Tag Archives: faith

A “draft for the ages”? Certainly eternal consequences.

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I’m sure you’ve heard the “big news” by now, the first openly homosexual man to be drafted by an NFL team was drafted by the St Louis Rams. I was watching the NFL channel coverage of the draft and you would think a cure for cancer, or getting rid of ref’s entirely and having entire games called by video had just happened. There are about 1,700 players in the NFL at any one time. The NFL has been around since the 1920’s, (albeit with far fewer teams), so conservatively somewhere around 100,000 men have played in the NFL and one of them is finally homosexual. Listening to the coverage you’d think that because Michael Sam is homosexual that this is somehow as Sporting News called it, “A Draft for the ages”. Huh? Not too hyperbolic?

A little context and a lot of this is coming out of the Boston sports station that I’ve listened to for years and no, these guys are actually pretty liberal. But they did have some context. The guy was drafted 249th, way down. By a team that is in desperate need of any kind of notoriety, the St Louis Rams. It seems clear there were better players, but hey, despite the fact that there have been tens of thousands in the NFL, and no doubt some were homosexual, does tend to undermine the argument of the number of homosexual men in the population, significantly less then the guesstimated 10% that the liberal media likes to throw around. One of the guys commented that this guy will probably be playing arena football in a couple of years and it will be an “oh yeah, he was the guy back in the 2014 draft.” They also made an interesting comparison to the Tim Tebow drama of a couple of seasons ago. This is a guy who turned around the Denver Broncos and got them into the playoffs. What happened to a guy who has done so much good humanitarian service in the Name of the Savior? The Patriots gave him a shot. A team with the best winning percentage of this century, three Super Bowls, a team with integrity. A coach Bill Belicheck who uses that lame red flag as sparingly as any coach in the league. (May his tribe increase, I want to watch football, not a bunch of legalists fussing about the latest rule changes and video checks. Play football, get on with it and quit whining) Well frankly the NFL is by far the whiningest sport in professional sports. Anyway a team stacked with talent, always in the hunt, but always looking for guys with integrity. They couldn’t keep Tebow, but the whole scenario is, I don’t know, odd?

Interestingly enough in my devotional reading today Henry Blackaby writes on this very subject. Do we coddle people in their sins? No! Do we love them? Do we care for them, do we keep trying to reach them for real life in Christ? Absolutely! Hey, we are all sinners, we all have our issues, but as Blackaby writes: “You are not acting in true friendship if you condone disobedience or even if you look the other way.” Amen brother! Now of course I will probably end up taking heat for this, but for the life of me, help me, explain why it is somehow commendable that we are supposed to be dancing in the streets because a guy who will probably never be on an NFL roster and sleeps with another guy who was drafted 249th. Have we really gotten this messed up as a society?

We have no business telling someone that their sin is just skippity do da and you just go ahead and do whatever you want. Sam is 24 years old, actually a little aged for a NFL draftee, but still, let’s face it a kid. Someone who has a long way to go in life. Where do we adults come off encouraging this guy in his lifestyle? “Jesus never gave relief to people who were under conviction… Jesus brought no comfort to him [Zaccheus] as he dealt with his sin (Luke 19: 1-10)… Neither did Jesus excuse disbelief. We never find Jesus saying, ‘Well, that’s all right. I know I’m asking you to believe a lot and that’s not easy.” This nonsense that Jesus was the Great Enabler, is just that nonsense! Did Jesus give love and compassion? Absolutely! He is always helping us in our sin, we are always sinning. But when our lifestyle is just basically “I don’t care what God wants or doesn’t want, I only care what I want and that’s what I going to do!” This bizarre idea that Jesus is supposed to tell someone “that’s ok, it’s not your fault, you’re a victim or subject to your genetics, blah, blah and whatever you need to do, well that’s just ok (Oprah style)” is just not faithful to Scripture and is just not what we want for a society. Haven’t we seen enough in a society that says I don’t care what’s good, bad or indifferent to anyone else, I’m going to do what I want to do and how it damages anyone else (including me) well too bad. These are the same people that are going to expect a government agency (read the taxpayer) and yes, even more bizarrely, the church to swoop in and pick up the pieces after the inevitable crash and burn.

“Don’t ever try to ease the discomfort of someone whom the Holy Spirit is making uncomfortable! Be careful not to communicate to your friends that you find their lack of faith acceptable … or being comfortable with sin.” That just makes so much sense, the Holy Spirit is pushing on someone to really look at their life as a whole, outside of Jesus, and their sin. Trying to get someone to really realize how far they are lost in their sin and some nice gooey “Christian” in true Oprah style tells them: “…don’t you worry baby, it will be alright, you’re not a bad person, don’t let people tell you, you do what makes you happy…” Ok, that might help their self-esteem, but it’s the same old idolatry. Our feeling good about ourself is more important than what the Holy Spirit is trying to do. “God, what I want, is more important than what you want!” How do you think that will play out in eternity?

Peter King of Sports Illustrated in his blog says that the Michael Sam selection is his pick as the highlight of the draft. He glorifies ESPN’s decision to run uninterrupted and unedited the saga up to and including when Sam kissed his, oh I don’t know, companion, SO,… Really??? So much for unbiased journalism. How on earth does this rate anymore then a shake of the head? If this is what this guy wants to do, if this is what the NFL wants to do, hey you’re grownups, you make your own decisions. But somehow lionizing this moment, trying to make it comparable to some major points in American history? Give me a break and as I wrote before, a 249th pick, someone who will probably never wear an NFL uniform in a regular season game, in a league that has numerous issues with players dealing with legal issues, questions involving gambling and who can forget the great “wardrobe malfunction”, drug abuse, a league that is often derisively referred to as the “National Felon’s League”. There’s no doubt in my mind that the majority of people in the NFL are people of integrity and good judgment. But more and more those in the NFL who just push for the buck, cheap publicity, a general disregard for common decency are dominating professional football. How do you think that will work out for football, for fans of a league that is becoming more debased?

When do those in the NFL who long for a sport of decency, integrity, sportsmanship, an inspiring product, start to push back against the element in the NFL that seems to want to drag the league down to the lowest common denominator? A league that disposes of a Christian who wins (Tim Tebow) and then two years later lionizes a 249th pick solely on the basis of the fact that he sleeps with another guy?

I will admit it, I will probably stay a Patriots fan, because, despite their own situation with former tight end Aaron Hernandez. To their credit, they immediately cut all ties, they did not play around with the situation. It’s an organization that is generally recognized to be high quality in many respects. But it’s teams and people like the Patriots who are going to have to start to restore the credibility of a league that is becoming more of a symbol of questionable virtue.

Yeah, all will be held accountable by God, even those of the great and powerful NFL. The NFL may be an American icon today, but what does that really matter when the final judgment comes. In the meantime, as Blackaby so aptly points out, we don’t do anyone a favor by patting them on the head, telling them not to worry about what God says and send them on their way.

Please do me one more favor, for all you amateur theologians who love to do the “judge not…” that’s not what it means, if you don’t know what you’re talking about, do yourself a favor, stop making yourself look ridiculous and either learn or just be honest and say, “We don’t care what God says, we are going to sin, our blood is on our hands.” Hey so be it. Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 4: 1-3: “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,…” This is Paul giving directions to a pastor that he is mentoring. Likewise directions to me a Christian pastor. I’m really tired of the world trying to make a virtue out of obvious sin, admit it, quit trying to justify it, be honest. The world is steeped in sin and trying to justify it with utter nonsense. Christian teachers, the Bible, tell me what is God’s will, that’s what I’m responsible for, that’s what I will teach, convince, rebuke and exhort. At the end of time I can stand before the throne, and yes I will have my own sins to deal with, but in the end I look forward to hearing those words from the Father “‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
That’s my responsibility, the Holy Spirit put me where I am, and I can only be responsible to Him and not to a world that loves to rationalize, justify, cavalierly flout was is virtuous and what is good. If the NFL and the media treated this as a note, fine and move on. But the hyperbole surrounding this has been absurd. Don’t tell the rest of the world that this is a “draft for the ages”, it’s a footnote, if you think it’s otherwise, you really do not live in the real world.

Who is God leading you to witness to?

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I find it fascinating that people don’t want to share their faith in Jesus because they feel that they might be “forcing” people to change their beliefs. They have no problem telling you how much better their baseball team is (we of course know it’s the Red Sox), why their make of car is better, why Boston/York/St Louis is better than anywhere else, etc, etc.

But when it comes to a truly life changing decision, a decision that effects a person for eternity, well… ya…. It doesn’t matter, just so long as you sincerely believe, yada, yada. Ya what a cop out. There is only one way “I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me.” [Jesus] (John 14:6). Say what you will, there is a God, He is the origin of all creation, He does sustain our lives, world, universe and He has revealed Himself in the Bible. You are probably a very nice person and done wonderful things, but sin still separates you from God. Believe what you want, but that’s the way it is. God has given us a way to come to Him, to be His adopted child. His revelation, the Bible and His Son Jesus who died as the payment of the penalty that we incur in our sin. Any other way, which are either all devised by man, or by Satan have you jumping through all the hoops and then maybe, just maybe, you might have some kind of eternal existence. I’m here to tell you, if that eternity isn’t in Jesus, it’s not going to be pleasant. We can do it God’s way, which is loving, caring, compassionate and what is best for your life now and for eternity.

What prompted this, which I should be doing on a regular basis anyway, is an article  in Leadership Journal (yup the new issue’s out!!). An interview by Daniel Darling with Nabeel Qureshi. Nabeel is a Christian, he was a devout Muslim who was led to Christ by a serious, devout and knowledgeable Christian he refers to as David.

“When I met my friend David, everything changed. He was able to defend his faith and as someone who was strong in his beliefs, I felt a bond with him and we became friends.” Qureshi was a very serious Muslim who based his faith on devoutly pursuing his faith. Learning, reasoning, and especially talking to Christians who really didn’t know what they were talking about and it seems, to me, that they really didn’t care. Now I don’t expect everyone to be an expert Christian evangelist/apologist. I really don’t. Having said that, they could be a lot more serious in their faith. Taking time on Sundays to attend Bible study, worship, listening to Christian radio, doing some extra reading. Not asking for a lot of heavy lifting, but taking a genuine interest in your faith, ya versus taking it for granted.

Now again, I know we are not always going to know everything we need to know, always what to say. I think I’m pretty experienced in this and I can’t say I’m always right on and right by the numbers. Having said that, is that a reason for just avoiding the fact that the Holy Spirit has put someone in front of you that He intends for you to witness to that person? Matthew 10:19 Jesus promises that we will be given the words we need when we are witnessing to others about Jesus. I’ve had that experience, it doesn’t come as a bolt of lightning, but you can often feel that the Holy Spirit is guiding you. Cut to the chase, we are called to be faithful, not always to be somehow “successful” in our terms, but to faithfully follow His leading. “The historical evidence he [David] provided for Jesus’ death and resurrection, as well as Jesus’ claim to be God, made all the difference. When I contrasted the evidence for Christianity against the evidence for Islam, I knew that intellectually there was no comparison.”

I think that Nabeel’s advice about reaching a Muslim for Christ is really on the nose and frankly can be our ordinary way to reach all others: “I think the Lord gave us the perfect instruction for evangelism in Matt 22: 37-39, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind … and love your neighbor as yourself.’ When you love the Muslims around you by treating them like family and helping those who need help, they will come to know you more and perhaps even wonder what makes you so loving.” How do too many people “love the Lord”? “how come me God?” “Gimme more God.” “I want, I want…” Maybe loving the Lord could be, going to worship, witnessing to others, serving His church, quit making excuses. “How come I’m the only one…”- you say? When you’re really not doing a whole lot.

Integrity in the workplace in faith in Christ

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Father Nkwasibwe raises a point which I think deserves a lot of consideration in terms of organizational management. “Only a leader who has undergone a personal path of conversion and lived with an interior attitude of conversion and humility can be an example of the effort to downgrade workplace religious bias, prejudice and discrimination and other sinful inequalities. Such a leader enjoys the moral courage of freedom, responsibility and participation in social, cultural and religious interchange and promotion of the common good.”

Ya, ya, I can hear the clenching from here. The contemporary wisdom goes something like this, you have to hire someone who is completely unbiased, unattached, uncommitted, just “un” everything. I have to wonder if that is someone you can really trust. One of the main reasons for this blog is to champion the concept of living one’s faith life out in the workplace. Now, I will grant you that many see their faith life as converting the heathen. And I’m certainly not saying that given the opportunity in the workplace that I wouldn’t witness to Christ. I have, but when I do/did, it was with integrity. I’m there to present Christ, to tell people what He’s done in my life. What the Lordship of Christ in my life means, and what eternal life means. Now to be truly faithful to that, my witness has to be one that is with integrity, doing my job in a way that glorifies Christ. Not getting into holy wars, not picking on people, not discriminating etc. Always remembering that part of living my life in Christ in the workplace is to do my job with integrity and not using it as a way to abuse my position in favor of those who agree with me. Is that easy? No.

On the flip side, that person who has no scruples in terms of their life regarding “God”, however they see that, that’s better? No, it just isn’t. This is a person who’s decided that they know best, they trust only in their own judgment, or the judgment of other people. That is the continued downfall of secularism. We continue to try and impose individual, unguided, uncritical, frankly mostly about how I can do things to enhance me, and then expect that person to make principled, unbiased judgments. That’s a ridiculous expectation. This person is, bottom line, all about him or her. If anything they will discriminate against people of faith, like the college professor who picks out Christian students and decides that for a variety of reasons, they just don’t have it, tries to bully them into denying their Christian convictions. Come on, are there more Ken Lay’s and Bernie Madoff’s in the business world, or more David Green’s (owner of Hobby Lobby)? Ya right, who would I trust more? Come on! Who could I expect to hold accountable and who would think that they are a law unto themselves?

I’m not saying that Christians are always the most humble or the most principled. But I can go to David Green and if he’s not acting according to Christian principles I can hold him accountable. Ken Lay, Bernie Madoff et al, the only thing they are accountable for is the bottom line, investor value anything else, they will do as they judge and that’s what will get the secular man or woman in trouble every time.

“Self leadership, which is an offshoot of conversion, is that leadership that spurs others through moral values and exemplary skilled practices because nemo dat quod non habet. …Latin … “nobody gives what he or she does not have’. No matter what, this cannot be bypassed if effectiveness and righteousness are to be realized… Undergoing a path of conversion involves sustaining on-going renewal and connotes persevering in holiness, true friendship and altruistic service. … a journey of discovery, spiritual progress or soul’s journey toward God…”

“…it is also when conversion occurs that the leader can develop courage to lead the workplace community to ascend from the disrepute to which unethical practices and religious rivalry and confrontations have drawn most business actions.”

A man of faith is going to be a lot more likely to step up and take the heat and trust God’s providence as compared to the just cowardly, infantile, pathetic actions of people like Lay, Madoff and Dennis Kozlowski of Tyco. Just squirrely little weenies. I know, not very charitable, but it is what it is. (Quick note, I had to Google Tyco. You know what the first reference was “tyco scandal”. Ya, just how you want to be remembered.)

Popular media likes to try to portray people of religion as bigots, narrow-minded, abusive. But the reality completely contradicts the popular fiction. I’d rather work for Hobby Lobby or Chick Fil A before I worked for Dennis Kozlowski.

Our group meets for discussion on Wednesday 10am, coffeehouse at the corner of  W King and Beaver Sts. Parking is behind the church 140 W King St, about a 50 yard walk from there. No charge, no committment, I will even buy your first cup of coffee. We are still in Gene Veith’s book, “God at Work”. See you then and God bless you.

 

Spiritual attack

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I suppose Good Friday isn’t a time to be whining, good things are happening, the Lord has been blessing us. But it’s hard to break this feeling of being under both spiritual attack and spiritual oppression.
In my heart I know that is a good thing, if you are truly being effective for the Kingdom, you certainly put a target on your back, you are going to attract Satan’s attention. In that sense I say bring it, if I’m going to be the one to suffer the slings and arrows, if I am taking the hits for Jesus, He tells us that we should rejoice, that it is commendable: “ESV Matthew 5:11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
People who are just going through the motions, trying to stay “safe”, not stepping out for Jesus or His church, they aren’t a threat to Satan, so he’s not going to cause them grief. Wouldn’t the strategy be more to keep people kind of fat and happy and isolated? You just stay there and go by the numbers and nothing happens to you, I’m just interested in the guy who is trying to bring the Kingdom of Christ into my world. This is Satan’s world, those who are Christians are in the world, but not of the world. Seems that for those who actually step out, they draw the fire, while everyone else hides behind their barricades.
Jesus certainly stepped out, Jesus certainly confronts the world and no matter how attacked I feel, I know that Jesus is going to be there to support me and to keep me going. Jesus promised us: “And behold, I am with you always even to the end of the age.” (Matt 28: 20) In the meantime I certainly covet your prayers, I continue to pray that I stay strong and faithful, trusting that if I am drawing Satan’s fire, then Jesus must be using me effectively and I’m staying out of His way as best I can. But pray that this oppressiveness will be turned from feeling as if I’m being pushed down and give me strength to rise up and push back hard in the strength of Jesus Christ. We remember the death and sacrifice of Jesus today, His paying for our sins on that cross. Good Friday is the second most important day on the Christian calendar. On this day, Jesus made full payment for our sins, lifted what separates us from the Father. Sunday, He rises from the dead, our sins have been paid for and now we are restored to eternal life in Christ, the life that the Father had always intended for us in our resurrection. This is a great time for family, but set some of that time to worship together, today and Sunday. In His peace.

The Dying Word

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First Saint Johns

April 9, 2014

This is from Concordia Publishiing House “Words of Life from the Cross” series

SERMON: THE DYING WORD (LUKE 23:46)

The sixth word is Jesus’ dying word, a word of committal, a word of trust. His dying words are faithful, full of trust in His Father, trusting that in His death His Father will receive Him in loving arms just as the father of the prodigal received his son with open and welcoming arms. Here again is the paradox of faith. Jesus had cried out in abandonment, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” and yet now He cries out in faith, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit!”
Isn’t that how it is with the life of faith? God seems so distant at times, especially those times of darkness and woe, those dark nights and days, and yet He stands ever near to embrace us in those strong, loving, fatherly arms. Jesus trusted His Father, and He did it on behalf of all of us. His trust is complete and unwavering. Though He dies, yet He trusts. Though He suffers, yet He trusts. Though the Father is silent and hidden, yet He trusts.
But take note of something—this dying word is not sighed or whispered. This is not a weak word of resignation by a man who is overcome by death. No. He shouts this word in a loud voice. He summons His strength and shouts it to the highest heavens. He wants the whole world to hear what He has to say. He is the Son of the Father, begotten and beloved from all eternity. He trusts His Father’s mandate that sent Him on this mission to the cross.
Jesus is not overcome by death. Rather, He overcomes death by dying. “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55). Jesus has taken the sting of death and the venom of the Law into His own flesh, shed His own blood, and now He cries out in victory and triumph as He commits His life to the Father who sent Him. This strong word of the cross cuts through your doubt and disbelief. Adam’s death is conquered by this Second Adam’s death. Adam hearkened to the doubting word of the devil and became a transgressor, plunging the world into the chaos of sin. But this Second Adam, the new head of redeemed humanity, holds true to His Father and will not waver even as He dies. His life is in the hands of the Father.
With His final breath, Jesus shows Himself to be the faithful Son. Where we have failed, He has succeeded. Where we have sinned, He has proven sinless. Where we doubt, He remains strong.
Being self-absorbed and self-oriented, the old Adam in us resists this surrender. It fights like crazy against the loving embrace of the Father, like a small child throwing a temper tantrum who will not be held. We want to be in control, we want to be in power. We resent any notion that we sit not in the driver’s seat, but in the passenger’s seat of our lives. Like so many drowning victims, we think we can swim to shore ourselves. We do not need a lifeguard; we even resist the attempts to save us. We want it all on our own terms.
You know how it is in your own life—the bargaining, the denial, the transactions—anything but letting go and leaving to God our Father to hold us in safety. Jesus does it. On the cross, He entrusts His life, His mission, His death, everything to His Father. “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.”
The words are from Psalm 31. The psalms are the hymnbook of the living and the dying. Jesus takes up the words of David on His lips, for they are His words, too, wrought by the Spirit of Christ in David.
In you, O LORD, do I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
in Your righteousness deliver me!
Incline Your ear to me;
rescue me speedily!
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me!
For You are my rock and my fortress;
and for Your name’s sake You lead me and guide me;
You take me out of the net they have hidden for me,
for You are my refuge.
Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.
David, surrounded by his enemies, commits his life into the hand of God. Jesus, the greater Son of David, hanging in the darkness with the burden of humanity’s sin hanging heavy upon Him, commits His life to His Father. In committing Himself into His Father’s hands, He entrusts us as well, gathering all into His death that we might be gathered to Him in our death.
In Luther’s day, people were quite intentional about writing down their last thoughts and confession. What you said at your death was what would be remembered about you. This is Jesus’ last word of His being humbled unto death in obedience to the Law. This is the last word of His work that began with His Baptism where His Father voiced His approval over His beloved Son. Now at the end of His mission, His work completed, the Scriptures fulfilled, the redemption of the world accomplished, He closes His eyes and breathes His last breath with a faithful, trusting word.
Remember these words when it comes time for your last words and make them your “now I lay me down to sleep” prayer. Father, into Your hands I commend my spirit. Say them each night, as the Small Catechism instructs, in case you should die before you wake. Hold the cross of Jesus before your closing eyes, and rest in peace and joy, knowing that death has been swallowed up in the victory of Jesus’ death.

For Your last triumphant cry, for Your faithful trust to the end, for Your final breath of the old creation, for Your entrusting Yourself and us to Your Father, we give You thanks and praise, most holy Jesus. Amen.

Please cllick on the following link for a audio recorded version of this sermon

 

 

Jesus married? No….

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The following is an article from the Huffington Post, which is not a credible source of much of anything, no less history, religion, philosophy. If you want inflammatory headlines, you definitely want this, and not credible journalism. At the very best I would describe the following as disingenuous, at best complete ignorance of any of the applicable scholarly subject. So read this and then I have my comments following:

“An ancient, business-card-sized papyrus fragment that appears to quote Jesus Christ discussing his wife is real, Harvard University announced Thursday. The fragment caused international uproar when it was revealed by a Harvard historian in September 2012, with prominent academics and the Vatican swiftly deeming it a forgery.

Harvard officials said scientists both within and outside the university extensively tested the papyrus and carbon ink of the badly aged fragment, dubbed the “Gospel of Jesus’ Wife.” The document, written in Coptic, a language of ancient Egyptian Christians, is made up of eight mostly legible dark lines on the front and six barely legible faded lines on the back. The handwriting and grammar were also examined over the last year and a half to confirm its authenticity. Scientists have concluded the fragment dates back to at least the sixth to ninth centuries, and possibly as far back as the fourth century.

The document was never meant to prove Jesus was married, Harvard Divinity School professor Karen L. King emphasized Thursday. Instead, she argued, it’s meant to highlight that some early Christians may have believed Jesus was married. The distinction is significant because debates over sexuality and marriage have dominated contemporary discussions about Christianity; the Catholic Church cites Jesus’ celibacy as one reason its priests must not have sex or marry.

“The main topic of the fragment is to affirm that women who are mothers and wives can be disciples of Jesus — a topic that was hotly debated in early Christianity as celibate virginity increasingly became highly valued,” King, whose specialties include Coptic literature, Gnosticism and women in the Bible, said in a statement Thursday. “This gospel fragment provides a reason to reconsider what we thought we knew by asking what the role claims of Jesus’ marital status played historically in early Christian controversies over marriage, celibacy, and family.”

The legible lines on the front of the artifact seem to form a broken conversation between Jesus and his disciples. The fourth line of the text says, “Jesus said to them, my wife.” Line 5 says “… she will be able to be my disciple,” while the line before the “wife” quote has Jesus saying “Mary is worthy of it” and line 7 says, “As for me, I dwell with her in order to …”

“The main topic of the fragment is to affirm that women who are mothers and wives can be disciples of Jesus…” First, of course women can be disciples of Jesus’. Any who are in Jesus should be His disciples. Who ever said they weren’t? You really have to reread this article with a critical eye.

Because this is an ancient document does not make it factual, the Bible is an ancient document, based on Bible copies going back to at least the 5th century (around the same time as this fragment) we know that the Bible we have today is very well documented. Why is this one fragment credible, and a document (the Bible) that can be traced back to the earliest times not credible?

The proponents of this are trying to say that the rap against this is a forgery. I haven’t read anyone that takes issue with whether it’s a forgery or not, the issue is whether it’s credible. Anyone could write something to be found hundreds of years later, the fact that it was discovered doesn’t make it fact. We are supposed to change all of history, theology because one scrap of paper was found??? Really!!! We have credible evidence of Scripture and writers dating back to the beginning, in straight succession to today. How does one unassociated scrap of paper change anything? During this period there were other writings that have shown to have no basis in fact. My fun example is always the “Gospel of Judas”. Help me out folks, the man was a traitor, he ran off and hung himself, and he still had time to write his gospel? Actually “gospel” means “good news” in Greek, so in Judas’ case it’s “not so gospel”. I don’t know? Fact is there are a lot of people out there with an agenda, with little scruples who will try to make a case out of anything they oppose. Also please note, this was written in Coptic. The language Jesus and His apostles spoke was Aramaic, essentially all their writings were in Greek, which was the common academic language of the time. Coptic is an Egyptian language, relatively speaking, israel and Egypt were a long ways a way. Why something written in a language that had nothing to do with Jesus’ contemporary life, at least four hundred years after Jesus, is being given any kind of credibility is, again, a mystery to me. A scrap of paper, in Coptic no less, doesn’t prove a thing, doesn’t change a thing. Someone back in that time wrote down their opinion, in a country very distant from Israel, and as far as I can tell would have no reason to have any first hand knowledge of Jesus’ life at all. Now Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, James, Jude, did and they don’t mention anything of the sort. Well yea, I guess we’re going back to fiction in the DaVinci Code. Hey Dan Brown said it was entirely fiction, yet we have people who worship his book/movie. Yea, don’t try to confuse me with the facts, just tell me what I want to believe.

Justified by the faith that God gives us

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Justified by the faith that God gives us.
March 23, 2014 First St Johns

We make our beginning in the Name of God the Father and of God the Son and of God the Holy Spirit and all those who know the faith that God gives us, said … AMEN!

So Paul starts right out of the chute for us: “Therefore since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through out Lord Jesus Christ.” (Rom 5:1) Faith one of the four onlys. I got a little red line in my word processor when I wrote “onlys” there is only one only, yet in Christ, there are four onlys. Remember back in confirmation, the four onlys that guide our faith, yea, I don’t know how you can have four superlatives, there’s good, better, best right? Best is the superlative, the best, there can only be one best, yet in the mystery of the Christian faith, we have four bests, four ultimates. Go figure? Sola Scriptura, sola gratia, sola Christi, sola fide. Only Scripture guides our life in Christ, only grace guides our life, only Christ guides our life and only faith/fide makes us righteous. Paul says we are “justified”, because of our faith in Christ we are justified, we are just. If we were brought to court, if we were accused, we would be found innocent, justified. Why? Because we are innocent? Ambrosiaster writes: “Faith gives us peace with God, not the law, for it reconciles us to God by taking away those sins which had made us God’s enemies. And because the Lord Jesus is the minister of this grace, it is through him that we have peace with God. Faith is greater than the law, because the law is our thing, whereas faith belongs to God. Furthermore, the law is concerned with our present life, whereas faith is concerned with eternal life. But whoever does not think this way about Christ, as he ought to, will not be able to obtain the rewards of faith, because he does not hold the truth of faith.”1 So, where do we get this faith? We have a lot of churches that teach that you are responsible for generating your own faith, if you aren’t stacking up, if you’re not healthy or pretty, or talented, or rich, it’s because you lack faith, they teach that God wants us to be happy, healthy, wealthy, pretty, talented, but if we can’t crank up our faith ability, well then it’s our fault and if we don’t make it in these areas it’s a sign that our faith is lacking. Can we, being sinner, somehow miraculously generate our own faith? By grace “sola gratia”, we are given the faith that we need through Jesus. God’s grace gives us the free gift of faith, nothing we can do can give us faith, or help us to increase our faith. We pray, we journal, we attend worship and receive absolution and the Body and Blood of Jesus, we study scripture and through these God gives us faith, God gives us what we need, when we need it. We can reject it, we can decide it’s not fast enough and far enough, like Israel in our Exodus reading. They decided, they wanted what they wanted now! It’s tough to be in the desert, no water in sight, wondering when you’re going to get your next glass of water. We’re all guilty of that, I’ve decided that this is what I need and I need it now. The Hebrew word hsn means to test, as the “Keyword Study Bible” points out: “the Lord has the right to test the faithfulness of His people, Abraham, Moses, David the people complaining to the leaders or the leaders complaining to God or both. And also the sense that God can test our faithfulness.”2 You probably saw the story in the last couple of weeks of the 18 year old daughter who sued her parents, because she felt she was entitled to support even though she was technically an adult. She picked up and left her home, but still expected her parents to foot the bill. The judge in the case according to the New York Post even “blasts her for gross disrespect”. Pretty much every article I saw about her described her as a spoiled brat. That is how the Israelites come off in our reading. God has miraculously delivered them from their grinding slavery in Egypt, he has provided them with food every day in the desert, He has provided them with clothing that for forty years will not break down, He has provided them with water and at the right time would have provided them with the water they needed, but because they were acting like spoiled brats and threatening to stone Moses, God gave in and gave them what they wanted. But they failed the test, God had kept them alive and promised to continue to do so, but they decided they were too important, God was continuing to give them faith, but they rejected it, got what they wanted, but failed. The Hebrew word ,byrI means to quarrel but has the same sense as the spoiled woman, that Israel was somehow entitled to plead their case in court against God, that they felt they were unfairly treated and “deserved” what they wanted.
If God is giving us our faith, we should know that God is faithful and therefore we really don’t have a right to test His faithfulness. The faith that He gives us is intended to be sufficient, when we presume to be above testing, we make an idol of ourselves, we decide that we are above that, too important for testing. Instead of looking for what God is doing in your life through this test, just like taking a history test to show how much you’ve learned in school, when we are tested we look for the lesson, the advancement in our life and grow in our relationship with God, in our ability to be a good disciple a disciple is a student, but he/she is also a teacher. We have to learn in order to be able to teach those who God gives us to disciple. What better way for someone to learn, then by you being able to say, this is how God taught me faithfulness, how God put me into a situation that tested my faith, this is what I learned, how I learned to apply the lesson and now I’m teaching you because of what I learned through God’s testing. Because at some point, that person that you are discipling is going to come into his/her own testing, and the hope is that they will remember what you taught them, see how God is working in their life and we pray their attitude will be, “ok God, I can see this is testing, help me to see what this is about and help me Lord to, essentially, pass this test.” Your disciple learns through your teaching, through the testing that God gave them and they grow as disciples and have something to pass on to those that they disciple. The cycle of life in the Christian life.
We see great examples of faith and we admire those who have lived a life of great faithfulness, St Patrick in last weeks sermon showed great faith in going back to dark, dangerous Ireland. Mother Theresa in the dark streets of Calcutta, St Paul going from city to city preaching a man who is God, who was crucified, and then resurrected. The suffering and testing these people were put through and to what end? None of them really knew in their lifetime, but years later we still remember and admire them, because they did not resist the faith that God gave them.
Chuck Swindoll writes about Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn during his eight years in the Russian Gulag Archipelago: “…his parents died and his wife divorced him. Upon his release from prison he was dying of a cancer that was growing in him so rapidly that he could feel the difference in a span of twelve hours. It was at that point that he abandoned himself to God, in three lines of the incredible prayer that came in that dark hour: ‘Oh God, how easy it is for me to believe in You. You created a path for me through the despair … O God, You have used me and where You cannot use me, You have appointed others. Thank You.’” Do you want to be remembered as a spoiled brat? That it’s all about you and what God wants, what He is trying to do in your life doesn’t matter? Swindoll tells about a monument at Saratoga, the turning point battle in the American Revolution. The statue has four niches in it, one for each American general who participated in this vital battle, “the first stands Horatio Gates; in the second, Philip John Schuyler; and in the third, Daniel Morgan. But the niche on the fourth side is strangely vacant…” Anyone care to guess who should have been in that niche? … Benedict Arnold! “’The empty niche in that monument shall ever stand for fallen manhood, power prostituted, for genius soiled, for faithlessness to a sacred trust.’”3 We remember people like Arnold with contempt, we spit on the name when it’s mentioned. We remember the Israelites who so shamelessly rejected God’s faith and threatened His prophet and teach about them with contempt. We remember, someone like the Samaritan woman in our reading today and while she questioned Jesus, tested Him, she is remembered by us for her simple faith, she was the first woman evangelist. After she was given the faith to understand who Jesus is. She said to Jesus: “I know that Messiah is coming… and Jesus said to her ‘I who speak to you am he.” She rushed back to her village to tell everyone that Messiah was here and Jesus spent two days, with hated Samaritans and because of that many more were given the faith to believe “because of his word.” Do we want to live in faithfulness, to know true life in Christ, to daily remember our baptism in Him and His sacrifice for us and to trust in the hope and promises of our baptism? Or do we want to be remembered as the spoiled brat who sued her parents?
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Shalom and Amin.

God’s will, even in the little things.

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We had a great “Coffee Break Bible Study” today, (you could have too, you are all invited 10am Wednesdays Green Bean Coffee Co, corner of W King and Beaver Sts, downtown York, Pa.). Part of the discussion was on liturgical worship, but we also made time on the Gene Veith book that we’ve been studying. I had to share some of his book today.

“…The point here is not to identify vocations for people who think they do not have one, but to emphasize that our Christian calling is to be played out in whatever our daily life consists of.” (Gene Veith God at Work pp 58-59)

Cannot emphasize this enough, we compartmentalize our life and if it doesn’t “have to do with religion”, then we leave God out of the equation. However, God is who put you there (“For such a time as this” – Esther 4:14), He has you there at that time and place for a reason. Discern His will, be open to what the other person is doing and what God is moving you to do.

“If a person is married, that is his or her calling. Thinking I should never have married that person or I have no vocation for marriage is no excuse for divorce or abandonment. “If anyone lives in marriage, in a certain way of life, he has his vocation”, wrote Luther. “When this is interfered with – by Satan, or neighbors, or family, or even by one’s own weakness of mind – it ought not to yield or to be broken in spirit. Rather if any difficulty impedes, let one call on the Lord … For it is sure that here, in fidelity to vocation, God has insisted on hope and trust in his help” (Exposition of Psalm 127; quoted in Wingren, 195) Yea, especially in this case, we let friends (who way too often just tell us what we want to hear), or family with that whole history etc going on, or Satan who will twist and try to manipulate any way he can. He doesn’t care how, so long as it separates you from Jesus and messes up your life.

We are put there for a reason, just because it’s not what we like, doesn’t make us happy or blah, blah whatever excuse we have, does not mean that God did not intend for us to deal with this. We grow when we deal with the things in our life, marriage, work, worship etc. Running away is not growing, it’s immaturity. When we deal with the issues at home, at work, at church, we have taken a test and passed, not saying always well, but we grow, mature. Hopefully all involved grow and mature and see God’s hand at work. But the world’s idea of “well if it’s uncomfortable, unhappy, then it must be wrong…” no, it means that God has you there to confront, deal with and grow in.

“We can do nothing about the past. The future is wholly in God’s hand. Now is what we have. The future-oriented obsession of today’s culture pushes our attention and our good works to the future, to what we are going to do later. We must “live in the hour that has come,” says Wingren. “That is the same as living in faith, receptive to God, who is present now and has something he will do now ‘(214)'”

“…Whatever we face in the often humdrum present – washing the dishes, buying groceries, going to work, driving the kids somewhere… this is the realm into which we have been called and into which our faith bears fruit in love..”

What you are doing now is important, God has you there for a reason, so do it well, oh yeah sure, sometimes we aren’t in the right place, doing the right things and we know perfectly well we’re not. But I’ve certainly had the experience, something that doesn’t seem all that important and yet, the person I’m interacting with sees it as being very important. Even if that person doesn’t express it, I’ve had the feeling, walking away, that wow, I’m glad I stopped for that, it didn’t seem important at the time, now I can really see God’s hand in this.

Be open to what God is doing, it isn’t always a big splash for you, but it might be for someone else. Lots of things we think are boring and unimportant, God is using to move us somewhere or do something in our life. We are often too quick to chose  otherwise and then miss what’s supposed to be happening. Putting our will over God’s will, which is never a smart idea.

I could go on, yea I know, when don’t I? But this would be a good topic for next Wednesday. As I said 10am, the Green Bean Coffee Co, corner of W King and Beaver Sts, downtown York, Pa. Parking in the little lot behind the church. Everyone is welcome no charge, obligation etc, I will even buy your first cup of coffee.

God builds leaders and gives them gifts for leadership

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Thought I would refer back to Fr Frederick Nkwasibwe’s book Business Courage as much as being a Christian is supposed to be about spiritual growth and maturity, yes I agree that there are interpersonal relationship benefits. (p 224) “…spirituality is considered a system of developing the inner life or spirit of the leaders and workers in order to receive and awaken important gifts. Moxley (2000), in his book Leadership and Spirit, makes a list of such gifts. They include becoming more centered internally and better connected relationally, getting a new kind of self-confidence, having a sharper understanding and acceptance of our personal power, becoming better able to engage in the activity of leadership and fostering a genuine partnership in relationships (p 151). For them, spiritual development is correlated to human development through developing interior life.”

Certainly it makes sense as we grow in the image of the Lord we grow in our relationships. Certainly Jesus is an example of how we should relate to others and in different situations. For those who needed confronting, He did not have a problem confronting. For those who needed compassion, He gave compassion. Not in a way that was enabling, but in a way to let people know that He knew we are weak vessels, we need compassion, but we also need encouragement. We need to understand that we need to grow, have better skills, be better listeners, empathetic, encouraging, on and on, just as Jesus was. He encouraged, but He also made it clear that He expected better. The more we become more like Him the better we relate to others.

I have had to be assertive, I’ve had to take the lead, confront problems. Can’t say I’ve always enjoyed it or looked forward to it. There were plenty of times when I wished I could have avoided confrontation and there were times when I just did. I can look you in the eye though and say that the more I’ve grown in Christ, the more I’ve felt the need to confront, especially when it was in Christ, but also to do what was right and to step up for the weak, the disadvantaged, the bullied. But always as a witness for Christ, always pointing people to Him through our better skills and in fact relying on Him to give us the words to speak. I’ve had plenty of times when I wondered “where did those words come from”. The Holy Spirit works through us at the workplace as much as anywhere else in our life. Hey we normally spend more time at work then anywhere else in our life, why would God leave that part of our life out and what we need to function in that part of our life unequipped? God has certainly developed leaders and He gave them the necessary gifts for leadership.

Let’s discuss more and/or Dr Gene Veith’s book that we’ve been talking about for awhile. Wednesday 10am Green Bean Coffee Co at the corner of W King and Beaver Sts, park behind the church.

Will you fight?

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Really interesting  question. Even if you will fight, do you really know how. The question is prompted by Kelly McCann writing in BlackBelt Magazine (Oct/Nov 2013 pp 28-29). Kelly is a former Marine officer and martial arts expert. He raises a great question he’s perfectly capable of fighting and he, undoubtedly, would do it ably.
I know, this isn’t a subject that most people want to answer and certainly not confront. I’m not asking this question to be somehow  provocative, maybe I am asking you to take a hard look at yourself and maybe think about your courage, integrity and faithfulness. Ya, I know, not exactly polite, hey I’m a pastor, I’m not a politically correct pastor, and frankly I’m not always looking to be popular. One of the pastor’s creeds is “to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable”, if I’m not challenging you, if I’m not pushing you to question and grow, especially in terms of being a Christian, then really I’m not doing my job. This isn’t to get up in your grill, it is intended to confront yourself.

I have had to take on fights, some of them actually physical, some of them emotional but it felt as traumatic as physical (with some of them frankly I would have preferred getting punched in the head. There are times when I’ve felt prepared for a fight, but as Vince Lombardi (and maybe General George Patton) once said, “fatigue makes cowards of us all”. Normally I would have “picked up the gauntlet, but weighing the importance of the issue to my physical condition, I have decided to punt on occasion and walk away. As someone who has been trained to fight, and instruct others, one of the first things I will tell people and I’ve heard this from professionals, such as MMA combatants, in a physical confrontation, if you have a way to escape, do it. There’s a lot of reasons why, but I want to talk about the times that are important and what is “important”. You might have to actually wade into physical danger, you might be the difference between death of serious injury, what would you do. Coast Guard training taught me, you’re always thinking about your options, you’re always considering what is going around you, what to take advantage of and what to avoid.

As a pastor, my main concern is whether you will stand and fight for what is ultimately important. Down through history Christians have confronted the choice of denying Christ or standing up for what is the best, what is eternal, what really matters. A very discomforting fact for most Christians is that there were more martyrs for Christ in the 20th century then in the first 19 centuries of Christendom, combined. Granted for most Americans that is not really an imminent threat, but the challenge to most Americans is ostracism, marginalization, disdain, ridicule. For most of us who are rather obsessed with our dignity and being respected, these are tough obstacles, as I said, we might prefer a good smack in the head. On the upside and much more importantly is the reassurance Jesus gives us when we do stand up for what is right, especially when we, as Christians, stand up for Him: ESV Matthew 5:11- 12 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” People who really matter, have gone through so much more, then you probably ever have or will have.

Captain McCann writes: “The biggest compliment I can give anyone is “He’ll fight” or “She’ll fight”. It may sound trite or one-dimensional, but it’s far from that. People too often say about others, “Of course they’d fight.” But it’s been my experience that a lot of people won’t fight. They may train but still won’t when attacked. My point is that knowing 1,000 techniques doesn’t replace the need to simply fight.” Many times a Christian will run away from a fight because they don’t feel prepared, or that the other person knows more, or frankly they just don’t have the faith. Jesus told us: “ESV Luke 12:11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” (Luke 12:11-12 ESV). I’ve had that experience, I genuinely felt that I was given the words. More then one occasion I found out, through the “discussion”, that the person really didn’t know what they were talking about. Perhaps the Holy Spirit used that “discussion” to convict the person. I didn’t have anyone come to Christ with what I said. But we never know how the Holy Spirit uses our words and actions. I’d love to be that person’s pastor, but if they come to Christ and go to another church because of the words the Holy Spirit gave me, well the ultimate outcome for anyone is to be led by God to salvation. I have never really had a negative experience jumping into the “fight”, witnessing for Christ. If anything I would say that much like taking on a physical challenge, the feeling was of some degree of exhilaration. I truly felt that I had been used by the Holy Spirit.

So why don’t we “fight”? Captain McCann notes: “Fighting can be scary because of the consequences: there’s pain involved, and you can be hurt or killed. But if you’ve inured yourself to those things through intense training and visualization, the act of fighting becomes much easier.” I’ve gotten some of my best whacks playing basketball, ironically. After I realized I survived the elbow to my face and to the top of my head, again there was an exhilaration, and of course just as importantly a great war story. I was involved in a case where the air temp was zero and the wind chill was 70 below. Didn’t enjoy it at the time, but it’s a great story now. Those “stories” that I get to share, ok, ya, there is more than element of bragadacio, which is not really where you want to be. But it’s also for the benefit of those listening. “Wow, I can fight, I can survive and not only that, but God will give me that exhilaration, that knowledge of knowing that I have served the Kingdom. That I may have been used by God for Him to lead someone else to salvation in our Lord Jesus.”

There is simply nothing better, being a servant of the Kingdom, we even have the promise of building treasure in heaven. (2 Corinthians 4: 6-7) Not just through our giving, but also serving “to give light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

What about preparation? In physical fighting? Yes, of course, as much as possible, but there could be times when you have to confront and you don’t feel prepared. You’re never going to be be prepared as well as you could be, you just may have to confront anyway. In physical confrontations you may have to back off, that’s a whole separate discussion, but in terms of Christ? “For such a time as this”, to quote Esther. She probably wasn’t as prepared as she could be, but in faith she went before the king. Do not doubt that the Holy Spirit has you in this time and place for a reason, He will guide you as Jesus promised. He will also guide your reaction, sometimes you do have to push back, sometimes you do have to be compassionate, sometimes you will have to challenge, lots of times you won’t be sufficiently preparedImage. We see Jesus in all these types of situations, He is faithful and will lead you where He wants you. Yes, it would be nice to be all correct and polite, but sometimes that’s not what the situations demands. If He’s leading you in a way He’s doing it for His purpose and glory, and He calls us to be faithful. So sure, seek out training, not just for yourself, but for you to train others, be a good disciple

So, will you fight? Is the Holy Spirit leading? You don’t have to look for fights, you don’t have to be pugnacious, usually, you don’t have to be obnoxious, but you do have to be faithful and sometimes being faithful means stepping up to the fight. To quote Nike, just do it.