2-6-2016

        Good Morning All!!   

        Luke 22: 31-32a; “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.”

     We all have those verses in the Bible that really make us happy or comforted.  There are many times when the ice breaker or the introduction to a Bible study is to list your favorite Bible verse.  We think of John 3:16 or Romans 8: 38-39 or maybe you like the psalms like Psalm 46:10 or Psalm 121:1-2.  We have verses that can give us hope, lift our spirits, even comfort us late at night when the mind will not shut off.  We love those verses.  But are there verses in the Bible that cause you to pause and ponder?  Are there verses where the old Lutheran in you comes out and you wonder “what does this mean?”

    This is one of those verses for me.  What does it mean to be “sifted like wheat?”  What is that experience about?  For Peter, it was to deny Jesus and then watch as Jesus dies knowing he did not get the opportunity to tell him that he was sorry.  Peter never got to tell Jesus that he wavered and failed.  He, the great Simon the rock known as Peter, was scared of a little slave girl.  The man who proclaimed he would die with Jesus withered and hid.  He thought he would live with this the rest of his days.  The other disciples would know; they would whisper and talk with derision; they might even coin a phrase like “not worth a Peter’s oath.”

    Peter’s faith would be tested greatly; would Jesus ever forgive him?  Could he ever forgive him?  Would Peter always carry the burden of guilt like he felt right now?  Would he succumb to the shrieking demons in his head telling him he was worthless and unwanted by God?  Peter was being sifted.  I would guess that many of you have been sifted.  Many of you have experienced something in your life that shook you to your very core.  It may have been a sudden death of a loved one or a massive change in your life do to health events or an accident.  You may have gone to work one day only to find that your company has gone broke and your job, your retirement and your whole way of life is gone.  Being abandoned, being broken, being destroyed emotionally or spiritually can leave you knowing what it is to be sifted.

   Sifting is done to remove the impurities from the product.  It is the devil’s plan that you cling to the falsehoods and that you fall into the waste pile and you suffer without hope, without God.  Yet God has a far better plan.  When you are sifted, we can let go of the things in this life that give us no hope or comfort.  When you are sifted, see your true hope- see Jesus.  He came to this earth to conquer the devil and his power.  The devil can cause us pain but he can never win because Jesus has defeated him and given that victory to us and he prays for us and is with us to keep us in that victory.

Father, send your Spirit when I am sifted and challenged in all that I do.  Keep me close to you; keep me held safely in your arms.  Draw close all those who are being sifted at this time.  Heal their pain and comfort their heart. In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,                    

Pastor Bret