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Three Sermons, Three Servants, One Passage:
On Sunday, three of the men I get to work with, two vicars and a deacon served people by proclaiming the Gospel. All three wrote solid sermons, and I couldn’t pick one over the other two, so here are all three. Enjoy and be blessed!
From Vicar Mark:
Mark 10: 17-22
Greetings brothers and sisters in the name of Christ who considered it pure joy to go to the cross for our sin and in whom we now live forever!
Alleluia, amen!
You ever have one of those days that seem like a perfect day and nothing can go wrong?
You think you’ve got it all figured out. Everything is firing on all eight cylinders, the coast is clear. All systems are go!
In the words of Marsha Brady, “The birds are blooming and the daffodils are singing!”
Then things hit the fan and you realize you have locked your keys in the car and your not in it or that perfect dessert you made for the church potluck and are so proud of is now face down on a street somewhere because you left it on the roof of the car and forgot to load it.
Maybe you crammed and studied like crazy for that test and you know that you are going to ace it until you realized when you get to class that you studied the wrong chapters.
You sound like that young, wealthy ruler who thought he had everything in his pocket and under control and then meets Jesus on the road and asks Him,” Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
What must I do?
You, you, you. Me, me, me. I.I I.
Between this account in the Gospel and you and I it appears to be all about us! Tell me what to do and I’ll make it happen, I think. Did he really want to know or did he want confirmation that he had already done it by his own accord?
Jesus answers this self-confident young wealthy ruler by saying, “ Why do you call me good? No one is good but One-God.”
Right away Jesus keys in and tells this guy that no one is good except for God! Only God is righteous and Holy. No matter what this guy says or thinks he falls short in his ‘goodness’.
Jesus tells him, “ You know the commandments: do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, don’t defraud and honor your father and mother.”
I’m sure at hearing this; the wealthy, powerful young man had to be thinking, “Not a problem, I got this. It’s a homerun!”
He answers Jesus, “ Teacher, I have kept all these from my youth.”
Well this is where things go bad for the rich guy in his way of thinking. After what Jesus says next, our boy’s day is going to be a dreary dismal day for sure in his eyes!
As Jesus looks at him, Mark tells us something else that is incredible. We learn that not only did Jesus look at him but Jesus loved him as He says, “ You lack one thing, Go and sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have your treasure in Heaven. Then come, follow me!”
Jesus didn’t look at him with scorn and ridicule or sarcasm but instead looks at him with love in the same way that He looked at those who hung Him on that cross and said, “ Father forgive them.” He looks at him the same way he looks at us when He says, “Follow me!”
Upon hearing this Mark records that He was disheartened, he was stunned by what Jesus tells him and he went away grieving because he had many possessions.
So in order for you to follow Christ, you must sell everything and give it to the poor.
Is that what Jesus is saying here?
Yes and no.
Three things really come to the forefront in this account.
- A. Goodness. As the man raced to ask Jesus, he called him Good Teacher and Jesus responded that only God is good.
Only God is perfect, righteous, holy and good. No matter how good and how hard we try to be good by what we think we do and by trying to keep the commandments, we are not righteous, holy and good by and on our own.
Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Thus young ruler thought that he had kept the commandments since he was a youth and maybe he did in deed or action but throw in thought and word and he like us was not able to keep those commandments. He wasn’t good and neither are we.
So that brings us to the second thing.
2. Idols.
An idol is anything that becomes your god, a false god and takes the place of and prevents you form seeing God. It can be anything from football or your job or your kids or pride in yourself and your accomplishments. It can be things even at church.
For the young man it was his possessions and his wealth. Basically it boils down to Jesus telling him and us that if anything gets in the way of your view and focus of God, dump it, get rid of it. It’s garbage! For the real treasure, follow Christ.
Matthew 6: 20 says, “But lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
This brings us to the third point and the most important part.
The relationship.
Did you notice in our Gospel today that something was missing? When the young man asked Jesus and Jesus quoted the commandments back to him, he left the first three out. Jesus quoted what is commonly referred to as the Second Table or the Commandments for living and dealing with your fellow man. Why would he do that being God and all, did He forget them?
No, not at all!
You see the first three Commandments or the First Table tell of our relationship with God. They confront our basic belief and structure about God. They talk about the perfect relationship that God created for His children. It’s an invitation to a give and take relationship. Don’t we see that in the Sacraments? “Take and eat and take and drink.” He willingly gives us forgiveness of sins, salvation and eternal life through this gift given to us through His Son as we gatheris SonH and we as His called and redeemed children thank, praise and glorify His name calling on Him for everything because He is our loving Father and because He is God.
This rich man’s relationship was lacking in this because he was focused on the idol of himself and his idol of wealth and fortune. So Jesus told him to dump it and follow Him in that perfect relationship of grace, peace and love bought and paid for with His holy blood. Jesus tells us that exact same thing and we hear it and read it in His Holy Word. Our relationship with God has been rewon and regained and taken back from the sin that we caused to break it in the first place. Through our High Priest who is the Christ, perfect atonement and fulfillment of that priestly sacrifice we are now made His. It is only through Christ that we can ask Him to smash those evil and unholy idols that prevent us from the very relationship with Him. It is only through Jesus that we have the strength given to us in our Baptisms and shared with us in the foretaste of the feast to come found in that meal of Holy Communion.
It is only through the glory found at the cross that any of this is possible and that we are now counted as righteous and holy and good enough to be in the sight and presence of God.
Think about what’s been done for you. God says call him by His name, YAHWEH, then we Have Jesus tell us and His Father that he is not ashamed to call us brothers and we because of YAHWEH’s plan of redemption through Jesus are now heirs of Heaven.
The rich young man didn’t get it that when Jesus called him to follow, He ws calling him to inherit gifts far beyond the measure of a mortal man.
Instead he went away dejected, stunned and disheartened because he couldn’t let go of his idol while the Good Teacher set His face like flint and proceeded to walk that path to the cross, “ Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2.
He walked that path in complete obedience knowing what was waiting for Him.
Was it death and destruction? Yes, through Jesus dying for our sin and idol worship it was the destruction of death and the grave and through Jesus dying for all it was the death of the power that sin had on us. We now have abundant life that no idol could ever give us but only through what God can give us and keeps on giving to us.
So I guess the final question again comes down to this. Do you have to get rid of everything you have to follow God?
Quite simply yes, if it has become an idol to you and prevents you from seeing God and His goodness, grace and love for you.
We can only truly trust and have faith in He who claims us as His knowing with certain hope and confidence that we who confess Christ as King and Savior will all gather at the throne with Him for eternity and that will be the perfect day where only things go perfectly right!
“Come and follow me!”
Alleluia, amen!
From Vicar Eddie
Sermon 10-14-12
Mark 10:17-22 (using HCSB)
Concordia, Cerritos
The story of the rich young ruler causes some to pity the man…he was so close…if only he had trusted Jesus more…if only he knew. But perhaps there is more to this story if we scratch the surface…if we scratch the surface we might see that we are more like the rich young man than we would like to admit.
Right from the start this story is different than most accounts in the Bible of people coming to Jesus…usually those that approached Jesus were looking for healing either for themselves or a loved one…or they were trying to find fault with the teachings of Jesus. But this man asks a completely different question…maybe one you yourself have contemplated during your life…he approaches Christ, calls him “good teacher” and then asks how he might attain eternal life…AND, he is not asking what he has to do…he is not asking where he can buy it…but how should he align his life, what should his purpose in life be so that he might inherit eternal life…inherit eternal life. How do I get this gift that can only come from God? How do I get eternal life? Jesus knew this young man was on to something, so He asks him, “Why do you say I am good?” Only God is good…are you saying I am God? Are you saying I can give you the gift of eternal life? And then Jesus skips the commandments that have to do with God and lists the commandments that have to do with other people, and the young man says he has kept all of them close to his heart. Jesus accepts this… He does not call him a liar but instead hits him right between the eyes…very well then… sell everything, give the money to the poor and follow me. Stunned…shocked…flabbergasted… he realizes Jesus is asking him to give up the one thing he knows he cannot give up… his treasures! Why did it have to be that? Why couldn’t it be spending more time at the synagogue? Why couldn’t it be helping out those less fortunate? Why couldn’t it be spending more time in scripture? No… he asked the young man for his wealth…a dark cloud comes over the man and he went away dejected, sorrowful, he went away grieving. It is indeed sad…some might say that the young man rejects Jesus, that he turns his back on Jesus, but the young man was seeking God, the young man was looking for a closer walk with God, and yet there was a barrier…a barrier so large that it kept him from fully experiencing the grace and mercy of Christ. A barrier so large that it kept him from the inheritance he so desperately sought… and so that begs the question…What barrier have we created? What keeps us from fully experiencing the grace and mercy of Christ?
You see this story is not just about a rich young man… this story is about us…each one of us has put up barriers that keep us from fully experiencing the love and grace of Christ; we have all created barriers that keep us from having a closer walk with God and maybe that is why Jesus skipped the 1st commandment when He spoke to the young man. Jesus knew that this young man had other gods…as Luther explained the first commandment in the Large Catechism; a god is something on which we set our whole heart. Jesus knew that this man had placed his wealth ahead of God, he trusted in his wealth above trusting God…and so what have we placed before God? You see it doesn’t always have to be wealth…it can be anything that we treasure in our hearts above God. And it can take a numerous of forms – it can come in a bottle that we desperately need after another rough day; it can be the football games that keep us from worshipping God with our brothers and sisters on Sunday mornings, it can come in the form of a keyboard; a keyboard that logs us into facebook for hours on end instead of spending time in scripture, or it can be staying up late to view adult material and feeling ashamed that we do, so we draw away from others for fear they might discover our dark habit. Really we can fashion anything into a barrier between is and God; even something we would find good, like family, exercise or even work. These things that God has given us to bring us joy, relaxation and a sense of accomplishment can become so important in our lives that they interfere with our relationship with God. They draw us away from God.
I worked for many years with a company that had such an outstanding president of sales. We used to say that she could sell ice to eskimo, and we knew she worked hard, but we didn’t realize to what extent. During a sales meeting in New Jersey, her husband called and told her that he wasn’t feeling good…that he really wanted her to come home. This was very odd behavior on his part – they talked often when she would go away on trips, and as president of sales, she traveled extensively, but he had not once ever asked her to come home. She said, she couldn’t leave…this sales meeting was too important and that she would be home the next day. Well, he didn’t make it the next day and she never forgave herself for not going home. Work had become her god, above family, above her own health and even above God.
Certainly we know we are going to have activities outside of church, certainly we know we will have other interests and certainly we know that we can’t keep all of God’s commands perfectly, but it comes down to priorities. Is God a priority in my life? Or is God an afterthought…a parachute we grasp only when we run into problem; when our life seems to be spiraling out of control? In Luke 9:23 Jesus tells us “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” This is not to say that we need to try to bear the weight of our sins and thus by our own power overcome our sinfulness, but instead we are to daily surrender our sinful and lustful desires to Christ…and follow him.
But our story of the young man does not end there. Yes, the young man goes away dejected, lost and maybe even ashamed, but what about Jesus? We know that Jesus was on His way to the cross of Calvary and we know that in His death and resurrection we find the very thing that young man sought…life everlasting…eternal life. And Jesus did this with JOY! Hebrews 12:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
You see God knows that we cannot of our own accord lift ourselves over the barriers we have created; He knows that we cannot overcome the sin that keeps us from Him. At the cross which is meant for torture and death we find life…at the cross we find the gift of eternal life. And this gift is not just for that young man, it is not just for those of us that showed up this Sunday morning…no this gift of eternal life is a gift God has given to the whole world. Just as Jesus invited the young man to leave behind those things that hindered Him from fully experiencing the love, grace and mercy of God, Jesus extends that offer to the entire world even today. Jesus stands ready to walk with you, each and every day of your life. With joy Jesus went to the cross, knowing He was breaking the bondage of sin that impeded this man from fully experiencing the love, grace and mercy of God. So, we have a choice…we can either walk away with our baggage…those things that bring us shame and draw us away from God, or we can leave them at the foot of the cross and walk with Jesus…Jesus invites you to walk with Him each and every day of your life…will you walk in the JOY of Jesus today?
and from Deacon Don
Showing Mercy, the Art of Dying to Self
6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8 (NKJV)
“You must never treat anyone unmercifully. If you think someone is not worthy of your mercy, you should realise that neither do you deserve anything. You don’t deserve to have been created, or to be a Christian, or to be a son of God, or to have the family you have… “ (1)
When I read this, my mind started to inventory the people I tend to struggle treating with mercy. The obvious are those that are adversarial, those relationships that are strained because of the their sin, and mine. Some of them may not even know me – but what they do and say affects me, or more often, the people I serve and help train to minister to others. Even as I think of them, I tend to squirm a bit.
Then there are the people who are pretty much strangers, the person at the market who races to get a head of me. (Have to admit – I sometimes take a teeny bit of joy when they turn around in triumph and see my clerical collar!) Or the neighbor who I do not bother to engage in conversation. How can I show them mercy? There is always a way…we just have to take the time to think about it…
And then there is the person whom I choose to ignore. They may be that irritating person, or that immature one – better just to ignore them, and all if you don’t have anything good to say…say and do nothing. What about, the homeless guy with the sign (and we all know what he is really asking for the money for..right? uhm no )People that we do not show mercy, because we don’t even recognize they exist. As I thought of them – my “old adam” was crushed a little more, as the guilt just amped up.
The funny thing is, if I am to show mercy, the way to find the power, the ummphh, the ability to do it, doesn’t come from self discipline and mastery under my own strength. It comes as I realize how incredible the mercy shown to me has been. The difference it makes – and the basic fact is – I don’t deserve, even as I sometimes think those around me aren’t worthy of it, either. We aren’t in some ways, and never will be. The only way that matters though, says we are, because we are His children. called into that relationship together, not as individuals, but as His family.
Which means we have to die to self, to pride, in order to find that which enables us to fulfill God’s reason, His logos. We have to see our sin and its passion crucified. In order to show mercy, we have to die to self, and our own sin. It is the only way, and it is not an easy road…. our incredible ability for self-defense and self preservation will try to stop us. Even so, for us to see this happen in necessary. We must see the old Adam – our sinful nature – put to death, that Christ may live in us, and show mercy.
Or perhaps, we just need to remember what happened when God marked us as His in baptism:
6:5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
Romans 6:5-8 (ESV)
“5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Galatians 5:22-24 (ESV)
The Lord has shown you mercy… remember that, as you grow in your desire to show God mercy…
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 707-709). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
The Simplicity of Sharing God’s Love…
Devotional Thought of the day….
28:16 The eleven disciples went to the hill in Galilee where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him, even though some of them doubted. 18 Jesus drew near and said to them, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 20 and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:16-20 (TEV)
“The moment you have anyone—whoever he may be—at your side, find a way, without doing anything strange, to pass on to him the joy you experience in being a son of God and living as such.” (1)
There are many things to think through, in the scene mentioned above, as having broken the power of death and shame, Jesus gives the disciples some last directions about the ministry He is sharing with them.
It is interesting to me that even in His presence, some doubted, for that gives me hope, when I struggle with this great work we have – and indeed, considering the last verse we have the answer. We are never far from our Triune God and His glory – even here in this “life”.
I love parts of the TEV translation here – especially when it uses “people” rather than nations. Nations distance the project, they make it seem larger than possible – to go into ALL the WORD and make disciples of ALL NATIONS. If we consider the task with those words, it is easy to become disappointed, disillusion – 7 billion people? But if we see that passage refering to going everywhere – and making disciples of people, the task becomes a matter of life, a matter of our vocation, not some task, but really, that which is part of every role, every vocation, everything we do in life.
That is why I love the simplicity of how a catholic priest named Josemarie Escriva (now canonized as a saint by the RCC) describes this work we call evangelism. Find a way, without doing anything strange to pass on the joy! What joy? Pass on the joy of being a son of God, and living as such!
There is a magnificent joy in realizing we have been freed to be God’s children, to live life with that kind of exuberance, with that kind of energy. To realize the burdens God has lifted from us, the anxiety we’ve been from – for a purpose – to walk with God. Think of that for a few moments as you eat your lunch today. And then, look around you, see those God has brought into your life – who live or work or are enjoying a game or eating, those people side by side. Simply share with them your joy, help them to see it is theirs as well.
For that is why we have been sent into the world, to reflect His love, His mercy, His light.
Lord, as we cry Lord have mercy, may we cry for those around us, and as we receive that mercy, may we share that with them as well.
(1)Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 701-703). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Our Faith is Like Driving a Stick
Devotional thought of the day:
I often see people trying to create a division between “religion” and a “relationship” with Jesus. They bash the idea of there being a structured relationship, because somehow that limits them. Personally, I think there is more to the discussion than simply saying you don’t need the structure, you don’t need the discipline, you don’t need that which so many before you found to be essential to their walk with God. Let me explain using a illustration.
I love driving a manual transmission – especially a five or six speed stick. I really miss my old tiny Mazda 626 and the Sentra SE-R that replaced it. I used to work at a university, and lived about 20 miles away. The road was very winding and hilly, (Malibu Canyon) and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride – constantly shifting and just having fun. It was even fun when rocks dotted the road in the canyon, as you had to really drive. I even learned a few different routes – winding through the Santa Monica Mountains. The scenery was gorgeous- and driving a stick just made it a greater experience!
Driving in such a manner is a great example of religion and relationship functioning together. I didn’t think, downshift now – upshift now – double clutch…right now. I just did it, I guess the word is intuitively, naturally, and the senses became even more aware of what was going on. (for example – my carpool companion Ed screaming to slow down!!!) The “structure” of shifting and the discipline of driving were not negatives – they were part of the flow of life that enhanced the experience, that made it…incredible. Driving an automatic (whether my wife’s Geo Metro or later her RAV4) was no where near the same experience.
If I were to say I didn’t need the structure – that I could shift from 1st to 4th, or didn’t need to depress the clutch, the ride would have been somewhat different. And the damage to the car (our lives) could be exreme. That is what I think those who try to divide our “religion” from the “relationship”. They try to shift where they want, when they want – and there is nothing to keep their senses in check. Unfortunately, life isn’t like driving on a 100 square mile dry-lake bed. It is like driving through the windy canyon, with rocks falling, and a 700 foot cliff to the left! We have to realize that prayer, and reading the Bible, and gathering as the people of God are not duties to hamper our faith, but blessings to form it.
There is another problem that becomes evident here – how we train people to “drive” and “shift”. Nothing intimidates me more than contemplating teaching my wife to drive a stick. It is so intuitive to me, I can’t even think about how to express it in works. My brother in law once had a sheet of directions – “Zen and the art of Driving a stick” – basically saying – when it’s time to shift, depress the clutch, shift, release the clutch” Yeah – that’s about it… yet! So we struggle as we teach people the “mechanics” of our faith, and we just expect them to treasure them the way we do. Not to mention we get a little ticked when they grind the clutch, or don’t down shift or.. and our frustration frustrates them – and do we really need all this?
And so the idea of can’t we strip the religion from the relationship seems to be very… possible. And often times, to our shame, we let them – thinking they will never understand. Not remembering how long it took us to learn these things.
I thought so too – till I started ministering to people with dementia, or alzheimers, or near the end of their lives. To go through a short version of the liturgy, and see those who cannot remember why I wear a clerical collar – though they do know it is a great thing I am there – say the Lord’s prayer with me, and even the Creed, to read Psalm 23, or John 3, or Eph 2:8-10 and watch them mouth the words, and the same during the words of institution, or the light that sparkles in their eyes and they receive the Lord’s Supper. There is something to that structure, there is something to that faith – that is even intuitive when all else is failing. There is peace, and calm and even joy. The same when a family goes through trauma, or when what would cause anxiety in ost just doesn’t stress them out.
For it is then, that “religion” calls us back to know that which we should know – when our driving becomes fluid and graceful and we can again rise out of ourselves and sense that there is something else at work, Someone else providing the power, the beauty, the grace. When we are no longer just concentrating on the mechanics, but they are so natural, that we can more clearly experience walking with God. Because we know His promises, we know He is communicating with us in prayer, and we are ultimately aware of His presence… so aware nothing else matters.
So be patient, be diligent, listen to those who would disciple and train you… and if you are training someone – be patient, remember how it took you a while – and there were more than a few hiccups,
Lord Have Mercy, and help us to live in a way, that we rejoice in the journey, fully confident of Your presence.
AMEN
My Most Unpopular Post…EVER
Devotional Thought of the Day:
It’s amazing how much a five year old reflects the behavior of a society, and even more amazing, the people who make up God’s church in America. ( I don’t know about other countries – yet…)
I happen to have a brilliant five year old. He reads well, he can do 2 and 3 digit addition, but he has a major issue with patience, and sometimes a complete lack of awareness of that which is going on around him. A chip off the old block in many ways (okay – he get’s the brilliance from his mom) Most repeated lesson these days, get what you need to done, without the whining. I tell you – there are times I wish he was a teenager – and had matured past the whining part. (please don’t disillusion me!)
I see in myself, and in churches and among church leaders, the same impatience. We want everything fixed right away, we want to see our people go from just baptized to having the faith of Moses and David and John right away. (we have to remember that John was once a “son of thunder” and I don’t think his transformation was immediate either.)
We whine about the fact that others don’t mature, and that we can’t “go on” or we decide to “go on” without them. If this is in the church – we devalue each other, saying that our personal growth and maturity is more important than the growth of the entire community in their faith. Tough call, very tough call here, but we see the evidence of it in the incredibly high “church shopping” movement. People don’t see their needs being met – even in the mega-churches – and they mvoe to the next one, to the next place that is hopping – and then try to drag their friends there as well.
We see it in the movement today – in those that look at the 25 year studies of churches and note that the “common” thing is for decline ( while we over look the stat in the same study that says this is easily addressed by re-committing to the vision of the church, or adapting it) and that “true” growth occurs fastest in “church plants”. IMHO – that attitude will prove to result in more danger as good – about 20 years from now – as those people see that they created a self-fulfilling prophecy. But it is also there in the movement that has little patience with those who are so excited to discover the grace of God, that they want the world to know! More whining, more complaining, more impatience.
Please hear me – I as much as anyone – want to see people grow in their trust in God, and mature in how that is expressed. And I struggle with the plodding that sometimes is evident, as people don’t see a need to grow – and our content where they are at – stagnant it seems.
But spiritual maturity is a process of endurance, not sprints – it needs to last generations, not just years and perhaps a decade. It has to show the characteristic that we see in God,
3:9 The Lord is not being slow in carrying out his promises, as some people think he is; rather is he being patient with you, wanting nobody to be lost and everybody to be brought to repentance.
2 Peter 3:9 (NJB)
I used to think the patience in this passage, was talking about those that hadn’t rbeen brought to repentance yet – but Peter is addressing the people that are believers already. Could it be that God’s patience is with His kids? The ones who whine and complain about others, the ones who are to be about planting seeds, the workers in the harvest, the church that has been gifted and given the vocation of being the light in the darkness? I think that we have to be careful and to discern the difference between tolerating stagnation, and knowing when to be patient with the slow and steady growth that must occur in the church – the patience that knows that endurance in the ministry means being able to guide people from where they are at, to a greater and greater dependence on God.
It means realizing and ministering to people in their brokenness – and making sure they grasp the wonder of God’s presence in their life, and the need of that presence in the lives of those around them. It means slowing some down to savor God’s presence and rest – while still bringing hope and healing to those around them. It means sticking to the place where God has gathered you – and encouraging each other continually to look to Christ, to reflect His glory.
It’s not easy, its not always popular, but the discipline is that which reflects God’s love to you…. as you work with people, enduring, patient – longsuffering, and as they work with you.
Know this – where you are at – there God’s presence is… learn that it is enough – and that is the maturity that really matters.
Church as a M*A*S*H* unit
Devotional/Discussion thought of the day:
It’s nearly 1 o’clock, and I am just starting to write my devotional today – which is kinda sad – because it is part of my personal devotion. Part of the reason is that things have been topsy-turvy, with several people needing to know God’s presence, and a busy schedule and once again, I feel pulled in a bunch of different places, and all I want is to find some down time. I feel like a character from my old favorite show, M*A*S*H*.
To be honest, I would hope that people think of me as like a cross between Fr. Mulchahey and Hawkeye, but I am probably more like C.E.W. III. ( When we were deciding my son’s first and middle name – even though it wasn’t the reason – it seemed right that he would be William Kristopher – the actor who played the priest!)
But in reality, a church is like a MASH unit – we are in the middle of a raging war against forces of darkness. and we are brought constantly those are wounded. A number of them are bruised and battered and won’t make it – they will stay in our wards until its time to leave this life – and several have recently. Some are here for a shorter time – a time of respite and healing, and then they are back off into the war. Dinged but not destroyed, hurt but able to function, able to heal. Others would head home, their lives changed, but their ability to cope with the damage due in part to the work of the doctors – all of them including CEW and Frank Burns. I remember well the incident with the pianist/private who lost his right hand – and CEW showed such compassion in showing him the musical masterpieces written by a composer – who only had a left hand
Indeed, each church is more the staff of the MASH than those treated there. Each one of us has a few screws loose – you have to, in order to survive a war. We have all the different characters, from Radar to Hot Lips, from Frank to Colonel Potter, and of course the inhabitants of the swamp, and the priest who was the only sane one, but that’s because he was more aware of God sustaining him. Some of us even have a Corporal Klinger or two… who thinks he’s not broken, but pretends he is broken, and finds he’s broken in other ways. We are a surgical unit – that works on hearts and minds brutalized by life, and a spiritual battle with enemies that are not human, yet, do great damage. Healing is only found in Jesus… and the Holy Spirit guides our words, actually His words of life – that surgically cut away the damage of sin, and bring healing to wounded relationships.
At its best… the church ministers in its community in spite of their brokenness – yet its their brokenness that allows them to survive. We laugh, and cry, and even go catatonic, but find the ability to get back to work when the sound of the wounded arriving on choppers echo into our lives. It is then we rely on God, and work without stopping, and as a team – for lives are on the line, not just physically, but spiritually, not just our patients, but our own as well.
We’ve got a motto here at Concordia – that would describe them well there. We are a place where people are healing in Christ, while helping others to heal.
Sometimes that healing is heading heavenward. Sometimes it will be moving on… changed, but perhaps more alive.
But we will forever be changed – by serving those whom God brings…
Lord have mercy, and help us see, and communicate – You have!
Why do we seek the Sensational?
Discussion, devotional thought of the day:
As I look over the devotional blogs I have been writing, I am tending to see a pattern regarding the number of readers I get per each title.
Include comments about chick fil a – lots of hits. Best blog so far – the one about my dieing 20 years ago. (that many people interested in my death experience? Or that many people think I really am dead?) But if the topic is something like spiritual growth, or discipleship, or the dreaded “e” word, or knowing God’s presence… not so much.
I’ll admit – it’s a little frustrating. Then again, I am writing these blogs as much to help me – to get me to process these things, but I desire that they would be a blessing to others. So should I write on politics? ( I can tick everyone off that way!) Or make this “less” of a devotional/discussion blog?
More important I think – why do we click on that which titilates, that which is controversial, or sensational? Why are we willing to do that, and not look to the deeper things of our faith, the things which actually change our lives?
In Hebrews we find:
Hebrews 5:11-14 (NLT) There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. 12 You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. 13 For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. 14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.
So its not a new problem – but how can we address it? How can I make this devotional blog something that uplifts and challenges you? Please let me know… pragmatically it makes more sense than if this is just a blog that no one reads except me… or a blog that simply adds to that which distracts us from God, and His love and adoring Him!
God Bless!
Today is God’s “take your kid to work day”
Discussion/Devotional thought of the day:
Back in the day, there was a song on Christian radio that had the following lyrics
“it may be the Devil, and it may be the Lord, but you gotta serve somebody!”
Yesterday I wrote a little about priorities, then during the day, I started looking at all the demands for my time this fall. I’ll have to head to St Louis at the end of the month, then Palm Springs for a three day meeting in September, then another one day meeting in October, plus all the normal meetings, all the normal stresses, balancing in the needs of my church (writing a new Adult Sunday School class ) with my family, and with other obligations. The comes Advent and Christmas, and planning for those. Some even say I should make sure I have time for myself, and too look after my health.
It’s easy for me to start evaluating the schedule demands, and list this event as more important than that event, these people not as important as those. Now my evaluations are more intuitive than analytically, that’s how I operate. Yet even as I do these things, my blog from yesterday keeps simmering, and I wonder, am I listening to God in these evaluations? Am I considering His priorities, His desires, His needs. Will my calendar reveal where my heart lies, and is it with Him? Or am I acting more like a manager who doesn’t have a close relationship with God, if any?
How we set our priorities both on a daily basis and on a larger scale reveals who we serve, and is it God, or is it some other god? Do we dare question our own analysis – do we question our own motives, and ask God to use us, whereever He would lead us? Do we recognize that our schedule is one that is God’s as well, as He walks with us throughout our day?
Ultimately, our schedules may not change when we make God our first priority, when we realize that our day is one long appointment with Him. We will still have the same people to deal with, the same schedule demands, the same hard decisions, the same vocations and occupations. Yet if we see the day as one we spend with Him, in all those places, with all those people, we will look at the day differently…each appointment a divine appointment, each block of time has a divine significance.
It’s not so much using our time wisely, for personally I don’t have enough wisdom to do that. But I can let God’s wisdom prevail – and walk with Him as a son shadows his dad on “take your kid to work day”
We cry out “Lord Have Mercy” then step back in awe as He does!
