Tag Archives: God’s sovereignty

Angry God Leviticus 18-20

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One of the main shots at God is that the Old Testament God is so cruel. How could Yahweh send His people into Canaan, the Promised Land and tell them to kill the people who were already there?

The answer is, yes, in Scripture, But hey, we don’t want to read through those first five books. Yea, Genesis, Exodus (thanks to Cecil B DeMille) Exodus is OK, there’s entertainment value there! But Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy? Boring. Telling us all those thing we can’t do, or we have to do.

Despite the perception, there is interesting history in those books and, come on, if God’s telling us something, it’s not  “boring”! But hey, we want to be entertained, “ESV 2 Timothy 4:3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,” (BibleWorks)

The attitude is; If I have to read the bible then at least amuse me, you like how you entertain me at church, referring of course to Sunday morning service, what’s supposed to be worship. But the rest of the world sees as “amuse me”.

God intended His people, the Jews, to be His people, a nation of priests. They were supposed to be dedicated to Him, His chosen people and not be influenced by the people who were in Canaan, who were, according to God “detestable” (Lev 20:23).

As it happened despite all His attempts, His people did not follow His directions (of course none of us do, we all being sinners). The Israelites did leave Canaanites alive because it was to their advantage to keep them alive. But they paid the price.

Through its history, Israel turned to these evil ‘gods’, begin to ignore Yahweh, Yahweh would send an enemy as punishment for Israel turning from Yahweh, they would be conquered, suffer, regret what they did to be punished, and the fact they were ruled by an evil people. They would repent, God would restore Israel, things would go well for awhile and then rinse, repeat. From their escape from Egypt until the time that the Rome destroyed the temple, about 2,000 years. Now we can wag our finger but the same thing happens to us. We are certainly becoming more and more evil as a society, more and more it’s about me and very little about God.

You can’t blame God for not telling us. The Books of the Law, the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) certainly give us straight forward ground rules, but hey, it’s about us, remember?

Yahweh lists out some of the more heinous things that we don’t do. Leviticus 18-20 are pretty specific, if not a little graphic (have your attention now?): “ESV Leviticus 18:1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the LORD your God. 3 You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. 4 You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God. 5 You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.” (English Standard Version, BibleWorks)

Right out of the gate, before they’re allowed into the Promised Land, Yahweh is making it very clear, He is not leading them to Canaan to be Canaanites. He has lead them there to be His Chosen People and not to get swept up in the Canaanites sick, twisted depravity. “God detailed the sexual practices He abhors, in order that the Israelites might live before Him in purity, unlike the Egyptians and Canaanites. Because of their sexual practices, Canaan, the land promised to the Israelites, is defiled and their people will soon be ‘vomited out’ of the land as God leads the Israelites in (v 25).” (Lutheran Study Bible p 191)

This is where God lists out the prohibitions against incest, and yea, does go into detail. Let’s face it, if we’re not explicitly told, someone’s going to look for the loophole and decide that somehow he can’t be saddled with the same woman or be denied his “fun”. When I say the laws against incest, every, heterosexual, possibility. Why did God describe every possible situation? Because the Canaanites were doing every possible incestuous situation. Nice, huh? Next, how about a threesome? “ESV Leviticus 18:17 You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, and you shall not take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are relatives; it is depravity.” Sweet, huh, again, the Canaanites were doing it. How about this: “ESV Leviticus 18:18 And you shall not take a woman as a rival wife to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister is still alive.” Nice people, huh? “OK, babe, think I’m going to set up a little competition, let’s see between you and her who can … oh, perform better?” But these are the people that so many “nice” people are outraged at God for killing them off.
Let’s cut away from sex awhile: “ESV Leviticus 18:21 You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.” It was a regular practice of these nice Canaanite people to sacrifice their first born son to Molech.

MolechSacrificeAltar

The baby would be put in the idol’s arms which were pitched so that the baby would roll down into the furnace in the idol. Yea, nice people. Oh yeah, not specifically delineated, but let’s not forget temple prostitution. The practice where the men, married or not, would have sex with temple “priestesses”, like the baby sacrifice, all so that Molech would bless them with rain, fertility both in terms of crops, animals and babies. Yeah, nice people, they’d make great neighbors, huh? Yahweh restates His position: “ESV Leviticus 20:2 “Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones.” Not pulling any punches there are we? But really how could anyone roll their baby son into a furnace? And yet those poor put-upon people were.

Here’s the big one: “ESV Leviticus 18:22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” Hey God’s words, not mine. And again: “ESV Leviticus 20:13 If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.” One has to think if God restates it, He must really mean it.
This next one is classic: “ESV Leviticus 18:23 And you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is perversion.” Yup, those nice Canaanites. And just to make sure we know what we’re talking about: “ESV Leviticus 18:24 “Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, ESV Leviticus 18:25 and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.” The Canaanites did all these things and now, God is telling you, do not do them and make sure there are none left in the Promised Land who have been a part of this culture and will be left to corrupt you. You may not like it, of course there will those who will think that this is all so “unfair”, but that’s too bad. It’s not your world, God created it, it is His, and if He will no longer tolerate such decadence then it’s His call. Like it or not He can do what He wants to. Whether you think it’s fair or not, matters not a whit and I think it’s kind of bizarre that your opinion really carries any weight in this to begin with.
Why do Christians have a problem with all the things these Canaanites did? “ESV Leviticus 18:26 But you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you ESV Leviticus 18:27 (for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean), ESV Leviticus 18:28 lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.”

Yea, Christians will be taken and protected by the Father, we have that hope and promise, in Jesus it’s a done deal. But for those who have to tell everyone how unfair it is, how we should be “free”, everyone do their own thing. It’s just not going to be that way and we don’t want to see those we love and care for be swept away. You can live in any delusion you like, but that’s not going to change who God is, what He has done, and what He will do. Whether you think it’s compassionate or not, it is compassionate. Just as you might like taking the medicine to cure you, let your boss tell you what to do, the reality is, that God has said, He has shown that He has meant it and for those who do have the truth, we do have a responsibility to be compassionate and that compassion is shown in how we tell the truth about Christ.

Here’s another one: “ESV Leviticus 19:9 “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. ESV Leviticus 19:10 And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.” What this means is that the Canaanites did not perform acts of charity. Israel was told in this verse, that the least you can do is not pick up everything when you harvest crops and leave it for those who don’t have anything else. Yea those nice picked on Canaanites wouldn’t even leave a little food for those who were genuinely starving. Needless to say they didn’t do anything else to provide for the poor, it was all about them and what made them happy, hmmm, sound familiar?

Yahweh lists out pretty much the Ten Commandments, meaning? Yes, the Canaanites violated them all, lying, stealing, cheating ya, regular practice.

How about this? “ESV Leviticus 19:13 “You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.” People would fail to pay those who performed work for them. They would also not pay them at the end of the day. In this society, there was no refrigeration, it was hot, dirty. When you received your pay at the end of every day, you went out, bought food and ate. If you didn’t have any money, after an entire day of working, you went to bed hungry. But those nice Canaanites, would literally take the bread right of their brother’s mouths after they did a whole day’s worth of work for them. If they couldn’t pay them, why would they hire them at the beginning of the day?

How about government corruption? “ESV Leviticus 19:15 “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.” If you were poor, you got no justice, the highest bidder got their way. Public Defenders? Haaaaa! Ya right!

Verse 19:20, own a slave woman? Canaanite men could do whatever they wanted to do with them. Israelite men? No way! Slaves in general and women slaves in particular, had to be treated humanely. Nice people, huh? All you high-minded people who think that God was so unfair having them wiped out.

“ESV Leviticus 19:29 “Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of depravity.” Prostitute your daughter? Hey, ya gotta do, what ya gotta do.

“ESV Leviticus 19:31 “Do not turn to mediums or wizards; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God.” Ya, I know, today, Ghost Hunters, palm readers, astrologers etc. What’s the harm? God said stay away from it, and I have no doubt there is serious harm involved. In this post-modern era we are seeing more messing with the demonic, and you would have to be clueless to claim otherwise. Yahweh restates His position on mediums and wizards on Lev 20: 6. And in verse 27 adds that a medium or wizard should be put to death.

“ESV Leviticus 19:36 You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” These were measurements used in commerce, in this context. They were ripping each other off in the marketplace, ya how nice.

“ESV Leviticus 20:9 For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him.” Ya, I know, not a big deal in our highly enlightened contemporary world.

Just to make sure there’s no misunderstanding Yahweh restates His opinion of the Canaanites: “ESV Leviticus 20:23 And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them.” Having God detest you is not where you want to be. And He tells Israel: “ESV Leviticus 20:26 You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.”
You can keep living in your state of denial and think it’s all about you and not about God, but in the end God will make the calls. For those who’ve played their whole lives, will be called to account and there will “weeping and gnashing of teeth”, Jesus’s words, six different times in Matthew. For those who are holy to the Father in Jesus, there is salvation, there is the resurrection. God doesn’t tolerate the absolutely detestable life-style of the Canaanites and neither should you. But that is exactly where we are headed to as a culture, frankly we’re pretty much there. You really expect a completely just, completely holy, completely pure and all- powerful God to just sit back? That’s just not reality.

If you can! Really? Bring it! Mark 9 First Saint Johns September 13, 2015

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[To hear the audio version of this sermon click on the above link]

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 that Jesus can said … AMEN!

We often read Scripture in sort of bland/vanilla terms. In today’s Gospel reading we have a father whose son has been tormented, tortured, used, abused, just completely beaten down. No doubt the father is absolutely beside himself with fear and, complete hopelessness. My mother has had issues with epilepsy. The symptoms have been under control for many years, but I remember as a child that she had severe seizures. You can imagine as a child these episodes were very distressing for me and certainly very upsetting experience for my mother. There was only so much I could do as a child. But in this pericope I’m sure the father felt severe dejection. Dads are supposed to take control, fix things and you can imagine how helpless and hopeless the father felt. My mother’s symptoms were serious, but the description that we see of the son’s symptoms were even more serious. Some were classical symptoms of seizures, but there were far more serious issues with the son. He was being literally picked up and thrown down, I played football in my youth, tight end, basketball, basic military training and a little martial arts, I know full well how it feels for someone to put me to the ground. But we were usually fairly equal and I often had padding and was conditioned for it, it hurt, but it wasn’t continuous, or someone trying to seriously injure or kill me. I don’t think they were. The Greek word used to describe the son is paidi,on which means not just a child, but a young child. We’d probably guess no more than ten/eleven years old. So this probably physically small child is literally getting bounced off the walls and the demon even tries to throw him into the fire to burn him or into the water to drown him. In addition to being mute. This little boy was being treated hellaciously and dad was constantly a witness to this, no doubt trying to wrestle his son away from this supernatural power, do doubt failing most of the time and probably being hurt himself in the process. We can imagine the pain the child is going through, quite possibly to the extent of broken bones, stitches, maybe even more serious and the parents trying to protect and restore to health.

We should certainly empathize with the father, he was in a very difficult situation, which he says had been going on since the boy was a child, the Greek isn’t specific here, but perhaps since he was a toddler. Either way we would have to suppose that it had been going on for probably years. So we can certainly understand that the father is at his wits end. Jesus has just come down from the Transfiguration, this momentous event that we celebrate every year. It is coming down to the end of Jesus’ incarnational ministry, He is focused on the Cross, so perhaps in a way He is a little distracted, but also affirmed and glorified by God the Father. The boy’s father seems to know who Jesus is, He tells Jesus straight out that he has brought his son to Him for healing. So certainly the father is aware of what Jesus has done. According to Mark, Jesus has taught new teachings, that only God could introduce. Jesus and God the Father have made it clear who Jesus is. Mark has recounted how Jesus has freed others from Satan and his demons. Jesus has calmed the storm, He has raised the dead, healed many, fed over 5,000, walked on the water, healed the lepers, given faith to many, forgiven the sins of many, healed blind and deaf men, Peter has confessed who Jesus is and now this father brings his son and says: “But if you can do anything and have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus must have been a little put out and his response seems to indicate a little irritation: “If you can!” Jesus’ isn’t asking a question, He’s making what seems to be an incredulous declaration. In the Driskell translation I’m seeing Jesus saying: “Really? If I can! I know that you are weary and desperate and have gone through a terrible situation, but obviously you’ve heard all the other things. You couldn’t come to me and say; ‘I know you can heal my son who has gone through so much affliction, You have given me the faith I need to bring my son to You and I am trusting that according to Your will do what is necessary relating to my son.” And certainly the father does respond, that he does have faith, he did bring his son, “but please help me to have and keep faith in You and in Your will.” But let’s face it, too often we do put limits on what God can do in our lives. We need to remember that it is always according to His will.

Does faith mean that God is always going to act according to our will, that He is always going to heal, or that He is going to provide for us according to our agenda? Faith is trusting in His will, faith is looking for what His plan is according to what is happening. A Wisconsin fishing guide points out: “The only thing that casts doubt on the miracles of Jesus is that they were all witnessed by fishermen.”[1] That’s not true. We have God’s inspired Word in the Gospel, He inspired men to write about the miracles that Jesus did and we know through our faith that Jesus continues to heal, not always the body, but for those He leads He heals the soul and gives us the faith we need to trust and be led by Him, to have the hope and promise that only He gives us. Sure our human weakness gets in the way. When that happens let’s look back at the beleaguered father’s example and pray: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.” St Augustine observes: “If one can pray so that one may cast out another demon, how much more should one pray that one’s own demons be cast out.”[2] Jesus told His disciples they needed to pray to cast out the demon afflicting this boy, certainly He is telling us, His disciples, to pray, in faith, that He will cast out the demons that afflict ourselves and always to pray for healing for others. Jesus can! He died to save us to everlasting salvation, He died to save us who are sinners and sin in our own will and who are led to sin by evil beings. He can and does save us and heal us, through His grace, His people who He does give faith to believe and to trust in His will.

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

[1] Rowell and Steffen   “Humor for Preaching and Teaching” p 57

[2] Simonetti, Manlio  quoting St Augustine “Ancient Christian Commentary NT 1b” p 59

The “S” Word Ephesians 5 Mark 7 First St Johns Church Aug 23, 2015

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[For the audio version, please click above link]

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 those who hear and respect God’s Word and not man’s said … AMEN!

God’s plan is just so perfect, it’s a circular sort of situation, that doesn’t mean, as always, that we get what we want all the time, we seem to not understand that relationship is not “hey you jump through hoops for me and then maybe I will love you”. This is what we have in society today and why there is this widespread and deep unhappiness and even resentment. We all submit to Jesus. Submit to your husband, because he is the one that is called to love his wife and not just our squishy kind of love, but the same love Jesus had for the church! Jesus died for the love of His church, men are called to love their wives, agape love, to the point of sacrificing themselves. If your husband will do that for you, doesn’t that suggest respect and submission to him?

Oh baby, anyone preaching on Ephesians 5: 21-33 can just feel the ice cracking around his feet. The “S” word! OHHHHH, no one likes to “S”, S being of course “submit, submission”. Oh no! In today’s world, everyone is an expert, everyone knows it all, we are the most equalitarian society in the history of the earth. Apparently if you are born an American, you are an immediate expert on everything and anything. More and more I’m beginning to see that attitude rather cynically. At my age, you’d think that I would have become pretty much irreparably cynical and yet, more and more I find myself realizing that when I submit to God as His minister, to His people, He does work it out according to His will. Romans 8:28 does seem to get a workout, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Isn’t this part of what the Christian life is all about?

When we say “for those who love God”, doesn’t loving someone mean submitting to Him in order for the good of all concerned? Submission doesn’t mean, just throwing in the towel and mindlessly following. It does mean, at some point you just have to trust that the person.

Certainly the military and corporate environments are a lesson in those areas. There are plenty of times where you’re not sure about something that has to be done, you want to fuss over it a little more, but at some point it’s obvious you have to do what you’re entrusted to do, do it to the best of your ability, so that there will be success. If this is what you’re led to do, it may not be perfect, but it becomes your responsibility to make it as perfect as it can be.

Professor Jeffrey Oschwald observes the shift from chapter 6 to chapter 7. People are running to Jesus, the people: “ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. ESV Mark 6:56 And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.” Oh yeah, they wanted Jesus then. Last week’s sermon after Jesus fed thousands and then said OK, now that you have a full stomach, let’s talk real stuff, you have to eat my body and drink my blood to fill your soul, to have real life. Yea, they weren’t so much into that and decided to pick up and leave. In today’s reading, the people are flocking to him and Jesus has healed a number of people, what happens? The Pharisees and the scribes confront Him over a ticky-tack little issue about the disciples washing their hands. Obviously these guys are trying to provoke a confrontation. It’s about 90 miles from Jerusalem, where they’ve come from, to the northern part of the Sea of Galilee, they’re not going to make that trip lightly, they feel threatened and have decided to find any little thing they can in order to pick a fight with Jesus, to somehow discredit Him. You can certainly see Jesus’ frustration. “Here I am, God the Son, look at all these things I’ve done. I’m trying to get you to see real life and what are you doing? Getting up in my grill about a ticky-tack little issue about washing hands? Really?”: “ESV Mark 7:6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘ This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; ESV Mark 7:7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ESV Mark 7:8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” ESV Mark 7:9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!” Jesus is referring to the quote in today’s reading from Isaiah: “ESV Isaiah 29:13 And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men, ESV Isaiah 29:14 therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”

Obviously Jesus is frustrated and is telling them to get a grip. Are you going to stick to your quibbling little traditions or are you going to see what’s going on here. God the Son is here! It’s time to submit to His will, quit worrying about the petty stuff and see what’s really happening!”

Dr Oschwald observes: “If you had the opportunity for a private audience with Jesus, would you argue about the proper way to wash up before a meal?… Jesus’ opponents seem to have completely lost sight of what really matters before God. The way they ask their question suggests that the root of the problem is that they’ve begun to put human concerns before and above what’s important in God’s eyes. Our initial sympathy with the Pharisees’ concern over clean hands at the table goes right down the drain when we begin to see the real problem in all its seriousness.”[1] We, you and I, often have to stop and ask ourselves; are we going to pick a fight over the trivial stuff or do we look around us and see what Jesus is doing, what great things are happening around us. How to point to, contribute to, focus on what the Holy Spirit is doing and do it to His glory, to the glory of Jesus’ church. How do we proclaim to the world what is going on in His service, to His glory?

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

[1] Rev Dr Jeffrey Oschwald   Concordia Pulpit Resources Vol 25, Part 3, Series B p 39

Jesus the Bread of Life, does that offend you John 6: 51-69 First St Johns August 16, 2015

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[For audio version of this sermon, click on above link]

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 rejoice in eating the true Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ said …  AMEN!

It’s interesting to note, that this is an issue, the Body and Blood of Jesus, that was there right from the beginning. You might find it interesting that the majority of Christians world-wide, believe that the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, really is about the true Body and Blood of Jesus. It’s American Christianity that has really undermined that believe, albeit abetted by people like Zwingli who was Swiss and James Arminius who was Dutch. None of the churches that come from them have really taken root in Europe, but they have in the United States and other parts of the world. There are variations, the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican/ Episcopalian and Lutheran churches do hear Jesus’ real words in the Scripture. “…Truly, truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” Saint Paul is very clear, not only is true life only in Jesus’ Body and Blood, but for those who don’t accept Jesus’ words he writes: “ESV 1 Corinthians 11:27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord.” Now if you take that to the logical extension, if we are taking His Body into our Body, then we sustain, in us, the Body of Christ that we are a part of, in His church. If we, being His church, His Body, the church is the Body of Christ, and we take His Body in order to be forgiven, to have true life in His Body, doesn’t that mean that only those who understand being a part of the true Body of Christ would take His Body to their benefit? If someone is not a part of the Body of Christ, taking His Body is not going to do them any good and St Paul is quite clear: “ESV 1 Corinthians 11:29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. ESV 1 Corinthians 11:30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.” Not only is this not doing them any good, but according to St Paul will actually do harm. Why, as a Christian pastor, would I allow someone to harm themselves in something that for those who are in Jesus does give forgiveness and does save to eternal life, but for those who don’t believe this, they may be harmed? This quote from the Lutheran Study Bible: “…the Sacrament unites the participants both to Christ’s Eucharistic Body and Blood as well as to their fellow participants. Union with Christ results in union with one another… This unity is emphasized in particular because of the actions of some in Corinth who were destroying the faith of those ‘for whom Christ died.”[1] We want people to be a part of the Body of Christ, His church. I certainly want people to accept and believe the true Gospel, that Jesus sacrificed His Body in order for us to be saved. When we eat His Body we have forgiveness and spiritual strengthening in Him, His flesh and His sacrifice as payment for our sins and to give us the assurance of eternal life in Him, in His Body. That is what His Body and Blood are all about. But for those who think that it is only a remembrance, a ceremony to go through, they are not going to receive His Body to their benefit. St Paul is very clear and I have no reason to think otherwise!

We understand what the issue is today. Let’s face it, at the point that Jesus is telling this to His disciples and this is not just limited to the twelve, no one really understands except for those who the Holy Spirit has given faith in Jesus’ words. Look back at verse 22, it refers to the crowd. This is most, if not all of the people, 5,000 men and at least that many or more of women and children that Jesus just fed with bread and fish. Where it says: “When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?’ and when Jesus confronts them about their “grumbling” and challenges them, saying: “Do you take offense at this?” The answer is, “Ah, ya, we do take offense” and as verse 66 says: “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” They knew perfectly well what He said, and they were frankly, freaked out about it. I honestly cannot say I blame them for their reaction. Jesus is definitely springing this on them. He really is just blurting this right out of nowhere. However, when Jesus says “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man”, He wasn’t fudging His words, He wasn’t mumbling. When Jesus says “truly”, that’s the way it is. When He says “truly, truly” not only is that the way it is, but ya, it may be a little tough to take, but that is the way it is and you need to accept that the only way you can deal with it is to know that the Holy Spirit will give you the faith to deal with it.

When these disciples picked up and walked away, Jesus didn’t chase after them. “Woe, wait a minute there, hey this is just a lesson, a simile, a symbol, you’re not really drinking my blood and eating my flesh, I’m not trying to gross you out here, just making a point.” Jesus meant what He said, this is my actual Body and this is my actual Blood and the huge crowd that was following Him around exactly understood what He was saying and they just could not accept what He said and realize that God the Son, Jesus, was telling them that ya, there is a whole new paradigm in effect and if you have faith in me, if you are willing to accept what I say, and you play out the rest of the game, you will understand why this has to be the way I’ve told you. Jesus confronted the twelve and point blank challenged them: “Do you want to go away as well?” Peter is the stand-up guy this time and makes it abundantly clear that he accepts what Jesus is saying and while Peter might be a little freaked out about it also, the Holy Spirit acted on Peter at that very moment and gave him the faith that he needed in order to accept this seemingly bizarre statement and hang in with Jesus on it: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” The reading goes on, Jesus then blurts out, “one of you is the devil”, which seems to mean, that ya, you guys get it, but there’s one here that’s just going through the motions. There are many people today who are just going through the motions and do it, but don’t believe it. I have to believe that Jesus gave the big old, fisherman, Peter, a big smile and an arm around the shoulder to hear Peter’s answer. Way to go Peter, someone does get it.

I close with this quote from Cyril of Alexandria: “How he will give them his flesh to eat he does not yet tell them, for he knew they were in darkness and would never in that state be able to understand what is ineffable … But the power of learning suitably follows on those who believe … It was therefore right that faith should first be rooted in them before understanding … And it is for this reason (I suppose) that the Lord refrained from telling them how he would give them his flesh to eat, calling them to believe before they seek. For those who believed, however, he broke bread and gave it to them, saying: ‘Take, eat; this is my body.” … Do you see how he does not explain the mystery to those who had senselessly rejected the faith without investigation? But, to those who believe, he declares it most clearly.”[2]

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

[1] Lutheran Study Bible  p 1960

[2] Cyril of Alexandria quoted in “Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture” Joel Elowsky editor pp 239-240Communion prepartion Jose Montalvo, Pastor Jim Driskell, Bob Seen

The Ocean is deep but doesn’t come close to the depth of the love of Jesus Genesis 9: 8-17 First St Johns July 26, 2015

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[For the audio of this sermon please click on SoundCloud 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 the promises of God said … AMEN

This is one of those passages that the world likes to say is some kind of fable, mythology. The church hasn’t done a very good job with these Genesis passages either, letting them be some sort of similes or parables. Too many like to back off and say it didn’t really happen, but makes for good Sunday school material. The adults really don’t believe this stuff. The church has, essentially rejected, what God has given it to teach as truth. There was a Noah, that there was a world-wide flood, that there were people on the earth who needed to be destroyed because they had become so profoundly evil and irredeemable and that God then made a subsequent promise/covenant with Noah. Where He promised that He would never destroy the world again, through a flood. He will destroy the world again, as we see in the Book of Revelation, what was probably the last book of biblical revelation, but when He destroys the world again, it will be for the final time. In it’s place we will have the resurrection, where we and the world will be made into a place that God intended it to be and for us to be what we were intended to be. There will be no sin, no death, no fighting, there won’t be people creating artificial, phoney debates, we will all be one Body, God’s agents in creating a perfect world, where there will be few limitations, where as I’ve said many times, we will have life and life more abundant, Jesus’ words.

But today, the world, Satan, love to hijack what God gives us and apply it to the things of the world. God is, obviously, the most creative, the most uplifting, positive element in creation. He created everything, we are all pretty much in agreement that even in the evil, fallen, world, there is still amazing beauty, staggering evidence of God’s genius, His incredible creativity. As we go into space, we will see more evidence then we already know. Even now we are receiving pictures from the “dwarf-planet” Pluto, which is now bigger than was thought, that is showing some amazing aspects of that planet. But we love to live in denial about Noah’s story, because after all, we’re in charge, we call the shots. This bizarre idea that it’s all subject to democratic vote and the world’s not going to end because we say so, we have the technology, we moved beyond God’s will, if His will was ever a factor to begin with.

Noah’s ark and a world wide flood is an event that many feel is limited to this one fable from a people in the middle east and really has had no effect beyond that tiny group of people. That is also a fallacy that the world likes to live in ignorance of. Virtually every people in the world have a story about a devastating, all destructive flood and a man or family that were guided by God to save a remnant of people and animals. The geological evidence that has been discovered in very recent time, points to such a flood. The historical and geological evidence, again, destroys the worldly/Satanic lie that this is only a fable, it really did happen.

The upside to the flood is Yahweh’s words to Noah: “I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood,…” this is God’s first covenant, His first contract, promise with His creation. His subsequent promises will be to Abraham, to David, then finally Jesus, God the Son, who in His word says what I will be repeating in a few minutes: “In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” (1 Cor 11:25) This is the covenant Jesus makes with us, His people, those who have been given new life, have been saved from the death of sin in the world. His promise “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Cor 11:26) that He will return, that He will save those who are in Him, His Body, His church, and they will be restored to true life in the resurrection. After Noah, He tells Abram, that he will be the father of many nations, an old man who had no children at all. He tells King David that the Messiah, the Savior of man-kind will not only be born and deliver His people, but that Messiah, that anointed one of God will be David’s direct descendant.

But the world, in its cutesy way to continually undermine God, takes a symbol that God said is an “everlasting covenant”, of life, of a world of hope and promise and the world has turned it into a symbol of its own lusts and its hatred of God and His will, that is the symbol of the rainbow.

As I’ve said before, we shouldn’t be surprised when the world does things like this, it is the world, it is unsaved and doomed. The world has no promise, no hope. As the Prince of the world, Satan knows his destiny, he knows he is doomed to eternal destruction along with those who also refuse, defy and hate God. Satan has no compunction to take those who are also doomed and use them as pawns to further his fight against God in the world, to guide them to use God’s symbols in an evil way, to deny God’s teachings, such as Noah, and to turn them into symbols that lead us to believe it is all about us, that we are God, that we can do whatever we please, regardless of the consequences to us and those around us.

The non-believer wags his finger at God and says “how could God destroy the earth, He must be evil!” They will stipulate to a destruction story if that gives them a reason to spew their hatred against God. But they will not accept that God is serious, He has a people whom He does want to save and establish a world that will be perfect. He is showing all of us, He is not going to tolerate a sinful and base world filled with evil people. If people continue to be so willfully evil, as we see all-around us at this time in history, He will destroy it again and leave those who are condemned to face the penalty of their sins which is eternal condemnation.

God the Father is a loving, merciful, compassionate God. He has shared His promises with us, His Word, the Bible is filled with hope, promise. His Son Jesus Christ came that we would have life and life more abundant, not only in this world, but where it truly matters, to all eternity. We who are in Christ know that we have the promise that through Him we have forgiveness, we need forgiveness, because God is truly Holy, righteous and just. He does not tolerate sin and in His creation in the New Jerusalem, He will not tolerate sin. His new creation will only be populated by those who are saved in Jesus. We who are righteous, only in Jesus, because of the price that He paid, His perfect life, a ransom for many, that gives us the promise of eternal life.

What other things does the world promise us, what other symbols, what other failures of the world do we tolerate because, well we just all want to get along? We are not here to compromise with the world, because the world is wrong, sinful, seriously messed up. We do not buy into the world’s story, because we have the true story. The world likes to tell us that the story of Noah and Jesus are fables, that the stories of Darwin, Marx and the Kardashians are real and that’s what we should trust in. Take a step away from the nonsense of the world, can we all get along? In reality, not really. We reach out into the world with the love and mercy of Jesus, the world loves to think that it’s so tolerant, but when Jesus, the cross and His church comes up you can see the hate and poison in the eyes of the world. Despite that we do have to continue to love, serve in compassion, have mercy, but also have righteousness, assure that our witness is always for Jesus and not the things of the world. This is not going to make us popular, but John tells us, “Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.” (1 John 3:13) The world hated and still hates our Lord Jesus, it’s going to hate those who are faithful in Him. But it doesn’t matter what the world thinks, it does matter what Jesus thinks. The world can take the symbols of Christianity and try to corrupt them and try to make it in the name of tolerance, but that is a lie straight from Hell and another attempt by Satan to corrupt the church and Jesus’ people. So write in your journal about what the rainbow really means, as well as God’s other covenants, and how you can use them to show others the love of Christ that is in you.

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

God knows all, does all. It would be smart for you to recognize that.

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There are two traits of God that we, all people, just can’t seem to accept. One that God is transcendent, that He is not limited by time and space. God makes His own time and His own space in His will. We are limited, we have a finite amount of time and space. He doesn’t He moves the way He needs to and in His own time. We often have this view of God that comes to us from paganism. The “gods” were just as much subject to time and space as mortals. The only difference is the “gods” were immortal, men aren’t.
The second characteristic we as Christians know about God is that He is immutable. He never changes, He has always been completely perfect, knows all, sees all. He doesn’t change, what would He change to if He is already completely perfect?
We change and no doubt when we go through different, perhaps difficult times in our life, we think He is somehow changing, when He is actually changing us.
Let’s get over ourselves and realize that God is changing us for our good. Frankly people look like real suckers when they buy into the world’s goofy view that somehow we need to teach God. If you believe that I have a bridge you might like to buy. God works in our life, not vice versa, do you really think that if you didn’t exist that God would somehow not be able to function? Really? Do you not see how goofy that is? And yet people act as if it depends on them. No! Our God is omniscient He is all knowing. He is omnipresent, He knows all. He is omnipotent, that is all powerful. He is transcendent He created time and space, He controls time and space, not vice versa,like time and space controls us. He is immutable everything there is to know He created, there is nothing He doesn’t know or can be taught.
The world today actually thinks it knows all and it knows so little, we act as if we know more than God. How can we know more than He who created all. Doesn’t it make more sense to look to Him who really does know and trust what He does and get over this goofy idea that we really have anything to offer other than being a living sacrifice to God Father, Son and Holy Spirit and to serve His people under His Lordship. That is what makes sense.

Vocations ultimate purpose.

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Just finished Patrick Morley’s book A Man’s Guide to Work I got a different perspective that I wanted to share that emphasizes how God is at work in all the parts of our lives. Yes, that includes work.

“What is the ‘main thing’ that God is always doing in the world? It’s bringing people into right relationship with Him and right relationship with each other. To achieve this God has established four universal purposes for us – two for relationship and two for tasks.

  • The Great Commandment: To love God (Matthew 22:37)
  • The New Commandment: To love one another (John 13: 34)
  • The Great Commission: To build the kingdom (Matthew 28: 18-20
  • The Cultural Mandate: To tend the culture (Genesis 1:28)

The Genesis reference is God telling Adam and Eve: “God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

While I’ve never really thought about Genesis 1:28 in terms of our work, but reading it I can certainly understand.

Morley goes on to write: “The marketplace is the great arena of human events – innovating, manufacturing building, buying, selling, serving customers, making markets. And the main thing happening in your work is that God is sovereignly orchestrating all the seemingly unrelated occurrences of your day to bring you – and the people you touch – into right relationship with people.

This is the ultimate purpose of work: to bring people into right relationship with God and with each other.”

Morley built one of Florida’s 100 largest privately held companies. I have no doubt that he’s been there, done that and for him to recognize what the marketplace is, that it is certainly included in God’s sovereignty helps me to live and confirm that to those I reach out to.

As much as I see people try and compartmentalize their vocation and their Christian faith, the fact is God is in control of all. He uses your life in your vocation to work on you, and to work through you to reach others. Based on my own experience the faster your adjust accordingly, the more your life will change. It might be better, it might be more difficult. But if we are talking relationships, the one you have with the Father trumps everything. You will find that joy and assurance of being in His will. If you’re priorities are in order, God first and then His will for the rest, life might not be “fun”, might be tough, but it will be an adventure. At the end we hear from Him: ““His master replied, ‘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!’” What is most  important? And as Morley points out: “He doesn’t leave it to human will or effort. Instead, He sovereignly oversees His plan purpose.” (Romans 9:16)

We get together for a mid-week break, the coffee shop at the corner of Beaver and W King Sts, you’re welcome to park behind the church at 140 W King and walk about fifty yards. Wednesday mornings 10 am, I will even buy your first cup of coffee. If you have any ideas for a group of Christians to share their lives in the workplace, please let me know.

Real truths need to be poured over and really absorbed. Not superficially like the world.

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Listening to Radical Grace Radio Podcast which is done by a Lutheran pastor and lay person down in Florida. Matthew Pancake says the Magnificat never meant much to him until he had to learn it for choir. We learn things by repeating them over and over again. He says he suddenly realized what it was saying.
Hmmmm isn’t it so true. That is what liturgical worship is all about. Liturgy is deep, it is full of meaning. If people would stop treating it as just rote and really think about what it’s saying, what it means in our life, it will impress Biblical teachings and elements, God’s Word into our soul.
The problem is that our world wants a blunt ten second sound byte, tell me and I will decide whether I want it or not and move on. Yea, and we wonder why we are becoming more superficial and frankly crude. No one really makes us think, except that the church should be making us think through Biblical teaching and through fundamental Christian worship. But we want everything dragged down and diluted to make it easy for us. Sorry, but church is not ding-dong school, like too much public education. It’s intended to push, to make you think, to constantly have God’s Word hard-coated into your very soul.
God is not superficial, He gives us what we need in order to be pressed into our brain, heart and soul. For us to repeat over and over and when those times of trial come, we have God’s teaching right where we need it. When we have it hard coated it comes right back to us when it matters. We have taken the time to repeat it, to think about it, to let the Holy Spirit have time to really drill it into our head and soul. Something that we don’t do in our superficial, tell me something new and easy right now, world.
Liturgy, Bible study, prayer, may all seem rote, even tedious. But when it really is impressed on our brain, heart and soul, through regular worship, repetition, prayer then we truly begin to live in a way that is responsive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and become less responsive to the leading of the world. We begin to realize more and more how deep God’s Word is and how superficial and tedious all the blah, blah of the world really is.

We are of good courage as His children 2 Corinthians 5: 1-17 First Saint Johns June 14, 2015

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[For the audio version, click on the above link]

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 courageous in the Lord said … AMEN

“At our daughter’s high school graduation, I couldn’t help noticing a young man sporting a long bleached blond ponytail sprouting from the top of his otherwise shaved head. A heavy link chain hung around his neck, and one ear displayed several earrings.

I had to smile when I heard him say to his friend, “Man, I feel so out of place. I’m the only guy here not wearing a tie.”

There is such a thing as clueless courage, hey God bless him, frankly, it seems to me that there’s a lot of clueless courage in the world. It’s somehow “courageous” to be in favor of things that the Bible clearly calls sin, but because it’s what everyone else does, it’s somehow courageous.

When I was a boy, we moved a lot, seemed I was always the new kid on the block. Well you know how the “new kid on the block”, gets treated. I always found it amazing how these guys would pick a fight and think they were being courageous picking on me with six of their friends standing around. There’s just a whole lot of that today, everyone likes to think they’re a tough guy until they look and realize their posse isn’t around them.

Paul put up with a lot of bullies, people who would abuse their authority by abusing Paul, or people who would just try to bully him into shutting up. There’s a lot of that today. Those in the world love to think that they are so marvelously open minded, it’s rather shocking how rigid and close minded people are today. They will criticize anything a Christian says as “judgmental” and then turn around and judge them by telling them how judgmental they are. There is one big difference between a Christian and those in the world. When I say something and tell someone what they’re doing, or teaching or selling is wrong, I’m not making it up, or at least, as a Christian, I better not be. Anything I say to anyone better be something I can back up in the Bible. Part of the problem in that is that even those who are regularly part of the church, really don’t know the Bible. For most, they may have a knowledge of the Bible, but not sufficient to feel confident about sharing it with someone else.

Much as I’d like to think that I’m an absolute expert, I’m not, and there are times when I am witnessing to God’s will and I feel like I’m on shakey ground. I have to trust that the Holy Spirit put me in front of someone in order to witness to them. Matthew 10:19: “When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.” Jesus is, of course, saying, that the Holy Spirit will guide you in what He wants you to say. It does take courage, we often summarize courage in that Christian word we call “faith”. Permit me to give a little longer quote from Dr Luther, because what we as Lutherans think of as faith is very different from what those in the world think of and actually, even most Christians: “Faith is not what some people think it is. Their human dream is a delusion. Because they observe that faith is not followed by good works or a better life, they fall into error, even though they speak and hear much about faith. “Faith is not enough,” they say, “You must do good works, you must be pious to be saved.”[1]

It’s interesting how we think in terms of being “pious” to have “faith”, whereas both Luther and Paul say, it’s not so much being somehow so humble, bashful, even restrained, sure we aren’t called to be obnoxious, but when we are witnessing to God, we are called to be assertive, positive, uplifting, but in no way bashful or pulling our punches. Many might see being reserved as being somehow so much more “Christian”, but I have yet to have anyone show me in the Bible where Jesus, Paul, Peter, John the Baptist, the Old Testament prophets were somehow piously quiet or bashful. Plenty of people thought they were more than sufficiently obnoxious. But they weren’t, they were being courageous.

I even hear Christians say this: “Well you don’t want to impose your beliefs on others.”????? Let’s understand this right off the bat, I’m not imposing my beliefs on anyone! If I can’t back up something I say in a very straightforward and unambiguous way from the Bible, then I should not be saying it. If I am faithfully and yes, courageously, speaking and witnessing for God, if I’m being led by the Holy Spirit to share Christ with someone else, how is that imposing “my beliefs” on someone else? They are “my” beliefs to the extent that as a temple of the Holy Spirit, I am faithful to Jesus Christ my Lord and I certainly have been imbued with those beliefs, but where did those beliefs come from? Me? No! They are what Jesus taught, God the Son, they are what He expects us to live by and to actively share and live by with others. Just like my faith, how I know to live and serve as a Christian is because the Holy Spirit has guided me and you, to live and serve and speak that way to the world. We need to faithfully follow what Jesus tells us and to stop living by the world’s uninformed opinion. More often than not when I am sharing Christ with someone, they don’t even know why they believe what they believe or even what they believe. They’ve heard someone else say it that criticizes Christians and they simply accept what they’ve heard.

We are called to “always be of good courage”. Paul goes on to say, “we walk by faith, not by sight”. That does make us very different from those in the world. They have no faith, they have no discernment, they accept what the world imposes on them and they expect others to just shut up and listen. If what you say is opposed to them, you’re wrong and will be slapped with however many nasty, intolerant labels those in the world will impose on you. While the Holy Spirit guides you to speak, Matthew 10:19 ; “When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.”  While we have the word of God in the Bible to tell us God’s will, while we have the preached word, teachers who are there to help you understand God’s will and word, the world has only what’s been made up. The world will ignore God’s word, tell you what the real “truth” is, and has no basis for telling you anything.

Faith is the courage the Holy Spirit gives us in order to stand against a dark, sinful, ignorant world, the courage to tell the world what God’s will is. The world likes to think it’s will is important, in the end those opinions change, are proven wrong and are just ignorant of the facts. God’s will has been what matters and has been consistent for eternity. The world’s opinion lasts for a season and then is completely different a short time later. The world’s “truth” can’t be counted on for more than a few months, God’s truth has been and will be forever. Luther says: “Faith is a living, bold trust in God’s grace, so certain of God’s favor that it would risk death a thousand times trusting in it. Such confidence and knowledge of God’s grace makes you happy, joyful and bold in your relationship to God and all creatures. The Holy Spirit makes this happen through faith. Because of it, you

freely, willingly and joyfully do good to everyone, serve everyone, suffer all kinds of things, love and praise the God who has shown you such grace.”[2] These aren’t your words or actions, they’re God’s, you’re not “imposing” anything. God is giving you the faith and courage to tell those around you the truth. If they want to treat you rudely, bully you, impose their groundless beliefs on you, that becomes their problem. You have courageously, faithfully and strongly pointed to the truth that God Father, Son and Holy Spirit guide us in. You’ve done your part courageously, not imposing, now we leave it to the Holy Spirit to do His part. If that other person can’t, won’t accept it and continues to act like you’re wrong, they’re the ones that will pay the price. You have been faithful and courageous in sharing Christ and He will tell you “’Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ (Matthew 25:21) Take out your journal, how can you be more faithful in the courage God gives you to share the truth of God’s will and with whom will you share it?

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

[1] Rev. Robert E. Smith Walther Library Concordia Theological Seminary

http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/luther-faith.txt

[2] Ibid

This isn’t the first time people of God have had to stand against the evil, corruption of a decadent world

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Right on the heels of the vote in Ireland to permit homosexual marriage, I’m reading this devotional in Henry and Richard Blackaby’s “Experiencing God” p 166: “No matter how ungodly the environment you may be in, God will always find you and walk with you. Noah lived in perhaps the most wicked age in history. No one worshipped God.”

Point taken, the Bible tells us of many ages full of human wickedness. Why would we expect ours to be any different? [it is kind of interesting this comes just before the rendering of the U.S. Supreme Court decision] it’s not just homosexuality either. Men and women think that it’s almost a “pro forma” to live together before marriage. Sorry, that’s not acceptable either. We have a society that is no longer concerned about being God honoring and is solely concerned about pleasing and honoring self, and then we wonder why we are surrounded by all sorts of debasement. if there is any sense of propriety, dignity, character, nobility, it has become so distorted in contemporary use as to usually become meaningless or irrelevant.

We have those in society who make ridiculous demands “I expect $15 an hour to work at McDonalds” and then still don’t do their work with any level of competence or cooperation. Women today are more debased and sexualized then ever. The PC crowd, who couldn’t care less about the treatment of women call that sexual expression and then wonder why woman are treated with more disrespect now then ever.

I understand there have been many times in human history where there has been such gross ignorance and debasement it seems, based on history, that eventually builds and there is a vicious backlash against the attempts to drag our society and children into even cruder and coarser practices.

As Christians we have stood over the course of history for human dignity, while the secular continues to degrade every possible segment of the world. Eventually the abusers are shoved out, either by a culture that finally realizes it is being abused and taken advantage of, or certainly the resurrection when God establishes the world the way it was meant to be.

We want a world for us and our children that honors the sacrifices made for us, that we observe on this Memorial Day, for example.  We want what is fine, noble,courageous, dignified, precious. We do want those who are continuing to undermine and corrupt to stop polluting the world. By the same token we don’t want to see people debased, destroyed or abused. Now more than ever we need to pray for all, to witness to all those the Holy Spirit puts in front of us.  The church does have some responsibility in all this too.  The church has been far too passive, far to willing to stick it’s head in the sand and ignore what is going on. We do need to speak out in support of what God wants, but we also need to be constant and faithful in the Christian’s most powerful weapon prayer, and all the spiritual disciplines.

There have been worse times, the church of this time needs to step up and show real integrity and also genuine willingness to live according to God’s will and to witness that to the world. No we will ever  live without sin, but we need to live with Christian integrity and faith in God’s leading.