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The Key to Effectiveness and Meaning in Work and Life.
Devotional Thought of the Day:
1 If I speak with the eloquence of men and of angels, but have no love, I become no more than blaring brass or crashing cymbal. If I have the gift of foretelling the future and hold in my mind not only all human knowledge but the very secrets of God, and if I also have that absolute faith which can move mountains, but have no love, I amount to nothing at all. If I dispose of all that I possess, yes, even if I give my own body to be burned, but have no love, I achieve precisely nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1 (Phillips NT)
31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 (NLT)
280 If you lose the supernatural meaning of your life, your charity will be philanthropy; your purity, decency; your mortification, stupidity; your discipline, a lash; and all your works, fruitless. (1)
Every so often I find my e-mail and Twitter filled with advertisements or advice for being effective, for improving your impact, Ways to ensure you have meaning in what you do. Go through this program, master these five trips, follow your passion, it seems like everyone has somewhere between three and twelve things to become successful in life.
Josemaria Escriva encourages us to one thing – a simple thing. To enjoy God, to be set apart to Him, to adore Him as you realize that He cares for you, that He loves you. Without it, all of our other actions, our sacrifices, our suffering, our prayers and worship and dedication to orthodoxy, is worthless.
To be blunt, if we live apart from the love of God, if we ignore his presence, we could be Mother Theresa, Billy Graham, Martin Luther, John Calvin and St Augustine rolled into one, and we would have wasted our lives.
Yeah – living supernaturally, living dependent on God, having an intimate relationship with God is that important.
Ultimately, without it, nothing else matters, nothing else is worth it. With it, everything becomes an incredible blessing.
This is why baptism matters because God makes you His own as He baptizes you. That is why the Eucharist, Communion, the Lord’s Supper should be CELEBRATED, for the feast is God and man, together. The same can be said for our times talking to God, hearing His voice, meditating on His word and simply resting, confident and secure in His presence.
That is where the peace comes from that we need to know if we are to survive the grind of life. It is where our healing comes into play, where lives are reconciled, where we find that we are God’s work of art.
It is where we find that reality isn’t based on our emotion or our logic, but on His love and what He reveals to us because of that love.
St Paul is clear to the church in Corinth of this very same point – that without the love of God, even it doesn’t matter what we do, we have no value, no worth. But knowing that love? It transforms us and causes us to do that which is amazing, we can bring God glory.
So don’t set aside your time with Him, enjoy it, savor it, relax and have fun with your Father. Everything else will then fall into place.
Godspeed!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 745-746). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
A Challenge to Christian Podcasters/Bloggers/Tweeters
Discussion Thought of the Day:
8 Nothing is as wonderful as knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have given up everything else and count it all as garbage. All I want is Christ 9 and to know that I belong to him. I could not make myself acceptable to God by obeying the Law of Moses. God accepted me simply because of my faith in Christ. 10 All I want is to know Christ and the power that raised him to life. I want to suffer and die as he did, 11 so that somehow I also may be raised to life. Philippians 3:8-11 (CEV)
11 1. Hence we reject and deem it as false and detrimental when men teach that the Gospel, strictly speaking, is a proclamation of conviction and reproof and not exclusively a proclamation of grace. Thereby the Gospel is again changed into a teaching of the law, the merit of Christ and the Holy Scriptures are obscured, Christians are robbed of their true comfort,….
32 You’ll never be a leader if you see others only as stepping-stones to get ahead. You’ll be a leader if you are ambitious for the salvation of all souls. You can’t live with your back turned on everyone; you have to be eager to make others happy.
This week before Holy Week has been incredibly thought provoking.
One of the reasons is the amount of death that has affected people I care for, not just because I am their pastor, but because God has joined us together.
The other reason is the constant bombardment of negative Christian podcasts, blogs, tweets and comments, especially from those within my own small section of Christianity.
Finally, the gulf between those two reasons, and the grief and concern it raises in me.
St. Paul’s words above stand in sharp contrast to what I read. His desire, to know Christ, to see the Holy Spirit at work, revealing, transforming, and drawing people to Christ, even as He was drawn to Christ.
Certainly, in the face of death, that is all that matters. to know and be known.
Certainly, in the face of our sin, and the injustice and unrighteousness of the world, to know Jesus is what gives us hope.
Certainly, as we encounter the world, it is what makes the difference between anxiety and peace.
So why don’t our words reflect this hope? Why do the words posted by those in the church focus more on topics that are condescending and divisive? Do we somehow feel we aren’t good Christians unless we step on others, crushing their beliefs, rather than gently reforming them? That we have to humiliate those not like us, mock them, spit on them and nail them to Christ’s cross?
Don’t we realize if we lift Him up in our praises, that He will draw all men to Himself?
We need to grow in desire to see all men saved, but that answer to that isn’t found primarily in better understanding of theology, where though accurate, the gospel is never mentioned. It isn’t in some better use of some program or initiative.
it is at the foot of the cross, where broken sinners find healing, and joy and peace….and forgiveness, and the hope of being quickened to life with God, for ever.
As Jesus glory, the very love of God, welcomes us home and overwhelmed by joy, we find a desire for everyone to join us, with Him.
Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 479). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.
Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 235-238). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
You Can’t Dismiss the Supernatural! For It Is Our Life!
Devotional Thought of the Day:
27 God’s plan is to make known his secret to his people, this rich and glorious secret which he has for all peoples. And the secret is that Christ is in you, which means that you will share in the glory of God. Colossians 1:27 (TEV)
7 If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this p
recious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. 8 As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, 9 but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. 10 What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! 2 Corinthians 4:7-10 (MSG)
922 The apostolate—which is a sure sign of spiritual life—means being constantly on the lookout so as to supernaturalise each detail of the day, whether big or small, by putting the love of God into everything one does. (1)
What would happen, if we considered every situation we find ourselves in, a supernatural one?
What would happen if we treated the little things in life, like driving a car, or taking out the trash, or even talking to a 3 or 4 year-old, as a precious event. What would happen if we knew that second was a miraculous gift of God? What if we treated every moment, every conversation as if it was occurring in church? What if we realized that the glory of God is being revealed all around us, with every breath, every exhale, every heartbeat?
These questions may seem rhetorical, but they are not.
They may cause a bit of guilt or shame, but they shouldn’t.
This is our reality that God has taken up residence in us, that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. In our very bodies is manifest the love and presence an glory of God.
it may even be as improbable as the idea that Solomon’s temple, or a tent in the wilderness could contain the glory of God.
But His glory dwells in a people claimed as His, In people He has cleansed, that He has poured His Spirit into, that His glory would be seen by the world. That those who are His, could know His mercy, that those who don’t, would see His glory, and come to know Him.
This isn’t poetry or some high-level theology. it is not just some metaphysical thought, or something that we only meditate upon when the mood hit; bu has no connection to our daily life
It is our life, a supernatural life, a miraculous life, lived in the glory of God. Every moment, even those that are the most common. Even the things which try to crush us, or defeat us. Even those moments where we grieve, or mourn, or are depressed, He is there. Seek His presence, His comfort, His peace… and share it with those around you.
May this reality be realized you more and more… this day.
AMEN.
AMEN!
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 3249-3251). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Can You Hear…no… Can you Understand Me Now?
Devotional/Discussion Thought of the Day:
9 It’s the same for you. If you speak to people in words they don’t understand, how will they know what you are saying? You might as well be talking into empty space. 10 There are many different languages in the world, and every language has meaning. 11 But if I don’t understand a language, I will be a foreigner to someone who speaks it, and the one who speaks it will be a foreigner to me. 12 And the same is true for you. Since you are so eager to have the special abilities the Spirit gives, seek those that will strengthen the whole church. 1 Corinthians 14:9-12 (NLT)
19 Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ. 20 When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law. 21 When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ. 22 When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. 1 Corinthians 9:19-22 (NLT)
917 In modico fidelis!—faithful in little things. Your job, my son, is not just to save souls but to bring them to holiness, day after day, giving to each moment—even to apparently commonplace moments—the dynamic echo of eternity.
I need to apologize to you my readers. A few of you now have said my spelling or grammar errors have made it challenging to read my blog. I dismissed it for several reasons as to why it didn’t concern me. This blog started out as a synthesis of my own personal devotions, which a friend suggest I put out on a blog.
This weekend, as I preached on the second Bible passage quoted above, I started to think of this blog and my sermons. I was convicted, and realized that in, not paying attention to grammar and spelling, I wasn’t doing what Paul urges, being all things to all people, that I may win some.
I know this in terms of language, as Paul talks about in the first passage above. Thanks to a friend I have, over the last couple of years realized that language is more than just the words, it is what they describe. That a Bible translation or a sermon may seem to be in English, but is it in the English our people can understand clearly? Language dialects aren’t just found based on ethnic/cultural issues, but also in our vocation and environment. WIth all these complications, communicating is a challenge, but it is so needed!
Yes, we can use dictionaries, they could as well. We can try to understand what a word or phrase means by context, we can even rely on the Holy Spirit to “interpret” in their heart. However, the message of Christ is too important to let my own issues cause a fog to obscure the message.
Back to my confession, if I passively or actively choose to allow something to get in the way of the message being heard, then I have failed, indeed, I have sinned. And for that I shall seek God’s grace and mercy, and ask for yours as well. It’s time for me to be faithful in the little things, for the sake of the message being heard. I need to me faithful in this, so that you can hear the echo of eternity. I need to do this, so that these sermons and posts can be heard, so that as they reveal God’s love, you can understand it.
The message is too important for any of us to allow language or culture or tradition, choice of Bible translation, personal comfort or even spelling or grammar to get in the way of it being heard, of it being understood.
People need Christ Jesus, they need to understand the incredible love and loyalty He has for those people He has created to be His people. There is nothing in life that is more important than understanding God’s love for you.
That is why Paul wants us to be all things to all people, so that we might win some. It is not about being a chameleon, fitting in to these groups. It is about being close enough to them to know how they think, so that we can communicate God’s love to them, even as we love them!
May we all treat that message with the care it needs, that it may be heard.
(note to help me with this – I am now running all my blogs and sermons through grammerly, and proof reading them. Feel free to mention other corrections needed, or things needed to be explained better.)
Compelled to Share our Hope!
Compelled to Share our Hope
1 Corinthians 9:16-27
† IHS †
May the joy of knowing and understanding the love and mercy of God compel you to proclaim that love to a broken world.
Compelled?
As I read the second reading for this week, the one from 1 Corinthians, there is a phrase that convicted me.
I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t preach the Good News!
The word there in Greek for preach the gospel is not the word for what I am doing right now, in the middle of a church service. It is the word we get evangelism from, the idea of sharing the hope you have; because you know Christ.
What we are all are commissioned to do, it is the work of the people in church, to share the love of God, and His mercy, with everyone we meet.
I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t share why I have hope for I know Jesus Christ!
I have to admit, there are times where I don’t feel so compelled to share my hope.
There are times where giving people hope isn’t that much of a priority. Where we don’t care, as we go about our day, being driven by our tasks, by our needs, by our desires. We aren’t compelled to share our hope, the hope we have because we know Jesus.
When I heard this how terrible for me, what I don’t hear why it Is terrible when our hope isn’t shared. I think it is terrible because God is going to be up there, disappointed in us, because we didn’t obey and do what He has asked us to do. We’ve let Him down again, we’ve disobeyed, and we might even think we need to be punished. We are wrong when we think those things.
Or we might believe we are being punished because things aren’t going right.
That’s not it either, and I am going to try and explain how we are compelled, why it is terrible for us, when we overlook our hope and don’t share it.
Not of my initiative
In verse 17, Paul tells us that we aren’t alone in this, that he didn’t have any initiative for sharing His faith either. Doesn’t that sound a little strange, that Paul, the great missionary apostle, didn’t do what he did because he was such a mission-driven, natural born evangelist?
He wasn’t self-compelled, he had to be compelled. Being compelled means that Paul was passive, this task was given to him to accomplish, and the drive to accomplish it was external. He had no choice, no initiative yet he accomplished the task,….
Why?
You see the text, what does it say?
God has given me this sacred trust…..
God has put His faith in Paul to get this done….
Talk about a heavy load to bear, a heavy weight to carry. God trusted Paul to do this work, to be sent to people to show them the love of God. He was sent to give them hope! He’s one of those about whom Jesus spoke when He said,
“Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I send you.” John 20:21 (TEV)
So of Paul and the apostles, Jesus talks of being sent on the same mission, to have the same goal. That God gave Paul this sacred trust, even as we read a moment ago.
It doesn’t end there…for hear what Paul says to the church at Corinth, and to us,
## “You should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.”
It is what the love of Christ compels us to do, what the poured out blood of Christ compels us to do. This love, this knowing God compels us to tell people why we have hope because we know Jesus.
But God compelling us, God laying upon us this burden, isn’t His heavy-handed law coming down.
It is about the gospel, it is about knowing the joy that we have, in Christ, and as we realize this, we will desire, we’ll be compelled to share this incredible joy.
Escriva & Jeremiah 9:24
One of my favorite writers struck me like this passage questioning my desire to share my hope with a quote, which turned into yesterday’s blog. It’s a bit long, but the basic idea is that our ## prayers and focus should be on the mission. That we are to help people have the hope that we have. We strive to see God’s desire that all come into this relationship with Him.
if yes, then there is great joy in your life, as you see God working through you, as people hear about this hope we have in Christ.
If no, the answer wasn’t to get out of your pew and go do it anyway. The answer was to trust more in Jesus, to know His promises more, to understand what the Father wants to give us, this covenant relationship.
The promise is seen in the cross – as His body was given, and His blood was shed, to bring us into this relationship, even as our sins are forgiven. This promise teaches us to know that we have life with God, not just now, but now and forever!
We celebrate that every time we share in the Body and Blood of Christ, for Paul says each time we do, we proclaim His death, His death for us until He comes again.
We need to know that desire of God, to rejoice in understanding that this is the aim of God our Father.
All of the sin; all of the things you are ashamed of in your life; all of the things that breaks us down; that kills our spirit; the rebellion and selfishness that is nothing more than making an idol out of ourselves. It is killed off, the sin that blocks us from God, intercepted and the victory prize is Christ’s. We became His, when we were united in His death and His resurrection.
St. Josemaria went on to say,
If you possess joy, then you seek to give it to others!
You might even say, if you possess this joy, you are compelled to give it to other! That God has so shared with you His glory, that you have no other choice for God has given you this sacred trust. Just like Paul, the apostle.
That is the love of God that compels you, the more you experience it, the more you are changed, born, transformed, and the more you want to pass it on to others.
Even to the point where like Paul, you will be what people need you to be, you will be with them, that you might gain them for Christ.
For when one comes… the joy is beyond belief.
Jeremiah put it this way…
23 GOD’s Message: “Don’t let the wise brag of their wisdom. Don’t let heroes brag of their exploits. Don’t let the rich brag of their riches. 24 If you brag, brag of this and this only: That you understand and know me. I’m GOD, and I act in loyal love. I do what’s right and set things right and fair and delight in those who do the same things! Jeremiah 9:23-24 (MSG)
Rejoice in this, even to the point where you brag about it!
You understand and know God, the God whose love is yours, the God who sets things right, and you know and understand His faithfulness and His loyalty.
Who makes you His own!
When someone asks you why you have hope? Share His love with them,…..share His mercy with them, and invite them to know His peace!
AMEN!
Two Things Needed in Every Church, and in Every Person in Church
Devotional Thought of the Day:
19 My friends, if any of you wander away from the truth and another one brings you back again, 20 remember this: whoever turns a sinner back from the wrong way will save that sinner’s soul from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins. James 5:19-20 (TEV)
28 “Now, what do you think? There was once a man who had two sons. He went to the older one and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 ‘I don’t want to,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. 30 Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. ‘Yes, sir,’ he answered, but he did not go. 31 Which one of the two did what his father wanted?” “The older one,” they answered. So Jesus said to them, “I tell you: the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the Kingdom of God ahead of you. Matthew 21:28-31 (TEV)
909 You say that you want to be an apostle of Christ. I’m very glad to hear it. I pray that God may give you perseverance. Remember that from our mouths, from our thoughts, from our hearts, should issue only divine motives, of hunger for souls, of themes that lead us one way or another to God—or at least, that do not take us away from him. (1)
If I could give a gift to every pastor, to every seminarian, to every Sunday School Teacher, to every person struggling to make it to church on Sunday, it wouldn’t be more money, or more skill, or even more knowledge of doctrine. It wouldn’t be to give them a fun and happy church, where everyone’s problems are solved.
Two tiny, invisible things I would give them. Two things that are born from… well, I’ll get to that in a moment.
The two things are this. Desire to minister and Perseverance.
Paul talks about this desire to young Timothy, as part of the description of a bishop, a pastor. Someone who covets the role, who can’t tink of doing anything else, being anything else. I believe this is true for any role in the church as well. It’s not about the title, it is about the work.
The other thing is perseverance, To persevere through a learning curve (and to never forget you haven’t made it to the top) Perseverance with our own mistakes, even our feeling that we are beyond our own capabilities, perseverance fueled by a desire to realize that our work will save a sinners soul from death.
That is what we are about, whether it is the elder visiting the shut-in, the ladies preparing the elements for the Lord’s supper with great care, the Sunday School teacher, preparing hard, throwing everything into their ministry, and mostly praying harder than anything else.
For the desire, and the will that perseveres is not earthly, it is not common, It comes from the highest heaven, it is the transformation that God does in our lives. We are the son who says no to our Father, then cannot but help completing the task. We are compelled as St. Paul will tell young Timothy.
We desire and persevere against what is natural for us, because the grace of God is so overpowering.
That is why tax collector, a bunch of untrained fisherman, and a few others can change their world, even facing death as it happens. It is why those who have gone before us have done amazing things, witnessing the faithfulness of God. it is why a bread baker in a monastery can write one of the foremost books about spiritual life.
Desire and perseverance, two of the characteristics we see in Christ Jesus. That is where we get it from, an alien
Two things that come to us, as we abide in Christ Jesus…. and desire to see sins covered, and souls saved from death… and we cannot help but be driven to see our Father’s work done.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 3210-3214). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
You Won’t Ask? I will provide anyway!
You Won’t Ask? I will provide anyway!I
Isaiah 7:10-14
As you experience the grace of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, may you know the peace of the Babe, held in His mother’s Arms.
Can We Know Peace? Snoopy and the Red Baron & the real Story
As we look at the world, at Afghanistan, Syria, the Ukraine, as we hear of more shootings, and protests here in America, as we hear of disasters and people living in poverty, looking at a romanticized view of the manger causes… dissonance.
How can this be the same world?
My mind wandered back to a more peaceful time, or at least, It was in my mind. In a small New Hampshire town, the news of the Vietnam War was far more distant than the wards of today… and life seemed at peace.
I remember listening to Christmas music, on our record player, the albums that would get pulled out, year after year. One of my favorites was a group called Royal Guardsman, and their Christmas song was about Snoopy.
Yes, Charlie Brown’s dog, and a fight he had with Baron Manfred Richtofen in World War I, on Christmas Eve. A battle about to end with snoopy getting shot down, when the bells of Christmas began to ring in the village below,
The chorus was
“Christmas bells those Christmas bells
Ring throughout the land
Asking peace of all the world
And good will to man”
And for a moment, there was peace.
Such actually happened in World War I, not between two pilots, but two armies. For an evening, they laid down their rifles, they silenced their artillery, and as one man started singing silent night, men from his army joined their voices to his, then the other army did as well.
For an evening, as bells chimed from churches, announcing the birth of Jesus, there was peace.
Can that happen today?
Will we know if it does?
Can we know peace in War?
That question God wanted to ask…. Yeah
In the days of King Ahaz, in the time described in our Old Testament reading from Isaiah, there was a war.
We know the passage so well, because of the prophecy of Mary, and the name, Immanuel, which means Immanent or Immediate God. It is from where we get our blessing, “The Lord is with you!.”
Jerusalem was going to get run over, brutally run over….surrounded by armies,
In order to provide for God’s people, a prophet is sent to break this new to them.
God asks the king, “let me prove I will be with you through these times, ask me for something to confirm it….Let me give you and answer for the questions you will ask.
Ask, and you shall receive…. Jesus will ask us, centuries later….
Ahaz refused to answer, for whatever reason.
I won’t put you to the test…. I won’t demand you prove your presence, your love, I won’t depend on you God, no matter what threatens me. That’s Ahaz voice, defensive, dismissive….
Will we doubt the One who was promised, the babe born to a virgin, the One who would remind us that God is with us? That God has promised to deliver His people, and bring them, bring us safely home?
Will we hear it, more than this night!
Many of our wars aren’t military battles, nor even do they include weapons. They are wars with our neighbors, or our families,, skirmishes and fights with friends. Civil wars within our hearts, within our souls.
We need to hear that God wants us to ask of Him, we need to seek Him out, we need to realize that He will prove that He is as here this night
We need to know He is Immanuel, our God, with US.
That is what this night, these songs, these readings are all about. It’s why we gather. It ‘s why we are here……
and we are why He is here….
We are why this baby doesn’t just belong here… in the manger, but here, on the altar.
The sacrifice that we would know peace.
During a war, nearly 100 years ago, the bells pealed out, and the war was forgotten,… and men sang the praises of God, who came and dwelt among us…
To bring us the peace of heaven…..
So seek, and knock and ask….
And realize the answer was first seen, as a young lady laid her newborn babe in a manger, and God the Father offered Him as the sacrifice to prove Himself to be our God, and to make us His people.
Effectiveness in Ministry and Life is Simple…..
Devotional Thought of the Day:
20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die. Galatians 2:20-21 (NLT)
513 The secret of being effective, at root, lies in your piety, a sincere piety. This way you will pass the whole day with Him.
It seems like almost daily I get e-mails from well meaning people, who want to help pastors to become more effective. They define effectiveness differently, and often talk of different aspects of ministry. Some on discipleship, some on outreach, some of being more pure in doctrine. Many are willing to be consultants, put one seminars, even become coaches of those who serve the church.
Some of these people have great experience in ministry and rely on their experience. Some have studied it from a distance, and teach and coach based on observing others effective ministries. They all have god ideas, some work better in this place, rather than that place. It is good to have their ideas available, but it takes wisdom born of prayer to know which might work, and when to shift from this idea to that.
But effectiveness as a servant of God, in whatever role, is found apart from methodologies, strategies, and even experiences. For even as Christians are not clones of each other, but are gifted and driven by the Spirit as the Spirit desires, so are churches. Some are great at evangelism, some are great at being resource centers, some are great at ministering to those that don’t feel at home in a church, who need very tender care.
Because they are different, because we are different, the same rules, programs, processes, worship styles don’t work in the same places.
What is needed in every place? Piety, or what I prefer to define simple as “walking with Jesus” or “walking in Christ”. Piety is simply the practice of realize our lives are focused in Christ, they are not lived some how distant from God, and this is a good thing. We need Him!
He is there.
With His grace, His wisdom, His love, His comfort, and yes, He shepherds us. We learn of His heart, and we are transformed into Him image according to Paul in 2 Corinthians 3. The transformation results in working in the ministry of reconciliation, just as presenting our bodies as living sacrifices results in the Holy Spirit using us in certain roles to minister to each other in Romans 12, and receiving the Lords Supper resolves into a similar discussion in 1 Corinthians 12-13.
Walking with God, Abiding in Christ, or even more clearly, the passage from Romans above – it is Christ that is living in us as we trust in His promises, in His work; there is the key to effectiveness, success, and even survival, whether as a church of 20, or one of 2000. Each different, each not just being directed by God as if we are soldering in Afghanistan receiving orders from the Pentagon and White house. Rather we are directed here, where we live, for we live and breath with Christ. There is where effectiveness occurs, there is where there is peace and joy, even in the midst of trauma, tribulation and even real persecution.
Walk with Him… talk, listen, love.. and see where He leads.
AMEN!
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 1949-1950). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Final Preparations For Christ’s Second Coming
Final Preparations For His Coming
Mark 11:1-10
† IHS †
As You Realize the Depth of the Grace and Peace of God our Father, and Jesus our Lord, May Your Cry for Him to Save Us Become More Confident and Filled With Wonder and Expectation!
They’ll Be Here Any Second!
You look at your watch, or maybe the clock on the microwave, and as your heart begins to beat faster, you wonder where the last forty-five minutes went!
The company will be here any moment, and you so aren’t ready.
The appetizers are perfect, but you haven’t changed from your bathrobe and pajamas, for that matter, you realized you haven’t showered yet!
The rest of the house, you know, the parts that you asked for help in getting cleaned up, well they are worse than when you asked for help1
The extra chairs are still in the garage, the laundry basket is empty, all over floor.
And as you leave the kitchen to get looking half presentable, you notice you forgot to turn on the oven, and the turkey is still thawing in the sink!
IS this the ultimate nightmare, or worse… reality?
Many people get stressed when company is coming over…. They want things to be perfect for their guests. Perhaps some of us aren’t that noble. We know life isn’t perfect, but we like it when others think that our lives are!
If we are so concerned about company coming over and finding lives, what concern do we have about Jesus coming back, and finding us ready?
As we spend these weeks prior to Christmas thinking about Jesus’ incarnation and His second coming, we are going to look Advent prayers and preparations. Wednesday Nights we’ll study the prayers in the Bible for Jesus to return, and on Sunday’s we’ll look at how to be prepared, how to be ready.
So let’s begin looking at the final preparations for Advent, or is it Easter!
Easter or Advent?
It may seem a little odd to begin Advent with a reading from Palm Sunday and the Triumphal Entry. The beginning of the week leading to Good Friday and Easter. There is a reason. When the shepherds looked down on Jesus in the manger, they had no clue what it would take to be the Savior. A year or so later, as the wise men presented Jesus gifts, they didn’t know either.
The disciples have walked with Him for years. They’ve heard him teach about the Father’s love because of firsthand experience. They’ve seen Jesus heal lepers, give sight to the blind, feed thousands with a few sardines and small roles of bread. They’ve seen Him raise people from the dead.
The Messiah is about to establish His reign over everything, and it is for this reason that He came. To answer the prayer the people cried out Praise the Lord, as they cried out Hosanna! (which means save us!) Everything’s ready for that which had been a mystery from the beginning is about to occur….
It’s almost ready… just a few final preparations.
Are We Willing to Go Get the Donkey…
There is always one task that everyone hates, that has to be done when company’s coming over. Maybe it’s taking out the trash, maybe it’s cleaning the toilet bowl.
I can’t imagine taking the walk to town to pick up a young unbroken donkey, and dragging it back to Bethany was the greatest of jobs. But someone had to do it, and these two disciples had to go deal with the donkey.
Some of us may be sent on similar missions still to deal with stubborn donkeys and bring them to Jesus. Some of us are as stubborn and that unbroken donkey.
But are we willing to listen to God’s direction that clearly? Are we willing to go and take on a task that isn’t glamorous, and may be more than a bit difficult? These two disciples played a role in fulfilling prophecy, but I am not sure they knew that. I can imagine one of them wondering if they could find this donkey, the other wondering if no one asked them, would they be charged with Grand Theft Donkey?
Our lives are often like their task that day. We aren’t sure why God wants us to work with donkeys, or why He doesn’t just wipe out those we think are enemies. Why this action is good, but why doing that is a sin, and doing that is labelled an abomination. We don’t have the answers, and our answer is the same as those disciples, simply telling people what we are told, by God.
But will we accept that His answer is good enough?
What advent is about is to prepare to welcome the King, to welcome the Messiah who comes in the name of the Lord God Almighty! Are we ready for that day? Have we done that which He asks, in preparation for that day when He comes, and everyone praises Him?
We are called into this relationship, into this family of God. Are we waiting for His return! Will we be found ready? Or will we be still trying to figure out why we have to work with donkeys?
A Word of Hope!
The anxiety of company arriving at any moment can be matched, when we consider our own work, as we strive to become ready for the second coming of Christ. Paul addresses that in his letter to the church in Corinth,
4 I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus. 5 Through him, God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent words and all of your knowledge. 6 This confirms that what I told you about Christ is true. 7 Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. 9 God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord!
That is the key to Advent, the key to being prepared for Christ’s return. He isn’t coming to check out that all the trash cans so clean you could eat out of them, or that the toilet is that clean, or even that the feast is perfectly prepared. He’s coming to see if we are ready to enter the Father’s presence, following behind him like the crowds did on Palm Sunday.
How we are prepared? We know what God has done, and is doing. We know about the cross, about Jesus dying that we could be free from all blame. That what scripture promises about Christ is true here, in this place. It is true for all that believe and are baptized! We are prepared when we have trust in God’s work in this place. When we know and use the gifts God has given to us, given to us because we belong to Jesus Christ. When we know that Jesus will keep us strong, and free from all blame. Because He is faithful we trust in Him, and we look forward to what is promised.
I love verse 8 – we have to hear it again,
He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. 9 God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord!
There is our hope, and there is the hope of the world, that in Christ, people are free from all blame and will be when He returns. For God has promises this welcomed you into a community led by Jesus! This is how we prepare for Advent. We realize our need for Him, our desperate need, and trust that He will meet it!
May our trust in God be seen, as we work with Him, even as His return draws closer!
Amen!
The Dirty Dozen, Discipleship, Worship & the Family of God
Devotional and Discussion Thought of the Day:
1 So then, my friends, because of God’s great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer. 2 Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect. 3 And because of God’s gracious gift to me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you should. Instead, be modest in your thinking, and judge yourself according to the amount of faith that God has given you. 4 We have many parts in the one body, and all these parts have different functions. 5 In the same way, though we are many, we are one body in union with Christ, and we are all joined to each other as different parts of one body. 6 So we are to use our different gifts in accordance with the grace that God has given us. If our gift is to speak God’s message, we should do it according to the faith that we have; 7 if it is to serve, we should serve; if it is to teach, we should teach; 8 if it is to encourage others, we should do so. Whoever shares with others should do it generously; whoever has authority should work hard; whoever shows kindness to others should do it cheerfully. 9 Love must be completely sincere. Hate what is evil, hold on to what is good. 10 Love one another warmly as Christians, and be eager to show respect for one another. Romans 12:1-10 (TEV)
729 Men—this has always happened in history—bind their lives together to accomplish a collective mission and destiny. Is the unique destiny of eternal happiness worth less to the men and women of today? (1)
An odd juxtaposition occurred in the last 12 hours or so, and it all came together in the words of St. Josemaria I read this morning.
The first is one of the books I picked up on my Kindle – the old World War II novel entitled, “The Dirty Dozen” A movie was based on it, twelve soldiers sentenced to death or life in prison were given a chance to live honorably, in service to their country. Their leader is tasked with molding them into a unit, despite their differences in culture, in life, and their tendency to violence. It has some fascinating looks at why men choose evil, or passively accept it.
The second was a question asked by one the seminary students I supervise, part of an assignment, about the connection between worship and witness. Given the course, I think they were thinking in the narrow sense of both words, how a church service leads us to evangelism. I prefer to look at it in the large sense, lives given as described above, worship as our reasonable, sacrificial, lives, where each does what they do as they trust in God. This kind of worship is a living witness – far more powerful than any words we can speak. This is what worship is, this is what the sacraments prepare us for, knowing our mission is eternal, knowing that the outcome is more than us. Seeing how Christ’s mercy makes it all possible, for us to live as sacrifices, as we live and serve and love, and respect each other, as our trust in God grows.
In the Book and the movie, The Dirty Doze, such a camaraderie eventually develops. They will get their mission, they will mourn their losses, the will accomplish their mission But it is the training and serving each other that will make the biggest difference. Not the orders given, not the memories of their past. They will enter into a relationship deeper than they will want to admit to, more than they can even perceive.
We are the same, we have a mission, but that mission isn’t just what binds us together, It isn’t the hope of being known to be honorable, or being heroes. The gifts we use, the love and respect we share, that isn’t the intention either. For if it is that, we will leave people behind, we won’t see them as necessary to the mission, or that they can be redeemed full,
It is the camaraderie, that a bunch of us who could have been given up on, are being forged into His people, those He has called together, bound together in Christ, whom we share the body and blood of Jesus with together. We will go through death together, knowing that He has led us through it.
On a mission from God….. sacrficing and serving, because of His mercy!
AMEN,
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 3042-3045). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
