The Golden Rule

Matthew 7:12

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

It’s one of the rules that your parents taught you.  In fact, it comes from Jesus.  It’s called “the golden rule.”  Matthew 7:12.  So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

There is a danger with this verse– the danger of taking these words out of context.  I googled this question – What does the Golden rule mean?  One person equated it with Karma… giving good vibes to people. Another said, “Be nice to people so that one day they might be nice back to you.”  “Be nice to others so that they will like you and not hate you.”  Another said, “Generally I try to live by this rule but if the other guy is being a jerk – in that case I return the favor.  I believe in the Golden rule, not turning the other cheek.”  “It means be nice and don’t give others a reason to hurt you. Be nice first.  It throws them off their game… If you are mean to others, they will be mean to you.  If you are kind to others, you will get kindness back.”  “It means if you can’t take it don’t dish it out.  But if you can take it, then go ahead.”  All of these are wrong. They all involve putting you and what you will get at the center of whatever kindness you do or don’t do to others.  That’s not what Jesus meant.

It doesn’t work to take these words of out of context.  Listen to the promises Jesus makes in verse 7-11.  “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.  Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!  Seek out our heavenly Father because He is the Father who is ready to be found. He is eager to answer and to give.  Jesus compares our heavenly Father’s generosity with our desire to give good gifts to our kids.  If we want to give only the best to our kids, how much more can we count on the generosity of our heavenly Father who for us gave His own Son? 

It’s in that context that Jesus says, So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them…  With the word “so” Jesus connects seeking out our giving God to how we are to treat others.  Because of who God is, because we can depend on His love and care and generosity, we are freed to treat others the way we hope to be treated. 

Apart from God’s generosity our love for others will always come with strings attached.  That’s what you hear in those misunderstandings of the Golden Rule.  Think about it – are you kind to others because you have a need to be liked and approved?    One of my fears in moving to Germany was that my kids would discover that they could get along without me.  That begs the question – Is that why I did nice things for them – because of my need to be needed by them?   When people don’t always like us or agree with everything is that why we are at times so quick to judge others?  Are we asking something from them that only God can do?  It is hard sometimes to be gracious towards other people.  We want them to make the first good move.  They were wrong first.  They should apologize first. Then we will do so to them also.  We want a guarantee that our treating them nicely will lead to something good for us. 

That’s why Jesus puts the golden rule in the context of God’s unconditional, no strings attached love for us.  Our heavenly Father gave His Son to us and for us knowing that we could not give back to Him.  By His death and resurrection Jesus purchased for us a salvation that is whole and free…  one for which we can never repay Him.  He made it yours and mine in baptism – for free, no strings attached.  We aren’t dependent on their need for us… on whether or not they love us or like us or approve of us.  We have all the love, all the acceptance, all the approval and grace and forgiveness we need in our God and Savior.  When we know that we have a God who is watching over us… We are free to treat others the way we want to be treated. whether or not they actually treat us that way in return.  God knows the truth about us and loves us anyway.  We don’t need to build ourselves us up by condemning someone else… We are freed from needing everyone else’s love and approval… because we already have God’s approval for free in Christ.  When all our strings are attached to Jesus  then finally we are free to love one another with no strings attached.  Amen.

Whose Neighbor am I?

Luke 10:29b

“And who is my neighbor?”

When we lived in a small town in Nebraska, Linda and I knew all our neighbors.  In that little town of 400 people Evonne lived next door and babysat our kids.  Vi and Charlie across the street adopted our kids as their grandchildren.  The boy across the street was Ben’s first buddy.  The family on the opposite corner were Jehovah’s Witness.  The Weerts brothers lived behind us.  Mrs. Berg down the street made the best raspberry pies.  Lorna across the street made the most delicious coffee cakes.  In Texarkana, we kind of new our neighbors.  We talked to the family next door but I could never remember their names.  The boy across the street was Ben’s friend.  His dog bit me.  Miss Marie down the street went to our church.  In Flower Mound we barely knew our neighbors.  The lady next door died and we didn’t know for two months.  We are Facebook friends with the folks on the other side. In Germany we did a little better.  We knew the couple across the hall, the pastors who lived next door, the policeman and his family down the street, the Dock and Ferris families from church.  Here, we know the neighbors immediately around our house. Now it can be easy to blame the neighbors when you don’t know them.  “They just aren’t friendly.”  But Jesus turns that upside down in the parable of the Good Samaritan.  He makes it clear that the problem is not with my neighbors.  The problem is with me.  The issue is not who is my neighbor, but whose neighbor am I?

In our text a lawyer tried to test Jesus. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”  Jesus points him to the Scripture.  The lawyer answers with the two great commandments – “Love the Lord your God,” and “Love your neighbor…”  “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”  That’s not enough or the lawyer.  He wants to justify himself.  He asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”  That’s when Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan. Jesus makes it plain that the problem is not one of definition. God will “define” neighbor for you.  He will lay him across your path, in the road half dead, in need of you. You won’t have any problem identifying your neighbor.  In fact, you will have to take steps to avoid him.  That is what the priest and the Levite do.  They see the man but pass by on the other side.  

I am sure the Priest and the Levite had excuses.  They had things to do.  They were busy people.  We have excuses too.   It’s so much easier to think the church should have some kind of program for  visiting the shut-ins, the elderly, or the hospitalized. The pastor should do that. And “where is the family? Why aren’t the kids taking better care of their aging parents?  This is their job not mine.  The Government should take care of the needy.  I found it all too easy to ignore the man I saw sitting each day on the bench in our German neighborhood. “It’s none of my business… I don’t have time… I have my own family to take care of…”   Too often we are more priest and Levite than  Good Samaritan.

 

Do you know who the Good Samaritan in this story is?  The one who “when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds?  The one who took him to an inn and took care of him?  The Good Samaritan is Jesus.  He is the neighbor you and I fail to be.  He welcomed sinners and ate with them.  When everyone else thought they were too good to be neighbor to a tax collector named Zacchaeus, Jesus is the one who came to his home and brought salvation.  He is the one who sat by the well and talked to the Samaritan woman.  When no one else gave her the time of day, Jesus listened to her. He spoke to her. He cared about her.  He called her to faith.  On the cross, suffering in ways we can’t imagine, Jesus took time to be neighbor to the soldiers… to his mother… even to the thief… to offer him eternal life.  Loving His neighbors is second nature to Jesus. 

It still is.  He is still that neighbor, not just to others, but to you and me.  He is the one who was born under the law to redeem those who are under the law that we might receive the full rights of sons.  On that cross, He was delivered over to death for our sins…  On Easter morning Jesus was raised to life that we might be forgiven.  When He came upon us, dead in our trespasses and sins Jesus in Holy Baptism made us alive together with Christ.  Just like the Good Samaritan Jesus carried us to an Inn, brought us into His church… At the Inn the Good Samaritan paid for the man’s care.  Jesus does the same here.  He provides all that we need for healing and restoration.  Here He provides people to offer to us the great gifts He purchased on the cross for us… Here He provides for His word of love to be taught and read… for His word of forgiveness to spoken to us again and again… Here He feeds us with His body and blood in the bread and wine of Holy Communion..  Here He gives us friends to love and care for and support us... Through all the people around you Jesus seeks to be neighbor to you.

What’s more He desires to be that neighbor through you and me.    Whether it’s a shut in at church, or an old man on a bench, or a first-time guest at church…  Whether it’s the guy at work who needs someone to listen to… or the lady who can’t find something in the grocery store… or the old couple down the street who seem to have no family around… Jesus has laid those people across our paths.  He has brought them to us.  We are now the Innkeepers.  Jesus is saying to us, ‘Here is your neighbor.  Look after him. Love him.’   Instead of asking “who is my neighbor” ask the Lord – “help me to be a neighbor to each person You bring into my life… Help me to love them as you have loved me.  Lord, let that be second nature to me… let your way of life become my way of life.”  Amen. 

Only One Thing

“You are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.”

Luke 10:41b-42a

Jesus is visiting two good friends – Mary “and Martha.  While He is there Mary sits at Jesus’ feet to listen to Him teach.  Martha is busy getting everything ready, probably for dinner.  The only thing Martha has to say to Jesus is “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”  Then Jesus calls Martha by name, not once but twice.  It’s as if He has to say her name twice just to get her attention.  “Martha…  MARTHA!” He just wants her to stop for a moment, to stop and think.  “You are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.  All these other things can wait.  There is only one thing that is really necessary.  Mary has chosen that one thing.

What a reminder that you can be so busy with life that you miss it. Jesus here teaches us about choices we face… choices that impact how well you live your life. The first choice is between doing and being.  Martha is the doer.  She’s gets things done. She’s busy, busy, busy. Mary is not doing.  She’s sitting at Jesus’ feet.  The point Jesus makes is that being is more important than doing.  This reminds me of two of my parent’s friends.  One home was always immaculate.  While visiting we would never see the woman of the house.  She was always in the kitchen getting something for someone.  Whenever we would leave she would apologize. “I sure wish I could have spent more time with you.”  The other house looked lived in.  She never made food for us.  She ordered pizza.  She sat with us the whole time.  She played and visited.  She was all about relationships.  Do you see the difference between doing and being?

How are you doing balancing that in your life?  Is your faith all about getting things done?  Are you over committed at work? In your kids activities? At church?  agreeing to take on one job after another at church?  Or is your life about being – being in prayer… being in the Scripture?  We are often so busy doing that its almost like Jesus has to call out our name twice just to get our attention.  “Wayne…WAYNE!  Slow down.”  Back in the 60s one of America’s our new fighter jets actually shot itself down.  Flying at supersonic speed it ran into cannon shells it had fired just seconds earlier.  Traveling too fast through life is self-destructive. We need to slow down.  We need to  let our souls catch up.  Though we live in a Martha world we need to learn to rest like Mary.

The second choice is between the many things and the one thing.  Jesus says, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things…”  She was distracted by all the things she had to get done.  We know how that happens. Little things take our focus off the really important thing.  There is no worse distraction than one that takes our eyes off of Jesus.  Now don’t get me wrong.  What Martha is doing here is a good thing.  She is serving.  However it’s not a good thing when it distracts us from the better thing – when it distracts from taking timet at the feet of Jesus to listen and learn.  There are many good things in every situation but the question we always need to ask is what’s the best thing… the thing where I really need to focus my attention.  I remember coming upon a Moose in Colorado.  Now a Moose is huge.  Yet it was so far away from us that when I took my first picture you got the whole country side. The moose kind of got lost in the picture.  I had to zoom in and focus to get a really good picture of that moose.  The danger in life is to be so distracted by so many things that we can no longer see the most important thing.  Jesus is calling us zoom in and focus on Him.  He is the one thing needful

That’s why the third choice He offers here is between serving Jesus and loving Jesus.  Martha was serving.  Mary was loving.  Now there is nothing wrong with serving.  But you can’t really serve and love others till you give yourself time to be served and loved by Jesus.  If you never stop to fill up the tank, you will run out of gas.   You and I need to stop everything else… sit at His feet and be filled by Him.

That’s what makes all the difference in the 4^th choice - between worrying and resting.  Are you worry wart?  I am.  In Philippians 4 Paul calls us to stop worrying and give worry to Jesus in prayer.  “Have no anxiety about anything.  Instead pray about everything…  That’s what Mary was doing – sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to him. One pastor tells this story from his vicarage. It was his first week in the office.  It was just him and the secretary.  Suddenly this crazy woman – walked in talking nonsense, a crazy look in her eye, arms flailing this way and that.  He didn’t know what to do.  He thought I am about to fail my first real test… Just then his pastor walked in. The vicar was so glad to see him.  That pastor walked into that chaos and said, “Whoa… Lets all take a deep breath.  Now lets pray.”  The vicar said a great calm immediately settled over that woman and over his own worried heart.  That’s what Jesus does for us.  We sit at His feet with all our worries.  He says to us, “Peace.  Be still.”   You see in the rush of life… there is only one thing absolutely needed – Jesus.

A Life of Prayer

Luke 5:16 (ESV)

“But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray”

The Pastor was preaching about the importance of practicing prayer every day of your life.  As an illustration he talked about being with his father in the car.  Suddenly a car going the opposite direction swerved and came right towards them.  “I’ll never forget what my dad said in that moment of crisis.  He didn’t cuss.  He didn’t scream.  He said, ‘Lord help us.’  My father’s first instinct was to pray. Why?  Because he was a man of prayer.  He prayed daily.  Prayer was so much a part of who he was that in a moment of crisis to pray was the most natural thing for him to do.  Prayer was just part of his way of life.” 

Prayer was also the way of life for our savior Jesus.  The references to him praying are all over place in the Gospels.  Mark writes that rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. Luke tells us that Jesus often retreated to desolate places to pray.  Prayer was our Lord’s way of life.  His disciples longed for that way of life.  So it’s no wonder they came to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his disciples.”

What Jesus teaches them and us about prayer are life altering.  For in teaching us to pray Jesus is inviting us to a life shaped by our relationship with Him.  Think for a moment about how important conversation is in any relationship.  A couple that isn’t talking to each other is a couple that is growing further apart.  But a couple that is able to talk to each other about anything and everything is a couple growing closer and closer together.  In other words, for good or bad a couple’s relationship is shaped by the way they talk with each other.  It’s no different in our relationship with God. Prayer is our daily, conversation with God. 

The first thing He teaches us is that in prayer we come before God as beggars.   In the Lord’s Prayer, the one Jesus taught us, we don’t bring anything to God.  We only ask.  Help us Lord to keep Your name holy, because our natural state is to profane your name… to stub our toes,and use your name as a cuss word.  “Thy Kingdom come…”  We make a mess of things when we try to run our lives.  So we need You, Lord, to be our king. “Give us this day our daily bread,” because everything we need comes from You.  .  Forgive us our trespasses”  we pray, for we are poor miserable sinners.  Finally, “Lead us not into temptation” – in other words protect our hearts and minds from thinking things we shouldn’t think… from thinking things that will lead us to doing things we shouldn’t do.”  Its just like the hymn says, “Nothing in my hands I bring.  Simply to Thy cross I cling.”  Our life of prayer begins with the humble recognition that we are but beggars before God.    

But it doesn’t end there.  For What Jesus also teaches us is that in prayer we come to God as His beloved children!  Among families of German ancestry very often the first prayer children are taught is this one – “Abba, liebe Vater.  Amen!”  The best translation of that is “Daddy, dear father, amen.”  It comes from the first words that Jesus teaches us to pray – “Our Father who art in heaven…”  “With these words, Luther writes, God tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true Father and we are His true children so that with all boldness and confidence we might ask Him as dear children ask their dear father.”   When our kids really wanted me to say yes to something they would send Bethany into ask me.  I guess they knew she had me wrapped around her finger.  Well in our prayers we come to God based on the good graces of our elder brother Jesus – Jesus who came… who lived our lives, died in our place and rose again to open the way to the Father.   

Finally, We pray our prayers in the confidence that our God desires to give us good gifts.  Sometimes that is hard to see… hard to believe.  Faye Werner was an elderly woman paralyzed from the waist down.  Every night she prayed that God would take her home and end her pain.  “Why am I still here every morning Pastor?”  Such struggles and doubts are natural.  Yet in the midst of them, we pray in the confident faith that God is listening… that He does desire good things for you and me. For He says to us, And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

A life of prayer is the best way of life…. Let it be our way of life every day… practiced every day – so that when life swerves straight towards us out of oncoming traffic – we know right where to go… to God in pray.  Amen. 

Someone Else

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards

of God’s grace in its various forms”

1 Peter 4:10 (NIV)

I have a poem to read to you.  I have no idea who wrote it.  The poem is called - “Everybody, Anybody, Somebody, Nobody and Someone Else.”    Let me tell you the story of four church members by the name of Tom, Dick, Harry and Joe. Their full names in fact were as such; Tom Somebody, Dick Everybody, Harry Anybody, and Joe Nobody. Together they were the best of friends, But I must confess

when it came to a task that needed to be done at Church they weren't very good.  You see whenever they were given a job, they all began to fight. Because this is how it always went; Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it, and Anybody could have done it but in the end Nobody always ended up with the task.  When Nobody did it, Somebody was angry because it was Everybody's job. But Everybody thought that Somebody would do it instead. Now Nobody realized that Nobody would do it.  So consequently, Everybody blamed Somebody When Nobody did what Anybody could have done

in the first place. 

Now don't start arguing yet because I have another story of these friends to tell; Now as you may have guessed these four were fun, active, busy people.  But what they accomplished was a shame and Everybody knew it.  You see Everybody had a good idea, but Everybody thought Somebody would follow it through, however Somebody thought Anybody would work on it. And Anybody thought Everybody should do it. So, Nobody ended up working on it...AGAIN!  Now one day a contest was announced, all the boys were sent to enter. Now Everybody thought Anybody could win the prize.

Anybody thought Somebody would win. And Somebody thought Everybody would get a prize.

Nobody was the smartest of the four. And Nobody was very faithful. Nobody worked very hard.

Thus, Nobody won the prize!

No I have one more tale to tell you of another friend of the four.  This is a sad, sad tale of the death of

a man called Someone Else;  You see all the boys belonged to the same church and there was another member named Someone Else.  Now the four were greatly saddened to learn of the death of one of the most valuable members - Someone Else.  Someone's passing created a vacancy that will be difficult to fill.  He had been around for years and for every one of those years, Someone Else did far more than a normal person's share of work. Whenever Anybody mentioned leadership, Somebody always looked to this wonderful person for inspiration and results; "Someone Else can do that job!"  When there was a job to do, a need to be filled or a place of leadership, one name was always given.... Someone Else. Everyone knew Someone Else was the largest giver of time and money.  Whenever there was a financial need, Everybody, Anybody and Somebody always assumed that Someone Else would make up the difference.  Now Someone Else is gone.  and the boys all wonder what they will do, no longer can they utter the words; "Let Someone Else do it."  If it is going to be done, one of them will have to do it.... And I guess most of the time it will be Nobody.”

The truth is that in the church we really do put our trust in someone else. Someone else has lived the life we fail to live.  Someone else has paid the price for our sins by dying on a cross.  Someone else rose again to conquer death.  Someone else saved us.  That someone else is Jesus our Savior.  And He has called you by name not somebody.  He has given you gifts to use in love and service to others.  He has not chosen just anybody. He has chosen you and me to go and show His love to others.  You and I can not leave this up to Somebody, Anybody or Nobody.  No St. Peter tells us, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”

When Good Days Become Tough Days

2 Corinthians 1:3–4 (ESV)

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

My mind is on my sister Lois today.  Her husband Tim died a couple of months ago.  The reason I am thinking about this is that Facebook reminded me this morning that today would have been Tim’s birthday.  You know for most of us birthdays are days of celebration, a time to give gifts, to eat cake, and go out for dinner with the birthday boy.  But when that person dies, all that changes.  Good days - like birth days, anniversaries, holidays and the like – suddenly become tough days.  This is especially true during that first year after a loved one’s death.  After someone close dies you, of course, miss them every day.  But on the special days like a birthday or Christmas, your grief comes quite easily to the surface.  The pain of his or her death becomes even sharper.  This continues to some extent even after the first year.  Every year after my dad’s death, the month of February (the month of his death), became a really hard month for my mom.  Someone, who lost her mother, asked if you ever stopped hurting, stopped missing your loved one.  I replied, “No.  You just get used to it.”

So, what do you do when those tough days come?  Well if you are having a tough day, have a tough day.  Its no use denying your grief or putting on a brave face.  There is also no need to feel guilty if its not a tough day for you.  Don’t let anyone tell you how you should or shouldn’t feel.  There is nothing wrong with grieving.  St. Paul doesn’t tell us not to grieve.  He simply wants to be sure that we know that in our grief we have the hope won for us by Jesus dying and rising again.  So, go ahead and grieve.

For me, I would find a way to remember that person.  Look at pictures.  Call someone else who is also missing that other person – and share some memories.   I know one mom who lost a child shortly after birth.  Every year since, she still celebrates that child’s birthday. 

Folks, if you know someone is grieving, facing one of these tough days.  Don’t be afraid to reach out.  Share that you miss them too.  Use the name of the person that died.  Don’t be afraid of the other person’s tears.  It means a lot that you want to talk about him or her, that you remember, that you are willing to listen.   That’s what Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians – “so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

This may sound strange – but one thing that I have found helps me and has helped others is to talk or write to the person you have lost.  As long as they don’t answer back, you aren’t crazy.  I like to do this when I go to my mom and dad’s grave alone.  I tell them about our kids, and grand kids, about all the things that have been happening in our lives.  I know they aren’t there.   You can’t send them any letter you might write.  But its okay to say out loud or write down all the things you would love to tell them if there were still alive.

Give yourself permission to feel whatever it is you feel.  If you cry, you cry.   If you laugh, you laugh.  Its been 23 years since my dad died and I am writing this blog with tears in my eyes.

Finally look forward.  Remember the heart of our comfort – that because of Jesus, His death for our sins and His resurrection victory over death – there is a grand reunion coming.  One day Jesus will come again to raise up me and all the dead and to give to all believers in Christ eternal life.  I can’t wait on that day to see my sister Roberta, my mom and dad and Tim, and so many others – as we stand rejoicing before God’s throne – singing His eternal praise.  On the tough days, remind yourself that God’s best day is still to come. 

Who Completes You?

Colossians 2:10a (NASB95)

“and in Him you have been made complete…”

There is a phrase that couples often say about each other that makes me cringe every time I hear it.

One spouse says about the other – “He or She completes me.”  Now you might think, “That’s such a nice thing to say.  Why does it make you cringe?”  Let me explain.

Its true that we are all incomplete in and of ourselves.  For one thing God said, “It is not good for man to be alone…”  God created us to live in community… to have relationships… to be a part of a family.  Yes, husbands and wives often complement each other – with their different skills, different personalities and so forth.  But think about this.  If you need a spouse to be complete – what about the single person?  Can’t they ever be complete.  No, the heart of our incompleteness, has to do with our relationship with God.  We are sinners.  We fall short of God’s glory.  Remember what happened as soon as Adam and Eve sinned.  For the first time ever, they hid from the Lord.  That’s the true source of incompleteness in every one of us.  Without God, we are incomplete.

So, what are we doing to our spouse when we say, “He or she completes me?”  We are setting them up to fail and disappoint us.  We are asking them to be what they cannot be, are not meant to be in our lives.  After all they can be a wonderful loving spouse, but they can never be God in our lives.  Indeed, that’s what we are doing to anyone or anything, other than the true God, in our lives. When we say, “If only I made more money… if only I could buy a new house… if only I had a different job, then everything would be wonderful – we are giving those things the place of God in our lives.  There is nothing wrong with making more money, buying a new house, or getting a new job, unless we start thinking that such things are the solution to all our problems.  Then those things are sure to disappoint us… sure to fail us. 

There is only One who can complete you or me.  There is only One who can bring you and me into a right relationship with God.  That one is Jesus.  In Him the gap between God and man is bridged. He is both.  He lived the perfect, God pleasing life we fail to live.  He offered that life in our place, as payment for our sin.  He rose again that we might live.  He came to you and me in baptism that we might be adopted into God’s family.  He comes daily to forgive our sins, to daily restore us to God.  That’s why Paul wrote of Jesus, “and in Him you have been made complete…”

Are you looking for completeness – look to Jesus.   He is the author and perfector of  your faith…” 

The Apostle John wrote in his first letter, God is light.  In Him there is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.   But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.   When you are walking in Him… when you live by faith in Jesus… when God is your God… then all those other things and people – money, home, employment, husband, wife, family – are free to be what God intends them to be – blessings from God that enable you to live for Him and love those around you.

Who completes you?  Jesus.

Living For Life in a Culture of Death

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

John 10:10b

Senseless!  Terrible!  Evil! Terrifying!  I could think of more such words to describe what happened last week in El Paso and Dayton, and the week before that at the food festival in California… or in a far too many other places across our country.  Now I do not intend to get into the politics of all of this.  But there are a number of questions on my mind today – Why does this keep happening?  How do we stop it?  What’s the solution?  What can I do?

Other than the person actually committing these horrific acts, it doesn’t seem helpful to me to be pointing fingers and blaming this person or that person.  But is there blame?  Yes.  I believe that during my lifetime, something fundamental has changed at the very roots of our culture.  We have gone from being a culture that values life to what some might call a “culture of death.”  The signs are all around us.  The clearest to me is abortion -  the killing of the most defenseless among us – unborn babies. There is the rise of physician assisted suicide and Euthanasia.  The rise of suicide… Then add terrorism and war.  Mother Teresa’s words to the1994 national prayer breakfast ring far too true – “If we accept that the mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?” 

Of course, the roots of this culture of death goes way back… all the way back to the garden. When in Adam and Eve, we all chose to take the forbidden fruit and eat it – we all together chose life estranged from God.  We all together chose death – for life without God is death. So really this culture of death is not new to my lifetime or yours.  “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—”  

As horrible as these mass shootings are, the problem runs much deeper.  The problem has its roots in your heart and mine, in our own sinfulness.  That’s a problem government can’t solve.  Don’t get me wrong – it is the governments job to make laws, and enforce them in order to protect us. That’s not a political opinion – that’s Scripture.  This is how the Lord Himself defines the role of government in Romans 13:3–4: “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.” Government’s God-given role is to hold man’s evil in check… to help protect us from ourselves.  That’s its power.  What government can’t do, is change our hearts.  It can’t solve the problem of sin.

For that, God gave us Jesus!  Jesus said it in the words from John 10 that I chose for this blog.  “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly”  Think about that – the author and creator of life, came to live in the midst of this world that keeps choosing death.   He came to live for life – healing the sick, casting out demons, feeding the hungry, befriending the friendless, embracing little children, forgiving sinners.  Jesus came and allowed this world of death to kill Him… to kill Him on behalf of everyone… to kill Him in our place.  Why?  “By His death He destroyed Him who holds the power of death, that is the devil and set free all who were held in slavery by their fear of death.”  He came to rise again so that all who believe in Him might have life.  By His death and resurrection Jesus conquered the culture of death that life might reign again.  Then He came to you in Baptism… raised you up to live a new life… to be apart of this new culture – or as St. Paul calls it – this “new creation.”

So what can you or I do?  How can we make a difference in the midst of all this senseless killing?  By following Jesus… living as He did – living for life in a culture of death.  What does that mean?  It means so many things – valuing human life in every form.  Speaking out to protect the unborn… loving and speaking forgiveness and grace to those burdened by guilt… befriending and caring for the ones the rest of the world rejects… praying so many different prayers… sharing the good news of Jesus with any and all – that others may know the joy of really living.  The list goes on and on.  But what I am really saying is this – don’t waste time pointing at others… waiting for others to solve this.  Let the change begin with me… and with you – with repentance for our own embrace of death… then loving others the way Jesus loves you.  This is how God changes things – one person at a time starting with you and me. 

What Can I Do for the Unity of the Church?

Ephesians 4:3 (NIV)

^“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

The month of July was quite a month for me.  I had the privilege of attending two important events of the church body to which I belong (The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod). Between  July 10 and 16 I attended the LCMS National Youth Gathering in Minneapolis.  I was there with 28 youth and adults from our congregation and with 21000 youth and adults from across the country.  For me the youth gathering really highlighted the unity of the Church.   Part of that was simply worshiping with 21000 young people singing their hearts out to the Lord.  Another aspect of that was all the friends from across the country and world that I got to meet up with at the Youth Gathering.  It was a great reminder that although we are separated by great distances, we are still all one family – one body in Christ.  But most of all, it was watching the youth from our congregation – caring for one another, making sure everyone was included, talking through difficult social issues, working out differences in more.  That week with our students from Fishers was a great one. 

The other event was our Church’s National Convention in Tampa Bay Florida from July 20-25.  Now you might be expecting me to tell you that this meeting highlighted for me the divisions in the church.  That however would not be entirely true.  For me the convention highlighted both unity and division.  There is some obvious division going on in the LCMS.  It was very obvious that there are two different ideas about what the direction, of our church should be and how we should practice the faith we believe and confess.  There is disagreement and hurt going on.  It came out… poured out in a debate over the closing of one of our church’s Colleges.  Yet at the same time, we are a very united church.  Most of the resolutions that came before the convention passed with a 70-90% favorable vote.  One debate really brought this out for me.  In a resolution on our church’s stance on creationism, we argued over whether to say God created the world in six days or six “natural” days.  The curious thing is that almost everyone on both sides of that debate firmly believe that God created everything just the way Moses describes in Genesis 1.

As I have been reflecting on these two events, I have been asking myself a question that I want to put before you.  “What can you or I do for the unity of the Church?”  The first and most important answer to that question is that I can’t create that unity.  Neither can you.  Thank God, we don’t have to.   In Ephesians 4 Paul writes that we should “Make every effort to KEEP the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”  He does not ask us to create it.  This unity already exists… it’s a unity of the Spirit.  This is the unity, given by God’s working, which binds together all who in their heart believe in Jesus Christ.  For now, hidden by all the outward divisions in the Christian church, this unity is an article of faith, not sight.  We confess this faith every time we say the Nicene Creed – “I believe in one, holy Christian and Apostolic Church…” This unity is very real.

So, heeding Paul’s admonition, what can you or I do to “keep” the unity of the church?  Paul already gave us the answer in the previous verse – Ephesians 4:2.  “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”  Please notice that God is not calling us as individuals here to start discussions with other church bodies over the things that divide and unite us.  Those tasks are important, but others have that calling.  He doesn’t say we should ignore the differences that divide us and pretend they don’t exist.  No his words speak to our individual relationships, how we treat one another in our congregations and in the larger Christian community. First, “be completely humble.”  Rejoice in the fact that God is God and you are not.  Give up the arrogance and self-righteousness that insists that you have all the answers… that refuses to listen.  The next word is “gentle.”  When sharing your viewpoint don’t be a bull in a china shop.  Listen.  Seek to understand others.  Help them to understand what you believe… your point of view.  And with that be “patient.”  Be patient with others and with yourself.  It may take a while for others and for you to really understand the viewpoints expressed.  Also be patient with God – give Him to work on your heart and the hearts of others.  Finally, “bearing with one another in love.”  One of the hardest things to do is to disagree without being disagreeable.  That takes love… the love of God that He has given you in Christ…  In our relationship with each other – our first aim should not be to get people to see things our way.  Our first aim should be to love each other as we have been loved. 

These are the keys to keeping the unity of the Spirit.  They are also impossible for you or me on own.  Our sinful nature is proud, arrogant, self-righteous, impatient and unloving.  That means there is only one hope.  You and I both have to die.  We have to die daily to sin, to arrogance and pride and rise to newness of life.  We have to live out our baptisms every day for baptisms signifies that “the old Adam in us should, by daily contrition and repentance, be drowned and die, along with all sin and evil desires, so that daily a new man might come forth and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.”  What happened to Paul needs to happen daily to you and me.  I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.   How can you and I help keep the unity of the church?  By dying… dying every day to sin, so that Christ might live in us and through us.  

God Uses the Streams

Psalm 46:4a  (ESV)

“There is a river whose STREAMS make glad the city of God…”

Last week I shared with you some thoughts about the national youth gathering.  I would like to continue along that strain with some thoughts generated in my mind by the second morning Bible study at the Gathering.  We were looking at the middle four verses of Psalm 46 – talking about the river that makes glad the city of God.  As I listened, the realization struck me that it’s the streams of the river that “make glad the city of God.”  At first I got this image all wrong – thinking about how the river (perhaps Jesus or God’s Word or God’s grace) flows into the streams – all of us who are his people.  The problem with that is - rivers don’t flow into streams.  Streams flow into rivers.  So, I sat there during this Bible study searching on google for information about streams and wondering – what is the Psalmist telling us?

Well think about how this works in nature.  The water comes down in snow and rain. The snow melts and the rain flows into the streams. The streams carry the water to the rivers.  The rivers carry the water to the oceans.  Apply that metaphor to us.   God gives His “rain” – His grace to us in Jesus Christ, in word and sacrament.  That grace creates faith in our hearts.  We as God’s newly created streams carry that grace into all the world – the places where we live and work and play.  Along the way God works through the word of grace we share with the world… the water of life – He

works to created faith in more and more hearts… until the stream becomes and river… the river of life and carries us into the vast ocean of God’s kingdom.

Now I don’t know about you, but that works for me.  We are God’s streams grace, reaching into many lives with His love, bringing with us more and more people to Jesus, the river of life and into His kingdom.  That’s our calling… that’s the mission we have been given.  We are God’s streams and God uses us to “make glad the city of God.’

But then I started to think about all the times we have driven through the pan handle of Texas on our way to Colorado.  There are all sorts of streams out there. Most years they are bone dry because most years there just isn’t enough rain.  This year those streams were all full – because there has been plenty of rain. 

The thought struck me – Am I a dry stream?  Sometimes.   But it’s not because God is not supplying enough water.  IN His word, at church, in youth group at worship God is constantly pouring down the living water of His grace into our lives.  If I am a dry stream, it’s because I am neglecting God’s means of grace in my daily life.  How much better it is when God is filling you and me up daily with His grace and forgiveness through word and sacrament.  Then He is able to use us to bring that water of life to all around us… That’s how we become, in the Spirit’s hands, the streams that make glad the city of God.  Amen.

Even Youths Get Tired

Isaiah 40:30–31a

“Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;

but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength…”

Well, as many of you know, I just returned from the National Youth Gathering.   I had the privilege of spending 7 days with 21 students and 8 adults from our church in Sugar Land, as we joined in worship, praise and service with 21,000 from around the world.  Today people have been asking me how I am doing.  My answer is basically the same – good but tired.  It was a great week that didn’t involve a lot of sleep – going to bed after midnight each night and up (for me at least) by about 6am each morning (earlier some mornings).  All the volunteers, the planners, our two DCE’s – Richard and Kelly – are amazing. I don’t know where they get all the energy.  I am exhausted.

I would like to let you in on a little secret. Our students are all exhausted too.  Yesterday morning, when we met down in the hotel lobby at 5am to go to the airport – they were having a hard time waking up.  When I walked down the aisle on the plane, so many of them were asleep in those uncomfortable chairs.  In the car on the ride back to Fishers from the airport – the three young men in the back fell asleep almost immediately. They were tired.  I imagine they still are today, but that they will recover quicker than I will.  There is truth to these words from Isaiah 40 – “Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted.”

Of course, there are other kinds of weariness, not just physical weariness.  While at the Gathering I spent some time reflecting on what had and had not changed since the last time I attended one of these 15 years ago.   You can find my musings posted on my Facebook page, for what they are worth.   Among those musings was a list of many of the struggle’s students face.  In many ways – they are the same and they are different from 15 years ago… from my days as a teen – depression, gender issues, identity issues, sexual challenges, discouragement, bullying (in person and on the internet), self-harm, suicide, addiction, family struggles, self-image…  The list goes on and on.  These things, more than physical weariness, is what Isaiah was referring to – the weariness that come from living in a sin-sick world.  Yes, even young people experience such weariness…. just as we older adults also do.

That’s why I wish every adult in our church had a chance to go to one of our youth gatherings.  It would give them a chance to get to know our students – their joys, their sorrows, their weariness and their energy.  I love being with students as they worship.  Why?  Because I am a sinner too.  As an adult I, like many of you experience that weariness of sin in my life.  You and I need the same message of the Gospel that they do.

 

This week there really was a great message of hope for them and for us.  Based on Psalm 46 the central message was that we have a REAL.PRESENT.GOD!  We have a God who in Christ is very real.  We have one who has Himself walked in our weariness all the way to the cross, carried their burdens and ours to His own death and then triumphed in His resurrection.  This Real God is Really present with us. He speaks through His word. He reaches out to us through the love of our fellow believers. (I think that is what I love most about being with youth on these trips – They live out what it means to be church.  On any number of occasions they took care of one another, loved once another, forgave one another). He is really present in the Lord’s Supper – giving His body and blood with the bread and wine to strengthen us.

It was cool to watch at Bible Study in the morning and in the mass events at night – how the presence of the Lord in word and song, brought new energy to youth and adults who just moments before were so exhausted.  It brought to life for me and in me the promise of God held out here in Isaiah 40.  Yes at times we all feel worn out and weary with life, but then “Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength…”  After all, ours is the savior who invites us, “Come unto me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.”  Amen!