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We Need to Be Comforted, not Comfortable.
Thoughts which carry this broken believer to Jesus, and the Cross:
“Also do good things for the city where I sent you as captives. Pray to the LORD for the city where you are living, because if good things happen in the city, good things will happen to you also.”” (Jeremiah 29:7, NCV)
We have lost sight of the fact that Christians cannot live like “everyone else”. The foolish notion that there is no specifically Christian morality is merely one way of saying that a fundamental concept has been lost: the “distinctively Christian” as opposed to the models offered by the “world”. Even religious orders and congregations have confused true reform with a relaxation of the traditional austerity previously practiced. They have confused renewal with comfort. To give a small but concrete example: a religious reported to me that the downfall of his monastery began very concretely with the declaration that it was “no longer practicable” for the religious to rise during the night to recite the nocturnal office. But that was not the end of the matter. The religious replaced this uncontested but significant “sacrifice” by staying up late at night to watch television
These sufferings are often such that even the great and strong would languish and wither beneath them, were it not for the comfort God bestows. These troubles grip the heart and consume the very marrow.
There are days I am tired of being broken.
Whether it is talking about the physical brokenness I endure because of Marfan’s Syndrome, the brokenness I encounter spiritually and emotionally in my community, or the brokenness that I encounter personally because of sin and my own “unique” place on the spectrum, I am tired of it.
I know I am not alone–I have a church and community and friends around the world who are almost as broken, and just as weary and tired of it. Oddly enough, I more I realize I am broken, the more demand is placed on me to come to the assistance of those who are broken as well…and this is evidence of my deliverance, even if, at times, I do not see it.
I think it is because we are taught to pursue comfort–to live lives of leisure, to enjoy the good things in life, and be rid of anything that takes endurance, hard work and suffering. We are told life should be comfortable we should fit in it with ease, like sinking into a relaxing bath or jacuzzi, sipping on a nice cold beverage and letting the past drift away from us. (this is not new – there was a bath soap (or something like that) that used the phrase, “Calgon, take me away!”
But as I titled this blog, I think we have got it wrong. We should not pursue the comfortable, it is a goal that is impossible. We can crowd our lives with distractions, but they will not meet our greatest need..
That is why Jeremiah, as Judah is taken away, tells them to notch it up, to not only endure their captivity, but to strive to make their captors lives better, to work for their success, to pray that the Lord bless Babylon–the very people that took them as slaves and tormented them!
It is what Pope Benedict notes, as he mourns the loss of those who set aside renewal for comfort, who replace time spent in prayer and meditation with watching late night television! He laments the fact that Christian morality embraces harsh times and hardships as they learn to love God and through His love, learn to love the unlovable. The sarcrfice is worth it, for the impact on society is enormous.
While we set aside being comfortable, we find true comfort, as the Spirit, the Paraclete, comforts us. (Logically this doesn’t work unless we need to be comforted!) The troubles that are so powerfully described by Luther drive us to Jesus and to the cross, there is no recliner, no 5 star resort hotel, no self help guru/pastor/coach/cousnelor that can do what the Holy SPirit does, as the gospel is shared through God’s word and the sacraments. Indeed, were it not for that mercy and grace that the comfort consists of, we would be without any hope.
But the Holy Spirit, the Lord of life, is here. He was sent by the Father and the Son to comfort us, to dry the tears, to heal the hurts, to remind us that in Christ we have life–even if that life is hard to see at times.
We are not alone as we bear our cross, and bear it we shall. For we are joined to it with Jesus, and the Spirit comforts us in our grief.
So seek out His comfort – it is worth more than anything – for it is the result of His love, and as your rest in it, you dwell in His peace. Amen!
Ratzinger, Joseph. 1992. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl. Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Luther, Martin, and John Sander. 1915. Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year. Rock Island, IL: Augustana Book Concern.
In times of despair… there is the greatest hope
The Good Shepherd, carrying His own.
Thoughts which draw me closer to Jesus, and to the Cross
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. 12 The worker who is paid to keep the sheep is different from the shepherd who owns them. When the worker sees a wolf coming, he runs away and leaves the sheep alone. Then the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them. 13 The man runs away because he is only a paid worker and does not really care about the sheep. Jn 10:27–28 NCV
27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never die, and no one can steal them out of my hand. Jn 10:11–13. NCV
A friend of mine, who depended for years on kidney dialysis and who realized that his life was slipping away from him moment by moment, once told me that as a child, and later as an adult, he had had a special devotion to the Way of the Cross and had often prayed it. When he heard the frightening diagnosis of his illness, he was at first stunned; then suddenly the thought came to him: what you have prayed so often has now become a reality in your life; now you can really accompany Jesus; you have been joined to him in his Way of the Cross. In this way, my friend recovered his serenity, which thereafter illumined his countenance to the end of his days and made visible the light of faith that was in him.
Insecure people tend to take all criticism as a form of persecution–as a threat, a personal attack–but seldom as a call to refine or amend behavior. Thus it is St Josemaria’s priority, because he is a good father and coach, to secure his spiritual children in the love of God. And you can only find your security there in the Pauline paradox.: by felling weak and humble and yet simultaneously and wholeheartedly being totally dependent oon the power that comes from God. (see 2 Cor. 12:1-10)
I see the beams of endless day,
All radiant in yon world afar;
I long—I long to fly away,
And be where saints and seraphs are;
To join the everlasting song,
And mingle with yon ransomed throng.
I resonate a lot with Luther’s hymn, and the desire to flee this world in order to be in the presence of God. I will freely admit part of this is because of the burdens and pains of this life, There are some days those burdens, and the evil in the world combines and comes close to crushing me, somedays it seems like it does. The option of standing, perfected, holy, pure, righteous in the glory of God, to see Him as He is, and to be welcomed there… that sounds so much better than what we have here.
I resonate a lot as well with Pope Benedict XVI’s friend, who found that in the process of severe health challenges–almost I know the Way of the Cross, and I know we are united with Christ’s death and resurrection, it is a deeper thought to consider our suffering is part of His, that His included ours, and the depth of despair we know and endure, is because the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, is sustaining us. When I am thinking clearly, I remember this – for instance when our church responds with “and also with you”, or I am feeding them the Body and Blood of Jesus. This is where this peace comes from, finding the strength of Christ, finding the power involved in His death and resurrection, to be at work in us, for that God has promised.
That is why St Josemaria had, as every pastor should, the drive to secure his spiritual children, his parishioners and others he disciples, in the love of God. That is the only place we can find security, it is the only place we can find peace. It is why one friend will park his car in front of church on the way home from a bad day at work, and why another, dealing with the deepest struggles, found they could rest better than any other place, in front of the altar at their church. St Josemaria’s correct, only by being at our weakest, can we find the strength–again , for me, that comes at the altar, and looking forward to it, when I get to say only a few words, “the body of Christ, given for you…” and I see the most incredible bring healing to those who are broken. (the same as I baptize, or tell someone God has forgiven them!)
This is because in those moments we realize He is our Shepherd, that we have life, both now and eternally, when we are hearing His voice, because He walks with us. We can trust Him, and those He calls as shepherds, who are willing to suffer and sacrifice for the sheep. that takes a lot of pastors, as it took a lot out of Jesus–the sufferings and sacrifices he made prior ot the cross.
Our hope is found there… depending on Him, and His presence. It is our life… with our Shepherd….
Ratzinger, Joseph. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl, Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth, Ignatius Press, 1992, pp. 110–11.
Hanson, Dr. John Henry, Coached by Josemaria Escriva, Scepter, NY, 20204
Luther, Martin, and John Hunt. The Spiritual Songs of Martin Luther: From the German. Translated by Thomas Clark, Hamilton, Adams, and Co., 1853, p. 156.
Hope only is good in the challenging times!
Multiple thoughts – all leading me back to Jesus, and the cross!
Why am I so sad?
Why am I so upset?
I should put my hope in God and keep praising him, my Savior and my God.
Psalm 42:5 NCV (repeated word for word in verse 11)
What the Church is underscoring here is more than the ceaseless alternation of dying and becoming, more than the consoling fact that a new generation with new ideas and new hopes always succeeds the old one. Were that all that was being commemorated here, then the Child would have offered no hope for Simeon, but only for himself. But it is more than that; it is hope for everyone, because it is a hope that extends beyond death.
Arise, oh God! display Thy might—
Attend Thy people’s cries;
Since mercy is Thy chief delight,
To show it, Lord, arise:
From earth let all the wicked cease,
And give Thy chosen people peace.
Oh God! how bright shall be that day,
When all our toils are o’er,
And our glad souls shall fly away
To yonder blissful shore:
Oh, how supremely blest are they
Who make the Lord their only stay!
LORD Jesus Christ, our only comfort, our hope, our righteousness, our strength and sure defence, we beseech Thee, kindle in our breasts a fervent desire, hunger, and thirst for that eternal food of the soul,—Thy true body and blood,—that we may gladly and frequently receive the glorious Sacrament in true realization of our sins and strong reliance upon Thee, unto the strengthening and assurance of our souls, until at last life’s pilgrimage ended, we come to Thee in the true Fatherland, to see Thee face to face, and abide with Thee through all eternity. Amen.
Let us, then, labor for an inward stillness— An inward stillness and an inward healing; That perfect silence where the lips and heart are still, and we no longer entertain our own imperfect thoughts and vain opinions, But God alone speaks in us, and we wait In singleness of heart, that we may know His will, and in the silence of our spirits, That we may do His will, and do that only!
A lot of my devotional reading this morning reflected the same thought – dealing with sadness, and not being satisfied with the situation we are dealt in life. I have been there, far more often than i share, and i muddle through it, struggling, yet confident that God is somehow at work
The Psalmist’s words hit home in the mist of this paradox, noting not only the depression/despair/angst one dwells within, but the fact they can still find hope in God–and keep praising Him – for He is our Savior.
This was Pope Benedict’s point about Simeon and Jesus. Simeon can die in peace, having witnessed the horrors of Roman occupation, because he knew that the Messiah would not only bless the younger generations, but give the “hope that extends beyond death.” A hope that can be known, even as we are dreading getting out of bed in the morning, or dealing with some trauma or sin – there is still hope there… (if there wasn’t such experiences, why would we need hope anyway?_
Martin Luther takes on the thought – focusing on the joy awaiting us and the fact that God does show us mercy, and brings us peace in the midst of the hurricane–but the greatest joy awaits us in the presence of God the Father, the place we belong, the place assured for us at the cross we are drawn to, and share with Jesus.
The Jesus whom Loehe points out in this incredible prayer, meant to be prayer before the Lord’s Supper. Not because the supper is magic, but it is because that moment is one commanded for us to commune with God. It takes our sin and brokenness, things that crush us, and wipes them away for we recognize Jesus in that moment, His body and blood–and the promise of healing and the assurance that we are welcome in the presence of God. Loehe isn’t some kind of mystic, but the promises of the Eucharist are there to sustain us until this life ends, and we finally find ourselves at home.
Which brings us to Longfellow – and the promises of Psalm 46 – of being still – and knowing God. And we let HIm minister to us, we let Him speak, and we finally listen. “given for you!” “shed for you!”
IN the 20 years I have been a Lutheran, my dedication to celebrating the Eucharist ha only grown, and I rejoice in weeks like this – where i get to share it with more shut-ins, as well as with the church on Sunday morning. For its been a rough week one were the Psalmist’s words I’ve actually used…..acknowledging the brokenness – and more importantly – the hope…..
And so I will praise Him for the hope.
Ratzinger, Joseph. 1992. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl. Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Luther, Martin, and John Hunt. 1853. The Spiritual Songs of Martin Luther: From the German. Translated by Thomas Clark. London: Hamilton, Adams, and Co.
Lœhe, William. 1914. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Translated by H. A. Weller. Chicago: Wartburg Publishing House.
HW Longfellow, “Christus: A Mystery.” Nolasco, Rolf, Jr. 2011. The Contemplative Counselor: A Way of Being. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
Do We Take The Liturgy and Preaching Too Seriously?
Thoughts which drive me closer to Jesus, and to the Cross!
13 Whoever acts without mercy will be judged without mercy but mercy can afford to laugh at judgement.
James 2:13 (NJB)
In the Baroque period the liturgy used to include the risus paschalis, the Easter laughter. The Easter homily had to contain a story which made people laugh, so that the church resounded with a joyful laughter. That may be a somewhat superficial form of Christian joy. But is there not something very beautiful and appropriate about laughter becoming a liturgical symbol?
Therefore as in the preceding verses the passion and death of Christ are prophesied, so in this verse his resurrection is predicted, though by a somewhat obscure allusion. Who would have thought, while Christ was suffering and the Jews triumphing, that God was laughing at them all the while! So also while we are oppressed, how shall we believe that God is holding our adversaries in derision, when it seems to us as though we were held in derision both by God and men? What a power of faith is required in all these words!
In my office hangs a copy of the painting entitled Jesus laughing.
I often thought of it as a reaction to something Peter said, or when some well-meaning rabbi complimented Him on His understanding of scripture.
The words of Luther gave me another insight–as the Father endures watching the Son endue the cross…there is a slight grin on His face, a grin like the A-Team’s Colonel as he says, “I love it when a plan comes together.” In that same moment, as Jesus screams it is finished, a victory cry through the pain can be slightly heard…
The God who tells us to rejoice without ceasing himself rejoices without ceasing.
This attitude needs, no, it has to invade our liturgy, to invade our preaching. The joyous laughter that knows that no matter what, the plan of God will succeed, and the people of God are His. We are HIS!
That is why when Pope Benedict XVI, one of the greatest theologians and teachers on the liturgy brings up laughter, but only from his own perspective. He brought up the history of the liturgy, and the fact that the rubrics required laughter in the homily! For the very reason that this was a celebration–a time when laughter is more than appropriate!
Do you think Simeon, when holding the baby Jesus, knowing He was the Messiah, wasn’t giggling with laughter? Do you not think the disciples were laughing and crying in the upper room when Jesus appeared? That Thomas, on His knees, wasn’t smiling–even as Jesus said he could touch his wrists and put his hand in Jesus’ side.
This is part of our minsitry, this odd, paradoxical sense of humour in the midst of complete reverence and awe of the God who comes to us, to die for us, to use all of His power to save and re-create us… which brings God the greatest joy, and glee.. and laughter!
Joseph Ratzinger, Behold The Pierced One: An Approach to a Spiritual Christology, trans. Graham Harrison (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986), 119–120.
Martin Luther and John Sander, Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year (Rock Island, IL: Augustana Book Concern, 1915), 391.
What Should Make Christianity…. different?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
I tell you that this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 44 Everyone else gave what they didn’t need. But she is very poor and gave everything she had. Now she doesn’t have a cent to live on. Mark 12:43-44 CEV
By the words “to save” we understand the whole of the great work of salvation, from the first holy desire onward to complete sanctification. The words are multum in parro: indeed, here is all mercy in one word. Christ is not only “mighty to save” those who repent, but he is able to make men repent. He will carry those to heaven who believe; but he is, moreover, mighty to give men new hearts and to work faith in them. He is mighty to make the man who hates holiness love it, and to constrain the despiser of his name to bend the knee before him. Nay, this is not all the meaning, for the divine power is equally seen in the after-work. The life of a believer is a series of miracles wrought by “the Mighty God.”
The pagan knew the fact that our hearts are restless, but he did not know the reason. Christianity supplies the reason, the key to the lock, the answer to the puzzle pondered by the great philosophers Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, even by Qoheleth in the book of Ecclesiastes. All these thinkers believed in a God, but they were not happy because they did not know God was love. Socrates worshipped the unknown God whom he would not name and knew he did not know. Plato’s God was impersonal truth and goodness. Aristotle’s God was a cosmic first mover who could be known and loved but who did not know or love us. Cicero’s God was only a vague object of “piety”. And the God of Ecclesiastes sat unmoving and unknown in Heaven while man’s life on earth remained “vanity of vanities, all is vanity”
172 Augustine says very clearly, “All the commandments of God are kept when what is not kept is forgiven.”1 Therefore even in good works he requires our faith that for Christ’s sake we please God and that the works in themselves do not have the value to please God.
173 Against the Pelagians, Jerome writes, “We are righteous, therefore, when we confess that we are sinners; and our righteousness does not consist in our own merit, but in God’s mercy.”
The novel Christian reality is this: Christ’s Resurrection enables man genuinely to rejoice. All history until Christ has been a fruitless search for this joy. That is why the Christian liturgy—Eucharist—is, of its essence, the Feast of the Resurrection, Mysterium Paschae. As such it bears within it the mystery of the Cross, which is the inner presupposition of the Resurrection.
This morning I came across some very powerful quotes in my reading. I love them, whether it is from a soon to be pope (Ratzinger), an incredible philosopher (Kreeft), a group of rebels (the early Lutherans), or a British pastor who was perhaps, the first mega-church pastor.
They all point to one thing, the fact that Christianity is different. Philosophers tried to point to him, but they couldn’t understand God. That the Eucharist does, more clearly perhaps than anything else, for we encounter and experience Jesus there. In the mercy of God which makes our broken lives perfect as God grants to us repentance and sanctification – as He completely saves us.
What an incredible concept, this salvation.
But do we really comprehend this blessing, this gift?
I do not think we do, at least not always.
How about this explanation. We (the church) are like children at Christmas, more interested in playing with the box our present came in than actually enjoying the present.
Salvation, the complete work of God is so large a gift, we cannot understand it. But we can experience it, and it does more than change us. Jesus does more than give us life, He is that life. That is what makes Christianity different, it is the religion that is more than a relationship, for a relationship cannot begin to express what living in Christ is like.
The old lady with the two pennies experienced it. She wasn’t impressed with the box, she simply enjoyed walking with God, and gave what she had that others would as well.
We don’t even know her name, and she could care less.
She was with God, and among His people, as broken, as misdirected, as….unfocused on what she knew and responded to…
May we be more like her….. and enjoy living in Christ, as the children the Father loves.
C. H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening: Daily Readings (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896).
Peter Kreeft, The God Who Loves You (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2004), 39–40.
Theodore G. Tappert, ed., The Book of Concord the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press, 1959), 130–131.
Joseph Ratzinger, The Feast of Faith: Approaches to a Theology of the Liturgy, trans. Graham Harrison (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986), 65.
Where One Finds Hope….
Devotional Thought of the Day:
30 And why should we ourselves risk our lives hour by hour? 31 For I swear, dear brothers and sisters, that I face death daily. This is as certain as my pride in what Christ Jesus our Lord has done in you. 32 And what value was there in fighting wild beasts—those people of Ephesus—if there will be no resurrection from the dead? And if there is no resurrection, “Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!” 33 Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company corrupts good character.” 34 Think carefully about what is right, and stop sinning. For to your shame I say that some of you don’t know God at all. 1 Corinthians 15:30-34 (NLT)
Heaven, then, is none other than the certainty that God is great enough to have room even for us insignificant mortals. Nothing that we treasure or value will be destroyed. As we ponder all this, let us ask the Lord on this day to open our eyes ever more fully to it; to make us not only people of faith but also people of hope, who do not look to the past but rather build for today and tomorrow a world that is open to God. Let us ask him to make us who believe happy individuals who, amid the stress of daily living, catch a glimpse of the beauty of the world to come and who live, believe, and hope in this certainty. (1)
These days, from just after Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve are called the season of Advent, the time where we wait for the second coming of Jesus, and eternity to be revealed.
It is a time of hope, of expectation.
Time we need, for many of us are experiencing a time of life that seems hard, and one without any form of hope.
Advent is not the answer to the hopelessness in and of itself. It simply seeks to remind us of the hope. It is a time where we go through, recognizing our need for hope, our need for something more, that this life is not all there is.
When we know there is something, we learn to wait for it, fully expectant in the promises of God. That hope gives us the ability to depend on God for the strength to endure.
For heaven is waiting, the place we can’t describe, yet what we know is enough. For we will be with the one who loves us! As Pope Benedict points out, this gives us a sense of happiness, a sense of joy, even amid the stress of daily living.
Which is why the Lord’s Supper is the ultimate moment in Advent. It is that piercing the curtain between our mortality and our immortality. The Body and Blood of Jesus, a feast that God our Father serves us, is the moment we find ourselves in His presence so clearly, so completely. From that moment, as with our baptism, the hope of heaven is more than a dream, it is real, the presence of God quite tangible.
Which is the point of Advent, amid the stress of life, as it seems we are in the midst of darkness, affected by disease, division, depression and even death; it is then these extra moments, assuring us of God’s promises, and His faithfulness, are so needed.
This is life, as we don’t just walk with God, we let Him carry us… and safe in His arms, expecting a new day, we find peace.
(1) Ratzinger, Joseph. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Ed. Irene Grassl. Trans. Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1992. Print.
Where is “THE” Church? The Quest of a Naive Cynic
Devotional Thought of the Day:
15 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. 18 Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”
Matthew 16:15-19 (NLT)
40 Learn this article, then, as clearly as possible. If you are asked, What do you mean by the words, “I believe in the Holy Spirit”? you can answer, “I believe that the Holy Spirit makes me holy, as his name implies.”
41 How does he do this? By what means? Answer: “Through the Christian church, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”
42 In the first place, he has a unique community in the world. It is the mother that begets and bears every Christian through the Word of God. The Holy Spirit reveals and preaches that Word, and by it, he illumines and kindles hearts so that they grasp and accept it, cling to it, and persevere in it.
Catholic theology must state more clearly than ever before that, along with the actual presence of the word outside her boundaries, “Church” is also present there in one form or another; that, furthermore, the boundaries of the efficacy of the Holy Spirit are not congruent with those of the visible Church. For, on the one hand, the Spirit, the grace, on whose action the Church depends for her very existence, can be wanting even to those within the Church; on the other hand, it can be efficacious in those outside the Church. To borrow Congar’s cogent phrase, it would be both foolish and perverse to identify the efficacy of the Holy Spirit with the work of the ecclesial apparatus.
Yesterday was the day that many of God’s people celebrated what is called the Confession of St. Peter. The celebration that God the Father revealed to Peter that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Father. Like Pentecost, it is one of the formative days of the Church, for it is that day when the church received it’s first “creed”.
A creed is simply a statement that describes what you depend upon in life. It is not a complete statement of doctrine, of that which people intellectually know. For while a “belief statement” or “doctrinal statement” expresses what is contained in our mind, a Creed adds to that what is in our heart, our soul, and is the source of our strength. It is what we depend upon, the truth we believe we can base our entire life upon. It is what distinguishes the church from every other group.
And so, like Pentecost, yesterday was a celebration of the church, and what it is built upon.
Christ, the Son of the living God.
With that being understood, I must confess a different problem, which is caused in part by both my naivete and my cynicism. Naivete because I expect the church to be the church. And I expect its leaders to strive to limit the politics and power struggles. I naively expect them (and myself) to live according to this truth we hold dear, this Man, who was the Messiah, the one Anointed to save us. My mind tells me logically; there must be that church, led by those striving to be like Christ, who’ve set aside everything and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and focus on Christ, the author, and perfecter of our faith.
Can’t there be such a thing, a group of people who are gathered into one Body who live and breathe based on what they believe in?
My cynicism says, “Uhm, no.”
Yes, we can find congregations where this is a focus and priority. Or a Bible Study. But there doesn’t seem to be a denomination out there where this is true. I have to admit a lot of frustration in this, because why can’t it be so? I can look at one denomination, where the leadership is struggling to help people live like Christ, yet their doctrine gets in the way. I look at another where the doctrine is as good as it can be, and yet the power struggles are so blatant, so extreme that it sickens me. I’ve seen too many crushed by it while seeing others rejoice over the pain caused to their “enemies.”
Is it foolish and perverse to want to identify an “ecclesiastical apparatus” with the efficacy of the Holy Spirit? My naivete calls for such a church; my cynicism wants to find a cave and lock myself into it. The option is not to spout that I want a relationship but not a religion and head for the beach. If ti were, Christ is a liar. He said nothing couldn’t prevail against His church. He died for her, so she must exist!
Both Luther and Benedict point to such a church, a church that is focused on what Peter confesses, a church where the Holy Spirit is working, sometimes clearly within the structure of the denominations, but often not. A church some theologians would label the “invisible church”, but because the Holy Spirit is working, it is visible, you know when you are there. A church based primarily on doctrine, not primary on the organization and structure, but gathered by the Holy Spirit. Where the Holy Spirit is using the word, is connecting people to Jesus and then to the Father.
This is what Pope Benedict wrote of, “the Spirit, the grace, on whose action the Church depends for her very existence,” and Luther reveals why, “The Holy Spirit reveals and preaches that Word, and by it he illumines and kindles hearts so that they grasp and accept it, cling to it, and persevere in it.
As I see this, it comforts by shattered naivete, you see the church does exist! We see Her as we see the Holy Spirit working; as the Spirit reconciles people to God and each other, as the spirit heals the broken hearted, and sets free the those bound by sin. It also shatters my cynicism, for the miracle of the Holy Spirit at work just denies the idea that there is no church. For what else could explain what happens when Christ crucified is preached. For then, the church is no longer invisible but is becomes an intact mosaic, one that is not bound within the lines drawn by man, but rather drawn together in Christ.
The church, broken, yet healing, is a glorious thing, as this occurs, St Paul described it well. “All of us, then, reflect the glory of the Lord with uncovered faces; and that same glory, coming from the Lord, who is the Spirit, transforms us into his likeness in an ever greater degree of glory.” 2 Corinthians 3:18 (TEV)
May we be patient and determined, as the Holy Spirit works, pointing us to Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God. AMEN!
(1) Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 416). 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.) (p. 29). San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Has the Church Forgotten the only Fact it needs to focus on?
devotional thought fo the day
“And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” Matthew 28:20b (NLT)
“Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” Mt 1:23
“For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.” Mt 18:20
“Answer: A god is that to which we look for all good and in which we find refuge in every time of need. To have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe him with our whole heart. As I have often said, the trust and faith of the heart alone make both God and an idol.
If your faith and trust are right, then your God is the true God. On the other hand, if your trust is false and wrong, then you have not the true God. For these two belong together, faith and God. That to which your heart clings and entrusts itself is, I say, really your God.” (1)
2. In His goodness and wisdom God chose to reveal Himself and to make known to us the hidden purpose of His will (see Eph. 1:9) by which through Christ, the Word made flesh, man might in the Holy Spirit have access to the Father and come to share in the divine nature (see Eph. 2:18; 2 Peter 1:4). Through this revelation, therefore, the invisible God (see Col. 1:15, 1 Tim. 1:17) out of the abundance of His love speaks to men as friends (see Ex. 33:11; John 15:14–15) and lives among them , so that He may invite and take them into fellowship with Himself. (2)
584 Stir up the fire of your faith! Christ is not a figure of the past. He is not a memory lost in history. He lives! Iesus Christus heri et hodie: ipse et in saecula! As Saint Paul says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today—yes, and forever!” (3)
We cannot probe more deeply into the roots of the world in order to change it than by resting on the Heart of God, thus making it possible to call upon the living Ground and Power that supports everything and is alone capable of restoring all things (4)
When something keeps showing up in my morning devotions, I figure it must be something I need to share with those who read my blog. Actually, I don’t want to admit the real reason, and writing the blog helps me, because I write what I need to hear/read. It is God’s way of seeing if there is anything functioning in my brain, trying to get me to understand the most critical fact the church needs to remember. The critical fact I need to remember.
To know that not only God is, not only does He love us, but that He is with us. He has designed us to live with Him, describing us as being in Christ, abiding in Christ, the Holy Spirit residing with us. Over and over and over. That is why we can trust in Him because He is present because we have a relationship with Him, a relationship more intimate, more complete than any other relationship we have.
It all begins and ends with that relationship.
Every doctrine focuses on it, from Justification that makes it possible. Sanctification, the doctrine of being set apart, to that relationship. The sacraments, by which the reality of the relationship is communicated. Scripture, the record of the promises God makes to us, and a record of how He faithfully keeps those promises. Faith, the trust that becomes the natural expression of the relationship.
This is where we need to focus; it is this fact that is the reason for evangelism. It isn’t about transforming behavior (though that may happen), it isn’t worry about whether the world reflects what God teaches us is good and holy behavior. (We struggle with it, why do we expect them not to?)
This is what our religion is all about, walking with God. Everything else in Christianity, in our religion brings us to know this.
It is what matters in the end, and it is what gets us through this day.
I need to be reminded of this daily, so I expect that you will hear of it often.
The Lord is with you!
1. Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 365). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.
2. Catholic Church. (2011). Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation: Dei Verbum. In Vatican II Documents. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana
3. Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 1395-1397). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
4. Ratzinger, J. (1992). Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. (M. F. McCarthy & L. Krauth, Trans., I. Grassl, Ed.) (p. 211). San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Crying Out Loud
Crying Out Loud
Galatians 4:4-7
† IHS †
We are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father!”
A Lightening Strike….
a great quote!
A few weeks ago, at 3:40 in the morning, a loud thunderclap woke up people from here to Irvine, and all the way up to Santa Monica.
I know, for immediately afterward, my phone was going off with facebook messages about it from those two places, and everywhere in between. People were posting about the children and their dogs flying into my friend’s bedrooms, diving under their covers, trembling and scared.
I figured it would eventually make for a great Pastor Parker Parable, and with our readings today, it does.
How many of you remember that happening, either the invasion of your bedroom, or invading your parents’ bedroom, after a particularly loud thunderclap, or a frightening strike of lightning?
Well, Christmas is somewhat like that thunderclap.
For it sends us racing to the Father’s arms, the place we belong, not just when we are anxious or scared.
Because of Jesus, it is the place we belong….
For we’ve been given the right to cry out loud, to use the name of the Lord, to call out to Him in prayer… and in praise.
That’s the point of Christmas, of the name of Jesus which means Yahweh Saves, and His being Immanuel – God with us,
It is the point of Paul in our 2nd reading as well…
This What the Right Time is about!
When the time was right Paul says, when the moment was perfect, when the plan came together, and every aspect that God had promised, revealed in the Old Covenant and the words of the prophets,, when that time happened.
It was Christmas… Mary gave birth to God and Man, one being, yet… beyond our ability to comprehend.
He was born within the very covenant relationship, yet fully representing both sides, the Sovereign Lord, and the man God would bind himself to, for eternity. I love how one theologian-pastor put it:
Christianity is not a religion of fear but of trust and of love for the Father who loves us. Both these crucial affirmations speak to us of the sending forth and reception of the Holy Spirit, the gift of the Risen One which makes us sons in Christ, the Only-Begotten Son, and places us in a filial relationship with God, a relationship of deep trust, like that of children; a filial relationship like that of Jesus, even though its origin and quality are different. Jesus is the eternal Son of God who took flesh; we instead become sons in him, in time, through faith and through the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation…. He destined us in love to be his [adopted] sons through Jesus Christ” (Eph 1:4).[i]
What amazing words, we who had chosen to rebel against God, who sold ourselves into slavery by choosing to sin rather than obey God, are welcomed as children, His children!
No matter that threat of the storm, we are invited to life in Christ, He’s opened the door, welcomes to live as His very own children.
Knowing we will be the children who struggle, who get frightened by storms and thunderclaps.
It will take us a while to learn to run to Him, but that is what children need to do.
The Blessing of being the Trinity’s family!
That is why I love to talk about baptism, that time when God makes it all right. He joins us to Christ’s death and resurrection, It is that point where the promise of God’s work is made clear, as the Holy Spirit is given to us, the Spirit sent into our hearts to convince us that we are the children of God. Another Christian leader put it this way:
“With Baptism we become children of God in his only—begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Rising from the waters of the Baptismal font, every Christian hears again the voice that was once heard on the banks of the Jordan River: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Lk 3:22). From this comes the understanding that one has been brought into association with the beloved Son, becoming a child of adoption (cf. Gal 4:4–7) and a brother or sister of Christ. In this way the eternal plan of the Father for each person is realized in history: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren” (Rom 8:29).
You are God’s son, you are God’s daughter,
We are the children of God, given the ability to cry out loud for our Abba, Father. Indeed we are expected to, whether the cry is the cry for comfort and protection; or whether it is the cry, when we realize we have come home on that holy day when Christ brings us home.
The pastor went on….
It is the Holy Spirit who constitutes the baptized as Children of God and members of Christ’s Body. St. Paul reminds the Christians of Corinth of this fact: “For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body” (1 Cor 12:13), so that the apostle can say to the lay faithful: “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1 Cor 12:27); “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts” (Gal 4:6; cf. Rom 8:15–16).[ii]”
That is the Holy Spirit’s job, to bring us into the family, to bring make us one with Christ, To bring us to faith. He makes it happen, as we become aware of our part in the body of Christ.
That is what Paul is talking about – why Christmas and being a Christian is like a lightning storm’s ear shattering thunderclap – for we know where our comfort, our peace, our family belongs.. in the presence of our dear heavenly Father, for there, there is peace.
Even as we look forward to the day when we cry our loud – “Abba Father!” and we hear in reply, “welcome home, my dear children!”
AMEN!
[i] Benedict XVI. (2013). General Audiences of Benedict XVI (English). Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
[ii] John Paul II. (1988). Christifideles Laici. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
Are We Worthy to Be In Their Company?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
33 By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. 35 Women received their loved ones back again from death. But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. 36 Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. 37 Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. 38 They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground. 39 All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. 40 For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us.
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3 Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. 4 After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin. Hebrews 11:22-12:4 (NLT)
258 What a beautiful prayer for you to say frequently, that one of our good friend praying for a priest whom hatred for religion imprisoned: “My God, comfort him, since it is for you he suffers persecution. How many suffer, because they serve you!” What a source of joy the Communion of Saints is! (1)
I read the 11th chapter of Hebrews today, from Abraham through the prophets, from judges to kings and apostles, and I wonder how they achieved the trust they had, the level of faith that sustained them in times of dire need. I consider the saints since, the brilliant ones like Chrysotom, Augustine, and Melancthon, Walther and Benedict XVI. I think of those who’ve changed the world like Luther or Craenmer or St. Josemaria Escriva or Billy Graham, I think of those who withstood tyranny and proclaimed Christ, who would die rather than worship a false God. I think of those like Francis and Mother Theresa and the many unknown who serve those whose health is poor, who live in darkness. Whose names are unmentioned, but their work changes lives. I think of King David and Bede, Beethoven and Mozart; Charles Wesley, Fanny Crosby, John Michael Talbot, Michael Card, and hear the wondrous praise they have composed.
And I wonder, do I belong in their company?
My head tells me I do, because of the theology I know and preach… that Christ came to have mercy on sinners like me. This is what my soul counts on, more than anything.
Yet in my heart I wonder, will I simply be in the last row in heaven? In the folding chair, brought in at the last moment for those of us standing around, not quite sure I belong there?
After all, I haven’t the wisdom, or the skill, and I especially don’t have the patience of those who endured before me. I haven’t done anything noteworthy, never gotten a million hit, heck a thousand hit blog post, or wrote a song picked up by some great singer. Never served communion to more than 150, or baptized 5 people in a day.
Sometimes I wonder if I will be the last one picked, like in a sandlot baseball game. God shrugs – yeah – I will take him, I guess I need a millionth string holder for the place kicker.
In my mind I would love to be listed there, one of those who did something that was an amazing demonstration of my trust of God, even more a demonstration of how much God is worthy of all trust. How much God will sustain His people, through the worst of storms, through martyrdoms, even as they forgive the sins of those who oppress them.
But I am not, just a simple guy, trying to shepherd simple people. People who still struggle with sin, people who still on occasional doubt. People who learn about God and haev to re-learn about His love. People who still struggle with wanting to do things their own way, seek their own pleasure.
First 40 is amazing to spend some time thinking about;
40 For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us.
Without us. Without you and I.
God has something in mind… that we will join them.
These heroes of the church, are waiting, by God’s command, for us…..
And because of this great crowd, bearing witness of Christ, who’ve demonstrated to us the faithfulness of God, surround us, we know we can do as they did. Set everything else aside, just drop it there, and look to Jesus. He is why we have faith, and why our faith will be sustained. He will finish what He began in us. . That is why we will be part of the cloud, it is why they are part of the cloud…..
they are sinners just as we are, and they are saints like us because He is.
We do that, we find we are part of the team, those who know that are life is hid in Christ. And that we are part of that great cloud of Witnesses…
AMEN….
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 1081-1084). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
