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Mission, Vocation, and our Neighbor
Devotional Thought of the Day:
25 A teacher of the Law came up and tried to trap Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to receive eternal life?” 26 Jesus answered him, “What do the Scriptures say? How do you interpret them?” 27 The man answered, ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind’; and ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ ” 28 “You are right,” Jesus replied; “do this and you will live.” 29 But the teacher of the Law wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” Luke 10:25-29 (TEV)
20 If we say we love God, but hate others, we are liars. For we cannot love God, whom we have not seen, if we do not love others, whom we have seen. 21 The command that Christ has given us is this: whoever loves God must love others also. 1 John 4:20-21 (TEV)
16 No longer, then, do we judge anyone by human standards. Even if at one time we judged Christ according to human standards, we no longer do so. 17 Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come. 18 All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also. 19 Our message is that God was making all human beings his friends through Christ. God did not keep an account of their sins, and he has given us the message which tells how he makes them his friends. 2 Corinthians 5:16-19 (TEV)
Does a believer have a responsibility to be missional? To go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and teach them to treasure all God has commissioned?
To speak theologically, is this one of our vocations, along with being spouses, parents, employees, employers and good church members? Are we all missionaries? Do I have a responsibility as a believer in Jesus to those around me, who still are lost in darkness?
In a recent discussion, I put forth the first passage – the story behind the story of the Good Samaritan for a reason. Notice that that our relationship with our neighbor (whether they are our spouse, kids, actual neighbor, co-worker, or whomever) comes right after our relationship with God. Being a loving neighbor is our vocation.
Our relationship with God and our relationship with our neighbors is inseparably intertwined. The quote from 1 John makes this clear – our love for Him is seen in that love we have for our neighbor. That’s why the teacher of the law combines the two. We can’t love God if we fail to love those He calls us to love.
Loving them isn’t easy, it requires that we know.. no, that we dwell in the love and peace of God. That His mercy so resonates with our life, that we don’t have to think about the ministry of reconciliation being given to us, we simply work in that ministry. We seek to free people from the darkness of sin, the oppression of satan, and break the grip that death has on them.
Loving them means inviting them into the relationship where God reconciles them, where He makes us His friends, where we understand what He is about is bringing us home to the Father. That is what being missional is about, or what some others call our apostolate. It is in loving our neighbors as God does, not because we have to fulfill some quota, but that’s what we do as we walk with Him. (He describes it clearly for us, but we hear it…. like a duty, not as an invitation to spend time with Him)
We are missionaries, for our Lord is, and we walk with Him. It is His mission – and we live and breathe in Him! Therefore we work with Him in seeing His desire come to being.
We love our neighbors, we desire to see them reconciled, to become friends with God, because He has done this with us.
May we rejoice in every baptism, and may we teach them to rejoice and treasure this life He has given us!
The Lord’s Supper, and Spiritual Apathy
Devotional Thought of the Day:
28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. 29 For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died. 1 Corinthians 11:28-30 (NLT)
“These words, I have said, are not preached to wood or stone but to you and me; otherwise Christ might just as well have kept quiet and not instituted a sacrament. Ponder, then, and include yourself personally in the “you” so that he may not speak to you in vain.
In this sacrament he offers us all the treasure he brought from heaven for us, to which he most graciously invites us in other places, as when he says in Matt. 11:28, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will refresh you.
”Surely it is a sin and a shame that, when he tenderly and faithfully summons and exhorts us to our highest and greatest good, we act so distantly toward it, neglecting it so long that we grow quite cold and callous and lose all desire and love for it.”
It’s my twenty-fifth anniversary today. As I was thinking about that, and about my sermon this week, the quote from Luther’s Large Catechism above kept coming back to mind. Let me explain why.
Twenty-five years is a pretty decent period of time. We’ve faced unemployment, major health issues (2 years in I had a massive cardiac arrest due to a genetic problem). We’ve faced adjusting to having a child after seventeen years of just us. An incredibly brilliant son, but who has some challenges as well. We have survived, we have endured. Like our parents, who also have endured much. There is a challenge to this though, and that is frequent interaction with each other. Reminding each other of our love for each other. Being passionate and perhaps even more… compassionate towards each other.
It is all to easy to stop working, to just assume the other will be there. To become apathetic in our relationship, to just get by. But the problem is that when our hearts look for that which is needed. The support, the encouragement, the interaction. The rest that comes when a couple’s home is their place of rest, their place of being nurtured, their place of being able to drop everything.
Are Kay and I perfect at this? No. ( I am involved in this after all! 🙂 ) But we do well… and have endured by God’s grace.
So what has this to do with communion?
Well, it is a primary contact point – a refuge, a place of peace and restoration in our walk with God. It is a treasure, that too often we get apathetic about, not realizing what it is… God calling us to gather around His table, and feeding us in way that is incredible. The family of God getting together, celebrating the forgiveness of sins and mercy of God and His love for us all. Clearly seen when we realize that piece of bread – yes it is His body, that little cup of wine, His precious blood – give for you and I.
As Luther says – those words aren’t for rocks and stones – Jesus spoke these words for you and I!
There are two ways I see us growing, as the church at large, callous and cold to it.
The first is when we think that it is somehow less necessary than the sermon, and therefore we celebrate it far less often. Or we cut it out of our masses or worship services because of time or convenience. (even heard one church that wanted to cut it out because of the cost of bread and wine..!) What message are we saying when we do such a thing? Are we reducing our belief that it is effective, that it is not profitable for our spiritual renewal?
The other way is when we just look at the celebration mechanically, as a duty, not as a joyous celebration of love. When we realize that God wants us there, that His greatest desire is to fellowship with His people – and that is why we gather. That we look at it with anticipation, recognizing what God is doing in this precious time. The more we consider that, the more hungry we get for it, the more it takes on a meaning that is precious – the more we desire it.
In both cases – in determining that we don’t need to celebrate it often, and simply it being a duty and not a celebration – we lead people into apathy, we lead them away from realizing the grace and love revealed to them in Christ. Paul says such is the reason for our spiritual apathy, and even spiritual death. Luther concurs with scripture, calling such an attitude a sin. It’s something we need to think about today, as the church in America has fallen asleep… and in some places is beginning to revive, breaking its fast from the blessings of God, and growing in desire of them.
This is a precious time with God, some of the most valuable and nourishing time we have in our week. It is a treasure, a necessity, a blessing beyond our able to understand, but easily one we can appreciate.
it’s a homecoming, a feast, a celebration, a time that should inspire us to worship, a time where we can know God’s promises are true in Christ.
So come, blessed children of the Father, to a feast prepared for you……
[i] Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 454). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.LARGE CATECHISM – Sacrament of the Altar
Why Do We So Struggle With Sin….
Devotional Thought of the Day:
7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts. 1 John 1:7-10 (NLT)
15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. 16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. James 5:15-16 (NLT)
25 He shows a great deal of enthusiasm and understanding. But when he realises that it refers to him, and that it is he who has to contribute in earnest, he slinks away like a coward. It reminds me of those who, during moments of grave danger, used to shout with false courage: War! War! But they did not want to give any money or to enrol to defend their country. (1)
In a number of conversations this week, people have had to deal with sin.
In one case, a young man tried to convince me that he is the first since Jesus to completely live without sin, to live the perfect life. In several others, this being Lent and all, we’ve talked about calling people to repentance.
Like the man in St. Josemaria’s quote, everything changes when it comes to dealing with our sin, with our personal challenges, with our….gulp…. sin.
Take on the sin of the world in your sermons pastor – just don’t hit me with mine. That’s right, go after the Fred Phelps, the homosexuals, those who are addicted to porn (well the hard stuff) those that fornicate outside of marriage – get them! Take on those politicians. Warn them all about hell!
My resentments? My lack of forgiving others,My inability to live at peace with those around me, my inability to love as I want to be loved? My anger issues, my self-defensive mechanisms? That just small stuff pastor, There are bigger sinners to fry.
We struggle with sin,OUR sin. We deal with it, much like we deal with death, or any issue where we find ourselves grieved….
We DENY it… we claim it isn’t sin, even though we know it is.
We BARGAIN – we want to make it seem less destructive. less of a sin than others sin…
We get DEPRESSED…. – we wonder if we would ever get past win the one that haunts us, the one we can’t overcome!
We get ANGRY… especially if someone questions us, or compares our sin to murder or adultery or gossip…
We ACCEPT it… we just give up – and continue letting sin dominate us, letting it rule over us, letting it wreck our lives, steal our peace, drive us nuts……..
Unless, in accepting it, we do what God tells us to do, to lay it at His feet. To let Him bring us healing, to allow those He has brought into our lives, to shepherd us through the dark times. We learn to accept our brokenness, not in despair, but because in doing so, in admitting it, confessing it, we can hear His voice, “Do not be afraid, do not be anxious…” When we, like the woman at the well, hear that God has sent us the Messiah, the Lord who will care for us, love us, cleanse us. When we hear like the man let down through the roof by his friends, and by the man at the pool, “your sins are forgiven.”
When like Peter along the lake, we realize what Jesus is asking, when we are more aware of our failures than His presence isn’t whether He knows whether we love Him, it is whether we know it….
Sin? Struggling with it isn’t in our job description. It’s above our pay grade… it is what Jesus did.
So don’t hide it, or minimize it, or despair over it, or get angry when you pastor meddles with it….
Let God deliver you from it, heal and restore you, and remind you that you are His Child, and He is your Loving Father.
Hear Him as He answers your cry, “Lord, have mercy!”
Come, confess your sins, and know He is faithful, they are forgiven, you are cleanse of all unrighteousness. AMEN!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 336-339). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
The Eucharist and Its Effective Work on our Hearts:
Devotional Thought of the Day….
1 Corinthians 10:15-16 (TEV) 15 I speak to you as sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup we use in the Lord’s Supper and for which we give thanks to God: when we drink from it, we are sharing in the blood of Christ. And the bread we break: when we eat it, we are sharing in the body of Christ.
5 Through the Word and the rite God simultaneously moves the heart to believe and take hold of faith, as Paul says (Rom. 10:17), “Faith comes from what is heard.” As the Word enters through the ears to strike the heart, so the rite itself enters through the eyes to move the heart. The Word and the rite have the same effect, as Augustine said so well when he called the sacrament “the visible Word,”5 for the rite is received by the eyes and is a sort of picture of the Word, signifying the same thing as the Word. Therefore both have the same effect. (1) (from Article XIII of the Augsburg Confession)
“XXV. Of the Sacraments. Sacraments ordained of Christ be not only badges or tokens of Christian men’s profession, but rather they be certain sure witnesses, and effectual signs of grace, and God’s good will towards us, by the which he doth work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but also strengthen and confirm our Faith in him.” (2)
“What do United Methodists mean when they call this act a sacrament? Our Confession of Faith states: “We believe the sacraments, ordained by Christ, are symbols and pledges of the Christian’s profession and of God’s love toward us. They are means of grace by which God works invisibly in us, quickening [bringing to life], strengthening and confirming our faith in him. ” (3)
530 Many Christians take their time and have leisure enough in their social life (no hurry here). They are leisurely, too, in their professional activities, at table and recreation (no hurry here either). But isn’t it strange how those same Christians find themselves in such a rush and want to hurry the priest, in their anxiety to shorten the time devoted to the most holy sacrifice of the altar? (4)
Yesterday I had the great blessing of going back to my alma mater, and teaching a class on the Lord’s Supper (also known as the Eucharist and Holy Communion) it was really a good experience for me, and I think I caused some of the students to think.
I started the class with my own “personal theology” regarding the Lord’s Supper. I’ll briefly state it here:
You have a 16 oz cup that contains 8 ounces of wine. Do you:
(1) Agree and argue the position alongside the optimists that it is the Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior.
(2) Agree and argue the position that it is only grape juice, and it only is a act of faithful obedience….
(pause)
or (3) find some bread and with the people of God celebrate (give thanks) the gift of God given to the people of God as you commune with Him?
As always, there is a third choice, as I I thought through the lesson, I was struck by something truly astonishing. While the sacramental churches disagree on what I would call the mechanics of the Lord’s Supper – exactly how and when and in which ways the bread and wine are the Body and Blood of Christ, they don’t disagree that the Eucharist has a dramatic and transforming effect on those who trust in Jesus, on those in a relationship with Him.
For it is highly effective, and as a means of grace, brings into our lives so much, it is a wonder that anyone would ever avoid it, or not be glad to celebrate it.
The challenge is that how it affects us is not academic, or philosophical, but rather deeply spiritual, and if I dare us the word, emotional.
Maybe that is why we can’t agree on the mechanics, but can agree on its effect. We can’t academically and logically dissect the Bread and Wine, we can’t scientifically prove the presence of God there… and our post-enlightenment minds struggle with what we can’t forensically prove, what we can’t observe and demonstrate in regards to the elements.
It’s not knowing about God that is important when it comes to the sacraments, it’s about knowing Him. About realizing the depth of His love, the “sure-ness” of His presence, of resting in His comfort and peace, of being in community with Him, every part of us.
Melanchthon (author of the first quote from the Lutheran Apology of the Augsburg Confession) was absolutely right – this is about God’s work in our hearts. Like the very word of God it cuts our hearts open and circumcises them, cleansing us, as in our baptism – of the sin which ensnares us. Bathing us in God’s presence, His glory, His love, and bringing healing to our very hearts, our very souls. It is God working in us, the power of the Holy Spirit transforming us into the image of God – as the sacrament ( the physical element and the word of God – takes hold of us. ) is there.
I didn’t include the RCC quote I used – because of its length, but instead a quote from St Josemaria Escriva, a favorite writer of mine. I can begin to understand their practice of adoration and contemplation about the “mystery” of this – the bread and wine, the body and blood of Christ. Of sitting silently in wonder at the depth of God’s love, at the incredible power of the Holy Spirit within us, to take the time to think through what we’ve shared in, this body and blood, this precious gift, that causes faith to well up within us. For far too often as he points out – we rush through such times – we want to get it done, move through it. Yet think about a good meal – bacon wrapped bacon wrapped shrimp for example. You want to savor the smell, the enviroment, the flavor. Could we take such a time with the Lord’s Supper as well, to let the moment nourish our hearts longer – to set aside our intellect and realize how precious it is, that God comes to us, that He is here? To realize the Spirit’s work in us, drawing us to Him, transforming us, healing us, taking our burdens…
If I, in this week of returning to my alma mater – convince them of nothing theologically – that’s okay. It’s not what I am aiming for. it’s not what the sacrament is about. Doing a dissertation explaining 5000 years of sacramental theology? Cool – but what is needed – knowing our need for God’s presence… and knowing He responds to that need, for this He has promised, this blessing is ours…in Him.
English: The Lord’s Supper. Christ standing at an Orthodox altar, giving the Eucharist to the Twelve Apostles. Frescoes in the upper church of Spaso-Preobrazhenski cathedral. Valaam Monastery Русский: Алтарная апсида верхнего храма Спасо-Преображенского собора Валаамского монастыря. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
So my friends, take and eat…. take and drink often, and know that the Lord is with you… AMEN!
——
(1) Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (pp. 211–212). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.
(2) The Articles of Faith (Anglican) http://anglicansonline.org/basics/thirty-nine_articles.html
(3) http://www.umc.org/site/c.lwL4KnN1LtH/b.2311293/
(4) Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 1282-1284). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Related articles
- Dr. Peter Kreeft on the Need for Sacraments (integratedcatholiclife.org)
- Our Church’s Strategic Plan: Prayer (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Sinning? Deal with it! (justifiedandsinner.com)
Serving God where ever He calls you to service
Francesco Albani’s The Baptism of Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional Thought of the Day:
14 “At that time the Kingdom of heaven will be like this. Once there was a man who was about to leave home on a trip; he called his servants and put them in charge of his property. 15 He gave to each one according to his ability: to one he gave five thousand gold coins, to another he gave two thousand, and to another he gave one thousand. Then he left on his trip. 16 The servant who had received five thousand coins went at once and invested his money and earned another five thousand. 17 In the same way the servant who had received two thousand coins earned another two thousand. 18 But the servant who had received one thousand coins went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money. 19 “After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. 20 The servant who had received five thousand coins came in and handed over the other five thousand. ‘You gave me five thousand coins, sir,’ he said. ‘Look! Here are another five thousand that I have earned.’ 21 ‘Well done, you good and faithful servant!’ said his master. ‘You have been faithful in managing small amounts, so I will put you in charge of large amounts. Come on in and share my happiness!’ 22 Then the servant who had been given two thousand coins came in and said, ‘You gave me two thousand coins, sir. Look! Here are another two thousand that I have earned.’ 23 ‘Well done, you good and faithful servant!’ said his master. ‘You have been faithful in managing small amounts, so I will put you in charge of large amounts. Come on in and share my happiness!’ Matthew 25:14-23 (TEV)
I dream—and the dream has come true—of multitudes of God’s children, sanctifying themselves as ordinary citizens, sharing the ambitions and endeavors of their colleagues and friends. I want to shout to them about this divine truth: if you are there in the middle of ordinary life, it doesn’t mean Christ has forgotten about you or hasn’t called you. He has invited you to stay among the activities and concerns of the world. He wants you to know that your human vocation, your profession, your talents, are not omitted from his divine plans. He has sanctified them and made them a most acceptable offering to his Father. (1)
As a Lutheran pastor, one of the doctrines that we count on is in regards to the Office of Holy Ministry, the interesting balance of those who serve the priesthood of all believers. A vocation that is never about authority, but can only be about responsibility – we are responsible to care for souls – using God’s word and the Sacraments as our primary tools. But the Office of Holy Ministy, (or Public Minsitry) does not free the laity from their responsibilities as priests of God. Just the opposite, the Office of Holy Ministry serves them and assists them in their ministry.
Each of us is in ministry, in the strictest sense – being a diakonos – whether clergy or laity, or someway in between. But the challenge is seeing our work, our homes, our errands as that of ministering in the stead on by the commissioning of God (i prefer commissioning to command) That is true where ever we go, whatever we are doing. We re being sent there by God – to represent Him, to tell of His love with our words and our lives. It is not our work as much as the work of Jesus. This means more often than not we die to self – we get the heck out of the way, our priorities, our lives are set aside, and His replace them.
This is seen in the quote by St. Josemaria as he says at the beginning that we sanctify our lives – by setting them apart – sanctifying themselves – but then at the end – we realize it is Jesus that sanctifies them and makes them acceptable to the Father. That this is the role of “ordinary” people – (we in the clergy are of the opposite of “usual” 🙂 . It happens whenever and where ever Christ has placed you, planned for you to be.
So there is your holy vocation…. let Him guide and empower your service there.
Godspeed!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). Christ is Passing By (Kindle Locations 823-827). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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The Church’s Answer to Post-modern thought…. Word and Sacrament
Devotional Thought of the Day.
26 Whenever you eat this bread, then, and drink this cup, you are proclaiming the Lord’s death until he comes. 27 Therefore anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily is answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Everyone is to examine himself and only then eat of the bread or drink from the cup; 29 because a person who eats and drinks without recognising the body is eating and drinking his own condemnation. 1 Corinthians 11:26-29 (NJB)
In these dire cultural circumstances, the social and political effects of which are sometimes masked by material prosperity, it was providential indeed that the deep reform of Catholicism initiated in the late nineteenth century by Leo XIII should have passed through a recovery of Word and Sacrament as the two pillars of the life of Christian discipleship. The life-transforming power of the Word of God in the words of the Bible is the Church’s countercultural riposte to the postmodern deprecation of the human capacity to know the deep truths of the human condition. The sacraments are Evangelical Catholicism’s countercultural antidote to the regnant Gnosticism of later modernity and postmodernity, because the Church’s sacramental system takes the stuff of the world and of human relationships with utmost seriousness, seeing in them the vehicles of divine grace.(1)
For about the past ten years professors and theologians have been advising pastors that since we now live in a “post-modern” and “post denominational” culture, that we need to change our ministry to address these new outlook on lfe – and indeed, change how we minister to others. Some of this has resulted in things like the two movements that have dominated conversation – the emergent and emerging churches. ( I highly recommend Jim Belcher’s book “Deep Church” to clarify what the differences are.
For those outside of the conversation – postmodernism is that outlook on life that is basically skeptical, that questions not only our institutions and ways of doing things – but questions the reasons we have developed that way. It is not a organized thought, for postmmodernists even question each other, but is often portrayed as the idea that there is no objective reality – and no objective truth. Personally, as a post-modernist, I wonder if it is not just the opposite. That we have found so many things wanting, when we question their presuppositions, that we long for something to grasp onto, to hold onto – to find that there is something solid – and that there is… hope.
I think that rather than doing battle with such, or mocking them, we have a much better approach – a very very Biblical one. We give them the reason we have hope – and rather than dealing with faulty reason or logic – we through the arts, through our simplicity, and with great humility, we share with them why we do have hope. We share with them a relationship that is real, and transcendent/incarnate. We let them experience the God who comes to us.
Put in terms a Lutheran or Catholic can understand – the answer to postmodern thought is not an engagement in debate where we provide there is an objective reality. The answer is word and sacrament. We introduce them to Him, to the Objective Reality who really desires to be with them, to show them great love, to reveal Himself to them, as the Holy Spirit as they hear the word of God – as they hear of His love and mercy and presence and grace, As we share with them the promises, the things they can expect because God loves them. We share with them what it means to “commune with God”, simply at first, from scripture. We use stories and modern music and art – the kind which captivates the senses, even as those things did in the middle ages. We engage them at a level where there skepticism and unbelief is put aside, and where they know this is more than what our minds can take in, and that it is real…
But this will require one thing of us, that we know what we are revealing – that church becomes more than an intellectually stimulating and entertaining time. That we realize that walking with God is a sacred thing. That we walk in the relationship with the God who comes to us, and cleanses us, and heals our brokenness.
That we experience Him, as He reveals Himself to us, in the very word ans sacraments which we will share with them.
As we do what the psalmist begs us to do…. to “be still – and (intimately) know that I am God.”
(1) Weigel, George (2013-02-05). Evangelical Catholicism (p. 47). Basic Books. Kindle Edition.
The Communion-Community of Christ
Discussion/Devotional Thought of the Day:
“544 The Communion of the Saints. How shall I explain it to you? You know what blood transfusions can do for the body? Well, that’s what the Communion of the Saints does for the soul.” Escriva, Josemaria. The Way
As a pastor, one of the things I do is to bring the Lord’s Supper to those who cannot make it to church, to those too weak or sick, to those who were once quite active, but now are counted as shut-ins. In doing so, the discussion always includes their asking about how things are going at church, it never fails to astound me, how concerned they are for their brothers and sisters in Christ. Often they talk of their desire to get well, to gain strength, just so they can once again commune in the sanctuary, with their friends, the people they love, with whom they have walked through their lives, even if they only knew the people at church for a small while.
We are on their hearts and minds.. and in bringing communion to them, they are reminded that they are part of the community. It is bittersweet, for they realize they are part of the community that Christ has established.
How I wish we were in the future, and we had transporter units like in Star Trek. Then we could beam them into the sanctuary, and fulfill a desire that they would have. (It would also be cool if upon “reassenbly” their ills and pains and weaknesses could be quarantined and separated from them!
St Escriva’s words hit home a lot today, as I consider one of the people I visit, who I can’t anymore. I know how much visiting him meant to me, how in many ways it was like the transfusion spoke of in this quote. Yet in bringing him communion, he two received a transfusion I am learning. The very life of the church was shared, the life we share in every time we gather and we eat together and drink together. For sharing in the Lord’s Table, kneeling at the Altar together is a community, thing, just as our life as Christ’s body is a community thing.
It is tragic that we don’t comprehend this blessing we have in sharing in the feast of Christ – that we would relegate it to less important than other things we do, that we place limits on its time, both the time we spend preparing for it, and the time we spend celebrating it. That we reduce the precious words to a formula, a incantation, rather than savor them, listen intently, and hear and absorb them. It is tragic that the gathering of God’s people is an afterthought in many lives.
As a pastor, I am partially responsible. If you know not why a priest, or a pastor, could describe the gathering of God’s people together around His sacrament as a spiritual transfusion, we haven’t done our job as those who proclaim the world well enough. If we haven’t taught you to treasure this incredible time, we have, in large part failed. If we don’t keep you in prayer, and help your prepare for this incredible gift, then perhaps we need to reconsider what our job is, to preach the word in its fullness, and to administer the sacrament – that those who are broken can encounter His healing, His mercy His presence.
Keep us, all the pastors and priests – and the deacons and elders and worship leaders who stand alongisde us, ready to serve, to minister to you… in your prayers. That we would feed you so richly that your heart would long for the next gathering the next time His people gather around His word, and His table.
“Lord Have Mercy!” we cry, and as we kneel and take and eat… and drink of the Blood shed that sins would be forgiven, we realize how much He has had the mercy we pray for!
His Plan His Desire His People in Christ
His Plan, His Desire, His People, “in Christ”!
Ephesians 1:3-14
† In Jesus Name †
May our lives bless our Father in Heaven, as it is revealed to us that He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing! AMEN!
A preposition for you!
I have a life changing preposition for you!
Two little letters that change everything in life, that change our priorities, our plans, our dreams. That gives life and meaning to life, even in these days when our world chases after all the things that are vain, that do not satisfy, that cannot make a difference.
I have a preposition for you my friends.. not a proposition – a preposition.
Remember that list you memorized, about above among around at behind before, remember those things? Well in today’s epistle, one keeps showing up – and it makes all the difference in the world,
For it is combined with a pronoun – that word that takes the place of a name? Two letters for the preposition, and three letters for the pronoun and the world is shaken, and everything made new…so radical a change in life these two simple words, these five letters, that our reaction to them is nothing less than to praise and glorify God, to bless Him, to in awe applaud His work.
The pronoun is Him, the preposition I have for you to consider is…
“In”
And when we realize what it means to be “in Him” we begin to realize how much of our life, our world has changed… even as we wait for the day when we fully understand it.
Chose us in Him
Of the dozen or so times the preposition and pronoun, (or a noun the preposition refers to) appears in this passage, we have to start somewhere to examine this incredible concept. So let’s look at one first, there in the beginning of verse four, when Paul tells us that the Father has “chose us in him before the foundation of the world.”
It is in choosing us, that we find every spiritual blessing coming upon us, it is there that that we realize that we aren’t just after thoughts in God’s plan, but indeed the focus of His will, and His desire. From before the foundation of the earth, He has chosen mankind to have a special relationship with Him, and demonstrated that choice by placing us in Christ.
There, we find out what He has chosen us for, to be His children, adopted because of Jesus Christ, for it is in Christ that we are found to be holy and blameless, set apart for something special, with nothing able to mar or change that choice. To share in the life and love of God, in what sounds amazing – to become part of that relationship that exists between the Father and the Son and the Spirit. To share in such a relationship, as one of my friends has described it in a song – to join in the Trinity’s dance.
This indeed Paul tells us is no accident, it was a choice made from before the foundation of the world. It is the very purpose of His will – or as another translation explains it – it is the plan to achieve God’s greatest desire. Peter phrases it this way,
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)
The Lord’s choice, to choose you in Him, in Christ…
Riches of His gift, lavished upon us
The next “in Him” to look at is in verse 7 and 8, as we read,
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
In Christ’s death, we have been paid for, our lives redeemed at the price of His sacrifice on the cross. He did this that because of the great grace, the gift which he lavishes upon us, why?
Paul calls this the making known of the mystery of His will, this incredible grace lavished upon us, as God picks us up in our brokenness, and instead of throwing us away, carefull repairs and heals us, bringing us into Himself, that we might be one with Him. Imagine everything perfect, in His presence, a place where doors don’t creak and neither do our bodies, where our relationships are finally the way they should be, including our relationship with our Father, where we finally let God be God, and we rejoice in knowing we are His chosen people.
This is our lot for all eternity, that which God has planned for us, the life God has given to us, this great mystery of why He would choose us to be His children, that even as He makes this true now, we struggle to realize it, for we struggle to realize we are in Christ, we are in the Beloved son of God, and therefore share in the Father’s love.
How we got there?
We are the children of the king – waiting for that moment when we reach full maturity, when we share in His kingdom. It is true now, and yet like a child waiting to reach the age of inheritance, we struggle with it. Indeed, we need to be reminded of it often, and how and when this incredible thing happened.
Paul explains it in verse 13
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
It’s the same story throughout scripture – the way we become His children, according to His plan is when we hear the truth – the truth of His love for us, that is this gospel, this good news.
It is the message of His love that causes us to trust in Him, to believe in Him, to realize that our very lives are in His hands, and that this is a good thing!
That when we were baptized, God marked us, He sealed us as His children, the sign of the cross is what we were marked with, that even as we share in Christ’ death, we too share in His resurrection, for we live in Him.
That has been His plan all along, a plan we have only begun to realize…. For we are still children, waiting for our inheritance to become ours, for us to reach the maturity of Christ, when we visibly know we are in His kingdom.
Until that day, we have a guarantee, a down payment if you will. Something incredibly wonderful, something beyond our comprehension. The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, what Peter describes as the gift of God’s Spirit, which Paul will also describe as our being the temple – the living place of the Spirit of God, the one called the Comforter, the Lord and Giver of life…
Here, in us, even as we dwell in Him….
A preposition for you my friends, a truth that is so incredible..found as we hear that we are “in”….
In Christ!
So knowing this we can rejoice as Paul does and declare, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places… AMEN!
Connected…
Discussion/Devotional Quote of the day:
In the introduction to a book of Josemarie Escriva’s sermons, I read this,
When we cry ‘Abba! Father!’ it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Rom 8: 14–17). This text speaks to us about the Blessed Trinity, which is another frequent theme in these homilies. It also reminds us that Jesus Christ is the way leading to the Father through the Holy Spirit. He is our brother, our friend—the Friend—our master and lord and king. The Christian life, then, means being continuously in touch with Christ in the context of our ordinary life, without abandoning our rightful place. How does this contact take place? Monsignor Escrivá explains very concisely: “In the bread and in the word.”
Escriva, Josemaria. Christ is Passing By
I was recently told that the only hope for the church was to be found in a “annointed man’s” understanding of the book of Revelation and the end times passages of Matthew.
I don’t think so, for Paul declined talking of such things in detail – saying it wouldn’t be of benefit to the church. What matters – that we understand His grace is all we need. (funny coincidence that I just preached on that!) That we, because of Christ, and through the Holy Spirit can cry out Abba, Father! That is where our hope lies! Not in someone’s speculation – but instead in a intimate dance with the Trinity, as they pull us into their relationship…
That comes, as the introduction tells me this priest points out – as we hear God’s logos, His word, His reason, His plan.. as we see that plan re-revealed as we come again to the feast which is a foretaste to come, as we commune with our Lord, as He communes with us. This is not just some simple ritual, this gathering of people who walk with God, it is an intimate encounter with God, the I AM – and because He is, as we commune with Him, we find out that we are…. His. It’s where we enjoy the dance, where we are reminded of the depth, height, width, and breadth of God’s love, of that fact that His peace is so incredible, that we can rest in His presence, rejoicing that we are welcome there…
God’s Revelation, the Apocalypse, the Unveiling (they are all translations of the same word) is not about the calendar – its about the relationship, the assurance that God is with us, that He is always HERE. If we can learn that… if we can hold on to that… we won’t have to change the church… we will realize that we are being changed… as we walk in Christ.
That is the reason we have hope… when we realize…
The Lord has had Mercy… on us..
The Sacrament of….???? Prayer??? Really?
Discussion/Devotional Thought of the Day:
“16 Ultimately, if we should list as sacraments all the things that have God’s command and a promise added to them, then why not prayer, which can most truly be called a sacrament? It has both the command of God and many promises. If it were placed among the sacraments and thus given, so to speak, a more exalted position, this would move men to pray.” Apology of the Augsburg Confession Article XIII
Some pastors and people in my denomination, if asked about the sacraments, would probably indicate that there are two, or perhaps three. (In fact, I have heard and read arguments about whether the third (Confession and Absolution) is really a sacrament. As our area pastors gathered yesterday, we looked at this particular article – and how it describes and defines our trust in God. It was an enlightening discussion for both us more… chronologically mature types (4 of us middle age with 20 years in ministry plus) and the three “new guys” to ministry.
I think what we realized, perhaps more than that we need to be encourage each other and our people to look to more than a “new member’s course/catechism” is how much God pours into our lives, His comforting presence, and the promises that are made sure and are guaranteed. THe next day or two, a quick mention of a couple other sacraments – things commissioned by God, to which promises of His mercy and love are attached.
Today though – a quick look at prayer – whether it is reciting the Lord’s prayer, which simply contains everything of every prayer, whether praying through the psalms, or some litany, or whether we are simply pouring out our hearts – letting the Holy Spirit purge us of worries, anxieties, sins, guilt and shame, or just waiting in stillness for God’s promised comfort, this is a holy sacred time, a time set apart – by both God and us, for us to realize His grace, mercy, love, peace, kindness… that He shares with us, that He causes us to abide in…..
And therefore – yes – if calling it a sacrament – which is no stretch… encourages men to pray… to spend time in the sacred manner… walking with their Heavenly Father… then so let us call it a sacrament, encourage it, and teach people to treasure it….
The next to last paragraph of what we shared… is so relavent – and a thought to end with…as we try to live life, focused on Christ, yet assaulted by the anxieties and sins of a broken world…
” 22 Such use of the sacrament comforts devout and troubled minds.”
Comfort us Lord!
