1-31-2014

Good Morning to All,

     John 15:4; “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”

      There once was a branch on an apple tree.  It always produced the largest, sweetest apples on the tree.  The apples were always plentiful and easy to reach.  One day a group of moths landed on the branch and began speaking to the branch.  The moths told the branch how important he was.  They told him that the tree would be nothing without him.  No other branch produced as good of fruit as he did.  (Meanwhile, the moths laid their eggs on the branch where it was hooked to the tree.)

    The branch began to think that it was very important.  The moths were right, it thought.  None of the other branches produced near the fruit that this branch did.  Without him this tree would not produce much fruit at all.  (Meanwhile, the eggs had hatched and the larvae were beginning to eat through the bark.)

    So the branch began to demand that the tree listen to what it wanted.  It wanted to choose what other branches were part of the tree.  It wanted to decide which type of apple it produced.  It demanded to produce apples when it felt like it.  It wanted to go its own way.  It began to think that it didn’t need the tree.  After all, its fruit was the best of the tree.  (Meanwhile, the larvae had burrowed most of the way through the branch.)

    Soon the branch didn’t want to be with the tree.  It even wondered if the tree could possibly survive without the branch being attached.  Then one day a storm came along.  The wind blew harder than ever.  The tree stood tall and the other branches waved in the wind.  But the branch that had the best apples snapped and fell to the ground.   No big deal though the branch; now we will see who needs who. 

    Soon the leaves on the branch began to wilt.  The apples that were on the branch began to rot.  The branch dried up and soon was tossed in the fireplace to heat the house in the cold of winter.  Meanwhile, the tree stood tall and strong. 

    In the spring, many different branches began to produce large and sweet apples.  The tree stood tall and the apples were sweet and large on all the branches.  The tree really didn’t need the branch but the branch became ash without the tree.

    We are the branch.  God feeds and gives us the nourishment to produce fruit.  Think of all the great things that God has given you.  Think of the talents and skills you have; all are gifts from God.  Without God, we are but something to be thrown into the fire.  We need to be connected to God just as the branch needs the tree.  His love and grace are our only hope.

Dearest Father, without you we are lost.  All that we have is from you.  Through you do we produce all the fruit that we have.  All that we are, all that we receive, all that there is; is a gift from your benevolent hand.  Guard us with your Spirit.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret   

1-30-2014

Good Morning to All,

    2 Samuel 12:13; “David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.”

     In the early to mid-1970’s, there was a variety comedy show called “The Flip Wilson Show.”  He had many different characters that he would play in the sketches that they did.  One was when he would dress up as a woman, her name was Geraldine Jones.  She was flamboyant to say the least.  She would get into some sort of fix or trouble and her retort would always be, “the devil made me do it.”  If she was late getting home from a party, well the devil made me do it.  If she backed her car into somebody else’s, well the devil made me do it.

    It was kind of funny because for a while it was kind of a catch phrase for a lot of people.  In many ways it still is.  It is handy to say and it solves a lot of problems.  It also shows what is pandemic in human society.  If something is wrong, it is not my fault.  The devil made me do it.  I had no control.  It was as if some force had taken control of my body and made me say those cruel things, made me steal those items, made me get drunk or high, after all, the devil made me do it.

    We like to blame the devil or anyone else for that matter.  It makes us the victim.  The victim is always the oppressed one who suffers at the hands of others.  The events that occur to a victim are beyond the control of the victim.  Someone who is robbed at gunpoint can do little to stop the perpetrator.  The victim is always at the mercy of circumstance and situations which are beyond his control.  He cannot stop it; he has no control; the devil made him do it.

    The problem with thinking we are the victim is that it is untrue.  The devil did not make me do it; I made a choice to sin.  I actively opted for sinning.  I decided which path to follow.  The devil may make suggestions but I choose the path.  Our answer is not what Geraldine Jones said; our answer is what David said, “I have sinned against the Lord”.  I did it, I made me do it not the devil.  My sin is my sin, I caused it, I did it.  It wasn’t someone else’s fault.  That other person didn’t make me sin, I sinned.  That other person didn’t make me do it, neither did the devil; I did it I chose to sin.  I chose because I am weak.  I chose because my sinful nature makes it impossible to choose otherwise.

    But God has mercy on us.  He says to us what Nathan said to David, “The Lord has put away your sin.”  God has taken your sin and forgives you.  This is the only way it will work.  We are too weak to fight it on our own, so God does it for us.  Now he gives us the power to say “no” to the devil.  Because of his grace the devil did not make me do it.  His grace will lead us away from sin if we follow.

Father of grace, we are before you as broken sinners.  I have sinned against you in thought, word and deed.  But I find refuge in you and safety in your arms.  Protect and strengthen me from the devil’s attacks.  Be with those who are most vulnerable at this time.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,                 

Pastor Bret            

1-29-2014

Good Morning to All,

     Luke 6:37c; “forgive, and you will be forgiven”

   “Quid pro quo.”  This is a Latin phrase that gets a lot of use and misuse.  It means a transfers of goods or services where the transfer is contingent upon the other, huh?  Basically, you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.  If you watch Congress work, you vote for my bill and I’ll vote for yours.  You give a little, I give a little and we all make something.  It is a way of life for many.  Our verse sounds like that but in our faith we understand it differently.  We tend to look away from these verse that make us struggle.  

    This is always one of those “struggle” verses.  We tend to struggle with understanding them.  We teach that you are forgiven, by God, without condition.  Remember the verses, “God who is faithful and just will forgive your sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  “As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”  That sounds like unconditional love, unconditional forgiveness.  So when we read verses like the one we have today we struggle.  It sounds so conditional so quid pro quo.  If you forgive then God forgives yet that goes against the rest of the Bible.  We know that Scriptures interprets Scriptures; there are no errors or mistakes. But what do we have; well we have a struggle.

    Forgiveness is the core of Christianity.  God forgives us of our sin.  He wants us to then forgive others but why?  Partly because he wants us to do this; it is part of the reconciliation that God wants for us.  This reconciliation allows us to live in harmony with each other; part of God’s plan.  Forgiveness also relieves pain and suffering in our heart and soul.  Holding onto another’s sin keeps us angry, hurt, sad and lonely.  It separates us from one another.  Forgiveness frees us from that pain.

    We also see that if we refuse to forgive; it means that there are some things that cannot be forgiven.  It means that we see things that we do that cannot be forgiven by God.  We reject God’s forgiveness because we don’t believe it can be forgiven.  We lack faith so we don’t cling to God’s promise to forgive.  We cling to a lie that there are just some things that cannot and will not be forgiven.  When we forgive, truly forgive, we are stating that forgiveness of all sins is possible; we believe it.  We once again have faith.

    This may or may not be a conscious decision but what it does is show us how a “struggle’ verse can work.  It is not an action but faith.  We receive forgiveness because we cling to God’s promise of forgiveness.  The forgiveness is there but only if we cling to the promise, only if we believe.  Faith moves us to receive God’s forgiveness and faith moves us to forgive others, just like we are.

Father of all mercies, move us by your Spirit to forgive.  Forgiveness frees us from the pain and loneliness of this sinful world.  Give us the courage to forgive.  Give us the faith to forgive so we can boldly forgive others.  Guard us by your Spirit.  Be with those who struggle to forgive.  Grant them your peace.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret