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Do We Teach Them What They Need to Know About Jesus?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” 37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22:36-39 (NLT)
3 After all, the chief purpose of all ceremonies is to teach the people what they need to know about Christ. (1)
“Biblical worship is rooted in an event that is to be lived, not proven. The purpose of worship is not to prove the Christ it celebrates, but to bring the worshipper so tune with God’s reconciliation through Christ that His death and resurrection becomes a lived experience.” (2)
““As long as I have strength to breathe, I will continue to preach that it is vitally necessary that we be souls of prayer at all times, at every opportunity, and in the most varied of circumstances, because God never abandons us” (no. 247). That was his one and only concern: to pray and to encourage others to do likewise. That was why he brought about in the midst of the world a wonderful “mobilization of people,” as he liked to call it, “who are ready to commit themselves to live Christian lives,” by developing their filial relationship with God our Father. We are many who have learned, from this thoroughly priestly priest, “the great secret of God’s mercy, that we are children of God.” (3)
The quote in blue, from the 24th Article of the Augsburg Confession, is among my favorite quotes from all religious writing. When I teach Worship/Liturgy, Caregiving, or even Preaching, it becomes the 1 statement that MUST be understood, the foundational statement of the course.
As I look at what is being taught and written about; as I consider my own education for the ministry; how I was taught to preach, teach and lead worship, I realize I have to ask the question,
Are we teaching them what they really need to know about Jesus?
I think one of the ways we can measure that is found in the scripture verse above in red.
Are they learning to love God with all they are, and to love their neighbor? (without asking, “are they really my neighbor?
I have to ask, is that the result every aspect of our church services, from the sacraments, the sermons, the singing, the liturgy, and prayers? Is it what results from our Bible studies, the counseling sessions and even the meetings of boards and teams? Do our people love God more, grow in their adoration of Him? Will they share in the lives of those around them? Will they weep with them, laugh with them, share food and life with both those who know Christ, and those who need to know Him?
Can we hold that up as the standard? Does how our people love reflect on whether we’ve told them what they need to know about Jesus?
Webber makes another point worth considering, that reveals a sobering answer to this,
“Liberals turned worship into a time for ethical reflection on the love of God, while conservatives concentrated on an intellection defense of the Gospel. In both cases church leaders gave into to secularism and allowed it to define worship.” (4)
Far too often, we forget what changes people, what creates the love of both God and neighbor. It isn’t just found in nurturing the intellect, or making logical appeals for what is good, ethical and beneficial. This only provides a narrow stimulation, that of the mind. Our teaching, our preaching our worship, has to go deeper. It has to cause, as Webber says, ou words must guide them in living through the death and resurrection of Christ.
It is there, in the presence of God, dwelling in Christ, abiding in Him, that we discover what true love is. That we, the very children of God, live our lives intimately communicating with God. A relationship that goes beyond anything we know, for this relationship reveals the transcendent life of a Christ, what Paul talks about in Colossians.
1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. Colossians 3:1-4 (NLT)
This is what it means to give them what they need to know about Christ, to know His presence, His love, His mercy! To see Him so clearly that the Holy Spirit transforms our hearts of stone into hearts that beat with the love of God, and then can love others.
Whether our people grow in love of God, and their neighbors is how we judge whether our preaching, our administration of the sacraments, our worship, and our very ministry give people what they need to know about Christ.
Lord Have Mercy on Us, even this mercy of revealing to us what we need to know of Christ. AMEN!.
(1) Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 59). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.
(2) Webber, Robert: Worship is a Verb Peabody Mass, Hendrickson Publishing
(3) Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). Friends of God (Kindle Locations 136-140). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
(4)Webber, Robert: Worship is a Verb Peabody Mass, Hendrickson Publishing
Can You Hear Him Now?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and ignores it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” Matthew 7:24-27 (NLT)
364 When are you going to make up your mind! Many people around you live a life of sacrifice simply for human reasons. These poor people forget they are children of God and act the way they do perhaps only out of pride, or to excel, or to be more comfortably off later on in life. They give up all kinds of things! And you, who carry the sweet burden of the Church, of your family, your colleagues and friends, motives for which it is worthwhile sacrificing yourself, what are you doing about it? With what sense of responsibility are you reacting?
Maybe it is helping that guy who is begging, not just giving him five bucks, but actually offering real help, and the respect that befits a child of God. Maybe it is going out of your way to bring someone to church, or staying for the Bible study, so they can as well. Maybe it is giving up a saturday morning, or some event you were hoping for, or stepping aside so someone else can do that which you love to do. Maybe it is opening up your house to a missionary who needs a place to stay while in the states, or to someone you know – who can’t live where they did.
Maybe it is forgiving that person who hurt you last week, or 20 years ago. Deciding to let God judge the situation, rather than seek revenge, or hold in that resentment.
Maybe it is simple, sacrificing a meal, or a movie a week or a month, and sending the money to help a missionary in Papua New Guinea, or a Syrrian or Iraqi refugee in Turkey, or a kid in Kosovo learn about Jesus, while learning to play baseball. (btw – I know how to make all those happen – contact me if they strike a nerve) Maybe it is going on the mission field youself, or taking your family on the field for a year or 10.
May it is humbling yourself to go to that person you offended, giving up your pride, asking for forgiveness, intent on seeing one thing happen. Reconciliation.
If you listen to Jesus’ call to follow Him, you will hear a call to sacrifice, a call to humility, a call to go beyond just going to church a sunday a month, or maybe a bible study. You will hear a call to go, a call to be there as He calls people to faith (even at your work, or at a doctor’s office, or at Walmart, or in the Philippines) You will look for people in need, and your heart will break, even as Christ’s broke when he saw the widow mourn the loss of her son, or as he looked out over the city of Jerusalem.
What are you willing to sacrifice? That isn’t the question.
What is worth hanging onto, when Jesus is calling you to hear His word? Will you hear Him calling, when He asks if you love him, not more than things, but with everything you are? Will you hear Him, see Him, loving you that way?
Look to the cross…. hear, see, know His love…..
For as that happens, all you are, will become something you can demonstrate your love to Him with, as you love those around you….
Can you hear Him? Listen…. and Love
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 1434-1439). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
How Do People See You?
Devotional THought of the day:
34 I give you a new commandment: love one another; you must love one another just as I have loved you. 35 It is by your love for one another, that everyone will recognise you as my disciples. John 13:34-35 (NJB)
95 Think what would happen if we Christians chose not to behave as such… and then rectify your behaviour. (1)
As I read this verse this morning, and came across the words in my devotional book, the Forge, I couldn’t help but wonder if those who don’t know I am a believer in Christ, would recognize me as such.
It’s a sobering thought.
Note what is not said.
I am not recognised as a believer because of my expertise in theology. (some might question that anyway)
I am not recognised as a believer because I have a “Rev.” in front of my name.
I am not recognised as a believer because I am a member of the best congregation in all of California.
I am not to be recognised as a believer because of anything I am, save that there is a miracle that has occured in my life.
I have been made able to love others, I have been given the desire to as well, even those I struggle to love.
It isn’t easy, it isn’t natural to me prior to Christ, and I struggle with it now.
But we are recognised as Christ’s brothers, sisters, friends, as children of God, simply because we can love one another. Because that means we know He loves us.
We are encouraged to rectify our behavior, but that doesn’t come because we force our will to, our behavior changes as we think about Chirst, as we receive His love, as we let the Holy Spirit transform us as 2 Corinthians 3 discusses.
We don’t love because we are great people. We love because we are loved.
So let God love you… really love you….
Then, humbly realise when people say somethings hanged, that it has happened because of God’s work.
Go in peace!
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 551-552). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Loving Your Neighbors…Does it Look Like This?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie; my conscience joins with the holy Spirit in bearing me witness 2 that I have great sorrow and constant anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and separated from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kin according to the flesh. Romans 9:1-3 (NAB)
436 Experience, great knowledge of the world, being able to read between the lines, an exaggerated sharpness, a critical spirit… All those things, in your business and social relations, have led you too far, to such an extent that you have become a bit cynical. All that “excessive realism”, which is a lack of supernatural spirit, has even invaded your interior life. Through failing to be simple, you have become at times cold and unfeeling. (1)
Most of realize that the great commandments are to love God with everything, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Though we all struggle with this, I sometimes wonder if we know what it means to love them. It’s not just giving them a hug as we greet them during the peace, Or giving them a high five when we see them, hearing that they made a hole in one. It even goes beyond cooking a meal for them when they are recovering from a hospital stay, or helping them when they are short of cash. Loving goes a lot more. Too often, St. Josemaria has it right, the very lives we live, the successes we have in our “real world” leave us cold, and unfeeling. To be honest, sometimes we are un-loving. This Catholic priest/pastor has it right – our realism leaves us dried out spiritually.
But we are called to love, to love supernaturally, and we have a great example,
Do we feel like St Paul does, when he writes to the Romans, explaining that he desires that he would be able to give up his life, his eternal life, be completely separated from Christ, that those who were His brothers could know Jesus.
Two things about this passage need to be noted
First, what Paul wants for his people more than anything is that they would know Christ, that the power of His resurrection would be theirs, that they would walk with God, as they (and all of us) are meant to do. Nothing else matches that priority. For nothing, absolutely nothing, in life compares to the peace we have, knowing God lives in us, This love of God which compels us to love in return, the depth of that love, the height, the width and the breadth – to even glimpse of God’s love for us, leaves us in awe.
He wants that experience for them more than anything, and truly loving someone else means not just wanting them to have good, but to have the best.
Which leads us to the second thing – that he desires this so much for them, that he would desire this so much, that he is willing to give up his own place in Christ, if it meant that they would be there. He won’t just die for them, he would be willing to give all up for them. Including eternity, including Christ. (yes I know, and Paul knows that this is impossible… ) Still his desire that they know God, intimately relate and communicate and love God, he is willing to sacrifice all for that to happen. Are we? Can we trust in God to the point where God’s desire becomes more and more the dominant desire in us? Can we see our families, our neighbor’s need, their brokenness, their desperation to be loved completely, to be freed from guilt and shame, to be able not to be anxious or fear, to live in peace? Would we die on a spiritual grenade for them? Would we endure some discomfort? Would we confront them in love, showing them their need for Him?
Love you neighbor, Jesus said……….
Here is an example.
Lord, pour out your mercy on Your people. AMEn!..
Oh…. One last though in passing….Jesus also said love your enemies…
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1944-1947). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
You should never have enemies? If you are obeying God, this is true.
The Pantheon, a place once dedicated to worship of idols but reborn to host the worship of God. May our lives tell a similar story as we realize what God does to us in baptism!
Discussion Thought of the Day:
4 I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth just as we were commanded by the Father. 5 But now, Lady, I ask you, not as though I were writing a new commandment but the one we have had from the beginning: let us love one another. 6 For this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, as you heard from the beginning, in which you should walk. 2 John 1:4-6 (NAB)
431 You should always be well-mannered towards everybody, especially towards those who present themselves as your adversaries (you should never have enemies) when you are trying to let them see their mistake. (1)
I started composing this blog this morning, based on the Bible passage above, from my devotional readings. It’s been a thought on my mind for a while, this idea that we cannot separate loving God from being obedient to Him. We can’t say we love Him, and then live a life that rebels against the way He has revealed for us to life.
Then I came across the words of St. Josemaria, this morning, and it is the words that are in parenthesis that stunned me. What does it mean that we shouldn’t have enemies? Is there such a great difference between enemies and adversaries?
Jesus tells us to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us. He’s saying the same thing – for in loving our enemies, they are not enemies anymore. They may work against, us, frustrate us, even ignore us, but if we love them, if we walk in the steps of Jesus Christ, they aren’t our enemies any longer. They are those we are willing to make sacrifices for, that we desire the best (which is knowing God’s love) , that we are willing to die for, to become martyrs, those who death testifies of Jesus Christ, and His love.
Adversaries can be convinced, not by carefully planned arguments, but by those who love them and sacrifice for them. We in turn are changed as we pray for them, as we unite our hearts with God’s heart, as we ask Him to bless them. As we sacrifice our right to be resentful, angry, our plans of revenge and retribution, as we simply pray, and learn to love them.
This is easy to say as I sit in my church office in California, No one is pointing a gun at me, or throwing me in jail. Yet if I look at the lives of the martyr’s throughout history, I am not so sure I have it easier. There was a level of trust, a level of faith, an awareness of the presence of God that was beyond anything I can even imagine. Oddly enough, I find myself desiring it, being a little envious of their stories, of their ability to love their enemies.
This is the way we, who trust in Jesus, are supposed to walk. Loving all, confronting their errors for sure, but loving them in that. We have to realize that our job isn’t to convict them, but to shepherd them into Christ’s love, into His truth. We can do that with adversaries, we cannot with enemies. Of course, they may still see us as enemies, but it is not their perspective that matters. It is ours.
We are called, commissioned, commanded to love them, even as that demonstrates our love and trust in God. Even as it screams that we are walking in Christ’s steps, united to His death, and to the life which we are raised with Him to live. This is how we are God’s masterpiece, as Paul tells the Ephesians, re-created in Christ Jesus to do the good works which He has planned for us, from before time. The good work of loving others, bearing witness in that supernatural love, to the love of Christ.
Lord, have mercy on us, and teach us how to love as You do!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1925-1927). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
I Am the Lord Your God!
Cross & Clouds (Photo credit: John H Wright Photo)
I Am The Lord Your God!
Lev. 18:-1-5, 19:9-18
† In Jesus Name †
May you always thank the Father, as filled with His joy, your find yourselves filled with all His glorious power, and having all the endurance and patience you need in your lives today!
It’s Not as Heavy A Burden as we Think!
At first glance, the Old Testament reading reminds me of my trainer at the gym. Every time I think I am working with the right amount of weight, he’ll walk over and add 10 or 20 pounds, and I will have to really push myself to get another set completed. Even as I dislike it when he adds the 10 pounds, the reason I have a trainer is to make sure I get the most out of my working out – so that I become healthier and stronger.
Often, our first reaction to lists of commandments like this is similar to a work out – we know we are going to struggle, we know we are going to be pushed past what we think our breaking point is. We get anxious knowing we are going to be faced with failure, like when I try to bench press 60 pounds, we just give up. The same thing here – how many commandments can we focus on at once, how will we grow spiritually and fulfill each of them?
It is easy to look at what God expects out of us, and look at the burden and wonder how Jesus expects us to be as perfect as He is.
What we are going to look at this morning, in both church and Bible study is this idea that the burden is too big, that it is too heavy, that we cannot live as God calls us to live. The illusion we are only sinners, those who fail God. Really, the burden is not too much and we can be described as Paul describes the church in Colossae.
…The way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. (Colossians 1:11b)
So let’s look at this list of commands, and consider whether it is a burden to obey these commandments….and walk in this life.
A Challenging List!
God makes it clear that His standard goes beyond that of the world. It’s not just their behaviors we aren’t to follow, the very laws they established were not reflective of God’s standard. Sounds familiar, yes?
What is legal in the law of the Egyptians and Canaanites and for us according to the Supreme Court isn’t beneficial or proper for us, according to God. We can’t say to God, we didn’t hear your laws, or we chose to do what is appropriate here. His desire for us is to for life to be lived to its fullest, not just to make do. We are called to live life in a way that Jesus did, valuing what He did, serving those He would serve, sacrificing things we want, and knowing that what He has in store for us is so much more fulfilling!
Look at the “commands”, look at the way God commissions us to live.
God’s law is all about caring for our neighbors, nor matter their race, their religion, their role in society, whether they are in LA or the OC or Cambodia. That is the bottom line at every one of these commandments.
It starts with the “law” of leaving part of what is ours provide for others. God asks us to give part of what is ours by right, to help those who have nothing, the poor and the stranger – or in other translations, the alien – literally those “not of our people” or “the one who doesn’t belong”. We are to care for them, to help provide for them – whether the government is involved… or not.
The list moves on to not cheating others, not deceiving, slandering, or exploiting them. Luther would add that this obligates us to care for them, and their property. Remember, sin is disobedience! It is walking away from God’s plan in our thoughts, words, or deed – and that includes what we fail to think, fail to say, and fail to do. Again – God’s desire isn’t just about not harming them, but caring about them, even as God cares for us. God’s love in action, through us.
We see this as well in not mocking or cursing the deaf, or tripping up the blind – whether they are deaf and blind physically – or spiritually. Our actions should be that which help – and comfort and guide those, not give them reason to hate us.
Caring for them goes to the extent of our not allowing resentment to build in our hearts! If we do, how can we love each other, or prove that love in the way we care for each other? We are called to carefully reprove those who sin, in such a way that reconciliation can occur. It should go without saying, but sin isn’t any more individual than grace and faith are – and it is a sign of our love for our neighbor that we would carefully try to deliver them from their sin – even as Christ has done for us….
This is the way of life God that has commissioned, this is the way of life that He desires us to live and treasure. It is easily summed up as the young man and Jesus talked about… loving your neighbor as yourself… and Jesus will remind the young teacher – that our neighbor is simply the one in need…
What we’ve got to remember He’s Yhwh
That is what God has commissioned our lives to be – lives invested in each other, and in those who are broken in this world, that our love for them would bring healing and hope – even as we are found in Christ – and are finding healing there for our sin-caused wounds.
Which would be a struggle, an incredible burden except for one thing. The nature and character of God. You see, He will not give us a burden we can’t carry, In the midst of this passage, we are reminded constantly of who He is, for that very purpose!
I chose the NJB translation for that reason this morning for our reading. I’ve mentioned it before – when the Bible spells our LORD in all capitals – it is not the word for Lord or Master or King in scripture. In fact, it’s somewhat the opposite – it’s God’s personal name… Yahweh/Jehovah. Translated it is “I AM” and it reminds us of God’s power but even more, His presence in our lives. For He “is” and that means He is here.. with us.
Knowing that is the key to understanding all of the passages of scripture where God lays out how our lives are to be lived. Nine times in this passage, God reminds us of Who He is, not with titles that we see in Scripture – like, “God of heaven’s armies” or God on High, but rather His name. Reminding us of what He desires most – for us to so trust in Him that we call on His name – that we realize that He is our God! He is with us.
This is what the cross is all about! It isn’t just about forgiving our sins, though indeed that is where they were paid for. It’s about getting rid of the things that stand in the way of our calling on His name, Jesus living the way He did, being crucified and raised from the dead – it’s all about His restoring us to the Father, sharing with us their glory, as their love envelopes all of us.
Which is why this way God commissions us to live is not about rules and obligations, as much as it is the natural outcome of our relationship with Him. This relationship, as we walk with Him, as we realize He is our God, results in a change in us, as we begin to love as He does. Our priorities change, not by our strength or character, but by living in His presence and knowing His mercy.
That is why I said this list is not a burden, The more we dwell in Him, the more we are conscious of the fact that He is Yhwh, the more we are sure that He is here, the more we find ourselves changed – the more we find out that we begin to live in this way.
For we find, in His presence, we dwell in His peace…a peace beyond all comprehension, for He guards as a great treasure, our hearts and minds.
AMEN!
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