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Christmas Awe… is it completely lost?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them. Luke 2:15-20 (NLT)
14 All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’). Isaiah 7:14 (NLT)
All along, in pursuing this very notion in all its consequences, we will realize that, underneath the trivialized display of happiness about the God who became a child, there towers one of the great Christian concepts, which in fact leads us to the innermost core of the mystery of Christmas. This consists, after all, in the paradox that God’s glory would not be manifested in the triumphal procession of an emperor whose might conquers the world but in the misery of a Child who, ignored by society’s great, is born in a stable. The helplessness of a child has become the most genuine expression of God’s almighty power, which employs no other force than the quiet might of truth and love. In the unprotected helplessness of a child we were to encounter God’s saving kindness first of all.
I only remember one midnight Christmas mass as a child, but it had a definite impact on me.
This was what Christmas was about. Later years would be filled with trips to my Grandfather’s house, and then my dad’s sister might come to ours. Christmas Day was just my folks, my brother and sister and I. We were filled with awe by the things we recived, cassette tape recorders, and games and a toboggan!
The decorations were there, and the manger scene sitting in the big bay window. or perhaps on the ancient sewing machine that doubled as a desk.
But the awe wasn’t about the greatest gift, the child in the manger. The awe isn’t at the love of God, revealed not to presidents and kings, movie stars and professional athletes. But too simple shepherds, who in awe (and not a little fear) realized the blessing they had seen.
Simeon a few days later would realize that all his life was centered in the moment he held Jesus. For in that moment, not only did Simeon see his own salvation, but the hope for all the world,
THe hope that would bring darkness to an end for gentiles, and show Israel again the glory of God their anscestors saw and counted upon.
Simeon saw this, as did the shepherds in the fields. Yes, it was revealed to them, even as it is to us. They saw it, as Benedict XVI pointed out, in the unprotected helplessness of a child. In the humble manger, in the poverty of Bethelem, not the neighboring riches of Jerusalem.
We need to find a way to be in awe of that moment IMMANUEL – GOD IS WITH US, and the moment years later, when the baby, now a man, would hang on the cross, when IMMANUEL would once again be seen as helpless, and yet all the power of God was there, as the Father poured out every bit of wrath our sin deserves, on Jesus, the one annointed to prove God’s love for us.
We can find the awe again, as we kneel, and receive His helpless Body and Blood in the Eucharist, in the Lord’s Supper. We can find it as we realize that God is still with us, the promise God gave us, as His Spirit was given to us in our Baptism….and as we hear our sins forgiven, and our being given access to the place where awe begins.
In the presence of God.
IMMANUEL! God with us…us!
The Christ, Jesus. The chosen and set aside One who is God’s salvation.
We are in His presence… rejoice in that thought. For this is what should cause the awe… that we need.
Ratzinger, J. (1992). Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. (I. Grassl, Ed., M. F. McCarthy & L. Krauth, Trans.) (pp. 396–397). San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Church – Do Those Broken By Sin Have to Shout Their Prayers Over You?
Devotional Thought of the Day
35 As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind beggar was sitting beside the road. 36 When he heard the noise of a crowd going past, he asked what was happening. 37 They told him that Jesus the Nazarene* was going by. 38 So he began shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
39 “Be quiet!” the people in front yelled at him.
But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
40 When Jesus heard him, he stopped and ordered that the man be brought to him. As the man came near, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?”
“Lord,” he said, “I want to see!”
42 And Jesus said, “All right, receive your sight! Your faith has healed you.” 43 Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus, praising God. And all who saw it praised God, too. (Lk 18:35–43 NLT)
914 How pitiful are those crowds—high and low and middle-class—without an ideal! They give the impression that they do not know they have souls: they are a flock, a drove, a herd. Jesus, only with the help of your merciful love will we turn the flock into a legion, the drove into an army, and from the herd of swine draw, purified, those who no longer wish to be unclean. (1)
27 The need which ought to be the concern of both ourselves and others is quite amply indicated in the Lord’s Prayer. Therefore it may serve to remind us and impress upon us not to become negligent about praying. We all have needs enough, but the trouble is that we do not feel or see them. God therefore wishes you to lament and express your needs and wants, not because he is unaware of them, but in order that you may kindle your heart to stronger and greater desires and spread your cloak wide to receive many things.
As I hear the words of the gospel, as I picture the blind man there, I would hope to be him. I would hope my church would be like Him as well. I would hope that when we need healing, that nothing would stop us from calling out to God, that nothing would quiet us, that nothing would stand in our way, until was are sure He heard us, and we were confident of the answer. Such is Luther’s point about prayer. God wants to hear them, even if we are the flock that St Josemaria talks of, and we are simply praying that we would no longer be unclean.
I fear that the Church (not just my congregation – the Church as a whole) is often like the crowd that surrounded the poor blind beggar. Rather than hear their cries and carry them to Jesus, we tell them to shut up, to be quiet, to not cause trouble with their cries for help.
Maybe it is because they seem like poor broken beggars, and we forget it is for such Jesus came. (and that we are no better)
Maybe it is because we don’t recognize their cries as cries for help, or that the help they need is something that God can help with? In those cases, we try to drown them out, rather than hear them out, till we see the brokenness and can offer them help and hope.
Maybe it is because we are afraid that if we are called to help them, to bring them to Jesus to be healed, that will somehow require us to reveal our own brokenness, the things we are still struggling to see completely healed.
Maybe it is because we forgot our call is to be pastors, shepherds, ministers, servants, priests. Instead, we may have thought we are executives, entrepreneurs, ranchers, consultants and motivators
We have to stop silencing their cries. We have to have the compassion of those who would point them to Jesus, and point Jesus to them. We have to want them to know the healing we are experiencing.
Even if their brokenness is a threat to our own lives.
We need Jesus to kindle our hearts, to reveal His merciful love through us, to see all of those who are blind to it healed. We need for them to catch the kind of fire Luther so eloquently talks of, as he shares about the Lord’s Prayer. They need to spread their cloaks out wide, to receive the presents that come with His presence. We need to help them..which means we too need to spread our cloaks wide, to call out to Jesus to heal us.
Such is our vocation, not to quiet them from crying out to Him, but to encourage, lift their pleas even louder, to help them know the God, who hears… and heals.
Lord Have Mercy!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 2126-2129). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
(2) Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 424). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press. The Large Catechism
Pastor and Priests are Shepherds…That is Our Life
Devotional Thought of the Day
34 Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sh
eep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. 35 Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. 36 Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat.” 37 But Jesus said, “You feed them.” Mark 6:34-37 (NLT)
14 “Return home, you wayward children,” says the LORD, “for I am your master. I will bring you back to the land of Israel— one from this town and two from that family— from wherever you are scattered. 15 And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will guide you with knowledge and understanding. Jeremiah 3:14-15 (NLT)
11 It was he who “gave gifts to people”; he appointed some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, others to be pastors and teachers. 12 He did this to prepare all God’s people for the work of Christian service, in order to build up the body of Christ. 13 And so we shall all come together to that oneness in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God; we shall become mature people, reaching to the very height of Christ’s full stature. Ephesians 4:11-13 (TEV)
14 We lay hold of him when our heart embraces him and clings to him.
15 To cling to him with all our heart is nothing else than to entrust ourselves to him completely. He wishes to turn us away from everything else, and draw us to himself, because he is the one eternal good. It is as if he said: “What you formerly sought from the saints, or what you hoped to receive from mammon or anything else, turn to me for all this; look upon me as the one who wishes to help you and to lavish all good upon you richly.”
16 Behold, here you have the true honor and the true worship which please God and which he commands under penalty of eternal wrath, namely, that the heart should know no other consolation or confidence than that in him, nor let itself be torn from him, but for him should risk and disregard everything else on earth. (1)
By the preaching of the word and by the celebration of the sacraments, the center and summit of which is the most holy Eucharist, He brings about the presence of Christ, the author of salvation. But whatever truth and grace are to be found among the nations, as a sort of secret presence of God, He frees from all taint of evil and restores to Christ its maker, who overthrows the devil’s domain and wards off the manifold malice of vice. And so, whatever good is found to be sown in the hearts and minds of men, or in the rites and cultures peculiar to various peoples, not only is not lost, but is healed, uplifted, and perfected for the glory of God, the shame of the demon, and the bliss of men.24 Thus, missionary activity tends toward eschatological fullness.25 For by it the people of God is increased to that measure and time which the Father has fixed in His power (cf. Acts 1:7). To this people it was said in prophecy: “Enlarge the space for your tent, and spread out your tent cloths unsparingly” (Is. 54:2).26 By missionary activity, the mystical body grows to the mature measure of the fullness of Christ (cf. Eph. 4:13); and the spiritual temple, where God is adored in spirit and in truth (cf. John 4:23), grows and is built up upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the supreme corner stone (Eph. 2:20). (2)
This morning I had the greatest 15 minutes of my week since Sunday. I met and visited with a lady who was an incredible blessing to me. Her words though few, and with a tired voice, encouraged me to be what I am, a pastor. As I prayed with the lady who has lived in 10 different decades, I watched a beautiful smile, and her tired body relaxed, as she knew again the love of God. It is the first time we’ve met, and I am already looking forward to seeing her again.
It is not why I do what I do; It is who I am.
That is being a pastor, a shepherd. It what those called into ministry are called to be. I’ve included a lot of citations above, because they explain it far better than I can.
The reading from Ephesian starts it out by expressing that we aren’t born to be pastors/shepherds, but we are chosen to do it. Chosen to shepherd (that is what pastor means) and to guide people as they mature in Christ, as they struggle with living out the promise of being someone united to Jesus, as they struggle as the Holy Spirit transforms them into His image. As they struggle with their growing pains. As we hear Jesus command us to feed them (and he had to tell Peter that THREE times according to St. John’s gospel!)
I love how Vatican II puts it, as we see the transformation, even the exorcises all evil from them ( Paul calls this circumcising the heart and Ezekiel speak of it as well) Paul talks of us pleading with them to be reconciled to God, to being drawn to Him, to bring them to be embraced by a God who is both merciful and loving.
It is of the greatest of joys when this happens, as it did this morning as I sat next to my new friend, the new person I had the honor of reminding that Christ is indeed with her. Something she indeed knew… but loved to hear again. There are other times; it is not so easy. When showing them what Luther wrote of in the catechism means bringing about healing. Treating that which hurts and is painful.
This is why Jesus said pray for the shepherds, that God would send them as promised. It isn’t easy, it is heart-breaking and frustrating, it is ministering to people who might be angry at you, mad at you, that may think you are intentionally trying to hurt them.
A pastor stays with them, doesn’t discount them, and continues to point them to Jesus. He keeps encouraging them to cling to Jesus. He keeps reminding them that Jesus is there. Though it may be tempting, he doesn’t run from wolves or alligators or those who are crying in pain. He doesn’t run when it hurts him, or even those he loves. He helps them cling to Jesus. To trust in Him rather than their idols.
He is who he is; it isn’t a job, is a vocation.
If you are a pastor or priest, spend lots of time being amazed at what God is doing through you, for it is still He who will provide the food, the word and the Lord’s Supper which nourishHis people with the knowledge and experience of His presence.
If you are served by one of us, pray for us, encourage us, be patient with us, knowing we have to draw you into God’s presence, sometimes even as you are kicking and screaming. As you can help us to – for there are more broken people that we can minister too at times…
At all times – may we cry out together, Lord Have Mercy!
And may we encourage each other by crying out, “the Lord is with you!” and hearing “and also, with you!”
(1) Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 366). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.
(2) Catholic Church. (2011). Decree on the Mission Activity of the Church: Ad Gentes. In Vatican II Documents. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
His Love Made Perfect…in US
His Love Made Perfect….in US?
1 John 4:7-16
As we look into the manger – may we realize this perfect example of God’s love is here…to show us the mercy that will cause us His love to be made perfect in us.
The Shepherd’s View….
Of all the characters that gather around the Christ child, for some reason I feel the strongest connection to the shepherds, the ones who come in from the fields. I imagine myself there, looking down into the manger in amazement, looking down on a little baby. I think about trying to process what we had seen out in the field, the amazing words we had heard.
Can you imagine – these the least of those, the one’s whose “job” didn’t let them go home at night – if they even had a home, they were the ones who were brought to be the first witnesses of the birth of the Messiah.
Yet, looking down at the Baby… I can imagine their hearts pounding, the sacredness of the harsh manger overwhelming… and a question raising up inside…
Why me… why did God choose me to bear witness to this – and indeed I will – but why me?
Who us? Love made perfect in us
As I read the passage we heard a few moments ago from 1 John, the same question arises…especially as I hear these words in my mind,
God lives in union with us, and his love is made perfect in us. 1 John 4:12 (TEV)
Me? Really? If there is a reason left in my mind as to God’s wisdom, it in choosing me. And I suspect, I am not the only one who is challenged in that way. Sunday, as Mary arrived at Elizabeth’s house, the same kind of response – why are you here, the mother of my Lord – to visit me? That attitude runs through scripture – Moses, Gideon, King David, so many others…
God you are going to make your love perfect… in me?
I so want to add on the word, “Really.” Do you know how broken, challenged, imperfect and sinful I am? And you are going to perfect you love… in me?
What do we think is love?
It is God sending Christ for us.
Knowing this – causes us to love each other
It doesn’t start with us – but with him
I think the answer comes to the “why me”, “really, me” questions, when we begin to hear what love really is. When we really understand why we toss a little manger and put a doll in it, to remember Christmas. Again – listen to St john’s epistle…
9 And God showed his love for us by sending his only Son into the world, so that we might have life through him. 10 This is what love is: it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven.1 John 4:9-10 (TEV)
Love is more than just a simple emotion – it is adoration and devotion in action. Not just thoughts – but that which compels us, that which drives us to act in the best interest of the one whom we love.
And it isn’t that we have loved God… it is that He loved us, proving it here.. (point to the manger) and here (Point to cross), enveloping us in His love as He baptized us into Christ, cleansing us from sin, as we feed on His Body and blood at the altar, as we are comforted by His presence, abiding in us – making us into the image of His son..
It is abiding in this love, living in it, reveling in it – letting it transform us, that brings us to the point where we can love Him – and even as that love resounds from us to Him, it envelopes those around us.
I used to think it a challenge to love those around us – something we have to exert all our energy, strain to do – that it was a challenge to love people who wronged me, or irritated me, or those wouldn’t forgive me for irritating them….
John is crying out to us, it isn’t about our straining to exert the effort to love. That kind of love comes – as we spend time in God’s presence, living and resting in His love, in realizing and meditating on and reveling in the love that He showed us; as His Son was born and died, and ascended… and the Spirit gathers us, and grants us faith and repentance.
That kind of love doesn’t have to be forced out – it grows and we find ourselves unable to keep it in.
Assured – and so we declare this to others….because we trust in the love God has for us!
That is the love that occurs because God came into the world – and cleanses us from sin. It is life changing, but such a challenge because we struggle to believe it, it is a challenge to know it is ours…
Here of it some more,
13 We are sure that we live in union with God and that he lives in union with us, because he has given us his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and tell others that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If we declare that Jesus is the Son of God, we live in union with God and God lives in union with us. 16 And we ourselves know and believe the love which God has for us. God is love, and those who live in love live in union with God and God lives in union with them. 1 John 4:13-16 (TEV)
My friends, this is the love that saves the world, this is the love that takes this messed up, upside down, good is evil and bad is good and changes it, transforms it, makes it a place of peace.
This love is God’s love for you, it is the love He desires you to find life and rest in, it is the love that changes everything….
It is the love, that if we are honest, we are uncomfortable with, For we struggle to see ourselves there, and yet – that is the very… attitude that leads to worship – for God sees us and knows us and chooses to pour out that love on us..
So my friends – welcome God’s work in your life, welcome His love, and know, that yet – you really….
AMEN.
