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Do We Serve God, or Does God Serve Us?

Do We Serve God, or Does God Serve Us?

Mar 21

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Devotional Thought fo the Day:

Featured image18  And I told them how God had been with me and helped me, and what the emperor had said to me. They responded, “Let’s start rebuilding!” And they got ready to start the work. Nehemiah 2:18 (TEV) 

1    Don’t let your life be sterile. Be useful. Blaze a trail. Shine forth with the light of your faith and of your love. With your apostolic life wipe out the slimy and filthy mark left by the impure sowers of hatred. And light up all the ways of the earth with the fire of Christ that you carry in your heart.  (1)

When elected President of the United States of America, John F. Kennedy directed the citizens of the USA to ask themselves a question.  Occasionally, I’ve heard that question adapted to the church, especially when a church is low on funds or wants to start a new ministry.  The adapted question reads something like this:

Ask not what God can do for you, ask what you can do for God (or at least for His church).

When I hear such motivational malarky (an old-fashioned word for bullshit) it irritates me slightly.  Okay, more than slightly.  Not because God’s people shouldn’t be active in ministry, they must be. But the reason for such activity is not to do something for God as if to earn His favor.  Or to do something for God, as if to repay some debt.  Our living as Christians isn’t something that has to be manipulated.

I’ve heard a similar question asked about church.  Do we go to church to serve God or to let God serve us.  Matter of fact, there are great debates about this, with judgment being poured out on those who think otherwise.  Both sides take up their positions, prepare their defenses, pump up their disciples, and start tossing cliche’s and one-line statements of wisdom.

It is the same question – do we serve, or are we served?  Is it all about pleasing God, or do we expect to be made happy.

It is neither.  Both sides of the question have overlooked the obvious.

it is not about who does what for whom.

It is about communion.  It is about knowingly living in the presence of God.  As Nehemiah wrote, “God had been with me”. as St Josemaria wrote, “with the fire of Christ you carry in your heart”  For them, what is to be done pours out of that intimate relationship with God. Not from demanded obedience, but from hearing Him,  (Greek and Hebrew scholars who are struggling with this, go look up the word for hear.)

Whether it is giving a thirsty man a cup of cold water, buying a homeless lady breakfast, visiting that person who is bedbound and can’t live a normal life, or kneeling and receiving the body and blood of Jesus, given and shed for you; our actions aren’t about who benefits.  it’s not a God scratches our back, we will scratch His.

It’s about walking with God, about rejoicing in His presence. To use an old phrase, it is about abiding with Christ or practicing the presence of God. (Except it isn’t practice!)

It is a Heavenly Father, walking through life with His children, even when our Father has to pick us up and carry us, because the road seems too tiring, to long.

So don’t ask what God will do for you, or what you will do for God.  Don’t go to church expecting to be served, or struggling with whether your service will be acceptable.

Simply be in the presence of God, enjoy His company, let Him be your Father and know you are His children.

The rest?  It will become obvious.

(1)  Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 171-173). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.

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The Attitude of Endurance Part I

The Attitude of Endurance Part I

Mar 8

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The Attitude of Endurance Pt 1

John 2:13-22 

As You Journey through this life, may the grace and mercy of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ convince you of the God’s passionate care for His people!

Nothing will stand in the way

Attitude is often the difference between victory, and failure.

For a student, it is necessary, in order to master the material.  Determination makes the difference, far more often than intelligence does.  For some things can only be learned through slow repetition.  Attitude matters then because a determined attitude will see you through the boring times

For an athlete, an attitude of determination can be the difference between victory and defeat.  When an inch matters, determination can stop your opponent.

What about a husband and wife?  Do they need to have the correct attitude to see their marriage survive?

What about a believer?  Does our attitude help us endure, trusting in God

Or an elder or a pastor?  Does attitude have anything to do with how we minister to those around us?

What about our Savior?
If we are to endure this life, and the challenges to our faith, does Christ’s attitude matter?

As Jesus clears the temple courtyard, we see His dedication to seeing us endure.  An attitude we need to imitate, that we all need to model for those who need to know His love.

Why was this wrong?  Some background
As the Passover nears, people gathered from all over the Mediterranean Basin.  They traveled from Rome, from Greece, from Alexandria Egypt and Babylon.  Two parts of their journey that mattered were paying the temple tax, and offering pure; unblemished sacrifices, as important to them as our sacraments are to us

Without doing these things, they weren’t included in the people of God.  Not by their choice, by God’s rules.

So people provided what they needed, the bulls, the sheep and pigeons, and others provided the special coins needed to pay the temple tax and offering. In the process, a business came up, and some people thrived on it, some even made quite a prophet, as people had to offer these sacrifices.

It wasn’t just the extraordinarily high-profit margins that bothered Jesus.  Far more critical was the location for these religious businesses.

The Courtyard of the Gentiles, also known as the courtyard of prayer.

The place set aside, the holy place where the people who were not in Covenant could come and pray.  The people Solomon prayed for at the dedication of the temple, centuries before:

41  And don’t forget the foreigner who is not a member of your people Israel but has come from a far country because of your reputation. 42  People are going to be attracted here by your great reputation, your wonder-working power, who come to pray at this Temple. 43  Listen from your home in heaven. Honor the prayers of the foreigner so that people all over the world will know who you are and what you’re like and will live in reverent obedience before you, just as your own people Israel do; so they’ll know that you personally make this Temple that I’ve built what it is. 1 Kings 8:41-43 (MSG)

Imagine the noise of the animals of those people running the coin exchange and the negotiations.

Imagine the noise of Walmart at Christmas time, going on here, as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper!

People, who’ve journeyed days and weeks are trying to cry out to God, and they so need to hear him.  While bath’s and moo’s and the high-pitched cry of the birds and the all the talking is going on.

Don’t you see people trying to pray amid all the distractions?

They will be able to pray soon, for Jesus will make it peaceful, just as soon as He cleans house.

Bring it home

As I read this, I wonder how Jesus would clean up the church today.  It is easy to answer that for the church throughout the world, but how would he clean house here?

What things do we do, that get in the way of people knowing they are forgiven children of God?  What here at Concordia would make it difficult for someone who isn’t yet a believer, find it hard to hear His voice, and see His love revealed?

Maybe these aren’t things we do for money, but that we do for our comfort.  Or things we don’t do, because they would make our lives uncomfortable?

If you think about the church in Luther’s time, it’s easy.

The church did everything in a language that people didn’t understand.  And in order to find complete forgiveness, there was always something attached.  You needed to purchase this indulgence, go on that pilgrimage, be blessed by this relic or that.

They blocked the people from having access to God’s love, to His comfort, to knowing they were forgiven. We do the same thing, perhaps without realizing it, as we cherish our practices, without realizing why they are precious.  We want to keep them, but do we realize they might get in the way of someone searching for God?

The church at large could have a myriad of examples, and that is perhaps the biggest.  We don’t speak with one voice about our World’s need for God, their only hope to deal with the brokenness of sin in their lives.

Some hide the brokenness, others simply condemn it, without sharing the hope God has given us, in our brokenness.   We do the same thing, depending on the sin.  Some we treat as unforgivable, without knowing the person sitting next to us is dealing with brokenness because of that sin.  Other sins, we overlook, knowing that we are struggling with it, or someone else we love is.

And our house needs to be cleaned out.  We need God to come through, and break down the barriers we set up.  We need Him to help us realize that this place is a place of prayer, for Christians, and for those He is calling to, desire that they come to repentance!

Endurance – loving God, loving those around us

 

This is where attitude and endurance come into play.  It is not our attitude and endurance rather it is our Lord’s.

He will do whatever it takes to bring people to the Father.  He will humble the proud and lift up the weak. He will comfort those who need it, come alongside those who are mourning, confront the hard-hearted believers, who believe in God, yet need their hardened hearts broken and cleansed.  He will forgive those who confess their sins and cleanse them from all unrighteousness.  He will also challenge those whose sin is so controlling them, that only He can free them from it.

He will hear our prayers!  The Spirit will reveal God in all His glory, in all His mercy, in all His love.

As we are transformed into His image, this becomes our lives, as we struggle with those things that stop people from knowing His love, His grace, His peace.  Those things will come to bug us, and we will struggle with them but realizing His grace and what it means, and that others know it,

We will endure, we will ask Him to cleanse our spiritual homes, we will ask Him to know His love.  His attitude will become our attitude…

And it will happen.  As we treasure His peace, they will come to know it, and know that He hears their prayers, even as He does ours!

AMEN!

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Hillary Duff’s View on Marriage, and Church Shopping

Hillary Duff’s View on Marriage, and Church Shopping

Mar 6

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Devotional Thought of the Day:

25  Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. 26  Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, 27  dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. Ephesians 5:25-27 (MSG)

22  So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. 23  Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. 24  Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, 25  not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching. Hebrews 10:22-25 (MSG)

In the interview she also admits that, when it comes to a relationship, happiness might be more important than the commitment, which is why her perspective on love isn’t all that straightforward. “I don’t want to sound bitter because I’m definitely not, but I don’t know if people are meant to be together forever,” she tells the magazine. “Things happen over a long relationship that you can’t always fight. A marriage of 20 years, the accomplishment of that must feel really great, but there are also huge sacrifices. I just always want to fight for happiness.”  (1)

As I read the article with Hillary Duff, and the quotes above, I was grieved.  She notes how great it must feel for a relationship to last 20 years, the comments that the sacrifices are huge, too much for her, for her marriage has now failed.

I don’t know what they did to see it through, if there were counselors that were at their side, or if there were people there to encourage, to coach them through.   Not only did they fail, their family, their community, and The Church failed them as well.

Yes, I said The Church failed this young couple.

For in the church, there should be the example of endurance, the example of depending on Christ.  We are to depend on Him, the Spirit’s comfort and strength and ability to bring us through life.  We do this, understanding and looking to Christ, who Hebrews 12 tells us endured, for the joy set before Him.

As I thought about this, I also thought about the church, and the commitment we have to each other.  While some will look and pray for Hillary Duff, others will be scandalized by these words,  The lack of faithfulness to vows made will challenge us, (hopefully?) and the attitude that marriage may not be meant to last a lifetime will see inconceivable.

Yet do we not do that with our churches?  We change things, or even change churches, or forgo church for the same reason that causes Hillary to see marriage as temporary.  We put our enjoyment (whether we prefer traditional, liturgical, contemporary etc.) over what will cause us to draw closer to Christ.  Those of us who lead and plan our services far too often try to make the service something our people will like,

If we don’t like it?  Well, there is the church down the street, or across town.  If we are a pastor or priest, instead we place a call to our district president’s office, (or bishop or whoever works with churches looking for new pastors.  (please note, I am not talking about leaving a church because of continued teaching that is contrary to scripture)

End result, the death of a relationship, and a further division in the family of God,  A division that will be healed in heaven, but nevertheless, the pains of severing that which we pledged to be part of, in times of happiness and time of sorrow.

With each separation, the next separation gets easier, the time between finding a home church becomes less a priority, we find our happiness in other things, in other places.

Until we can’t remember the last time that we were at church.

Hillary Duff is right, there is an incredible reward that is found in a relationship that last 20, 30, 50 years.  There is the knowledge that the one who makes our marriages and our churches possible will sustain them both, through the times of richness and poverty, through times where we, and the relationship are healthy or sick, the times of grief and the times of joy.

Such is our God, the Lord of Life.  Such is what happens when we hear the Holy Spirit, the gift of our baptism. Such is the promise of life, walking with God, both now and for eternity, in the presence of God.

So let us work, to sustain all of our relationships!  To do that, may we look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.  Let us find His healing, His patience, His sacrifice and find in those things, the strength to desire to endure.  May we find as well the strength to help others, to encourage them, whether they are struggling in marriages or in being part of their church.

Lord Have Mercy on us!


(1)  http://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/news/a27092/hilary-duff-marriage-divorce/?src=spr_FBPAGE&spr_id=1448_153325098&linkId=12668200

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The Benefit of Endurance: Part II

The Benefit of Endurance: Part II

Mar 1

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The Benefit of Endurance:  Part II

Romans 5:1-11

† IHS †

 Featured imageAs you endure the challenges of this life, may your realize the height, the depth, the width and the breadth of the Father’s love, revealed to you, as you dwell in Christ Jesus!

What’s the use?

There are days, I wonder if all of this is worth it.

The amount of work it takes to pastor a church, to train deacons, to mentor vicars, to work with our school.  Why not just work a normal 40 or 50 hour a week job, and have a nice home Bible Study.

It is not that I dislike being a pastor, or that I can’t do anything else.  There are days when this job is depressing, and then there are the bad days.

Days were I see the grip that sin has on people and have to wait and watch them struggle.  Where I have to watch the effect of that sin on the families and friends who are torn apart by the impact of the sin.

Days where those in the church act less like Jesus than those who seem to be outside the family of God.  When people try to run churches and ministries and Christian universities and seminaries as if the bottom line was what mattered.

Days where I see those in the church suffering and hear of those who are being persecuted.

Days where I sit alongside those who are battling life itself.

There is a temptation to ask, “what’s the use”?

That is when we need something because there are days when caffeine doesn’t work!

We need to endure and to do that; we need to see the benefit of enduring.

We Seem So Helpless!

In our reading from Romans, St. Paul notes the way we are before we know God’s love.  He describes us this way,

“When we were utterly helpless,”

The context of this is in regards to sin, that point “while we were still sinners”.

The challenge is seeing this in view of sin, not as one part particular sin, but the bondage that sin has us under, apart from being in Christ.

The helplessness that being in bondage to sin causes is that it blinds us to God. It can cause us to chase our desires, rather than choose what is good and right in God’s sight.  It causes us to doubt, it can blind us to the hope God has given us.  Sin robs us of our strength of character.  Sin robs us of our peace with God, the comfort that comes from knowing and trusting in Him.

As believers, we know the damage a sin can cause.

Even as we look at the sins, we commit in thought, word and deed, there is a sense of helplessness.  As we look at the sinfulness, the injustice, the evil and brokenness of this world, that sense of helplessness could almost overwhelm us.

Occasionally, it still does.

We’ve lost sight of God, and for the moment, our faith waivers, and we fall.

It is then that we feel utterly helpless, and we ask, what’s the use?  What difference will it make?  Why do we have to endure?

The helplessness comes from missing the end result, the difference the cross makes.

Here is why:  We Are Reconciled

Hear again the words of Paul,

10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.

We need to understand that, the reason Christ died for us, while we in bondage to sin, while we were dead in our sins and trespasses, is to restore us from enemies to being friends with God.

That is what reconciliation is, that is what this is all about, to help us understand God’s desire for His people.  To help us hear the words found in John’s gospel,

“15  I do not call you servants any longer, because servants do not know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends because I have told you everything I heard from my Father. John 15:15 (TEV)

This is the reason we endure!  To know God this well!

You look at all the ways God tells us that we are His; we are His family, the bride of Jesus Christ, the children of God.  He calls us by His name, He cleanses us, adopts us, gives us life.  He redeems us, paying for us to be freed from the slavery we were in to sin.

We have been made friends with God, as Paul puts it,

Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

This is why we endure, not because of our strength, but the place God puts us, as we trust Him.  He places us in life, and the Holy Spirit testifies to us, that we shall share in the glory of God.  This is the very work of Holy Spirit, as the Spirit brings to mind the words of Christ, that we know His work, and we trust in His promises.

So Let’s Rejoice!

So how do we endure?  How do we find ourselves strengthened, becoming more and more confident in our salvation? How do we do what Paul describes us doing in verse 11?

11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

Hebrews 10:24-25 tells us we do this for each other, coming alongside each other to remind each other of the love of God for us, His family.  As I think of that, I can picture time after time that you’ve done this for me.  From those who treasure their baptism, to the look in people’s eyes as they come to the feast and receive the Body and Blood of Christ.

I think of Mr. Anderson’s remembering his baptism as he walks by the font, and Chuck’s desire to be part of every baptism since Kay and Rachel were baptized.  I think of Chris, and his meddling with his own faith, struggling to not only preach about what it means to pray that God’s name would be holy, but to let God make it happen in His life. I see people enduring things that stymie the imagination, occasionally struggling but looking to God and His people for relief.  And I think of the next generation, of Isabelle and XXX, just young children, imitating their parents with great desire and joy at the altar a few weeks ago.  Even little Violet, as she cried when mom wanted to take her away from the altar rail last Wednesday night.  She was comfortable here, knowing God’s peace.  So much so that leaving the communion rail was worth a few cries of objection.

Is it worth it? What is the use of all this?

I love Paul’s prayer for the church, the very thing that turns our struggles into endurance, our endurance based on confidence in God’s faithfulness  His prayer which I pray for you as well.

16  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17  Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Ephesians 3:16-19 (NLT)

That as Paul opened with, that we would endure knowing that,

“we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.”

Amen!

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We Pray (but not alone), Comfort Your People

We Pray (but not alone), Comfort Your People

Dec 11

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We Pray,Featured image
Comfort your People

Isaiah 40:1-5

† IHS †

May you know the comfort of the grace poured out upon you by God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Can We Be Honest?

Advent is a time for honesty.  Brutal honesty.

Because without it, we can’t hear the Voice that cries out of Isaiah the words we heard tonight.

Comfort, comfort MY people….

The honesty requires us to realize, that if we are the people of God, we are the people that the Voice is talking about.  We are the ones who need comfort, who need peace.

But will we recognize it?

Do we realize we need Jesus to reveal Himself, just as the shepherds in the field did?  Just as the wise men from what is now Iraq did?  As much as the people Isaiah prophesied to, the people of God who were about were in slavery and bondage, far away from their home, yet living in view of a promise that would care for them.

They needed the comfort, the tender care, the chance to return to full health.

Advent is about realizing we need it as badly as they need it.  Mankind lives in the same desperation, we have the same need for God’s rescue from darkness…

We need to hear this cry, this prayer that God would bring comfort to all of His people.  Those who know they are His people, those who don’t know it… yet.

We aren’t lost…we aren’t broken

Even as we hear the prayer for comfort, we hear the why that comfort is needed.

Clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord!

Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God!

4 Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills!

Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places!

These cries of desperation will be repeated as Jesus begins His ministry, as Jesus begins this work.  We need to hear that – as He begins His work.

You see most of us spiritually are in the same place where the average man is, when he keeps refusing to stop for directions, when he denies he needs a GPS, when everyone else knows he is lost, and has no clue where or when to turn next.  We deny the need for help, we’ve never gotten lost before.  It’s funny when you get lost in Oaklahoma, it’s not so funny when you get lost in combat zones of the inner city.

We aren’t just lost though.  Sin isn’t satisfied with that, we are broken, battered, stuck in the wilderness on the side of the road, with no direction, no path, no spiritual yellow brick road.

We look at the world and see they are lost, that they cannot even tell the difference between darkness and light.  Is torture right?  Is violence? Is sex of any kind outside of marriage?  Is gossip and slander and disrespecting authority?  Too often we find ourselves justifying that we know is wrong.  We should know it simply because we have to justify our thoughts, or actions or words.

We need those roads straightened out, we need to see where we are heading clearly, we need to have a straight direction.  This is the focus in advent, to know that those cries will be heard, that God will act.  That we can hear His voice.

We’ve got to hear His Voice… We Got to Know His word.

Even as we hear that the path needs to be prepared, we have to hear the voice again that cries out for it.

2 “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem.

Tell her that her sad days are gone,

and her sins are pardoned.

This is the cry we hear, what will bring comfort to the people whom God the Father call His children.

The comfort is found in the mercy of God, shown in the work of Jesus.  For it is His work to straighten those roads, to fill in the valleys, to make straight the path for God.

That is the incredible view of Advent, seeing the work to make God’s way smooth, the way that will bring us comfort, for the way is the one which we travel with Jesus, as He brings us to the Father.

A way of mercy, a way of peace, a way of joy.

That road, smoothed out, is Jesus work, it is the glory of God revealed to us.  The glory that we dwell in, with Him.  The glory we see together, His children, with nothing in the way.

For He has spoken.

One more thing… who is praying to whomThe Father cried out to the Son, that Jesus would comfort us.

It is why He needed to come…. It is why He would lay in a manger, and die on the cross.  It is why we are united to Him in baptism, why He gives us His body and blood.

Hear it again, we aren’t the only people who pray and plead that all of God’s people would find comfort.

The Father cries, “Comfort, comfort my people!” The Son brings us comfort… and peace.  So it was at the incarnation, so it will be at His return.  AMEN!

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Take Up Your Cross: photo What Does that Look Like?

Take Up Your Cross: photo What Does that Look Like?

Aug 31

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Take Up Your Cross: photo
What Does that Look Like?

Romans 12:9-21

 † Jesus, Son, Savior †

May the grace, mercy and peace of God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ flood your lives, enabling you to “really” love others!

 

Take up the Cross…but what does that look like?

The words of Jesus we know well, we’ve heard them before, but how often do we think through what they mean?

“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.

Turn from our self-centered, self-serving, self-focused needs.  That is a real challenge, especially in a culture that jokes about what it feels to be true.  You know that saying, “It’s all about me”

That’s tough, and God’s law does convict us when we act like life is “all about me.’

But it’s the second and third actions that are required, that make it more challenging.

Taking up a cross?  Which one – the one above the altar – hey no problem.  The one Vicar Chai carried in this morning? It’s kind of heavy – but most people can carry it.  No, it is something far more than that.

Take up the cross, and follow me, Jesus says!

Are you willing? More importantly, are you able?

In order to answer that question, we have to know what does this mean: “take up your cross, and follow Jesus”.

You have to know what it looks like.

That is what the section of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome describes, so let’s look there.
What it looks like

Though the description of taking up your cross and following Jesus flows through the entire twelfth chapter, I want to start with verse 11 this morning, for it is the key

11  Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. 2 Rejoice in our confident hope.

Now, most of the people here are not even remotely lazy, most work hard.  We commit to serving the Lord enthusiastically. We are confident in the hope we have; that God will be faithful to His promises.  So this bearing the cross thing seems possible, and since we are good people, we can do this!

But those encouraging words are to spur us on to do that which is more challenging….

It goes on,

Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. 13  When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. 14  Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. 

And on….

15  Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16  Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! 

And on…..

17  Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. 19 Dear friends, never take revenge.

These actions and attitudes are not easy, they are indeed, what it looks like to take up your cross, and follow Jesus.  They sum as well, this idea of love, which started the reading.

9  Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them.

No hypocrisy allowed, no “but they did, said, thought,” just really love them….

So how do we “really” love

This is difficult, is it not?   I mean we are supposed to really love our family, our neighbors, our co-workers, those annoying phone solicitors and even our pastor?  Really love them?  Not sure we can do that all the time, Are we sure we can bear that cross. Are we sure we want to bear that cross.

But bear it we must, if we follow Christ, if we are with Christ, if we are in Christ.

For that is what bearing our cross is, it is walking in Christ.  To give up our lives, if that is what it takes, for that is what love led Him to do.

Peter said it well,

21  For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. 1 Peter 2:21 (NLT)

This doing good, this bearing one’s cross, this setting aside what benefits us, what makes us happy is what happens when we are being transformed by God.  Remember – that is where the chapter started,

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)

So What happens when we slip and throw a whine party?

These words cause a bit of anxiety.  Because I know that we are not always following Christ. I know we struggle to bear our cross, tossing it aside at times.

So what can we do, when we find ourselves justifying why we shouldn’t love this person, or that one?  When we want to justify tossing the cross aside, because we don’t want to love them, to really love them?  Or we are afraid to, for the pain we might go through.

Jeremiah knew that feeling.  In the Old Testament reading we find it, and God’s response to Jeremiah’s whining,

Jer 15:19  To this the LORD replied, “If you return, I will take you back, and you will be my servant again. If instead of talking nonsense you proclaim a worthwhile message, you will be my prophet again. The people will come back to you, and you will not need to go to them.

When we struggle like Jonah loving Nineveh, or Jeremiah loving the rebellious children of Israel, it is simply that, a struggle.  It is the same struggle Jesus had when he looked at the cross, and realize the shame that carrying it might bring, and that is where we find our answer, on how to love others.

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. Hebrews 12:1-3 (NLT)

The struggle for us is not that we can’t love them, it is that we’ve taken our eyes off what Paul told us to do, to 1”Rejoice in our confident hope.”

This was Peter’s answer as well, that we should always be ready to have an answer for the reason we have hope.

You want to follow Jesus?  Take up the cross of walking in His love, keeping your eyes on Him.  The cross where He has joined you to Himself, and realize that there, you can see their need for His love, for His mercy, even as you needed it yourself.

This is what it all boils down to, our baptism, our celebration of the Lord’s Supper, our hearing that our sins are forgiven, it is all about God coming to us, uniting us to His cross, bringing us with Him…

Knowing His cross, we cling to that hope, we find the will of God, and a desire to see it come to be, that all would know His love, that all would be ministered to, no matter the sacrifice.

For that is what happens, when we allow God to transform us into people who dwell in is peace, the peace that goes beyond comprehension or explanation.  The very peace that guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  AMEN?

 

 

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Do I Really Have to????? Yes! Love Them!

Do I Really Have to????? Yes! Love Them!

Jul 26

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Devotional and Discussion Thought of the Day:God, who am I?

7  And work for the peace and prosperity of Babylon. Pray for her, for if Babylon has peace, so will you.” Jeremiah 29:7 (TLB) 

760         All right, I agree! That person has behaved badly; his behaviour has been reprehensible and unworthy; he deserves no merit at all. Humanly speaking he deserves to be utterly despised, you added. I understand what you mean, I can assure you, but I do not share this concluding view of yours. That life which seems so mean is sacred. Christ has died to save it. If He did not despise it, how can you dare to?  (1)

I am on vacation, and we’ve driven a bit here and there, and my memories go back to my childhood vacations in the lake region and in White Mountains of New Hampshire.  Three kids in the back of the old Chevy Malibu, and later in the Monte Carlo. God a bit cramped back there, and let’s just say it is was about as peaceful as the Holy Land. There was even the innocent victim (me) caught in between the rival factions.. I can still hear my dad and mom instructing my siblings to get along, to love each other, sometimes even to give each other a hug… a nice gentle one.

And the loud pitched, whining reply, ‘do I really have too???????”

Move forward to today.  Even if we are not caught into a political and historical mess like Israel and Palestine, we find ourselves in serious disagreements, We have rivals, we have those we don’t like, and we have those we are seemed destined to hate, because they hate us.  We are at war, sometimes in our workplaces, other times in our neighborhoods, with distant family, and sometimes, sad to say, in our homes.

We justify our anger, we get protective to stop the pain, to defend our reputations, even our families. There is a meme going around, saying that if they drop their guns, there will be peace, but if we drop ours, we will be annihilated. Not sure how true this is, but we take it is as truth, and apply that truth in our lives. We want at least the personal version of Mutually Assured Destruction.

We don’t realize how damaging this is, this dealing with enemies, this always defending ourselves.

Israel was in captivity when Jeremiah wrote these words, with the ancestors of those they have been engaged in hostilities with for centuries.  The prophet’s words are different, they don’t call for strategy, they don’t call for defensive posturing.  I chose the translation from the Living Bible because it identifies the city, these enemies.  Here it is, as we would normally here it,

7  And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.” Jeremiah 29:7 (NLT) 

Do I really have to?  Do I really have to love them, to pray for them?  Do I have to sacrifice time and energy to work for their peace and not just survival, but prosperity?

Do I really have to?

I mean St Josemaria described them so well, “All right, I agree! That person has behaved badly; his behaviour has been reprehensible and unworthy; he deserves no merit at all. Humanly speaking he deserves to be utterly despised, you added.”

And the response, read it again,

I understand what you mean, I can assure you, but I do not share this concluding view of yours. That life which seems so mean is sacred. Christ has died to save it. If He did not despise it, how can you dare to?

Here is a way, similar to the words above, that helps.  Hear Jesus words from the cross, Father, forgive (insert your name), for they know not what they do.  See Him utter those words, even as He is dieing, even as the pain wracks His body, even as the blood drips to the ground.  Now, Look at your adversary, see Jesus on the cross, begging the Father to forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing as well.  Let this thought be pondered in your heart for 10 or 15 minutes…. really dwell on it. Not just picture it for a second – go that’s nice.  But dwell on it until the tears come, till the pain is pulsing in your body, and then purged of it, the peace rushes into your soul.

See both of you, broken there… yet being lifted by Christ.  For in Christ, that which divides us is broken, in Christ there is mercy, in Christ, there is healing.

That’s why Jeremiah calls for us to pray for those who oppress us, because as God makes Himself known to them, as He calls them to be His children, as He blesses them, the blessing to us is beyond compare.

St Paul mentions this in his words to the Church in Galatia…

27  And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on the character of Christ, like putting on new clothes. 28  There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:27-28 (NLT)

There is our goal, this is our mission, our apostolate, to long for this healing, this reconciliation.  Tough?  Yes.  Painful?  Yes?  Calling us to sacrifice beyond our means?  Yes.

In Christ, there is no other choice.  It is our vocation, our life.

We pray, “Lord, have mercy on us sinners!”

 

 

 

(1)   Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 3158-3162). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.

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The Paradox of Life….in Christ

The Paradox of Life….in Christ

Jun 30

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Sermon from Concordia Lutheran Church, June 29. 2014Concordia Lutheran Church - Cerritos, Ca , at dawn on Easter Sunday

The Paradox of Life in Christ

Matthew 10:34-42

† IHS †

 

May we understand that this grace, the mercy and peace of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, is what makes life worth living.

But I thought……             The paradox that isn’t

As I read the gospel reading first two verses last Monday, (for I did not come to bring peace… but a sword.. and cause division in homes)  other Bible passages started to run through my mind.

Isa 9:6 — For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 His government and its peace will never end.

Ac 10:36 — This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

Ro 5:1 — Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.

Eph 2:14 — For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.

Eph 2:17 — He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near.

Col 1:20 — and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

And as I read the verses about division, I thought about the 4th Commandment, and our duty to Honor our father and mother.  Then St, John’s words, questioning how we can love God who we can’t see, when we don’t love our neighbor whom we can see.  I mean – isn’t God all about love?  The two greatest of commands are love Him and love our neighbor, right?

It seems confusing at first, that this passage contradicts so many others in scripture, indeed, some which form the basis of our relationship with God.

There is a word for this – it is called a paradox… and certainly, from the view of the world, this life we have been given in Christ is a paradox

So let’s look at this passage – and see something truly amazing…..
Yeah – Jesus does mean it –

Does Jesus actually mean it, when He talks about coming to cause division, to cause strife?  That He didn’t come to bring peace, but a weapon of war?  A sword to separate us from each other?

I mean, I like swords and knives and such, but is this the tool we need for ministry? Does following in His steps mean that we all have to carry swords and machetes? Of course not!

But does Jesus mean it, when He prophesies that families will divide, father against son, daughter against wife?  That some who hate us, will be those in our very homes?  That we have to love God more than any.  More than our parents, than our children? Or if we do not, we aren’t worthy, we aren’t capable of being in a relationship with him

Yes, He does. He means it.

As we struggle with this, it is helpful to know which of the words for “love” is used here.  It is phileo – the love usually expressed within a family.  Within that, there is a sense of loyalty, the recognition that these are “my people”, that no one takes precedence over them.  It is a tight mutual bond, one of great loyalty, one that can go deeper than we have words for, or the logic to explain.

Jesus says that this is the kind of love that we should have for Him, more than any other person in our lives.  It’s not new in scripture, remember God asking Abraham to sacrifice his son Issac?  Remember Gideon, tearing down the statue of the idol Ba’al in his dad’s backyard?  Or the cry of Joshua to his people, As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord?

That word actually cuts deeper and harder for many of us. Challenging our loyalty to our family, our very natural desire to care and protect those we love is a dangerous thing.  Which is more important, the kids chance for a sports or academic scholarship, or spending time in church and Bible Study?  What about God’s commands about marriage, or wanting them to just enjoy being “in love?”  What about having to sacrifice time with our family, not to minister to a friend, but to show love and pray for an adversary, maybe their adversary?

Who is closer to us, who are we going to be loyal too?  Who are we going to listen to, and base our “right and wrong” on?

Please here me!  I am not talking about nagging people to death, or condemning those we love who aren’t living as God planned for them to live.  But there has to be an option between tolerating that which is evil and wrong in God’s eyes, and condemning them and turning our back on them.

The option that is only found… in loving God more than all. The only real option we, who trust in Jesus have….

For Jesus does mean these words, but not just to convict us of our sins, or to give Him a reason to condemn us.  This call, this command to love Him more than all others

The Reason – “being Mine”  Phileo!

One of the challenges of preaching on a portion of a chapter, is remembering the context of the entire chapter.  We noted this last week, as we talked about the context of these verses before – these are Jesus’ words to the men he is sending out, His representatives to proclaim that God’s kingdom is here, among us.  That God does care and is helping, comforting, saving and defending us.

That is the same context here.  Jesus is speaking to those who know in part, and will soon know how deep God’s love for them is, as they realize the message they are coming to give – is that God loves us so much, that His son would be crucified for us.

They recognize, intuitively, that this Jesus has for them the words of life, that He is going to free them from all that restricts life, from all that limits it from being lived to the fullest.

That when we respond to His love, when our loyalty, our priorities are all based in responding to His love.

A side note – to be explored more, but when we love Him first, when our loyalty and the primary relationship is with Him, then all the other relationships we are in take on a deeper and truer nature, they are less effected by sin, or by anxiety, they become less our gods, as we put them into God’s hands…..

We are called to walk with God, as His family.  Not just for a while, it is who we are, now and forever.  It defines us, this relationship we are in, more than our being a son, or a dad, a mom or a daughter.  More than any things else – we have to know we are loved by God to the point where we are now family.

His people, Close family, His children.

We are the people God is willing to die for, we are the people that Christ did die for, willingly, for the joy set before Him, he endured that cross.

He welcomes us to pick up ours, and walk with Him.  That may test us, as family and friends don’t get us, as they don’t understand why we do what we do, why we act like we act, as we struggle to leave behind the sinful behaviors and attitudes that they find normal. They will wonder as they see us struggle and sacrifice to love our enemies, rather than get revenge.  This relationship will test us as we struggle with our desire to do what pleases us, rather than what pleases God.

This isn’t what we have to do to save ourselves, for Jesus has done that already!  But as we realize His love, it is how we respond to His love, to His faithfulness to us. As we remember the new life He gave us in baptism, as He claimed us as His children, as we come to this altar and receive His body and blood.  As we realize that this is where we need to be, for chasing after the world’s idea of life stifles us, kills us….reduces us to mere animals

But in Him, there is life….

So welcome those who speak of His love, of His promises and yes, call you to repentance and life.  Welcome those who live life in Christ, struggling with the righteousness that is there.  Love those He brings into your life, helping them, even if it is by offering them a cup of cold water….

For following Him, walking in His steps is a life that is rewarding, for we realize the life He has given us, through the cross….

A life of God’s peace which is beyond our ability to describe, as we live it secure in Christ Jesus….. Amen!

 

 

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Where is Jesus Taking You Today? For Whose Benefit?

Where is Jesus Taking You Today? For Whose Benefit?

Jun 23

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Devotional Thought of the Day:The church, is always in the midst of a storm... but safe in Him
3  and Moses went up the mountain to meet with God. The LORD called to him from the mountain and told him to say to the Israelites, Jacob’s descendants: 4  “You saw what I, the LORD, did to the Egyptians and how I carried you as an eagle carries her young on her wings, and brought you here to me. 5  Now, if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own people. The whole earth is mine, but you will be my chosen people, 6  a people dedicated to me alone, and you will serve me as priests.” 7  So Moses went down and called the leaders of the people together and told them everything that the LORD had commanded him. 8  Then all the people answered together, “We will do everything that the LORD has said,” and Moses reported this to the LORD. Exodus 19:3-8 (TEV)

 21  Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I send you.” 22  Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23  If you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” John 20:21-23 (TEV) 

 

377  The Lord wants a definite apostolate from you, such as catching those one hundred and fifty-three big fish—not others—taken on the right-hand side of the boat. And you ask me: How is it I know myself to be a fisher of men, can live in contact with many companions, and be able to distinguish to whom I should direct my specific apostolate, but still catch nobody? Is it Love that is lacking? Do I lack interior life? Listen to the answer from Peter’s lips, on the occasion of that other miraculous draught:—”Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” In the name of Jesus Christ, begin again. And being strengthened, rid yourself of that indolence!  (1)

From the very beginning, God has determined that those whom he has saved, those He has delivered are special to them.  They have a special role in the world, acting as priests, serving Him, interceding for others.  This is done in various ways, as the Spirit determines, as the Spirit distributes the charisms, the gifts described in such places as 1 Corinthians 12, and Romans 12.   Many of those gifts are simple, others more visible, all are miraculous.  Not because of what we see, but because God has rescued us, placed us in specific roles, specific vocations, all to bear witness to His love.  That is as much the miracle – the way the Holy Spirit coordinates all of this, gifts, people, places, 

We are all to share a hope that we have come to know, as we realize what God has done for us. We all have to be ready to explain the reason we have hope – which for most of us strikes fear into our very core.

I don’t think it is because of our fear of persecution, whether that being tortured or being thought not relevant.  I think it is because we are afraid to reveal how dependent we are on God, to reveal how precious this intimate relationship is to us.

But that is exactly what they need to know!  That is exactly where they need to be, exploring how high, how wide, how deep is the love of God is for them, for their family, for all who have wandered, or run far off from God.  They need to know God desires that they not be lost, not be wandering, but that they come home…..This is our vocation, our mission, our apostolate…..

He has sent us all out to let them know this, to call them home, to bring them hope…..

So where is Jesus taking you to this day?  Where is He sending you, even as the Father sent Him?  Where is your mission field this week, who will you encounter?  Have you prayed for them yet?  Have you prayed that you would hear God’s guidance?  Have you considered your baptism, the Body and Blood of Christ which you received yesterday, the gospel that was shared with you?  These are all the things, these means of grace, that will guide you, the very thing that will help you know He is with you….

As you walk with God, as you go to the places He sends you, you will realize something I quoted from Pope Francis yesterday,,

 

“Our mission, then— the mission that frightens us and makes us offer excuses like the ones we hear from the lips of the reluctant prophets in the scriptures— is to evangelize, to shepherd the faithful people of God. And that mission establishes us in our vocation. In calling us to that mission, Jesus gives us solidity in the depths of our hearts: he establishes us as pastors and makes that our identity. In our visits to the sick, in our administration of the sacraments, in our teaching of the catechism, and in all the rest of our priestly activity, we are collaborating with Christ in establishing Christian hearts. At the same time and by that same means, that is, by the work we do, the Lord is establishing and rooting our hearts in his own.”  (2)

Lord have mercy on us all, as we share His mercy with those He has sent us too!

 

 

(1)   Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1720-1728). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.

(2)   Pope Francis; Jorge M Bergoglio (2013-11-18). Open Mind, Faithful Heart (pp. 39-40). The Crossroad Publishing Company. Kindle Edition.

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A Very Different Sports/Church Parallel…

Devotional Thought of a long weekOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

4  God’s various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. 5  God’s various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. 6  God’s various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. 7  Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 (MSG)

There is a saying coined by Pat Riley (and brought to my attention by ESPN’s Louis Riddick) that is called “the innocent climb.” Riley described it this way in his book The Winner Within: The innocent climb is the surge that occurs within a team as they are accomplishing more because of the synergy that occurs within a team. Innocence means understanding that the team comes first and being carried along by that; being naive means being ignorant. Innocence doesn’t mean being naive. Teamwork and all of its benefits happen when everyone puts the team first. Innocence comes when the leader believes in something and puts him or herself out to accomplish that.  (1)

First off, I can’t believe I am quoting Riles, even more that I borrowed the quote out of a article about the SeaHawks.  (It followed an article about Tom Brady…:-)

But the author nails something about the church, and how it should function in Christ, that is well described.

Our “Leader” believed in something, and put Himself out there to accomplish what He believed in, He put himself out there literally to the point of death.   We have lots of church words for it, Salvation, Deliverance, Redemption (which includes justification and sanctification) Reconciliation,.  It is why Jesus was born of Mary, why he lived, suffered, died, rose and ascended to Heaven and it is why He will return.  This “something” is why the Father in Heaven sent Jesus, it is why Jesus asked, and the Father sent us the Holy Spirit, and why we trust in that promise enough to know those who trust in Him live in His presence now, and will eternally.

It is that accomplishment, the very relationship that God establishes with us, with you and I and all the saints today, those before us, those after us, that creates the synergy that we call the church.  It is an innocent climb, innocent and yet not naive or ignorant.  We know it is His presence that does it, in a very real way, it has nothing to do with us, and yet everything to do with us in Christ, united in His death and resurrection, united by the Spirit.

This can’t be programmed, it can’t be manipulated.  It can’t be forced or manipulated, though some may try, and some may seem to succeed.

It just is who we is.   That’s the “synergy” as the article puts it.

It’s why I contend (as others have) that sermons need to lead people not to the foot of the cross – but through His death, into the resurrection, into His glory, into the point we know He is present in our lives.   Where we serve together, each different, but the difference not mattering, as Paul tells the Corinthians,   Where our gifts flow, out, even those in others we aren’t always sure of, that we aren’t always comfortable with, even though we know they are in scripture.

It is why we gather to worship, to receive His blessing, to celebrate them together, for that is the nature of His accomplishment, His goal.

When a Bible Study, a youth group, a church, a group of churches or even a denomination are focused on Christ, in Christ…. the synergy is incredible.  The focus of God results in praises – no matter the style of worship, no matter the era of the music, things happen without thought,   Walls come down, barriers are cross, people are loved, and more are saved…

Not because we force it, just because it is natural…. in Christ, led by the Spirit.  What most consider supernatural, it just is.

Because He has had mercy…. and that creates synergy in ways that even pro sports teams cannot imagine….

It’s all about Jesus – and our innocent journey with Him…

(1) http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2083325-mike-freemans-10-point-stance-give-tom-brady-his-due

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