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The Church isn’t supposed to convert people! It has a greater task!
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus and to the Cross
“For this reason I kneel before the Father,from whom every family in heaven and on the earth is named. I pray that according to the wealth of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love, you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:14–19, NET)
953 I think it is very natural for you to want the whole world to know Christ. But start with the responsibility of saving the souls of those who live with you and sanctifying each one of your fellow workers or fellow students. That is the principal mission that the Lord has entrusted to you.
Just as the early Church did not attempt to save its existence either by trying to make a concordat with Nero, Domitian, and Decius, or by stirring up a revolution against these tyrants, or by making an alliance with the Persian Empire, but simply by confessing the truth of the Gospel and building up a truly confessing Church whose members were prepared to die for the faith, so Luther and the early Lutheran Church confined themselves to do what the Church, according to its nature as an ordinance of God, can and ought to be doing.
There is a desire in most churches to see the world saved, I will never doubt that. But i think our idea of salvation is weak, and it confuses the ministry we are to share in as the church. I think St. Josemaria’s words here are profound – evangelism isn’t about what missionaries we send out do — it is about what we are doing in our communities, within our family structures, within the places where we live. Our work places, our doctor’s offices, and the stores we shop.
We are the evangelists, the missionaries, sent by God to this place–whereever you are reading this–and if you look around–there are plenty of people who trust in God, who don’t know Him. That’s why Sasse said that Luther and the early church weren’t content with becoming the state church-they had a mission – what the church was to be focused upon–what they were willing to die for… and did.
And it is not about making “converts.”
Not at all…
Look at what Paul prayed for the church in Ephesus…conversion wasn’t the experience he prayed for the church in Ephesus.
He prayed for them to experience the Love of God – to be filled with that which goes beyond any measure, that which cannot be fully explained. To encounter and experience the love of God who created us, and re-creates us in His image. When they do, a change certainly occurs, but not one generated by man. It is only through the ministry of the Holy Spirit! Get used to that, it is not us that converts people, we simply reveal the love of God, the very reason we have hope.
And it is so valuable a experience that martyrs across time have willingly given up their lives if it would help their captors know this love of God.
That is our mission – that is the good news we share with those whom we know, whom we love, and hate and are even indifferent towards..
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Escrivá, Josemaría. Furrow (p. 161). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Sasse, H. (2001). This Is My Body: Luther’s Contention for the Real Presence in the Sacrament of the Altar (pp. 203–204). Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Visions of Peace IV: An Advent Sermon based on Romas 1:1-7
Visions of Peace IV
Romans 1:1-7
† In Jesus Name †
May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,Christ, give you grace and peace!
- May
I could leave the sermon with just the blessing, a simple blessing that plus or minus a word, begins every letter Paul writes to the churches.
If you all believed this promise, if you all knew that God gives you grace and peace, and you shared that with all your relatives, friends, neighbors and enemies, and lived life counting on it… well – sermon is done… let’s get to communion!
The problem is that little three letter word “may” in the translation. It doesn’t sound… solid enough.
Is it going to happen? Is it just Paul’s dream for the church in Rome? In my case, if someone says something good “may” happen, my instinct is, “what will I do that will mess this up”
That’s why we have to take a step back – and to understand that this “may” is not dependent on us, but on the who Jesus came to be, and the promise of God that is ours, because of Jesus.
In this case, “may” means, “this will definitely happen…”
- The evidence
So what gives Paul so much confidence in blessing people like this?
The short answer is the gospel—the good news.
1 This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. 2 God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. Romans 1:1-2 (NLT2)
Paul tells us he was called by God to speak.
Not only him but God promised this through the Old Testament prophets over and over throughout scripture.
The reason we have confidence that we will have grace and peace because of Jesus has been communicated over and over, it was ingrained in the people of God, even if they didn’t understand it.
The promise was there, and Paul revealed it was there—now. As it is for us now…as we will see.
Paul will then say this,
The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, 4 and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.
Here is the summary: Jesus is who the prophets said he would be. He was the promised Messiah, the Savior who restore David’s kingdom, who would restore the people of God, whose arrival would result in an eternal, everlasting kingdom.
So he had that going for Him, fulfilling that part of the promise. But then, the mystery that was promised – but never seen before.
Jesus, the Son of God, the one who would lie in a feeding trough when born, would be raised from the dead.
We consider this often around here, not just at Easter
Alleluia! He is risen! (He is Risen indeed, Alleluia!)
And therefore, (We are Risen Indeed!)
And at every baptism, and every celebration of the Lord’s Supper, we realize that we’ve died with Him, so that we may… no we will live with Him.
“He is, He IS Christ our Lord”, Paul tells us.
And before we can come up with another excuse… he makes us understand we are the ones Christ died for, and rose for…
5 Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.
6 And you are included among those Gentiles who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ.
You are included.
You are…
That’s my privilege. I don’t care what you’ve done in the past, or what you are presently struggling with guaranteed. God raised Christ from the dead—for you.
His Body was broken, His blood was shed—for you.
Look at the blessing
- Grace and peace!
Therefore, you know this blessing is more than a casual “may”, and a fond wish for a friend.
This is the blessing that has been planned for you since before the foundation of the world
Grace – the gift of salvation. And let me be absolutely clear—salvation is not having sins forgiven. That is what leads to salvation.
And let me be clear—salvation is not the forgiveness of sins. That is how we are saved. Salvation is the relationship that is guaranteed.
I was reminded of that in one of my devotional readings this week. Eugene Peterson wrote,
“The way a pastor uses the language is a critical element in the work. The Christian gospel is rooted in language: God spoke a creation into being; our Savior was the Word made flesh. The (pastor)/poet is the person who uses words not primarily to convey information but to make a relationship,”
My role, just like the apostle Paul’s is not to lecture you, not to teach you Greek or Hebrew, or make you feel guilty about your past. Some of that may happen along the way—but my one purpose, the way I am to use my words, is to make sure you know the grace of God–which is the relationship that Christ claimed for you. It is why you were redeemed.
It is what makes Christmas and Easter special, this incredible relationship we have with God the Father, Jesus Christ His Son and the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.
Therefore, we are here…to know God’s grace…
And knowing that, we find ourselves at peace.
Knowing this love, knowing all the promises God has in store for us, and the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
This is what it is all about—this incredible relationship.
This is what makes the difference now, and for eternity.
Knowing He is here, knowing the grace that accomplishes this—may you realize this peace which is beyond understanding… as Jesus keeps you in this peace, your heart and mind secure in it.
AMEN!
Confidence In His Message, Not Ours…. Means We Need to Hear Him…
Devotional Thought of the Day:
37 Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Acts 2:37 (NLT)
17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ. Romans 10:17 (NLT)
Simply concentrate on being completely devoted to Christ in your hearts. Be ready at any time to give a quiet and reverent answer to any man who wants a reason for the hope that you have within you. 1 Peter 3:13 (Phillips NT)
“Stillness is not simply silence, but an attitude of listening to God, and of openness towards Him” (Celtic Prayer Book 1/14 Finian Reading)
I am amazed, as I read the gospels when Jesus talks of a people that hear and see, but don’t understand, that don’t perceive. That have all the tools for being servants of God, yet fail to “live up to their potential.” They get caught up in legalism, or in liberalism. They get caught in the idea of their own faithfulness or orthodoxy, or their own serving the least of these, and hold out their position as proper and right.
Been there, done that myself. Too many times if I am honest. Too recently if I am blunt.
It is interesting to me, that these times don’t come when we are struggling with the darkness of our life, when we are staring in our own failures, our own sin, our own brokenness, face to face.
It is when we are going well, that our confidence slips, and becomes confidence in our works, in our actions, our wisdom. It is there that we are in the process of sinning, just as the Pharisees did, just as the Sadducees and canon lawyers of Jsus day did. It is when we confuse His message with our own.
And hearing, we do not understand, and seeing, we don’t perceive.
It is those times when we need the silence, not of rest and sleep, but the silence that allows God to speak to us.
It is why i so prefer to deal with the broken, those who are crying for help as they struggle with sin, or the injustice/unrighteousness of the world. To see to them revealed the blessings of walking with Christ, of being comforted by the Holy Spirit. of rejoicing in the Lord who reveals Himself in word and Sacrament, and through the service of other broken people. People like me.
We need to hear Him…we need to let Him cut open our hearts, to let His word penetrate, to hear the hope that is only found in Him, and to speak it to others, who need to hear it as badly as we do.
That requires faith in the simplicity of the word and Sacrament, the simplicity of Christ crucified, our hope, of the love of God to be revealed, not through our logical manipulations, nor our self-inflicted martyrdom’s (which really isn’t martyrdom..but we want people to see it as such)
we need to hear that message, that cuts us open and pours transforms, enlightens, grants repentance, that reminds us, we are God’s work of art… not artisans ourselves….
Yes, even to us “mature” Christians,
Be Still.. and know… He is… God.
The Cry of the Broken life Answered
Discussion/Devotional thought of the day:
Hear the words of one whose life was broken….
I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question? Romans 7:24 (MSG)
As I’ve been writing this week on brokenness – passages keep popping into my mind, proof that our generation isn’t the first broken. And proof that even as those who believe and trust in Jesus, we struggle with sin. Yesterday I wrote that the first step isn’t confession our brokenness, it is realizing that we are broken. And for many of us, that realization continues into our new life. We, like Paul, grasp how life is supposed to be – we are supposed to be whole, saintly people, dedicated to God and to doing his work. Aren’t we all supposed to have our lives change as Christians. Why can’t i bring Jesus to people like Billy Graham, or pray and have devotions like St Francis, or serve the needy like Mother Theresa? Or be a preacher and writer like Luther? Why do I still have to deal with sin, my sin, as it assaults my thoughts, is found in my words, and gulp – is seen in my deeds, (or my lack of deeds)
I think we would be surprised to find out how human they were, that they too struggled with temptation and sin, that like the APOSTLE Paul – they had days where they cried out for Christ to return, to rescue them from this life. Think about Revelation’s description of saints,
12:11 They have triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word to which they bore witness, because even in the face of death they did not cling to life. Revelation 12:11 (NJB)
Been there somedays….not wanting to cling to life, not because of the people around me, for them I would gladly stick around, but because of my own brokenness, because of the fact that I know I don’t live the way I would desire to, knowing His love. When I forget and cry out as Paul did – who will rescue me from this body of death…..
Until a friend reminds me I have been rescued. Till I stand at an altar, and am given the Bread of Life, and drink of the Cup of Salvation. Till I hear those incredible words “your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit…AMEN!) The words that Paul rights after His cry of brokeness – in those words we find the answer
7:25 The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different. 8:1 With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. 2 A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.
Romans 7:25 -8:2 (MSG)
There is our answer !
Our brokenness has been dealt with!
We have been freed from it, healed of it.
We still will struggle – with our own brokenness, even more perhaps as we see people living broken lives, unaware that their cry has been heard, that the Lord has had mercy, that He has come… and will free them….and we not only get the joy of letting them know this – when they do hear – we get to see the weight lifted off of them… we get to share in their realizing His promise…
For we are a church, a people that find healing in Christ, while healing others heal….
