your heart and soul and mind healed.
But you do, he does, I do….
But we need to the Spirit to work in us, to guide our confession and prayer, to lay all this sin before God… and that is what we shall do right now.
(time of confession, followed by reading of the gospel and a sung Creed)
Naaman’s Sin
2 Kings 5:1019 Part II
Peter’s epistle tells us that God is patient, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. We see this in the passage, as first the slave girl to a general comes to him with the hope of a cure. A slave girl, addressing the top general of the land?
Then, as he stormed off angrily, so violently that he was going to miss the healing God has promised, his officers were used by God to call him to repentance. For those of you in the service, does anyone just walk up to the commanding general and tell him he was wrong? They did, they reasoned with him, and he heard the call to hear God, and he listened and obeyed.
And God healed Him. God had mercy on him and transformed him, just as God promised through Elisha.
It cost him nothing to be transformed, the man of God didn’t even want an honorarium.
Something more incredible happened than the healing. Hear Naaman’s words,
“Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. 2 Kings 5:15 (NLT)
That is the gospel that is repentance; that is the transformation that happens when God works in our life when we trust Him. Naaman came to repentance, to the realization that we aren’t God, that God is not to be manipulated, questioned or controlled. Instead, we embrace Him and become calmed by His love.
Naaman tried to honor God, to give him something back, through the prophet. When that happened, he did something odd, he took home some dirt, a trunk or two full. Something that would bring home the memory, and help him be humble, to help him remember that God is in charge. Seems like an odd thing to bring home, doesn’t it?
We need such reminders, both of our need to be humble, and of the grace of God, which brings us to wholeness. We need to celebrate the joy of repentance, of restoration, of reconciliation. This is why we remember our baptism, why we celebrate the Lord’s supper, why we gather together. To be reminded of His presence, and the joy of God’s work in our lives.
Can you imagine Naaman’s words upon arriving home? Hey Honey, I’m home, and you will never guess, not only am I healed, I brought home some…dirt! For the God of Israel is the true God, the God who cares for His people!
And something else, the blessing of the prophet, who said, Go in peace.
And now, as one of the repentant, he did
Amen.
Do We Have to Talk about…SIN?
the devotional thought of the day:
12 I am surrounded by many troubles— too many to count! My sins have caught up with me, and I can no longer see; they are more than the hairs of my head, and I have lost my courage. 13 Save me, LORD! Help me now!
Psalm 40:12-13 (TEV)
993 In our meditation, the Passion of Christ comes out of its cold historical frame and stops being a pious consideration, presenting itself before our eyes, as terrible, brutal, savage, bloody… yet full of Love. And we feel that sin cannot be regarded as just a trivial error: to sin is to crucify the Son of God, to tear his hands and feet with hammer blows, and to make his heart break.
29 We eliminate from contrition those useless and endless discussions as to when we are sorry because we love God and when because we fear punishment. We say that contrition is the genuine terror of a conscience that feels God’s wrath against sin and is sorry that it has sinned. This contrition takes place when the Word of God denounces sin. For the sum of the proclamation of the Gospel is to denounce sin, to offer the forgiveness of sins and righteousness for Christ’s sake, to grant the Holy Spirit and eternal life, and to lead us as regenerated men to do good. (2)
There is in Christianity two “normal” responses to sin.
The first is to diminish it, to justify it or simply ignore it. We see this all the time in society, especially with sins of desire, that is lust, greed, unrighteous anger. Oh, it’s normal we say. Or, we’re just all sinners, you can’t judge those who sin differently than you. Or, God made me this way, and I can’t help being unfaithful. There is even a theological argument, that if we preach against our sin, we have to be mindful that we are capable of nothing else.
That’s all bullshit. Dangerous because it denies the need for repentance, for transformation by indicating it is not necessary. It even denies the need for guilt or shame and covers it up as it celebrates the evil we have done.
The second is to deny repentance because it is impossible. Because their sin is so wicked, that we can only crush sinners, so their sin doesn’t affect us, or our children or our community. We stand there, with stones in our hands, trying to ignore Jesus’ calling out to us, asking us to be repentant of our sin, as well as comforting those we are trying to crush.
Though it seems to be the opposite side of the crap, this response is just as full of cow dung as the other.
Sin damages, it crushes, it breaks and shatters life. That is the reason God calls us out of a life of sin, out of a life of brokenness. And to deny that is to condemn ourselves to a life that is empty, alone, and dead. We may try to dull the pain with more sin, more “pleasure”, more logic, more condescending judgment of others, but the sin remains, something more dangerous than cancer or heart disease or diabetes. For those things destroy the body, but sin destroys the soul.
To deny the need or the possibility of repentance is perhaps the worst sin of all. For then we have placed ourselves in the position of God. We have become our own idol, and our brokenness is complete.
I love St Josemaria’s bluntness, echoing David’s. We have to realize that sin requires a sacrifice, and that Christ died because of it. Yes, that little white lie, or that juicy piece of gossip about that politician that we eagerly forward, that thought about someone else’s spouse or that jealousy. You and I sent Jesus to the cross because we chose to sin.
That thought should terrify us as much as any….
A child psychologist once told me that the most effective punishment was not just punishing my son when he was bad, but punishing things and people he loves. Putting his favorite stuffed animal on time out (or his computer) or both. I didn’t believe him at first, but he was right. Think about the Hymn “O sacred head now wounded,” that sin would have no power over us, except that it makes us realize the pain Christ endures for our sin.
And while it terrifies us to know what Christ endured because of our lack of love, because of our lack of self-control, in the very same act we find a love that heals, forgives, ends the brokenness and the anxiety of being found alone and without God.
That is why the quote in blue from the Lutheran confessions completes our thoughts. For preaching the gospel is simple – we need Christ because we are sinners, He is there because He loves us and desires to help. And the gospel isn’t complete without the Holy Spirit at work, transforming us (A synonym for repentance) and guiding us to do good works. These things, the call to repentance, the transformation that is repentance and the life of the repentant are indivisible. It is God at work in us, with us, through us.
And it is what we need.
Which is why we have to, it is an absolute must, to talk about sin and the grace which overwhelms and heals the effect of that sin.
Cry out, Lord have mercy! And know He does…
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 4014-4017). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
(2) Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (pp. 185–186). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.
