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A Deacon’s Sermon on Philemon
One of the great blessings I have is to work with deacons and vicars (student pastors) who grow in their ability to share the cross of Christ and what it means to be a follower of Jesus. I love working with them over the Bible text, and helping them develop their sermons.
This sermon is by one of those guys, Deacon Michael Grobelch, a man willing to sacrifice time with family and his home church to serve alongside of me, going out to fill in as needed when pastors are unable to. This one will challenge you, and how you react to the love of God…
May the meditation of our hearts and the words of my mouth be acceptable to you O Lord, My Rock and my Redeemer! Amen!
Think back to your wedding day, the apple of you eye stands across from you and becomes your spouse, and you heart fills with unspeakable joy and happiness. Then one day you find out that the one you love, that you trust; betrays you by sleeping with someone else. Your anger reaches biblical proportions; you want to strike out at the cause of you humiliation and your pain. You feel betrayed, stabbed in the back; the bond of trust is broken; never being able to reach that level ever again.
You and your spouse enter counseling and after a period of time, after much prayer, and after many sessions with your pastor; he says to you: You need at take your spouse back; to forgive them; to love them once more.
Every fiber of your being screams out “No, I’ll never do that!” You tell him that “You don’t know what you are asking me to do; God doesn’t know what He is asking me to do”! He doesn’t understand what it means to be betrayed.
God doesn’t understand what it is like to be betrayed? Really?
What about where Judas betrayed Jesus to the Pharisees for 30 pieces of silver; the man who for the last three years had been his friend; his mentor, his teacher; and for a few paltry dollars gives up the Creator.
Or what about when Peter, St. Peter, denies Jesus three times, before the rooster crows. Peter abandoned Him, and acted as if He was some common criminal.
Or what about you and I, we betray God each and every time we sin; we go against His will. Every day we betray Jesus, we mock him just like the soldiers did; only we do it in more subtle ways or so we think. Every time we have an impure thought, either when we look at a woman on the street (us guys) or when we read those romance novels and let our imagination run wild (you ladies) we betray God and the order that He has set.
We betray God when we gossip about the plans the church leadership has in place or we gossip against the leaders themselves. God has put these leaders in authority over you and over me and we are obligated to follow as long as they do not stray from the Word of God. Yet we still rebel like little children when we don’t get our way; we threaten to go home with our bat and ball and be done with the whole mess. Yet God has called each and every one of us here for a reason a purpose.
So how could God call on us to take back that cheating spouse; to try and rebuild those bonds of trust that were broken with a single act? God does know about betrayal and He certainly know about the intense feelings that are the result of being betrayed for He Himself was betrayed her on earth.
I think God’s purpose in sending Onesimus back to Philemon was twofold. The first was to restore Onesimus to his proper place – Onesimus was a runaway slave who broke the bond of trust with Philemon when we ran away. By going back, Onesimus could be beaten, stoned, or even killed for his actions. Certainly he would be disciplined and not enjoy the freedoms that he had previously enjoyed. It would be a very long time before Philemon would fully trust him again; there would be the lingering doubt, that little cloud that was always there. It may be months, or even years until Philemon fully trusts Onesimus again. I think we all can relate to those feelings and misgivings that after our earlier example.
That is why I think God’s main purpose is sending Onesimus back is so much for Onesimus’ benefit as it was for more for Philemon’s benefit.
Let’s look at this in a little more detail: when you are betrayed the raw emotions that you experience are, in a word intense. They are so intense that we sometimes lose all perspective and this is where crimes of passion are committed. When this occurs, all of the checks and balances God has put in place are in a moment, thrown out – they are no longer part of the equation and we do or say a thing we’d normally not even contemplate and that compounds the problem of the initial betrayal. Know both sides become emotionally distraught and the problem becomes worse.
God wants Philemon and Onesimus to reconcile with one another; to begin the process of forgiveness; to begin the process of healing. Don’t get me wrong, this process is going to take a while. Some of us hold grudges, and allow that bitter poison to consume us and turn us into something we don’t like or even recognize. But if we are confronted with our sin, and we are confronted with those we hurt, and we see the width and breadth of the damage we caused to the one we loved; we can begin the process of healing; we can begin the process of forgiveness. We find ourselves at the foot of the cross, looking up at the damage our sin has caused to Jesus; and He says I did this for you, even though you betrayed Me. I forgive you, I paid your debt, I paid you bill; what I have is yours. That is what Paul is trying to do with Philemon and Onesimus; he is trying to get them to acknowledge their sin and to begin the process of healing and the process of forgiveness for we know that we need to forgive others as God has forgiven us. We are lifted up out of the morass of sin and the bitterness that it causes and God brings us into His presence and He brings us to His Table where our sins are forgiven; and they are removed from us as far as the East is from the West. We have become co-heirs with Jesus; we are made new again; and we are able to experience the peace of God, the peace that surpasses all understanding; the calmness of body, mind, and soul. Where God heals us, and cares for us. This is what Paul want for both Philemon and or Onesimus, we wants them in the fold, working towards a common goal; to work for God’s plan and not their own designs. He wants them to be at peace, to begin to heal, to begin to forgive and ultimately, to place each other in the hand of God, as equals, as workers in the kingdom, as brothers in Christ until the time that God comes again.
In the name of the father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Related articles
- A Call to Teach/Preach about Jesus with our hearts as well as our minds… (justifiedandsinner.com)
New Beginnings….
Discussion Thought of the Day:
16 Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. 17 Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! 18 All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. 19 God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. 2 Corinthians 5:16-19 (MSG)
My son starts first grade today…and I am thinking of new beginnings…
Sometimes we fear them, we don’t know what the new teacher will be like, or the new classroom. Sometimes we leap toward the changes, hoping that a new start will make everything right. The challenge is of course, what we take with us and what we are freed from, that falls, and is left forgotten.
Spiritually, each day and even each moment brings the same kind of new beginnings. We can find everything made new, reconciled, restored to the way in which God would have it, or we can dwell in the past, sure that people don’t change, that our spiritual debts can’t be cancelled, that life just simply trudges on.
The key to negotiating a successful change is not working harder, or promising to change how we do or think. If we focus on our own efforts, it we look to ourselves and others… then change is destiend to fail. Change is successful when we look to what Christ has done, when we look to how we are united with Him, how He has given us, really, a complete start…
Enjoy your new day… look at others and see Christ… rejoice in their sins, as well as yours being forgiven…
and if they don’t know this yet… it doesn’t mean that they cannot… for you are there to guide them on the first steps of this new journey…
Do we understand the depth of forgiveness?
Lord’s Prayer in greek in the Pater Noster Chapel in Jerusalem (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
devotional thought of the day…..
8 The LORD is merciful and loving, slow to become angry and full of constant love. 9 He does not keep on rebuking; he is not angry forever. 10 He does not punish us as we deserve or repay us according to our sins and wrongs. 11 As high as the sky is above the earth, so great is his love for those who honor him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our sins from us. 13 As a father is kind to his children, so the LORD is kind to those who honor him. 14 He knows what we are made of; he remembers that we are dust. Psalm 103:8-14 (TEV)
Don’t think any more about your fall. Besides overwhelming and crushing you under its weight, that recollection may easily be an occasion of future temptation. Christ has forgiven you! Forget the “old man”—your former self. (1)
It has been said that those that don’t learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
While not scriptural, there are many areas that it is true, though sometimes you have to spin it.. just a little.
Dealing with sin, we find that it needs a bit more spinning. For what we are to remember is not the sin, nor the shame. God remembers none, once He has cleansed us of it. Those actions, words, thoughts, or lack of action and words have no power over us. It is broken. God’s love shatters that link between our hearts and the sin – and they are separated as far as the east as is from the West. The prodigal is no longer away… you and I have come home. The Father has welcomed us, as our elder brother has come and brought us home. There is no reason for grieving over the past – as the psalmist rejoiced – God remembers how He made us, and that He knew we would need to be cleansed and healed..
And that is what we must remember – the “welcome home” feast. The Father’s hug! The celebration!
That is the lesson we need to learn from the past – the forgiveness, the mercy, the joy of our Father – the work of God in our lives.
Don’t dwell on your past sins – but rather rejoice in the reconciliation that has come to be our reality, on the work of God that enables us to be welcomed into His presence, on the joy on His face, as we stand before Him.
So learn from your past…. learn the power of His love and mercy… and when the time comes… show that Godly mercy and love to those that sin against you.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 693-695). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Related articles
- Can we take sin seriously, that we may rejoice in being forgiven of it? (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Can we be this Holy? In the face of our “enemies”? (justifiedandsinner.com)
- The Power to Forgive (oricles.wordpress.com)
- Imitating Christ… in dying to self. (justifiedandsinner.com)
Vengeance is Mine! says God, but my will is…. (more we don’t want to hear…but need to!)
English: Icon of Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional/Discussion thought of the day….
WARNING – If you don’t like yesterday’s post…read on.. and be challenged some more.
One of the challenges for people who claim to be Christian, is to encounter the entire counsel of God in scripture…and not just isolate passages. Here are some incredibly timely…
18 Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody. 19 Never take revenge, my friends, but instead let God’s anger do it. For the scripture says, “I will take revenge, I will pay back, says the Lord.” Romans 12:18-19 (TEV)
2 Whoever opposes the existing authority opposes what God has ordered; and anyone who does so will bring judgment on himself. 3 For rulers are not to be feared by those who do good, but by those who do evil. Would you like to be unafraid of those in authority? Then do what is good, and they will praise you, 4 because they are God’s servants working for your own good. But if you do evil, then be afraid of them, because their power to punish is real. They are God’s servants and carry out God’s punishment on those who do evil. Romans 13:2-4 (TEV)
In light of the recent attacks on Boston, we really, really like these verses. We want vengeance, and as long as it meats our standard, we are more than willing to let God use whoever He wants, the FBI, local police, my prefereance – the USMC – whoever.
But if we are to trust God with wreaking vengeance on these horrific sins, then we have to trust Him…(gulp) to do it in a way consistent with His character, with His will….
and that may mean… He will not get vengeance in a way that we will appreciate. Matter of fact, we may hate the idea.
A couple of other passages:
8 But do not forget one thing, my dear friends! There is no difference in the Lord’s sight between one day and a thousand years; to him the two are the same. 9 The Lord is not slow to do what he has promised, as some think. Instead, he is patient with you, because he does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn away from their sins. 2 Peter 3:8-9 (TEV)
21 It was to this that God called you, for Christ himself suffered for you and left you an example, so that you would follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, and no one ever heard a lie come from his lips. 23 When he was insulted, he did not answer back with an insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but placed his hopes in God, the righteous Judge. 24 Christ himself carried our sins in his body to the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. It is by his wounds that you have been healed. 25 You were like sheep that had lost their way, but now you have been brought back to follow the Shepherd and Keeper of your souls. 1 Peter 2:21-25 (TEV) (see Isaiah 52-53 and Romans 3-5 for more on this)
9 Do not pay back evil with evil or cursing with cursing; instead, pay back with a blessing, because a blessing is what God promised to give you when he called you. 1 Peter 3:9 (TEV)
I could go on and on – God did get the fullest of vengeance on these sins, and many, many more. And we have to trust Him at His word – every sin has been paid for, every bit of evil perpetrated by man. And justice has been done, as Peter noted above.
And proved that God the father is not willing that any should perish, but that all come to repentance, to transformation, to know His love, His mercy and forgiveness.
That is, I guess – where our trust in Him has to be challenged. Could God forgive these people? Could God forgive the horrors that have been done to mankind?
I think that is why the old general prayer in the Lutheran Hymnal had us give voice to these words, “May it please Thee also to turn the hearts of our enemies and adversaries that they may cease their enmity (with God) and be inclined to walk with us in meekness and peace” ( The Lutheran Hymnal p.23) I am deeply indebted to the pastor who introduced this hymnal to me, as well as the Theology of the Cross. The Theology that so tells us of the depth of God’s love and providence in our lives – that suffering becomes something where I depend on Him more, trust in Him more… and know even more that He is with me.
How many of us are ready to pray such a prayer? Whether it be about those who have traumatized Boston, or the neighbor…or maybe our boss?
Are we willing to trust God that far? Are we willing to be that bold in our faith – that we can God to God and say – Vengeance or Mercy- it is Your call God. Doing so, pouring our our pain, our anxiety at the altar.
Do we trust Him that much?
For if we can trust Him that much, how assured are we that He has done the same for us. For every one of our sins, for every one of our failures.
I for one, am not strong enough – even the strength to write this – requires that I depend on Him for it – that He will create in me the strength necessary.
And for this day… so far.. He seems to be providing that strength I need to trust Him. Even thought I don’t want it, even though I do not like to depend on Him for it, and would rather play God….
But it is there… and in Him, I can find peace.
Related articles
- When Darkness Hides God’s Face…and all hope (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Need Hope? No Answers? Come Experience Jesus, Have Hope! (evangelical catholic VI) (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Where you there when the… on Good Friday? On Easter Sunday? As much as He is here now! (justifiedandsinner.com)
- The Great Apocalypse in upon us! (justifiedandsinner.com)
- vengeance is mine, says the Lord (sharingloveandtruth.org)
The Words We DO NOT Want to Hear (or read) Today
English: Lord Jesus at St Joseph Oratory, Montreal. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional/Discussion thought of the Day:
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your friends, hate your enemies.’ 44 But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Matthew 5:43-44 (TEV)
17 If someone has done you wrong, do not repay him with a wrong. Try to do what everyone considers to be good. 18 Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody. 19 Never take revenge, my friends, but instead let God’s anger do it. For the scripture says, “I will take revenge, I will pay back, says the Lord.” 20 Instead, as the scripture says: “If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them a drink; for by doing this you will make them burn with shame.” 21 Do not let evil defeat you; instead, conquer evil with good. Romans 12:17-21 (TEV)
8 To conclude: you must all have the same attitude and the same feelings; love one another, and be kind and humble with one another. 9 Do not pay back evil with evil or cursing with cursing; instead, pay back with a blessing, because a blessing is what God promised to give you when he called you. 10 As the scripture says, “If you want to enjoy life and wish to see good times, you must keep from speaking evil and stop telling lies. 11 You must turn away from evil and do good; you must strive for peace with all your heart. 12 For the Lord watches over the righteous and listens to their prayers; but he opposes those who do evil.” 1 Peter 3:8-12 (TEV)
59 They kept on stoning Stephen as he called out to the Lord, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 He knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord! Do not remember this sin against them!” He said this and died. Acts 7:59-60 (TEV)
12 Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us. Matthew 6:12 (TEV)
Yesterday morning – my cousin posted a picture on Facebook – as they walked toward the finish line of the Boston Marathon from Fenway.
A couple of hours later – the news flashed across my computer that evil had again occurred, as bombs disrupted the peace, the joy of accomplishment, at the finish line. Though I haven’t seen her in a few years, my heart became quite anxious – as I waited for her response , as I waited to hear word that she was safe. Eventually we did… they had stopped to look at some work out clothes on the way.
BUt as I watched the pictures of ambulances and rescue crew – as I saw the pictures, as I watched the numbers scroll as they tallied the numbers of those who were physically hurt, I wanted to strike back, I wanted to find the minds that created this horror. And I know the damage is far worse, for no tally can ever be made of those who are spiritually and emotionally bruised and battered by such and event. My anger was fueled, as I began to see people from “both sides” try to turn this into a political issue, trying to cause division where there was no division. The anger pooled, and grew – as people gave voice to their fears, their anxiety and called for retribution now – even before all the facts are known. External Threats were named, internal threats, conspiracy theories abound. I began to fear what happened to a doctor who new, shortly after 9-11 he and his wife were attacked for being part of those who attacked our country – even though they were not Arabic or Muslim, but Indian and Christian.
And my heart broke.
For my hatred, my sin, for the sins of those who wanted to be in on the revenge, for those who lost control.
What will it take, in moments like these – to really hear the Voice of Scripture, calling us to love, calling us to pray, calling us to urge our enemies to be reconciled to God? To let God decide on whom to pour out wrath on (for many would condemn those who perpetrated this evil to hell)
The above passages aren’t optional responses to evil – they are the responses that those who trust in God above all else are to have. To demonstrate the kind of love that goes beyond all logic – to show the love of Christ. In our readings for the class I am teaching this week- the author, Michael Card, noted that one of the definitions of the Hebrew word “cHesed” is “to love your enemies”, or to love those who have failed you.
It’s hard isn’t it?
But it isn’t about our relationship with our enemies. It is about our trust in God, our faith in Him, our ability to see that He is God.
and let’s be honest – in our flesh we hate it. We hate this idea that we have to forgive, to pray for, to love… even as Christ loved us,
Yet we are called to it.
As we pray this day, as we pray for the victims, for their families, for my beloved city of Boston, may we as well cry for mercy for ourselves, for healing, for God’s comfort – and for His strength… for as His people, as the Father’s children, for we desperately need His mercy… to show mercy. And may we pray that those behind this – that God would turn they hearts and minds toward Him.
And even as we pray – may we know the peace of God, which passes all understanding, in which our hearts and minds are kept, guarded by Jesus Christ.
Related articles
- Conversion and “Repentance” Evangelical Catholic VI? or VII? (justifiedandsinner.com)
- The Great Apocalypse in upon us! (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Boston, Tragedy, & My Plea with Jesus (tothatisaywalkamile.wordpress.com)
- We Don’t Lecture about Christ, We proclaim His Love and Crucifixion (justifiedandsinner.com)
They failed us, they sinned….now what?
Devotional/Discussion thought of the day:
“You have to love your fellow men to the point where even their defects, as long as they do not constitute an offence against God, hardly seem to you to be defects at all. If you love only the good qualities you see in others—if you do not know how to be understanding, to make allowances for them and forgive them—you are an egoist.” (1)
Therefore, to avoid this vice (bearing false witness) we should note that no one is allowed publicly to judge and reprove his neighbor, although he may see him sin, unless he have a command to judge and to reprove. For there is a great difference between these two things, judging sin and knowing sin. You may indeed know it, but you are not to judge it. I can indeed see and hear that my neighbor sins, but I have no command to report it to others. Now, if I rush in, judging and passing sentence, I fall into a sin which is greater than his.
There was once a saying that you must accept one major defect in each of your friends. I am not sure of where it comes from, or to what extent I agree with it. But if we are to have friends, we have to accept that our friends will be sinners. Including of course, the fact that they will sin against us, and we will sin against them. We will struggle with this, as we wonder if they will forgive, and whether we will. Will we count their sins more important than their friendship? WIll we value them enough to go and ask forgiveness. And we ask, will they hurt us again? Does forgiving render us defenseless against future pain, or can we remember – and keep up our guard up.
In Fr. Escriva’s comment, the shortcomings are specifically between you and another, and yes Martin Luther’s are more geared toward general sin against God. But both have at the heart of them the idea goal of maintaining a relationship that is health and without the walls that come up, when we become egotists, when we place ourselves in Gods position, and decide that wrath and punishment are deserved, and withholding mercy is what is needed.
Except that is not the heart of God.
Remember – the offer of mercy was given to you, before you actually sinned – before you were even conceived in sin. The debt is already paid for, the mercy poured out on you, and the only option we have… is to refuse it, to ignore it, to turn and walk away from it. As we understand the concept of Justification, as we understand the power of reconciliation, it is while we are yet sinners and enemies of God, that He was working, to draw us back, to make things right, to seperate that sin from us, as the Holy Spirit uses the word of God, the very gospel revealed to us, to cut out the hardness of heart and the egotism that would make us… not extend forgiveness.
Knowing that – can we look at our brothers and sisters with Christ’s attitude towards them? Can we look at them knowing the mind of God – the attitude we see revealed in passages like John 17 and Philippians 2 and 1 Corinthians 13? Can we point them to Jesus, always and encourage them to point us there, to the cross, where we are, together, untied in His love, in His grace, because of the great mercy He has for us?
We can… and when we struggle – my best suggestion – remember the sacraments, remember the water poured over you, cleansing you from sin, remember the altar where you go, that you may know and taste and see that the Lord is good? Can you bring your brother there… and celebrate the goodness of God – who has blessed you with each other?
Such is our calling, such is our ministry.
Lord have the mercy on us, to enable us to do this very thing!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 3365-3367). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
(2) The Large Catechism of Martin Luther. the explanation of the 8th commandment
Let His Message Fill Your Lives!
Let His Message Fill Your Lives!
Colossians 3:12-17
† In Jesus Name †
My friends in Christ, may your lives be filled with the richness of Christ’s message – that He in love has chosen you to be the Holy People He loves!
What does this mean?
It is referred to as the “Lutheran Question”. Like our theology, it predates Luther and the reformation that God created – not just in our churches, but in Christianity. It goes back to a Greek Philosopher, named Socrates – a man who, like Luther, and like St Paul, the author of Colossians, irritated more than a few people.
His way of phrasing it was a bit different. He said that the unexamined life is not worth living. He would love the way Luther phrased it, as he taught young people and pastors, using the phrase, “What does this mean?”
We need to ask that question about our faith – what and why we trust in God – and we need to hear the answer – really hear and absorb it. The more I do, the deeper that trust becomes, the more the words of the songs and hymns we sing mean, for the more we desire to worship God. This is because the more we ask, “What does this mean”, the more we understand how great it is, that God works in our life.
This time of year then, as we gather to celebrate Christ’s birth, is as good a time as any to start asking that question again.
What does it mean that we trust in God, what does it mean that we hear Jesus was incarnate – that He was born into the world and that we are reborn – in Him?
Paul’s epistle this week answers the question, what does this mean? (looking at the manger …
What does it mean that Christ was born of Mary, that He was incarnate?
What does it mean… for us?
What does the incarnation mean…for you?
You’ve been chosen! GULP but that’s a good thing!
Practically, we find the answer to the “what does the incarnation, what does Christ’s birth mean” in our epistle reading this morning. Specifically there in verse 12.
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves,
There it is – because Christ came into the world, because He was born of the Virgin Mary, because He humbled Himself and left heaven to be here, to dwell among us we have been chosen to be His people. The people He loves.
Get this – His holy people.
We’ll get to what that means in a moment, but I want you to really hear this,
God chose you to be the holy people he loves,
I don’t think you can hear it enough times!
God chose you to be the holy people he loves,
The entire reason for the incarnation boils down to that, the reason He came – was to reveal to us His decision to make us His holy people – whom He loves!
That answer does raise yet again the question – What does this mean that He chose us to be the holy people He loves? What difference does it make? What effect does it have on your lives?
What Effect does being chosen mean in in your life
It changes your behavior – not who you are!
It’s the difference between getting dressed after your shower in the morning, or just walking outside without dressing!
That’s not my idea – that’s Paul’s!
Hear all of the sentence that begins in verse 12,
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.
If you go outside without getting dressed appropriately, you are not ready to face the world- and they are definitely not ready to face you!
This is as true spiritually as it is physically – indeed I believe even more so. The things that describe how someone lives – who has been clothed with Christ, who has put on Christ, are not something we should dismiss as being legalistic, or to difficult, but it is indeed the way we are to live; for we live in Christ. The very change is generated in us in our baptism, as we are granted repentance, as we are given the Holy Spirit.
Without these things – without tenderhearted mercy, without kindness, without humility and gentleness and patience – we find ourselves out there naked – raw – our emotions not governed, our reactions neither modest nor controlled. We become merciless – and cannot find the strength to love – and we find ourselves excluding others and isolating ourselves, rather than being bound together in perfect harmony.
Which is why, in nearly every letter to a church – Paul talks of Christ first – and then of what it means for us to be in Christ – how we live, as members of His body, as living sacrifices – standing firm and reflecting His love to the world.
In this case, the relationships we have are well documented and worked through.
I find it interesting – and we will talk in Bible Study – about the burden being, not on the sinner, but on the one sinned against whom the sin was committed. The key becomes our acting Christlike, and putting the best construction on things, on making allowances as the passage talks of, of forgiving.
The more then we act like Christ – and do not allow the relationship to be broken, the more we find ourselves living together – even bound together in Christ’s peace, in the completeness that comes in Him. For it takes much more for a relationship to break – when both parties are forgiving and when we make allowance for each other’s faults.
How can This Be?
I have to admit – this sounds easier than it is, and that is why we need to hear it so often! To be reminded of how God has designed us to live – how we are to be imitators of Christ. To get back from where we started.
That is where we are challenged; we think these attitudes, even if we know better, originates by our work, by our will. Sometimes we get a defeatist attitude because, it isn’t hard to always be patient with each other, and often we do forget that we are dressed in these things, already!
I would so prefer it to read – you must be clothed – or be clothed, the verb there is imperative, but it is not active – it is middle/passive in voice – the work of being clothed – of putting on Christ is more than ours – and it has already been done.
In verse 12 it says that we have been chosen by God, and that we are chosen to be the holy people He loves. That choice has already been made, the work to present us holy, that has already begun. The peace of Christ, the peace that He generates… that will rule our lives that provides the harmony that too is His responsibility that is a blessing as well of our baptism!
Where our focus begins and ends – what makes living in Christ’s peace, what gives us the strength to love, to be patient and kind, is not our will, but what Paul urges us to do in verse 16.
16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives.
There is our key to dwelling in peace, to loving in such a way we are bound together.
It is found as we hear the word of God, as the Holy Spirit uses it, as on the day of Pentecost, to do heart surgery on us, to bring us to life, as Ezekiel says to remove our heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh.
A slightly different take- but the same thing as being clothed with Christ – for all those attributes we are to show – are His. As we are transformed into His image – we take on those characteristics and we begin, whether we realize it or not, to live in them. To dwell in Christ, to cherish the words in our Bibles, to discuss it and deeply drink of its wisdom, and even more – the message of God’s love for you, His holy people – that is how we grow in love.
The more we spend in His word, and in meditation and prayer based upon it, the more we naturally resort to verse 16 – the rejoicing and praising and thanking God as we sing to Him. As we adore Him, for we realize the depth of His love for us, a love that He demonstrated in choosing us, in cleansing us, in filling us with His word, and His peace.
AMEN?
A New Beginning….
Devotional Thought of the Day:
Spiritual life is—and I repeat this again and again, on purpose—a constant beginning and beginning again. Beginning again? Yes! Every time you make an act of contrition—and we should make many every day—you begin again, because you offer a new love to God. (1)
What? You thought a blog with this title was going to be about politics? Nope – something far more important.
I thought about “translating” St Josemarie’s statement into “lutheran”, but the basic concept is solid, and I will mention the change in a moment.
It is to easy to look at life as if one action, one slip up, one sin can break us. It doesn’t matter if that sin is ours, or if that sin is one committed against us. If we trust’s Christ’s promise, it is not even the 1001 first sin that becomes the “straw that breaks the camels back. For there is no such thing. In 1 John 1, God promises, “ On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. “1 John 1:9 (MSG) That promise is good, and true.
And here is where I differ slightly with St. Josemarie. Here is the one I remember from growing up:
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you, and I detest all my sins, because of Your just punishments, but most of all because they offend You, my God, who are all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin.
The change in the modern Act of Contrition, with the insertion of “do penance” is the only real issue I have. For absolution is promised with confession, and is already promised and delivered in baptism. So I’ll stick with the old AoC. Or more simply – and perhaps with a sense of great need… cry Lord Have Mercy! ANd know with absolute assurance… He has!
We are free – we have a new beginning.
Let us celebrate the mercy of the Lord!
(1)Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 1503-1506). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Pastorphobia: a common anxiety until…
Devotional thought of the day:
You see him walking down the hall of a hospital, a friendly smile greets you as you increase you pace walking away. You wonder who he is going to visit, and you might even hastily utter a prayer for the poor person. (if he walks into your room, you begin to panic – big time!) If you see him walking up to your where you live, you quickly inventory your life, asking “what did I do wrong now…” as you struggle to remember where you put the family Bible, so you can sweep everything off the coffee table and put the Bible in a prominent visible place. (as you open the door, you wonder – did I blow all the dust off of it!)
I have often wondered why people wait until things are deathly serious before they call their pastor. Why do they wait until there is no other hope. ( I am convinced that Obiwan Kenobi must have been a pastor!) Until the marriage is broken beyond repair (or so they think) until the grip of sin has choked the life out? Some will say that, “but pastor – you are too busy,” or “it isn’t that serious,” or my favorite, “I didn’t want you to find out I was mad at God”.
Is the issue truly fear? Sometimes – but I would beg you – never be afraid of your pastor – realize he is there to help alleviate fear, to calm distraught anxious hearts. Our calling is to remind you that the Lord is with you, that He desires to bring peace and restore that which is broken. Sometimes that includes physical healing, sometimes it means surviving the trauma, and yeah, sometimes it means preparing our families for our death, and helping them know – we know God’s coming to bring us home. (If the latter is inevitable, isn’t it better to have someone walk you there – and support you and your family through it?)
Remember – St Paul talks about Jesus giving you pastor-teachers as a blessing – to help you grow and mature, to keep you stable in your faith, to help you know the peace of God, and His presence.
I’ll close with this thought – part of the passage I am preaching on this weekend…
“50:4 The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. “ Isaiah 50:4 (ESV)
Let your pastor and priest do this very thing, let them use the word to sustain you… that then you can do the same for others.
we cry, “Lord have mercy!” and therefore Lord, help us to realize those whom through you pour out your mercy and love and peace upon us! AMEN!
