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My Dad, Death and the reality of Semper Fi!
English: Sergeant rank insignia for the United States Marine Corps. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional Thought of the day:
( Please note: The feelings expressed herein are mine, not a reflection or way in which others should mourn)
19 When David noticed them whispering to each other, he realized that the child had died. So he asked them, “Is the child dead?” “Yes, he is,” they answered. 20 David got up from the floor, took a bath, combed his hair, and changed his clothes. Then he went and worshiped in the house of the LORD. When he returned to the palace, he asked for food and ate it as soon as it was served. 21 “We don’t understand this,” his officials said to him. “While the child was alive, you wept for him and would not eat; but as soon as he died, you got up and ate!” 22 “Yes,” David answered, “I did fast and weep while he was still alive. I thought that the LORD might be merciful to me and not let the child die. 23 But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Could I bring the child back to life? I will some day go to where he is, but he can never come back to me.” 2 Samuel 12:19-23 (TEV)
I probably will not be able to stop the tears tht will come today, and tomorrow and even as I write this, as I grieve at my father’s apssing this morning at 12:02. I am not like David, save that I think that His words about worship resonate with me, and that is what we have in common. But ministry will happen – people will find out of God’s love and peace.
But there is something very comforting in David’s words above – that in fact helps me to grieve in a way that I can only find as I encounter God and His Faithfulness.
There is nothing I can do to bring my dad back to life, and the more I think about it, these words mean something. ” I will someday go to where he is….”
My dad was both proud of and yet very damaged by his military service. THe PTSD he buried and dealt with for years – and my mom as well, was the result of serving in battle in Korea. Of having the duty of tending to war-ravaged bodies. He was a Navy Corpsman, attached to a Marine Division on the front lines. He only shared with me a couple of hte nightmares – this from a man who shared most everything else in life that happened to him. Yet, there was a sense of pride regarding the USMC and the men he served with – there were the funny stories ( and some of them were… well not necessarily “clean”. My favorites had to do with his wearing a USMC uniform with Navy rank insignia – which got him salutes from many who outranked him. Yet there was always the motto Semper Fi. Marines were the best, the most faithful of the services, the men sent it to do what the US Army just coulnd’t. (“We’d take a hill, then get to stand downfor a week…. the Army taking our place… sort of… we’d come back and have to retake the damn hill again!)
Semper Fi – always faithful. always
This morning – my dad realizes in a way beyond stating the power of that phrase. He knows how God was faithful to Him… through the War, through the deaths, through the struggles of adopting and raising 3 kids – each one different. Of loving people immensely, yet being terrified to show them that love – the anxiety that subconsciously wracks so many veterans, and is so painful for spouses and kids to realize. Sixty years of marriage. Hurts and pain and pride and health issues and all sorts of crap. Yet know… he realizes God was faithful, God was there… God sustained Him and used His faith and his scars, as meager as he thought it was… to help people. He now more than ever realizes the faithfulness of God…. Of that I am fully confident.
Maybe it’s because I’ve walked this horrid road with others, and I know my dad. Maybe its because I’ve seen what peace God gives – even amid tears and heartache. I’ve seen the faces before Warren and CLyde and RIch and Dale and RIchard an – as we say “with angels and archangels and ALL THE COMPANY OF HEAVEN, even as I know I will see my dad’s face this Sunday… and King David’s words will echo in my mind….
“I will someday go to where he is” – with Him. our Lord.
For God is always faithful – even as He brings us peace in the midst of tears….even as minsitry happens during lament – for there, I am absolutely convinced comes some of the deepest worship….
I pray that your confidence in God is strengthened – as we see God’s hand in the midst of our lives, the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of our eternity… in a place without tears.
Thanks if you made it through this mashed up bunch of thoughts…
God and Man Sat Down!
The Last Supper, by Bouveret, 19th century. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
God and Man Sat Down!
Luke 13:22-30
Rejoice! God has desired to invite you to feast with Him! This is what it means to have had the grace, that love and mercy and peace poured out on you by the Father, through Jesus Christ.
† Jesus, Son and Savior †
A Great Example of Leadership
I would not dare to call him a friend, nor did I know him enough to consider him a mentor, but what he did one day has stuck with me for a long time. It was my last day at Pepperdine, and as was the pattern there, there was a going away party, sort of a reception in the afternoon.
Friends from all over campus would drop in for a few moments here and there, a couple like my two bosses and my assistant manager stayed for most of the afternoon. The surprise was the man I mentioned a moment ago. The President of the University, Dr. Davenport made it a point to come – and stayed a significant time. He talked to me about the church I was going to pastor full-time. He talked about his own time as a pastor. He talked about the projects I had worked on for him, some really fun projects when I was the manager of the bookstore.
It was my last day, and there was nothing for him to gain from going to a going away party for a simple manager. Yet he did. He sat down and spent time with me. He sat down with me… and we feasted together. There was a sense that I was valued, and even as I was leaving, I was still part of the family. I was a valued part of the community, and worth a couple hours of a the man’s life.
There is something about sitting down with others… and sharing lives as we feast together…
As I read this passage, I thought of eating with David Davenport, and some other meals I’ve had with people, and if those can be some of the most special times in our lives, how much more will be when we feast in the Kingdom of God!
Would we find the Door closed?
When I get together pastors and deacons and other church leaders, one of the usual questions I get is, “how do you handle when people show up late to church?” We raen’t talking about people that are 2-3 minutes late, some churches have people that can be 20-25 minutes late. If they are a church where attendance is close to the capacity of the building, the answer is simple – if you show up late – you sit with the elders up front!
One Pastor I know has a 8:55 service – and then the service really starts at 9. Occasionally a pastor or elder thinks of today’s gospel – and thinks about simply locking the doors at 30 seconds after church officially starts.
Jesus talks about a day like that, when the Kingdom of God’s door is closed. However He’s not talking just about a church service. He’s talking about eternity.
I remember back when I was the night manager at a fast-food restaurant. We closed at midnight – and we always had people who drove in the drive through after the car we designated as “the last car”. They would then have to wait in line with others in front of and behind them. Invariably this would lead to someone banging on the window and yelling at us to open up or they would call the corporate offices and complain.
imagine how they will be on judgment day!
The Greek here is harsh – for people will present their logic, arguing that they belong in heave. “We once ate and drank and listened to your teaching!” As Jesus pictures them pounding on the doors of heaven.
Jesus simple response seems harsh, “I don’t know you, I don’t even know you exist! Go away!” No, it doesn’t just seem harsh – it is harsh. So harsh that I think we avoid talking about it, because the idea of God not keeping the door open, means that there will be people who will not be in heaven. Some of those people we know – and some of them we love…deeply. Would God act this way towards them? Really?
All that hell, fire, brimstone, gnashing of teeth and crying will really happen.
People will say God – we had it made with you. We did stuff. We listened to pastor sometimes. We’ve sung the hymns, we sung the praise songs, and even chanted. We had Bibles in our home… we can’t remember where they are.. But we had some!
As one pastor once said, it’s not about just being in a church, for that doesn’t make you a Christian any more than being in McDonald’s means you’re a French fry.
In the end, it’s not a joke. We are either in a relationship with God – either Jesus knows we are His, or we are on the outside when it matters.
A Little – but well used door!!!
The beginning of this conversation started when a man asked him about whether there would be many saved – or only a few. We’ll talk about that in Bible Study, for I think this was asked by someone who thought he would be standing outside, a Samaritan in one of the towns he was passing through.
The discussion centers on being saved. I am not even sure the man who asked that knew what he was asking about, except that he knew the Messiah was supposed to save them.
Jesus talked to him in a way we might find a bit confusing – he talked about him trying his hardest to enter the narrow door – and we might hear that as we need to work to be saved. The focus isn’t on the work, but the right door.
Not the easy ways, as in those that seem to allow you the greatest freedom, that allow you to bring your sin and false gods and such with you. I think that’s where the “try your hardest”, or in Greek “agonize over” entering the narrow door.
In other words – go through Christ! Stop trying to save yourself and rely on God, who has promised to do so. It’s not about how many will be saved, or who deserves to be saved. It’s about the struggle to trust God for what He has promised, to see the open door and realize that you belong with Him.
The door is narrow though, because Christ has to cleanse us from sins and idols and burdens that don’t belong in the presence of God. You do… but all that junk… it does not.
Everything else will fail you. Everything else has, so stop focusing on those things, given them up – and look to the Jesus – who has already guaranteed your salvation! Who has already guaranteed your place at the feast!
This is about knowing Christ, knowing His love and His work in our lives to know the value of the cross, to know the value of water and word in Baptism, to cherish His presence in our lives. To know God’s love, and to adore Him for it, and realize that He is our life.
We come to the feast from all over!
That is why Jesus brings up the great gathering of the nations in this reading. That people will come from every direction, from every place on earth, and will enter heaven through Him. Why those who would rather try to live life their own way, without God will see them streaming by them like a river of humanity, entering into God the Father’s presence through Christ.
Coming to take a place at the feast! Coming to be welcomed in the Kingdom of God, coming from every continent – even as we have (save Australia and Antarctica) Welcomed as we are welcome around this altar, where we will indeed feast with God.
Will only a few be saved?
That’s not the concern Jesus expresses to the man, nor the concern we have. Will we be saved? Will those we love find themselves in the Kingdom, reclining at table with Jesus?
Or will we and they be the ones banging on the door, trying to get into a place that was open for us?
We do not do altar calls here, the kind where you have to do something to become a Christian, where you have to prove your confession.
We do invite you, on God’s behalf, to this altar though, but for a different reason. Not to be saved – but to take you place in His kingdom, at His feast. Trusting His promise, that He is saving you, that He has saved you, we will rise, praising Him, we’ll leave behind our burdens as we give them to Him in prayer, and rejoicing in His love, we will come and take our place with God at table, for He has set the table, and He welcomes you home.
His home – a kingdom of unbelievable peace, where our hearts and minds are safe – as Christ keeps us secure in His love.
AMEN?
Knowing what to expect
Knowing What to Expect
1 John 3:1-3
†In Jesus Name†
May our joy be complete, as we find our fellowship is the fellowship shared between the Father, and Jesus Our Lord, as we realize that the God our Father has created us to be His children!
Where have the Father’s gone?
When you are taught to preach, one of the things you are taught is to understand not only the context of the passage, what things in the life of the original readers impact them, how they live, what the words mean to them then. You are also that you need to consider the context of those who will be listening to you. How they will hear the words today. What things in life will shape their hearing, from education to experience to one of the most dominant forces in our culture – television!
That is certainly the case today, as we examine 1 John 3 – our epistle reading. Some of us were blessed to have incredible parents who taught us about life, and God, who taught us about getting things right, who comforted us when we really screwed up. Others did not, but they knew of fathers who did those kinds of things. Fathers like Ward Cleaver, or Andy Griffith, or the character Fred McMurray played on “my three sons.” They were re-runs in my youth, and I doubt they are even on the “oldies” stations now.
Instead, the most famous father on television now (and in re-runs) is …. Homer Simpson!
If children today don’t have a role model of fatherhood in the home, if they cannot find such a role model of a father’s love, and his devotion to his children, how can they understand the passage today? How can they understand God our Father’s desire to pour out love on us? How can they understand a passage like:
11:11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Luke 11:11-13 (NKJV)
So what can we expect of God our Father, what can we teach these little ones to expect of a Father whose love knows no bounds?
We are already God’s Children… yet
The apostle John starts out the third chapter – by talking about the fact, the fact that we are God’s children, even if the world doesn’t recognize us as that, even if we haven’t really begun to understand what that means, and how God has transformed us.
There are a couple of issues here, first the challenge to believe that God can and does transform people. The world doesn’t know us, because they really, really don’t understand God. Their picture of Him is based only in justice, they don’t understand His mercy, His love, and the extent of that love. Perhaps that is due to us at times, where our desire for people not to get hurt comes across as a legalistic moral standard. And where we should be concerned for the damage sin does to their lives, they hear God’s warnings as condemnation.
As a parent, how easy is it to let your children suffer the consequences of their actions? How many of us enjoy disciplining them, and correcting them? But how much more do we hate they pain they have to deal with, when they have done wrong? It takes a little thought, but God’s desire is never to punish never mind condemn. It is that we live life walking with Him, guided away from those things which we might chose, even as a young child doesn’t always choose that which is needed, Like when we warn our kids, those warnings that God gives us aren’t always heard as warnings by those who hear them from us.
It’s hard to understand why we can’t have fun, how such things could result in great pain, to us, and often to others.
Not only do those who do not comprehend God’s love not see us as we are in Christ, but neither do we. There are days I admit, that I don’t see myself as one of God’s kids, and there are days that I wonder about the church as a whole. Part of that is I look at my actions, our actions, and I wonder how in the world we can call ourselves God’s kids, when we aren’t the most loving, or the most patient, or the most merciful. It’s hard to see myself as holy at times, or to see the church, as it acts in the world as holy, as the people God has called and chosen.
While we should never excuse our sin, we should understand the tension of not really grasping how much God is changing us. Hear again John’s words,
Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
which Paul echoes,
3:1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Colossians 3:1-4 (ESV)
John said,
what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him
and Paul said,
your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
They agree! Imagine that! They both were led to write that by God, because they too struggled with sin, and occasionally, doubt. Yet there were equally sure of what they knew of God’s character – that as our loving, merciful Father, who chose us to be His children, He isn’t about to give up on us, and our salvation is guaranteed by the one who guards our hearts and minds
Keeping ourselves pure
Besides reminding us that we are going to struggle to realize who we have become as the children of God, both Paul and John then talk about our lives. John tells us,
“3 And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure. “
While Paul defines it a little more,
3:8 But now you must get rid of all these things: anger, (improper) passion, and hateful feelings. No insults or obscene talk must ever come from your lips. 9 Do not lie to one another, for you have put off the old self with its habits 10 and have put on the new self. This is the new being which God, its Creator, is constantly renewing in his own image, in order to bring you to a full knowledge of himself. Colossians 3:8-10 (TEV)
I added in Paul, because otherwise we are challenged to know what this word “pure” or holy is about. It sounds like at first it is a standard of behavior, a what not to do list. Part of that is because of the translation, and it sounds like we were most active in this, that being holy depends on what we do. Yet it is talking more about what has happened to us, when God calls us to be His children, and cleanses us of all our sin in Baptism.
But it is that promise of God’s renewing, or better translated – renovating or transforming us into the image of Christ to which I would call your attention. That transformation started in your baptism, as God cleansed you of every sin, and every bit of unrighteousness that was part of your life – even those sins you will commit next week, or the sins these kids will commit when they are their grandparents’ age! That renovation, that transformation continues every time we hear God’s word, as the Holy Spirit uses it to cauterize our wounds, to heal our brokenness, to give us the strength to love God and love and serve others. It continues as we come, called to this altar to share in Christ’s body and blood, broken and spilled that we would know the depth of His love, as He gave up His life, to give us life.
To make us his co-heirs.
To bring us the promise of living eternally with our Father, the one who has made us his children.
1 Cor 2:9-0
John and Paul both tell us, that when we see Jesus return, then we will full grasp how much He has transformed us, when we see Him, we will fully know, even as we are known. When we realize what God has done to purify us. There is one verse I would leave you with, that will help you look forward to that day… even more.
2:9 That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9 (NLT)
Know you are His beloved children. And therefore know His peace.
The End Game…Death? Not even…
Devotional thought of the day:
In a biography I am reading, there are a number of quotes of the man of God talking about what he believed was his imminent death. (By the dates of the events – he isn’t far off, but I haven’t gotten that far..yet.) This year, a number of close friends have died again, and even today I am missing one friend’s memorial service because I am officiating at a service of another sister in Christ.
Scripture tells us that because of the death and resurrection of Christ, death has lost its victory, it has lost its poisonous sting. While I believe that, while I know that, it is hard to look on faces that damp with flowing tears, with hearts that appeared crush. Too often, I struggle to see them because my eyes too are blocked by the same liquid. The pain is often unbearable, and some have asked what I know to say in those moments.
To be honest, there is only one thing to say…. to look at the person’s life, to see the connection that God made with them, to look at God’s faithfulness expressed in their life, and note the connection. Note the love of God seen in their life, love that is impossible to have at work, unless God is present. To then assure them of God’s care for their loved one, and His promise to bring us comfort, even as He has brought them into His joyous glory. To share with them one perfect promise:
2:9 but it is as scripture says: What no eye has seen and no ear has heard, what the mind of man cannot visualise; all that God has prepared for those who love him;
1 Corinthians 2:9 (NJB)
all that.
All THAT..
Death will sting those who have yet to endure it – of that there is no doubt. But for Fr. Josemarie, for JoAnn and Chuck, for Rev. McLeod, and Warren and Shirley and… and.. and..there is not sting..there is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit – fully revealed…
There is ALL THAT… there is dwelling in His glory, in His peace, seeing Him face to face…knowing as we are known,,, and far more than we can ever see, hear, or imagine in this life.
We say they “rest in peace” yet, as we look at God’s promise, we know that we dwell in that same peace…even if our hearts struggle to rest in it.
Godspeed to all those who “survive”, and may His peace so overwhelm our hearts and minds…AMEN
POSTSCRIPT:
After writing this blog, I had the honor of officiating at a memorial service. I wrote this on my FB post, which serves to make the point of this blog:
As I sit down to complete my sermon for tomorrow, I can’t help but think of the man who just celebrated God’s love for his wife. Though he anticipated less than 10 people a crowd showed up to comfort him and thank God for her life, and how it touched them,
During the lunch that followed, he never sat down – but constantly circulated, showing pictures of them together, talking to them about God’s love, hearing their stories.
It is to witness God’s handiwork in such lives, that has come to mean more to me as a pastor than anything else. To see the effect of God’s word, as it brings comfort and peace, and yes – even joy in the midst of trauma…. leaves on in awe in God’s presence.
—-
Truly, there is one blessing, said at every service, every Bible study of this church. It is this: “The Lord is with you!” – and I am blessed to see evidence of it, everyday.
God’s gathering His Family
Here is my Brother and Sister…
2 Corinthians 4:13–5:1 & Mark 3:20–35
† In Jesus Name †
May we, with all God’s holy people have the strength to grasp the breadth and the length, the height and the depth of the love of Christ, which is beyond knowledge, as we are filled with the utter fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17-19 (adapted)
Blood isn’t thicker than water…baptismal water…
Today’s gospel challenges an old German proverb about family relationships being stronger than any other relationships we have. To those who know German, I apologize for my pronunciation – the old proverb went like this, “Blut ist dicker als Wasser”
I would think that the family of Jesus would agree with the German proverb. In verse 21, after they determined that he was out of his mind, they set off to save Jesus, to save Him from Himself and the uncontrollable crowd.
As they call for Him to come out – as the message is relayed inside, the answer seems almost insolent in response to their pleas. For Jesus says, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”
Some people think that Jesus’ words border on rudeness, on dishonoring His mother.
Yet I think it is just the opposite, for here, once and for all, Jesus doesn’t limit His family, he expands it… to include us!
We, who trust in His faithfulness – who accept and find hope in the promises He makes to us, He was thinking of us, as well as the millions of others in “our family”….
Genetics doesn’t create the closest bonds that a human can know – though perhaps blood does and water…
Not our blood, but the blood of Christ spilled on the cross,
And the water of our baptism – where God promises to unite us to Christ’s death, that we may be united all united with Him as One, in His resurrection!
In uniting us together, in making each of us the place where the Holy Spirit dwells – the Father creates the new temple – place where He will abide forever, a temple not made of human hands, but of His people.
How strong is this bond? What makes it different? That is what we talk of… today!
A Different “Out Look”
When we talk of the relationships we have, as the body of Christ, and how close they are, it is not to mean that we have some romantic idealism that there will never be strains and stresses in our relationships.
I know that I can get on people’s nerves at times, and there are one or two… million people that cause me to struggle. We are people who struggle with sin, and with self-deception and self-centeredness, after all! While we strive to be holy, it is not within our lives, apart from that which is united with Christ!
But that is the point – our bonds are so tight – because in Christ – we have been given a different outlook, a different way to see what is important as Paul states in our reading this morning from 2 Corinthians,
are unseen are eternal
16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal!
Our family, those found in Christ, those who know His incredible love and mercy.. we look at different things that the world that has, as yet, to realize that love.
The more time we spend realizing that we are in the presence of God, not just here on Sundays, but every moment of our lives.. ohhhh how that changes things! First eternally, as we consider promises like 1 Corinthians 2:9
2:9 but it is as scripture says: What no eye has seen and no ear has heard, what the mind of man cannot visualise; all that God has prepared for those who love him;
Given that – our temporary struggles, are simply that, light and momentary afflictions! Yet it is more than knowing that eternity is forever, and that comparing this life to that is not even possible…
This isn’t minimizing the pains of life, but putting them into perspective – it is hard to be mad at someone for being a pain in the neck, when we realize what Christ went through, in order that they know His love, and we can take on the fact that we are getting old – and our bodies don’t work as good as they did when we were in our twenties and thirties,
but our focus, our hopes, what causes us to tick and live and work in God’s kingdom is that we look to that we cannot see – but that we know – the presence of God, which is as real for us now, right now – and every moment of our lives…
Because we have been given the Holy Spirit – promised all over the Old Testament – especially clear in books like Ezekiel, and in the Psalms… made true for us, as Christ promised – the Spirit has come! Again, I love Paul’s way of describing it!
3:3 Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other. 4 But—“When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, 5 he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. 6 He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. 7 Because of his grace he declared us righteous and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.” Titus 3:3-7 (NLT)
And even as we share this wisdom, as we share in the gift of the Holy Spirit – we share in it together – for we all dwell together with Him, and the love of God binds us together!
We believe, and We speak…
Knowing this – we begin to understand the start of the Epistle reading:
13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, 14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
Paul’s quote comes from a psalm that praises God in the midst of a struggle, in the midst of life, when if we look at life without the lends of eternity, we would nearly give up. It’s not worth the struggle, its not worth trusting God in the midst of temptation, its not worth the pain and anguish of dealing with people that are stubborn, or stupid, or irritating or corrupt…
Yet we know what God can do with such people, as we look at Moses, and David and young Jeremiah and Daniel. As we see what God has done with Peter and Paul, and the visions he gave to a man who was called a son of thunder… and yet… wrote the gospel of John, the gospel of live. In the same way we see it in men who have sinned like Will and Stephen and Chris and I, yet who God has cleansed and called to proclaim His love, His mercy, and His grace…. And to guide people, as they hear of that love, and as we bring you closer and closer to Him! For we trust in Him, and know what He has done in our lives.
He changes us, He causes us to trust in Him, and then He calls us to speak – to assure you, to help you be confident that the very power that raises Christ from the dead – will bring us with Jesus, into the very holy, awesome, presence of God…
both then – face to face- and now, as we serve together – as His grace and mercy extend to more and more people – and as we see them embraced by His love, as we do His will, as the ones we reach out to and we are shown to be the brothers and sisters of the Lord Jesus Christ – His praises arise within us, His glory grows, and we continually thank the God, who has made us us… and causes us to dwell in peace.
And because of that – …our “tradition”
One of the parts of our traditional service – that has grown to be a major focus of our multicultural service in English, is when we realize we are in the presence of God, and I get to declare – as I will in a moment – that the Peace of God is with you always – and the people exclaim “amen”!
The moment then comes – when we take some time – and share with each other –
shén de píng’ān yǔ nǐ tóngzài – the peace of Christ is with you – as we greet each other with this blessing!
This day… it is very appropriate… to end the sermon in this way – as we realize that because we are the brothers and sisters of Christ – as we realize that means we are bonded by Him to each other, in His presence… as we dwell – now and forever In the peace of God which passes all understanding, …
Pax Domini
P The peace of the T Lord is with you always!
C Amen!
What will you do now… having encountered the Lord?
What will you do now…
having encountered the Lord?
Isaiah 6:1-8
† In Jesus Name †
The grace of God, the abundant love, the incredible mercy, the peace that comes from being in the presence of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is yours!
928,000 hits for hell, 597 million for heaven
If you look up two words on the internet, one word will return some 597 million references – web pages that deal with the subject in part or are on that topic – just for that one word. The other word is even more astounding, some 920 million web pages reference it. A combined total of 1.5 billion webpages referencing these two words.
The first word is heaven…
The second…hell.
It amazes me that there is more attention paid to that second word, half again as many webpages referencing something that by definition cannot be compared to heaven, except to say that everything heaven is not, Hell is.
I wonder if humanity is more comfortable with the second word than heaven, and therefore uses it more, because it doesn’t take any imagination to picture what it is like. We witness hints of it everywhere, as we see suffering lived out, as we witness the broken lives, as we hear the lyrics of music, country, rock, hip-hop – it doesn’t matter the style,
But heaven? How do you imagine it, much less describe it? Even St. Paul, who indicates that he was taken up to heaven in a vision, when he writes to the church in Corinth struggles, and describes it this way..
What no eye has seen and no ear has heard, what the mind of man cannot visualise; all that God has prepared for those who love him; (NJB)
Perhaps, because we cannot visualize it, our mind cannot comprehend being in the presence of God, in all of His glory… we struggle to tell people, to describe to them this relationship that we have with God, and what we expect of eternity, walking with Him.
Our knowledge of what heaven is like comes from the brief glimpses of it in scripture, the brief times where God reveals a little of our what heaven looks and sounds like. I think we deal enough with the other place way to much – so today – let’s spend our time in heaven, and see what happens when we encounter God in all his glory.
It’s a bit… overwhelming
As Isaiah describes where God resides, the incredible, majestic, throne room of God, there is one word that I think describes his emotions better than any other.
Overwhelmed!
Isaiah cannot even describe the Lord God Almighty who we have praised in song – about the closest he comes is describing the hem of his robe – he quickly describes the angelic beings surrounding the throne, singing the praises of God, praises that ring so loud they shake heaven and earth! Which leads him to focus to God, for the focus point of their body, their voices, everything they are focused on Yahweh – the sight is so awe-inspiring that the translators have always replaced God’s name – YHWH, with His title, for it seems so wrong to address One who is the purest form of holiness by His name.
Isaiah, overwhelmed by it all, all of a sudden remembers that he is part of this picture, In this midst of all this purity, in the middle of the hosts of heaven adoring God in all His intimate majesty! There stands Isaiah, whose “woe” is a phrase that escapes his mouth, before he can control it – one which leads him to identify himself as a man of “unclean lips.” Unclean being a reference to a flow of mud or sewer waste that has infiltrated your home, something that no matter how hard you try to clean it, infests and infects every part. Because that is what sin is – no matter how hard you try to clean it – to fix it – you cannot!
Any of you out there dread public speaking and standing before 1000, 10,000 people? Or have you ever had one of those nightmares where you find yourself at center court of a basketball game, or in the middle of a mall on the day after thanksgiving clad only in an old torn pair of underwear? Yeah… that’s pretty much how Isaiah feels, as he realizes the only sin in heaven at that point… is him.
No wonder, as he gasps, that Isaiah confesses that he is a man of filthy lips – not because of anything that he ate – but because of what has come from him! Such a statement calls to mind Jesus words regarding that it is not what goes into a man that pollutes him, but what comes out reveals how rotten we can be inside.
Like with most of us, having one’s sin revealed is never easy, it is as overwhelming as being found in the presence of God….yet it is then… as Isaiah is standing there, that something incredible happens…
It’s incredibly healing
For being found in God’s presence in not just incredibly overwhelming, it is incredibly healing.
Even as the Heavenly choir is singing the Sanctus’ holy, holy, holy, even as Isaiah realizes how exposed he and his sin is, an angel who knows God’s heart, who grasp His desire takes action. From the altar something is taken, it touches the lips of the man of unclean lips, and those lips are purified, as is the heart and life of the man. Those lips are cleansed and can praise the God who created them, and cleansed them. That heart no longer fears being found in the presence of a holy and righteous God, but stands in awe… and basks and rejoices in the love of the Lord God who reveals Himself to us, in order to bring us back to Him, to restore the relationship!
The sewerage, the uncleanness that once polluted us, is diverted, it cannot reach Isaiah, it cannot reach us.
Our is atoned for – an incredibly deep word picture there – as it is removed and the wounds it caused are covered as they are healed! You see, the roots of the word attone is tar or pitch – the kind used on trees when you remove a diseased or broken limb – and cover that which remains, so the weak bare would cannot be infested!
That is what God’s love, revealed to us in the shedding of Jesus’ blood does to us – is cleanses, and heals and covers and protects. It’s that simple – takes that ugly spots out of life and makes us whole…just as the fiery coal in Isaiah’s vision did, so does Christ do, as He enters our lives.
But what is best about what God does in our lives – is that He makes us comfortable in His life – in His presence. The “woe” disappears and the question of Isaiah falls aside, no longer even needing to be considered!
That is what our faith, our religion, what walking and trusting and believing in Christ is all about my friends. We need to grasp that because what God has promised us in His word was clearly revealed in Christ – that we now know His love – and that name of His – is ours to use, to call upon, to praise – to ask Him to deal with all that burdens us –that we may know He is God – our loving father!
Wait…there are people
Note – they too will be overwhelmed…
As we realize this incredible promise is not just Isaiah’s but ours – we hear the same words as Isaiah does – the Lord’s voice crying out – who can I send? Who is going to let the people of La Palma, and Cerritos, and Artesia, and Norwalk and Torrance, those who work with the students at Cal State and USC, and in hospitals and at the senior center and even in St Louis – who will God send? Who else needs to go to the people of unclean lips and unclean lives and tell them that there is cleansing, there is healing, there is life?
As you respond – for you know what God has done for you – and you realize their need for it – realize that their reactions will be as yours were – overwhelmed by the presence of God, in fear that their sins, their struggles in life stand out. Going out with the message isn’t easy, and people’s reaction will be one of struggle – yet, because of Christ, the lamb that was slain, the message that comes from the heart of God’s altar – the message that cleanses – it will cleanse and heal, and cause them to do as we do…
To find ourselves in the presence of God, cleansed, healed – and able to in the midst of a broken world know a peace and rest that is unexplainable – yet calls us to look to an eternity of peace, as we adore the God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who has made us His own…..
AMEN!
