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I’m Not Sure Who Needs God’s Mercy and Peace more..
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to the Cross
“So I said, “My endurance has expired; I have lost all hope of deliverance from the LORD.”” (Lamentations 3:18, NET)
“For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help.” (Hebrews 4:15–16, NET)
“Listen to my appeal for mercy! Deliver me, as you promised.” (Psalm 119:170, NET)
985 The day you no longer strive to draw others closer to God—since you ought to be a burning coal all the time—you will become a contemptible little piece of charcoal, or a little heap of ashes to be scattered by the slightest puff of wind.
Back when I served as a prison chaplain, I had the incredible joy of seeing men who realized the depth of their sin, who had the Holy Spirit cut it away, circumcising their heart, just as the Apostle Paul describes in Colossians 2, the same experience that Luke describes in Acts .2:37. There is no doubt in that moment where they realized the depth of their sin, as the trauma they brough on themselves shattered them, that they were in need of God’s mercy and peace.
And there He came to them.
There is a strong part of me praying that the young man who took a life this week is able to see Jesus coming to help him. I am praying he experiences the mercy and love of God, and in that experience finds peace.
And yet, he’s not the only one in need of such peace. From the people who rejoice in his actions, to those who who want to strike back and anger — we all need it to. We all need to experience the mercy and love found in Jesus. (an example – a minister who rejoice in “blocking people” because they obviously need Jesus, seems to be in as much need of God’s love, mercy and peace as those he would deny it to.
Here is the bottom line, we are all hurting, we are all damaged by our sin, the sins of our family and community, and the weight of the sins of the world. In that pain and confusion we strike our, say things that don’t make sense in reality, but we are going by the rumors and gossip based on things taken our of context that has prevailed on both sides. (Example – politicians on both sides stating the other sides is 100% responsible for the environment that lead to Kirk’s death. I don’t know what the ratio is – but it is because of the caustic environment the man grew up in, then the sin of all is responsible.)
I even falter, resonating with Jeremiah’s words that my endurance has expired. I find myself overwhelmed at the hatred being spewed out by both sides, and I want to judge both sides, respond prophetically to both sides, to show them their own double standards that lead them to judge their perceived opponents, rather than encouraging them towards Jesus. Several times in the last few days, as I look at the responses to the shotting and I understand Jeremiah’s lament, and I fear I am becoming that piece of charcoal – burnet out by people refusing grace for one, and therefore denying its existence, even for them. WHat good is my voice against such a storm? How can I convince fellow believers never mind unbeleivers, that God’s love and mercy can be found even here–in these dark days.That Jesus is here… ready to forgive, to heal, to reconcile us to the Father, as one family..
The Jesus that would come to all of us. The Jesus whom embraced the crowds cry for his crucifixion, by dying to free them from sin.
He knows our pain, He’s lived through it, He’s seen the weight of sin try to crush us all – not just “them.”
Let’s not cry out for a man’s death, but cry out to God instead that he come to know mercy. And cry out our nation comes to know it as well.
.Escrivá, Josemaría. The Forge (p. 204). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Freedom, Liberty, and your Rights –
Thoughts which carry me, even drag me to Jesus and the Cross
“When any of you has a legal dispute with another, does he dare go to court before the unrighteous rather than before the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you not competent to settle trivial suits? Do you not know that we will judge angels? Why not ordinary matters! So if you have ordinary lawsuits, do you appoint as judges those who have no standing in the church?I say this to your shame! Is there no one among you wise enough to settle disputes between fellow Christians?” (1 Corinthians 6:1–5, NET)
Francis told them: “When you pray, say “Our Father” and “We adore you, O Christ, in all your churches throughout the whole world, and we bless you, for by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.”
To any human who bothers to think a bit, it should be evident that there is in our society no such thing as absolute freedom—for only God is free!
It is inherent in creaturehood that its freedom must be limited by the will of the Creator and the nature of the thing created. Freedom is liberty within bounds, liberty to obey holy laws, liberty to keep the commandments of Christ, to serve mankind, to develop to the full all the latent possibilities within our redeemed natures. True Christian liberty never sets us free to indulge our lusts or to follow our fallen impulses
Tozer’s words about freedom seem so appropriate today, though written decades past. He smacks down the illusion of idols named freedom and liberty. For they are not absolute, they are not all powerful, and they aren’t all merciful… for they have a cost that is reminiscent of slavery….unless…
It has been redeemed by the one who saves us, that He is allowed to put the limits on our freedom, limits which recognize His role as our God, and the limits He placed on Christ’s freedom, which was given the boundaries of what best cared and provided for us.
Tozer said “mankind,” but lets simplify it – our children, our parents, our parents, friends, co-workers and neighbors. Our liberty must be in tune with how we love those around us, those who need us to sacrifice for their well-being. whether the need is physical, psychological or spiritual.
That is what Paul us getting at with his comments on lawsuits–wisdom is required because God’s justice is different than man’s. It is based in mercy, love and loyalty– not just what is our “right” or allows us to maintain our liberty, above our community.
This is the truest freedom.. that found in our relationships…the freedom to be loved and to love.
Pasquale, G., ed. (2011). Day by Day with Saint Francis: 365 Meditations (p. 192). New City Press.
Tozer, A. W., & Smith, G. B. (2008). Mornings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings. Moody Publishers.
God will not forget….and why that is good!!!
Thoughts that carry this broken pastor to Jesus, and to the cross…
“In spite of this, however, when they are in the land of their enemies I will not reject them and abhor them to make a complete end of them, to break my covenant with them, for I am the LORD their God. I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out from the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the LORD.’ ”” (Leviticus 26:44–45, NET)
581 How humbly and simply the evangelists relate incidents that show up the weak and wavering faith of the Apostles! This is to keep you and me from giving up the hope of some day achieving the strong and unshakeable faith that those same Apostle s had later.
They were the chosen ones, the holy nation of Israel, and yet they turned their back on God and all He provided for them! They worshipped false gods, ones that promised wealth, power, sexual satisfaction–they chose the brokenness of idolatry, and all its false promises.
They are taken into bondage, the direct cause of their sin, and one would imaging God would write them off, and leave them to deal with the consequences of their actions, telling them that He and all the prophets “told you so!”
Leviticus, of all books, the book written as a manual for priests, tells of a God who is not like that, this is the God that doesn’t forget His promises, Hlove and devotion to His family, His people. This book designed to ensure doctrinal integrity and proper worship gives a picture of loyalty and faithfulness to a promise to them. As it refers to the rescue from Egypt it infers that God will rescue them from their captivity, again.
As He will rescue the Apostles,
and us.
That is the reason we see Thomas’ doubt, and James and John’s competitive temper, and Peter’s rash, unfiltered nature. It’s the reason Paul will share his despair in Romans 7, and His inability to deal with physical limitations in his letter to the holy, broken-yet-healing people in Corinth.
SO we will know this part of the nature of God, the one who desires to be our God, our Protector and Healer. So we will begin to understand wonderful words like mercy, grace, redemption, restoration…
SO we will know hope and that our faith will be based in the faithfulness of our Lord.
The one who remember us, and went to the cross… for us…
Rejoice my friends, and find rest in the promises
——–
Escrivá, Josemaría. The Way (p. 124). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
How to Not Become a Legalist…
Thoughts which carry this broken pastor to Jesus, and to The Cross
“‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, and they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”” (Matthew 15:8–9, NET)
“My child, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for they will provide a long and full life, and they will add well-being to you.” (Proverbs 3:1–2, NET)
Indeed, in this great and awesome mystery of the cross, the charisms of graces, the merits of virtue, and the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge are concealed in such profound depths as to be hidden from the wise and the prudent of this world. But it is revealed in such fullness to the little one of Christ, that in his whole life he followed nothing except the footsteps of the cross, he tasted nothing except the sweetness of the cross, and he preached nothing except the glory of the cross. In the beginning of his conversion he could truly say with the Apostle: Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ [Gal 6:14].
“Belief is always consequent upon the encounter with the Source of the grace of faith. Therefore Christians do not worship because they believe. They believe because the One in whose gift faith lies is regularly met in the act of communal worship—not because the assembly conjures up God, but because the initiative lies with the God who has promised to be there always.
As I read the quote from Matthew, my heart and mind wanted to weaponise it, it pointed out those I encounter who have created “laws of men” regarding the Liturgy, or regarding the “viability” of small churches, or any of a thousand other pet peeves I would outlaw.
And then it hit me, I was creating my own set of laws. I was as guilty as those I judge! (I might justify myself – but even so…) I know I have this ability, it is part of my make-up, part of my humanity, part of my personal warping of justice and righteousness. As I realize that, it sucks out of me some of the harsh judgment and wrath I want to spill out.
I want to focus, as Proverbs advises, on the commandments of God, to not forget what God teaches us, to treasure (the root word of keep) the commandments, and the relationship defined by the Covenant God has made with us.
But I don’t alway do that – and I have to try… but how?
Francis provides the simplistic attitude, to focus on the cross, to walk towards it, to savor it as we would a good meal, to be so enraptured by the cross, that nothing else, I realize, is worth my time – save connecting others to it.
It is at that cross that I encounter my Jesus, that I start to experience His love in all its vast dimension-less measure. It is there in the cross I find hope, I find a reason to have faith and depend on God, it is there I find the healing from the brokenness that dominates my life.
It is there I find the grace to deal with other broken Pharisees, Saducees, God-deniers, and unbelievers.
It is there that I encounter the God whom I will worship – and then learn to more about the God who loves me enough to invade my brokenness, and carry me to the cross, to rise with Him…
God is with us, here at the Cross, this is where we learn to live and worship, and know the Lord who loves us!
Pasquale, G., ed. (2011). Day by Day with Saint Francis: 365 Meditations (p. 332). New City Press.
Fagerberg, D. W. (2019). Liturgical Mysticism (p. 7). Emmaus Academic.
God’s Plan! Revealed and Finally Realized! The Plan to give us unrestricted access! A sermon on Heb 4:14-16
God’s Plan! Revealed and Finally Realized!
The Plan to give us unrestricted access
Heb 4:14-16
† I.H.S. †
May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ assure you that you are welcome before the very throne of God, even when you are in need of forgiveness!
Access
The young man swept an ID card at the Pepperdine Senior faculty/administration parking lot gate in front of me. He got out of the car, and pried open the control box, and just as he was about to hit the manual overrise to open the gate, I asked him what he was doing.
He claimed he worked for the Director of University Card Services, and he was checking on the box to see if it was functioning. He said he did this all the time, and was allowed to park in the parking lot.
I asked him what the name of the Director was, and he looked at a business card and said, Dustin Parker.
Of course at that point, our public safety sergeant Mick showed up, and said,, “hey Dustin…..how are you doing?”
The look on the young man’s face was precious…
Not only was he not granted access to that parking lot that day, he would never need to access that parking lot or any other parking lot for the rest of the year, as his ability to have a car on campus was suspended.
At the same campus, the card services manager, who was responsible for all the computers in food services, was granted access to the senior faculty, administrators dining room. It was a fun place to eat, as some of the discussions were incredibly interesting. Not to mention the food was incredible, and not expensive! I didn’t deserve the access, but accepted the gift and the blessing of it being given—by the one who could grant it!
Restricted Access
When access is restricted, many of us begin to assume it is because of injustice. We, or someone we love, can’t get into the right university, because we don’t have the right connections, or the right money. We can’t get a foothold in the career we want because of some demographic reason, We can’t get the car we want, or the house, because we don’t economically qualify for it, or we can’t get the best medical care, because we don’t have the right insurance.
Well – at least in that instance we can talk to Helena…
Or perhaps we don’t like that others have easy access to what we fought so hard to get, because they do have some connection!
This includes access to heaven—we often think we deserve it because we are good, or because we did something special, or because we were born into the right family, or the right place and time.
Or we believe we don’t belong in heaven, if we look at those same works, those same connections, those same points of origin, we know we don’t belong, that we belong in a different place.
It was no different in the Old Testament, as the Tabernacle and then the Temple were commissioned, when people weren’t satisfied that only on family, in one clan were allowed to enter the Temple, and only one person in that clan could enter the Holy of Holies, the place where grace was made known—between the wings of the cherubim, where the blood would be poured out….and that only once a year.
Yet others would try to take that role, including King Saul, and so many others…and in doing so, they denied themselves the very grace they originally sought.
Their access to heaven is much the same as the young man’s access to the admin/faculty lot – there wasn’t any. And the more we try to get access by our own right, the more trouble we get ourselves into…the more we are tempted to sin, especially to find idols, or make ourselves into an idol. We often know when we’ve done that, when we want to judge and condemn others.
Unrestricted Access
There is much more at stake here, than having to park in the gym parking lot and climb 268 steps straight to get to the bottom level of the campus classrooms! We needed someone to get into, not just the holy place in the temple, nor the holy of holies, but to get to the throne of grace the place where sin is completely nullified where we are welcomed, and receive the mercy, the grace and help which we need.
That is where the high priest comes in, in this case, Jesus, our perfect high priest. For he not only enters heaven, the Greek word there in reminiscent of a penetrating blast that a swat team would use to enter a building….
The kind of thing that happened at Christ’s death, when as He died on the cross the foot think veil dividing the holy of holies from the holy place. He penetrated that barrier for us, and did the same thing for heaven, enabling us to enter through the veil that once blocked people from accessing the throne of grace.
Going back to the idea of access…and the Executive Admin and Senior Faculty Dining room for a moment. You didn’t go there, unless you were… well hungry. And hunger was satisfied, more than that! Likewise, going into the Holy of Holies was meaningless, unless the mission was to see people forgiven, their relationship with God, and with each other restored as they were redeemed. It is the same concept in Hebrews, hear it again,
“16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
We aren’t perfect before when we are drawn to Christ – that is His work – that is why he opened the route in to the throne. It is there we find the access to the healing we need the reconciliation, and the transformation that is repentance.
And then we are welcome there forever, but it is there, here in the presence of God that we receive the incredible mercy and grace. Because of Jesus, and His death and resurrection, we shall always have unrestricted access to the glory of God…
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.
What if I am “one of THEM?”
Thoughts which drive me to Jesus, and to the cross…
One of the men there was Caiaphas, the high priest that year. He said, “You people know nothing! 50 You don’t realize that it is better for one man to die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.”
51 Caiaphas did not think of this himself. As high priest that year, he was really prophesying that Jesus would die for their nation 52 and for God’s scattered children to bring them all together and make them one.
53 That day they started planning to kill Jesus. 54 So Jesus no longer traveled openly among the people. He left there and went to a place near the desert, to a town called Ephraim and stayed there with his followers. John 11:49-54 NCV
Let’s not deceive ourselves: in our life we will find vigor and victory and depression and defeat. This has always been true of the earthly pilgrimage of Christians, even of those we venerate on the altars. Don’t you remember Peter, Augustine, Francis? I have never liked biographies of saints which naïvely—but also with a lack of sound doctrine—present their deeds as if they had been confirmed in grace from birth. No. The true life stories of Christian heroes resemble our own experience: they fought and won; they fought and lost. And then, repentant, they returned to the fray.
We should not be surprised to find ourselves defeated relatively often, usually or even always in things of little importance which we tend to take seriously. If we love God and are humble, if we persevere relentlessly in our struggle, the defeats will never be very important. There will also be abundant victories which bring joy to God’s eyes. There is no such thing as failure if you act with a right intention, wanting to fulfill God’s will and counting always on his grace and your own nothingness.
There’s One, in feebleness extreme,
That can a helpless worm redeem;
And now I put my trust in Him,
Nor shall my trust be vain.
There is no doubt the high priest spoke for God as he prophesied about the necessity of Christ’s death. THere is also no doubt that he didn’t realize the importance and power in the words he said about the sacrifice. He would be one of those that called for and encouraged the people to cry our “Crucify Him!”
A religious leader doing something that was so evil, while at the same time speaking for God.
It boggles my mind, to consider the paradox that while Caiaphas was doing something so holy, he was contemplating evil, along with most of the priests and religious leaders. I have to think this through and realize that we haven’t changed that much these days. There are still religious leaders that are willing to sacrifice others, there are still those, who get to speak for Jesus, and do, while not living a life reflective of what they preach.
The i contemplate this the more names and faces come to mind until I am left with only one image, the one I see in the mirror every morning. Could I be a modern Caiaphas? Could I have been one of those crying out to crucify Jesus? I tell you, the gospel reading my devotions really hit me hard this morning….
for I know I have spoken for God, and yet…I struggle with sin, and I struggle with the same kind of attitude that put Jesus on the cross.
I know this is why Jesus came, and why Christ died…and yet, as Paul described in Romans 7, this is a wretched life at times.
As I read the res of the materials I used for my devotions, on sites my favorite writer/pastor priest was cited in another book, So I went to the source and saw the words of St. Josemaria above, the words about saints not being perfect either, The words of “counting always on His grace and your own nothingness ” This has to be my focus to let the sin that Chirst died to remove from my heart and soul. God did this for the saints that lived before me, and hopefully, I can help the next generation know this as well.
Luther and Escriva both, talk about our faith, our dependence on Jesus and the promises of His redeeming us and making us His own are so critical. Sure we will fight temptations and sin and demonic forces pulling us from God, but He will pick us up, the Spirit will draw us back to the cross, to see His love ofr us, to receive His healing, That is the victory that erases the defeats, that is the hope that overwhelms the despair, that is the love of God for us….His own. AMEN!
Luther, Martin, and John Hunt. The Spiritual Songs of Martin Luther: From the German. Translated by Thomas Clark, Hamilton, Adams, and Co., 1853, p. 159.
Escrivá, Josemaría. Christ is Passing By . Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition. #76
The Only Way to Start the Year….
Thoughts which bring me to Jesus, and to The Cross
The LORD said to Moses, 27 “The Day of Cleansing will be on the tenth day of the seventh month. There will be a holy meeting, and you will deny yourselves and bring an offering made by fire to the LORD. 28 Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Cleansing. On that day the priests will go before the LORD and perform the acts to make you clean from sin so you will belong to the LORD.
29 “Anyone who refuses to give up food on this day must be cut off from the people. 30 If anyone works on this day, I will destroy that person from among the people. 31 You must not do any work at all; this law will continue for people from now on wherever you live. 32 It will be a special day of rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. Lev 23:26-32 NCV
Happy is the person whom the LORD does not consider guilty and in whom there is nothing false. 3 When I kept things to myself, I felt weak deep inside me. I moaned all day long. 4 Day and night you punished me. My strength was gone as in the summer heat.
Selah
5 Then I confessed my sins to you and didn’t hide my guilt. I said, “I will confess my sins to the LORD,” and you forgave my guilt. Ps. 32:2-5 NCV
36 Finally, it was very foolish of our opponents to write that men who are under eternal wrath merit the forgiveness of sins by an elicited act of love, since it is impossible to love God unless faith has first accepted the forgiveness of sins.
All that exterior activity is a waste if tune, if you lack love. It’s like sewing with a needle and no thread.
What a pity if in the end you had carried out “your” apostolate (mission) and not “His” apostolate.
Every three or four years, I choose a translation to read through that was designed for younger or simpler readers. What benefit usually comes is when familiar “church” words are replaced with words that describe what is actually going on. In this case, the “Day of Atonement” is replaced with the “Day of Cleansing.” The day when all sin is erased, a day of great joy, a day that means, in the truest sense of the word–freedom.
In that moment, in the Mosaic period of the Covenant, all the people of God (Israel AND the foreigners that dwelled with them) could rejoice. Every sin, every bit of its buddies shame and guilt was removed from the people. It was a special day of rest, not because of the hard work prior to it, but because of the great blessing of God’s mercy.
It was, and is today, a life changer. And it should be prepared for with eagerness, for great joy awaits. And then, it should be followed with restful, joyous contemplation, for the weight that has been removed is beyond description.
The cost and consequence of all sin, the incredible burden of shame, the crushing power of guilt…is gone.
And we are free to love–and that love gives meaning and depth to everything we do. And it is good to take an hour, a day, a week, even a year, contemplating our forgiveness, found in our relationship with Jesus.
In these days, in the New Covenant, we have to be careful not to dismiss the “Day of Cleansing.” It is not a yearly occurrence, but one that happens as the people of God gather. as they minister to each other, and when the pastor/priest tells people. “you are forgiven in Jesus’ name.”
If we are to begin a new year correctly, it needs to start with that cleansing and rest. It needs to start with love, and that love requires the freedom that cleansing/absolution/mercy brings to the table.
So find times to think about what you’ve done, how God has healed the brokenness, and how you are made whole. DO this often, and see what God has freed you to do, next.
Godspeed, and God’s peace
Phillip Melanchthon, “The APology of the Augsburg COnfession: Article IV Justification'” Theodore G. Tappert, ed., The Book of Concord: the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press, 1959), 112.
Josemaria Escriva, The Way. no. 967
The Greatest Miracle! (If I only remember to think of it!)
Photo by Ric Rodrigues on Pexels.com
Thoughts which draw me to Jesus, and to His cross
Put this altar outside the curtain which hangs in front of the Covenant Box. That is the place where I will meet you. Exodus 30:6 GNT
Contemplation is that wisdom which makes man the friend of God, a thing which Aristotle thought to be impossible. For how, he said, can a man be God’s friend? Friendship implies equality. That is precisely the message of the Gospel:
But you may argue that the statement of Paul is too awful, when he says, whosoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily, eats and drinks judgment unto himself, and is guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. Dear friend, you must not consider yourself so much from the standpoint of worthiness or unworthiness of your person as from that of your need, which makes the grace of Christ necessary. If you recognize and feel your need, you have the requisite worthiness and preparation.
It is not hard to see myself as a servant, a slave of God. And I resonate with Paul, as he refers to himself as a doulas – a fully owned slave. Not that I am a particularly good one, I am stubborn, and I don’t follow directions all that well. But God can use us, often despite our thoughts and actions.
That is amazing…
But Merton’s words this morning, I know they are based in scripture (John 15:15), they are still tough for me to work through. A “friend of God?”, even contemplating on that leaves me shaking my head for a while. My mind comes up with 1000 reasons Jesus wouldn’t befriend me. He has to love me, but “friends”? That seems too much, too overwhelming!
Yet that is what God wanted from the beginning, as He walked through the garden with Adam and Eve. That’s what the meetup with God was about at the Ark of the Covenant, and the wonder of the mercy-seat, where blood would cover the sins of Israel.
All done so we could know God is with us, as a friend. That is what Job sought as well,
I want someone to plead with God for me, as one pleads for a friend. Job 16:21 GNT
And as it would be seen at the Ark of the Covenant, it would really be seen at the cross. As Jesus would tell the Father to forgive us..
He pleaded for His friends would be forgiven, to be restored to Him.
It is not a bad thing we struggle with this idea, though. That is where Luther’s quote come into play. We need to know Jesus makes this friendship possible! Even as we realize our sins have damaged it, for the moment. We can’t assume we deserve it. We know better. But we can rejoice in His actions to make it real, to make it true.
But He does all this, so we can be friends.
Amazing! This is the greatest miracle in all of scripture.
But Merton was right, we need to contemplate; we need to think through and work through and struggle with this thought. But we need to – it is true.
Thomas Merton, The New Man (London; New York: Burns & Oates, 1976), 12.
Martin Luther and John Sander, Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year (Rock Island, IL: Augustana Book Concern, 1915), 400–401.
The “Secret” to Real, Life-changing Worship
You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. 14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. Col 2:13–14. NLT2
25 Please, LORD, please save us. Please, LORD, please give us success. 26 Bless the one who comes in the name of the LORD. We bless you from the house of the LORD. 27 The LORD is God, shining upon us. Take the sacrifice and bind it with cords on the altar. 28 You are my God, and I will praise you! You are my God, and I will exalt you! Psalm 118:25-28 (NLT2)
What should happen in genuine conversion? What should a man or woman feel in the transaction of the new birth?
There ought to be that real and genuine cry of pain. That is why I do not like the kind of evangelism that tries to invite people into the fellowship of God by signing a card.
There should be a birth from above and within. There should be the terror of seeing ourselves in violent contrast to the holy, holy, holy God. Unless we come into this place of conviction and pain, I am not sure how deep and real our repentance will ever be.
First of all, it is true that not only should Christians regard and recognize as sin the actual violation of God’s commandments in their deeds, but they should also perceive and recognize that the horrible, dreadful, inherited disease corrupting their entire nature is above all actual sin and indeed is the “chief sin.” [6] It is the root and fountainhead of all actual sins.
Paul exhorts us to take for granted that we have already received as a pure gift in baptism all that we need in order to attain salvation by virtue of Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection. We have only to enter by faith into the kingdom that has already been established in the depth of our spirit and take possession of it. Thus, if we truly give ourselves to God in faith and open our minds and hearts to him, we may begin to find him in the silence of the prayer of faith very quickly
I just received several ads for several events on worship. Some of these were invites from friends, somewhere corporate ads for conferences, with nationally renowned speakers. Each was interesting, and if it wasn’t for working on my dissertation, I would probably attend one or two of these events, probably the ones that are more small group dialogue based, and see worship as more than singing.
As I was reading my devotional readings this morning, I was struck by an old thought.
The power of worship is not based on the music, or how a liturgy is delivered.
The power of worship is a reaction to the power of God, which delivers us from the bondage of sin!
The more we feel the pain caused by our sin, and the “violent contrast to the holy, holy, holy God, the more His merciful healing touch means to us. The more that means to us, the more worship is generated in our soul. This is the point of Tozer, but it is also seen in the quote from the Lutheran Confessions, seen in blue. There we see the incredible debilitating power of original sin, for in that would all other sins are created.
Sin is brutal, and though we know in our minds the cause and the cure, to deal with it is hard. It is painful, and to be honest, we would rather treat the guilt and shame as if it were grief. We will deny we sinned, or that it is as brutally painful as it is. We will try to negotiate or bargain away the pain it causes. We will get angry, at God, at others, and finally, honestly, at ourselves. Our inability to do anything about it can cause severe depression, and ultimately, we have to options to accept.
That we are sinners, so we might as well enjoy it.
Or that God loves us so passionately, so completely, so intimately that He took on that sin, removed it, and brings us into His Kingdom.
All that weight of guilt and shame is gone. The wounds of our sin and the world’s unrighteousness – healed completely! What was broken in our lives is restored completely! Better than the original! What was corruptible is incorruptible, what was mortal, now is immortal!
This is the masterpiece God has made of our lives,
An amazing masterpiece.
Looking in the mirror, seeing our lives as Jesus does, for this is the joy He looked forward to as He died for you an me… is amazing.
It is worthy of all our thanks, and all our praise.
So the secret to powerful, pure worship… is found when we see ourselves as wretches, but realize God saves wretches like us….and so we cry out to Him.
No other sophisticated, choreographed, orchestration compares to knowing the God who loves us is here.
Lord, help us cry out to You, for only you can heal our sin caused wounds. Only You can restore our brokenness. Only Your mercy and love can change us. Help us see Your hand at work… and then, Father, receive our praise and thanks! AMEN!
A. W. Tozer, Tozer for the Christian Leader (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2015).
“Article 1: Concerning Original Sin. The Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord, Robert Kolb, Timothy J. Wengert, and Charles P. Arand, The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2000), 533.
Thomas Keating, The Daily Reader for Contemplative Living: Excerpts from the Works of Father Thomas Keating, O.C.S.O., Sacred Scripture, and Other Spiritual Writings, ed. S. Stephanie Iachetta (New York; London; New Delhi; Sydney: Bloomsbury, 2009), 231.
