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If We Expect Others to Come to Repentance…
Thoughts which carry this broken pastor to Jesus, and to the Cross
“During the day when the people are watching, bring out the things you would pack as captive. At evening, with the people watching, leave your place like those who are taken away as captives from their country. Dig a hole through the wall while they watch, and bring your things out through it. Lift them onto your shoulders with the people watching, and carry them out in the dark. Cover your face so you cannot see the ground, because I have made you a sign to the people of Israel.”” (Ezekiel 12:4–6, NCV)
For the Gospel does not preach the forgiveness of sin to indifferent and secure hearts, but to the “oppressed” or penitent (Luke 4:18). And in order that contrition or the terrors of the law may not end in despair, the proclamation of the Gospel must be added so that it becomes a “contrition that leads to salvation” (2 Cor. 7:10).
28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. (1 Corinthians 11:28 (NLT2))
3 “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? 4 How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye. Matthew 7:3-5 (NLT2)
One of the men I trained for ministry, first as a deacon, then as a pastor, was excellent at stating the profoundly obvious. He did it in a fun, but also deeply challenging way. Perhaps his best observation was a couple of years into preaching regularly as he said, “we preach the same thing every week, we just use different words.
But another deep thought he caused, when he asked, “why are my best sermons the ones where God forces me to apply the passage to my own life all week long.” If we were preaching about God lifting up the humbled, we would be humbled. If we talked about God being there with those who were broken, something would break us. If we were preaching about worshipping the God who came near and rescued us…. we would get to worship, only if we had to be rescued from something.
It seems like we aren’t the first to notice it, Ezekiel had to be a model of what God needed to teach Isreal, more than the one time in today’s devotion. Jeremiah is often frustrated by this as well, as are others, even Hosea. Our lives as leaders in the church (not just pastors – all leaders) are broken in the ways our congregations are, and we need to let God address them–and then appropriately worship and praise Him.
Moving through my devotions to my reading in the Lutheran Confessions, this hit a little close to home. If I am going to preach the gospel, the forgiveness of sins, that means I have to let the Spirit circumcise my own heart. I have to recognise how sin oppresses, I have to learn (again!) to trust God to take action in my own life, that I may hear with joy the forgiveness that comforts this broken soul.
Mark was right – we need to let God preach our messages into our hearts first, to let the words that cut and heal have their way.
Then we rejoice when we share them with the flock entrusted to us, the ones we are tasked with guiding towards the Healer of their souls…as ours have begun healing. That is the other advantage to being the exmaple, we recognize the healing they join us in…as we are all ministered to, by the Ho.y Spirit.
Formula of Concord: Solid Declaration: Law and Gospel, Tappert, Theodore G., ed. 1959. The Book of Concord the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.
Burnout is Inevitable…and, It Is Needed?
Photo by Wouter de Jong on Pexels.com
Thoughts which carry the burned out to Jesus, and to the Cross
“LORD, you tricked me, and I was fooled. You are stronger than I am, so you won. I have become a joke; everyone makes fun of me all day long. Every time I speak, I shout. I am always shouting about violence and destruction. I tell the people about the message I received from the LORD, but this only brings me insults. The people make fun of me all day long. Sometimes I say to myself, “I will forget about the LORD. I will not speak anymore in his name.” But then his message becomes like a burning fire inside me, deep within my bones. I get tired of trying to hold it inside of me, and finally, I cannot hold it in.” (Jeremiah 20:7–9, NCV)
The road that leads us forward, the road to progress, must at the same time be a road that leads us backward, back to fundamentals, a road that leads us inward and upward. Christ is the center; to look upon him is our first and noblest task, or, as the first letter of Clement, one of the earliest successors of Saint Peter, expresses it: “Let us keep our gaze fixed immovably on the saving Blood of Jesus Christ.” But how can this be? How are we to receive Christ as the center, Christ as the answer, as the Bread that is life, as the living Word? The letter interprets this simple, profound, and fundamental concept, which was likewise the basic concept of Vatican Council II, in the words: “Let us live by every word that comes from your mouth.”
During this interim, Jeremiah keeps the faith that has been entrusted to the prophet, but not without great conflict: “If I say, ‘I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,’ then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot” (Jer 20:9). At this point he almost succumbs to his distress, but soon he is raised up again, saying: “But the Lord is with me like a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they will not prevail” (Jer 20:11). Then a powerful impatience wells up in him again so that he appears to lose hope and to rage against the will of God.
These struggles are peculiar to the saints, and through them they discern the magnitude of sin in human nature. They match what Paul describes in Romans 7 and agree with what he says elsewhere (2 Cor 12:7) about torments or thorns being given to him in the flesh, that is, extreme fear and trepidation. In the midst of these torments, however, the Spirit yearns for help “with sighs too deep for words” (Rom 8:26), and it prevails.
Back in 2017, I wrote a sermon on the passage fro Jeremiah above. I called it, “God, we need to talk!” By far it is my most “popular” sermon I’ve ever posted on line.
And I hate that it is necessary.
But it is, as the title of this blog indicates, Burnout is inevitable. In ministry, it is assured. In marriage, it will definitely happen, It would cause your to change jobs, or even get fired from them, as burnout can impact our attitude and therefore what we get done.
You see that in the burnt out prophet’s words, especially in verse 9, as he talks about the inner conversation where he wants to forget about God, and never talk about Him again.
That is where Pope Benedict tells us to go back tot he scriptures, the word of God that is the word of life. To get focused on Jesus, in order that He may heal us!
We have to remember that we can’t do anything from ministry to marriage to work, to any endeavor on our own strength for long. We burnout because we aren’t self-sufficient, because we cannot do it on our own, and we can’t fulfill that damned phrase, “if you want it done right, do it yourself.
But that is Pope Benedict’s words begin to make more sense. And then my favorite reformer, Philip Melanchthon, adds his wisdom about the struggle that is peculiar to the saints, those who need to be reminded that the Spirit is interceding for them, even when it appears we have lost our hope.
That is why I ask if burnout is necessary, and I believe it is. As was once said, we have to know our limitations, and then it is even more critical to be aware of the presence of God, who empowers and sustains us, even when we are running on empty. The greatest prophets experienced it, St. Paul talks about it twice, as does St. John. Maturity isn’t being strong enough to never burnout–it is about knowing the peace of God during the burnout, and being confident God will bring you through it, or bring you home.
God is with us, even in the midst of it…and He is holding us up…exactly as we need.
Ratzinger, Joseph. 1992. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl. Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Melanchthon, Philip. 2009. “The Lessons of Jeremiah’s Prophecy, 1548.” In Early Protestant Spirituality, edited by Scott H. Hendrix and Bernard McGinn, translated by Scott H. Hendrix, 67. The Classics of Western Spirituality. New York; Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.
Should I Want to Please People? The Answer is surprising…
Thoughts which drive me to the crucified Christ….
31 The answer is, if you eat or drink, or if you do anything, do it all for the glory of God. 32 Never do anything that might hurt others—Jews, Greeks, or God’s church—33 just as I, also, try to please everybody in every way. I am not trying to do what is good for me but what is good for most people so they can be saved.
11 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. 1 Co 10:31–11:1. NCV
Sovereign Love is found only in charity; the love of hope is imperfect, and consists more of feeling than fact, without charity; yet as a motive power nothing can exceed hope, and therefore we say that through hope we love God supremely.
321 Apostolic soul, that intimacy between Jesus and you—so close to him for so many years! Doesn’t it mean anything to you?
I read a different Bible translation every year for a reason, I want to do more than just read it, I want things to strike me differently, to challenge me, to gnaw at my brain until it burrows into my heart.
Today is one of those days, and it was caused by Paul’s advice that we are to imitate him by pleasing everybody in every way. I had to admit, this struck me odd, so I went back to my old familiar translations, NLT, NJB, NKJV even the old KJV, and all of them had the same concept… we are to please every body.
That sounds so contrary to how I’ve been taught to minister to people! We are supposed to do what is right, not what makes everyone happy! When we preach, when we plan worship, when we are counseling them regarding sin and trauma, I’ve heard that from pastors and professors for years, especially in regards to worship practices.
I think the anxiety rises because we equate people pleasing with compromise, and that leads us to think we would compromise something important, like the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus which was accomplished to join us to Himself by erasing our sin. I have heard such conversations about those who want to appease those in their church by honoring traditions, and by those who want to offend them in order to “please” others.
I think please them is less about compromise than we think – it is about making people comfortable in the presence of God, removing the stumbling blocks that distract them from resting in the presence of God. Think abut a hot day, where you are working hard outside, and someone offers you a cold soda just as you finish your work. That can be a moment where you are pleased, where nothing stops you from taking a deep breath and being satisfied with the day.
It is that kind of moment of intimacy with God, the assurance that He is with them, that being pleased is all about. That allows the anxiety and tension, the stress and overwhelming emotional overload to be vented, and to leace us in a moment of bliss, in a moment where salvation is recognized and rejoiced in, even if just a quietly said, AMEN! (meaning “this is real and true)
The desire for people to come to those moments is what Josemaria is talking about, as he addresses those who want to save the world. For it is those moments of intimacy with God, those moments that should mean everything to us…that should fuel our apostolate (Roman Catholic term – some contemporary protestants would say our missional attitude.) It is that which fuels the hope that brings us to God who gives us that hope, and helps us to realize how meaningless life is without it.
That is the core of evangelism – and what would lift people up and give them more pleasure than they’ve ever experienced, to know by experiencing it– the height, depth, breadth and width of God’s love for them, revealed in Christ. And the more we realize that pleasure, that joy, the more dominant giving it to others becomes….
Of the Love of God. Translated by H. L. Sidney Lear, Rivingtons, 1888, p. 79.
Escrivá, Josemaría. The Way (p. 54). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
The Problem of a Competitive Spirit… it is not heavenly!
Thoughts which draw me to Jesus, and to the Cross…
13 Joshua was near Jericho when he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and asked, “Are you a friend or an enemy?”
14 The man answered, “I am neither. I have come as the commander of the LORD’s army.”
Then Joshua bowed facedown on the ground and asked, “Does my master have a command for me, his servant?”
15 The commander of the LORD’s army answered, “Take off your sandals, because the place where you are standing is holy.” So Joshua did. Joshua 5:13-15 NCV
The very word “religion” comes from the Latin “religare” or “religio,” which means “relationship,” or “binding relationship,” or “binding-back relationship.” It is not healthy, holy, or safe to laugh at God’s pole in that relationship, but it is very healthy and even holy to laugh at ourselves. In fact it is unhealthy not to.
Awake! awake, and praise the Lord!
Dismiss your griefs and cares;
A sacred feast He doth afford—
A table here prepares.
Our hungry souls may now be fed,
And taste of heavenly meat;
Christ’s body is our living bread—
His flesh we now may eat.
Whether I like it or not, I am more than a bit competitive! It may not be on a basketball or volleyball court anymore, or in a Tae Kwon Doe dojang, but there is something about engaging with other people with the intent and determination to win that matters to me. I ant to blame the environment, growing up in a sports focused country, where our heroes, once found on battlefields are found in sports stadiums. ( I can argue the competitiveness draws men into and sees them succeed in battle as well.)
These days, competition is found in social media– as people argue about “my” sports teams, or bash “my” political views, or “my” religious views. In the latter two cases, the views don’t even have to be mine – I grieve and want to fight when someone treats either Biden or Trump without respect, or when someone takes a religious leader’s comments out of context or twists them. I see the words, and into battle I go, not interested in discourse as much as showing that I am right. (And by right, do I mean superior?)
Into my world comes Joshua, and the story of his meeting Jesus – the commander of the Lord’s Armies. I so understand Joshua’s comment – “you are on my side, right!?” For if the COmmander is on the other side, then I am in the wrong, and I do not like that! The Commanders reply take Joshua by surprise, and turns Joshua’s world upside down. A lesson I need to learn- and relearn, and apply, and start again.
Peter Kreeft, the great philosopher/apologist, makes the same kind of point with his comments about religion. (Which I lvoed and filed away for those who “hate religion” but love “relationships.”) He reminds me that I need to laugh at myself! That I am the part of the relationship that has the capacity to be in total flux, We get blown about , stressed out, get narcisstic (me?) The grace of God, what Kreeft refers to His pole – is stable, and tied to it through our religion/the relationship we are bound into, keeps us safe, and if we thought about it, dwelling in His peace!
This is where the Luther Hymn finds its meaning, defining a place ofr us, where we know the strength of our being bound to God. It is in the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, the place where we meet God, and He shows us His love, as we remember Jesus, broken and His blood poured out–for us. FOR US ALL!
We don’t have to compete at the altar to be the most loved, or to receive the greatest reward, or to even have a spot! Indeed, our desire grows to be to see all at that altar. Our enemy is no longer our adversary, but the demonic that would deny the gospel being shared with someone we will come to love. Imagine the joy found in the broken relationship healing at the altar, and then completely healed before the throne. The one we compete with singing God’s praises next to us, the voices being one. This is heaven, this place at the altar, where we feast with God, together!
That’s a vision that will be so incredibly awesome we will laugh and cry, with joy! May God help us to see it! AMEN!
Kreeft, Peter. Ha!: A Christian Philosophy of Humor (p. 68). St. Augustine’s Press. Kindle Edition.
Luther, Martin, and John Hunt. 1853. The Spiritual Songs of Martin Luther: From the German. Translated by Thomas Clark. London: Hamilton, Adams, and Co.
Cry out “What Amazing Things!” A Sermon on Psalm 126 from the Concordia Lutheran Church
Cry out “What Amazing Things”
Psalm 126
† I.H.S. †
May the grace, mercy and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ cause joy to flood your life!
- What is your “dream”?
A week or two back at a Dallas Cowboy game my childhood hero, Roger Staubach was honored. Despite playing for the Cowboys, he was a hero, I had three books about his life, and all of them mentioned his strong faith.
It was partially that, and partially his unconventional nature that made me want to emulate him – I wanted to be a pro-quarterback! It was a dream…
We all have dreams—and some of them change over the years! I mean, I really don’t think I want to start this afternoon at quarterback for a NFL team! Some days my dream is having a day where I don’t feel like I played qb in the nfl yesterday, and was sacked 8 or 9 times.
Well – think about your best dream – the perfect life you could imagine, and think what might be better than that…
(pause) – no—think about what would make life perfect….
Now hear these words again, “When the LORD brought back his exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream!
And if that was what it was like for them in Ezra and Nehemiah’s day, when they brought exiles back to Jerusalem…how much more when God brings those who chose exile today, or when the exiles are brought into God the Father’s presence when Jesus returns.
- We need restoration…!
In the psalmist’s day, the people of God had become exiles. They had set aside God once again, and done what they thought was good.
The Apostle Paul describes them clearly
“28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. 32 They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.” Romans 1:28-32 (NLT2)
That doesn’t just describe the people of God then, it describes the society in which we live today. Perhaps, we are even talking about some in the church, or some in this church.
After all—we can sin in our thoughts, word and deed- and we do. And even if we aren’t sinning in our thoughts, words and actions, we passively sin, or we actively or passively sin by encouraging others to live in sin.
- Here is what is guaranteed to happen in our lives
That is why there is such joy when Christ Jesus brings anyone of us back home! Or when revival hits our community and people are breaking down the door to come in and hear about Jesus, because one of us invited them to come and see Jesus.
That is all that revival is, the bringing of a group of prodigals home! What an amazing thing it is, to help us understand the love of God.
This is what is so amazing, this love—this glorious love that God pours out on us.
It changes everything…
That’s the challenge for us who’ve trusted in God for a decade or eight. We know we’re going to heaven, we know God is with us, but do we realize how much He has delivered us from!
Think about Jesus words:
“A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?” 43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.” “That’s right,” Jesus said. Luke 7:41b-43 (NLT2)
He goes on
47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” Luke 7:47 (NLT2)
You should notice that Jesus never tells Simon the Pharisee that he’s been forgiven a little. For Simon should know – as well as anyone, that he has will be forgiven just as much as she has!
As have we!
That is what is so amazing – God has completely cleansed us up – He has brought us home to His throne, to His altar, to a place where His promises are pouted out through the gospel!
To realize is like what happens to a field full of dead, dry weeds when the rain hits it, and life become new in that desert field.
Or when the Psalmist says, “Restore our Fortunes”
The word picture there is more than a monetary figure. Think of Job, after God reveals himself and has more children, more animals, more feasts celebrating the love of God than he did before.
The word for fortune is “way of life”, or what just Jesus promised in giving us an abundant life, one where we are sure of God’s presence and love. This is the reason for great joy, this hope we have of life that is more than we can imagine, so much so that it Is like a dream.
For we are home, with our Lord, and we have an eternity with Him! – As the old hymn said, “How great our joy!” AMEN!
† I.H.S. †
May the grace, mercy and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ cause joy to flood your life!
- What is your “dream”?
A week or two back at a Dallas Cowboy game my childhood hero, Roger Staubach was honored. Despite playing for the Cowboys, he was a hero, I had three books about his life, and all of them mentioned his strong faith.
It was partially that, and partially his unconventional nature that made me want to emulate him – I wanted to be a pro-quarterback! It was a dream…
We all have dreams—and some of them change over the years! I mean, I really don’t think I want to start this afternoon at quarterback for a NFL team! Some days my dream is having a day where I don’t feel like I played qb in the nfl yesterday, and was sacked 8 or 9 times.
Well – think about your best dream – the perfect life you could imagine, and think what might be better than that…
(pause) – no—think about what would make life perfect….
Now hear these words again, “When the LORD brought back his exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream!
And if that was what it was like for them in Ezra and Nehemiah’s day, when they brought exiles back to Jerusalem…how much more when God brings those who chose exile today, or when the exiles are brought into God the Father’s presence when Jesus returns.
- We need restoration…!
In the psalmist’s day, the people of God had become exiles. They had set aside God once again, and done what they thought was good.
The Apostle Paul describes them clearly
“28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. 32 They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.” Romans 1:28-32 (NLT2)
That doesn’t just describe the people of God then, it describes the society in which we live today. Perhaps, we are even talking about some in the church, or some in this church.
After all—we can sin in our thoughts, word and deed- and we do. And even if we aren’t sinning in our thoughts, words and actions, we passively sin, or we actively or passively sin by encouraging others to live in sin.
- Here is what is guaranteed to happen in our lives
That is why there is such joy when Christ Jesus brings anyone of us back home! Or when revival hits our community and people are breaking down the door to come in and hear about Jesus, because one of us invited them to come and see Jesus.
That is all that revival is, the bringing of a group of prodigals home! What an amazing thing it is, to help us understand the love of God.
This is what is so amazing, this love—this glorious love that God pours out on us.
It changes everything…
That’s the challenge for us who’ve trusted in God for a decade or eight. We know we’re going to heaven, we know God is with us, but do we realize how much He has delivered us from!
Think about Jesus words:
“A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?” 43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.” “That’s right,” Jesus said. Luke 7:41b-43 (NLT2)
He goes on
47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” Luke 7:47 (NLT2)
You should notice that Jesus never tells Simon the Pharisee that he’s been forgiven a little. For Simon should know – as well as anyone, that he has will be forgiven just as much as she has!
As have we!
That is what is so amazing – God has completely cleansed us up – He has brought us home to His throne, to His altar, to a place where His promises are pouted out through the gospel!
To realize is like what happens to a field full of dead, dry weeds when the rain hits it, and life become new in that desert field.
Or when the Psalmist says, “Restore our Fortunes”
The word picture there is more than a monetary figure. Think of Job, after God reveals himself and has more children, more animals, more feasts celebrating the love of God than he did before.
The word for fortune is “way of life”, or what just Jesus promised in giving us an abundant life, one where we are sure of God’s presence and love. This is the reason for great joy, this hope we have of life that is more than we can imagine, so much so that it Is like a dream.
For we are home, with our Lord, and we have an eternity with Him! – As the old hymn said, “How great our joy!” AMEN!
What Is Needed for Reconciliation and Real Peace?
Dawn at Concordia
Thoughts that draw me closer to Jesus, and His cross.
28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob. Your name will now be Israel, because you have wrestled with God and with people, and you have won.”29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But the man said, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed Jacob there.
30 So Jacob named that place Peniel, saying, “I have seen God face to face, but my life was saved.”…
3 Jacob himself went out in front of them and bowed down flat on the ground seven times as he was walking toward his brother.
4 But Esau ran to meet Jacob and put his arms around him and hugged him. Then Esau kissed him, and they both cried. 5 When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he asked, “Who are these people with you?” Genesis 32:28-30, 33:3-5, NCV
For the minds of these people have become stubborn. They do not hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might really understand what they see with their eyes and hear with their ears. They might really understand in their minds and come back to me and be healed.’ Matt 13:15, quoting Is. 6:9-10 NCV (emphasis mine)
The culture of individualism, consumerism, and quick fixes continues to creep into the work of the counselor whenever performance and quick results are the primary motivations. Often we get so extremely busy and preoccupied by our compulsion to quickly remedy “problems” that in reality require an unhurried transformation not only of the head but of the heart, that we grasp for the next best treatment available or hold onto tried and tested modes of intervention. Yet at the end of our therapeutic work we somehow get the sense that something is amiss and unfinished, that somehow all these theories and techniques have fallen short of responding to the soul ache that comes from a deeper, more primal place.
It is taught among us that the sacraments were instituted not only to be signs by which people might be identified outwardly as Christians, but that they are signs and testimonies of God’s will toward us for the purpose of awakening and strengthening our faith.
2 For this reason they require faith, and they are rightly used when they are received in faith and for the purpose of strengthening faith.
I do a bit of counseling now and then, sometimes in groups, and sometimes with individuals. Almost always, it is because of conflicts and strife, even if that is because of an internal conflict.
Having that occur more often as the holidays come near – I saw something in this morning’s devotion that I’ve overlooked before. Jacob/Israel’s dramatic change in dealing with his older brother Esau. Jacob left his homeland, fearing for his life, as he scammed his borther out of everything – his birthright, his blessing as older (and therefore chief of the tribe) son. His fear was obvious, as he sought to buy forgiveness, sending gifts on a head.
But his encounter with Jesus changed all that…he was drawn back to God, even fighting him–as stubborn as ever–refusing to submit. But that fight and blessing changed him, even as he “triumphed,” and was saved. For it was only by engaging God that this could happen, it was only then that reconciliation, true reconciliation was possible for Jacob/Israel.
That is what Jesus points to, in quoting Isaiah’s ordination warning. Only by engaging God can sin be dealt with, and the person healed. Just as the Lutheran Confessions talk of the sacraments being the place where we are healed as our trust/dependence on God is strengthened and made our foundation of life.
That is the primal place where Nolasco notes the soul’s ache originates. The healing necessary to pursue healing with others can only be seen when God’s peace is known, when He is depended upon for a deeper healing. It is there the transformation takes place – even if the transformation takes 20 years. (some of us wrestle with God longer than others!) That of course means that pastoral counselors and shepherds, and regular counselors as well as we need to be patient, and let God draw us to himself. It means trusting in the promisess given to us through His word, and through the sacraments He instituted and blesses us through.
It is not a quick fix, even though the road starts with a dramatic change of heart. That change was being caused by God for a lot longer period of time than we can see, for it was planned for from before the cross, from even before time.
But God will make it happen – He will complete the work He began in us, showing us miracles of reconciliation, miracles of healing, even as we wrestle with Him through it.
So hang on, and let the Spirit cut open your heart (see Ezekiel 36:25 and Acts 2:36-37) and bring healing…and then, rejoice for you well in a peace beyond comprehension… even though you may not always see/feel/know it.
Rolf Nolasco Jr., The Contemplative Counselor: A Way of Being (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2011), 7.
Augsburg Confession – XIII The USE of the Sacraments; (emphasis mine) Theodore G. Tappert, ed., The Book of Concord the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press, 1959), 35.
Bring Broken Back! A Sermon on Psalm 147:1-11
Bring Broken back
Psalm 147:1-11
† Jesus, Son, Savior †
May the grace of our God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ empower you to embrace your brokenness in order to let God heal it and bandage your wounds…as you help bring back exiles, building the city of God!
- We are encouraged to praise God – How right it is!
I used to be a little cynical, and when some walked up to me and said, “praise the Lord, brother!” my usually response was… “for what?”
I used to say it cynically, thinking of the trauma and grief I’ve witnessed over life, and the struggles that I had tried to help people endure. And usually after such a time, some upbeat, overzealous Jesus freak would come up to me with a big grin, and utter those words, “Praise the Lord brother!”
And as I grew in my dependence on God, still asked the same question, but now I wanted to know – for what was it they wanted me to praise God for… what had God done, or promised to do, that would result in a reaction of praise.
Unfortunately, most of the time the question was met with a blank stare, as if they had never considered why they were praising God, they just knew it was good to encourage others to do so so they did!
Hey! Bud – how are you packers? Praise the Lord!
How you doing with your recovery from surgery? Well, go on and praise the Lord!
Oh you had an IRS audit and a colonoscopy this week? Praise the Lord! Isn’t He just wonderful?
That’s why we need to hear the entire verse and the entire passage from Psalms today! Let’s start with the first verse, “Praise the LORD! How good to sing praises to our God! How delightful and how fitting!”
That’s a key point—how fitting, how appropriate our praise needs to be… but that means we have a challenge…
- We need to understand the brokenness… so we know the healing
Listen closely to the next words from the Psalm,
“2 The LORD is rebuilding Jerusalem and bringing the exiles back to Israel. 3 He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.,… 5 How great is our Lord! His power is absolute!” Psalm 147:2-3
As the Psalmist praises God, he now shows two reasons why we should praise Him:
First there is rebuilding the kingdom and bringing back those who were exiled. We have to see this for what it is, as Israel and Judah get so enslaved to sin, and the consequences of that is that they were overrun by other nations, and their people taken away as captives. The city of Jerusalem as well, the place where the idolatry occurred, was reduced to rubble,
God had prophesied such a consequence more than once, even reinforced it when he sent 10 of the 12 tribes to captivity-he told the remain two that this could happen to them. Despite all this, the people still continued to sin, every sin known to man.
If we look at the world today, we see a world that rejects God the same way Israel did in the Old Testament. Everywhere you look is a form of idolatry, as people choose their own gods, and even believe that they are as knowledgeable and wise as God, and can dismiss what God teaches is right for what is right in their own eyes.
You see it everywhere, as people dismiss God’s word. And so, much like Israel, many people have chosen exile from God, and His peace and love. But He promises to bring people back… and rebuild a home for them.
But he also promises to heal the broken-hearted—those who still walk with Him but have been so devastated by the sin of others. He promises to cause the healing and bandage their wounds while they are here – committing Himself to all of that care… for you are the people He loves.
I gave this message an odd title—“bring broken back”
The reason for the title is not that I want more people exiled or more people broken. I just want people to know it is beneficial to realize that they are in exile, that they are broken-hearted. TO not hide either, or be ashamed of it, but to confidently trust that God will bring us back, and care for us, as we heal in His presence.
This is the time and place for both, within this group of fellow former exiles and people still healing from their brokenness, for many more to come back into the place that God has put here, for them to call home.
This altar, this place is one of the rebuilt places God would have His family call home, until we are all home with God our Father celebrating that day… as well as His celebrating every time an exile comes home, or someone’s heart it laid open so they can be healed.
- How do we trust Him that much?
Laying our lives this open isn’t easy, whether it is realizing like the prodigal that we are exiles, or that our hearts are shattered. It helps to know the nature of God – as the Psalmist describes,
8 He covers the heavens with clouds, provides rain for the earth, and makes the grass grow in mountain pastures. 9 He gives food to the wild animals and feeds the young ravens when they cry. 10 He takes no pleasure in the strength of a horse or in human might.
If God takes care of all of that. Then certainly He can keep his promises to bring the repentant home, and heal and bandage the brokenhearted…..
- And when we do… when we put our hope in His cHESED
Which brings us to the greatest reason for the praise of our God as the psalmist which wraps up our reading this morning.
11 No, the LORD’s delight is in those who fear him, those who put their hope in his unfailing love.
That phrase unfailing love is that word cHesed – meaning devoted, love so intense, that nothing can stop the love, or separate us from it. A love that requires the lover to die for the one He loves..
As Jesus did for you and me… which is why we praise Him! AMEN!
The Hidden Cost of Worship!
Thoughts which draw me closer to Jesus… and to His cross.dd
75 We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks to you! We proclaim how great you are and tell of the wonderful things you have done! Psalm 75:1 GNT
They who do not feel their sin, and are not dismayed, nor see their infirmities, profit not a whit by it, nor do they delight in it. Though they hear the gospel, it has no effect upon them, except that they learn the words, and speak of what they have heard. They do not treasure them in their hearts, and receive neither comfort nor joy from them.
It were well, if the gospel could be preached only where faint-hearted and conscience-stricken ones are found. But this cannot be, and for this reason it bears so little fruit. The fault is not in the gospel, but in the hearers. They hear it, but they do not feel their own affliction and misery, nor have they ever tried to feel it.
The Last Supper must be understood and proclaimed also as such. Just as in baptism we meet our death and the promise of new life, so also here we encounter the death of the old and the hope of the new. “When you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor. 11:26). It is death-dealing to pretentious god-seekers to be reduced to eating a bit of bread and drinking a sip of wine for salvation. But just so it is also life-giving in the promise. It is the breakthrough of the new in the midst of our time.
THE sincerity of all prayer, whether liturgical or private, depends on the fundamental acknowledgment of our actual spiritual state. We have to have some realization of what we are supposed to be, of what we are not, and of what we are. The first step towards a liberty that is a free gift of God’s grace is the free acknowledgment of our own need for His grace.
As I was reading Psalm 75 this morning, I thought about why we praise God.
It is not because He is all powerful, or all knowledge. It cannot be based in fear anymore than it can be through some idea of manipulating God into saving us.
So where does worship come from? From realizing that God is at work in our lives.
And that is where the horrible, ugly, truth comes into play.
We need Him to work in our lives.
We need Him to do so because we are broken and crushed by the world and by our own sin.
Luther’s words drive this point home- noting how we have to feel our sin, we have to recognize our brokenness. Not so we can be belittled or terrorized by it – the sin does that on its own. But we need to face it, so we can say that we are forgiven it. This hurts most of the time – for the same reason pulling stitches and dressings off of wounds hurts. Merton agrees with this – explaining that we have to understand where we are, in order to understand grace. Forde nails the point home, when talking about the mystery of the Eucharist, and how such a simple piece of bread and sip of win is so transforming–because it is the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus. The promises in it are amazing, if we only take the time to think through it.
It is there, at the altar, and at the baptismal font, that the great miracles in our lives happen. THey may also be the most overlooked, for they are sublime. As we come to understand them, the true glory of God, His love, is made known to us. ANd worship should well up inside of us,
Letting God deal with our darkness is needed for worship to really soar. So let Him in… and know the Lord is with you!
Martin Luther and John Sander, Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year (Rock Island, IL: Augustana Book Concern, 1915), 142.
Gerhard O. Forde, “Proclaiming,” in Theology Is for Proclamation (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1990), 178.
Thomas Merton, The New Man (London; New York: Burns & Oates, 1976), 162.
The Unobserved Sacrament… that we desperately need
Photo by Ric Rodrigues on Pexels.com
Thoughts which draw me closer to Jesus, and to the Cross
16 Let us have confidence, then, and approach God’s throne, where there is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it. Hebrews 4:16 (TEV)
16 Be joyful always, 17 pray at all times, 18 be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus. 19 Do not restrain the Holy Spirit; 20 do not despise inspired messages. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-20 (TEV)
The New Testament language is as plain as can be—in Christ through His death and resurrection, every legal hindrance has been met and satisfied: taken away! There is nothing that can keep us from assurance except our own selves.
Let us quit trying to think our way in, to reason our way in. The only way to get in is to believe Him with our hearts forevermore!
Ultimately, if we should list as sacraments all the things that have God’s command and a promise added to them, then why not prayer, which can most truly be called a sacrament? It has both the command of God and many promises. If it were placed among the sacraments and thus given, so to speak, a more exalted position, this would move men to pray.
Imagine having tickets to some major amusement park, going in, and standing in line for 3 hours to ride the newest, greatest ride in America. As you get there, as it is time to take your place, you decide, its not worth it, and you walk away, apathy. All of that time and money invested, is now wasted, never to be used for something else. Or imagine someone giving you the best seats to the Superbowl, or to a favorite concert–plus the airfare and limo rides and access to all the good stuff, and just as you get there, you decide, “Nah, this isn’t worth it,” as you walk away.
Every person and every church has access to God the Father, because someone else paid the admission price, and waited for us to enter the presence of God the father with great confidence, but what do we do with this access? Tozer is right, to often we are the ones who dismiss the access…
Despite the encouragement to pray and be thankful, despite the commands and promises attach to it, the church has been not one that prays all that much. Not just today, even back in Luther’s day. even back in the 1st century.
We need to pray; we need to pour our hearts out to God, assured that He will provide what we need. His love, His mercy, the faith we need, even persecution and trauma that draws us closer to Him. We need to talk to Him enough that we can thank Him for the good things – and the challenging things in life as well.
The joy doesn’t come from the problems, but the awareness of God’s presence, His protection, His care, from the healing He causes. That hope comes, not from academic knowledge, but from experience. That is why the early Lutherans still considered prayer a sacrament, as sacred action that we need to keep at all the time. Not because doing that shows off our holiness, but because we need to be lifted up by God, we need to hear Him speak of His mercy and love..
So pray… and pray for me..
A. W. Tozer and Gerald B. Smith, Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2008).
Theodore G. Tappert, ed., The Book of Concord the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press, 1959), 213.
Spiritual Formation and Dentistry
Thoughts which draw me closer to Jesus, and to the Cross
Then Joshua called the twelve men he had chosen, 5and said, “Go into the Jordan ahead of the Covenant Box of the LORD your God. Each one of you take a stone on your shoulder, one for each of the tribes of Israel. 6These stones will remind the people of what the LORD has done. In the future, when your children ask what these stones mean to you, 7you will tell them that the water of the Jordan stopped flowing when the LORD’s Covenant Box crossed the river. These stones will always remind the people of Israel of what happened here.” Joshua 4:4-7 GNT
Prayer and spirituality feature participation, the complex participation of God and the human, his will and our wills. We do not abandon ourselves to the stream of grace and drown in the ocean of love, losing identity. We do not pull the strings that activate God’s operations in our lives, subjecting God to our assertive identity. We neither manipulate God (active voice) or are manipulated by God (passive voice). We are involved in the action and participate in its results but do not control or define it (middle voice). Prayer takes place in the middle voice.
In supernatural union (union with God by grace) the divine Spirit within our spirit unites us immediately to the Image (the Word) in a new way. No longer is the divine Image present within us as unrecognized and known. We become aware of His presence. We plunge by supernatural understanding and love into the abyss of His light and being. And beyond all knowledge and love we are united with Him and rest in Him
My death is nothing. Christ’s suffering is my consolation, upon it I rely for the forgiveness of my sins; but my own death I will suffer to the praise and honor of my God freely and gratuitously, and for the advantage and profit of my neighbor, and in no way whatever depend upon it to avail anything in my own behalf before God.
Luther’s claim about death, is, I pray, what pastors and our people learn.
That eternal life is not just possible, but definite because of Christ’s suffering and death. Yet in reaction to that, I pray we would desire that our lives bring God praise, and cause people to praise and find value in a relationship with God.
But that is not simply a matter of saying a few words here and there. It is not by my reason or strength that I come to Christ, nor is it by my reason or strength that others come as well. It has to be the Holy Spirit’s work, through the words and sacraments I simply carry to them, that people are drawn into Christ and are united to Him. Merton’s word are far more eloquent than mine – but it is as He says, the Holy Spirit unites us to Christ.
That union is deep, and deeply intimate. It is, as Peterson notes, neither active or as passive. It is like a dentist extracting one of our teeth. We are there; we are part of the process, and it deeply affects us, as that which shouldn’t be there is removed, and we are forever changed – living in the life so different than the pain and infection that required the tooth to be removed.
THe difference, of course, is that the dentist doesn’t remain – the Spirit does! The intimacy of the operation is nothing compared to the intimacy that Peterson reflects upon in the passage from his work. Both he and Merton talk about it, this consolation and comfort from knowing we aren’t alone, but we walk every day in God’s presence, as He comforts and consoles and empower us.
This is what Joshua and Israel had to conclude, and as important, remember. THeir walk with God wasn’t over as they entered the Promised Land. It only had begun. God made Joshua put up and altar of 12 stones to remember that point of origin, and what God did to make it happen. That God was going to be with them in this strange new world. As He does with us, neither being manipulated by us, or manipulating, rather walking and guiding and consoling.
This is our joy, our hope, and what sustains us. So may we always remember these markers in our lives, so that we never forget His presence.
Eugene H. Peterson, The Contemplative Pastor: Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction, vol. 17, The Leadership Library (Carol Stream, IL; Dallas; Waco, TX: Christianity Today; Word Pub., 1989), 110.
Thomas Merton, The New Man (London; New York: Burns & Oates, 1976), 102–103.
Martin Luther and John Sander, Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year (Rock Island, IL: Augustana Book Concern, 1915), 65.
