Author Archives: Pastor Jim Driskell, Lutheran Church

About Pastor Jim Driskell, Lutheran Church

I am the pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Chestertown, Md. I pray that you will come and worship with us, worship is 10 am Sundays. We are a renewal church and we are lifting God up in classical worship, and being faithful disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. 101 Greenwood Av, Chestertown. Plenty of parking behind the church.

Christ and the Office of the Holy Ministry by Rev James Lee

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Posted July 9, 2016

by Rev. James Lee

Historical caricatures of Martin Luther often emphasize certain dramatic moments in the life of the Augustinian friar, such as the posting of the 95 Theses, or Luther’s defense of his teaching at the Diet of Worms. While these scenes are fun to imagine and present easy factoids about Luther, they often fail to address the heart of Luther’s thought. A person might know the date of these events, perhaps even the role they played in the history of the Reformation, but that person would not necessarily understand Luther’s teaching and doctrine—what he believed was necessary to uphold and confess. In order to understand this, it is helpful to consider Luther’s 1537 Smalcald Articles, where Luther writes that the first and chief article of the Christian Church is Jesus Christ, and the doctrine of justification: “That Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins, and was raised again for our justification.” Luther argues everything that the Church believes, confesses, and practices rest upon the Church’s confession of Jesus Christ and His work of justification.[1] Luther even goes as far as to advise the pastors of Lübeck, who are eager to correct errors and false teaching of the medieval Mass, to first give attention to Christ and justification. Luther writes,

“You should deal first with the center of our teaching and fix in the people’s minds what [they must know] about our justification; that is, that it is an extrinsic righteousness— indeed, it is Christ’s given to us through faith which come by grace to those who are first terrified by the law and who, struck by the consciousness of [their] sins ardently seek redemption.”[2]

Only after people have been instructed in the central article of Christ and justification, is any true reform possible.

Luther’s words to the clergy of Lübeck suggest an ordering and connection of the articles of faith. The life and essence of the Christian Church is found in Jesus Christ and His work of justification. The Reformation scholar and Lutheran theologian Robert Preus summarizes Luther in this manner:

“According to Luther, then, the justification of a sinner before God for Christ’s sake is not only the principal doctrine of Christianity, but also the very essence of it. Furthermore, it is really the essence of the gospel itself and of all Christian faith, the Leitmotiv of the Christian life and the reason for all that exists. It is the only doctrine or message which can offer a poor sinner hope, salvation, and life and fellowship with God.”[3]

Thus for Luther the confession of the person and work of Jesus Christ—His justification of sinful humanity—forms the heart of theology, and informs all of the Church’s confession and practice: it is the heart of the Church and it helps to shape and order the confession of the Church.

The centrality of the confession of Jesus and His work and its relationship to the whole of the Church’s confession is not simply an quirk of Luther’s own thought, but it becomes a hallmark of the Lutheran Church. In fact, the interrelationship of the person and work of Christ to the entirety of the Church’s confession shapes and structures the preeminent Lutheran text, the 1530 Augsburg Confession.

The Augsburg Confession begins with two preliminary articles on the Triune God and the nature of original sin (A.C. I and II). From here Philip Melanchthon, the author of the Augsburg Confession, directly moves to the person of Jesus Christ (Article III: Of the Son of God) and Christ’s proper salvific work (Article IV: Of Justification). At the forefront of the Augsburg Confession is a dual profession of faith in the person and work of Christ: “they teach that men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith. . . This faith God imputes for righteousness in His sight.”[4] Christ and the salvation won by Him are front and center in the Augsburg Confession. The Reformers see that there is an integral relationship between who Christ is and the work that He accomplishes. The Church’s confession follows this pairing of Christology and justification. To confess Christ also means to confess His justifying work.

Christology and justification go together—but the Augsburg Confession does not end there. Melanchthon ends the articles on Christ and justification on the subject of faith, specifically the imputation of justifying faith for the sake of Christ. And here it is necessary to follow Melanchthon’s theological path. Faith is presented at the end of the discussion of Christ and justification, Melanchthon uses the subject of faith and transitions into the next article:

“That we may obtain this faith, the Ministry of Teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments (Latin: institutum est ministerium docendi evangelii et porrigendi sacramenta; German: hat Gott das Predigtmant eingesezt, Evangelium und Sakramente gegeben) was instituted. For through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Ghost is given, who works faith.”[5]

For Melanchthon and his fellow confessors of the Augsburg Confession the articles of Christology and justification are connected to the article on the Holy Ministry—and its points of connection are Christ and faith. Jesus is the one who has established the holy Office, and Christ has instituted this office for the purpose of faith; that is, the Holy Ministry is the means that Jesus uses to create faith through the preaching of His Word and the administration of His holy sacraments. This purpose is evident in the German term used for the office: das Predigtamt (the preaching office).

The ordering and connection of the articles of faith that was seen in Luther is also present in the Augsburg Confession. The Augustana is not arranged in a haphazard or arbitrary manner. On the contrary, Melanchthon presents a unified confession of Christ, justification, faith, and the Office of the Ministry. Order is important: Jesus is first. Christ and His justifying work are always chief. It is Christ who justifies. To Christ and His work is joined the Office of the Ministry, as the means through which this faith in Christ and His life-giving work is distributed. The Office of the Ministry—through the preaching of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments— is the tool that God uses to bring one into the relationship of faith in Jesus Christ.

The ordering of articles III, IV, and V in the Augsburg Confession is not immaterial. Our Lutheran Confessions and our Lutheran Fathers confessed Christology, justification, and the Office of the Ministry together. To be Lutheran, to join in confessing the Augsburg Confession, thus means to participate in jointly understanding and confessing together Christ, His work, and His Holy Ministry.

The Reverend James Ambrose Lee II is the assistant pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Worden, IL and doctoral candidate at Saint Louis University.

– See more at: http://lutheranreformation.org/theology/christ-office-holy-ministry/?utm_content=buffera69b7&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer#sthash.jH8hLWBj.dpufhttp://buff.ly/29rSUgv

Martin Luther On Depression — More Than Coping

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I’d like to drive home the point that depression and other mental illnesses are not an indictment on the person who is experiencing them. I’m following up words Charles Spurgeon had to say with another giant of the faith, Martin Luther. It is a fascinating read when you consider that Martin Luther came to […]

via Martin Luther On Depression — More Than Coping

Cristianos, nunca está solo 1 Reyes 19 First St John 26 de de junio de, el año 2016

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[for the audio version click on the above icon]

Hacemos nuestro comienzo en el Nombre de Dios el Padre y en el nombre de Dios el Hijo y en el nombre de Dios el Espíritu Santo, y todos aquellos que saben que nunca están solos cuando están en Jesús dijo … AMEN!

Este domingo es reconocer Fondo de Extensión de la Iglesia Luterana. Con respecto a que yo quiero hablar de lo que LCEF hace en relación con el apoyo iglesias locales específicamente en términos de la administración. Tenemos muy buenos recursos asociados con la LCMS, todos son muy local y las fuentes de financiación y apoyo para las congregaciones locales. LCEF ofrece varios vehículos de inversión que también se utilizan para proporcionar programas como consagradas Stewards un programa que nos ayudará a crecer en nuestra administración de una manera más intencional y regular. Tenemos muy buenos recursos que creo que no son realmente utilizado tanto como deberían, a otro ser Thrivent Financial. Thrivent ofrece subvenciones de las actividades que están disponibles para los miembros de apoyo para ayudar a los alcances aquí, en primer lugar Saint Johns. Nos hemos beneficiado de esos programas, si usted es un miembro de Thrivent y no ha utilizado estos programas, por favor hágamelo saber y estaré encantado de ayudarle a acceder a estos programas en beneficio de los ministerios que estamos haciendo aquí. Si usted no utiliza esas oportunidades de regalo, que será un beneficio perdido, dinero que queda sobre la mesa.

El Presidente de Thrivent, Brad Hewitt, escribió un libro sobre la administración y hay un montón de buenos consejos y conocimientos sobre nuestra relación con el dinero. Pero recuerde, la administración no es sólo cuestión de dinero, sino que también se trata de su tiempo y talentos también. En este día y edad, el tiempo es un recurso escaso. Estoy teniendo un montón de días en los que sólo tienes que arrastrar a mi casa y puedo empatizar con aquellos que se encuentran justo acaba el tiempo. Una vez dicho esto, su inversión de tiempo y talentos, para apoyar los diferentes alcances que estamos haciendo es enorme y te pido que, además de considerar el aumento de su apoyo financiero, que también considerar la búsqueda de maneras que usted puede invertir su tiempo en actividades de la iglesia . A menudo, la declaración a tiempo y la interacción de los miembros de la iglesia en los resultados de ministerio en una vuelta enorme en términos de ayudar a los nuevos miembros a crecer, ayudando a llegar a los miembros de la iglesia prospectivos y en general nos ayuda a beneficiar y servir a los que nos rodean.

Sr. Hewitt señala que a menudo es nuestro estado de ánimo, problemas de confianza entre nosotros y Dios sobre nuestros recursos, escribe: “… nuestra investigación sugiere que las personas tienen más probabilidades de disfrutar de una sensación de libertad con respecto al tiempo, energía y dinero cuanto más se comprar en estas declaraciones positivas: – Dios se encuentra con mis necesidades -No creo en el dinero a menos que se está ejecutando corto. – No suelo preocupa el futuro, Tomo cada día como viene. – Me dará a las personas necesitadas, incluso si apenas tengo suficiente a mí mismo. – Yo oro sobre las grandes decisiones de mi vida. – La profundización de la relación con Dios me ayuda a sentirme tranquila sobre mi futuro “Sr. Hewitt señala” … estas actitudes son un regalo de Dios, una señal de su transformándonos y la construcción de nuestra confianza en él para usar sus dones para nosotros para apoyar lo que el. iglesia de Jesús hace en el mundo y confiar en Él para cubrir nuestras necesidades. “Después de haber confiado en Dios a mí mismo para ir al seminario, donde pasamos un montón de dinero, Dios ha seguido proporcionando para nosotros así como Marge y yo somos entrar en las etapas posteriores de la vida nosotros mismos. LCEF es en gran medida un ministerio de la Iglesia Luterana y ofrece muchas maneras, consagradas comisarios, es el que nos ayuda a ser mucho más intencional de compartir nuestros recursos. David Stambaugh es nuestro representante LCEF, puede pedir uno de nosotros para obtener más información.

Hay momentos en los que sólo parece como si las cosas no salen como se esperaba a Dios que haga, el ministerio no era realmente en nuestro radar y sin embargo, Dios proveyó para que por Marge y yo. La Biblia está llena de veces, donde Dios tipo de problemas de confianza en su fiel Sprang. Cuando parece como si Dios acaba de dejar el edificio y te sientes como Wile E. Coyote pasando por un precipicio, pensando que estás colgando en algo y luego la sensación de que el mundo apenas se ha abierto y que se ingiere. Hay problemas de confianza. Estoy seguro de que todos hemos tenido esos momentos en los que usted ha puesto mucha confianza en alguien y luego simplemente has desierta y sin razón aparente. Nosotros, pecadores, vamos a hacer eso, dejar a alguien en la estacada. Y aunque parece como si Dios lo hace para nosotros, Él realmente no lo hace. Tenías que estar en una situación, jugado fuera a la medida de su capacidad y luego darse cuenta de que Dios realmente ha estado en control y está guiando la situación. Como Elías que está de pie allí, mirando al cielo, sus brazos extendidos, su tipo de colgar boca abierta, el corazón en la boca y luego …

Cada vez más estoy encontrando como pastor el mundo es intención de ignorar todo lo que Dios tiene que decir, y espera que lo que quisieran hacer, se supone que Dios lo bendiga y al final les recompensa por hacer ellos mismos su propio ídolo. Hey todos hacemos cosas que sabemos, todo punto de vista, es incorrecta, se llama pecado. Sin embargo, mientras que otros hacen excusas o, peor aún, justificar el comportamiento impío, los que somos cristianos, que sabemos que somos salvos por la muerte sacrificial de Jesús, que se guarda en la nueva vida en nuestro bautismo, que toman el verdadero cuerpo y sangre de Jesús que nos libre del pecado, nos acercan a Él y alimentar nuestro cuerpo y alma con el alimento que necesitamos para estar en comunión con él, sabemos que no podemos hacer nosotros mismos un ídolo de culto. Sabemos que no podemos decidir lo que es correcto y lo incorrecto. Sabemos que sólo podemos adorar a Dios Hijo y no hacernos nuestro propio ídolo, adorando a nuestros deseos y orden del día y esperar que serán bendecidos por Dios Padre. Pablo nos dice que Cristo nos ha hecho libres, nosotros no hemos sido condenado y perdido en el yugo de la esclavitud, que es el pecado nos convertimos en esclavos en. Ya se trate de nuestro deseo de que hemos sujetado al, o la agenda que hemos decidido es el curso de acción correcto, pero no puede conciliar nuestra agenda con Jesús ‘. Pablo escribe: “Pero yo os digo, y andando por el Espíritu, y no satisfagáis los deseos de la carne. Porque el deseo de la carne es contra el Espíritu es contra la carne … “Para asegurarse de que no hay duda, Pablo enumera nuestra idolatría, nuestros deseos y asegurarse de que esta lista no es exhaustiva:” Las obras de la carne son evidentes: fornicación, impureza, sensualidad, idolatría, hechicerías, enemistades, pleitos, celos, arrebatos de ira, rivalidades, disensiones, divisiones, envidias, borracheras, orgías … “Sin embargo, se espera que simplemente ignorar que, cuando la gente e incluso iglesias, se ven nosotros directamente a los ojos, nos dicen que debemos ser más “tolerante”, más “cristiana” y aceptamos que estas cosas son simplemente bien. No podemos, y en un mundo donde los fieles cristianos están disminuyendo en un remanente, como en tiempos de Elías, estamos presionados por el mundo para cumplir con lo que otros nos dicen que debemos hacer, hacer caso omiso de lo que auténticos hermanos y hermanas cristianos están haciendo frente y seguir con nuestra propia agenda.

Elías era realmente al final de su cuerda. En 1 Reyes 15:29 Acab se ha convertido en el rey de Israel: “. Y Acab hijo de Omri hizo lo malo ante los ojos de Jehová, más que todos los que estaban delante de él” (1 Reyes 16:30) Y los reyes anteriores de Israel había hecho algún mal real. Si eso no es suficiente, de todas las mujeres a las que podría tener casada y de acuerdo con la dirección de Dios que se iba a casar con una mujer israelita, él sale y encuentra a una mujer que es la hija del rey de los sidonios, llamada Jezabel, que doesn ‘t adoran a Jehová, y lograron recoger el peor de los “dioses” paganos Baal. Por si fuera poco Acab apoyado Jezabel en su culto. Tenemos un montón en la iglesia liberal que, como Acab, continúan hablando Jesús, pero mucho más preocupados con la agenda del mundo, su propia Jezabel, que Jesús ‘y si admitimos que están adorando su propio baales. Es difícil como fiel, enseñanza de la Biblia / creencia cristiana para mantenerse fuertes en lo que enseña la Iglesia Luterana, Ley y Evangelio, y sentir, como Elías que son un remanente. Elías ha recogido y correr a esconderse. Jezabel ha dejado perfectamente claro que ella va a hacer lo que Elías fue llevado por Dios para hacer, para matar a los sacerdotes de Baal que Jezabel había introducido en Israel, una violación a cabo directamente de la alianza de Dios con Israel “No tendrás otros dioses delante de mí. “Hay una gran cantidad de cuevas en Israel, si desea ocultar, se puede encontrar un lugar en Israel para hacerlo, si usted está viviendo en una cueva de Elías como hacerlo, se esconde claramente en el miedo. Mientras que él está acurrucado en su cueva, con el temor de la reina Jezabel, Dios le llama, “¿qué haces aquí, yo no te dije de huir de aquí.” Elías está convencido de que se ha dejado completamente solo y le dice a Dios: “. ESV 1 Reyes 19:10” he sentido un vivo celo por Jehová Dios de los ejércitos para el pueblo de Israel han dejado tu pacto, han derribado tus altares, y han matado a tus profetas con la espada, y yo, yo solo he quedado, y me buscan mi vida … “Dios le respondía en uno de los versos más conmovedores de la Biblia, una demostración de su poder, pero en” el sonido de un susurro “Dios pide a Elías de nuevo y Elías le da la misma respuesta. Dios no va a permitir que Elías acaba de encogerse en una cueva, Elías, como todos nosotros, tiene la responsabilidad de hacer frente a la maldad que vemos a nuestro alrededor. Dios le da una misión para llevar a cabo, el arranque Elías salir de la cueva y lo centra en el hecho de que él, y todos nosotros, son responsables de colocarse fuerte para Dios y llevar a cabo las responsabilidades que nos ha dado. Pero Dios también da tranquilidad Elías: “. ESV 1 Reyes 19:18 Me dejará en Israel siete mil, cuyas rodillas no se doblaron ante Baal, y cuyas bocas no lo besaron” Siete mil hombres no son muy numerosos en una nación que tenía por lo menos cientos de miles, tal vez más de un millón. Pero sigue siendo un remanente fiel.

En el tema de la administración y Elías podemos sentir como si estamos siendo minimizado y marginados en nuestra sociedad actual, la sensación de que hay cada vez menos cristianos auténticos, como si de alguna manera podemos estar fuera de paso. Pero tenemos que volver a nuestro bautismo, a los votos que tomamos como miembros de esta iglesia y por su pastor los votos adicionales que tomó por un ministro del Evangelio, que tomamos el verdadero Cuerpo y la Sangre de Jesucristo para fortalecer nosotros en nuestro cuerpo y el espíritu, para fortalecer nuestra relación con Dios el Padre, a confiar en el oír la palabra de la Escritura. Es difícil y nos hará sentir como queremos correr y esconderse, o dar cabida a aquellos que quieren que aceptemos un falso evangelio, un paradigma humanista. Tenemos que mantener la concentración del poder de Dios y “… el sonido de un susurro” “la pequeña voz” en la versión RV, que es Dios nos dice que no estamos solos, que en Jesús el Espíritu Santo está mirando siempre sobre nosotros y nos guía, incluso cuando nos sentimos como Elías “… y yo, yo solo he quedado, y procuran matarme …” no estamos, estamos en presencia del todopoderoso creador, sustentador y Salvador de todos creación.

La paz de Dios que sobrepasa todo entendimiento, guardará vuestros corazones y vuestros pensamientos en Cristo Jesús. Amin y Shalom

Christians are never alone 1 Kings 19 First St Johns June 26, 2016

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[for the audio click on the above icon]

We make our beginning in the Name of God the Father and in the Name of God the Son and in the Name of God the Holy Spirit and all those who know they are never alone when they are in Jesus said … AMEN!

This Sunday is to recognize Lutheran Church Extension Fund. In respect to that I do want to talk about what LCEF does in respect to supporting local churches specifically in terms of stewardship. We have really great resources associated with the LCMS, all are very local and sources of funding and support for local congregations. LCEF offers various investment vehicles that are also utilized to provide programs like Consecrated Stewards a program that will help us to grow in our stewardship in a more intentional and regular way. We do have very good resources that I think aren’t really utilized as much as they should, another being Thrivent Financial. Thrivent offers action grants that are available to members to help support outreaches here at First Saint Johns. We have benefited from those programs, if you are a member of Thrivent and haven’t used these programs, please let me know and I will be happy to help you access these programs to benefit the ministries we’re doing here. If you don’t use those gift opportunities, it will be a lost benefit, money left on the table.

The President of Thrivent, Brad Hewitt, wrote a book on stewardship and there is a lot of good advice and insights into our relationship with money. But remember, stewardship is not just about money, it is also about your time and talents too. In this day and age, time is a scarce resource. I’m having plenty of days when I just drag myself home and I can empathize with those who find themselves just running out of time. Having said that, your investment of time and talents, to support the different outreaches we are doing is huge and I pray that in addition to considering increasing your financial support, that you also consider looking at ways that you can invest your time into church activities. Often the return on time and interaction of church members in ministry results in a huge return in terms of helping new members to grow, helping to reach out to prospective church members and in general helping us to benefit and serve those around us.

Mr Hewitt notes that it is often our state of mind, trust issues between us and God about our resources, he writes: “…our research suggests that people are more likely to enjoy a sense of freedom regarding time, energy and money the more they buy into these positive statements: – God meets my needs -I don’t think about money unless it’s running short. – I don’t often worry about the future, I take each day as it comes. – I give to people in need, even if I barely have enough myself. – I pray about the big decisions in my life. – Deepening my relationship with God helps me feel peaceful about my future.”[1] Mr Hewitt notes “…these attitudes are a gift of God, a sign of His transforming us and building our trust in Him to use His gifts to us to support what the church of Jesus does in the world and to rely on Him to provide for our needs.” Having trusted God myself to go to seminary, where we spent a whole lot of money, God has continued to provide for us even as Marge and I are getting into the later stages of life ourselves. LCEF is very much a ministry of the Lutheran Church and offers many ways, Consecrated Stewards, is one that helps us to be much more intentional of sharing our resources. Dave Stambaugh is our LCEF rep, you can ask one of us for further information.

There are times when it just seems as if things don’t work out as you expected God to do, ministry wasn’t really on our radar and yet God provided for that for Marge and me. The Bible is full of times, where God kind of sprang trust issues on His faithful. When it seems as if God has just left the building and you feel like Wile E Coyote going over a cliff, thinking you’re hanging onto something and then feeling as if the world has just opened up and swallowed you. There are trust issues. I’m sure we’ve all had those times when you’ve put a lot of trust in someone and then they’ve just deserted you and for no apparent reason. We, sinners, we are going to do that, leave someone holding the bag. And while it seems as if God does it to us, He really doesn’t. You needed to be in a situation, played it out to the best of your ability and then realize God really has been in control and is guiding the situation. Like Elijah you’re standing there looking up to heaven, your arms spread out, your mouth kind of hanging open, your heart in your mouth and then…

More and more I’m finding as a pastor the world is intent on ignoring anything God has to say, and expects that whatever they chose to do, God is supposed to bless it and in the end reward them for making themselves their own idol. Hey we all do things that we know, by any standard, is wrong, it’s called sin. But while others make excuses or, worse, justify ungodly behavior, we who are Christians, who know that we are saved by the sacrificial death of Jesus, who are saved to new life in our baptism, who take the true body and blood of Jesus to deliver us from sin, bring us closer to Him and feed our body and soul with the nourishment that we need to be in communion with Him, we know that we cannot make ourselves an idol of worship. We know that we cannot decide what is right and wrong. We know that we can only worship God the Son and not make ourselves our own idol, worshipping our desires and agenda and expect that will be blessed by God the Father. Paul tells us that Christ has set us free, we are not condemned and lost in the yoke of slavery, that is the sin we become enslaved in. Whether it’s our lust that we’ve become subjected to, or the agenda that we’ve decided is the right course of action, but can’t reconcile our agenda with Jesus’. Paul writes: “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit are against the flesh …” To make sure there’s no question, Paul lists out our idolatry, our lusts and be sure this list is not exhaustive: “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies…” But we are expected to just ignore that, when people and even churches, look us right in the eye, tell us that we should be more “tolerant”, more “Christian” and accept that these things are just OK. We can’t, and in a world where faithful Christians are dwindling into a remnant, as in Elijah’s time, we are pressured by the world to conform to what others tell us we should do, to ignore what genuine Christian brothers and sisters are coping with and follow our own agenda.

Elijah was really at the end of his rope. In 1 Kings 15:29 Ahab has become King of Israel: “And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him.” (1 Kings 16:30) And the previous kings of Israel had done some real evil. If that’s not enough, of all the women he could have married and according to God’s direction he was supposed to marry an Israelite woman, he goes out and finds a woman who is the daughter of the king of the Sidonians, named Jezebel, who doesn’t worship Yahweh, and managed to pick the worst of the pagan “gods” Baal. To top it off Ahab supported Jezebel in her worship. We have plenty in the liberal church who, like Ahab, continue to talk Jesus, but are much more concerned with the world’s agenda, their own Jezebel, than Jesus’ and whether they admit it are worshipping their own Baals. It is hard as a faithful, Bible teaching/believing Christian to stay strong in what the Lutheran Church teaches, Law and Gospel, and to feel, like Elijah that you are a remnant. Elijah has picked up and run off to hide. Jezebel has made it perfectly clear that she is going to do what Elijah was led by God to do, to kill the priests of Baal that Jezebel had brought into Israel, a straight out violation of God’s covenant with Israel “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” There are a lot of caves in Israel, if you want to hide, you can find a place in Israel to do it, if you’re living in a cave as Elijah’s done, he is clearly hiding in fear. While he is cowering in his cave, in fear of Queen Jezebel, God calls him, “what are you doing here, I didn’t tell you to run off to here.” Elijah is convinced that he has been left completely on his own and tells God: “^ESV1 Kings 19:10 “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life…” God answered him in one of the most poignant verses in the Bible, a demonstration of His power, but in “the sound of a low whisper” God asks Elijah again and Elijah gives Him the same answer. God is not going to let Elijah just cower in a cave, Elijah, as all of us, has a responsibility to stand up to the evil that we see all around us. God gives him an assignment to carry out, booting Elijah out of the cave and focusing him on the fact that he, and all of us, are responsible to stand strong for God and carry out the responsibilities He gives us. But God also gives Elijah reassurance: “^ESV1 Kings 19:18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” Seven thousand men is not very many in a nation that had at least hundreds of thousands, perhaps over a million. But it is still a faithful remnant.

In the theme of stewardship and Elijah we can feel as if we’re being minimized and marginalized in our society today, feeling as if there are fewer and fewer genuine Christians, as if we might somehow be out of step. But we have to go back to our baptism, to the vows we took as members of this church and for your pastor the additional vows he took to be a minister of the Gospel, that we take the true Body and Blood of Jesus Christ to strengthen us in our body and spirit, to strengthen our relationship with God the Father, to trust in the preached word of Scripture. It is difficult and will cause us to feel like we want to run and hide, or accommodate those who want us to accept a false gospel, a humanist paradigm. We have to keep focused on God’s power and “… the sound of a low whisper” “the still small voice” in the KJV version, that is God telling us that we aren’t alone, that in Jesus the Holy Spirit is always watching over us and guiding us even when we feel like Elijah “…and I, even I only, am left and they seek my life…” We aren’t, we are in the presence of the all powerful Creator, Sustainer and Savior of all creation.

The peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amin and Shalom

[1] Brad Hewitt CEO Thrivent Financial Services “Your New Money Mindset” p 79

Los niños bautizados, Nueva Vida en Dios Padre Gálatas 3 Primera Saint Johns 19 de de junio de, el año 2016

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Hacemos nuestro comienzo en el Nombre de Dios el Padre y en el nombre de Dios el Hijo y en el nombre de Dios el Espíritu Santo, y todos aquellos que han nacido de nuevo, conocemos a Dios como su Padre y clamamos Abba a lo dicho … AMEN ! …

Tony Cooke cuenta la siguiente historia: “… de un padre de cinco niños que llegó a casa con un juguete. Llamó a sus hijos y le preguntó cuál de ellos debe recibir el presente. “¿Quién es el más obediente aquí? Que nunca se habla de nuevo con mamá y hace todo lo que mamá dice que hacer? “Preguntó. Hubo unos segundos de silencio, y luego, de los niños dijeron unánimes: “Usted juega con ella papá” Esto suena como un padre que realmente lo consigue, no estoy hablando de un tipo que acaba de mousey “sí querida, no mujer “, pero que es, obviamente, a modelar para sus hijos lo que necesitan saber cuando se convierten en padres y el apoyo a su esposa, la madre de sus hijos. Yo apostaría que cuando se tiene un problema que él y mamá, elaborarlo, cómo modelar verdaderamente un padre piadoso. Que los niños serían lo suficientemente humilde para reconocer que papá hace estas cosas es una prueba de cómo están siendo criados, tienen suficiente discernimiento y respeto a entender cómo deben ser las cosas. Como se puede ver en la inserción en el boletín, Billy Graham escribe: “. Un buen padre es uno de los más anónimo, unpraised, desapercibido y sin embargo uno de los activos más valiosos de nuestra sociedad” Creo que se puede hacer un caso que, en Los papás de la sociedad de hoy en día son muy apreciadas bajo. Ver la televisión, siempre hay el padre desorientado, individual en el programa. Usted tiene que preguntarse si se trata de algún tipo de tiro, no sólo a los padres, pero a Dios el Padre. Lo entiendo que muchas personas tienen problemas de “padre”, y hay demasiados “padres” que acaban en batea en sus responsabilidades, pero si usted tiene un padre que está tratando de ayudar a madurar, tratando de ayudarle a ser una persona real , realmente no tiene que ver con sus pequeños deseos o sus dramas, pero hará lo que pueda para ayudarle a convertirse en un hombre o una mujer que tiene integridad, para convertirse en una persona que quiere ser lo suficientemente fuerte como para estar allí para servir a los demás y su o su familia, un padre que quiere que se dedicará a Dios y ser todo lo que Dios quiere que seas, entonces usted debe estar agradecido por un padre así. Eso es lo que se supone que los padres que hacer. Si usted es un hombre con los niños y que no está haciendo al menos estos fundamentos, realmente se vería duro en mi vida y decidir si estoy realmente sirviendo a mi esposa y mis hijos. Es muy de moda hoy en día para un padre para pensar que la madre sabe qué es lo mejor en todas las circunstancias y apenas conceden su responsabilidad de ella para sus hijos. Eso no es sólo verdad, Dios le dio a los niños un padre y una madre por una razón, un hombre y una mujer por una razón, porque los hombres y las mujeres son muy diferentes, pero que se unen como una sola carne, como hacemos voto de hacer cuando estamos casaron, y luego nuestras diferencias son muy complementarias y ayudan entre sí para crecer y especialmente para nuestros hijos crezcan, para ser adultos maduros y fuertes que no sirven entre sí y la comunidad en que viven como Dios quiere que sean.

Tenemos la tendencia a minimizar cómo rezamos la oración del Señor: “Padre nuestro …” algunos dicen que tienen un problema a causa de algún abuso o abandono de su padre terrenal. Sí, entiendo, no puede haber resentimiento hacia su padre terrenal, no puede haber rencor a mucha gente diferente. Casi nos parece que animar a la amargura en contra de un padre, que es de alguna manera justificada, mientras que nosotros tratamos de hacer que la gente olvide su amargura hacia los demás. Los efectos de la amargura y la ira, y que siempre se sienten justificados, pero esos efectos nos dañan como cualquier otra amargura, independientemente de quién cree que ha perjudicado. Tenemos un Padre en el cielo que nos aleja de la amargura, que ofrece por nosotros, nos bendice, nos guía y nos lleva a través de las pruebas de la vida. El Padre que nos da la promesa de la vida en Él en esta vida y para la vida perfecta que estábamos destinados a vivir, a la vida eterna en la resurrección. Así que cuando oramos “Padre nuestro que estás en los cielos”, que es el Padre perfecto todopoderoso, creador y sustentador de todo, no es el hombre que se siente que ha fallado. Podemos rechazar nuestro padre terrenal, sino que rechazar nuestro Padre celestial para nuestra pérdida eterna y pesar. Juan cita a Jesús: “Jesús les dijo:” Si Dios fuera vuestro Padre, me amaríais, porque yo salí de Dios y estoy aquí. “(Juan 8:42) Lo siento de verdad que cualquier persona debería ser herido, que alguien debe estar en una situación en la que estén dañados de alguna manera por el hombre que ellos deben confiar para hacer lo que pueda por ellos, hasta e incluyendo el sacrificio de su vida por ellos. Los padres no son perfectos, ser un padre sin duda puedo dar fe de que en mi propio caso, pero creo que, junto con probablemente los padres aquí en este momento, que lo que hice fue para bien del niño, aunque de manera imperfecta, pero que me gustaría, sin pensarlo dos veces, dar mi vida para proteger a mi esposa e hijos. Podemos superar cualquier cosa en el poder de Cristo, podemos saber cuánto le importa nuestro padre terrenal para nosotros, o al menos deberíamos cuidar de nosotros, pero mucho más importante, por las consecuencias eternas, que nuestro Padre en el cielo, que es mucho mayor que cualquiera de nosotros, nos ama más allá de lo que podemos imaginar. Nosotros, todos nosotros, tienen un Padre que hará lo que sea necesario con el fin de salvar la vida a la vida eterna, a la verdadera vida en la eternidad en Jesús. No tengo ninguna duda de que aquí todo el mundo tiene una razón de algún tipo de amargura, sino en Cristo, siendo guiado por el Espíritu Santo no hay amargura que no podemos ser curados con el fin de poner en comunión en Jesús “para que podamos recibiésemos la adopción de hijos … Dios ha enviado el Espíritu de su Hijo a nuestros corazones, el cual clama: ¡Abba! Padre! ‘ “Podemos dejar que la amargura de nada nos come por dentro. La amargura que atrofiar nuestro crecimiento, nos aísla del mundo que nos rodea, nos da una excusa para alejar de nosotros mismos, de Dios Padre, continuará para separarnos de la salvación en Jesús o podemos; en la alegría, celebración, clamar Abba! ¡Padre! como deberíamos hacer, que tenemos Su promesa, que estamos protegidos por medio de su fuerza infinita y su provisión infinita. Nuestro padre terrenal sólo puede proporcionar tanto, pero nuestro Padre celestial puede y proporcionará en cada situación. No quiere decir que sólo nos manos lo que pensamos que necesitamos, pero nuestro Abba, nuestro padre, nuestro Papa, proveerá lo que necesitamos, cuando Él elige en su conocimiento y misericordia infinita cuando la necesitamos, y no importa qué, vamos a miramos hacia atrás y nos damos cuenta de lo mucho que necesitaba lo que él prestados y en el momento perfecto que Él siempre que en.

Desde el Estudio de la Biblia luterana: “el Espíritu Santo nos asegura que somos hijos de Dios, redimido por Jesucristo y hechos herederos de pleno derecho de la promesa a Abraham. … Cristo ganó para nosotros el derecho de llamar a Dios ‘Padre nuestro’ una única oración enseñada por el Espíritu “Pero no sólo ‘Padre’, sino ‘Papa’, otra vez de la Biblia de Estudio Luterana.; “Arameo porque ‘Papa’ una dirección de intimidad especial que no se encuentra normalmente en el judaísmo.” Pablo está diciendo que sí, antes de que estaban bajo la ley, personas quedaron sin esforzarse, para aquellos en el mundo, sin Jesús, se dejan para hacer frente al mundo en sus propios términos, peor dirigido por Satanás para su propia destrucción. Dios, nuestro Padre, Abba, nos guía como sus hijos, velando por nosotros, ya que sólo Dios el Padre puede. Vemos en nuestra lectura del Evangelio el poder de Dios. Jesús le preguntó al hombre en Gerasenos cómo se llamaba. El hombre respondió Legión, porque muchos demonios habían entrado en él. Jesús, obviamente, ni un poco intimidada o estampados, después de todo, este hombre fue llevado por los demonios se caiga antes de Jesús, para rogarle que no atormentarlos. Jesús, el Hijo de Dios, debido a su fuerza y poder, mostró cómo Él protege a sus hijos, nosotros, desde el poder y el mal del mundo.

Tony Cooke cita a Steve Farrar: “Un padre piadoso es el submarino espiritual invisible que se esconde debajo de la superficie de todas las actividades de la vida de su hijo. Un hombre que ha puesto toda la armadura de Dios y con la armadura, se va a la guerra de rodillas para sus hijos, es una fuerza a tener en cuenta que no podemos estar con nuestros hijos las 24 horas del día a través de nuestras oraciones, tenemos la capacidad para afectar situaciones, incluso cuando no están físicamente presentes. Es posible que no se detecten, pero eso no quiere decir que no son efectivos. “Como padres dada la custodia de nuestros hijos, por Dios el Padre, la cosa más importante que podemos hacer es mantener a nuestros hijos centrados en Dios el Padre que en nuestro bautismo en Dios Padre, Hijo y Espíritu Santo, que son sus hijos adoptivos por medio de nuestro Señor Jesucristo, que murió por nosotros para llevarnos a nuestra relación con nuestro Padre celestial. Cristo ganó para nosotros el derecho de llamar a Dios ‘Padre nuestro’, una oración enseñada sólo por el Espíritu. “Le damos nuestro agradecimiento y elogio para su sacrificio por nosotros y para que podamos vivir en relación con” Padre nuestro que estás en los cielo”

La paz de Dios que sobrepasa todo entendimiento, guardará vuestros corazones y vuestros pensamientos en Cristo Jesús. Amin y Shalom

Baptized Children, New Life in God the Father Galatians 3 June 19, 2016 First St Johns

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We make our beginning in the Name of God the Father and in the Name of God the Son and in the Name of God the Holy Spirit and all those who are born again, know God as their Father and cry out Abba to Him said … AMEN!…

Tony Cooke tells the following story: “…of a father of five children who came home with a toy. He summoned his children and asked which of them should be given the present. “Who is the most obedient one here? Who never talks back to Mom and does everything that Mom says to do?” He inquired. There were a few seconds of silence, and then all of the children said in one accord: “You play with it Daddy!”[1] This sounds like a father who actually gets it, I’m not talking about a mousey guy who just “yes dear, no dear”, but who is obviously modeling for his children what they need to know when they become parents and supporting their wife, the mother of their children. I would bet that when he has an issue he and mom, work it out, how to truly model a godly father. That the children would be humble enough to acknowledge that dad does these things is a testament to how they’re being raised, they have enough discernment and respect to understand how things should be. As you see in the insert in your bulletin, Billy Graham writes: “A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society.”[2] I think you can make a case that in today’s society Dads are very under appreciated. Watch television, there’s always the clueless, detached father in the program. You do have to wonder if this is some sort of shot, not just at fathers, but at God the Father. I get it many people have “father” issues, and there are way too many “fathers” who have just punted on their responsibilities, but if you have a father who is trying to help you mature, trying to help you be a real person, is really not concerned with your little desires or your dramas, but will do whatever he can to help you to become a man or woman who has integrity, to become someone who wants to be strong enough to be there to serve others and his or her family, a dad who wants you to be devoted to God and to be all that God wants you to be, then you should be thankful for a father like that. That is what fathers are supposed to do. If you’re a man with children and you’re not doing at least these basics, I would really look hard at my life and decide if I’m truly serving my wife and my children. It’s very fashionable today for a father to think that mom knows what’s best in all circumstances and just concede their responsibility to her to their children. That’s just not true, God gave children a father and a mother for a reason, a man and a woman for a reason, because men and women are very different, but we come together as one flesh, as we vow to do when we are married, and then our differences are very complementary and help each other to grow and especially for our children to grow, to be mature, strong adults who do serve each other and the community they live in as God intended for them to be.

We tend to minimize how we pray the Lord’s prayer, “Our Father…” some say they have a problem because of some abuse or neglect of their earthly father. Yes, I understand, there can be bitterness towards your earthly father, there can be bitterness towards lots of different people. We almost seem to encourage bitterness against a father, that it is somehow justified, while we try to get people to forget their bitterness towards others. The effects of bitterness and anger, and we always feel justified, but those effects damage us like any other bitterness, regardless of who you think has hurt you. We have a Father in heaven who keeps us from bitterness, who provides for us, blesses us, guides us and carries us through the trials of life. The Father who gives us the promise of life in Him in this life and to the perfect life we were meant to live, to life eternal in the resurrection. So when we pray “our Father who art in heaven”, it is to the almighty perfect Father, Creator and Sustainer of all, not the man who you feel has failed you. We may reject our earthly father, but we reject our heavenly Father to our eternal loss and regret. John quotes Jesus: “Jesus said to them ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here.” (John 8:42) I am truly sorry that anyone should be hurt, that someone should be in a situation where they are damaged in some way by the man who they should trust to do whatever he can for them, up to and including sacrificing his life for them. Fathers aren’t perfect, being a father I can certainly attest to that in my own case, but I think, along with probably the fathers here right now, that what I did was for the best of the child, albeit imperfectly, but that I would, without a second thought, give my life to protect my wife and children. We can overcome anything in the power of Christ, we can know how much our earthly father cares for us, or at least should care for us, but much more importantly, for eternal consequences, that our Father in heaven, who is far greater than anyone of us, does love us beyond anything we can imagine. We do, all of us, have a Father who will do whatever is necessary in order to save your life to eternal life, to true life in eternity in Jesus. I have no doubt that everyone here has a reason for some kind of bitterness, but in Christ, being guided by the Holy Spirit there is no bitterness that we can’t be healed in order to bring us into communion in Jesus “so that we might receive adoption as sons … God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” We can let bitterness about anything eat us up inside. Bitterness that will stunt our growth, isolate us from the world around us, give us an excuse to estrange ourselves from God the Father, continue to separate us from salvation in Jesus or we can; in joy, celebration, cry out Abba! Father! as we should do, that we have His promise, that we are protected by His infinite strength and His infinite provision. Our earthly father can only provide so much, but our heavenly Father can and will provide in every situation. Not to say He just hands us what we think we need, but our Abba, our daddy, our Papa, will provide what we need, when He chooses in His infinite knowledge and mercy when we need it, and no matter what, we will look back and realize how much we needed what He provided and in the perfect time that He provided it in.

From the Lutheran Study Bible: “the Holy Spirit assures us that we are God’s children, redeemed by Jesus Christ and made full heirs of the promise to Abraham. … Christ earned for us the right to call God ‘our Father’ a prayer taught only by the Spirit.” But not only ‘Father’ but ‘Papa’, again from the Lutheran Study Bible; “Aramaic, for ‘Papa’ an address of special intimacy not typically found in Judaism.”[3] Paul is saying that yes, before you were under the Law, people were left to strive, for those in the world, without Jesus, they are left to cope with the world on their own terms, worse led by Satan to their own destruction. God, our Father, Abba, guides us as His children, watching over us as only God the Father can. We see in our Gospel reading the power of God. Jesus asked the man in Gerasenes what his name was. The man answered Legion, for many demons had entered him. Jesus obviously, not the least bit intimidated or impressed, after all this man was led by the demons to fall down before Jesus, to beg him not to torment them. Jesus, God the Son, because of His strength and power, showed how He protects His children, us, from the power and evil of the world.

Tony Cooke quotes Steve Farrar: “A godly father is the unseen spiritual submarine who lurks below the surface of every activity of his child’s life. A man who has put on the full armor of God and with that armor, goes to warfare on his knees for his children, is a force to be reckoned with we cannot be with our children 24 hours a day through our prayers we have the ability to affect situations even when we are not physically present. You may be undetected but that does not mean you are ineffective.”[4] As fathers given guardianship of our children, by God the Father, the most important thing we can do is to keep our children focused on God the Father that in our baptism in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we are His adopted children through our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us to bring us into our relationship with our heavenly Father. Christ earned for us the right to call God ‘our Father’, a prayer taught only by the Spirit.”[5] We give Him our thanks and praise for His sacrifice for us and so that we can live in relationship with “Our Father who art in heaven”

The peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amin and Shalom

[1]Tony Cooke, Tony Cooke ministries http://www.tonycooke.org/holiday-resources/fathers_day/

[2] Billy Graham quoted by Upward Sports

[3] (Lutheran Study Bible p 2008)

[4] Tony Cooke, Tony Cooke ministries http://www.tonycooke.org/holiday-resources/fathers_day/

[5] Lutheran Study Bible p 2009

Simul Justus et Peccatore 2 Samuel 11:26 Luke 7:36 First St Johns June 12, 2016

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We make our beginning in the Name of God the Father and in the Name of God the Son and in the Name of God the Holy Spirit and all those who know the grace and joy of forgiveness and forgiving said … AMEN!

Don’t misunderstand what David did was completely repugnant. There is no acceptable reason for what he did. Bathsheba wasn’t totally innocent either. There are those who like to point out the failings of the Old Testament, the vengeful, angry God stuff. By 21^st century American standards there are things that we just would not countenance in this day and age. But there is certainly a good deal of hypocrisy with those who make such judgments, a lot of what the critics do are just not acceptable and certainly not by the standards of Israel in 1,000 BC. Those critics certainly never seem to be concerned with what the peoples around Israel did which were just abhorrent. One big difference was the accountability of their leaders, especially their kings. For the rest of the world at that time, the king was the highest authority and could pretty much do whatever he pleased. Take any woman, put anyone to death, take whatever they wanted and could do it with impunity. As the king of Israel David was responsible, as any other person in Israel was to Yahweh, his position didn’t make any difference, if anything he was held more accountable. When he was confronted by Nathan the prophet, any other king of that period could have just ignored Nathan, put him in prison, executed him and no one would have said boo about it. David was always responsible to Yahweh, he did have multiple wives, wasn’t supposed to and especially not a Gentile wife, Uriah was a Hittite and so presumably was Bathsheba. But David did and was forgiven, along with his adultery with Bathsheba and his treachery toward Uriah. But Yahweh was still faithful to David in his sins and is faithful to us in ours. We, by comparison, are graceless to those who offend us, quick to take anything and everything personally and like the Pharisee in our Gospel reading, quick to reject and condemn those who don’t follow our every whim, right down the line.

In our readings we certainly have a stark contrast. We have David who has committed truly abhorrent sin, he has committed adultery and against a man who was probably a friend, or at least a close associate. Uriah is listed among the renowned mighty men of David’s bodyguards, 37 men in all, a sort of elite military Secret Service, these men were all in close contact with David, so David certainly knew Uriah and had to know Bathsheba. David is certainly taken to task for the absolutely repugnant things that he did. The big surprise? He was still forgiven. Doesn’t mean God was justifying or somehow rationalizing David’s sin and as always, when we commit sin, there are usually consequences. David was made to suffer, although you could certainly wonder why his baby son was the consequence. Nevertheless, David was penalized and he knew it deep in his heart. We even have his repentance look up Psalm 51: A PSALM OF DAVID, WHEN NATHAN THE PROPHET WENT TO HIM, AFTER HE HAD GONE IN TO BATHSHEBA. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.” David knew the deal, he also knew he was forgiven. Yahweh had been so gracious to David and David knew that he failed, he knew that he had seriously failed God, who had faithfully stood by him. We have all done this to one degree or another. Served faithfully and also let down someone who had treated us with graciousness and generosity. There are people who I remember through my life who treated me kindly, were selfless in helping me and being there for me, and I was not considerate in return. Certainly I have let God down on many occasions and He has faithfully forgiven me. There were penalties and consequences. Often people have told me that they knew they sinned, that as David put it “have done what is evil in your sight”, but on the flipside, turn around and complain that God treated them badly, they resent the fact that their sin caused them unpleasant consequences. We’re really quick to sin, really quick to accept forgiveness, but equally quick to forget that there are consequences. “I asked forgiveness, God said He forgives, so why did these bad things happen to me after I asked forgiveness.” We are forgiven and should be grateful for God’s forgiveness, but instead of copping an attitude because of the inevitable consequences, we need to remember Psalm 51, be grownups go back to God and acknowledge where we’ve sinned, that we’ve failed God and accept, without bitterness, the consequences of what we’ve done, move on in our life, trust that God is going to provide and get over the attitude. It truly astounds me in ministry, there is no room for disagreement, forgiveness, grace, it’s all or nothing. Yes, that’s the way it’s become in our society, but for a people who are forgiven, we Christians seem to have little idea of how to forgive, of how to be gracious, of how to put the best face on things. We just do not seem to understand that we will not always agree, and instead of taking our ball and bat and going home, understand that the ball game is going to proceed and God expects you to play out the game and not just desert because you didn’t get your way. There is no way you could function in business or the military with that kind of mindset, but that is certainly how people in the church seem to feel.

God graciously forgave David and didn’t break off His relationship with David. Imagine if God had the same attitude we often do, “well Jim, you didn’t do what I wanted you to do, so I’m out of here, see you later, you’re on your own.” We couldn’t function with such a fickle God, we would all be lost and condemned. God doesn’t do that. Just because He gives us consequences doesn’t mean He deserts us and leaves us to go it alone, He sticks with us. That is grace! For those who profess to be Christians, they expect grace, from everyone, but they’re quick to pull the trigger on others and ignore the whole grace thing. As I said, our readings today are a stark contrast. We have David who just messed up royally, pun intended, was forgiven, suffered the consequences, moved on and remembered that God had been faithful to him and he needed to trust God that David would continue to be faithful in return to God. In our Gospel reading we see a woman who is unquestionably guilty, Jesus never tried to deny her guilt, He admitted she had sinned much, but He treated her with grace when the legalistic Pharisee characterized her faults and by extension Jesus’ faults for allowing her to be so loving toward Him. That’s the love of grace, being so thankful that Jesus would be gracious to her, even in her sin, and essentially offering her worship for Jesus’ grace. The Pharisee sitting in judgment of both of them, devoid of grace and forgiveness and as Anthony Cook describes: “…illustrates the woman’s expression of love was in direct proportion to her cancelled sin. She is forgiven much, loves much and he who is forgiven little, the Pharisee, loves little. She is being hospitable to an extreme, while Simon failed to show Jesus the simplest of common hospitality.”[1] Jesus didn’t cut the woman off because of her lifetime of prostitution, the woman is convicted of her sins, shows her gratitude to Jesus, while Simon the Pharisee, sits in bitterness and judgment on both Jesus and the woman. After Jesus forgives her, her sin, Simon and the rest of the men become more angry and judgmental: “who is this guy who presumes to forgive?” Seems like something we all do, Jesus had more than proven who He is and should have been acknowledged as the Messiah. Instead these men immediately jump to condemn Him, God the Son, again.

It’s so easy to take something personally and decide to just walk away and condemn the one you disagree with. Certainly God didn’t even when He had good reason to with David and the prostitute. Jesus certainly didn’t deserve His treatment, being beaten, tortured, humiliated and crucified, but He did it in love for us, when He could have simply decided that those who are without sin, that’s none of us, they are saved, the rest of us, well too bad, eternal condemnation. By the same token, we need to start acting with more grace and forgiveness, remember what is important, forgive the slights, real and perceived, remember the relationships and vows and move on to the Kingdom of God. Help us Father to put the best face on the things that we find offensive, realize that things are not always going to go our way, that in Your gracious will there are times when we have to deal with the things we don’t like and join together with those who we disagree with and keep Your will and purpose in our lives and move together towards the realization of the Kingdom and the eternal resurrection in Jesus.

The peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amin and Shalom

[1] Dr Anthony Cook Concordia Journal Spring 2016, volume 42, no 2, p 144

Passion for Jesus, desire and drive to serve Him and others for Him

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In a business context I can understand the following quote in Forbes: “They should be doers, not managers. You need people who are hungry to prove themselves and to help you win by feeding off your passion and their experience.” (Forbes Magazine Sept 7, 2015 p 39)

I’m taking this quote a little out of context, but it really is applicable to the church, especially in terms of “passion”. We have the ultimate Savior of the universe, who in His “passion” died for us in order for us to have the assurance of eternal life in the New Earth, the Resurrection. Frankly, Christians, the church, the whole Christian community really does need to act in that passion. Now I’m not talking about phoney Pentecostalism “passion”, just a show put on to convince others that you are somehow singled out by the Holy Spirit and a show more for your own pleasure then genuine worship of God. I am talking about passion in doing what we are called to serve Jesus. An intensity, a desire, more of a passion that a man would express, pushing for what is important, having the integrity to stand up for what is right. That certainly is missed in the church, we really see passion in terms of what we want to please us. This is not what we are called to do in Jesus. As I said, that passion, in a business sense, is how to we make this sale, how do we achieve our quarterly goals, how do we serve best those who are stakeholders in what we do, how do we make the best product or provide the best service, truly believing in what you do.

Too often in the church of the last century passion has been more in terms of what will be “pleasing”, entertaining, having people leave with a big smile on their face because the pastor told them, no matter how sinful and unrepentant the person is, that they’re just fine and God really is just a wishy-washy people pleaser. We know that it’s not true. God expects us to live and act in Christian integrity. He expects us to step up to serve Him. I preached on Elijah, 1 Kings 19, this Sunday. Elijah was certainly put through a lot to serve God. I am sure that for too many who call themselves “Christian”, if they were called on by God to do what Elijah was asked to do, well, they’d pull the usual phoney move and decide that they need to go to another church.

These “people-pleasers” of the last century have really set the church up for failure. Taking the easy way out, being managers instead of leaders. Making sure the numbers are still up, but not doing the job with the integrity required in order to proclaim Jesus and what He wants in His church. This sort of “country-club” type of “Christian”, everything’s pretty, aesthetically pleasing, pleasant to the ear, then we go on with our regular life, church worship having essentially no impact. These “managers” are not there to prove themselves in Jesus, they’re there to make sure that the boat isn’t rocked. If no one gets mad and leaves then they’ve succeeded. Really?! seems to me that in John 6:66 (interesting that this verse should have this number, “Then Jesus said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father has granted it to him.”66 From that time on, many of His disciples turned back and no longer accompanied Him. 67 So Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to leave too?” 68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.…” Hmmm, Jesus had a whole lot of people walk out on Him! Case could even be made that he was down to much fewer at the end. Only about 4 were with Him at the Cross. But Peter, John, Mary, a remnant of disciples knew what was genuine, had integrity and they stuck with Jesus even though it was obviously not the popular thing to do anymore.

There are times and places when you do have to “manage”, make sure things get done. Pastors do have to be managers sometimes, there is church business they have to attend to. But our Savior was passionate for us, He wasn’t there to be a people pleaser, and He let a whole lot of people know that. We pastors cannot be in our positions to just entertain or indulge, we are called on to proclaim Jesus and to be His disciples and all that means. To be hungry for Jesus, for His Kingdom and for the eternal life in the resurrection. If we are hungry for that, shouldn’t we be instilling that hunger in others? Too often pastors are simply about lulling people into a nice, warm feeling of security. We should have a passion, meaning acting with integrity, striving to proclaim Jesus at every point, a passion to do our best to help anyone we know, to know true life and true salvation in Jesus. To truly read and study His revelation, the Bible. To help others to genuinely present Jesus to all they know, really a manly passion of what is right and truly salutary in Jesus and to stand under the stress that people in the world and yes, in the church will put you under to compromise with the world and divide your loyalty between the world and the church of Christ. We look for those opportunities to serve to help in a material way, but to remember that we are not social workers, that we are always first and foremost to serve the Creator, Sustainer, Lord and Savior of the universe, to point people to Him so they will know true life in the baptized life of Jesus and will move from their and act accordingly. Anything else is indulgence and people pleasing and not doing anyone any good. It’s managing, but the result is into condemnation and not challenging them and lifting them up which is passion and Christian leadership. What we all need to have “life and life more abundant.”

How should that look at your workplace? How should that look in every area of your life? Are we truly about church being one thing and then as soon as we’re out the door, on to the more important(?) things. Or are we men of integrity truly striving to serve our family, our church, our vocation and always, most importantly our Lord and Savior, with true passion, strength and integrity.

All are welcome to talk about this more Wednesdays 10am, the coffee shop at the corner of W King and Beaver Sts in downtown York, Pa. The church is at 140 W King, you’re welcome to park right behind, walk about half a block to the coffee shop. I always buy first timers their coffee.

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BeautyBeyondBones

OK. It’s time we talk about virginity.

*Takes a shot of whisky.*

Scratch that.

It’s time we talk aboutmy virginity.

*Takes another shot. Slams down the glass.*

buffy_drinking

Ok.Now I feel prepared to take on this topic.

Allow me to set the stage:

Saturday night. 4 am. The sun is just starting to rise and the sky is that dusty heather gray color. NYC looks just like they try to portray it in the movies – a sleeping giant with steep buildings, daring the sun to challenge its dominance.

And I’m bleary eyed, mascara stained, just sobbing. I’m in my pjs. The beautiful, sparkly dress and heels I wore that evening, crumpled in a pile on the floor — along with my dignity.

Pause. NO I did not “do it.”Although, reading that back, it kinda sounds like the beginning of a cheap romance novel…

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Christians are faithful servants, at church and the workplace

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I have really appreciated Patrick Morley’s book “A Man’s Guide to Work”. Along with Gene Veith’s books, these make some great observations about our faith life in Christ being as much a part of our Christian life as church. Too often we, may, be at church on Sunday, then Monday in full world’s mode in our work life. It is difficult to distinguish our faith life and our work life, we should be integrating them when we are really compartmentalizing them. We can’t continue to do this, we have to stand up as Christians in the workplace especially when the world continues to marginalize Christians.

Part of that effort needs to be in terms of how we actually work. Too often we fall into the world’s mold of mediocrity, we do what we have to do by spending the minimum amount of time and effort on our part. Clock hits 5pm and we’re out the door? At the minimum we are being paid for 8 hours, it better be 8 and maybe five minutes more, at least. Wasting time and effort is not a good stewardship witness to our employer or our fellow workers. We can certainly be an example that, as Christians, we are serious about our work life and want that to be a witness to Jesus too.

Morley makes an interesting observation on the Parable of the Talents, Matthew 25: 14-30 (p 31) to show that we have been entrusted with our work/vocation by God too and mediocrity is just not acceptable. Quoting Morley: A wealthy man has three employees. To the first one he gives what is about $60,000 in today’s money. A meaningful amount of money.

Like any of us, if we are entrusting money or any other asset to someone else what are we expecting? For that person to make money for us, n’est ce pas? If they don’t and granted quite often they don’t, then we are not going to be satisfied and we really shouldn’t be. To the second employee he gave $24,000, again a material amount of money. To the last he gave $12,000. Still a material amount, but five times less than the other guy, apparently this employer kind of knew something, and you know what, Jesus knows about us and what He’ll trust us with, but the employer still entrusted the employee with a substantial amount.

Whether it’s the end of the month, quarter, half-year, year-end, the employer comes back and is looking for their reports. Now the first two guys, wow, they doubled the employers money. Wow! We would all take that kind of return now wouldn’t we? Hopefully both of those guys are Christians and since the Lord is relating this parable, I’d like to assume they not only made that money by honest means and, to go even further as we should as Christians, with integrity as a witness to the Lord. Don’t want any Bernie Madoffs here.

Now the last employee, he decided, for whatever reason that well he was afraid, he was lazy, he didn’t want to fail, blah, blah, there are always excuses. Is that what you want when you get your report from someone handling your money? For that matter, do you want to be the guy always making excuses. No on both counts, you want a respectable return, I’m sure you’re paying this person and now they’ve just handed back to you a respectable amount of money and said “see, I’ve kept your money safe for you.” Ya, well, I could have probably found a cheaper way if I was just looking for safe. But that’s what we get for so many people in today’s world, “well at least I didn’t lose anything”. Brother I could have opened a 2% CD and gotten a little back, with you all I got was grief and aggravation. Morely quotes “The Message Bible” quoting Jesus as saying: “…And get rid of this ‘play-it-safe’ who won’t go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.” You know what Jesus is serious about what we do.

Yes I’m sure there are those out there who are utterly horrified that Jesus would be so harsh. Hmmmm, you mean the guy who was tortured, beaten, nail to a cross, humiliated and left to die, that we should expect to only give Him back, at best, mediocrity? He gave His best, but it’s OK, I’m not even going to give you back anything respectable. A bagful of beans for the man who gave His all. Shocking, right? But wow, we do it all the time. We won’t go out on a limb for Him, we can’t even sacrifice a tiny little bit of our precious dignity to step out and tell someone all about Jesus and what He has done for me. Oh, no, the guys on the soft-ball team might think I’m kind of a twit while they’re swilling beer.

It’s about integrity and being serious. Too much of the world is about going through the motions, maximizing what’s in it for me, in the third employee’s case, it was about minimizing his time and effort and making more time for that beer swilling softball game, that’s just so much more important then integrity at work or integrity in Jesus.

Yea, maybe all the cool kids try to show how cool they are by ripping off their employers, standing around when you could be doing something (oh that’s not my job). What makes you think it was Jesus’ job to go through all He went through for us? As those who are faithful to Him who has been so faithful to us, how can we not give our best in everything we do? I know, I get it, sometimes it does feel like you’re running on fumes, and Jesus is there to care for you in the difficult times as much as He is to motivate us. We certainly can look to Jesus for motivation in whatever we do, but mediocrity, lack of integrity, trying to get more than you give are not acceptable to Him who gave all. As Christians we are to be the stand up guys, and you know what, you will be misunderstood, you will be mocked by your co-workers, but they will also have a model that they can’t deny. At some point it is on them, is this a game where you keep being mediocre or is it for real and it is all about your best effort and how you serve your organization, your fellow workers, your family, your community, your Lord and Savior. Ya, go ahead and mock, but I’m going with living my life to the best of my ability in all the areas of my life. For those who want to lead that mediocre life, I really don’t understand how you can expect the best from others and how you can look yourself in the face. But you do. Let’s be great Christian brothers and strive to go far above what anyone expects. You will fall short, it won’t always work out the way you planned, but no one can say that it was for your lack of trying.

You are welcome to come and discuss further, your suggestions about building a group that is looking to be faithful to Jesus in our worklife are welcome. Right now we have a small group that meets at the coffeeshop at the corner of W King and Beaver Sts in York, Pa. We meet on Wednesdays at 10am, all are welcome, park right behind the church at 140 W King St. I will even buy you your first cup of coffee! See you there.