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Anxiety, Temptation, Fear, or Peace…. Choose you this day…
Discussion Quote/Devotional THought of the Day:
“God is with you!” So cast far away from you that fear and spiritual agitation. They are reactions to avoid in the first place, for they only serve to multiply temptations and increase danger! ” St Josemarie Escriva,
Within our worship service, multiple times a phrase is said by the pastor, noting that the presence, the peace of God is with His people, and then we pray together, or feast together at the Lord’s table. It is a powerful thing, this knowing that the Lord is present, that He is here, that we have a relationship with Him, and that He is the Paraclete, the Encourager/Comforter/one who comes alongside and supports us.
To lack that presence is to invite in something else, Escriva says agitation, I tend to call that anxiety, the peace robbing emotional reaction that doesn’t trust in God, but wonders about all the permutations of the situation and starts spinning our hearts and minds out of control, as fears take over. We seek to escape such, and there is Satan, holding out temptations that will kill the anxiety, or at least hide it, for a few hours, for a few minutes. Those temptations often become addictions, because we turn, over and over, for some kind of release, some kind of escape, a vacation from the stressful strain of the world. With those temptations is always danger, always a struggle, always…..more stress
The option to it is simple – to simply rest and find yourself in the presence of God. To know His peace is with you. Luther talked of dwelling on the promises of your baptism, others talk about contemplating the incredible truth found in the Lord’s Supper – that there, we come face to face with the truth of how much the Father loves us, how much Christ was willing to sacrifice. ( Our brothers and sisters in the RCC talk about Eucharistic Adoration – a complex devotional time before a host that is saved for that very time – it is my thought that it developed simply from stopping and considering what the Lord’s Supper reveals, and not wanting that moment to just come and go so quickly) How deep the Father’s love for us… for me… to dwell on these things…. how the burdens, the transient, temporary burdens disappear! How the escapes that we had planned, as we broke before temptation now seem so.. empty… because we know that which makes a difference.
The peace of the Lord Jesus Christ is with you always……
And even as I write, I can hear my people say “AMEN!”
(and under their breaths… utter.. Thank God!)
The Heart of Worship
In preparing for Sunday’s sermon, I have a great computer program that searches my electronic library. In regards tot he passage from 1 Corinthians 6, this was one of the citations:
“11. But in order that the liturgy may be able to produce its full effects, it is necessary that the faithful come to it with proper dispositions, that their minds should be attuned to their voices, and that they should cooperate with divine grace lest they receive it in vain28. Pastors of souls must therefore realize that, when the liturgy is celebrated, something more is required than the mere observation of the laws governing valid and licit celebration; it is their duty also to ensure that the faithful take part fully aware of what they are doing, actively engaged in the rite, and enriched by its effects.[i]
It was never meant to be a spectator sport, where the people of God just get to observe the movements, and listen to the music and sermon. It is far more like a wedding dance, where God leads, we follow, and our eyes are glued to Jesus, even as a bride cannot take her eyes off her husbands. Where we are amazed at the grace, the incredible fluid nature of the blessings He pours out on us, on the way He enjoys the life He has given us, the life He shares with us.
If you are a pastor – help people to realize what they have – help them, guide them in their participation. The same advice I would give choirs and praise teams, Ministers of Worship and Cantors, ushers and greeters, and all who serve.
If you are a visitor or a long time member – don’t hesitate to ask what this part of the service is, why we do this or that. The answer make day a bit – but you will be encouraging others to know what we do, why we do it, as well.
And in all things – may we encourage, may we lift people up, that they may never receive the grace of God in vain.
For the Lord is with you!
The Heart of an apostolic disciple
Discussion/devotional thought of the day:
“After twenty centuries, we have to proclaim with complete conviction that the spirit of Christ has not lost its redemptive force, which alone can satisfy the desires of the human heart. Begin by feeding the truth into your own heart, which will be perpetually restless, as Saint Augustine wrote, for as long as you don’t place it entirely in God.” (escriva)
My thoughts:
Over the years, in different denominations, I have that the proclaiming fo the gospel – the sharing of Christ’s mercy and love, is the responsibility of the pastor/priest/church planter/missionary. It is they who are supposed to have the zeal, the wisdom and the knowledge that will lead the billions of people on this planet to Christ, and their preaching will be used apostolically by the Holy Spirit to cut open hearts, to cleanse the sin and repressed anger (as others sin) to bring to life and faith those who would know the promises found in Christ.
Pragmatically I have struggled with this – as some of the greatest apostolic hearts I have seen in young children – for they simply love God, trust in what is promised and tell people about that. I’ve seen it in retirement homes, as eyes barely able to see the pages of scripture and voices confined to wheelchairs share their faith with those around them. I’ve seen it in the jails, where a man in his seventies – who had heard a sermon that reminded him of God’s love – asked permission of the chaplain to share what he heard – for he was under the impression that he wasn’t allowed to, he wasn’t good enough, that God couldn’t use one like him. Given permission to share the grace he knew – but struggled to accept – he filled the chapel the next night….
Anyone who walks with Christ, who trusts in Him in this life and for the next – has a treasure that grows as it is given out – it is the richest of treasures – for it gives that which we need.
We confess that the church is one, its holy, it is catholic (in other words it is more than us, or our congregation, or our brotherhood/denomination) and it is apostolic – but that doesn’t just mean it is founded on the teachings of the apostles, It also means that we are part of the apostolate – all of us, those sent by God to be salt and light in a world that needs something to save and preserve it, to reflect His light into the darkest, slimiest, most putrid of places – lives those who sin… – and then rejoice as they are cleansed….we all pastors/priests/laypeople…. children, the elderly, the intelligent, the average, the simple – we all are sent into this world…
Lord – help us this morning – to realize who You are sending us, and give us the wisdom to reflect Your love and mercy to them… that they may be sure that they are welcome in your presence…. AMEN.
A Challenge to my faith
Discussion Thought of the Day
“You have never felt so absolutely free as you do now that your freedom is interwoven with love and detachment, with security and insecurity; for you do not trust yourself at all, but trust in God for everything.” Escriva, Josemaria: Furrow
In many ways, I don’t feel so free. Too many things demand my attention, too many people need my attention. Too many crisis, too much that needs healing… and then household chores that have gone undone too long (still – 6 months later have a garage that needs to be unpacked and organized!) It is easy to let such things burden me, create guilt which will paralyze me even more. Freedom? Really?
Yeah – this morning I will know it… as the people of God gather, as I lose myself in playing music that helps people lose themselves in prayer and praise…there is freedom there… there will be freedom in sharing His word – that tells us of how He binds us together in our absolution, as He gives us a new mind – that is able to focus – not on what is temporary and passing… but instead in what is permanent.. eternal… with Him.
Escriva nails it – we find that freedom – not in being free of that which constrains us, but in our trust in a God who is present… in whose presence we presently dwell, even if it is only a hint of eternity. No matter the hellishness that surrounds us now… the Lord is with us!
Go in peace… even better – come – be gathered in that peace… with us!
What will you do now… having encountered the Lord?
What will you do now…
having encountered the Lord?
Isaiah 6:1-8
† In Jesus Name †
The grace of God, the abundant love, the incredible mercy, the peace that comes from being in the presence of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is yours!
928,000 hits for hell, 597 million for heaven
If you look up two words on the internet, one word will return some 597 million references – web pages that deal with the subject in part or are on that topic – just for that one word. The other word is even more astounding, some 920 million web pages reference it. A combined total of 1.5 billion webpages referencing these two words.
The first word is heaven…
The second…hell.
It amazes me that there is more attention paid to that second word, half again as many webpages referencing something that by definition cannot be compared to heaven, except to say that everything heaven is not, Hell is.
I wonder if humanity is more comfortable with the second word than heaven, and therefore uses it more, because it doesn’t take any imagination to picture what it is like. We witness hints of it everywhere, as we see suffering lived out, as we witness the broken lives, as we hear the lyrics of music, country, rock, hip-hop – it doesn’t matter the style,
But heaven? How do you imagine it, much less describe it? Even St. Paul, who indicates that he was taken up to heaven in a vision, when he writes to the church in Corinth struggles, and describes it this way..
What no eye has seen and no ear has heard, what the mind of man cannot visualise; all that God has prepared for those who love him; (NJB)
Perhaps, because we cannot visualize it, our mind cannot comprehend being in the presence of God, in all of His glory… we struggle to tell people, to describe to them this relationship that we have with God, and what we expect of eternity, walking with Him.
Our knowledge of what heaven is like comes from the brief glimpses of it in scripture, the brief times where God reveals a little of our what heaven looks and sounds like. I think we deal enough with the other place way to much – so today – let’s spend our time in heaven, and see what happens when we encounter God in all his glory.
It’s a bit… overwhelming
As Isaiah describes where God resides, the incredible, majestic, throne room of God, there is one word that I think describes his emotions better than any other.
Overwhelmed!
Isaiah cannot even describe the Lord God Almighty who we have praised in song – about the closest he comes is describing the hem of his robe – he quickly describes the angelic beings surrounding the throne, singing the praises of God, praises that ring so loud they shake heaven and earth! Which leads him to focus to God, for the focus point of their body, their voices, everything they are focused on Yahweh – the sight is so awe-inspiring that the translators have always replaced God’s name – YHWH, with His title, for it seems so wrong to address One who is the purest form of holiness by His name.
Isaiah, overwhelmed by it all, all of a sudden remembers that he is part of this picture, In this midst of all this purity, in the middle of the hosts of heaven adoring God in all His intimate majesty! There stands Isaiah, whose “woe” is a phrase that escapes his mouth, before he can control it – one which leads him to identify himself as a man of “unclean lips.” Unclean being a reference to a flow of mud or sewer waste that has infiltrated your home, something that no matter how hard you try to clean it, infests and infects every part. Because that is what sin is – no matter how hard you try to clean it – to fix it – you cannot!
Any of you out there dread public speaking and standing before 1000, 10,000 people? Or have you ever had one of those nightmares where you find yourself at center court of a basketball game, or in the middle of a mall on the day after thanksgiving clad only in an old torn pair of underwear? Yeah… that’s pretty much how Isaiah feels, as he realizes the only sin in heaven at that point… is him.
No wonder, as he gasps, that Isaiah confesses that he is a man of filthy lips – not because of anything that he ate – but because of what has come from him! Such a statement calls to mind Jesus words regarding that it is not what goes into a man that pollutes him, but what comes out reveals how rotten we can be inside.
Like with most of us, having one’s sin revealed is never easy, it is as overwhelming as being found in the presence of God….yet it is then… as Isaiah is standing there, that something incredible happens…
It’s incredibly healing
For being found in God’s presence in not just incredibly overwhelming, it is incredibly healing.
Even as the Heavenly choir is singing the Sanctus’ holy, holy, holy, even as Isaiah realizes how exposed he and his sin is, an angel who knows God’s heart, who grasp His desire takes action. From the altar something is taken, it touches the lips of the man of unclean lips, and those lips are purified, as is the heart and life of the man. Those lips are cleansed and can praise the God who created them, and cleansed them. That heart no longer fears being found in the presence of a holy and righteous God, but stands in awe… and basks and rejoices in the love of the Lord God who reveals Himself to us, in order to bring us back to Him, to restore the relationship!
The sewerage, the uncleanness that once polluted us, is diverted, it cannot reach Isaiah, it cannot reach us.
Our is atoned for – an incredibly deep word picture there – as it is removed and the wounds it caused are covered as they are healed! You see, the roots of the word attone is tar or pitch – the kind used on trees when you remove a diseased or broken limb – and cover that which remains, so the weak bare would cannot be infested!
That is what God’s love, revealed to us in the shedding of Jesus’ blood does to us – is cleanses, and heals and covers and protects. It’s that simple – takes that ugly spots out of life and makes us whole…just as the fiery coal in Isaiah’s vision did, so does Christ do, as He enters our lives.
But what is best about what God does in our lives – is that He makes us comfortable in His life – in His presence. The “woe” disappears and the question of Isaiah falls aside, no longer even needing to be considered!
That is what our faith, our religion, what walking and trusting and believing in Christ is all about my friends. We need to grasp that because what God has promised us in His word was clearly revealed in Christ – that we now know His love – and that name of His – is ours to use, to call upon, to praise – to ask Him to deal with all that burdens us –that we may know He is God – our loving father!
Wait…there are people
Note – they too will be overwhelmed…
As we realize this incredible promise is not just Isaiah’s but ours – we hear the same words as Isaiah does – the Lord’s voice crying out – who can I send? Who is going to let the people of La Palma, and Cerritos, and Artesia, and Norwalk and Torrance, those who work with the students at Cal State and USC, and in hospitals and at the senior center and even in St Louis – who will God send? Who else needs to go to the people of unclean lips and unclean lives and tell them that there is cleansing, there is healing, there is life?
As you respond – for you know what God has done for you – and you realize their need for it – realize that their reactions will be as yours were – overwhelmed by the presence of God, in fear that their sins, their struggles in life stand out. Going out with the message isn’t easy, and people’s reaction will be one of struggle – yet, because of Christ, the lamb that was slain, the message that comes from the heart of God’s altar – the message that cleanses – it will cleanse and heal, and cause them to do as we do…
To find ourselves in the presence of God, cleansed, healed – and able to in the midst of a broken world know a peace and rest that is unexplainable – yet calls us to look to an eternity of peace, as we adore the God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who has made us His own…..
AMEN!
