Should, But and Did

 

“We SHOULD fear, love and trust in God above all things.”

Luther’s Small Catechism – Explanation to the First Commandment

The word “should” is a word full of guilt and failure.  In the First Commandment God says, “You SHALL have no other gods.”  In other words, there is no leeway, no wiggle room.  This is what God expects.  This is a commandment.  This is what we SHALL do.  All the commandments say the same thing.  Yet none of Luther’s explanations say “We shall…”  They all says “we should…”  That word “should” expects that we will fail.  It implies that failure is a foregone conclusion.  Should implies, “yes, that is what we are supposed to do but we won’t.”    

 It seems that with all the “shoulds” in my life, there is always a matching “but.”  I should have listened, but I didn’t.  I should have respected my mom, but I talked back to her.  I should have told the truth, but I lied.  I should have said nothing bad about my coworker, but instead I gossiped about her all over the office.  I should have read my Bible today, but I was in too big a hurry.  I should have helped my sick neighbor but instead I had too much of my own stuff to worry about.

 The truth is, before any of the commandments are spoken… before God ever says to me, “You shall…” I have already failed.  I have to admit, “Yes, I should but I won’t.  I should have but I didn’t.”  I am a poor miserable sinner. I am by nature sinful and unclean before I fail to do anything.  I sin in thought, word and deed, by what I have done and by what I have left undone.  There are too many “shoulds” and “buts” in life and they all leave me with guilt and shame.

 Thank God that He has an answer for all of them.  For every “should” and “but” in life, God answers with His own “but” and “did”.  I am a lost and condemned sinner, but God did and does love me anyway.  I should have lived a perfect life but Jesus did.  I should pay the price for my failure but Jesus did pay it for me.  I should die as punishment for my sin, but Jesus did die for me on the cross.   I should have loved God with my whole heart but God did love me – indeed so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whosoever believes in him, SHALL not perish but have everlasting life.”

 “Should,” “but,” and ‘did” – three words that help us understand the difference between law and Gospel, between being lost and being saved.  “Should” is a mirror showing us our sin.  BUT “Did” reminds us of all God did for us in Christ… indeed all He continues to do for us.  In this context did is a Gospel word… a word that shows us our savior.  Its important that we hear the condemnation of the “should” but even more important to be comforted daily by all that God “did” and continues to do in Christ. 

Are You Tired of _______________?

 

“And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly…”

Luke 22:44

Today’s blog is a fill in the blank blog.  Answer this question – Are You tired of You fill in the blank?  I was going to ask, “Are you tired of the pandemic?”  I encounter that a lot today.  I find myself saying it. “COVID got old back in March.”  But truth is that the pandemic is only one of the things people are tired of.  It’s a big thing… maybe the biggest thing but it’s far from the only thing.  People are tired racism, violence and rioting.  People are tired of all the partisan bickering in our nation.  People are tired of being stuck at home.  They are tired about worrying about their jobs.  People are tired of watching the news… tired of the election… tired of war… tired of ZOOM… Tired of kids not being able to go to school in person… tired of having to make decisions they have never had to make before – about opening or closing, working from home or going back to the office… The list of things people are tired of is a long one.  So, you fill in the blank. 

Do you know what I am most tired of? I am tired of hearing me complain.  I feel like there is a lot of complaining going on right now… about everything. Don’t get me wrong.  I understand it all.  That’s what I was doing in the first paragraph of this blog – listing many of the things I and others find to complain about.  But sometimes I really get discouraged by all the complaining I do.  The guilt weighs on my heart.  I am a Pastor.  I should be a voice of God’s hope during all the complaining… not simply another voice offering complaints.  Maybe you know what I mean.  Perhaps you beat yourself up about the same thing.  “I am a Christian,’ you say to yourself.  “I shouldn’t be complaining so much.  I should be a voice for hope.”

But if you can’t complain, what else do you do with the things you are tired of.  That’s what made me think these words from Luke 22.  Jesus had endured a lot.  Do you think he was tired of it all?  Do you think he was tired of his disciples not understanding him?  Do you think Jesus grew tired of all the “religious leaders” trying to trip him up and discredit him?  They should have known better.  I wonder if he was tired of all the people coming to him, day and night with so many demands, so many needs.   I wonder if he ever tired of carrying everyone else’s burdens.  In the Garden of Gethsemane, you can see this at work on our Lord.  Knowing that the suffering and death of the cross was coming the next day, our text says that Jesus “was in agony.”

Look at what He did with that agony.  Luke tells us that “He prayed more earnestly…”  He didn’t complain to everyone else.  He took His agony to God.  He laid His burdens at the feet of His Father.  He sought others to pray with Him.  He invited his disciples to watch and pray with him.  In the days of His suffering, the Bible says that Jesus “offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverences.”

That’s why Jesus was able to carry the burden God laid on Him – our burdens.  He carried them to the cross where He suffered and died under the load of all that wears us out.  He bore them up triumphant… overcame and conquered them all when on the third day He was raised to life again.  Now he invites you and me to bring these things to God.  “Come unto me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” That is his promise to us.   

There is a hymn that encourages us to “learn of Jesus Christ to pray.”  From him we learn what to do with anything and everything we are tired of… we learn to pray more earnestly… to give our burdens to Jesus… to let Him carry them… indeed to carry us through everything – even through this never ending pandemic.  

"Do You Know a Good Book for...?"

 

Matthew 28:19–20a (ESV)

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

I have had my little blue Small Catechism since I was in 7^th grade.  I inherited it from my sister Kathy. I know it was hers because it has her notes all over the inside cover of the book, including the name of at least one boy who must have been in her confirmation class.  Think about that.  After kindergarten, after 12 years of elementary school, middle school and High school this is the only textbook from my childhood, that I still have.  Now, obviously the Bible is the main book in my life – the source of all that I know, believe and teach about God.  I own many Bibles, but I really don’t have any in my position from my childhood. (Oh, I have some old German Bibles that come from my Grandmother Braun.  But I don’t really read German very well.)  And just as with the Bible, I have many newer editions of the Small Catechism.  There is this one published in 1986.  This one comes in either blue (to match the Lutheran Worship Hymnal) or in Maroon one (to match The Lutheran Service Book hymnal).  And then there is this newest version published in 2017.  Yet still I hold on to this old blue version, published in 1943, the version of Luther’s Small Catechism I used when Pastor Miles taught me in confirmation back in 1971 and 72.   

Why?   Why do I hold on to this old edition?  Why do I have so many copies of different editions of Luther’s Small Catechism?  Why do I own so many different translations of the Bible?  The answer seems obvious.  I am a Pastor.  I now teach the faith to young and old. Of course, I need Bibles and the Catechism to do that work.   I preach the Word of God every Sunday.  In that work I always preach from the Bible for it is God’s word.  I also, quite often use and quote from Luther’s Small Catechism.  Just as obvious, I hold on to this edition that I used when I was confirmed because it has sentimental value for me. 

Those are the easy answers to the question why.  However, there are other equally important reasons – reasons why I believe this is a great book for every Lutheran believer, indeed for every believer.  

First, the Catechism is a great discipleship tool.  Jesus told us to “Go and make disciples of all nations… teaching them all that I have commanded you.”  The Catechism is an excellent tool for doing just that.  In Luther’s day “the Catechism” in a general way was used to describe the basics of the Christian faith – the Ten Commandments, the Apostle’s Creed and the Lord’s Prayer.  These were the things that every disciple of Christ should know and understand.  In his Small Catechism, Martin Luther has given us brief and simple explanations of all three.  He also added three more – Holy Baptism, Confession and Absolution and the Sacrament of the Altar.

People ask me all the time, “Do you know a good book for teaching the faith to my children?”  Yes!  It’s right here – Luther’s Small Catechism.  I wish I had understood that when my children were little.  I always thought of the Small Catechism as something Pastors use, at church, when teaching 7^th and 8^th graders.  And it is true, we Pastors do use it that way.  But our teaching would be so much more effective if parents started teaching the Catechism at home from the time their kids were young.  I would urge each of you to keep a copy of Luther’s Small Catechism close to your dinner table – along with a Bible and a devotion book.  As part of your family devotions, reach a small section and talk about it together.  That was Dr. Luther’s intention.  Luther headlines each of the six chief parts with these words – “As the head of the household should teach them in a simple way to his household.”

That “simple” nature of the Catechism is a second reason for having this book close at hand in your life.  The Small Catechism is written in such a simple way that the basics of the faith are easily remembered.  Indeed, in my life I have been led by God to memorize the six chief parts and their meanings on five different occasions.  Committing these words to heart has been a tool of the Holy Spirit in shaping my walk as a disciple of Christ.  The words of faith contained here have become the heart language of faith for me.  In times of guilt or loneliness I am reminded that “he has redeemed me a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sin and evil desire.”  From these pages I have learned that God invites me to pray to Him as “children ask their dear father.”   I am reminded that because of God’s work in me at baptism that daily He desires that the old Adam in me should be drowned and die, along with all sin and evil desire that daily a new many might emerge and arise to live before God…” 

 Let me share one other reason for keeping this book close at hand at home.  Here is a great resource of faith. There are daily prayers here, a table of duties describing how God would have us live in the various roles we have in life, as well as questions and answers for using in preparation for going to the Lord’s Supper.  In the back our church body has added a deeper explanation of the Small Catechism.  Here you will find various issues such as abortion, divorce, lying, prayer and more addressed.  If  you have a question on any number of different issues in life, there is a good chance you will find Scripture verse back here that will assist you.

 I could go on.  The point is this – Yes, I know a good book for you, indeed a couple of good books to always have close at hand.  First and foremost, there is the Holy Scripture, the Bible which “is able to make you wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”  The other is Luther’s Small Catechism, entirely based on the Bible- a great discipleship tool for you and your family.  

Forgiving Others - One of the Best Gifts You can Give Yourself

 

“Forgiving Others – One of the Best Gifts You Can Give Yourself”

“And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Matthew 6:12

Obviously to be forgiven by God is one of the greatest gifts God gives us.  By that gift He sets us free from guilt, shame and death.  Even more wonderful, forgiving our sins is a gift He pays for.  The cost to Him was high – the death of His own Son on the cross.  Yet to us, He gives this gift freely.  There is simply no better news than this – “that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting men’s sins against them.”   We are all guilty, yet the Scriptures assure us that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  Wow!  What a gift. 

Another great gift is when some other person forgives us.  When you know that you have wronged someone… hurt them… caused them pain – there are no greater more loving words to hear from someone than these three words, “I forgive you.”  With those words the healing of a relationship begins.  Two people are reconciled.  When someone speaks those words to you, they are saying to you, “Yes, what you did or said hurt me.  However, I love you more than any hurt you have caused me.  Indeed, I love you so much that I am not willing to allow what you did stand between us.  I forgive you.”  (By the way, when you forgive someone else you are saying the same thing to them.)  Once again, what a great gift!

 I wonder however, if you knew that when you forgive someone else, you are giving yourself a gift as well.  What do I mean?  The truth is, when we refuse to forgive… when we hold a grudge against someone for something they did to or said about us, we are imprisoning our own heart.  Be refusing to forgive, we are allowing whatever bad thing was done or said – to continue to hurt us.  Refusing to let go of our anger, we are creating fertile soil for resentment to grow.  Resentment becomes a heavy chain on our lives.  I knew a man on my vicarage who had allowed such resentments to take root and grow in his life for 40 years.  He was always angry about something.  His resentment of others was destroying his marriage.  It was a roadblock in his relationship with God (He hadn’t been to communion in 20 years).  In other words, when we refuse to forgive the person we hurting the most is US!

 I think that’s why Jesus taught us to pray this way – “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”    By forgiving us our sin… including the resentments we hold on to – God has set us free to give to others and to ourselves this wonderful gift of forgiving others.  He has made it possible to unlock the chains of anger and hurt by which we imprison our own hearts.  This may sound counterintuitive – but if you want to be free of the hurts that others have inflicted on you then do what God has done for you.  Let go of those hurts, of the anger, of that grudge… let go by forgiving as God has forgiven you.  It doesn’t matter if they are sorry or not.  It doesn’t matter if they have apologized or not.  God forgave us before we ever turned to Him and ask.  This is not only a wonderful gift to give to others. This will be one of the greatest gifts you ever give to yourself – Forgive others as God has forgiven you.  

God Wears a Mask

John 1:14 &18 (ESV)

^“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth... No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.”

The other day I had the opportunity to do the opening devotion as our Preschool staff came back to work to get ready for the new school year.  Much has changed since the last time they were together in March, right before COVID-19 shut everything down.  I started by asking all present, “How many of you like having to wear a mask?”  Not one person raised their hand.  I doubt any of us would raise our hands.  But we are all wearing them now.  Why?   In part because we are told we must.  Yet I also know that you and I are wearing these masks because we love our neighbors.  These masks, help slow down the spread of the corona virus to others.  So in love for each other… to protect each other, you and I are wearing our masks. 

Did you know God also wears a mask?  He really does and his reason for wearing that mask is the same as yours - He loves the world.  He loves you and me.  Let me explain.  In Scripture God has made this clear, “You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”   Yet God wants us to know Him.  How did He solve this problem?  He put on a mask.  Jesus is that mask.  “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  He hid Himself in the flesh and blood of Jesus. The life that Jesus lived doing good, healing the sick, proclaiming the kingdom of God… the sacrificial death that Jesus died to pay for our sins… the resurrection victory over death that Jesus won three days later – this is how God made Himself known.   He became one of us.  He masked His glory and power in the humble life and death of Jesus in order that you and I might know who God is and that He loves us.  “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” 

God still wears a mask.  I love the story a public-school teacher named Guy told at the youth gathering  in Denver back in 1989.  He told the story of growing up being a on outcast, without many friends, with a poor self-image, and no faith in God.  Somewhere along the line God brought a special teacher into his life.  This teacher, an active believer in Jesus, took an interest in him.  He took Guy under his wing, got him involved in putting together the school yearbook.  Eventually Guy got to know the teacher’s wife as well.  They would invite him over to their home, include him in their activities, eventually taking Guy to church with them.  Through their actions and their words, they made Jesus known to him.  As Guy put it, “they were Jesus with skin on for me.”  They made God real to him.  That teacher and his wife were the mask God wore so that Guy could see and know Him, come to believe in Him.

That’s what God continues to do through you and me.  As believers in Jesus, by the working of the Holy Spirit, you and I are now the mask that God wears.  If you wonder why you work where you work, or go to school where you go to school… if you wonder why you have the friends, co-workers and neighbors you have – God has a purpose.  Oh He most likely has many purposes for those roles and relationships, but the most important is this – God wants to use you and me, our words and deeds, to make Himself and His love in Christ known those we meet, live with, work with, meet on the plane and more.  He wants you and me to be “Jesus with skin on for other people.”  You and I are now the mask God wears so that through us, others might see Him.

Yes, God wears a mask.  He wears a mask because He loves people and wants them to know Him.  Who were the people He used in your life to make Himself known to you?  Now, He wants to do the same through you and me.  He wants to use you and me to make Himself known… to be the mask He wears because He loves your friends, your family members, co-workers and wants them all to see Him in us.  

Are You Taking Care of Yourself?

Luke 10:38–42 (ESV)

“Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, 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.”

At first, it was okay.  Many saw a benefit in the COVID shut down. People were at home.  Families were spending time with each other; in a way they hadn’t been spending time.  I saw couples out walking in our neighborhood, people I had never seen before I saw dad’s out in their front yard playing catch with their kids.  Perhaps, we were all learning to appreciate the really important things in life, the things we had forgotten because life was too busy – family, our spouse, and so forth.  I really do hope we relearned the value of those things and that it sticks with us. 

Now, though I see and hear a lot of stress.  For me personally, COVID 19 has made life busier than ever.  I know I am not alone in this.  People are stressed.  Older, more at-risk folks are really tired of being stuck at home.  Families and children are understandable conflicted about sending their kids back to school – fearful of this virus.  People working from home like it – but really miss the interaction with other human beings.  Many have lost jobs.  People where I live near Houston are fearful for theirs because of what has happened to the Oil industry.  I know Pastors who are worried about what their church will look like when we at last move past this pandemic.  I read an article this week about 4 kinds of members who won’t be coming back to church.  My prayer is that the author is wrong.

Why all this stress?  Yes, it has to do with the pandemic and the economy.  Those are the big stressors.  What really concerns me in my life and in the lives of others I see around me – is how our lives are being squeezed right now.  So, so many people have had to cancel trips and vacations… have been unable to get out and do the things they normally do in order to relax, rest and re-energize.  Summer is normally a less stressful, slower time.  Not this year.  Too many of us are doing the “Martha” thing – running around, “anxious and troubled about many things.”  That’s why the title of this blog – “Are you taking care of yourself?” 

Today’s blog is a gentle reminder – that in this time of high stress and fear – it is more important than ever that you and I take care of ourselves.  It is more important than ever to “stop the Martha” in each of us and become a Mary.  She took time to sit at Jesus feet… to listen to Him… to soak up His Word and His love.  This is too important.  There is nothing more important that taking time to sit at Jesus feet. Jesus said it to Martha, “one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her…”    This is something we need every day and especially now in this anxious time – to sit at Jesus feet… to set aside time every day to sit quietly and read His word… to go for a quiet walk and talk to Him in prayer.  Such moments with Him should be the one thing on your schedule and mine that never gets deleted.

Are you taking care of yourself right now? Jesus invites you to take time every day to be a Mary and sit at His feet… That is the one thing you and I need more than anything else.  “Come unto Me,” is His invitation, “all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me and you shall find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  

The Best Hiding Place

“You are a hiding place for me…”

Psalm 32:7a

Have you ever played hide and seek with little kids?  It’s a blast.  They tend to hide out in the open.  Each time they hide they go back to the same “hiding” place.  When they are looking for you, you need not to make it too difficult for them to find you.  That’s what’s going on with the picture I am matching with this blog.  That picture of me with a box of rags dumped over my head, is from me playing hide and seek with my grandson Kellan. You can see he found me.  Even Molly found me. 

Hide and seek with little ones is fun and funny.  What’s not so funny, indeed is much more serious, is how we “play hide and seek” with God.  Our very first parents Adam and Eve started this game.  After their first sin, they tried to hide their nakedness under fig leaves.  Then when “they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”   Even King David, a man after God’s heart, played this deadly game.  After he committed adultery with Bathsheba and she became pregnant, David tried repeatedly to hide his sin.  He first tried to make it look like her husband was the father.  When that didn’t work, David arranged to have Uriah killed in battle.  That way he could take Bathsheba as his wife, people would either think the child was his, or they would assume it was Uriah’s (because Uriah would no longer be around to deny it.)  We play the game to.  You know how.  We hide our sins by denying them, by lying about them, by blaming others, by making excuses… simply by doing whatever we can to hide them. Why do we hide them?  We are ashamed.  We are afraid of the consequences, of what other people will do or say, of what people will think of us if they find out.

The problem is that our attempts to hide our sin – even if successful – don’t help.  The shame we hide simply grows and takes root in our hearts.  It eats away at us like cancer.   David describes this in Psalm 32 – “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.”  After all, even though we may be able to hide them from each other, we can’t hide our sin from ourselves.  We know what we have done or been doing.  More importantly, we can’t hide our sin from God.  He knows. He knew what Adam and Eve had done and where they were hiding.  He called them out.  He knew what David had done, and so sent the prophet Nathan to confront David.  He knows all your secret sins and mine.  You and I can never win a game of hide and seek with God.

Much better is to come out of hiding and tell Him.  Confess our sins.  Admit the truth to yourself and God.  After all, “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins…”  That’s what David discovered.  “I said, I will confess my sins and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.” 

How can God simply forgive the terrible things we have done? Quite simply He has provided a better hiding place in Jesus.  Jesus took your sins, carried them to the cross and died for you in your place. He shed His blood on the cross to cover your sins.  His blood “cleanses us” of all our sin.  Think about what happened to you in baptism.  “You were buried with Christ by baptism into death in order that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”  At baptism, your sins were buried with Christ in His tomb, never to be dug up again!  In Christ Jesus… in His death on the cross… in His empty tomb God has provided for you and me, what we can never provide for ourselves.  He has given us the one, the only sure, the best hiding place for our sin – Jesus.

God would invite you to confess your sins.  If you are having a real struggle, He would invite you to also confess them to another person you can trust – someone like a Pastor who will never tell anyone.  Why?  Because He wants you to learn what David learned.  When David finally confessed his sin, God took them.  He hid them.  That’s what David said here, “You are a hiding place for me…”  That’s what Jesus is for you too – the best hiding place ever.