Yesterday at our local circuit pastors conference we had a really great discussion about the Lordship of Christ and about how He is the the KING and what that means for us as his subjects. We also had a great discussion about how this terminology doesn't sit really well with the American culture of equality, democracy and franchised voters within a representative governmental structure. This was a great seg-way into our review of the various resolutions which will be brought forward to our Kansas District Convention next month.
I'm truly baffled by some of the resolutions put forward by some of our sister congregations and circuits here in the Kansas District. In particular, those resolutions seeking to ban congregations from participation in programs which seek to revitalize congregations and from using materials in worship which are not prepared by the LCMS Commission on Worship (including prayers and liturgies written by myself as well as the popular Creative Worship for the Lutheran Parish?).
I guess the thing that bothers me is that if we are all autonomous congregations "walking together" in synod, doesn't that mean that we support one another in our efforts to reach people in our own, separate communities with the Gospel of Jesus Christ? How can it be that a homogeneous method of ministry can communicate to and connect with the Rancher in Watheena as it would the Bank President in Overland Park, or the immigrant working in a packing house in Garden City? Each of those people will need to hear the same Gospel, but quite possibly (probably), expressed in much different ways and in different contexts.
Moreover, how does what we do to further the Kingdom in Olathe threaten anything that the congregation in central Kansas might be doing, especially if what they are doing is working well for them? I'm certainly not going to question your methods of ministry if they seem to be making disciples, so why worry about our methods? In fact it might take a wide variety of methods as Paul said in 1 Cor. 9:22, "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some."
As I recall, our Lord told us to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20)--not German, Lutheran Church Missouri Synod church members, or even "Christians" as society knows them to be. He called us to make DISCIPLES...people who know, love, and follow Jesus and who try to share that Jesus with the world. And they won't all look, sound, act or walk the same way.
What if...
What if Matthew had written: "All authority in District and Synod has been given to the delegates of District and Synod (i.e. Pastor and the lay person he chooses). Therefore, stay here in your call forever, making perfect worshipers of a particular tradition and liturgy which can never be altered for any reason for ever and ever unless it has been commissioned by Synod, imposing your will and image of the church upon all those with whom you come in contact, as well as all others with whom you profess to be in fellowship with, (if not "walking together") in the name of doctrine, the Confessions and good order, regardless of what scripture and the Holy Spirit seem to say otherwise, teaching them to all to obey the resolutions, regardless of their status as autonomous congregations of Synod, and lo, I will not commune with you until you do so."
If that is what Matthew had written, we'd all do it right, wouldn't we? And there would be no arguments (and I have a lot to sell you off the coast of Arizona)
Well, he didn't, so I'm relying upon the Scripture and the Holy Spirit to guide me allowing the Church to be a witness to those two things, and not a hindrance, waiting for all this madness to end.
Come, Lord Jesus, quickly come.
Showing posts with label Sermonizing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sermonizing. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Saturday, February 13, 2010
It's Good Lord, to be here.
Luke 9:33 Transfiguration Sunday--February 14, 2010--Redeemer Lutheran, Olathe, KS
1. It’s good to be here! As we make a habit of gathering here on Sundays we get to see old friends again. Today we have the blessing of singing the old liturgy—what we used to call “page 15”. We will be spending time together around the coffee pot between the services. For many of us, this Sunday routine is so engrained in us that we wouldn’t know what to do if we weren’t here each week. It’s just so…comfortable.
2. For many of us, we were raised on this stuff. As Christians we know God expects us to observe the Sabbath in the 3rd commandment. We feel a sense of duty to be here. Our attendance and our offering are missed when we are absent. It’s…just…what we do. I think that most of us here today could honestly say, “It’s good Lord, to be here.”
3. Peter’s declaration was of a similar nature to ours. He, along with James and John, got to see Moses and Elijah. I can just about hear him say, “How blessed are we?” They even got to hear them talking with Jesus! To experience this once in a life-time event with his closest buddies must have been truly awesome. It’s no wonder, then, that he said, “Let’s remember this day forever and build some tents so we can make the most of this moment—make it last!
4. It felt good to be there because it just seemed right. Being on that mountain with Jesus—and seeing Moses—surely Peter must have had visions of what it must have been like when Moses received the 10 Commandments from God on Mt. Sinai. And when he and the others made this connection in their minds they were reminded of the gift they had received from God. While we are so often quick to associate God’s Law with being a burden we can never fulfill, Israel saw it as a sign that he cared so much for them that he personally gave them a piece of his mind and his heart so that they could strive to please him and ask for his forgiveness when they failed. That was so different from all the other gods and idols which other people around them worshiped. With those supposed deities one had to guess at what they wanted. One had to manipulate them into acting favorably. One had to buy the love of those cold, lifeless statuary idols. And sadly, as their bargaining and sacrificing went unheard, they built higher altars on higher hills and offered more and more sacrifices of an increasingly horrific and immoral nature.
5. But here on this mountain, on this day, it wasn’t like that at all. Here Peter and the others got to see for themselves, not a cold, distant, uncaring god that may or may not hear them, or who may or may not even exist but, instead, one whom they now saw before them as a man, yet God at the same time. And they watched as they saw his figure transformed—his face glorified; “like lightning” as we hear it in the Greek language by which it was originally written. And as they watched the events unfold, as they saw Moses and Elijah visit with their teacher, they were at peace. They knew that this was the place they needed to be. They knew, as they saw the whole thing unfold before them that they were there precisely because Jesus wanted them to be there so that they could have this shared experience between them as a memory in their minds forever. The sights of the prophets and the fog engulfing them, the sounds of the voice of God speaking to them all, the smells of the mountain air and the plants all around them. The view of the valley below as the cloud bank dissipated. All of it culminated to a point to where Peter just couldn’t contain himself any longer. He finally just had to blurt it out! “Master, it is GOOD to be HERE.”
6. Remember when said it was good to be here and listed all the reasons why? Place them aside the image we just painted of Peter’s experience on top of the mountain and you might have noticed one important similarity. All of those comments and accolades were focused on the self because that’s our nature as human beings just as it was Peter’s nature. We tend to get caught up in our own excitement and feelings and emotions. We let our desire to encounter God get sideswiped by our need to feel safe and our propensity to do things that are safe and not risky. And so we continue along in our faith walk never stretching ourselves, never quite reaching where God is leading us as we continue in our old ways, listening to the same old stories and following the same old lessons, perhaps expecting to find new answers, but probably relieved to hear that, no, they haven’t really changed all that much. Like Peter, James and John, we want to just linger in the moment of our experience and bask in the glow of our God.
7. As comfortable as it is to be here, however, at times it distracts us from Christ. “How can that be?” you might ask. “How can I be distracted from Christ when all I want to do is be surrounded by his glory and revel in his words and the words of the prophets? Surely there is value in that? Pastor, how can you say that that is wrong?” Well, the answer to that is another question. That question is, “On what is your heart focused?” If it is focused on finding your inner peace, if it is focused on finding a way for you to feel better about yourself or what you are doing, if it is focused on you escaping from the rest of your life, then your presence here is no different then Peter, James, and John’s on the Mount of Transfiguration.
8. You see, the transfiguration is all about Jesus and his mission and his ministry. It marks the beginning of a new phase of his “work”. His disciples have all been called and he has introduced them to his vision and plan to share the Good News with the world. But in the preceding verses we read that he has also just made the first prediction of his suffering and death. His ministry now has a different thrust as he moves from teaching to training, and eventually, turning the ministry over to his disciples. He has begun the process of bringing his work to an end and he needs to get the disciples up to speed—as quickly as possible—so that they can continue his work. He’s getting them ready for the battle ahead. If Jesus’ temptation in the desert at the beginning of his ministry was difficult, his last trials as he suffers and dies on the cross will be exponentially more painful. He’s going to need Peter to be up for the job of leading the group after his death. He’s going to need James to a take leadership role as well, and John will be called upon to look after Mary, Jesus’ mother, upon his death and he will be Christ’s witness, not only in the Gospel written by him, but in his “revelation” which he will write to seven persecuted churches; a letter we now know as the last book of the Bible, The Revelation of St. John.
9. As with everything he did, the Transfiguration of Christ was more than just a miracle, but a fulfillment of earlier prophecy and a completion of work begun generations before. On this mountaintop Moses and Elijah were passing the torch to Christ so that Jesus could eventually pass that torch to the disciples before his ascension. By bringing them to the mountain with him he was letting them know that this work they were being called into was a continuation of the work God had been doing through his people from the very beginning of history.
10. Moses delivered the people out of the bondage of Egypt, but he was not allowed to enter the Promised Land. To finish the task of deliverance into Canaan Joshua was called to be Moses’ successor. The name Joshua is Hebrew for “The Lord Saves.” And as surely as they entered the land under his leadership they were reminded of the One who made it all possible. Later in Israel’s history, Elijah was called to deliver the people of God out of the hands of unfaithful kings. He too did not see the end of his work, but passed his work onto Elisha, a variation of the name Joshua, so that through his very name the people would know where their salvation would come from. And God delivered them away from Baal worship as the worship of the true God was once again restored in Israel. And now today in our Gospel we find Jesus—Greek for Joshua—whom the angel told Mary and Joseph will free the people from the slavery of their sins. Moses and Elijah and many other men and women were called by God throughout the Bible to effect salvation for Israel in one fashion or another, but it would never last and there weren’t speaking to all people. Just as Joshua and Elisha completed the earthly tasks set before Moses and Elijah in their ministries, Jesus had come to complete the deliverance that no man could accomplish for any portion of man-kind throughout the millennia—the final deliverance of our bodies and souls from sin, death, and the power of the devil.
11. Although Peter’s intentions may have been wrong, his words were right on the mark; it truly was good for them to be there on that mountain that day. It was good because Jesus wanted these 3 leaders—the first of his disciples to follow him—to witness this significant, historic, event. Jesus wanted them to see his work in the context of salvation history—to allow them to connect all that he had been teaching them with all that they knew from the Law and the Prophets. Jesus wanted them to get a glimpse of what lies ahead for them; in ministry, in mission, and in the glory of heaven.
12. It is good for US to be HERE as well but not for the reasons we stated at the beginning of our message today. It is good for us to be here today so that we too can become witnesses of Christ’s transfiguration and his ministry through the scriptures we hear read and proclaimed. By hearing the stories of the Bible we can see how he continues to work in our lives just as he did in the past. In the Divine Service we too get a glimpse of our future glorified state as we partake of Holy Communion—that foretaste of the feast to come. As we gather here each week we surely do soak it all in, but not only so that we may be soothed and comforted, but so that we might be inspired, strengthened and lifted up to give God the glory. We say, “it is truly good, Lord, to be here”
1. It’s good to be here! As we make a habit of gathering here on Sundays we get to see old friends again. Today we have the blessing of singing the old liturgy—what we used to call “page 15”. We will be spending time together around the coffee pot between the services. For many of us, this Sunday routine is so engrained in us that we wouldn’t know what to do if we weren’t here each week. It’s just so…comfortable.
2. For many of us, we were raised on this stuff. As Christians we know God expects us to observe the Sabbath in the 3rd commandment. We feel a sense of duty to be here. Our attendance and our offering are missed when we are absent. It’s…just…what we do. I think that most of us here today could honestly say, “It’s good Lord, to be here.”
3. Peter’s declaration was of a similar nature to ours. He, along with James and John, got to see Moses and Elijah. I can just about hear him say, “How blessed are we?” They even got to hear them talking with Jesus! To experience this once in a life-time event with his closest buddies must have been truly awesome. It’s no wonder, then, that he said, “Let’s remember this day forever and build some tents so we can make the most of this moment—make it last!
4. It felt good to be there because it just seemed right. Being on that mountain with Jesus—and seeing Moses—surely Peter must have had visions of what it must have been like when Moses received the 10 Commandments from God on Mt. Sinai. And when he and the others made this connection in their minds they were reminded of the gift they had received from God. While we are so often quick to associate God’s Law with being a burden we can never fulfill, Israel saw it as a sign that he cared so much for them that he personally gave them a piece of his mind and his heart so that they could strive to please him and ask for his forgiveness when they failed. That was so different from all the other gods and idols which other people around them worshiped. With those supposed deities one had to guess at what they wanted. One had to manipulate them into acting favorably. One had to buy the love of those cold, lifeless statuary idols. And sadly, as their bargaining and sacrificing went unheard, they built higher altars on higher hills and offered more and more sacrifices of an increasingly horrific and immoral nature.
5. But here on this mountain, on this day, it wasn’t like that at all. Here Peter and the others got to see for themselves, not a cold, distant, uncaring god that may or may not hear them, or who may or may not even exist but, instead, one whom they now saw before them as a man, yet God at the same time. And they watched as they saw his figure transformed—his face glorified; “like lightning” as we hear it in the Greek language by which it was originally written. And as they watched the events unfold, as they saw Moses and Elijah visit with their teacher, they were at peace. They knew that this was the place they needed to be. They knew, as they saw the whole thing unfold before them that they were there precisely because Jesus wanted them to be there so that they could have this shared experience between them as a memory in their minds forever. The sights of the prophets and the fog engulfing them, the sounds of the voice of God speaking to them all, the smells of the mountain air and the plants all around them. The view of the valley below as the cloud bank dissipated. All of it culminated to a point to where Peter just couldn’t contain himself any longer. He finally just had to blurt it out! “Master, it is GOOD to be HERE.”
6. Remember when said it was good to be here and listed all the reasons why? Place them aside the image we just painted of Peter’s experience on top of the mountain and you might have noticed one important similarity. All of those comments and accolades were focused on the self because that’s our nature as human beings just as it was Peter’s nature. We tend to get caught up in our own excitement and feelings and emotions. We let our desire to encounter God get sideswiped by our need to feel safe and our propensity to do things that are safe and not risky. And so we continue along in our faith walk never stretching ourselves, never quite reaching where God is leading us as we continue in our old ways, listening to the same old stories and following the same old lessons, perhaps expecting to find new answers, but probably relieved to hear that, no, they haven’t really changed all that much. Like Peter, James and John, we want to just linger in the moment of our experience and bask in the glow of our God.
7. As comfortable as it is to be here, however, at times it distracts us from Christ. “How can that be?” you might ask. “How can I be distracted from Christ when all I want to do is be surrounded by his glory and revel in his words and the words of the prophets? Surely there is value in that? Pastor, how can you say that that is wrong?” Well, the answer to that is another question. That question is, “On what is your heart focused?” If it is focused on finding your inner peace, if it is focused on finding a way for you to feel better about yourself or what you are doing, if it is focused on you escaping from the rest of your life, then your presence here is no different then Peter, James, and John’s on the Mount of Transfiguration.
8. You see, the transfiguration is all about Jesus and his mission and his ministry. It marks the beginning of a new phase of his “work”. His disciples have all been called and he has introduced them to his vision and plan to share the Good News with the world. But in the preceding verses we read that he has also just made the first prediction of his suffering and death. His ministry now has a different thrust as he moves from teaching to training, and eventually, turning the ministry over to his disciples. He has begun the process of bringing his work to an end and he needs to get the disciples up to speed—as quickly as possible—so that they can continue his work. He’s getting them ready for the battle ahead. If Jesus’ temptation in the desert at the beginning of his ministry was difficult, his last trials as he suffers and dies on the cross will be exponentially more painful. He’s going to need Peter to be up for the job of leading the group after his death. He’s going to need James to a take leadership role as well, and John will be called upon to look after Mary, Jesus’ mother, upon his death and he will be Christ’s witness, not only in the Gospel written by him, but in his “revelation” which he will write to seven persecuted churches; a letter we now know as the last book of the Bible, The Revelation of St. John.
9. As with everything he did, the Transfiguration of Christ was more than just a miracle, but a fulfillment of earlier prophecy and a completion of work begun generations before. On this mountaintop Moses and Elijah were passing the torch to Christ so that Jesus could eventually pass that torch to the disciples before his ascension. By bringing them to the mountain with him he was letting them know that this work they were being called into was a continuation of the work God had been doing through his people from the very beginning of history.
10. Moses delivered the people out of the bondage of Egypt, but he was not allowed to enter the Promised Land. To finish the task of deliverance into Canaan Joshua was called to be Moses’ successor. The name Joshua is Hebrew for “The Lord Saves.” And as surely as they entered the land under his leadership they were reminded of the One who made it all possible. Later in Israel’s history, Elijah was called to deliver the people of God out of the hands of unfaithful kings. He too did not see the end of his work, but passed his work onto Elisha, a variation of the name Joshua, so that through his very name the people would know where their salvation would come from. And God delivered them away from Baal worship as the worship of the true God was once again restored in Israel. And now today in our Gospel we find Jesus—Greek for Joshua—whom the angel told Mary and Joseph will free the people from the slavery of their sins. Moses and Elijah and many other men and women were called by God throughout the Bible to effect salvation for Israel in one fashion or another, but it would never last and there weren’t speaking to all people. Just as Joshua and Elisha completed the earthly tasks set before Moses and Elijah in their ministries, Jesus had come to complete the deliverance that no man could accomplish for any portion of man-kind throughout the millennia—the final deliverance of our bodies and souls from sin, death, and the power of the devil.
11. Although Peter’s intentions may have been wrong, his words were right on the mark; it truly was good for them to be there on that mountain that day. It was good because Jesus wanted these 3 leaders—the first of his disciples to follow him—to witness this significant, historic, event. Jesus wanted them to see his work in the context of salvation history—to allow them to connect all that he had been teaching them with all that they knew from the Law and the Prophets. Jesus wanted them to get a glimpse of what lies ahead for them; in ministry, in mission, and in the glory of heaven.
12. It is good for US to be HERE as well but not for the reasons we stated at the beginning of our message today. It is good for us to be here today so that we too can become witnesses of Christ’s transfiguration and his ministry through the scriptures we hear read and proclaimed. By hearing the stories of the Bible we can see how he continues to work in our lives just as he did in the past. In the Divine Service we too get a glimpse of our future glorified state as we partake of Holy Communion—that foretaste of the feast to come. As we gather here each week we surely do soak it all in, but not only so that we may be soothed and comforted, but so that we might be inspired, strengthened and lifted up to give God the glory. We say, “it is truly good, Lord, to be here”
Monday, November 16, 2009
The "Holy" Family
Yesterday was the deadline for the December newsletter. Here's a preview of what I'll be writing to the congregation:
The “Holy” Family
Matthew 1:18 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
“What a way to start a marriage.” If it were not for the fact that this is beginning of the familiar Christmas story from Matthew, that might be our reply upon hearing of a young girl, engaged to an older man, who has found herself to be pregnant by—according to her—the Holy Spirit. Yet, that’s the truth and we behold this truth as beautiful and honorable and even holy because of the rest of the story as we know it. We know that this is the story of our Lord and Savior Jesus and just the beginning of his trek to save us from our sins and give us eternal life. Because of the outcome, the unsavory has been made beautiful. The less-than-ideal has been made “holy” in our memories. (Take a minute to read verses 19 through 25 to hear how Joseph responded to this “unfortunate” news. It’s especially inspiring for husbands and fathers)
On the other hand, it’s interesting how some of the other traditions surrounding Christmas have been transformed away from the scriptures which inspire them. We’ve removed the smell from the stable, the itch from the hay, the spiders from the hay mow, the flies from the manure and replaced them with haloed parents visited by guests who glow in pristinely washed and beautifully adorned clothing. We forget that shepherds were dirty, unsavory fellows who could get no other work and that the “Three Kings” were travelers in a time when traveling was also a dirty, messy affair. Yet, as unkempt the guests, as unsanitary the crib, as irregular the situation, this family was indeed Holy because of God’s presence and choice of sending them his Son.
Each of us is found in some sort of a family. Whether that family is headed by a single parent or two parents, whether it has five kids or no kids, a full nest or an empty nest, or even if we find ourselves alone after many years together with another, we are part of a family somewhere, somehow; either the family we come from, the family we started, or the family of believers we have in the Church.
However, all families are comprised of people who sin. Thus, families are full of sin as well and we can’t help it but to have rough patches from time to time and not every person in that family will always fit the mold or be in line with the rest of the clan. The Christmas season is one in which many families try to gloss over that sinful nature with pretty bows and packages, rich food and drink, fancy clothes and festive decorations. We try to do for our own families what Christians have done to the Holy Family in the Christmas story for years because we only want to experience the joy of the season and ignore the reality we live in.
But the ultimate reality in which we can all find joy is that God didn’t just bless Mary and Joseph on that Holy Night. When he sent his only son to be born of a girl who was engaged to another man, he began the process of redeeming all families and making them holy once again. Adam and Eve were the only humans who know what it was like to live in that holy state of one man and one woman, made for each other, for eternity. When they sinned we lost that knowledge and experience.
The Good News is that through Christ, we may experience what a holy family is again one day when we are raised on the last day to a new heaven and a new earth and live the life we were created for. But, until that time, we have Christ and his bride the church. As part of this holy union, we have a family which, though still containing sin, has been forgiven and lives in the grace of the bridegroom, Jesus Christ—warts and all.
This Christmas, as you find yourself stressing out over making the proper decorations, buying the perfect gift, baking the perfect dessert or roasting the perfect turkey, don’t be afraid if the decorations sag, the gift is returned, the dessert flops and the turkey is as dry as the Sahara. Christmas isn’t about perfection or hiding the rough edges. It’s about the one who came to make we, who are inherently imperfect, perfect in the eyes of the one who made us. Revel and bask in the glow of HIS holiness this Christmas, just like the shepherds, and angels, and kings.
A Blessed Christmas to all,
Pastor Sukstorf
Assoc. Minister of Family Life.
The “Holy” Family
Matthew 1:18 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
“What a way to start a marriage.” If it were not for the fact that this is beginning of the familiar Christmas story from Matthew, that might be our reply upon hearing of a young girl, engaged to an older man, who has found herself to be pregnant by—according to her—the Holy Spirit. Yet, that’s the truth and we behold this truth as beautiful and honorable and even holy because of the rest of the story as we know it. We know that this is the story of our Lord and Savior Jesus and just the beginning of his trek to save us from our sins and give us eternal life. Because of the outcome, the unsavory has been made beautiful. The less-than-ideal has been made “holy” in our memories. (Take a minute to read verses 19 through 25 to hear how Joseph responded to this “unfortunate” news. It’s especially inspiring for husbands and fathers)
On the other hand, it’s interesting how some of the other traditions surrounding Christmas have been transformed away from the scriptures which inspire them. We’ve removed the smell from the stable, the itch from the hay, the spiders from the hay mow, the flies from the manure and replaced them with haloed parents visited by guests who glow in pristinely washed and beautifully adorned clothing. We forget that shepherds were dirty, unsavory fellows who could get no other work and that the “Three Kings” were travelers in a time when traveling was also a dirty, messy affair. Yet, as unkempt the guests, as unsanitary the crib, as irregular the situation, this family was indeed Holy because of God’s presence and choice of sending them his Son.
Each of us is found in some sort of a family. Whether that family is headed by a single parent or two parents, whether it has five kids or no kids, a full nest or an empty nest, or even if we find ourselves alone after many years together with another, we are part of a family somewhere, somehow; either the family we come from, the family we started, or the family of believers we have in the Church.
However, all families are comprised of people who sin. Thus, families are full of sin as well and we can’t help it but to have rough patches from time to time and not every person in that family will always fit the mold or be in line with the rest of the clan. The Christmas season is one in which many families try to gloss over that sinful nature with pretty bows and packages, rich food and drink, fancy clothes and festive decorations. We try to do for our own families what Christians have done to the Holy Family in the Christmas story for years because we only want to experience the joy of the season and ignore the reality we live in.
But the ultimate reality in which we can all find joy is that God didn’t just bless Mary and Joseph on that Holy Night. When he sent his only son to be born of a girl who was engaged to another man, he began the process of redeeming all families and making them holy once again. Adam and Eve were the only humans who know what it was like to live in that holy state of one man and one woman, made for each other, for eternity. When they sinned we lost that knowledge and experience.
The Good News is that through Christ, we may experience what a holy family is again one day when we are raised on the last day to a new heaven and a new earth and live the life we were created for. But, until that time, we have Christ and his bride the church. As part of this holy union, we have a family which, though still containing sin, has been forgiven and lives in the grace of the bridegroom, Jesus Christ—warts and all.
This Christmas, as you find yourself stressing out over making the proper decorations, buying the perfect gift, baking the perfect dessert or roasting the perfect turkey, don’t be afraid if the decorations sag, the gift is returned, the dessert flops and the turkey is as dry as the Sahara. Christmas isn’t about perfection or hiding the rough edges. It’s about the one who came to make we, who are inherently imperfect, perfect in the eyes of the one who made us. Revel and bask in the glow of HIS holiness this Christmas, just like the shepherds, and angels, and kings.
A Blessed Christmas to all,
Pastor Sukstorf
Assoc. Minister of Family Life.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Do You Trust Me?
Do You Trust Me? Matthew 19:16-30
Consecrated Stewards 11/15/09 St. Paul , Leavenworth , KS
As you already know, I am not Pastor Mease. As some of you may know, Pastor Mease could not be here this morning and has asked that I fill in for him today. Because I am wearing a robe and stole, you probably assume that I too am an ordained pastor in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Those of you who have been here the last couple of years also probably remember me from previous Consecrated Stewards programs of which you took part in 2008 and 2007. Still others might know me from my work with the KC Crossroads Zone of the LWML. My name is Perry Sukstorf and I am an Associate Pastor at Redeemer in Olathe
The man in our Gospel lesson is perhaps like us or perhaps not, but he is important to know and understand if we are to learn the manner in which salvation, good works and our treasures are all weaved together in the tapestry of life.
Like us, the man seems to want to do what is right and also like us, he believes in eternal life and wants the assurance that he will have it. But there are a couple problems with his understanding and his approach. Problem #1 is that he thinks these two points are compatible; that to have eternal life there must be something required of him to do to achieve it. Well, he is correct and he is wrong at the same time. He is correct in that the righteous shall have eternal life. He is wrong in asserting that he is righteous based upon his own actions.
To be righteous one has to do right things all the time and can not have ever done anything wrong. While anyone can do a good thing, or even several or many or hundreds of good things, no one is inherently good nor do they have the capacity to thwart evil throughout their entire lives. In fact, we all began our lives in sin as we were conceived and born into it because of the sinful nature we inherited from Adam.
Problem #2 is that this man is not fully prepared to hear and live with the answer to his own question. He begins on bad footing by the way in which he asks his question. He assumes the way to eternal life is a matter of doing—in fact, he even assumes it is only one thing which needs to be done; “What good deed must I do?” are his very words. He’s asking Jesus to give him the scoop, the insider’s track into heaven. “What will it take? How much does it cost? What do I need and I’ll take care of it?” might be other ways we could rephrase his question.
As we learn at the end of the account, the man had many possessions. The idea of eternal life intrigued him, and he thought, surely, he, of all people, would be able to get there. As a man of means, surely he had the resources and skills needed to gain heaven and if it required him to roll up his sleeves and do a little work, well, that was ok too. After all, he didn’t get to where he was in life without a little blood, sweat and tears along the way.
And then Jesus answers him—“keep the commandments”—PLURAL! Now, maybe the man really thought it would only take one commandment, but I doubt it. If he were a fellow Jew, as we assume he was, he would know that all of the commandments are to be kept. But, then again, maybe he was trying to just narrow things down a bit and get to the “important” commandments which would count toward heaven. Perhaps he thought Jesus would let him off the hook easy. After all, anyone can keep at least one of the commandments, can’t they? But deep down, just like you and I, I suspect, I think he knew that it wasn’t gong to be that simple. Jesus then lists the commandments in the 2nd table of the law—those concerning our neighbor. “Yes! All these I have kept.” He replied, “What do I still lack?” He asked.
Now, why he asked the 2nd question, we do not know. He had just affirmed he kept those commandments, yet he asked what he lacked. Did it mean he wasn’t sure of his salvation yet? Did he want the satisfaction of hearing Jesus affirm that he was already heaven bound? We don’t know, but regardless of the reason, Jesus knew his heart; that though he may have followed the letter of the law, he did not heed its spirit, to love his neighbor and to love his God.
You see, all of the law is about love; love for God and love for others. Every single one of the 10 commandments speak to this love. The law was never meant to be an achievement test or a merit award. Because of our sinful nature, and our own inability to keep the law, it was designed by God to show us our sin, realize our hopeless state and drive us back into his arms of love—the only arms which could do the heavy lifting the law required. The rich man wanted to feel comfort in his own works, ability and generosity but Jesus wanted him to know that salvation is not found in the self. At the very beginning of their conversation he said “there is only one who is good.” And if this man was to see that One—Jesus—he had to take his eyes off of himself. That’s why Jesus told him to sell everything and follow him. What he asked the man to do was not one of the commandments; but if he followed Jesus’ instructions, it would lead him and his heart to where Jesus knew he needed to be. He wanted the man to be selfless and rely only on Jesus.
Jesus wishes the same for you and me today. Jesus wants each of us to stop relying on ourselves and rely on him—in ALL things. When we don’t understand why things happen to us, we can rely on Christ’s protection. When we seem to fall into sin over and over again, we can rely on Christ’s forgiveness and grace. When we feel alone and afraid of what lies ahead in our lives, we can rely on his strength and comfort to keep us calm and moving forward in service to him and to one another. When we truly examine our lives in light of our faith and our Savior, we see what’s really important—our relationship with our God and the forgiveness and grace which is borne out of that loving relationship.
This relationship is the most important relationship we have. Job in the Old Testament knew that. Even when all of his other relationships had been removed from him, his faith in God did not waiver. Surely, he questioned God; he cried out to God and asked, “Why are you doing this to me?” Sound familiar? To which God replied,
[Job 38:4-13] 4 "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements- surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 6 On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, 7 when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? 8 "Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb, 9 when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band, 10 and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors, 11 and said, 'Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed'? 12 "Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, 13 that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?”
Basically God was asking Job, “Don’t you trust me? Don’t you think I’ll take care of you? Do you really think I’ve forgotten about you or will just let you suffer and die alone?” After hearing these words Job was greatly humbled and then reaffirmed his earlier confession of the faith for the One who created him and in whom he had his salvation. At that earlier occasion he said,
[Job 19:25-27] “25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, 27 whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!”
Once he could look beyond his present concerns and issues, and once he turned over all his problems--even his very life--into God’s care, he quit feeling the pressure of needing to remedy those issues by his own power or strength. Once he totally commended all he had, which at this point was virtually just his weak, frail body, Job found peace. Once he quit worrying about what he had lost or what he might lose in the future, he was restored. He regained his health, he continued to live a long life and for his faithfulness to God, his wealth was even restored two-fold. The man in the Gospel lesson today could not do that. He couldn’t follow Job’s example, which he surely knew if he was indeed a Hebrew. He wanted to follow Jesus, but couldn’t trust him to lead.
Trust is earned. We don’t give anything to any person or cause in which we don’t believe or trust in. We give to the Kiwanis club because they help kids. The Lions Club has a track record of helping those with vision problems. We donate to politicians when we believe they will stand up and vote for those laws which we feel would be helpful to rule our country, and we give to charities for the good they do in our community.
We give as a way of supporting and enabling those activities which we ourselves are incapable of doing on our own or to leverage our efforts in a greater capacity with or through others. And we only give that support where there is trust. Even in our daily spending, we make decisions based upon which brands or companies have gained our trust to provide a good product at a fair price. Whether it’s going to certain restaurants, buying a particular tooth paste, hiring a certain tax accountant, or choosing which gas to buy, we make decisions to trust and to put our money where we trust. Consequently, where our money goes, we go.
As Christians we have a leader who is far more trustworthy than any social service organization or charity. We have a God, who has a performance record that shines far brighter than any product or service we might be loyal to. We even have the benefit of knowing the Good News of Jesus’ death and resurrection AFTER it happened, unlike the man in our Gospel who spoke to Jesus before those events. Yet, we find ourselves in a place where even we just can’t let go and say, “Jesus take the wheel” , as a popular country song puts it.
As each of us lives our lives of faith, Jesus asks us too, “Do you trust me?” Sometimes it might be a scolding like Job got, but more often than not, it’s a loveing invitation to rest totally in his care. From the moment our head was raised from that baptismal font and we were washed of our original sin and made members of the Body of Christ, Jesus said, “Trust me.” Each time we come before him and ask for his forgiveness and receive his absolution Jesus says, “Trust me.” Every time we go to this altar and receive his body and blood in the bread and wine of Holy Communion he says, “Trust me.”
He’s proven himself time and time again, in both word and deed. He makes the invitation to us over and over again, “Follow me and I will give you rest.” “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” “Knock and the door will be open to you.” And to follow Jesus, is to trust Jesus and let Jesus lead you in every aspect of your life.
Those of you who are members here will be given the opportunity next week to trust Jesus in a way which expresses your trust in him in the financial realm of your life. You will do this as you consecrate your stewardship before God by making a financial commitment to his Church. You will have the opportunity to demonstrate your trust in his care for you in this life, as well as the life to come, as you consider what portion of his blessings which you will return to him as first-fruits offerings of thanksgiving. This is a spiritual matter and as such is to be given the same prayerful care and concern as all the other aspects of your faith. I would encourage each of you to take time this week to enumerate all the blessings he has showered upon you, not just this past year, as we so often do at thanksgiving time, but throughout your entire life, including your eternal life which you have yet to enjoy in heaven. Take stock of all the times you put your trust in the Lord and he did not let you down. Recall all of the times in your life when you did not trust in the Lord and he cared for you anyway and made sure that even in the bad times, good came out of that which Satan meant for harm against you, all because you love God and he loves you.
Our Lord and Savior is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving. But he also deserves our total trust in him, for he has never let us fall in the past. He has always shown himself to be faithful to his promises and trustworthy in his deeds. And we know that regardless of our future here on this earth, there is nothing which can separate us from the love he has for us in Christ Jesus. And because of that, we trust him when he says in John that he is now preparing a place for us in heaven.
Lord Jesus, let us always trust in you for our provision, our life and our salvation. In your Holy Name we pray. Amen.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Keeping Priorities Focused in the Right Direction
Receive Others, Receive Jesus, Receive God Mark 9:30-37
Proper 20B, Pent 16 Sept. 20, 2009 Redeemer, Olathe, KS
When studying God’s word it’s really easy to become detached from the stories we read because of the great distance and time which separates us from the personalities we find in the Bible. As we quickly read our Gospel text we might be inclined to ignore those bumbling disciples, who, once again, just don’t get it. They can’t seem to understand what Jesus is saying and then we move on to the meat of the story, Jesus using a child to make his point, whatever we decide that is. But the point we make at the end of the passage can’t really be made until we really understand what is leading up to that point. For that reason, I’m inviting you to go with me on a little field trip this morning, but we won’t leave our seats. I would, however, like each of you to transport yourself, in your mind of course, to the year 33 AD and pretend you are one of the 12 disciples of Jesus and together we are listening to him teach. I hope you come along with us on this journey.
Right now it’s just the 13 of us. Jesus, you, me, and 10 other disciples and you are pretty much paying attention to every word he is saying just as you have since the day he called you two years ago or so. You know him well. You love him like a brother. Some of you might even love him like a father. You also know that he is the Messiah—whatever that means, and, indeed, it means something a little different to each one of you. Jesus knows that about each one of you too, so this meeting is important because he’s trying to tell you how things are all going to play out in the near future.
Here’s what he has to say to you. (Mark 9:31) "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise." The color now drains from your face. This is the second time Jesus has told us this and we know that when he says “The Son of Man” he’s talking about himself. But what is he talking about? He’s the Messiah! He’s the one who will save all Israel! How in the world can he save God’s people if he’s dead? You look around and no one is saying anything. The last time Peter tried to refute this notion Jesus commanded Satan to leave him and to stop such talk. You decide to say nothing. Better to be confused and quiet, than speak up and be embarrassed or scolded or told that Satan has a hold of you!
Evidently your fellow disciples have made the same judgment and no one speaks up or questions Jesus on this point. But now it is time to move on down the road. We have to get to Capernaum tonight because we’re on our way to Jerusalem. But our failure to our leader is immediate. As soon as we begin our walk Jesus takes the lead out front and we start to lag back a little bit. We want to chat with the others to see if they understand any better than we do what Jesus was talking about. What we all finally deduce is that Jesus is convinced that he will be killed for what he has been preaching and for the miracles he has been doing. A lot of influential folks who have been around these parts for a very long time and who run things at the synagogues are really upset and there seems to be a plot stirring to get rid of him.
All of this talk about Jesus getting killed though makes you nervous. Around here, guilt by association is just as punishable as doing the deed yourself. But on the other hand, if we do manage to survive any plot to stop Jesus’ teachings, what will happen to us? Who will lead us after our teacher leaves this place? Who will help us learn and understand what God wants us to do next? Is it John? No, he’s too nice. All he talks about is love and kindness. Our movement will never get anywhere if he’s the leader. Yet, Jesus seems to really appreciate and trust him. There’s Peter. He’s a natural born leader, even if he is a little pushy. And, even though Jesus has to reign him in from time to time, he really seems to see something special in Peter. Matthew might be good at greasing the skids with the Romans, but our Jewish brothers and sisters all see him as a traitor. I don’t know. Who’s the best among us? Who will be our great leader after Jesus is gone? We’d better keep it down though. He might hear us. Besides we’re almost to the house where we’ll be staying.
Ok. Let’s take a break from our field trip and examine what just happened. As we put ourselves into the situation, it made a little more sense and gained a little more meaning didn’t it? As you placed yourself as one of the disciples, it doesn’t seem so preposterous to go the direction they went does it? When faced with a problem to which they didn’t understand for which they had no answers they filled the void with their own ideas and solutions. They reacted to what they saw in the way they best knew how based only upon the information they had at the time. Now, as you place yourself among the 12 again—as we go back out on our field trip--who could blame you (one of Jesus’ 12, trusted disciples) for coming to the conclusions and the answers you formulated given the circumstances before you? Yet, they were still wrong because you didn’t understand and you didn’t ask Jesus to help you do so.
So, we’re at Capernaum now and we’ve found the address of the folks that are putting us up for the night. We’re out of the public eye again and Jesus then asks us, (Mark 9:33) "What were you discussing on the way?" You don’t say a word, but you’re thinking, “If we wanted you to know we would have included you in the conversation!” But, we should have known better. Of course we know that Jesus seems to know what people are thinking. He’s done that many times before with the Pharisees and even with us when he would ask us why we doubt him. Sometimes I think he’s just really perceptive, but not this time. This time you can tell. He knows exactly what we talking about. Without our telling him what we were arguing over he answers our question and says, (Mark 9:35) “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all."
Boy, do I feel stupid. Here we were, arguing all the time about which one of us was the greatest so that we could take his place. All the while, we should have considered how he led us! Did Jesus ever lead us by force, power, or intimidation? Did he ever try to make a scene or get noticed? Did he ever show off or make any of us feel inferior before any of the rest of the group? No! He was always the humble one. He was the one who always helped others. He never pushes to the front of the line or talks louder than the rest so that we notice him. He has led us by the relationship we have with him, not because of what he can do or the influence he has on others!
As we’re all seated around Jesus, kind of in a circle I guess, Jesus calls over a child who I guess must live in the house we’re staying at. Maybe she’s a neighbor kid. I don’t know, but Jesus has noticed her watching us from around the corner and calls her over to where we are. She comes over to him and he scoops her up and sits her in his lap. I don’t know if they’ve ever met, but she sure seems comfortable there. Jesus now says, Mark 9:37 "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me." And at that moment we finally begin to understand, but we have so much more to learn.
As our field trip comes to an end we must now head back here to 21st century Olathe. We have lots to ponder and think about. We thought we were going to have a problem which we had to solve. But Jesus made it very clear that its not ours to solve because its not about us, or about our group, or even about the church. Its about “receiving one such child”. Whether we are on our little field trip, or sitting here in this church, we have a tendency to make ourselves the focus of Jesus’ ministry. And when Jesus spoke of that child, he was speaking in terms of the kingdom of God and our role as the church. Just as a child has no influence or power to do anything to save itself in this world outside of its parents, neither does an unbeliever have any power to bring themselves to eternal life. We must show them the way and bring them to Jesus. That’s what we are all about. .
As we think back to the first couple of verses of our Gospel lesson, and the confusion of those disciples, we must consider our own confusion at times when we hear God’s word—especially when its something we don’t want to hear. But Jesus has things he tells us which are just as difficult to hear as what the disciples heard that day. Things like: Love one another. Bear each other’s weaknesses. Honor the Sabbath. Do not kill. Do not lie about your neighbor. Lift up one another in prayer, and many more. And just like the disciples when we don’t like or understand what we hear we take it upon ourselves to rectify the situation.
And , just like the disciples, when we try to “fix” God’s word to make it more palatable, we are doing a very grave thing. John cautioned that nothing is to be added or taken away from God’s word and that if we do, we must be prepared for a punishment of plagues in this life and eternal damnation in the life to come. Likewise, if we, like the disciples, seek to help God out by taking charge of things in which he has not given us charge of, he will put us in our place, just as he did with the disciples when he told them that in order to be first (as they supposed they needed to be) that they must put themselves last, and therefore, not be in the running at all, because only Christ is our leader. We always follow him and receiving the babes in the faith are who we are to focus on if we are to truly receive him and thereby receive the Father.
Knowing how to navigate these waters of faith is not always an easy task though, is it? We experienced that when we put ourselves in the shoes of the disciples; when we ourselves allowed ourselves to stumble into the same error they did. We might say, “Yes, but they had Jesus right there with them? How could they be so blind?” Ah, but don’t we have him as well? We have his very word here. In addition we have his body and blood before us in the bread and the wine, just as he himself said he would be. We are no better or no worse off than the 12. And so, we must learn from the lessons Jesus taught them, even when they were not model disciples.
When faced with difficult situations and painful, incriminating evidence of sin in our lives or in our midst, do we just hush up and talk quietly amongst ourselves as if Jesus can’t hear us, or, do we seek the wisdom of Jesus in his Word and seek his absolution as we confess our sins to God and to one another? When we face a transition or lack of leadership in our churches do we seek to find the solutions for our church in ourselves and our own abilities or ideas? Or, do we look to Jesus?
In our Gospel lesson today, it’s pretty clear what we must do. We must look outside of ourselves and let Jesus take care of the rest. All we have to worry about is receiving others so that they might come to Christ and through Christ we will receive the Father. Perhaps a little baseball analogy would be helpful. When the bases are loaded with two outs, the fielders know all they have to do catch the ball and the inning is over, regardless of the score. You don’t have to worry about stolen bases, or double or triple plays. Just receive the ball in your glove and the rest will take care of itself.
May each of us be given the strength to keep our eye on the ball and focus on receiving others, letting Jesus take care of the rest so that we will all one day see the father in heaven. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Every Day a Sabbath
Every Day a Sabbath
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” The Third Commandment
Wouldn’t it be great if every day were Sunday? What if every day we could sing our favorite hymns, and hear God’s word spoken and proclaimed; to hear of the forgiveness of Jesus extended to us each and every day? Not only that, but what if each and every day could be a laid-back day of rest and holiness as our God showed us by example by his rest after creation? What if each day was a day in which we simply could reflect on our Lord, his gifts and our response?
What’s holding us back from that dream? Well, certainly our sinful condition, inherited from Adam and Eve dictates that each of us must work for our living, or go to school so that we can prepare for that eventual life of work. Most of us simply cannot spend every day in God’s house giving him worship and praise. God knows that and that is why he sets aside one day of the week for focusing on him.
But this commandment is not just about showing up on Sundays, it’s a commandment teaching us also to “remember” the Sabbath, in addition to keeping it holy (set-apart from the rest of our days). By now, school has started for most, if not all of our families, and you might be feeling the time crunch as you juggle schedules, and perhaps you haven’t gotten back into the Sunday worship routine, let alone home devotions or personal Bible study. But this is precisely the time when this commandment is helpful to us. Luther’s comments on this commandment are very helpful for us in this regard.
What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and his Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.
In this short instruction Luther is encouraging each of us to go beyond being in the presence of the word (Sunday attendance in church), and instead hold it up as something special. God’s Word is not just words. It is the very lifeblood which gives us eternal life and when we have that perspective we cannot help but seek it out and desire to learn more about it.
Now you might be saying to yourself, “But Pastor, reading the Bible is so boring and bible study is so dry and I have so many important things to do.” To which I ask you, “have you really tried to ‘hear and learn it’ as Luther teaches us?” I would guess, (from personal experience) that most of us haven’t. There are lots of things in life we know we should do, but we lack the discipline to do it and Bible study often tops our list of things never followed through on.
We know that losing weight would make us healthier and live longer, yet we don’t do it. We know that going to bed at a regular time and getting a full 7 or 8 hours of sleep will make us a better, more productive employee, but yet studies show the average American is only sleeping 6 hours a night. We know that our kids are very vulnerable to un-godly images and ideals on the television each night, yet we continue to watch shows with them which are not healthy for their spiritual and emotional welfare.
The third commandment is not one of the “Thou shalt not do X” commandments. Rather, it is a command to “do” something which is necessary for our faith. But more than a command, its God’s free gift to us to spend time with him in his word, to learn more about him and grow in our relationship with him.
We no longer live in a society which expects a 6-day, 12 hour/day work week. We live in a time when discretionary time for the worker is at its highest. Yet, we say we have no time for God’s word in our lives. I would like to challenge each of our families and each of our members to discipline ourselves to seek out God’s word as often as possible and to do our best to remove all distractions from that time with our Lord. Whether you decide that your time in the Word is weekly, bi-weekly, daily or twice-daily, make sure your time with God is consistent, free of distraction and that you are open to his calling, because it is only through the Word that the Gospel can change lives; whether that life be yours, mine, or another’s.
My prayer for each of you this month is that we would all make every day a Sabbath day by remembering God’s Word, reading his Word, and applying that Word to our lives for that day.
Your fellow bond-servant for Christ, the Word made flesh,
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” The Third Commandment
Wouldn’t it be great if every day were Sunday? What if every day we could sing our favorite hymns, and hear God’s word spoken and proclaimed; to hear of the forgiveness of Jesus extended to us each and every day? Not only that, but what if each and every day could be a laid-back day of rest and holiness as our God showed us by example by his rest after creation? What if each day was a day in which we simply could reflect on our Lord, his gifts and our response?
What’s holding us back from that dream? Well, certainly our sinful condition, inherited from Adam and Eve dictates that each of us must work for our living, or go to school so that we can prepare for that eventual life of work. Most of us simply cannot spend every day in God’s house giving him worship and praise. God knows that and that is why he sets aside one day of the week for focusing on him.
But this commandment is not just about showing up on Sundays, it’s a commandment teaching us also to “remember” the Sabbath, in addition to keeping it holy (set-apart from the rest of our days). By now, school has started for most, if not all of our families, and you might be feeling the time crunch as you juggle schedules, and perhaps you haven’t gotten back into the Sunday worship routine, let alone home devotions or personal Bible study. But this is precisely the time when this commandment is helpful to us. Luther’s comments on this commandment are very helpful for us in this regard.
What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and his Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.
In this short instruction Luther is encouraging each of us to go beyond being in the presence of the word (Sunday attendance in church), and instead hold it up as something special. God’s Word is not just words. It is the very lifeblood which gives us eternal life and when we have that perspective we cannot help but seek it out and desire to learn more about it.
Now you might be saying to yourself, “But Pastor, reading the Bible is so boring and bible study is so dry and I have so many important things to do.” To which I ask you, “have you really tried to ‘hear and learn it’ as Luther teaches us?” I would guess, (from personal experience) that most of us haven’t. There are lots of things in life we know we should do, but we lack the discipline to do it and Bible study often tops our list of things never followed through on.
We know that losing weight would make us healthier and live longer, yet we don’t do it. We know that going to bed at a regular time and getting a full 7 or 8 hours of sleep will make us a better, more productive employee, but yet studies show the average American is only sleeping 6 hours a night. We know that our kids are very vulnerable to un-godly images and ideals on the television each night, yet we continue to watch shows with them which are not healthy for their spiritual and emotional welfare.
The third commandment is not one of the “Thou shalt not do X” commandments. Rather, it is a command to “do” something which is necessary for our faith. But more than a command, its God’s free gift to us to spend time with him in his word, to learn more about him and grow in our relationship with him.
We no longer live in a society which expects a 6-day, 12 hour/day work week. We live in a time when discretionary time for the worker is at its highest. Yet, we say we have no time for God’s word in our lives. I would like to challenge each of our families and each of our members to discipline ourselves to seek out God’s word as often as possible and to do our best to remove all distractions from that time with our Lord. Whether you decide that your time in the Word is weekly, bi-weekly, daily or twice-daily, make sure your time with God is consistent, free of distraction and that you are open to his calling, because it is only through the Word that the Gospel can change lives; whether that life be yours, mine, or another’s.
My prayer for each of you this month is that we would all make every day a Sabbath day by remembering God’s Word, reading his Word, and applying that Word to our lives for that day.
Your fellow bond-servant for Christ, the Word made flesh,
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Finding God On--and Off--the Mountain
Finding God...I didn't know he was lost!
This is the theme for camp this week where we will see that God actually found us, but that he makes himself known in the world around us in so many ways and through all three persons of the Trinity.
My family and I are going to camp--yep, all five of us--and we're meeting up with all of Susan's family and others for a total of about 70+/- souls in all. The Berghel's have been doing this each summer since 1968 and it's a great way to end the summer in Christian fellowship. I have the blessing of being their spiritual guide for the week. They call me "Dean". Below is the sermon I plan to preach on Sunday. If you are reading this and will be at camp stop now and wait for Sunday. I hope to deliver it with far more animation than the written word can convey.
Finding God On—and Off—the Mountain Exodus 3:12
Family Week 2 August 2, 2009 Camp Linn Haven, NC
Exodus 3:12 “He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.””
We go to camp for many reasons. We come to escape the heat of the low country. We come for the quiet time; away from phones and the e-mail. Even if that’s harder now with Wi-Fi and better cell coverage. We come to have some quality time with our family and our kids. Probably the one reason that sticks out in everyone’s mind is the beautiful location. We come here to get away from it all and hope to find something else, something refreshing, something that recharges the batteries, something that renews us before we go back to school or back to work and begin another year’s activity…until we return again next year
But, deep down, I think we come for another reason—to find God. We could go to lots of other places which would be just as fun, just as relaxing, just as beautiful. But, we chose to come to this place, nestled so beautifully in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Most of us already know God in our heart and minds, but we seem to misplace Him in our lives from time to time. We get so busy we push him aside—he seems to get lost in the shuffle. And, so, we come to Camp Linn Haven, knowing we will find him again.
When we see the beauty of the Blue Ridge, we see the hand of God at work so clearly. We see his majesty in the rock formations of Grandfather Mountain, and the great power he has placed in water at Linville falls. We experience the comfort of fellowship as we gather around a campfire for devotions or up on Flat Rock as the sun sets over that far-distant ridge. We even might find a quiet moment or two to pray and meditate as we walk the trails or sit quietly in a swing while others are sightseeing, or playing ball, or napping.
Mountains, historically, have been very good places to find God. Throughout the Bible we see God interacting with his people on mountains. God gave the 10 commandments to Moses on Mt. Sinai. Solomon built the Lord’s temple on Mt. Zion. Jesus preached and gave his most famous sermon—the Sermon on the Mount—on an unnamed mountain in Galilee. He was transfigured on Mount Tabor and he prayed on the night of his passion on the Mount of Olives. In each of these instances God invited his people to follow him and meet him there in order to teach, instruct, and pray.
We also hear of other mountains in the Bible on which God was not found. In the days when they did not follow YHWH, the Israelites set up altars on the hilltops and mountains all around Israel dedicating them to a whole pantheon of gods, hoping to win their favor. When Israel split from Judah, the Samaritans built a temple on Mt. Bethel, seeking to please God there, hoping he would move his residence from Jerusalem. Even as far back as Genesis, we hear of early human attempts to approach God and even become his equal when they built a giant tower to heaven in a place we know as Babel.
But what about today? Where do we find God? How do we know him? How do we feel and experience his presence? How do we know he cares about us and our lives? Where is God when:
. We lose our jobs?
· We suffer the loss of a child?
· Our marriages are a mess or even dissolve?
· Our kids can’t seem to stay out of trouble or just don’t live up to the potential we see in them?
· Other people malign and hurt us with their words and actions and even destroy our reputation among others?
· Fellow Christians treat us in ways which are far from Christ-like
At times it just makes you want to scream, “WHERE IS HE?
What those latter attempts at Bethel and Babel all had in common with our vain attempts to find God was that they went looking to find God on their terms—and so do we. But finding God isn’t our job—He isn’t lost! No, instead, he comes to us and finds us! With the apostles and the patriarchs it was a very personal invitation, either by his own voice or by Jesus himself, or he would send an angel on his behalf. God found others through his prophets and judges in the Old Testament and through the Apostles and early evangelists in the New Testament. Through these hand-picked, human messengers he spread the Good News of his salvation to all who would listen and the Holy Spirit planted faith in those who would let him into their hearts. As these new believers then came together, united under the God who had saved and redeemed them, they became Israel (in the Old Testament) and the Church (in the New Testament).
In fact, God finds us in all sorts of peculiar places. Jesus found the woman at the well—at the well, doing one of her many chores for the day! He sent Philip to the Ethiopian Eunuch at a roadside rest area. He sent the apostles to their jailers in their cell block when an earthquake opened the bars which held them in. He came to Jonah by sending a fish which preserved him for three days until he repented and did as the Lord had initially asked. He comes to us in similar dire straights; he comes to us in the depths of our sorrow. He comes to us in the throws of agonizing pain and the height of our many crises.
But God also make sure that he is near us in the ordinary as well. In fact, the only means by which he bestows his forgiveness and grace upon us are by his Word and the Sacraments. And the symbols he uses for the sacraments are simple: water, bread, and wine. But there are other ways in which God gives testament to that grace even if those other things do not themselves provide saving grace. Each and every time we offer him a portion of that with which he has blessed us it is a testament to the great and abundant love he has for each of us, that he would send his son Jesus to die on the cross and raise him from the dead so that we could be redeemed from sin, death, and the power of the devil. In service to others we demonstrate that love in meaningful ways which have a temporal impact in the hope that it will make an eternal difference in someone’s life. We offer up prayers to our God; words formed by his very Holy Spirit and which He places in our hearts, even before they are formed on our lips or we are able to utter them from our tongues.
Historically, though, the Church, as a gathering of Christians, has always struggled with making such a complex God fit the simple, child-like, faith he gives its members. It heaps tradition and certain practices up in mounds around her. She builds large, expansive churches, rich in beauty and splendor, in which to worship Him. She has even taken the most simple symbol of his greatest gift to us—the cross—and made it out of gold, encrusting it with gems, layering it with tracery, filigree, lace, and bric-a-brac until the central core of what he did on that cross is lost in all its finery.
We here today are no different. Each of us has our own preferences for worship, prayer, offerings, service; things which make us comfortable, things which make us feel safe. But if our goal is to make ourselves feel safe, how are we different than Israel who wanted God to Come to them at Bethel, or those at Babel who wanted to make a name for themselves by being the first to climb a literal “stairway to heaven?”
Despite our selfish desires, God still wants us and he still seeks us. He is the one who created us and this earth. He is the one who redeemed us by the blood of his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the one that continues to make us holy in his sight through Christ by the power and work of the Holy Spirit who also joins us together as the Communion of Saints and bestows upon us the gifts of forgiveness of sins and everlasting life.
Camp Linn Haven in Linville, North Carolina is nothing special to God, yet it is of most importance to him. Jesus never set foot here, yet through him it was created and he redeemed it when he redeemed the rest of the world along with each one of us here today. Jesus did not die here, nor was this the site of the Resurrection. Yet, we have his simple, wooden, cross as evidence that his death and resurrection was for each of us gathered who are gathered here to thank and praise him. Jesus was not baptized in the waters of the River Linville, yet we remember his baptism as we remember our own baptisms whereby we were adopted into the family of God and by which we are washed clean of our sins and made holy again in his image.
And so it is, that here in this place and on this mountain that God’s prophesy to Moses is once again fulfilled. God is here. God is with us. He has given us his sign as is evidenced by our souls being brought out from our own little Egypt, that is, our sinful nature, carried across the Red Sea of life which was accomplished through the blood of Christ on the cross by the power of the Holy Spirit so that we may come here to our own little Mt. Sinai and serve God here on this mountain.
We have not found God, he has found us. This will be our theme for the week. And so I invite you to join us each morning at Bible study and each evening at devotions as we look at different ways in which God has come to us, and continues to reside in and through us, as we deconstruct the three persons who make up the one God we call the Trinity. In this holy name, Amen.
This is the theme for camp this week where we will see that God actually found us, but that he makes himself known in the world around us in so many ways and through all three persons of the Trinity.
My family and I are going to camp--yep, all five of us--and we're meeting up with all of Susan's family and others for a total of about 70+/- souls in all. The Berghel's have been doing this each summer since 1968 and it's a great way to end the summer in Christian fellowship. I have the blessing of being their spiritual guide for the week. They call me "Dean". Below is the sermon I plan to preach on Sunday. If you are reading this and will be at camp stop now and wait for Sunday. I hope to deliver it with far more animation than the written word can convey.
Finding God On—and Off—the Mountain Exodus 3:12
Family Week 2 August 2, 2009 Camp Linn Haven, NC
Exodus 3:12 “He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.””
We go to camp for many reasons. We come to escape the heat of the low country. We come for the quiet time; away from phones and the e-mail. Even if that’s harder now with Wi-Fi and better cell coverage. We come to have some quality time with our family and our kids. Probably the one reason that sticks out in everyone’s mind is the beautiful location. We come here to get away from it all and hope to find something else, something refreshing, something that recharges the batteries, something that renews us before we go back to school or back to work and begin another year’s activity…until we return again next year
But, deep down, I think we come for another reason—to find God. We could go to lots of other places which would be just as fun, just as relaxing, just as beautiful. But, we chose to come to this place, nestled so beautifully in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Most of us already know God in our heart and minds, but we seem to misplace Him in our lives from time to time. We get so busy we push him aside—he seems to get lost in the shuffle. And, so, we come to Camp Linn Haven, knowing we will find him again.
When we see the beauty of the Blue Ridge, we see the hand of God at work so clearly. We see his majesty in the rock formations of Grandfather Mountain, and the great power he has placed in water at Linville falls. We experience the comfort of fellowship as we gather around a campfire for devotions or up on Flat Rock as the sun sets over that far-distant ridge. We even might find a quiet moment or two to pray and meditate as we walk the trails or sit quietly in a swing while others are sightseeing, or playing ball, or napping.
Mountains, historically, have been very good places to find God. Throughout the Bible we see God interacting with his people on mountains. God gave the 10 commandments to Moses on Mt. Sinai. Solomon built the Lord’s temple on Mt. Zion. Jesus preached and gave his most famous sermon—the Sermon on the Mount—on an unnamed mountain in Galilee. He was transfigured on Mount Tabor and he prayed on the night of his passion on the Mount of Olives. In each of these instances God invited his people to follow him and meet him there in order to teach, instruct, and pray.
We also hear of other mountains in the Bible on which God was not found. In the days when they did not follow YHWH, the Israelites set up altars on the hilltops and mountains all around Israel dedicating them to a whole pantheon of gods, hoping to win their favor. When Israel split from Judah, the Samaritans built a temple on Mt. Bethel, seeking to please God there, hoping he would move his residence from Jerusalem. Even as far back as Genesis, we hear of early human attempts to approach God and even become his equal when they built a giant tower to heaven in a place we know as Babel.
But what about today? Where do we find God? How do we know him? How do we feel and experience his presence? How do we know he cares about us and our lives? Where is God when:
. We lose our jobs?
· We suffer the loss of a child?
· Our marriages are a mess or even dissolve?
· Our kids can’t seem to stay out of trouble or just don’t live up to the potential we see in them?
· Other people malign and hurt us with their words and actions and even destroy our reputation among others?
· Fellow Christians treat us in ways which are far from Christ-like
At times it just makes you want to scream, “WHERE IS HE?
What those latter attempts at Bethel and Babel all had in common with our vain attempts to find God was that they went looking to find God on their terms—and so do we. But finding God isn’t our job—He isn’t lost! No, instead, he comes to us and finds us! With the apostles and the patriarchs it was a very personal invitation, either by his own voice or by Jesus himself, or he would send an angel on his behalf. God found others through his prophets and judges in the Old Testament and through the Apostles and early evangelists in the New Testament. Through these hand-picked, human messengers he spread the Good News of his salvation to all who would listen and the Holy Spirit planted faith in those who would let him into their hearts. As these new believers then came together, united under the God who had saved and redeemed them, they became Israel (in the Old Testament) and the Church (in the New Testament).
In fact, God finds us in all sorts of peculiar places. Jesus found the woman at the well—at the well, doing one of her many chores for the day! He sent Philip to the Ethiopian Eunuch at a roadside rest area. He sent the apostles to their jailers in their cell block when an earthquake opened the bars which held them in. He came to Jonah by sending a fish which preserved him for three days until he repented and did as the Lord had initially asked. He comes to us in similar dire straights; he comes to us in the depths of our sorrow. He comes to us in the throws of agonizing pain and the height of our many crises.
But God also make sure that he is near us in the ordinary as well. In fact, the only means by which he bestows his forgiveness and grace upon us are by his Word and the Sacraments. And the symbols he uses for the sacraments are simple: water, bread, and wine. But there are other ways in which God gives testament to that grace even if those other things do not themselves provide saving grace. Each and every time we offer him a portion of that with which he has blessed us it is a testament to the great and abundant love he has for each of us, that he would send his son Jesus to die on the cross and raise him from the dead so that we could be redeemed from sin, death, and the power of the devil. In service to others we demonstrate that love in meaningful ways which have a temporal impact in the hope that it will make an eternal difference in someone’s life. We offer up prayers to our God; words formed by his very Holy Spirit and which He places in our hearts, even before they are formed on our lips or we are able to utter them from our tongues.
Historically, though, the Church, as a gathering of Christians, has always struggled with making such a complex God fit the simple, child-like, faith he gives its members. It heaps tradition and certain practices up in mounds around her. She builds large, expansive churches, rich in beauty and splendor, in which to worship Him. She has even taken the most simple symbol of his greatest gift to us—the cross—and made it out of gold, encrusting it with gems, layering it with tracery, filigree, lace, and bric-a-brac until the central core of what he did on that cross is lost in all its finery.
We here today are no different. Each of us has our own preferences for worship, prayer, offerings, service; things which make us comfortable, things which make us feel safe. But if our goal is to make ourselves feel safe, how are we different than Israel who wanted God to Come to them at Bethel, or those at Babel who wanted to make a name for themselves by being the first to climb a literal “stairway to heaven?”
Despite our selfish desires, God still wants us and he still seeks us. He is the one who created us and this earth. He is the one who redeemed us by the blood of his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the one that continues to make us holy in his sight through Christ by the power and work of the Holy Spirit who also joins us together as the Communion of Saints and bestows upon us the gifts of forgiveness of sins and everlasting life.
Camp Linn Haven in Linville, North Carolina is nothing special to God, yet it is of most importance to him. Jesus never set foot here, yet through him it was created and he redeemed it when he redeemed the rest of the world along with each one of us here today. Jesus did not die here, nor was this the site of the Resurrection. Yet, we have his simple, wooden, cross as evidence that his death and resurrection was for each of us gathered who are gathered here to thank and praise him. Jesus was not baptized in the waters of the River Linville, yet we remember his baptism as we remember our own baptisms whereby we were adopted into the family of God and by which we are washed clean of our sins and made holy again in his image.
And so it is, that here in this place and on this mountain that God’s prophesy to Moses is once again fulfilled. God is here. God is with us. He has given us his sign as is evidenced by our souls being brought out from our own little Egypt, that is, our sinful nature, carried across the Red Sea of life which was accomplished through the blood of Christ on the cross by the power of the Holy Spirit so that we may come here to our own little Mt. Sinai and serve God here on this mountain.
We have not found God, he has found us. This will be our theme for the week. And so I invite you to join us each morning at Bible study and each evening at devotions as we look at different ways in which God has come to us, and continues to reside in and through us, as we deconstruct the three persons who make up the one God we call the Trinity. In this holy name, Amen.
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