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Serving God where ever He calls you to service
Francesco Albani’s The Baptism of Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional Thought of the Day:
14 “At that time the Kingdom of heaven will be like this. Once there was a man who was about to leave home on a trip; he called his servants and put them in charge of his property. 15 He gave to each one according to his ability: to one he gave five thousand gold coins, to another he gave two thousand, and to another he gave one thousand. Then he left on his trip. 16 The servant who had received five thousand coins went at once and invested his money and earned another five thousand. 17 In the same way the servant who had received two thousand coins earned another two thousand. 18 But the servant who had received one thousand coins went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money. 19 “After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. 20 The servant who had received five thousand coins came in and handed over the other five thousand. ‘You gave me five thousand coins, sir,’ he said. ‘Look! Here are another five thousand that I have earned.’ 21 ‘Well done, you good and faithful servant!’ said his master. ‘You have been faithful in managing small amounts, so I will put you in charge of large amounts. Come on in and share my happiness!’ 22 Then the servant who had been given two thousand coins came in and said, ‘You gave me two thousand coins, sir. Look! Here are another two thousand that I have earned.’ 23 ‘Well done, you good and faithful servant!’ said his master. ‘You have been faithful in managing small amounts, so I will put you in charge of large amounts. Come on in and share my happiness!’ Matthew 25:14-23 (TEV)
I dream—and the dream has come true—of multitudes of God’s children, sanctifying themselves as ordinary citizens, sharing the ambitions and endeavors of their colleagues and friends. I want to shout to them about this divine truth: if you are there in the middle of ordinary life, it doesn’t mean Christ has forgotten about you or hasn’t called you. He has invited you to stay among the activities and concerns of the world. He wants you to know that your human vocation, your profession, your talents, are not omitted from his divine plans. He has sanctified them and made them a most acceptable offering to his Father. (1)
As a Lutheran pastor, one of the doctrines that we count on is in regards to the Office of Holy Ministry, the interesting balance of those who serve the priesthood of all believers. A vocation that is never about authority, but can only be about responsibility – we are responsible to care for souls – using God’s word and the Sacraments as our primary tools. But the Office of Holy Ministy, (or Public Minsitry) does not free the laity from their responsibilities as priests of God. Just the opposite, the Office of Holy Ministry serves them and assists them in their ministry.
Each of us is in ministry, in the strictest sense – being a diakonos – whether clergy or laity, or someway in between. But the challenge is seeing our work, our homes, our errands as that of ministering in the stead on by the commissioning of God (i prefer commissioning to command) That is true where ever we go, whatever we are doing. We re being sent there by God – to represent Him, to tell of His love with our words and our lives. It is not our work as much as the work of Jesus. This means more often than not we die to self – we get the heck out of the way, our priorities, our lives are set aside, and His replace them.
This is seen in the quote by St. Josemaria as he says at the beginning that we sanctify our lives – by setting them apart – sanctifying themselves – but then at the end – we realize it is Jesus that sanctifies them and makes them acceptable to the Father. That this is the role of “ordinary” people – (we in the clergy are of the opposite of “usual” 🙂 . It happens whenever and where ever Christ has placed you, planned for you to be.
So there is your holy vocation…. let Him guide and empower your service there.
Godspeed!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). Christ is Passing By (Kindle Locations 823-827). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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- It’s Not About Calling the Qualified, or Even Qualifying the Called… it’s about revealing Christ. (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Is Teaching People That They Must Go to Church Right? (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Dissatisfied? Discontent? Frustrated? Try losing yourself! (justifiedandsinner.com)
Dare we pray…for mercy
Dove of the Holy Spirit (ca. 1660, alabaster, Throne of St. Peter, St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Discussion thought of the Day:
12 Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. Matthew 6:12 (MSG)
38 And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ 39 40 Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:38-40 (MSG)
In this life of ours we must expect the Cross. Those who do not expect the Cross are not Christians, and they will be unable to avoid their own “cross”, which will drive them to despair. (1)
If the atrocities that happened in Dr. Gosnell’s clinic sickened you, this blog may be difficult to read. Please know that even a I type these words, I am praying specifically for those who will struggle with this.
I think we, as the church, must pray for this man, we must cry out to God that God would bring Dr. Gosnell to repentance, to the very transformation that leads to life. I say this neither lightly, nor ignoring the horrors that occurred at his direction, at his hands. I as much as any, struggle with the abortion issue, because of the circumstances of my birth. If I was born 8-10 years later, society would have approved – heck – would have recommended that I be aborted. Having now met my birth mother, I am pretty sure she still would not have…yet….
Obviously we need to pray for Dr. Gosnell’s sake that he finds the mercy that can only come through the Holy Spirit circumcising his heart, through the hardness being excised. It would be a miracle as mind-blowing as any I’ve seen or heard of in my life, a conversion far more incredible than that of Chuck Colson, and perhaps even Dahmer. We cannot let this man go forgotten, we have to realize that sharing the gospel with him, and praying that God would raise up the chaplain who will minister to him in prison, is essential.
But, as we are taught to pray, we need to do it for our sake as well. We can allow ourselves to be hardened and callous to this man, we cannot just demand justice, ignoring that he too, is a life. If we do, if we are merciless – then we have turned into the same kind of monster we perceive him to be.
As St. Josemaria tells us – we have to expect this cross, we have to expect to bear the cross of ministering to the greatest of sinners. We cannot avoid it.
For if we do we fail and despair. If we do, we will convince ourselves that there is a limit to God’s grace, a limit to His reach, a limit to His ability to grant someone repentance.
And eventually, that limit will find itself growing – leaving more and more in the position of being beyond grace. Until we find ourselves outside the limit of His grace.
If we determine Gosnell can’t be reached – if we decide his reconciliation is not something we will pray for, bearing that cross, we will start down a dangerous path.
Dahmer was saved, as were Paul, as was King David, as are we…
Let’s pray for Dr. Gosnell, and for those involved in the abortion industry, for the victims, for those convinced that it is “okay”, for those who work and advocate for it.
That they would come to know the grace found in the only begotten son of God.
May we find God’s mercy to pray for them, to pray for Him.
Let us pray….
LORD HAVE MERCY!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 2748-2750). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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The Church that Needed to Repent and Be Reconciled to God’s Will
The Holy Spirit depicted as a dove, surrounded by angels, by Giaquinto, 1750s. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Acts 11:1-18
† In Jesus Name †
May you be encouraged, and rejoice as God shows you the love and mercy He has given you, as you witness it given to others.
I wonder if Peter was reading from the prophet Jonah?
As Peter starts to describe the way in which salvation had come to the Gentiles, I’ve wondered something. What was it he was praying about? What had he been meditating upon?
Was Peter working through the lessons he had been taught over and over and even a third time by Jesus? Was he considering the incredible grace of God that restored him each time he sinned, each time he tried to play God?
I wonder if he was reading the book of the Old Testament prophet Jonah…who would likewise be called to a place, to bring word of God’s love? Was he being sent to bring the blessed gift of repentance to a place his upbringing said wasn’t eligible or worth God’s mercy. Was he going to a people that his culture said was beyond God’s love.
Peter as always, struggled with where God was leading him to serve. It seemed that the third time God gave him the message; he actually “got” it. That is the story of chapter 10, which he recounts to those who were struggling with what he did here. This chapter isn’t really about what Peter did, to share God’s love with the Gentiles, it is what he did to help his fellow Jews to grasp how deep that love of God was, for every person of every ethnicity in the world.
It is amazing to me that Peter didn’t take on the criticism directly, nor did he take it personally. Instead, he simply focused on what God had done, and laid out the story as it happened. As Peter did this, led by the Holy Spirit, people changed.
Two Groups to Win…
Peter Is summoned to talk with those concerned about “those people” receiving the word of God. They are concerned about Peter compromising the gospel by fellowshipping with them. There will be a conversion here, a needed one, as people are reconciled to God’s will.
It is not the obvious one though, though that too is marvelous! The work of God is so incredibly evident there, as those who were far from God, and in bondage to sin. It is amazing and yet unexpected to hear that God was already working in them, that an angel miraculously intervened in Cornelius’s life, and he sent officials to bring Peter to him, for Peter was to bring them the message that would save him, and all of His household.
How amazing! That God work so bluntly, so clearly, so undeniably! By the time the vision is over, the words of God were burned into Peter’s heart. “What God has made clean, do not declare common!”
How incredible that this became true – not just about bacon and lobster, but about Cornelius and all his family! How amazing that those who were thought to have no hope, were given hope, were given life… were given the presence of God in their lives.
Which leads us to the second “conversion”, the second group that needs to be reconciled to God. They weren’t as far off, these who wanted this issue examined thoroughly. It was a foreign idea to them that God would work with these foreigners. It would be a difficult transition – they needed to see more than just information about God, they needed to see His heart, they needed to understand His will that no one should perish in bondage to sin. They needed to be reconciled to God, to come in line with His will….
And the Holy Spirit did that – again through the God’s love shared patiently through Peter.
The Critics Silenced…
God’s consistent will seen
In the midst of Peter sharing what God had done, as he explains that the men where there, that will of God is hinted at – when he says “And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. That word is the same as the word criticize above – again it means to thoroughly examine things – except in this case, no examination, no criticism. Peter, inspired directly by God’s Spirit, fully reconciled to God’s word by the vision goes…to bring words of life
He starts sharing about God’s love – He starts to lay out the gospel, to share with them the incredible love of God demonstrated through the incarnation, through the life, death, resurrection. He didn’t even get to the part about baptism, before it was evident that this was a God moment, a time when the Holy Spirit was creating life and faith and transforming them, bringing them to repentance. The very same things that happened at Pentecost – with the Spirit falling on the people of God, with the word being proclaimed, with people’s heart’s being opened and healed as they were washed and cleansed, as they received the gift of the Holy Spirit.
God’s consistent love – showing a depth and dimension unforeseen despite the prophecies, despite the promises that foreigners and immigrants would be welcome. God’s consistent love – so praised in the Old Testament, made evident even for those who were wrongly considered “far off”.
They realized God meant it when he said the Messiah would be a light to all nations,
They realized God meant it when He promised Abraham that all nations would be blessed by his descendant,
They realized Jesus meant it when He said that His blood would be shed on behalf of many, for the forgiveness of sins.
I love the way Paul would describe it,
19 you are no longer outsiders or aliens, but fellow-citizens with every other Christian – you belong now to the household of God. Firmly beneath you in the foundation, God’s messengers and prophets, the actual foundation-stone being Jesus Christ himself. In him each separate piece of building, properly fitting into its neighbour, grows together into a temple consecrated to God. You are all part of this building in which God himself lives by his spirit. Ephesians 2:19 (Phillips NT)
Peter, the one who was a bit too quick to speak, who overreacted, took his time, laid out what God had done, and when it was complete, there was silence. The doubt dropped to the floor. No one could object to God’s work. They had neither the strength, nor the desire. Just as Peter realized, when he sad,
17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”
and the party began began.
The Reason for Praise
I have to admit – I love the spontaneous praising and glorifying of God, as these circumcised Jews realize that God loves the long time nemesis – the people of the world. The barriers are down, we are one…
That is what they are realizing, it is what we need to realize. It is what can and should break down every barrier between people – this idea that God has made us one, that God has granted to us “the repentance that leads to life.”
You see, there is something special in watching a brother or sister become part of the Body of Christ, as we did last week. There is something incredible about seeing that – or those “aha’ moments as we gain a little in understanding more about the depth of the Lord’s passionate love for us.
This is the work God does in both Jews and Gentiles. The change is what Luke describes with the word repentance here – this transformation of both our heart and will, redeeming us from our being oppressed by sin, and reconciling us with the will of God. That is the work of repentance – a total transformation of our heart and mind, both are used in the prophecies to describe God’s work.
And God has transformed, He has granted this repentance – this change to living a transformed life in Christ.
We see it here, when a child, or a youth, or even someone who has lived 8 decades comes – and is given the promise of that change as they are baptized into Christ!
We are witnesses to it happening here as well! As we gather at the family feast – where God our Father provides us with the Body and Blood of Chris! As He again grants us the power of the transformation, He has promised. For it is here that He reconciles us with His will, as He reconciles us together as one people – no matter our place of birth or whether the times since can be easily measured in days, years, or decades. He reconciles us together no matter the language we speak, or have spoken, no matter our height or weight or anything else.
We are One, in Christ.
And that is something so glorious – for God has transformed us all into His people. To Him be all the praise, all the glory and honor.
AMEN?
It’s Not About Calling the Qualified, or Even Qualifying the Called… it’s about revealing Christ.
Detail – Glory of the New Born Christ in presence of God Father and the Holy Spirit (Annakirche, Vienna) Adam and Eva are represented bellow Jesus-Christ Ceiling painting made by Daniel Gran (1694-1757). Post-processing: perspective and fade correction. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional Thought of the Day: (feel free to discuss – would really like to discuss this one!)
9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NLT)
“With little effort we could find among our family, friends, and acquaintances—not to mention the crowds of the world—so many worthier persons that Christ could have called. Yes, persons who are simpler and wiser, more influential and important, more grateful and generous. In thinking along these lines, I feel embarrassed. But I also realize that human logic cannot possibly explain the world of grace. God usually seeks out deficient instruments so that the work can more clearly be seen to be his. It is with trembling that Saint Paul recalls his vocation: “And last of all, as by one born out of due time, he was seen also by me. For I am the least of the Apostles, and am not worthy to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God.”15 Thus writes Saul of Tarsus, whose personality and drive fill history with awe. As I said before, we have merited nothing. Before God called us, there was nothing more than personal wretchedness. Let us realize that the lights shining in our soul (faith), the love wherewith we love (charity), and the desire sustaining us (hope) are all free gifts from God. Were we not to grow in humility, we would soon lose sight of the reason for our having been chosen by God: personal sanctity. If we are humble, we can understand all the marvel of our divine vocation. The hand of Christ has snatched us from a wheat field; the sower squeezes the handful of wheat in his wounded palm. The blood of Christ bathes the seed, soaking it. Then the Lord tosses the wheat to the winds, so that in dying it becomes life and in sinking into the ground it multiplies itself.” (1)
It’s Monday morning, after an incredible church service, a great Sunday School class, and then 4 plus hours in a hospital room with my dad, who is struggling with a number of verious serious health concerns and hates the weakness he finds himself in now. I am sitting down at my computer, in a moment will begin the studies for everything I have to teach this week – from a very indepth Bible Study for those preaching this week (tonight), to the end of the first chapter of Philippians (Wed), to the 10th Chapter of Hebrews (Thursday morning) to preaching and teaching Sunday. IN my weakness, I wonder why me, why isn’t there someone stronger, more charismatic, more caring, more eloquent, more spiritual, less sinful.
And I know that if I were to post such a thing – I would undoubtedly here the phrase above, as people try to encourage me, with a trite phrase that simply pounds me into the ground a little deeper. You see, what I hear when I hear the phrase, “God doesn’t call you because you are qualified…because you are absolutely not qualifed – what WERE YOU THINKING! But that’s okay, somehow God will make you barely adequate!” (Somehow I think I am not the only one who hears it that way!
That trite “Christian-ese” is so wrong. Simply because it leaves the focus on us, on our ability, on our qualifications, and on our success or failures.
Paul thought the issue didn’t revolve around us – it is simply about grace – about His power not just qualifying us, but compensating, healing, overwhelming us. It is about knowing how trustworthy He is, and knowing the Father has entrusted us into Christ’s care, and sent the Holy Spirit to work through us – in all of His power.
I love how St Josemaria explains it! Just the the apostles, God works in and through us in such a way that people have to admit that it is more than our natural abilities. In our God given vocations, as husbands and wives, parents, children, employees, managers (See Eph 5:21-6:9), we see God at work, as we love and serve and yes submit our desires to what is best for those with whom we live. And in that sumbission, in that “dying to self” we find that Christ brings His light, His glory, His healing, into every relationship, into every place we go.
That is living in Christ, that is living the life of one who is revitalized/quickened and renewed in their baptism.
Such we see our lives, despite our sin, despite our shortcomings, despite our weaknesses, being reflections of Him into this world of darkness, into this valley where sin and death had cast their shadow on all.
We walk there, knowing this simple truth, which we hear over and over in our Liturgy.
The Lord is with You!
So go in His peace!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). Christ is Passing By (Kindle Locations 425-438). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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Conversion and “Repentance” Evangelical Catholic VI? or VII?
Devotional/Discussion Thought of the Day:
18 When they heard this, they stopped their criticism and praised God, saying, “Then God has given to the Gentiles also the opportunity to repent and live!” Acts 11:18 (TEV)
1 So then, my friends, because of God’s great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer. 2 Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect. Romans 12:1-2 (TEV)
8 But now you must get rid of all these things: anger, passion, and hateful feelings. No insults or obscene talk must ever come from your lips. 9 Do not lie to one another, for you have put off the old self with its habits 10 and have put on the new self. This is the new being which God, its Creator, is constantly renewing in his own image, in order to bring you to a full knowledge of himself. Colossians 3:8-10 (TEV)
Conversion— metanoia, in the New Testament Greek— is a lifelong matter for evangelical Catholics. Whether one is baptized as an infant or an adult, and no matter how old one is upon first meeting the Lord Jesus in a personal way, the Christian life as proposed by Evangelical Catholicism is one of constant conversion. That process continues until the moment of death, which the Christian should approach as the moment in which the gift of life is offered to the Creator: with gratitude for that gift having been redeemed by the Son, and with confidence that death is, in the power of the Spirit, the moment of transition and purification into a fuller encounter with the Holy Trinity. Living toward death in that way requires a lifetime of preparation, a lifetime of deepening one’s friendship with the Lord Jesus, the conqueror of death. (1)
These are words we are used to dealing with in the church, conversion and repentance.
Yet to adapt a line from the classic movie of movies, the Princess Bride, I think we don’t know what these words mean!
Weigel nails it – when he ties the word metanoia which is often translated “repentance” to the word conversion. For indeed repentance and conversion should communicate the same thing – and they often don’t.
I’ve often heard people talk about repentance as our turning our direction, doing a spiritual 180 from heading towards death, to changing to heading towards heaven. Or some will argue that it means to be contrite and sorrowful for sin. While contrition is part of it, there is more involved. For the Greek word breaks apart into “change” and “mind” – calling us to do what Paul will challenge the Philippians to do – to Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus, ( Philippians 2:5 (BBE) Conversion is, having the mind of Christ, one that is not set on things of this world, but rather, things which are heavenly (1 You have been raised to life with Christ, so set your hearts on the things that are in heaven, where Christ sits on his throne at the right side of God. 2 Keep your minds fixed on things there, not on things here on earth. Colossians 3:1-2 (TEV)
Like so much else of scripture, this is easier to say, than it is to do, hence the need for daily repentance, daily conversion. It is why Luther would remind us to start and end each day thinking of our baptism, about what God did there. For we all to soon forget, and live far too often trying to avoid or deal with the consequences of guilt and shame. But our struggle isn’t that within ourselves, for we can’t fix our brokenness. We can’t erase our sin. It is finding the humility to look to God, to receive the gift of conversion, of cleansing, of receiving the blessing of renewal, as God provides for us in word and sacrament, as He calls us from the death of sin, to live – and live as Weigel puts it – towards the return of Christ – either when He returns at the end in all of His glory, or when He calls us home.
For there we find another promise fulfilled, “6 And so I am sure that God, who began this good work in you, will carry it on until it is finished on the Day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6 (TEV)
You see, that is the concept of conversion – it is not us striving with all our might to change ourselves, and more than a baby can change it’s dirty diaper. It is instead – taking a breath – remembering who our Lord and Savior is, turning to Him and finding revealed to us that He has done this thing, He has changed us, and is changing us.
May we become more and more aware of the mercy shown to us, as the Holy Spirit molds us, renews us, and restores us to the image in which we are created.
Godspeed my friends!
(1) Weigel, George (2013-02-05). Evangelical Catholicism (pp. 67-68). Basic Books. Kindle Edition.
Where you there when the… on Good Friday? On Easter Sunday? As much as He is here now!
12 For when you were baptized, you were buried with Christ, and in baptism you were also raised with Christ through your faith in the active power of God, who raised him from death. Colossians 2:12 (TEV)
4 By our baptism, then, we were buried with him and shared his death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from death by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might live a new life. 5 For since we have become one with him in dying as he did, in the same way we shall be one with him by being raised to life as he was. Romans 6:4-5 (TEV)
Among the spiritual songs that are prevalent during Easter week, there is one that can be sung with such power, that it sends shivers downs people’s back, and can make the manliest man week in the knees. The spiritual “where you there when they” is a simple spiritual – but oh the emotional power of that song, as we hear the verses describing the crucifixion and burial of Christ. The woe’s hit us in the gut as we realize the death of Christ, and that we were as much the cause of it – as the Jewish Priests and Pilate and every sinner who Christ came to rescue was.
And we were there…
The above two passages – among several – talk of this very thing. That we were there, that in our baptism we died with Christ, so that we could be raised with Christ.
Which is the last verse of the song – “where you there when He rose up from the grave!”
And the answer for that is…. yes as well.
We have a new life, a new mind, a new heart – and a relationship that is heavenly – for it is with God. We do walk with God, He is our Comforter, our Paraclete our Shepherd. Everything changes with Christ – it is not just a bunch of knowledge to one up someone in a discussion. It’s not about changing people’s behaviors and stopping them from doing things that are distasteful,. Surely those things will change – as the Holy Spirit confronts and guides. But they aren’t the reason for the cross and the grave and the empty tomb. That is not the reason for the glorious exertion of the power of God.
The reason for the cross, the grace, the resurrection… is so that we are God’s children.
Evangelical Catholicism Pt IV: Why have churches shrunk?
Discussion Thought of the Day:
“If a robust Evangelical Catholicism, formed by Word and Sacrament to take the Gospel of truth and love “into the deep” of the modern and postmodern world, is the deeply reformed Church to which the entire trajectory of Catholic development from Leo XIII to Benedict XVI points, and which the Second Vatican Council envisioned, then the great postconciliar failure of Catholicism— the collapse of the Church in Christianity’s historical heartland, Western Europe— comes into sharper focus. Western European Catholicism’s demise was not, it becomes clear, the result of an internal civil war between Catholic progressives and Catholic traditionalists. Nor are the prescriptions of either of these exhausted camps likely to lead to revival and reform in the future. The Church in Europe has been in free fall throughout the postconciliar years because too many of its people ceased to believe that the Gospel is true. The crisis of Catholicism in Europe did not come about because the institutional Church faltered and its people subsequently bailed out. The crisis came because the people of the Church (including the clergy) ceased to believe with passion and conviction, ceased to find joy in the presence of the Lord— and sought their happiness elsewhere. Because of that, the institution (which in some countries, such as Germany and Italy, remains extremely wealthy) faltered— and seems to be collapsing in the first quarter of the twenty-first century. The Catholic future in Europe lies not in managerial reforms (although those are needed), but in a renaissance of faith, which will likely come (as such things often do) from outside the formal structures of Catholic life (i.e., parishes and dioceses) and from within renewal movements and new forms of Catholic community. There, the vision of Evangelical Catholicism is alive. And if that vision attains critical mass, following the authentic promptings of the Holy Spirit, it may eventually reform— and transform— the institutional Church.” (1)
What I read above, though directed at the Roman Catholic Church by one of its own, I believe is equally true for all churches and all denominations and especially my Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
It’s not a matter a matter of who is right in the worship wars, or the supposed division of being faithful versus being missional. It doesn’t have to do, as much as we think it might – with who is in power, for I think that where the gospel is preached and the sacraments are administer – that is where the church is. The hierarchy exists to serve – to be a blessing to the people, as they serve the sacraments and are nothing but conduits through which God’s love and mercy flows. And I have seen both churches that are contemporary, and that are high liturgical and that are 1950’s dream churches – that all are growing – and that all are failing to reach their community. (Recently in Rome, I saw a church filled with people for a high Latin Mass – all of the with great joy as they looked to the sacrament.) As Wiegel notes – we can reform all our admin, we can put allt he right systems in place and run programs and have staffing, but it will be in vain. And our churches will continue to fail – and depend on what god has supplemented the God who came to us, and died.
I highlighted part of Wiegel’s words above in red for a reason, this is the only thing I see that makes a difference in a church, no matter the size, no matter the budget, no matter whether it is growing or not. It is, clearly this one principal – do they get that they are in the presence of God, do they celebrate His love and mercy and His presence. Do we get that the Lord’s Supper, the focus of this day, isn’t about the rote movements – but as one of my oldest favorite songs describes – “God and Man at Table are sat Down” DO we realize His presence, His love, cleansing not just our feet but our lives, healing us, transforming us, the Holy Spirit residing with us!
Do we get that God has invited us to be not just His servants, but as Jesus says, His friends? To dwell in HIs glory, to be adopted children of the King?
You want such and such style of worship? Fine. You want such and such programs? They are out there! You want a cozy intimate church where everyone knows you name? You want a church that is involved in missional work? Or in serving the poor? Or in saving the unborn? Or in educating everyone? All good things… BUT
Above all, desire this – to be in a place that understands these words:
The Lord is with you!
And respond back… with fervor, with conviction, and with love…
And Also with you ( or and with your Spirit)
(1)Weigel, George (2013-02-05). Evangelical Catholicism (pp. 51-52). Basic Books. Kindle Edition.
Cross or Crucifix, Palms or Passion
Česky: Kříže – symbol utrpení Ježíše Krista a jeho ukřižování (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional thought of the day… as we prepare for Holy Week:
14 As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died. 15 It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation. 16 May God’s peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle; they are the new people of God. Galatians 6:14-16 (NLT)
Over the years, I have had a number of people who ask me why I, a “protestan” pastor (which I do not consider myself to be – but that’s another conversation) wear a crucifix more often than I wear a cross. Its the same reason the Sunday of Christ’s Passion – the celebration of the depth of His love, is so much more than Palm Sunday…
My answer is simple – it is where my hope is founded, it is what makes a difference in my life, it is what sustains me, as I face the crap of this world, the sin and trauma that just can rip your heart apart, and the sin and trauma that is my own, which then crushes that heart, with the force a sledgehammer.
It is why the drama of Palm Sunday, when the masses are crying out Hallelujah – and Hosanna, and Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord, is so ironic, and in a way painful. I can’t but hear under the praises, the same voices starting their other cry, the one that will call for this same man to be crucified, to be tortured and killed. There is great irony in that, in the second cry, as it is heard and acted upon, they will realize the glorious nature of God’s love.
It is why I would rather cling to an old rugged crucifix, than just an old rugger cross. For in baptism – I am joined to Christ there as Paul talks about in Romans 6 and Colossians, It is there at the cross – that a circuimcision of my heart takes place, as God separates my sin and all unrighteousness from me, as He signs adoption papers, as He declares me justified, as I receive the most incredible gift, as I enter into fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
Why do I wear a crucifix more than I wear a cross?
Simple – I desperately need to remember He died for me… and as I share in His death, so too I share in His new life.
That He has had mercy on us,,,, despite the cross.
2 Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection: for the sake of the joy which lay ahead of him, he endured the cross, disregarding the shame of it, and has taken his seat at the right of God’s throne. Hebrews 12:2 (NJB)
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- THE PALM AND THE PASSION: HOMILY FOR THE PALM SUNDAY Rev. Fr. Boniface Nkem Anusiem PhD (frbonnie.wordpress.com)
- PALM SUNDAY and HOLY WEEK (wtmcclendon.wordpress.com)
- The cross isn’t a fashion statement, it’s a passion statement (quinersdiner.com)
What difference will it make….and when?
English: Zambrów – the monument of Jesus Christ in the front of the church of the Holy Spirit Italiano: Zambrów – statua di Gesù Salvatore davanti alla chiesa della Spirito Santo Polski: Zambrów – figura Chrystusa Zbawiciela przed wejściem do kościoła pw. Św. Ducha, ustawiona w 2002 r. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional Message of the week:
10 Just as rain and snow descend from the skies and don’t go back until they’ve watered the earth, Doing their work of making things grow and blossom, producing seed for farmers and food for the hungry, 11 So will the words that come out of my mouth not come back empty-handed. They’ll do the work I sent them to do, they’ll complete the assignment I gave them. 12 “So you’ll go out in joy, you’ll be led into a whole and complete life. The mountains and hills will lead the parade, bursting with song. All the trees of the forest will join the procession, exuberant with applause. 13 No more thistles, but giant sequoias, no more thornbushes, but stately pines— Monuments to me, to GOD, living and lasting evidence of GOD.” Isaiah 55:10-13 (MSG)
1 Before God and before Christ Jesus who is to be judge of the living and the dead, I charge you, in the name of his appearing and of his kingdom: 2 proclaim the message and, welcome or unwelcome, insist on it. Refute falsehood, correct error, give encouragement—but do all with patience and with care to instruct. 3 The time is sure to come when people will not accept sound teaching, but their ears will be itching for anything new and they will collect themselves a whole series of teachers according to their own tastes; 4 and then they will shut their ears to the truth and will turn to myths. 5 But you must keep steady all the time; put up with suffering; do the work of preaching the gospel; fulfil the service asked of you. 2 Timothy 4:1-5 (NJB)
In times of general confusion it may seem as though God is not listening to your pleading with him on behalf of his souls, and is turning a deaf ear to your calls. You even reach the point of thinking that all your apostolic labours have been in vain. Don’t worry! Carry on working with the same cheerfulness, the same energy, the same zeal. Allow me to insist: when you work for God, nothing is unfruitful. (1)
I am sitting at my office desk this morning, looking at the texts for another funeral, and wondering how they will be preached. After that, the Palm/Passion Sunday Sermon await, and then, planning the 4 services and sermons for the next week. I should be excited, I should be energized. I know that this is what I am called to, and most of the time, I enjoy it. I’ve even been told I am pretty good at it, by people I know would not hesitate to let me no otherwise.
Even more – I know well the first passage above, the promise that God’s word never returns void – that it is always doing its work, quickening, giving birth in the people listening, the trust, the faith that we have in God. It’s not about my skills, it’s not about the hours put in, trying to craft a sermon. (the best sermons/homilies are not written, they are crafted and forged within the life of the pastor/priest ) Pentecost is a great model of this – as Peter – yeah – the dude who denied his relationship with Jesus three times… spoke a sermon – and the Holy Spirit cut open the hearts of those listening – even as prophesied in Ezek 36:25ff.
God does the work – that is our promise! His word doesn’t return without accomplishing what He determined to accomplish with it…
So why don’t we see the results? Why don’t we see the tears of joy that come from those who have realized His love covers their sin, heals their broken lives, gives hope to those who had none? Why can I preach at a funeral or a wedding or a midweek service – where people are obviously touched for a moment… but then forget the message, more importantly, they forget God?
As I look at the workload this week… I wonder… what difference will it make in people’s lives, and when?
As I woke up this morning – and thought of all the stressed people I am ministering to in the next few weeks – their situations weighed me down…. a lot. When will they see relief – whether from repentance and absolution, from healing, or from the thing we all have promised to us, the comforting, encouraging presence of God. Will they receive that which the Lord would bless them? Will they recognize His presence in their lives? Will my words make a difference in their lives today, tomorrow and all of next week?
That is where the words of the second quote of scripture – St. Paul’s advice to Timothy, and the next point in St Josemaria Escriva’s “The Forge” come into play. ( I read a few of those with my daily devotions) The passage to Timothy popped into mind as I read the note in the Forge. And a little comfort entered my heart – if it is not my work, but God’s, then perhaps I don’t have to see the results. What I am called to do – encouraged to do is keep preaching about Jesus – preaching about our need for Him, because – hey the evidence is there – we don’t live the lives that reflect it. We need to be encouraged to love – to engage in relationships that go beyond just a “hello” or that are very serious – and ready to pray, when we ask, “how are you doing?” And I can, in sermons and through the sacrament, through Bible Studies and conversations in my office and on the golf course, and even on FB.
God will work in my people’s lives – I know that… because I know Him. I know His desires, I know His love, and that is what I need to focus on… far more than “my results”
And on the Friday before Holy Week, with funerals on the calendar, it is good to know the message I preach… is true for me as well…
“The LORD IS with you!”
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 3452-3456). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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The Sacramental Life, one of Transformation
Devotional Thought of the Day:
1 Jesus again used parables in talking to the people. 2 “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a king who prepared a wedding feast for his son. 3 He sent his servants to tell the invited guests to come to the feast, but they did not want to come. 4 So he sent other servants with this message for the guests: ‘My feast is ready now; my steers and prize calves have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast!’ 5 But the invited guests paid no attention and went about their business: one went to his farm, another to his store, 6 while others grabbed the servants, beat them, and killed them. 7 The king was very angry; so he sent his soldiers, who killed those murderers and burned down their city. 8 Then he called his servants and said to them, ‘My wedding feast is ready, but the people I invited did not deserve it. 9 Now go to the main streets and invite to the feast as many people as you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, good and bad alike; and the wedding hall was filled with people. 11 “The king went in to look at the guests and saw a man who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ the king asked him. But the man said nothing. 13 Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot, and throw him outside in the dark. There he will cry and gnash his teeth.’ ” 14 And Jesus concluded, “Many are invited, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:1-14 (TEV)
In a radically converted, evangelically Catholic life, the love of Christ has transformed the disciple and brought him or her into an earthly experience of the love shared by the Holy Trinity— an experience of atonement, of being “at one” with God, made possible by the Paschal Mystery and the gift of the Holy Spirit. 29 That experience changes everything. It is the driving force behind the deep reform of the Church. (1)
In just a week, we come to Maunday Thursday, the day in which the church remembers the Last Supper, (even though some of us do every week, and some have the opportunity and blessing to do so daily.)
As a child, the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharistic Feast was what I loved the most about church, and it didn’t matter which parish I was at. St Joseph’s, which was our home parish, a more modern stone facility, or the dark and damp St Francis, where I went to school. Or the Maronite church, or the Christian Formation Center – each place, each priest that celebrated it, whether the people communed at an all altar rail, or simply processing toward the priest and then returning to their seats, this was the highlight of the mass.
Now as a Lutheran Pastor – it still is. My sermons, my homilies, are hopefully something that strengthens the trust that people have in God, and the reading of God’s word is promised never to be without return – without a gain. But there is something incredible, as I see people receive the Body and Blood of Christ. There are bodies that visibly sigh, and relax, as burdens are taken, and peace descends upon them. There are others, who realizing the great love of God, are moved to tears. There are those who struggle with sin, that… struggle and squirm a little there, for they know, even if only intuitively, that they have hurt and pained the heart of God – who so desires them to come to repentance…to the transformation that is theirs, because Jesus was crucified for them.
The Body and Blood of Christ, given and shed for YOU. O how I love to point that out! O that all people would realize the depth of God’s love, the love in which we abide.
It is what comforts our soul, this love beyond measure, it is that love – that as Wiegel says above – transforms us, and bring us into the love that exists within the Trinity itself. As we dance and celebrate with great joy the fellowship, the communion, the love of God that changes us.
3rd quarter of 16th century (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
And it not only transforms us, it will transform the church, our parishes our families. It assures the sinner of forgiveness, of love – of a welcome home.
May we be like the bad and good on the street – who once we are invited, come in to the feast…. the incredible feast….
and realize,,,
The Lord is with us!
Weigel, George (2013-02-05). Evangelical Catholicism (p. 48). Basic Books. Kindle Edition.
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