Blog Archives
Christmas Take-Away: Dis-Cordia- a sermon on Colossians 3:12-17
Christmas Take-Away
Dis-Cordia
Colossians 3:12-17
† In Jesus’ Name †
May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Chirst reveal to you the unity that exists between all those God has called to be His family, and whom He loves!
- The Preponderance of Discord
Back in the 1990s, there came into existence something called chat boards, and message boards. ChurchChat and ChurchUSA were places people would “gather” online and discuss their faith, in what was called “realtime.” You type your comment, someone else posts a response, or 20 others do. Similar boards were set up where the messages weren’t live, but one thread included messages responding to another—allowing t he messages to stand forever.
It was soon realized that both types of communication needed referees called moderators. Why? Because some people came in and were determined to cause trouble, and others simply Christianity with a much narrower lens, saying that only their “brand” of Christianity was acceptable to God.
Those desiring to cause division or those who caused it in ignorance had to be dealt with, and I was occasionally put in that role. I hated it, as it often meant I had to kick people out that had become “friends.” But sometimes the discussions proved so emotionally laden and divisive that it was reduced to name-calling, cursing and even condemning each other.
The modern versions of these programs, called social media, can are often this contentious. Twitter, FB, and other forms of social media seem to be prevalent with this, and one of the biggest is actually called “discord!”
Hear a few comments recently from social media,
“he recognizes no god and he prays for no one, he’s a vile decrepit (next words erased) crawling with the diseases of corruption”
“burn in hell (explicit)!”
“For sure it could not have been just for praying. (He’s) trespassing, embarrassing staff, threating people and the usual “b.s.”
And the one that scares me the most,
“I don’t pray for him”
All of these comments coming from “good, committed, every week church going people. No wonder the place where these were posted by Christians is named after the mark used to tell you an answer is wrong on a test…
Ironic, a place to exchange ideas is titled with a word that means “disagreement” and “a lack of harmony.” Discord is the opposite of a word we use around here all the time… Concordia.
And it is the opposite of what Paul writes to the church in Colossae, “4 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace.
That harmony, that peace is Concordia… and it is who we are!
- Dealing with faults
I think the discord we have to let Jesus remove from us is caused first by a lack of love. If we are not clothed with Christ’s love, we aren’t dwelling in mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness or patience.
Without that love, and all its companions, all that is left is pride and envy, which quickly turns to discord, and hatred. What does that result in? Well, what’s your first reaction to these words of Paul?
13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others!
If your reaction is “what about them?” or to ask what Paul means when using the phrase, “anyone who offends you” or even to try and define “faults” asking if that includes this and that sin, then we’ve got a problem!
A problem called sin!
And left undealt with, it will continue to rob us of God’s peace, and destroy and sense of Concordia, of harmony.
The problem is that we can balance having mercy with tolerating evil or sin. We struggle with that division, and rather than gently correct in love. In frustration with the error and we struggle with having the mercy, kindness, humility , gentleness and patience.
Yet those are what we are to be clothed in, that is what is supposed to define out life life, and that is where we find our harmony. Ity is not something that can be forced, anymore than a tree can force itself to bear fruit.
So where does Concord come from? And how do we delete discord?
- Chosen, and called to
- The Message filling your lives
The key is not in our effort, but in the work and glory of Christ, and the transformation that the Holy Spirit works in you while clothing you in Christ Jesus.
Verse 12, “ Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves…”
Verse 14, “. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.
Those sort of sound like we are responsible for the work, don’t they? After all – most of us dress ourselves – in my case, ethat’s easy to tell! 😊
But these are the work of God who calls us into this relationship and forgives our sin, literally separates or strips us of it. He takes us of our filthy rags, and we are clothed instead in Christ. It’s the same concept as Ezekiel’s words that promise the Spirit replaces out stony heart with a heart of flesh, or Paul’s words that talk about the transformation of our mind – the concept of repentance which the Holy Spirit gifts us with…
This is where harmony, where Concordia is created, by God in His presence as He transforms us. As the message of His love fills your life and your praises, as His peace fills your hearts and mind…
This is what your baptism is about, what communion is about, what prayer and Bible study is about, helping you do more that hear these words, but experience the truth of the love…
Paul instructs us to sing songs and hymns and praise songs to God, the more we take His message in, the more we are bound together, the more we sing with all the harmnony and with all the abandon we have!
For we are His…
Visions of Peace: An Advent Chidlren’s Sermon and regular sermon based on Romans 15:4-13
Children’s Sermon
Romans 15:4-13
† In Jesus Name †
So every Sunday, part of what I do is play my guitar in the service. Not all pastors do this, but I do. And before I do, I have to tune my guitar.
I have 6 strings here, and each is supposed to be a different note. Each has its own place, and its own sound.
But if they aren’t in tune, there is a problem.
For instance – this string is supposed to be an “A” string. But what if it decides to be something else? And this string, the “B” string, wants to be higher than it is supposed to be? It may sound nice on its own…. But what happens when I play all the strings together?
Does that sound good????
No!!!
That’s why each string has its own specific note. And the gut who plays guitar has the responsibility for making sure they sound like they are supposed to.
So I use my tuner – and I tune my guitar…..
So we are like the strings on my guitar. Each one of us has a special place in life, and a special role. But sometimes we want to be something different, we want to do things our own way. But what does that do to the entire group we are part of?
It messes everything up!
So who is responsible for getting us back in tune?
Jesus!
Except we don’t have pegs we are tied to, we are just always connected to Jesus, who fixes things and makes it right.
And then when we play, or sing, or just live with other people – it works out so much better.
Let’s pray!
Concordia Lutheran Church
December 4.2022
Visions of Peace II
Harmony-Concordia
Romans 15:4-15
† Jesus, Son and Savior †
May the grace f God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ convince you that you dwell securely in the peace of God, which is beyond anything we can understand!
A Vision of Concordia
I’ve been thinking about the changes I’ve seen in my lifetime recently. I mean, growing up, we had one phone in the house, and to call us you only dialed 4 numbers. We had a black and white television that was 13 inches in diagonal, later to be replaced by a massive 20 inch, color television which weighed about 80 pounds!
I wouldn’t say life was simpler or better back then, but it was certainly different.
But one thing is certain, parents then, and parents now want life to be better, more peaceful for their children, and for their grandchildren.
Let’s be honest, we haven’t been a peaceful world, a peaceful country, or even peaceful communities in the last 57 years. Heck, even the internet and social media isn’t all that peaceful!
It’s not a surprise to me then, that the readings for December, as we prepare for Christmas, all deal with peace, giving us a vision for peace, that like the harmony I talked to the children about—all comes down to Jesus.
What Peace Looks like
Paul explains what peace looks like in the church,
5 May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. 6 Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now we are back to the lesson on the children’s message – the idea that we should function in complete harmony with each other. We see what happens in the world when it doesn’t happen, when everyone determines what they are in tune with, and what note they want to play.
Paul gives the idea of being in harmony, each in tune, and played together.
When we aren’t tuned to and by God, we really can’t be in harmony with each other. We can “de-tune” our lives from God, rejecting His role in our life. That is the basis of what we call sin, when we think we know better than God
But when we de-tune ourselves, that also breaks the harmony we had with other people.
We need help… and Jesus is there to help us.
The Help to establish Peace
Paul gives one example of how Christ brings together people divided, addressing one of the most critical divides, still today. Hear again what Paul wrote,
Remember that Christ came as a servant to the Jews to show that God is true to the promises he made to their ancestors. 9 He also came so that the Gentiles might give glory to God for his mercies to them.
This divide – racial, cultural, ethnic, was huge in the day. It was violent, it still is, as it is the center of most of the middle east conflicts.
And Jesus, broke down the wall, by dying for all of them,
Paul wrote to another church, this one in Ephesus,
14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. Ephesians 2:14 (NLT2)
The cross is the answer to all sin, to all the times where we are out of tune with God, and therefore not capable to be in harmony with each other.
This works with any disharmony, with any dysfunction, where people are able to allow God to come and minister to them, to forgive their sin, to reconcile to God, tuning them, and then creating the harmony that exists, as we live with God together.
This is why we are here, why we have a school, to help people living broken lives to know God is working in those lives, brining healing and bringing peace.
A peace that unites us all, as we are united to Christ in our baptism, and at the communion rail. A peace that goes beyond understanding, and in which God keeps us, for this He has promised.
AMEN!
Real Peace is Not the Absence of Conflict…
Devotional Thought of the Day:
16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! 17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
Romans 12:16-18 (NLT2)
20 You clash with the character of one person or another…. It has to be that way—you are not a dollar bill to be liked by everyone. Besides, without those clashes which arise in dealing with your neighbors, how could you ever lose the sharp corners, the edges—imperfections and defects of your character—and acquire the order, the smoothness, and the firm mildness of charity, of perfection? If your character and that of those around you were soft and sweet like marshmallows, you would never become a saint.
I have never liked conflict.
Like many people, I would go to great lengths to avoid it, and I fear its approaching.
I think this is, in part, because we don’t know how to understand it, and we either fight for victory, or we settle for compromise. As a result we are not aware of the sweetness of harmony, the true peace of living in concord, and the hope that comes from finding the true peace that happens when we reconcile.
As a result, we dwell in a time where conflict is played out strategically, in back rooms and parking lot conversations, via text messages and other social media we gather our side, and are ready to go to war, or run away from our opponents.
And all suffers.
Living in peace with everyone is not about being liked, it is not about being popular, it is about working for true reconciliation, true unity that is not at the cost of diversity, or does it force conformity to anything else but Jesus. ANd since the Spirit is in charge of that transformation, the very clashes we, can lead to reconciliation.
Real peace is found there, not in the apparent absence of conflict.
It is a hard lesson, and to be honest, one I have refused to learn, even as I prayed for such a peace to grow in my life. Yet I have begun to see it, I have watched God at work bringing together those who trusted Him enough to be honest, and desire to see Him honored more than to be proven they are right. I have seen it in those who journy together. I have seen it at the communion rail, and in the passing of the peace.
So trust God, be willing to pay the price for true peace, knowing God will help, He will be there, and the person you are in conflict may come to realize, as you do, that you are on the same journey, being drawn by God into His presence.
Heavenly Father, help us to trust and depend on you more than we fear and avoid conflict. In those situations, help us to honor you, and seek the peace that is found in reconciliation, not settling for compromise or avoidance. Give us the patience to see this happen, in Jesus name. AMEN!
Escriva, Josemaria. The Way (Kindle Locations 209-213). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Live in Harmony/Concordia: A sermon on Romans 12:9-21
Live in Harmony/Concordia
Romans 12:9-21
† Jesus, Son, Savior †
May you realize the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ enables and empowers you to live in harmony with each other, as God intended!
Live in Concord
When I originally put a title to this sermon, it was missing one of the words you see up on the screen right now.
Anyone want to guess?
The original title read this way, Live in Concordia.
But I was afraid that some people might start moving their bedroom furniture into the Multi-Purpose Room this week, and Hank and Loreen would sell the furniture at next week’s yard sale!
Seriously, Concordia was the Latin name of the goddess the ancient Greeks called Harmonia – the two words are interchangeable, one simply finds it roots in Latin, the other in Greek. So to live in harmony, as Paul tells us, is to live in Concordia.
We are to blend together, with one heart and mind. Not to be copies or clones of each other, but rather to have our lives be together working together as one, as beautiful as any symphony.
For that is who God is transforming us to be, a people who love other, who really love them, with genuine affection.
Even if it isn’t easy, even if we struggle to do so, for in that struggle we learn to depend on the God who changes us!
The challenges
Love each other, challenging at times.
Love the stranger – that’s what the word hospitality means – literally to love the alien like a brother.
Ask God to bless those who try to crush you.
This isn’t exactly easy stuff!
It’s going to be very difficult at times, it is going to take effort that we don’t want to put into it, that we are not sure is worth it.
It is very different from who society has tried to make us become.
This is love without bounds, being ready to help them at all times, without any hypocrisy, as we serve God by loving others.
It’s a lot of work, we can’t be slackers about it, it takes dedication, and hearing God and obeying Him, even when we don’t want to love them.
Let’s be honest, though they may be different for each of us, there are people that it is hard to love. Maybe it’s a neighbor, or a family member, or a person on the road that cut you off, or maybe even a pastor or deacon.
If this was simple and natural, Paul wouldn’t be writing it, covering every loophole he does.
We have to love each other, we have to love others, even those who aren’t like us… we have to love our enemies enough that we plead with God to bless them. As Jeremiah says, we have to influence them on God’s behalf, rather than let them influence us by their persecution, by their hatred.
We have to love our enemy!
To do otherwise, to not do so is sin….
The righteous anger of God….
Paul gives us a way to deal with our tension, our frustration with those who are our enemies, those who persecute us, and try to crush us.
He says not to take revenge, to not personally seek our own brand of justice.
Let God handle it, let God’s righteous anger work itself out. For God will do what is ultimately righteous, what sees sin paid for fully, which wreaks havoc on the guilty.
God promises this!
Even if the one who pays the price is Jesus.
Actually, that is His glorious preference, that all sinners would be united to Jesus at the cross. All sinners. All those others, all those strangers all those aliens and even you and I.
So rest assured, what we plead for if we hear God, is fully within His will.
And that changes everything, as God saves you and me, uniting us to Jesus, demonstrating His grace and mercy to us in that cross where His blood was spilled where hopefully they will be united as well, for Jesus paid the price for all our sin.
Which is why I find the greatest place for reconciling people to be here, at this altar, at this place where God’s love is poured out on us
Our confident Hope.
I want to back track from God’s wrath being poured out on Jesus for a moment, to verse 12,
Let’s read it together,
12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.
Rejoice in our confident hope, the hope we find at the cross, the hope we find in the resurrection, reaffirmed every time we unite with Christ’ in communion, even as we did in baptism.
Be patient and longsuffering. Don’t think a life lived loving others will be easy, but suffer through it, depending on God not only for the strength and power but to help you stand firm.
Which is why you keep on praying, pleading with God for them, and to help you remember His love for you. Prayer is more than just asking God, it’s talking to Him, realizing His love, letting Him take the weight off your shoulders. It is keeping your eyes on Him, knowing that enemies can’t crush you.
You see, that’s the key, to keep your eyes on God, to keep in His presence, to find yourself loved and safe in His peace. AMEN!
Harmony in the Body of Christ…is journeying together…
Devotional:discussion thought of the Day…
28 And not to mention other things, every day I am under the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 29 When someone is weak, then I feel weak too; when someone is led into sin, I am filled with distress. 2 Corinthians 11:28-29 (TEV)
15 Rejoice with others when they rejoice, and be sad with those in sorrow. Romans 12:15 (NJB)
One of the biggest challenges I see in the church today, is our apathy towards interdependence. Whether it be within a congregation, or within a brotherhood of churches, we don’t function as one organism much any more, save in the political sphere. In my blog today, I want to address this – at the brotherhood/synod/denominational level.
I’ve heard little churches blast big churches, often for stealing their sheep, or doing things that seem condescending. I hear big churches complain about the return of investment that little churches have – and the only way some will offer help is if the little church turns the deed of their facility over to the big church. The idea of area churches meeting for a time of fellowship is almost unheard of now in our area, because we tend to be a bit paranoid. I will confess this as well, as I’ve the smiles I’ve seen when a pastor tells me about how some of my people are fitting into “his” church, I interpret as a smirk, or a subtle jab.
But if it is true that the way to revitalize a congregation is to actually bring the people together, and show them what they have in common – their needs, their brokenness, and Christ healing them, bringing them together, then this should be the way we get together as well. Not to iron out the differences, not to see who is willing to compromise or not, but rather, before the throne of God, the place where there is no division – we are all equally sinful, all equally needed, all equally blessed. W e won’t find unity just in a honest discussion of differences…
I love that Paul was willing to voice his concern – his care – his anxiety even, over those churches he knew. His comprehension of the interdependence, the sympathetic bind that caused what happens to one to affect all is incredible. The words sympathetic- not just as a …. emotional heart tug – but a simultaneous reaction to the pain, the sorrow, the grief over sin, the joy over new life. Like a body when the toe is stubbed, or we are bruised – the entire body reacts – so should it be with us. When we are praying with another, when we are at their side, or their at ours, as we beg Jesus for His mercy, His intercession – that is where harmony begins, that is where peace allows us to heal in ways our logic and strength cannot.
And as we are healing, as we are helping each other, praying with each other – then growth occurs, our defenses drop, our unity in Christ becomes manifest….
For we dwell in His peace…together.
