The First Act

“In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…”

Matthew 28:19b

I love to go to the theater.   Watching a play is one of my favorite forms of entertainment.  Now some of the plays I have seen have been good.  Some have not been good.  In my experience I can usually tell which it will be during the First Act.  The First Act sets the stage for everything else.  The first act either captures my attention or loses it.  I remember one play we were at in Norfolk, Nebraska.  The First Act had barely started when someone sitting in the audience started yelling at the actors.   We were all caught off guard.  We took a while to realize that this was part of the play.  At that moment they had our attention and never lost it.  The First Act is so very important.

Believe it or not this is also the case in our worship of God.  The First Act in worship sets the tone for everything else that happens.  So think for a moment about how our worship begins.  The First Act is the Invocation.  The Pastor begins with the words of Jesus from Matthew 28:19 – “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.”  These words set the stage for all that happens in the worship service.

This is so important because many of us come to worship with a misunderstanding.  We come to worship thinking that it is primarily a time when we give to God.   We come to offer to Him our praise, our prayers, our offerings.  Worship, we think, about giving rather than receiving.  

Yet worship does not begin with something we give to God.  The First Act of worship is God’s act!  With the words of Invocation He reminds us of our baptisms.  He reminds us of how He came looking for us, of how He washed us clean with Water and the Word, of how He adopted us into His family.  He begins with words that remind us that in our relationship with Him, He has always taken the first  step.  We come to worship because He has invited us to come.  Without God coming in Jesus to save us… without God coming to adopt us in baptism we could not and would not ever come to Him.

And so each worship service begins with God reminding us of all He has done.  By this First Act our Lord sets the tone for worship.   Worship is first and foremost about what our gracious God gives to and does for us.  We come on Sundays because we need Him to serve us, to forgive us, to work in our hearts through Word and Sacrament, to nourish and strengthen our faith! 

There is a reason that in our hymnals the worship services are called the “Divine Service” or “God’s service.”  Here God serves our needs, speaks to us through His word, feeds us with the body and blood of Jesus in bread and wine.   

Yes there a second aspect of worship where we offer to God our praise, our prayers, our offerings and our faith.  But our gifts to God are a response to His generous gifts to us.  The only reason we have praise or prayer or faith to give to Him is because He first gave to us.  He first gave Jesus to save us.  He first came to us in baptism.   “We love”, John writes, “because He first loved us.”    Think of the words of the old hymn “We give Thee but Thine own, whatever the gift may be.  All that we have is Thine alone, a gift O Lord from Thee.”  The First Act is always God’s act..  Without His action…without His gifts there would be no worship.  So in love for us God reaches out to us first “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”   Amen.

Living on Borrowed Time!

Look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,

Making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”

Ephesians 5:15-16

Al Senter was a member of the church in Flower Mound .  You could say that during my entire 13 years at Lamb of God Al was literally “living on borrowed time.”  Sometime before I came to Lamb of God, Al was told (these are my terms not the doctors) that his heart was dying, that it was only a matter of time before he died.  How did he live another 13 years? That’s a story of God’s grace, of good doctors and of Al’s detailed attention to his own health.  At one point, Al was the one of the first recipients of an artificial heart.  My reason for telling you all of this is not to recount for you his medical history but to make the point that for Al, each new day, each new minute was a gift from God. 

How did he use that time?    Well for those of you who don’t know him, Al’s passion was for teaching the Word of God. Al, a layman, taught adult bible class in different churches for some 60 years.  He knew the Bible better than many Pastors.  That’s how he used his “borrowed time.”  He determined to make the most of every moment God gives him.  So he kept teaching Bible Class.  He wrote and recorded 168 bible lessons for the internet. He then took those internet messages and published a book about the message of God’s Word. He used every moment right up to just two days before I did his funeral, my last at Lamb of God.

For me, Al’s story is a reminder that we all live on borrowed time!  Every day, every minute and every second is a gift from God.  That’s the point, I believe of Paul’s words - “Look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, Making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”    Recently, I made the point in this blog that everything in this world belongs to God. Everything we have is a gift from Him.  That includes time.  He is the creator of time.  He gave us life and thus our time in this world. Because we are sinners that means that what time we have  is a gift of grace.  It’s a gift redeemed for us when He redeemed us, when He gave His Son to die for us, when Jesus rose again that we might have all eternity.  In every sense, we are all living on borrowed time.  The Psalmist acknowledges as much with his famous prayer, “Teach us O Lord to number our days aright…”

So how can you and I honor God with this time He lends to us?  There are a number of ways to answer this question.  For me, one way is to ask the question, “What will I regret on my deathbed?”  I know I will regret not spending more time with Linda, our kids and grandkids.  Of all the callings in life that God has given me – being husband, father, brother and grandfather are the most important.   Family is among the greatest gifts He has given.  One of Linda’s love languages is to have me spend time with her.  Family is the most important mission field He calls any of us too.  What better to spend time on than teaching, and showing His love to family. 

Or look at the rest of your callings?  What kind of worker have you been?  Have you used your time at work to be an honest, hardworking, productive person?  What kind of neighbor or friend are you – someone there to help… someone people can count on?  Are you too busy for people who need you?  What about your calling as a child of God?  A church member?  This list could go on and on?

I know that this list could result in some heavy guilt.  So let me relieve that guilt with this reminder.   Do you take time for yourself – to care for yourself spiritually, physically and emotionally?  He wants you to.  Even God rested on the seventh day.  The God who created the Sabbath, created it for you – because He wants to refresh You with His word.  He desires that you take time to enjoy His creation… to play… to rest. You can not serve him without Him first serving you. You need daily, weekly  time with Him and He is so glad to give it. This is time well spent.

My point is this.  We all are living on borrowed time!  Each day, each moment is a gift from Him.  Make the most of His time. Enjoy, work, praise, serve, worship, love, give, receive, befriend, forgive, rest in Him.  There is not a moment to lose.  

That's Not for You!

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another,

As good stewards of God’s varied grace.”

1 Peter 4:10

I was young.  We were sitting in Church.  It was time for the offering.  As the ushers drew near my dad handed me a one dollar bill.  I remember taking it, and then sticking it my pocket.  My dad laughed,  and said, “Wayne that’s not for you.”  “But you gave it to me!”   “I gave it to you,” he said, “so that you would have something to put in the offering plate.”

That was a big lesson for me.  It’s one  I have had to continue to relearn throughout my life.  God does the same thing.   He gives us many, generous gifts.  In fact as we have seen in the last couple of blogs – Everything we have is a gift from Him – every euro or Dollar,  all of our possessions, each moment of every day of our lives, all the people who are a part of our lives, each experience, every talent and skill, - .  Everything is gift, just like that dollar my dad gave me in church.  And as He gives those gifts our God would remind us, “That’s not for you.”  “Then why did you give it to me?”  His answer is the same as my dad’s, “ I gave each gift to you so that you would have something to offer Me!  I gave each gift to you so that you could share my gifts with others.  That’s what Peter tells us isn’t it?  “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”

When God gives you a talent for learning and teaching, He doesn’t give that gift so that you can feel good about yourself and how smart you are.  He gives you that gift so that you can teach and share that knowledge with others.  He gives some a talent for business not simply so that they can earn money but so that they can establish good companies that provide good jobs and good products that other people need. I remember another conversation I had with my dad.  I wanted some toy I had seen in a store window but dad said, “No we can’t afford that toy right now.”   “Well then why do you work so much?”  Dad answered me, “Do you like having a home to live in?   Clothes to wear?  Food to eat?”   Dad was teaching me that God had given his job to him, his skills in that job so that he could provide, care for and serve us, his family. 

I want you to notice that none of the examples I just gave are about people using God’s gifts to serve at Church.  I did that because too often when people hear the word |”stewardship” they think only in terms of what we give and how we serve at Church.  That is so limiting!  Everything God gives us is given so that we can serve Him and others in every area of life.  With each gift God gives He would say to us, “That’s not for you.”    In every place where we use His gifts we have the opportunity to serve Him and others.  Yes that includes what we do at Church,  but it also includes so much more.

Each gift He gives is an opportunity to show His love – to family, friends, co-workers, strangers, neighbors and more.  Recently a members of Trinity was talking to me about her work with some of the refugee families who have come to Germany.  Someone recently said to her, “Don’t get your hopes up that you will convert these people.”  She answered, “I’m not.  I just want to show them that Christian love extends to everyone, not just other Christians. And you know what Pastor? Now those refugees are starting ask me questions about why I am doing this.  Then I get to tell them about Jesus. “   There you have the reason for all the gifts God gives us.  These gifts aren’t for you and me.  Everything God gives to us He gives so that we can use those gifts to show and tell others about His love.