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The Experiences of Advent Week: 1 Experience Great Joy! A sermon on 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
The Experiences of Advent Week 1
Experience Great Joy!
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
† I.H.S. †
May the grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ help you to experience joy as we enter His presence!
The Experiences of Advent.
In Matthew 13, Jesus describes the Kingdom of God with parables comparing the Kingdom to the great harvest. The first to be gathered up are the wicked, to be gathered and tossed into the fire. Then the good are gathered up, and enter into God’s presence!
Right in the middle of those parables, Jesus says this, “17 I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.” Matthew 13:17 (NLT2) It echoes the thoughts of Jesus regarding Abraham, “56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see the time of my coming; he saw it and was glad.” John 8:56 (TEV)
You think of all who waited, from Adam and Even to Abraham, to Moses and Johus who knew the promised land wasn’t real estate but a home with God; to David—whose psalms looked forward to His Lord coming, and all the prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, who warned taught people to prepare and long for the coming of the Messiah-Savior, to Mary and Joseph, and finally the shepherds, the first to leave everything behind them to see Jesus. And finally, we hear the words of Paul today,
“Because of you we have great joy as we enter God’s presence.”
What incredible joy they had, as they considered the coming of Jesus, of seeing people come into the presence of Jesus!
Hmmm, did anyone catch what I did there?
When would Paul enter the presence of Jesus?
So, what in the world does that have to do with preparing for Jesus’ coming to His people in Advent?
Simple, the joy of knowing you are coming into the presence of God.
Think back to the quote from Augustine…we started with…
“Let us love him, for he made these things and he is not far off,44 for he did not make them and then go away: they are from him but also in him. You know where he is, because you know where truth tastes sweet. He is most intimately present to the human heart, but the heart has strayed from him. Return to your heart, then, you wrongdoers, and hold fast to him who made you. Stand with him and you will stand firm, rest in him and you will find peace.”[1]
What were they experiencing prior?
I want to take a moment to think about these people who longed for and looked forward to Christ’s coming, before hearing the good news of being in the presence of a loving, merciful God.
Abraham was a businessman from Ur. Moses was a foreigner, a man wanted as a criminal, an alien who worked in the fields of his father-in-law, tending his animals. David was pretty much written off by his family, given the most menial and meaningless job in the family. We can go through them all, servants and lesser priests. This is especially true after the destruction of the Temple and the removal of the Ark of the Covenant from the people of God.
They had one thing in common: they didn’t have a hope in the world beyond the next day.
What sense does life, suffering, and brokenness make if we don’t know what comes later? How do we deal with broken sin, both your sin and your brother’s sin, if you don’t have the encouragement and comfort that comes from knowing God’s mercy and comfort?
So what were they thinking? How in despair could they have been, or what were they ignoring in their life?
Just like the world, when they are stressed and overwhelmed, dealing with guilt and sin and resentment, with anxiety. Haunted by the past, anxious about the future, unable to find peace….
Wait- that sounds like some of us, as we forget the blessings we have in Christ…
Being reminded of them is the purpose of Advent – to remind us of life before Jesus entered our lives and cause us to rejoice as we look forward to the day Advent prefigures.
What were Paul, Mary and the Shepherds thinking.. “on the way”.
The Advent journey isn’t about the time before we knew about Jesus. It’s about the time we find out about Him and are driven by the Holy Spirit into His presence. It’s the reaction of the Shepherds when the angels told them the Messiah was born.
It’s the same reaction that Paul had, as he thought of the people of the church in Thessalonika… whom the Spirit was driving into the arms of Jesus. Hear his prayer for them, which has been our benediction for the last year,
“May the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. 13 May he, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy people. Amen!
This is the effect of the work of Jesus, as the Holy Spirit prepares us to appear before the Father on the judgment day. It is the work we refer to as Salvation, as deliverance, a work driven by love and compassion, a work that knows what it means to come into the presence of God.
It is why Paul knew he would enter God’s presence with great joy, because of the work he witnessed in the lives of people, as He spoke and wrote to them—telling them about how God would cause them to love each other, strengthen our faith, set us apart as His kids—all looking to the day that Christ rejoiced He would bring about, as He died on the cross – to make sure it happens…
And this is the source of our joy – as we gather together to share in the laughter and tears that come along the way.
Enjoy the journey, and the knowledge that God will sustain you until that day…. And rejoice in His work in your life.
AMEN!
44 See Ps 99(100):3; Acts 17:27.
[1] Saint Augustine. (2012). The Confessions, Part I (J. E. Rotelle, Ed.; M. Boulding, Trans.; Second Edition, Vol. 1, p. 104). New City Press.
Augustine, Luther, Vatican I and the Purpose and Mission of God’s People.
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to the cross:
“ And as they came down the hill-side, he warned them not to tell anybody what they had seen till “the Son of Man should have risen again from the dead”. They treasured this remark and tried to puzzle out among themselves what “rising from the dead” could mean. (Mark 9, Phillips)
Have you never read this scripture— The stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner; This was from the Lord, And it is marvellous in our eyes?” ” (Mark 12 Phillips)
[1]Let us love him, for he made these things and he is not far off,44 for he did not make them and then go away: they are from him but also in him. You know where he is, because you know where truth tastes sweet. He is most intimately present to the human heart, but the heart has strayed from him. Return to your heart, then, you wrongdoers, and hold fast to him who made you. Stand with him and you will stand firm, rest in him and you will find peace.
Concerning the use of sacraments it is taught that the sacraments are instituted not only to be signs by which people may recognize Christians outwardly, but also as signs and testimonies of God’s will toward us in order thereby to awaken and strengthen our faith. [2] That is why they also require faith and are rightly used when received in faith for the strengthening of faith.
…so the Church, constituted by GOD the mother and teacher of all nations, knows its own office as debtor to all, and is ever ready and watchful to raise the fallen, to support those who are falling, to embrace those who return, to confirm the good and to carry them on to better things. Hence it can never forbear from witnessing to and proclaiming the truth of GOD, which heals all things, knowing the words addressed to it: “My Spirit that is in thee, and My words that I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, from henceforth and for ever.”*
Today is the last day of the Liturgical year. Not a big deal to some, but to me, it has some significant meaning.
It lies between the Sunday of the CHirst the King – the Sunday that celebrates His victory for us, which we know is coming, and the beginning of Advent, a season of repentant waiting for Jesus to become Immanuel, that is, God with us! (Note the exclamation point; it is there for a reason.)
Like the disciples after the transfiguration, I have questions about the cross. Not about the necessity, but the fact that Jesus volunteered for it with joy, to save you and me. We so desperately need not just a Savior, but a brother, who leads us back to the Father. It is truly a marvelous mystery to treasure, this grace that unites us to God.
We get to know this through the sacraments, those moments when God draws us near and unites us to Himself. As He originally cleanses us, cutting away our stone-hard hearts, and replacing them with His Heart, His Spirit (see Ezekiel 36:25) He then cleanses us of not only all sin, but all unrighteousness–all injustice. All the damage done to us by our sin, the sin of the world, both present and in the past. And of course, the incredible feast where Jesus feeds us with His body and blood. The Lutheran Augsburg Confession nails the purpose: not to define us to the world, but to strengthen our faith, to lay the foundation and build our lives on Jesus.
This is why Augustine talks of such an intimate relationship with God. It is of the most incredible value, so much so that He begs us to return to our heart, for that is Jesus, our Heart. He recognized, the hard way, that there is no option, no other name in which to find comfort, hope, and a relationship that heals.
This is what the world needs to know!
Vatican I sees this clearly! It is the purpose of the church, the purpose behind preaching, catechizing, teaching, and distributing the sacraments. Not just to indoctrinate people. Not to receive their tithes and offerings, and building artistic edifices. This is what ministry is! This is why we are here! This is the very thing at the heart of the Reformation (at least Luther/Melanchthon’s portion of it), and for some, the Counter-Reformation.
It is who we are, and I pray all the church, Lutheran, Catholic, Orthodox, and others, return to this ministry in the next year…AMEN!
Saint Augustine. (2012). The Confessions, Part I (J. E. Rotelle, Ed.; M. Boulding, Trans.; Second Edition, Vol. 1, p. 104). New City Press.
Kolb, R., Wengert, T. J., & Arand, C. P. (2000). The Book of Concord: the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (p. 46). Fortress Press.
McNabb, V., ed. (1907). The Decrees of the Vatican Council (pp. 17–18). Benziger Brothers.
Stand Firm! Geta grip! A Sermon on 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8,13-17
Stand Firm!
Geta grip!
2 Thessalonians 2:1-8,13-17
† Jesus, Son and Savior †
May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ sustain you’re your grip on your salvation as you stand firm in the hope of the Resurrection to eternal life!
The key verse
Most of the time I preach, I try to come up with some illustration to help understand what scripture is teaching us. Educational theory tells us we are a visual people, which is why those who have tried to teach morals use storytelling, fables, parables, to help people see the point.
Today, I couldn’t come up with one.
That’s okay, as the point today is pretty simple…
“15 With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter.”
That seems simple enough… stand firm – hold on to the hope we have taught you.
The hope found in the experience of salvation.
The hope found in the work of the Holy Spirit who makes us holy, and lead us to believe in the truth.
Stand firm there, and get a grip on this…
But there are challenges.
The challenge – false teaching leading to lawlessness
One of the challenges that I don’t talk about enough is false teaching – especially about End Times. Paul is warning the church about such people who would use the End times to motivate us through fear. Listen to Paul, “2 Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don’t believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us. 3 Don’t be fooled by what they say.”
It doesn’t matter how sincere these men and women who preach are, it doesn’t matter how they have studied and dissected the numbers and days that create their message. If they focus more on developing fear and horror at the thought of the end, they missed the hope we have…
So ignore them.
Despite the temptation to follow their logic and examine it thoroughly. Despite the attempts to make you come to repentance fearing the Day or Judgement, or the Tribulation, or anything else that puts the “fear of God” and the fear of judgment or condemnation in you, and then asks you to take some action to assure your survival.
But all that does is convince you that God’s grace is sufficient, and puts the burden of survival on you… and reinforces a stereotype that our sin is great than God’s ability to deliver.
The call to share in the glory of Christ.
When Paul writes to a young pastor named Titus, he addressed this idea of the believer fearing God because of their sin. He wrote, 3 Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other. 4 But—“When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, 5 he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. Titus 3:3-5 (NLT2)
That is the same message as he tells these believers from Thessalonika. Instead of worrying about the End Times, focus in on what the Holy Spirit is doing in your life, as we started with, “a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth. 14 He called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
That last line is what we should be focused on, what we pin our expectations on, this idea that we can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When we think of end times, this is what our focus needs to be! Not on the trauma, for life itself can be just as traumatic as anything the doomsayers and fearmongers put forth.
We need to remember the promise of our baptism—that we receive the forgiveness of sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit and everlasting life.
This is a constant theme in scripture,
27 For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.
Colossians 1:27 (NLT2)
23 but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (NLT2)
And how many of the parables, from the wheat and the tares to the sheep and the goats talk about us entering everlasting life…
Us, those who were born into sin, and have struggled with sin, the kind of people this place was built for…
Not that we would fear Judgment Day, but that we would expect it and rejoice as we see it coming.
For it will come, and we will be at home with our Lord! AMEN!
Helping Those Who Seem to not Want Help
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to the Cross
“When Jesus had finished these parables he left the place, and came into his own country. Here he taught the people in their own synagogue, till in their amazement they said, “Where does this man get this wisdom and these powers? He’s only the carpenter’s son. Isn’t Mary his mother, and aren’t James, Joseph, Simon and Judas his brothers? And aren’t all his sisters living here with us? Where did he get all this?” And they were deeply offended with him. But Jesus said to them, “No prophet goes unhonoured except in his own country and in his own home!” And he performed very few miracles there because of their lack of faith.” (Matthew 13:53–58, Phillips)
These camouflaged souls represent a special category of people who need help: those hiding their need—either consciously or unconsciously. In order to help those who don’t want help, we must recognize that some of these people will ask for help, but they will ask for it through a tangential issue.
But doesn’t a personal relationship involve more than that? A mere benefactor, however powerful, kind and thoughtful, is not the same thing as a friend. Jesus says, “I have called you friends” (John 15:15) and “Look, I am with you every minute, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20, paraphrase).
Every church has them, every form of social media abounds with them They will often put up great defenses of their views, and sometimes are out on the offense. One friend describes them as “”For those who feel the zealous fumes of righteous rebellion coursing through their lungs,” Books have been written about them- these well intentioned alligators, these people who are more worried about being perceived as right that actually seeking the righteousness of Christ. They are labelled with terms like toxic, non-compliant, They don’t get the help, the healing they need, because they are so focused on defending their brokenness.
Others have different coping mechanisms, as they hide their hurt and pain deep within themselves. declaring all is good in their lives, and refusing, even getting offended by the offer of help.
And neither group experience of the healing, the miracle that is available to them in Jesus. Which is most regrettable, as it was when Nazareth rejected Jesus.
The question is whether our response is one based in the grief of knowing what is missing, or whether we simply wanting to correct and/or brush the dust off our feet and leave them in their brokenness. Will we see them asking for help in a very different way, and whether we will respond, or not.
This takes patience and more than a little sacrifice. It takes effort to restore these people to spiritual health, to the point where praising God is their constant focus, for they know they have been established in Christ Jesus. That is our goal, as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, to see them healed and restored.
I love how Dallas Willard used to phrase this – to know Jesus as a friend, not just a benefactor. To know that Jesus is not just invested in your performance, but is invested in you. This is where their hope like ours, is found. Where peace is beyond comprehension, where we (all of us!) are healed of our brokenness and sin.
Learn to humbly pray for their healing, pray for your own patience, pray for the love to care for them, and to hear their call for the hope you have. AMEN!
Shelley, M. (1986). Helping those who don’t want help (Vol. 7, p. 91). Christianity Today, Inc.; Word Books.
Willard, D., & Johnson, J. (2015). Hearing God Through the Year: A 365-Day Devotional. IVP.
Visions of Fire and Brimstone are Needed Still, But Who Needs It Has Changed.
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to the cross.
“Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, for without it no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God, that no one be like a bitter root springing up and causing trouble, and through him many become defiled.” (Hebrews 12:14–15, NET)
““And you, son of man, groan with an aching heart and bitterness; groan before their eyes. When they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you will reply, ‘Because of the report that has come. Every heart will melt with fear and every hand will be limp; everyone will faint and every knee will be wet with urine.’ Pay attention—it is coming and it will happen, declares the sovereign LORD.”” (Ezekiel 21:6–7, NET)
Those who saw them, however, were greatly amazed that they differed from all others by their habit and life and seemed almost like wild men. In fact, whenever they entered especially a city, estate, town, or home, they announced peace, encouraging everyone to fear and love the Creator of heaven and earth and to observe the commandments.
I think it was Moody who came up with the idea that having people put in hell for a minute would drive them to the cross. At least he had the first half of preaching law and gospel correct!
But perhaps there is another who needs to visualize, and even experience the wrath of God, to contemplate its horror.
I am talking about those who minister to others. It might be a pastor or priest, a deacon or even and internet apologist. It would include the Bible Study leader, and also the Christian who could make an impact in their community.
How much would it change your heart to share the experience of Ezekiel, who pictured people so overwhelmed by the wrath of God that their hearts melt, their hands can no longer hold or lift anything, and quite colorfully, they can’t control their bladders. (other translations say their legs become like water-attempting to clean up the mess!) To observe people experiencing that furious a revelation of God, delivering the punishment they deserve should change how we minister, and how we are motivated to minister.
That kind of ministry is what Hebrews describes, this passion to share with people a peace that doesn’t make sense. To work that people can see God, and approach Him boldly, for they have not rejected the grace of our Lord. I love the thoughts, just as I would love to be described as the two men St. Francis described! To seem like wild men, as we passionately seek to be at peace with others, a peace only possible in Jesus.
To know what people face if we fail, and they come short of the grace of God. That will tame the zeal and focus it on ministry. It will stop us from being condescending–and focus us on serving. It will change our attitude that we are battling those sinners, and remind us we are on a rescue mission to save them.
True revival will begin, the more we realize what God is rescuing us all from…as will the most incredible worship. May we
Pasquale, G., ed. (2011). Day by Day with Saint Francis: 365 Meditations (p. 269). New City Press.
Life: God’s Version of Take Your Child to Work’ Day Week 8 – The Job Isn’t Done, yet! A sermon on Amos 8:4-7
Life: God’s Version of Take Your Child to Work’ Day
Week 8 – The Job Isn’t Done, yet
Amos 8:4-7
† In Jesus Name †
May the grace and mercy of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ sustain you, until the work God began in you is completed as Jesus returns!
How do you know the work is over?
As we talk about going to work with God, today we are going to look at the great moment when the job is done.
Or more precisely, how do we know when the job is done?
When we are kids, I don’t think we understand this all that clearly. We might finish a small task and go, “Dad, we’re done!” and think it high time we go and celebrate!
Until Dad lets us know that the little task we had completed was just the first of many!
“But Dad, I filled the wheelbarrow liked you asked, can’t we go now?”
“No son, now we make the concrete with the sand and the cement mix, then we get the rocks and make the wall….”
“but Dad, that will take for—-ever, and I am hungry now…”
“Be patient, there is more hard work to do…. “
So I’ve got a question for you…
As we work with God in this life, are you ready and willing to keep working with Him?
Are you sure? What if the work is hard?
What if the work isn’t just trying to save the world, but you are the object of the work? What if you are the one God is finishing what He started to recreate?
Or we could you hear yourself telling Him, Lord, we finished the work?
The Law ( Oh and is there law!)
The passage from Amos describes God’s message to His people, as He continues to do the work while He walks with them. You see, they messed up the job a little, and caused some delays, and God must…work on them a little.
The passage is brutal, getting right to the point as God points out their sin. God goes right after how they treat their neighbor, taking advantage of them the moment, they walk out the door of church,
“so you can get back to cheating the helpless. You measure out grain with dishonest measures and cheat the buyer with dishonest scales. 6 And you mix the grain you sell with chaff swept from the floor. Then you enslave poor people for one piece of silver or a pair of sandals”
Now, all these sins are against one’s neighbor, but you may be going, whew, those aren’t my sins. I mean when was the last time Nancy mixed chaff with the wheat she was selling someone? Or the last time you used that scale that you knew was off… in a business transaction.
Wait, does lying to the doctor count here?
Or do you “own” some people who went into debt with you?
Or is there something deeper at work here?
The Real Sin, Behind the Sin
One of the problems with Amos is that we don’t recognize the primary sin here, and there fore we can’t recognize the gospel in the passage that deals with the sin.
We look at what we consider the big sins, the ones committed against other people.
Did anyone notice I missed the big sin in the passage?
You can’t wait for the Sabbath day to be over and the religious festivals to end…
Here is the issue—what leads us into deeper sin is our rush to end our time with God and get back to “real life.” The second commandment – to treasure the sabbath day and keep it holy – they couldn’t waste their time finding rest and restoration by knowing God’s love, and instead they wanted to get back to …whatever they thought was more valuable than worship and prayer, than hearing God’s word and communing with Him.
I’ll be honest, there are times when I’ve been distracted by life, and wanted to get moving past some pastor’s conference worship session or end a Bible Study. Sometimes the reasons sound good, other times
And it is that attitude towards God, that point where time with Him doesn’t matter compared to something else, that we begin to act and believe like others don’t matter either.
That is where sin begins, where neglect of our relationship with God
That is what James is talking about, when he writes about God’s law not being a bunch of different sins that are ranked, but rather, “8 Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 9 But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law. 10 For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws. James 2:8-10 (NLT2)
So if God’s going to do the work, on us, with us, wouldn’t it be beneficial if we aware of the work?
Did anyone see it in the passage from Amos?
It’s there!
The Grace, Where We Didn’t See Grace
It’s a challenging discussion, enough so that I wrote several other pastors and Jim and Bob to see if they saw it. Didn’t even sleep on Sunday night, as I could not see the gospel in these verses, something that would give us hope, because of the death, burial and resurrection.
And then I saw it, right there in verse 7,
7 Now the LORD has sworn this oath by his own name, the Pride of Israel: “I will never forget the wicked things you have done! Amos 8:7 (NLT2)
God’s not going to forget our sins! That’s incredible news! In those words, we find the gospel, and it is amazing!
It doesn’t sound like good news, it doesn’t sound like the gospel! That sounds like condemnation! That sounds like every sin is going to be remembered and God will crush us for them….
And if God remembers every time we neglect Him, every time we sin by not loving our neighbor as ourselves, we are in deep doo doo.
But the Hebrew there means that He won’t forget to deal with the sin. It doesn’t say He won’t deal with it, or that He will just right off the one committing the sin. God won’t forget our sin, means He won’t forget to deal with it.
Amos and the people of God didn’t know how God would deal with such sin, they had no idea of Grace. They only knew that sin would get punished…they never saw Jesus taking the punishment we deserve
They didn’t know of the cross.
They didn’t apply Ezekiel 37 and God putting His spirit into the bodies He created from the dead dry bones in the Valley. They didn’t believe he couldn’t save us, and bring back to life that which was dead in sin.
They didn’t realize what we testify to..
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
(He is risen indeed! Alleluia)
and therefore
(We are risen indeed! Alleluia!)
God indeed will never forget our sin, and He will never forget He dealt with that sin at the cross!
We have to understand this job, God doesn’t do it half way, He completes it, He doesn’t forget our sin, nor will He ever forget He did something.
Which is the point of the prophetic message, to help us realize the promise of Christ, and God not forgetting, but dealing with our sin, at the cross. And because of that death and resurrection, He will never forget He dealt with that sin.
When we know that, the peace of God, which passes all understanding, yet in which we are safe, our hearts and minds, by Christ Jesus.
I’m Not Sure Who Needs God’s Mercy and Peace more..
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to the Cross
“So I said, “My endurance has expired; I have lost all hope of deliverance from the LORD.”” (Lamentations 3:18, NET)
“For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help.” (Hebrews 4:15–16, NET)
“Listen to my appeal for mercy! Deliver me, as you promised.” (Psalm 119:170, NET)
985 The day you no longer strive to draw others closer to God—since you ought to be a burning coal all the time—you will become a contemptible little piece of charcoal, or a little heap of ashes to be scattered by the slightest puff of wind.
Back when I served as a prison chaplain, I had the incredible joy of seeing men who realized the depth of their sin, who had the Holy Spirit cut it away, circumcising their heart, just as the Apostle Paul describes in Colossians 2, the same experience that Luke describes in Acts .2:37. There is no doubt in that moment where they realized the depth of their sin, as the trauma they brough on themselves shattered them, that they were in need of God’s mercy and peace.
And there He came to them.
There is a strong part of me praying that the young man who took a life this week is able to see Jesus coming to help him. I am praying he experiences the mercy and love of God, and in that experience finds peace.
And yet, he’s not the only one in need of such peace. From the people who rejoice in his actions, to those who who want to strike back and anger — we all need it to. We all need to experience the mercy and love found in Jesus. (an example – a minister who rejoice in “blocking people” because they obviously need Jesus, seems to be in as much need of God’s love, mercy and peace as those he would deny it to.
Here is the bottom line, we are all hurting, we are all damaged by our sin, the sins of our family and community, and the weight of the sins of the world. In that pain and confusion we strike our, say things that don’t make sense in reality, but we are going by the rumors and gossip based on things taken our of context that has prevailed on both sides. (Example – politicians on both sides stating the other sides is 100% responsible for the environment that lead to Kirk’s death. I don’t know what the ratio is – but it is because of the caustic environment the man grew up in, then the sin of all is responsible.)
I even falter, resonating with Jeremiah’s words that my endurance has expired. I find myself overwhelmed at the hatred being spewed out by both sides, and I want to judge both sides, respond prophetically to both sides, to show them their own double standards that lead them to judge their perceived opponents, rather than encouraging them towards Jesus. Several times in the last few days, as I look at the responses to the shotting and I understand Jeremiah’s lament, and I fear I am becoming that piece of charcoal – burnet out by people refusing grace for one, and therefore denying its existence, even for them. WHat good is my voice against such a storm? How can I convince fellow believers never mind unbeleivers, that God’s love and mercy can be found even here–in these dark days.That Jesus is here… ready to forgive, to heal, to reconcile us to the Father, as one family..
The Jesus that would come to all of us. The Jesus whom embraced the crowds cry for his crucifixion, by dying to free them from sin.
He knows our pain, He’s lived through it, He’s seen the weight of sin try to crush us all – not just “them.”
Let’s not cry out for a man’s death, but cry out to God instead that he come to know mercy. And cry out our nation comes to know it as well.
.Escrivá, Josemaría. The Forge (p. 204). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
“Life: God’s Version of Take Your Child to Work’ Day” Week 6: More Than… Philemon 1-21
Life: God’s Version of
Take Your Child to Work’ Day
Week 6: More Than…
Philemon 1-21
† In Jesus Name †
May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace!
Intro: Whose view?
The book of Philemon is the shortest that Paul wrote, yet it is contains one of the greatest challenges, along with an incredible miracle and one of the best examples of what it means to be a servant-leader who shepherds the people of God.
I have heard sermons about it focusing on the change in Onesimus, I have heard sermons about the challenges for Philemon – as his community would frown upon the precedent he was asked to set. I’ve even heard a sermon to pastors about how to imitate the “tactics” that Paul used to manipulate Philemon into doing what Paul wanted to do…
Today, the goal is to see the work of God, that He calls all three to be involved in, as he takes two of His kids to work together…
For some days, you will have the role of Onesimous, and other days, you will have the role of Philemon, and there will be a time where you have to take on the role of Paul….
But God’s work work this day is the same project for all three… to realize that each is…
“more than”
As in “16 He is no longer like a slave to you. He is more than a slave, for he is a beloved brother, especially to me.
The task is simple, rebuilding the relationship that was shatttered.
- The PROBLEM – this is a horrible, worthless sinner
There is no doubt the relationship between Philemon and Onesimus was strained. It was more than that, as Philemon being an escaped slave, He had a price on his head, what we would call in old West, dead or alive.
He ran away, he was a slave, he would have been considered major property theft, not to mention Paul’s own mention that Onesimous was a pretty lousy slave. “11 Onesimus hasn’t been of much use to you in the past,” Paul says, yet the Greek is far more caustic
That’s not to say Philemon wasn’t a horrible worthless sinner. He was a slave owner who was brutal enough for a slave to run away, risking death to find some sort of freedom, the kind of guy that Paul wrote Ephesians to address. “8 Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free. 9 Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Don’t threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favorites. Ephesians 6:8-9 (NLT2)
So these guys weren’t quite ready to go to work together with the Father.
I hate to say it, but we all have relationships like this – some of which we are the one who seems to be the bigger sinner – the slave who runs away, And some, we are the sinner who slowly wears down someone else, leaving them no seeming option but to sin.
Or maybe our sin would have been to take sides, like Paul did at first, only to set aside the personal benefit to choose to encourage reconciliation of these two men. HE would encourage Philippians, “2 Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. 3 And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life. “ Philippians 4:2-3 (NLT2)
We have these relationships, just as they did in the day of the Apostles. They seem shattered, the sins committed hanging around like a stench, affecting life.
- The solution
And yet, there is hope…there is the realization we started with, as each person sees, that . “He is more than a slave (/owner/shepherd,) for he is a beloved brother,
Paul writes,
“4 I always thank my God when I pray for you, Philemon, 5 because I keep hearing about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God’s people. 6 And I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ. 7 Your love has given me much joy and comfort, my brother, for your kindness has often refreshed the hearts of God’s people.
He goes on to say,
“8 That is why I am boldly asking a favor of you.”
Paul is pretty blunt- pointing out the incredible change that occurred in Philemon’s life, as he began to have faith, as he began to trust in Jesus, as he depended on the Holy Spirit.
Look at what God did with you… now listen, God did that with someone else… and I want you to hear me out..
He probably had the same conversation with Onesimos, “look I know I am sending you back to where you have a price on your head, but the God who makes you holy and previous to me – God is at work in Philemon’s life as well!
This is what is so amazing – these relationships that seem irreconcilable, at the right time where reconciled, but that reconciliation happened only when we realize we are all loved by God, that Jesus died to forgive our sins to bring us to the Father,
And there we are found together, baptized, cleansed, gathered, one, in Christ Jesus.
That’s why, between confessing and being forgiven and then coming up to the altar to share in the body and blood of Christ, we declare to each other – “the peace of God is with you!” and “and also with you” – a chance to recognize, as Philemon and Onesimos would, what unites us.
Being at peace in Christ Jesus.
For Alleluia! He Died, and we died with Him.
Alleluia! He is has risen!
And therefore WE, with Paul, and Philemon and Onesimos – are risen indeed.
Amen!
He’s a Bit Possessive…
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, on the cross
“However, God’s solid foundation remains standing, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” ”” (2 Timothy 2:19a, NET)
Many of us are interested in walking with God and pleasing God and resting in the promises of God. We have discovered that such a life on this earth begins with a complete change in relationship between God and the sinner; a conscious and experienced change affecting the sinner’s whole nature.
Preaching—the preaching of Christ crucified—is the word of God. Priests need to prepare themselves as best they can before carrying out such a divine ministry, the aim of which is the salvation of souls. Lay people should listen with very special respect.
St. Josemaria makes a bold and very accurate statement – that preaching only happens when Christ is shown to be crucified. That is what preaching is, the revelation of God’s love for us, shown in the death of Christ. (he would have gotten extra points if he had tied out baptism to it, for there we die with Christ that we may live with God forever!)
This cross is the foundation for who we are, it is the basis for our knowing we are his. Our baptism, in the God’s name, is where He marks us HIs own. It is no coincidence we make the mark of the cross over the person’s head and heart as we baptize them on God’s behalf, as as noted, in His name. It is that name that seals us to Him, that marks us indelibly as his
It is that promise that begins our walk with Him, as we have been born again, as we have been risen with Him, a new creation. The relationship changes, as we become His born again children, friend of Jesus, as we become part of the community, the family.
That is why preach has to be the proclamation of Christ crucified – for us. It is the reason we have hope, it is point of union with our incredible God.
Who is, more than a bit possessive of us, why He is a jealous God, and why the first commandment is that we can have no other God, but Him.
We are His… sealed into this relationship in Baptism.
AMEN!
Tozer, A. W., & Smith, G. B. (2008). Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings. Moody Publishers.
Escrivá, Josemaría. The Forge (p. 200). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Faith is Nothing Less than Intimacy with God…
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to His cross…
“For,’ I say, ‘just as shorts cling tightly to a person’s body, so I bound the whole nation of Israel and the whole nation of Judah tightly to me.’ I intended for them to be my special people and to bring me fame, honor, and praise. But they would not obey me.” (Jeremiah 13:11, NET)
I shall tell you a great secret, my friend. Do not wait for the last judgment. It takes place every day. ALBERT CAMUS
I think it might shock some of us profoundly if we were suddenly brought face to face with our beliefs and forced to test them in the forges of practical living. How many professing Christians boast in the Lord but watch carefully that they never get caught fully depending on Him? Pseudo-faith always arranges a way out to serve in case God “fails.”
What we need very badly these days is a company of Christians prepared to trust God as completely now as they must do at the last day! For each of us, the time is surely coming when we shall all have nothing but God! To the men of pseudo-faith, that is a terrifying thought!
For true faith, it is either God or total collapse, and not since Adam first stood up on the earth has God failed anyone who trusted Him! We can prove our faith by our committal to it—and in no other way!
It almost sounds silly to compare the intimacy God desires to a pair of tight-fitting underwear. Heck it almost seems blasphemous!
But that is how our Lord wants us to be, so…
The reason for it is seen in Tozer’s work, for his words about dependence on God parallel the experience of the people of Israel and Judah. We want a distant faith, with an escape clause for when our faith fails and we do not, perhaps even cannot, see God being faithful to His promises. Tozer and Camus both point to the day when there is nothing else left but Jesus! Camus goes farther… identifying that day as today.
We need to recognize the intimacy that God not only desires, that He offers at the Cross in baptism, and as He tenderly and with great precision cuts away all our sins as He washes us clean, and as He feeds us His Body and Blood at the altar. This is the God who gives us His word, His promises, and would have us cling to Him, and the hope He provides.
It is such a powerful concept, this intimate relationship that God desires, that the greatest example provides a bit of laughter, a lighthearted but deeply challenging thought.
You and God – as close and as intimate as your underwear!
And from that intimacy comes the faith and trust necessary to live, in this life, through the judgment, into eternity.
You and God, underwear and body – as inseparable as it gets!
AMEN!
Shelley, M. (1986). Helping those who don’t want help (Vol. 7, p. 13). Christianity Today, Inc.; Word Books.
Tozer, A. W., & Smith, G. B. (2008). Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings. Moody Publishers.
