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The Paradox of being a Christian Leader…
Dawn at Concordia
Devotional Thought of the Day:
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 5 For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. 6 Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. 2 Corinthians 1:3-6 (NLT)
Therefore, anyone who seeks an office in the Church must know that he thereby declares himself ready for a greater share of the Cross. For, properly speaking, the real pastoral activity of Jesus Christ, through which he fashioned the Church and will never cease to fashion her, is his Cross, from which there flow for our blood and water, the holy sacraments, the grace of life. To want to do away with suffering means to deny love, to disavow Christ. It is impossible to struggle with the dragon and not be wounded. That is why what the Lord says in the Beatitudes is valid for all times: “Blessed are you when men revile you; blessed are the meek; blessed are the peacemakers” (Mt 5:11, 5, 9). It is true, too, that where the Lord is, where the Master is, there must his servant be also. But the Master’s place was, ultimately, the Cross, and a shepherd who seeks nothing but approval, who would be content to do only what is required of him, would certainly not be taking his place where the Master has taken his.
I was once told that if I could be content in any other field, to avoid becoming a pastor. At the time, I didn’t understand. Today I do.
The blessing requires a high price to be paid.
I look at my friends in ministry, those I admire the most sacrifice so much to serve. Some are pastors and priests, others missionaries serving far from what most would consider their home. Some are teachers and youth workers, others are the leaders most don’t consider professionals. The elders, musicians, those who teach the Bible to young and old.
The costs are high, and while I am not talking about financial costs or the time demanded by the needs of those we serve, they cannot be dismissed either. The deeper costs include betrayals, it includes weeping with those who are weeping, crushed in grief. It means disciplining people that may not like be corrected. It means being willing to accept the loneliness of the prophet, being dismissed as we bring messages of hope, of being sent to stubborn and stiff-necked people as the prophets encountered.
It’s not about reports and strategies, it’s about laying aside our plans when someone is hurting, and helping them bear that pain. It’s not about giving a vision, unless that vision includes the cross, leading to the resurrection. It’s about the joy of the sacraments, and the pain when we see people in need for the comfort and strength they give, but who dismiss them. It’s about not giving up on the prodigal, it’s about showing mercy to the prostitute and tax collector, the drug addict and the scoundrel.
This is ministry, this is service, this is finding that as we minister to those who are drawn (and sometimes dragged ) to the cross, we find our healing occurs as well. For we are at the cross, where Jesus raises us from death, heals us from brokenness, comforts us in our grief, and gives us hope, even as we despair.
That is the paradox of Christian ministry, the sacrifice, the life surrendered at the cross is the great blessing of being such a servant leader.
Which is why Paul, the one we imitate as he imitated Christ praises God int he midst of sacrifice and suffering….
as will every leader in every parish, in every congregation, and throughout the Church in history, and throught out the world.
AMEN
Ratzinger, Joseph. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Ed. Irene Grassl. Trans. Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1992. Print.
Called to Belong: Called to Be His Own! An Advent Sermon on Romans 1
Called to Belong: Called to Be His Own
Romans 1:1-7
† In Jesus Name †
What People Need?
There are a ton of articles circulating across pastor’s desks, as they have for the prior three generations. When I was in college, they asked why my generation was leaving the church and provided great statistics on why people like me, the children of baby boomers, weren’t attending church.
I wondered about it a lot, as I had gone to a large youth group in high school, in fact, it was significantly bigger than any church I’ve belonged to, and really, was bigger than all the churches I’ve pastored since.
In the nineties and up to about 2004 or 2005, pastors, church planters, it seemed everything churches did were questioning why people of my age group weren’t in church, and trying to make churches attractive to them.
As if we are all the same. As if our needs, our anxieties, our challenges, our doubts and fears were the same.
It has changed now, as churches seem to have lost focus on those in my age group – those once labeled genX. GenX is history, the church “experts” no longer mention us. Now the concern is with the millennials, Marissa, Melissa’s, Kelcie’s age group. A group that is two or even three generations removed from the days when youth filled every church, when complete families, three and four generations worth of family found themselves sitting together on Sunday morning.
And for the most part, the experts still treat whichever generation they mourn the absence of as if they are all alike. They want to find the “one” thing that will draw them all, the one key element that will draw them to church,
And perhaps, there is the problem in the first place.
If all we deal with is generalizations, how can we assure the individual whether 25, 50, 78 or 91 that they matter, that they belong?
To be honest, that’s been a challenge, even for pastors I’ve know in my life. Can the individual know that they are important, that God has called them to belong, that He has called them to be His own?
Yet, God calls us, individually here, to be part of this family, and maybe we can learn from that
Why is this good news?
When scripture talks about good news, we need to understand why it was good. As Paul is writing to Gentiles, we need to understand that this was one of the largest generalizations ever created.
It was everyone who wasn’t Jewish by birth, who couldn’t trace their ancestral tree back to Abraham, Issac and Jacob. A lot of folk. Good folk, bad folk. Tall, short, skinny, fat, smart, wise, silly. Older, younger, men and women, Some who wanted to find God to each out for help, others that simply wanted to mock God. And few that would want to make money off of people, but saying only they knew the way to God.
The only thing they have in common, is that they didn’t belong. Even someone adopted into a Jewish family didn’t quite make it, and those who were hyphens, those who were half Jewish and half something else, they were treated with less of a welcome.
We were all outsiders, stuck in the darkness, not worth the time for a Jewish Rabbi to share his wisdom, not allowed to hear the sweet words that God had accepted our sacrifice for our sin. For that is why we became outsiders, our inability to love God with all we are, and our struggles to love others, including our enemies, as God has designed for us to live. Because of that sin, we were outsiders, out in the cold and dark, possessed by our sin, oppressed by sin’s guilt and shame.
That is why the gospel is good news, For it smashes the demographic divisions, it grinds up generalizations, for what defines us is that we are wanted.
That God calls us to belong.
You.
Look at verse 6. Let’s read it together
And you are called among those Gentiles who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ.
Though, he wrote this letter to an entire congregation, as you sin in the next verse, that “you” is singular.
You are called to belong to Jesus.
You are called to be a saint, one of God’s Holy People, whom He loves.
You are. Singular. Not because you are this age or that, because you have this heritage or that, no because except for this one.
God loves you.
And therefore you belong to Jesus.
He bought you at the cross, freeing you from the sin and hell which had power over you.
This is what Advent leads to, what Christmas and Easter, the manger and the cross.
That’s what has made the difference in every church I’ve been blessed to be a part of, we knew we belonged together, for we now we belonged to Christ.
I want you to hear those words one more time, what we need to hear, each of us in this room , and every person on this planet,
Matter of fact, maybe it will sink in deeper if we say it together,…
6 And I am included among those who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ. 7 Paul wrote this to me and all who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people.
Amen!
Is the Return on Investment Enough? The question of discipleship…
Devotional Thought of the Day:
(Luke 9:57–62)
18 When Jesus noticed the crowd round him, he ordered his disciples to go to the other side of the lake. 19A teacher of the Law came to him. “Teacher,” he said, “I am ready to go with you wherever you go.” 20 Jesus answered him, “Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lie down and rest.”
21 Another man, who was a disciple, said, “Sir, first let me go back and bury my father.”
22 “Follow me,” Jesus answered, “and let the dead bury their own dead. Matthew 8:18-20 TEV
479 Don’t let it bother you. The “prudent” have always called the works of God madness. Onward! Be daring!
If you lived back in the days of Jesus, would you have left everything behind and followed him? Would you have left your work, your friends and your family behind, and followed this man who had no home, no means of support?
Would you be afraid of people thinking you are mad?
What about today?
Or would you take account of your assets first? Would you consider your obligations where you presently are at, and weigh them in the balance? Would you have to know the cost, and weight it against the potential “return” on your investment?
I suppose I could give you the stories of that show great sacrifice, and how God honored such hard work and dedication. That might inspire us to be daring, to set aside life as we know it, and spend years wondering why God didn’t honor our work and dedication. It would focus our journey on the results, and we would put our investment into achieving the results.
Discipleship isn’t about the results, though we rejoice in them. Following Jesus isn’t about the number of responses and conversions, the size of the churches we establish and maintain. It isn’t the number of people we serve, or the cost of doing so in time, talent or treasure.
Following Jesus isn’t about the size of the sacrifice or the size of the return on our lives invested!
It is about walking with Him, knowing His faithfulness, His mercy, His love! It is about having confidence in Him, even when we don’t know what tomorrow or the next day brings, if it even will.
That’s why some count it madness!
But you know better. Reconciliation in God’s minds is not simply accounting and balancing the books. It is about His bringing together, about reuniting hearts, about finding the healing of brokenness. It is about the Holy Spirit bringing comfort, peace, and joy, as we realize the presence of God in our lives, as we explore the dimensions of His love.
There is no way to measure this, no manner in evaluating the measure of value of knowing and living in Christ.
Come, follow Jesus, and abandon yourself into the love which saves you!
Escriva, Josemaria. The Way (Kindle Locations 1173-1174). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
My thoughts on the election…
Devotional Thought of the Day:
“God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. 17 In this is love brought to perfection among us, that we have confidence on the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world.i 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.” NAB-RE 1 John 4:16-21
As i worked through my social media accounts last night I grew quite depressed. Friends of mine, including pastors and priests, were commenting about the upcoming presidential elections.
Let me make it clear, I don’t mind people discussing the issues, or the candidates. I think that is beneficial. When the things discussed are not based in fear and anxiety, when they don’t spew hatred towards the candidates and those who support them.
I may never again talk to Mr. Trump, or ever talk to Mrs. Clinton. Yet they still are neighbors, those we, who claim to love and follow Jesus, are called to love and not hate. We are also called to love those who support them, and not insult them, or belittle them. (see Matthew 5:22)
I am not saying this will be easy, we need to be on guard, whether we support or the other. There are many fears, there is much in the lives of those running for office that we cannot approve of, that may even cause us to recoil in disgust, or horror. Yet their sin is no worse than ours, we have no right to stand before God and thank Him for our not being wretched sinners like them, apart from the grace of Christ.
We have to overcome our fears and anxieties, we have to get past the hatred, and there is only one way to do that. To remain in Christ, to dwell in the love of God,. We need to be focused on that which is revealed, the presence of God in which we dwell, safe there, welcome there because of the Cross of Jesus. Because he died, we have been freed us from sin, and Satan, and even the fear of death. Because we are united to that death, we are also united to Him in the resurrection, and nothing can separate us from His love.
Even having to vote.
So look to God, continually think about your Creator, who hasn’t abandoned you, and will not. Rejoice in His presence, and from that place of unsurpassed peace, pray for those running for office, not just president – but all those we elect. Pray for them a lot, and even for yourself, that if you do get the chance to talk to them, you would show them love, the love of God reflected through your very being.
Lord Have Mercy on us, sinners all! AMEN!
Where Do We Invest Ourselves?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
4 But when the kindness and generous love of God our savior appeared, 5 not because of any righteous deeds we had done but because of his mercy, he saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the holy Spirit, 6 whom he richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our savior, 7 so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life. 8 This saying is trustworthy. I want you to insist on these points, that those who have believed in God be careful to devote themselves to good works; these are excellent and beneficial to others. Titus 3:4-8 (NAB)
317 What zeal men put into their earthly affairs! Dreaming of honors, striving for riches, bent on sensuality! Men and women, rich and poor, old and middle-aged and young and even children: all of them alike. When you and I put the same zeal into the affairs of our souls, then we’ll have a living and working faith. And there will be no obstacle that we cannot overcome in our apostolic works.
As we get closer to November, I am receiving more and more programs geared to what people call “stewardship,” each with a promise to increase the giving of my congregation. Some might even market themselves as being “different.” That is, they aren’t just about money, but also about encouraging people to use their time and talents to benefit the church.
Some even talk about coming out and doing the program for you or sending audio and video. One recently indicated that since it was the focus of the worship services, you didn’t have to ask people to come to any other meetings. I usually don’t use “canned” studies or sermons, so these go pretty much unopened, unperused. The other reason is that I don’t agree with the goal, of increasing giving.as a primary focus of worship.
As I read the quote from St. Josemaria, I thought about this a little more, that we invest our zeal in so many things. It might be “our” football team. It might be a hobby, such as hiking or fishing or sewing and quilting. We relish the time we spend doing those things, and the people that do them with them are among those who we count as our closest friends. We might even zealously invest ourselves in those friends, apart from the things that bring us together – even church.
But what if we were as zealous about our relationship with God? What if we had that kind of attitude about spending time with Him? What if we pursued the means of grace – the scriptures, the sacraments, including prayer, because we treasured the precious peace, that reminder of His ever present love?
What if we understood these things Paul told Titus to be insistent about teaching the people of God entrusted to Him?
Paul indicated that this would result in Titus’s people (and therefore our people) devoting themselves to good works as well, works that are excellent and beneficial for others!
I think this is exactly what St. Josemaria was talking about as well – be zealous about the affairs of our souls, about trusting and depending on God in our lives, and then everything else ends up taking care of itself. And nothing will hinder apostolic/missional efforts, the needs of the ministry will be met, and more will follow.
This is, living by faith, by dependence on God. It takes a while to get used to, and a determination to preachChristt crucified, whether on the pulpits or in the streets. As it seems like crisis hit, there will be a temptation to go back to hyper-focusing on giving, but there will come a time where you realize God is at work, that He will provide, as the idols we fashion fall to the side – and our focus becomes the kind and generous love of God.
Deliver to them the message of Christ, give them the hope of sharing in His glory, and the rest… will care for itself. AMEN!
Escriva, Josemaria. The Way (Kindle Locations 820-823). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Real Pastoral Care: Real People & Real Brokenness Being Guided to Jesus
Devotional Thought of the Day:
76 And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord* to prepare his ways,r
77 to give his people knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our Gods
by which the daybreak from on high* will visit us
79 to shine on those who sit in darkness and death’s shadow,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.” Luke 1 76-79
Finally priests have been placed in the midst of the laity to lead them to the unity of charity, “loving one another with fraternal love, eager to give one another precedence” (Rom 12:10). It is their task, therefore, to reconcile differences of mentality in such a way that no one need feel himself a stranger in the community of the faithful. They are defenders of the common good, with which they are charged in the name of the bishop. At the same time, they are strenuous assertors of the truth, lest the faithful be carried about by every wind of doctrine.56 They are united by a special solicitude with those who have fallen away from the use of the sacraments, or perhaps even from the faith. Indeed, as good shepherds, they should not cease from going out to them.
Mindful of the prescripts on ecumenism,57 let them not forget their brothers who do not enjoy full ecclesiastical communion with us.
Finally, they have entrusted to them all those who do not recognize Christ as their Savior. (1)
As Zechariah considers his son’s birth, as the Spirit fills him, as it will fill John, the words are worth considering, worth being struck with awe.
John prepares a people who are lost, blinded, in fear of death ready for a miracle. He is to begin to reveal to them their salvation, to ready them for the day when the Glory of God, seen in Jesus, will shine into their darkness. He would give them the knowledge fo the forgiveness of sin, which his cousin Jesus would actually bring us.
That God, Himself and no other, would come to guide us, to shepherd us into a place of great peace. To prepare the people of God for the arrival of the messiah, that was John’s role, as it is the role of everyone in ministry, especially pastors and priests. (though really, every Christian is in ministry)
Decades before the term “missional” became in vogue, Vatican II noted this when it describes the role of priests. I would include pastors in this, but I want to draw attention to these things,
the are to reconcile
They are to see no one feels themselves a stranger in the community
the are to defend the common good, and the assert the truth – that is to present Jesus and His mercy so clearly that people aren’t blown about by doctrine.
But get this as well
We who are in ministry are to unite with those who haven’t encountered Jesus in the sacrament, who haven’t been trusting and depending on Christ. We can’t cease to try and guide them back to Jesus.
And if brothers are divided – knowing that Jesus would see us unified, we don’t just dismiss those whose theology is different than our own!
And finally, Vatican II says – those in ministry have entrusted to them ALL who do not recognize Jesus as their savior.
This was John’s ministry, it is ours. Some will call it being missional, some will call it the apostolate. I really don’t care which you use, as long as you actually are doing it. A mom guiding her children, a pastor guiding Hs parish, a friend reminding another that God is indeed with them, and cares and loves them.
This is the ministry, this is our life as a church, led by priests and pastors, we guide people to Jesus, we reveal His love, and then we are overwhelmed again and again, as He works in their lives.
Revealing to us that they are the children of God, the ones He died to reclaim.
Lord have mercy on us sinners, help us lay aside our own brokenness, that we can help others see their salvation. AMEN!
(1) Catholic Church. “Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests: Presbyterorum Ordinis.” Vatican II Documents. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2011. Print.
The Secret of a Pastor’s Success. The “M” word.
Devotional Thought of the Day:
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,his mercy endures forever.
2 Let Israel say: his mercy endures forever.
3 Let the house of Aaron say, his mercy endures forever.
4 Let those who fear the LORD say,his mercy endures forever. Ps 118:1–4 NABRE
1 Church leaders, I am writing to encourage you. I too am a leader, as well as a witness to Christ’s suffering, and I will share in his glory when it is shown to us. 2 Just as shepherds watch over their sheep, you must watch over everyone God has placed in your care. Do it willingly in order to please God, and not simply because you think you must. Let it be something you want to do, instead of something you do merely to make money. 3 Don’t be bossy to those people who are in your care, but set an example for them. 4 Then when Christ the Chief Shepherd returns, you will be given a crown that will never lose its glory. 1 Peter 5:1-4 (CEV)
And a minister who turns away from the inner source of his ministry can neither serve other people nor find fulfillment in his own life. There are many reasons why the reality that is the Church, which in the 1920s seemed to awaken so much expectation in souls, is regarded today as an alien and alienating mega-institution. But the most crucial reason is always the defection of a priest who ought to personify the institution and make her present in his own person, but who becomes instead, not a window, but a wall; who turns against his ministry instead of letting it become a trusted witness of the suffering and struggling of his own faith. (1)
Most pastors don’t want to admit it, but when people think of a church, or a ministry, they are the face of the ministry. Not the physical face, but the reaction to the church itself is tied to the persona of its pastor, of the man who stands up, and has the responsibility of speaking for God.
It’s a heavy responsibility, a burden that easily tires out those who accept it. Often, it tires them out too soon, and they determine that being a pastor is something else. Instead of shepherding, they see themselves as communicators (preachers) or leaders, or authors/bloggers, podcasters, who can remain at a distance, say what needs to be said, and walk away. A couple of years ago I even heard one indicate that it wasn’t about pastoral care, because the ministry had changed, and we were no longer pastors, but ranchers. He expected “real pastors” to leave pastoral care to lay servant ministers.
You see this in the modern drive to abandon the pastoral office to run para-church organizations, to be consultants or coaches, or to direct bureaucracies What this does, far too often is that it distances them further from the people God called them to serve. It becomes too easy to become the wall that Pope Benedict describes, and their own spiritual life becomes dry and lifeless, institutionalized and alienated.
But, theoretically, safe.
Safe from people realizing how broken we are, how desperate we are, Safe from failing in the expectations we have, or that others place upon us. Safe from our doubts, our fears, our anxieties. In doing so, we also become safe from the needing the faith, the dependence on God to survive.
You see, the more we are distanced from the pain our people endure, the anxiety that keeps them awake at night, the heartache that causes them to doubt God’s presence, the easier it is to become numb to our need to depend on God. When we weep and laugh, cry and rejoice with them, they see we struggle as well, that we share in this brokenness of life….
And hopefully, they see us run to the cross, to give thanks over and over for this mercy, this incredible loving kindness, this presence of God which comforts us when there is nothing left. For that psalm to hit home, we need to know that mercy, we need to realize the power in it, the comfort, and for our people to “get it” they need to see this in us, a natural reaction. Then the psalm above wouldn’t just seem repetitive, but it would be a joy to hear, and it would undergird our meditations.
The mercy of God is the inner source of our ministry, it is the strength that sustains us when we are at our weakest, it is what enables us to have a sure and confident hope in God. When we are in awe of His mercy, our people become in awe of it, and they depend upon it!
If only seeking and find that mercy revealed could become what we are addicted to, that which we crave more than life itself. If that was what we tweeted and posted about, even more, what we shared with our neighbors, co-workers, families and friends.
If only they saw God comfort us in our weakness, forgive us in our brokenness, if they saw us count on His mercy and grace. How wonderful that we would know this intimacy this well, and no longer hide! How wonderful that would be, for then, this would be real, not an academic exercise, and our souls would be the windows through which they would know God’s desire to work in their lives.
Lord, Have mercy on us! AMEN.
(1) Ratzinger, J. (1992). Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. (I. Grassl, Ed., M. F. McCarthy & L. Krauth, Trans.) (p. 150). San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
The Reason the Church is Here….
Devotional Thought of the Day:
17 When they saw him, they fell at his feet in worship, even though some of them struggled to trust Him. 18 Jesus went to them and said, “I have been given all responsibility in heaven and on earth. 19 You area going disciple people of all cultures: by baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 20 and instructing them to treasure this covenant relationship I committed to with you! And I am with you ever day, for forever.” Matthew 28:17-20 (parker’s paraphrase)
To be a disciple of Jesus means that we can and must follow a way that is directly opposed to our own natural gravity, to the gravity of egoism, to the search for what is merely material and for the maximum pleasure that we confuse with happiness. Discipleship is a way through agitated, stormy waters that we can follow only if we are in the gravitational field of the love of Jesus Christ, if our gaze is fixed on him and therefore supported by the new gravity of grace that makes possible for us the way to truth and to God that we would have been unable to follow by our own efforts. That is why being a disciple of Jesus is more than concurrence with a definite program, more than sympathy and solidarity with a person whom we regard as a model. It is not just Jesus, a human being, that we follow; we follow the Son of the living God. We follow a divine way. Where does Jesus’ way lead us? It leads us to the Resurrection, to the right hand of the Father. It is this whole way that we mean when we speak of following Christ as his disciple. Only thus do we journey the whole way of our vocation; only thus do we really reach the goal of undivided and imperishable happiness. And only from this perspective do we understand why the Cross is also a part of our discipleship as followers of Christ (cf. Mk 8:24). There is no other way for us to come to the Resurrection, to the community of God. We must follow the whole way if we want to be servants and witnesses of Jesus Christ. And every single step is different depending on whether we intend to go the whole way or merely to carve out for ourselves a kind of human party program. We can come to Christ only if we have the courage to walk on the water and to entrust ourselves to his gravity, the gravity of grace.
I have to start with a disclaimer. I want to write nothing about this post, save what you see above. The charge for us to disciple the world, by helping people enter into a relationship as part of the people of God, and then to teach them to treasure this covenant relationship, this relationship based on God’s plan, on His terms, for Hs is God. That is the work of the church that is how we are to love our neighbor; that is the work of God, or as my favorite pastor/author noted, the Opus Dei.
These words of Cardinal Ratzinger in blue (later Pope Benedict XVI) are an incredible description of that relationship, this discipling process. Go back and read them again. Go ahead, go do it. And again, savor the words describing your relationship with God, as you are pulled into this incredible.
But is this what we are about in the church?
Is this what we value in our own lives personally? Do we understand this incredible, blessed fellowship we have been brought into with the Father, Sona nd Holy Spirit?
We need to, and we need to get that this is far more than obeying laws and commandments (though that is part of it). It is, to use the Old Testament prophecies, the very “being” that is knowing that we God has made us HIs people, and He is our God.
This is what is revealed, from the very beginning to creation to each time someone is baptized or is revived as their sins are forgiven, or are renewed as they take and eat the Body broken for them, the bloodshed to bring them into this covenant relationship.
This is what we treasure; this is what we guard, (which is what tereo means – not just obey/observe) This is what we reveal to the world, it is how we disciple, this is how we live.
Even when we struggle, or doubt, for Jesus is our Lord. And He is with us.
AMEN!
(1) Ratzinger, J. (1992). Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. (I. Grassl, Ed., M. F. McCarthy & L. Krauth, Trans.) (p. 140). San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Revival and the Sacrament of Reconciliation
Devotional Thought fo the Day:
5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the LORD.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Psalm 32:5 (NLT)
18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 (NLT)
Since absolution or the power of the keys, which was instituted by Christ in the Gospel, is a consolation and help against sin and a bad conscience, confession and absolution should by no means be allowed to fall into disuse in the church, especially for the sake of timid consciences and for the sake of untrained young people who need to be examined and instructed in Christian doctrine
.126 You asked me to suggest a way for winning through in your daily struggles, and I replied: When you lay your soul open, say first of all what you wouldn’t like to be known. In this way the devil will always end up defeated. Lay your soul wide open, clearly and simply, so that the rays of God’s Love may reach and illuminate the last corner of it!
We used to refer to it as “Private Confession” in the Lutheran Church. Theologically we refer to it as COnfessiona and Absolution, with the emphasis on the Absolution part. The quote in green is from our confessions, where it is numbered among our sacraments, and in the minds of our forefathers, too great a treasure to forgo.
My brothers in the Roman Catholic church call this the Ministry of Reconciliation, and I have to admit I like that name as well. It reminds us what forgiveness does, it makes things right, it applies the blood of Christ to our brokenness, it brings healing, much-needed healing to souls damaged by guilt, shame and resentment which comes along with our sin and rebellion, It is the duty of the church, it is at the heart of its very mission, to pronounce this news of God’s mercy, of His care.
It is what brings life back, this far too overlooked sacrament, this anxious moment where we trust God enough to lay our soul wide open. It is then, as the Lord of Life, the Holy Spirit circumcises our heart with the power of God’s love, that all which hinders our life.
This is a ministry we all need, for we need the freedom that we find as Christ delivers us from sin and death, as He liberates us from the oppression that can so dominate our lives.
Luther makes it clear, that part of this ministry is too timid consciences, those that are unsure of God’s grace, those that are bruised and battered by their own lives, by their pasts, by the fear that they won’t be accepted by God, or by His people. That is no different today, as people will gradually talk to a pastor or priest, as if trying to see if the water is scalding or frigid, only to warm up and get to the heart of what troubles them.
They need our ministry, our time, out ears to hear their confessions, our mouths to say what they long to hear, our eyes and hearts to assure them that the forgiveness we speak, is not ours, but we speak it for Him.
Because this life-giving ministry was given to us.
To stand by their side, to encourage them to cry out to God, to cry out, “Lord, have mercy!”
And to know that He has had mercy… and will walk by their side in life.
(1) Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 312). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press
(2) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 644-647). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
The Lesson the Church Must Re-Learn, to Survive
Devotional Thought of the Day:
1 Imitate me, then, just as I imitate Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1 (TEV)
22 I gave them the same glory you gave me, so that they may be one, just as you and I are one: 23 I in them and you in me, so that they may be completely one, in order that the world may know that you sent me and that you love them as you love me.
John 17:22-23 (TEV)
74 We all have to be ipse Christus—Christ himself. This is what Saint Paul commands in the name of God: Induimini Dominum Iesum Christum—put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Each one of us—you!—has to see how he puts on that clothing of which the Apostle speaks. Each one personally, has to sustain an uninterrupted dialogue with the Lord. (1)
It seems like every expert has a reason for the church dwindling in the last 50 years. Some blame the declining birthrate among Caucasians. Others say it is the necessary cost for remaining faithful to God, another group says it is because only new church plants grow, and that we invest too much in places where God put his name already. ( I have to wonder, do they really believe God gave up on churches older than a generation? )
I am no expert, I have never spent money studying the issues, I haven’t left the parish to become a consultant, or a church bureaucrat. I am not a mega church pastor, or a blogger with 10,000 subscribers. I shepherd people, broken as I am, into the presence of Christ, and am in awe when He fulfills his promise, the promises I share in sermons, in classes, over a beer. So take my words for what they are.
I think the issue is simple,
We’ve forgotten to share with people that not only are they saved, but that they become the children of God, the co-heirs of Christ Jesus, To use fancy theological terms, which while God hasn’t infused righteousness (He counts us righteous ) He has infused us with holiness.
We’ve been given the gift of the Holy Spirit, to dwell within us, to teach us, to transform us into the image of Jesus. Not that we become superheroes, but servants, slaves, those who humbly walk with God. (see Phil. 2:1-10)
What is missing in the church, whether liberal or conservative, confessional or missional, no matter what the label we place on ourselves or others is this.
We’ve forgotten the concept of Christlikeness.
Or, rather than considering it the promise of the Covenant, the blessing of the Gospel, we turn it into some kind of foreign works righteousness, and dismiss it as the Law we cannot hope to fulfill.
It is the promise, the gospel, this blessing and privilege of repentance, (see Acts 11) that is granted to all who believe: Hear Paul’s words,
29 No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.
Romans 2:29 (NLT)
It is the change of heart, produced by God, a change Ezekiel 36 attached to God’s sprinkling of water, that Titus 3 confirms happening as the Father pours our His Spirit on us.
Finally, it is the blessing of the prayer mentioned in John 17 above, as Christ gives us all that the Father gave Him, the unity, the glory, the ability to love. The ability to serve, even to die for those who are in need. Even our enemies. Even those we would have looked down on. To wash their feet, to let those betraying us close enough to embrace us, to work with whoever is considered unclean, that they would know the love of God.
This is our life; it is why we aren’t whisked into the throne room immediate after our baptism. This is being the church of Christ the family of God.
It is time to heed the gospel found in Hebrews 12,
1 As for us, we have this large crowd of witnesses around us. So then, let us rid ourselves of everything that gets in the way, and of the sin which holds on to us so tightly, and let us run with determination the race that lies before us. 2 Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right side of God’s throne. 3 Think of what he went through; how he put up with so much hatred from sinners! So do not let yourselves become discouraged and give up.
Hebrews 12:1-3 (TEV)
1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 484-487). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
