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Where God Puts His Name
Where God Puts His Name
1 Kings 8:22-30; 41-43
† In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit! †
May your ministry as people and pastors, proclaim the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ to all of the broken people you come in contact with, including each other
When God Put His Name
Ted my friend, today you are going to hear some very special words… then again, you have heard them before. Sometimes with your ears, and other times, they sunk right down into your soul.
The first time your soul heard these special words, was just three years after the end of World War II. You were only three months and seven days old, and before you could even play the organ (I think), those words forever changed you, and your life. God marked you with them, He put His name on you in Baptism.
I messaged you last week, and asked you to think about how many times you’ve heard them in your life, and I could hear you laughing. Just the number of times you heard them, while sitting over on that organ bench, is beyond count.
From that bench, you heard Dr. Hendry say them, and Pastor Jerry, you heard the Reverend Vicar Dustin say them, and watched Vicar Matthew say them, and heard Dr. Stoterau say them, when Matt became a pastor, your pastor.
Each time you heard them, it was a blessing. It was a moment to remember and re-call that God made you one of His children, and the blessings of that relationship, both in this life and for eternity.
Today, when Dr. Stoterau says them over you as you are ordained, it is not for your sake, it is not to bless you. Stand up, and look around, see your friends, your church family. The reason you will hear these words is for their blessing… even as it costs you.
Adter you hear the words “I ordain you”, these are those special words, “in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”. Those words are for them to hear, as God places His name here, for them! When you see the excitement in their eyes, because God has marked you again with His name, when they are as excited as Patriot fans in February, it is for their sake you will endure this. They may not realize it, but those words are for them.
The Parable of Solomon’s Temple
The Old Testament reading this afternoon is a parable, an illustration for everyone here to understand what ordination is.
As Solomon prays, he reveals why God puts His name places, why He will identify certain buildings and people to have an identity that is set apart from the norm. Maybe that is why pastors are not all that normal! Seriously, you know enough of us Ted to know it is not that the person who is ordained is anything special, it the reason that God ordains us that is special…
The same reason the Temple was built, for your parish to know that God hears their prayers, and responds to their prayers.
For Your “Identified” Parish!
When someone works as a chaplain, or a social worker in the medical field, you talk of your identified clients, and your unidentified clients. It is true about ministry as well You have your identified parish, and your real parish,
Your identified parish is the people here at Good Shepherd, the members, regular attendees, young and old, brand new Christians and those who have been Christians back into the middle of the last century.
When they come to you, whether it is here, or to your home, or at C&S coffee shop, pray with them, just like people went to the temple of Solomon. As you do, assure them, what was true in Solomon’s day, is still true. He prayed,
And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.
By the way, this is the hardest part of your ministry, and sometimes the most frustrating. For in helping them to hear that God forgives them, you must remind them that they need to be forgiven.
That can happen in a coffee shop, as you preach, or hear their confession. It can happen as you counsel them.
Every one of us needs to know that God desires to forgive us, to heal our brokenness, to give us hope. Every one of us, including your peers in ministry, especially us. For if God can clean us up…
That is why God is marking you with His name. So that they can know that nothing will separate them from God, including their sin, and the sin of this world. As John writes in his first epistle, “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous forgiving us of sin, and cleansing us from all unrighteousness.”
Still, they will not like to hear that they are sinners. Be patient and loving and you will get past that. They realize you are here, that God has put His name on you to assure them of that forgiveness, so they could audibly hear it, then, they will rejoice.
That is why you will preach, that is what you guarantee them in baptism, and part of what they receive as they the Body and Blood of Christ. It is what they hear when you say, as a called and ordained servant, I forgive you in the Name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. You will use His name, as He calls you to, and they will know they have been reconciled to God.
It is what they need, what God wants them to have.
It is why He marks you with His name today. To make sure they know His love and mercy!
For Your “Real” parish
Solomon’s prayer insisted that the temple was not built just for Israel. It is the same thing for you. Never think your people are only the people who find their way here on Sunday morning.
Your parish includes every person that comes to you! It includes the former students of La Contenta; the people you know about the town; anybody who knows you are a pastor. Your parish includes those who come up to and says, “Ted, can I have a few moments of your time, I need to talk.” It might be a former co-worker, it might even be one of these guys dressed funny. It might even be someone you do not know, who sees you in your collar.
God is putting His name on you for them that they too could pray, even if they do not know God by name yet! God knows their name, and He will have them contact you, so that you can encourage them to pray. Remember Solomon’s words here as well,
“In the future, foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will hear of you. They will come from distant lands because of your name, 42 for they will hear of your great name and your strong hand and your powerful arm. And when they pray toward this Temple, 43 then hear from heaven where you live, and grant what they ask of you. In this way, all the people of the earth will come to know and fear you, just as your own people Israel do. They, too, will know that this Temple I have built honors your name. 1 Kings 8:41-43 (NLT)
The same Name that will mark you as one of the shepherds that He has given to His people. Not to make you famous, or special.
He is putting His name on you again, so they can know Him.
I’ve said this day, this time is a blessing for all of the people you know, and will know.
God placing His name on you is going to cost you a lot, and I am not just talking about those college loans. You already know this, that you will spend time at people’s bedsides. You will miss dinners (and Barb will miss you cooking dinner!). You will hand someone those last couple of bills you have in your pocket. You will cry with them, rejoice with them… be crushed when they refuse to repent, dance (reverently) when the prodigal comes home.
You will be here. You will be the place where God has put His name. So the believer can pray and know that God hears… and forgives. So that the unbeliever can pray, and know God hears… and know and trust in Him.
Those two things will make it all worth it.
When God puts His name on you, and makes you one of those that gets to help people realize He makes them His… I cannot explain the joy of this ministry (I can explain the pain) …but you will know it.
Blessings to you my friend, for God has made you His child by placing His name on you, and is putting His name on you again, to bless them, and so many others,
In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit! AMEN!
Will We Hear An Inconvenient God? An Ash Wednesday Devotion
Devotional Thought of the Day:
1 Jesus also told them other parables. He said, 2 “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. 3 When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come! 4 “So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’ 5 But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business. 6 Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them. 7 “The king was furious, and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town. 8 And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. 9 Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’ 10 So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests. 11 “But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. 12 ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply. 13 Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:1-14 (NLT)
Last night I heard of a practice that scared me, actually, it terrified me.
A pastor in a liturgical denomination was going to stand outside the post office today. As people drove through to drop off their mail, they were going to offer to put ashes on their forehead, in recognition of Ash Wednesday.
Several other situations have made me wonder whether we have lost the idea of mourning over the sins of the world and our sin. Do we grieve anymore? Does the idea of sin sicken our souls? Has sin so ensnared us, that we don’t even recognize its existence?
I think we see this in the parable above. People have gotten so caught up in their lives that will not tolerate being inconvenienced. Even for something so great as a feast, the feast of their king celebrating the love between His Son, and the Bride for which He gave everything.
No, no time. Look at their excuses! Do they sound familiar?
Do we grieve over missing a church service or a Bible study? Do we grieve when we overlooked someone in need, knowing we could have, we should have helped? Do we grieve when someone near us is broken and shattered by sin? Do we grieve when there are people whose lives are shattered by addiction, or when marriages collapse do to unfaithfulness, or abuse? Do we grieve with the lady, who convinced abortion is an acceptable option, later is haunted by what she has done? Do we grieve over the damage cause by gossip, or lieing?
Do we grieve over sin?
Or is it to inconvenient? Do we want a God who serves at our beck and call? Instead of ashes signifying repentance and contrition, do we proudly wear ashes on our forehead, assured that people will identify us as those who are faithful?
Will we grieve over sin, only if we don’t have to be inconvenieced, or if it is the sin in Libya or the Ukraine, and as long as it isn’t inconvenient? As long as it isn’t our sin?
Here is the reason this concerns me so….
If we don’t grieve, how can we be comforted in our grief? If we don’t mourn, how can God dry those tears? If we aren’t willing to be inconvenienced, how will we know He is there when we need Him? If we don’t confess our sins, our brokenness, how can we receive the freedom and relief that comes when Our Father’s words are spoken, “My beloved child, rise, you are forgiven…..”
Take the time to grieve… may those ashes be of repentance. Take the time, even if inconvenient to hear and know the love of God for you! And hear from God, something well worth the inconvenience!
(1)) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 3474-3477). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Can You Hear…no… Can you Understand Me Now?
Devotional/Discussion Thought of the Day:
9 It’s the same for you. If you speak to people in words they don’t understand, how will they know what you are saying? You might as well be talking into empty space. 10 There are many different languages in the world, and every language has meaning. 11 But if I don’t understand a language, I will be a foreigner to someone who speaks it, and the one who speaks it will be a foreigner to me. 12 And the same is true for you. Since you are so eager to have the special abilities the Spirit gives, seek those that will strengthen the whole church. 1 Corinthians 14:9-12 (NLT)
19 Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ. 20 When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law. 21 When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ. 22 When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. 1 Corinthians 9:19-22 (NLT)
917 In modico fidelis!—faithful in little things. Your job, my son, is not just to save souls but to bring them to holiness, day after day, giving to each moment—even to apparently commonplace moments—the dynamic echo of eternity.
I need to apologize to you my readers. A few of you now have said my spelling or grammar errors have made it challenging to read my blog. I dismissed it for several reasons as to why it didn’t concern me. This blog started out as a synthesis of my own personal devotions, which a friend suggest I put out on a blog.
This weekend, as I preached on the second Bible passage quoted above, I started to think of this blog and my sermons. I was convicted, and realized that in, not paying attention to grammar and spelling, I wasn’t doing what Paul urges, being all things to all people, that I may win some.
I know this in terms of language, as Paul talks about in the first passage above. Thanks to a friend I have, over the last couple of years realized that language is more than just the words, it is what they describe. That a Bible translation or a sermon may seem to be in English, but is it in the English our people can understand clearly? Language dialects aren’t just found based on ethnic/cultural issues, but also in our vocation and environment. WIth all these complications, communicating is a challenge, but it is so needed!
Yes, we can use dictionaries, they could as well. We can try to understand what a word or phrase means by context, we can even rely on the Holy Spirit to “interpret” in their heart. However, the message of Christ is too important to let my own issues cause a fog to obscure the message.
Back to my confession, if I passively or actively choose to allow something to get in the way of the message being heard, then I have failed, indeed, I have sinned. And for that I shall seek God’s grace and mercy, and ask for yours as well. It’s time for me to be faithful in the little things, for the sake of the message being heard. I need to me faithful in this, so that you can hear the echo of eternity. I need to do this, so that these sermons and posts can be heard, so that as they reveal God’s love, you can understand it.
The message is too important for any of us to allow language or culture or tradition, choice of Bible translation, personal comfort or even spelling or grammar to get in the way of it being heard, of it being understood.
People need Christ Jesus, they need to understand the incredible love and loyalty He has for those people He has created to be His people. There is nothing in life that is more important than understanding God’s love for you.
That is why Paul wants us to be all things to all people, so that we might win some. It is not about being a chameleon, fitting in to these groups. It is about being close enough to them to know how they think, so that we can communicate God’s love to them, even as we love them!
May we all treat that message with the care it needs, that it may be heard.
(note to help me with this – I am now running all my blogs and sermons through grammerly, and proof reading them. Feel free to mention other corrections needed, or things needed to be explained better.)
Backseat Conversations on the Way to Heaven #11: We’re Here! and It’s Time for the Feast!
Backseat Conversations on the Way to Heaven #11
We’re Here! and It’s Time for the Feast!
Ezekiel 24
† IN JESUS NAME †
As You Look into Eternity, May the Grace, the Mercy and Peace of God the Father and our Shepherd Jesus Christ, Bring You Comfort and Build Your Desire for His Return!
Will We Get There… On Time?
Eleven weeks ago, we started on this sermon series, a look at our journey through our life together towards heaven. Today, on the day we celebrate the coronation of Jesus Christ our savior, we come to the end of the sermon series….
We celebrate looking forward to the day, when our journey with Him ends, when we arrive home in His presence and celebrate a feast more incredible than any we have ever experienced.
So this is the one last lesson about our journey in the backseat – on our way toward Heaven.
There is one person in every family, who stands at the door, waiting for everyone else to finally get ready. They are worried about traffic, and being on time. The rest of us are possibly frustrating them, as they don’t want to be late for the plane, or for church, or for dinner. Maybe especially for dinner.
I mean, how many of you want to be late for a holiday dinner?
My dad was the one who waited by the door, or more likely, out in the car. My sister would be hogging the bathroom saying she needed to get ready, my brother watching television, and I probably had my head in a book. My mom would be trying to get us all out to the car… and she had a hard job.
Years later, I would find out my dad’s strategy, when he set the time we “needed” to leave on a car trip, he would always add 20 minutes to his estimation, so that we were actually in the car when we should have been, and we’d arrive on time, a few minutes before the feast would begin.
He would make sure we got there, on time, not because he drove fast, but because he put in place a plan.
God has a plan, and as we look towards the end of this age, and see the plan God has revealed, we will realized that He planned well. We will arrive before the throne of God on time, and the feast will begin!
He has promised this, and He is the faithful shepherd! It is His journey, His ministry towards us.
Distractions Along the Road
As we read Ezekiel 34, our Old Testament text this morning, God commits to going out and find every one of His scattered children.
They are all lost in the dark, in a fog. They have been scattered, they aren’t where they should be, all together, in the presence of the One who loves them. His commitment is to find them, to bring them home, to help them at any cost, even if they as so confused, so stressed, they don’t recognize at first that He is God. That He is their shepherd.
Scattered, lost, in the dark, their minds fogged and confused, the people God loves need help, they need rest, and they to be fed, to be restored. But they have to be found, they have to be rounded up, they need to come home.
In verse 16, the promise is made again, specifically noting that they have strayed away. The word there is the same word in Hebrew for being seduced, being tempted – and the world does that all too well. Think of how materialistic our society has become, and we see one of the ways Satan tempt us, seduces us. We covet power and authority, tempted to believe that if we have it our way, it will all come out right. We make idols our minds, or our hearts, and they demand that we sacrifice everything to satisfy our own desires…..and our hearts drive us away from God, because of sin.
In verse 20 there is another reason why sheep have to be found, have to be rescued and restored.
20 “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will surely judge between the fat sheep and the scrawny sheep. 21 For you fat sheep pushed and butted and crowded my sick and hungry flock until you scattered them to distant lands.
I’ve met many people over the years that describe church in words like these. Some feel driven away, because it took too long to find a way to meet their needs. Others feel that way because the church. Others feel driven from the church, because those entrusted to share God’s grace, do not, but instead condemn those looking for forgiveness.
This is a challenge, because too often we look at the incident, rather than acknowledge the feelings we see develop from the situation. Whether the situations are as the people perceived it occurring or not, the feelings are valid. They feel driven off, they feel broken and even abused by other sheep. Rarely is one side completely accurate, there are two sides to every story, but the feelings are what drive the people away, or cause resentment to build until the pain is too much to bear, and the flock is scattered.
Sometimes this is done intentionally, but more often than not, we can drive people away because we are so hungry ourselves, so in need of God’s love. It is as if we don’t believe God can care for all of us, and so we fight like triplets for our Father’s attention.
When we sin against someone, when they sin against us, those sins can be brutal, and can drive people away from the church, where God’s put His name… so they can know His love! If we realize we’ve done this, we need to ask forgiveness, if it’s done to us, we need to offer it. We all need to seek reconciliation.
The Rescue
I’ve mentioned this before, when Jesus died to pay for sin, He didn’t just pay for those we’ve committed. Yes, He has rescued us, delivered us from the sins caused by our desires. But He has also rescued his people from the sins committed against them, the times where the fat sheep have driven others away….intentionally or not intentionally.
God goes after us, rescuing us from the darkness, rescuing us from that which clouds our lives. Over and over in scripture that is the promise,
Here it with your name placed there, instead of sheep
“For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search and find (your name). 12 I will be like a shepherd looking for (your name). I will find my (your name) and rescue (your name) from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day.
and again,
“I will feed (your name) on the mountains of Israel and by the rivers and in all the places where (your name) live(s). 14 Yes, I will give (your name) good pastureland on the high hills of Israel. There (your name) will lie down in pleasant places and feed in the lush pastures of the hills. 15 I myself will tend (your name) and give them a place to lie down in peace, says the Sovereign LORD. 16 I will search for my lost ones, including (your name) who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak including (your name).
and finally
23 And I will set over (your name) one shepherd, my servant David. He will feed (your name) and be a shepherd to (your name). 24 And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David will be a prince among my people (the church). I, the LORD, have spoken!
This is what God does, He rescues us, makes us His children through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the death and resurrection we are bound to in baptism. He quickens us, brings us to life and faith and repentance, and calls us to journey home with Him.
It is that journey we’ve heard about, as we’ve been asked to “get along back there”, to give up the trash we’ve been hoarding in our lives, as we’ve asked, “are we there yet” and cried “it isn’t fair”, as we’ve realized the beauty of the journey is found in making it with Christ, as we’ve depended upon the Holy Spirit, as we count on Jesus to be our way home, into the presence of the Father, into His glorious presence.
Now it’s time for a feast, a feast that will be complete at the marriage feast of the lamb, when the last prophecies come true, when we hear,
‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.
Until that day, live in His peace…for there is safety and security, found in Jesus Christ. AMEN!
Here is an audio version of the sermon:
Backseat Conversations on the Way to Heaven.
Backseat Conversations on the Way to Heaven
Who’s Driving?
Rev. 7:9-17\
May you be blessed, as your realize the depth of God’s work in your life, evidence of His great love and affection for you!
Our Way to Heaven is like…
In my congregation, we have been working on a sermon series, a long parable of sorts.
The idea is that like our life long journey in Christ, which ends before the throne of God, is like a long family car journey. We aren’t the drivers, rather, we are the 3 oe 4 siblings in the back seat. That as the Holy Spirit guides us toward eternity, we sometimes act like little kids in the backseat.
The sermons have been based off of scripture, but using the idea of the conversations heard in the back seat to describe how we live together. We journey together toward the day when we are in that vast crowd, people from every nation and family and culture. But getting to that day can be a challenge. Just like surviving a long drive in the back seat of my parents 1971 Dodge was a challenge.
We’ve had titles like, “get along back there” and “that’s not fair!” and of course the ever popular phrase, “are we there yet?!?” Interestingly, they have all tied into the scripture passages on our three year cycle of readings.
Today, as we look at this incredible message from the Book of Revelation, chapter 7, the question is simple….
Who’s driving?
And the more we can realize that God is in charge of our journey, the more we see it as a blessing. That results in a life of holiness and peace.
So let’s look at this more clearly.
Destination Heaven!
A vast crowd, too great a number to compute, from everywhere, every time, every language, all before the throne of God, all in His clear view. Called by Him, gathered together by Him.
What a glorious day that will be. All the people of God. Together.
How did they get there? That is one of the questions asked the elder to the apostle John, in verse 13.
The answer is not a list of directions, generated by a gps device, or from google maps. But it is how they got there…
“These are the ones who died in the great tribulation. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white. 15 “That is why they stand in front of God’s throne and serve him day and night in his Temple. And he who sits on the throne will give them shelter. 16 They will never again be hungry or thirsty; they will never be scorched by the heat of the sun. 17 For the Lamb on the throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.” (Verse 14b-17)
This gathering of all believers made their way there, because God led them, because God cared for them. It is why we will find our lives in eternity as those who minister and serve God. They are transformed, and what they have been clothed with is dazzling white.
This is what is promised in the Old Testament, in Isaiah 1:18
“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool. Isa 1:18,
and in the story of the high priest representing Israel, in Zecariah,
1 Then the angel showed me Jeshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD. The Accuser, Satan, was there at the angel’s right hand, making accusations against Jeshua. 2 And the LORD said to Satan, “I, the LORD, reject your accusations, Satan. Yes, the LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you. This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from the fire.” 3 Jeshua’s clothing was filthy as he stood there before the angel. 4 So the angel said to the others standing there, “Take off his filthy clothes.” And turning to Jeshua he said, “See, I have taken away your sins, and now I am giving you these fine new clothes.” Zechariah 3:1-4 (NLT)
We get there, to the point where we are clothed in Christ Jesus because of God’s work, This is how the Apostle Paul says it,
26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on the character of Christ, like putting on new clothes. 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:26-28 (NLT)
The one people, made up of all peoples. We are one in Christ.
So I have a question
Backseat Driving
Why do we try to be spiritual backseat gps devices? Or as we used to say, backseat drivers.
Let me explain. When William was little, he loved to imitate the GPS, and on occasion, try to beat it to the punch. Trying to sound like a computer generated voice, he would give me directions.
at the next light, turn right. Go four miles, turn left. You have arrived at your destination. That last one was usually said when we got near a McDonalds!
He really didn’t know how to get where we were going. For that matter, he often didn’t know where we were going. But he wanted to give me the directions.
Sometimes we act that way with God. Rather than trusting our Lord who came from heaven to bring us there, we tell Him the directions we want to take.
Lord, do this for me.
Lord, I think this is how it should work out.
Lord, if you don’t follow my ideas, we will get lost!
Yet like a four year old giving directions, we don’t know the way to heaven, apart from Him.
And sometimes, we might even think we are there, when it is our hungers that really speak. You see this in the world today, it often throws aside how God has designed us to live, and people want to follow their passions. In this world people even go so far as telling God what is good, and contradicting Him when He says what is desired is sin.
Humanity, even those in the church, often want to take over and navigate this journey of life. They want to do this, rather than letting God guide us, letting God take care of us, letting God teach and protect us along the way.
It’s in those times, like children realizing their moms and dads probably know their way around better; that we have to remember who is taking us through life, and bringing us home.
It is then we need to come to our senses, to repent, to know we are forgiven, and listen to God’s ways.
Look at Who our Chauffer/Guide is….
In every passage of scripture where heaven is described, I love the awe that is described. We will be shouting in heaven
“Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”
and not only us, all of heaven, the angels, the elders, the four living beings are in awe as well, as they sing,
“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever!
This is who will bring us to heaven, this is the God who has promised to bring us to a feast that is like no feast we have ever seen.
This is the God who will guide our steps, all of our steps, even as He guided each one of us to this place, even as He will guide both Passion and Concordia’s ministries in the days and years to come.
For He is God.
So let us bow before Him, recognize Him as Lord, and with confidence in His completion of what He has began in us, walk with Him, letting Him lead our way.
For there, walking with Christ, cleansed by His blood, knowing His love, we are assured of getting where He is taking us. To see the Father, high and lifted up on the throne, surrounded by angels and elders, living creatures, and us, the people of God, from every nation and tribe and language….
Until then, we are assured by His presence, that we can dwell in His unexplainable peace. For Christ guards our hearts and minds in that peace. AMEN?
The Sin Absolutely NO ONE Wants to Talk About
Devotional Thought of the Day:
28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. 32 They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too. Romans 1:28-32 (NLT)
13 Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” Matthew 9:13 (NLT)
28 Sometimes we hear love described (you’ll have heard me mention this more than once) as if it were a movement towards self-satisfaction, or merely a means of selfishly fulfilling one’s own personality. And I have always told you that it isn’t so. True love demands getting out of oneself, giving oneself. Genuine love brings joy in its wake, a joy that has its roots in the shape of the Cross. (1)
In the first quote above, there is an incredible list of sins. If you read the verses before the quote in Romans, there are more sins, more perversions of the relationships that God has blessed us with, in those He has brought in to our lives.
Some will talk of how horrible this sin is, how malignant that one, or that a specific one is an abomination. Some of us will point out the entire list, indicating that gossip is as bad as any sexual sin, that breaking vows is as bad as murder. We want sin confronted, the people chastised, preferably publicly! We all have our pet peeves, those sins that need the full wrath of God poured out on them. Often arguments are reduced to which sin is worse, which will receive the fullest wrath of God, even as each of us thinks our sin should even reduce the way our mansion in heaven is furnished.
In treating sin and those whose sin we condemn in such a way, we too sin. I would draw your attention to the last sin in verse 31. We have become people who are heartless (literally – we refuse to love our family) and we refuse to show mercy.
We refuse to forgive, we refuse to reconcile, we refuse to acknowledge each other as the adopted, cleansed, forgiven children of God whom have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. In refusing to show mercy to others, we deny the will of God, which is patient because we aren’t willing that any should perish, but that ALL should come to repentance, all should be reconciled, all should be invited to know the mercy and filial love that Christ has shown us.
In not forgiving, we are asking God to not forgive them, to bind that sin to them and make them face the wrath of God. In not forgiving, in not showing mercy, that is exactly what we are asking. We are denying the very heart of God.
Is showing mercy easy? No.
Does loving people like they are our family (and in Christ they are, or can be) take the kind of sacrifice, the getting out of oneself that Escriva encourages us to do? Yes, and it is hard, very hard.
So what that it is hard?
Yes…. that doesn’t negate the need to be merciful, nor to show people love.
We are merciful, because it is God’s desire, and because He has shown us mercy…..
and when we struggle, the aid is just a short prayer…..
Lord, have mercy a sinner!
- Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 339-343). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Conversations On the Way to Heaven: Get Along Back There!
this was the destination of so many of our trips, My Aunt and Uncles home in North Andover…..those trips had some great times, and some challenges…
Conversations on the Way to Heaven:
#1 Get Along Back There!
Matthew 18:21-55
† IHS †
May our journey together always be filled with God’s joy and peace, as His mercy flavors every moment!
A Bajillion Hours crammed in the back seat…
I remember every twist and turn, as if it was yesterday, and not 42 years ago.
Everyone went and got in the old yellow Dodge Dart. Up two miles on Brookdale Road, the right onto North Policy, then right onto Pelham Road. Up onto route 93, then route 213, then southwest on route 495, off the highway on Mass Ave, then right on Fernwood to my Auntie Lanie’s and Uncle Wally’s house, where Thanksgiving Dinner and my favorite French onion dip awaited.
I remember so much of the drive, the rest area we never stopped at, the Mall and the golf course, going over the Merrimack River on the double decker bridge, and along its banks the dump and the reform school, My dad always remembered to point that out for some reason. Some great memories, and well some challenging one’s as I squeezed into the middle seat between my older brother and little sister.
I looked it up on google maps this week – it was 12 miles, 18 minutes in no traffic. I swear there were times that it seemed like a bazillion hours.
And as we look into conversations that occur on the way to heaven, this was the often heard phrase,
“Get along back there!”
Which was usually followed by something like, well we will hear those in the weeks to come!
Why is it so difficult to get along with each other? Why do we hear these same kinds of conversations today? As Jesus, guiding our journey, hears not only our words, but our thoughts, it is difficult to hear him asking us to get along!
Get Along back there?
In today’s gospel, the words of Peter so sound like one of my siblings. “Do I have to forgive my brother? Do I have to forgive my sister? Peter’s not as blatant as my brother and sister were, he asks, “how many times do I have to forgive?” But you know if Jesus said 7, Peter was going to go to his brother Andrew and tell him he was at 7 already…and so the next time? You do it again Andrew, and you will pay for it!
But the base question is the same – do we have to forgive those who sin against us?
The answer is, of course yes. We are people that believe in reconciliation.
It’s not a measure of the law, but a description of those who live the life of the baptized, those who live in a relationship where Jesus has reconciled them to the Father, and they are His children together.
That Is why Jesus tells the parable about the two slaves, they both belong to the same household, they are, legally, family. Yet the first man, although forgiven that which he was to pay back, refuses to forgive the debt of the other man. Even to the point of visiting violence on the other slave.
Sounds like one of those backseat things – even up to the contact.
Why do we fight, and why do we struggle to forgive each other, when the dust settles? Haven’t we heard jesus’ 7 times 70 enough, or this parable? Don’t we realize that we’re the ones who sins cannot be paid for in a thousand lifetimes, and we are willing to collect the debt for what is petty in comparison?
That sin you are holding onto, that pain, that resentment, how does it rate against the pain that your sin has caused God? You have decades of it? Do you really want that sin dividing the body of Christ Jesus?
I realized something this week as I was going over all three readings today. There is account after account in scripture of how we are bound together, how we worship together, how we feast and fellowship together, how we endure together, how we face persecution and even die, together. In all these things we are together, weeping together and rejoicing together. What happens to one, happens to all. What happens to all effects each one?
One exception, verse 12 of our epistle.
12 Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God.
Hearing that, we come back to the gospel….
33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.
35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters* from your heart.”
Faith if God is where we find the strength….
So what do we do? How do we find the ability to really forgive, to give no more thought to the debt incurred by sin?
Well Peter and Andrew weren’t the only brothers in the readings this morning. There was also Joseph in the Old Testament Reading. You know, the guy who his loving brothers kicked out of the back of the family station wagon, and sold to wandering merchants?
Look at how he forgave his brothers…
19 But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. 21 No, don’t be afraid. I will continue to take care of you and your children.” So he reassured them by speaking kindly to them.
Can you see those words of Joseph coming from your mouth, to those who have sinned against you? What do you think their reaction would be? What do you think yours would be?
The sinners who thought their brother would grab them by the neck in revenge, he gave up that right, because of the work of God in all their lives. A work that saved their physical lives.
We have something more incredible, something more beyond thought, in the work of Christ, who doesn’t just forgive 490 sins of ours, Heck, that is just this week! He’s the master who forgives us all, who brings us home to the Father in heaven, cleansed, pure, holy. Who gave up everything to make that happen, because He loves us. Who endured the pain of the cross, because of His love for us.
If Joseph could forgive, knowing the blessing of God seen in the saving his people from famine, we should be even more eager to let them know the gospel. That every sin was paid for on the cross, that we have been forgiven a world of sin. That is what the communion feast celebrates!
We are a forgiven family, we are brought together on a journey home, to heaven, to a feast. We are called to love each other, even if for a moment we struggle with it – we still love, and we shall forgive, even as we are forgiven.
For that is what the Holy Spirit is transforming us into, giving us the ministry of reconciliation, the ministry mercy. The Spirit’s transforming all of us who trust in Christ’s work, and the promises made to us, which we hear in His word.
So drop all the burdens, drop all the sins an rejoice in Christ’s peace…look to Christ, and find that we are all getting along on this journey in peace! AMEN?
Forgiveness for Any Other Reason but Love…. Is Not…
Devotional THought of the Day:
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too. 40 And if someone takes you to court to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well. 41 And if one of the occupation troops forces you to carry his pack one mile, carry it two miles. Matthew 5:38-41 (TEV)
806 You were very sorry to hear that most un-Christian comment, “Forgive your enemies: you can’t imagine how it angers them!” You could not keep quiet, and you replied calmly, “I don’t want to cheapen love by humiliating my neighbour. I forgive, because I love, and I am hungry to imitate the Master.” (1)
Yesterday I wrote about the fact that forgiveness is not learned, it is not a discipline, it is simply the result of love.
Today, I cam across the quote from Escriva, and I again was amazed at the thought. Simply because I’ve heard this said before, I’ve even probably used something like it along the way. Just show them you are bigger than them, and forgive them. ( I apologize to any I’ve said that too. I’ve also heard it said this way, you don’t have to like forgiving them, you just have to obey God and do it.
Or perhaps the most common excuse. Forgive them, for it may not benefit them, but it benefits you
Somehow I can’t see Jesus, on the cross, being benefitted by forgiving his captors, or Stephen, being stoned by Paul’s friends, being benefited. Or any of the martyrs over the last 2 millennia, who forgave as they were tortured and died, benefitting from being free of the resentment and anger they felt.
If we forgive because we desire what is beneficial for ourselves, when the hurt and pain come back, then we will be ill-prepared to deal with it. It will again fuel resentment and anger, and thoughts of how to make them pay for the sin will creep back into our hearts
The way to forgive, to bypass revenge is simple – love.
To accept the pain, the hurt, the cost of loving that person. To give that all over to Christ, the one who taught us to pray to the Father to be forgive and to be able to forgive. The one who died for His enemies, because He loved them. The One who frees us, by paying for every debt, every trespass, every pain.
The one we hunger to love, and desire to imitate, because He has loved us…..
Mercy, Love, forgiveness….. on package deal.
May we do so…counting on the Lord’s mercy
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 3326-3329). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Forgiveness is Not A Learned Action or Skill
Devotional Thought of the Day:
6 For when we were still helpless, Christ died for the wicked at the time that God chose. 7 It is a difficult thing for someone to die for a righteous person. It may even be that someone might dare to die for a good person. 8 But God has shown us how much he loves us—it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us! 9 By his blood we are now put right with God; how much more, then, will we be saved by him from God’s anger! 10 We were God’s enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Now that we are God’s friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ’s life! Romans 5:6-10 (TEV)
804 That friend of ours with no false humility used to say: “I haven’t needed to learn how to forgive, because the Lord has taught me how to love.” (1)
There are times where I am amazed by the simplicity and truth in St. Josemaria’s writings.
A lot of ministry deals with reconciliation, bringing back together, and balancing out that which is broken. It might be reconciling the relationship of a married couple who have “fallen out of love”. Or reconciling a church that has too long buried conflict, thinking that if they ignored it, they could all get along. OR reconciling someone who is so burdened and oppressed by sin, that they cannot even imagine that they could be forgiven.
Reconciliation begins with forgiveness, which is where the healing starts.
But forgiveness, true forgiveness, where we ask that God doesn’t count their sin against them, (and therefore neither do we) is difficult or hard, or at least it seems to be. It seems to be unnatural, something we have to be forced to do. Our hearts cry against it, saying things like, I will forgive, but I won’t forget. It requires we give up our right for revenge, we lower our defenses, we acknowledge that this could happen 7 times 70 minus one more time.
Forgiveness leaves us weak and defenseless, or so we fear. It leaves us anxiety ridden, as we await the next blow. If it is not real, but if forgiveness is simply an act, it leaves us grumbling and ready to complain to whomever will listen, and assist us in self-justification. We can even justify ourselves by pointing out that while we’ve forgiven them, they haven’t done anything to reconcile the situation.
Forgiveness can’t be done simply because it is commanded. It is not a matter of obedience and discipline in its own right. There has to be something in us, that causes us to desire forgiveness, to desire to find that reconciliation, to give up all of our rights, in order to do what is best for the other person.
Forgiveness is impossible, without love.
Deep, abiding love.
The kind that acts like superglue in our relationships.
If we love them, we will seek what is best for them, which includes the forgiveness of every sin.
St. Josemaria has it right, if we love them, as Christ loves us, it is not a matter of needing instruction, or even being commanded to forgive, to reconcile with them. We become like Paul, willing to sacrifice anything, in order that they would be reconciled to God, for that is what forgiveness is about as well. Asking that the Father not hold them accountable, asking that God forgives them. Forgiveness and reconciliation become what we are naturally compelled to do, as we love them.
Which means we have to know Christ’s love first. We have to see this in action, and more importantly know that we’ve been forgiven this way. Romans 5 above has to become so integral to us, we have to realize what it means that God loved us, and therefore forgave us, and made His home among us who sinned against Him.
It is that love of His, which we are embraced in, that leads us to know the joy of having sin removed, of having guilt and shame done away with, that brings us to the joy He sought for us, the joy that He shares in, as reconciliation is not just a word, but a reality. We are loved, we are free to love in return, all else is shed.
In that moment, loved by God, we find that forgiveness doesn’t take strength of character, it simply is the natural action of one who loves, as they are loved.
Do I Really Have to????? Yes! Love Them!
Devotional and Discussion Thought of the Day:
7 And work for the peace and prosperity of Babylon. Pray for her, for if Babylon has peace, so will you.” Jeremiah 29:7 (TLB)
760 All right, I agree! That person has behaved badly; his behaviour has been reprehensible and unworthy; he deserves no merit at all. Humanly speaking he deserves to be utterly despised, you added. I understand what you mean, I can assure you, but I do not share this concluding view of yours. That life which seems so mean is sacred. Christ has died to save it. If He did not despise it, how can you dare to? (1)
I am on vacation, and we’ve driven a bit here and there, and my memories go back to my childhood vacations in the lake region and in White Mountains of New Hampshire. Three kids in the back of the old Chevy Malibu, and later in the Monte Carlo. God a bit cramped back there, and let’s just say it is was about as peaceful as the Holy Land. There was even the innocent victim (me) caught in between the rival factions.. I can still hear my dad and mom instructing my siblings to get along, to love each other, sometimes even to give each other a hug… a nice gentle one.
And the loud pitched, whining reply, ‘do I really have too???????”
Move forward to today. Even if we are not caught into a political and historical mess like Israel and Palestine, we find ourselves in serious disagreements, We have rivals, we have those we don’t like, and we have those we are seemed destined to hate, because they hate us. We are at war, sometimes in our workplaces, other times in our neighborhoods, with distant family, and sometimes, sad to say, in our homes.
We justify our anger, we get protective to stop the pain, to defend our reputations, even our families. There is a meme going around, saying that if they drop their guns, there will be peace, but if we drop ours, we will be annihilated. Not sure how true this is, but we take it is as truth, and apply that truth in our lives. We want at least the personal version of Mutually Assured Destruction.
We don’t realize how damaging this is, this dealing with enemies, this always defending ourselves.
Israel was in captivity when Jeremiah wrote these words, with the ancestors of those they have been engaged in hostilities with for centuries. The prophet’s words are different, they don’t call for strategy, they don’t call for defensive posturing. I chose the translation from the Living Bible because it identifies the city, these enemies. Here it is, as we would normally here it,
7 And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.” Jeremiah 29:7 (NLT)
Do I really have to? Do I really have to love them, to pray for them? Do I have to sacrifice time and energy to work for their peace and not just survival, but prosperity?
Do I really have to?
I mean St Josemaria described them so well, “All right, I agree! That person has behaved badly; his behaviour has been reprehensible and unworthy; he deserves no merit at all. Humanly speaking he deserves to be utterly despised, you added.”
And the response, read it again,
I understand what you mean, I can assure you, but I do not share this concluding view of yours. That life which seems so mean is sacred. Christ has died to save it. If He did not despise it, how can you dare to?
Here is a way, similar to the words above, that helps. Hear Jesus words from the cross, Father, forgive (insert your name), for they know not what they do. See Him utter those words, even as He is dieing, even as the pain wracks His body, even as the blood drips to the ground. Now, Look at your adversary, see Jesus on the cross, begging the Father to forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing as well. Let this thought be pondered in your heart for 10 or 15 minutes…. really dwell on it. Not just picture it for a second – go that’s nice. But dwell on it until the tears come, till the pain is pulsing in your body, and then purged of it, the peace rushes into your soul.
See both of you, broken there… yet being lifted by Christ. For in Christ, that which divides us is broken, in Christ there is mercy, in Christ, there is healing.
That’s why Jeremiah calls for us to pray for those who oppress us, because as God makes Himself known to them, as He calls them to be His children, as He blesses them, the blessing to us is beyond compare.
St Paul mentions this in his words to the Church in Galatia…
27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on the character of Christ, like putting on new clothes. 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:27-28 (NLT)
There is our goal, this is our mission, our apostolate, to long for this healing, this reconciliation. Tough? Yes. Painful? Yes? Calling us to sacrifice beyond our means? Yes.
In Christ, there is no other choice. It is our vocation, our life.
We pray, “Lord, have mercy on us sinners!”
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 3158-3162). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
