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Are You Ready for….What are we getting ready for?
Devotional & Discussion Thought of the Day:
37 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 38 In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. 39 People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes. Matthew 24:37-39 (NLT)
50 Just as God’s name is holy in itself and yet we pray that it may be holy among us, so also his kingdom comes of itself without our prayer and yet we pray that it may come to us. That is, we ask that it may prevail among us and with us, so that we may be a part of those among whom his name is hallowed and his kingdom flourishes.
51 What is the kingdom of God? Answer: Simply what we learned in the Creed, namely, that God sent his Son, Christ our Lord, into the world to redeem and deliver us from the power of the devil and to bring us to himself and rule us as a king of righteousness, life, and salvation against sin, death, and an evil conscience. To this end he also gave his Holy Spirit to teach us this through his holy Word and to enlighten and strengthen us in faith by his power.
This word of promise and joy thus turns into a question for us, making visible the challenge and meaning of Advent. Only when all flesh beholds God is his coming complete; the new heavens and the new earth can come about only when available to all. This word constantly intends to open the heart of Christianity, indeed our own heart. Adveniat Kingdom tuum [thy Kingdom come]—this plea of Advent, put on our lips by the Lord himself, is prayed by us correctly only if we allow it to transform us; if we let it open us up to all of God’s children, all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
As many of us prepare for Christmas, for the parties, as we gather gifts, even as we get ready for the abundance of church services over the next week, we may hear the following question.
Are you ready?
We get nervous, for most of the time we are not ready, otherwise the concerned friend wouldn’t wouldn’t recognize the fear and anxiety that has gripped our very lives.
The problem is we are getting ready for the wrong thing. We are, like one Ebenezer Scrooge, trying to deal with Christmas past and Christmas present, and not looking not to Christmas future, but the Advent of Christ in our future. We are like the people in Noah’s day, not always doing things outside of “normal” life, but not questioning what normal life should be.
How many of us have given any thought to Christ’s return since Thanksgiving? How many of us have seriously considered whether our lives are being focused on that time, of the Christ-mass – the gathering of Christ that will happen on that day.
We can’t run around to prepare for it. We can’t check out all the stores; we can’t do anything special to prepare for His coming. Matter of fact, if we are trying to do something special, we’re are even less prepared. For being ready for Christ’s second coming isn’t a special event, it is life itself. Life abiding in the presence of God. Life being comforted and lifted up by the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Life as Joseph Ratzinger, who would become Pope Benedict XVI, described so well in the green quote above. A desire for God’s kingdom, His reign to come to all, a prayer of desire and desperation, a prayer born in brokenness. Our individual brokenness, our communal brokenness.
Luther agrees of course, as he notes that the reason Christ came was to bring us to the Father. And the Holy Spirit is given to reveal this to us, and support us in the life that is until we see God face to glorious Face.
When we consider the normal life in view of Jesus’ return, in view of death for those who are not here, we end up depending on God in a far different way. Our life is transformed by the His love, as we look forward with expectation, as we look forward with joy, as we trust in Him, and we are filled with life.
This is why we ask are we ready. Not to stress us more, but to cause us to be still, and know He is God, that He is our refuge, our sanctuary, our life.
May your normal life find you not just ready, but desiring His return, and the homecoming that follows. AMEN †
Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (pp. 426–427). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.
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. 399). San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
3rd Week of Advent: He Gathers Us!
He Will Do All the Good Things He has promised!
He will gather (JOY)
Zephaniah 3:14–20
† I.H.S. †
I pray that the mercy of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ so overwhelm you, that all you can do is rejoice as you think of His coming…even as God does!
How Can I….Know this Joy
A pastor once wrote,
Day by day we encounter the world of visible things. It assaults us through billboards, broadcasts, traffic, and all the activities of daily life, to such an enormous extent that we are tempted to assume there is nothing else but this[i]
Sometimes I feel like that, like all of world that I encounter wants to assault me, attack me, trample all over me.
I so understand those words, that we assume there is nothing else but this….
struggle.
And this week, when the darkness of the dark “blue” weeks of Advent are interrupted, as if a hint of a new day were peaking through, even as the darkness still threatens, we are encouraged to rejoice. Not just look forward to the day of rejoicing… but to rejoice.
Now, today, even as we struggle with world events, with national and local problems; as we struggle with our finances, or families or maybe it is just our personal struggles, we are urged to sing and shout praises, to be glad and rejoice with everything in our hearts and minds and souls. We are called to cheer up, and not be afraid.
Thank God that He gives us a reason too…
Are We?
The people that rejoice in the presence of God are described in the following ways,
Those who need to be calmed, for they are afraid and anxious,
Those who mourn as they consider the state of appointed festivals like Christmas, and how they have become less about God and His people.
The people who will rejoice are those who are oppressed, to those who are weak and helpless.
Those who were chased away, or exiled.
This is referring to those who were run out of the camp in the days of the Exodus, who were cut off from the people of God because of their sin, yet will be welcomed back and restored.
Those who were exiled because of their sin and shame, for they too will be drawn back by God and restored.
Yeah, those who will rejoice in Jesus’s coming will include those who are burdened by shame and guilt, but who will be called by a new name, who will be given a new name, whose life will be restored. The prodigals who return, those crushed by their sin. For that is what Jesus does, as He was lifted up on the cross.
Lifted there because Jesus wasn’t just called a friend to tax collectors and sinners, He is a friend to them. And lifted up on the cross, the very image of God’s mercy and grace, He draws people to Him, as He desires.
Gather, for the Lord Will Live Among US
The pastor quoted earlier, who talked about the world assaulting us, following those words with these,
One single soul, in Pascal’s beautiful words, (your soul) is worth more (to God) than the entire visible universe. But in order to have a living awareness of this, we need conversion, we need to turn around inside, as it were, to overcome the illusion of what is visible, and to develop the feeling, the ears and the eyes, for what is invisible. This has to be more important than anything that bombards us day after day with such exaggerated urgency. Metanoeite: change your attitude, so that you may see God’s presence in the world—change your attitude, so that God may dwell in you and, through you, in the world.
There is the key to seeing where our joy comes from, in the midst of a world that will try to make life a living hell.
Realizing the worth of a single soul, your soul, to God.
And that is why we are gathered by God together. For in this Old Testament prophecy, over and over it mentions this promise – six times! – the fact that God will gather His people together, that He will make things right, and twice more just so we understand, he explains that happens as God lives in the midst of His people.
God living among His people
God gathering His people together
God living among His people
23 “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.’” Matthew 1:23 (NLT)
The apostle John said it this way,
14 The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father’s only Son. John 1:14 (TEV)
and
The hardest thing to get theologically is a concept known as “now, and not yet.”
Jesus has been lifted up, He has drawn us into Himself in His death, and in our baptism, bringing us into life everlasting. We celebrate now the feast that is the first taste of the feast to come. We can live free of the guilt and shame, free of what separated us from God.
We don’t see it yet, but we get glimpses of it. As we gather, and as we do, our hearts should cry out His praises, for He is our Savior. And I want you to hear one more “now and not yet
For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”
Know this, like the prodigal’s father, our Father rejoices as we are gathered into His presence… that is His love and mercy… AMEN!
[i] 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. 391). San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
The Attitude of Advent: Our dearest Friend is coming to be with us!
Devotional Thought to Prepare us for Advent….
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. 16 You did not choose me; I chose you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit, the kind of fruit that endures. And so the Father will give you whatever you ask of him in my name. 17 This, then, is what I command you: love one another. John 15:15-17 (TEV)
233 You spoke about the scenes in the life of Jesus which moved you most: when he met men suffering greatly… when he brought peace and health to those whose bodies and souls were racked with pain… You were inspired—you went on—seeing him cure leprosy, restore sight to the blind, heal the paralytic at the pool: the poor beggar forgotten by everybody. You are able to contemplate Him as He was, so profoundly human, so close at hand! Well… Jesus continues being the same as then. (2)
There is an attitude that negatively views contemporary worship (or that of 30-100 years ago) that treats Jesus to0 close, too intimate, too friendly. They would rather perceive God from the perspective of great distance, and perhaps great fear.
Which would make sense if we were approach Christ’s advent, His coming, with the anticipation of judgment without the cross’s benefit. To turn advent into a time of anticipating hell, fire, and brimstone, wrath and tribulation is wrong.
Don’t get me wrong, we need Jesus to come back, perhaps even desperately so. Life is too screwed up, we all need to be delivered from sin completely, we need to come home to God. But that turns advent from anxiety about Jesus coming, to realizing we and anxiety is more caused because of the wait we endure until He returns.
If we have friends we haven’t seen in ages coming to dinner during the holiday; we look forward to it. We anticipate it, we work hard, trying to get everything as perfect as possible. It is the same for Jesus second coming, we desire to grow in faith, we desire to see people come to know Him, to come to trust in Him, because He is our friend, because He loves us so completely.
Those contemporary worship songs which treat Jesus as a friend, they aren’t as far off base. They bring home that which we need to know, the attitude that Luther noted, makes the difference between one who knows God, and one who only knows of Him,
“For all outside of Christianity, whether heathen, Turks, Jews, or false Christians and hypocrites, although they believe in, and worship, only one true God, yet know not what His mind towards them is, and cannot expect any love or blessing from Him; therefore they abide in eternal wrath and damnation. For they have not the Lord Christ, and, besides, are not illumined and favored by any gifts of the Holy Ghost.” (2)
If we don’t understand God’s desire for an intimate, deep friendship with the people He calls and makes His own, we truly only know a God whose presence evokes fear and brings to the front of our heart the condemnation of guilt and shame. We have to realize the intent of Christ’s incarnation, to head resolutely to the cross, to show us the depth of His love, to bring us healing and forgiveness.
Yes, we should be in awe of God’s presence, we are overwhelmed by His glory, but a glory that pours out grace, that delights in showering us with His Mercy, embracing us in the love, even as the Holy Spirit sanctifies us. The awe of realizing God, in all His glory, desires to be our friend.
Which makes the wait of Advent tense, as if we hear every passing car as if it is our long awaited Friend…
For He is coming!
May your patience and desire to see God sustain you, even as you anxiously await His return. AMEN!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1170-1174). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
(2) The Large Catechism of Martin Luther. The Apostles Creed: Explanation of the Third Article.
The Final Lesson: We are priestly companions of Jesus the King!
Companions of the Cross
The Final Lesson:
Priestly Companions of the King
† IHS †
May you know the grace and peace that is yours, the gift of the One who is, Who always was, and who is still to come!
The Vision/the Mission
While both the Old Testament and Epistle reading today are about the end of time, about looking toward the end of time, the gospel takes us back to thirty weeks ago, to the remembrance of what happens the morning of Jesus’ crucifixion, It covers one of the events we remember during Holy Week.
The gospel covers the trial of Jesus, the moments before he is sentenced by mankind to die. The moment that God our Father planned for, that Jesus was committed to before the foundations of the world were laid.
The trial, the cross, the critical moment in all of time, as eternity hung in the balance.
Your eternity, my eternity.
We need to look back, in order to see why Daniel and the Revelation of John can talk so positively of the of the end. Hearing that Christ has been the King, even at the cross, we understand our future, and can walk confidently in the present.
For we walk with a king, and we are His companions. The very King of King and Lord of Lords who makes us a Kingdom of priests, ready to serve God our Father. Ready to serve alongside Jesus.
Let me rephrase that, He makes us into the priests of His Kingdom.
That was His vision, His mission, and it is what He has accomplished on the cross, even as Pilate was condemning Jesus, enabling Him to shed His blood for us.
The Ordeal of Hope
When we are involved in planning something, there is a hope that everything will work out well. It doesn’t matter if the planning and preparation are for a game, or for an event like the women’s advent tea.
Hope can sometimes be an ordeal as our minds consider all the things that could destroy our hope. For instance, for a football team, we could focus on a critical injury or just an accumulation of them. For an event like the Advent Tea, it could be that the speaker cancels out at the last moment. It could even be the week between finishing a course, and getting the grades! Our minds can spin wildly out of control, conceiving of all the things that could go wrong. It is no different for our lives, and for our eternity. When we think of hope, it can be an ordeal as we wonder what will happen to mess up that which we hoped for so eagerly.
Which is why I think the readings work together so well today. They lay out a pattern that assures us that our hope is not in vain, that there is nothing that can change what we hope for, what our trust in God leads us to expect. If we didn’t have that assurance, the first verses in Daniel would be terrifying; hear them again.
I watched as thrones were put in place and the Ancient One sat down to judge.His clothing was as white as snow, his hair like purest wool. He sat on a fiery throne with wheels of blazing fire, 10 and a river of fire was pouring out, flowing from his presence. Millions of angels ministered to him; many millions stood to attend him. Then the court began its session, and the books were opened.
If we feel anxiety watching a football game, or waiting for the guests to arrive, of the report card to show, what kind of anxiety would we experience, knowing we had to stand before all of the missions of angels, and all of humanity, as God opened the story of our life and began to look at the details, examining our actions, our thoughts, our words?
We could try to dismiss the guilt and shame, but it still would haunt us. We could try to rationalize it, we could argue that it isn’t fair for God to give us desires that cannot be eased without sin.
Before the throne, before a God that not only knows our thoughts but the hearts where those thoughts originate, such attempts at self-preservation do not matter. If we are to have hope that Jesus is our salvation, that we will live in His Kingdom that has no end, we have to be serious about the fact we needed to be saved.
We sin. Thoughts, words, deeds.
As we will say in Advent, it is our fault, we need to grieve over that fault, we need to seriously grieve over that sin.
If we are to know the grace and peace of God, we have to realize how radically different it is to know God’s grace and peace, compared to the brokeness of our lives.
Realizing the love of God
For then, understanding the depth of our despair, we find ourselves blown away by this word grace, by the peace that is ours when we should be weighed down by guilt and despair. We begin to understand how incredible these words written by the Apostle John are,
All glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us. 6 He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.
It’s not just that Jesus has freed us from sin, and Satan, that He’s robbed death of the anxiety it can cause, that guilt and shame are wiped away. It is that He’s made us like Him, He’s made us priests who serve the Father, He’s made us holy enough to be the very attendants of God the Father.
All of us, from the smallest to the largest, youngest to the oldest, we have been made companions of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
No wonder all of creation will bow before Him! No wonder we will shout about the glory of God He has revealed to us.
He loves us!
He freed us from our sin, by shedding HIS BLOOD for us.
He has made us priest, …..
ALL GLORY TO HIM FOREVER AND EVER! AMEN!!!
Sermon on Daniel 12:1-3 Companions in Glory!
note – the audio with slides is at the bottom of the manuscript
Companions of the Cross: Companions of Glory
Daniel 12:1-3
† IHS †
May you know and depend upon the grace, the incredible loving-kindness, and peace that is yours because the God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ did what it took to make it yours!
Times of Anguish
Even though Micha-el stands guard?
If one wasn’t knowledgeable about scripture, one might wonder if these are the days in which the prophet Daniel spoke of when there will be a time of anguish greater than any time since nations first came into being.
The numbers climb, as people in Lebanon, the Sudan, and as we have heard all over the news, France, have been killed this week. The numbers climb as well, as lives are taken here in the US, as violence sweeps over our cities. And less we forget, our state has now mandated that centers that hope to give women an option to abortion now have to advertise those places that will provide them, without offering any option. That was driven home to me this week, as I talked to a Crisis Pregnancy Center director, whose office is surround by 9 of the largest abortion clinics in California.
There are days which are scary, and it was brought home Friday evening as a bomb was found in an Anaheim hardware store.
Certainly these are days of anguish, throughout the world.
Yet the prophets words talk of a messenger, actually “the messenger” standing guard over the people of God.
Where is He? Where is this messenger who is supposed to be standing guard over us?
And what is to come next?
Like the Book of the Revelation, should Daniel’s words today bring us anxiety and fear, or comfort and peace?
I suppose that is determined by the judgment, and what we face for our eternity.
Everlasting Life or Everlasting Disgrace?
But which do we deserve?
There are two options that Daniel tells us,
The first is the for those who will rise up, and enjoy everlasting life because their name is written in the book of life, and they will have been rescued, delivered, and saved. The word for life is incredible, it is not only life but everlasting nourishment, everlasting abundance,
The second is those who will have to experience shame and everlasting disgrace, a word that is far stronger, everlasting abhorrence and scorn. It is reminiscent of the anguish described in the gospels, as Jesus talks of Gahanna, of hades, of the destination prepared for Satan and that which is demonic, which wasn’t intended for mankind, yet in stubbornness and rebellion and self-centeredness is their choice.
It is the place we all deserve, yet in because God loves some are rescued and delivered from that path, that destination.
For that is what the one called Michael does, as this prime messenger comes from God.
So who is this Michael, who is this who stands guard over the nation.
Michael – One Who is Like God.
Well, one of the challenges is whether in Hebrew “michael” is a name or a title. What Michael means in Hebrew is “One who is like God”, or “One who is as God.”
Consider these words from Colossians,
15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, Colossians 1:15 (NLT)
Add to that the term archangel simply means, “the first of all messengers.” In this case, the primary messenger; the primary message of God.
Who then cares for, and guards the people of God, who is the prime messenger of God, who is like God in every way?
If it is, then consider this, the anguish that is greater than any since before the beginning of the nations was His, and He embraced the entire wrath of God to provide and guard our hearts and minds.
It is this anguish that provides our rescue, our deliverance from the power of sin, Satan and death into the presence of God our Father.
It is He whose death and resurrection, as the wrath of God for all of our sins is poured out on Him, that is the cause of our rescue, our deliverance.
And finally, it is united to Him that we see the promise of Daniel fulfilled. The promise that those who are wise and depend on God’s providing Christ for us shine as bright as the sky.
Here the apostle Paul again
27 For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you the assurance of sharing his glory. Colossians 1:27 (NLT)
and again
Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. Colossians 3:1-4 (NLT)
This is too good not to share!
This is so incredible, this Lord, who is the image of God the Father, As we approach the end of the year, the readings all focus on the end the ages and the incredible blessing that is knowing Jesus.
It is so good, how can we not share this hope with all who need to know it!
That is why the Holy Spirit inspires Daniel not just to tell us we will share with the Christ’s glory, but repeats the promise with a slight modification.
and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever.
For it is natural, as we learn the depth of God’s love, to pour out our praises, praising God with all we are, praising Him to those around us, desiring that they would come to know the love that resonates throughout our lives.
hear it again.
Jesus, the one who is like God, stands guard over us, taking all the wrath we deserve; He has rescued us, and we will rise to everlasting life, shining as bright as the sky, and as we lead people to Him, we will shine like the stars…forever.
For until that day, Jesus stands guard over us, His companions, protecting our hearts and minds as we dwell in God’s peace until we are revealed fully in His glory! AMEN!
Pentecost 25 companions of the cross, companions of glory w audio
Preparing for Christ’s Return by asking Why Me?
Preparing for Jesus Coming:
We Need to ask:
Why Me?
† IHS †
May Your Christmas Celebration be one where you get the answer from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, of why me?
Parker Parable – Advent = Sleeplessness nights
It is time for a pastor parker parable, one that is a more serious note.
The parable will help us understand this advent season as it grows to a close, and help us be patient for just a few more days, until we can break loose with hallelujah’s and gloria’s and the most abundant praises our voices and hearts can sing…..
So here is the parable:
Advent is like a sleepless night!
You know, the nights where you toss and turn, and your body finds trouble resting. The same nights when you mind is working fast than lightening, as you process every possible outcome, and how those will complicate life in the days to come?
Yeah – that kind of sleepless night.
We know these nights….
Advent is like that…..
It’s like a question we ask…
Why Me?
Advent is that time where we look to the sky, and ask that question. “Lord, why me?”
Over the years, I’ve asked that question a million times, it’s even caused those sleepless nights, as I’ve pondered why me…..
It’s the question of Advent, as are those dark sleepless nights.
We ask in regard to tragedy, trauma and “bad luck”
We usually ask, “why me?” in those times when it seems like life overwhelms our trust in God.
Maybe we are asking the “why me?” question because we have to deal with the consequences of sin. We can even know God’s forgiveness, and know our eternity is secure, yet we have to deal with the brokenness of things.
We ask because of the broken hearts, broken relationships, things broken by our jealously, envy, hatred, and desire. Often we don’t sleep because of our inability to deal with temptation by our own strength or reason. Sin is a horrid thing, and we think we have two options in dealing with it. Either we struggle against it, or we begin to harden our own hearts, so we don’t feel judged or condemned. Either way the guilt and shame can cause us to question our existence in the dark hours of the night.
Maybe we are asking, “why me?” because we can’t see that God is working in our lives. When we don’t doubt His existence, but we wonder if those promises are for other people.
You know, that promise we hear, that all things work together for good for those that love God?
Or that God will never leave or forsake us?
Paul talks about the fact that God’s plan was kept secret from the beginning of time, and then was revealed. Asking “why me?” is sort of like wondering if we missed that moment when God’s plan from the ages was revealed to everyone else.
Did we miss it? Because we did, did God forget to include us in it?
I’ve had those moments, the wondering, the questioning, the trying to make heads and tails of life. Where you don’t know why you have all the bad luck.
I hate those kinds of sleepless nights, those times of asking why me. Why did I grow up with a genetic issue that affects my heart and spine? Why did I get in a motorcycle accident, or drop out of school, or have a cardiac arrest, each of those times I’ve asked that question, just as all of you have asked those “why me’s”
Just like I’ve had times where I needed to face my sin and confess it, because if dealing with the consequences now is challenging, those same sins have an eternal consequence. Just as we all have….
Good thing that Advent isn’t like those kinds of sleepless nights, that it isn’t about those times of asking “why me?”
That there is another reason for sleepless nights and asking “Why me!”
We need to ask in view of blessings.
Advent is like the sleepless night, or about asking “why me?” But not in the sense of those traumatic nights I’ve mentioned. It’s the kind of sleepless night where your joy and expectation is building up.
Like that restlessness you feel before you go on vacation with dear family and friends you haven’t seen in a while, or the night before you get married.
Or like the night before Christmas when you are a child, and try to stay up, imagining what gifts you are going to get, and who you are going to tell about it, and who you are going to share it with, and how much you are going to enjoy it!
The excitement, the expectation, the joy of the next morning is keeping you up.
When we realize what Jesus coming into our world means, we should ask, “LORD, WHY ME?” in joy, even with a little disbelief as we struggle to believe that God would love us that much!
What have we done to deserve the presence of God? What have we done to deserve these promises that the prophets and apostles reveal to us? What have we done to be included in this plan…
YET WE ARE!!!
Jesus the Messiah came into this world, to live and die, for us.
He died on the cross to free us.
He rose again that we should rise with Him, and even live through this life, every moment in His presence.
When scripture talks about the gentiles being included in His plan, it’s talking about all of us who breathe, who walk, who have been baptized. Who have been made His children? Do we realize it is talking about us?
Advent is like the time, when we can’t sleep, because we are thinking about His gifts, about His presence (and his presents!)
it is the attitude of Mary, as she hears, ““Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God!”
It is the joy King David, the repentant adulterer and murdered knows as he hears Nathan say, “Furthermore, the Lord declares that he will make a house for you—a dynasty of kings!
“Why Me?” they surely asked… and we would do well to ask as well.
Why God, why did you choose me?
While we wait
It is as he begins knowing the depth, the height the width and breadth of this love that Paul can say something we need to hear from this passage, that God is able to sustain us, to keep us strong, not with our strength, but surrounded by His care.
It is the message that must everyone, everyone who doubts God would love them, that believe they are separated from Him need to hear.
To make us strong there, it’s not by causing us to be spiritual superheroes. It’s to support us, confirm us, to establish us and set us in place, to bring us to a state of peace. To know that our place in Christ cannot be challenged,
The “why Me” changes dramatically, from why would God allow this all to happen to me, to “why would God choose you, or me, or cause Jesus to die, for us.
To answer this “why me?” sustains us in those other “why me’s” and reminds us to rest in His strength, to find mercy in His peace, to look forward to His second coming with the anticipation of children awaiting Christmas morning, but doing so, not restless with anxiety and stress… but with joy… and hope, and peace… for we know His love!
AMEN!
Prepare the Way!
Prepare the Way! It’s All About Jesus
John 1:6-8, 19-28
† IHS †
May You Realize That Life is All About Christ, and As You Do, May You Realize His Life Is All About You!
The New Pastor
I’ve heard the story a number of times, there’s even a pastor who did something similar and posted it on youtube. No matter who did it, it is a great object lesson. It went something like this.
A church was waiting expectantly to hear a pastor they were thinking of calling. He was supposed to come to town in time to preach at their evening service. He was reputed to be an incredible preacher, a great pastor, and one who led churches through times of great blessing.
He wrote them ahead of time, telling them the message would be one to encourage them to love their neighbors. Everyone was looking forward to it.
That morning, a man was sitting outside the church, with a piece of cardboard with the words Leviticus 19:18b written on it. He was unshaven, His clothes were filthy, his hair was messed, the letters on the sign were crooked.
Some people didn’t even look at him, as they passed by. Others looks, and muttered under their breath, A few walked up and tried to hand him a dollar bill, one man even tried to threaten him with calling the police – trying to scare him off the property. He stayed there all morning – and ever as people drove by later in the afternoon, he was there.
That night though, to almost everyone’s relief, he wasn’t there. The new pastor wouldn’t have to see him, and they wouldn’t have to feel guilty about treating him badly.
They were waiting for the message about caring for their neighbors. There was excitement in the air…. But wait, up by the altar, the man they thought was deranged talking to the elders…..and his sign was leaning against the altar…. One person looked it up – Leviticus 19:18B….
Love your neighbor as yourself, I am the Lord (NLT)
They had seen his message all morning – but they didn’t see it. They heard this amazing pastor speak, but they didn’t hear him.
They would repent, ashamed and shocked by the message, and perhaps they were only more surprised, when they heard the pastor announce that he would take their call, that together they would learn to love God and their neighbor
it is a story not unlike the story of John the Baptist that we heard this morning. For he too was not listened too by some, and we see that in the gospel today.
Why Couldn’t They See or Hear His Message.
Who are you the Priests and Levites ask John, not once, but five times.
Who are you, why do you act like a messenger from God, these messengers from the leaders of Israel ask. Men who most likely grew up with John, for his father was a priest as well.
Every time I see this passage, I wonder, why they couldn’t realize who John is.
Why couldn’t they get it? Why didn’t they hear his message? Was it the odd clothes?
We look at them, and ask those questions, but would we treat the odd looking guy in different clothes, whose life was very different from ours any better?
Would we try to drive off a pastor who was dressed like a bum and acted a little weird when we first met him?
Or might we check out the Bible passage on the cardboard sign he held?
Why Didn’t John Answer Them?
As odd as it is that they didn’t recognize John, John’s blunt refusal to consider their question is even odder. Jesus would tell people that John was Elijah. Did John lie? Did Jesus?
Why doesn’t he just say yes, I am Elijah, and over here – the Messiah, the Prophet you’ve been looking for? That’s my cousin Jesus from Nazareth.
Why not just make it easy on them?
Why not just slap them upside the head, and say, “look – the answer to your question is here, right here, right before your very eyes?
The Answer:
I think we find the answer in the reaction of the crowds when they do realize that Jesus claims to be the Messiah. They either try to kill Him, they try to make Him a king that will provide everything on their time schedule, when God is doing something far greater, far more eternal.
But God is about something else – about redeeming mankind, of reconciling everything together.
7 No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. 8 But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. 1 Corinthians 2:7-8 (NLT)
Surely they wouldn’t have killed Jesus, if they truly knew He was the Messiah, they wouldn’t have sacrificed Him, and he wouldn’t have borne our sin. They would have honored him, praised him, expected him to lead them in glorious battles, but that isn’t why he was born of Mary, that’ isn’t why he emptied Himself, and lived under the weight of being human.
That is what John means when he says he is the one who cries out get ready for God to come! A cry of despair, a cry of last resort, a cry for God to act, for only God can make the changes needed for people to be ready to in His presence.
if John admits to being Elijah, then the attention is on him again, and not on the message, the message people need to hear.
Are you ready for God to be part of your life? Are you ready to be part of His?
John’s message has to be about our need for Jesus. It can’t be, “look at me, I am Elijah!”
It has to be about Christ.
Without His Incarnation, His Birth, His life, Death, Burial, Resurrection, and Ascension, we won’t be ready when it is time for us to be before the throne of God. We simply can’t do the miracle of reconciling every relationship we’ve broken, every hurt we caused others, every time we’ve betrayed others, and been betrayed by them.
Yet that is why He came. That is the ministry of Christ! That is the work He accomplished, to make our lives, as bruised and battered as they can be, lives that are masterpieces because of what He does…
We know of Him, and His work, and that it was all planned…..
For John testified of his work, as we do, with our words and our lives.
For when we trust God at His promises, the promise of a Messiah, of a Prophet, of our Savior, and what He would do to save us… everything changes, and it begins to make sense.
What changes the most? We go from darkness to light, we go from questioning God to reveling in His presence, we know Him… He’s the pastor, who sees us at our worst, at the moments we aren’t loving, and says, I’ll stay, let’s walk together.
Therefore, knowing why He came, knowing He will come again, trust in Him, count on the promises He has made us, and live in His incredible peace…. AMEN!
Prepare! Clear the Way for Jesus!
Prepare! Clear the Way for Jesus!
Mark 1:1-8
† IHS †
My friends, my desire for us for this Advent Season is this: that from us is cleared away everything that divides us from God. From knowing His Love, from adoring Him. That is what God’s grace and mercy does, leaving us in His peace.
Preparing for Christmas Shopping – Rent a pastor!
It’s time for a Pastor Parker Parable, Advent edition. As we prepare for the Christmas holidays, for the party’s, and as we buy gifts for people we love, I have an idea that might provide some insight into how the gospel works, using the idea of surviving the shopping, and the incredible crowds. Here it is:
For a small donation to the elder’s benevolence fund, I will go shopping with you.
Let me explain how this is of a benefit. I need four volunteers…. One lady and let’s say Dane and Bob and Chuck. Did I say volunteers? Well – you’re here, so you volunteered. You three stand here, and pretend you are talking about football, or guns or even politics, and completely oblivious to what’s going on around you… Oh you are in the middle of a busy store…say Sears or Walmart
Now, over here we have Debbie, tired and weary of trying to find Tom just the right present. She sees it over there, on the other side of the three guys talking, and there is no way to get through them. You are out of luck.
But with the Pastor Shopping Assistant, this is problem is no problem at all. There is an advantage to having a 6’2” pastor dressed in black with his collar. You point out where you want to go in the store and I walk there, with you following behind. I navigate through the three men, who aren’t sure they are moving because of the collar, because I am big, or because I look mean and ready to send them to hades, or to the woman’s lingerie section. But move they do…. And you get what you desired.
This is how a pastor can benefit you in your shopping, and the same benefit you get from time in God’s word, whether in a sermon, or Bible Study or personal time reading God’s word! It’s the same thing we see as John preaches to the people of God and baptizes them as a sign of their repentance.
So the parable is this; pastoral assistance prepares for the appearance of Jesus the Christ! The way is clear, there is a path to the goal
Getting through that which would separate you from Christ
In our lives, there is much to be cleared out, much that slows us down, junks that stops us from living life in the peace God has given us. It’s the stuff that in Peter’s reading will burn up in the end.
Very few of us are the John the Baptist types, who live off the most basic of things.
I mean, how many of us are willing to take cast-offs to wear, for that’s what he wore for clothes. Or to eat whatever we came across, as we lived out in the field? We probably can’t find that much raw honey, but there is a good source of protein out there! His life was pretty well prepared. The way for him has few obstacles…
John preached the message about clearing the crap that gets in the way of our relationship with God. About clearing the way, making ready the path. He’s not talking about re-tarring the driveway at church, but getting rid of things like bitterness, resentment, anxiety, fears, and sin. He talked getting rid of our idea that we are right, and God just doesn’t know what life today is like.
We do that, when we don’t repent of sin, or when we allow others to think their sin isn’t a major one. We do it when we make personal comfort our goal, rather than knowing we find our comfort in Christ. We do it when we criticize others and gossip about them, rather than pray for their soul. We do it, when we don’t help those in need, or when our help is more to soothe our consciousness, rather than actually help them. This is the sin and unrighteousness that we hang on to, we protect, and we are don’t want to give up. Though that makes very little sense.
All these things need to be cleared away. Anxiety, fear, sin takes a straight road and turns into the spiritual version of Malibu Canyon road or trying to get one of the Black Friday super-specials. On our own we stand a better chance of winning three consecutive state lotteries, than in being prepared for Jesus’ second coming.
We need to hear the word of God, we need to hear the John the Baptist, and be cleansed of our sins, of our idols, of the crap that blocks our way to Jesus. We need to see His promises, we need to have the comfort He has promised, we need to know we are loved.
But there is so much that blocks us from Jesus, so much sin, so much anxiety, just so much!
How will we get it done in time?
Or will we give up and cling to the very things that poison our lives? The things that stop us from being close to Jesus?
This is the stuff we need to get through, but it is so hard!
Is He there?
That’s where the word of God and the sacraments come into play. Where a sermon or Bible Study that we are part of reveals Christ’s presence. When we hear the gospel crushes that which stops us from our time with God. Where it clears away the things that would block our access to God. That’s how God’s word works, that is how the Holy Spirit uses it…to ready us for Jesus’s coming
Why else would people treasure it enough to wander out to the desert to hear him? Why would they listen, what moved their hearts so much they admitted their sin?, Why would they run into the water, demonstrating that the Holy Spirit was at work in their lives, bringing them to repentance?
They gave up the game of being self-righteous, about pointing out the sins of others. They acknowledged they needed God’s presence, and their lives were cluttered and blocked. The crud washed away as promised, for and the word of God broke through, much as the 6’2’ 315 pound pastor can break through a crowd in a mall at Christmastime.
I want you to think about the ways Christ’s birth is declared in scripture. A people living in utter darkness have seen a great life. A time of healing a time of death being shattered by life, A day of the greatest rejoicing.
If that was true at Christ’s first coming to us, how much more will it be when He returns?
Hear again how Peter said in ( 2 Peter 3:8-14)
We are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.
14 And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.
It is the same concept, know that your life, your vitality is found in Jesus. That His word reveals all that you need to see that the way is prepared, it has been planned, and for us, the way made sure at the cross, when Jesus died. It is the blessing of having the gift of the Holy Spirit, given to us in our baptism. It is the blessing of having God’s word tell us of this, over and over again.
For the Spirit grants us repentance, and brings us comfort, and testifies to the promise of the death, burial, resurrection, ascension and return of Christ.
We need to know we have access to God the Father, that there is nothing that blocks us, no amount of crud, nor a temple curtain. We’ve been invited to His feast, and He’s made sure we can know we are welcome.
Knowing that, we can have the peaceful, pure and blameless lives Peter encourages us to live in, for we dwell in Christ, He has claimed us, and He will get us home.
AMEN.
We pray….Lord, Rip Open the Heavens and Come!
We pray….Lord, Rip Open the Heavens and Come!
Isaiah 64:1-9 Psalm 102:18-22
† IHS †
As you grow to know God’s mercy, may you find your prayers sustained by the Spirit’s presence, even as you pray for Christ’s return!
Rip’em open Lord
There are days where Isaiah’s cry I hear with great anger, and other times I hear it with great heartache. As we look out into this world, with its wars, with it massacres. When we see people causing division, rather than trying to bring reconciliation, when we see people struggle with the political games, with broken relationships, when they get played by extremism, or self-centeredness. When we look around us, and all we see is sin. There is a frustration that results in anger, and in tears. There is a desperation to our prayers, to connect to God!
Lord, come quickly, come so quickly you rip the sky’s open, and bring it to and end1
Isaiah certainly didn’t mean this as a casual invitation, but it was a cry born of pain, he pleaded with God to not hold back, but to come down with all His power, and set things straight.
To make things the way they are supposed to be.
Why can’t people love God, and love each other?
We can get so frustrated, there are times where we aren’t sure whether to be angry, or crushed. For that matter, we aren’t even sure which we are, at the moment.
The World Deserves it….
The cries for God to fulfill His promises resound throughout the Old Testament. For God promises, as he does in our reading tonight, to come with all of the angels and fix it. To come and destroy all that is Holy, to shake it up the way He did in the Old Testament, to deal with those who do things that are unrighteous.
You see it in all of the prophets, they pray for God to come and fix it all that is broken.
To take care of evil once and for all.
Even as Christ came the first time to save us, we know He is coming back to judge the quick and the dead. He will reign, He will fix everything, and that will go one forever.
They plead with God to return, they can’t stand living amid the brokenness any longer, so they turn to God and cry for help. The God the psalmist notes is looking down, listening to the cries of those in bondage, and will come to release them.
We deserve it
Back in Isaiah, even as the prophet cries for God to rip open the heavens, there is a realization, a hesitation. For Isaiah realizes how much the people of God have wandered away. He realizes that God isn’t just angry at them, but at us as well. That our desire to do good, is worthless, that we are dried up by sin,
What is alarming is verse 7,
No one prays to you or makes the effort to reach out to you….
I have to ask, how much is prayer a part of our lives. Whether it is taking the psalms and praying through them, or whether it is just pouring out our heart to God. How often do we think of Him, talk to Him, find our selves concerned with what He is concerned with in our lives, in our world?
How often do we follow what He tells us to do? Or do we justify our sin, not caring if it breaks God’s heart?
We get frustrated by the very thing that in others we want to condemn. We need to learn to hate this sin, this failure, in our own lives. We need to call out to God to cleanse us, heal us, forgive us.
As Isaiah says, we cry for Him to remember we are His people. The people He poured water upon in baptism, the people He feeds and nourishes the souls of during the Lord’s Supper.
We are people that the psalm was recorded for, so that we could praise the Lord with angels and archangels and all the hosts of heaven.
For He has promised to look down and release those for whom Christ died. To free them from their sins…. He promised that to us.
Advent makes Christmas something special, for it takes it from something historical, and we realize that it was to us He came. Because we needed Him To save us, and eventually, to return and bring us home to the Father.
Where we will dwell for eternity, in His presence. A day we should long for, even as God gives us His peace, until we return.
AMEN? AMEN!
Final Preparations For Christ’s Second Coming
Final Preparations For His Coming
Mark 11:1-10
† IHS †
As You Realize the Depth of the Grace and Peace of God our Father, and Jesus our Lord, May Your Cry for Him to Save Us Become More Confident and Filled With Wonder and Expectation!
They’ll Be Here Any Second!
You look at your watch, or maybe the clock on the microwave, and as your heart begins to beat faster, you wonder where the last forty-five minutes went!
The company will be here any moment, and you so aren’t ready.
The appetizers are perfect, but you haven’t changed from your bathrobe and pajamas, for that matter, you realized you haven’t showered yet!
The rest of the house, you know, the parts that you asked for help in getting cleaned up, well they are worse than when you asked for help1
The extra chairs are still in the garage, the laundry basket is empty, all over floor.
And as you leave the kitchen to get looking half presentable, you notice you forgot to turn on the oven, and the turkey is still thawing in the sink!
IS this the ultimate nightmare, or worse… reality?
Many people get stressed when company is coming over…. They want things to be perfect for their guests. Perhaps some of us aren’t that noble. We know life isn’t perfect, but we like it when others think that our lives are!
If we are so concerned about company coming over and finding lives, what concern do we have about Jesus coming back, and finding us ready?
As we spend these weeks prior to Christmas thinking about Jesus’ incarnation and His second coming, we are going to look Advent prayers and preparations. Wednesday Nights we’ll study the prayers in the Bible for Jesus to return, and on Sunday’s we’ll look at how to be prepared, how to be ready.
So let’s begin looking at the final preparations for Advent, or is it Easter!
Easter or Advent?
It may seem a little odd to begin Advent with a reading from Palm Sunday and the Triumphal Entry. The beginning of the week leading to Good Friday and Easter. There is a reason. When the shepherds looked down on Jesus in the manger, they had no clue what it would take to be the Savior. A year or so later, as the wise men presented Jesus gifts, they didn’t know either.
The disciples have walked with Him for years. They’ve heard him teach about the Father’s love because of firsthand experience. They’ve seen Jesus heal lepers, give sight to the blind, feed thousands with a few sardines and small roles of bread. They’ve seen Him raise people from the dead.
The Messiah is about to establish His reign over everything, and it is for this reason that He came. To answer the prayer the people cried out Praise the Lord, as they cried out Hosanna! (which means save us!) Everything’s ready for that which had been a mystery from the beginning is about to occur….
It’s almost ready… just a few final preparations.
Are We Willing to Go Get the Donkey…
There is always one task that everyone hates, that has to be done when company’s coming over. Maybe it’s taking out the trash, maybe it’s cleaning the toilet bowl.
I can’t imagine taking the walk to town to pick up a young unbroken donkey, and dragging it back to Bethany was the greatest of jobs. But someone had to do it, and these two disciples had to go deal with the donkey.
Some of us may be sent on similar missions still to deal with stubborn donkeys and bring them to Jesus. Some of us are as stubborn and that unbroken donkey.
But are we willing to listen to God’s direction that clearly? Are we willing to go and take on a task that isn’t glamorous, and may be more than a bit difficult? These two disciples played a role in fulfilling prophecy, but I am not sure they knew that. I can imagine one of them wondering if they could find this donkey, the other wondering if no one asked them, would they be charged with Grand Theft Donkey?
Our lives are often like their task that day. We aren’t sure why God wants us to work with donkeys, or why He doesn’t just wipe out those we think are enemies. Why this action is good, but why doing that is a sin, and doing that is labelled an abomination. We don’t have the answers, and our answer is the same as those disciples, simply telling people what we are told, by God.
But will we accept that His answer is good enough?
What advent is about is to prepare to welcome the King, to welcome the Messiah who comes in the name of the Lord God Almighty! Are we ready for that day? Have we done that which He asks, in preparation for that day when He comes, and everyone praises Him?
We are called into this relationship, into this family of God. Are we waiting for His return! Will we be found ready? Or will we be still trying to figure out why we have to work with donkeys?
A Word of Hope!
The anxiety of company arriving at any moment can be matched, when we consider our own work, as we strive to become ready for the second coming of Christ. Paul addresses that in his letter to the church in Corinth,
4 I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus. 5 Through him, God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent words and all of your knowledge. 6 This confirms that what I told you about Christ is true. 7 Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. 9 God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord!
That is the key to Advent, the key to being prepared for Christ’s return. He isn’t coming to check out that all the trash cans so clean you could eat out of them, or that the toilet is that clean, or even that the feast is perfectly prepared. He’s coming to see if we are ready to enter the Father’s presence, following behind him like the crowds did on Palm Sunday.
How we are prepared? We know what God has done, and is doing. We know about the cross, about Jesus dying that we could be free from all blame. That what scripture promises about Christ is true here, in this place. It is true for all that believe and are baptized! We are prepared when we have trust in God’s work in this place. When we know and use the gifts God has given to us, given to us because we belong to Jesus Christ. When we know that Jesus will keep us strong, and free from all blame. Because He is faithful we trust in Him, and we look forward to what is promised.
I love verse 8 – we have to hear it again,
He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. 9 God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord!
There is our hope, and there is the hope of the world, that in Christ, people are free from all blame and will be when He returns. For God has promises this welcomed you into a community led by Jesus! This is how we prepare for Advent. We realize our need for Him, our desperate need, and trust that He will meet it!
May our trust in God be seen, as we work with Him, even as His return draws closer!
Amen!
