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The Glory that Empowers Trust: A Sermon on Jeremiah 17:5-8
The Glory that
Empowers Trust
Jeremiah 17:5-8
† In Jesus’s Name †
May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ empower and strengthen your dependence on Jesus the Messiah!
Cursed are We?
The Old Testament passage this morning starts with such a encouraging word!
CURSED ARE Those who put their trust in mere humans!
My first reaction to this was to thank God for being, well, more cynical than most – and therefore I don’t trust anyone!
Part of that is growing up in a very cynical part of the country, part of that comes from working in the jails as a chaplain, and part of it comes from being a pastor, and part of it comes, to be honest, from looking in the mirror!
But while I say I don’t trust anyone… that isn’t true!
We trust people every day, from doctors and nurses to tax advisors and mechanics and family members and friends.
Some those things we trust to them are life-affecting decisions ranging from medical advice to whether our cars are safe. And if they are wrong, there is a heavy price to pay!
But this sermon isn’t titled “It pays to be cynical…” It’s about what happens when we trust in the Lord, and let Him care for us…rather than turning to human strength.
Dried out Shrubs
Jeremiah is pretty clear about the effect of relying on mankind for answers about life the universe and everything. Hear His words again,
(Those ) who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the LORD. 6 They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, in an uninhabited salty land.
On the fringe of salt flats, barren lands you find these shrubs or trees that look more like weeds. Because the water in the ground, if there is any, has too high of a salt content, the water they have access to is limited and it won’t sustain growth.
They have no hope of becoming like the tree in last week’s sermon, no chances of giving shade and respite, or having branches which would let birds rest and fruit for humans and animas to be nourished by.
The simply dry up and die, to be blown about by the wind, never having a home, never having a future.
Spiritually, that is exactly what happens when we give up on God, when we dismiss Him to trust in some human to provide for us what we need to sustain life and hope, to help us get through the challenges, to deal with guilt and shame.
That is the curse, the inability to deal with the broken relationships, here on earth and with God.
That is a curse to heavy to bear, a pain that echoes through an empty soul.
Replanted!
There is hope for those so “cursed”
“But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. 8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought!
The picture here for planted is God carefully removing us from the barren, salted soil, to be in a lush valley alongside the river bank, where the ground is full of the nutrients we need to grow.
That is the relationship we have with God, where He cares for us, provides for us and puts in a place where we are hidden in Him.
That’ why we aren’t bothered by the heat or drought- for God draws us deep into His love, deep into this place where He knows our needs, and we can rely on His care.
This idea of being planted and/or replanted in a good place is important. To have the power to trust God includes the trust to know we are where we should be at, among the people we are called to be alongside – and that God provides the trust to dwell with Him there. But He is the one who plants us there, He is the one who removes from us the barrenness, the lack of love and mercy, the absolute dry bones, and gives us life!
And that is why Jeremiah can confidently state, “Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.
The more we see God at work here, the more comfort He gives us, the more we realize how He is working through each of our lives. We produce life – in the leaves and in the fruit because His life works its way through us.
That’s Jesus take on this, as those He takes root in produce 30,60 and 90 times their own life as it is invested in others.
This is the effect of trusting in Jesus, of knowing we die with Him and are raised with Him, AMEN!
I Don’t Care Which Side You Hate or Adore…are Afraid of or Have Faith in, you need this!
Thoughts that carry this broken pastor to Jesus, and to the Cross…
“Do not fret when wicked men seem to succeed! Do not envy evildoers! For they will quickly dry up like grass, and wither away like plants. Trust in the LORD and do what is right! Settle in the land and maintain your integrity! Then you will take delight in the LORD, and he will answer your prayers. Commit your future to the LORD! Trust in him, and he will act on your behalf. He will vindicate you in broad daylight, and publicly defend your just cause. Wait patiently for the LORD! Wait confidently for him! Do not fret over the apparent success of a sinner, a man who carries out wicked schemes!” (Psalm 37:1–7, NET)
I will confess to being very depressed this morning.
I should have known better, as I picked up my phone and checked my FB, and Twitter feeds, I grew angry and depressed and I grieve. I still do, even as I write this.
People i know and people I love, whose political views are all over the map, spewing hatred and anger that is unrestrained as a East Coast Hurricane or a California fire. Church leaders, both ordained and lay leaders, believing and pushing double standards from both sides of the political spectrum. People who are intelligent, compassionate and giving, now tearing at others throats as if they are pre-teens deserted on an island in The Lord of the Flies.
The accompanying commentary so vile, so violent–on both sides–that I cannot even appreciate the numerous examples of the pot calling the kettle black. One of my favorite pastimes was showing people how the standard they judge one by, condemns the one they favor as well! Even if doing so means I will be attacked and mocked…
I finally dragged myself to my devotional reading… Ishould have started there! The Psalm above encountered early in the readings, and some incredible things from Luther and Ratzinger about the Liturgy, about the treasure that is the Lord’s Supper, passages I would normally rejoice in, fell flat.
I went back several times to this Psalm, and it tempered my earlier desire to give up social media and all contact with the people whose posts are so toxic to themselves, our communities and our nation and world. But how in the world do I convince this world to give up on the hatred, to fulfill the call to peace that this day was also dedicated to, How do I speak peace to a world that is so divided. so willing to believe their sides version of propaganda, so unwilling to reconcile and see relationships redeemed and restored.
That is a depressing thought as well, for even though there is always a remnant, we seem so weak, so inept, so lacking in the charisma or influence to really make a difference!
The Psalm reminds me what I need to knwo, what I hope is communicated… there is a time to take all our anxiety, all our fear, all our pain and set it aside, and look and find rest in the God who would die for me. That their one the cross He died for the sins of very follower of Biden and Trump.
It is not that He will still act on our behalf – vindicating us, anymore.
He has done so, on the cross, it has been finished for a long time. We can find our peace in Him – we can only find our peace in Him. Only He is righteous – all others are broken sinners. Only Jesus is our hope – and no one can steal that from us. (Romans 8:28-38)
So please, find your rest in Jesus, find your hope there… and do not go to war against those you think are your enemies, Find in Jesus the strength to love them, pray for them, and then, be still and know that Jesus is God.
A Simple Thing, more beneficial than all the political talk possible
Thoughts which carry this broken pastor to Jesus, and to the Cross:
“LORD, help me control my tongue; help me be careful about what I say. Take away my desire to do evil or to join others in doing wrong. Don’t let me eat tasty food with those who do evil.” (Psalm 141:3–4, NCV)
Little lives need the great sunshine of mother’s love, and the great heat of Christ’s benediction. Suffer me to speak a word of experience from the schools where they will learn of great men: Caesar will not teach them such courage; Washington will not inspire them with such patriotism; Socrates will not show them such calmness; David will not impress them with such chivalry; Moses will not move them with such meekness; Elijah will not imbue them with such earnestness; Daniel will not touch them with such manliness; Job will not nerve them with such patience; Paul will not fire them with such love, as will their daily little devout intercourse with Jesus Christ, in the prayers they learn to lisp while yet in your arms, or to repeat while yet kneeling at your knee. Lead them there, and their future manhood and womanhood will rise up to call you blessed.
A Christian must take care that he deceive not himself; he differs from the hypocrite, who may honor God’s Word and the gospel, yet in reality he is unchanged. True Christians so live that it is apparent from their lives that they keep God before their eyes and truly believe the gospel
Psalm 141’s words immediately made me think about the coming elections, and the posts I’ve seen, and been tempted to respond to on social media. For honestly, watching people, church people, demonize the candidate that opposes “their” candidate, whether national, state or local is getting exhausting. At the same time, the hope they are placing in their own candidates makes me wonder how close our society gets to idolatry.
And Psalm 141 hits me right between the eyes.
I am not saying don’t consider positions, I am saying how we treat the “opposition” and our favored candidate needs to be watched, lest we fall deep into idolatry, fatalism, and gossip and slander.That is the “tasty food” set before us, which we could all to easily share with others who are broken, but do not yet have the hope of eternity, but just emptiness, and so this life matters more that it should.
Luther is dead on accurate, we have to fight against the hypocritical “old adam” that would have us slide into the idea that the end justifies the means, for our side. We need to live with our lives, our hope, our trust placed in God, that we can cling to the message of reconciliation and redemption, leading to everlasting life with God… in His kingdom.
Loehe, that trainer of Lutheran pastors of the 19th century gets it right–what matter is not the examples of the great men we know from history. They will not learn from even expertise on these great men, even the great men of scripture, as much as a few moments of simple prayers, of simply basking in the love of Christ as we think on His presence, and His promises in our lives.
It is beneficial to show them how God is always faithful to the broken, for all these leaders were, but that is only to support our devotion to the Lord who is faithful to keep the promises He has made us. Promises that need to be thought through, taken to heart, and claimed in our dialogue with the God who comes to us. Those prayers toddlers and infants learn. that we can use as well, resonate so deeply that they can change our outlook and give us comfort and peace. The same as pointing out the other times we focus in on that intimate relationship, hearing His word, sharing in His death and resurrection in the sacraments, and simply know we are His…
encouraging people to pray, whether the 3-year-old or the 93-year-old – is worth more than all the votes in all the elections, for the result is far more beneficial, as we come to know the love and the peace that both go beyond all comprehension.
Lœhe, W. (1914). Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians (H. A. Weller, Trans.; pp. 599–600). Wartburg Publishing House.
Luther, M., & Sander, J. (1915). Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year (p. 365). Augustana Book Concern.
Saul, David and the American Political Season
Devotional Thought of the Day:
3 At the place where the road passes some sheepfolds, Saul went into a cave to relieve himself. But as it happened, David and his men were hiding farther back in that very cave! 4 “Now’s your opportunity!” David’s men whispered to him. “Today the LORD is telling you, ‘I will certainly put your enemy into your power, to do with as you wish.’” So David crept forward and cut off a piece of the hem of Saul’s robe. 5 But then David’s conscience began bothering him because he had cut Saul’s robe. 6 “The LORD knows I shouldn’t have done that to my lord the king,” he said to his men. “The LORD forbid that I should do this to my lord the king and attack the LORD’s anointed one, for the LORD himself has chosen him.” 7 So David restrained his men and did not let them kill Saul. After Saul had left the cave and gone on his way, 1 Samuel 24:3-7 (NLT2)
You became a bit frightened when you saw so much light, so bright that you thought it would be difficult to look, or even to see. Disregard your obvious weaknesses, and open the eyes of your soul to faith, to hope and to love. Carry on, allowing yourself to be guided by God through whoever directs your soul.
I have to admit that I am more than a little hesitant writing this blog this morning. Yet I have seen to many people who believe in God who struggle to live in the peace God has given them.
Fear, anxiety, anger, even hatred have done this damage to people’s souls. And as I see those emotions pouted out on social media, my heard aches. People look for scapegoats to blame for hurt they even struggle to identify. We look for that one person, or that one group that causes our pain.
David knew that pain. Heck, it wasn’t just projecting his problems on King Saul, Saul was out to kill him. He was hunting him down, and David had to live off the land, and dwell in caves. People who helped him were punished, and rewards were out for his life, and those who served beside him.
And yet, as he tweaks the king, (when he could have assassinated him) he feels guilt. He knows the pain, the betrayal, and et, part of him knows he should not have even tweaked the king….
As I read this, I wondered what it would be like, if we had that much respect for our leaders, that we bathed them in prayer rather than mocked them, or critiqued them and spewed hatred at them behind their back? What would happen if we treated them as we wanted them to treat us? If we didn’t use their actions to justify our own.
What would happen if we loved them as Christ loves us?
This is the kind of light we struggle with entering , this glorious love of God that takes away sin… This is the glory that realizes God’s at work, somehow, in all of this. This is the kind of trust, that comes from knowing God. Not just knowing about Him, knowing Him.
That will change us, even a it impacts the country.
For if we enter into a time of revival, it will not matter who wins the election.
Lord, reveal the work of the Holy Spirit in this world, Help us to trust you more than we fear, more than we are hurting, more than we have learned to hate…and heal us . AMEN!
Escriva, Josemaria. The Forge . Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Why I want to Quit Social Media, and Cannot.
Devotional Thought for the Day:
1 Timothy, my child, Christ Jesus is kind, and you must let him make you strong. 2 You have often heard me teach. Now I want you to tell these same things to followers who can be trusted to tell others.
As a good soldier of Christ Jesus you must endure your share of suffering. 4 Soldiers on duty don’t work at outside jobs. They try only to please their commanding officer. 2 Tim 2:3-4 CEV
Keep your mind on Jesus Christ! He was from the family of David and was raised from death, just as my good news says. 9 And because of this message, I am locked up in jail and treated like a criminal. But God’s good news isn’t locked in jail, 10 and so I am willing to put up with anything. Then God’s special people will be saved. They will be given eternal glory because they belong to Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 2:8-10 CEV
That hand which multiplied the loaves, which saved sinking Peter, which upholds afflicted saints, which crowns believers, that same hand will touch every seeking sinner, and in a moment make him clean. The love of Jesus is the source of salvation. He loves, he looks, he touches us, WE LIVE.
As I look on Facebook and Twitter this morning, I see nothing but wars. People bad mouthing each other and the candidates they support. People cashing people because of their stand on masks and viruses. People talking about how children should be educated, or that it is just a short time, their lives will adjust. People talking about conspiracies, on the right and on the left, demanding that others recognize who they believe the anti-christ is, actually is. People who claim their beliefs are being violated, that their rights are being taken away.
There are times I want to speak up… and there are times I do.
But what I want most to do, is to quit social media, to give up, to stop feeling like both sides doesn’t care about my views, they just want me to bow to theirs.
(By the way, the same thing happens within church politics as happens secular life)
When I am at that point, I need to look back at Paul’s words to Timothy. That there is going to be suffering in this life, and the church will endure a lot of it. (We actually do not, here in America compared to other places, btw!) But notice in each paragraph the same answer is given. Let Christ make you strong, let your mind stay focused on Him and His work, redeeming the world. Keep looking to to the one who created you, drew you into this new life, who is redeeming you and everything you’ve done.
It is then that we can go out into the broken world, filled, protected and guided by the Holy Spirit and tell people about the Love of God, a love so strong, so powerful that it can save me… and you. A love so strong that it can not just stand the sight and stench of us when we are broken, but also painstakingly cleanse us, heals us, and makes us His people.
Looking to Jesus we can engage social media, and deal with its brutality, with the hope that some might be saved, because we were here. And we are, the Lord is with us.
C. H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening: Daily Readings (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896).
Weary and Broken by watching people post about politics… is there hope?
1 Why do the nations gather together? Why do their people devise useless plots? 2 Kings take their stands. Rulers make plans together against the LORD and against his Messiah by saying, 3 “Let’s break apart their chains and shake off their ropes.” 4 The one enthroned in heaven laughs. The Lord makes fun of them.
10 Now, you kings, act wisely. Be warned, you rulers of the earth! 11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, or he will become angry and you will die on your way because his anger will burst into flames. Blessed is everyone who takes refuge in him.
Psalm 2:1-4, 10-12 (GW)
The delight which the mariner feels, when, after having been tossed about for many a day, he steps again upon the solid shore, is the satisfaction of a Christian when, amidst all the changes of this troublous life, he rests the foot of his faith upon this truth—“I am the Lord, I change not.”
I am getting tired of politics in the church. It literally is sucking the life out of me.
I see a pastor, sharing memes that deride those who are younger than him, those who have little hope because of what they see going on in the world. I wonder if he considers the effects of the youth in his church, and the effect of such memes on them?
I see a parachurch organization, applauding those who blatantly disrespect our country’s president, disregarding scripture and our role as God’s people to be agents of reconciliation. When asked about it, I am mocked for believing what God desires, and what the Holy Spirit calls us to do is impossible.
It doesn’t matter, right or left, traditional or progressive, the hatred I am seeing manifest toward those who don’t agree on this issue, it sucks the life out of me. It brings me to despair, and wonder if the church has completely lost its way. Whether it has forgotten the God who could redeem and reconcile Paul, the God who could change and adulterous and murderous heart of a King, the God who could look out on those who were killing them, and ask the Father to forgive them..
Do we believe God still reigns? Or do we, like the people described in Psalm 2 simply want to toss God aside, and ignore the fact we are all part of His creation.
My mind tells me that the church no longer trusts God, and that is why such things happen
my heart lies broken.
My soul tries to wait, hoping beyond hope that God will keep His promise.
Weary just after breakfast, I come into my office, I see Spurgeon’s words first, and long to be the spiritual version of the sailor he describes, who tired form the storm, finds rest and relief as his feet land on solid ground.
I find that ground in the storm, in a God who can laugh at the wayward children who need to be reminded of His presence. Who need to be corrected, who need to be reminded that God is still God, that Jesus is still our Savior, and our Lord. That even now, in our brokenness in our frustration, in our anger at others and our lack of faith in God.
God is still desiring our embrace,
God is still wanting us to take refuge, to find our safe place within His love.
God is still here, willing to clean up the damage our lack of faith in Him, to heal the brokenness caused by of all the political crap we experience.
God hasn’t changed, He’s the same God who brought Matthew the Tax Collector and Simon the Zealot together.. and sent them with others to bring His people into the world. They were far more polar opposite than any extreme we see in American politics today… and in Jesus, the found unity and the ability to serve people together.
May we have the faith, the dependence on God to see such happen in our days as well.
C. H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening: Daily Readings (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896).
A Simple Pastor’s View on Politics
Devotional Thought of the Day:
First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, requests, and thanksgivings be offered to God for all people; 2 for kings and all others who are in authority, that we may live a quiet and peaceful life with all reverence toward God and with proper conduct. 3 This is good and it pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to come to know the truth. ! Tim 2:1-4 GNT
13 For the sake of the Lord submit yourselves to every human authority: to the Emperor, who is the supreme authority, 14 and to the governors, who have been appointed by him to punish the evildoers and to praise those who do good. 15 For God wants you to silence the ignorant talk of foolish people by the good things you do. 16 Live as free people; do not, however, use your freedom to cover up any evil, but live as God’s slaves. 17 Respect everyone, love other believers, honor God, and respect the Emperor.
1 Peter 2:13-17 (TEV)
I usually stay quiet on politics.
It is not just because I am apathetic, and tired of the extremes ruling Social Media. ( I will admit to that being part of the issue!) I don’t buy into one side or the other being evil and demonic, both sides have positions on issues that I agree with, and positions I find based in sin and that degrade others. As scripture clearly teaches, “all have sinned…”
My view is based in the knowledge that there is something more at stake. Something much more crucial.
GIven that “something more” here is my view on politics. Look in a mirror. Say the words you would say about the one you view as a adversary about yourself. Do you like hearing someone say those things? Are those things in accord with Phil. 4:8? Are they respectful? Are they thankful to God for that person and the role? And the biggest question.
Does your view depend on God and His promises?
I can hear some of my friends from both sides already coming up with the justifications that would excuse them, pointing out the evils of “them.” Or trying to educate me on how the other side is stupid, or the next Hitler, or any of 1000’s of other excuses. Been there, did that, have the tshirts with the same kinds of slogans you now see on meme’s.
My concern is us, and whether our reactions will distract us from God, that will stp our attention from being focus on Jesus and His ability to redeem us, and those who we perceive standing against us. Will our worries and fears be set aside as we look to our Lord? Will our conduct testify to our faith in God, or will it stir up hatred and fear?
It isn’t impossible to honor and respect those we aren’t in agreement with, those we fear. Look at David, when King Saul was trying to kill him. Even as he had the promise that He was God’s choice, he didn’t raise a hand against him. He could have. Twice he could have taken Saul’s life, he could have raised up a civil war, and yet held off, trust in in God’s timing.
You see that is the key to dealing with politics. Not hiding our head in the sand. But lifting up hands to pray for those who are in authority before we interact or comment on some incident or position. Asking God for the strength to respect and care for the men and women serving in our government – all of them. Praying for the strength to be still and know that God is still God. That He will be with us, even if the road is uncomfortable, even if it were to lead to martyrdom because of our relationship with Him. Asking God to bless them all, even as He blesses us.
He is God – and this pastor wants you to be saved, and come to this knowledge, the Lord is with you!
Injustice. Sin. Brokenness. DEAL WITH IT
Devotional Thought of the Day:
1 With so many witnesses in a great cloud all around us, we too, then, should throw off everything that weighs us down and the sin that clings so closely, and with perseverance keep running in the race which lies ahead of us. Hebrews 12:1 (NJB)
Worship of God is an act of justice towards Him which disposes us, indeed sets us free, to be just towards one another, because it is the living out of our filial relationship towards God; and it is the living out of our common filiation or sonship in Christ. Worship is therefore in a very real way the basis of any human action, especially towards one another. Pope Benedict XVI echoed similar sentiments:
There is a permanent temptation for the Church: to put aside the cross
(cf. Mt 16:22), to negotiate with the truth, to avoid persecution, thus diminishing the redemptive power of the cross of Christ.
Yesterday I was talking to a young lady at the chiropractor’s office. She was kind of curious about me wearing a collar, and while I waited to get adjusted, we talked quite a bit. She was a little surprised at how I talked about my church, and how we tried to deal with our brokenness, rather than hiding it, or ignoring it. She liked the idea, even more than she liked hearing about California and the celebrities I have run into across the years.
As I was reading this morning, I thought about the fact our society is broken. We see it in the poverty in some communities. We see it in the interaction of our public figures. We see it in the horrors that we encounter, if we bother to hear the news from Africa, where illness and disease and war still kill people daily.
There is a part of me that thirsts for justice, that thirsts for it all to be fixed. To see our politicians grow up, to see them work together to bring peace, and if not prosperity, then at least and end to poverty that results in death. We need to deal with it, just not ignore it! We need to take on such injustice and brokenness, and work to find the healing of our lives, and our society, and our world. I want to see the brokenness of the church dealt with as well, rather than just ignored, or dismissed because it won’t affect me or mine.
I want to cry out, “Deal with it!”
But that is a temptation that I consider naive at best. Not because people will not (and for the most part, they won’t) but because how we cast aside everything and “deal with it”.
You see, what I need to do is cast aside all of that stuff, all the stuff I need, that we need to deal with, first. Because, let’s be honest, I can’t cause AOC and Trump to sit down and reconcile, and I can’t solve the problems in middle Africa, or for that matter in Cerritos, Ca, or Windham, N.H. I can’t replace injustice with righteousness quickly enough.
But I can walk with the Lord, who will do that, who will work thorugh His people, who will change us, and through that change enable us to love each other in a way that is effective and transformative. That will bring about reconciliation, that will teach people to care more about helping others than compiling their own wealth.
You see these things that we long for are the side effect of something bigger. They are results of worship, of clinging to the cross where we discovered we are loved, where all of the injustice in our lives is crucified with Christ, where all our sin and the things that break us down are shattered. Where we learn what matters, what is worth our praise, what transforms us.
And as we look to Christ, as we worship, as we dwell in the presence of God, we are transformed. We begin to love because we are loved, we begin to help others find that justice and righteousness and they in turn are transformed as well, not by force, but by the process of realizing they are loved.
Deal with it…
Father, deal with us!
“deal with it, please, dear Father in Heaven… by dealing with us! Make real Your presence, Your love, Your transforming us… AMEN!”
Turkson, P. (2012). Adoration as the Foundation of Social Justice. In A. Reid (Ed.), From Eucharistic Adoration to Evangelization (p. 172). London; New York: Burns & Oates.
Pope Francis. (2013). A Year with Pope Francis: Daily Reflections from His Writings. (A. Rossa, Ed.) (p. 233). New York; Mahwah, NJ; Toronto, ON: Paulist Press; Novalis.
I Need to Become More Narrow-Minded…So Do You!
Photo by Ric Rodrigues on Pexels.com
Devotional Thought of the Day:
2 For while I was with you, I made up my mind to forget everything except Jesus Christ and especially his death on the cross. 1 Corinthians 2:2 (TEV)
273 Dear Jesus: if I have to be an apostle, you will need to make me very humble. Everything the sun touches is bathed in light. Lord, fill me with your clarity, make me share in your divinity so that I may identify my will with your adorable Will and become the instrument you wish me to be. Give me the madness of the humiliation you underwent, which led you to be born poor, to work in obscurity, to the shame of dying sewn with nails to a piece of wood, to your self-effacement in the Blessed Sacrament. May I know myself: may I know myself and know you. I will then never lose sight of my nothingness.
A long time ago, the first church that entrusted me with the responsibility of being their pastor, their guide, had a motto. Simply, what they wanted to be, as a church, was the place that taught Christ-centered living.
A fairly narrow mission statement, yet one I think we still need to see happen in the church.
It came to mind this morning as I was bombarded with political adds and texts. As I also was bothered greatly by some emails that spoke of politics inside my denomination.
After trying to clear my email and my mind of all this crap, I tried to settle down into my normal devotion time. And only as I opened my last book, did I see something that reminded me of what I have tried to teach for decades… to be humble like Mary, and sit at Jesus’ feet, and know the peace that comes from this “madness of humiliation” that St. Josemaria speaks of so well.
For it is there, being centered in and on Jesus, being able to identify with His will, (not mine, not democratic or Republican, not the United List’s or Congregations Matter) that I find the healing I need to begin the day. It is when I come to see the glory of His self-giving in the sacrament, where He invites us to share in Him, in the love that permeates and defines the communion of the Trinity, as He draws us in, and cleanses us, and we start to adjust to living in His glory, and His peace.
When I say I need ot be narrow-minded, I am not talking about set in a political view, or in some narrow theological paradigm. My mind needs to be centered on Jesus, as does my very life, heart, soul’ mind, and strength learning ot love even as I experience the love of God too incredible to understand.
Only then, knowing His love, can I toss away the idols and sins that so easily draw my attention away from the Lord, who creates, restores, and makes me (and all His people, the church) holy and healing of their brokenness.
So set aside everything else for a little while, and think about the love of God, which is visible in your life. AMEN!
Escriva, Josemaria. Furrow (Kindle Locations 1341-1347). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Why are we so willing to judge and condemn?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
11 Don’t criticize one another, brothers. He who criticizes a brother or judges his brother criticizes the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? James 4:11-12 HCSB
28. Respect and love ought to be extended also to those who think or act differently than we do in social, political and even religious matters. In fact, the more deeply we come to understand their ways of thinking through such courtesy and love, the more easily will we be able to enter into dialogue with them.
This love and good will, to be sure, must in no way render us indifferent to truth and goodness. Indeed love itself impels the disciples of Christ to speak the saving truth to all men. But it is necessary to distinguish between error, which always merits repudiation, and the person in error, who never loses the dignity of being a person even when he is flawed by false or inadequate religious notions.10 God alone is the judge and searcher of hearts, for that reason He forbids us to make judgments about the internal guilt of anyone.11
There is a great difference between judging sin and having knowledge of sin. Knowledge of sin does not entail the right to judge it. I may see and hear that my neighbor sins, but to make him the talk of the town is not my business. If I interfere and pass sentence on him, I fall into a greater sin than his. When you become aware of a sin, simply make your ears a tomb and bury it until you are appointed a judge and authorized to administer punishment by virtue of your office.
267 Those are called backbiters who are not content just to know but rush ahead and judge. Learning a bit of gossip about someone else, they spread it into every corner, relishing and delighting in it like pigs that roll in the mud and root around in it with their snouts.
268 This is nothing else than usurping the judgment and office of God, pronouncing the severest kind of verdict and sentence, for the harshest verdict a judge can pronounce is to declare somebody a thief, a murderer, a traitor, etc. Whoever therefore ventures to accuse his neighbor of such guilt assumes as much authority as the emperor and all magistrates. For though you do not wield the sword, you use your venomous tongue to the disgrace and harm of your neighbor.
It is amazing how much judgment we see today in the world. And equally disturbing how much we see in the church. So many people claiming to be experts regarding situations they have no intimate knowledge, of, but simply reacting to the news and rumors put out there. As so we somehow think we can judge (and prosecute or defend ) those whose situations are in the public eye.
A lot of our judgment is based on our own experiences, and on the experiences of someone who did something to us or to someone we love. And therefore, all in a similar situation we judge based on our experience, not on the facts that we don’t have access to.
Or we judge the case because of the affiliations or demographic data of the person who accuses or is accused. They agree with us, so they are the ones under attack. The other side is only loyal to their peers, therefore, since their peers are wrong, they must be lying.
A great example of this is the present situation with the supreme court nominee. I have some friends who have been sexually harassed and a couple who I have counseled because they were trying to cope with rape. I also have been involved in situations where one accused of such was the target, and they were out to hurt him. In the process of one such situation, the accuser was presented with evidence that proved her story a lie, and she confessed to it.
Been there, cried with both, was anxious with both, and the present situation has brought me to pray for those who stories are never far from my mind. And as I hear the details, as I see people share the rumors across social media, both groups of stories come to mind. The victims who no come forth, and the victims who had their lives damaged by false claims. No, let me rephrase, these situations today doesn’t just bring their stories to mind, it tears at the heart, as I remember the pain I tried to help them deal with.
Oddly enough, three of my readings this morning dealt with judgment and the notion of our judgment and condemnation of those people whom we don’t have the responsibility to judge, or all the information to judge the stories of those involved.
And then I see all those who would play God, who would decide this situation based on their own past realities, or worse, based on political issues. And my heart tears for them as well.
And then we have scripture, and the writings of Vatican II and the Large Catechism. All three warn us, they even command us not to judge. They ask us to leave it in God’s hands, something that takes a lot of faith, to trust God with what we would rather handle. It takes humility, such humility that is only found when we are in the presence of God, witnessing His glory and wisdom, which show him to both just and merciful. It takes trusting in God to set aside our own presuppositions and to be healed by our own pain.
But this is God who I am urging us all to trust in, a God who would reconcile us all through the blood of Jesus.
Trust Him, depend upon Him, leave the lynch mobs behind…
And rejoice in the presence in your life. AMEN!
Catholic Church. (2011). Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World: Gaudium Et Spes. In Vatican II Documents. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 401). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.
