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It’s Monday, and I Don’t Want to Be a Holy or a Hypocrite, so ….
Devotional thought of the day:
4 “Israel, remember this! The LORD—and the LORD alone—is our God. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (TEV)
1 So then, my friends, because of God’s great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer. 2 Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect. Romans 12:1-2 (TEV)
485 At times, someone has told me: “Father, I feel tired and cold; when I pray or fulfil some other norm of piety, I seem to be acting out a farce…” To that friend, and to you, if you are in the same boat, I answer: A farce?—What an excellent thing, my child! Act out that farce! The Lord is your audience—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Blessed Trinity is contemplating us in those moments when we are “acting out a farce”. Acting like that in front of God, out of love, in order to please him, when our whole life goes against the grain: how splendid, to be God’s juggler! How marvellous it is to play one’s part for Love, with sacrifice, without any personal satisfaction, just in order to please Our Lord! That indeed is to live for Love. (1)
It is Monday, the day after a long work day. Church was phenomenal, but then a meeting at another church drained me, and knowing that this week is booked absolutely full, I started on my research for this week’s sermons. One of my best friends I woke up early to pray with, as he faces surgery, and I am concerned for several others facing trials. I also have some pounding going on above me, and other issues of frustration.
It’s monday, and my devotional time is dragging. Let me be honest, I am to tired emotionally, I am to anxiety laden, I am overwhelmed and I don’t really feel like writing this blog, or spending time in prayer, or doing my devotional reading. (which happened to be on confession and absolution…. gee thanks God!) I don’t really feel like being holy today. I don’t want to just go through the motions either, and pray, and read and worship. If I don’t feel like being holy, setting apart my time and my life to God, I really don’t want to just fake it.
Maybe I should skip it my devotional time. After all, it’s only one day. I’ll be in a better mood on Wednesday, or maybe Friday. My blog hasn’t been read much anyways (writing this is part of my discipline ), and I’ve got a ton of work to do. Three extra services, picking up some of the work my friend would do, people recovering that I need to visit. I could so easily justify skipping this once….
Then of course, as I drag through my devotions, I found the above quote from St Josemaria. Tell you something – sometimes I really dislike how much a Catholic Saint who died nearly 40 years ago knows me. I feel like a farce, a fraud a hypocrite, even as I highlight things in my reading, and the meditative thoughts the word of God kicks into motion. I warm to some of it – but Leviticus? Really? And the part about worship was awesome, but the paragraph upon paragraph that drudged on through the book of concord…. sigh
Escriva notes that there is an option between doing this enthusiastically, and doing it as a hypocrite. It is doing it, admitting the struggle, but knowing the love and mercy of God the Father that will become more and more apparent. Being a living sacrifice is an act of love, even when I am not sure why I keep going. To strive to keep interested, to strive to see how Christ is revealed, to wait and the blessing He has for us.
To adore Him enough to trust Him that this time together will be cleansing, refreshing, empowering, but most of all peace-filled, glorious rest in His presence. To drink deeply of His love.
it is in the dead times, even perhaps more than the rebellious times, that I need to offer myself to God and keep moving with Him. That I need to realize His presence, His promises, His comfort. The kind of things that are apparent in His word, that the saints who’ve gone before us lived and died to pass down to.
It is such time when saints are made…. and sustained.
So cry out Lord, I trust you, help me to trust you!
And know His answer… come, follow me.
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 1858-1866). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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 Church’s Mission is NOT to Convert People
Devotional THought of the Day:
26 Anyone who wants to be my disciple must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me. John 12:26 (NLT)
356 The first Apostles, when Our Lord called them, were by the side of an old boat busy mending the torn nets. Our Lord told them to follow him and statim—immediately—relictis omnibus—they left everything—everything! And followed him… And it does happen sometimes that we, who wish to imitate them, don’t quite leave everything, and there remains some attachment in our heart, something wrong in our life which we’re not willing to break with and offer up to God. Won’t you examine your heart in depth? Nothing should remain there except what is his. If not, we aren’t really loving him, neither you nor I. (1)
Every once in a while, I hear a financial appeal for finances from a mission group. While they may never use the word “heathen”, that is what they are really saying. It may be to a inner city mission, or some foreign field in the middle of a desert, or swamp, or jungle. But the idea is that we must convert them, win them to Christ. Some may say they’ve had so many say a “sinner’s prayer”, or decisions for Christ. Others talk about the numbers of baptisms.
What they are focusing on is that moment when someone “becomes” a believer, the moment they were “saved”.
But the church isn’t in the business of converting people, of a one time moment that changes life, or at least gives us a guaranteed visa to heaven.
That isn’t what Jesus did, not is it what we are commissioned to do.
We are told to make disciples of all nations, not convert them.
Jesus didn’t tell Peter and Andrew, or James and John to just believe in Him. He didn’t ask Matthew the tax collector to do that either.
What God is after, what He desires isn’t a nice photo album of those who repented of their sins at a crusade, or who were convinced by a logical apologetic speech or emotional appeal.. He wants a family, people who are His, who know He is theirs. A relationship where He can bless His children and care for them. Where He can teach them and share His glory with them.
You might say, that’s what conversion does. And yes, there is a quickening, a bringing to life. A baptism, a prayer, a confession of trusting God. But our transformation, that work of the Trinity in our lives takes a lifetime, the promised completion date is Christ’s return.
What does this matter? Why am I saying our goal isn’t to make converts? Why can’t conversion be our mission our goal?
Image a lady, who wants to become a mother. Has she achieved her goal the moment conception occurs? Or is there 9 months of pregnancy, and then years of sacrifices and successes, of joy and sorrows?
Our journeys only begins at baptism, our life in Christ starts there, when we go from not knowing God, to finding Him revealed in our lives so clearly that we trust Him. Where a relationship occurs as we walk with Him, as we are taught by Him, as we enjoy this life He has brought us.
We don’t want to just convert people, we want to see them become our brothers and sisters, we want our Father in heaven to adopt them….. our mission is far longer, far deeper, far more important than winning a debate.
It’s helping them to walk with God….. to know His love and mercy. To realize that nothing else is important, compared to walking with God.
to know when we cry together, “Lord Have Mercy!”. He answers.
That is what being missional is about, about what the apostolate is about.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 1406-1412). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
When Something Excellent Turns Bad…the Challenge of Teaching in the Church
Devotional and Discussion Thought of the Day:
4 Teach me your ways, O LORD; make them known to me. 5 Teach me to live according to your truth, for you are my God, who saves me. I always trust in you. 6 Remember, O LORD, your kindness and constant love which you have shown from long ago. 7 Forgive the sins and errors of my youth. In your constant love and goodness, remember me, LORD! Psalm 25:4-7 (TEV)
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know. 6 Remember the LORD in everything you do, and he will show you the right way. 7 Never let yourself think that you are wiser than you are; simply obey the LORD and refuse to do wrong. 8 If you do, it will be like good medicine, healing your wounds and easing your pains. Proverbs 3:5-8 (TEV)
Deliver me from self-trustfulness, In the frequent days in which I must do battle with my self as foe, arm me with a constant trust in Thee. (1)
Heresy is not so much a new doctrine, but an Orthodox doctrine that is overemphasized. (2)
A sincere resolution: to have faith in God always; to hope in God always; to love God always… he never abandons us, even if we are rotting away as Lazarus was.
When I read the quote in blue above, from the biography of a man who personally impacted how I preach, it stunned me for its simplicity, and its truth.
I could give example after example of when man’s reason and pride joined together to subtly and slowly twist doctrine, or the reaction to that heresy which caused a quicker reaction that threw them off the cliff in the other direction.
One example is in the discussion of how faith and works are related. If one overemphasizes the doctrine of justification, he may end up teaching that works and piety are not needed in the Christian life. A reaction to that would be an overemphasis on the doctrine of sanctification, where certain works/gifts/charisms once seen as a reaction to grace now become legislated and those who don’t practice or show those works are taught to question their salvation. The two sides meet, they harden their position, defending what they see as a true doctrinal position, to the extent that only that doctrine matters.
When I read the quote on the plane, 30 such issues came to mind. (examples include the Sacraments, the Commandments – especially the Sabbath, Religion versus Relationship, the Work of the Holy Spirit, Worship Wars, Evangelism/Mission versus Orthodoxy) Several that friends of mine are dealing with, or have dealt with in recent years. I tucked it away in the back of my mind. This morning my regular devotions (from which the other four quotes come) brought up the problem again, and the answer to it.
Hence the blog this morning.
The issue is one of sin, specifically the sin of pride and the exaltation of man’s ability to reason.
We know the danger of man’s reason apart from God, but do we realize that we still fall prey to the pride which exalts our reason, our understanding? That makes us believe that we know all we need, even more than those around us? Do we realize we are still but the children of God, that we don’t know it all, and even more importantly, we can’t apply all that we do know?
It is, as the quote in green above states, the battle of self idolatry. Proverbs reiterates the same thing, our need not to be able to understand, but to trust God, to lean on Him, to continually refer back, not just to man’s wisdom, but to scripture, to prayer. Psalms reiterates this theme of trust, of walking with God.
The challenge is that doctrines are beautiful, there is something overwhelming about those “aha” moments when something life-changing is realized. But that one doctrine cannot become the defining doctrine of our life. Even the study of all doctrine cannot be, for doctrine itself doesn’t save us, Christ does. Doctrine may instruct us in how our souls are healed in how reconciliation occurs, of how the means of grace deliver that precious grace. The wisdom of God being revealed is a wonderful thing.
But it isn’t our God.
Imagine studying about marriage, You’ve read every sociological book, every psychological book, every book describing the intimacy that a husband and wife share, physical, spiritual, emotional. You look at your own marriage certificate, memorizing it so well, that you could reproduce it from memory…even the crinkle in the seal. You invest every moment of your time in such learning about marriage that many consider you an expert.
But you’ve done so, at the expense of time with your spouse…..
How well can you really know what the union of two souls are?
Same thing with God.
The key to avoiding heresy is not managing to juggle and keep in balance all the doctrines that are taught in scripture.
The key is abiding in Christ. Of walking with God, of realizing that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Of knowing the dimensions of His love for you and all His people. To receive His mercy, His forgiveness and the healing of our souls. It is then you can hear His voice, it is then you know His love and mercy and grace. It is then you treasure its words, for what it reveals about God and His people. It is then that doctrines aren’t just a matter of knowledge, a matter of the mind. But then that they are a description of our life as thise who trust God.
It is then, that these words, in bold colors above, resonate with us, because they are our prayers.
God’s peace to you… and know that you are kept, your heart and mind, in that peace. by Christ. AMEN.
(1) From Celtic Daily Prayer, Aidan Readings for 10/25, credited as from Hebridean Altars
(2) Ortiz, Juan Carlos (2011-08-09). From the Jungles to the Cathedrals: The Captivating Story of Juan Carlos Ortiz (Biography: Great Leaders of Our Times) (Kindle Locations 1717-1718). Vida. Kindle Edition.
(3) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 924-925). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Walking with God…..
Devotional Thought of the Day:
22 They came to Bethsaida, where some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged him to touch him. 23 Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. After spitting on the man’s eyes, Jesus placed his hands on him and asked him, “Can you see anything?” 24 The man looked up and said, “Yes, I can see people, but they look like trees walking around.” 25 Jesus again placed his hands on the man’s eyes. This time the man looked intently, his eyesight returned, and he saw everything clearly. Mark 8:22-25 (TEV)
212 Let us marvel at the lovable paradox of our Christian condition: it is our own wretchedness which leads us to seek refuge in God, to become “like unto God”. With him we can do all things. (1)
15 years ago this month, I was a young pastor, at my first church a little over a year. I was starting to crumble when a query about a church conference turned into an opportunity that changed my ministry career. I was offered the chance to replace a pastor that had dropped out of an exclusive preaching program at what was called the Fuqua School of Christian Communication. The Basic course was supposed to have 25 students, and one backed out. It was held at the Crystal Cathedral, in conjunction with other seminaries who made it part of their DMin program.
It required me to be videotaped during a short sermon, 15 minutes or so.
Most of the other pastors were from churches of 350-1500. Some were on television, some pastored famous churches. I was pastoring a church in the desert, one many have given up on. We would work 5 to 1 with some of the most famous preachers and christian communicators in the USA. My mentor was Juan Carlos Ortiz. If you’ve never heard him, in English or Spanish, you should. He is one of the most dynamic, deep preachers you will ever hear. He had the first megachurch in his home country of Argentina, came to the USA and started a church for people speaking Spanish at the Crystal Cathedral.
As I watched him shred the first four pastors in my group, I became more and more fearful. I was very stiff, monotoned and tried to stuff 45 minutes into 15. I could anticipate every comment he would make, and already feeling overwhelmed by my “peers”, I was wondering if his advice would be similar to what I had heard before. That I wasn’t cut our (some said I didn’t have the gift ) to be a preacher.
That’s not what Juan Carlos did. After shredding (very politely constructively and with the skill and elan of a world class fencer ) the more renowned and skilled preachers, he focused only on a 75-second portion of my message.
There, I told the story of the picture above, although thirty-five plus years in the past. Instead of my son and I, I was the son, my dad beside me, on the same road along the shore of Lake Ossipee in Salem New Hampshire. Then and still, this is the relationship we are to have with God, walking hand in hand down the road together. Sharing the problems of life, our doubts, our joys, our anxieties. We would ask questions about this life that puzzle us, Asking for help in making life right. (confession) And sometimes, it is simply walking in silence.
It is this communion that is what the life of a Christian is to be. It is how Jesus ministered to the blind man as well, taking him by the hand, and walking with Him. It is as St Josemarie talked of, where our problems, our anxieties, our fears, our sins are the very thing that drives us to God in the first place. There. everything becomes right.
What Juan Carlos told me was to tell this story, the same way. To get people to know the God who walks with them, as a father walking with his son. If I did that, everything else would fall into place.
Today I took that walk with my son…. today, I thought back on that lesson… today, perhaps you need to get back on that road you used to walk with your Father in heaven.
It’s time – let’s all go for that walk….
Amen.
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 926-927). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Our Need for Vacation, (or the Sabbath) is Really Our Need for Christ
a nice peaceful sunset off of the Huntington Beach Pier..
Discussion and Devotional Thought of the Day:
1 LORD, I have given up my pride and turned away from my arrogance. I am not concerned with great matters or with subjects too difficult for me. 2 Instead, I am content and at peace. As a child lies quietly in its mother’s arms, so my heart is quiet within me. 3 Israel, trust in the LORD now and forever! Psalm 131:1-3 (TEV)
11 In union with Christ you were circumcised, not with the circumcision that is made by human beings, but with the circumcision made by Christ, which consists of being freed from the power of this sinful self. 12 For when you were baptized, you were buried with Christ, and in baptism you were also raised with Christ through your faith in the active power of God, who raised him from death. 13 You were at one time spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were Gentiles without the Law. But God has now brought you to life with Christ. God forgave us all our sins; 14 he canceled the unfavorable record of our debts with its binding rules and did away with it completely by nailing it to the cross. 15 And on that cross Christ freed himself from the power of the spiritual rulers and authorities; he made a public spectacle of them by leading them as captives in his victory procession. 16 So let no one make rules about what you eat or drink or about holy days or the New Moon Festival or the Sabbath. 17 All such things are only a shadow of things in the future; the reality is Christ. Colossians 2:11-17 (TEV)
657 Here is a point for your daily examination. Have I allowed an hour to pass, without talking with my Father God? Have I talked to him with the love of a son? You can! (1)
Today starts my vacation, so it was a coincidence? Ironic? God having fun? that my devotional readings switched from focusing on sacrificing to focusing on resting in Christ Jesus this morning.
As I started to read the Psalm this morning, and the other passages and the devotional reading, (with my son at my side – which was great!) I started thinking – how much people look forward to vacation, how much we look forward to a break from the grind of daily work. Even though many of us physically do not rest, do not take a break, but fill as much of our time as we can!
Matter of fact, we spend extra time preparing our work places and lives for vacation, we know we will have more work when we get back, we tire ourselves out during it and… well.. we don’t always get what we need – rest, a chance to breath, a chance to recover and be revitalized. It works against the Human Resources justification of Vacation – that employees will be more energetic and productive with that time away for rest and recreation, That it will reduce burnout, that it will have a positive impact on our work.
As I was thinking through this, I realized what vacations are supposed to be about is why God created sabbath times – not just weeks, but yearly and even sabbaticals where things rested for a year. When all pressure is off, where time is spent simply, without concern, knowing that God is caring for us, protecting us, Where we can find contentment, and peace. Where we can be still, knowing that it will take a couple of days to do so… to unwind, to breathe, to even gasp.
We need to do this more, setting aside even in a minute or two an hour, an hour a day, a day a month? And yes – our week or two a year…..
We need our time with our Father, for that is precious and restores our soul… It can give us the strength to face the rest of the hour, the pains of a day, the punishing grind of a year.
My son got it, when we talked of my role as a pastor, and why I need to start the morning with a devotional time. He said if I didn’t spend time with God, even though the time I spend with people is very good – I can’t really pastor! (He indicated he was guessing – he knew it was right – but he didn’t know why!)
How can we live as believers, if we don’t spend time, talking to Him with the love and adoration a son has for his dad?
This is why it doesn’t make sense to restrict people to a specific day for such rest, for dwelling in such love. If someone needs that rest on Tuesday night, or on Thursday morning. We need it. The Sabbath is about man receiving the peace and rest God would give them. It isn’t about obedience, but about restoration. That is why some prefer daily mass, and some churches with staff and time enough – have multiple service times across the week.
Well time to wrap this up – need to finish getting ready for some time of rest……
Godspeed!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 2756-2758). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
A Glorious Sample!
A Glorious Sampling!
Romans 8:18-27
† In Jesus Name †
May the Holy Spirit’s presence in your life not only assure you of the grace and peace of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ that is yours now… but also that is eternal and yet to be fully revealed!
Anticipation…..
To be fair, I should start this sermon with a warning. So here it is.
You are warned, that carefully listening to this sermon may make you very, very, very hungry.
Back in the day when our only television was a 12 inch B/W, there was a commercial that was so well done, that even in black and white, the ½ inch thick perfectly cooked, juicy hamburger was so well pictured, that it could make your mouth water…
There was a poor starving salivating child waiting for it, as a Heinz catsup bottle was hovering over it, taking 20 seconds for the first drop of catsup to lead the thick, rich, delicious catsup stream that would make complete the burger.
If you are old enough to remember those days, how many of you didn’t wait for the catsup, but got out a butter knife to encourage the catsup’s flow?
Anticipation, is making me wait! Making me wait for this delicious, juicy, perfectly barbecued hamburger, which will be ice cold by the time the catsup leaves the bottle!
I never waited for the catsup – just tossed some onions on it, and started eating!
Some of us have trouble waiting patiently, whether it is for food, or to see God’s will revealed in our lives, and to see our lives become perfect.
Yet, it is a glorious thing when we see it, and knowing us, God has given us a little foretaste of what is to come. That is what Paul is talking about, in the passage from Romans 8 that we heard a few moments ago….
It is just hard to wait, he is right, we long for the days when we are released from sin and suffering, and our adoption as God’s kids is fully realized.
The Struggle with Waiting!
We have a problem with waiting, probably because the other terms for waiting are not pleasant. We have to have patience, or to use an older phrase – we have to be “long-suffering”.
Patience means we don’t get what we want, when we want it.
We don’t like that opening verse of the reading,
Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later!
It is a struggle to wait, such a struggle is its own kid of suffering. We get frustrated, whether it is waiting for catsup to pour out of a bottle, to get a seat at a restaurant, or to wait in line at a grocery store.
We struggle with those little things, and often we pour out our frustration in those situations, because we can’t figure out how to give address other struggles, other heavier, more personal and painful suffering.
Suffering we endure as our bodies cannot do what they used to do. When we wake up with aches and pains, instead of energy and strength. The suffering that happens because of age, or disease, or even common things like allergies.
Like the suffering that comes when we struggle to make ends meet, or as we wait for test results, or when our expectations don’t become reality.
There are even deeper sufferings, the pains we feel as we watch people we love suffer, as marriages suffer, as grief weighs on people, as financial struggles crush them, as addictions rob life from them. Even more so as we look at those we love, who could know God’s peace, and instead continue to struggle to play God, and fail.
Those times where the suffering is so great, we can’t even find the peace or the words to pray, where our very heart is crushed by the suffering. This isn’t even starting to talk about the suffering of martyrdom, the suffering that can accompany sharing God’s love for people.
We aren’t alone in the suffering, Paul tells us the whole creation – the earth and stars suffer as well, waiting for that which we hope for…. The transformation that all creation groans for, as it awaits Christ’s return.
How can we wait patiently, expectantly for that, if we struggle to wait for some tomato paste and vinegar to make it’s way from a bottle onto the aromatic, juicy, perfectly barbecued hamburger?
What are we waiting for?
I joke about the burger, but we need to see that for which we hope. Hope, not like in hoping that I win the lottery, but more hope as in we fully expect Christ’s return.
Paul uses some incredible words to describe that for which we hope.
“we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering!”
And,
We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us!
Those are a lot better to wait for than that catsup – right?
Imagine – no more body, no more effect of sin on our lives, or the lives of those we love and care for, just the presence of the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit; who welcomes us home into a life beyond experience, beyond our imagination.
There are days I long for that! There are days I cannot wait…..
Especially when I hear the news of more churches being burnt to the ground, of Christians being threatened with death,
I long to know the glory we will share in, and be done with the suffering of this life…
Then again, I had trouble waiting for catsup! How do you expect me to wait for eternity to be revealed? How can we wait for it, when waiting means struggling, sacrifice, and suffering?
How Can We wait?
I warned you at the beginning of this sermon that it might make you hungry, but I wasn’t talking about the hamburger with the Heinz catsup on it.
What I hope you are hungry for, nearly starving for, is that day when we realize how true it is, that the sufferings of our lives is nothing compared to the glory awaiting for us.
I pray you are hungry for the revelation of God’s glory, of our eternity spent with Him, or as Paul explains it to the church in Colossae,
1 You have been raised to life with Christ, so set your hearts on the things that are in heaven, where Christ sits on his throne at the right side of God. 2 Keep your minds fixed on things there, not on things here on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 Your real life is Christ and when he appears, then you too will appear with him and share his glory! Colossians 3:1-4 (TEV)
Set your hearts on it! Put your hope in God! Expect Him to fulfill all His promises – and know what those promises are!
God provides for us as we wait as well! Paul describes two ways in which the Holy Spirit work.
The first is as we pray, as we groan and endure, when we are so week, that we don’t even know how to pray. The promise is that the Spirit is with us, praying with us, groaning with us, pleading for us, as verse 27 states, in harmony with God’s will.
We don’t suffer alone! Our prayers are heard! God is listening, for the Spirit who dwells in our hearts communicates clearly and the Father hears.
The other, even more significant is that the Holy Spirit’s presence in our life! I love how the NLT translates it…
23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory
The presence of the Holy Spirit, the gift of God given to us when we were born again in baptism. The presence of the Lord and Giver of Life, the Comforter, the Advocate, the One who gives gifts to the church to serve the word the good news of Christ. The One who assures us our prayers are heard by God the Father and answered, the Healer of our souls.
Who is a foretaste, the Holy Spirit who is present in our lives – a glimpse of what to expect when the suffering we now know is replaced by the glory of that day.
May we revel in the presence of the Holy Spirit, may we drink deeply of the love revealed to us, and may it help us realize the peace of God, as we anticipate the glory that is yet to come!
AMEN?
Anxious About the Future? Don’t Know Every Detail? That’s Good!
Discussion and Devotional Thought of the Day:
24 The LORD directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way? Proverbs 20:24 (NLT)
The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need. 2 He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. 3 He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. Psalm 23:1-3 (NLT)
I talked to you about the horizon which opens up before our eyes and of the road we have to follow. I have no objections, you said, as if surprised at not having any. Engrave this deeply on your mind: there is no reason why there should be!! (1)
Picture a couple in love, walking through a park together, enjoying each other. They might laugh at that squirrel, or be amazed at the flowers and the beauty of the water which sings in the creek, as it too travels to the pond on the other side of the park. The might even forget where they are, as they enjoy each other, as they learn about each other, as they share in the love they have. They live in the moment. There is a growing trust, growing discovery and revelation of life.
And they know the destination when they get there…. as the sit on the rock, as the young man asks the question that they both know is coming…..will you share my life, will you let me share yours?
Unsure of the future? They aren’t even looking past this moment. The joy of each other’s presence is too overwhelming
God knows the future, much more than the young man and woman. He directs the steps, knowing the beauty we will encounter, and the times when we will stumble. We walk with Him, our Shepherd,
Yes, we inherently trust Him for our salvation, but what we are saved to is a life, a relationship where that trust infects every other part of our life. As He reveals Himself, as we explore and know the height, depth, width and breadth of God’s love for us in Christ,
That means we aren’t going to know every step, we won’t understand this time or that, We may not want to take the time to rest and pause, we want to fight for control. We can’t know all the details, any more than the prophets or apostles did. We need to grow to where we don’t raise objections to the horizon, we need to accept the road, not because it is the road….
But because we trust the Shepherd who will lead us along the right roads, who walks with us.
How do we do this?
Spend time with Him, realize His presence, meditate on and rejoice in the promises that are sure in Christ……
It’s not about having every detail planned out, about preparing for every contingency, this life of those baptized and who walk with Christ.
It’s like the journey along the paths of the park- where a young couple are amazed at the love, at the growing bond between them. Where they realize their long for love is there. It’s like that, as we, the bride of Christ, walk with Him.
So enjoy, as the beauty of His creation unfolds before you!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 2399-2402). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Rebuilding the Broken Churches and Our Broken Faith
Devotional Thought of the Day:
10 When the builders completed the foundation of the LORD’s Temple, the priests put on their robes and took their places to blow their trumpets. And the Levites, descendants of Asaph, clashed their cymbals to praise the LORD, just as King David had prescribed. 11 With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the LORD: “He is so good! His faithful love for Israel endures forever!” Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the LORD because the foundation of the LORD’s Temple had been laid. 12 But many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders who had seen the first Temple wept aloud when they saw the new Temple’s foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy. 13 The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud noise that could be heard far in the distance. Ezra 3:10-13 (NLT)
“The place may have powerful significance, but it is God’s purposes that must be made visible and tangible. When we say, “I’m in charge of the ruins,, it must mean that we are guardians of a vision, not curators for the department of ancient monuments” (1)
455 When they were fishing for you, you would ask yourself where they got that strength and fire which burned everything in sight. Now as you pray you realise that this is the source that wells up within the true children of God. (2)
I’ve spent a good deal of my time as a pastor, working with churches that, like the Temple of David, had seen better days, and even lie in what others might see as “ruins”. Significant research has been done, and many now see a life cycle of a church as being 25-40 years, unless something is done to re-create the vision of the church. I would add, often that is simply recreating the original vision.
Such was the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, one rebuilding the temple, one rebuilding the community of God, restoring the people of God and the place He put His name, that they could come and pray, that they could come and receive His promises, that they could be assured of their place in His family.
So as I as doing my devotions this morning ( I am presently using the Celtic Prayer Book -which I highly recommend) I came across both the reading from Ezra and the part of the meditation that is quoted in green above. Obviously, for someone who has and longs to see God bring life to and from that which was dead… these words resonate deeply in my heart.
I’ve seen the people who shout for joy because of new birth found in Christ. I’ve see those who weep and cry out in pain, because the renewed temple/church/people of God don’t quite resemble the glory of what was, of what they so dearly remember. There is a deep tendency in us to guard not the vision, but the memory, To look back and miss what was, not seeing the hope that others are crying out in joy over. How does one minister to both groups simultaneously? Or do you neglect one for the other? How do you keep them from grating on each other’s nerves, for Romans says we should be in common – weeping with others while they week, rejoicing while they rejoice. But when both groups are reacting, and pouring everything they are into their tears or cries of joy…. ? When others see the vision becoming reality, and others struggle to see the vision through their tear flooded eyes?
There is only one place I know of, where you can do both simultaneously…. that is in the presence of God. To realize that He is the comforter of the broken, the strength of those who are weak. That the congregation, that the building finds it existence, not in its past, or its future, but in His purposes. To redeem, to reconcile, to justify and sanctify for God a people of His own calling. There is the room for joy and tears, for repentance and for submission to God’s vision for the future. There is healing, and the Spirit working through us to use that which God has blessed us with, including our churches, including the places where God puts His name – for His people, and for those who need to come, and find out He is real.
For a critical, no, the critical part to seeing the foundations built upon, for seeing the bones of Ezekiel’s dry bones live and have the Spirit breathed into them, is that intimacy with God. It is where the prophets and priests and people of the Old Testament found their strength, it is where the apostles and pastors and saints still find their strength today. It is what brings comfort and strength, it is why we treasure the past as visions came to be. It is the reason we have hope for the future, knowing that same vision will come into being as well – because that is God’s heart. As God refocuses our buildings to be used powerfully for His purpose, He first does the same with out hearts, calling us into a relationship with Him, a relationship that deepens, that grows, that reaches out in love to draw others in, that they may know the healing, the hope, the love.
We need to rebuild so many of our churches, to re-purpose them to the very visions that they were built to see happen. But the power, the strength, the determination that will succeed is found, not in us, but in seeing the building used for His purpose. And His purpose is fairly simple – that we would be His people, His offspring, and that we would know HE is our God..
(1) Celtic Daily Prayer Book – Aiden reading July 8th
(2) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 2010-2012). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Walking Away from God and His People? Please read….
Devotional Thought of the Day:
17 When they saw him, they worshiped him, even though some of them doubted. Matthew 28:17 (TEV)
343 That passage of the Second Epistle to Timothy makes me shudder, when the Apostle laments that Demas has deserted him for love of this life and gone to Thessalonica. For a trifle, and for fear of persecution, this man, whom Saint Paul had quoted in other epistles as being among the saints, had betrayed the divine enterprise. I shudder when I realise how little I am: and it leads me to demand from myself faithfulness to the Lord even in events that might seem to be indifferent—for if they do not help me to be more united to Him, I do not want them! (1)
I have some friends who I am thinking of, even as I write this blogpost. If you are reading this, you probably are not them…. but it might apply anyway.
They are facing challenges in life, hard challenges, painful challenges. Enough so that while praying that they would see God revealed in their life, considering what they’ve gone through brings tears to my eyes. I can’t know the pain as deeply of course, ,but the pain is visible and tangible.
And the temptation is to walk away from the one place where their hearts can be lifted, where they can find peace.
How do I know this? Been there, been tempted to walk away once or twice…heck who am I kidding. It’s a lot more than that, and I have. As the prodigal found out, it isn’t better there. Not even close. the scars get bigger, the healing doesn’t come, the loneliness seems to grow and dominate, as does the despair.
St. Josemaria gets the point, the more I walk away, the littler I become. The answer isn’t running away, trying to slide away unnoticed, as if the pain will simply dissipate….
I’ve found the answer is to embrace God even more strongly, to bug him like the old lady bugged the judge, to yell at Him like Jeremiah does in chapter 20 of his book, to try and wrestle with him as Jacob/Israel did. To trust Him so much that I can doubt what’s going on, and I can express my doubt that He is present. That kind of doubt takes faith, faith that He won’t turn us away if we are blunt and honest. Trust that will work out in our lives, as that trust in His presence, His love and care allows us to dump all the crap in our lives onto the cross – where it will die with all sin and shame.
Don’t run away, don’t walk… come back, join us who struggle with our faithfulness – and trust in His. Let us encourage each other, for these last days… we need that encouragement, that reminder of God’s presence..
For that is having great faith.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1595-1600). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
