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Becoming Like Christ…. How it Happens:
Devotion/Discussion Thought of the Day:
17 For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (NLT)
There is an old adage that says, “birds of a feather, flock together…”
It’s true, and its trite in many ways. Who we spend our lives with, the time we invest with them, changes us dramatically.
Negatively, we call it succumbing to peer pressure. Positively it is the encouragement that we call communion, fellowship, koinonia.
It’s true spiritually as well. We don’t become more like Christ through our actions, through our thoughts, even through our discipline. We are not made holy by our actions.
But we do become more holy, more sanctified, more set apart as Christ is, because we are gathered into His flock, we become like Him. We learn to love as He does, to sacrifice as He does.
Not because of our work, but because of God’s work in us, as He called nad baptised and cleansed us – the very promises that have been there since the beginning.
This is what Paul is talking about – we Christ is revealed to us, we are transformed – His work in us begins, we are given His heart.
Such is the blessing of His being our God.
You want to become holier? Be like Mary, not Martha – don’t try and make yourself perfect for God – sit there, adore Him, be still and know HIm…. and then… reflecting His glory where you are…where He has placed you.. you will find yourself thinking as He does… and more importantly – loving as He does.
Meditating on God’s Love
10 “Stop fighting,” he says, “and know that I am God, supreme among the nations, supreme over the world.” 11 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Psalm 46:10-11 (TEV)
8 Three times I prayed to the Lord about this and asked him to take it away. 9 But his answer was: “My grace is all you need, for my power is greatest when you are weak.” I am most happy, then, to be proud of my weaknesses, in order to feel the protection of Christ’s power over me. 10 I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (TEV)
A little diversion! You’ve got to have a change! So you open your eyes wide to let in images of things, or you squint because you’re nearsighted! Close them altogether! Have interior life, and you’ll see the wonders of a better world, a new world with undreamed-of color and perspective … and you’ll draw close to God. You’ll feel your weaknesses; and you’ll become more God-like…with a godliness that will make you more of a brother to your fellow men by bringing you closer to your Father. (1)
Yesterday, my sermon was on one of those passages that requires us, not just to hear it and go -“Okay”, but one that goes deeper. One that calls us to really stop, and think through the depth of the image that is revealed to us in scripture.
It is the reason that we know God, it is the very concept that underlies why there was an incarnation, why there were miracles and sermons on mountains and from boats a little off shore. It gives us a glimpse at the height and depth and breadth of width of God’s loves, revealed to us in Christ. Probably one of the greatest pictures in scripture of our relationship with God is that in Isaiah 66:10-14 – of the joy and intimacy between a mother feeding her infant. Such is our relationship with God.
But I think there is a need to do more than just hear the words and then go about our day. For the thought passes quickly, even for those who spent a week processing the concept, and trying to put into words this love of God. Phone calls, drop in visitors, the trauma’s that occur, and the victories ( like getting a email from my worship minister who is in Cambodia teaching a course for some 200 pastors!), or the challenges of taking a Doctoral level course in preaching from the Old Testament (where the above verses came into play!)
I think we need to take more than a moment thinking deeply about the meaning of such wondrous descriptions of God’s love for us! I think we need to savor it slowly, drawing from it every drop of His grace. Hearing His love, basking in the glory of knowing this is our God! He has called us to be His family! We dwell, not in the anxieties and stresses of this world, but in His presence, nourished and comforted by Him. That’s what Escriva is talking about, as he tells us to close our eyes and look within, not to see our souls – but to realize the presence of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us.
He is here…
This we need to know….revel in, relax in…….think through…
Be Still, quiet, relax… and know that I am God.
Take the time to hear the answer to your cries, “Lord have mercy!”
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 749-752). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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The Limits of Pleasure and Happiness
Devotion/Discussion Thought of the Day:
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. 4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Philippians 4:2-4 (NLT)
228 “Have a good time,” they said as usual. And the comment of a soul very close to God was, “What a limited wish!” (1)
As Paul begins the 4th chapter of Philippians, he deals with conflict in the church, and assuming it is dealt with encourages joy – deep joy. The reason is that reconciliation is always joyous – always worth the sacrifice, even though it is never quite a “good time”. It is so far more than than just a good time, this joy that comes from doing that which is uncomfortable.
Yet many of us would prefer the good time, than invest the time in what would bring a far great joy.
We see a small example of this truth of investment when in the following. Doing what is not a “good time” is like going to the doctor’s office – or to the gym – the investment of time and money always results in something more beneficial that sitting in a movie theater, or sitting in front of the television. But we would rather not subject ourselves to the examination, to the questions, we would rather not hear the bad news – or spend the exertion in getting ourselves in shape. Blood, sweat and tears ( in both places) are lost, as well as time that could have been spent, “having a good time” But having a good time often means dangerous things to our health, as we don’t take care of what needs to be taken care of. Happiness and pleasure, short term things often result in more time suffering, more time in poor condition, more time in brokenness. It is, as Josemaria points out – a very limited wish – a very limited blessing. One which fades – quickly and devastatingly.
It is even more true spiritually though, this way in which we spend our time.
Being those who desire to see that which is broken healed means what we do isn’t often a “good time” . It can often be painful, uncomfortable, awkward. It means sacrificing both pleasure and happiness, looking to the joy- that in which the healing and reconciliation results. But sacrificing it, even as Christ did (see Hebrews 12:2) for the joy set before us. Helping people see they would rather have the joy than the very limited “good time”…. that is our call as well!
(1)Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 629-630). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Imitating Christ… in dying to self.
English: Resurrection of Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional/Discussion thought of the Day:
23 Jesus answered them, “The hour has now come for the Son of Man to receive great glory. 24 I am telling you the truth: a grain of wheat remains no more than a single grain unless it is dropped into the ground and dies. If it does die, then it produces many grains. 25 Those who love their own life will lose it; those who hate their own life in this world will keep it for life eternal. 26 Whoever wants to serve me must follow me, so that my servant will be with me where I am. And my Father will honor anyone who serves me. John 12:23-26 (TEV)
17 In the Lord’s name, then, I warn you: do not continue to live like the heathen, whose thoughts are worthless 18 and whose minds are in the dark. They have no part in the life that God gives, for they are completely ignorant and stubborn. 19 They have lost all feeling of shame; they give themselves over to vice and do all sorts of indecent things without restraint. 20 That was not what you learned about Christ! 21 You certainly heard about him, and as his followers you were taught the truth that is in Jesus. 22 So get rid of your old self, which made you live as you used to—the old self that was being destroyed by its deceitful desires. 23 Your hearts and minds must be made completely new, 24 and you must put on the new self, which is created in God’s likeness and reveals itself in the true life that is upright and holy. Ephesians 4:17-24 (TEV)
If the grain of wheat does not die, it remains unfruitful. Don’t you want to be a grain of wheat, to die through mortification, and to yield stalks rich in grain? May Jesus bless your wheat field! (1)
Yesterday I asked on Facebook a question about whether we would follow Jesus if he showed up today and asked us too. Actually, more specifically, I asked what our excuses would be when we told him we wouldn’t follow Him.
Most people said they would, and I believe in their hearts they sincerely believe it.
Even as I know most of us do not, even now, as Christ is present in our lives, as He is calling us to deny ourselves, take up our cross and walk with Him, through that dying to self, into the presence of the Father.
Will we walk with Christ in loving those who would kill us, that we could win their souls to God?
Will we forgive others who have sinned against us?
Will we depend on God when life is rough, the answers unknown, when we need to forsake joy and embrace suffering – that a person would come to know God’s love?
Will we give up taking care of what we are responsible for – to care for others. (think of John, James, Peter and Andrew leaving their fathers and boats behind, or Matthew leaving the tax table and the taxes he collected behind.._
Reading Les Miserable in my spare time is really causing me to ask these questions, not of you, but of myself. Wondering how I serve as an example, as Paul did, as Peter did, for those whom I have been entrusted with shepherding. It’s a hard question… and it seems like the law is condemning me…even brutally.
Until I realize that such things I cling to, are actually snares… snares that would stop me from following Christ, or at least blind me to His Spirit’s presence. I have to come to my senses and realize in whose presence I dwell. The Lord and Master who shatters those holds, who brings me healing, who brings me life.
This dying to self thing – its not so I can just die. It is so I can live.
We too need to experience what that seed did… actually we just need to realize we have… He has done this to us, even as He subjected Himself to it.
This imitating Christ – is the living that we were created for…
It is what began at our baptism, it is what is strengthened as we are absolved and commune…
It is the abundant life.
Lord have mercy on us, by crucifying our sin and sinful desires… leaving us nothing else, but You, and the glory in which you share with us. AMEN
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 574-575). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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What Do We Choose to Invite into our Lives?
Jesus Christ Crucifix (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Discussion/Devotion in Life
4 May you always be joyful in your union with the Lord. I say it again: rejoice! 5 Show a gentle attitude toward everyone. The Lord is coming soon. 6 Don’t worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart. 7 And God’s peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus. 8 In conclusion, my friends, fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable. 9 Put into practice what you learned and received from me, both from my words and from my actions. And the God who gives us peace will be with you. Philippians 4:4-9 (TEV)
I’m going to tell you which are man’s treasures on earth so you won’t slight them: hunger, thirst, heat, cold, pain, dishonor, poverty, loneliness, betrayal, slander, prison … (1)
As I write this blog about trauma, I am not writing about the things in the quote from St. Josemaria Escriva above, for as he says, they are treasures, and therefore, not necessarily trauma. Even as I wrote on Monday – there is trauma that so engages us in serving God, in seeing His love, that it rarely seems traumatic, or sacrificial.
There are different types of trauma can different, Some thrusts itself in, and those things – including the list above are traumatic – but can be blessings because in overwhelming us, they drive us into our Father in Heaven’s presence….. we have no choice, we simply must turn to God to be able to cope, to be able to breath… the be able to survive.
But invited trauma is when we ignore the Bible passage’s admonition and encouragement. When we look for division, when we spend less time looking to God and choose to embrace things that make us anxious, worrying about things far out of our control. When we look away from peace,. When we don’t fill our mind with those things that are good and deserve praise, but focus on that which are evil and need to be avoided. This the type of trauma we willingly give a place in our lives.
I see to much of this, these days…..
I see it way to much among those who follow Christ.
We invite trauma in when worry too much about how the world is changing – to the extent that we spend so much time fighting it, or worrying about how to fight it, that we forget we’ve been sent here so the world can know Jesus love, to know Him, to know the power of His resurrection… to know His peace. We spend more time learning strategies to convince them about Christ that we pray for them, or love them. We forget it is the gates of hell than cannot restrain God’s invasion, cannot withstand His church, and the Rock on which it stands.
We invite trauma in when get to aggressive towards other believers, debating with them, rather than loving and serving them, and praying for them. As if somehow we aren’t the family of God, working in His harvest, working together, working as one.
We invite in trauma when we lack of looking to God, trusting Him, relating to Him, when we walk away from Him….to fight that which He has defeated, walking away from the peace He gives…
In choosing these things that are not Godly, we invite that trauma into our lives. We choose the discord, we choose the power plays, we choose the war…. we choose the stress…. and we don’t choose Him….
We don’t have to invite that trauma… we can look to Christ, we can see His love poured out on us, His grace, His mercy… and we can love and serve as He did….learning how much He is with us…
Lord, please have mercy on us, and draw our attention to You!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 567-568). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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God is Watching over His People!
God is Watching over His People!
Luke 7:11-17
† In Jesus Name †
Corcovado jesus (Photo credit: @Doug88888)
May we realize God watches over us with a compassion deeper than words can express, desiring to heal us and give us life abundant in Christ as we share His love with the world!
The First Traffic Jam That Made the News
Unlike traveling our local freeways, no one that morning expected a traffic jam outside the city of Nain. There were no sig alerts, no gps updates or radio warnings about the two massive crowds heading that would collide that morning.
But that collision of crowds did occur, and traffic did stop, and both groups of people had to take the time to observe something quite remarkable, so life changing, so life giving, that it made the evening news in every household, not just in Nain, but across the entire country.
As our churches this morning merge so seamlessly together, may we as well realize the blessings that have been poured out on us, the blessings one small family experienced that day….
Two Types of People
The Looky-loo’s & Those distracted
There are two types of people that seem to cause the smallest occurrence on the freeways to become even more of a traffic jam, and it was no different that particular day.
The first we call lookey-loos, those who curiosity so overrules their common sense that they will do anything to see what is holding up traffic. They want to know everything that is going on. They don’t want accidents to happen, but if they do, they want to have more information that the accident investigation team do. Without realizing it, they slow down – they even change lanes to get into place to have a perfect view of the situation. Whether it is a motorcycle officer helping someone with a flat tire, or a accident requiring people me taken to the hospital by ambulance or helicopter. They want to see, they want to be able to say, I was there.
As Luke describes Jesus, he makes a distinction in the people arriving in Nain with Him. There are the disciples, those who have been called into the relationship with Jesus, and journey through life with Him for they realize the truth of Peter’s words,
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 And now we believe and know that you are the Holy One who has come from God.” John 6:68-69 (TEV)
But then there is the crowd, those who came along with Jesus, the kind of crowd that he had compassion on when He fed 5000. People who would abandon Jesus later, when he started talking about His death, and about His Body and Blood being given and shed for us. (deleted some here) But the crowd that followed like looky-loo’s on the freeway, people that wanted to see miracles, people that wanted to hear something different.. people unsure of what they were following Christ but where.
There are people who come to church and many more who call themselves Christians today, who do so like the looky loos. They come to see stuff, but they never get involved. They like the music, they enjoy the sermons, but they never get to know the God to Whom we sing. They pray, but because that’s what Christians do, not that they believe God is listening. They like what they see, but they don’t understand that it is a relationship with God that sustains them.
If the crowd following Jesus and his actual disciples were looky-loos; the other crowd was the kind of people that when traffic is slow and snarled, go on automatic pilot and focus completely on something else. They pay only enough attention to keep moving with the crowd. In this case, they weren’t focusing on the kids in the back seat, or the latest text message or phone call – but on the death of a young man, and how the death reminded them of how short life is. The word for large in the “large crowd” is the word “intense.” And so was their walking intensely focused on the emotions of grief, of the pain of their loss, of the uncertainty of their future, or the lonely widows.
People are like that today as well. They wander aimlessly, following the crowd yet unaware of their surroundings, trapped in what causes great anxiety, great pain, or what they find comfort in, an escape in…everything from drugs and alcohol, to television, to seemingly innocent addictions like facebook and candy crush saga and other addictive things…we are quick to find our escapes…
One pastor once confronted such people with this question,
Why stoop to drink from the puddles of worldly consolations (comforts) if you can satisfy your thirst with waters that spring up into life everlasting?
The Highway of Life Patrol…Watching
Compassion not just on the dead, but on the bereaved
Explaining the occurrences in the gospel with the idea of a traffic jam as the crowd following Jesus and the crowd heading for the burial of the dead young man leads us to Jesus’s intervention. We get to finally see how Jesus will work in this passage, and indeed, why the news of this incident would spread as fast through the Judean countryside as it did. (even though they didn’t have twitter!)
The only time you like to see the sirens and flashers of a Highway Patrol Car coming up behind you – is when you are crawling along the freeway at 10 mph, stuck in traffic. You are happy to see them, because you know that they can, if anyone can, solve the problem of the traffic. They watch the highways, sure to catch speeders and crazy drivers, (even that they do to keep traffic flowing) but they watch the freeway primarily to keep everyone safe and moving and alive.
As Jesus enters this town, He sees the patterns of things. He realizes the pain of the widow, the different types of people around him – those trying to deal with the pain of their own lives, and those just looking for something cool to happen.
His reaction is compassion – the Greek is great – it basically means that He felt her pain so much that it was gut-wrenching, the reaction it caused affected Him physically. He could not tolerate the pain she was going through,…
It was such compassion, Paul tells us in Philippian’s, that it caused Jesus to leave heaven, and to become our servant, to minister to us…. Isaiah tells us it was the Father’s compassion to place every sin – those we commit knowingly and those we don’t even know – the sins of omission, our Father in Heaven placed them on Jesus.- and as the Father compassionately cared for us so much, it pleased Him to have Jesus pay for our sins.
Jesus gets it all straightened out – and not only do the young man and his now joyous mom realize what happened – so do all the people fathered there. The looky-loos, those distracted by everything else and their own pain. They realize with such awe, like Thomas in the upper room, that Jesus is God, He is our Lord, our Christ, our Savior, our Master…
And the One who passionately loves us….
Resuscitation/Resurrection Time
Most of us, if we are honest – go through life distracted and wanting to be distracted, or as those looking at what’s happening to others. We don’t always realize that we walk every moment in God’s presence, we don’t often realize His compassion, and His watching over us,
But it is there, as surely as it was for this woman.
His compassion is there not only for us, but for us as we hurt for others, whether we grieve because they have died, or because they are spiritually dead. When we realize that some of our co-workers, our neighbors, our friends and even our family don’t know of the love of God our Father, of the mercy and compassion of Christ Jesus, of the comfort and peace of the Holy Spirit. When we look around us, and just see the crowds, lifeless- directionless…
His compassion reaches us there as well, for His desire is that they are saved as well, God’s one desire is that none of them should perish, but that all should be transformed by the redeeming power of Christ, by the work of the Holy Spirit through God’s word, and those things God uses to change us….
I would say we see here today, a even greater resurrection that they all witnessed that day. For not just one man has been brought to life – every one of us who trusts in Christ, Passion and Concordia brothers and sisters, has been raised from the dead. That is the promise of God’s baptism of us, in water and Spirit.
Our resurrection, as well, is not temporary, it is not fading…it will not end, as this man’s did – in another death.
For our resurrection is with Christ, it is a resurrection to eternity, for Jesus said,
25“I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me will live, even though they die; 26 and those who live and believe in me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26 (TEV)
Well do you?
If you said no, come talk to Pastor Mao, or Pr. Lu, or me or one of the leaders here… we’d love to help you know this…to know Jesus, and to realize His compassion for you.
But if you know this – that if you live in Jesus, if you trust Him, then this is true for you….
You live in God’s peace, that peace which is beyond explanation, which you are guarded, your heart and mind, by Christ himself.
That is news worth sharing with all of Cerritos and all of of LA and Orange County… Alleluia – He has risen, and we have been raised to life with Him
AMEN??
The Battle against Sin and Immorality – how it is to be waged…
Devotional?Discussion Thought of the Day:
13 And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. Matthew 6:13 (NLT)
” 138 Infelix ego homo!, quis me liberabit de corpore mortis huius?—“Unhappy man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?” Thus cried Saint Paul. Courage! He too had to fight.
139 At the time of temptation think of the love that awaits you in Heaven: foster the virtue of hope—it’s not a lack of generosity.(1)
As a pastor, I have to deal with sin quite a bit. First of all there is my own, then there is that of my people I pastor – whether members of the congregation I pastor, or those who I interact with regularly. It is a bit ironic that those who aren’t “officially” mine – are more willing ot read this and deal with sin, but that’ s another story.
I love Paul’s self-disclosure in Romans 7, His dealing with his own battles with sin – and the despair that comes from unsuccessfully. It gives me some assurance that we can, bluntly and faithfully, address the presence of sin in our lives.
We don’t need to hide from the grief sin causes, we don’t need to grieve without addresses it.
The answer of it is far simpler – far easier, and laid out in scripture.
Go to God when you are tempted, go to God with your sin. Fight it – but not with weapons of our own making – fight sin and temptation by taking it to God. Think about His love, recognize His presence – plead with Him to help you… and when you fail – turn to our Lord and know His answer to your plea for mercy is always “yes”.
Trust (that is have faith/believe) that God will see you through the temptation, through the failure, that His very love will bring you to hear that He has forgiven you. That His love will always, always, overcome evil.
Rom, Sankt Paul vor den Mauern, San Paolo fuori le mura Italiano: Statua di San Paolo di fronte alla facciata della Basilica di San Paolo fuori le Mura a Roma. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
And Rejoice – for the Lord is with You.
(1)Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 457-458). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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Can we take sin seriously, that we may rejoice in being forgiven of it?
Devotional?Discussion Thought of the Day:
1 That is why we must hold on all the more firmly to the truths we have heard, so that we will not be carried away. 2 The message given to our ancestors by the angels was shown to be true, and those who did not follow it or obey it received the punishment they deserved. 3 How, then, shall we escape if we pay no attention to such a great salvation? The Lord himself first announced this salvation, and those who heard him proved to us that it is true. 4 At the same time God added his witness to theirs by performing all kinds of miracles and wonders and by distributing the gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his will. Hebrews 2:1-4 (TEV)
Domine!—“Lord!” Si vis, potes me mundare.—“If you will, you can make me clean.” What a beautiful prayer for you to say often, with the faith of the poor leper, when there happens to you what God and you and I know may happen. You won’t have to wait long to hear the Master’s reply: Volo, mundare!—“I will! Be made clean!” (1)
In Sunday’s sermon and in Sunday School where we took the passage a bit deeper – we heard Solomon’s words about prayer – and the primary use of the temple. It was that God would hear the words of believers (and unbelievers – but a different answer there) and when He hears them….
Forgive.
We talked of how powerful that forgiveness was – that as Christians we need the assurance that God will not abandon our souls in sin, that He will forgive, that He will call us back, that His desire is to be with us.
Yet it is amazing, how like little kids, we can’t take that forgiveness seriously, we don’t rejoice in absolution like we should. We ( and I mean the church – Lutheran, Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox ) don’t take advantage of private confession anymore – something Luther saw coming and dreaded!
The reason is, I believe, that we don’t take sin seriously anymore. We make take this sin or that seriously (watch the explosion over the recent election of a practicing homosexual in the ELCA as a BIshop) but will we take our own sins, the ones we commit, seriously. Or will we like act like little children and say,
1. “I didn’t know!” Somehow thinking that if we claim ignorance, we will be justified. Or
2. “It’s not fair/right” Somehow we think of God as some great kill-joy, a God who takes pleasure in making sure we don’t enjoy life, or get what “we need” from it.
3. “It’s their fault” How often do we try to find someone else to blame, some other sin that is worse, some other thing that would distract God from our sin, so that we could continue to enjoy it.
Why not just go – yeah – I sinned – and God please – please forgive me….
And hear His love pour out through the words, “Yes my child….”
Can’t we just cry out as St. Josemaria encourages us to pray, “Lord, make me clean!” and trust in His answer… “I will – be made clean!”
What joy there would be, if we took sin seriously – that we might hear that we are forgiven!
So my friends – no matter what the sin, (see the list below (2) let us rush to our Father, asking Him to revive and restore us in faith! If you struggle – even if you don’t – run to your pastor, your priest – and cofness your sins… and find yourselves healed. And then rejoice – like there is a tomorrow – walking always with God!
Luther Bible, 1534 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 463-466). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
(2) Romans 1:24-32 (NLT) 24 So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. 25 They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. 26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. 27 And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. 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.
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The Eucharist: the Strength to Reveal Christ to Others…
English: The Lord’s Supper. Christ standing at an Orthodox altar, giving the Eucharist to the Twelve Apostles. Frescoes in the upper church of Spaso-Preobrazhenski cathedral. Valaam Monastery Русский: Алтарная апсида верхнего храма Спасо-Преображенского собора Валаамского монастыря. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional/Discussion Thought of the Day:
This can only mean that whenever you eat this bread or drink of this cup, you are proclaiming that the Lord has died for you, and you will do that until he comes again. So that, whoever eats the bread or drinks the wine without due thought is making himself like one of those who allowed the Lord to be put to death without discerning who he was. 1 Corinthians 11:26 (Phillips NT)
If you don’t keep in touch with Christ in prayer and in the bread, how can you make him known to others? (1)
Though I have been in churches of many denominations and brotherhoods, the three I have spent the most time in, have had something in Common. The weekly celebration of the Lord’s Supper, also known as Communion, or my preference, the Eucharist.
To be honest, it is something that I took for granted far too often. The Eucharist was something that when I was younger I thought was a spiritual “fill-up”, an opportunity to refocus, a chance to be reminded of God’s promises, a chance to remember His grace covering my sin, as surely as His blood was poured out on the ground.
You might be saying, well Pastor Dt, that’ what it is all about – isn’t it? That moment of refreshing, a weekly “mountain top” experience, a break and rest from the norm, and a break from the sin which haunts them. A chance to really realize what holiness is about…
As we think about what the Eucharist results in, we slowly lose sight about it is… the Body of Christ, given for us; the Blood of Christ, shed for us…
It is not just about knowing God’s love – it is time with Him. A time for His to comfort and cleanse and help us explore with Him the height and depth, breadth and width of His love, and the Father’s love. A time not just where we are reminded of His covenant and its promises, but where He, Himself, reminds us of that promise – most specifically His loving presence. That we are His family, called to dinner with Him as the Host…
That is why Paul can say we proclaim His death – it is ours, we who are untied to Him in His death and resurrection (our re-birth) It is time with Him in that moment beyond time, that foretaste of the feast that will be thrown when we all have come home. We proclaim it – not just for our benefit – but that others would join us at this incredible moment, in this incredible time with Him…celebrating out union…our being the beloved. It is from there, from that depth of intimacy with Christ, that knowing Him and being known by Him, that the kerygma – the desire to introduce others to Him springs forth.
Not from duty…
But from the passion He has for us, the unbelievable love He has for us….
And we know who we are introducing people to, not just a way to “be saved”, but the God, the incredible, majestic, glorious God who loves them, Who gives them life… and brings them into His glory.
It is where we find the answer to our plea… Lord have mercy…. and know He does that in a way beyond expression… and it is He, even more than us, the is joyous in the reunion.
Godspeed us all to this realization.
Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 396-397). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition
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Stirred, not Shaken!
Basic Bond coat of arms with motto translated as The World is Not Enough (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“Stirred but not Shaken”
Acts 2: 14a ,22-36
† Father, Son, and Holy Spirit †
May you realize the grace of of knowing the Triune God desires and works to know you, and make you perfect, perfect for a relationship
Anybody get the number of that creed?
Even though I dearly love the Athanasian Creed, even though I love how it lays out the relationship of the Trinity, even though I love spending a couple of hours with it, and highly recommend that to you, there is a certain feeling I get, reading it in a worship service.
Two ways to describe it…
The first is, I feel like Wiley E Coyote at the end of every scene in the old Roadrunner cartoons….
The other, I wonder if anyone got the license plate number of the theological 18 wheeler than just hit me. I almost wonder if Anthony of the Desert, who is credited with writing it, and Athanasius, a deacon who presented the creed to a gathering of pastors and bishops – comprehended the depth of the creed’s teaching….
Maybe it overwhelmed them a bit two… as if as they read it, they wondered who was driving the chariot that ran over them….
Even as I love this incredible Creed, as I love how it teaches us about the mystery of the Trinity – the Tri-une God, the Three yet One, I realize it has one shortcoming. It was written to challenge all the false teachings about the Trinity, and about the nature of Christ…it seeks to teach us to know about how the Trinity is, and how Jesus is both fully God and fully man…
But it assumes one thing…. That we know this Trinity, this Triune God.
It does a wonderful job stripping away many, if not most of the false teachings about Jesus… yet leaves us there… needing to get to know Him…
May this day, we rejoice, in not just knowing who God is not, but may we rejoice in knowing our Triune God…..
And as we grow in knowing the Trinity, this God of ours, may we be just the opposite of James Bond’s famous drink – may we be stirred, and know we cannot be shaken.
Stirred
Still a little overwhelmed by the theological semi that ran over my brain, I’m going to do the sermon backward today – and give you the gospel, before the law…
Hear King David’s words again, really hear them….
‘I see that the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. 26 No wonder my heart is glad, and my tongue shouts his praises! My body rests in hope. 27 For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave. 28 You have shown me the way of life, and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’
The very God we proclaimed that we trusted a moment ago, David said is right before his eyes. As God is here, right in our midst. Here to protect, here to be our shepherd, here to be all that we need as our Father, as our Lord, as our God.
He is here…The Triune God who has been at work in our lives since we were created, is with us. He has called us together, He has brought us here, in order that we can know His love, that we can remember His mercy. The Holy Spirit drew us that we can literally taste and see that the Lord is good.
Walking with Him, on this way, which He has revealed, is what our lives are to be, and are, because of that presence of His. To know He is here, To realize that love which causes Him to cleanse us, to assure us that our souls will not fade into nothingness, even as Christ’s body was not meant to tor in the grave.
Paul explain this, in this way,
12 For when you were baptized, you were buried with Christ, and in baptism you were also raised with Christ through your faith in the active power of God, who raised him from death. 13 You were at one time spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were Gentiles without the Law. But God has now brought you to life with Christ. God forgave us all our sins; 14 he canceled the unfavorable record of our debts with its binding rules and did away with it completely by nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:12-14 (TEV)
That is what the presence of God in our lives means… it’s the time to rejoice in everything that has opened up to us. It is time for a party, for the feast – for the incredible life that God has given us…. And would live with us.
No wonder David says that His heart dances, it rejoices, (forget this line “glad” GRR) and his tongue SHOUTS his praises – the special shout reserved for the jubilee – that one time in life, everything you are shout!
He is here – He has given us life – He has given us the joy of His presence….
He is right beside me… and I shall not, will not, cannot be shaken…
Not Shaken
That is where the Law comes in, this idea of being “shaken”. Being shaken is like being out in the middle of Lake Galilee with 80 mph winds raising waves much bigger than our fishing boats, or a spiritual earthquake. Those are the words that are used for those traumas, when life is so in turmoil that you cannot determine which way is which – not just east and west or north and south, but forward and back and upside down.
The Trinity’s presence in our lives takes care of that – for it completely changes our point of orientation. It is no longer us that is spinning out of control, even as the world is spinning – and in such a way that people have to realize God is with us.
As we do, as our lives, as our desires, as our dreams ocme into line with His, as we see that our redemption, our deliverance has been the Father’s goal all along, things change.
The law – which is the way in which God orders the universe, which we struggle with, is revealed to be what drives us to Him, looking for hope, looking for something which will cause the storm…
And when we are with God, Triune, majestic, beyond our ability to comprehend, at least during this life, we do find ourselves able to rest in hope, our heart finds that gladness, and we shout His praise, as we realize His desire is to be here – with us, His people.
It’s His plan…no, we are His plan..
It’s His plan, the reading calls it His pre-arranged plan…
Even to the point where Jesus was betrayed, and fixed to a cross, and murdered. As Peter preaches to the very ones who killed him,
That He could, for the people the Father created, pay the price of redemption, and pour out His Holy Spirit, that we would become His Holy and Righteous people…
Yeah – no wonder our hearts are glad…joyous – know His presence, having been shown the way of life – through the death of Christ.
May we indeed know His peace, as we wait, resting in the hope that comes from knowing He is beside us. May such knowledge stir us to love and good deeds, even as we trust, as we know we’ll never be shaken…
AMEN?
