The Most Important Election

“…He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world…”

Ephesians 1:4a

Linda and I voted today.  For us this election marks a couple of firsts.  This is the first time we ever voted by Absentee Ballot.  That’s a more involved process than I realized.  For the past several months the American Consulate has been emailing us to tell us how to do this.  So in September we downloaded the registration form.   We filled that out and sent it to the clerk in Denton County Texas.  A couple of days later we received all the paper work we needed and a ballot for each of us.  This week we each did our voting.  We put it in the appropriate envelopes, and put the mailing labels on the front.  Then today, I walked both our ballots over to the US consulate.  The guard came out, I dropped them in the voting box.  Now the US consulate will mail them back to the states for us.  All of that was a first for us.

This election is also the first time we have ever been tempted not to vote.  Like many back in the states this election has frustrated us – so much nastiness… no candidates we really wanted to vote for… We almost decided not to vote.  But we couldn’t do that.  Voting is too important.  No we don’t buy the argument that the world will end if the wrong person wins.  No what makes voting important to us is the fact that members of our families risked their lives fighting for this right.  Men and women have died so that we could have this right.  We would dishonor their sacrifice by not voting. 

What helped me get past my frustrations?  It was an editorial that reminded me that no matter who wins the election, the next day Jesus will still be King of kings and Lord of lords.  That put everything in perspective for me.  Yes the presidential election is important.  But it’s not the end of the world.  The results of that election are only temporary… only really impacting this life.

There is another election that is much more important, an election that has eternal significance.  That’s the one Paul describes in Ephesians 1:4 - “…He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world…”  The most important election is the one that God held before He even created the world.  Think of all that He elected before time began.  He elected to create this whole, vast, beautiful universe.  He elected to create mankind, to put us in this world to take care of it.  Knowing all along that we would rebel, He elected to give the world a savior.  He elected that His own Son would come into this world, die for the sins of the world and be raised to life in order to conquer death.  On a more personal note, He elected to make you His own in Christ.  He chose you to be adopted as His Sons in baptism. 

God’s election is way more comforting and hopeful than even the best presidential election could ever hope to be.   Just think, knowing that the world would reject Him, God elected to love the world anyway.  Indeed He so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whosoever believes in Him might not perish but will have eternal life.   Knowing how sinful you and I would be, He elected to love us anyway.  He elected to call you and me by name, to wash away our sins and adopt us as His own in baptism.  Our assurance of forgiveness, our confidence in God’s love, our hope for eternity are not made certain by our choices and elections.  They are made certain by God’s choosing.

What about those living around us who do not believe?  Is there hope or comfort?  Do they have a place in God’s election?  They most certainly do!   Before the foundation of the world God elected to love the whole world.  God elected to give His Son for everyone.  That objective act is what gives me the confidence that He gave His Son for me.  Paul wrote “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself...”   God’s word is clear.  “God wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”  His arms are open, inviting all to come to Him… wanting everyone to hear how much He loves them… desiring all to believe in Jesus and be saved…  How will that happen?  We come back to His election.  He has elected you and me who believe to tell people about Him and His Son Jesus.

To me that puts this other election in context.  Why waste so much energy worrying and fretting and arguing over who gets elected President?  How much better to focus on the comfort, the hope, the purpose, the eternal blessings God’s election in Christ brings to you and me.  That’s the most important election. 

A New Song

“He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God…”

Psalm 40:3a

“Oh sing to the Lord, O sing God a new song… “

I love to sing.  In fact, one of the things that drives Linda crazy is that I can burst out into unexpected song just about any time and anywhere. It also drives her crazy that I only know the first line to many songs, and most of the time I will get that wrong too.  What’s more I will take well known songs and make them songs about people we happen to be with   However, as she will tell you, when I am going around singing, even if I am singing nonsense, that is a sure sign that I am relaxed and feeling good about life.  Just ask youth that have gone with me on mission trips.  That will all remember how I woke them up early each morning sing as loud as I could “So rise and shine and give God the glory, glory…” 

What I particularly enjoy is singing in Worship.  For me Sunday morning worship and in particular singing in worship is “Spring Training” for heaven.  When we sing in God’s house He is warming us up for eternity when we will be singing day and night before God’s throne.    I really struggle looking around a sanctuary and seeing people, usually men just standing there.  I know that some of them don’t like music, and many of them are just plain shy about their singing.  They are afraid that they can’t sing well.  My opinion is, so what?  I operate by the philosophy, “If you are going to sin, sin boldly.”  I apply that to my singing, “If you are going to make a mistake in a song, make it loud and no one will notice.”  One of my kids favorite stories is hearing me mix together two verses from a familiar hymn.  Instead of singing “Have no fear little flock…” I sang out “Have NO CHEER little flock…” Everybody in the church heard me, turned, saw it was me and laughed. 

It doesn’t bother or embarrass me at all.  God, you see, has given us great reason to sing and sing with gusto.  The Psalmist says it here - “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God…”  Think for a moment of all that is “new” about the song God gives us to sing.   First of all its new because its different than any song this world gives us to sing.  For God’s new song is not selfish or lustful or greedy or degrading.  His new song is not at all focused on us.  It’s focused on Him.  The new song is a “song of praise to our God.” 

What’s more this new song is about the new thing that God has done in Jesus Christ.  Jesus is what makes the Christian faith different from every other religion.  In every other religion we are told to do something to make up for our sin, to earn our way back to God.  Because we can never do enough or be good enough that makes every other religion a real burden.  We are told to do what we can’t.  In Jesus God has done something news.  He has done for us what we can’t do.  He has come down to us, taken on flesh and blood, lived the perfect life we can’t, then paid the price for our failures by His death on the cross and finally been raised to life again to bring us back to God.  He does it all freely for us.  Wow!  If  Jesus isn’t reason to sing, I don’t know what is. 

God’s new work doesn’t stop there. Then He comes down into our lives.  He calls us to Himself baptism. He washes us clean.  He gives us His Holy Spirit.  He makes us new.  And every day His forgiveness and grace give us yet another new beginning.  One day He will make everything new and give us a new heaven and a new earth to live in forever.  “If anyone is in Christ Jesus He is a new creation.  Behold the old has gone and the new is come.”

Nothing expressed the new work God is doing in your heart and mine than to sing… to sing about Jesus… a new song worth singing every Sunday and every day… singing at the top of your lungs, unashamed, wanting everyone to hear – a song of praise to our God!  

“For God is the Lord and God has done wonders…”

It's a BIG Deal

"I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,' and You forgave the iniquity of my sin."  Psalm 32:5b

Have you ever apologized to someone for some wrong you committed...  ever asked someone to forgive you only to have them shrug their shoulders and say something like, "Don't worry about it, It's no big deal.  It doesn't matter?"  Have you ever responded that way to someone?  In my case the answer to both questions is yes and it drives me crazy.  I don't like it when someone says that to me or when I say it to someone else.

Why does this bother me?  Well think for a moment about what we are saying to someone by such a response.  If someone apologizes and you  respond, "It's no big deal" you are implying to them that they aren't a big deal to you.    You are implying that they just aren't important enough in your life for any wrong they might do to really hurt you.

Think about how the LORD responds to our confession.  David writes, "I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,' and You forgave the iniquity of my sin."   Our Lord never responds to our confession with words like, "It's no big deal," because in His eyes our sin is a big deal.  It matters to him because we matter to Him.  So He responds, "I forgive you."  With those words He makes plain just how serious our sin is and how much He loves us. With those words He is saying that He loves us so much that He is not wiling for our sin to separate us from Him.

Instead, rather than hold our sin against us, He gave His one and only Son.  Rather than punish us for our sins, He punished Jesus in our place.  That's what was happening through the cross and empty tomb of Jesus.   Jesus redeemed us from the curse of sin by Himself being cursed for us.   God "made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."   Jesus "was delivered over to death for our sins and raised to life for our justification."  Your God loves you so much that rather than make you live with the pain sin deserves, He endured that pain for you.

Even having done all that, our Lord is not finished.  He provides the means of grace - the Gospel and the Sacraments - by which He forgives our sins. Two weeks ago, in the blog, I wrote about the First Act of our worship service – the invocation that recalls for us our baptisms.  Well the Second Act is Confession and Absolution.  Sin is such a big deal that the first and second Word God speaks to us in worship is the word of His forgiveness. I read a post online this week reminding me that confession of sin is a wonderful thing, but absolution (forgiveness) is even better.  One of the great joys of being a Pastor is that every Sunday I am privileged to stand here and be His mouthpiece.  In response to your confession, my joy is to say to you, “Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die or you and for His sake forgives you all your sin.  As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.”   What’s more, if some particular sin is really troubling you, God provides the gift of private confession.  You can come to your Pastor in complete confidentiality, confess the troubling sin or sins and hear God’s assurance of forgiveness spoken personally and privately to you.  Yes God so wants to assure you that you are forgiven that He provides a real live person, a Pastor whom He has called primarily to speak to you His marvelous words, “I forgive you.”

So when someone does apologize and ask your forgiveness, it is a big deal.  At that moment, the most loving words you can speak are these words, “Yes what you did hurt.  But you matter more to me and to Jesus than any hurt.  I forgive you and more importantly the Lord forgives you.”  That is a BIG Deal.  Amen.

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.  

It's NOT a Dirty Word!

Ephesians 3:2 (ESV)

^“…assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you…”

All I have to do is say the word and I almost always get a similar reaction.  It doesn’t matter whether it’s in a sermon, a Bible class, a church council meeting or just a regular conversation.  All I have to do is say the word “steward” or “stewardship” and someone will groan.  Another will roll their eyes.  Someone else will grimace.  “Here is comes,” people will think to themselves, “the pastors going to ask for more money.”  “I wish I had stayed home from church today.  Well I guess it has to happen once a year.  Let’s just get this over and done with.”  You would think that the word “steward” is a vulgar and dirty word.

It’s not!  I am of the opinion that the only way you can call this a dirty word is when you look at where it comes from in the English language. The roots of the English word “steward” are in the old English word “stigweard” which means “keeper of the sty.”  This was first used of the “keeper of the cattle pen.”  I would imagine that was pretty dirty work.  But that’s the only way you could call this a dirty word.

I believe the words “steward” or “stewardship” are great words.  In classical Greek, the word literally means “the manager of the household.”    The word implies that you have been entrusted with something of value that belongs to someone else.  In Genesis Joseph was made a steward over the prison where he was held captive.  The warden thought so highly of Joseph’s skills, honesty and integrity that he entrusted Joseph with the management of that prison.  Later in Genesis Pharaoh would, for the same reasons, entrust Joseph with the management of all Egypt.  He made Joseph a steward, second only to Pharaoh. 

I don’t know about you, but to be known as someone who is trustworthy… to be so trusted that someone would put you in charge of some important task – to me that is a high honor.  I grew up working with and for my dad at his place of business.  I still remember the day when I was in high school, when dad left me alone on a construction project with certain tasks he really wanted me to get done.  “Wow,” I thought, “Dad really trusts me.”  That trust was a great gift from my father.

St. Paul sees the word “steward” the same way.  In Ephesians 3 he writes about “the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me…”  God had entrusted to Paul a role in God’s kingdom that was of the highest importance.  He had called Paul to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles.  He was to “steward God’s grace,” that is to tell the Gentiles that God loved them even though they didn’t deserve it, in fact loved them so much that He gave His Son Jesus to be their savior.”  That’s a big responsibility.  Yet Paul describes it as something God had “given” him.  Literally the word “given” refers to a “gracious giving.”  In other words, Paul no more deserved this calling than the Gentiles deserved God’s love.

God has also graciously given us the opportunity to be a part of His loving work in this world.  As a parent, a friend, a church member, an employee or employer, a neighbor, a student – in every role God has called you to – You are His steward.  Everything you have – your time, your talents and your treasures – are all a “stewardship” He has graciously entrusted to you. When you choose a school for your kids… when you teach them to pray… when you listen to and love your neighbor… when you give to the Lord’s work – all of that is stewardship.  As my dad allowing me to work with him and for him was a great gift – even greater is this gift that God gives to us - the opportunity to be a part of His working in this world. 

“But,” you may think, “I make a mess of things.  I make wrong choices. I am selfish and unwise. How can God entrust me with anything knowing I will fail?”  Because He is gracious.  He forgives.  That’s why Jesus died on the cross and rose again.  Though you and I fail, He will not.  All of that is implied in the wonderful word “steward.”  That’s not a dirty word.  That’s a great word.